An ode to Nintendo

When I was 13, I got what the greatest video game system at the time, the Nintendo NES. My brother, friends and I would spend a lot of time trying to master games like "Super Mario Bros.," or beat each other senseless in sports games like "Mike Tyson's Punchout," "Blades of Steel," and "Double Dribble."

With that in mind, here is a tribute to that game systems of days gone by, when the world got along just fine without mindblowing graphics, Internet connection and movement-based gaming, all set to a classic song by a classic band.

A different look at Iowa State

Every now and then, I get a little nostalgic for days gone by, including my college years at Iowa State University. I remember the things I did, the people I hung out with, and some of the classes I took.

I also remember this video, "The Home Economics Story," that was produced by the College of Home Economics (now the Family and Consumer Sciences Education and Studies program in the College of Human Sciences) at what was then known as Iowa State College in 1951. It struck a chord with me for the facts that it showed off the campus as it looked back then (including the old Clyde Williams Field that served as the home of Iowa State football until the opening of what is now known as Jack Trice Stadium in 1975), my wife majored in child development in the FCS some 45 years after this was made, I remember watching it in a video production class I took, and how different the gender roles were then compared to now. That last part was something that was rightly lampooned on "Mystery Science Theater 3000."

Enjoy the laughs.

Happy Halloween

As I've indicated before, I am a Disney fanatic. So today, in honor of it being Halloween and in honor of Disney acquiring LucasFilm and the "Star Wars" franchise (more on that in the future), here is a good video of the "Haunted Mansion"ride at Walt Disney World. This has been one of my favorite rides since I was a kid and my dad convinced my brother and me to rub the gargoyle heads on the line dividers so we wouldn't be taken away by the ghosts.

It's a Full House...

For anyone who ever watched Full House on ABC's TGIF lineup during the 90s (you know who you are), this is for you.

Dora the Explorer gets explosive...

As the father of two young children, I am exposed to a fair amount of children's programming.

Occasionally, that has landed me on "Dora the Explorer," a show for those not in the know about a little girl who speaks English and Spanish and with the help of her monkey, Boots, goes on short quests to find something or help someone.

With that, thanks to the folks at College Humor, we have the new adventures of Dora the Explorer in a movie I likely would watch if it were real.

Football, marching bands and video games, oh my!

Back during my days at Iowa State University in Ames, IA, I had a friend who played in the marching band say on more than one occasion that football games were a marching band show with a football game thrown in. Considering Iowa State football fans had little to cheer about during the mid-1990s (Sure, we had Heisman candidate running back Troy Davis, but we only won six games during my four years as an undergrad, including an 0-10-1 campaign during my freshman year), he may have had a point.

Fast forward a few years to this past Saturday's game in Columbus, Ohio, between Ohio State and Nebraska. As Ohio State was beginning their pounding of the Cornhuskers, the marching band had their own great performance at halftime with a tribute to video games. How many games can you identify?

30 years of EPCOT Center

Anyone who knows me knows that I am a Disney fanatic.

I grew up on all things, including seeing most of the classic movies and a lot of the "live action" (read: non-animated) films from the 1960s and 1970s. I also have been able to visit Walt Disney World in Florida five times in my lifetime, the most recent in 2004.

However, I can say I was among the first-year visitors to EPCOT Center, which opened to the public for the first time on October 1, 1982. Featuring two areas, one with hands-on science exhibits in Future World and the other featuring cultural aspects from 11 countries in World Showcase, it had everything a then-7-year-old boy could dream about.

One of the cooler things they have there (since returned following his death in 2009) was the "Captain EO" 3D movie which starred Michael Jackson and premiered in 1986. Looking back now, it is kind of cheesy, with bad acting, but it was just plain fun, and something I hope to see again in person in the very near future, this time with my own kids.

Wait Til Next Century: Cutler attacks hypocritical

Are the attacks on Bears QB Jay Cutler fair? I provide some thoughts at my sports blog, Wait Til Next Century.

Wait Til Next Century: Remembering Steve Sabol

Source: DailyInterview.net

At my sports blog Wait Til Next Century, I remember Steve Sabol, the president of NFL Films, who died today of brain cancer at the age of 69.

Where were you when the planes struck?

Today is the 11th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the United States.

On that fateful day, 2,977 people died when terrorists hijacked four planes and crashed them. Two were them into the twin towers of the World Trade Center, eventually causing them to crumble to the ground) in New York. A third plane was sent into the Pentagon in Washington D.C. A fourth plane is now believed to have been headed for the U.S. Capitol in Washington when its passengers, now aware of the other planes' fate, rebelled against their plane's hijackers, causing their flight to crash into a field near Shanksville, Penn.

That was a day that for me, made it interesting to be a reporter.

Then a reporter for The Record-Herald and Indianola Tribune, a weekly newspaper just south of Des Moines, Ia., I was driving to the office at about 7:45 p.m. from my home 30 minutes away in West Des Moines. I had been on vacation for the entire week beforehand, and I was looking ahead to covering a supervisors meeting that morning and my other normal duties. I was flipping stations on the radio when I heard the local adult contemporary station had switched to the feed from NBC's "The Today Show." There, I heard the anchors and a producer talking about a plane that had crashed into one of the towers of the World Trade Center. I found it interesting, mainly because I remembered a similar story from my hometown of Zion, Ill., from the year before when WGN Radio host Bob Collins was killed when his plane crashed through the roof of the local hospital.

