Saturday, March 14, 2015

Whale Watch1




This is the script that I made to go along with my sound assignment.  It is about last summer when we went on a whale watch at Cape Ann.  It was a beautiful site to see and hear.  This was done in Adobe Story in multi-layout script.

Sunday, March 1, 2015

My birthplace

(http://www.saratogacountyny.gov/our-cities-towns-villages/city-of-saratoga-springs/)
I was born in Saratoga Springs, N.Y.  It is a city that is famous for a few things.  The most popular being the Racetrack.  It open in the late 1800's.  It is also famous for its health spas.  These two popular attractions led to the draw of the early settlers.  It also created a city that was built on "Old Money".
North Broadway is full of huge mansions.  These Mansions mainly were built for private residents.  Some of them now are used to rent out rooms for students.  Saratoga is also the home to Skidmore College.  It started out as an all women college.  It catered to art students at first then later developed into several different career choices.
The city itself has several beautiful parks.  During the time I was growing up there was many tourists who came for the spas.  Now the racetrack is more popular.  It is not a bad city to grow up in.  In the summer time it is very busy with the track.  In the winter it is the opposite very quiet.  Not many places to find work in the winter, so some residents wait to the track opens and the summer comes.  There are a few factories that provide work but its not a factory city.
It is around 45 minutes or so from the state capital Albany.  Many of the city residents work in this area.  Every year I see more and more houses going up.  Many of these are for the upper middle class and the rich.  I do not see many for the lower middle class and the poorer.

Adirondack Balloon Festival


(picture I took last year, most actually went up this time)
The Adirondack Balloon Festival
It all started in the early 1970’s when the Warren County tourism and publicity office needed some event that would bring more people to the region after Labor Day.  As I have witness in the last few years is that it has its good points and bad points.  The good points are that it does bring tourists from all over.  The bad points are that the weather in this area does not always cooperate with the balloonists. 
The first of the festivals was held here at our local college SUNY Adirondack Community College.  The festival grew to be so large that the small grounds at the college could not accommodate it anymore.  It then moved to our country airport.  It can only accommodate small planes but it works out quite well for the festival. 
This is a Not-For-Profit organization.  The money for it is raised by volunteers and the support of the community.  What is so great is that the event is free of charge.  There are many vendors and they have a breakfast in the morning.  Many different areas participate in the event from all over the country.  It also draws people from other countries including Japan.
The event last for about 4 days and the crowds are always growing.  I really enjoy watching the balloons take off.  Small groups of balloonists take off at ACC and Crandall Park in Glens Falls.  It is really an amazing event.  I wish that it could have been done earlier in the year.  I can understand why they wanted it after Labor Day.  This is a tourist area where in the spring and summer it is very busy but the rest of the year not so much.  It is events like this that makes this area so enjoyable.