Youth Are Awesome, commonly referred to as YAA, is a blog written by youth for youth.
YAA provides the youth of Calgary a place to amplify their voices and perspectives on what is happening around them.
Youth Are Awesome is a program of Youth Central.
Any views or opinions expressed on this blog belong solely to the author and do not represent those of people or organizations that the blog may be associated with, unless explicitly stated. All content is for informational purposes only.
This morning I was listening to the radio station 98.5, when I ran into a very interesting discussion amoung the hosts. Today is Nation Unfriend Day. It is basically a day where on Facebook, you unfriend unnecessary people under these conditions:
1. You hate them
2. You have no idea who they are (why would you add them in the first place?)
3. You never talk to this person
4. Spammers: almost everytime you’re on Facebook, their comments are on =/
5. Negative people: whats the point of being friends with someone who’s always negative about everything?
Photo by Sam Bassett. You can see more of his work here.
Reprinted with permission from Gordon Lewis at Shutterfinger, these short few paragraphs sum up pretty much every photographer out there. Don’t see yourself? Leave a comment and tell us what kind of camera your like an why :]
If you don’t yet have a camera of your own, but are feeling the attraction of Christmas presents coming up, brush up on your options by reading our Perspective article on How to Buy a Camera.
Canon owners
You appreciate the benefits of owning a camera system that leads in cutting-edge digital imaging technology and that offers a wealth of body, lens, and accessory options for every level of photographer, from lowly consumer to top professional. You will switch to Nikon.
Nikon owners
You appreciate the benefits of owning a camera system that leads in cutting-edge digital imaging technology and that offers a wealth of body, lens, and accessory options for every level of photographer, from lowly consumer to top professional. You will switch to Canon.
Sony owners
You believe that Sony’s innovations in consumer electronics and video technology, its leadership in digital imaging chip production, its in-body image stabilization, and its use of Zeiss optics results in a unique design synergy and products of exceptional value-because that’s what it says in the product literature. You also believe in astrology, UFOs and the Easter Bunny.
Pentax owners
You’re the sort of person who would buy a $1,500 DSLR body so your stash of thread-mount, K-mount and M-mount lenses from decades ago (collectively worth $75.00 at a flea market or yard sale) won’t go to waste; either that, or you’ve never heard of a Spotmatic, Pentax LX or Takumar, you just think you look cool sporting a day-glo red camera that takes real pictures. You think people are laughing with you, not at you.
Olympus owners
You’re the sort of person who buys North Korean beer, Peruvian underwear, and French cars, not because you actually like them but because no one else does. When people question your choice of camera system you respond that Olympus images have a certain “soul” and that photographs are what matter, not the camera. You have no friends.
Leica owners
You know that no other camera other than a Hasselblad gains as much instant respect among the cognoscenti as a Leica. Although this relieves the pressure of demonstrating actual photographic prowess, it increases the need to be familiar with the subtle differences in visual signature between an Elmar, Elmarit, Summitar, Summicron, and Summilux. You are either stinking rich, living in your mother’s basement, or one lens purchase away from a divorce.
On Thursday Oct. 28, I went to the Calgary Flames vs. Colorado Avalanches game. This game was Craig Conroy’s 1,000th game and he received a cheque for this milestone. He donated it to a charity organization called Conroy Charities, which funds sports programs for children.
Both teams started on the ice with rigor and force. Both the Flames and Avalanche were pushing against each other, trying to get a goal in. There was an very good power play by the Flames at 13:14 where Hagman performed a powerful slapshot, the first goal for the Flames, straight into the net with no opposition from the goalie Peter Budaj. Assists were done by Mark Giordano and Olli Jokinen. Just a minute after, Avs player Chris Stewart deflected a shot into the flames net, tieing the score to 1-1. He was assisted by Paul Statsny and Milan Hejduk. The two sides battled on, with the Flames constantly going for shots. Near the last quarter of the first period, the Flames went for another goal but Statsny distracted the puck, which was recieved by Stefan Meyers and went to Cory Sarich who assists Tim Jackman and scoring a 2-1 lead with a wrist shot. The Avs make several attempts on goal but cannot tie the game before the 2 period.
