Bad Seasons = More Tickets

First off, I think it is only fair that I admit how disappointing the beginning of the season has been for the Nebraska Baseball team. They haven't been able to dominate in games when they are ahead in the beginning, and they often score runs but are unable to get back into the game before the other team pulls further ahead. Despite my own feelings about the team, I think that it is sad to watch how public support slowly disappears when teams are not winning games.

When I first started going to Nebraska games with my dad in 2005 the team was on the way up. They had been in the College World Series before, but 2005 was the break-out year for the Huskers. We were able to get single game tickets for reserved seating in 2005, but we were unable to get tickets for anything other than grass berm seating for the next three years. This was because the team was still able to win games and attract the attention to people with enough money to throw away on season tickets. I personally think that there should always be tickets held back for single-game use, but the athletic department would rather collect donation money. I suppose I can't really blame them for that, but it is aggravating when you are forced to sit on wet grass all the time.

To get back to my point, the past few years have been rough for the Huskers. They haven't been good enough to get to the CWS, and last year they didn't even qualify for regional play. This has led to an abundance of single tickets being available. While I appreciate being able to get good seats, it makes me sad that people have been so quick to drop their season tickets. If I had enough money to waste on season tickets anyway, I would keep them through the good and bad seasons. I worry that the same thing that has happened to the baseball team will happen when women's basketball and volleyball are no longer as good as they are currently. As much as I hate to admit it, Nebraska is a one sport state. Football will always be the one sport that fans will stick with through good and bad. This makes it harder for the other sports to compete. People like to say that winning isn't everything, but if you live in Nebraska it is. If you lose and you aren't the football team, you are in danger of getting cut off from the public's donations and their attention.

Differences in Opinion

Over the past week there have been many people that have voiced their opinions on the changes being made to our health care system. Political talk shows and news programs have been full of rhetoric and fighting between both sides of the issue. I think it is interesting to see how different people see the changes in health care in completely different ways. One way to do this without listening to screaming people on television is to look at political cartoons. I like looking at the cartoons instead, because they not only tell you how people feel about the issue, but they also make you laugh. It is nice to have a lighter approach to learning the opinions of others. While many of these cartoons do not align with my own beliefs, I still think they are fun to look at. I would have to say that if there was one cartoon that I agreed with and enjoyed the most, it would be the last one.

Howard Beale and Glenn Beck

While watching the film Network, I was interested to see all of the similarities between the character of Howard Beale and Glenn Beck from Fox News. I know that Dr. Hanson had said that Glenn Beck likes to compare himself to Howard Beale, but I was a little surprised to see how similar they really are to one another. Both men are in my mind absolutely crazy, and scream about the world ending and how awful people have become due to the problems around us. I think that Glenn Beck is spot on when comparing himself to Beale because he is at least as crazy as Beale, if not more so.

I also think that the way that UBS was trying to capture ratings by using a personality like Beale is similar to what Fox News and other news outlets are doing today. It is not uncommon to turn to a news channel and see someone yelling about their own opinions on an issue while stretching the truth. I think that Glenn Beck is the perfect example of someone trying to mislead the public into believing in his own agenda. I think men like Glenn Beck are extremely dangerous, because there are so many people out there that only believe what they hear on television. When programs like the Howard Beale Show and the Glenn Beck Program throw things way out of proportion it is easy to get people stirred up.

I thought the parts of Network where Beale would pass out on the air were hilarious. It is just like a television network to exploit something like that to get people to watch their programming. It is all about having something that the other networks don't have, which is why we see so many different types of people on the different channels. I think that the character of Diana is a perfect example of most of the people working in television today. She is the head of programming, which has been carried over to the news side of the network. She sees an opportunity in Beale to make UBS a more successful network. He may be unstable, but he can make the network a lot of money. That is what it all comes down to: Television networks want to make as big of a profit as possible. That is why people like Glenn Beck are so prevalent on television. Even if they don't agree with what he has to say, many people tune in to see what crazy thing is going to come out of his mouth.

It actually makes me happy that Glenn Beck compares himself to Howard Beale. It gives me hope that he too will have a downfall. I of course don't mean to suggest that I hope he has the same end as Beale, because that is something that a crazy person like Beck would say. I just have hope that one day people will finally see that he is a complete lunatic that needs to be taken off the air. The only way to accomplish this is to stop watching his program. As long as Fox News is getting the ratings, Beck will stay on the air. I also think that a network like Fox would be willing to take a hit like UBS did to keep pushing their extremely conservative agenda. Here's hoping that the Glenn Beck Program proves to be as much of a failure as the Howard Beale Show.

If you really want to save money . . .

