Journalism Bulletin Board

[Coop]

Good day, everyone.

Here is a thread where people can post their journalistic pieces to Newgrounds, for critique, insight and so forth. It is a place where aspiring journalists can write about current events, historical pieces, obituaries, interviews with prominent members of the Newgrounds community.

No, it's not the NG Mag finally making a comeback... or is it? :P Yes, it would be swell to see that come to the fore once more, but if we were to make something like that, it would be a monthly e-zine that is either hosted on a part of Newgrounds, or sent out to email subscribers via various news posts. As such, we don't have a team put together capable of something like that at present, so let's just leave that as another idea on the back burner for now - after all, that's what the writer's forum has been doing for the past almost 24 hours.

Topics are wide ranging, opinions should be those of the writer themselves, pieces must be your own work, you should not make anything that could just be an elaborate news post (i.e. "Today at school / work...<rant>") and so forth. No prizes are being given out, but critique can be offered, standard BBS rules apply, so that means the focal image to your piece should be well though out and links displayed where possible,to add more depth and credability to the pieces. As liljim did lie about the edit button, please could you check your posts in the form of a news post before presenting them, as we want the highest quality for these pieces, after all.

We're not asking for masses or for you to write about things that do not interest you. That is the difference between professional and amateur journalism - as an amateur, you can choose what you report on, but your resources are limited; professionally, there are resources, photo shoots and the like at your disposal, but an editor that wants you to do a humanitarian piece, so dust off your passport and get your shots, you're off to Sudan for a week :P

Personally, I'd expect pieces on things like local issues, the Newgrounds Community, current affairs / politics and even sport, which is possibly an allergy of most BBSers, but I'm hoping to disprove that.

I might spend an hour or two this evening having a run through a few ideas for this thread and make a piece worthy of submission, so give it a shot and let's see who's got it in them to be a journalist... and who the budding editors out there are, for that matter.

Show us what you've got - the world is a fountain of knowledge, so show us what you make of it. Please feel free to show us what you make of other people's abilities as well.

[Viridis]

Awesome, I'm currently studying Journalism so I should be hanging around here quite often!

[The-Great-One]

At 1/27/10 12:37 PM, Coop83 wrote: interviews with prominent members of the Newgrounds community.

I am the chief editor of The Interviewer Account, where I interview the famous Newgrounds Artists and Members. Each interview is conducted in the easiest format of Q & A. I send the interviewee a list of questions and they answer them, then the interview is posted.

I keep a list of all the Interviews I've done and update a thread whenever a new interview is posted, which I plan to update through this thread with news and such on new interviews.

I would like to keep all interviews through the main Interviewer account because you are allowed more characters in a news post than in a BBS reply. Which makes it easier to post and allows the interviewee enough space to respond to questions.

I am looking for new people to help me out in interviewing other members and artists of Newgrounds, and with this writing forum, that can be done... If you're interested then just send me a PM.

The Interviewer - Main Page

I would of course post any and all links regarding The Interviewer through this thread, or should I re-create my Interviewer thread within the writing forum?

[Coop]

At 1/27/10 01:28 PM, Viridis wrote: Awesome, I'm currently studying Journalism so I should be hanging around here quite often!

Well, it just seemed like too many people were focussing on fiction here. I know that's going to be a big draw, but I wanted to at least try to level the playing field slightly.

At 1/27/10 02:00 PM, The-Great-One wrote: I am the chief editor of The Interviewer Account, where I interview the famous Newgrounds Artists and Members.

It looks good, but it just seems to be a little too linear - especially with the way that the conversation is pushed up to the right of the screen, it seems like people reading it may become easily distracted from the "wall of text". I know there isn't any option to move pictures around on the News Posts or forum posts, but for this purpose, this would be exactly what we could use well.

With how it all looks to be panning out and this thread could be one of the quieter ones on the forum, I would certainly welcome your interviewing to the thread and state that it would be interesting to see more topics explored along these lines in the future. Whether or not they would focus around here remains to be seen, but I am eternally optimistic.

I'd like to just raise some awareness about the first draft of my most recent essay, 'Newgrounds Story', currently available here on my userpage. I'd love for some criticisms and some feedback so I can try to improve it as best as I can. I've labelled it as 'creative non-fiction', as the information there is all raw and true, but it's narrated subjectively by me, the writer.

