Whistle No More?

Have you ever been cited by police twice for whistling?

That's exactly what happened to a man in Maine.

According to a story by the Portland Press Herald Robert Smith, of Westbrook, has been cited by police twice in the past year after businesses complained his whistling was "too loud."

Smith, who whistled in the same place each time, said in the article his whistling - audible from a block away - is "protected by free speech and brings smiles to the faces of people who hear it."

Apparently businesses don't care about that as there have been a few complaints, ultimately leading to the citations. Smith plead "guilty" and made a deal with the court that he could continue whistling but would have to keep moving while doing it.

Really? This is the dumbest thing I've ever heard. I know a constant noise may get annoying but I'd rather it be whistling than a trumpet or something louder and more powerful.

Read the full story

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ENG 417: 'Oscars' Thoughts

Photo: The Oscars/Blogs.IndieWire.com

As any other movie buff out there, I intently watched "The Oscars" Sunday night.

I was pleased overall but wished some of my favorites had won more. First, let me start off with the host, Seth Macfarlane.

As you may or may not know, Macfarlane is the creator of the hit show "Family Guy" and director of the film Ted among other things. This was the first time I'd actually seen him and, to be honest, I was not impressed.

Everything started out okay until Macfarlane did this musical number (I never knew he could sing) with the Gay Men's Chorus of Los Angeles talking about seeing actresses' boobs on the big screen. It was a very weird way to start. 

Then there was this looooooonnnnnnggggg segment with William Shatner where Macfarlane was trying to include elements in the show to make him the "best host ever." The parts included musical and dance numbers with Channing Tatum, Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Daniel Radcliffe, among others. The numbers were pretty cool to see.

Throughout the night, Macfarlane made some pretty eyebrow-raising jokes. One such joke was when he was talking about the film Lincoln and lead actor, Daniel Day-Lewis. Macfarlane talked about how Day-Lewis basically gets inside the head of the characters he portrays and "the only person who got inside Lincoln's head was John Wilkes Booth." I thought that was the lowest joke of the night by Macfarlane. 

In my opinion, Seth Macfarlane was more on the crude side than the sophisticated side "The Oscars" show tends to display.

Now on to the awards.

People always say "The Oscars" are unpredictable. That wasn't really the case Sunday night as most of the general predictions came true. The only real "surprise" of the night to most writers was Ang Lee winning Best Director for Life of Pi, beating out Steven Spielberg (Lincoln) and others for the prize. I, for one, was not surprised (and I picked Lee to win) because he truly did a brilliant job with the movie. I was also really excited for Jennifer Lawrence winning Best Actress in Silver Linings Playbook. She was amazing in that film and deserved to win.

Other than that, there were really no surprises. I knew Argo would win Best Picture. I haven't seen that film but there was a lot of upheaval that Ben Affleck wasn't nominated for Best Director. I think, this helped the film win Best Picture.

Despite that, Life of Pi walked out with the most awards of the evening (four) followed by Argo with three. All in all, it was a good night. Hopefully next year's ceremony will be even better (maybe with a new host too).

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NMM: Imagine Dragons

I'll be honest, I really didn't like the song "It's Time" from Imagine Dragons at first. Partly because local radio stations would play it constantly.

However, after hearing it a few times I love the song. It's a different song from what I'm accustomed to listening to but I like it. I now understand why it has been getting so much airplay on not only local radio stations but across the country. The infectious song basically talks about a person who wants to leave town to pursue his/her career but wants to remain the same person. It's a, sort of, interesting and inspiring song at the same time.

Have a listen!

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Trick Shot For The Ages

Normally I give my "Weekly Salute" to someone fighting for a good cause or the like.

Well, I'm changing it up this week with an amazing half court shot...not by a basketball player but a cheerleader! This video was just posted yesterday and I discovered it on the "SportsCenter" Facebook page. Try to top this!

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An Explosive Celebration

Photo: Unideal.net

Two Kansas brothers were lucky, then not so lucky, then lucky again as they both survived a deadly explosion that destroyed their home.

