Portfolio
I’ve written over 50 published articles. At the top of this page, I’ve posted links to some samples that can be found online. Toward the bottom of the page, I’ve posted the actual text of some more samples.
COMPANY PROFILES
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GUEST BLOG POSTS
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MAGAZINE ARTICLES
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NEWSLETTER ARTICLES
**Note: each of the following three articles was published in CenterLine, the official newsletter of the Virginia Air & Space Center.**
(Newsletter Article #1)
ZAP! Surgery Beyond the Cutting Edge
New Exhibit Now Open Through December 31!
If you’ve ever wanted to perform surgery, but haven’t gotten your M.D. yet, check out ZAP! Surgery Beyond the Cutting Edge. No, you won’t be operating on actual people, but through computer simulations, you can perform several types of the latest surgical procedures. You can cure vision, destroy tumors, and break up kidney stones, while learning the basic science principles behind each type of surgery.
Scientists are harnessing light, sound, and other forms of energy to develop faster, safer, less-invasive surgical procedures. ZAP! explores some of these fast-growing surgical techniques like lasers, endoscopes, ultrasound, cryosurgery, and the Gamma Knife. For each type of surgery, there are three interactive elements: Explore It!, which explains the concepts behind the procedure; Real Stories/Real Surgery, where you can watch videos of actual surgeries as well as interviews with doctors and patients; and Be the Surgeon, where you can take everything you’ve learned and perform simulated surgeries.
For younger surgeons (children ages 5-8), there’s an exploration and learning area which features a body-shaped magnetic puzzle, an oversized version of Hasbro’s Operations game, and more. So, indulge your inner doctor and get in on the cutting edge of surgery with ZAP! Surgery Beyond the Cutting Edge!
(Newsletter Article #2)
SUPERMAN RETURNS 3D
Now Showing in IMAX 3D!
He’s back. But does anyone care? Superman returns to Metropolis after a mysterious six-year absence and what he finds astounds him–everyone has moved on and left him in the past, and the world he knew has changed for the worse. In his absence, evil has flourished, while the woman he loves, Lois Lane, has found someone else. Superman Returns 3D is the latest take on the classic superhero, and is now showing in the Riverside 3D IMAX Theater at the Virginia Air & Space Center. As Superman searches for his place in a society that has learned to survive without him, he embarks on an epic journey of redemption that takes him from the depths of the ocean to the far reaches of outer space.
This film is the first ever live-action Hollywood feature to be converted from 2D to IMAX 3D, the most immersive cinematic 3D in the world. “Releasing select sequences of Superman Returns in IMAX 3D marks a groundbreaking moment in movies,” says Dan Fellman, President of Domestic Distribution at Warner Bros. Pictures, the studio releasing the film. “This film is going to give fans an opportunity to be immersed in a major live-action motion picture like never before.” Several sections of Superman Returns 3D, totaling approximately 20 minutes, will be projected in 3D. During the movie, audiences will be given a visual cue to put on and take off their IMAX 3D glasses for the stereographic sequences. Greg Foster, Chairman and President of IMAX Filmed Entertainment, says audiences “will feel as if they are actually flying alongside the man of steel, weaving in and out of Metropolis.”
Upon his return from Krypton, Superman tries to rekindle his romance with Lois while defining his new role on Earth. Ultimately, he must protect the world he loves from cataclysmic destruction by battling Lex Luthor, who has risen to the heights of power in Metropolis, and has launched a plan to finish off the superhero once and for all.
Superman Returns 3D stars Kevin Spacey as Lex Luthor and newcomer Brandon Routh as Superman. The late Marlon Brando reprises his role as Jor-El, through original archived audio footage. Director Bryan Singer (X-Men and X2) has created a soaring new chapter in the Superman saga that introduces 21st Century themes while hearkening back to the 1930’s for the look and style of the city and costume.
(Newsletter Article #3)
OPEN SEASON 3D
Go Wild in 3D IMAX!
Opens September 29!
It’s open season…on hunters! Open Season 3D, the first feature-length animated film from Sony Pictures Animation, begins September 29 in the Riverside 3D IMAX Theater at the Virginia Air & Space Center. This action-adventure comedy features the voice talents of Martin Lawrence, Ashton Kutcher, Debra Messing, and Gary Sinise. Boog (Lawrence) is a grizzly bear without any real wildlife skills. He spends his days as the star of the town’s nature show and his nights living in luxury with the park ranger (Messing) who adopted him. He meets Elliot (Kutcher), a fast-talking wild mule deer, and together they embark on lively adventures. The duo quickly gets into enough trouble that they’re relocated from the town into the wild, just before open hunting season.
Shaw (Sinise), a paranoid uber-hunter, is convinced that animals are trying to conquer humans, and he chases Boog and Elliot throughout the forest as they try to make their way back to the town. Along the way, the bear and the mule encounter hot-tempered skunks, psychotic ducks, and panic-stricken rabbits. Ultimately, the two unite all of the woodland creatures, and in a rowdy, madcap battle, make the woods safe for the animals once and for all, by turning the hunters into the hunted.
