Cincinnati Children's Choir

I am apart of the Cincinnati Children's Choir over at Cincinnati's Conservatory of Music. My specific choir is the Young Men's Choir. There are about 10 guys in all in my choir. We have Tenor 1's, Tenor 2's, Baritone's, and Bass's (me). It's pretty cool going through rehearsals, having each group of guys learn their part then having a 4-part harmony song all come together at the concerts.

We had a crazy schedule of concerts in November and December. The last Saturday of November, we had a Christmas concert fundraiser at the Barnes and Noble in Mason. We sang a few songs and then bought some books and drinks at the cafe and a percentage of the money went back to CCC. Then in December, we had three concerts in two weeks, it was pretty hectic. The first weekend of December, we had a concert in CCM's Feast of Carols, a four day long Christmas celebration. It was so awesome! We got to set up in the pit while the first choir sang above us, then when it was our turn, the pit raised up to the stage as we were standing there. We sang our three songs, and then the pit descended back down. It was the coolest thing ever! Then the second weekend of December, we had two concerts on the same day. It was a Saturday, and we had one concert from 11 to 1, and then the same exact concert again from 2 to 4. That was one crazy, tiring day. We were done singing in the first concert by 11:30 and nothing to do until the finale like an hour later. So Girl Choir and Young Men's Choir started playing some fun bonding games, ending in a crazy game of Ninja! It was a fun day.

I love being apart of Young Men's Choir! It's a really fun experience and my director, Mr. McKee is simply amazing! He's singled me out as the team leader this year and I haven't failed to step up each and every concert. If you are a guy and you can sing, please come and join Young Men's Choir in January! You won't regret it! And, if we get 20 guys, we are going to audition to sing the National Anthem at the Cincinnati Reds game! Please help me. Thanks! :)

Sweets by LaDawn

Josh Levin

Travel Writing

12/19/13

Sweets by LaDawn

            Sweets by LaDawn is a fabulous, local bakery in Deer Park, OH. It is run by Mrs. LaDawn, or Cincinnati’s Cake Boss, herself. The store and bakery are in a tiny little hole in the wall place, but she still packs a punch! She’s also just a block away from Leaves of Learning school, so it’s very easy for students to grab a little something sweet after school. After all, we just had a long school day, we deserve a cupcake or two, or some of that amazing “Not A Cheesecake Cake”. It is so good! It’s not a cheesecake, hence the name, but somehow, it tastes just like a cheesecake! It is the best seller there. She has almost 20 different varieties of cupcakes, a special brownie called the “Now and Later Brownie” because it is a giant 2 layer brownie with a teeny tiny brownie on top. They also have cookies and cakes. Her favorite thing to bake is sheet cakes. She does tons of custom cakes for special occasions and her favorite thing is when the buyer orders a sheet cake, gives her a theme, and then gives her freedom of creativity to do whatever she wants with the cake.

            Mrs. LaDawn grew up in Baton Rouge, LA, but didn’t start to get the idea for baking until she was living in Cincinnati. She started baking at a young age with her grandma. Her grandma would have her bake Jiffy cornbread for dinners. From there she just started trying more and more new things. She moved over to Cincinnati a little bit after Hurricane Katrina and started working at Fifth Third bank. After a few years, she thought that she would start baking again and she opened up Sweets by LaDawn! Now it resides in Deer Park for all to come and have a delicious treat, because, come on, we all deserve some sweet treats every once in a while! So why not stop on by Sweets by LaDawn and have something that looks great and tastes amazing! Not only will you enjoy the treat and the happy energy that flows throughout the whole building from Mrs. LaDawn, but you will be helping out a local business! So stop on by and say hi! Tell them the guy with the moose hat sent you!  

Off Track Planet App

A new app developed by Freddie P-Sky. It's a newer take of Lonely Planet. It is a travel app where people can go on and search a place to visit and receive a bunch of handy information for your trip. You will see pictures that people have posted, reviews of certain hotels and places to visit, and great places to eat. This app will skyrocket into stardom and be one of the best selling apps out there for sure! People love to travel, but people also love to know as much as they can about the place they are visiting before they leave. This app has that and so much more! So look out below for this amazing app and hop on board the travel train!

