The James Factor

Yikes

2008-01-15T22:19:00.001-08:00

P.s. I just realized that the last time I posted to this blog
was at the beginning of last semester. I know, I really suck at being
consistent with this.

Fear not, I have to have at least ONE post per week this semester because I have to maintain my journal for Improvisation and Theater Games, so I'll be posting most every Tuesday from here on out my thoughts on that class in the form of my weekly journal entry as well as other misc. thoughts I may have on the rest of life's happenings here at USC.

Thoughts on Today's class lineup

2008-01-15T22:15:00.001-08:00

Ok, It is once again the start of a new semester, albeit with a minor
twist, this is my last one... ever... as in, *cue the vision of
squints from The Sandlot* For - ev- VUR!

Both of my (3 hour long) monday classes are PR courses. Advanced PR
and Promotional PR, nothing exciting to report from those as of yet,
first class meetings were devoted to covering the syllabuses and
course goals/objectives/definitions etc.

Today's classes (Tuesday) are my fun classes. I have tap dancing from
12:30 to 2pm and then Theater Games and Improvisation from 4-6. Tap
class was just an intro and getting to know the teacher, whereas my
improv class was something altogether different. I'll share my
thoughts on today's improv class in an exerp from my "class journal"
entry for today's class.

Without further ado... here it is.

Today's class was the first of the semester and proved to be quite
interesting. I expected class to be a bit unconventional – if not
completely off-the-wall. I did not, however, expect anything close to
what transpired in our first meeting. Sitting on the floor, ok that's
nothing new, been there done that. Responding to random roll call with
a spontaneous sound and an accompanying (somewhat less than voluntary)
physical gesture – now that's something new. I was a bit tired during
this class but I think it helped to clear my head of it's innate self-
consciousness and allowed me to turn my brain off and work more
willingly with Trules' rather crazy ice-breaking instructional tactics.

The exploration of gestures segment of class was extremely weird – and
no I cannot think of a more appropriate superlative, it was just plain
weird – but in a good way. Never before in my life have I walked,
stomped, waddled and crept in such an intensely active fashion as I
did today. One thing I did notice about my "spontaneous gestures" is
that I tend to gravitate towards a certain family of gestures and
vocal intonations when put on the spot, hopefully my creativity will
get the better of my self-consciousness before the semester is out. In
closing I'd like to point out that during the course of this class, I
received a better cardio workout than I've received from any number of
activities in the past several years – I'm going to be in damn good
shape when this semester comes to a close.

Okie dokie, that's the jist of my day today and now I'm going to go to
bed because I'm SUPER tired and I really don't want to spend anymore
time typing up this post.

Until we meet again...

James

Well... its back to the old grind

2007-08-24T13:36:00.000-07:00

I just moved back into my apartment this last Wednesday, things have
been going well. Last night my roommate Doug and I destroyed all
comers in 5 games of beer pong - we were completely undefeated.

Tonight i'm working with Traveler at "Salute to Troy" from abut 4pm
till 7pm, then its off to Ryan's bachelor party and then home for a
day to pick up things I forgot.

Hope all is well with everyone.

James

sigh

2007-07-16T22:21:00.001-07:00

ok... I know I fail miserably at updating this thing regularly but
here's a brief update of what's been going on this summer.

Until about 3 weeks ago I've been riding horses regularly at the LA
equestrian center every thursday - I have since put this endeavor on
indefinite hold until the weather cools down.

I took a summer school class with my business partner that started on
June the 21st (oh lord... I really haven't updated this in a while)
and culminated last wednesday. The class was great and has been a
truly helpful tool in starting our business. I finished out the class
with a 97% overall - yay me!!

I've also taken up working at Buy My Bikes again this summer and will
be working there until around the time of August 20th when I return
to school. I have also been working for Maggetti productions on a few
editing projects over the last couple of weeks that have been really
enjoyable as well.

Day after tomorrow, the family + kathryn and Stephen's friend Will
will be leaving for our annual Lake Powell trip. This should prove to
be a wonderful trip (as usual) and I truly look forward to spending
some good quality time wreaking havoc on my body whilst I try to pull
off crazy ariel gyrations of the sort that are meant to be landed as
backflips, but generally culminate in a relatively painful re-
acquaintance with the water. I shall take as many pictures as i an
and post them up here (or at least on facebook with a direct link up
here).

Ok... well that is all for now, as always, if you feel the compulsion
to contact me (i know it can be overwhelming sometimes) my email
address is bezrrk(at)gmail.com. Feel free to send me a long and
convoluted email about anything that pleases you.