In the second period, the Flames took some intense pressure from the Avs as several shots were made on net. Flames forward Matt Stajan made an slap shot on net with assists from Iginla and Bouwmeester, but Budaj successfull blocked it. Avs players Quincey, Hejduk and Duchene all made shots on the Flames, all saved by Karlsson. Colorado made a lot of shots on goal in the 2nd period with two more amazing goals from Chris Stewart at 16:15 and 16:44. Assists were made by O’Reilly, Duchene and Cuminskey. Calgary came out of the second period with a 4-3 lead with another great shot from Jokinen at 18:29 with assists from Bourque and Hagman.
The brokerage system of South Korea was from Japan where the artists are completely protected. Entertainment companies will list out the conditions and wages very clearly before any agreement to reduce the chance of an accident. With this, according to an inside source, South Korea artist’s contracts are harsh to a point that we can’t imagine.
Many people think that only the new artists will be controlled but actually many popular celebrities are also victims of their own entertainment company. When signing a contract, the company will ask every little private detail about your life because they want to know if you have anything in the past that is a red flag. Even things like boy/girl friends, break ups, the company will have to be in control and that makes many artists have no personal life.
A director from Taiwan, China revealed South Korean artists have great respect for their agent, and they dare not to disobey their agent. He said there was once where he had dinner with Korean movie star Jun Ji-hyun, and Jun Ji-hyun didn’t even touch the chopstick until their agent allowed her to start eating.
South Korean artists are also not wealthy in real life. After debut, many artists are asked to sign an unfair contract. According to another insider sources, the effective period of the contract is at least 10 years. After their debut, the artists need to pay a large amount of money to the company, and only after the repayment they are to be able to sign a income-sharing agreement with the company. In the agreement, company will generally get more than 70% of the income. In Hollywood, the big entertainment company will only get 10% and no more than 40% with a new artist.
South Korean artists are all successfully polished, but they are completely different when they are in front of fans and when they are in private. They are very careful with everything and their work load is huge. They also have to put up with the company’s “oppression.” Under many layers of pressure, South Korean artists are like walking on ice.
So, a little game known as Call of Duty: Black Ops (maybe you’ve heard of it) came out last Tuesday, and after playing through all of its main features, I believe I am ready to review it.
Unlike with the Halo franchise, I am relatively new to the CoD series. Therefore, my skills aren’t exactly “godly” (still far better than you, just not so good that you feel the need to bow down and worship me…yet). But a person doesn’t need to be a long-time CoD fan in order to enjoy this game, as long as you’ve played and enjoy FPSs, you will most likely enjoy this game.
Let’s start with the campaign. Is this the best campaign ever? No. but it is the best out of all the Call of Duty games I’ve played. The players are sucked into an intense story where we play as various soldiers from the end days of WWII to the various battles that occurred during the cold war all to unravel a major global conspiracy.
When it comes to the multiplayer, Black Ops doesn’t offer any real innovations. They basically took Modern Warfare 2 (previous game) and removed the things that the players didn’t like, and added a few new things like wage matches (bet CoD currency on your own ability to win) and theater mode (revolutionized by the Halo franchise – watch previous matches from any angle pause, fast-forward, rewind, so on…). In theory, this should be a more polished version of MW2 but that’s really based on preferences (the game requires a little bit of skill now… therefore, a lot of angry “noobs”).
Now let’s talk zombies. The zombie mode is much better; this is not based on preferences (as in, this is not up for discussion). The zombie mode is nothing compared to full zombie games such as Left 4 Dead, but as an add-on to a full game… this is great. Unlike Nazi Zombies from CoD5, this is a lot harder and scarier.
