Today I am leaving to go to the Drake Relays. The Drake Relays are a world renowned track competition, and I am running in the 100th year anniversary. I am also running in an event that is in its first year at Drake, the shuttle hurdle relay. This is completely awe inspiring.
This shuttle hurdle relay is a very new event in Iowa. Its first year in the state was only 3 years ago, when I was a freshman. It is obvious that it is brand new because whenever I tell someone that I run it, they always look at me with an odd look, and ask what I’m talking about. Everybody knows the 4x100, the 4x400, and the distance medley, but nobody knows the shuttle hurdle. So let me explain to you, like I explain to everybody else, what the shuttle hurdle relay is.
The relay team consists of four runners, just like every other relay, but instead of using the whole track to run, all we need is the front stretch. Each team has two lanes, with hurdles facing opposite ways in each. The first and third runners start at the finish line and come straight at the second and fourth runners. When the runner coming at you goes over the last hurdle, you have to be set in your blocks and cannot be moving. Then, when that runner hits the break line, the next runner can go. The total race is 440 meters, with each runner running 110 meters and jumping over 10 hurdles.
So that is the shuttle hurdle relay, running back and forth on the front straight. Right now, my shuttle hurdle team is seeded third. Let me rephrase that: we have the third fastest time out of any school in the state right now. Drake is not like state where you run against teams in your class; Drake is everybody has an equal shot and the top times qualify, no matter how big your school is. Our goal is to run a faster time then what we have now. There is nothing else we can do if we improve, so we have to let the cards fall where they may. The ultimate goal is to get past the prelims and be in the top 8 (there are only 16 teams and 8 go to finals), then in the finals run a sub 59 second time and hope for the best. I have never been to Drake, but I am told that this is a very fast track (meaning you feel faster on this track compared to normal) and our time should drop and we should at least place at the Drake Relays.
Thursday, April 23, 2009
Thursday, April 16, 2009
Iowa Is Truly Amazing
Iowa is truly amazing. I am completely serious when I say this. I am not trying to joke around and pull your leg. Iowa is truly amazing. Let me explain.
The seasons of Iowa are some of the most extreme in the nation. The winter is horribly cold, and the summer is horribly hot. In the winter we get snow, wind, ice, and just plain cold (well below zero) temperatures. In the summer we get ungodly heat and humidity. So the in between times are actually halfway decent. Spring and fall in Iowa are two times of the year when it is bearable to be outside for any extended period of time. But then again, spring and fall kind of suck. This is because winter and summer spread out over great periods of the year, so on the calendar when spring and fall actually start, winter and summer are still present. Summer drags on into fall so by the time fall weather comes, it is late in the year. But the worst is winter dragging into spring. Spring in Iowa doesn’t really start until the end of April at the earliest, not March 21. We get snow storms on April 14 and 30 degree weather with a wind chill that reminisces of winter. It is not right. Any human in their right mind would move as far away as possible, immediately. So why is Iowa truly amazing?
Iowa is amazing because when spring finally does roll around, everybody is in a good mood. Not one person has the ability to truly be down. The winter is so long and drawn out and cold, that the warm, nice, sunny weather is mouth-watering. Everybody has put up with the winter, and everybody is glad it is over. Iowa has the power to make everybody happy. No other place has this kind of instant ability to change everybody’s mood. If you live in Iowa, you know what I am talking about. The winter is depressing and unavoidable, but the spring is amazing and irresistible. Iowa is unique and truly amazing.
The seasons of Iowa are some of the most extreme in the nation. The winter is horribly cold, and the summer is horribly hot. In the winter we get snow, wind, ice, and just plain cold (well below zero) temperatures. In the summer we get ungodly heat and humidity. So the in between times are actually halfway decent. Spring and fall in Iowa are two times of the year when it is bearable to be outside for any extended period of time. But then again, spring and fall kind of suck. This is because winter and summer spread out over great periods of the year, so on the calendar when spring and fall actually start, winter and summer are still present. Summer drags on into fall so by the time fall weather comes, it is late in the year. But the worst is winter dragging into spring. Spring in Iowa doesn’t really start until the end of April at the earliest, not March 21. We get snow storms on April 14 and 30 degree weather with a wind chill that reminisces of winter. It is not right. Any human in their right mind would move as far away as possible, immediately. So why is Iowa truly amazing?