~James

the gym

2007-05-16T17:14:00.000-07:00

*Sigh*

I just got back from the gym about 30 minutes ago and let me tell
you, it was a miserable experience!! I haven't worked out in probably
5 months and my body is definitely putting up a fight, apparently it
wants to stay flabby. I've decided that its time to whip this flab
into shape for the summer... I have to prep myself for some serious
Tube wars this year at Powell. I haven't beaten Greg Spencer Jr. in
tube wars since... well... ever I think, but this year will be
different! I am in full tube war training mode!!

brief update

2007-05-06T16:48:00.000-07:00

still in the midst of finals... studying hard of course... more
updates to come following Wednesday of this coming week. I'll tell
you all about Fiesta of the Spanish Horse which I worked at all day
yesterday.

James

Pictures from Marina Del Ray

2007-04-27T20:13:00.000-07:00

Here are a bunch of pictures from our last CU@USC episode along with our afterparty in Marina Del Ray - it was a blast!!

Where has the witty banter gone?

2007-04-26T20:46:00.001-07:00

Alas... I came to a sad realization today; I feel as though my skills
of witty banter have been dulled to the point of non-existence. My
vocabulary seems to have gone flaccid and my ability to construct
coherent, intellectually stimulating sentences has disappeared.

Fortunately, I did not have to come to this realization after being
verbally obliterated by some master of rhetoric (I don't think my ego
could have survived the shame of it)- I simply came to the conclusion
on my own.

This sad prospect may or may not be true, however, it has been so
long since I engaged in a formidable battle of wits that I am fearing
the worst. The razor sharp blade that was my once intellect now feels
to be about as deadly as a sopping wet cotton ball being shot from a
rotting slingshot.

I am in crisis here! I think I'm going to spend the entire summer
reading Shakespeare and trying to regain what I've lost.

If anyone has any suggestions PLEASE -for the love of all that is
humorous and and intelligent in this world- TELL me!! Email
suggestions to bezrrk@gmail.com

Until next time...

James

Marina Del Ray

2007-04-25T22:22:00.000-07:00

Wow... I LOVE being up here at USC!! It's amazing!!

I just got back from a trip to Marina Del Ray with all the executive
producers and some crew members from Trojan Vision to celebrate our
last show of the season. We went to a really great Italian restaurant
right on the beach where EVERYONE in the restaurant sang the song
from the Papa John's Pizza commercial (the one that goes "when the
moon hits her eye, like a big pizza pie... that's ammore") while
toasting glasses of wine - and yes it was even more amazing because
all of us were over 21 (or so we said) so we could join in the
festivities!!!

After dinner we went down on the beach and ran around like crazy
people taking pictures, then everyone made me do backflips off of the
big sand cliff -go figure.

All in all it was an AMAZING day!! I had my last class of the
semester (yay.. only finals left), I had lunch with a friend that
I've known forever from church but haven't hung out with in a long
time, I did some business planning with my partner, I floor directed
for two stupendous shows at trojan vision, and then got to spend the
evening with all my amazing friends :-).

FYI - just a cool bit of info, tonight's CU@USC interview guest was
the owner of Sprinkles Cupcakes, a designer cupcake bakery in beverly
hills. She brought samples for all the crew... OMG... a $4.00 cupcake
sounds insane... and tasted even better, wow. Check them out at

http://www.sprinklescupcakes.com/

alright, its time for me to go shower, I've got sand all over me :-)

Until next time...

James

Last night

2007-04-25T22:07:00.001-07:00

so.. last night my roommates and I watched a movie called "The
Fountain" with Hugh Jackman... it was an "artistic" film, so
naturally it made absolutely no sense, was really emotional, and
looked really cool :-). I'd recommend it to anyone who loves
beautiful cinematography.

To all my adoring fans

2007-04-22T23:00:00.001-07:00

This goes out to all of my adoring fans who sent me emails wondering
where I was when i didn't post after my two days were up...

Things have been insane!! On Wednesday I worked from 5pm-2:30 am on a
term paper and finished it *whew* - glad things are finally winding
down a bit. Still keeping really active on learning MythTV... it's
fascinating. I'll keep everyone posted as to how that goes. Anywho...
its late... so its going to be a short post for tonight.. but I'll be
back.