Everyone in the country has most likely received their 2010 Census form in the mail within the past week. There should have also been a letter sent to each home about a week before the form arrived. This letter was telling you that you would be getting a form in the mail within a week, and that you needed to fill it out when it arrived. Like most responsible citizens, I immediately filled out my form and sent it back in the same day that I received it, expecting to be done with anything having to do with the 2010 Census.

Yesterday, I got home and checked my mail like I always do. I was surprised to see a postcard in my box from none other than the US Census Bureau. This postcard was to remind me that I should have received my census form after receiving a letter telling me I would receive a census form, and that I needed to make sure to send this form in. After throwing the postcard in the trash I thought about how much it must cost to send one of those postcards to every residence in the nation. I know that the postal service is part of the government, so technically they don't have to pay the postage, but they do have to pay for the manpower and energy to get that postcard to my house.

If we are in a time of financial crisis, why is the government sending each residence a postcard within days of sending the census form? They have no idea whether or not I sent the form in, but if they waited a few days they would find that my form had arrived, and they would not need to waste the money to send me a reminder. I know that sending a letter is cheaper than going door to door, which is why I think sending reminders is a good idea in general. I'm just saying to wait and see who sends the forms back before wasting the postage. I am no financial guru, but I would think that if you calculated the amount of postage it would take to send everyone an unnecessary follow-up postcard, you would end up with a lot of money. We could use this money for other things, like fixing roads, funding education, or even writing me a check to pay for increased garbage pick-up for having to throw away all the crap they send me.

Are small towns really safer?

I grew up in Grand Island, but I consider it to be a rather small community. I know that it is on the verge of becoming the third metro area in Nebraska, but I hardly think that having over 50,000 people makes Grand Island a thriving metropolis. When I was growing up, I used to think that I would spend my entire life in Grand Island. There was nothing that Grand Island didn't have that I couldn't live without.

As I grew older I started to realize that there was a world outside of Grand Island and Nebraska, and that I wanted to explore it. I have never really traveled to big cities like New York, but I am sure that there are a lot of good and bad things about living in a city that large. It would be nice to have everything you could think of at your fingertips, but there are a lot of problems with living in the city as well. Many people point out the crime that takes place in larger cities, but I have to disagree with the fact that this only happens in large cities. Over the past few years crime has been increasing dramatically in Grand Island and the surrounding areas. I was raised to think that cities like Omaha were full of crime, but now I read the news and see just as many stories about crime in places like Grand Island as cities like Omaha.

Since moving to Kearney a few years ago I have also seen several events that make Kearney look less safe as well. Crime knows no bounds. There is no way to keep crime completely out of an area, but many people seem to think that rural Nebraska is safe from crime. I urge these people to open their eyes to what is going on around them. I know some people that live in the country and leave their doors unlocked and their keys in the ignition of their cars. Unless you want your house broken into and your car stolen, you should stop being so naive.

Poor Sandra

I was disgusted to hear the other day that Jesse James cheated on his wife, Sandra Bullock. Who in their right mind would cheat on Sandra? I guess that answers the question: Jesse James is crazy. He had one of the biggest celebrities, and one of the nicest, but he threw it all away for a trashy stripper. It is even worse seeing all of this happen to Sandra after hearing her acceptance speech at the Oscars two weeks ago. She made sure to thank her husband for everything he had done for her, and mentioned how happy they were together. Obviously one of them wasn't happy. I can't say I am surprised that this happened, because I have always thought Jesse James was a dirtball. Anyone who looks that trashy all the time obviously has something wrong with them. I guess I never understood how someone like Sandra Bullock could be interested in him in the first place.

The trashy skank that Jesse had an affair with is named Michelle McGee. She is a porn star with enough tattoos to rival the owner of a tattoo parlor. She recently made herself look even classier by posing for a Nazi-themed photo shoot. One of the photos has her wearing a Nazi bikini, a swastika armband, and licking a knife. The pictures can be found on the TMZ website, but I don't want that ugly woman on my blog. I feel terrible for Sandra, but I can't help but think she is much better off without Jesse. He obviously has something missing upstairs if he is willing to throw away Sandra for a piece of trash like Michelle McGee.

What's with Idol this year?

I have been an American Idol fan for a long time, and I have never watched a season as boring as this one. There are no contestants that really stand out to me, and I honestly wouldn't care if any of them won. There are a few that have good voices and are good performers, but they are nothing compared to some of the past contestants.

I think maybe the main reason that I don't like Idol this year is because I thought last year was so great. With people like Adam Lambert and Kris Allen it was hard to choose who should win. I think that this year will end up being an obvious choice, because the only person that appears capable of being the winner is Siobhan Magnus. I hope for the sake of the show that some of the other contestants step it up and giver her some competition.

