“Pump Leads Police to Pull Job Offer” headlined the local section of the Boston Globe today. The article, written by Shelley Murphy, trails the tribulations of a criminal justice student who was offered a job as a police officer and had his offer revoked on the count that he wears an insulin pump. The young man filed a discrimination complaint, and is trying to fight his way onto the staff.
The second article was on the election for a new city councilman after the death of their beloved James M. Kelly, who died earlier this year due to brain cancer. The adored politician held office for 23 years without ever coming close to being voted out. The next article was titled “Dog Lover’s Lambaste Lawmakers for Considering Ban on Pitt Bulls” by Lisa Wangsness, and centered on the hundred fifty people who showed up to a state house fighting for the breed. The breed has a negative reputation for being bred to fight but veterinarians and animal behavior specialists say that any dog will act the way it is taught by its owner, and proposed the idea that the breed should not be banned yet rather the owners should take responsibility for the actions of their dog. The low amount of crime stories and large minority population, gives a hint that Boston might actually be a nice place to live, highly cultural, with a population that cares about political issues. Unlike Miami, there are no stories about politicians with Cuban drug links, and no permanent heat waves. On the other hand it seems like a pretty cold yet comfortable place to live.
Monday, May 14, 2007
Saturday, May 12, 2007
The Voice
The Village Voice April 18-24
The Village Voice is a weekly arts oriented tabloid. It came to my surprise that there was not one article on the recent events that took place in Virginia Tech, the story that to this day still headlines our daily newspapers. So, what is it that makes this paper different? Why, in the current local and national turmoil, does the Voice choose Elliot Gould, a 70’s hit actor from Brooklyn, to be its cover story?
The Goulden Age, written by J. Hoberman senior film critic for The Village Voice since 1988, closely trailed the life of actor Elliot Gould. The article is filled with strong and meaningless details right besides each other like how he met his ex wife Barbara Streisand “in the cast of the 1962 musical I Can Get it for You Wholesale [in which] (he stared in the show, she stole it).” Yet the article does answer the five basic journalistic questions. Who? Elliot Goldstein. What? He is a prominent Jewish actor/psych patient with a long and arduous life. When? Took the seventies specifically by charge. Where? Born in Brooklyn, N.Y. and now lives in L.A. Why? Through the details in the article, his life was interesting enough dealing with anti-Semitism and his neurosis to write a cover story on.
And still, with all of that I have yet to answer as to why, in the current local and national turmoil, does the Voice choose Elliot Gould to be its cover story? The Voice is an arts oriented newspaper, the gruesome events that occurred in Virginia Tech University or even the young Columbia Journalism student from Hamilton Heights, is not exactly what the liberal readers of the Voice are interested in. And if they are they can get those stories anywhere and everywhere else.
The Voice has sections exhibiting almost every aspect of New York City culture. Including theater, art, dance, books, eats, bars, film, music, and several pages on Asian call girls. The voice appeals to the vibrant, lively, liberal, drunken, apathetic, New Yorker who is looking for a good laugh and a good time.
The quality of the paper is strong for those who will want to read it, but in comparison with papers like the New York Times, there is not much of a comparison to make other than the fact that the ink gets on your fingers if you hold it for too long. The New York Times can enrich your knowledge of the world, while also zoning into the local aspects of the news whereas the Voice will not really focus on news at all, at least not what the people at the New York Times would call news. There is a severe difference in the papers’ frame of reference.
The article titled “New York’s Most Obnoxious Lawyer: Do we have to pick just one? Kenny Heller won’t admit it, but he could make a case for the title if he hadn’t been disbarred –for obnoxious behavior.” written by Sean Gardiner, depicts Kenny Heller almost as a caricature. The story was a seven-page rant following the seventy seven year old man who was the first lawyer to be disbarred for being uncontrollably obnoxious. Instead of a one-page story on him, the length of it actually helps you to grow almost an attachment to the cantankerous character, who gets arrested for not sharing his files after being disbarred, and like him by the end of the article. The picture for the opening page of the article shows an angry Heller (with a look as if with desire to beat the photographer) in the hands of distraught police officers. His baldhead, thick glasses, suspenders holding his pants at the height of his naval, and expression create almost a cartoon character of the angry old man, fitting the article perfectly.
When first looking through the paper the article that caught my eye was “I Live on Seaman After Cumming” by Maria Altman. For an older generation I feel that a raunchy title like this would either be looked down upon or misunderstood. The Washington Heights intersection is a center point of ridicule for those who live in the neighborhood, and just funny enough for a short article to make you smile after reading about a 9/11 worker whose foot was crushed under a six-ton steel beam. The two articles kind of balanced each other out one drove down a depressive road and the other a kind of nonsensical one. Either article alone would have taken away from the standards of this paper.