James

short update

2007-04-18T13:12:00.000-07:00

Ok, the day after I say I'm going to post every day I realize I'm not
going to be able to post actively for the next two days. I have two
big projects I'm working on, both of which are due next Tuesday. I
have to finish both of them by Friday because my weekend is packed.
I'll post up here if I have time.

James

wow... its been a while

2007-04-17T00:51:00.001-07:00

Ok... I know I've neglected my blogging duties for the last well...
*cough*5months*cough* but, do not fear, the James factor is here
(haha.. i know that sounded WAY corny but I just had to say it).

Today was a typical monday for this semester (spring '07 for the
record), I woke up at 10:00am and printed out all of my assignments
for Journalism 201 that I've been putting off doing. I then checked
on AAPL to reaffirm (yet again) that I had indeed lost in excess of
99% of my entire apple options investment - then it was off to class.

Class was boring as usual, we talked about Don Imus and how the world
is going bonkers right now over a minor slip of "nappy headed ho's,"
well, let me correct myself, the WORLD is not going bonkers, but the
politically correct/media crowd are.

It's really a shame to think that it takes a large scale college
massacre to rip everyone's focus away from trampling all over a
person's character and career because he offended some overly
sensitive "minority" groups.

Do keep those students and their families in your prayers, or if you
don't believe in praying (like many people I know) then at least send
some sort of positive vibes in their general direction, they could
use it right now.

Right now it's about quarter to one in the morning and I'm getting
sorta sleepy. I think I'm going to jump in the shower and hit the
sack. Tomorrow I've got to go to 351a and appeal the grade I got on
my mid-term. I'm pretty confident though, I think I'll be able to
walk away with an A on the test (which is saying something because as
of right now I have a C-). Then it's off to the Annenberg Lobby to
participate in a "Dean's open Forum" so I can get my "outside
assignment" credit in journalism 201.

I promise I'm really going to try to keep up with my blog posts on a
daily basis, its like my second quarter new years resolution :-P.

Until we meet again...

James

picking up where I left off

2006-11-05T20:31:00.000-08:00

Ok I'm back from church...

I was going to continue my last post by saying that I set up my
schedule for next semester and it looks pretty good. I'm going to be
taking 4 classes that are 4 units each for a total of 16 (I may add a
2 unit fun course depending on my mood). Here's the kicker though...
I only have class 3 days a week :-). Yeeup... you read correctly, Mon/
Tues/Wed are my in class days and Thursday and Friday are off. I also
talked to Kevin (my roommate) and he's probably going to be moving
out for the spring semester which means I get his parking permit :-D.
Things are looking good. Anywho... I've gotta be off to eat some
dinner. I'll post again soon.... hopefully :-).

James

mm... another nice day

2006-11-05T18:55:00.000-08:00

well folks... today was another relaxing day. I was up till 3am and
slept in till 12:30. I spend the majority of the day continuing to
transfer files from my old computer to my new Macbook Pro :-D and
configuring my preferences. I'm pretty much finshed with the
migration process and from here on out its just enjoying the blazing
speeds of this insane laptop :-).

I just realized that I have to be at church in 10 minutes so I'll
have to cut this post short... but I'll be back on later to continue
telling about my day.

well... I ordered my computer last night

2006-10-30T17:42:00.000-08:00

I am SO excited you have no idea. This computer is going to be so
ridiculously fast. The latest benchmark tests I've been seeing have
rated the low end model of my computer (mine's max'd out of course)
as scoring above a 150 on the xBench. For those of you who don't know
what the xBench test is, it's a benchmarking program used to test the
limits of a systems hardware in all aspects of computing (e.g.
processor/video/memory/hard drive etc). As a comparison to this new
system, my current laptop scored an 8 on the xbench... yes... a
single digit 8, and my custom built crazy desktop computer scored
approximately 50.

Needless to say, I'm going to enjoy having a supercomputer
accompanying me to class everyday ;-).

mmm.... almost through

2006-10-13T12:43:00.000-07:00

well... this week as been TOUGH!! Mid-terms, term papers and all
sorts of stuff has been keeping me up till about 2am every morning.
Thankfully I'm almost through, I have 1 more mid term and one more
paper to write for next week and then things will ease up for another
week or two... and then its crackdown time for finals. Also...
Kathryn and I are celebrating our 2 year anniversary next week!!! How
cool is that... it totally doesn't seem like two years... but at the
same time it feels like a lifetime. Anywho... don't know what else to
write so i'm gonna sign off now. If i think of something later...
you'll see it.