Where Am I?

            The sweet aroma of fresh produce engulfs your senses as you enter. To the right and left are bathrooms that look like you are entering the forest. Once you pass through the entrance, you hear the rush of a waterfall and you see a lush rainforest. At first, you may think to yourself, “there’s no way this can all be real and all fit in this one building.” Then you start to walk through this rainforest and you take a closer look at everything, you see the life; the roots, the leaves, the soil, and you start to feel amazed. You keep walking and you finally see the thing you’ve been hearing ever since you walked through the door; the waterfall. Make a wish and toss a coin in like the many others before you have done. Then continue on through the rainforest.

            After you finish this loop, make a right as you come out and you will enter another, smaller room with lush plant life, particularly, cacti. Careful, don’t try and hug them like Zac and I, they hurt. Other cool things in this room are the cocoa bean and coffee bean trees. I LOVE chocolate. It took all my self-control not to pluck a cocoa bean right off the tree. They also have my favorite tree ever there; the Joshua tree. It is my tree and I love it, it isn’t the prettiest tree, like a maple or oak, but it’s my tree.

            As you come back into the main entry way, go straight and there is another room. This room changes all year round. Right now, it is being used for the Winter Train Show. There are tons of train models and replicas of Cincinnati landmarks all throughout the room. You get to watch the trains go while enjoying the memories of looking at the things that remind you most of Cincinnati.

            Stepping through the train room, you find even more plant life, the plant life in this building in this giant green house is never ending. What’s different about this room, is that it leads outside for a small little exhibit of bonsai trees. Bonsai trees are an art form that originated in China. It involves these tiny little trees and trimming them certain ways to give them certain designs and feng shui (fung shway).

            Outside of this giant greenhouse is a little barn, and during this time of the year, they recreate the Nativity and the birth of Jesus Christ. They have everything, the manger, Mary, lambs, and of course, little Baby Jesus. Also for the winter season, they have a little Christmas sale inside with different ornaments and jewelry.

            This place is a giant greenhouse filled with tons and tons of plants, a waterfall, an exhibit room, a barn, a gift shop, and a little café. Your job as the reader is to guess where it is I’m writing about. Leave your guesses in the comment section below. Good luck.

Florida

Exercise 9 Travel Writing

            Spending an entire week in Florida gave me some fun in the sun while relaxing. I got to visit all four of the Disney World parks, both of the Disney World water parks, Sea World, and Universal Studies Orlando. I saw the rich history of true architecture put into all of the rides.

            I want to convey to the readers that, while going to all of these parks may be a bit expensive, it’s well worth the fun and enjoyment you get out of them. The destination is fabulous. What better place to be on vacation in the U.S. than Florida? It’s always warm and sunny and you can just lie out on the beach and relax all day, or go and see all of the sites. The experience lasts a lifetime. You won’t forget that week when you made that really smart choice of flying to Florida and spending the entire week having endless. There is almost too much to do in Florida.

Ultimate Underground Tour

           Did you know that many years ago, life underneath Cincinnati, yes, I said underneath, was thriving and the best place to be? We could’ve had a subway system just like New York does today! Mass transportation was huge back in the 1800s, and Cincinnati wanted to hop on the bandwagon, so they started construction for their very own subway system. Unfortunately, because of a lack of go-to attitude, it was never finished. It is the largest abandoned subway system in the United States. It is one of the city’s biggest embarrassments and failures. There have been proposals to complete it, but for now, it just sits there. Many Cincinnatians don’t even know that subway tunnels exist under their city. Cincinnati’s Underground life is a very fascinating thing. Besides the subways, we had a lifetime supply of beer under the city. This was the best place to store beer. It hid it from all of the cops and the rest of the people banning liquor above and it kept it really cold. It’s cold underground, no insulation, so it’s just like a giant fridge, except you can just walk right in and have plenty of room to stand around.

            If you like history and learning all about what used to go in your city, but you think you already know all about your city, you don’t, unless you’ve also gone on this tour. The Ultimate Underground Tour will show you everything that used to be under Cincinnati back in the day. You’ll learn all about the history, beer and even politics from the old days. The Ultimate Underground tour is just like the Underground Tour in that you see the same stuff, going through the old tunnels and seeing where they stored all of the beer, but what comes extra with the Ultimate Underground Tour is all of the rich history and facts you receive. The tour guides are fun and share the information in a way that is entertaining, informative, and easy to understand.