“The amazing immersive quality of IMAX 3D will give moviegoers an opportunity to experience the first full-length animated motion picture from Sony Pictures Animation in a very special way,” says Rory Bruer, President of Domestic Distribution Releasing. From directors Roger Allers (The Lion King), Jill Culton (Monsters Inc.), and Anthony Stacchi (Antz), comes Open Season 3D, a wild story of friendship, self-respect, and self-reliance.
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PRESS RELEASES
(Press Release #1)
Contact: #### Date: July 12, 2006
Phone: #### For Immediate Release
The Archaeological Search for Amelia Earhart
An Illustrated Lecture by Thomas F. King, PhD, co-author of Amelia Earhart’s Shoes
Hampton, VA—What ultimately happened to Amelia Earhart? Did she run out of gas and crash into the Pacific Ocean? Was she captured by the Japanese? Get trapped in a time/space warp? Or perhaps she landed and survived for awhile on Nikumaroro atoll in the Phoenix Islands? Thomas F. King, PhD, co-author of Amelia Earhart’s Shoes, will give a free one-hour lecture at the Virginia Air & Space Center on July 24, 2006, at 7 p.m.
America’s most celebrated female pilot, the first woman to fly solo over the Atlantic Ocean, disappeared on July 2, 1937. She and her partner, Fred Noonan, were trying to be the first pilots to circumnavigate the globe at the equator, but a mysterious crash prevented that from happening. The United States government spent $4 million looking for Earhart before the operation was called off. Her body has never been recovered, and questions as to her ultimate fate persist today.
King is the senior archaeologist for The International Group for Historic Aircraft Recovery (TIGHAR), which has been conducting interdisciplinary scientific research testing the Nikumaroro Hypothesis. After the lecture, King will field questions, comments, and arguments.
The Virginia Air & Space Center is located in Downtown Hampton. Take Interstate 64, to exit 267 (Settlers Landing Road). Proceed over the bridge; the Center will be on your left just past the Radisson Hotel; a free parking garage will be one block further on your right.
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(Press Release #2)
Contact: #### Date: July 10, 2006
Phone: #### For Immediate Release
The Ant Bully Family Picnic
Summertime Family Fun at the Virginia Air & Space Center
Hampton, VA—With the opening of The Ant Bully 3D, the Virginia Air & Space Center has decided it is an ideal time to throw a summer picnic. This family event, which takes place from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Friday, July 28, features barbeque, ice cream, live insects, the 3D IMAX film The Ant Bully, and much more. The Ant Bully tells the tale of a young boy who is magically shrunken down to insect size and sentenced to work in an ant colony. Before returning to the human world, he learns valuable lessons about friendship and courage.
Picnic-goers can enjoy an All-American cookout provided by Backyard Bar-B-Que and Cold Stone Creamery. There are also plenty of exciting activities for families to enjoy. The Virginia Living Museum will provide an ant mound for guests to crawl through, leading them to a face-to-face encounter with live insects and ant predators. Picnic-goers can create a potato-person with grass hair, take a spin on the Hampton Carousel, travel around the world with the Magic Planet, and explore the human body with the new exhibit ZAP! Surgery Beyond the Cutting Edge. The evening climaxes with the premiere of The Ant Bully 3D at 6:30 p.m., as guests don their 3D glasses and settle into the Riverside IMAX theater to view the movie on the giant 3D IMAX screen.
Prices are $20 for members and $25 for non-members. Advance tickets are on sale now and must be purchased by July 25, as space is limited. Tickets may be purchased online at www.vasc.org or by calling 727-0900, ext. 782.
The event is sponsored by Backyard Bar-B-Que, Cold Stone Creamery, and the Virginia Living Museum.
The Virginia Air & Space Center is located in Downtown Hampton. Take Interstate 64, to exit 267 (Settlers Landing Road). Proceed over the bridge; the Center will be on your left just past the Radisson Hotel; a free parking garage will be one block further on your right.
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(Press Release #3)
Contact: #### Date: May 10, 2006
Phone: #### For Immediate Release
Playing Surgeon at Virginia Air & Space Center
ZAP! Surgery Beyond the Cutting Edge exhibit takes hands-on approach to surgery
Hampton, VA–Budding surgeons can cure vision, destroy tumors, and break-up kidney stones without ever stepping inside the operating room. Zap! Surgery Beyond the Cutting Edge, a new interactive exhibit opening May 26 at the Virginia Air & Space Center, offers guests a hands-on approach to surgery while providing a unique look at how light, sound, and other forms of energy are being harnessed and applied to develop faster, safer, less-invasive surgical procedures.
Zap! Surgery Beyond the Cutting Edge explores fast-growing surgical techniques like lasers, endoscopes, ultrasound, cryosurgery, and the Gamma Knife. For each surgical topic, visitors learn the basic science principles behind the procedure, apply these principles by performing simulated surgeries, and watch video clips of actual surgical procedures.
