Musings of BradK

Pictures of my boy! (HAPPY BIRTHDAY!)

2011-12-22T15:32:00.000-06:00

Yes, I'm a daddy. BradK has spawned, so in a decade or two, expect more... MORE.... MORE!!!!!!!

Here are some pictures for my non-Facebook followers to link/email/spread around/pass/etc...

GUEST POST - Liz Davies: "How to Counteract Cancer Treatment Symptoms with Exercise"

2011-11-30T11:07:00.001-06:00

Hello all! BradK is turning the pen over to Liz Davies with this posting. Please enjoy! If you have any ideas for a guest posting, feel free to contact me at my email address on my profile. Thanks!

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Liz Davies is a recent college graduate and aspiring writer especially interested in health and wellness. She wants to make a difference in people’s lives because she sees how cancer has devastated so many people in this world. Liz also likes running, playing lacrosse, reading and playing with her dog, April.

How to Counteract Cancer Treatment Symptoms with Exercise

Cancer treatments, like radiation and chemotherapy, are well known to produce a variety of rough symptoms. These can include insomnia, exhaustion, nausea, depression and vomiting. Many cancer patients reveal that they lose the urge to complete everyday tasks and no longer desire to live independently. Everyone going through cancer treatment has a different experience but exercise has been shown to combat a plethora of the negative symptoms associated with treatment and allow people to lead healthier lives spiritually, emotionally and physically.

Staying physically fit can help people undergoing cancer treatment by fighting nausea, improving appetite, and allowing for more restful sleep. Physical activity allows the body to crave rest and food both of which are necessary for cancer patients.

Exercise also has many psychological benefits. Endorphins are released when the body gets to a certain level in a work out and when they are released, they create higher pleasure areas in the brain. This lowers negative ideas and combats depression. Exercise also gives many people more self confidence which is useful for many cancer patients.

Spiritually, the act of exercise can be very positive. Yoga, pilates, and tai chi are excellent forms of physical activity that can provide meditation through gentle, repetitive motions. Many people also find peace through running, swimming and walking.

Cancer patients who feel healthy physically, emotionally and spiritually have a better chance of staying independent throughout their treatment process. Remaining active increases the mobility of joints and muscles which allows for better movement and balance. Muscle loss is also a common symptom that can be avoided through strength training. Being able to remain independent also increases confidence and leads to a more positive outlook.

An exercise routine doesn’t need to end with a cancer diagnosis. This gives people a bigger reason to remain (or become) active. Physical activity regimens need to be planned out with doctors and trainers who specialize in teaching cancer patients. These ideas are good for people going through all different types of cancer treatments, whether that is chemotherapy for mesothelioma treatment or surgery for breast cancer treatment. Thinking about the benefits of exercise for cancer patients is also beneficial for everyone else who is involved in the patients’ lives.

Reaching a Goal - 13.1 Miles in Madison

2011-08-21T14:11:00.001-05:00

http://onlineraceresults.com/race/view_race.php?race_id=20473&submit_action=select_result&re_NO=1533

That's my official result. :)

Well, a little more than 1 year after kicking that smoking habit to the curb, I crushed a 1/2 marathon!!!! By "crushed" of course, I mean I destroyed it as a very important personal goal, AND, I did so in a time I hadn't expected to...

