Breakfast on Golden Pond

Peter Archambault is a senior at NECI (New England Culinary Institute). He is taking an online history class while he finishes up his six month long internship at the Manor On Golden Pond. NECI works in six modules. Instead of going to school for Fall and Summer Semesters--they go to school for six months working in kitchens with chefs and working real cooking lines for the School's restaurant, and then they do an internship for six months. Peter Archambault graduated a year early from High School so his first internship started up just after his 18th birthday. The first internship opportunity he accepted was at the Kennybunkport Inn in Kennebunkport Maine.

After another six month stay at NECI Peter took his 2nd internship at the Manor on Golden Pond. This Manor was an especially convenient opportunity because of its on site housing just a few steps from the kitchen. Peter liked the Manor so much that for his final internship he decided to go back and experience it all over again. One of the only downsides he said was: "Since my chef's name is Peter they had to develop a nickname for me." They took the first syllable of his name and at the manor he is now referred to as "Archie."

The Boy Scouts is where Peter got his first real cooking experience. He used to opt for cooking when he was in the scouts: "I always was the cook, If i cooked I never had to do the dishes." Overtime, Peter became more aware of how to use food and what items go with other food items. He would use this knowledge be creative with school projects. Instead of doing a slide show or presentation for a class he would sometimes find ways to incorporate food: "I needed to research Korea so I made a cucumber Kimchi." Kimchi is a fermented vegetable dish.

Peter's aspirations are to either go back to school to get a Business degree or to work in a butcher shop. One of his passions with food is the deconstruction of animals and meat fabrication. The business degree he might pursue would be if he decides to own his own restaurant: "It would also look good if i were to become an executive chef."

He isn't exactly sure where he will go once his Internship rounds out in April. He plans to migrate back to the Vermont area--Burlington or Montpelier (Where NECI and most of the connections he built back at school sit). All he knows if that one way or another cooking will be in his future.

iReport Critique

OCCUPY D.C: The First video from iReport that I critiqued was called "OccupyDC: Steve Fitzgerald Gives Excellent Activist Speech on Real Economic State." A little bit of a wordy title but basically the idea of the video was Steve Fitzgerald preeches about capitalism and the 1% telling the masses to Rise Up against big business who get bail outs and tax breaks. It was taped October 28th. The scene was set with the speech giver in the forefront line dup against office buildings in Washington D.C. The American flag is waving off the the side and many other protestors can be scene walking around. I think this video is a great example of video storytelling and is very interesting:

• Its interesting because the story is relevant (Occupy Wall Street and Occupy Bulrlington are widely talked about and discussed).
• The visuals keep the viewer interested.
• the audio also is emotional and passionate and keeps the viewers attention.

IS IT NEWS? It is news because it is information regarding a currently talked about event. It is a topic a lot of people are affected by and get directly influanced by. Also, a lot of people keep up with the Occupy strikes and want to be involved with what goes on when they cant make it.
IF I WAS A CNN PRODUCER WOULD I PUT THIS ON AIR? I would definately put this video on the news. It would work very well as an accompnaying song for a story involving Occupy Burlington or any of the Occupy efforts.

COULD I MAKE THIS BETTER?If i was in the right place and time and could tape this ssame speech I dont know If i could do it better. I think the angle and the sound quality is great. The only thing i would do differantly is have Fitzgerald directly adress the camera or break up the video with crowd reactions because it was a lot fof just one person talking.


Bangkok Flooding: In the second video: "Video of Flooding Near Bangok's Grand Palace." is a short video of of the high tide that reached a record high near the Grand Palace in Thailand. This story is a little interesting because it involves the elements which is a theme that gets increasingly popular as the dreaded 2012 approaches.

• The story is interesting because i involves Asia and military forces: "Overnight the Army had constructed an approximately 80 cm high, concrete hump/ramp that contained much of the overflow from reaching the Grand Palace."
• Its also interesting because its high risk and dangerous. It is suspected to do it again.