Bottom Line – this game has great graphics, excellent game play. But just like all the previous CoD games… you only do one thing – shoot at stuff. It offers the all the things that made the CoD franchise great, but unfortunately… it offers relatively nothing new. Despite that, the game is highly enjoyable (unless you face me… nothing enjoyable about having your game end every one or two seconds, unless you like that). I give this game a 4/5.
23-year-old Canadian Johnathan Duhamel won the World Series of Poker on Monday Night. He won 8.94 million dollars along with the WSOP winner's bracelet. Courtesy of the Washington Post and photo by Isaac Brekken.
First things first, I am not endorsing gambling of any sort. I am simply celebrating a noteworthy Canadian with a touching story. For this reason, I am not going to talk specifically about his play in the tournament nor provide any videos on his winning play.
Johnathan Duhamel is the subject of our discussions today. He is the first Canadian as well as the first French speaking person to win the World Series of Poker. Having just won the poker tournament and after a slight controversy due to taxation of his winnings, his name is all the buzz today.
His Story
Johnathan Duhamel is representative of the Canadian version of the American dream. Ever since he was two, he was enthralled by hockey and a stubborn poker lover. Those two things encompassed his life. Duhamel worshiped the Montreal Canadiens and followed their everyday game. Several years ago, Duhamel dropped out of college to pursue a low-paying job at a food stand. Later, his passion for poker led him to the online poker sites where he began to hone his skills and make some money. Meanwhile, Duhamel never forgot his love of hockey and would spend nights with buddies watching Montreal Canadien games over beer. For two years, Duhamel’s primary source of income has been from poker tournaments. He spent countless hours studying and playing the game during those pasts years. Eventually, that hard work actually paid off and Duhamel won the world title. In short, from his humble beginnings in a Canadian family and as an aspiring hockey player, Duhamel is now one of the biggest names in the world.
His Success
The World Series of Poker is the biggest poker tournament in the world in terms of prize money. The buy-in to the tournament for most players is a whooping $10,000 dollars and over 7,000 players bought in. Other players enter through satellite tournaments. After advancing successfully from the preliminaries, Duhamel made it to the final table. His aggressive play earned him a spot as the final two. In the ensuing competition, a winning combination of strategy, patience and luck brought him the world title. In fact, he won the last hand and the tournament with a well-played ace high. Now, Duhamel will go down the annals of poker history as an amateur who won it all. He is endowed with the prestigious winner’s bracelet for life. And of course, he claims a $8.94 million prize.
Afterwards
Duhamel celebrated his win Canadian-style in some of the most luxurious hotel suites in Las Vegas. With over 125 friends and family members, he listened to Canadian music, wore a Montreal Canadien jersey, and drank Canadian beer. Despite his win, Duhamel is still fundamentally Canadian. He speaks with enthusiasm about the upcoming hockey games and intends to purchase tickets for home games. Furthermore, since his championship title, Duhamel has donated over $100,000 to a local Montreal Children’s Charity. He states that he intends to compete further and win more titles in poker. We Canadians can only wait with abated with breath for his next achievement on the world stage.
This daring football player, Jason Garza from Driscoll Middle School, took the opposing team by surprise when he walked through the line of scrimmage and dashed away!
Have you heard of Sung ha Jung on YouTube? He is the most marvellous and incredible guitarist throughout Asia. He was born Sept. 2, 1996. He started to play guitar when he was only 3 years old. His incredible ability of playing the guitar so well are moving and touching. I will post two videos that Sung ha playing guitar here. However, if you guys have more interest and more than welcome to YouTube him!! =)
This long weekend, I went up to Edmonton to stay with my sister. She lives about a block off of Whyte Ave, a wonderful avenue bursting with arts and culture. It’s the hub of vibrance in Edmonton, a wonderful spot to shop and go out on the town.
I’ve always felt the equivalent in Calgary was 17th Ave. We love it: we love the cafes, the American Apparel, the little clothing boutiques, the little thrift stores, Western Canada High, the sub stores, the stationary shops, the restaurants and the towering office buildings nearby. But somehow, it isn’t quite as good as Whyte Ave.