~James

Luck... meh

2006-10-10T14:59:00.000-07:00

Well... I guess the gods of luck sensed an imbalance in the world
with me winning that ipod, they decided to even things up a bit by
having my bike stolen and my cologne bottle explode, dumping half a
bottle of cologne all over the electronics on my desk.

This week has officially resumed its status as a BAD week!

Papers are due, midterms are imminent and on top of it all... i don't
have a bike anymore which is just going to make my schedule harder :-(.

I'm hoping i can find a decent bike on craigslist so the schedule
thing won't be so bad, we'll see how things go.

I do have a bright spot though, I get to see kathryn in a little less
than 2 weeks!! Yay!! We're going to be celebrating our two year
anniversary!! Yes... you read that right... 2 YEARS EVERYBODY!!

some pictures

2006-10-08T15:07:00.000-07:00

here are a couple of pictures from the movie shoot on friday :-). I played a crazy Gothic miscreant... you know... just my type.

I won an iPod!!

2006-10-05T15:02:00.000-07:00

Hahaha... I just got an email today from the USC credit union saying
that I'd won an iPod. Apparently I get to go pick it up next thursday
and have a photo shoot with the other two winners. It's a white 5g
30gb ipod with "fight on" engraved on it. Woo hooo... so much for not
having a good week ;-).

I'm getting bigger!!

2006-10-04T23:04:00.000-07:00

Weighed myself in the locker room today and I've hit 170 :-D.

Woo hoo.... getting rid of that poochy belly ;-).

grades ok so far

2006-10-03T19:10:00.000-07:00

well... i just got the results back from my first term paper in
Natural Hazards, I got a solid B (85%) which is excellent considering
all of my other "smaller" assignments have been A's so far and I only
need a C- to pass the class.

*note for parents and auntie Kare who are surely about to protest at
my acceptance of a C-*
Please remember that I am taking this class "pass/no pass" meaning
that it doesn't touch my GPA, it's only a matter of getting the units.
*end of note*

as for my other classes, well... to be honest i'm not quite sure
where I stand but I'm pretty sure I'm doing well. I had a PR
presentation today and the teacher gave us excellent reviews (our
group was the gold standard).

In other news, my beard is growing long and gangly (quite annoying I
assure you) for Friday's shoot -the hair on my head is looking about
the same- and I've resumed working out (which is positive). I'm up to
167lbs (compared to 150ish when I arrived at SC)... the heaviest I've
ever been in my life :-). No more complaining about emaciated James,
he's bulking up.

nightly super smashbros battles continue to rage till about 1a.m. or
so on a regular basis, along with general techyness and a splash of
hacking :-p

I have yet to decide If I want to participate in this massive GM PR
campaign and live in a chevy aveo for a week with another person, but
I'll be talking to some people about it and making my decision soon.

I was offered a short job doing publicity for a new film, It will
consist of about 8 hours of logistical organizing and publicity
activities and the pay rate suits me so that should be exciting. I'll
keep you all posted as to how things go.

I'm about to leave to go have some dinner and play ultimate frisbee
till about 11pm tonight so i'm going to sign off and get ready.

Laterz,

James

Yes... I'm still alive

2006-10-01T22:29:00.000-07:00

Hello all,

sorry its been so long between updates but you know how it goes...
school/parties/girlfriend/more school = me forgetting that I have a
blog and that people enjoy reading it.

well.. last night was quite exciting; to give you a full run down
would take the better part of the evening (which i do not have) so
I'll summarize by saying there were about 10 of us in the apartment
and the alcohol was flowing freely. What ensued was the craziest beer
can/cup fight you could ever imagine. There were beer cans and red
plastic drink cups flying around our apartment with such speed that
It looked like a battle scene from the droid army attack in Star Wars
Episode 1.
Being that I have rather superb balance and reflexes (even in my
inebriated state) I was able to dodge and deflect most deadly blows,
however i did sustain several nice welts and bruises from the
occasional beer can that penetrated my defenses and connected with my
head. The battle lasted for about 10 minutes at which time we
unanimously called a truce and compared battle wounds.

For the record i must say that I have not for a moment second
guessed my reasoning for not drinking in High School. While it does
make for some truly memorable moments, the after effects are QUITE
miserable - I intend to maintain my course of non- alcoholism (most
of the time) to avoid these miseries.

