Another young actor gone...

First news story to catch my eye today: Andy Hallett, who was an actor on the show "Angel," passed away from heart failure last night at the young age of 33.

I won't lie: I'm stunned. Sure, he wasn't considered a "popular" star (unless you're a fan of "Angel," which I am), but even despite that, the facts alone are heartwrenching. What really got me was the fact that he'd been battling heart disease for the last 5 years. I had NO idea.

And it's strange. When you hear of a young star's death, the "norm," sad as it is, is that it was a drug or alcohol-related. It seems like rarely does it come up that you hear about actors/actresses dying of a natural disease. But then again, that doesn't stop it from being all the more devastating either.

My thoughts and prayers go out to Andy's family, friends and every "Angel" fan out there who's been affected by this tragic loss. R.I.P. Andy. You will be sorely missed.

The progress continues...slowly

I've been making a bit more headway with my doc as of late. The main issue has been trying to work between my busy schedule and Rob's, just trying to get whatever filming I can in. I'm afraid to even think about the editing I still need to do...

On that note, I feel I'm making a little more progress on my OTHER projects. I know to get info for one of my print stories just by attending tomorrow's student council meeting. And I've sent e-mails to people that I can interview for my other print story/multimedia projects. It's just a matter of hearing back from them for now.

As for securing my other internship... I had another call and e-mail made to the paper back home a couple days ago to let them know I'm still interested. And I have a plan to still try someplace in Fredericton. So, at least that's something.

Get down on the ground! *Zap*

I was reading a story in the Toronto Star today. It turns out 2008 was a slack year for taser use amongst RCMP officers.

And that's really all I need to tell you fact wise. Sure, the story goes on to say specific statistics and such, but the meat of it is the decline in taser use for 2008. Now, in retrospect, this is a good thing to hear. However, it doesn't change MY opinion of whether the police should USE them. And I think they shouldn't.

Yes, it's a bit less lethal than using a gun. Yes, my opinion's slightly biased from hearing and seeing all the fatal stories about tasers. But really, if they pose such a risk to people, why resort to using them? If they so violent/uncooperative, why not restrain them or, at an extreme level, shoot them in the leg or something? I just don't see the point of taking such a risk.

I mean, think about it. You're shooting 50, 000 volts of electricity into a person's body. How can that NOT cause some damage? I think I'd rather take a bullet to the leg or arm than have my nerves fried. My opinion stands. Tasers = bad news. But considering how long they've been around, I doubt the force will be giving them up anytime soon.

Progress report: Still way too much to do.

This documentary's become a lot harder to do than I'd anticipated. Of course, it doesn't help that we're slowly approaching crunch time. And have multiple projects to do at the same time.

Luckily, Friday's trip to the Leg turned out pretty good. It stunk that I couldn't use my tripod, but rules are rules. I was told they get in the way. Annoying, but what can ya do? The interview was short, as I'd expected since Minister Kenny's a busy guy, but I got some good info from him.

Today was pretty busy. A lot of setting up things and e-mailing people to try and get my other projects going. Multitasking may be a myth, but I aim to do it anyway! ...If that makes any sense. lol

As well, I still need to make sure I have another internship set up before we leave. *crosses fingers* Here's hoping I at least get a spot at the paper back home!

Journalism at its worst

I was reading an ABC News story online recently that a friend linked me to. The story had to do with the Mid-Missouri Internet Crimes Task Force urging people to be aware of predators that could stalk kids in the Wii video game, "Animal Crossing - City Folk."

Whew, that was a mouthful. Anyway, moving on. The article goes on to say, according to a representative of the force, that adults shouldn't own the game, thus making it so kids wouldn't be targeted and making it seem like the game's only for kids. ...WRONG!

"Animal Crossing - City Folk" is rated E for Everyone on the ESRB rating scale. EVERYONE. Meaning, anyone of any age can play this game. So, what, adults can't play it because they "might" only be playing it to target kids? That's such a load. Games are meant to be enjoyed by people of all ages. Just because you're over 30 and enjoy playing a seemingly "kiddie" game, doesn't mean you're a predator.

Another major thing is the fact that the article doesn't take into account the Wii's strict friend code system. To play the games with friends, you must always input a code that only they have. Meaning that, you have to KNOW the person to get their code. And as long as parents are monitoring their kids, there's no way this should be a problem. As in, they can make sure their kids aren't getting codes from random people online.

But to really show us that these people didn't do their research, there is also a video to go along with the article. In it, they show an example of an eccentric character they believe may be controlled by someone targeting kids. There's just ONE problem: The character is an NPC (non-playable character, meaning he's computer-controlled) in EVERY Animal Crossing game. If they knew anything about the game, that would have seemed obvious. But it's obvious to ME that someone didn't do ANY research into it before writing the story and making the video.

It just goes to show you that research is valuable, as evident with the comments the article received with people pointing out its flaws. Bad, bad journalism right there...

Workin' 9(:30) to 5(-ish)

So tomorrow's gonna be a busy day for me. I'm heading off to Fredericton on the morning bus to catch the conference at the Leg. Why? 'Cause the MLA/Minister of Bathurst, Brian Kenny, will be there.

I don't personally know him, but Rob does. If you haven't guessed, yes, I'm going there to film and interview Mr. Kenny for my documentary. It's high time I got some major filming (besides Rob) done!

It's funny. My last documentary talked about the broad topic of online social networking. And this one focuses just one person - Rob. Yet, it feels like it's already much tougher to do. Still...it must get done. And I'm hoping and praying that tomorrow pans out nicely.

Fall from grace

So, even though the Nickelodeon Kid's Choice Awards kept his name on the ballot, it looks like Chris Brown has decided to back out of the nominations, due to the fact that he felt "the incident last month has shifted the focus from the music."

For those who don't know, he's facing assault charges against fellow singer/girlfriend Rihanna. If he's convicted, he could face over 4 years in prison.

You know, I applaud his decision to withdraw from the show. Too much of his publicity has been focused on his charges, and if he made this public appearance, the outrage over it would most likely overshadow everything else in the show.

And this whole thing is just sad. I always thought he was a decent singer and seemed respectable and nice. You know, not the type to ever get into a fight or ASSAULT someone. But it looks like this has shown us a part of him we never knew. He's a 19 year old singer. He pretty much had it all. And now, he faces prison. Will his career ever bounce back after this? Hard to say, but if he does go to prison, I sincerely doubt it will. And even if he doesn't, it'll probably be rough going for quite a while.