Iowa is amazing because when spring finally does roll around, everybody is in a good mood. Not one person has the ability to truly be down. The winter is so long and drawn out and cold, that the warm, nice, sunny weather is mouth-watering. Everybody has put up with the winter, and everybody is glad it is over. Iowa has the power to make everybody happy. No other place has this kind of instant ability to change everybody’s mood. If you live in Iowa, you know what I am talking about. The winter is depressing and unavoidable, but the spring is amazing and irresistible. Iowa is unique and truly amazing.
Susan Boyle
Pause this video at 1:45 and tell me what you think (if you have seen this video, what you thought the first time).
You can’t say you were expecting that. The first time I saw this video, I was completely shocked. I thought she was going to be another William Hung, and be completely terrible. Just by looking at her, I knew that she couldn’t sing well. I was sure of it. I was sure she was going to belt out something that scarred my ears and actually deserved the ripping that Simon gives out. But no. I was wrong. Everybody was wrong. I know you would be lying if you said you expected that kind of performance. She completely stunned everybody, and I think that is partly societies fault. Society labeled her as an old, ugly lady who isn’t worth a thing. And that is why everybody was stunned. You don’t expect a beautiful song from somebody labeled like that. So I think that society as a whole should apologize to Susan Boyle and from now on, not label people before we see what they can do.
You can’t say you were expecting that. The first time I saw this video, I was completely shocked. I thought she was going to be another William Hung, and be completely terrible. Just by looking at her, I knew that she couldn’t sing well. I was sure of it. I was sure she was going to belt out something that scarred my ears and actually deserved the ripping that Simon gives out. But no. I was wrong. Everybody was wrong. I know you would be lying if you said you expected that kind of performance. She completely stunned everybody, and I think that is partly societies fault. Society labeled her as an old, ugly lady who isn’t worth a thing. And that is why everybody was stunned. You don’t expect a beautiful song from somebody labeled like that. So I think that society as a whole should apologize to Susan Boyle and from now on, not label people before we see what they can do.
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Scary but Funny
I watched an interesting video the other day. Usually YouTube videos are funny, that is the main purpose for YouTube in my opinion. They are meant for entertainment and to get a laugh out of you, not to be informative, or scary for that matter. This video that I watched was the scariest thing that I have seen in a long time, but through all of this, I couldn’t help but laugh at the man.
The name of the video is “Project 912 Glen Beck Tea Party.” Now this may not sound like a scary video, but it truly is. It is not about monsters or aliens or anything of that nature, it is about people. It is about a get together of people who want to express their ideas and feelings. I think that to attend one of these parties, you should have to pass a test to make sure you are not clinically insane.
This video does not start out like anything out-of-the-ordinary. It does not have nay action or anything like that. All it is, is people talking about politics. Politics in itself is a scary thing because many people have bad ideas, and many people have the power to put those bad ideas into affect. What makes this video even scarier is the fact that this guy is being completely serious. He is not joking in any way, and he truly thinks that everything is a conspiracy and he blames the communists. If I was to say this anywhere, at anytime (I’m not saying I even could, I couldn’t keep a straight face this is so ridiculous, and I'm not alone), I would be laughed at.
Scary might be an understatement. He blames communists and he blames mind washing techniques that are brainwashing our children. I’m sorry, but this is ludicrous. Get past the Cold War, move forward from the Stone Age, please learn to live in the present. I can’t stand people who hold true conspiracy theories of the 50’s to find a scapegoat for today. Just because we are going through hard times does not mean that one person is responsible, that one idea was wrong, that one mistake lead to the whole disaster. Learn to accept reality and please, if you have ideas that might even resemble these, do not share them with anybody, you might get laughed at.
The name of the video is “Project 912 Glen Beck Tea Party.” Now this may not sound like a scary video, but it truly is. It is not about monsters or aliens or anything of that nature, it is about people. It is about a get together of people who want to express their ideas and feelings. I think that to attend one of these parties, you should have to pass a test to make sure you are not clinically insane.
This video does not start out like anything out-of-the-ordinary. It does not have nay action or anything like that. All it is, is people talking about politics. Politics in itself is a scary thing because many people have bad ideas, and many people have the power to put those bad ideas into affect. What makes this video even scarier is the fact that this guy is being completely serious. He is not joking in any way, and he truly thinks that everything is a conspiracy and he blames the communists. If I was to say this anywhere, at anytime (I’m not saying I even could, I couldn’t keep a straight face this is so ridiculous, and I'm not alone), I would be laughed at.
Scary might be an understatement. He blames communists and he blames mind washing techniques that are brainwashing our children. I’m sorry, but this is ludicrous. Get past the Cold War, move forward from the Stone Age, please learn to live in the present. I can’t stand people who hold true conspiracy theories of the 50’s to find a scapegoat for today. Just because we are going through hard times does not mean that one person is responsible, that one idea was wrong, that one mistake lead to the whole disaster. Learn to accept reality and please, if you have ideas that might even resemble these, do not share them with anybody, you might get laughed at.