Tonight I went to the gym for the first time in over a month
(ick.... i hate the first day back) and tortured myself through an
hour-long workout before i felt like i was going to die; no doubt the
result of the lingering effects of the alcohol and my not having
worked out in over a month. I then proceeded to the cafeteria to have
dinner which ended up making me feel even more miserable initially,
but once I forced some food down I felt a little better. From there
it was back on the bike and off to the apartment for a quick shower
and a blog update.

Now I'm about to start on a powerpoint presentation for Tuesday's PR
class and then I'm calling an early night on account of feeling like
a sack of rotten, E. coli ridden spinach. Hope all is well in your
various corners of the world. I promise to try and keep updating more
often... it's just so hard to remember :-(.

lots of love!!!

James

nice weekend

2006-09-24T21:57:00.000-07:00

well... I thought it was about time for a blog update. This weekend
was really nice, it started out not looking like I was going to do
all that much (which to be honest actually sounded nice) but I ended
up deciding to go down and visit Kathryn and her family and to attend
a fundraiser for a short film that's being done by her dad and the
guys i've been working with for the past 2 years. It went really
well, there was great food, great company, and of course I got to
spend the evening/night/all day today with my wonderful girlfriend.

I went to 5p.m. mass this evening with my family and kathryn and then
went home with the fam to have dinner, visit for a while and then jet
back up to school. It was really nice to see the family, (even though
its only been a week since my last visit) I miss them a lot now that
I've been at school for a little over a month.

Also new in the world of james.... JAMES HAS A BIKE!!! wooo hoo... I
can now make it from my apartment to the cafeteria and back and not
have to set aside a full hour to do so (Thanks Dad!!!)

as for the rest of life up here... its still pluggin right along.
Nothing super new or exciting except for loads and loads of
homework... but i guess that's to be expected.

Anyways, Until next post...

James

Dad's 50th Birthday!!

2006-09-18T19:18:00.000-07:00

Well... he's hit the half century mark... I know, isn't it amazing! Hahaha, well I came down via the train on Sunday afternoon and spent the afternoon/evening with my family and Kathryn celebrating at Fisherman's Restaurant on the SC pier. Here are some pics:

USC vs. Nebraska!!

2006-09-18T19:09:00.000-07:00

...some pics from the game and Kathryn's visit :-D enjoy!!

mmmm... a little bit of humor for your day :-)

2006-09-14T20:07:00.000-07:00

This clip needs no explenation... (nor do I believe one is possible). Enjoy!!

Rich Kids....

2006-09-13T22:27:00.000-07:00

Well, I thought I'd been successfully avoiding it, but it was
unavoidable. Tonight as I walked home from the Parkside Diner I saw
several hallmark signs that I am attending the university of spoiled
children. These signs came in the flavors of a souped up infinity G35
coupe (and i mean REALLY souped up), a BMW 760Li (yes the v12 one
that costs over $100,000), two Porsche 911 Carerra 4S's and a BMW M3
SMG convertible, all being driven by students who could not have been
older than me (except for one who looked like he could have been
24-25 ish).

Ah... well... I shant be jealous, after all, I've got my skateboard :-).

New camera!!

2006-09-13T19:47:00.000-07:00

Ok... well I received my new camera today (thanks mom and dad!!!) and
it's really really cool. I've taken some 16:9 videos already and they
look amazing! My first little project is a slideshow of my walk to
school (or in today's case skateboard to school). An interesting
little tidbit of info... the first picture in this slideshow was the
first picture this camera ever took, and on the 1MP setting that i
took all of these pictures on i can fit almost 3000 pictures onto my
camera before my card fills up! Oh, and for the parentals -I took
some pictures of the catholic center that you're always asking
about. Anywhooo... enjoy the slideshow!

Early Morning

2006-09-13T09:37:00.000-07:00

So, This morning I had an early morning (well... early for me at
least) I was up at 8:45am to go get my new camera from CSC. I just
returned and am unpacking it now :-) its REALLY REALLY cool. I'll
start posting pictures as soon as the battery charges. Now its off to
do some last minute homework before i go to class at 12.

Jihad!!!!! (a new form of bio-terror at USC)

2006-09-11T14:56:00.000-07:00

Well, it appears (actually more like smells) that our brothers of
middle eastern decent are taking the holy war to a new level - right
under our noses. In the week or two leading up to this 5th
anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks I have noticed a
distinct increase in the number of middle-eastern men who completely
wreak of body odor. I'm not talking about a whiff or two as they walk
by, oh no, I'm talking about a 30-foot radius zone of gaseous death!
You could seriously slap a bio-hazard label on them and it would
shrivel up and dissolve in about 10 seconds.

