Kona Video

Be Watching!

I know I have slacked on my blogging that past couple weeks, but the homework is piling up and I’m just pushing to get through it all. I can finally see the light at the end of tunnel as I now can cross off numerous items from my end of the semester “To Do List.” I do have a few large projects due yet, but I am confident I will get them done. Be watching for my video of my dog which will be coming soon!

Remain Strong (final draft)

After his freshmen year of football, my older brother Colby decided to join the cross country team. To his coaches and teammates, he committed the cardinal sin of rural Nebraska towns. Colby had good reason for changing his sport. After being ridiculed and harassed by his teammates during the season, one practice he went up against a Senior player who just cleaned his plate.

After enduring the big hit, Colby was sent to the hospital and found out he had broken his wrist in multiple places. Already being tormented by his teammates, the harassing only continued when he returned to play the rest of his season in a cast.

Colby was not the best football player and he knew that, so he decided to run for cross country. He was sick of his “teammates” who made fun of him, but was welcomed with open arms to the cross country team. Being taller and skinnier than myself, Colby has the natural build of a runner. And was quite an asset to the team. However, running cross country Colby could not escape what seemed to be his own misfortune.

During his biology class they were watching a film about organs, more specifically lungs. The film explained what it would feel like if one your lungs collapses. Strangely Colby began to feel what seemed to be knives stabbing his back very time he drew a breath. Exactly how the film described.

Again with Colby’s luck, the Biology teacher was also one of the football coaches. Questioning Colby before he left, his ex-coach just thought he was overreacting and even stifled a laugh when he requested to go to the office. This was not an overreaction.

He was first taken to the hospital in town and then later transferred to the hospital here in Kearney. The doctors told Colby that his lung collapsing was a total random event. Apparently a select few people will have one of their lungs collapse for no apparent reason. Colby had done nothing wrong, it was just a freak accident.

Returning to school after weeks recovering in the hospital, Colby was still trying to regain his endurance. Missing the remainder of the cross country season, he spent the next two seasons trying to reach his full potential again. Unfortunately the freak injury was noticeable every time he would run, he could feel the scar tissues stretching and pulling as his lungs expanded.

Not letting his impaired lung get in the way, Colby came back and was able to run the state meet his Senior year. Only placing in the top twenty runners, Colby still appreciated being able to run and finish his final race. His motivation was unhindered by the many obstacles he had to over come. Emotionally and physically, he always pushed through and fought for what he wanted. He did not let his classmates, coaches or body determine what he did or wanted to do.

Colby could have given up multiple times; when he broke his wrist, had a collapsed lung or even when he was harassed. But he stood back up and kept moving forward, not letting anything stop him. Colby remained strong and fought through the adversity. I love my brother and if you call him a wimp, maybe you should read this again.

Brother Connection (3rd column draft)

I tossed around many ideas for this column draft and finally decided this would flow easier. Let me know what you think.

Colby and I have known each other longer than anyone else. Obviously, we’re brothers. Only three years apart we are very different physically, but our personalities seem to be identical twins. Colby stands above me a few inches, has extremely curly black hair.Though we did not see eye to eye a lot, I have always looked up to him.

Colby’s freshmen year of high school he was on the football team with all of his classmates he’s been playing against grade school. Mid-season during a practice my brother was on the scout kick receiving team for the varsity to practice against. Colby took a huge hit by a well sized Senior player and actually broke his wrist in multiple places.

After surgery and some time recovering, Colby played the rest of the season with a cast. Come the next season, he decided to run on the cross country team instead. And for you small town kids, you know running cross country instead of playing football is a cardinal sin. Needless to say Colby was ridiculed for quitting the football team and even lost some “friends.” However, his first season on the cross country team was quite successful. Winning multiple medals and consistently placing, Colby had found his sport.

One day after middle school, I was walking over to my mom’s room so her or Colby could take me home. Mrs. Nelson is the junior English teacher, and her room is directly next to my mom’s. I walk in and next thing I know, Mrs. Nelson is grabbing me by the arm and taking me out of the building. I’ll never forget what she said after I asked her where she was taking me. “Your mom and brother are at the hospital. Your brother’s lung has collapsed.”

Mrs. Nelson reassured me that everything was alright and Colby was okay. My mom instructed her to take me home as I waited to hear from my parents, more importantly my brother. My dad comes home and tells me Colby was being transferred to Good Samaritan Hospital, but he was okay.

Posted up in the hospital for three weeks, Colby recovered with only a few scars from the extremely precise surgery. It was more than a challenge for him when he returned to running. He missed the rest of his first season and spent most of the next still trying to reach his full potential again.

Despite the harassment and freak injury, my brother did what he wanted and never let anything or anyone stop him. Even now, Colby is nearing his college graduation and has some setbacks in his job field. Recently being let go, his ex-employers would not even give him a reason why he was terminated. Nonetheless Colby had a job within the month.

