Man Who Played Violin

Do we perceive beauty?
   When we take the time to appreciate moments like these, many of us could me fascinated, but during 'rush hour' in a busy and populated area, being late to a meeting or conference, it will definitely block out your attention.

Do we stop to appreciate it?
   You certainly would if you recognized it prior to the event, but unless you thoroughly enjoy or know it, you wouldn't take time out of your 'busy' day to appreciate a coincidence like that.

Do we recognize the talent in an unexpected context?
  No, from the average ear, we would not know any better from mediocre to expertise violinists. Looking at the video, that and being in a rush proves my point.

If we do not have a moment to stop and listen to one of the best musicians in the world playing the best music ever written, how many other things are we missing?
   This question should be crossing peoples minds more often than not, how many grand opportunities you've been missing because you were late to your job or you were on your phone with something else in mind. It should be guaranteed a life changed if you took the time to listen, see, feel, etc.

Feature Writing Brainstorm

1. Who is your main subject?

   Grandfather

2. Supporting interviews (who else do you need to talk to, minimum 2 other people)?

  Father, Grandmother, Mother

3. What is the topic or potential topic?

   His war story, how he's been able to support his family for so long

4. Which angle from above will you write the story?

   From the p.o.v. of his army life, how he has earned everything and what he gives back

5. 20 questions - main

   a. What was your childhood like?

   b. What do you enjoy about living in 

   c. Which  jobs did you have in your lifetime?

   d. Who encouraged you to be in the war?

   e. How different would you be w/o the army experience?

   f. How long were you in the army?

   g. Why did you support your kids for college?

   h. Why did your parents divorce?

   i. Do you wish you weren't an only child growing up?

   j. Do you miss anyone from your past, if so who?

   k. Did you go to college, if so which one?

   l. Were you a good student in High school?

   m. What were your extracurriculars?

   n. What encourages you to travel so much?

   o. What travelling stories do you have?

   p. Why did you move here in Tucker so long ago?

   q. How did things change once you had kids?

   r. How did they change once you got married?

   s. Do you think you should've done things differently?

   t. Anything else to add?

6. 5-10 questions - supporting

   a. How different would he be w/o the army?

   b. What do you think about him?

   c. Why do you think he is how he is?

   d. Do you support his father's decision(s)?

   e. Why do you think he hasn't moved from Georgia?

   f. Anything else to add?

7. You will need to do a little research on the topic you expect to interview your main subject about. Take a little time and do some google searching - find at least 5 new things about the intended topic you should know before you interview your main subject. List those on your blog.

      a. He was born in Buford, Georgia

      b. He was in the army in his early 20's (1960's)

      c. He was born on August 8, 1937

      d. He has been married for 55 years

      e. He used to teach Missile Control

      f. His father was a locally famous baseball player

8. Write when you plan to conduct the interview(s)?

   During break, prior to Thanksgiving

9. Where you will interview them (some interviews are better to do in the persons environment, while others should be done in public places, ALL interviews should be done in person)?
   At their house(s), and all will be done in person as of now.

10. How will you record the information? (taking notes is ideal, and if you want to record the conversation you MUST get permission. You can do both if they will allow you to record, this is a really strong technique that you could use.

   Mainly writing down what they say every so often, if possible recording them to get word-for-word, but I just want to have a conversation with them.

Feature Writing Preview

1. What is the difference between a hard news lead (lede) and the one you read above?
   The lead from this story was short, sweet, and added tension for the reader to continue reading, with hard news they explain everything on the first sentence and the article is extra.

2. What paragraph(s) did you learn the following information?

a. Who - 2nd

b. What - 1st & 3rd & 5th


c. Where - 2nd


d. When - Under Title


e. Why - 5th


f. How - 3rd


3. Are there quotes in this story?
   Yes, from more than one person.

4. Are those quotes arranged in the "quote-transition" style we used in news writing?
   Most of them are, there's two that are next to each other, but the following paragraph explains them.


5. Who is quoted in the story?
   Kevin McLoughlin
   Doral Chenoweth III
   Ted Williams
   Ken Andrews
   Ton Florentino
   Shane Cormier
   Frank Willson
   Patrick Harris


6. What quote is the most powerful in the story, in your opinion?
   "but we never knew he had 'the voice'" He has his power with his 'radio' voice


7. How many paragraphs is the story?
   Thirty three paragraphs (33)


8. How many words is the story (hint: you can copy and paste into Word and get a word count)?
   675 word count


9. What is significant about the lead (lede) and the final paragraph of the story?
   It gets shorter as you read, leaving all the important information at the end, and the final lead is about how great his voice is, just like the first paragraph.

10. Why do you think the writer did that with the lead (lede) and final paragraph?
   I believe he did that so you could remember the article and spread the information with others

11. Was the story interesting to read?
   It was interesting to read after you hav heard his voice, if you read it before, you'd just be kept in suspense, especially if they didn't have the proof.


12. When you finished the story, but BEFORE you watched the video, did you want to hear the voice?
  Absolutely, it was the whole point of the article, you can't express voice through words.

13. Multimedia approaches are powerful tools, what impact did the video have when watched directly after reading the story?
   You would have a good feel for what his voice would be like when reading his quotes from the video, also gives an idea for his conditions before his fame.   


14. Would the story have lost its impact without the video?
   It definitely would've lost its audience if the didn't have the proof and without audience, the article would have no point to it.


15. Did the writer try to come up with a way for you to hear the voice, i.e. did he try to describe the voice or give you a way to "hear" the voice without really hearing it?
   Yes, but the voice afterwards was much more different than I had expected.


16. How did the writer do that?
   Using italics to add emphasis and explain his love for radio

Editorials and Personal Columns

Ideas for an Editorial

1. Long lines at cafeteria

2. Parking spots during events

3. Bees outside and what to do with them

Columnist - Google News

It conforms to what I find interesting and gives me news based on that information.