February 25, 2012 by Levi Novey
With the Oscars coming up tomorrow, I finally decided I needed to finish up this article that I have been slowly working on for a while. Rather than talk about who’s likely to win the Oscars, it seems more worthwhile to stick to my guns and just provide a list of my favorite films from last year. I should note that in 2011 I think I saw fewer movies than I have in any other year of my life. The basic reasons that contributed to this record-low were
- the age of our daughter (4) preventing us from going to the movie theater often (babysitters cost mucho dinero these days)
- higher quality television choices, and
- a generally uninteresting slate of films released across the entire year.
So with these caveats, I’ve decided to write a little bit about what were my favorite and least favorite films of the year. Granted, these aren’t “the best” or “the worst” but the ones I personally would recommend or chastise. Continue Reading »
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Posted in Movies | Tagged Beginners, Brad Pitt, Cedar Rapids, Ed Helms, Emilio Estevez, Friends with Benefits, Martin Sheen, Moneyball, Movies, My Idiot Brother, Paul Giammati, Paul Rudd, Pirates of the Carribean: On Stranger Tides, The Big Year, The Way, Win Win | 4 Comments »
August 21, 2011 by Levi Novey
As a crowd-pleasing family film, Dolphin Tale takes few risks but will still most likely be enjoyed by its target audience.
It tells the “based on true events” story of Winter, a dolphin that lost its tail after getting caught in a crab trap off of the Florida Gulf Coast. After rescue and recovery, Winter learns to swim anew, in part thanks to a first-of-its-kind prosthetic dolphin tail. Continue Reading »
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Posted in Animals, Environment, Movies | Tagged aquariums, Ashley Judd, bottlenose dolphins, conservation, dolphin, dolphin movie, Dolphin Tale, dolphins, Florida, Harry Connick Jr., Kris Kristofferson, Morgan Freeman, mountain top removal, oceans | Leave a Comment »
June 7, 2011 by Levi Novey
A couple days ago we hopped into our car and pulled out of the driveway. Moments later, I saw an interesting looking insect clinging to our windshield. I thought it looked like a praying mantis, and sure enough Alicia thought it was too. Continue Reading »
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Posted in Animals, Environment | Tagged carnivorous plants, insects, pet, pets, praying mantis, terrarium, zucchini | 2 Comments »
May 31, 2011 by Levi Novey
Over the past 27 years, nearly 15,000 young Pennsylvania citizens have served in the Pennsylvania Conservation Corps. Aged from 18-25, these individuals have gained valuable work skills, helped bolster their communities through a variety of conservation and disaster relief related projects, and gone on to become productive members of the workforce. Now, however, the program that served as a confidence builder and stepping stone for so many young people has been targeted for elimination.
In an effort to address a $10.4 billion state budget debt, Pennsylvania politicians have decided that eliminating funding for a program that has an approximate budget of $4.6 million dollars will be a step in the right direction (or, for those keeping track, making up for approximately 0.04% of the budget shortfall) . There are people like myself who hope that this does not happen because we think the benefits provided by the Pennsylvania Conservation Corps far outweighs its costs, especially for the 250+ people the program enrolls annually.
Keep reading on The Huffington Post
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Posted in Environment, Politics | Tagged budget cuts, Community Service, conservation corps, green jobs, jobs, Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania Conservation Corps, unemployment, young people, Youth, youth unemployment | 1 Comment »
March 7, 2011 by Levi Novey
Season 10 of American Idol is terrific. Whereas previous seasons have lost viewer interest and enthusiasm, I personally think that this might be the best season so far. Why?
In short, the contestants are much, much stronger as a group than in previous seasons. I think a lot of credit should be given to new judges Steven Tyler and Jennifer Lopez for helping to make this happen. While such a declaration may provoke chuckles, there are some numbers to back it up. According to American Idol, in comparison to all previous 9 seasons, this year the judges brought twice the number of people to the 2nd round of competition. Then they vetted them more thoroughly than any other previous season. Continue Reading »
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Posted in Music, Television | Tagged American Idol, American Idol Season 10, Ashton Jones, Casey Abrams, finalists, Haley Reinhart, Jacob Lusk, James Durbin, Jennifer Lopez, Karen Rodriguez, Lauren Alaina, Music, Naima Adedapo, Paul McDonald, Pia Toscano, Randy Jackson, Scotty McCreery, Stefano Langone, Steven Tyler, Thia Megia, Top 13 contestants, tv | Leave a Comment »
March 6, 2011 by Levi Novey
This past week, President Obama headlined an event to herald the continuing work and progress being made on his America’s Great Outdoors Initiative, which aims to get more Americans outside while allocating additional federal funds toward land and water conservation.
While the America’s Great Outdoors Initiative (AGO) targets all Americans, getting young people outside and enthusiastic about the outdoors is a major priority of the initiative that deserves elevated attention. For instance, one study has indicated that today young people spend half as much time outside as their parents did. Childhood obesity rates have also tripled in the past 30 years. This information suggests that while getting young people outdoors will have its challenges, it will also come with great benefits.
Continue reading on The Huffington Post
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Posted in Environment | Tagged 21st Century Conservation Corps, America's Great Outdoors, America's Great Outdoors initiative, Barack Obama, childhood obesity, Civilian Conservation Corps, Department of Agriculture, Department of the Interior, Harris Sherman, Julie Chavez Rodriguez, Ken Salazar, Meryl Harrell, national forests, national parks, nature, nature deficit disorder, Obama, outdoors, President Barack Obama, Secretary of the Interior, unemployment, Will Shafroth, young people, Youth, YouthGo.gov | Leave a Comment »
February 4, 2011 by Levi Novey
Each year The Corps Network honors Service and Conservation Corpsmembers whose accomplishments and personal stories exemplify the positive role that Corps serve for individuals and communities nationwide.
As a member organization, we proudly represent over 150 organizations that operate in a total of 46 states and the District of Columbia. Approximately 33,000 young men and women join these organizations each year so that they can make a difference. They work on a broad range of projects, viewing themselves as the modern legacy-bearers of the legendary Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC).
Continue reading on The Huffington Post.
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Posted in Energy, Environment | Tagged California Conservation Corps, Civilian Conservation Corps, Coconino Rural Environment Corps, Community Service, conservation corps, energy efficiency, Hawaii Youth Conservation Corps, National Service, NYC Justice Corps, Operation Fresh Start, Phipps CDC, recycling, retrofitting, The Corps Network, trail work, Utah Conservation Corps, weatherization | Leave a Comment »
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