ENG 001: Section 09

My Life's Soundtrack

2007-12-11T17:00:00.000-06:00

Slipknot, "Wait and Bleed": The music video makes use of the little clay models of the Slipknot band members running around and killing a man. They seem animated but an evil source and remind me of my nightmares and hellish creations of my imagination. They resemble the dolls from a movie called Tales from the Hood that has scared me ever since I saw it as a child. The dolls also came to life and killed a Senator. So from that day when I was four years old, I hated walking around in the dark or seeing dolls on the shelves because I thought they would come to get me. When I would see a doll on the ground or in a toy bin, I would got out of my way to stay far away from it so it wouldn’t get up and bite me.

I know I may still be a pansy, but I hate being around dolls just for the fact that I think they will move of their own accord and come to eat me. I still don’t like being in the dark either because of my imagination. I’m just better at dealing with my fear now. All these stupid, irrational fears because of stupid horror movies. Then Slipknot brings back the fears through their crazy little dolls swinging from the chandeliers or pouring gasoline everywhere. I honestly hate little dolls because of that movie.

Three Days Grace, "Pain": The movie starts out with a bunch of kids being alone and listening to the song. They end up singing along because the words ring true to them. I feel like I could be in this video. I can really relate to the lyrics of this song. I suffer from depression. I have been this way for most of life, and have even had to seen a psychiatrist because I wanted to commit suicide. It isn’t a fun way to live when you can go from being perfectly normal to slipping down the downward spiral to depression. So the words “PAIN! Without love. PAIN! I can’t get enough” ring true for me because I usually do not feel anything. I became apathetic and stoic towards everything to hide my depression from myself, but no feeling anything is not really being alive. Therefore, I would rather feel something, even if it is the pain of depression that is sometimes so strong that it physically hurts in my chest. I usually do not feel any love when I go into a depression and I convince myself that no one really cares about me, which makes it worse, but at least I am feeling something.

Also, I have grown to enjoy the feeling that I get from being depressed because it shows me I am still alive. The words “I’d rather feel pain, than nothing at all” is exactly how I feel. I think that I can explain how I feel sometimes through the words of this song.

Disturbed, "Land Of Confusion": In the video, Disturbed uses cartoons to fit the lyrics of politics. There are great explosions and exaggerated characters, such as the giant blob man who represents money and capitalism or the demon figured who is ripped beyond normal people and is seen as a hero fighting for the common people against the almost Nazi invasion. The classic anime characteristics are evident all throughout the video and bring me back to my childhood and even sometime in the present when I had time to sit and watch anime after anime show. My favorite has always been Gundam Wing, but other notables were Dragon Ball Z, Neon Genesis Evangelion, Gunslinger Girl, and Hellsing. Gundam Wing has the same idea of sticking it to the man and gives power to the people through warriors with giant robots, but I loved it because of Heero. He showed no emotion and was the classic stoic anime hero. I would watch it afterschool and then wake up at midnight to watch it again as Cartoon Network showed the unedited version. I would always imagine that I had my own giant robot that I could fly to in school or fight other giant robots with. I imagined my robot with giant booster rockets and a cool laser sword. Then it would have shoulder mounted canons and a Gatling gun. Just like all the other Gundams, it would be badass. I got to live my imagination through all the animes.

Muse, "Knights of Cydonia": In the video, some galactic fighters are having an old western show down. At one point, a woman dressed in silver bikini armor comes to save the hero. The video ends with a beat down of evil in an old town. Muse creates a video that parallels a lot of the fantasy movies of the early nineties. Movies, such as Kull the Conqueror and Dune, that have epic adventures of a single band of heroes against the seemly omnipotent evil lords. The bands always end up winning but must first find some artifact to help their cause and this leads them through many trials with magical creatures or trapped caves. I have always enjoyed these types of film that play on a person’s imagination to create a fantasy world out of nothing but a simple story. The best fantasy film of course being Conan the Barbarian with Arnold as a huge barbarian thief and taking on the forces of a wizard and a insane queen. I always enjoyed the imaginative and creative ways of any fantasy films because it led me to create my own worlds through things from the movies or books that I read. Plus my favorite quote of all time comes from Conan when he says,” Destroy your enemies. Watch them flee before you. Hear the lamentation of the Women.” Then Conan just beats down Wilt “The Stilt” Chamberlain with a morning star and kills a heathen monster god, so what’s not to like about this awesome movie?