IS IT NEWS? It is news, but not in the standalone video. It would need some sort of explanation or story to go along with it. It does have an accompanying article but without it the viewer would know exactly what the cause of the water was and where it was.
IF I WAS A CNN PRODUCER WOULD I PUT THIS ON AIR? I would put on the air. I think the coolest thing about iReport is that is allows for citizens from all over the world to report what goes on without having a repoter going tot he scene. I would use it as footage but there would have to be a lead in story and maybe some audio they place over it. It doesnt do a great job as a storytelling tool.
COULD I MAKE THIS BETTER?Any added audio or a way to have some other languages heard in the background would add to the scenery and location of the video. I'd like to see more of a story in the video so any people talking about the floods and how it affects them would be beneficial.


Coal Train: The last video I looked at was "Coal Train in Rockport KY." The quality and view of this video is the only thing that makes it interesting. I like the voice of the woman and the sights of the people on the boat in the video but it wasnt news and it wasnt very interesting.
IS IT NEWS? The Video wasnt really news it was a video of a trian going through a bridge in Kentucky. In short it was a history lesson. If they talked about something that happened with the train recently like the items they just picked up in another sate of a minor incedent it had then that would be news.
IF I WAS A CNN PRODUCER WOULD I PUT THIS ON AIR? The only way I would put this on air was if there was an audio peice to add to the video that had a relevant peice of news.
COULD I MAKE THIS BETTER?Like I said if there was audio playing as the train was crossing or breaking up the video fo the train with other related trains or something that make it more news and less history, then the video would be much more powerful.

Breakfast on Golden Pond IDEA

Consummate comfort 
Memorable dining 
Exemplary service
                                                            -Manor on Golden Pond

The slideshow we plan on preparing for class is going to be called "Breakfast on Golden Pond" We are going to interview a cook at The Manor on Golden Pond in Holderness NH. If you recall the name Golden Pond its because there is a movie named after the Golden Pond lake in Holderness called: "On Golden Pond." The  movie starred Jane Fonda and Katheryn Hepburn.
Like the movie, The Manor on Golden Pond was also named after the pond. Peter Archambault is an intern at the manor and has return for his second nine month long stay, cooking on Golden Pond. The manor is a luxery hotel that has is at the peak of its most popular season. Due to the foilage and out of state leaf peepers that come to visit the manor. 
The hotel's motto is: Consummate comfort. Memorable dining. Exemplary service. We plan to meet with the staff of the restaurant and have an insider look on breakfast at the manor. Peter will give a demonstration on the preparation and atriculation that goes into each meal and afterwards give us a tour to the spacious manor that has won been named number 5 on Forbes magazine's Summer Travel Guide and was featured in NH Let's Go.

Fall Multimedia Slideshow

Slide Galleries and Photo Shows

There are slides sideshows and there are photo galleries. The difference between the two may not be apparent at first. They are both a grouping of pictures with a similar thought of theme in mind.

According to Mark Briggs's Journalism Next:

(A slideshow) refers to a series of images presented with continuity, usually in a flash-based player like a movie (171).

That means a photo gallery is simply a collection of similarly themed photo's in a "next and back" button clicking format. Photo galleries usually have some form of text around the thumbnails while slideshows have information incorporated into the movie with text of audio.

The red outline is the story that accompanies the show.

The First Slideshow I looked at had audio and It was hard to find a simple slideshow without any other media. In the new media world where if you don't keep the audience's attention they keep clicking it is essential to keep the viewer on the website with more than visual appeal.

 On the BBC news website I found an audio slideshow about glaciers: Rivers of ice: Vanishing glaciers. The content of the slideshow was explained above the slideshow in a small blurb explaining the time and people involved int he making of the slideshow.

The pictures in the "Rivers of Ice: Vanishing Glaciers" were of special importance to the slideshow. David Breashears was asked to retake pictures of glaciers that were first shot over eighty years ago. He retraced the steps George Mallory  had taken in 1921 and found the same spots he found to take pictures of the same glacial vistas along thee Himalayas.

The set-up of the slideshow was effective. It took up most of the screen as the viewer scrolled down. No adversisments cluttered the screen and the layout was easy to read and not to in-depth that reading the story above simply restated what was in the slideshow.