            I read two reviews on tripadvisor.com about this tour, and they both loved the tour. Sara said she went with some friends and they all really enjoyed it. Their favorite part was walking through the tunnels. She said that, “The guides were great fun.”  “The inside of the church was very pretty and I really liked seeing the Irish crypts.” “Of the tour companies, the people here were the nicest ones.”

            Another review from Holly was a positive one as well. Her favorite part was the old tunnels used to store beer in the 1800s. She said, “Our tour guide was very knowledgeable and entertaining throughout the tour.” “I’ve lived in Cincinnati my whole life and only recently found out about these tours.” “Very enjoyable.”

            So if you are looking for a great tour of Cincinnati that teaches you about the city under the city, look no further than the Ultimate Underground Tour! 

             

Foreign Cheese

Foreign cheese is yummy. There. Does that satisfy all who thought that this blog was strictly about cheese?

My Trip to Florida

I was in Florida this last weekend. It was amazing. I had so much fun. I got to hang out with one of my roommates from his camp and his dad. It was nice and warm. I flew into Ft. Lauderdale on Friday morning from Lexington. The flight was delayed an hour, and thank god it was. We got a half hour out from home and I realized I had forgot my passport, my only form of identification. So we had to race home and get it. Luckily, my mom called my dad and said that my flight had been delayed and we were going to make it just fine. Once I finally got into Ft. Lauderdale, we drove 4 hours to Orlando. We spent the night walking around Downtown Disney and looking at all of the cool shops. My favorite part of the night was getting pictures with Disney characters made of Legos. I got one with Woody and then one with Hulk.

            We spent the night in Orlando. The next morning, we got up bright and early to go to Disney World because the parks opened at 9 a.m. We started our day off at Epcot. It was really fun. The first ride we rode was the best one there. It is called Test Track. While you are waiting in line, you scan this card and create your own test model car. Then when you get up to the actual ride, you scan the card into the ride and it puts the data into the ride. Then on the ride itself, your car does a certain number of tests to make sure it is ready for market. Some of the tests include; Maneuverability, Responsiveness, and Power. The Power test was the best. We flew outside of the building and did a lap around the building almost reaching 70 mph. After spending the rest of the morning at Epcot, riding some more rides and walking through the food and wine festival where we had some amazing food from all over the world, we went over to Magic Kingdom.

            Magic Kingdom was amazing. Right away I realized that Magic Kingdom had many more rides than Epcot did. My favorites were Space Mountain and Thunder Mountain. Space Mountain was a really fast indoor roller coaster. The hill to start the ride had all of these really bright lights and strange space sounds, and then we got to the top and it was pitch black except for a few tiny star lights. You couldn’t really see anything. Once my eyes adjusted, I started seeing the entire track around me and I ducked because I thought I was going to hit it. Thunder Mountain was a roller coaster that kind of looked like a train. It was like we were going through the old mining towns. There was a Monsters Inc. Laugh Floor Comedy Show, but just as Mike Wazowski came out to start his bit of the show, it broke. He was stuck coming in and out of the door, I was so sad. That show was the thing I was most excited about. We ended the day with a Mickey Mouse Parade and a Fireworks Show.

Then on Sunday, we left Orlando and headed back to my friend Dylan’s house in Miami. We got back to Miami around 1 and just took a day off to relax. I watched the Dolphins-Patriots football game. We did a Google hangout with some other friends from camp who live in New York. Then we got together with our friend Chloe who also lives in Miami and got ice cream. We went to this really cool place where they used liquid nitrogen to make the ice cream, it was so delicious. That night; Dylan, his dad, and I went out to eat. We went to a really nice Cuban Restaurant where I got some Grilled Mahi Mahi with Beans and Rice. Then we went swimming back at Dylan’s house. The pool was freezing. We went in at night, so there was no heat from the sun, and the heater in his pool was broken.

On Monday morning Dylan’s dad dropped him off at school, and then took me to the airport. My amazing weekend trip to Florida was sadly over, but I had so much fun. Thanks Florida. As Mickey Mouse would say, “See ya real soon!”