The duo had just won $75,000 in the lottery and wanted to celebrate. So what do they do? 

They decide to light it up and "raise the roof." That's exactly what they did. 

According to the Wichita Eagle, "one of the brothers went to the kitchen to refuel butane torches they planned to use to light their bongs. He emptied a couple of large cans of butane lighter fluid, leaking butane into the air. The butane vapor reached the pilot light of the furnace and...KA-BOOM!"

KFDL reported that the injured brother's girlfriend rushed him to a local hospital and drove off. He was treated for second degree burns and is in serious but stable condition. The other brother has been arrested on drug charges after telling the cops he had meth and marijuana in the home. There were children in the home at the time as well but there were no reports of injury.

Seriously? Now that $75,000 you just won will help to cover a fraction of the home repairs and medical bills! Way to go idiots!

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ENG 417: Realizing My Writing Skills

“Chris, you won the trip to New York.” Those were the words I’d been waiting to hear.

My friend patted me on my back to congratulate me on a job well done. I heard some small applause circling through the tiny classroom.

That was the moment that changed how I looked at my writing.

It all happened my senior year of high school. I was in an International Relations class with many of my close friends. The first day of class our teacher told us about a contest where the winner would get an all-expenses-paid trip to New York City and Washington, D.C.

The task? To write an essay on the United Nations’ Law of the Sea Treaty. Seems pretty daunting, right? I mean, I’d never heard of this treaty before. It was going to take a lot of hard work to write an essay on something that seemed dry at best. However, I knew I wanted this trip and I was going to do the best job I could to win it.

After a tireless process of writing, I had an inkling I was going to win all along. I don’t know why but it was constantly running through my head.

And that’s, indeed, what happened.

I was excited when I learned I’d won. I found out later that I was the only student from the Triangle-area who’d won the trip. The other students were all from the western part of our state.

I was told I could bring along one of my teachers. I ended up taking my Forensic Science teacher I’d had my junior year. It was both of our first times going to the Big Apple.

On the day of the trip I was a little nervous and excited. We climbed onto the tour bus and started our 14 hour journey to the greatest city in the world.

When we finally got there that night, I was in awe. Our hotel was a couple hundred feet away from the Ed Sullivan Theater, where “Late Show with David Letterman” is filmed. It was fascinating that we had to ride up seven floors in an elevator just to get to the hotel lobby.

This was all new to me.

After we got settled in our rooms, we took a night tour of Times Square. It was everything I had hoped it’d be. The bright lights, the aromas, the sounds of horns honking

And speaking of honking horns. We learned a valuable lesson about walking in the Big Apple. If you jaywalk and a cab comes barreling towards you and the driver honks the horn you better get out of the way. They will not stop for you like most drivers do here in North Carolina.

While in New York we got to go to the United Nations and take a tour. The “finalists” from the chosen winners in the essay contest presented their essays for a chance to win a scholarship. I wasn’t one of the finalists but I enjoyed just being there.

We also did some fun stuff like going to a Broadway show and eating at a Pier in lower Manhattan, among other things. We left New York and went to Washington, D.C. where we toured the U.S. Capitol and even got to see the presidential motorcade leaving the Capitol grounds.

The trip was a blast. I’m so thankful I had the opportunity to go. This essay was the toughest thing I’ve ever had to write, no doubt. But, with the approval from my teacher and being the only local student to receive this honor, I’m much more confident about my writing today.

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NMM: Downtown

I love me some Lady A(ntebellum)!

The trio has released a new track entitled "Downtown" which is a song just as vibrant as the single album artwork. This toe-tapping tune has gotten some airplay on local radio stations and others across the country, I'm sure. "Downtown" should be yet another hit for this highly acclaimed band.

Have a listen!

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McCrory Already Taking Heat

Photo: AP

Just about a month into his first term as governor, Pat McCrory is already making a name for himself.

In the first week of his administration, McCrory gave his staff pay raises for no clear reason. This action drew harsh criticism from all sides, and rightly so.

