Monthly Archive for February, 2009

Ye Olde Snow Football In The Morrow

Posted February 28, 2009 at 10:52 am // 4 Comments

UPDATE 4:33 PM – I have had many people ask me if we are playing football tomorrow still, and the answer is a resounding YES! We will only cancel if people cannot get to the field at all. Just remember to bring clothes you don’t mind getting dirty in, and some old shoes or something. This game is bound to be a sloppy one.

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CHRISTOPHER 2:24-29

24 Hearken unto my words, ye players of football with flags, and receive my instructions.

25 Be thee thou thee’est and gather thyselves, thy friends and thy football equipment at thy Kickapoo High School in the morrow at the hour of two past the midday;

26 and make a time of fun, frivolity and football with thy people.

27 I shall say to those who shalt join us for the festivities, yea, thou art blessed!

28 Unto they that choose not to join, I curse with a vile curse of no football until the next festive atmosphere cometh around.

29 These are the words of Commissioner Chris Brewer, he that hath an ear let him hear, and he that hath an arm, let him quarterback.

Christopher Banks Has Tumor Removed

Posted February 28, 2009 at 12:52 am // 0 Comments

I wrote about Christopher Banks earlier this week, and my good man Matt Baker has been all over his story since day one.

There is awesome news today as Christopher underwent successful surgery to have the tumor removed. It was about the size of a lemon, says his family.

There is more on Christopher’s story here at the N-L College Sports Blog and also at Christopher’s CaringBridge site.

Praise the Lord for guiding the doctors through this surgery, and we remain in prayer for Christopher as he recovers!

Condolences To Employees Of Rocky Mountain News

Posted February 27, 2009 at 12:53 pm // 2 Comments

The Rocky Mountain News has printed its final edition today. It is the latest and probably most profoundly shocking victim of the decline of the newspaper industry, and it leaves the Denver Post as the only newspaper in town.

Since their website will soon be no longer, they have posted a video of interviews with colleagues and other general tidbits…it’s pretty good.

Watch it, and while you do, say a prayer for the people now formerly employed by the Rocky.


Final Edition from Matthew Roberts on Vimeo.

Two-Headed Calf Born (And Died) Near Aldrich

Posted February 26, 2009 at 11:18 pm // 1 Comment

I had probably the most unusual shoot today for the N-L. We got a call early this morning from a farmer north of town telling us that one of his cattle gave birth to a calf with two heads.

My photo editor and I jumped in his car and headed northwest to Dade County around noon and when we found the place, it was quite a sight to behold.

Here was this newborn calf with two heads, breathing and moving independently of each other, yet the thing couldn’t walk. I had to question whether it was one calf or really two…it was kinda surreal seeing this freak of nature in front of me.

I did feel sorry for it, and we found out tonight that the little guy didn’t make it to Day 3. We all guessed earlier that he wouldn’t because he was breathing so heavily during our shoot and it seemed to become more labored near the end.

Anyway, the video is after the jump, so enjoy.
Continue reading ‘Two-Headed Calf Born (And Died) Near Aldrich’

Audio: “Set Your Eyes To Things Above” (Demo)

Posted February 26, 2009 at 1:09 am // 0 Comments

Here’s the beginning stages of a new track I’m working on.

Listen and enjoy. There will be spoken word in this track, just not by me.

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Breaking: Gannett Slashing Stock Dividend 90%

Posted February 26, 2009 at 12:19 am // 1 Comment

O God, The Aftermath

90 freaking percent, man. $.40/share to $.04/share.

Crazy.

I can just imagine that anyone who has a huge investment in our company has lost out on some serious cash. (Honestly I’m a bit surprised Gannett didn’t do this earlier.)

Let’s see how Wall Street responds tomorrow morning.

54321: Whistle While You Work, Feb. 25 Edition

Posted February 25, 2009 at 6:09 pm // 0 Comments

Here’s what I’ve been jamming to at work today. Real blog post coming later.

Getting Wasted Is Moronic. Drink Coke Instead!

Posted February 24, 2009 at 1:59 pm // 9 Comments

Anyone who knows me well knows that I hold a firm stance against drunken debauchery…I find the “party scene” appalling, losing my mental faculties to multiple beverages ridiculous, and people’s actions under the influence of alcohol immature.

Alcohol has never appealed to me, but some people can’t shake the stuff. Well, here’s a story of one guy who did, replacing alcohol with Coca-Cola.

