Appareantly, some of the videos that I posted were unavailable for viewing because of settings I have on Youtube. But they should be all fixed now, so view away by scrolling down!

I'm happy to report that the Fish vs. Wild episode is edited and ready for viewing. I'm going to hold the World Premiere date for next Monday, July 2.

In other Windows Movie Maker related talk, I've concluded a project I've been working on for a few weeks about MSU hockey's 2007 National Championship run that I'd like to invite you to watch. I'm happy with how it turned out, despite the fact that most of the video clips I used are a little grainy. Anyways, I think you'll enjoy viewing it. It features some nice music and has a balance of still photographs and video footage that I think really captures the spirit of the win.

Just a little follow up on the filming of the sequel to Batman Begins: Apparently, Bryan was correct. The crew was in Chicago from last Friday to Sunday filming scenes for The Dark Knight. To the right is a picture of the crew's Bat signal. Imagine looking up into the sky and seeing that. Talk about amazing. Anyways, Batman Begins was my favorite movie of maybe the last 5 years. Needless to say that I cannot wait until next summer's sequel.


I'm also pleased to say that the shooting for my mini-spoof of The Discovery Channel's hit show Man vs. Wild is complete and I'm now in the editing process. I was filmed trying to survive in the harsh wilderness of Mackinac Island and I'm quite pleased with how the shooting went. It will probably be a few days before the world premiere of Fish vs. Wild, but here is a teaser preview.

Celebrity Speaking

In my amateur journalism career that dates back to high school, I've had the special opportunity to interview and write stories on celebrities, some of them being my personal heroes. In high school, I had the chance to sit down for 30 minutes with the band Hoobastank for a special feature. For The State News and through internships I've had, I've talked to and done stories on some of my personal favorite athletes like Igor Larionov, John-Michael Liles, Chris Chelios, Justin Verlander, and Kirk Maltby. I've ran into Ryan Miller (right) at bars and have covered future professional athletes like Tim Kennedy, Justin Abdelkader, and Tim Crowder.

It's nice to be able to have that trend continue here on Mackinac. Dirty Jobs host Mike Rowe filmed a future episode of the show on the Island in May, and Bob Seger and Kid Rock are often seen on the Island as well. On Friday, I had the special opportunity to follow around CBS Early Show Weatherman Dave Price for a few hours while he filmed footage for the nationally televised show here on the Island. I admittedly have never seen the show or have even heard of Dave Price until three days ago, but lots of people I've talked to since have told me how popular it is and how much they enjoy it. Anyways, Dave Price was a really good guy and will be back on the Island August 23, when all the footage will air. Below is a little clip I took of him about to fire a cannon at Fort Mackinac.


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On a random but awesome note, my friend Bryan Schulmeister is interning in Chicago this summer. Apparently they're filming scenes of the sequel to Batman Begins there now and shone the Bat signal over the sky at 2:30 a.m. late night Thursday. That rocks. Unfortunately I couldn't find anymore information on it, but that gets me amped for the sequel.

Locals describe Mackinac Island as "taking a step back in time."

They're right. Although I've loved my 6+ weeks here so far, this place isn't exactly East Lansing or metro-Detroit. There's nowhere to go to on Tuesdays to pick up the latest CD or DVD, the nearest movie theater is in Mackinaw City (in the Lower Peninsula), there is no hockey rink for me to skate at, and of course there's the obvious absence of automobiles. I couldn't stand living here year-round, but living here for the summer has been a nice change of pace. Gone is the hectic grind of homework, class, and work and welcome to Island Time - where everything starts late, and a general aura of relaxation exists. In my free time up here, I've ridden horses, biked and explored around the Island, bar-hopped, done some reading, and I've been toying with the Windows Movie Player. I also plan to do some ghost hunting before I'm done here.

One of the things I like the most about interning here is the lack of supervision from superior authority. Here in the newsroom on the Island, we have three staff writers in the newsroom. No editor, no supervisor, nobody looking over our shoulders all day and telling us what to do. I love that. The editor and owner of the paper spends all his time at the other paper he owns (the Town Crier's sister paper) across the pond in St. Ignace. Now you might be asking yourself "Well then how in the heck are you learning anything without an editor there?" Well, I've learned more just going out and doing things and reading other people's work than I have from a person. If that still doesn't satisfy your question, then rest assured we do have weekly meetings with him where we go over everything. You can't beat that.

