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October 30, 2006

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Work

I don't fully understand what I am supposed to be typing right now. All I understood was that i needed to tpe a story about work. So here is a story about work. I never understood what work really was until the summer of my senior year in high school. I had held jobs prior to this, but they did not require work. My job was to great customers and sell merchandise at an up and comming sports store in my small town. During some of my seven hour weekend shifts the oonly people that would enter the store all day were my parents bringing me food, or friends swinging by to chat. During this time I had plenty of time to catch up on both homework and videogames. This past summer I got a jo working construction. I was putting in a minimum of 50 hour weeks for the whole summer. We buried telephone cable, and fiber optic cable in the ditches. You never appreciae 98 degrees ntill you work in it for 12 hours a day. I have never worked so hard and sweat so much, but come friday, pay day, it would all be worth it.

October 25, 2006

Impressive showing against Seahawks

This past sunday the Minnesota Vikings travled to Seatlle to take on the Seahawks. The Seattle Seahawks went into the game with an impressive home unbeaten streak. The Vikes were determined to end it. Minnesota scored on its opening drive for the sixth game in a row. They started a little slow, but quickly found their rythme and began to leave seattle in the dust. After halftime Minnesota out scored Seattle 21-3. Vikings runningback, Chester Taylor, set a new Minnesota record for the longest run from the line of scrimmage when he broke a 95 yard touchdown run. Also Mewelde Moore connected with tight end Jermaine Wiggins for a 15 yard touchdown pass. To capa it off defensive tackle Kevin Williams recovered a fumble for another Viking touchdown. Minnesota took this game convincingly, 31-13. Next week Minnesota returns home for a Monday night showdown against the New England Patriots.

Camp Ripley

This weekend I am going up to and invitational bowhunt at CampRipley . Every year me and my dad put in for the hunt, but some years we don't get drawn. This year my dad, my uncle, my cousins, and me were all drawn to attend. So for the first time in three years we are all going up there together. Camp Ripley is a military camp located just north of Little Falls Minnesota. All the hunters form two lines that stretch to be over a mile long. Saturday morning the gates open up and all the hunters head into the spots that they have scouted on a map. Thousands of hunters rushinig to get the prime spot before someone else can claim it. After a long days hunting everyone must head back out to their camp site and reform the line to get ready for sunday. You are asked to remove your stand at night in case there ia a military emergency and you are unable to re-enter the next morning. It is definatly worth the caos because every year monster bucks are taken by ordinary hunters. Maybe this year it will be my turn.

Research Paper

Our current project in my english composition class is an 8-10 page research paper. It can be on any contemporary public topic that we choose. After some thinking I decided to do mine on the use of performance enhancing drugs in major league baseball. I chose this topic because i felt it would keep me interested throughout the whole writting process. I started by finding some sources that would be benificial to my paper. It was difficult finding scholarly work on the topic, unless it was about the effects of anabolic steroids on the user. So I spent a better chunk of my weekend putting this thing together. It is still pretty crude, but its only the first draft. I still need to put together a works cited page and fix all my mistakes. I got the main idea down and can work from there.

October 19, 2006

Research Paper

We were recently assigned an 8 - 10 page research paper in my english composition class. I decided to do my paper on the use of performance enhancing drugs in major league baseball. I feel that the the use of these substances taints the game. Records are being shattered at an alarming rate. Not because the talent pool is that much greater, but that substances have been developed that improve your performance on the field. I think that players should be subject to random testing for all performance enhancing substances. If a player tests positive for a banned substance he should be dealt with in a very strict manner. Players know that these drugs are illegal, and if the choose to use them anyway harsh consequences should be applied. The use of performance enhancing drugs is cheating the game of baseball and those who performed in the past. Memories of Babe Ruth and Hank Aaron should not be overshadowed by doped up superstar's in the present era. Some believe that the use of steroids in baseball is good for the game, and it makes it more exciting to watch. People are disinterested if home runs are not being blasted out of the ballpark. I believe major league baseball is a place for athletes to showcase their god give talent, and the use of performance enhancing drugs ruins it.

October 16, 2006

Unbeaten at Home

The NHL season is underway. That means more exciting Wild hockey. The Minnesota Wild made some key moves this off season including aquiring Pavol Demitra, and Mark Parrish. This year the Wild open with a five game homestand. They opened with the Colorado Avalanch winning 3-2 in overtime. Next they had the Nashville Predators and they defeated them 6-5. Then the Vancouver Canucks thought they would try their luck, but were also defeated 2-1 in a shootout. Washington Caapitals were next in line falling 3-2 also in a shootout. Finally the Columbus Blue Jackets were defeated very persuasivly 5-0. So the Minnesota Wild start the seaso a perfect 5-0-0 tops in the confrence. The Wild go on the road now for three games starting Wednesday the 18th against the L.A. Kings. The game is on FSN at 9:30 pm.

Thank You For Smoking

Monday night my English composition class got together to watch a movie. The movie was titled "Thank You For Somoking." This movie was directed byjason reitman, and released in 2005. It is a story of Nick Naylor who is a lobbyist for big tobacco, and wants to be a role model for his son. He is very good with words and knows how to turn every bad situation look good. Nick's life is going very well until he decides to sleep with a reporter, and she goes on to publish an article that ruins him. Until NIck's son uses all that he had learned from his dad to get Nick back on his feet and fighting for what he believes. I can't tell you how it ends, but I can encourage you to go watch it. "Thank You for Smoking," is a great movie you will enjoy.