As I read the results and compare to what I observed at each mile marker, I noticed something amazing, I actually had a better pace on miles 6-10 than I did on 1-5. I FELT GREAT for the first 10 miles (note - my "base" is 8). Miles 1 and 2 were in the pouring, glorious rain... which became very important later as the clouds cleared and the blazing sun came out. It was fun to run in the rain... though I did get distracted by my own chest as my Nike shirt clung to it and I though "dang boy, that P90X gave you some pecs-definition"... I digress. ;) Seriously though, it was awesome. The rain stopped on the third mile, and the clouds cleared on the fourth. I can't believe how well I remember all of this... Mile 5 was along the side of one of those Madison lakes... Mendoda or Monona or Mendoza (wait... that's a Argentine winery region...) and was gorgeous, but right about then, the sun started beating down and the water from the morning's weather event could literally be seen steaming off the blacktop. The good news is Miles 6 and 7 were through like a path through the woods - kind of - with some shade to help. Miles 8 - 10 were through more residential areas, parts of Madison that, as a runner near me said "the adults live in, not the students" :) Mile 10 was the last marker that I looked at and felt like I was sticking awful close to the 10 minute mile. I was thrilled... I had already outpaced my personal estimate of how I would do by almost 10 minutes. Mile 11 was when I first noticed two things. My calves were starting to feel it, and...wtf... is up.. with my nips? Yes, this was the first run long enough to start to rub the part of the male body that has no use whatsoever other than to chafe during a run. (Not too bad though, never bled, but dang, they got a bit-o-rug burn!) Mile 12 was when I downshifted, deliberately and then the last mile, 13, I put 'er in 1st gear so I could put EVERYTHING I had into the last .1 mile and finish strong... for the photographer ;) And because, dammit, I wanted to finish strong!!!

All this - after a 90 minute delay starting due to lightening and strong winds. I can't say enough about how well this race was handled by the race director, public safety officials and volunteers. The water / aid stations every 1.5 -> 1.8 miles was brilliant, offering aid, water, gatorade and port-o-johns was perfectly spaced out. (Note - I never stopped running once after I started... I grabbed the water or G-A and kept running through it... I was 7 for 10 in getting the empty cups into the trash bins though!)

One other nice touch were the "pace runners". Where I started in "Corral I", I was placed behind the 2:30 pace runner. Meaning, if I kept up with him, I'd run a 2:30 race. It felt GREAT to pass him up on mile 3, and even better when I caught up to the 2:15 pace runner on mile 6, passing him on mile 8... (though he eventually passed me again on mile 13, I wasn't upset in the least by it).

So, would I do another 1/2 Marathon? I don't know... I certainly haven't ruled it out. I know for a fact that I'll be running 13+ miles again in my life, as my next personal goal I need to map out is the full marathon... targeting 2013 for that one.

The important thing is that I've accomplished what I set out to do, and I accomplished it in a level of quality (pace) greater than I thought I could. I can't express enough the amount of joy that overwhelmed me when I finished... I seriously felt like crying I was so overjoyed by the whole experience. All the moments in my life that led up to this one, the people, the support, the running buddies (both literal, and e-buddies), my family (even my aunt Rachel who thinks this is a wonderful "second sport" to Nordic Skiing), the promises I made to myself to "not give up", the pain of the training and the pain of the event... I have a day of sore, heavy calves to deal with, and a new soreness on one spot on my left knee I need to keep an eye on, but finishing this race is by no means the end of anything... 13.1 is just a mile marker on the rest of my life.

Thank you everyone. :)

BAM! I accomplished something!

2011-05-13T18:50:00.000-05:00

BradK is gonna be a DADDY!

2011-05-11T20:40:00.000-05:00

December 2011... the world will never be the same...

Reason and Passion - Can they Coexist?

2011-04-28T16:05:00.000-05:00

I stole this from a now-defunct blog that I don't know if I can even reference anymore... I found it in Google' s "Cache", read it, thought it applied to humanity *outside* of the original context here, and it made me think of today's political climate. A lot.

Read on, comment if you wish... made me think about things either way...

Reason, Passion, and the Soul

Nearly four hundred years before Christ walked this earth as fully man and fully God, Plato within his dialogue Phaedrus, created a rather interesting allegorical representation for a person’s soul.

Plato described a charioteer being pulled by two winged horses. The charioteer himself was seen to be the reason and intellect of the soul that must guide the stallions to enlightenment. Now one of the steeds is pictured to be of noble breed and character and representative of rationality and moral impulse of a righteous nature, while the other of the two horses was the diametric opposite in bearing and virtue and thus represented the soul's irrational passions, appetites, or decidedly more base natures. The two horses of such disparate natures were exceptionally hard to drive accordingly as they each wished to venture towards their own predilections, while the charioteer struggled mightily to drive them to his wanted destination of that elusive enlightenment.