That’s right, Coca-Cola. Read it for yourself.

Pero Ajtman, 71, said he promised his mother he would stop drinking alcoholic beverages four decades ago.
“My mum didn’t like me drinking when I was a young man as she was very religious,” he explained to the Croatian tabloid 24 Sata.
“She made me promise never to drink again and Coca-Cola was the only thing that tasted as good as wine so I started drinking that.
“Now I have a glass in the morning, before and after lunch, with my dinner and then before I go to bed. I never drink anything else.”

How awesome is that? Seriously. The guy cares about his mom so much and her wishes for his well-being that he replaced his vice with something that allows him to consistently be in an alert state of mind. Brilliant!

This comes back to my alcohol rant…I wonder honestly the physical effects of constantly drinking Coke as opposed to pickling yourself and killing brain cells. I’d much rather be hopped up on caffeine and sugar, even though that can’t be much better. At least I know what’s happening to myself.

To the party crowd: if you want to grow up and stop acting like a moron, have some Coca-Cola with every meal.

$334,488 Well Spent?

Posted February 24, 2009 at 8:35 am // 5 Comments

Unbelievable.

The city council of Springfield has voted 5-4 against a measure that would have tabled a resolution to spend $334,488 on “wayfinding” signs for the city. A councilman had asked for the vote in a previous meeting, basically saying the current economic situation was not the time to be spending money on signs for tourism.

So last night’s vote apparently means we’ll build these signs and try to market Bass Pro, Battlefield Mall, Mediacom Ice Park, et al. to outside visitors hoping to try to snag a few away from Branson.

Hmm.

A couple thoughts from the peanut gallery:

- I apologize in advance for this comment being seen as offensive by longtime residents of Springfield, but this city to me is hardly a tourist destination. Yes, there are nice people and it is a very neat place, but my idea of tourism isn’t to go to a one-floor mall, visit a large outdoor store or the adjacent museum. Sorry but that’s the way I see it.

- Of the five people who voted to move forward with the signage, four of them are nearing the end — and by end, I mean a matter of a couple months — of their City Council terms. At the risk of sounding vitriolic, to the average Joe this smacks of someone just trying to get their final say in something before they leave everyone else alone…this issue could easily have been tabled for another couple months, but then again with a new council this probably wouldn’t have passed.

- If you want to blame someone for this, blame the 83% of voters who didn’t turn out for the crucial tax issue earlier this month. That showed the city the general apathy in our community toward civic issues, and I believe it opened the door for something like this to happen. For some reason voter distrust with the City is rampant (I’d like to know why, still being a relatively new person to Springfield in the grand scheme of things) and it seems Council took that fact lightly.

That’s about it, I’m not even in civic government and I can find a better use for $334,488. I’m not against the wayfinding signs per se, but shoot, let’s see if we can’t help our fellow man with this money rather than blow it on “tourism.”

Work, For Friday Is [Quickly] Coming

Posted February 24, 2009 at 1:09 am // 1 Comment

Oh Lord, my apartment is reaching near-empty status.

The cabinets are bare — there only exists milk, grape juice and water in the fridge. My living room only contains the remaining boxes I will be moving Friday, the TV stand and the television. My closet has been emptied of everything except clothes, and my bedroom consists of just my bed, dresser, computer and desk.

On previous moves, I had everything down to an exact science: pack the boxes haphazardly, finish up as close to the last day as possible, and still work it out to where I got out of the place on time. It worked pretty well but the blood pressure factor wasn’t enjoyable.

Not this time though. I plan to have everything packed and ready to go tomorrow night, to where we only have to fill a U-Haul trailer with my bed, dresser and computer desk. That’s it…I’ve already hauled around twenty boxes to Republic.

This is all just the fun part. The real work comes when I have to unpack the stuff and find places for it all…and continue to get rid of stuff I don’t need. I feel a joint Chris, Sybil and Jerry Garage Sale upcoming.

I’ll be glad when all this is over in about a week…and it will actually be pretty nice to be back home with the family (read: my Mom). With Dad being gone to Vegas for his job, Mom could use the extra help and I’ll help out however I can.

Of course, the added benefit of having the Republic Community Center and a free, open court to fire away three-point buckets by myself at 6 a.m. is awesome, and so is the fact they built a disc golf course in Miller Park.

I am excited, and I have every reason to be. Now I must sleep the excitement off.