Second Blog Draft

As of right now my tentative thesis would be that the residents of Novi need to increase their effort for this park. The state grant for the park is very attainable, they just need to put in a better effort to show the state how bad they want this park, and how important the park is to the city.

My opinion is that this park would be very beneficial to the city because of population growth, and because there is no park near the area where they want to build this new one. After reviewing some of the council minutes, I saw that there wasn't anyone attending who was really pushing for this park. If no one in the city is really putting in a big effort for the park, then the city will not concentrate on the issue as much as the other issues which are being pursued by a lot of community members. The community needs to up its participation in this issue so that they can get the state grant, and start building the park.

Sources:
Free Press
Detroit News
Michigan.gov
Along with these articles, I will be using some of the statements that were said during city council meetings. I will be getting these sources from the city council minutes archive which is found at the Novi City Website.

Novi Wants Another Park (Final Draft Photo Essay)

The city of Novi has had an eye on a semi-large piece of land where the city would like to build another park. Last year, the city applied for a state grant in order to fund the project but was denied. The city plans to try again for the grant this year.

This is a picture of the area that the city of Novi is trying to get a hold of, for the construction of the park.

If Novi got the grant, they would use it to build a 269 acre park that would have hiking, and other recreational activities. Novi already has three public parks and numerous recreational facilities that belong to the schools. I do not see what one more park will bring to the city, that the other three parks don't already have. The three parks that belong to Novi offer tons of recreational activities to the public, which is why Novi does not need to build another park.

This is a picture of the huge wooden play-sturcture that is right at the entrance of CSP.
Inside CSP there are nine baseball diamonds, and durring the summer there are always baseball games being played on all nine diamonds.

Power Park which is the second park in Novi is a little smaller than CSP, but it still has six baseball diamonds, two volleyball courts, two play-structures, and a trail for walking through the woods.

This is a picture of one of the six baseball diamonds located in the center of the park.

This is a picture of the beginning of the trail that goes through the woods. In the foreground is the pond that is located inside of the park.

Rotary park is a smaller and more quiet park then the other two, but still has a play-structure, a picnic area, and a couple of tennis courts.

Right at the entrance to Rotary Park is this boardwalk, which runs along 9 mile road, and offers a change to the usual concrete sidewalks.

This is just a picture of one of the playgrounds that belong to the Novi School District. These playgrounds also add to the number of recreational facilities that Novi already offers.

Novi has three parks that offer almost every activity you can think of. They offer baseball diamonds, soccer fields, picnic areas, and trails for people to go walking. There is no need for the city of Novi to construct another park especially one that is 269 acres.

First Blog Draft

I decided to do my final research paper on the same topic as my photo essay. Basically there is a large piece of land located on 10 mile and Wixom rd in Novi, and the city wants to get a grant from the state so that they can build a park that will offer recreational activities like biking and hiking. The city applied for the grant last year but was denied. They plan to try again this year, and held a public meeting to sign a petition for the park. When a city applying for a grant gets a petition, it forces the state to spend a little more time on the decision, and will increase Novi's chance of getting the grant.
I will change up my stance on the issue for the research paper. In the photo essay I argued against the park, but in the Research paper I will argue for the park. As I was doing some searching for information on the grant, I found an article stating that Novi is building another park which is right by the three other parks that they have. I will argue for this FIFTH park because this park would be further away from the other three, and will benefit the residents in that area. They should not have to drive further to get to a park, just because Novi built four parks all within 2 miles of each other.

If you are interested in further information about this topic please visit this site, and let me know what you think about the whole situation.

I think I Love My Wife

So I went and saw "I think I love my wife", and I realized how much i like chris rock. its been a while since i have seen one of his movies, but it was hilarious. i would definitely recomend the movie to anyone who hasnt laughed in a while, because this movie will definitely make you laugh out loud. despite being funny it also has a good moral lesson to it.

Last Assignment

I don't know about anyone else, but it seems like it would be really hard to find 8 sources on the topic that i chose for my photo essay. Hopefully we can use sources that don't have to do directly with the topic, but that help clarify one of the points or statements we are making. If all 8 sources do have to be directly tied to the topic, then i better find a new one.

Novi Wants Another Park(photo essy, rough draft)

The city of Novi has had an eye on a semi-large piece of land, where the city would like to build another park. Last year, the city applied for a state grant in order to fund the project but was denied. This year, the city is holding a public meeting in order to increase its chances for the state grant.