It is a story of which I first learned back in high school the better part of three decades ago, but was recently reminded of a few weeks back in the homily at Mass one Sunday. In the homily, our deacon spoke of the soul that is the Charioteer driving the winged twin horses of reason and passion.

While perhaps not truly faithful to Plato’s original story, one can see the troubles that the charioteer soul might encounter when one steed tries to pull the chariot in one direction at the expense of the direction that the other steed wishes to travel, and thereby going to a place that the soul neither intended nor wished to venture.

If the horse of passion is allowed full rein to pull the chariot at the expense of the horse of reason, one might very well find one’s soul fulfilled, albeit for a very short lived time, as we do not live in a world where rationality and logic are absent for long, and thereby the consequences of having ignored them will quickly become apparent to the soul with excruciating and even grave consequences.

Indeed, fall in love with someone where the physical chemistry is magnificent initially, but the character or intellect are wanting and one will soon find that passion to falter and extinguish, leaving the soul injured and longing.

At the same time, if one were to marry and commit oneself to a person for practical matters that made unassailable logical sense, as the person was of sterling character, quality, and the perfect complement to one in all things of a pragmatic nature, but yet there was no chemistry or passion and love for that individual, it would be a marriage that too would soon falter as the purpose and meaning of such a marriage would never be fully realized.

The consequences of such disproportionate reason and passion, in favor of either steed, can likely be found applicable to any number of one’s relationships, career, vital interests, or critical elements to that which makes us each lacking in our own humanity. I suspect that in all things, ensuring that there is a balance of reason and passion would ultimately make for a much longer lasting and far more fulfilling life’s journey within the context of the soul driving that chariot.

Indeed, when passion and reason are yoked equally, one will find the chariot soul easy to steer towards that wanted destination and the journey will prove to be far smoother and enjoyable for the traveling.

P90X... 90!!!!!

2011-04-05T11:55:00.000-05:00

Well all y'all... P90X day 90 was reached. Technically, today is "Day 91" (or the final day of week 13, cuz, ya know, 90 doesn't divide into 7 evenly and "P91X" doesn't really roll off the tongue as well).

I accomplished the goal I had set out to accomplish. I am no longer so skinny you can count my ribs every time I inhale. I am far from "buff" but you know what I am? Satisfied with the results, and ready to take on the next challenge! I'll be mixing P90X resistance workouts with some aggressive running. I'll be on the indoor elliptical during the chillier or rainier days of the spring, and up and down the Oak Leaf trail here in Bay View during the warmer days. I'll have a few 5K's and a 8K and 10K or two as part of the running regimen, all leading up to my 13 week training plan for the Madison Mini-Marathon (13Miles) in August!

I've learned to eat better, I've all but 99.9% cut fast food and soda out of my diet. (I had a Coke the other day and MAN those are sweet!!! Gol-ram!!!!) I drink a camels-hump worth of water every day, and you know what, I just FEEL BETTER about myself physically.

I'll be making-pretty the photos and spreadsheet charts in the next few days or so and post them up here.

Let me see if I got one or two shots for this entry though....

That's me doing some elliptical running... See, here in Milwaukee, we get only about 5-10 days per year where running outside is preferable.. and April generally ain't part of that equation!!!

That's me apparently under arrest for running? :)

More pics and charts next time!!!

70 Days In... and COUNTING!!!

2011-03-17T14:21:00.005-05:00

Greetings and Salutations to the Readers of the Musings.

I'm 70 days into P90X... well, 72 to be exact. Week 11 has begun, and boy are my arms tired!

Week 11 represents the "final" occasion on the regular program to do the "Chest and Back" DVD (note - there are more chest and back exercises on other DVD's, but this is the last one with that particular routine).

That's a freaking milestone!!

