photo by flikr user papaija2008

This semester has really been alot of work in MCJ 10, but through it all I have really learned alot about what it is like to be a journalist in the real world with constant deadlines to meet. Through the semester I was able to improve my writing skills, and also realize that my writing still have much room for improvement, but it is only the beginning of my writing career, and I know that these skills will get better with time.  I have complied a few of my best assignments through this semester so that you can see for yourself the areas where my writing skills are strong, and also the areas that need improvement.

photo by flikr user lucas.deshazer

  I decided to change up my blog a bit, and instead of talking about a specific movie I decided to tell you which theaters to visit in Fresno based on different reasons.

         If you are looking for the ultimate movie experience my best advice is to go to Edward’s Cinema, which is apart of Regal Entertainment Group, located in River Park. Edward’s is the most popular theater of all the theaters in Fresno, and that is because Edward’s has alot to offer to their customers. Not only does Edward’s have several different concession stands located throughout the theater, but they also have a completely separate IMAX theater where customers can have an even better experience watching his or her movie. However, with all of this luxury there comes a price, Edward’s may be the best theater in Fresno, but they also are the most expensive, which can be a downfall when it comes to watching your budget. 

Another movie theater that is becoming more popular can be found near Fresno in Clovis, Calif., the Sierra Vista Cinemas 16. This movie theater is fairly new and is located in the Sierra Vista mall, which is why they are just starting to become more popular. Some things that are great about this theater is that they aren’t as busy as Edward’s is: therefore, there is always seats available. The downside is that they do not have as many theaters as Edward’s does so the showings are limited. Sierra Vista Cinemas is also on the pricey side, but it is a little cheaper than Edward’s.

Now, if you are looking for a bargain, and you don’t mind watching the movie a little later from when it originally came out, well, then, UA Clovis Towne Centre Theatre 8 offers $3 movies. The only catch is that these movies are a bit older, and they are about to be released on video, but if you want the experience and would like to save money then this is definitely the way to go. However, this theatre is not as comfortable and luxurious as the other 2, but you get what you pay for. 

Another theater that you can also visit in Fresno is Regal Manchester Stadium. This theater use to be the main theater before Edward’s came along. Now, this theater is a little rundown and out of date. However, since Manchester Stadium does not have as many guests as it use to movie ticket prices are alot lower and more affordable. Although, this theater may be a bit rundown it still has comfortable, reclining seating, which makes the movie experience even better. 

All of these theaters are excellent places to consider for you to enjoy your movie for different reasons. I have enjoyed a movie at each of these theaters and I had no complaint. 

For directions, or a better view of where each of these theaters are located throughout Fresno/ Clovis click here.

click for photo slideshow created by me!

The Dodgers have millions of fans that travel to Los Angeles from near and far for their home baseball games. However, people who are not from or familiar with the Los Angeles area are not sure how to go about planning a trip to watch the Dodgers play.

I recently attended a Dodgers baseball Game, and I experienced first-hand what it is like to make plans to watch the Dodgers play in Los Angeles.  I found the best ways to travel to and from the stadium, I found a reasonable hotel and learned other helpful tips to make the “Dodger experience” amazing.

First of all, finding tickets is going to be a bit of a task. I had no idea how to find tickets for a Dodgers game, or any baseball game for that matter. So, I used Google.com to find out where to start. I found that the best, most reliable source to buy tickets via Internet was a Web site called StubHub.com. I learned that the best place to sit in any stadium is behind first or third base, because it allows you to get a full view of the entire stadium. I decided to sit above first base, in the second tier of seats, also known as the loge seats, and they were pretty inexpensive. I thought that these seats were really good: I was able to see everything without having to use binoculars.

Then I had the task of finding out which hotel to stay in while in Los Angeles. I was hoping to find something that was closer to the stadium so that we could walk to and from the game. “I have been to many Dodgers games in the past, and I learned the first time not to stay anywhere near the stadium, because this area is known to have constant muggings.”said Bobbi Jaurique a family friend that is a frequent traveler to Los Angeles. Instead, she had suggested the Comfort Inn or the Days Inn, which are located in Hollywood, on Sunset Boulevard. Both hotels are next to each other, and nearly 5 miles away from the stadium.

I also went to see Lori Reilly, a travel agent from AAA, for a professional opinion on decent hotels near the stadium. Reilly suggested, “If you are staying in the downtown area of Los Angeles I would recommend staying in the Westin, which runs from $199 to $219 a night. They can be a bit pricey but they are a lot nicer. If you are on a budget I recommend staying in the Glendale, which is located up by Griffith Park, which will be really pretty as well. This one runs from about $169-$189 a night.”

