It’s been a awhile

So I haven’t been real good about keeping up with this since school let out and I told myself that I would try and keep blogging even though it really isn’t something I would consider a strong suit of mine, as well as something I’m not interested in professionally.

I do feel like I get something out of blogging though, from the learning aspect of class to what I would consider a growing experience for myself! I really do think that this media is a great tool to not only express ourselves, but to share the experiences of the world. I was skeptical at first when I heard about blogging. I really thought it was kind of just a waste of time. That has changed for sure.

While I know this post is a little bit repetitive, and it seems like it might be a little counterproductive? I’m not sure what the word would be. Anyway I’m looking forward to continue to be able to do this, I’m going to try and shake it up with more than just personal thoughts.

Video blog

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=kjFPS8DO_aI

Here is my video blog about magic!

Semester End is Near!

With this being the last week of actual classes on campus I just started thinking about what has all gone down this semester for myself. It wasn’t anything too special, with me being a senior, and not graduating, it made me envious of all my friends who are graduating this spring. Senioritis happens in college too, just so you know.

This semester seems to be somewhat of a challenge in the fact that I have had to do a lot of busy work for my classes. In my consecutive law class this semester I thought I was prepared for it with the communications law class I took last semester. I was prepared for some basic terms, and that was about it. I had a 15 page paper I wrote, some more legal briefs, and a few quizzes. TV workshop turned out to be a lot of fun, but again just a bunch of running around and doing stories. Hours in the comm lab, learning how to properly edit spots, and interviewing.

Finally this classes that I’m writing for now. I know that I wasn’t always the best with writing stories, and usually waiting until the final minuets to turn in some of my works. Blogging and commentary made me realize that this is future, if not really in the now, of journalism. I wouldn’t have taken this classes ever if it wasn’t required. After this class, all of the “journalist” things I was taught, I can say that I think It could be a useful skill to have. I feel like I could communicate my thoughts to people more clearly and tell stories that can actually matter.

At the end of it all, I would say that this has been a crazy semester for me with school, all of my jobs that I worked at during the course of the year. With college winding down for me I do really need to cherish it I think. Anyway, good luck with finals everyone!

Final column: Winner Winner Chicken Dinner!

In October Ryan traveled back home to Columbus, Nebraska for Friday night was the night for Magic. Finding out that it was a drafting tournament, he was a little disappointed because he wanted to play a standard tournament, but prepared himself for the draft.

He was drafting Return to Ravnica, which is a set in the world of Magic. In a draft you have to purchase three 15 card booster packs. These packs have a concentration of better cards, usually containing a rare or a mythic rare, some uncommons, and commons and a land card. Mana is what it’s usually referred to. Along with trying to think about what other people might be playing. The usual parameters of a draft is that you get 45 minuets to open packs, make your deck of 40 cards, and getting ready for your opponents. When you play an opponent, you play best two out of three.

So Ryan had his packs, opened them up, and decided he would run red ad black, or rakdos as it is usually referred to. The first two rounds go by quickly, as he pulls some good creature cards and some sorcery and instant spells. In four rounds he had four wins. His game record was eight wins and one loss. This is important because it can lift you against other players who might have the same round score as you.

In the final round of the night, Ryan was going up against another blue/white deck. His opponent had a round score of three wins to one loss. Ryan, being the only undefeated player left in the tournament thought he had a great chance at winning because of his win against a similar deck earlier. Game one of round five began, and Ryan thought he had the match on lock down, knocking his opponent to five life. Until Skyrok came into play. This creature come into the battle field with a special ability. Your opponent has to return a creature card to his or her hand. It has flying so the only other creature that can block it has to have flying as well.MHis opponent played two more of Skyrok, and won game one. Game two Ryan won easily, since the Skyrok bird eluded his opponents hand.

Game three. The final game of the tournament.
Ryan again gets his opponent down to near death, 12 life this time (you start each game with 20 life) and looked like it would be a uncontested win. With 16 life on his counter, Ryan seemed like he was in the driver seat. But them came in Skyrok. The next turn he dropped another one, having two out on to the field. Bringing Ryan down to 14 life, then down to 10 the turn after that. Ryan dropped a three power creature on one turn (the one he was brought down to 14 life), and a two power creature (the turn he was brought down to 10, he attacked with his creature bringing his opponent to 9). The race was going to be lost though as his opponent was swinging for six each turn and he was swinging with only five. He was defeated.