I know you're all dying to see my Adonis-esque photos, but I don't have any today to share... Well, that's not true, I have one of my arm that I took about 2 weeks ago... here it is:

That was taken around Day 60, about 10 days ago. Nono, it's not "relaxed" it's in a stretch pose that accentuates the tricep.. .but still.. not too bad for 60 days in!

So now at Day 70 (FINE... 72) I wanted to share something I am quite proud of, to be honest. It's my "Chest and Back Chart" from the P90X spreadsheet application. The exercises graphed in it are push ups / pull ups and weight exercises focusing on the back (lawnmowers, heavy pants, seated back flys) and what made me happy was the consistent improvement. In fact, after I purchased the dumbbells, I found out that by now, some of these exercises I will need to increase the weight in order to continue to challenge myself. The next step for the push up style exercises is to possibly slow the exercise down to a crawl to increase the workload... should be fun!

Either way, I've got just a couple weeks left, but I still thought this was a really cool thing to share. So I'm sharing. So there.

HERE'S THE CHART!

P43X - Day 1 of Week 7... HO-LY-CRAP!!!!!

2011-02-16T16:06:00.004-06:00

Can you believe that 6 weeks of 2011 are already gone-baby-gone???

What do we have to show for it? Well for starters... quite possibly one of the most historic events I've been around to see - EGYPT!!!! HOLY CRAP!!!!

This is no joke - the revolution toppled a 30-year dictatorship via SHOUTING. That is AMAZING!!!! This wasn't a military overthrow, this wasn't an inside political intrigue... this was the youth (by and large) of a nation deciding to no longer be oppressed and stand up and do something about it!

That's so awesome! Here's to the future of Egypt! Here's hoping things get better for the people. I remember several years ago I was in Cairo, only for a couple days, and I remember a few things that struck me. First... the general poverty literally next door to the luxury. There's a scene in the movie "The Constant Gardner" where Pharmaceutical Executives (I think) play in an exclusive golf course that's fenced in, and right beyond the fence is a huge sprawling tin-shack-slum. Cairo reminded me of that scene, where money and poverty was side-by-side in a way to make it just feel perverse.

Anyways, the Muslim Brotherhood appears to be forming a Political Party out there and the Egyptian Military seems to be working with the "opposition" (is that term correct now that they've dissolved parliament? What's left to oppose?) to allow the gov't to reform via free and fair elections. Unbelievable.

What else has happened? Well, in Wisconsin, there's essentially a war of the union versus the governor. I'm surprised at how little the national media has picked up on this... it's huge news here in the Cheese State. Ironically, Wisconsin made national headlines when the Packers won the Super Bowl, but it took an iReporter to get the story on CNN.com's front page for this bit of

news. Someone's priorities are messed up apparently!!! (Nothing new I guess...)

What else is there... what do YOU have to show for your first six weeks of 2011? What do *I* have to show for it???? Well, I'M GLAD YOU ASKED!!!!!!

Let's do this in a "Day 0, Day 43" Format... I'll let you guess which is which... (No peeking at old blog posts!!!)

BAM!

WOAH!!! Check that out!!!! A diagonal picture!!!! My private photographer is an ar-teest!!!

All I can say is...... check out that vein on my right forearm!!! is that awesome or WHAT???!

So, now you've seen roughly where I am at for the halfway point. Not too shabby I would say!!!

Week 7.... BRING IT!!!

Yayaya... P36X

2011-02-09T21:21:00.002-06:00

Ok, I know.. you've been waiting on those P30X Pictures... but I'm too busy making time to work out that I don't make time to blog about it. I think I'm making the proper choice.

So there...

More pictures and snarky comments to come!!!!

Just not today... BWAH HA HAAAAAAAAA.....

ps - Yep, still going strong!!! Today is P36X!!!!

Well...sunuva... P15-22X I suppose!!!

2011-01-26T22:06:00.006-06:00

Hey everybody!!! Been a while, I know. BUT I am happy to report that as of today, P22X (22!!! Holy Crap!!!) I'm still rocking and rolling and BRINGING IT daily!!!!