This is a picture of the area that the city of Novi is trying to get a hold of, for the construction of the park.

If Novi got the grant, they would use it to build a 269 acre park that would have hiking, and other recreational activities. Novi already has three public parks and numerous recreational facilities that belong to the schools. I do not see what one more park will bring to the city, that the other three parks don't already have. The three parks that belong to Novi offer tons of recreational activities to the public, which is why Novi does not need to build another park. CSP, or Community Sports Park, is the biggest of the three parks in Novi. CSP is located on 8 mile rd. and Napier rd. This is a picture of the picnic area available to the public inside of CSP. It is also the location of one of the many restroom facilities located inside this park. This is a picture of the huge wooden play-sturcture that is right at the entrance of CSP. This playground is always jam packed with kids in the summer. This is a photo of the basketball courts which are found right next to the picnic area, and huge playground. Inside CSP there are nine baseball diamonds, and durring the summer there are always baseball games being played on all nine diamonds. This is another picture of one of the baseball diamonds inside of CSP. CSP also has about 14 soccer fields which are across from the baseball diamonds. Unfortunately they were taken down for the winter, so I could not get a picture of them.

Power Park which is the second park in Novi is a little smaller than CSP, but it still has six baseball diamonds, two volleyball courts, two play-structures, and a trail for walking through the woods. Power Park is located on 10 mile rd., between Novi High School, and the Novi Police Station.

This is a picture of one of the play-structures inside of Power Park. In the background you can see one of the two baseball diamonds which are primarily used for girls' softball games.

This is a picture of the other play-structure. In the foreground you can see the sand that makes up the volleyball courts in the summer.

This is a picture of one of the four baseball diamonds located in the center of the park. These fields are usually home to baseball games, but in the late afternoon they all hold softball games for adults.

This is a picture of the beginning of the trail that goes through the woods. In the foreground is the pond that is located inside of the park, which is nicknamed "piss pond".

Rotary Park is the third park that belongs to Novi, and is located on 9 mile rd. Rotary is a smaller and more quiet park then the other two. This park still has a play-structure, a picnic area, and a couple of tennis courts.

This is a picture of the play-structure located insided of Rotary Park. On the very right side of the picture you can see part of the tennis courts.

This is the picnic area which could easily seat 40 people, if you had a big family outing. The picnic area is conveniently located right next to the play-structure and tennis courts.
Right at the entrance to Rotary Park is this boardwalk, which runs along 9 mile road, and offers a change to the usual concrete sidewalks.

This just a picture of one of the playgrounds that belong to the Novi School District. This is one of two jungle gyms that belongs to this elementary school, and Novi has five elementary schools, not to mention the middle school and high school.

Novi has three parks that offer almost every activity you can think of. They offer baseball diamonds, soccer fields, picnic areas, and trails for people to go walking. There is no need for the city of Novi to construct another park especially one that is 269 acres. If Novi just wants to spend money, then they should work on the upkeep of the three parks that they already have.

Photo Essay Topic

I finalized my thought process and decided to do my photo essay on Novi wanting a state grant for ANOTHER city park. Novi applied last year for a state grant to fund the building of another park, and was denied. They are starting a petition, and will try again this fall to get the grant. My essay will basically show all the parks that Novi already has, and how they don't need another one. If anything they should just spend a little money to fix up a few things that are starting to fall apart in the parks that we already have.

Graffiti

I thought this example of graffiti was unique, because it is not what people would usually think of when they think of graffiti. Most people would think of some type of picture that is painted or drawn on a wall. This example shows a person's form of graffiti by carving this in cement. This is a very unique form of graffiti.

This example of graffiti, is the more negative type. This type would not appeal to very many people, and doesnt look like it serves any point. It looks like someone had no time, so they drew a few letters on a brick wall. With the way that the numbers are very vague and edgy, it looks like the artist drew it in a matter of minutes. It also looks like this example is more destructive than the typical example of graffiti. I feel if you are going to destroy someone's property, at least make kind of point with it; don't just do it because you have no time.

This example of Graffiti is the type that most people probably think of when they think of the word Graffiti. This example is very bright, and has lots of colors. It looks like the artist of this piece spent a lot of time on it, even maybe days on it. I think this depicts the more positive side of graffiti and what it looks like. It also does not look like it was done on someones property, it looks like an abandoned place.

