Two faces of journalism

What's up with the Rocky Mountain News' coverage today?

One the one hand, they ran an amazing story regarding a letter that implicates former Bronco cornerback Darrent Williams' killer.

But they also have live coverage of a supposed space alien video that's being shown in Denver. In all fairness, The Denver Post also did some coverage of the event.

Supposedly, this is the video: http://www.rockymountainparanormal.com/ufo/alienwindowfinal.mp4

The biggest argument is that the alien blinks and it would take Hollywood-quality technology to do that.

Funny, the Chinese were able to build lion heads that do that. These move their ears, too!

Aurora’s all-American waste of money

Stop the presses — Aurora’s one of the 17 finalists for the National Civic League’s annual All-American City competition.

Watch out, Marana, Ariz. and Gladstone, Mo., one of those 10 prizes is ours!

And the cost for this whole endeavor is only $35,000.

Really? This is the best thing the Visitors Promotion and Advisory Board could do with that money?

According to a story we published last week, organizers say that the VPAB’s mission is to promote tourism and improve the city’s image.

I don’t see how winning some award that would officially declare our city as “All-American” would help either cause.

It’s like trying to renovate that decrepit windmill on Colfax — it makes no sense.

I doubt winning this award would raise much awareness for Aurora. An All-American distinction isn’t something I look for when I plan trips.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for pride in one’s community. As someone who’s lived in Aurora for nearly his entire life — minus my first two in Denver — I’ve enjoyed watching my hometown grow from a small suburb to the city it is today. I love being emersed in rich, diverse cultures and communities. I love how the old Fitz area is growing with the arrival of the Anschutz Medical Center.

But I also know that our city has many problems in it, such as Aurora Public Schools’ 61 percent graduation rate. There’s something wrong when nearly two out of every five students don’t graduate.

Listen, VPAB, I know that you all are trying to promote our city and encourage others to come visit it, but this competition isn’t the way to do it.

There are far better ways to spend that money. And update the website — it’s been more than a year since “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof” appeared in the Aurora Fox Arts Center. Promote new attractions such as the Shadow Theatre and older ones such as the Plains Conservation Center and Star K Ranch.

These are small measures, but will help move us away from the old saying of the best thing to do in Aurora is go to Denver.

Limited edition John McCain debate card!

I was looking through my vast array of Photoshop concoctions and found this.

There's also a Barack Obama one here: http://cupoj.blogspot.com/2008/02/i-want-barack-obama-rookie-card.html

Goin' back to Cali

This past weekend I was in Irvine, Calif. for the 2008 APIAVote Presidential Town Hall.

It was an all-day forum covering Asian-American issues. The night ended with responses from Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama and John McCain.

Well ... Clinton and Obama, at least. McCain no-showed – apparently "SNL" is more important the the Asian-American community.

Read my then-live blog at http://axp-townhall.blogspot.com.

Next time I'm bringing another person to help. It's hard to shoot and edit pictures, and type up updates in a timely fashion.

GOP relishes in midst of Dems in-fighting

When Sen. John McCain made an appearance on “Saturday Night Live” this past Saturday, he had a piece of advice for his opponents.

“Democrats, I have to urge you, do not under any circumstances, pick a candidate too soon,” he said.

Let’s just hope that Hillary doesn’t take that advice to heart.

According to CNN, Obama has a nearly 200-point lead over Clinton, and needs only 108 points to clinch the nomination.

After the Oregon and Kentucky primaries, Obama will have secured the majority of the pledged delegates for the democratic nomination. He needs 17 of the 125 up for grabs in order to do so.

Earlier this week, Obama picked up the endorsement of Sen. Robert Byrd, D-W. Va.

I think the fat lady has sung, Hillary. I mean, if a former Ku Klux Klan member is willing to endorse a black man over you, that’s a mighty strong statement.

As much fun as it is to follow the race, Clinton needs to admit that this game’s over. The fat lady has sang, and it’s time to move onto the championship round.

Re-examining Agenda 21

Imagine, if you will, a multi-layered monorail system that runs around Aurora. Imagine going to the plains and seeing a space needle piercing the sky.

These were among the ideas brought up in 1987 in a project called “Agenda 21: Toward the 21st Century.” Seven-five people, selected by city leaders, spent three months discussing the future of Aurora. They were broken into four groups and each presented their ideas for the future of the city.

Then City Manager Jim Griesemer said the ideas would be used by the city council to refine the city’s strategic plan.

So, what happened to these ideas?

Nowhere in Aurora do I see an Alpine village equipped with a ski-lift carrying people to the top of a man-made mountain. Granted, building a mountain is going to be some sort of engineering marvel, but who doesn’t want a 14-er in their backyard? Just ignore the occasional rockslides.

Perhaps we can stick this in the Metro Center plot. How awesome would it be to have something that defines our city? Nothing says Aurora like a giant, unnatural peak in our city’s skyline.

Nowhere do I see skyrisers resembling 12th-century Japanese archetecture overlooking what looks to be a fishing village surrounded by an outdoor mall.