Gamma Knife demonstrates how high-energy electromagnetic waves (gamma rays) are used in surgery. Visitors use a mallet to hit a pressure-sensitive plate—the harder they hit it, the more powerful the energy waves they “create”. Then, on a 3-D screen, they can plan and perform a Gamma Knife surgery on a patient suffering from an acoustic tumor.
In Fast Freeze, a full-body experience, visitors are “frozen” just as tumors are frozen in Cryosurgery. On a 3-D screen, guests then try to freeze and destroy a cancerous tumor.
Visitors can also remove a tattoo or repair damaged vocal cords through virtual laser surgery, break up a kidney stone through the use of simulated ultrasonic shock waves, and discover how optical fibers inserted into the body through small openings transmit images back to the physician in an exhibit area on endoscopes.
Guests can tour the human body in ZapCam, a simulator ride that allows riders to see up-close the featured surgical technologies from vantage points inside the body. For younger “surgeons” (children ages 5-8), there’s an exploration and learning area which features a body-shaped magnetic puzzle, an oversized version of Hasbro’s Operations® game, and more.
Zap! Surgery Beyond the Cutting Edge opens May 26 and runs through September 5. The exhibit is included in regular exhibit admission: Adults: $8.75, children (Ages 3-11): $6.75, and seniors (65+): $7.75.
Zap! Surgery Beyond the Cutting Edge is owned by Carnegie Science Center. The exhibit is sponsored locally by Langley Federal Credit Union, Riverside Health System, Adams Outdoor Advertising, and 13 News.
The Virginia Air & Space Center is located in Downtown Hampton. Take Interstate 64, to exit 267 (Settlers Landing Road). Proceed over the bridge; the Center will be on your left just past the Radisson Hotel; a free parking garage will be one block further on your right.
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(Press Release #4)
Contact: #### Date: May 31, 2006
Phone: #### For Immediate Release
THE HUMAN BODY IN IMAX
Turn your world inside out!
Hampton, VA—Each day our bodies generate 100 billion new red blood cells and grow 40 yards of new hair, while our brain cells race around at 250 miles per hour. Red blood cells, only thousandths of an inch in size, trek 100 miles through our vast, tangled network of veins, arteries, and capillaries. These extraordinary events are routine occurrences that take place without our control and often without our notice. Our amazing worlds are turned inside-out in the new IMAX film The Human Body, opening June 9 in the Riverside IMAX Theater at the Virginia Air & Space Center.
This ground-breaking film uses innovative filmmaking techniques combined with the latest medical and scientific imaging to tell a mesmerizing story that plunges viewers into the action.
The Human Body follows a family of four as they go about their everyday lives: eight-year-old Zannah, teenager Luke, and Uncle Buster and Aunt Heather. Through thermal imaging and sophisticated computer graphics, viewers see blood flowing through Luke’s arteries and veins in X-ray form as he bikes to school. As Zannah blasts her favorite pop tunes, through scanning electron microscopy, viewers see her tiny inner ear hairs dance to the music. The heart of the film centers on Heather’s pregnancy, as she shares her emotions about her physical transformations and impending motherhood, and culminates at birth.
“The Human Body…explores the complexities of the human body by investigating, in great detail, the myriad functions the body performs routinely every day,” said Jana Bennett, executive producer and executive-in-charge for Discovery Pictures. “We investigated and portrayed the human body in ways never seen before—from the progression and culmination of a pregnancy to thermal imagery and X-ray techniques. This film brings images to the audience on a scale never before captured in the history of cinema.”
“We always wanted to show the experience of the human body rather than just the mechanics of the human body… [The Human Body] explores the junction between science and the human story,” said BBC writer-producer Richard Dale.
Admission:
The Human Body opens June 9 and shows daily through August 31. IMAX showtimes are available at www.vasc.org. IMAX admission prices: Adults: $7.75, Seniors/NASA/Military: $6.75, and Children (ages 3 to 11): $6.50. A combination ticket that includes IMAX admission to The Human Body and exhibit admission to the new hands-on exhibit ZAP! Surgery Beyond the Cutting Edge is also available. Combination tickets are: Adults: $13.75, Seniors/NASA/Military: $12.75, and Children (ages 3-11): $10.75. ZAP! Surgery Beyond the Cutting Edge, which showcases the latest surgical techniques, allows visitors to cure vision, destroy tumors, and break-up kidney stones without ever stepping inside the operating room. Admission tickets may be purchased in advance by calling (757) 727-0900, ext. 703 or on-line at www.vasc.org.
The Virginia Air & Space Center is located in Downtown Hampton. Take Interstate 64, to exit 267 (Settlers Landing Road). Proceed over the bridge; the Center will be on your left just past the Radisson Hotel; a free parking garage will be one block further on your right.
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