In the four minute slideshow was a podcast dirrected by Breashears. He described what he did on his expedition. One cool feature was when he was talking about scale the slideshow seems to interact with his voice as the picture would fade to ones that showed the scale of the mountains. Every picture, I felt like it had a purpose.

I think the audio element added to the telling of a story. Without out the voice to connect it back too the slideshow would feel a bit empty. Whn I was watching the slideshow like a show it was hard to turn away from it. If I did go onto a new tab, the pictures with just so enthralling I had to turn back.

The second slideshow had no audio. Its was on a news website called Reuters and it was on Ukrainian Fashion week. It was a lot like a photo gallery except I couldnt choose how quickly the photos passed. The sound makes a huge impact of how the viewer sees the media. When it has audio it is more engaging and interesting then just a stack of photos to look through. Its like having someone shove an envelope of pictures under your nose and sifting through the pictures at their own speed. The slideshow without audio leaves the viewers bored and lost. 

The four things I did like about the second slideshow I circled in the picture on the right.
1. I liked that there was the option to look at all of the photos at once. On the previous slideshow the viewer could not look at the glacier pictures seperately.
2. The social media integraction was a nice touch. it makes it easy to share with friends and get mor epublicity for the website.
3. There was an option to flick through the pictures faster and kindof make it more into a photo gallery. It didnt stop the slideshow through, the slideshow kept fading in and out but it gives a viewer get a longer look on a photo they liked.
4. Lastly, there was a small sentence at the bottom of every picture thar outlined what was happening in it. The sentence was just nough for the reader to fill in the details of what was going on.

Still, the slideshow without any sound just isnt as engaging as one with an interview or communication. The photo gallery i looked at last was the least like a story. With the "Ukrainian Fashion Show" at least the viewer saw the fashions one after one in a chronilogical order so it seemed cohesive.

The photo gallery I critiqued was found on Yahoo News. It was a collection of albums: "10 Iconic Album Covers" on the side a long description of why each cover is famous.

The effect the photo gallery has on the viewer is almost uninteresting and bland. They are the smae albums were grown up seeing: The Beatles, Michael Jackson, and David Bowie.

There is no element of storytelling. I do like the ability photo galleries have to change the pace of the of the photos that are established.

The next button allows the viewer to either go back or go forward and the experience is designed for each person to go at their own speed. I also like the ability to look at all of the thumbnails and choose whichever one the viewer wants to look into further.

In general, slide shows act as more functioning storytelling tools then photo galleries. Photo galleries are predictable and conform to the same format where as a slide shows is game to more creative methods. I don't feel like I'm seeing a story unfold with the galleries I have visited because it is too static and un-moving. The audio of slide shows add to the show's cohesion and storytelling opportunity. 

Finger on the Pulse: Johnny on the News Podcast

JOHNNY ON THE NEWS.

Photo taken by Christina Cadorette on the "Etruscan Woman" Statue between LAC and Vail.

Johnny on the News is a new band formed by four LSC students. The band is made up Jeff Stevens and Trevor Gross on guitar and back-up vocals, Brian Lacharite on keyboard, and Kaleigh Crowely who sings front and center.

The name of the band was originally a filler name. It was started after Jeff Stevens screamed Here's Johnny during a rehearsal and it stuck: "I originally wanted the band name the news but apparently that's too Huey Lewis for people so we just kind of took The News and Here's Johnny and made it Johnny on the News." keyboard player Brian Lacharite said in an interview

Starting back officially during Family and Alumni weekend at Lyndon State College, Johnny on the News was just an idea in the minds of Brian Lacharite and Trevor Gross's radar screen last spring semester: "We have kind of been brainstorming it all Summer so we just finally made it happen, brought in some of our other friends, and hopefully looking to expand." said Lacharite.

They then recruited the last two members of the group: Sophomore Business major Kaleigh Crowely and Jeff Stevens a Junior Music Business major. "Right around the time that Brian and I were definitely like yeah lets do this, It passed through my mind--who was really going to sing the songs?" Trevor Gross said expressing concern over who would cover the vocal stylings in the songs.

 He goes on to say in the interview that he Kaleigh Crowely had popped up in one of his classes and it turned out she had "an amazing voice" according to Trevor Gross. Jeff Stevens was introduced into the band the same way as Crowely. A similarity shared between all the band members--they have all had a class with Trevor Gross.