Maybe this is the plan for the area around Havana Gardens. Just clear out the shopping center across the street, build a lake and populate it with various breeds of fish and other aquatic life. And to make Aurora distinct, they should fill it with sea horses and genetically altered fish that glow in the dark — and octopuses.

Just don’t let the kids swim in the pool.

So, c’mon Mayor Tauer, let’s make Aurora unique and bring back these ideas. Our city’s been criticized for not having anything that makes it memorable. These ideas would definitely fix that.

Cannon + Carey = C+C Music Factory

It seems like every celebrity power couple has a nickname. Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie are Brangelina. Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes are TomKat. Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner are Bennifer II.

With Nick Cannon and Mariah Carey announcing their marriage, I'm going to be the first to claim this: "C+C Music Factory."

Granted Cannon's musical abilities aren't, well, good. But it still works.

Don't forget the "American" in Asian-American

May is Asian Pacific American Heritage Month. I just wish more folks would acknowledge the "American" part.

Don't get me wrong, I love seeing and participating in the celebrations of various Asian cultures and traditions. The thing is, that's all I see, all year long.

Rarely do I ever see events that involve Asians that don't have something to do with the "old country." During my time working for an Asian-American publication, I have countless cultural events that rarely change.

There are only so many lion dances and taiko drum performances I can stand to watch.

I know that these "exotic" performances are appealing to the greater community who don't get to witness them often, but I'm tired of it.

When are we going to have an Asian-American music festival in Colorado? Something that showcases local artists such as Wendy Woo and Dwight Mark, while bringing in some national acts such as the Far*East Movement and Vienna Teng.

When are we going to have an Asian-American film festival? I can see it now: A two-day event featuring newly released indie flicks such as "American Pastime," "Ping Pong Playa" and "Planet B-Boy." At night, there's a documentary on old-school Asian-American cinema stars such as Anna May Wong, James Shigeta and, of course, the San Fran-born Bruce Lee. All this leading up to the closing night showing of "Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay."

Where are the events that highlight Asian-American history? How many people know that Wat Misaka broke professional basketball's color barrier in 1947 or that Vincent Chin was brutally murdered in 1982, only to have his attackers be given a slap on the wrist.

Culture and traditions run deep across Asia. While it is important for us to know where our ancestors came from, we need to remember that we have our own culture and history that we are building here.

Marvel-ous motives

I grew up loving comic books. So much so that I wanted to be a writer, telling the stories of these extraordinary individuals who fight evil with special powers.

My career path has changed slightly, but my love of comics didn’t.

When Marvel Comics began bringing their creations to the big screen, it was like I was 11 again. Wesley Snipes turned Blade into a character who was actually cool. Sam Raimi and Tobey Maguire brought to life the awkward, yet relatible Spider-Man. And Bryan Singer created a world of fear and discrimination in “X-Men.”

And more recently, there hasn’t been a better casting choice than choosing the charismatic, former substance abuser Robert Downey Jr. as the heavy-drinking playboy Tony Stark in “Iron Man.”

(Let’s just forget about Nicolas Cage and Ghost Rider).

But starting this year, the boys over at the House of M seem to have bigger plans in mind.
The company recently announced that they’re planning for an Avengers movie in 2011.

(Excuse me as I giggle like a school girl).

It’s not like DC’s plan for a Justice League movie with no-name actors. No, Marvel’s planning on tying in their different characters such as Iron Man, the Hulk, Thor, Ant-Man and Captain America. It’s no coincidence that these characters are slated to have their own movies planned over the course of the next three years.

There’s even an allusion to it after the credits in “Iron Man” when Nick Fury (played by Samuel L. Jackson) tells Tony Stark about the “Avenger Initiative.”

(Sorry, more giggles).

And Marvel’s smart about the tie-ins. Downey is going to reprise his role as Stark in “The Incredible Hulk.” Rumors say that Jackson will also make a cameo as Fury.

And while I am looking forward to seeing “The Dark Knight” and Heath Ledger’s performance as the Joker, Marvel’s recent list of announcements have been quite exciting.

So until DC announces a proper “JLA” film, make mine Marvel!

CU's solution punishes students

Students at CU-Boulder can't get college credit for working at their college publication anymore, according to The Associated Press.

The AP reported that the school will no longer offer college credit to students who work for The Campus Press. This comes in the aftermath of a February piece entitled, "If it's war the Asians want..."

Wow, really? Eliminating school credit for the school paper is a solution? This only hurts the school's publication and journalism students, and does nothing to address the issue of a very stupid editorial decision to run a poorly written satirical piece.

So what will come out of this decision?

• Less reason for students to write for The Campus Press.
  What reason do students have to work for the school paper when they have other classes to worry about?
  
• A decreased number of students writing for The Campus Press.
  With no incentive for students to work at the publication, they simply won't. When I was in college, it was one of the few things we could use to convince journalism students to write for the school paper. For some reason, the threat of jobs expecting experience didn't get to most of them.
  
• It lowers the quality of The Campus Press.
  Fewer writers mean fewer options to publish. You take what you get, be it bad or good.
  

Getting college credit encourages students to gain valuable experience before making their way into the real world.

C'mon CU, don't let the actions of one blowhard destroy an easy outlet for journalism students to gain experience.