I want my red Cadillac CTS..

If you click the play button, you'll be watching a Cadillac commercial starring Private Practice's Kate Walsh. I don't know if this commercial still plays on television right now, but I've always liked it and decided to 'youtube' it.

The creators of this commercial ad for the new 2008 Cadillac were smart in using this actress. She is on the television hot list and known by all viewers after her role on the very popular Grey's Anatomy. She has a distinct and recognizable voice, and she is pretty. Men want her. Women want to be her. She speaks in a seductive way and only gives one stare at the end with the powerful line, "Does it return the favor?"

If that doesn't make you want to purchase this vehicle, then the visual effects should. Of course, the makers of the commercial know how to make this car look good. As she is speaking, every luxury feature of the vehicle is shown. She is driving on a rich, black, sleek road in a tunnel and appears to be alone, which focuses all attention on the shiny, red car. If that's not enough, the rock music starts just as her foot, dressed in a sexy, designer heel, presses the accelerator.

And, I always thought a Cadillac was for older people..

let's be real..

Paul Chaney is a professional singer turned Internet marketing director for Bizzuka, Inc. He grew up in Mississippi, attended William Carey College and graduated in music theory. He made a joke about using none of his education degrees with what he is doing now.
He has been blogging for years, wrote a book called "Reality Blogging" and contributed to the book "Buzz Marketing with Blogs for Dummies."

He prepared a PowerPoint presentation for the class with a lot of blogging information and tips.

• Blogging is not just the technology but more about the people using it.
• Blogs can be used for many purposes. Most common are personal use and company use.
• Blogs are search engine magnets that should be frequently updated.

During these present times, it's all about being real. Not only has reality television taken over, but regular consumers and everyday people want the real stuff.
Paul gave us an example using the old James Bond character who saved the day without a scratch compared to Matt Damon's character Jason Bourne, of The Bourne Identity movies, who brushes death many times before the day is over. People want to see the struggle rather than the unbelievable fantasy.
Blogs are somewhat similar. They make a company real, and that's what people want.
Two important terms he used were authenticity and transparency because a blog implies openness and communication. Blogs involve interaction because they are open to the public and allow viewer feedback through comments.

Even McDonald's has a blog.
And, I guess I should check out twitter.com because he talked about it so much.

"Get over yourself."

Sara E. Crow graduated LSU in 2004 in public relations and minored in English. Baton Rouge is her hometown, where she attended grades K-12 and college on LSU's campus.

Her first question to us was, "Why did you decide to go to college?"

The answer - to get a job!

Career services offers a lot of help in career making decisions. There are counselors to talk with face to face, blogs to visit to learn more, and other sites as well. Sara mentioned the term networking. It's a good way to keep connections with other people beneficial to your major and career path. It was funny to hear that Facebook is a good way to network. We college students just think of it as a place to post party pictures and send bumper stickers to each other. It's much more.

Sara informed us of some tips:

• Cultivate relationships with the people who can help you as soon as possible.
• Get familiar with what there is to do with your chosen field.
• Expand your network.
• Ask questions.
• Ask for business cards and information.
• Use your resources and read what is available to you with your degree.

The number one tip she told us was to "Get over yourself!"

Everyone gets nervous. Just suck it up. It'll be worth it in the long run.

City poll completed last week

The local polling firm, City Research Associates, completed a poll last week of more than five hundred city residents.

The Chamber of Commerce sponsored the poll.

Sixty-five percent of citizens were "satisfied" or "very satisfied" with the city's quality of life. Seventy-five percent of citizens with school-age children were "satisfied" or "very satisfied" with the city's school system.

Political science department's new course

The Political science department will offer a new course, "Communism and Socialism," next semester. Associate professor Jerald Wiseman will teach it.

It will be available to juniors and seniors who have taken the freshman-level beginning political science course.

As Wiseman put it, "These two political theories have been major forces in helping develop our twenty first century political world."

Alpha Alpha honors students

Inductions for the university's honor society Alpha Alpha will be held next Friday.

Names of five sophomores, twenty juniors and ten seniors will be kept a secret until the ceremony in the Student Center at ten in the morning.

Traffic jam on I-59

A collision between two trucks last night caused a traffic jam on a part of I-59 undergoing repairs. The trucks collided head on and blocked the road both ways for about forty-five minutes.

Both trucks spilled fuel onto the highway, causing an oil slick. One truck was filled with refrigerated contents that thawed over time, losing an estimated ten thousand dollars worth of goods.

Sara, without an H.

I love this girl!

I have a variety of music I listen to. There are many characteristics of a song that makes me like it or not. It might be the beat, the voice behind the music, the lyrics, or something else.