The final standings were in his favor though. Him and his opponent were at four wins and one loss, but Ryan’s game score was nine wins and three losses. The guy who just beat him was nine wins and four losses. Leaving Ryan to take first place, winning the tournament, his first of his career. He won eight booster packs, among them, another foiled card, a shock land called overgrown tomb.

Final column idea

Over the last year me and my friend have played a game called Magic the Gathering. It involves creatures, sorcery spells, and enchantments. The sorcery and enchantments have different times they can be played like instants, which means you can play at any time. These all have to have have mana, which is land. Each card has a converted mana cost, or a certain amount of land you need to play in order to use a creature or sorcery card. You start with 20 life, the first one to zero loses. While this doesn’t even do the game justice, its just a basic outline.

The reason why I’m telling you this is because of what the game presents to us. Every Friday there are free tournaments at we can play at a shop called Game On. It starts at six at night and goes to usually 10 pm and if you win you can get a pack of cards. There are other tournaments that we can do that actually pays out money, called PTQs, or pro tour qualifiers, while they place the top 16, the top four is usually where the serious money is. This story will be about my friend Ryan and his first time “top 8ing” in a prerelease sealed tournament.

How does that happen?!

So I pull up into Columbus on Sunday after a long night at work, visit my family for a little bit since I haven’t seen them in a month. My stepmother gives me a box and says “give this to them, it’ll be something they won’t have yet.” I open it and find a bunch of lotion, shampoo, and baby oils.

“When are you going to be here you need to come meet your niece.”

I’ll be there soon, I’m on my way.

I was nervous walking up to the hospital, and more so in the elevator up to the second floor. I found 206, went in and saw my friend Greg sitting by the window, his soon to be mother-in-law holding a tiny little baby wrapped up like a burrito. I introduce myself to her and her other daughter Lacy. Gave Greg the baby products, and waited my turn to hold little miss Kendall Rene Karmann. At just over 20 inches and seven and a half pounds, she’s actually a pretty big baby, but when she was given to me she was shrunk to the size of a peanut. She didn’t cry when she was passed over to me, and she didn’t even open her eyes, she just sucked away on her little binky, stretching away.

Looking down at her and holding her was an experience in itself. I’ve known her for less than a week, she isn’t even my child, but I already know Kendall will be an important part of my life. I just don’t really understand how that happened!

Baby day?

So one of my best friends is going to have his baby later today or early tomorrow. I don’t think I’ve been more excited for him! His fiancée is currently in labor and I’m going to head back home to be there (hopefully in time) for the birth of my godchild. When Greg asked me to hold such responsibility I was a little shocked at first. My thoughts wondered to what if I actually had to take this child in as my own? I started to wonder if I was even ready for this?

The thought left me as soon as it came. I think that I am ready to be able to take care of a child, maybe not financially speaking, but then again I’m almost through college. All of this would have to be after experiencing I would rather not talk about, of course, but I still made sure that Gabi and Greg knew that their child would be well taken care of.

You crazy Mother Nature!

This is just one if the pictures that took, and came out to on Tuesday morning. The night before I went to bed around midnight while there was some light rain, and a fairly strong wind. I woke up around 1:30 AM to a loud crash against our apartment complex. Didn’t think too much of it and went back to sleeping like a baby. Until six in the morning.

Ring ring, ring ring.

Damn.

Unk alerts calls me to warn me the library will be closed all day today. Should have just ignored it. Since I have to go to work in an hour, I say up, take a shower, watch some Netflix, and head to work. The sheet of ice on the ground allowed me to almost ice skate to work with my slippers on. M coworker get to the shop and on my way to class I am, only to spot a fellow classmate of mine, Caitlin. She explains to me “No I’m not skipping class, it was actually canceled!” Trudging back to my apartment, I felt the northern arctic winds cutting though my clothes chilling me to the bone. I get a call from my father asking me to go help out at his business scraping windows clean. They all looked like this.

Literally taking me forever, I finished in 3 hours on 15 cars because I had to stop everyone in awhile because of the “hail snow”. Getting pegged with that ever growing hail that rained down hurt even with my thick heavy coat and jeans. Plus I swear I was seconds away from having frostbite on my fingers. Oh well at least I got to help my father out…

Overall it was a super crazy storm that came thought that I didn’t think would be so violent (taking off some of the roof to the library, and the Fine Arts building) or icy. It’s April Mother Nature, give us our actual spring weather and let us enjoy the rest of the semester in shorts!