Mudvayne, "Dig": Mudvayne goes into a craze and has some awesome costumes. The bassist with his sweet devil horns and crazy red face paint, the guitarist with his all red jumpsuit and the liberty spikes, the drummer with the sweet black and white swirls, a mean green goatee, and a braided top knot, and finally the vocalist with the sweetest shin length dredded goatee of all time and the white face paint with black tribal designs. The crazy costumes and extreme pace of the music make it perfect heavy metal. The point in the video where all band members are covered in sludge and going crazy in the wires reminds me of the Sounds of the Underground concert I went to this year. The headlining band was Gwar who are well-known across the metal community for their theatrical shows. As wells as being a great mosh concert, Gwar sprays fake blood into the crowd and semen from the vocalist’s giant penis at one point. The effect was much the same that Mudvayne shows their members being covered in as a dark combined substance of unknown origins. Then, so many people fought to get to the front of the crowd and get sprayed by the band. It is a wonder how people became so crazy to get covered in a disgusting liquid that dyes your skin blue and turns your once white shirt into something created during the sixties. But I will always proudly keep my tie dye shirt from the front row that night.

Linkin Park, "No More Sorrow": “No, no more sorrow. I've paid for your mistakes. Your time is borrowed. Your time has come to be replaced.” Linkin Park just hits home with the lyrics to this song and the Naruto background only emphasizes the words more. I once had a relationship that was as perfect as I had ever imagined. She was the first girl that I ever truly fell in love with. We spent a lot of time together and would always stay up late on the phone talking to all hours of the night. One time I think it was eight hours that we were on the phone together, which is kinda pathetic but I really enjoyed it. She made me feel good about myself and helped me realize the potential that I so obviously had, but wouldn’t admit. Everything was going good for us and we had a lot of fun together. Then our relationship became complicated because she thought I cheated on her, which never happened.

At this point in our relationship is where the song holds the truest. She never trusted me again after that whole ordeal and wanted to get back at me. So she decided to hide dead fish in my car and then lie about not knowing anything about it. So I learned that she deceived me and I was really pissed about her lying about it because I thought I could trust her. Also, after that my car smelt like fish for a full month and I hate fish. Then I was a little vindictive in our break up and made her cry, but oh well at least there’s no more sorrow for me.

Three Days Grace, "Animal I have Become": One scene in the Three Days Grace video, Adam looks at himself in the mirror and sees an evil side reflected. The person reflected is scary with devil eyes and an evil grin like something that knows it now has full control and there is nothing Adam can do to change that fact. This side is everything that he didn’t want to become, but it is who he is now. I feel that way because I used to be an innocent young kid that never did anything wrong. But ever since I got self-esteem through my athletic ability, I realize I have become an ass from my former self. I used to be a good kid and always respectful. Then I realized that I am very good at sports and am looked up to for it. I then became someone else. I enjoyed the attention and popularity, but was a smartass and very flirtatious with girls. I had never really been this way before my junior year in high school, but all of a sudden I had become this jerk overnight. So in that sense I can relate to being stuck in a hell where I know I should be a better person, but I enjoy it so much that I cannot escape. I don’t think that I will ever change back. Although change is the only constant in life, some changes are not always the best and that’s why I think I’ve digressed from being a man to an animal with only instinctual urges.

The Turtles, "Happy Together": The words “I think about you day and night, its only right to think about the girl you love, and hold her tight” is exactly how I feel about Anna. “No matter how they toss the dice, it had to be the only one for me is you” and I couldn’t believe that statement anymore because I don’t think that I was meant to be with anyone else at this time. Although our relationship got off to a rocky start, we were able to overcome that incident and make things work. The first night we hung out was with my friend Nico and we were walking through the local Blockbuster for a movie to relax and watch when she suddenly hits me right square in the balls out of nowhere! I was like shocked and in pain, dazed and confused as to why she hated me so much. She still to this day says it was an accident as her hand just swung backward at the perfect time while I was right behind her, but I know the truth because the abuse still continues. She has hit my broken wrist in a cast and caused me more pain through “accidents”. But I love her more than life itself and I would never give her up and like they say “Take the bad along with the good.” It seems that I am only happy with her and get really sad when she is not around, which is more often because she goes to Colorado State University. My world is very fine whenever I’m with her because I seem to forget all my worries. So the title happy together fits my relationship with Anna perfectly.

What I Remember

2007-11-14T03:34:00.000-06:00

Randomly this is the first music video I actually remember seeing this video on MTV. I thought it was really crazy. I remember being creeped out by Marilyn Manson and his entire band while sitting on the couch of my Aunt’s house downstairs. The video is definitely very creepy as he is dressed goth for the entire video and is just kinda playing with the most random things that are found in medical centers. Marilyn Manson definitely has some issues, but I think he has great insight into the world we live in and is one of the most vocally talented artists to live.

