Elyse's Blog

Wrap-Up

2007-04-30T10:52:00.000-07:00

The 11th Annual PRISM Awards in L.A. were awesome! The event took place at the Beverly Hills Hotel in the Crystal Ballroom, and I cannot believe how beautiful everything was. The entire building is pink on the outside and had a very “old Hollywood” feel to it.

I ended up running the green screen room, so I got to meet a lot of cool celebrities including:

The PRISM Awards were truly a one-of-a-kind experience, and it’s something I will never forget.

Click HERE for the list of winners.

Update

2007-04-15T20:56:00.000-07:00

So that post I made a few weeks ago about possibly finding a townhouse in Fairfax...nix it.

That whole business didn't end up following through. It really was a major disappointment because it seemed so perfect at the time. For a while, my roomates and I weren't sure if we were going to find anything else.

But all of that is over now because we found something even better. We signed our lease yesterday and we all got our own sets of keys today :-)

I absolutely LOVE this townhouse. It's located in Centreville and it's part of the Sully Station II community. Click HERE for more information.

The townhouse is gorgeous. I'll be posting pictures some time in the near future.

In the meantime, there's still a lot more to be done. I have absolutlely no furniture! I'll be searching all over the place for (cheap but decent) furniture. I'll probably be looking at:

Ikea
Target
Bombay

for newer furniture, and:

Craigslist
Yesterday's Rose

for some hand-me-downs. Wish me luck!

April Showers Bring May Flowers...and then Some

2007-04-15T19:42:00.000-07:00

What is with this crazy weather? All weekend it's been rainy, cold and windy. It's about time that some spring weather starts kicking in again...and stays around.

It was such a tease to go from beatiful and sunny weather two weeks ago, to nasty and depressing flood warnings and wind advisories.

Meteorologist Doug Hill from the WJLA Weather Center said normal temperatures for this time of the year are usually in the mid to upper 60s. That was definitely not the case for this past weekend, nor will it be for the next few days.

Weather.com predicts that Monday will have a high of 48 degrees and a low of 36 degrees.

We've had such unstable weather this past year, and it's really scary to think what next year could bring.

Check out this story I read on MSNBC.com about global warming and national security. This is SCARY stuff. Our country needs to start addressing this issue immediately.

Whatcha Gonna Do When They Come For You?

2007-04-08T21:22:00.000-07:00

The GMU Police Blotter has got to be one of my favorite links off the George Mason University website. Every now and then it's fun to look at what people have been in getting in trouble for. Sounds terrible, I know, but once you read it you'll know what I'm talking about.

Plenty of people I know have their own issues with the GMU Police. Some say Mason cops are on a power trip. Others say they enjoy getting innocent people in trouble because they have nothing better to do with their time.

Take a look at the link and decide for yourself.

Los Angeles Trip a.k.a. The Spring Break I Never Had

2007-04-08T15:16:00.000-07:00

It's official. I'll be in Los Angeles in less than TWO WEEKS for this year's PRISM Awards, which are scheduled for Tuesday, April 24.

Annualy presented by the Entertainment Industries Council, the PRISM Awards are designed to recognize the accurate depiction of health and social issues in feature film, television, video, comic book, music entertainment and interactive media. These issues include:

drug, alchohol and tobacco use and addiction
mental health issues including depression, bipolar disorder and schizophrenia

I bought a nonrefundable plane ticket this past Thursday, so there's really no more of a choice in the matter--which is fine by me :-) I'll be flying into LAX the Saturday before the event, which will give me that afternoon and evening, all day Sunday and some of Monday for free time. The awards will be held that Tuesday, and then I fly back into Dulles on Wednesday evening.

I was told to expect working about an 18-hour work day on the day of the event. Comfortable (but stylish) shoes are, of course, a MUST. Craziness is to be expected, but I cannot wait!

No need to say anything

2007-04-01T21:40:00.000-07:00

Read.

Guess what...

2007-04-01T21:31:00.000-07:00

I think we may have found a townhouse! Nothing is 100% definite YET, but I'm pretty sure we found one.