              

Food Journal

            Hi, my name is Jean Philip. I am world famous travel writer. The thing people love most about my writing is all of the amazing foods I eat. I’ve visited every single continent on this planet and tasted hundreds of thousands of different food dishes, each uniquely linked to its culture. I’ve also met some really amazing people on my journey, some of them in really bad situations but still with the spirit to move ahead.

            My favorite place of all to visit is Costa Rica. They have some incredible food and simply breathtaking sights and views everywhere. They have three of my favorite foods ever; chocolate, smoothies and bananas. There is miles and miles of cocoa bean and fruit tree plantations, mostly banana, lining all of the streets. The people will walk up and down the plantations to pick the best fruits. By the end of the day, they will have walked for hours upon hours. Fresh fruit hand picked off of a tree is so much better and juicier than any processed fruits in a factory. Chocolate is so much better too when you know the chocolate has come from only the best picked cocoa beans. I actually got to talk to a few people on break at one of the chocolate plantations. The one man told me that they had worked since 5 in the morning and were exhausted. Costa Rica also has a lot of nut trees, one of the foods I can’t stand. Something about their weird texture and that they are almost too small to even chew makes me despise them.

            Another one of my favorites is America. They have worked hard to establish themselves as a top country in the world. They are sure catching the eye of the tourist with their amazing sites and bizarre combinations of food. They mix orange juice with sprite and meat loaf with apples. Besides some of their weird combinations, they have normal food as well, such as two more of my favorites; mashed potatoes and mac and cheese. These seem to be favorites by many people in this country. I ran into two people at a restaurant eating mashed potatoes and mac and cheese and asked them why they enjoyed it so much. They told me that it was comfort food on a nice, cold winter day. They traveled all the way from Switzerland just to eat here. The Americans also tend to serve a lot of asparagus at lunch and dinner, and milk for breakfast. Both of which I hate. Asparagus has no flavor to me and milk gives me horrible stomach aches.

            One thing I know I can find in every country I go to is gummy bears. Every country has their own altercation on it but they are all good. It’s pretty hard to screw up with gummy bears, just sugar and flavoring pretty much.

            Thanks for being a part of my journey by reading it. I hope you felt as if you were right there with me.

Travel Writing Exercise 4

Travel Writing

Exercise 4

The most intense part of my story I think was the beginning, when I was describing Times Square, but I hadn’t yet said that it was Times Square. In order to tell that whole story, you have to know the back story that led up to it. Why I was even in New York City in the first place.

I love Musical Theater. I have been singing, dancing and performing since the fifth grade. My fifth grade teacher was the best. Her name was Mrs. Lipps. She made us all class t-shirts and as a holiday gift once, I got her a KISS Lips pillow. She loved the arts just as much as I do now. She loved it so much that she had our entire class work on putting on a show all school year long. It was called Over the Rainbow. It was a kind of spoof on Wizard of Oz. There was still a Dorothy, Tin Man, Lion, Scarecrow, and Witch, but instead of Munchkins, there were Discokins. I was one of them and we got to dance to Boogie Shoes by KC and the Sunshine Band. I was also the Big Bad Wolf and I was going through the forest and I asked the Wicked Witch if she had seen a little girl walking through. She thought I meant Dorothy, so she pointed offstage and said, “Yes, she went that way.” I said, “Thanks.” And went on my way. I thought it was funny that we added that.

That’s what started my whole love for performing. After that, I joined my middle school choir at Turkey Foot and absolutely loved it. My teacher was really cool and fun. I’ve been singing in choirs ever since the sixth grade. I was in choir two years at Turkey Foot, Beginning Choir because of scheduling issues in eighth grade, Senior Choir in ninth grade, Men’s Ensemble in tenth grade, and Cincinnati Children’s Young Men’s Choir now.

I did more shows in Middle School following my first show in fifth grade. The summers of sixth, seventh, and eighth grade I did the drama part of Camp Coney at Coney Island. We would pick a show, cast on day 1, rehearse all week, then perform it on Friday. Those were really fun. I also did Beauty and the Beast in seventh grade. I was the Prince.