Monday, April 13, 2009
Man on Wire
This weekend I watched an amazing movie. Man on Wire won the Academy Award for Best Documentary, and I believed that it deserved it. It was an interesting film that was amazing and captivating. I often found myself thinking and saying out loud “wow.”
I thought “wow” a lot when Philippe Petit (the man this documentary is about) was talking about his passion. Wire walking is a unique hobby, and he has perfected this skill. He was 16 when he first learned about the World Trade Centers and that is when his dream began. So he started to build his reputation. He put a wire between the two towers of Notre Dame, and he put a wire between the two towers of the Sydney Harbor Bridge. He successfully walked in each of these places and he successfully brought attention to himself and people liked him. So then he put his dream into motion. He had dreamt of walking between the Trade Centers and now he was actually making this a possibility. His dream was tangible, and he was about to achieve it.
Most often when I said “wow” out loud was when Philippewas actually walking on his wire. This man is completely amazing. The movie is about his quest to string a wire between the World Trade Centers and walk between them, without any harnesses or safety equipment. He literally was balancing a quarter of a mile above the earth on a rope that was less than one inch thick. I was completely shocked that anybody in their right mind would put themselves in that kind of situation. But, when I look at the big picture, Philippe’s life story and his childhood, I realize that this is not a normal person. He is a wirewalker. This is somebody that walks on tightropes stretched out between two points (trees, buildings, et cetera) and performs for a crowd. He can lie down, walk backward, do summersaults, and juggle while he is on the wire. This kind of person has a sense of balance unlike anything else. There is some home footage in the movie of Phillip practicing wire walking, and his friends are jumping up and down on the wire and pulling it and doing anything they can to make him fall off. But he doesn’t. He stays on the wire and walks from end to end with the wire bouncing and shaking and swaying. The concentration on his face is intense. His face is a stone mask and nothing can be done to disrupt him. He is a man that belongs on a wire.
I thought “wow” a lot when Philippe Petit (the man this documentary is about) was talking about his passion. Wire walking is a unique hobby, and he has perfected this skill. He was 16 when he first learned about the World Trade Centers and that is when his dream began. So he started to build his reputation. He put a wire between the two towers of Notre Dame, and he put a wire between the two towers of the Sydney Harbor Bridge. He successfully walked in each of these places and he successfully brought attention to himself and people liked him. So then he put his dream into motion. He had dreamt of walking between the Trade Centers and now he was actually making this a possibility. His dream was tangible, and he was about to achieve it.
Most often when I said “wow” out loud was when Philippewas actually walking on his wire. This man is completely amazing. The movie is about his quest to string a wire between the World Trade Centers and walk between them, without any harnesses or safety equipment. He literally was balancing a quarter of a mile above the earth on a rope that was less than one inch thick. I was completely shocked that anybody in their right mind would put themselves in that kind of situation. But, when I look at the big picture, Philippe’s life story and his childhood, I realize that this is not a normal person. He is a wirewalker. This is somebody that walks on tightropes stretched out between two points (trees, buildings, et cetera) and performs for a crowd. He can lie down, walk backward, do summersaults, and juggle while he is on the wire. This kind of person has a sense of balance unlike anything else. There is some home footage in the movie of Phillip practicing wire walking, and his friends are jumping up and down on the wire and pulling it and doing anything they can to make him fall off. But he doesn’t. He stays on the wire and walks from end to end with the wire bouncing and shaking and swaying. The concentration on his face is intense. His face is a stone mask and nothing can be done to disrupt him. He is a man that belongs on a wire.
Thursday, April 9, 2009
Obama and Nukes
I read this blog post by somebody who obviously doesn’t like Obama. These people are ruthless, calling Obama “Hussein” and trying to bash him so his credibility is shot. I’m sorry, but I guess they don’t realize that he is president (so people obviously like him), the only people who read this blog are people that agree on the same points (I stumbled across it looking at Obama’s proposal), and that these people aren’t really breaking any genius barriers. So here was my first reaction to the post and comments that I read:
What the hell are you guys talking about? He’s not saying that we should be the only nation to disarm our nukes; he’s saying that everybody that has nuclear missiles should disarm them. We would not be alone in this; there would be no active nukes in the world. The instant that we disarm our nuclear missiles, we would not be bombarded by others, because there wouldn’t be any. That’s the point of this whole action, to eliminate the threat of a nuclear holocaust. The simple possibility that at any instant multiple nations could start attacking each other with these devastating weapons is terrifying. It’s scary to think that one instant I could be walking my dog, and the next blown off the face of the earth. I’m not saying that this is likely; I’m just saying that to think about this possibility is chilling. And it is becoming an even greater possibility with more nations coming to discover nuclear powers and rockets that will send them to the other side of the world. The words “intercontinental ballistics missiles” seem made up, but in reality, they are becoming more prominent and closer to the point where somebody breaks and actually uses these words not in a speech, but in action.