Graffiti: Tunnel Notes of a New Yorker

I did not really think too much of this article. It never really grabbed my attention, and I thought bits of it were very confusing. I did notice that it was very descriptive and visual throughout the whole paper. He used his real life examples to back up most of his claims. He was also very descriptive with his real life examples. I also liked how he mentioned the positive and negative aspects to graffiti. For the most part he talked about how it only caused rage and anger and disruption; but he did touch on how he sometimes saw the initials inside of a carved heart. This example displays a more positive and loving side of graffiti.

Also towards the end he did mention the HUGE fact about people who are all concerned with graffiti. This fact is that graffiti never killed anyone, and that there are bigger problems in cities then graffiti. I agree completely with this statement. When I look at the bigger picture and all the other problems with cites and urban decay, I really don't give a shit about graffiti and probably never will. I would much rather see someone get angry and go write it on a wall, then get angry and go kill somebody.

Detroit Free Press

1. Besides Comerica Bank and Tara Grant, the issues getting the most coverage are American Idol's Lakish Jones who is from Detroit. This article is to update people who are interested in her progree so far. The other issues that are taking up the space are related to sports. There is one article that has to do with the death of an old coach of MSU basketball star Drew Neitzel. It is about how Drew had a very close relationship with his coach who died of Lou Gehrig's Disease, and how Drew dedicated the game against Wisconsin to him; which they won by the way. The other sport related issue is about the Detroit Lions and how they are seeking running backs again.
2. While browsing the top issues being covered on www.freep.com I did not really see any emphasis on drama in the issues. I thought that most of the issues had emphasis on getting the facts across to the reader. The only issue that might have had some emphasis on human emotion, and trying to relay that to the reader was the article on Drew Neitzel and the death of his former Basketball coach.
3. In Oakland County, the Silver Dome was released to the city of Pontiac to be sold. The freepress doesn't have any issues that are related to Novi. The only thing that they have is 5 questions they asked Novi's Park and Recreation supervisor about beating the winter blues. When I go to other websites I find information like the Michigan Golf show is comming to the Rock Financial Showplace, and that upgrades are needed in our many elementary schools due to a lack of space and equipment.
4. I do not know what I want to write about at this point. So far I have not found an issue that is happening in Novi or Oakland County. Everything seems to be centered in Detroit, or the immediate surrounding cities of Detroit. Plus I am still unsure of how we can make a photo essay of a local issue. It doesnt make sense to me how we are suppose to photograph an issue; especially numerous photos. There is one article about a possible girls catholic school comming to novi, which is interesting because Novi just allowed Catholic Central to move to Novi. These are examples of how Novi is a developing city, that might be doing to much. There arent to many places left that havent been touched in some way by the city. Novi feels like it could get very crowded very fast.

Representing Urban Decline

After reading this article I couldnt help but think of the news that Comerica is moving its headquarters to Texas. It also made me think that Detroit better start doing something, and start doing it fast. Detroit will already lose tons of money because of this decision. They need to start taking actions before another major company does the same thing. It also made me think of what would happen if they did not do anything and just let the companies keep leaving. I realized that basically Detroit would completely fall, and deteriorate. There would be no money to spend on the city, and there would be no one that they could tax in order to get the money. Basically detroit would cease to exist.

Oakland County news: Pontiac

While I was browsing through the news in Oakland County, I read that a man in pontiac stabbed two people for walking through a neighbors yard. He stabbed a man that latter died, and a woman who survived. He stabbed both of them repeatedly after arguing with them about walking through his neighbors yard. He will be guilty of murder, and the police all agree to how ridiculous this was. He stabbed people who were walking through a yard that was not his.

Restaurant Review...again

So I wrote my essay and i was re-reading it and i realized that i suck at this whole detailed, sensory image stuff. Im just glad that i can get my girlfriend to help me because she is awsome at that stuff. But seriously my paper is lame so far. (Didn't know what to blog about)

Detroit Sports

I just herd that the Detroit Lions traded Dre Bly for Tatum Bell and on offensive lineman. I think that this is either going to be a really great or really bad move depending on the outcome of Kevin Jones' injury. Also the Detroit Tigers are back to their winning ways with their first pre-season win. Gary Sheffield hit a home run in his first game as a Tiger.