October 10, 2006

Research Paper

This week in my english composition class we were assigned a nine page research paper that we could write on any issue we choose. I gave this a lot of thought over the weekend. If I have to write a nine page paper it needs to be on something that interests me. I thought about going the political path. Maybe doing it on capital punishment, or pro-life, but I wasn't sure if that is what interests me the most. So I finally decided that I would do it on Steroid use in professional sports. This topic was flared up in the past year or two. It was all Major League Baseball could talk about for the majority of the season. For example, Barry Bonds went from being talked about as one of the best homerun hitters of all time, to media attacking him over some accusations of him using steroids. He moved into third place all time on the homerun list, but all they talked about was steroids. I feel this topic is a public issue that is worthy of a nine page report.

Vikings Grab Elusive 3rd Win

The Minnesota Vikings battled the Detroit Lions this past Sunday. It wasn't looking promising at the begining for the Vikes. They kicked an early field goal again, the went dormint until the fourth quarter. At the end of the third quarter the Vikings were down 17 - 3, and appeareed to have little hope left. But early in the fourth the Vikings offense put together a rare touchdown drive, and thats all the defens would need. Again this week the team was carried by the defense. Pat Williams forced a fumble that was recovered for a touchdown by Ben Leber. Later E.J. Henderson returned an interception 45 yards for a touchdown that put the Lions away for good. To break down the scoreboard it was Minnesota 26 Detroit 17, Vikings offense 13 Vikings defense 13. So once again the Vikes offense was bailed out by the defense. How long can this trend continue? And at what point do you make a move to improve your offense? Rest up this week because when the Vikings return from the bye week the do battle with Seattle.

There's always next year

After an emotional comeback to take the division from the Tigers, the Minnesota Twins opened up the ALDS in Minnesota against the Oakland Athletics. After the rollercoaster reached a new height for the season, it was quickley followed by the biggest drop. The Twins dropped three straight games to the Athletics, 2-3, 3-5, and 3-8. It is now time for the Twins to review the year, and look forward to getting better next year. The Twins also picked up Torii Hunter's option for next year so he will remain a Twin. Also Twins pitcher Brad Radke faces a tough rtetirement decision. Is it time to hang it up, or can he make another run with the team next year. Look for the Twins to be a contender next year with all the young talent they have. Stay tuned in for key off season moves, and anything else involving Twins baseball.

October 1, 2006

Vikes Fall Seconds Short of Victory

The Minnesota Vikings went into Buffalo on Sunday hoping to get their season back on the right track after a heart breaking loss last week against the Bears. The Vikings marched down the field on their opening drive just like every week and scored early. Also like every week their ofense shut down after the first drive. The Bills were on top at halftime 7 - 6. The Bills scored again in the third quarter to make it a 17 - 6 lead after three. The end of the Third quarter marked the 12th consecutive quarter that Minnesota's offense failed to score a touchdown. That streak ended in the fourth quarter when Brad Johnson completed a 29 yard touchdown pass to Marcus Robinson to bring the Vikings within 5 points. The game ended when Vikings reciever, Billy McMullen failed to get out of bounds after catching a pass. The Vikings came up 16 yards short of beating a good Buffalo Bills team. Next week the Vikings again look to get back on track against the Detroit Lions. This game is in Minnesota and airs at 12:00 pm Sunday on FOX.

Twins Dramatic Finish

The Minnesota Twins entered the day Sunday tied for first place in the American League Central Division with the Detroit Tigers. Because the Tigers won the season series with the Twins they would emerge champs, and the Twins would take the wildcard. So that in mind the Twins needed to avoid the sweep and defeat the Chicago White Sox, but they also needed Kansas City Royals to complete the sweep of the Tigers. The Twins trailed early, but battled back scoring three runs in the fourth inning, one run in the fifth, and one in the sixth. That was all they needed because the twins pitchers never surrendered another run. The Twins completed their end of the deal. The Tigers/Royals game was put on the jumbotrons, and everyone in the metrodome stuck around to see if Kansas City could complete their end. It didn't look good early, the Royals were down by six runs after three innings of play, but they faught back. They scored eight runs in the next five innings to send it into extra innings. Kansas City dodged a bullet in the bottom of the eleventh, and came back to score two runs in the top of the 12th. The Royals held back the Tigers in the bottom of the inning to upset the Tigers. Meanwhile the Metrodome erupted. The Twins won the division and completed one of the best come back stories baseball has ever seen. The Twins now will have home field advantage as the square off against the Oakland Athletics in the first round of the playoffs this Tuesday.

Straw Dogs

"Straw Dogs" is a book written about the battle between science/technology and humans. It was written by John Gray. The book starts out talking about Darwinism. It makes the statement that humans are no different than any other animals. They can't control their own fate. I believe to a certain extent that our fate is predetermined, but with the intelligence of the human race a lot of our life is a direct cosequence of decisions that we make. The book also makes reference to the extinction of dinosaurs and other species, and it says that species today are disappearing at a rate that will surpase that of the last great extinction. That was an eye opener for me. The book goes on to describe the dispute between science and the churches. The main purpose of the book, I believe, is to try and describe the role of humans on the planet earth. Straw dogs were used as offerings to the gods in ancient Chinese rituals. They were treated with the utmost respect during the ritual, but afterwards they were trampled and tossed aside. This is the way John Gray believes humans relate to this world. That is why he named this book what he did. This book is very descriptive and full of information. It hit on many logical points and did a good job showing where the auther stands in a battle of science and humans.