The Beautiful People can be considered the people of America. He is showing that all of the people of America are restrained like those of either a prison or a insane asluym. In reality he is right. He is saying that although we are told that we are free, we still must abide by so many laws that we are in effect in a straight jacket that restrains us from true freedom. He definitely is talking about the extremes of life and capitalism, but the music is great especially with John 5 on guitar. He is simply amazing and I think the goth dress makes for irony in the whole Beautiful People thing because in the video there is no one that would be considered beautiful. I think he is very intelligent and makes good points about the life we live in even though some of his beliefs put him outside of the normal realm of society.

Marilyn Manson definitely has the widest range of vocals of all time. In his remake of the Nightmare Before Christmas, he sings in at least five different voices to imitate the different characters of the movie. The voices are not just any random voices but are harmonic and very soothing if you listen to his music. I respect the man and I really do like a lot of his music.

Worstest Music Video

2007-11-14T03:05:00.000-06:00

Afroman is a great rap artist. Most of his songs ring true to man people and focus on the more humorous side of life. I have always loved “Crazy Rap” ever since the first night I heard it. I was with a few of my friends on the way to my girlfriend’s birthday party. Ever since then the song has been played multiple times in my car or room or sang during track practice. In reality, he is singing every man’s dreams while making fun of the fact that none of it would ever occur to any real man.

This video is the worst that I have ever seen because for a rap video it does not objectify women enough to be legitimate. Nor does it really follow the story that I had created when I listened to it over and over. I had imagined that he was traveling across the world and getting with all of these ladies. Rather than getting all of these women he just orders take-out from multiple different restaurants of different types. I just hoped to see all of these exotic areas and was severely disappointed in the video. He could have shown the volcanoes or Hawaii or the big cities of Japan or even Rodeo drive of California, but instead it’s all at his house. The other thing that I had a problem with is that there are just four random guys chilling in a backyard, which is not even his. By the way his house is portrayed it definitely was a lot larger than the one in those scenes.

Otherwise, the song is still a great song and the car was definitely an Afroman car. But then again, he seems poor in the song when he has to be selling his cds on a corner or will have to sell his Cadillac for weed money. This does not match up with his portrayal of himself in the video. All around the video just doesn’t follow the song very well and that’s why it’s the worst music video I’ve ever seen.

Callahan Loses His Castle

2007-11-11T23:39:00.000-06:00

The night is cool and clear. A gentle breeze crosses the plains in front of the great doors. Many torches lit the night along the cobblestone path before the charging people. On both sides, the warriors new the score-- win or death. One side armed with well-crafted swords and lances opposing the peasants with their not so well-crafted pitch forks and normal tools not meant for war. Its training and weaponry against the massive numbers of the upset peasants. The St. George's Night Uprising in Estonia would have started out similarly to this as the peasants had become vexed by their foreign lords. Peasant revolts were common during the Middle Ages when the feudal system allowed lords to impose conditions that many put many people in dire straights. These reasons were usually because of taxation, religious enforcements, or an increasing gap between the wealthy and poor (Popular revolt). Drew Litton makes a good argument of Bill Callahan's situation with the Husker fans through analogy and visual narration, also using two of the rhetorical themes.

The fans are all ready to go. The season is looking to be a great one again. Another bid for the the national title because we are the best around. No one can defeat us. We will beat down all of the competition and make everyone look like fools against our sea of red. We will score touchdown after touchdown. The great defense will make stop after stop to hold all the teams to zero. We are the greatest and no one can stand is our way to victory. Not Nevada, or Iowa, or USC, or any team. We will be the best because we are the Nebraska Corn huskers! But that isn't how it happened this season. Unfortunately, Bill Callahan and his boys could not seem to win much of anything and that's what has got his always devoted Husker fans ready to revolt and tear down the castle.

The cartoon is a perfect example of what Bill Callahan is experiencing. The many Nebraska Corn husker fans are creating an old-fashioned revolt with torches and pitch forks. The kind of revolt seen in the Middle Ages. In the night, all of the Husker fans illustrated by the “N” are on the warpath towards Callahan's castle. On the outside of the castle, its printed “House of Callahan” to show that the greatness that Callahan has created is being revolted against for his inability to create a winning team this season although he has proven very worthy in past seasons. The dialogue bubble explains it all saying, “You know, they are a rather impatient group”. The Corn husker fans all want success and an immediate national title. Even though Callahan has created success as illustrated by the castle, Nebraska fans are not satisfied anymore and want him out. This is the path that the fans have chosen for Callahan a full revolt to get him and out and find some one new who can make a good team for them to cheer for again.