I may post some notes or a commentary later if enough people are interested. Interestingly, it's not quite as 'complete' as I imagined it, but for the first draft I was concerned with getting down at least the 'basics'... and ended up filling the space available.

If this isn't the sort of thing you were looking for, apoligies, I'll post it elsewhere. I looked through what was intended to be showcased here and figured that it clicked quite well though, so yeah, haha.

I hope you enjoy it. Time taken to read what I have is appreciated as always :)

[Coop]

At 2/14/10 05:22 PM, Scarab wrote: I'd like to just raise some awareness about the first draft of my most recent essay, 'Newgrounds Story', currently available here on my userpage. I'd love for some criticisms and some feedback so I can try to improve it as best as I can. I've labelled it as 'creative non-fiction', as the information there is all raw and true, but it's narrated subjectively by me, the writer.

Wow, that is so epic in the fact that you have documented in minutiae the users that have had a positive effect upon your presence here. That's always good to see, because it shows that there are a lot of people that you would find memorable for the right reasons. I know that the article may well be interspersed with a few users that have been remembered for the wrong reasons, but that just proves human nature - not everyone on here wants to get along with everyone else and nobody is perfect.

I hope you enjoy it. Time taken to read what I have is appreciated as always :)

I did enjoy it - the whole piece was a neat cross section of how your life on Newgrounds thus far has been. Yes, there is a wide gamut of emotions there and that is just what I would expect. Friendships have come and gone, but overall, I'd say that you are wealthier for it.

I've got to finish my journalism piece at some point, since the Baseball season isn't too far away. I've got to write a short article on each of the 30 teams and see if I can come up with predictions for the forthcoming season. I'll let you guys know when I get there.

At 2/17/10 05:44 AM, Coop83 wrote: Wow, that is so epic in the fact that you have documented in minutiae the users that have had a positive effect upon your presence here. That's always good to see, because it shows that there are a lot of people that you would find memorable for the right reasons. I know that the article may well be interspersed with a few users that have been remembered for the wrong reasons, but that just proves human nature - not everyone on here wants to get along with everyone else and nobody is perfect.

I did enjoy it - the whole piece was a neat cross section of how your life on Newgrounds thus far has been. Yes, there is a wide gamut of emotions there and that is just what I would expect. Friendships have come and gone, but overall, I'd say that you are wealthier for it.

I'm glad you enjoyed it, and thanks ever so much for the feedback!

I'm glad that what I put into the essay is satisfactory as a far as making a complete narrative goes. My self-inflicted challenge was to see if I could fill the space allowed in one post, and I narrowly succeeded. While this did limit what I wanted to say to a degree, this wasn't the sort of thing where I wanted to cover everything in great amounts of detail. I may consider making it longer, if only to include some good, relevant users who I feel I may have missed out. I too thought it was important to include the users with a less positive impact; not doing so would've been a bit hypocritical I think. As I admitted, I've not always had a 'good guy' image!

I'm glad you thought it was emotive too, because I meant it to be quite odd in that way, in honesty and to make a point. I've never been 'popular' on NG, but that doesn't mean I can't play about with real-life image - it's another way of testing theories I discovered (I was really concerned with how the first sections would pan out, but I think the theory vs. practice structure works great, and the ideology works too). In a way, it's quite self-reassuring. On another level, I think collectivism is a big theme in what I've got. For example, I didn't need to link each profile mentioned, but knowing that links show up very well on NG, it makes each mention that little more important, at least, I hope.

On that last note, 'Newgrounds Story' is one of the very few pieces of writing where my master copies retain the HTML in the text (see screenshot), because this is a rare example where I've never (yet) planned on showcasing the material offline. It used up more characters doing so, but I think it served a purpose.

I (obviously) think it's quite deep. Egocentrism and images aside, I hope more people on this forum start talking about their own writing more often. I think it's a great way of pushing yourself further.

***

While I don't know very much at all about baseball, I'll be interested in seeing sports topics coming up too, just to see how they go (I'm hopeful, really). Right now, I'm considering putting together a collection of film reviews, so you might see me back with something fresh in this thread soon.

[The-Great-One]

At 1/28/10 09:31 AM, Coop83 wrote: I would certainly welcome your interviewing to the thread and state that it would be interesting to see more topics explored along these lines in the future.

I have moved The Interviewer to it's own personal thread here in the Writing Forum. I am planning other pieces in the future though, something separate from The Interviewer, but just about on the same idea.

