BYU and the ESPYs

I didn't watch all of the ESPY awards last night, just the important parts.

First, Jimmer won the award for Best Male College Athlete. I thought he gave a great speech and handled himself very well. Of course, compared to other LDS kids or BYU kids, it might not be that special. But in the real world, Jimmer still proves to be an impressive young man. (And his girlfriend Whitney looked good and modest, way to represent.)

I can't find a video of his acceptance speech yet, except for this home recording of a news report on Fox 13:



Another big reason for watching the ESPYs is Seth Meyers, I'm a big fan. He's usually hilarious on SNL Weekend Update* and even funnier as the show's head writer, and he killed at the White House Correspondent's Dinner.

Back when the Brandon Davies news broke out in March, I was disappointed by the response from both The Daily Show (skip to 1:47) and, as a matter of fact, Weekend Update with Seth Meyers (skip to 2:53). I wasn't too offended by the jokes, I just thought they weren't that funny. Jon Stewart and Seth Meyers let me down.

But, Seth redeemed himself at the ESPYs with the first funny Brandon Davies joke I've heard. (It only took four months.)

(Skip to the 11:00 mark for the Brandon Davies joke.)

*This is Seth Meyers' rant about the Arnold Schwarzenegger sex scandal, so naturally there is some PG or PG-13 rated humor. Just to warn you.

Rodent Derrieres

The latest for The Brooklyn Paper:

Ridgites show they give a 'rat's a--' about gay marriage*

*Warning: Some instances of PG-rated language.

This is a little different from the way I handled this issue for The Daily Universe, wouldn't you say? But I think this shows one of my strengths. Even though my editorials in The Daily Universe were closer to my personal opinion (they are editorials, after all), I can still see where both sides are coming from. In Utah I had one audience, in Brooklyn I have another audience. I can switch between the two and understand both points of view, and write accordingly and still be fair.

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Also, this week's police reports from the 78th Precinct:

Strongman muscles Gorilla!

It's not every day you have an email conversation with a white supremacist.

This is by far the most intense story I've done in terms of its subject. I mean, I guess BYU sports vs. Utah sports can be a touchy subject. But I think it pales in comparison to racism.

I was assigned to gather quotes from some Greenpoint residents about a flier being distributed around their neighborhood. This wasn't a flier for the upcoming block party or PTA potluck. It was to recruit members for The Creativity Movement, a group inviting white people to "awake!" and advance their race. As you would expect, everybody I talked to in the neighborhood was shocked and disgusted.

Instead of just giving the quotes to one of the regular reporters, I ended up being assigned the story. I combined what the regular reporter did with what I got from the neighborhood, and came up with a story on Friday.

When it was being edited over the weekend, my editor gave me a few more things to add, including at least an effort to reach out to this group for a comment. So, I found an email address (I hope nobody looks too much into my recent Googling history) and sent one along, without really expecting a response.

But I got one. And not just a quick one either - a long paragraph to answer each of my questions. So I gave some excerpts from it to my editor and he put together an updated version of the story yesterday with a few more updates today.

Racist white supremacist speaks! And he speaks to us! (Updated article)

White time, wrong place as bigot leaves racist fliers on Greenpoint cars (Original article)

*Warning - The paper found out about the fliers from a Greenpoint blog that has a PG-13-rated name, just so you know.

**Another warning - The home page to The Brooklyn Paper right now has a story about the recent Rep. Anthony Weiner scandal, with a photo that you might not want someone else to notice on your screen unless you want to answer some questions. (You can avoid the front page if you just click on the links above that go straight to my two articles.)

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I also did the Police Blotter again yesterday, this time for the 78th Precinct.

Thief was in a real Crunch!

Ovine Makeover

A quick little story about an event at the Prospect Park Zoo last weekend:

Last weekend's sheer-shearing thing was a hairy good time

And from what I hear, my brother could use some shearing of his own...

Photo courtesy of Kandis Despain

My New York film debut!

The bigwigs at The Brooklyn Paper decided to have some fun with this story:

GUILTY! Perfetto convicted in 'trial of the century'

First, I'll explain the 'trial of the century.' Ralph Perfetto is a good guy politician from Bay Ridge, but being such a good guy actually got him in trouble. He was helping out a relative with some legal problems, and in court Perfetto accidentally slipped and said he was the relative's lawyer, which technically wasn't true. So, then he had a court case of his own, with charges of impersonating a lawyer. Today, the court ruled him guilty, with sentencing in July.