The main rhetorical device the Litton is using is the analogy between Husker fans as peasants in a Middle Age revolt. As stated before, the peasants would revolt because they were no longer satisfied with their lives under the lord of the land. The feudal system worked with the lord on top who then had vassals beneath him. They all lived in the castle together and then there was open area to allow merchants to sell their wares during the days and in time of war this served as protection. Otherwise, most people lived outside of the castle in the surrounding fields were they normally would farm or do their work. Here Litton is showing a scene where the peasants are heading toward the castle in revolt. Although the peasants are Husker fans who are upset about the losing season and the lord is Callahan, the idea is still the same that they are trying to remove him from power. Litton does a good job of showing what the fans want through an analogy to past times although this is not practiced in modern times.

The second rhetorical device Litton uses is visual narration. Litton draws the viewer's eye in a counter-clockwise rotation to get the whole story. It begins in the top left where the viewer can see that its night outside. Then the viewer follows the trails of smoke down to the Husker fans and takes in the looks of disappointment and anger. Also, the viewer can see the pitchforks and that many fans have gathered in a revolt. Next the viewer follows the path up to the castle, which is a sign of power and dominance. It is shown as Callahan's castle and that they are heading there to throw him out of power or attempt to. Often, the peasant revolts in the Middle Ages were suppressed by the powerful lords, but Callahan is quickly losing his power and may be unseated (Popular Revolt). Finally, the counter-clockwise rotation is completed by moving to the dialogue bubble, which shows Callahan's fears and inability to meet with the Husker fan's demands. Litton creates this story in which two possible endings may come to pass, but it shows that Callahan is in trouble with the Husker fans, which is his main argument.

The picture uses pathos to create feelings of anger, dissatisfaction, and fear. Again, the revolt clearly showing that these people are upset and heading on a rampage for Callahan. The faces of the fans are all shown as frowning and looking very angry or upset. These details create the feelings of wonder as to why the characters are upset and where they are heading. Then the viewer's eyes follow the path upward to the House of Callahan, which shows two little eyes peeking out of a window. The eyes show fear of the oncoming revolt in that the character is hidden in the shadows and not willing to come out. Through the faces and hidden persons, the artist creates the multiple moods of fans and Callahan.

The artist creates ethos through a few images and playing on the viewer's being knowledgeable of Middle Age revolts. First, the artist is showing how the fans are from Nebraska through the sweaters. People seeing this will make the connection and often understand that the Nebraska fans have reason to be upset with the poor season so far. Second, the artist establishes ethos through the mob scene. The scene is not credible in the fact that it is true because everyone knows Callahan does not live in a castle nor will the fans rally together in a revolt to come after him. The revolt is used in a connection to the old revolts to remove horrible lords from power and satisfy the peasants demands. The viewers will make this connection and see how it does relate to the Nebraska fans and their coach. It is used as a metaphor with the Nebraska fans as the revolters and Callahan as a king in his castle. In these two ways, the artist creates credibility in displaying the situation.

The artist uses the rhetorical appeals of pathos and ethos to make his point. Also, Litton uses analogy and visual narration to make his argument. Pathos was used to display the feelings of the Nebraska fans and Callahan creating the understanding feeling in the viewer. Finally, Ethos was used through the cliché mob scene in that everyone would understand what is happening and why it is fitting to the Nebraska fans and Callahan. Therefore, the artist makes his point well in that he effectively creates a work to show the situation Callahan is in with the Nebraska fans.

Works Cited

"Popular Revolt in late medieval Europe". Wikipedia. 10 Nov. 2007:

"St. George's Night Uprising". Wikipedia. 3 Nov. 2007:

Before I Forget

2007-11-08T09:15:00.000-06:00

Slipknot is my favorite band of all time. One of my favorite song is Before I Forget from their newest album, which is their best video for its artistic approach. Most of their other videos are a little crazy and hard to follow, but I like this one because of its simplicity. Normally, Slipknot wears masks when they perform such as a mutilated clown face or a pig face or a sort of Hannibal Lector mask. They are well-known for these masks, but in the Before I Forget video they are not wearing them. I think its a great idea to show the masks hanging by themselves and never showing the artists face. Here all the band members are wearing all black in a white room, possibly symbolizing their outcast state in society to most people because they do not accept a band as crazy as Slipknot.

I also believe the weird masks are really a way to show what's on the inside. I mean everyone has faces but when do they ever show what or how we feel on the inside. Maybe some people can read emotions in faces, but you cannot tell the real character or thoughts going through a persons head. The masks that Slipknot wears are a way to express what is going on inside of them. For instance, Corey Taylors zombie mask shows he feels dead on the inside. Joey Jordison's ancestral Japanese mask shows his stolid and calm self inside. Mick Thompson's Hannibal Lector mask shows his need of restraint of the insane person inside. To show the artists without a mask brings them back to being human, but the fact that they are still in the video creates the feeling that no matter what's on the outside the person on the same stays the same.