Then, the producer shouted, "Oh My God!" Another plane had crashed into the other tower of the World Trade Center. Now only about five minutes away from the office, I floored my gas pedal, closing in on about 90 mph as I raced to get to the office and hopefully a television where I could get more news.

I ran into the office to find staffers huddles around a television. With everything going on, I wondered if the county supervisors meeting I was supposed to cover would still take place, and if it did, would I still be covering it. As we watched, we saw that yet another plane had been hijacked, this time into the Pentagon. About that time, my editor sent me out of the office to begin gathering comments for the story that would appear in the next issue.

I first went to the county administration office, partially to check on that conty supervisors meeting and to also gather comment. After finding out that meeting had been cancelled, I found a former sales rep for the Record-Herald, now working for the county clerk. Through tears, she gave me her thoughts.

After a quick stop on the city square, I next headed to Indianola High School, where I hoped to talk to some teachers and students. After checking in, I was allowed to meet with a social studies class that was watching the news and got their comments.

I also was able to talk with students in the school library. It was there that I watched on television the collapse of the North Tower, the South Tower having crumbled to the ground earlier. I was simply amazed at everything going on, but continued on with my work.

The rest of the day consisted of writing up what I had gathered, lunch, and fielding phone calls from family members who were making sure I was okay. I also learned that my church in Des Moines would be hosting a prayer service later that evening. I would have to miss it, however, having been assigned to cover a similar event in nearby Norwalk.

As I drove from the Norwalk event to my church, I listened to the radio as they recapped everything that had happened that day. Until this point, I had not spent any time processing or taking in the emotional aspects of the attacks. I had been in reporter mode, simply being amazed at what I was seeing and did what I had to do. But now, everything hit me, and I shed a few tears as I finished my drive and met with my wife and friends.

Thankfully, we have not had another attack on this country, though we've since been involved in two wars, with another generation of soldiers knowing the effects of war. We also witnessed any unity as a country that we had in the immediate aftermath dissolve into partisan bickering. Whether we ever return to the way life was before 9/11, we may never know.

Either way, let's take time today to remember those who died that day, and those who have died in the aftermath.

Wait Til Next Century: Is Brian Urlacher ready?

Source: Sports Grind Entertainment

The latest post on my sports blog, Wait Til Next Century, looking at whether Bears linebacker Brian Urlacher is ready for this season despite his knee injury.

Getting published

Getting that first book published can be a painful, ego-destroying, soul-crushing experience.

You've worked hard on getting that final manuscript written, painstakingly going over every word to make sure it's right, the words you want to say. You're feeling pretty good about life.

However, getting an agent and then a publishing house to take your words and actually publish them, now that's the hard part.

This is something I've been working on for about a year or so now, with the actual writing of the novel taking the better of five years. I've yet to be published, unless you count all of the work I've done as a news reporter for 12-plus years.

Anyway, here's a look at the entire idea for a novel to published course, courtesy of fellow writer J.R. Woodward.

Remembering Barbara Mack

Source: Iowa State Daily

I don't often write much in the way of personal stuff on this site, but I found out a little bit ago that one of my favorite professors from my time in college at Iowa State University, Barbara Mack, died this morning at home. She was 59.

Needless to say, it was a huge shock. Not just because of the suddenness of her passing, but also because of her larger than life personality. During my years at Iowa State (1994-1998), she was the instructor for two of my classes, JLMC 101 (Mass Media and Society) during my first semester of college and Law of Mass Communication in the spring semester of my sophomore year.

It didn't matter which class she was teaching - she was tough in all of them, but extremely fair. I remember squeaking out a decent grade in JLMC 101 as I adjusted to college, and how she regularly scared students who fell asleep during her class. She somehow managed to find these sleeping beauties despite the class having around 400 students in the cavernous Curtiss Hall auditorium.

The other major memory of Dr. Mack came during the media law class.

A blizzard had hit central Iowa on this particular day in January 1996, and basically every school in the state and region had shut down for the safety of their students and staff. Every school, save for Iowa State University. Then-President Martin Jischke had decided to have classes that morning despite the weather conditions.

To make it to the class at Agronomy Hall, Dr. Mack had to brave the iced-over Interstate 35 from her home in Des Moines with little to no visibility. This obviously left a bad taste in her mouth, and she spent the next 30 minutes basically ripping Jischke, from whom she had worked for three years during the early 1990s. It was beautiful, and made braving the horrible weather almost worth it.

That said, Barbara Mack was a wonderful professor who made you work to earn what you received, and for that, I thank her and will remember her.

The Rescue Run

A current project I am involved is helping to promote The Rescue Run, a fundraiser 5K run/walk that benefits Rapha House, a Christian organization that works to help girls and women escape from the sex trafficking trade in southeast Asia, the United States and soon, Haiti. Organized by a University of Iowa student, the fundraiser is scheduled for Oct. 13, in Iowa City.

A major part of my involvement in The Rescue Run has been in the overseeing much of the publicity efforts. That includes writing a press release to send to media in Eastern Iowa, and doing much of the creation for a website promoting the event.

Video archive: Discussing poverty in Iowa City Schools

In April 2008, I shot this video interview of then-Superintendent Lane Plugge of the Iowa City Community School District as he discussed poverty in the schools and what the school district was doing to help students affected by it.

Video archive: Flooding at the Coralville Reservoir

One of the skills I have developed over the years has been my video shooting and editing. This is a video I produced for the Iowa City Press-Citizen in June 2008, showing the flooding of the Coralville Reservoir.

Check out my photography work!

I recently completed a portfolio of the photos I have taken over the years for various media outlets. Check it out here.

For Patch.com