I would have to say, the sections that changed my views on this paper were those on current theater, art shows, and bars. The article titled “For Those About to Mock-Rock” by Eliza Bent is about a performance arts group called Banana Bag & Bodice who create and present spectacular (sometimes free) shows in New York, San Francisco and Dublin. In this show they mimic a rock group, and actually learned how to play instruments and orchestrate the music for their show. There is another article about El Museo del Barrio, which has an art exhibit on Los Desaparecidos who were tortured and killed in Latin America. As I went on through the paper I liked it more and more the paper possesses the power of culture, its philosophy must be to bring out the good in New York City, rather than shaming it down with articles about shootings in the Bronx and rapists in Hamilton Heights.
The Village Voice is a weekly arts oriented tabloid. It came to my surprise that there was not one article on the recent events that took place in Virginia Tech, the story that to this day still headlines our daily newspapers. So, what is it that makes this paper different? Why, in the current local and national turmoil, does the Voice choose Elliot Gould, a 70’s hit actor from Brooklyn, to be its cover story?
The Goulden Age, written by J. Hoberman senior film critic for The Village Voice since 1988, closely trailed the life of actor Elliot Gould. The article is filled with strong and meaningless details right besides each other like how he met his ex wife Barbara Streisand “in the cast of the 1962 musical I Can Get it for You Wholesale [in which] (he stared in the show, she stole it).” Yet the article does answer the five basic journalistic questions. Who? Elliot Goldstein. What? He is a prominent Jewish actor/psych patient with a long and arduous life. When? Took the seventies specifically by charge. Where? Born in Brooklyn, N.Y. and now lives in L.A. Why? Through the details in the article, his life was interesting enough dealing with anti-Semitism and his neurosis to write a cover story on.
And still, with all of that I have yet to answer as to why, in the current local and national turmoil, does the Voice choose Elliot Gould to be its cover story? The Voice is an arts oriented newspaper, the gruesome events that occurred in Virginia Tech University or even the young Columbia Journalism student from Hamilton Heights, is not exactly what the liberal readers of the Voice are interested in. And if they are they can get those stories anywhere and everywhere else.
The Voice has sections exhibiting almost every aspect of New York City culture. Including theater, art, dance, books, eats, bars, film, music, and several pages on Asian call girls. The voice appeals to the vibrant, lively, liberal, drunken, apathetic, New Yorker who is looking for a good laugh and a good time.
The quality of the paper is strong for those who will want to read it, but in comparison with papers like the New York Times, there is not much of a comparison to make other than the fact that the ink gets on your fingers if you hold it for too long. The New York Times can enrich your knowledge of the world, while also zoning into the local aspects of the news whereas the Voice will not really focus on news at all, at least not what the people at the New York Times would call news. There is a severe difference in the papers’ frame of reference.
The article titled “New York’s Most Obnoxious Lawyer: Do we have to pick just one? Kenny Heller won’t admit it, but he could make a case for the title if he hadn’t been disbarred –for obnoxious behavior.” written by Sean Gardiner, depicts Kenny Heller almost as a caricature. The story was a seven-page rant following the seventy seven year old man who was the first lawyer to be disbarred for being uncontrollably obnoxious. Instead of a one-page story on him, the length of it actually helps you to grow almost an attachment to the cantankerous character, who gets arrested for not sharing his files after being disbarred, and like him by the end of the article. The picture for the opening page of the article shows an angry Heller (with a look as if with desire to beat the photographer) in the hands of distraught police officers. His baldhead, thick glasses, suspenders holding his pants at the height of his naval, and expression create almost a cartoon character of the angry old man, fitting the article perfectly.
When first looking through the paper the article that caught my eye was “I Live on Seaman After Cumming” by Maria Altman. For an older generation I feel that a raunchy title like this would either be looked down upon or misunderstood. The Washington Heights intersection is a center point of ridicule for those who live in the neighborhood, and just funny enough for a short article to make you smile after reading about a 9/11 worker whose foot was crushed under a six-ton steel beam. The two articles kind of balanced each other out one drove down a depressive road and the other a kind of nonsensical one. Either article alone would have taken away from the standards of this paper.