Holding Back Mankind

2007-10-21T23:52:00.000-05:00

Lincoln people are up in arms for the public utility of internet service. This service has been monopolized by internet providers and broadband cable providers because they don’t want to lose any of there money. This is just another example of the capitalist society of America holding back the advances of human culture. So many times the people want to take something especially resources and jack up the prices to make millions or billions of dollars for themselves. For instance, the oil industry. There has never been a bigger monopoly in which people took the resources and made others pay ridiculous amounts of money. People’s greed is always what has held back the progression of mankind. People could have made greater strides technologically if they all had access to oil, such as being connected and being able to get ideas to one another or having the energy to create a project. The monopolization of internet is just another road block on the road to advancement.

Now many people in Lincoln are petitioning for the public utilities to be allowed to provide internet access for everyone. Earlier petitions have already been shot down because people don’t want to be losing any money. We all are greedy in some way or another and we all are holding back the advancement of mankind to a perfect utopia. So many things could be shared to help other people’s lives better through having free internet to the rural parts of Lincoln. Originally, the internet was a government project so why can’ they say that people are allowed to have free internet through their power lines. People amaze me constantly that they are willing to force someone to live at a lower standard to raise themselves up. I whole-heartedly agree that something as useful as the web should be free to help all man.

Might Morphing Power Rangers

2007-10-17T23:10:00.001-05:00

Power Rangers. Power is great or marked ability to do or act; strength; might; force. Rangers are members of an armed troop employed in patrolling a specific region. Power Rangers are awesome and the name is very fitting. They are a few selected teenagers chosen to protect the earth from the evil forces of outer space. They are given the robots to combine and take down any enlarged enemies that they have to face. They are the secret protectors of earth who never get recognized for their work even though everyday there are multiple threats to the safety of the earth. The red ranger is the leader. The only two females are the pink and yellow rangers. The other two rangers that were apart of the original five were the black and blue rangers. Then later on in the series the green ranger came like a rogue with his own giant robot of a dragon and also the white ranger. They were assembled by Zordon who directed them in their fighting efforts. Also, the robot, Alpha, was always ready to help or over exaggerate the situation. They are some of the best super heroes around on Saturday morning shows.

I remember being completely into the fad and loving the Power Rangers as a little kid. I had the video game for the old Sega Genesis. The game is really old and the graphics are outdated, but it is still a lot of fun as a 2D fighter. I especially loved the Green ranger because his do it solo attitude was how I wanted to be. I don’t need any help from you other rangers! I remember even at Halloween I dressed up as the Red ranger and my brother was the Blue ranger. It is definitely one of the best known children’s series around and played a huge part in my developmental years.

Lincoln's Medical Translations

2007-10-14T23:11:00.000-05:00

A big issue in America that is also hitting Lincoln pretty hard is the matter of interpreting for patients of a different language. Many people may think that this is not really one of the great concerns of the medical industry, but the city of Lincoln is home to over fifty different languages alone. This makes it difficult to get all the different language. I never thought that doctors could have problems his diagnosing patients with the language barrier. As the article mentioned, doctors feel that the burden is on them when really the government should provide professional interpreters to assist the doctors. If the government is going require that interpreters are present then they should put more effort into paying the interpreters instead of leaving the expenses to the doctors. It is beneficial to the community that there are drives for state legislation that would pay for interpreters for poor immigrants. It also puts added stress on the doctors when they are required to pay for in interpreters. The cost for interpreters brings up another issue. Lincoln created another option, phone translation service, although this does make a interpreter more accessible, I believe the lack of body language can create an issue when it comes to the what the patients is actually saying and what the patient is trying to imply to the doctor. I also believe that hospitals should inform colleges around the country about this growing need. This can help because some students may need community service hours in order to graduate and I'm sure there are many doctors who are willing to work with language students. Both sides of the examinations will be greatly improve as the patients will receive the kind of care they need and the doctor's will not be in such a hassle to make the right diagnosis. I think that it is our government's duty to not only make laws for these issue but to provide for them as well. I think that the government should do more in the sense of training and paying for the interpreters.

The Juggernaut!