[Coop]

Alright, the baseball plan got shelved, so I decided to make a surmise of the NHL Playoffs instead. More of a Blog post than anything, but I think that it's something that will help me write pieces that I might decide to use for a Blogger account or something.

*****

Stanley Cup Playoffs 2010

So, we come to the most exciting part of the Hockey Calendar - after a final Sunday that saw Sidney Crosby and Steven Stamkos tie for 51 Goals, just edging out Alex Ovechkin's 50 for the Maurice Richard Trophy.

Eastern Conference

Washington (1) Vs Montreal (8)
Some raw stats to start with: Washington scored 101 more goals than Montreal, but conceded 10 more. Washington taking their foot off the gas in games where it's a blowout? Possibly. Is it really any surprise that the Caps have five of the top seven players in +/-?

Montreal have ridden the Red Hot goaltending of Jaroslav Halak down the stretch to prepare for this matchup, but can it really prepare you for a playoff series with the most lethal offence in the entire NHL? Halak only has three playoff games experience under his belt and as a result, his career record is 0-1-0. Ovechkin showed that he is capable of big things in the playoffs last year and now he has to deliver, along with the rest of the Washington pack. Keep an eye on Backstrom, as he is shaping up to being Washington's answer to Evgeni Malkin. 101 points is a very admirable total

Not that I'm totally writing Montreal off, but they need to get to Theodore and often, if they are going to avoid being one of the earlier casualties this year. If Theodore gets into a groove, you're not going to stop him. He's not showing the form that he showed in net for the Habs in '01-'04, but he's a pretty good net minder, having put together his second straight 30+ win season for the first time in his career (4 seasons with 30+ wins). Only one shutout might show that he is not the prime goalie that he once was, but he appears to be the number one goalie for the Capitals, heading into the playoff series.

Coop's verdict: Capitals in 5... maybe six if Plekanec steps up his game, but I'm not expecting it.

New Jersey (2) Vs Philadelphia (7)
Marty and Kovy suit up against a team that won three of their last four to narrowly squeak into the playoffs, denying the Rangers in the process. This matchup presents the most one sided regular season pairing, with Philly having taken 5 of 6 (5-1-0) from New Jersey, with only one tilt going to overtime. Could this be an upset? That remains to be seen.

Having some 'celebrity firepower' helps and Kovalchuk certainly provides that, with a point per game in the regular season. Can he translate this to playoff glory? We will have to see, as he only has 4 games playoff experience, so there are variables out there. Zach Parise now has some help with his own scoring, so there is a chance for the Devils to lend Brodeur to add to his 98 playoff wins and 23 playoff shutouts. Perhaps even a Stanley Cup...

But let's not forget the Flyers. After all, they make up half of this matchup and most of the wins this season from the pair.

Richards. Carter. Briere. A good start. Scoring is reasonable easy to come by in Philadelphia (3rd most goals in the East, 10th in the NHL) but then again, there is a massive question mark over the starting goalie(s). Leighton has no playoff experience, Boucher has nothing much for 10 years and Emery is a loose cannon, who blows very hot and cold.

Expecting Boucher to start, we can expect to see quite a series here, that I think could very well go all the way, setting a stage for a gritty team that might have an outside chance of going deep into this year's playoff mix.

Coop's Verdict: Flyers in 7. Expect the Devils to up their game, but key contributions from a deeper Flyers means points from all lines, while Jersey rely on star power.

Buffalo (3) Vs. Boston (6)
The lowest point gainers of the six division winners (100), plus the lowest goal difference (+28) means that Buffalo haven't had too much to cheer this year, their second after the stars pretty much left town wholesale. Only Ryan Miller and Derek Roy remain and Roy's numbers show, by a loss of 10-12 points on his career best. They still miss Briere and Drury (and I think that though Drury will miss the playoffs, he will cry all the way to the bank over that!) The career year for Miller in Wins (41); GAA (2.22) and Sv% (.929) means that Buffalo still have more than a chance against a somewhat beleaguered opponent.

Boston fans are still wanting for the results, after GM Peter Chiarelli traded Phil Kessell for a first round pick. For talented players, even Atlanta got players back when they parted with Kovalchuk, but I digress.

