Christmas Around The world

Christmas around the world map:
https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=ziiRXcmFxzfw.kg-o0NOutfpM


Santa around the world.
https://www.mystorybook.com/books/6478/

Christmas is a holiday celebrated annually marking the birth of Jesus Christ hence the name “Christmas”.

 It is celebrated both religiously and culturally around the world. Originated from the Christian religion, it is usually distinguished on Dec 25^th with exceptions of other cultures.

 In this festive season, the spirit of giving, forgiveness and happiness are some of the values that people try to embody during this holiday. Santa clause otherwise known to some as the fat man in red, reign deers’ and the Christmas tree are the ultimate symbols of the Christmas holiday.

Having family and friends from around the world, my partner Kaitlyn and I were able to learn and share similar traditions that are carried throughout this holiday. From Eastern Africa Kenya to all the way in the U.K, not forgetting Taiwan and China in Asia our family and friends shared with us pics of the Christmas festivities from their current location that you will see on our graphic map.

In most African countries, most families celebrate Christmas holidays by having family reunions to party and have a full on feast.  For those who are Christians, Some will do attend church on the day of Christmas. Gift giving and wrapping is also participated but isn’t as huge compared to America and Europe. ‘Kwanzaa’ is not celebrated in Africa as it is a Black American Holiday.

In China since there are very few Christians, not many celebrate or know what Christmas is. In major cities you will find Christmas Trees, lights and other decorations. But many might not know the meaning or the values of this holiday. Giving apples is a popular tradition on Christmas and Christmas Eve. Stores sell the apples wrapped in different color gift wrappers.

In the U.K Christmas is a huge holiday. Different countries might have one or two slightly different beliefs but all in all it’s the same Theory. In Scotland, On Christmas day, people sometimes make big bonfires and dance around them to the playing of bagpipes. In Ireland, Christmas tends to be more religious than fun with the lighting of candles.

In Latin America, where most people are Catholics there are a lot of church bells ringing to call families to Mass during Christmas Eve.  The Christmas season is usually in the summer time compared to Europe and America where the season is usually winter. In the Middle East Christmas is not common due to the high population who are Muslims. Although the decorations are still put up due to tourism.

Final Project Proposal

For our final project Kaitlyn Manktelow and I have decided to once again work together, this time focusing on different ways Christmas is celebrated around the world.

We will ask our friends from different parts of the world to send in photographs of their Christmas decorations or celebrations. We will create a slideshow out of these photographs from different areas in the world. (We will attempt to use videolicious for that but depending on the length we may not be able to.)

We will also use an interactive map to show what places celebrate Christmas the most, since Christmas is one of the most celebrated holidays it'll be interesting to see the different percentages.

Finally, our project will include a write up with why different cultures celebrate this renown holiday each differently and different ways how they do it.

The Mustard Seed. Home Away from Home.

The Mustard Seed is not only a homely environment but a safe, accepting and a judgment free zone, that many locals of St Johnsbury come to every other day for a fresh hot meal.

Serving different meals ranging from thanksgiving dishes to shepherd’s pie, the quality of the food can be compared to that of a restaurant.
My partner Kaitlyn Manktelow and I got a chance to visit this safe haven that has been running for over 4years.
Located in the middle of the St Johnsbury town in VT, one would never presume that it’s a soup kitchen from the outside look of it.
The Mustard Seed is not your regular soup kitchen.
Right from when we walked in, one could feel the sense of community and love.

The name “mustard seed” originated from the Bible symbolizing growth and development from a tiny seed just like a plant.
Christian missionary Frank Rothe, who’s the founder and still runs the kitchen, decided to open this establishment not having any financial support but just faith hence naming this organization “Mustard Seed”.

Strictly a Christian nonprofit organization, it is involved with the churches around the community. The Mustard Seed is strictly run by volunteers and well-wishers.
Apart from donations and support from the Vermont Food Bank, the soup kitchen is funded by the thrift store that’s right across the street from it.
Without any home shelter around the area, the mustard seed is the only thing that’s closest to an accommodation that the homeless can come and get any type of help.
Most volunteers like Lenny and Eugene happened to have benefited from mustard seed before they decided to devote their life to it.

Eugene started out with Rothe when he first opened the kitchen and was dealing with drugs and alcohol at the time.
Since then he has now sobered up and found his way. With all that he has gone through, he uses his story as a testimony to others dealing with the same issues who have walked through the doors of the mustard seed.
When asked he said his role was basically being cheerful. Promoting love, peace and respect to those who come and get a fresh hot meal in the kitchen.