The entire process of searching for a place to live has been exhausting and frustrating, to say the least. I'm glad it's almost over.

The townhouse is located in Fairfax and the community it's in is called Fair Ridge. My roomates and I are really excited about this place for so many reasons:

It's listed at a good price
There are 4 decent-sized bedrooms
It has two spacious living areas
It's extremely close to Fair Oaks Mall
The area is served by the Fairfax Connector and the Metro
We have access to a community pool

I cannot wait to move off campus and start decorating :-) The one drawback is that it's a little bit on the older side. I'm not too worried about that though because I know my roomates and I will still be able to make the townhouse a nice and cozy environment.

Check out some of the pictures...

Blogging About a Blog

2007-04-01T20:50:00.000-07:00

This past week was really productive at the Entertainment Industries Council. I started a new project in which I'll be keep an EIC blog.

It's still a work in progress, but click HERE for the link.

Brian Dyak, president and CEO of EIC was really excited about the project. I met with him on Wednesday to go over what he would like to see in the blog. Basically, he wants to use the EIC blog as a tool for dialogue. Because the entertainment industry plays a major role in shaping our culture, Brian wants our blog to show how EIC is contributing to the entertainment industry.

I plan on incorporating video clips of PRISM nominees through YouTube, photos from our events, and many links to informational pages and EIC partners.

The techniques I've been using in Comm 361 have been very handy. I've learned so much about online writing in such a short amount of time. It's really cool to demonstrate the things I've learned in this class into a real-life project.

Daily Show Addresses Viacom-YouTube Suit

2007-03-26T13:49:00.000-07:00

You gotta love The Daily Show :-)

Media Bistro

2007-03-25T20:05:00.000-07:00

If there's one thing anyone should do while looking for a job in the field of journalism, it's to sign up for a membership at Media Bistro.

One of my associates at the Entertainment Industries Council was kind enough to let me use his account for the meantime while I look for a job for after I graduate. I definitely plan on getting a membership of my own because Media Bistro is also a great resource for freelance writers.

Some of the cool things you do with Media Bistro are:

Search for journalism jobs (writing, editing, publishing, etc.) throughout major U.S. cities
Sign up for career-building courses and seminars
Search the freelance market
Learn how to pitch winning ideas and become a freelance writer
Know the Ins and Outs of interviews

Here's what Media Bistro is all about, straight from the horse's mouth (ie: on the About Us Page, ha):

"Mediabistro.com is dedicated to anyone who creates or
works with content, or who is a non-creative professional working in a
content/creative industry. That includes editors, writers, producers, graphic designers, book publishers, and others in industries including magazines, television, film, radio, newspapers, book publishing, online media, advertising, PR, and design.

Our mission is to provide opportunities to meet, share
resources, become informed of job opportunities and interesting projects and news, improve career skills, and showcase your work."

The Search Has Begun

2007-03-25T17:11:00.000-07:00

Today was quite overwhelming. I ended up driving all over northern Virginia to find a new place to live and I've realized that this is a very stressful process. This is the first time I've ever searched for housing and it's a pretty nerve-wracking thing.

Me and my future roomates' goal is to have a place by May 1st because GMU housing only lasts until the middle of May. This doesn't leave us much time. Some of our requirements include:

Four bedrooms
Near a metro or bus stop
No more than $2400 per month

So far we've looked at houses and townhouses. There doesn't seem to be any apartments with four bedrooms, so this somewhat limits our choices. So far we've looked around Fairfax, Vienna, Reston and Alexandria.

The main source we've been using for housing information is Craigslist. While this does seem to provide the largest amount of postings, the postings come and go very quickly.

This week I plan on looking at the Washington Post classifieds and the City Paper for more information. I'm keeping my fingers crossed!

Try This!

2007-03-18T19:34:00.000-07:00

I actually ventured out of my comfort zone yesterday and decided to cook something for myself. I figured I should probably get used to that since I won't be able to depend on the Johnson Center and SUB I for food very much longer.