2007-10-09T21:34:00.001-05:00

The coolest and best super villain of all time is the Juggernaut. By definition the word juggernaut is any large, overpowering, destructive force or object, as war, a giant battleship, or a powerful football team. That is already cool! Honestly, he is indestructible and runs through anything. It takes all of the X-men to take him down just through taking of his helmet and sedating him through telepathy. I have always wanted to be muscular and he is the ultimate definition of being ripped. He may not be the smartest of the super villains, but that is why others do the thinking and he just follows through on the action end. If I ever needed a bodyguard, he would make the perfect one because he can literally take on an army. In fact, in many of the episodes and comics, he destroys tanks and infiltrates high security buildings with just brute force. He even looks like a bullet and has fists the size of sledgehammers. I am surprised he has an outfit because he is so large, but I guess that is why it is so tight.

Unfortunately, in the X-men movies, he was not as well portrayed as the villain he should be. The costume looked awful mostly because of the helmet. He had all the strength to beat down the X-men, but was getting defeated time after time and made a fool of by even the weakest X-men. I think they could have done a much better job in portraying the amazing villain that was created by the Marvel comics. No one will ever be able to reproduce any character as cool or as powerful as the Juggernaut. He is the ultimate being in the most simplistic form. Some people may talk of super heroes like Venom from spiderman or the evil genius Lex Luther from Superman, but they got nothing when it come down to the indestructible force that is the Juggernaut.

Train's Long Whistle Good Night

2007-10-07T23:36:00.000-05:00

I was driving through downtown to make my observation Friday night and early Saturday morning. The Lincoln nightlife was in full swing. The neon lights were shining with magnificent brilliance. People walked the sidewalks having a good time, making their way between bars and other attractions. Many waited outside of popular bars or made casual conversation on the sidewalks. All in all the night was not dead and created a mood full of energy. I drove past seeking my destination, secluded back in the older parts of town. The buildings surrounding it were rundown or being newly renovated. The location seemed ideal for such a place, the train station. Knowing how much the trains have fallen out of favor, I knew it would be in an older part of town.

I looked around the train station and the first thing that caught my attention was the lack of life. It created a huge contrast between the nightlife of Lincoln’s downtown only a few blocks away. There was only one soul sitting bleakly on a bench. The trains sat as a backdrop to the courtyard and were only a display because of the brilliant colors of the rainbow on each car. Otherwise, it seemed a normal train station to me with place to board and places to buy tickets, which all looked deserted upon my first inspection. The water tower was the large domineering figure that held the courtyard its prisoner, but as I made way into the courtyard, I noticed the mural dominating the courtyard outside of the train station. It caught my interest and begged for a closer look because of its center piece appeal. So I made my way to inspect this masterpiece given as a memorial to the fading locomotive.

It was a dark, chilly night on the point of being cold. The night was barely lit by the sparse lighting scattered across the courtyard. The wind had just picked up and scattered leaves and unattended trash into the parking lot. The area was deserted leaving the feeling of abandonment. The trees rustled. I hear the trees swaying in the wind. The water drips from the water tower and makes a lulling, splashing noise. I sit on the bench and look at the stone mural. It has a three dimensional effect of the steam locomotive coming out of the wall with the rolling plains of the Nebraska landscape in the background. It looks as if the old times when there were less cities and the locomotive was at its prime in transportation. Now the mural is the only memorial given to this once great machine. The buffalo sit alongside in a world that they once knew as their home without fences or boundaries. The rolling plains are filled with wild grass. The ocean of grass stretches to the horizon and beyond to follow alongside the tracks from sea to shining sea. Although the bricks keep a generally tan color, the bricks change color to add to the effect and add depth. But the train has fallen from its former glory. So why do people even keep the train around?

The train is losing it usage, falling from the height it had once reached, becoming more and more a part of the age of extinction. I think of the history books in which the trains ruled the plains of developing America. The train tracks made traveling and shipping so much easier and more efficient, but now they are a thing of a time long forgotten. Seeing the train on the plains made me realize how much technology has been advancing. It has made leaps and bounds since the middle ages. We have to keep up with the technology or get left behind. People have adapted to the new technology like planes and cars to move and get along in the ever expanding system of roads and highways. The trains is slowly becoming extinct because of it inefficiency to get to places outside of the predestined railroad tracks. For instance, my friend said that this train runs to Denver, then to San Francisco, then up to Washington, then over to Montana, which would be a five day trip. This is ridiculous for him to go see his girlfriend because at most it would take him two days to make that trip in his jeep. Seeing the amount of people frequenting the train station only attributes to the dying life of trains. The amount of people there could have fit on a bus. For all purposes, the bus would be quicker and even faster as would be an airplane.