So, I ended up in Times Square in New York City because that’s where I want to be someday, performing on Broadway.

Travel Writing Exercise 6

 Travel Writing

                                                                      Exercise 6      

The 8 most important things on my trip to New York were:

1)      Being in Times Square

2)      Getting professional voice, acting, and dance classes everyday

3)      Seeing 6 Broadway shows in 3 weeks

4)      Meeting really cool people who work on Broadway

5)      Making great new friends

6)      Playing music on the floors

7)      The nightly site visits

8)      And of course, the food

The thread connecting all of these is the fact that they are all a part of this one amazing camp. Each new bullet adds to the amazingness in a bottle that is Passport NYC.

Seeing 6 Broadway Shows in 3 Weeks

Seeing 6 shows in a matter of 3 weeks was pretty crazy. What was even more crazy about it this year was the fact that we only saw 1 show week 1 and 3 shows 3 nights in a row week 2. That was a crazy, exhausting week. 2 of the 3 shows were late night starts, so we wouldn’t get back to the 92^nd Street Y until midnight usually.

Making Great New Friends

People come to Passport NYC from all over the world. It’s amazing. There were two counselors from Israel, a girl from Spain, a guy from Canada, and a guy from Guatemala. They also come from all over the states. There was a girl from San Diego, a girl from Texas, and a guy from Cincinnati (huh, wonder who that was?). There were some amazing talented people at camp. We would have jam sessions on our floors every night, it was so much fun. People brought there guitars, ukuleles, bongos, trumpets, etc. and we just kept on playing until it was time to go to bed. There were some really cool people there with some of the same interests as me and we could talk for hours.

Meeting Really Cool People on Broadway

We met some incredible people while there. We got to see every aspect of Broadway, and that there are infinite ways to work on Broadway. From directing and producing, to lighting and costume design.

The Food

The food was really good at camp. They had a catering company take care of all three of our meals. Breakfast was buffet style and usually consisted of some sort of egg dish, bagels, yogurt, and cereal. Lunch was a boxed lunch that we took to class and ate there and we had the chose of certain wraps, salads, or sandwiches. Dinner was buffet style and each night had a different theme for example, Chinese night or Italian night.

Passport NYC

Travel Writing

Exercise 5

It wasn’t the first thing I saw, but it was the thing that stood out the most and made me finally feel like I was actually there. Bright lights, billboards 5 stories high, some of these billboards advertisements and others are for musicals in town. Tons and tons of people, giant skyscrapers, 50 stores on one block. I’m talking about Times Square in New York City.

I went to a Musical Theater camp this summer called Passport NYC and we were staying in Manhattan. When I got to camp, I knew I was in New York City, but something didn’t feel right yet, something was still missing. Then came the first day of classes and we walked through Times Square to get to class and that was it. I was officially in New York City. For a Musical Theater person, my dream is to one day not just see a show on Broadway, but be in a show on Broadway, see all of those seats in the theater filled for me.

This camp was the perfect opportunity to get great practice and meet with some top name people who work in the Broadway business, whether it was meeting with a casting director, a president of certain theaters, or a marketing research company. All of the classes and trips and experiences were simply amazing and I learned so much.

Meeting with all of the people working behind the scenes was really cool. We got to experience and learn about all of the different jobs on Broadway. You don’t have to be an actor to be on Broadway. You can be a director, or an agent, or even a person who works the lights. It’s all still Broadway.

The many classes we had at DANY Studios were really fun. Every day we would have three classes there; a voice class, a dance class, and an acting class. Our voice teacher was an actual member of the Ensemble in Cinderella, Branch Woodman. It was so awesome being able to get really personal with a Broadway actor and become good friends. Our dance class was led by my brohemian rhapsody, Chris Liddell. He’s a really cool and a fabulous dancer. He’s a New York Yankees fan, so we talked about baseball a lot at camp. Our acting class was led by Corrie Cooper. She’s extremely nice and fun to be around and she really brings out the best actor in all of us. We had class every day from 9 to 1 with an hour for lunch.