What do I think could be better? Well, if we took some tips from Whyte Ave…
More Cute Gift Stores – Small Businesses All the Way!
With Christmas around the corner, I stopped in a gift store called “The Tin Box,” where I spent nearly two hours looking at everything from unique alarm clocks (one that starts rolling around on wheels when it goes off so you have to chase it) to animal-inspired hats. I ended up buying a new stainless steel water bottle and a hockey stick pencil, feeling good that my purchase was supporting a local business. Next door was another gift store, “When Pigs Fly,” where I bought cards done by local artists. I was also tempted by cookie cutters in the shape of bitten ginger bread men, sock monkey dolls and retro fridge magnets. Next to the gift store was another, and two stores down, yet another. If I’d brought more money, I could’ve done all my Christmas shopping for the rest of my life.
With Nenshi, our new mayor, advocating changes to make Calgary more friendly to small businesses, I hope we see an increase in successful local stores.
Whyte Ave at Night - Photo Courtesy of Darren Kirby
More trees- especially with Christmas lights during the Holiday Season
I want Seventeenth to get me in a festive spirit at Christmas. I’d also like it to be more beautiful in the summer- if I go to a restaurant during the summer, it’s so much more enjoyable to eat out on the patio, and if I do, I’d like a beautiful atmosphere. The best loved streets of the world are known for their beauty.
More Stores Open Later
My dad and I were driving back to my sister’s after a concert around midnight, and to our surprise, along with all the bars, there was an all-night cafe and gelato bar open. We stopped and got gelato and I felt inspired by the number of people sitting at the tables and chatting.
Better Transportation
One bus goes up and down Whyte Ave all time, every ten minutes at peak hours. Doesn’t that sound great? 17th Ave has so little parking, it would be great if there was a bus to easily get there. There are some busses going down 17th, but the only time I decided to take one, I had to wait for over half an hour. I still had to take another bus after that, so I was peeved by the time I got home. With our new mayor, Nenshi, committed to improving Calgary Transit, I hope that 17th Ave transportation is dealt with.
A Whyte Ave Street Sale - Photo by Jeff S
Arts and culture often flourish when students make a community their home- Whyte Ave is very close to the University of Alberta and attracts many of its students. They get together at the many bars and cafes, they support the second-hand stores and, as most don’t have cars and live nearby, they give the avenue a pedestrian feel. It’s so much more vibrant to see people walking around, stopping into coffee shops to warm up with some tea, than it is to see people hop out of their cars in a rush. If there were direct transit routes from the U of C and from Mount Royal, I think it would benefit the atmosphere and business profit on 17th. In general, the more people that can get there without a car, the more people are going to be walking around, making an area feel alive.
Here’s to the 17th we know and love, and here’s the the 17th that one day could be.
Photo Credit: Public Speaking Comics by Felicia Slattery
I’m dead serious, I consider workshops to be wonderful opportunities offered by volunteer organizations. You are to able learn and become engaged in very exciting and productive topics that usually raise the awareness of global issues. These presentations have been very useful to me in the past, touching upon the issues of racism, bullying, becoming a mentor, environmental leadership and awareness, the nature of advertisements and becoming an active global citizen. Now I can add public speaking to my wide collection of knowledge! Public speaking is definitely a skill that is particularly useful in today’s world, from speeches given by politicans to hailing a taxi cab in New York, the ability to coherently communicate to “the people” is essential if you want to get a point across.
Whenever I want to become involved in any activity I’ve always hit the library to borrow masses upon masses of books relating to that topic. From break dancing to the manual of how to win at Monopoly, I’m a faster researcher than experiencing the activity hands-on. Which, if you think about, is rather strange for some topics, such as public speaking (and even stranger for break dancing, and for the reading I’ve done, have only accomplished a odd freeze). There are just some things you have to actually experience than be stuck in a corner with your nose in the book wishing you were doing what ever it is you want to be doing.