Seeing the deserted courtyard and the gloomy tracks reminds me of the chaos theory. The chaos theory states that the world and existence is slowly heading for destruction and chaos. No matter what we do we cannot change the future of chaos. For instance, someone cleans their room and it looks nice, but in a few days it is messy again. We cannot stop this or change this. Everything decays over time, even the toughest metal rusts and the hardest rocks wear away over time. I can see how cars break down when once they were in perfect running condition or computers become slow and outdated because nothing lasts forever. Not even our own lives last forever, which we may sometime forget our own mortality and the brevity of them. We deny the facts saying that it happened to him, but not me, never me. I see mortality as real, something that makes life so wonderful. It is the thing that gives meaning to life and makes is worth living because living forever takes away the quick-paced sense of time we have in which we must get things done before our time comes. The chaos theory applies to everything, without exception.

Everyone knows that they will die, but how they deal with that fact makes a huge difference. To waste such a precious gift as life is one of the greatest crimes I can think of in this world. Aristotle once spoke of telos, happiness. He said this is man’s greatest pleasure and main goal in life. In my opinion, he is absolutely right. So many people sit by just waiting for the end. They look like the trains that have made their once great treks across the United States in that now they sit by becoming older and more beat up. This should never be anyone’s life because everyone only has a set amount of time and should make the most of it. Anyone can find their happiness. No one is stuck sitting in a dead end job that makes them miserable day in and day out. That is not living. That is already dead in every sense except for the grave. I seek to make my life worth every second that I am awake because I know that everything will end, just like the trains will cease to be. We will end so people should not waste any of their precious seconds because we have so few to begin with. I know I am going out to fulfill my passion and achieve my happiness. The question is will you be stuck in that waiting room or will you make your life what it is meant to be?

Prez Lincoln

2007-09-23T22:47:00.000-05:00

I have never really paid any attention to the Gettysburg address. I know that it is a very touching speech at a very important moment during the Civil War. I had read all these things in history books, which do very little to express the enormity of any event in the past. Watching the video, I got the feeling of what had happened on the hallowed ground in Gettysburg, and a lot of the words in the address of Lincoln, although here spoken by a robot, hit home. Such as who are we to have the power to make any ground hallowed when our words or efforts were not even present. I always respected that in such a huge event he kept it simple and to a few words. I felt that he didn’t disrespect the thousands of lives lost on that ground. The robot speaking, though, was very creepy in a sense that it pretty much went through the same route over and over again while giving the speech. Even though it is realistic, I would have preferred to hear the speech from a live look alike because I feel that those robots are more for the little side show on the rides in Disneyland and our own respectable President giving one of his more famous speeches should be given more thought than that.

Even at the end, when everyone got up and left right away, I can see how the past is lost on the people and that we will eventually make the same mistakes because we do not care enough about the past, only the present. People are so absorbed these days that we fail to remember where our own country came from and it is rather sad to see. Hopefully, something will change were the country’s awareness and national pride are raised to be more mindful of their roots and their past.

The Beauty of Cars

2007-09-19T20:41:00.000-05:00

I went to the car show on Havelock a few weeks ago by accident. A few football players and I were supposed to help break down an event at an elementary school. All we knew was that the school was somewhere near Havelock. The major event that day was the car show. The whole street was shut down for beautiful cars to be put on display. The cars ranged from the old mobster refurbished cars to modern day corvettes. I am not a big car enthusiastic, but two cars catch my attention: the Dodge Viper and Cobra. I think they are the most beautiful automobiles to ever be created. The first row of cars that I saw when we entered was just Vipers and Cobras. I was in heaven. The beautiful racing strips running up and down the hood to the roof to the trunk. The multiple color schemes of red and white, blue and white, silver and blue, or black and silver were most appeasing to my eyes. Even if the cars were beaten up and old, I would still love them because of the feeling that arises whenever I see one. Of course, many other beautiful cars were being judged. The corvettes had their sleek, well-polished look. The older cars carried a sense of pride and age. All around the hicks and red necks were looking in through windows or conversing about this engine or that one because they are the only ones who really enjoy coming to car shows. Therefore, the music had to appeal to such a crowd through classic rock bands, such as Lynyrd Skynyrd. The smell of food having been cooked all day hung in the air, popcorn, hot dogs, and pretzels. But I will not forget the gleam that those cars gave when I first walked in and how it sent my heart racing.

Mi Amigos

2007-09-16T10:41:00.000-05:00

The other day after taking my friend to the hospital, we decided that taking a detour to a restaurant before returning to practice would be a good idea. We ended up at Amigo’s. I have never been to an Amigo’s before in my life because none are in Colorado. So sitting down on the concrete benches, I observed the people passing by in their cars and the beautiful sunset silhouetting the building across the street. The umbrella added cool shade to sit under. The building itself is not that extraordinary. I chose it because it was new to me. The walls were the tan color of any Mexican color in the tradition of the early Native Americans. The sign is ugly and plain with the word Amigo printed in green and a sombrero sitting atop it. I sat drinking my strawberry milk shake, feeling I was in a less fortunate neighborhood or Lincoln. The building resembled this, as many of the other buildings did, by looking grimy and not very well-taken care of. I felt like I was back on Colfax, instead of Cornhusker Hwy, on one of the late night Dairy Queen runs. Altogether, the building and its surroundings were not that impressive.

