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.