Tomorrow will mark 6 full weeks since I've been up here on the Island. As I've said before, I'm really enjoying it. The nightlife isn't anything compared to what it is at MSU, but it has its perks. For starters, there's always live music in the bars which I love. Secondly, these musicians don't bore you with songs they've written and instead play covers, which I really love. My favorite so far is a gentleman by the name of Myk Rise. He's an older fellow, likely in his late 30s or early 40s and doesn't have the look of a rockstar, but he'll play you anything you want. He does a great version of David Bowie's "Ground Control to Major Tom."

Other random stuff:

- I was invited to smoke marijuana with a 50-something year old at the bar last weekend. I politely declined. Not my thing.

- The 10-day Lilac Festival concluded the other day. I was a little dissapointed. Everyone makes such a big deal about it around here and I really didn't think it was anything to write home about.

- Whenever I think of this place, the song "Small Town" by John "Cougar" Mellancamp always comes to mind.


I've spent much of my free time dabbling in the art of Windows Movie Maker. I made the one below last week but refrained to post it because it's a little sappy. But everyone seems to love it, so I'll throw it up here. In the words of Kristyn Olsezwski "OMG I love it!" Added Ashley Fowler "It made me cry!" It's kind of sappy but it's a tribute to best group of kids in the world.

My Breakroom

Island In and Outs

I write anywhere from 6-8 stories per week here at the Town Crier, but it's surprisingly not very busy. I normally have a few hours of down time each day, which allows me to blog and continue a four-year short story that was brainstormed by myself and two other friends, Anthony Accetta and Danielle Vandine (right). The story is a supernatural tale of demon fighting warriors that somehow we created out of the blue a long time ago. I've been trying to come up with a decent storyline for years now and have finally found one. Before you go judging, rest assured that I'm only doing this out of tribute to the story's creators and for my own personal enjoyment. To the right is a photo of the inspiration and creator's behind the story.




If you take a glance to the right of the page, you'll see some goals I have while on the Island. One of them is to see a ghost. Mackinac Island has a rich history. In readings and research I've done on the hauntings so far, I've found that the whole Island is littered with burial grounds from the War of 1812 and Native American settlements centuries ago. Fort Mackinac (left) is supposedly the most haunted place on the Island showcasing a variety of nighttime activity from lights flickering on and off in the buildings to presences in the old soldier's barracks.

To the left is a photo of the Grand Hotel. When building it in the late 1800s, it's said that human bones were uncovered. Supposedly a ghost of a little girl haunts the 4th floor of the hotel, bouncing balls, running, and giggling through the hallway. There are also eerie presences described throughout some of the lower levels.

In addition, there are also countless Bed & Breakfasts, Hotels, Landmarks, and even the Straits of Mackinac which are said to have ghostly activity. From my understanding, the spirits are generally friendly and mean no harm. It seems that the citizens embrace the spirits as a part of the Island's history as well, and tend not to fear them. I plan on exploring some of these places reporting hauntings equipped with video camera and open mind and will be posting accordingly on here. I'm also in the infancy of working on a large in-depth piece about the hauntings on the Island.

More to come soon.

Welcome

Greetings and welcome to my second blog. As I say in My Credo to the left, I was hesitant to start blogging about myself again because I don't particularly like to write about myself, but after inquiries from many friends, I decided to start up a new blog.

As you may know, I'm over four weeks into a summer internship at Mackinac Island's community paper The Town Crier.

I've enjoyed everything about the experience so far. The scenery is gorgeous, the people are incredibly charming, and the Island offers so much in terms of entertainment and writing.

Over the next few months I hope to take you inside some of my journeys here on the Island through videos that I'm trying to figure out how to use and hope to keep you updated on things so when we may not talk everyday, we can offer other ways to stay in touch. Before my return to civilization, I hope to see many of you up here.

A Quick Rundown So Far:

- So far I've covered everything from City Council meetings to school field trips at the Island's Waste Water Management Facility. I've enjoyed it all. I didn't really know how much I'd enjoy writing about non-sports things, but so far it's been a great learning experience and like I said, it's been really fun too.

- Every boy dreams about being a cowboy when they're little. I had the opportunity to go horseback riding for the first time in my life over Memorial Day weekend to quench some of those childhood fantasies. I called my horse Comet in honor of one of my favorite childhood shows, The Adventures of Brisco County Jr, even though his name was really Eagle.

- Mackinac Island is a place well known for many hauntings. More on that coming in the future as I intend on exploring some of these claims.

- For more on the Island lifestyle, please see http://seangary.blogspot.com/. Together we write about 3/4 of the weekly paper produced here on the Island. I also encourage you to check out my blog about my true passion - hockey - at http://fisheric.blogspot.com/. I've enjoyed reading many of your blogs in the meantime and would love to post the links on my sidebar. So help me out a little with that kids.