I bought the Sara Bareilles "Little Voice" album probably last semester and still listen to it now. It's very girly, but the lyrics make so much sense to me. I have to admit that I was sick of her first hit "Love Song" because they over-played it on the radio, so I skip it on the CD everytime. But, there is not a song on this album that I do not like. Her voice is great, too. I heard somewhere that she has the "perfect" voice, if there is such a thing.

Can I be her for a day? Maybe I could keep the "h" at the end of my name, though.

not so hesitant to "whey" myself..

I have a new love.

Whey protein.

My cousin recently got me hooked on drinking protein shakes after working out. I work out at least three times a week and drink a shake for a meal. I could be in a commercial promoting this stuff. I've noticed that I am losing weight, and I know it's not just from exercising. I've always worked out and found it hard to get the weight off. After only one week, my body has gotten used of having a shake for a meal, and I'm not as hungry. It's healthy because I still eat a nutritious breakfast and one other meal everyday. I also have low calorie snacks within the day. I don't believe in crash diets or starving myself. This way I can enjoy a chocolate treat and enjoy getting on the scale. There are many other flavors of this specific brand. Try it out!

inevitable.

I don't want to grow up. Let's all stay Toys 'R Us kids forever.

Lately, everyone I talk to is saying they hate school and cannot wait to graduate. I am in agreement with them because school is kicking my butt. I go to school 28 hours a week and only get credit for 16. It's because of art labs. I think I've hated school since kindergarten, and the feelings have not changed.

However, I have been thinking a lot about the future, and college is sounding better and better to me. I'm in a place right now where I don't have as much responsibility as I will after I graduate. As much as I hate being a student, I love it all the same.

But, then again, coming home from a job without having homework is music to my ears.

I realize growing up is a part of life, but I can't decide if I like it or not.

life. unposed.

Photography is my passion.

Photography is hard.

My ideal goal is to have my own photography business after I finish school. I love taking pictures of people in natural settings to showcase who they really are. No fake settings. No fake lighting. Let's just be real.

I hope to get accepted into the photography concentration at the end of this semester. One thing I've learned so far is that photographers put in many hours. The photo lab will be my home for the next few semesters. Another thing I've become adjusted to is doing things in the dark. Exposing film to light before it is ready is a photographer's worst enemy.

Digital is much easier than old school film processing and developing.

I found the image above at this Web site:

http://www.ymainc.org/images/lightbox/large/photography2.jpg

I'm in a basic photography class this semester, and I can tell you that she is not holding the camera properly.

depression.

The recent losses of LSU football has made me cringe. I was just getting over the fact that we lost to Florida, and then we follow it with a loss to Georgia. The win against South Carolina was great, but losing in Death Valley tears it down. Sitting in McDonald's after the game, my two friends and I were surrounded by rude, obnoxious Georgia fans wearing red pants. I could have cried.

My question for Les Miles -- Why continue to play Lee? Listen to the student section and put Hatch in!

Lee did all right at Auburn, but with the recent failure at Florida, he should have been benched. He is not consistent, especially with his passing. This is not the season I had hoped for, and my nerves are working over time thinking about the Bama game in two weeks. Watching Saban walk out of our territory with a win would be the ultimate devastation.
Let's cross our fingers and pray for a miracle.

This or That?

Some differences between writing for print and writing for broadcast are listed below:

• Print journalism answers the five W questions, while broadcast journalism has the Four Cs: correctness, clarity, conciseness and color.
• Broadcast writing needs to sound more conversational than print writing.
• Broadcast writing is for the ear. Print writing is for the eye.
• Broadcast writing omits the time element to achieve immediacy while print writing must answer the "when" question.
• Broadcast writing also contains more present tense verbs than print writing to put emphasis on the immediate.

Broadcast writing and print writing both need to be simple, but simple broadcast writing is on a new level. When writing for print, the author knows the readers can re-read if they didn't catch something the first time. When writing for broadcast, the author has to realize that listeners and viewers must catch the news the first time because there is no going back. This writing characteristic makes it more difficult.

On the contrary, what might make broadcast writing seem easier is the writing characteristic of omitting the time element. For print, it is important the author answers the question when. Time can be important in broadcast and should be mentioned sometimes, but most of the time the viewers assume that news stories have happened close to the time of broadcast.

Seeing is believing...

Not necessarily do I think the broadcast medium is the most important medium of mass communication, but I do believe it is powerful with the public. For major events that happen in the world, people not only want to read about it, but they want to see it for themselves.
It used to be that a good book would make readers feel as if they were in the action, using their imagination. With television and radio, viewers do not have to use their imagination as much. They see or hear what is happening first hand. Now thinking about it, the broadcast medium might be lessening a person's thinking skills. Everyone wants an "easy" button, and broadcasting is an easy way for viewers to receive information.