Photo by Kylie Stone

In the end, I decided to stay in the Comfort Inn, because I thought that this hotel was very convenient location wise and fairly priced. “I thought that the Comfort Inn was pretty small inside and out, but the rooms were nice and newly remodeled, which made the stay more comforting.” said Kyle Sinclair. I paid about $200 to stay for 2 nights, and this included continental breakfast and free parking.

Since I was no longer going to be walking distance from the stadium I now had to figure out how I was going to get to the stadium. I didn’t want to drive there because I was frustrated with the Los Angeles traffic so, I researched my options. I asked the connoisseur at our hotel what he suggested, and he gave me a few ideas. He said that I could take a taxi to the game, take the underground metro or I could drive. He said that these were the best ways to get there. I also asked Reilly her opinion and she said,” You can take the bus system, but in my personal opinion I would just drive there. Los Angeles just doesn’t have a really good subway system that takes you to any of the major locations.”

The underground metro was the cheapest solution, it was going to be about $1.25 each trip on the metro. The downside was that the metro didn’t have a stop near the stadium; the stop was about a mile off.

As for driving to the stadium, parking was $15 for cars and $35 for buses or 2-axel cars, so that was also a possibility. There was also the option of taking the cities transit bus, but the connoisseur said that using this form of transportation would take forever, because the bus is constantly stopping.

I chose to completely rule out any of those options and just go with the taxi, because I wanted to avoid driving at all costs. The cost of a taxi driver was about $50 to and from the game, which was not bad, but other people will have to consider the distance from their hotel to the stadium. However, if you choose to take a taxi you have to be careful because taxi drivers will try to get more money from you, “ just be friendly and socialize with your taxi driver, and act as if you are a local that is familiar with the area. Then your taxi driver will not take advantage of you, or your money.” said Kyle Sinclair.

Watching the Giants play the Dodgers.

Once I got to the game I was so overwhelmed and excited to get to watch my Giants play the Dodgers. There was so much to choose from at the stadium in terms of food and drinks. When it came to food every one was raving about the Dodger dog’s it’s something that you just have to try if you are there, but I’m not much of a hot dog fan so I opted for some nachos. I went to the nearest concession stand and ordered nachos. But, all I got was a little cup of cheese with a bag of chips; I was unsatisfied. When I walked back down to my seat the couple that was sitting next to me had this huge plate of delicious looking nachos, sour cream, guacamole and chicken included. So, I asked them where they got those from, and they said at Camacho’s. So learn from my mistake, don’t go to the concession stand go to Camacho’s for nachos. There were other food places to choose from, as you walk in from the entrance there was a Carl’s Jr. and throughout the entire stadium there are several booths setup with beer and even a place to get margaritas. There was plenty to eat and drink.

Other tips that might be helpful to you would be: wear lots and lots of sun block, because the Los Angeles sun will burn you.  Also always carry cash,“ most vendors at the Dodger stadium did not want to accept credit or debit, so cash is crucial to have on you at all times.” said Kyle Sinclair. During this new experience at the Dodgers’ Stadium I was able to understand baseball a little more, and I also learned a little more on how to maneuver throughout the busy, busy city of Los Angeles. Hope you enjoy your trip!

Click for sound. Photo by me.

Many people dream of becoming a successful entrepreneur. Many times these people find that their dreams are nearly impossible for many reasons. However, Victoria Saulovich saw beyond the impossible. One thing that sets Saulovich apart from most of the others is that she saw a vision that could be successful and she went for it, not fearing failure.

For those people who have little faith or who just think it can’t be done without some kind of substantial funding or without a four-year degree; Victoria Saulovich would be the person to convince them otherwise. Through owning her several different boutiques in the past few years, Saulovich has demonstrated the ultimate struggle that most entrepreneurs fear, but she also demonstrates the fearless, driven entrepreneur that most people strive to be. Her failures have only led her to her successes, and through her failures she has only strengthened her future businesses and opportunities.

Click to listen. Photo by me.

With Saulovich’s creative talents and passion for affordable fashion she has managed to create a rage with her boutique Stella. “Fashion is not what drives me, it’s the business that drives me: fashion is just the backdrop for the business.” With her lively and strong-willed personality Saulovich has managed to inspire many people. “She makes people excited about her store, she’s very persistent, and is always coming up with newer and better ideas she is such a great success and I aspire to be just like her,” said one of Saulovich’s employees, Caitlyn Renner. Saulovich currently owns three boutiques so far, one in Laguna Beach, Calif., and two in Fresno, Calif., and she has another one that is due to open this coming May, also in Fresno.