A couple weeks ago, McCrory unveiled a plan to change the way universities are funded. He said in a News & Observer article that he wants to focus more on careers for graduates and away from academic pursuits “that have no chance of getting people jobs.”

According to the article, McCrory instructed his staff to draft legislation that would alter funding for state universities and community colleges so that it reflects how many people get jobs rather than how many are in class. The change would drastically affect liberal arts programs, such as women and gender studies.

Now, McCrory has caused a stir yet again. The governor is backing a bill in the North Carolina legislature to stop the expansion of Medicaid and block the state from participating in health insurance exchanges, which were created by the Affordable Care Act. He made his stance clear despite calls from physicians to allow the measures to take place.

Of course, this is mainly a partisan politics issue as the Affordable Care Act is a democratic initiative while McCrory is Republican.

The Los Angeles Times recently reported that some GOP governors like John Kasich of Ohio and Jan Brewer of Arizona have embraced Medicaid expansion, if not the exchanges.

Enough of the mumbo jumbo, now my take...

I, for one, am not at all pleased with Gov. McCrory. No it's not because he's a Republican and I'm a Democrat. It's not all about the politics as some people believe it to be. I was interested to see what McCrory would do. I fell victim to his claim about "working across the aisle" and so on.

Now, I've found out he's just like them all; maybe even worse.

Read more here: http://www.newsobserver.com/2013/01/29/2641893/mccrorys-call-to-revamp-higher.html#storylink=cpy

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ENG 417: IOC Drops Wrestling

Photo: Ryan Pierse/Getty Images

International Olympic Committee (IOC) leaders dropped wrestling from the 2020 Olympic program Tuesday.

The move means that one of the oldest sports in modern Olympic history (dating back to the first modern Olympics in Athens in 1896) has been given the boot.

"This is a process of renewing and renovating the program for the Olympics," IOC spokesman Mark Adams said in an Associated Press article. "In the view of the executive board, this was the best program for the Olympic Games in 2020. It's not a case of what's wrong with wrestling, it is what's right with the 25 core sports."

According to Adams, the decision was made by secret ballot over several rounds. Among the other choices were modern pentathlon, taekwondo and field hockey, according to officials.

The AP says the board voted based on a report by the IOC Program Commission which included stats on television ratings, ticket sales, anti-doping policy and global participation. The report didn't make any explicit conclusions nor did it rank the sports in any fashion. The AP also said that the "final decision by the 15-member board was also subject to political, emotional and sentimental factors."

According to the AP, wrestling featured 344 athletes competing in 11 medal events in freestyle and seven in Greco-Roman style at the London Olympics. Now, the sport will join seven others in reapplying for inclusion into the program, although it's unlikely the sport will be reinstated.

"Today's decision is not final," Adams said. "The session is sovereign and the session will make the final decision."

Honestly, I was shocked by this. It particularly hit home with me because I have a few friends who wrestled in high school and who are involved with it in college. I was also surprised since the modern pentathlon has come under a lot of scutiny, yet it was retained. That was partly because it received a lot of support from a few IOC leaders and, thus, was kept on the program.

The pentathlon combines fencing, horse riding, swimming, running and shooting. It's a very demanding olympic sport and one that I, personally, don't like to watch. 

It'll be interesting to see what happens with this as there will surely be a lot of upset athletes and fans.

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20,000!

This is awesome: I hit 20,000 pageviews on my blog today! It's amazing how I went from 0 readers in 2008 to over 1,000 per month now. And it's all thanks to YOU! You guys have emailed, shared, Facebooked, Tweeted and Instagrammed my blog and its stories. For that I'm very grateful!

Don't worry, there are still many more New Music Mondays, Oops Awards and opinions to come!

Thanks again!

Chris White

P.S. You can check out my latest New Music Monday post here.

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NMM: Joel Crouse

Joel Crouse is an up and coming country music artist who's new single, "If You Want Some," was just released this past week on iTunes.