Now that we have reached the anniversary of those infamous terror
attacks, it seems that they're once again pulling out all the stops
(though our watering eyes plead with them to put the stops back in)
in an all out bio-terror attack. EVERY single male of middle eastern
decent that I walked past (or had the misfortune to ride the bus
with) today has wreaked to high heaven of body odor. Now, I do not
presume to be so much of a racist as to believe they're all
terrorists who are out to get us... but seriously, this is just too
much.

I really feel the urge to run around spraying them with a super-
soaker 10,000 full of 99 cent Big Lots perfume screaming "Jihad."

miserable day

2006-09-09T21:03:00.000-07:00

Well... apart from being visited by mom and dad, today was completely
miserable. I consciously pushed away the girl I love, thinking/
believing that it will all turn out for the best in the end. I really
hope what I did was right... I feel like crap.

Soooooooo tired!

2006-09-08T12:31:00.000-07:00

Well... class this morning was great as usual, we had some excellent
conversation about media ethics and what should and shouldn't be put
in newspapers. I must say, It is refreshing to have 3 other guys in a
class of about 15 girls... they get way to "politically correct" for
my tastes, the guys bring it back into the "painfully obvious" mode.
Our teacher is great, he provokes many a heated argument just for the
sake of expanding our viewpoints and a few of us (I will include no
names) have become quite adept at pigeonholing him into his own
arguments, forcing him to concede defeat -which I believe he quite
enjoys.

Jumping topics to activity updates - the swelling in my ankle has
subsided to the point where I can walk comfortably again so I'll be
able to resume regular Ultimate Frisbee practices with the team. I
ended up turning down an internship offer from Motive in favor of
pursuing other options (this was highly recommended by my teacher and
the school at large). We are encouraged to have multiple internships
for DIFFERENT companies in order to foster diversity and provide the
optimal conditions for getting hired straight out of college.

I'm debating doing one of these online promotions to get a free Dell
24" HD monitor. One of my friends from downstairs has a roommate who
just received his free monitor in the mail last week, It's
incredible! The catch is you have to complete 6 promotions (netflix
trials etc.) and have one other person complete 6 before you can get
the monitor... and of course to complete these promotions you need a
credit card. I'm still deciding if its worth the trouble, or should I
just go spend the $750 to buy the monitor when I get my new computer.

Things in my "personal" life really suck right now... as you may have
noticed from last nights post. I am really quite hurt by what
happened, I thought things were going great between Kathryn and I,
but apparently I was wrong. It was really nice to have Kathryn as a
pillar in my life -something I could rely on in this constant barrage
of new crazy things that I'm getting up here at USC. I guess she just
needs to move on and see what other guys have to offer. It's really
weird to think of life without her - and even harder (if not
impossible) to imagine life with another girl. I guess It's just one
of life's pains that I'll have to accept and learn from. Now... to
start looking for new girls *attempts putting on game face* - wish me
luck.

Ok... i'm done for now, if you have any specific questions or would
like me to include tidbits on certain things that I'm not regularly
including... just email me and ask me and I'll be sure to talk about it.

Meh....

2006-09-08T00:41:00.000-07:00

Ok... well i was planning on updating tonight... but I'm not really
feeling like it. I do have one announcement though, I am officially
single (again) for the second time in two weeks. I was dumped this
evening. Thankfully I have some caring roommates who gave me a
shoulder to cry on and a beer to drink. More on USC stuff tomorrow.
Good night all.

busy busy busy

2006-09-07T19:31:00.000-07:00

Sorry everyone for not keeping my blog updated over the past few
days, I've been really busy. I'm just sitting down to do some
homework right now so I'll sign back on after it's done and write a
status update. Hope all is well in all of your various corners of the
world.

James

Hmm... A day of ups and downs

2006-08-31T15:35:00.000-07:00

Well, my day didn't start off to hot today, Natural Hazards class is a bit of a pain in the butt (i.e. more reading and assignments than actual interesting concepts), although I should be able to scrape a relatively decent grade nonetheless.

The real interesting stuff came with my PR class. We discussed contemporary PR and ethics. Now, for those of you who know me -which I'm sure all of you do- I am never one to shy away from the opportunity for a heated debate surrounding a topic that I feel strongly about -though I have been known to debate something just for the hell of it. Anyways, as one can imagine, elite institutes of higher learning (unlike UCLA and Notre Dum) are prime forums for such debates.