Lenny who is now the supervisor and the head cook says he fell in love with the mustard seed when he chose the soup kitchen to be the place where he would do his community hours.
Ever since then he couldn’t imagine a better place to serve and give back to the community.
Many like Eugene and Lenny add to what makes the mustard seed a safe haven

CNN Ireport Topic

For the CNN ireport assignment, my partner Victor Mwangi and I are going to go to the soup kitchen the mustard seed in Saint Johnsbury, Vermont.
For the audio sounds we will interview one of the volunteers at the soup kitchen and if we can find someone who eats at the soup kitchen and is willing to be interviewed then we will interview them as well.
The visual aspects we will use for this project will contain footage from outside the soup kitchen, preparing the food and the consuming of the food.
This project will primarily focus on the volunteers at the Mustard Seed, why they do what they do, what it takes and how it impacts the Saint Johnsbury community.

member responsibilities:
Getting in touch with the volunteers and setting up a interview: Kaitlyn Manktelow
Taking pictures: Kaitlyn Manktelow and Victor Mwangi
Interviewing the volunteers: Kaitlyn Manktelow and Victor Mwangi
Editing the interview: Kaitlyn Manktelow and Victor Mwangi

IREPORT

  The Ireport is definitely a good website that connects the community and helps them tell their stories and their perspectives.

Its the first of its kind that I have personally seen and I am really impressed by it. I think this is also a good reason to why CNN is growing bigger because this is a good technique on getting news that the community is buzzing about.

So far, I haven't seen any negatives about the site and am honestly not hoping to find one. The site itself is easy to youse and not complicated as expected at first.

"Art is my Drug"

Dorian McGowan

Victor Mwangi, & Kaitlyn Manktelow

Dorian McGowan, is a small man from a small town but as anyone can see, his artistic talent is anything but small.

He is a former professor at Lyndon State College, but now retired, he spends most of his days drawing portraits of students, staff and faculty members and even town residence. In addition to this, he continues to pursue his passions at home where he has his own art gallery, full of his own collection as well as his sons.

While others might have a passion for music, culture and science, McGowan believes art is a form of therapy for him. “A drawing a day keeps the doctor away.” Perhaps this is how he has reached the aged of eighty-one and still continues to pursue his passions in the art.

  Born and raised in Vermont he always knew he wanted to be an artist from a young age. He describes how his first painting was when he used the poop from his diaper and then smeared it on the wall, only to prove his mother right when she said all those years ago, “Oh God I have an artist on my hand!”

McGowan’s grandmother played a big role in nurturing his talent. From a young age she would encourage him to sit on her lap and draw with him. Being paralyzed from the waist down, McGowan found himself spending much time sitting beside her drawing, which he continued to do so even after her death.

Having gone to a catholic school, Dorian McGowan shocked his teachers when he told them that art was his passion and that’s what he wanted to study when he went to college. The nuns of his high school believed that McGowan was only pursuing this career goal as a way to see naked women, and while that may have played a minor part in it, he was set on his belief that he did not want to be a priest.

 After making this firm decision and writing to his inspiration Norman Rockwell, his decision was made when he applied to Pratt University. Passing the drawing exam heightened his confidence that art was his future. Moving to Brooklyn, NY was a huge risk that paid off.

While getting his education, little did McGowan know that that’s the same place he would meet his lovely wife. To perfect his artisan talent and also make a living, McGowan taught at a high school in New York before moving back to Vermont where he taught at Lyndon state College.

Dorian’s passion for art was passed down to his four children who are now grown and earn a living by being artists. Apart from drawing, painting and sculpting, building of stone walls is one of the many talents that McGowan has been able to express all over his property.

Never a seeker of fame Dorian McGowan is grateful and takes pride in all that he has accomplished. Raising a beautiful family and having a successful carrier.  

Photos: Kaitlyn Manktelow

Photo editing: Kaitlyn Manktelow

Contacting Dorian: Victor Mwangi

Interview: Victor & Kaitlyn

 Audio: Kaitlyn Manktelow

 Soundslides editing: Kaitlyn Manktelow

Story Text: Victor Mwangi

Dorian (Synopsis)

For our group project, Victor Mwangi and Kaitlyn Manktelow are planning on interviewing Dorian McGowan.

 Dorian McGowan is a former professor at Lyndon State College and an amazing artist. During this interview they hope to gain more insight onto the incredible life that Dorian has lived so far from conversing with Norman Rockwell to sketching amazingly accurate portraits on a daily basis.