Even though I never tell him, I really do admire my brother. He gave me the motivation when I competed in my sports and has given me the confidence of finding a job and hopeful career after graduation. Even when we were younger, I braved the cuts and scrapes when I took my training wheels off my bike only because Colby wanted to learn to ride without them first. He has shown me that any obstacle can be overcome.

Fine the Saggers

Recently a parish in Louisiana has passed an ordinance prohibiting individuals from wearing saggy pants in public. But they are not the first ones to react to what my dad calls “saggin’ and baggin’.”

After reading the article, I could see the validity in the parish’s actions. Maybe not a usual sight around Kearney, but a lot of places around the country do have young adults and kids who wear their pants so low their underwear is in full view. When I do see this, I just don’t understand why individuals do not have the pride and decency to cover themselves properly in the public eye.

Some might argue that this a violation of freedom of expression. Well if they want to stand by that statement, I’ll just throw on a t-shirt with no sleeves that is cut-off at my belly button accompanied with a short, tight pair of daisy dukes and boots. Freedom of expression right? NO! Nobody in their right mind would want to see me in those clothes just like nobody wants to see the full pattern of your underpants!

However, it does seem quite demanding to some folks when they view it as instructing citizens what and what not to wear. In that case, I would argue that you can be arrested for public indecency for wearing only your underwear in public. Therefore, if one’s undies are in full view, they too will be found guilty of public indecency.

To me there is only one thing that will solve this rising problem in today’s society.

A belt.

Storm Time Story Time

 

The night of the storm I was sitting around in my house studying with my girlfriend Maggie and her friend Rachel. Maggie decided to go to bed around 12:30 AM while Rachel and I continued to study. About fifteen minutes later I notice the lights start to flicker; I heard some thunder earlier, but didn’t think anything of it.

After the lights flickered again, I decided to look out my front door. After a few minutes of staring in awe at what I thought was rain came pouring down, I saw every street light and house go dark. Including mine.

Growing up in rural Nebraska, more specifically in this area, reaction to power outages are second nature. Find a flashlight, light some candles, find a radio, listen for sirens and stand on the porch and watch in helplessness as the quarter size hail bounce off my truck. However, the storm only got worse and we proceeded to our cellar-like basement.

On the way down, I looked out the back door and saw that a cable was down hanging across the other lines and wondered when the weather would let up so they could send linemen out for repairs. It’s a bad deal for a line to break, but it’s even worse when it falls to the ground.

Being in the basement for only a few minutes, the three of us went upstairs just at the right moment. Looking out the large front window in the living room, I watched our trashcan float away down the street. Which was now a brown river of trash and debris.

The power ended up kicking on around 5:00 AM, only a few powerless hours. During the huge ice storm a couple years back, my family and I were without power for 17 days!

The pictures above were taken with my phone on my way to class and some at my house. I snapped a few shots on campus of the debris. And you can see the water line on the tire of my Camaro. I would say a good inch of water flooded into the garage that night.

P.S. I wrote this all out once, but it accidentally got deleted when I was trying to insert pictures!

 

‘Lincoln’ Review

I have been debating if ‘Lincoln’ would be worth my time, and reading this review just confirms that i need to see it. I am a big fan of history, which is why I was undecided on viewing the film. I feel with history films you either nail it, or fail miserably. According to Moira Macdonald of the Seattle Times and many other critics, Steven Spielberg nailed it. I should have trusted Spielberg to create another masterpiece.

Macdonald’s review of ‘Lincoln’ caught my interest with the way she describes how accurately the actors and actresses portrayed the characters. Which is a must when re-creating history in a film. Not only were the main roles perfected, but Macdonald explains how Spielberg clearly reflects the emotion and tension as they release the information of the 13th Amendment for the first time.
And also Lincoln’s crazy wife, which most people tend to forget! But yet Macdonald lightheartedly criticizes Spielberg on the inaccurate portrayal of Lincoln’s childhood.

After reading Macdonald’s review, I can now safely view the film knowing I won’t be disappointed. I thought she did a great job pointing out what made this film great. However, she did tell us that it still wasn’t perfect. I’ll just have to go watch it myself and see!

Could this be Vietnam II?

Think about it. The U.S. views North Korea as small, incompetent and hardly a threat. But should we be so quick to judge a book by its cover?

The Vietnam War was one of the most devastating wars the United States have ever fought. It was also one of the few wars the U.S. withdrew and held no victory. The U.S. also viewed Vietnam as small, incompetent and hardly a threat.

What could this mean for North Korea? The U.S. has warned that we will take necessary action if attacked. With their young leader, I wouldn’t put it past Kim Jong Un to take such foolish action. Perhaps he means to draw the U.S. to North Korea and use guerrilla tactics just like the Vietnamese.

WHATEVER happens in the near future with North Korea and America, we must not look past them. This could even be another Cold War where both sides flex their muscles, but nothing happens. All we can do now is wait and pray this feud ends without fire and blood.

