My Story - End of Semester Update

As far as journalism goes, my previous opinion stands. I still think that this job can be an adventure. I still think that working in this field will bring many different types of opportunities, not let me do “the one thing I was trained to do.” I still think that a respectable degree is what separates honest credibility from citizen blogging. And I still like being a sarcastic idiot.

However, after taking this course, my eyes have been opened to other areas concerning journalism.

It has always been my natural instinct to shy away from the political scene. My gut always tells me to change the channel. I’ve never held a picket sign. I don’t watch debates. Bumper stickers make me want to hit things with my Suzuki Grand Vitara.

I did vote in the 2009 national election because I like Obama’s charisma and personality and am strongly opposed to Amendment Two. I also voted in the 2009 presidential election because I wanted to do all that I could to make sure that Sarah Palin would not have a snowball’s chance in Hell to ever run the United States of America. Plus, you get a cool “I Voted” sticker.

Writing the paper on the St. Petersburg mayoral election was really hard for me. I thought it would be easy, because I did not follow the campaigns at all. I had a clear, unbiased agenda with zero background knowledge on either candidate. It took me more than six hours to write.

I don’t understand politics or the issues at hand. No matter which candidate is speaking, the words sound the same to me. I think they are meant to sound that way. To me, politics is voting for the personality that you hate the least.

I ended up getting an A on the assignment, but it was not easy or enjoyable. I did find out something new about myself: I will never write for a political beat.

Another thing that I learned about journalism is that you can make an article a little subjective as long as the news is still there. This was very helpful to me. In Writing for the Mass Media, every sentence had to be completely objective. This is hard for me because I do not like producing work that is automatically summarized to sound like every other person’s work. There is no room for creativity. Without the ability to add a unique spin to a worthwhile piece of writing, what is the point? Seriously.

I had a lot of fun with my beat stories. Choosing my own topics within my beat and writing in my own tone was really cool. It was almost relieving, because I finally realized that I would have fun doing this as a real career. It also gave me an excuse to be active and talk to people, which I normally would not do.

Another thing that I enjoyed about this class, were my classmates. I really like how most of us have the same classes together, such as Beginning Reporting. I’ve taken Writing for the Mass Media, Visual Communications and Photojournalism with some of the same students and they are all awesome people to accompany me on my beginning journalism adventures.

No journalism class is complete without Brian Walsh, sitting in the back corner, killing professors and students with his omnipresent stream of wit and sarcasm. No class is complete without Tiffany Farnum sitting quietly in the corner, occasionally laughing at Walsh. Where would a class be without Nikki Ezelle’s “in your face” attitude and side conversations between Angela Moneck and Kelsie McClain. I can’t forget Katie Pentedemos, Melissa Harford and that crazy Filipowicz. Colby Cole is also an important piece to the puzzle; where would Walsh and I be without someone to tease in class?

Then... there is me. I’m an observer.

I can only imagine what kind of people I will meet in this field in years to come, as I watch the friends I have now become successful, published writers.

I’m looking forward to it.

Miller Finally Receives Bad Karma for Making Fun of Swine Flu

DAYQUIL, FLA -- "I'm gonna punch every swine in the face," she said, in between Kleenex tissues and coughing up her god damn lungs. "I don't know how this happened."

Miller had reported a constant stream of lethargy over the past week, but was not experiencing any cold/flu symptoms. While at her current occupation this past Friday, she started feeling woozy and got those awesome flu chills that everyone knows about.

She also advises all of her blog readers to stay the hell away from liquid Nyquil, unless they want to lay awake for 6 hours and "trip balls."

"It's like, when you have a fever you feel really out of it already," she said, "but after a shot of Nyquil you're stuck in the zone. Lost in your own head - random thoughts and images - the same song stuck in your head for hours on end. Chills. No sleep. Bad chills."

"I still feel like death," she said, on the couch inside her Madeira Beach home. Miller currently has a 5-page paper, beat story, photojournalism assignment, and 8 online lectures to watch. The only thing she has enough energy to do is sit on her ass, watching Iron Chef and pretending that her chicken noodle soup is actually Eel Osobuco, with a light tomato glaze.

Ughhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.

You'd think people would be worried about the Swine Flu...

As I step through the trampled grass blades and massive crowds of people at Vinoy Park this Sunday, the sweet smell of funnel cake and grill fire floats through the air. Nothing is visible in the midst of hungry souls, except for a sea of heads, foam-topped cups and mouth-watering signs:

Lemonade!

Funnel cakes!

Hand-dipped onion rings!

Butterfly fries!

World Champion Barbeque!

Ribfest 2009 is here.

Every year, St. Petersburg lets some of the best grill masters in the world claim a spot on park grounds, to kick up the flames and the flavor of their craft. National touring bands take the stage while eaters enjoy with sauce-smeared faces.

Thousands of rib-lovers invade the city, parking on neighborhood streets or in illegal parking spaces, blocks or miles away. The lines at each stand stretch into the center of the park. The last ones in line stand in a crowd to keep from cutting into the park’s walkway.

Deciding which barbeque line to jump in may be overwhelming. Each stand has billboard-sized advertisements to help people decide whose ribs are better. However, these are the best grill teams in the world. They all display the same messages: “World Champion! Best Ribs! Award-winning!”

Unless you have a favorite place that keeps you coming back every year, jumping in the shortest line you see may be the best bet to kill hunger pains.