After our morning classes, we would go out for our specialty visits. Some of my favorite specialty visits were; touring Juliard, touring the Lincoln Center, meeting Jordan Roth, the president of Jujamcyn Theaters, and meeting with a Broadway marketing company. All of our visits were amazing and I learned so much about all of the different aspects of Broadway. Every visit made me more and more aware of the fact that this is what I wanted to do, I want to be an actor on Broadway. Another cool part about meeting Jordan Roth was that his office is just a few floors above the stage, so we were able to hear the actors rehearsing for a Beatles Tribute show, then we got to go and actually sit in the theater and listen, it was amazing.

Once we were done with both our classes and our specialty visit, it was finally time to return to the 92 Street Y where we stayed. Musical Theater having the longest day out of all of the other specialties, we were always the last ones to get back. We would usually only have like 20 minutes to shower and get ready for dinner, it was insane.

The night capped of another wonderful day of NYC with more wonderful stuff in NYC. The entire camp would all do something together so that we had time to meet people in other specialties as well. Some of the really cool things we did together was; go on an open top bus tour of NYC, seeing a screening of the movie Magic Camp, walking across the Brooklyn Bridge, seeing a Musical. On top of the one musical the entire camp saw together, the Musical Theater specialty got to see 5 other shows. The 6 shows we got to see were; A Trip to Bountiful, Pippin, Cinderella, Motown, Matilda, and Kinky Boots. My favorite show was Pippin. It was this really interesting story about a boy named Pippin searching for meaning in his life. He saw all of the magic and circus stuff going on around his life, all of the fame, but he didn’t want any of that. He wasn’t sure what he wanted, but he knew that the fame was too much. He knew that everything had its season and its time, and that whatever he was meant for in the world would come to him soon. It was magic show, circus, and musical all in one and it was simply amazing.

My trip to New York City couldn’t have been any better. I learned so much, I made a bunch of new friends who share the same interests and goals as me, I made a bro for life, I made connections, I had the best summer ever… again. I went last summer and I didn’t think it could get any better, and this summer shot far beyond my expectations. I loved it so much and can’t wait till next summer.

Loveland Castle

Loveland Castle

I had a really great time at the Loveland Castle. I learned a lot about Harry Andrews. He was the man who had the idea for and put the most work into Chateau Laroche. He and a group of friends wanted to become knights. They called themselves, the Knights Of the Golden Trail, or KOGT. Harry knew that if they were going to be knights, they needed a castle. It took Harry many years and a good chunk of his life to build just the first part of the castle. Then, when he was 80 years old, he felt like he needed a hobby, so he built a second part of the castle. The second part only took him 9 years to build. That’s amazing considering the numerous trips he had to take to get all of the stones for the castle. He would go down to the river banks and collect as many stones as he could in one wheelbarrow and bring them back to the castle. He used milk and orange juice cartons and poured cement into those to form the bricks. He had small windows put all over the front wall so that his men could shoot arrows from the inside.

The main objective was defending the front door. So the front door was built in 3 different layers and two main smaller doors called wiccett doors. It was also made of 238 different pieces of wood and 2,000 nails. It was impossible to cut through. The only way to get through it was to use a battering ram. If the enemy happened to get through the main front door, Harry and his men had to rush up the stairs. The stairs were interesting. One would be bigger or smaller than the next and they were very hard to climb without a handrail. Even if the enemy did get up the stairs, the KOGT had a long pole to knock them back down the stairs.

Harry Andrews was a genius. He had an IQ of 189, was fluent in 7 languages, had a photographic memory, and was smarter than the entire city of Dayton. The Great Flood demolished the city of Dayton, but Harry was smart. He had two flood walls built instead of just one to better protect his castle that was right alongside the Little Miami River.

So if they were Knights, who were they defending themselves against? Well, Harry was in a Boy Scouts Troop and two of his friends parents took up on a Cincinnati Enquirer offer. If you bought a full one year subscription, you got a plot of land down by the Little Miami River. Harry and his Scouts were there so much, that they decided to just leave their stuff there. Well, most of the time, when they returned, their gear would be gone or ruined. So Harry had the genius idea of building two giant stone tents so everyone’s stuff would be safe. The Knights of the Golden Trail in a way were defending their castle, but it wasn’t from other Knights, it was from thieves who wanted to steal their gear.

I Love Sports!

I Don't Talk About Cheese