I would have to say, the sections that changed my views on this paper were those on current theater, art shows, and bars. The article titled “For Those About to Mock-Rock” by Eliza Bent is about a performance arts group called Banana Bag & Bodice who create and present spectacular (sometimes free) shows in New York, San Francisco and Dublin. In this show they mimic a rock group, and actually learned how to play instruments and orchestrate the music for their show. There is another article about El Museo del Barrio, which has an art exhibit on Los Desaparecidos who were tortured and killed in Latin America. As I went on through the paper I liked it more and more the paper possesses the power of culture, its philosophy must be to bring out the good in New York City, rather than shaming it down with articles about shootings in the Bronx and rapists in Hamilton Heights.
Advanced Obituary
Phil Nurse, stand up trainer to Welterweight UFC Champion Belt holder Georges St. Pierre, died _____________________________________ in ___________________. He taught Muay Thai Kickboxing which is the national sport of Thailand, also known as The Science of Eight Limbs, in which two fighters strategically use their fists, knees, shins, and elbows to crush through their opponents. _______________________ _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________.
At the WAT gym, WAT directly translates to temple, Mr. Nurse trained the now former welterweight UFC Champion Belt holder Georges St. Pierre, who was knocked out by the lucky and well prepared Matt Serra. Georges St. Pierre had been training with Mr. Nurse in order to broaden his horizons from the very brutal stand up martial art of Kyokoshin, to the equally brutal martial art of Muay Thai. Mr. Nurse was well known for training Champion fighters in all categories in Muay Thai to the extent of several professional Mixed Martial Art fighters including Ray Longo, Georges St. Pierre and Ali the Pride of Egypt.
But his pride is in training his professional Muay Thai Fighters including Sean Hines, Derrick Riddick, Caleb Archer, Stanley Pradel, Luke L., Joe Sampieri, Jamie Gold, and Mike McKee who all fought under the WAT, Nurse’s world-renowned gym. Caleb Archer holds the welterweight Northwestern National Belt, along with a WKA National Championship Belt. Sean Hines won the Middleweight International Professional Championship Muay Thai Belt.
“Phil was the first person to ever train me, I would not be a champion if it wasn’t for him. He taught me how to use his unorthodox techniques and brought me to my first championship belt” said Stanley Pradel, senior student and professional Thai Boxer as he reminisced the unique bond between a fighter and his trainer. “Although he no longer competes he is still a champion, his legacy lives on through us” said Caleb Archer, an actor turned Thai Boxer. He met Nurse at the age of nine, when Nurse came backstage to congratulate him on his performance as Simba in the Broadway production of “The Lion King.” Caleb soon began his training, and started competing at the age of eleven. He is now preparing for his first UFC fight, if he fights on schedule he will be the youngest competitor to ever compete in the UFC. He also stated “I’m so happy I met Phil, my life wouldn’t be what it is if it weren’t for him leaving England and teaching here.”
After breaking his arm in a championship bout, unable to work and unable to fight, Nurse came to New York City to “find himself”. The manager at Gleason’s gym in Brooklyn liked what he saw Nurse doing on a bag. It was something they had never seen before. So he allowed Phil to begin teaching classes in Muay Thai. He moved on with a small group of fighters to World Gym, and later to Crunch Gym. Soon enough he was able to open his own gym, where his fighters could compete under the name WAT. It quickly became a lucrative business that flourished from a small group of fighters that he trained intensely, later becoming his professional fighters.
Although having retired several years ago because of the broken arm, Phil Nurse is a living legend in England, having defeated every champion in several weight divisions.
Nurse won his first tournament in 1981 where he defeated a young Russian man in the second round of the finals receiving the British Thai Boxing Championship lightweight belt. He received national recognition for this having been his very first tournament style competition. He continued competing regularly in the British Thai Boxing Championships moving up in the weight classes and winning the lightweight, light welterweight, and welterweight championship belts over the course of several years. When competing in the Sitnarong International Muay Thai Association championship he came across a fighter by the name of Adam Guild, who in Nurse’s opinion gave him the best five rounds of his life. Within the first two minutes of the first round both fighters had shed blood. And by the end of the third round both fighters were limping to the center of the ring. At the end of the bout, Nurse had won on points, but had felt as if he were defeated when was in recovery for about six months. In 1991 he won the Sitnarong International Muay Thai Association Best British and European Champion and Fighter 1981-1991 belt. Which became his most prized and valuable possession.
