Japanese Street Festival Package

The 50th annual Sakura Matsuri Japanese Street Festival flooded six blocks of Pennsylvania Avenue on Saturday, April 10 as visitors lined the streets to visit food vendors, take in musical performances, and absorb Japanese culture. D.C.’s Japanese Street Festival is the largest one-day showing of Japanese culture in the nation, and judging by the thousands of visitors that crowded the streets, the culture is alive and well in the District. John Malogg, president of the Japan America society who hosts the festival, said that for this year’s fiftieth anniversary, everything is bigger and better. “We have more performers from Japan than ever which is really, really incredible,” he said. “Years ago, we basically relied on our local Japanese community for taiko drums and other kinds of things, but we’ve made a major effort over the last few years to get more Japanese performers from New York, from the west coast, and this year we have more performers from Japan than ever before, which is really great.” Lines snaked around handrolled sushi stands as patrons waited for their turn at traditional Japanese food while taking in the nice day. With everything from pop music concerts to a wax statue of President Theodore Roosevelt and beer gardens to traditional mat-making, the festival catered to the interests of many, all while displaying Japanese culture.

Cherry Blossom Festival Package

Washington, D.C.’s annual National Cherry Blossom Festival drew thousands of visitors to the Tidal Basin to see the beautiful pink and white flowers frame some of the nation’s most famous monuments. Many snapped photos of the buds while picnicking in front of the Jefferson Memorial, and some visitors even made use of the paddleboats to get a different view of the flowers. While the Cherry Blossom Festival always has a tendency to bring in tourists and residents alike, even frequent visitors of the blossoms felt this year’s festival brought in more crowds than before, especially due in large part to the weather. George Swisko, a resident of Chevy Chase, Maryland, said that even though he’s been to the festival 15 to 20 times before, his most recent visit felt a little different. “It’s probably maybe a little bit more [people] because of Easter weekend, spring break, nice weather and all that,” he said. Lander Gold, another D.C. resident, echoed the same sentiment. “Been here before; been here, done it – but this is better than ever ’cause it was rainy last year, so it’s beautiful,” Gold said. The National Park Service doesn’t keep count of the number of festival-goers, but if the weather was any indication, people headed to D.C. in large groups during the festival to bask in the sunshine while taking in the beautiful buds.

March on Washington Protest Package

On Saturday, March 20, hundreds of people gathered in front of the White House in Lafayette Park to protest against the United States’ involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan. Several organizations, including the ANSWER Coalition, organized the event to bring attention to where America’s monetary resources are currently going, and where they believe their attention should be directed. Michael Marceau, the vice president of Veterans for Peace and a disabled Vietnam veteran, said that he hoped his own presence, as well as those of other military groups, would bring new light to the topic. “We bring some credibility to the issue of veterans care and we’re calling for our government to bring our young men and women home from Iraq and Afghanistan, take care of them, because they certainly need care – especially in the area of mental health,” Marceau said. “And we also believe that there are much better ways to spend our  money here at home than by sending money abroad to people who don’t like us.” Protestors covered homemade coffins with flags and waved signs with messages of peace in hopes that someone from the White House just might hear their message.

Sport Stacking Package

On February 27 in Pasadena, Maryland, Jacobsville Elementary School held a sport stacking competition for kids of all ages. Using special cups (more lightweight and durable than normal plasticware with special holes in the bottom to let air pass through more easily), participants competed to see who could stack and unstack cups the fastest. Nine-year-old Shiv Lamba competed with his brother, Avi to the delight of their mom, Ritu Dang. “It’s really fun for me,” Lamba said. It was the first time he and his brother had competed together. The whole family loves stacking — even Dang’s two-year-old daughter is an up-and-coming stacker. Despite the fact that kids have a good time working up a sweat while they compete, tournament director Judy Schmid said that stacking helps kids in the classroom, as research shows the sport helps to improve the sequence of reading and helps children develop teamwork skills.

Snowstorm Package – Before the Blizzard

Before the blizzard (or blizzards, rather) of February 2010 hit the District, an unexpected storm hit Washington, D.C. in late January. Even though weathermen predicted about an inch of snow at best for the weekend, 5.5 inches fell at American University, one of the official measuring spots in the city. My group and I found many spots, especially around the Woodley Park zoo region and in residential areas, that were affected by the storm.

Hello world!

I’ll soon be updating with this blog with my work from American University. Hopefully you’ll see great packages from my various broadcast journalism classes here at AU. Keep looking back for more!

My first natural sounds package

In my Multimedia Production Skills class in the fall of ’09, we were required to make a news package using only natural sounds and interviews over the course of five weeks. It was my first experience using Final Cut Pro, and a truly informative adventure.