We had quite the debate -some of which was a tad scary when you think about the fact that many of these people will be influencing the world. However, Fear not! James was there to raise a ruckus.

The debate centered around a story provided to us by Dr. Campbell (who shall be known henceforth as Shannon) which involved a certain tobacco company that spent a large amount of money in a philanthropic way, helping many people who had been recently affected by a natural disaster, providing them with food, shelter, water etc. Here's the catch, that same tobacco company turned around and spent three times... yes... 3x that amount of money to advertise what the had done to the American public. Is that ethical? Well, I won't cover the entire gamut of the debate, but I will say, there were a wide range of responses.

After the debate we moved into ways of determining exactly what ethical practice in PR really meant. The philosophies of three prominent philosophisers (yes i did just say philosophisers), Benedict Spinoza, Michel Foucault (pronounced "Foo-Ko), and Niccolo Machiavelli were featured in this segment.

I believe all three philosophies have their own inherent merit, here are my favorites:

"Men who are governed by reason... will desire for themselves nothing which they do not also desire for the rest of mankind, and consequently, are just, faithful, and honorable in their conduct." - Benedict Spinoza

"Power produces reality and rituals of truth" - Michel Foucault (father of post modernism)

"The harm that men would do to you lays the moral basis for the harm you must do unto them."

- The Ungolden Rule - Machiavelli.

Now, as you can well imagine, there are many facets to each philosophy, so to say that I fully agree with one or another would be lunacy, however, as I said before, they each contain some bit of truth.

I'd like to finish up this ever so brief little post by saying that I absolutely love what I've been studying in PR lately, and a conversation with Shannon today after class cemented my resolve even further. She told me that the most successful PR practitioners have these key traits:

1. Excellent verbal/written communication skills

2. creativity

3. The ability to be analytical

4. are very powerful persuaders

well... I think i fit the bill quite nicely, look out world!

:-)

An Autobiographical look at James

2006-08-30T18:46:00.000-07:00

James White

August 30, 2006

Journalism 190

Autobiography assignment

Oh, goodness, where to begin!! My name is James White,
I’m from San Clemente, CA, I’m a junior here at USC (having
transferred from Saddleback in Mission Viejo, CA) and majoring in PR.
Here’s a brief history of my life.

On February the 18th 1986 I was forcibly propelled from
my mother’s womb by an inept nurse, which I have since found imbued
me with certain – shall we say “adrenaline junky” qualities- but
more on that later. I grew up as a fairly normal kid in a catholic
family, having three younger brothers, an assortment of household
pets, and a TV that (thanks to a certain mother and father who will
remain nameless) was only capable of playing the same few pre-
recorded tapes of old Warner Bro’s cartoons. I will admit, it was a
stark existence -no Power Rangers or Super Nintendo for me – but
books, yes, books were a different story.

As I entered into my fourth year of studies, my mother decided that
it was time to take educational matters into her own hands, it was
then that I started a new chapter in my life –home schooling. I
spent the next four years of my life immersed in that prestigious
world of Birkenstock sandals and potpourri patterned ankle-length
dresses. It was not, however, as painfully like Little House on the
Prairie as it sounds, I was able to utilize the copious amounts of
spare time afforded by such a lifestyle to my advantage. Enter the
adrenaline junky.

I’d have to say, it all started when I was 7 years old. My brothers
and I inherited a trampoline from a kindly neighbor who’s own
children had out-grown its use. Now, this was not your ordinary
trampoline by any standards, oh no, it was a 15-foot wide behemoth,
and a veritable gateway into heaven for four young boys.

The trampoline let loose that inner adrenaline junky that had been
forced upon me at birth and prompted me to start doing crazy things
like martial arts, pyrotechnics, and fabricating lawnmower engine
powered push scooters. Later, it caused me to (though I can’t quite
figure out the connection) enter into the Boy Scouts of America.

At the age of 12, my daily schedule was as fully packed as any modern-
day corporate executive’s could hope to be. By the age of 16, I’d
achieved both my Eagle Scout and a 3rd degree brown belt in adult
tournament level Karate and it was again time for a shift of phase in
life.

I made up my mind that I was going to reintegrate myself into the
social fabric of life by attending a real honest to goodness high
school, which, after some good catholic prayer and thoughtfulness,
ended up being Mater Dei High School in Santa Ana. While I was at
Mater Dei I decided to go against the grain and join the varsity
cheer leading squad -both for the beautiful women, and the chance to
use my gymnastic abilities in a competitive arena. By the time
sophomore year rolled around, I’d helped my squad achieve a national
championship and was completely sick of the 45-minute commute to and
from school every day. I decided it was time for a change and
transferred to San Clemente High School and never looked back.