Click to listen. Photo by me.

Saulovich says that, “Fashion should be affordable for everyone, and it should not cost you an arm and a leg just to look cute and trendy.” Because of her belief in affordable fashion, she travels to China to find quality items that can be sold at reasonable prices. She travels to China about four times a year and this allows Stella to have a high turnover rate meaning that she does not keep any of her merchandise for more than 90 days because she is constantly traveling to find newer and better trends.

Click to listen. Photo by me.

Because Saulovich travels to China to buy the merchandise for her store, it eliminates a lot of the costs that she would accumulate if she were to buy the merchandise here in the States. Another key to her success is that she constantly changes the merchandise in her store so when her customers come to visit they have new and fresh items to look at. One talent that has also influenced Saulovich’s success is that she is a natural seller, it’s not just a job to her, it’s her life and her passion. “Victoria is a master at self-promotion. She has a vivacious, infectious personality that draws you in. She is one of those people that could sell ice to an Eskimo,” said Saulovich’s neighbor and friend Cynthia Dolan. Not to mention her dedication to each of her stores: Saulovich visits each of her stores frequently: “I really try to spend more than five hours a week in each of the stores, except the store in Laguna Beach, which is a little bit harder to visit as often, but I try to make it out there every other week.” Saulovich’s boutiques have become all the rage, and keep all of her customers coming back.

“I didn’t immediately begin my career as an entrepreneur; I was any typical person jumping from job to job before I started up my own business.” Saulovich was just like an ordinary person with an idea, but did not have a clue how to develop this idea. Once she had finished two years of her college education at Harbor City College, she was hired with Continental Airlines where she flew international as a flight attendant for about five years.  She then married Alan Autry, former mayor of Fresno, and the two had a daughter together.  She then moved her family to Santa Monica, Calif., and was hired by United Airlines. After flying three years with United Airlines, Saulovich and her family moved to Fresno.

“My husband was my concession to Fresno: he wanted to be the mayor of Fresno, so we moved to Fresno.” After moving to Fresno, she continued her career with airlines, this time working with United Express West Air. “When I worked at United Express Air West I was able to participate in corporate communications; through working in the business side of the airline it really sparked my interest in business.” This is where Saulovich’s passion and dream to own her business began.  “During this time I was going through a divorce, and went through a stage of being a single parent while managing a time-consuming job, it was really hard, but I did it.” Saulovich also managed to pick up a few other jobs and gain experience in sales, which led her into starting her own business: an advertising agency. Most clients of her advertising agency were from automotive dealerships, and from there she moved on to opening her own business, “This is where my career in retail began.”

Saulovich’s very first boutique was inside the Radisson Hotel in Fresno, and she called it Muse. Through her experiences with airlines and being able to travel overseas she was able to purchase items from all over the world to sell in her boutique. “After I owned and managed Muse I learned that location is essential when it comes to reaching customers and maximizing sales.” Saulovich then sold Muse and opened Carmel Kids, which was located on Champlain and Perrin avenues in Fresno. “When I first opened Carmel Kids I was really aiming for kids as customers. I wanted to offer children cute and affordable clothes.” After running Carmel Kids for six years, she decided to go after her real dream: to own a fashion-forward yet affordable boutique. So Saulovich sold Carmel Kids, and she took some of the capital to start her boutique Stella.

Currently Saulovich manages all three of her Stella boutiques as well as her 20 employees. Saulovich does not believe in having a business partner, “its less risk because you can’t always trust your business partner.” Saulovich also does not believe in management in her stores, “all of my employees are treated equally, they don’t really have a boss except for me but other than that they work together to accomplish something great, and I trust them with that.” Upon being hired each employee is required to have a fashion sense, because Saulovich says, “It is vital for these employees to be fashionistas so that when customers come in asking for help, each employee can give their opinion on what is hip or not.”

Saulovich highly recommends entrepreneurship, “not just because you get to be your own boss.” She believes that everyone has the opportunity readily available to him or her, it’s just that a lot of people don’t take up the opportunity because they fear the consequences,” but she recommends that people “Just do it! If you have an idea of something that you would like to do, how can you be unsuccessful if you keep trying? If it doesn’t work the first time, then keep trying. If it doesn’t work again, well, then, change how you did it the first time and try again. Don’t let anyone tell you that you can’t.”