They plan on going to his house and taking pictures of his gallery and his art work. While at his gallery they will be using a digital voice recorder to record his story and a digital camera to document his work.
           
The intended audience for the project is student and faculty at Lyndon State College as well as those living in the Caledonia area. Dorian McGowan is a well-known name around the surrounding area, learning more about him will provide great interest to many people. The fact that he has done so much in his life and accomplished a great deal many of things is what makes this such an interesting story. To hear the story behind his art work and to know more about his accomplishments, his greatest moments, his lowest and what makes his art so dramatic and emotional to look at.

The crew members of this project are:
Kaitlyn Manktelow
Victor Mwangi

Both crew members plan on interviewing Dorian and taking pictures of his gallery, his work and the artist himself. Then both crew members will participate in creating the audio slideshow containing the interview as a voice over and the pictures taken during the interview

Slideshow Critiques

For my photo gallery, I focused on the West Gate Mall attack that took place last year, where more than sixty people from a range of countries were killed in a terrorist attack. Although the pictures in the gallery do a very good job in showing the emotions that Kenyans went through and the full on action of exactly what happened, without sound the reader or the audience doesn't connect as much as they would if it had some type of sound.(narration, music)http://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/slide-show-attack-on-nairobis-westgate-mall


For my audio slide show I chose the Sexual Violence in south Sudan. It focuses on a young girl who tells her story of what happened when she was raped. the audio does add a huge difference that makes the viewer interested. For this slide show I felt as if the subtitles didn't do justice compared to if there was a narrator who would have spoken instead and translated http://www.theguardian.com/global-development/audioslideshow/2014/jun/05/sexual-violence-south-sudan-audio-slideshow

Deer, Moose, Bears

Population of Wild life throughout the New England region

Much of the New England part of the United States contains valuable wildlife animals such as the deer, moose and bear populations.

Hunting season throughout the New England region helps to regulate the population of these animals.

However, according to Maine’s moose biologist; Lee Kantar, ticks are being found on dead moose after bleeding them dry. Due to this dramatic decrease in the moose population, last year Maine reduced their moose hunting permits by 1000 people.

Vermont as well has seen a significant drop in their moose population as well forcing the state to reduce their hunting permits as well.

As of January 2014, New Hampshire began a four monitoring of 80-90 moose to determine just how rapid the moose population has and still is declining. When one of the collared moose dies, the collar stops transmitting information which allows the scientists and biologists to determine the exact cause of death of each moose.

The moose population in Vermont has decreased by nearly a half of what it was less than a decade ago in 2005 while the population in New Hampshire has shrunk more than 3,000.

While the moose population may currently be going down in some areas of New England, the bear and deer population appear to be on the rise. During the 20^th century the deer population was down to several hundred in Massachusetts; now however the population of the white-tailed deer tops 85,000.
Maine’s annual bear hunt began in August which the state hopes will reduce the growing population of bears. It has been determined by Maine officials that the hunters will need to kill between 3,500 to 4,500 bears annually to control the population; that is between five hundred to a thousand five hundred more than the past decade’s average.

 Despite the increase of the deer population in Vermont, the number of hunters in the state has declined 24.4 percent since the 1980’s.

In spite of the rapid increasing population of bears, there has been a push by the Humane society in Maine to ban certain types of bear hunting making it illegal to bait, trap and hunting the bears with dogs.

Those pulling for this law to pass, believe that the baiting, trapping and dogs are an unethical way to hunt the bears.  If this effort succeeds, the already increasing bear population will continue to increase at alarming numbers, forcing Maine to reconsider a new way to regulate the population.

The growth in the population may be related to the increase of forest land within the New England region with the decline of farming in the New England region, particularly New Hampshire; the unused farm land becomes overgrown with forestation. The over grown farm land creates more habitats for the herd animals causing a population growth.

2014 College Football Data Visualiztion (Critique)

This week I decided to critique a data visualization blog on College Football Recruiting. In this visual data about college Football recruit in 2014,  this site shows an interactive heat map visual that users could click or tap to access deeper data. The reason I picked this site/data is because of the Football season and the Ray Rice story. What I like about this data is its presentation. Its bright blue background color makes it pop out and enjoyable and fun to read. The visualization data of it even gives a more deeper information which in the first place its supposed to do.

https://marketplace.visual.ly/case-studies/college-football-recruiting

Kaitlyn & Victors Podcast (College Relationships)

COLLEGE RELATIONSHIPS! To some, having a relationship in college has either been a huge success while to others, they just happen to fail miserably during the four years at college.