Phil Nurse began his Muay Thai training at the age of seventeen in England. His trainer Master Sken “helped [him] to develop from a scared young boy to a championship fighter.” During the first few years of training, Nurse admired a young fighter by the name of Vinny, a young undefeated champion on his way to Muay Thai greatness. Vinny, had won his first five fights and Nurse remembers watching every one of them in awe of this young man. Master Sken had set up Nurse’s second fight to be against Vinny without telling him until he was ready in the ring. Then reassured Nurse that he wouldn’t, put him up to fight if he didn’t think he could win. Nurse now uses those same words to inspire his fighters. He ended up losing that fight on points, but about a year later fought Vinny again and won.
As a young boy, Nurse’s parents did not know what to expect from the lazy small figured young man. They knew he was intelligent but he did not do very well in school since he would leave school early every day to play soccer. His parents would have thought him to become a famous soccer player because he was very talented as a young man. At the age of sixteen he began a vocational school to become a mechanic, which he used as his profession throughout his Thai Boxing career before coming to New York. He worked at an auto repair shop directly across the street from the gym where he began his training. After a few months of Thai Boxing he fell in love with the sport and left soccer for his playtime.
Phil Nurse was born on April 22, 1961. Was unmarried and fathered no children because he wanted to live as a bachelor until the day he died, although his love interest Crystal Vagnier acted as his wife and kept his bachelor tendencies under tight wraps. Nurse’s eldest brother’s son graduated from the University of Cambridge having studied medicine and continues his graduate studies there. Nurse’s older sister died in a car accident, and he and his parents cared for the two daughters she left behind for several years.
Phil Nurse the Muay Thai champion, the trainer of champions in the Science of Eight Limbs, left a significant mark in the world of martial arts. Not only having mastered Muay Thai but being one of the first to bring it to the United States. But having the special ability to help others develop their talents and become champions.
At the WAT gym, WAT directly translates to temple, Mr. Nurse trained the now former welterweight UFC Champion Belt holder Georges St. Pierre, who was knocked out by the lucky and well prepared Matt Serra. Georges St. Pierre had been training with Mr. Nurse in order to broaden his horizons from the very brutal stand up martial art of Kyokoshin, to the equally brutal martial art of Muay Thai. Mr. Nurse was well known for training Champion fighters in all categories in Muay Thai to the extent of several professional Mixed Martial Art fighters including Ray Longo, Georges St. Pierre and Ali the Pride of Egypt.
But his pride is in training his professional Muay Thai Fighters including Sean Hines, Derrick Riddick, Caleb Archer, Stanley Pradel, Luke L., Joe Sampieri, Jamie Gold, and Mike McKee who all fought under the WAT, Nurse’s world-renowned gym. Caleb Archer holds the welterweight Northwestern National Belt, along with a WKA National Championship Belt. Sean Hines won the Middleweight International Professional Championship Muay Thai Belt.
“Phil was the first person to ever train me, I would not be a champion if it wasn’t for him. He taught me how to use his unorthodox techniques and brought me to my first championship belt” said Stanley Pradel, senior student and professional Thai Boxer as he reminisced the unique bond between a fighter and his trainer. “Although he no longer competes he is still a champion, his legacy lives on through us” said Caleb Archer, an actor turned Thai Boxer. He met Nurse at the age of nine, when Nurse came backstage to congratulate him on his performance as Simba in the Broadway production of “The Lion King.” Caleb soon began his training, and started competing at the age of eleven. He is now preparing for his first UFC fight, if he fights on schedule he will be the youngest competitor to ever compete in the UFC. He also stated “I’m so happy I met Phil, my life wouldn’t be what it is if it weren’t for him leaving England and teaching here.”
After breaking his arm in a championship bout, unable to work and unable to fight, Nurse came to New York City to “find himself”. The manager at Gleason’s gym in Brooklyn liked what he saw Nurse doing on a bag. It was something they had never seen before. So he allowed Phil to begin teaching classes in Muay Thai. He moved on with a small group of fighters to World Gym, and later to Crunch Gym. Soon enough he was able to open his own gym, where his fighters could compete under the name WAT. It quickly became a lucrative business that flourished from a small group of fighters that he trained intensely, later becoming his professional fighters.
Although having retired several years ago because of the broken arm, Phil Nurse is a living legend in England, having defeated every champion in several weight divisions.
Nurse won his first tournament in 1981 where he defeated a young Russian man in the second round of the finals receiving the British Thai Boxing Championship lightweight belt. He received national recognition for this having been his very first tournament style competition. He continued competing regularly in the British Thai Boxing Championships moving up in the weight classes and winning the lightweight, light welterweight, and welterweight championship belts over the course of several years. When competing in the Sitnarong International Muay Thai Association championship he came across a fighter by the name of Adam Guild, who in Nurse’s opinion gave him the best five rounds of his life. Within the first two minutes of the first round both fighters had shed blood. And by the end of the third round both fighters were limping to the center of the ring. At the end of the bout, Nurse had won on points, but had felt as if he were defeated when was in recovery for about six months. In 1991 he won the Sitnarong International Muay Thai Association Best British and European Champion and Fighter 1981-1991 belt. Which became his most prized and valuable possession.