The 20-year-old Crouse has already accomplished many things young artists dream of doing. He wrote his first song at age 14, started a band when he was 15, graduated high school at 16 and was signed to a record deal soon after his 19th birthday. He's opened for a plethora of top-notch acts including Toby Keith, Darius Rucker, Rodney Atkins, Sara Evans and The Goo Goo Dolls.

He says that he gets the love of music, especially country music, from his grandfather who lived on and off with his family throughout his childhood. During that time, Crouse was introduced to music from the likes of Merle Haggard, Johnny Cash and Waylon Jennings, just to name a few. He also grew to love the 70s classic rock styles of Lynyrd Skynyrd, The Eagles and Fleetwood Mac.

His new single is great and will definitely get some radio play. Looking forward to hearing more from him in the future.

Here's an acoustic version of "If You Want Some" performed for 92.5 WXTU in Philadelphia.

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ENG 417: The Chant

Photo: AP

The Blue Devils handed N.C. State its third straight conference loss last night at Cameron Indoor Stadium in Durham. But that is not the prevailing storyline today.

After the game, word spread that some of the "Cameron Crazies" started to chant something, well, disgusting at the Wolfpack's Tyler Lewis.

Apparently it all started when a fan-made sign saying "past your bedtime" was displayed on the jumbotron. Fans (mainly the Crazies) started chanting that. However, multiple sources have confirmed that some of the students did indeed chant "how's your grandma" to Lewis, whose grandmother died last week.

One of those sources was Lewis' father, Rick. He told the News & Observer that some of the students threw in the "grandma" chant along with "past your bedtime." 

In addition to him, some of the N.C. State players responded. Richard Howell said on Twitter, "Duke fans like to be tough in da gym but where the toughness go when you walkout the gym? He lost his grandma and y'all chant that? Cowards."

Duke officials are trying to get to the bottom of this to find out what really went on.

This was disgusting, no doubt, but what upset me even more was the response I received for simply reporting what I saw and heard.

One of my Facebook friends (who's a Duke fan and who shall remain nameless) commented on the post and asked me to "please stop slandering Duke."

For the record, that post was written by one of my other Facebook friends with his understanding of what happened. I was shocked so sharing it on my page was the quickest thing to do at that time.

If anything the words were libelous since they were written. But here's a little lesson in defamation for you: with libel and slander you must have malicious intent, the statements must be false and the statements must cause the victimized party to experience some damage (socially or emotionally). In this case, every one who wrote about this didn't necessarily have malicious intent nor were their comments 100% false.

Honestly, I'm sick and tired of being the only one called out. That's what journalists do: report interesting stories. At first I thought this wasn't true but it appears to be. That makes it worth reporting.

If this doesn't stop I will start unfriending people who do this sort of thing to me. It's unnecessary and I don't appreciate comments like that.

I have lost all respect for Duke fans.

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Lights Lights Baby

Photo: Twitter/@VanillaIce

Robert Van Winkle, better known as Vanilla Ice, left his mark on our society with his 1990 hit "Ice Ice Baby." Now he's trying to do the same with something new: lighting.

That's right. The former rapper has created his own line of chandeliers in conjunction with Capitol Lighting.

I have to say, the chandeliers are pretty nice. The description on Capitol Lighting's website reads:

"The transitional design and unique silk shades with crystal detail make the collection truly an original, just like Vanilla Ice himself."

But, if you want one of these, you'll have to pay a hefty price. The chandeliers range from $1,495 to $1,870.

I gave this an Oops Award because I thought it was pretty funny. I've seen rappers come out with clothing or fragrance lines but I've never seen rappers come out with their own lighting collections! 

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NMM: Finding Favour

Photo: Premier Productions/Finding Favour

Finding Favour is a band from south Georgia and is comprised of Blake NeeSmith, Dustin Daniels, Josh Duckworth and Allen Dukes. The group's debut single, "Slip On By," is a beautiful song that is already getting airtime on the radio (as it should).

The song was written by band members after Neesmith's conversations with his grandfather where he was told to not let the blessings in his life slip by. This song is one of those infectious tunes that's sure to stick in your head.

Have a listen!

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