It reminds me of news stories about crazy, frivolous lawsuits that can entertain for hours. And my editor decided to add to the entertainment, by setting up a behind-the-scenes video, the "story behind the story." He recruited me to play the role of a kid reporter - I know, a real stretch for me, right?

But it was a lot of fun. And now I can add "running through the streets of Brooklyn" to the list of random opportunities I've had from being a journalist.

Again, here's the video (at the top of the page).

Police Beat - New York Style

Yesterday, I was sent to the 88th Precinct to do what The Brooklyn Paper calls the Police Blotter. It's basically the same as The Daily Universe's Police Beat, but the crimes here are a little different from what gets reported in Happy Valley.

88th Precinct - May 17-24

The first one is probably some of the most heartbreaking news you'll ever hear, especially if you're the parent of a newborn. My editor didn't want to do a full story on it, and I completely agree. But if you're curious to know more, click here.

UPDATE: Hey, my Police Blotter showed up on the New York Post website.

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The Police Blotter from another precinct led to a story that I got to help out with. One apartment building has had three break-ins in the past week, all of them pretty similar. The people living in this building are all young hipsters, here to perform their art and play video games. They like to keep their doors open and invite their neighbors to join in the fun...and some thugs are taking advantage of it.

McKibbin Lofts are party - and crime - central

I was sent to the building to find some tenants to talk to as they entered and exited the building. Almost everyone I talked to was really helpful - one guy even let me into the building, and introduced me to one of the neighbors who was actually robbed. Success!

Throw down!

My latest for The Brooklyn Paper:

Throw down! Austrian takes world pillow-fighting championship in Williamsburg

That's right. The first ever Pillow Fight World Cup took place here in Brooklyn last week. You might think it's a joke, but don't tell that to the Austrians.

We just got back from a weekend trip to Church historic sites in and around Palmyra and to Niagara Falls. And it was another wildly successful Despain road trip. We're getting really good at those.

It was quite an experience to be driving through quiet, open spaces after literally not leaving New York City for almost a month. The New York countryside was beautiful. And, of course, the sights were a once-in-a-lifetime experience. My favorite was the Sacred Grove, but I also loved Niagara Falls. Keep watching our family blog for photos and stories from the weekend!

*Just because I'm tracking these things, I'll mention that I have another byline on the Brooklyn Paper's website. It's just one sentence, a notification that the Twilight Tattoo that I wrote about earlier had been cancelled because of rain. But whoever wrote it was nice enough to credit me! Thanks. (I guess that shows I'm an intern, I'm appreciative of getting one sentence published, haha.)

Immigration Nation in The Daily Universe

Remember those immigration stories I wrote for COMMS 420 last semester? They are both in The Daily Universe today, as well as both videos:

Immigration lawyers dedicated to their cause



(video by Elora Murray)

Legislation raises profiling questions



(reporting and video by Elora Murray)

And, here's how it looks in the paper:

Thursday, May 19, 2011 (my stories are on pages 1, 4 and 7)

(I'm surprised they kept my whole front page story. Look at how much space it uses on page 4! Haha, anyone who's already sick of me is only going to get more so.)

A Fair and Honest Appraisal of Your Appearance

This is the story I hinted at earlier this week:

Finally, a hospital gala that was fun

I got photos of a New York Methodist Hospital awards gala, and of course most of the photos were people in fancy clothes wining and dining. But in a few of the photos, there was a man wearing a hat, mask and a bandana accompanied by a woman in a bandana, sunglasses and a bright red wig. I asked the photographer who they were, and he started me on an investigation.

It turns out this couple, who call themselves the Bumbys, do this shtick that's sort of like "Guess Your Weight"...except it's about your general appearance. They grade you on a scale of 1 to 10, tell you what fashion choices are working for you and which ones aren't, and they type it up on their electric typewriters and hand it to you. And people are fascinated enough to join in and ask for a Bumby appraisal, at parties and events all over New York City.

Here's a New York Times article that explains their act:

Don't Judge Us, We'll Judge You

So instead of just writing about the gala and the awards, I centered the story around the Bumbys. Which was more interesting and fun to write.

Utah makes it into The Brooklyn Paper

So, through no effort of Dan or myself, our fair state Utah found its way into The Brooklyn Paper.

Everyone loves Brooklyn - the name

Gary Buiso found out that the name "Brooklyn" was the 34th most popular girl's name in the United States last year, and found out it was number six in Utah, of all places.

It's an interesting story, make sure you check it out.