I say beleaguered, as Boston only have two players to limp across the 50 point marker this year (Bergeron; Krejci) and Marco Sturm was the only player with 20+ goals. I know that injuries have taken their toll in Boston this year, but there have been some good points. Tukka Rask was second amongst Rookie Goalies (Jimmie Howard, DET) in wins, with 22. Handy numbers, but will Tim Thomas be making the playoff starts? If he doesn't, expect him to be shown the door in the off season.

Coop's Verdict: Sabres in 5. 2 misfiring offences, but Buffalo has better stats across the board, despite being 2-2-2 against the Bruins this season in regulation. It's Miller time.

Pittsburgh (4) Vs. Ottawa (5)
The pieces have fallen into place again. Is it going to be the Pens' year? Crosby winning a share of the Maurice Richard Trophy and Malkin is back at the right time, to play foil for his teammate. Useful contributions from Ponikarovsky; Gonchar; Staal and Guerin will all be called upon to assist them through this matchup. Fleury may not be as sharp as he had once been, but he is still up there with the better goalies of the NHL. I'll expect his teammates above to spare his blushes with points a plenty.

Ottawa - the perennial under achievers from the Eastern Conference, come April. They always score good points in the regular season and let themselves down badly when it comes to playoff time. Sadly for them, I feel that there isn't much they can do to stop the Pens. They have a reasonable amount of goal scoring ability, with four players to get into the 20+ goal plateau, but it looks like Pascal LeClaire is out of sorts away from Columbus, leaving Brian Elliott to be the probably untested playoff goalie. In either case, neither has been proven, so I feel that both have a point to prove (both may yet get the chance), but the chance will be fleeting.

As we know from February, Crosby is a big game player and he wants another cup, after all. I think that this will be an entertaining series to watch, but at the end of the day, there can only be one winner.

Coop's Verdict: Penguins in 4. Crosby and Malkin will be keeping themselves ticking over nicely en-route to the next round and a more challenging opponent. Prove me wrong, Ottawa, though I think if you do manage this, you will deserve to win the cup. One win and you leave proud, considering your opponents.

[Coop]

Western Conference

San Jose (1) Vs. Colorado (8)
Despite the naysayers from day one writing off the Avalanche, this plucky bunch of youngsters kept coming back and winning matches. A real credit to the team building skills of Greg Sherman and the never say die attitude of new head coach Joe Sacco. Close season acquisitions Craig Anderson, Kyle Quincey, Matt Duchene, Ryan O'Reilly have made a real impact where it was needed, as have the rookies Colorado lead the league with rookie points (166) and coupled with a breakout season for Chris Stewart (28g / 64p) have left them in decent stead.

San Jose, on the other hand were on the receiving end of the new look Colorado on opening night, leaving Denver after losing 5-2. They have rebounded from that and have made a good season from these beginnings. Patrick Marleau finished 4th in goals, with 44 and Evgeni Nabakov should get his 300th career win next term. Thornton, Marleau and Dany Heatley (who appears to have found a home in San Jose, after wandering the NHL wilderness) have all finished with 80+ points and will be expected to up their game for this series.

Will this affect the Avs? They've been told they can't do this all year, so don't expect them to change their game plan. Rookies and inexperienced young players they may be, but if they get a good start in the Shark Tank, this could be one of the most frantic matchups in the first round.

The Sharks have had 12 seasons in the playoffs and have been knocked out in round 1 four times; Round 2 seven times and the finals once. They could be considered an Ottawa Senators of the West, but that might be a little harsh this year.

Though, as an Avalanche fan, I'm just glad to be back in the party.

Coop's Verdict: Sharks in 5 or 6. So long as we win a game, I'll be happy. If we win the series, I'll be over the moon, but I'm not expecting it... this year.

Chicago (2) Vs. Nashville (7)
Riding the trail that has been blazed in the windy city by rising stars Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews, the Blackhawks look to have sorted their woes offensively. They may find that life becomes a little more difficult, without all-star defenceman Brian Campbell, from here on in, but when fellow blue-liner Duncan Keith is second on the team in scoring, they might have some support. Kim Johnsson and Brent Seabrook will log more ice time as a result of the void left by Campbell.

As with various Eastern conference teams, Goaltending is a real question. I'm expecting Antti Niemi to get the nod over Huet, with his play of 5-0-1 through April. His worst streak was 2 losses in a row towards the end of March, but not too much to worry about.

