NHL, SMH

I've avoided discussing this topic for a long time, because it's a sensitive matter to me, the NHL lockout. The stubborn owners and players association have been negotiating for nearly six months and virtually no progress has been made. According to many sources, the two sides still sit far apart. This lockout has done a burden on the players, and more importantly the fans. The players have been forced to move over seas to play the sport they love and abandon their North American teams. One of the greatest players in the NHL, Alex Ovechkin, went so far as to say he may consider never coming back if this season is cancelled. So far the season has been cancelled through December. Some of the greatest parts of the season will be missed including the well known Winter Classic on New Years' Day. Also, the HBO series based on the Winter Classic called 24/7. Most of all, this lock out is killing the fans. There is no hockey on television for the fans. No games to attend. Hockey fans have lost the great sport. The filthy rich men that own NHL teams and run the league have caused the second lockout in 10 years. But it doesn't even affect them. All that matters is the money to them, not the sport. The NBA missed nearly half their season last year, but was smart enough to realize that the lock out benefited no one and quickly fixed their mistake. The NHL needs to come to their senses quickly before losing fans and players to other leagues. The one thing the NHL has going for them is that they control the future of the sport many people love. Hopefully the NHL realizes what they're doing and quickly fixes all they've done wrong.

Blazers on Ice!

To the surprise of many, Montgomery Blair High School does in fact have an ice hockey team. Although it is not an official winter sport of the school, the team does exist. It exists like crew and frisbee, as club sports. The ice hockey team combines with Northwood High School and Albert Einstein High School in order to have a sufficient number of players. The Blair ice hockey team is led by some of CAP's finest, Assistant Captain Max K and Captain Sebastian R. Friday marked the kickoff of the season. On Friday night the Blair hockey team took on the DC Stars at the Rockville Ice Arena. Although the game was lost by the Blazers, it was close and came down to the wire. High school hockey is one of the greatest things. It combines the intense fun game of hockey to the passionate dedication to supporting your school. Friday's attendance numbers were down due to the late start time but in the future, Blair hockey games will serve to be the hot spot on Friday nights.

Come out to support the Blair ice hockey team on Friday nights at various ice rinks around the area!

Friday's game was captured by the steady hand of photographer Peter B.

Color of the Leaves

In my video above I intended to capture the beauty of the foliage around me in my daily routine. My favorite part of the fall is the changing of the leaves and the pretty colors. For this project I used my phone and the iMovie app. This covers the prettiest part of my day, the journey home from school. As I take the bus and walk the trees around me cease to amaze. Also walking my puppy when I get home and the drive to hockey practice along Sligo creek and scenic Wheaton Regional Park.

Niagara Falls

Over the weekend I visited Niagara Falls with my hockey team to compete in a tournament. We ended up having lots of time away form the rink that we spent at the falls on both sides of the border. On one of the days we visited the US Falls and viewed them from the observation deck. The next night we crossed the border into Canada to get a better view of the Canadian Falls and both of them at the same time. This presented me with a great time to take pictures from the bridge and both sides of the border to capture the beauty in the falls. Using my phone, this gave me an opportunity to use the panorama feature and capture even more of the falls at once. Unfortunately, for me the falls got a little boring cause after a while it is just water crashing over some rocks. But what a site it was at first. 

The Falls from the Bridge

The Falls from Canada

The Canadian Falls

The American Falls

Both Falls from Canada

Nature

As we relax at home surrounded by mother natures art I am forced to reflect on the beauty of the outside world. The elegance of the pitter patter of raindrops on the roof is so soothing and relaxing. Watching the rain fall and collect on the ground and rush down the road. As it collects in the creek turning it into a shift moving river. The water rushes down crashing over the rocks. The leaves turning colors as falling from the trees provides perfect scenery for walking a puppy. Together we can enjoy the weather and days off.
Mother Nature provides us with outstanding variables. The wind rustles the leaves off the trees and pushes us around. It cools us off on warm days and makes us search for protection when it's chilly. Occasionally we are blessed with snow and a day of fun outside, home from school. It's rare that the rain cancels school. It's slightly unfortunate too. There's no playing in the rain. And the large possibility of the power going out would result in very little to enjoy at home in our modern age. But it is what it is. The hype and excitement surrounding a storm is so enjoyable. Preparing in advance for what you know is destined to come. Watching the Doppler radar seeing how bad it may get. Praying you don't lose power and that school will be cancelled for one more day. Mother Nature is beautiful.

Permit!

I turned 15 years and 9 months old about a month ago. To a teenager living in MD this age is an extremely important three quarter birthday, marking eligibility to report to the MVA and receive a learner's permit. I did so one week after my memorable age landmark. In the three weeks since receiving my permit I have done quite a bit of driving, including a four hour trip on US Interstate roads.

I have already come to numerous conclusions about driving that are much different then what I have perceived from riding in the passengers seat for so many years.

1. It's not easy. I knew it wasn't going to be easy, but I did not believe it was going to be this difficult. My family only owns a stick shift so the addition of another variable does not help but being able to develop a familiarity with the huge piece of machinery in order to drive successfully is no cake walk.


2. Stop-and-go traffic is aggravating. As a passenger of course it sucks too, but inching by a speed limit sign reading 65 going a whopping 10 miles per hour is extremely frustrating.


3. Other drivers are not friendly. The people you share the road with often couldn't care less about you. They have no problem riding right on your tail or purposefully not allowing you to merge in front of them. The only thing on their mind is them and where they have to go.


4. The blind spot is real. When a car finds itself precisely in the spot where neither your eye or mirrors can detect it, that car is invisible. Merging while going 70 MPH is already difficult enough but when you are caught of guard your whole body jumps. Not fun. 


5. Going backwards is twice as hard. When you drive forward you only concern yourself with what lays ahead. When the car is in reverse though, you have to turn around while remaining aware of the front of the car and obstacles that may lay in the way while maneuvering.


6. Going steady isn't easy. When driving at high speeds the smallest movement can cause larger actions by the car. Also keeping a steady foot on the petal isn't easy. Unless cruise control is on, there are no breaks from anything. 


7. Going fast is fun! Enough said.

Archival Footage

For our groups dystopian movie, we are simulating full world destruction in a nuclear war. This archival footage of a nuclear explosion will be used to simulate to ending of the war at the beginning of the trailer. This clip demonstrates the destruction that we wish to have our audience believe has occurred prior to the setting of our film.




Our group also plans to use a few shots of chaos in major cities to show how the world is coming to an end due to this nuclear war. We will use shots of people running and screaming and more explosion shots to set the scene for what occurs next.