The final member of their crew was Christina Cadorette. Trevor Gross had enlisted her to be the band's manager after he had a few classes with Cadorette like the rest of the group had and appeared at a few M.E.I.S.A Meetings.

This new band who hasn't even been together a full month but already played their first live gig on Monday October 10th in ASAC 100 at the Vermont Benefit Bash. Among the cover songs they preformed were: Wilco's You and I and Adele's Someone Like You. 


Before the concert they played one small show at the Lyndon Outing Club where they sang mostly covers and premiered their two original songs: Unfortunate Truth and Man's Best Friend. Their future plans inclue writing more originals and fade out the amounts of cover songs preformed.

Johnny on the News is still looking for a drummer. They have a few people they are audioning but a spot int he group still remains. The band jammed with Ohanga Freddie Losambe on drums at the Vermont Benefit Bash in their rendition of Are You Gunna Be My Girl.


When asked where they would like to see the band in the future guitarist Trevor Gross said: "We have a lot of ideas within the group. We really want to get that line-up full."

In regards to the same question Lacharite piped in: "We'd like to really ramp up playing shows starting local, smaller venues and then kind of branch out into doing regional shows and then eventually do a full-fledged tour kind of across the nation."

Photo taken October 5th by manager Christina Cadorette

Johnny on the News on Facebook: LIKE IT!

LETS TALK ABOUT COMP-EN-SA-TION

ON TOUR WITH JOHNNY AND THE NEWS

Johnny and the News is a new band that just sprung out of the campus population of Lyndon State College. Three Music Business and Industry majors at Lyndon State bounded together after meeting though the community of the major. When the Summer of 2011 ended and the Fall semester began Brian Lacharite, Trevor Gross, and Kaleigh Crowley started up their band their debut beign Family and Alumni weekend at the school. Their first live concert was at the Lyndon Outing club at the end of September; among their setlist was a cover of Someone like you by Adele

Just outside the Lyndon State Campus where the three students met

For mine and Justin Chenette's podcast project we plan on Interviewing the band and seeing what new projects they have going on. They are currently booked to play at the Vermont Relief concert in ASAC 100 on October 10th. Justin and I will have an interview all three of them then sit in on a rehearsal before the concert and tape them on the podcast. Then, we will sit in on their rehearsal and hear them preform live before their big event on the 10th.

PODCASTS

Three Podcast Review

The first podcast I reviewed was called Scene/Unseen with Chris and Jimmy. The idea is that every week one of the co-hosts sees a movie and the other host does not see the movie. They both go to discuss it after it has been viewed by one and the one who sees the movie can help shatter some of the preconceived notion the other one has or they can help go into details the'unseen' host doesn't know about. The Podcast is a lot of fun to listen to, they add a lot of humor and have many clips of scene sound bites that the viewer cant see but make them guess what movie they are listening too. Most of the episodes have a theme. The one I watched had the theme of Hair: Hairspray was viewed and Shampoo was a clip.

The second Podcast I viewed was called Grammar Girl: Quick and Dirty Tips. The last one I viewed was called "When to Capatalize sentences" The podcast seems like it would be boring but the fun examples and the way she describes wha she is doing is educational while being fun. The newest podcasts are put right on her website Grammar Girl. The negatives about her podcasts are the stream of consiousness style of her podcasts that seems to have us stray fromt he point very easily but overall the blogs are easy to listen to without being bored. I also enjoy the vairety of her podcasts from writing tips to sentence tips to grammar and sourcing--everything a writer needs to know.

Chick Chat has one host named Mary Margaret and every week she has different women visitors on the show without revealing last names. They go into details about celebrities sharing opinions and views on celebrities and other pop-culture references. Mary leads to conversations asking questions and fueling the women's opinions. I guess my negative comments would be that there really isn't a theme or point to the podcast other than it is a group of women. They also stay a long time on one topic. Like in the August 1st podcast they talked about Lady Gaga for about 10 minutes. they do bring up new points of lady Gaga that I hadn't known before. Through all of the women's knowledge they do have a lot of relevant things to say about pop culture.