Allen gave me a recipe for fideo, which is basically Spanish spaghetti. All the ingredients were pretty cheap and it was really easy to make.

Here's the recipe...

Bring a two and a half cups of water to a boil. Add bouillon or vegetable stock

In another pan, sauté green peppers and onions on medium heat with a little olive oil. Let them get nice and translucent, even a little browned.

Add in finely chopped garlic, let cook for a couple more minutes.

Add in finely chopped jalapeño half. (Don’t stand over the stove while this is cooking, it will make you cough.) Stir in for about a minute.

Put the fideo pasta in with the onions, garlic, pepper, green pepper and stir. Turn up the heat a little bit. The noodles should start getting brown. This adds to the prettiness of the dish while providing the pasta with varied texture.

Once most of the noodles are browned add a chopped up tomato and stir.

Pour the hot stock or bouillon mixture into the pan with the fideo noodles. Bring to a simmer within the pan. No need to cover, at this point the noodles will absorb a lot of the moisture. Don’t let it boil, just bubble.

Let the fideo cook until most of the liquid is gone, stirring occasionally.

Serve with cilantro and a dollop of sour cream, if you like.

That's all it takes. Pretty good stuff if you ask me.

My So-Called Spring Break

2007-03-13T06:31:00.000-07:00

So it’s finally spring break. Unfortunately, it doesn’t feel like it though because I have so much work to do.

On top of looking for a job, I also have to catch up with a lot of school work.

For my online journalism class I plan on re-doing the entire look of my website. I’m very excited about this because I have a really cool idea (but you’ll have to wait and see!). All I can say is that I will be using Photoshop to execute the design.

I also have to work on my media kit for Eng 410, my professional writing class. During my time off I’ll be working on an industry backgrounder, a recommendation report, two biographies and a memorandum for my fictional organic coffee shop, Aphrodisiacs.

Even though I have time off from my internship at EIC, I still have a big project to work on. I pitched a story last week about a woman I met at Picture This! I need to get in touch with her so I can start writing the story and sending it out on spec to publications.

And finally, I have a midterm in Comm 380, media criticism, the Thursday that classes start again. It shouldn’t be too difficult, but I need to set aside some time to look over the material.

It would be an understatement to say, "I’m overwhelmed." But in a way this is good for me because I work better under pressure. I just have to keep reminding myself, "Graduation in May, graduation in May, graduation in May…"

Workshops

2007-03-04T20:23:00.000-08:00

So I finally went to my two STAR Lab workshops for class.

The first workshop I went to was Photoshop II. Here, I learned about layers and how they work within the program. I also learned how to flatten an image. My instructor explained that flattening an image takes all of the layers and makes them into one image, thus making that single layer a background layer. Flattening an image is beneficial because it creates a smaller file to work with.

I also learned how to work with selection tools like the rectangular marquee, elliptical marquee, polygonal lasso, magnetic lasso and the magic wand. I also learned some general selection key commands to help maneuver around the program more quickly.

The second workshop I attended was Flash I. I had never worked with this program before but I learned a lot of the basics. The instructor talked about keyframes and basic animation. During the workshop we learned how to animate our names, and make a boat float across the screen.

From going to these workshops, I basically learned that the only way to get around these programs is through trial and error. Luckily I have access to Photoshop outside of the STAR lab. I've already started playing around with it a little bit but it's kind of overwhelming since there's so much you can do.

As for Flash, it seems a lot easier than Photoshop. I'm sure with a few visits to the STAR lab I can have some cool animation on my website.

Picture This!

2007-03-04T18:06:00.000-08:00

This week with the Entertainment Industries Council was really exciting. We had our Picture This! event on Wednesday at the National Association of Broadcasters in D.C., which focused on people with intellectual disabilities.

The event was held in partnership with Special Olympics and was hosted by actress and Special Olympics Board Member Vanessa Williams. Over 40 experts in the field were in attendance.