This week I watched the movie Couples Retreat, which was released to theaters in October of 2009. Couples Retreat was directed by Peter Billingsley, and produced by Vince Vaughn and Scott Stuber. Vince Vaughn, Jason Bateman, Faizon Love, Jon Favreau, Malin Akerman, Kristen Bell and Kristin Davis all played prominent characters in a Couples Retreat.  This movie is a comedic movie that took place in the modern day era at the location of a tropical island.

Couples Retreat started out with a group of friends and their significant others who never realized that their intimate relationships with their significant other weren’t as strong as they use to be. One couple from the group convinces the group to forgo their typical, everyday lives and join them on a couple’s retreat in a tropical island. But little did they know that this retreat was more like a therapy session to better the relationships between each couple. As each couple spends more and more time going through these therapeutic sessions and analyzing their relationships with one another, each couple begins to realize that they took their significant other for granted.

Couples Retreat really surprised me, because seeing as how most of the actors in this movie are pretty well known for being particularly humorous I didn’t think that they were, or even that the movie was funny at all. Especially Vince Vaughn,who has been in several comedic movies and has been successful at being funny. What got me the most was that Vince Vaughn was one of the writers of Couples Retreat, and it wasn’t funny at all. I think that maybe Vince Vaughn should stick with acting and not write movies! In other words the humor and the acting were horrible.

However I did appreciate the setting of the movie. Couples Retreat was filmed in parts of Bora Bora, and the way that the director was able to portray different aspects of the island really made me want to go to Bora Bora. I even found myself searching through Google to find out more about Bora Bora. Imagine sandy beaches, luscious green jungle, and a tropical bungalow sitting over beautiful blue ocean water, and that is Bora Bora for you.

I must say that I was a bit disappointed with this movie overall. I was expecting it to be full of humor, but instead most of the humor that was written into the movie was really cheesy and corny. I think that if I were to grade this movie that I would have to give it a D, because overall I wasn’t completely satisfied with any part of the movie other than the setting.

The Tatarian Symposium was an event that the Mass Communication Department from California State University, Fresno put on in the efforts to increase the knowledge of students who are pursing a career in conflict journalism. The symposium took place on Friday, Feb. 26 from 10 a.m. until noon located in Fresno State’s Satellite Student Union (SSU). The symposium consisted of two speakers: Gareth Porter and Nancy Youssef. Both Porter and Youssef are prominent and successful journalists.

This symposium was really helpful in brightening my eyes as well as many other students to a different type of journalism. From this symposium I was able to understand what it is that journalists actually face in their day to day life. Especially those journalists like Nancy Youssef who embed themselves into the atmosphere in which their story/ies will be assessing, and then you have a journalist who dedicates his whole life to uncovering the truth behind what it is that the United States Government is trying to hide, Gareth Porter.

From Gareth Porter’s discussion regarding common problems that journalists face, I never realized how hard it actually is to simply write a news story. Professor Betsy Hays stated that she found it particularly interesting on how Porter mentioned a common problem journalists face is source issues, because typically people think that your source gives you information, but they do not realize that you have to maintain that relationship in order for your source to maintain credible. When people are considering journalism as a future profession it doesn’t dawn on them that in order to write a story it takes a lot more than just discovering the story, they have to consider the source in which they are retaining this information from. But once they write their story the editor then has to approve the story, and a lot of times the editor influences the journalists opinion. Then of course there is the influence that society has on the writer, which is probably the biggest issue. Due to the issues that journalists face the  ”news media has been missing points of primary issue,” Porter claims. Overall I think that from this speaker students were able to grasp the difficulties and issues that journalists are commonly faced with, and I think that this information is vital.

“You have to be there as a journalist, you have to see it”  Nancy Youssef opened with this remark. I found it interesting how Youssef was able to describe to students and faculty a day in the life of a journalist, and the reality of being in a different country at the time of war. I thought that this was important for aspiring journalists to be knowledgeable in because if you place yourself into the situation in which you plan to write a story about not only does it give you more credibility but also it gives you an experience of a lifetime. Another thing that Youssef had mentioned in her lecture was the advancement of technology and communicating to the masses, and how this technology has advanced so much in the past century or so. I found this to be useful information because now communication isn’t so much a luxury for us anymore as it is a necessity. Ashley Hampton also found Nancy Youssef’s information helpful.

Overall I really enjoyed listening to these speakers talk about their experiences and explain how to be an ethical journalist. I really was able to grasp the positive and negative things that come along with journalism. Along with myself, the members of the audience also enjoyed what the speakers had to say, one member being Jessica Sweeten.