There is one other thing that makes me yawn when watching Idol: Ellen Degeneres. I am a big fan of Ellen. I think she is absolutely hilarious, but she doesn't have what it takes to be on Idol. I have a hard time listening to her criticism, because I really don't see how she has the credentials to give advice about singing. I really don't see how Idol has much of a future next season when Simon leaves. He is the main reason I watch the show. Hopefully they can find someone just as harsh and entertaining as he is to fill his spot. Here's hoping that Idol can get it together and avoid going off into the sunset.

When my respect runs out - Final Draft

I was raised under the belief that each person has the right to their own opinions. I may not always agree with what other people think, but I always respect their opinions. I have never liked Sarah Palin, but I have done my best to respect her personal views. This ended recently, as I learned more information about her views on health care reform.

It is understandable that people who have no experience with socialized medicine would be skeptical about making changes to our current health care system. Most people in the United States have had little or no contact with socialized medicine, but one person who has is Sarah Palin. While speaking to an audience in Calgary last week, Palin admitted that her family used to take advantage of Canadian healthcare instead of using medical facilities near their home in Alaska.

I don’t understand how someone whose family used socialized medicine by choice could label all forms of socialized health care as evil. Palin’s family obviously must have thought that Canadian health care was less evil than the health care offered to them in Alaska. There must have been some major flaws in the health care they were receiving in Alaska if they decided to dash across the border for different care.

I would be hard pressed to view a system as evil if my family had benefited from it in many ways. Palin has never backed down from her stance that socialized medicine, and anything else that has the word socialized in front of it, is the worst possible choice for America. I guess I think that the worst possible choice for America is letting many of its citizens live without health insurance, praying that they don’t get sick. Of course, this wouldn’t matter to someone like Palin, who has enough money to pay for any medical procedure that she or any other member of her family might need.

One person that Palin would not have to pay for is her grandson Tripp. Tripp is covered by the Indian Health Service because he is the descendant of the Yup'ik Eskimo people. The IHS is a form of government-run health care, which is exactly what Palin is so strongly in opposition to. It is strange to think that she would allow her own grandson to rely on this health care plan when she certainly has enough money to buy high priced insurance for him.

Maybe I shouldn’t be so bothered by these two facts when looking at Sarah Palin’s views on health care reform, but I think that I have a right to be upset. It is one thing to be in opposition to something that you believe is wrong, but it is another to oppose something that you have personally benefited from, and that your family is currently using. The fact that these two pieces of information were uncovered months after Palin started ranting about health care reform is also interesting. Why not tell us upfront about your history with the system, and explain why you think it’s wrong? Oh, I forgot, politicians don’t like to tell the truth until they are backed into a corner.

I will still stand by the values that my parents raised me with, and continue to respect the opinions of others. However, I will no longer listen to people like Sarah Palin, who tell me that what I believe is wrong because they know better, when they are in fact being hypocritical. Sarah Palin can scream from the mountaintops about her views on health care, but I am no longer listening. Not that I was really listening very carefully anyway.

Hypocrite Alert!!

While further investigating Sarah Palin's comments on the evils of socialized medicine I ran across an article that looks into the fact that Palin's grandson Tripp is covered by a government-paid health care plan. As a descendant of the Yup'ik Eskimo people, Tripp is eligible to be included in the Indian Health Service, which pays for health care with government dollars. The article goes on to ask questions about Sarah Palin's hypocritical actions when it comes to health care reform. If Palin truly believes that socialized medicine is "evil," why does she allow her grandson to be covered by a plan that would be similar to what all Americans could be included in if health care reform were passed? Palin certainly has enough money to pay for health insurance for her grandson, but she is willing to let him use government paid health care.

If I strongly opposed socialized medicine, and had the financial resources of someone like Sarah Palin, there is no way that I would allow someone in my family to rely on a health care plan like the Indian Health Service. It would go against everything I believed in. Learning this information has only increased my frustration with the fact that Sarah Palin is such a strong opponent of changing health care. She not only benefited from socialized medicine in Canada when she was young, but her own family takes advantage of tribal health benefits. Something smells fishy here. Either Palin isn't as opposed to government-run health insurance as she says she is, or she really doesn't care too much about keeping her family members from the "evils" of socialized medicine.

If it was good enough for you then . . .

Sarah Palin gave a speech in Calgary over the weekend where she acknowledged that her family used to cross the border into Canada to receive medical treatment when she was younger. I found this interesting, because Sarah Palin is one of the biggest opponents of socialized medicine. This article talks about how she has formerly done nothing but bash Canadian health care and the proposed health care plan of President Obama as "evil." I find it strange that Palin would wait until now to mention that her family had taken advantage of Canadian health care when she has been constantly bashing the proposed health care plan in the United States. I know that politicians withhold information all the time, but it still bothers me when it comes out.