Workin’ My Way Up (final column)

“Just take those old records off the shelf, I’ll sit and listen to ’em by m’self. Today’s music ain’t got the same soul, I like that old time rock and roll.” Bob Seger’s classic tune rolls over the dance floor like an ocean wave, and people dance like seaweed in the wake. Clothed in dresses and tuxedos, everyone is smiling and having a great time, including myself as their DJ.

As the night comes to a close and everyone is finding some way to make it home, I quickly tear down my equipment and load up the truck for the ride home. Once the last goodbyes are said and thank you’s were exchanged, everyone goes home with memories from this night that will last forever.

Not for me. Unless something outrageous happens, I go home from another successful night of satisfying the customer and after tomorrow it’ll be a blur of many identical nights. It is my job to make the night as near perfect for the client as I can, needless to say, by the end of the night I am exhausted.

Usually on my return trip home, I’ll turn off my radio and enjoy the sound of silence after a long night of loud music of all genres. I recap the night in my head and think of songs I should have played, but then I start to debate with myself “Is this worth it? Do you really want to keep doing this?” The questions ring in my head as I’m torn between different answers.

The usual tenure of a DJ is two to three years. I’m currently finishing up my third year with my company, which explains my predicament. I love my job so much, I recently can’t help but dread performing at a gig and that really bothers me. I want to end my little career of being a wedding DJ on a positive note, and I am scared that I am just burnt out and my performances will start to slip.

Being a wedding/teen dance DJ is a great job, you meet a lot of different people, listen and discover a lot of good music and you get to make people remember forever the fun they had the night of their wedding. I recommend to anyone who wants to be on a microphone for their career work as a live, wedding DJ for a few years. It is the best way to get microphone experience. Hands down.

I know my future will be behind a microphone. And being a wedding DJ has given me the chance to really have some great hands-on experience. Especially in my tenure with this company, a lot of my training was learned under fire.

Remembering all of the weekends I’ve given up make me realize that this is real life. If I want to get anywhere great, especially in this business, I have to start at the bottom of the totem pole and work my way up. As soon as I can make a name for myself, build more experience and become more professional, the jobs will be finding me. And hopefully it’s a job to announce the Green Bay Packers starting line up and not the Green Bay High prom king and queen.

As the night draws to a close, couples sway back and forth to the last song. Some couples in loving embrace and others in a drunken stupor. I start to pack up my equipment as Blake Shelton’s last lyrics of “Over” slowly fade across the dance floor, and then my eye is drawn to the last couple standing on the floor.

The bride and groom, now Mr. and Mrs. Mathews, are the last to leave the floor after engaging in a long, loving kiss. With sweat rolling down my face, body aching from the night’s work and my mind dreading the three hour drive home, that last moment makes me realize what makes this job so great.

Working My Way Up

“Just take those old records off the shelf, I’ll sit and listen to ’em by m’self. Today’s music ain’t got the same soul, I like that old time rock and roll.” Bob Seger’s classic tune rolls over the dance floor like an ocean wave, and people dance like seaweed in the wake. Clothed in dresses and tuxedos, everyone is smiling and having a great time, including myself as their DJ.

As the night comes to a close and everyone is finding some way to make it home, I quickly tear down my equipment and load up the truck for the ride home. Once the last goodbyes are said and thank you’s were exchanged, everyone goes home with memories from this night that will last forever.

Not for me. Unless something outrageous happens, I go home from another successful night of satisfying the customer and after tomorrow it’ll be a blur of many identical nights. It is my job to make the night as near perfect for the client as I can, needless to say, by the end of the night I am exhausted.

On my way home, I turn off my radio and enjoy the sound of silence after a long night of loud music of all genres. I recap the night in my head and think of songs I should have played, but then I start to debate with myself “Is this worth it? Do you really want to keep doing this?” The questions ring in my head as I’m torn between different answers.

The usual tenure of a DJ is two to three years. I’m currently finishing up my third year with my company, which explains my predicament. I love my job so much, I recently can’t help but dread performing at a gig and that really bothers me. I want to end my little career of being a wedding DJ on a positive note, and I am scared that I am just burnt out and my performances will start to slip.

Being a wedding/teen dance DJ is a great job, you meet a lot of different people, listen and discover a lot of good music and you get to make people remember forever the fun they had the night of their wedding. I recommend to anyone who wants to be on a microphone for their career work as a live wedding DJ for a few years. It is the best way to get microphone experience. Hands down.

I know my future will be behind a microphone. And being a wedding DJ has given me the chance to really have some great hands-on experience. Especially in my tenure with this company, a lot of my training was learned under fire.

Remembering all of the weekends I’ve given up make me realize that this is real life. If I want to get anywhere great, especially in this business, I have to start at the bottom of the totem pole and work my way up. As soon as I can make a name for myself, build more experience and become more professional, the jobs will be finding me. And hopefully it’s a job to announce the Green Bay Packers starting line up and not the Green Bay High prom king and queen.