Some photos I found of the library, and the FAB

Review of the movie review for The Croods

I read the movie review of a new movie The Croods. The reason I chose this review is because I wanted to know if the movie would be worth going to see in the theaters. Tim Martain wrote the review, and has a multi-perspective view. He gives you the adult side of what he thinks of the movie as well as some of what he thinks a child could view the movie as.

Pertaining to the child side of the review he lays down some of the basic premises of what the characters do during the movie, how there is some kid friendly physical slapstick comedy, and a general principle that family should always stick together. Couple that with all the bright, and colorful scenery, and you have a great movie for kids that will keep them entertained.

The adult side of the movie isn’t completely different. While he talks a lot about the same things he does for kids, the premise, the general overtones of family, living life to the fullest, Martain spends some time talking about the characters that really make the movie what it is, with Nicolas Cage as the father, Grug, Emma Stone playing his daughter, Eep (the main character and whose point of view you’re mainly seeing), and Ryan Reynolds playing the “more intelligent, newer human” Guy. Explaining how each of these actors brings his or her depths of acting into the movie, which seems surprising to him.

Martain finishes the review with this:

The Croods is simple enough in its story and structure that its emotional honesty and touching message will catch you quite off-guard.

Excellent performances mean you form an emotional connection to these characters without even realising it, and the lush visuals and snappy comedy make it an easy pill to swallow.

Giving the movie four out of five stars I think that even before this movie, I was gunna go see it. To be honest it was the sloth that did me in.

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=zBdiFU6DgpE

The Dark Knight Rises: Second Column

“There is no way that Christopher Nolan can top The Dark Knight .”

The Dark Knight Rises, the third installment of the newest version of the Batman series, starts off with quite the bang. I wasn’t quite sure how long it’s been since the “Harvey Dent/ Two Face” incident, but I can tell its been a few years because the CIA operative is excited and surprised to hear about the latest villain, Bane who we haven’t ever heard of in the previous movies. From then on forward, after the plane crash, you get what I can consider half magic, half reality. I do have to give it up to Nolan because the whole movie seems like it could be reality with all of the futuristic gadgets, even with the buildings looking a little different as well. Nearly flawless with stunts. The build up to the reason why Batman isn’t in action, medical procedures, fight and other action scenes.

It’s clear from the start that this film was given quite the thought process. The plot snagged me right away with the “capture” or Bane. The dialogue kind of gives you that ‘I think I know what’s going on, but I feel like I’m missing something’ feeling. Coupling that with Cristian Bale and his toughness, Anne Hathaway being all sneaky, mysterious and sexy, Michael Cain’s ability to bring every scene together,Tom Hardy rocking the mask and making the movie that much more suspenseful, and plenty of other amazing actors being the glue that makes this movie great, this really has a solid core for being a great movie, and while I had seen that in most of the previews, I still felt like I needed to see it wether it was the first movie of the trilogy I would have seen, or were being the loyal fan finishing off the trilogy. I got my money’s worth.

As almost all other Chris Nolan movies, the whole movie casts a dark and ominous feeling throughout the movie along with all of the crazy awesome musical background music. Making it feel that much more suspenseful to me. Contrast it with all of the explosions, and little light that is in the movie, it just makes it that much more in your face. The first half of the movie is nothing but failure after failure, disappointment, and the feeling of how does he come back from this?! Sprinkle in some humor from Alfred and then you get to the turning point. The “death of Batman.”

While you see the demise of Gotham City, Bruce’s climb back to power, back to who he is is quite inspiring. Seeing all of the trials and tribulation that he goes through the pain of knowing his city needs him, the physical pain of his back, regaining his health, trying to make the jump knowing that he had to realize he needs fear in his life. It all wreaks of inspiration and good feelings. The ending of the movie just makes it that much more triumphant being able to see a superhero come back from such a strong adversity. But then as I sit there thinking ‘Batman is going to kick some serious ass and save the day’ you get the realization that he has to make the ultimate sacrifice. I become deviated, how can they does this to me. My favorite hero is gone. As the scene turns to Alfred, crying with Wayne Manor in the background, I start to tear up as well. Damn you Michael Cain how you pull at my hear strings so!

Then just as it was before, light comes out of the dark. You find out that there should be a possibility that he’s alive, and by golly, he finally gets the happy ending Bruce deserves. Does anything in this movie compare to Heath Ledgers breath-taking performance in The Dark Knight? Probably not. Overall this is by far the best movie I’ve seen in awhile, even topping its little brother and Heath.