I understand that it was not Sarah Palin's choice to go to Canada for health care when she was a child, but it was her choice to leave out that she had actually received good treatment from a socialized health care system. She made the choice to accuse socialized medicine as being bad when she knew for a fact that it obviously wasn't all bad, considering how much it helped her family. Maybe I'm just making a big deal out of this because I think Sarah Palin is a psycho, but is anyone else bothered by this? If universal health care was good enough for you when you were young, what makes you too good for it now?

Nebraska has had quite a run lately

There are few times when Nebraska gets attention in the world of sports and entertainment, but there have been several events in the past few weeks that have put Nebraska in the public eye:

1. Nebraska Women's Basketball team completes an undefeated regular season at 29-0.

2. Nebraska native Curtis Tomasevicz helps the US Olympic Team win their first gold medal in bobsledding since 1948.

3. Papillion resident Mauro Fiore wins an Oscar for cinematography for his work on the film "Avatar."

I know that in a state like New York or California having events like these take place wouldn't be uncommon, but in a state like Nebraska they are special. Most people outside of the Midwest don't hear much about Nebraska, and having three events like this take place may not make Nebraska seem more important on a national scale, but they may cause more people to take notice. Whether or not people from other states notice, Nebraskans are certainly happy about these accomplishments. Personally, it was nice to watch the Olympics and have someone from my own state to cheer for, and it will be cool seeing Nebraska playing in some big games as the postseason starts for basketball. While Fiore's Oscar win is most likely the least well known of these three events, I think it is one of the most important. It shows that Nebraskans are more than just farmers, and they can beat out others from all over the world in fields like cinematography.

I miss you, Ernie.

Over the past two years there has been one thing keeping me from watching what happens in Lincoln: the lack of Ernie Chambers. I may face ridicule for this statement, but I think Senator Chambers is absolutely brilliant. He was one of the only people in the Legislature that was willing to risk his reputation to stand up for what he believed in. I used to watch live coverage of the Unicameral just to see what Senator Chambers would say or do. Now all I have to look forward to is watching a bunch of nearly dead white men from the rural parts of the state fight with the few progressive senators from the urban parts of the state. The vibrancy that Senator Chambers brought to Nebraska politics can never be matched.

Senator Chambers managed to be constructive and entertaining at the same time. He would yell, sing, dance, and do whatever else it took to get people to pay attention to him whenever he had the floor in the Unicameral. He was extremely effective at his job, and while many thought that he was a rude person because of his attitude, he was more than willing to help other senators with their bills. He was also great about talking to groups of students about becoming more involved in government. I was in one of these groups, and his speech caused me to change the way I thought about state government. Chambers was notorious for doing whatever he needed to in order to make his point, including suing God. While I know that government is not meant to be seen as entertainment, it sure makes it easier to pay attention to.

Best Picture or Best Title?

While reading this article from CNN.com, I became interested in the way that Oscar winners are chosen. It is mentioned that the winners are often very predictable. The winner of Best Picture is harder to predict, but the article mentions that the movie with the most appealing title is often the winner. If this is true, than a movie could be awful, but it could win over an extremely popular movie if it had a good enough title. I think someone should test out this theory by making a complete bomb of a film and giving it an excellent title.

I am not a fan of the Oscars, and I usually don't watch them, but I may watch a few minutes this year to see the winner of Best Picture.

The Nominees:
"Avatar"
"The Blind Side"
"District 9"
"An Education"
"The Hurt Locker"
"Inglourious Basterds"
"Precious"
"A Serious Man"
"Up"
"Up in the Air"

I have only seen two of the nominees, but I think that makes me qualified to choose the winner if it is based upon the title. I find it hard to believe that the title really makes a difference, but if that was true, I would think that a film like "Inglorious Basterds" would win. I highly doubt this film will win, and I think "Precious" will take the award. I guess I will find out tomorrow . . . unless I find something better to do.

Sleep is overrated

I have noticed over the past year that my sleep habits have changed a lot. I used to go to bed pretty early, and if I stayed up later than 11 it was a big deal. I now almost never go to bed before 11, and I often stay up until almost 1 in the morning when I have to get up at 6 or 7. Every morning I feel like total crap when I get up, and I vow that I will go to bed at a decent time that night. I then end up staying awake until at least midnight again. I think it is strange how you can be so tired the entire day, but when you get home at night you find a million things to do other than go to bed. I don't usually feel tired when I go to bed, but it is a completely different story the next day. I'm not a coffee drinker, so I usually end up looking and feeling like I am half dead for the entire day. It is a vicious cycle and I don't know how to break out of it. I don't know if I really want to either.