Zombieland

I recently watched the movie Zombieland. The four main characters were Woody Harrelson, Jesse Eisenberg, Emma Stone and Abigail Breslin. Zombieland was set to take place in the United States, in what we know to be the not so distant future. I thought that Zombieland could be categorized under a few different categories those being action, comedy and horror.

The world is being taken over by zombies is how the movie starts off. It begins with the character Columbus, played by Jesse Eisenberg, who is a homebody and does not really have a social life. Columbus has an encounter with his attractive, female neighbor who was bitten by a zombie.  The next morning his neighbor becomes a zombie and begins to chase him.  After going through that experience Columbus develops a set of 32 rules that he must follow when he has any other encounters with zombies.  Along his journey he meets Tallahassee, played by Woody Harrelson, who is also out to get the zombies. They team up and continue their journey together, until they meet up with two mischievous sisters who are only out for themselves. Eventually the sisters decide to join Columbus and Tallahassee  on their journey head west.

Overall I thought that the acting in the movie was not to bad, one specific scene that stands out to me was when the sisters had to pretend that the youngest sister, played by Abigail Breslin,was bitten by the zombies. In this scene the oldest sister, Emma Stone, had volunteered to shoot the little sister in order to stop the recreation of yet another zombie. However the sisters real intent was to fool Columbus and Tallahassee into handing over their weapons and mugging them of their car. I thought that this scene was so sincere and I actually felt sympathetic to the sisters, but little did I know that they were only being deceitful.

I was really impressed with the costumes and make-up for Zombieland. Not so much of the main characters, because they were dressed in modern street clothes, but more so the costumes and make-up of the zombies. The zombies had really intricate make-up, and I thought that the way they were able to portray and resemble zombies was excellent. In the beginning of the movie the change from human to mummy is demonstrated, and in that scene alone you can see how they changed a pretty girl to a horrific zombie.

Personally, I did not really appreciate this movie as much as I thought I was going to. I thought that the overall plot of the movie was to simple and that the movie writers could have maybe put more human encounters or more characters in the movie.  Zombieland is considered to be a horror movie but there was nothing horrifying about it. I found myself laughing more than I was hiding behind the pillow. Overall I would rate this movie as a 5 out of 10, it was okay.

Here is what the Los Angeles Times thinks about Zombieland! Feel free to leave your opinion or any comments. Thank you!

Photo by Flikr user NightRPStar.

blog intro

Hello everyone my name is Kylie Stone. Currently I am a Fresno State student, and I am majoring in Public Relations. With this blog my goal is to keep people informed on newly releases movies. There have been several times where I decide to watch a movie, or even buy it before watching it and then I decide that I really don’t like the movie at all. Therefore I have established this blog with the intention of preventing the common mistake that many others also make. However I do not want this blog to be solely based off of my opinion I would really like others to also participate and give their feedback, because I think that a movie cannot be solely judged off of the opinion of one person. I also intend on using a grading criteria, 1 being the lowest grade and 10 being the highest.

Before I decided to use my blog for this purpose I did a little research on different blogs that also critique movies. I found a few blogs that I would really like to model my blog after. One blog being Moviereviewintelligence . In this blog I really liked the way that the blogger was able to incorporate the opinions of many different movie critics from all over the country. By including all of the different critics the blogger was able to get a wide range of feedback. I was also impressed with the way that the blogger was able to include the percentages of the critics that liked or disliked the movie, which gave the readers a better visual as to which movies are worth watching, according to the critics.

Another blog that I really found an interest in was by Reelviews News Reviews . I really liked that on this bloggers search results it had the names of all the different movies that he has blogged about and underneath each of the titles in the excerpt portion there was the bloggers overall but concise opinion of the movie. I liked this idea because it gives readers the opportunity to either continue reading or just base their opinion of of that brief excerpt.

I also would like to model the blog by Latest Movie Reviews from Spill . I thought that this blog was a little more different from the other blogs that I have seen in related categories. One of the things that I thought was unique was that this blog was more based on the opinions of the readers rather than the blogger. In each of the posts there were multiple responses and a lot of feedback. I also liked the fact that in this blog the blogger included a short clip of the movie or a trailer as well as a short synopsis of the movie. I thought that these bits of information made it helpful for the readers to be able to develop an opinion for themselves.

Well everyone this is what I hope to be able to accomplish in my blog. I hope that you can all enjoy it. Thanks for visiting! Oh, and feedback is much appreciated!!!