A blog for the Village of Arts and Humanities

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It is difficult for me to believe, sometimes, that it has been nearly 18 months since I first started working with the students at the Village of Arts and Humanities, a multimedia recreation center at 11th and Alder Streets in North Philadelphia’s Fairhill. It was last December when I first started working with high schoolers there on filming and video editing, coming into what was already a fairly established program.

Today, in working with the kids, I really got to thinking how we haven’t done enough to publicize their work, to let others see the short videos they’ve made.

So, in just a few short hours, ditching the outdated Web site of the nonprofit, together with a couple of the kids, we made a WordPress blog, outfitted with several of their videos uploaded on the class’s new Youtube account.

More to follow, but I’m awfully proud of the work and was surprised just how excited a few of them were to have their Myspace accounts linked. New media has teaching capabilities to be sure, but there are elements that seem to be needed.. like Myspace.

My Harrisburg Internship

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Well, I am taking another swing at this whole ‘getting a job’ upon graduating in May.

Today, I am submitting my name for an internship in capital city Harrisburg, Pa., with the Pennsylvania Legislative Correspondents Association, associated with the Pennsylvania Newspaper Association, the group that awarded me, among others, a Keystone Press Award earlier this month Pennsylvania Legislative Correspondents’ Association.

It is a 12-week program paying $500 a week. Interns spend two- or three-week rotations writing for The Philadelphia Inquirer (350,000 circulation) Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (214,000 circulation) Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, The Morning Call (Allentown, Pa., 109,000 circulation)) and The Patriot-News in Harrisburg.

So, I just packaged my resume, an academic transcript and five clips, including my recent-most byline on accountants serving abroad for the Philadelphia Business Journal, a story I wrote for the Inquirer on a portrait of Pope John Paul II in April 2006, and my well-received profile of a Temple alumnus who fought in World War II, and a story I wrote for the Inqy on accidentally acquiring hepatitis in March 2006. I also submitted the initial story I wrote on Temple University seeking a new dean for its Japan campus.

Wish me luck!

Shooting at my Philadelphia subway stop

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Sadly, yesterday a man was shot by two SEPTA officers at the Allegeny Ave. stop on the Broad Street Line, my stop.allegheny-subway-shooting-feb-21-2008-stretcher.jpgThis comes after reports of increases of SEPTA and city officers riding the subways, often derided as dangerous. I’ve never had a problem myself, but reports of teenage violence, particularly directed at younger riders, have been on the rise.The man was apparently smoking in the stop when the officers approached him. He tried to run and at least four shots were fired.I have video from CBS 3, but I haven’t been able to upload it on YouTube.(Photos by Greg Bezanis, a staff photographer of The Temple News) allegheny-subway-shooting-feb-21-2008-platform.jpg

My travel videos on AOL

I spent a semester living and studying in Tokyo, Japan last fall. While there, I  blogged, photographed and videotaped my experiences for the pilot season of an online-only show by NBC called JYA, Junior Year Abroad.

I just got word from the show’s producer that it has been posted on a new NBC  digital media Web site, Hulu.com.

Through it, major media companies can license the content.

As result, today AOL has done just that, posting my videos, in addition to those of the other cast members. See it here.Check out my most popular video, chronicling my scaling Mount Fuji, Japan’s tallest peak, on my own, on a whim, unprepared.

Christopher Wink on Fox 29 News

myfox_full_logo_1011.jpgI am being interviewed tomorrow morning by Fox 29, the local Philadelphia affiliate, regarding youth voting in the coming presidential primary season, particularly Super Tuesday.

The interview will be cut for the 5 p.m. news.

Additionally, on Tuesday, I will be a guest on the channel’s morning show, answering similar questions before 8 a.m. and pushing the blog for which I will be writing on the primary results. Check it out.

A publishing meeting

banner2_top.gifToday, I briefly met with a representative from Temple University Press, set up by a professor-friend of mine.

I had forwarded two query letters to the rep, one on a collection of writing I had done while in Japan, another regarding my desire to compare the lives of a handful of North Philadelphia residents whom I had come to know through my coverage of the community for The Temple News.

He was kind and offered a great deal of insight into the publishing a world, a place I have long wanted to visit but never understood how to arrive. That said, I have no reason to believe the publisher was a place to shop my two ideas for published work.

He did suggest I write a full chapter of my suggested Japan manuscript and have him give it a read. It can only be considered a small step in the direction of a career in writing.