Nashville isn't a surprising sight to see in the playoffs any more, making their fifth appearance of the last six eligible seasons. Pekka Rinne is untested as a number one starter, but should be able to keep his team in the matchup, as he is capable of dealing shutouts (14 in 2 seasons). The main question here is over the offensive capabilities - The Predators only have two 50+ point scorers on their team this year and while injuries may have cost them a few more players at this milestone, in the highly competitive Western Conference, these stats look decidedly average.

The best hope that the Predators have is for the veteran playoff players, such as Arnott and Sullivan to lead the team through into a good style of hockey and hope that sophomore Patrick Hornqvist continues with his breakout play that has helped them this season.

Coop's Verdict: Chicago in 5. I cannot see Rinne holding shut the floodgates for long and the youngsters in Chicago look hungry for the cup. A good strong series should settle their early nerves.

Vancouver (3) Vs. Los Angeles (6)
Gold medal winning goaltender Roberto Luongo will have a lot to say in this series, as will a pretty deep offensive club, which looks very at home with the Sedin twins combining on the final goal of the season for them, as Daniel Sedin made a beautiful little play through his own legs and flicked up over the pad of Miikka Kiprusoff. A fun brand of hockey is being played in Vancouver at present. Don't expect this to change.

Alex Burrows has built upon his scoring from last season and playing alongside Art Ross Trophy winner Henrik and his identical twin Daniel can only help a guy's play with the knowledge of where each other will be on the ice most of the time, they just seem to click. Daniel broke out in '03-'04, while Henrik did one year later. Can we say that he's taken the next step, by adding another 30 points to his career best? Yes. Will this translate to a good playoffs? We shall see - their career bests are only 10 points (4g; 6a) each in 10 games last postseason.

Most playoff teams would kill for a first line centre that could score 75 points, but Ryan Kessler has done it largely from the second line, so there is a depth that makes even players in Pittsburgh and possibly Washington envious. Look out for them

Los Angeles are a team that has had a good season, with some nice surprises from various corners, not least of whom was Jon Quick, with 39 wins and a 2.54 GAA in 72 games with LA. Will the heavy workload of the season, coupled with a lack of playoff experience count against him? In the 3 games so far, Quick is 0-2-1 against the Canucks and it's hard to see how they could make it easier for him in the playoffs. No playoff experience could mean a very hard, but short stint for the young man, but we have seen surprises before and he has shouldered the workload in LA well.

Coop's Verdict: Vancouver in 4 Quick's record means too much pressure on LA forwards to beat arguably one of the best goalies in the NHL at present.

Phoenix (4) Vs. Detroit (5)
Arguable Phoenix's worst nightmare comes true, as a resurgent Red Wings team stormed emphatically into the playoffs on the back of yet another sensational young goalie. Jimmie Howard has been pretty damned good, in spite of the early season woes that Detroit suffered due to a plethora of injuries to their star players.

That said, Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg only combined to miss 10 games this season and finished with admirable, albeit low scoring seasons by their own standards. These young men know what it takes to play playoff hockey and no doubt will be wanting to get their hands on the Cup for the second time in their careers. If Howard fails in net, Chris Osgood knows a thing or two about what needs to be done to earn a Cup, after all.

Could it be classed as an upset if Phoenix loses this series to Detroit? Of course, as Phoenix has been the biggest surprise package this season. (Though the Avs made them work for it early on!) Their play has been good and Don Maloney certainly wheeled and dealt his way to a highly productive trade deadline day.

The main problem that the Coyotes have is that Phoenix have so little playoff experience. Those that already visited the playoffs have failed to perform to any degree of standard and as a result, there is so little there to focus on as positive. But that's not the Phoenix way! Get the crowd behind them and this group of young men will come in and at least give Detroit a good run for their money.

Ilya Bryzgalov represents the most playoff experience for the team and his was two short cameos in '06 and '07 (Combined record 9-5) The interesting statistic is that he boasts 3 shutouts among those nine wins and with 8 on the regular season, he appears to be up for the fight. He raised the bar by 16 wins for his new career high and so the meter moves back in favour of Phoenix...

Coop's Verdict: Detroit in 7... Or perhaps Phoenix in 7. After all, stranger things have happened. There are many variables in this series and as a result, I will look forward to seeing who comes out on top. One side has a lot of playoff experience except the goalie, while one has a never say die attitude and the only player with playoff experience is the goalie thus making them polar opposites. You can never write off Detroit, but with home ice advantage being in Arizona, we could see a different result.