1/3 of college seniors have been on fewer than two dates. Does this surprise you? What about the fact that 32.5 percent of college relationships are long distance. Dating in college is nothing like what the movies and tv shows make it appear as. 

Scientists, professors and psychologists including Charlotte Lieberman, a recent Harvard grad, takes on what's wrong with love on campus. We all know that college is the place where you get to find yourself and make all the mistakes when it comes to relationships, before you find you special one in life. No matter the relationship status we are in individually, we all have a word or two that we can share on the topic of relationships.

Hook ups, friend with benefits, open relationships, long distance relationship are what seems to be the trend, especially in the generation of today. It’s even harder now to find your soul mate with this new rules. Welcome to college relationships.

If you are interested in learning more about studies and statistics found about:

http://www.campusexplorer.com/college-advice-tips/E6F6928C/7-Surprising-College-Dating-Statistics/

http://www.loveisrespect.org/43-college-women-experience-violence-and-abusive-dating-behaviors

http://www.seventeen.com/college/advice/college-dating-truth-nov05​

College Relationships!!

Dating in college……to many it’s a huge deal. In so many movies college is where the girl finds this too good to be real. Prince charming who comes out of nowhere, sweeps her off her feet and carries her into the sunset. Or it’s where the boy who was always in the shadows in high school catches the eye of the most beautiful, perfect girl who ends up falling deeply, and utterly in love with him. Sounds perfect right? Wrong. While many college relationships are great they are the furthest thing from perfect.

            Kaitlyn Manktelow and Victor Mwangi are going to talk about the ups, the downs and all the twist and turns of dating in college. They will be joined by Zach Perry who will talk about handling long distance relationships within the college scene.

            Just in case you don’t take their words to heart, they will also include some findings by Scientists, professors and psychologists including Charlotte Lieberman, a recent Harvard grad, who takes on what's wrong with love on campus in this century.

            Stay on the lookout for their upcoming podcast because it is definitely something you will not want to miss!​

Counting in Czech and Chinese.

Amber Alert for-missing-15-year-old-girl-believed-to-have-run-away-with-man-she-met-online.

Victor Mwangi

Amber Alert (THIS IS NOT A REAL NEWS STORY)

An Amber Alert has been released In the state of Alabama. A girl by the name Mackenzie Crosswhite is believed to have run away with a man she met online.

 Mackenzie who is only 15 years old, sneaked out of her home at around 10pm on Thursday to meet the unidentified man.

According to WAFF, Mackenzie doesn't have a cellphone and hasn't made in contact with Her father, Mr. James Edward Crosswhite. It’s been exactly 2 days (24hrs) since Mackenzie has been missing.Mackenzie has blue eyes and blonde hair, is 5'7" tall and weighs 140 pounds.

http://www.georgianewsday.com/news/regional/201639-amber-alert-for-missing-15-year-old-girl-believed-to-have-run-away-with-man-she-met-online.html

Podcast Reviews

http://hothits957.cbslocal.com/2014/09/08/hot-show-podcast-090814/
Just like any other radio show, Hot 95-7fm keeps you entertained and invites you to their conversation. With great personalities who are funny and give stories in relation to their personal lives, it makes them relatable and approachable. One critique that I found was that there are only giving their own opinions and not having callers/audience give their opinions too. Also the fact that they don't have a specific topic to kind of base their whole show on really makes them sound like there all over the place. The reason I picked this podcast is because I am always a huge fan of radio gossip talks. i think its something i will be listening to closely.




 https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/big-brother-gossip-show-mp3/id502746488?mt=2
The Big Brother Gossip show basically talks about the show in details. What goes on when the cameras are turned off and behind the scenes that we the viewers don't get to see when watching the show on TV. They also talk about all the topics or questions that we the viewers have. I like the liveliness they have in the show but at the same time they do get off topic very easily which makes the podcast even way longer. Especially In the beginning of the podcast show. The reason I picked this podcast is because I have had a lot about the Big Brother show but I have just never gotten the chance to watch it so I thought the podcast might give me a little more insight about the show. I don't think its something I will create time for to listen to it.

Ramiro on JAM'N 94.5

I decided to check outs Ramiro's blog since I am a huge fan of his radio show on 94.5 iheart radio. His blog definitely matches with his personality on radio. Apart from posting current topics which I must say, are a great source of info, I wish he would have made the graphics on his blog a little more fun and vibrant. Just to make more attractive and appealing to the reader. Other than that I like his blog and will be a frequent visitor.
http://www.jamn945.com/onair/ramiro-2185/