What the hell are you guys talking about? He’s not saying that we should be the only nation to disarm our nukes; he’s saying that everybody that has nuclear missiles should disarm them. We would not be alone in this; there would be no active nukes in the world. The instant that we disarm our nuclear missiles, we would not be bombarded by others, because there wouldn’t be any. That’s the point of this whole action, to eliminate the threat of a nuclear holocaust. The simple possibility that at any instant multiple nations could start attacking each other with these devastating weapons is terrifying. It’s scary to think that one instant I could be walking my dog, and the next blown off the face of the earth. I’m not saying that this is likely; I’m just saying that to think about this possibility is chilling. And it is becoming an even greater possibility with more nations coming to discover nuclear powers and rockets that will send them to the other side of the world. The words “intercontinental ballistics missiles” seem made up, but in reality, they are becoming more prominent and closer to the point where somebody breaks and actually uses these words not in a speech, but in action.
War
The other day in school, two Vietnam veterans came and talked to our history class. They shared their stories and experiences, and answered every question that was asked, which is surprising. If I was a veteran, and I had these experiences, I would be hesitant to bring them up because they would probably bring back not very good memories. But they didn’t just share experiences, one veteran shared his opinion on war, which kind of caught me off guard.
This Vietnam veteran was against war and supported ending the war that we are currently engaged in. Normally when I think of veterans, I think of them as gung-ho and a little out there. But this veteran was not. If I saw him walking down the street, I would think he was just a regular guy. So when he said he supported ending the war, my first reaction was “I wonder if other veterans feel the same way as him?” It surprised me when he dealt out his opinion, but after thinking about it for a little while, I can see why he feels this way. I think that many veterans see what war is really like, the see the death and destruction, and I think that they realize that war is a bad thing. I think they realize that war does not solve the problems that people want solved, war does not fix things that are broken, war only breaks them more. I think to understand war, you have to be part of one. Not as a politician or observer, but as a solider in combat. To see what war really does, I think you have to participate and feel the feeling of the people who carry out the war, not the people who decide what to do in the war. I think that if the United States got into a major war right now (I’m not saying we are not in one, I’m just saying if we got into one that actually got peoples attention), I would have felt more comfortable with McCain as president. Nothing against Obama, but McCain was in the Vietnam War, he fought and was captured and he knows what war is like. He knows what would be right, and what wouldn’t.
Overall, I think I’m trying to say that war is not good. I support our troops and I have the greatest respect for soldiers, but I just think it is wrong to put them in this kind of compromising situation. I think that war doesn’t solve problems, and I think that politicians have some kind of mental block against this.
This Vietnam veteran was against war and supported ending the war that we are currently engaged in. Normally when I think of veterans, I think of them as gung-ho and a little out there. But this veteran was not. If I saw him walking down the street, I would think he was just a regular guy. So when he said he supported ending the war, my first reaction was “I wonder if other veterans feel the same way as him?” It surprised me when he dealt out his opinion, but after thinking about it for a little while, I can see why he feels this way. I think that many veterans see what war is really like, the see the death and destruction, and I think that they realize that war is a bad thing. I think they realize that war does not solve the problems that people want solved, war does not fix things that are broken, war only breaks them more. I think to understand war, you have to be part of one. Not as a politician or observer, but as a solider in combat. To see what war really does, I think you have to participate and feel the feeling of the people who carry out the war, not the people who decide what to do in the war. I think that if the United States got into a major war right now (I’m not saying we are not in one, I’m just saying if we got into one that actually got peoples attention), I would have felt more comfortable with McCain as president. Nothing against Obama, but McCain was in the Vietnam War, he fought and was captured and he knows what war is like. He knows what would be right, and what wouldn’t.
Overall, I think I’m trying to say that war is not good. I support our troops and I have the greatest respect for soldiers, but I just think it is wrong to put them in this kind of compromising situation. I think that war doesn’t solve problems, and I think that politicians have some kind of mental block against this.
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