Seeing buildings and surroundings like this always make me wonder what it looked like when it was first built. Now we have new shopping centers that look so nice and better, but these buildings and the Amigo’s have seen a much better day. I wonder about how the people thought of the buildings looked when they were first built, if they installed the kind of awe of newness that the shopping malls of O street do today. Otherwise, the street and people just seemed like normal people going about their business. Nothing was brand new though, not in this part of town.

Stealing Speakers

2007-09-11T21:52:00.001-05:00

I was scrolling through the local section of the Journal Star, Lincoln’s town newspaper, when I came across the story of speaker boxes being stolen at both a Subway and Kentucky Fried Chicken over the weekend. This story stood out to me for no apparent reason other than the absurdity of stealing the speaker boxes. So reading through the police report, I saw that the speaker box from Subway was valued at two hundred dollars and the one from Kentucky Fried Chicken was only fifty dollars. I did not even know how expensive those things were and I honestly take them for granted. I know I would never think of stealing one of those speaker boxes and it makes me ponder the weird people we live among.

It would be really interesting to meet the people who took the time out of their days to figure out to steal two speaker boxes. Either they are totally insane or were under the influence of a narcotic or alcohol because no one in their right mind steals those things. What are they supposed to do with them now? Are they going to set them up at their house so they can talk to people who come around to the back? It would be kind of suspicious to have one of those just sitting in your front lawn. So I think these people are not the crème of the crop. Or they could possible sell it on ebay. Would their advertisement say stolen speakers for sale? I just do not think that this was the wisest idea even though they must have had a plan of attack to snip the wires and get away without getting caught. I would like to meet someone who is unique enough to pull that one off.

2007-09-09T22:16:00.000-05:00

My trip to the Frank Wood National Telephone Museum was interesting. The day first started off as I was unable to find the building because it is a very plain building with few distinguishable marks. Once inside, the building was dull with plain white walls. The most interesting part of the museum was the baseball caps lined along the top of the walls. I believe there was one hat for every telephone company that existed. I found it unique to see how the telephone companies have come and gone throughout the years through baseball caps. Mostly this was unique because I did not expect to see baseball caps in a telephone museum so it really caught my attention. Otherwise, the museum was what I had expected to see with many different types of phones as they progress through history.
Many of the types of phones I had already seen in text books but what I did not know was the different companies. The creepy wax models were displaying various types of headsets that looked very cumbersome for earlier operators. I was surprised also to see the different types of the original phone there were because I thought there was only one generic type but depending on the company many designs were available. By visiting the museum, I have found a new appreciation for the advancements made in development of telephones because I would not like to carry around some huge phone or have a cord constantly attached to a wall. Gerald, also, made the trip more interesting. He was the volunteer worker who seemed very versed in telephone history and eager to answer any and all of our questions. Although it was as bland as could be, the telephone museum fulfilled its purpose and showed me the history of the telephone.

What is an essay?

2007-09-04T06:42:00.000-05:00

The essay can do everything that a poem can do, and everything a short story can do – everything but fake it. -Annie Dillard
Annie Dillard makes a great point about an essay having truth to it. She says that an essay can do anything that a poem or short story can do, it just can’t fake it. The essay should always have a little piece of truth to it because it adds the real life that everyone can relate to and makes learning more applicable. She goes on to say the truth always makes something more exciting to the reader. Short stories can excite the imagination of a reader through using fiction, but it will never come close to relating to an actual event or person that a writer would write about in an essay. Poems are the same way in relation to truth and condense all the information leaving the reader to infer what is meant by a few simple words. The essay, on the other hand, can expand from those simple words to create the feeling the writer is trying to get across. Dillard, also, talks about how there is little in the world that is not truth leaving the writer with much to work with, as well as, there is little that the reader will not believe either with the proper factual documentation. Therefore, the truth as a part of the essay does not limit it from the infinite bounds that may come with writing fictitious short stories, but adds the element of life that all people share. As long as people are living, the essayist will be able to give the reader something that grabs their attention and fascinates them with parts of their life that they may have never known about without that essay. And so, the truth of an essay is what sets it apart from all other kinds of fiction and without it, it should not be considered an essay.