Like Joel Hilchey. If there was ever a public speaker I would love to imitate, it would be him. An inspirational speaker, I had encountered his energetic and motivating speaking at last years Global Youth Summit, an event that had hosted a bunch of workshops for youths and ended after this amazing man’s speech. He was extremely humorous and engaging, what with juggling rat traps and Seussical accounts, he really knew how to draw in a crowd of youths.
So I’m very excited to be able to attend a two day Facilitation Skills Training! Eight hours each on Saturday and Sunday,for those interested in improving public speaking, leading groups and discussions. This is the Canadian Red Cross’ national facilitation workshop. Used to prepare delegates for their domestic and international roles.”
Hopefully, after this I’ll be better equipped to get involved in the world!
This past weekend, I went to go see Paranormal Activity 2 with some friends. To start off, this movie was the scariest, most terrifying movie I have ever seen, and I have seen a lot of scary movies.
This movie is rated 14A but I believe should be rated 18A. It is not that there is graphic or horrific images or stuff like that, but there is a whole lot of stuff that jumps out at you. The suspense in this movie is also crazy intense!
I found that the first Paranormal Activity movie was not exciting and that there would be no point watching the second one, but I took the chance to watch it, and I am glad that I did, even though I screamed loudly numerous times. I would wait until it comes out onto DVD before seeing the movie, unless you want a big scare.
The movie takes place in a house with the demon spirit haunting the whole family. Near the end, you find out that all the demons are after is the baby. Anyway, I don’t want to give too much away, but Paranormal Activity 2 is a very good movie. I would suggest it to people over the age of 15 so they don’t get too scared. Make sure to check it out!
These are some of famous sayings about happiness and what do you think about happiness? what is happiness to you guys?
Happiness depends upon ourselves. (Aristotle)
Man is the artificer of his own happiness. (Henry David Thoreau)
No man is happy who does not think himself so. (Publilius Syrus)
Seek not happiness too greedily, and be not fearful of happiness. (Lao-tzu)
Happiness makes up in height for what it lacks in length. (Robert Frost)
Happiness is not the reward of virtue but virtue itself. (Baruch Spinoza)
The busy bee has no time for sorrow. (William Blake)
He that is discontented in one place will seldom be happy in another. (Aesop)
Most folks are about as happy as they make up their minds to be. (Abraham Lincoln)
The secret of happiness is to make others believe they are the cause of it. (Al Batt)
Remember that happiness is a way of travel – not a destination. (Roy M. Goodman)
The only cure for grief is action. (George Henry Lewes)
The pursuit of happiness is a most ridiculous phrase; if you pursue happiness you’ll never find it. (C. P. Snow)
The only joy in the world is to begin. (Cesare Pavese)
Waste no fresh tears over old griefs. (Euripides)
I just want to talk about Randy Pausch who was an American professor of computer science and human computer interaction and design at Carnegie Mellon University. One day, he noticed that he had pancreatic cancer in September 2006, and in August 2007, he was given a terminal diagnosis that 3 to 6 months of good health left. However, Pausch overcame that hard time with his positive mind and thinking. Randy Pausch who lived a life withough regrets and didn’t have any feeling left for his life. He lived very happily with family and friends and he knew that how people can get along. That is why he gave an upbeat lecture entitled “The Last Lecture: Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams” at Carnegie Mellon befor he died. This video is one part of the lecture which is an opportunity to you guys to think about your life and your dream.
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I like his quote “Experience is what you get when you don’t get what you want it.” and it becomes my motto now.
This morning I was listening to the radio station 98.5, when I ran into a very interesting discussion amoung the hosts. Today is Nation Unfriend Day. It is basically a day where on Facebook, you unfriend unnecessary people under these conditions:
This past weekend, I went to go see Paranormal Activity 2 with some friends. To start off, this movie was the scariest, most terrifying movie I have ever seen, and I have seen a lot of scary movies.