[Birdbeard]

PEN-POWERED FEMINIST CALLS NEWGROUNDERS PIGS

The website, Newgrounds.com, has always been a gathering place for creative minds and ideas. Regardless of criticism, it has taken daring leaps and tested moral boundaries past regular limits, all in the name of creative and satirical freedom. From the underbelly of its mother-creator, Tom Fulp, a thriving community was born and, in no time, the community found its way to the nurturing nipple of Newgrounds.com.

Today, the website is ranked 796th in the world, and hosts over 650 000 visitors per day - many of whom have profiles and belong to the site's forum or its other sub communities.

So, when someone makes the radical claim of calling Newgrounds.com a website that harbours a sexist community and that "can't produce content that is even remotely decent", it had better have good reason.

In fact, 'The College News Network', the propagator of this wickedness, provides no support for its claims at all. But accordingly, the article goes on to insult other peer sharing websites like DeviantArt.com and Youtube.com for the same things.

I believe that if Newgrounds.com desires to host its myriad of content without bias, people should be allowed their opinion of it, but it is a different issue to call its community members 'sexist' 'misogynistic' and 'chauvinist pigs' without proof. One look at Newgrounds.com's BBS rules, which governs the greater part of the site's community, gives any 'n00b' a brief impression of how serious moderators are about upholding them.

Without rules such as these, a website like newgrounds.com, deviantart.com or youtube.com would be down in a day; sued by some pissed off minority who was discriminated because they were not protected by the laws of the site.

Laws. Because that's what website rules are: as much as we hate them, they keep the community alive.

And law number one at newgrounds.com is:
"Using racist, sexist, homophobic or hateful language will earn any user an instant ban regardless."

Next time I'd ask, for the sanctity of the holy internet, and its blessed grail, Newgrounds.com, please do not make false claims without sufficient evidence. Newgrounds.com is a website for sharing ideas, and letting loose mad creations - not an internet forum that fosters hatred.

For those interest in the article in question:
http://bgnews.com/opinion/internet-forum s-often-foster-hatred/

[Birdbeard]

Btw Coop, I read some of what you said (I'm not a very big sports enthusiast) and I really liked it. :) Although I didn't know what you were talking about for the most part...

I guess that's bad considering I'm canadian, eh? O_O

[Coop]

At 4/13/10 03:27 PM, Birdbeard wrote: Btw Coop, I read some of what you said (I'm not a very big sports enthusiast) and I really liked it. :) Although I didn't know what you were talking about for the most part...

I'm glad that you could follow it... I was a little worried about excluding the layman with all of the statistics that I threw into the mix there, but it seemed to get the point across.

I'm hoping to serialise the piece over each round of the playoffs, so there might be more pieces coming along on this topic in the near future.

I guess that's bad considering I'm canadian, eh? O_O

Let's not be stereotypical here - not every Englishman is a cricketer that enjoys tea and crumpets. Granted, I do, but that is entirely beside the point!

[Birdbeard]

Lol.

Did you get a chance to read mine?

[Ravariel]

At 4/14/10 05:22 AM, Coop83 wrote: I'm hoping to serialise the piece over each round of the playoffs, so there might be more pieces coming along on this topic in the near future.

I'd be interested in reading it. It'd be nice to hear an "amateur" impression of the playoffs and how you fair predicting against the pros.

That said, Wings in 6. Sorry, Po-henix, y'aint got the gumption to take out the dynasty (though you have been extremely impressive).

;-P

Let's not be stereotypical here - not every Englishman is a cricketer that enjoys tea and crumpets. Granted, I do, but that is entirely beside the point!

Whaaaat!?

[Ravariel]

At 4/14/10 03:55 PM, Ravariel wrote: That said, Wings in 6. Sorry, Po-henix, y'aint got the gumption to take out the dynasty (though you have been extremely impressive).

;-P

Seems you had it right after all. I shoulda remembered that the wings tend to wait till the last minute to turn on the bullpuckey that they can do.

see wut I did thar?

I've just got to say Coop, as little an interest I have in sports generally, your bits of the NHL games were nicely written. Nice and casual, just the right length, the opinion side feels very genuine, if you catch my drift. Do you do that sort of thing frequently with other sports at all, out of interest?