Big Boned Barbeque appeared to have the shortest line. From 4:30 to 5:45, I stood patiently, trying to decide how much food I should buy when it was finally my turn at the window. I overheard a mother talking to her son in front of me: “Do you wanna get ribs and go back to the car and eat? ‘Cause we don’t have a place to sit.”

According to the Vinoy Park website, events can attract up to 50,000 people. “There’s all different kinds of life out here,” said Jennifer Diedrich, a rib-lover in the Big Boned line. “Lots of places don’t offer events like this,” she said.

People will stand in a line over an hour for different forms of smoky meat. I end up with a half-rack of Big Boned ribs with a side of… pulled pork sandwich. Altogether, the $18 is worth the amount of food they slap on your Styrofoam tray.

The ribs are excellent. The meat sticks to the bone but is still tender enough to bite into. Slathered with their signature sauce, each chomp delivers a tangy zap to the taste buds with an essence of smoked goodness.

The sweet and smoky flavor of the pulled pork blends instantly with the starch of the sandwich roll. The soft bread and tender swine squish together like a big, greasy marshmallow. Big Boned Barbeque from Chattanooga, TN, knows what they are doing behind the grill.

The Zac Brown Band, one of the most popular headlining bands, was the final performance to take the Ribfest stage. They wooed the crowd with over an hour and a half of southern rock and surprise cover songs, like “The Devil Went Down to Georgia” and “Blackbird.”

Their style of music ranges from slow, mellow tunes to fast-paced guitar riffs with a southern twang that could easily start a hoedown. Their latest hit song, “Toes,” is saved for the last song on the set-list, right before their unexpected encore.

Overall, Ribfest is the ultimate scene for a rib fiend or music fan. This all-day event is held at Vinoy Park one weekend a year. Each day has different musical performances with the same grilled delicacies from places like Big Boned Barbeque or Willingham’s World Champion BBQ.

Although the place is crowded and there is no room to breathe, Ribfest is worth the experience. Just take it from Zac Brown:

“I’ve got my toes in the water, ass in the sand, not a worry in the world – a cold beer in my hand. Life is good today.”

Hopefully city development is something he can Foster

With 53 percent of the votes, Bill Foster won the St. Petersburg mayoral election Tuesday, against opponent Kathleen Ford. For some, the result is not unexpected.

According to St. Pete Times Columnist, Howard Troxler, the formula is simple: “For at least 20 years, every mayoral election in St. Petersburg has featured a critic of City Hall vs. a candidate preferred by the downtown and business establishment.” He said this year’s election was the “same dance, same result.”

Foster’s win is tied to his traditional views of keeping the city going in the right direction. He had support from the city’s police, business groups and former and current elected officials, while advertising his shared views with former mayor, Rick Baker.

Baker proudly endorsed Foster over Ford during the 2009 campaigns.

Ricky Lehner, a 21-year-old USF student, made sure to cast a ballot at the voting booth this year. “I think that as someone who manages a business downtown, he will probably end up being the better mayor for businesses, but this is just me looking for the good in him winning,” he said.

“I wanted Ford to win,” Lehner said. “I don't want Foster to come in and just continue running things like Baker has been, with all the crooked business deals that they (republicans) give to all their business friends.”

Although Ford lost the 2009 race, results show that she did gain more votes compared to her 2001 loss to Rick Baker. With her reformist views that most of the city opposed, she still managed to stack up 47 percent of the votes. That is, of the small percentage that actually voted.

Foster had 24,289 votes. Ford had 21,761 votes. The city of St. Petersburg has 156,478 registered voters. Something does not add up.

The St. Pete Times said that a low voter turnout was already expected for this election, since it was scheduled in an “off year” from state and national elections. According to Supervisor of Elections, Deborah Clark, the turnout would have been higher if St. Pete synched its elections with state and national voting dates.

The city uses this awkward scheduling process to “rid local elections of greasy machine politics” that go hand-in-hand with major national races, according to the Times. However, this also has a lasting effect for voter turnouts in St. Petersburg.

Voter turnout for specific age groups is unknown in this election, but Lehner is proud to exercise his right to be heard.

“Young people think that the decisions being made today don't affect them at all, so they don't care,” he said. “People elected now are the same people who are going to be in power, say, when we graduate college, at which point the young people now might think it matters, but when their opinion really mattered was at election time right now,” Lehner said.

Fiery debate issues teetered until the final ballot was counted this year. Debate topics varied between things like crime control, businesses, Baywalk, the Downtown area and property tax.
One citizen concern was a new stadium for the Tampa Bay Rays and the possibility of St. Petersburg losing its devoted baseball team.

The Tropicana Field matter is now in the hands of Foster, who says he’s not willing to let the team leave the city, according to a Times article. The Ray’s lease is up in 2026 and Foster would like to see them play through it.

Ford said that the stadium issue is not one of the most important issues to be focused on and had planned to sue the Rays if they tried to break their lease before it expired. “We’re one third of the way into that lease agreement. And I think The Trop is just fine,” she said.

The article also states that candidates want the final decision to be up to the citizens, but Foster believed the city would have lost the Rays if Ford was elected.

Lehner thinks that the Rays should stay and play. “I think from an economic point of view, it would be important for the Rays to stay in St. Pete,” he said.

In his acceptance speech at Ferg’s Sports Bar, Foster claimed that he would work to win over the citizens that did not vote for him in the election: “47 percent of voters didn’t agree with me, and I will work to try and earn their respect every day,” he said.

*proper sources have been cited in submitted version of my paper*