Phil Nurse began his Muay Thai training at the age of seventeen in England. His trainer Master Sken “helped [him] to develop from a scared young boy to a championship fighter.” During the first few years of training, Nurse admired a young fighter by the name of Vinny, a young undefeated champion on his way to Muay Thai greatness. Vinny, had won his first five fights and Nurse remembers watching every one of them in awe of this young man. Master Sken had set up Nurse’s second fight to be against Vinny without telling him until he was ready in the ring. Then reassured Nurse that he wouldn’t, put him up to fight if he didn’t think he could win. Nurse now uses those same words to inspire his fighters. He ended up losing that fight on points, but about a year later fought Vinny again and won.
As a young boy, Nurse’s parents did not know what to expect from the lazy small figured young man. They knew he was intelligent but he did not do very well in school since he would leave school early every day to play soccer. His parents would have thought him to become a famous soccer player because he was very talented as a young man. At the age of sixteen he began a vocational school to become a mechanic, which he used as his profession throughout his Thai Boxing career before coming to New York. He worked at an auto repair shop directly across the street from the gym where he began his training. After a few months of Thai Boxing he fell in love with the sport and left soccer for his playtime.
Phil Nurse was born on April 22, 1961. Was unmarried and fathered no children because he wanted to live as a bachelor until the day he died, although his love interest Crystal Vagnier acted as his wife and kept his bachelor tendencies under tight wraps. Nurse’s eldest brother’s son graduated from the University of Cambridge having studied medicine and continues his graduate studies there. Nurse’s older sister died in a car accident, and he and his parents cared for the two daughters she left behind for several years.
Phil Nurse the Muay Thai champion, the trainer of champions in the Science of Eight Limbs, left a significant mark in the world of martial arts. Not only having mastered Muay Thai but being one of the first to bring it to the United States. But having the special ability to help others develop their talents and become champions.
Carlos Alejandro - Miami Herald
The first thing that comes to mind when thinking of Miami is the heat. The first thing I glanced over while looking at the Miami Herald was the weather forecast. Saturday through Wednesday, the temperature would remain above 85 degrees with a slight chance of thunderstorms every night, below 20% chance. “Fines begin for water wasters” by Charles Rabin, Curtis Morgan, and Amy Sherman, was the front-page headline story. Miami is experiencing a drought, and to prevent water shortages citations have been given to those caught unnecessarily using water. A golf course was fined $1,750, one of the many citations adding up to over ten thousand dollars.
Another headline read “Teen Shot During Robbery Attempt.” Where a man wearing all black with a matching bandanna and possibly a ski mask, shot a seventeen year old girl in the shoulder three times outside University Park Towers. The article was terse, poorly written, and contained several grammatical errors. Being a breaking news article, one would expect very little information yet on the other hand would expect an editor to skim over the content. What would drive someone over the edge is a front-page article about Ava, and Joshua, being the two most popular baby names in Florida. I do know that the Daily News, and Post allow for some ridiculous stories to headline, but this is just ridiculous. Stories like these are the ones that would make you think about what life must be like in Miami. It’s insanely hot and humid, there are restrictions on water use, there is barely anything important to make the news, and Cubans run the city. There were at least three articles about Cubans on the front page. The only interesting one being about three accused FIU professors being prosecuted as Cuban agents (spies).
Another headline read “Teen Shot During Robbery Attempt.” Where a man wearing all black with a matching bandanna and possibly a ski mask, shot a seventeen year old girl in the shoulder three times outside University Park Towers. The article was terse, poorly written, and contained several grammatical errors. Being a breaking news article, one would expect very little information yet on the other hand would expect an editor to skim over the content. What would drive someone over the edge is a front-page article about Ava, and Joshua, being the two most popular baby names in Florida. I do know that the Daily News, and Post allow for some ridiculous stories to headline, but this is just ridiculous. Stories like these are the ones that would make you think about what life must be like in Miami. It’s insanely hot and humid, there are restrictions on water use, there is barely anything important to make the news, and Cubans run the city. There were at least three articles about Cubans on the front page. The only interesting one being about three accused FIU professors being prosecuted as Cuban agents (spies).
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