Birdbeard: it's interesting that you pulled that article out, and the point you made was an interesting one with a fair amount of personal backing. Perhaps you could beef up a similar piece in the future, get another article in there maybe. There are numerous criticisms of Newgrounds around the web from different sorts of people, for instance. While it wouldn't necessarily feed into your overall point, you can mix and match what others have to say.

I'm posting here also to... well, shamelessly plug a short story I'd actually been meaning to edit to put up here for some time. It can be read here, and like I say, it's only ever been mildly workshopped, so I will appreciate any criticism. There's a little bit of info there already, but if anyone's interested I can write a little more in-depth here on some of the references. I wrote it for an assignment, so I've also got a short rationale typed up for it... but anything I put here won't just be a repeat of that.

Thanks in advance, anyone. Again, sorry for not really paying my dues here. If anyone ever wants to me read to anything, not just journalistic in nature or non-fiction, feel free to PM me and I'll try to make some time free for it.

[Coop]

At 8/31/10 11:05 AM, Scarab wrote: I've just got to say Coop, as little an interest I have in sports generally, your bits of the NHL games were nicely written. Nice and casual, just the right length, the opinion side feels very genuine, if you catch my drift. Do you do that sort of thing frequently with other sports at all, out of interest?

It's one of these things that I was actually thinking of doing - getting myself a Blogger account and doing mostly skits on NHL and Baseball, but I've had a lot to say about the Formula 1 this year as well. Sometimes I can be a little extreme, but others, I just tend to make myself a place to give out my feelings on the goings on of the various sports I really enjoy.

At 8/31/10 04:48 PM, Coop83 wrote: It's one of these things that I was actually thinking of doing - getting myself a Blogger account and doing mostly skits on NHL and Baseball, but I've had a lot to say about the Formula 1 this year as well. Sometimes I can be a little extreme, but others, I just tend to make myself a place to give out my feelings on the goings on of the various sports I really enjoy.

That sounds like a good idea, if you can keep the sort of gossiping style and fair laxity across multiple sports. Like you say, as long as you control yourself from going a little over-the-top (although from what I read, you'd probably get a number of hardcore and quasi-hardcore fans interested anyway, if you were to kick this off) you could probably do quite well with it, though it's not really all about 'success' and what-not.

It's a shame I have to use so many weasel words, because I do genuinely think that would be a cool thing to set up. I'm just not a sports fan. The only sport I've ever been able to write extensively on is blitzball. I'm really, really sure we have a decent crowd for this on the BBS though, so keep this place updated, and we might have some more interested readers.

Hello again to all.

I'm just popping in to see if anyone would be interested in my latest mini-project before I sub-retire for a few months for university. It's fifty short film reviews, all of films I enjoy. I have imaginatively titled it... erm, '50 Films I Like'. It's four pages long, but I intend for it to be a quick and easy guide for anyone bored or interested in films (or God forbid, my opinion). It's not brilliantly written on any account. I'm also taking recommendations!

Some fun factz about my list:

- The shortest film is Meshes of the Afternoon, running at fourteen minutes long. It's also the only short film on the list.

- The longest film is La Dolce Vita (174 mins), or the extended (commonly available) version of The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (179 mins).

- The most recent film is Inglourious Basterds (2009).

- The oldest film is Nosferatu (1922). Originally it was Way Down East (1920), but I couldn't see that going down well.

- There are 34 English-language films on the list, and 13 non-English-language films. Koyaanisqatsi has no identifiable dialogue (bar ambience and Hopi chanting as a part of the score, which I don't think counts). Meshes of the Afternoon and Nosferatu are silent, but they are American and German respectively.

- Only 3 (!) women directors are featured: Sofia Coppola, Maya Deren and Kátia Lund. The latter two are credited as co-directors.

Please enjoy!

[Coop]

At 9/21/10 01:01 PM, Scarab wrote: I have imaginatively titled it... erm, '50 Films I Like'.

Well, that's incredible. I wonder if I'd ever have the wherewithal to do that for my book collection, for example? Movies can be fit into pretty small reviews and of course, you've already done a top 50 movies thing.

Music albums, or computer games could be done that way as well, but most people would look at the games and choose the one that they are currently playing through, or the album that they bought last week as their favourite. I should consider giving these a go.

In sports-blog related news, I am considering getting Blogger account and letting people know my thoughts on all things sport. It could work, as a method of venting my impotent fury at the sporting world in general.