At San Clemente, I got hooked on video/film production and through
that, sucked into the world of computers and technology. I proceeded
to start my own (unofficial) multimedia company, providing commercial
production, web design and general tech support services to
businesses in and around my area.

When it came time for SAT’s and college applications I once again
decided to go against the grain, opting instead to bypass the
Freshman application process at USC and go to junior college for two
years, after which time I would apply to USC as a transfer student.

During my tenure at junior college, before I was accepted into USC, I
worked for Maggetti Productions on video projects for Volvo, Mazda,
Saleen and Kawasaki. I worked a fulltime job for Toshiba North
America doing technical training modules for their national website,
and worked with Motive Marketing on the campaign for The Chronicles
of Narnia: The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe.

Someday I would love to be a film actor, but chances are I’ll end up
owning my own business and managing investments or something
respectable like that. Through Journalism 190 I hope to gain a larger
perspective on the intricacies of the world of communications - and
meet some really cool people in the process. Thanks for sticking with
me until the end, hopefully it was an enjoyable ride, you now have a
somewhat compressed picture of who James White really is.

Finally going to sleep!!

2006-08-30T01:50:00.000-07:00

Wow, it's 1:40 in the a.m. Who woulda thunk that I, James White,
would have EVER done homework until such an ungodly hour - maybe
browsing ebay, hacking, or im'ing - just not homework ;-). Tomorrow
consists of class from 12-3 and then there's a shindig at our savior
catholic center for new and returning students that starts with mass
at 5pm. The president of the school (who's daughter recently
converted to Catholicism) will be there to do a meet and greet and
hobnob with the best of us ever so cool Catholic folk. Ok, it's time
for me to hit the sac -a time of the day that i've come to look
forward to more than I ever have in my life because of my wonderful
memory foam pad (thanks mom and dad). I love you all and think about
you all the time.

James

IM League Ultimate Frisbee

2006-08-30T00:12:00.000-07:00

Just got in the door from my first Ultimate frisbee practice/game.
Man, I am really out of shape!! It's ok though, I'm not nearly as bad
as some of the people that came out. This is going to be great
cardio, every Tuesday night from 9-11pm I'm gonna be sprinting
headlong up and down the field after a little plastic disk (sounds
almost roman doesn't it?). Hope everyone is well. James out.

Knowing People

2006-08-29T15:35:00.000-07:00

Ok, I'm working on some homework for PR class right now and this girl
comes up to sit next to me and say hi, the catch is, I have no idea
who she is, even though she seems to REALLY know me. I ran into her
once before at the bookstore while buying books and she was waving at
me furiously then like she'd known me for a long time. I feel
terrible not knowing who she is and I really don't want to let her
know that by asking, "uh, how the heck do i know you?" Apparently
from our brief conversation just now, she's in a couple of my
classes, so i'll have to pay attention I guess.

Funny Picture

2005-08-31T22:55:00.000-07:00

...somebody sue this sign company by chance?

My first post (from dashboard no less)

2005-08-31T22:01:00.000-07:00

Hello Everyone,

Welcome to my first Blog, hope you all enjoy random stuff... cuz thats what i'll be posting, hopefully on a semi-regular basis. Aight... well that's about it TTFN ta ta for now :-).

The James Factor

Yikes

Thoughts on Today's class lineup

Well... its back to the old grind

*sigh*

the gym

brief update

Pictures from Marina Del Ray

Where has the witty banter gone?

Marina Del Ray

Last night

To all my adoring fans

short update

wow... its been a while

picking up where I left off

mm... another nice day

well... I ordered my computer last night

mmm.... almost through

Luck... meh

some pictures

I won an iPod!!

I'm getting bigger!!

grades ok so far

Yes... I'm still alive

nice weekend

Dad's 50th Birthday!!

USC vs. Nebraska!!

mmmm... a little bit of humor for your day :-)

Rich Kids....

New camera!!

Early Morning

Jihad!!!!! (a new form of bio-terror at USC)

miserable day

Soooooooo tired!

Meh....

busy busy busy

Hmm... A day of ups and downs

An Autobiographical look at James

Finally going to sleep!!

IM League Ultimate Frisbee

Knowing People

Funny Picture

My first post (from dashboard no less)

sigh