There was also a panel of writers and producers from the entertainment industry including:

Andi Bushnell - Supervising Producer/Writer, Criminal Minds
Sue Castle - Executive Producer, PBS Series - In the Mix
Maria Macina - Producer, Guiding Light
Rosemary Rodriguez - Director, Without a Trace

The goal of the meeting was to discuss concerns, eliminate stereotypes and identify ways of changing on-screen depictions of people with intellectual disabilities through roundtable discussions. These ideas were then brought to the panel of writers as a way to communicate firsthand with people from Hollywood.

Clips from Williams' new movie, My Brother, were also shown at the meeting. Williams stars as a mother dying of tuberculosis who is desperately trying to get her two sons, Isaiah and intellectually disabled James, adopted together.

My job throughout the event was to be a recorder for one of the tables. With my notes, and the notes from the other interns, EIC will put together a Picture This! publication highlighting the top three issues about intellectual disabilities to come out of this event. The table I sat at had some very interesting people like:

Tim Shriver - Chairman of the Board of Special Olympics (and brother of Maria Shriver)
Blair Williamson - Actor with an intellectual disability
Neil Romano - Member of the President's Committee for People With Intellectual Disabilities
Anthony Lover - Director of My Brother

It's crazy how many notes I took. I'm really excited about this because I'll hopefully be able to get more publishing credit under my belt when this is all finished. I look forward to writing a story about this event for EIC.

Cafe Citron is the Place to Go

2007-02-25T20:45:00.000-08:00

This weekend I went with some friends to Café Citron, one of my favorite restaurants in D.C.

Located in Dupont Circle, Café Citron is always bursting with Latin/International/Euro beats. The bright yellow, orange and pink walls of the restaurant have a beautiful contrast with the room’s dim lighting. There’s also cushioned seating, beautiful tapestries hanging from the walls, and strange decorations like plastic mannequins and sensuous paintings.

The menu is mostly comprised of Latin American dishes. Everything I’ve eaten there is absolutely delicious and it’s all decently priced. My favorite item is definitely the fried plantains.

Café Citron also has a really good drink menu. The mojitos are a favorite among customers.

Every Monday night has Flamenco dancers, every Tuesday night has live Latin jazz and every Wednesday night has complementary Salsa lessons.

So, if you’re looking for a fun place to go that has a lively atmosphere and great food, then Café Citron is the place to go.

Audacity

2007-02-25T14:20:00.000-08:00

Two representatives from the IRC gave our class a tutorial on the program Audacity this past Thursday. The program seems like it would be a great tool to use for my final project and I’m really excited about using it.

Audacity is free audio software that is good for sound editing and podcasting. It is compatible with WAV, AIFF, AU, IRCAM, MP3 and OGG files.

During our class we used microphones to record a sample sound clip. We then learned how to edit the clips by cutting, copying and pasting certain portions of the clips into different places.

One great thing about Audacity is that is has multi-track mixing. The program also has the ability to make precise adjustments to the audio's speed, while maintaining pitch, in order to synchronize it with video, or to have it run for a specific length of time.

This program will definitely come in handy for me some time in the near future. It’s fast, it’s easy, and I highly recommend it.

Pan's Labyrinth

2007-02-18T17:57:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I went to the movies and saw “Pan’s Labyrinth.” I thought the film was absolutely incredible. Writer/director Guillermo del Toro did an amazing job with crafting this dark and twisted, yet beautiful fairy tale for adults.

The story takes place in fascist Spain in 1944 and is about a young bookish girl, Ofelia, who travels with her pregnant mother, Carmen, to live with her mother’s new husband, the sadistic Capitán Vidal. Upon arriving at Vidal’s mansion, Ophelia comes across a stone labyrinth that is presided over by a mythical faun.

The faun tells Ofelia she is the lost princess of a legend and that she must complete three life-threatening tasks to regain her kingdom and be reunited with her grieving father.

I loved Ofelia’s Alice-like approach to the creatures she encountered. Also, as a viewer it was so easy to get pulled into this movie. After a while, I didn’t even notice the subtitles on the screen.

One of the best parts is when Ofelia is trying to escape from a pale, skeletal creature that has eyes in the palms of its hands. No doubt, this was the creepiest monster that I’ve seen in a film for a long time. I was thoroughly impressed with the originality of it.

Although this film had a lot of violence and brutality, there was always a reason for it. There were no gratuitous blood shots, which I appreciated.

This film definitely deserves recognition and I hope to see it do well at this year’s Oscars.

New iPod+iTunes Commercial

2007-02-17T13:06:00.000-08:00

After seeing the new iPod+iTunes commercial about a dozen times on television, I decided to do some research. I couldn’t help myself, considering the song in the commercial was so damn catchy.

I found out the song is called “Flathead” and it’s by the Scottish indie rock band, the Fratellis. You can see the commercial here, or find out more about the band at their official Web site, http://www.thefratellis.com/.

The single is an infectiously upbeat and toe-tapping kind of song that’ll be stuck in your head for the rest of the day. Lead singer and guitarist, Jon Fratelli, fronts the band with swanky, assertive vocals and boomslap rhythms, alongside bassist Barry Fratelli and drummer Mince Fratelli.

The Fratellis’ upcoming album, Costello Music, which features “Flathead,” is due to come out March 12, 2007.

I’m definitely going to keep an eye on this band and I look forward to hearing more from them.

Adventures On Capitol Hill

2007-02-11T17:32:00.000-08:00

As part of my internship with the Entertainment Industries Council, I got to attend the 10th Annual PRISM Awards Showcase on Capitol Hill this past Wednesday. It was a pretty major event for the organization and I was glad to be a part of it.

The Showcase highlighted the winning and nominated clips from the 10th Annual PRISM Awards TV show, which took place in Los Angeles last spring. The event was a chance for government officials to see the good works the entertainment industry has been doing through accurate depictions of mental health, substance abuse, addiction and recovery in feature films, television and music.

New EIC board member, Melissa Rivers, hosted the event. Never in a million years did I think I would be in the same room as her. I was surprised by how petite she was in person. I guess the camera really does lie, hehe.

It was cool to see how everything came together so smoothly. Ever since I started with EIC at the beginning of January, I've been working with everyone at the organization to bring this event to life. Some of the projects I took part in were:

planning and organizing the RSVP list (which had over 200 people!)
putting together press kits by drafting out several press releases
writing out Melissa Rivers' itinerary for her visit to Washington, D.C.
contacting media circuits to publicize the event

So far it's been quite an experience. I can't wait to see what's up next.

Obama Barack's My World

2007-02-06T07:17:00.000-08:00

Last Friday Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) came to speak at George Mason University. I hadn’t seen the Johnson Center packed with that many people since last year’s hype over the Final Four. The event was made possible because of the collaboration between Students for Barack Obama—a small Facebook group turned nationwide political movement—and Mason’s College Democrats.

In an article from the Broadside, Tobin Van Ostern, deputy director of Students for Barack Obama said that the senator was never scheduled to speak at any other college campus. It’s pretty exciting to know that Mason was selected as the first university for him to make an appearance. Without a doubt, GMU has made history in nationwide politics.

Though nothing has been made official, Obama’s speech was a strong indication that he has intentions of running for president in 2008—and there’s no doubt that he has a strong following. Before Obama’s appearance at the rally, several warm-up speakers shared with the crowd that students from all over the country had come to Mason to hear the Illinois senator speak.

For the most part, Obama kept his speech pretty generalized in the sense that he didn’t get into specifics on certain issues. But that doesn’t mean that what he said wasn’t motivating. The hopeful mentality of Yes We Can—a catchphrase that was repeated several times by Obama and the crowd—was an ongoing theme throughout his speech.

It’s clear that this man is a natural crowd pleaser. In my opinion, the high point of Sen. Obama’s speech happened after he quoted Dr. Martin Luther King in saying, “The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice.”

And in his own words, the Illinois senator concluded his speech by saying, “And if you grab that arc, I have absolutely no doubt that regardless of what happens in this presidential year, in this campaign, America will transform itself.”