That even goes for the last 3 days when I've had a wicked head cold!!! I'll tell ya what, there's not a lot of "quality breathing" during hard workouts when you have a head cold, and I was (still am, a bit) getting winded awfully quickly. But I said "JUST PUSH PLAY" and popped the DVD in and P-n-n-X'ed it anyways!

So that means we've gotten past day 20... which mean you'reall going to be subjected to...

DAY 20 PHOTOS!!!!

This time, instead of the usual "posed" photos, I went with action shots, featuring me, and my workout buddy, my dog Sammy.

So let me first of all talk about week 2 and 3... see I think week 3 is the first week I had the opportunity to truly "BRING IT" to the fullest most effective capacity. Partially, I'll take the blame on that one... Week 1, for non-gym-rat-types... consists of a lot of "figuring out the move and the form"... I mean, I don't know what the hell a trip-six-twist-frog-underhand-cross-flip-two-hut-hut-pullup is. I had to watch a bit, figure out the form on the fly, and try to make it work... and of course, not knowing what it is means I don't know what the energy expenditure per repetition is, and if I do too many too fast it could affect the rest of the hour's workout.

Exception - Ab Ripper X. When you do the same 350ish ab exercises 3 times per week, you can get in the groove on that one pretty quick. Doesn't make it any easier... just means you can get the form right sooner.

Week 2 was really about zero-ing in on the resistance (for those days of the workouts). The cardio-based ones and stretch based ones (Plyometrics, Kenpo-X, Yoga-X and X-Stretch) I settled into nicely... but the resistance based ones were tricky... Especially with the resistance bands. It's not too easy to REALLY determine how much resistance you're pulling, or how much to add to get to the "next level" - so I opted for some adjustable dumbbells (5-25lb, in 5lb increments). Remember, I'm starting at "skinny little git" so 25 is plenty, trust me, for now. I'm sure EVENTUALLY I'll graduate to the 50+ area... Now, switching to the weights in Week 3 was an eye opener compared to the resistance bands, BUT, I was able to zero in on my target resistance levels MUCH faster, and adjust MUCH easier. So that made me pretty happy.

Now a few words on the most pressing thing on everyone's mind at this very moment:

How did "Waiting for Superman" NOT get nominated for an Oscar?????

With that out of our collective systems.... on to.... my thought of the day:

"..."

Yep. It's been that kind of day.

So - let's do photos....

So - here's action shot number one, me in the middle of a 25-lb "out" curl. Not, the bulging biceps, the shoulders of might and magic, the slight smirk on my face, knowing that soon, soon, the world will truly be my oyster, the perky, yet not so large as to confuse them with pancakes nipples, and the two vuvuzelas on the ground behind me, with which I take to the nearby soccer pub and make noises very loudly during goals.... Booyah. Booyah indeed. Next picture... or... just sit and stare at this one for a moment... wow.. those are great vuvuzelas... now, moving on...

WHAT is this??? Down there??? To the bottom right of the frame??? Fallout: New Vegas??!?! Oh yes my friends... the Mojave Wasteland calleth. Oh, and check out that awesome shot of my back muscles. They say the back directly links the head and the ass. They say that. You don't believe me? LOOK INTO MY EYES!!!!!!! (PS - Check that neck vein!!! DAAAAANNNNGGG!!!)

Moving along, here you can see that this specimen is shy and doesn't want to be identified.

So, a segue... many of you know that the focus of P90X is not only on "building mass" but also working on core strength, balance, flexibility, and pretending to be an animal. I am not making this up. Tony Horton, P90X Fitness Video Coach Extraordinaire, has us do things called "The Frog", "The Crane", "Cat Stretch", "Elephant Ballistic Stretch", "Downward Dog", "Upward Dog" (Note - these are yoga poses, not sexual positions... or....are...they.....??), and "Crunchy Frog" ... ok, maybe that last one is not pretending to be an animal so much as pretending to be an appetizer at a Chinese restaurant.

So, as I mentioned before, my workout buddy, Sammy, my dog, is very demanding, and is not tough on me if I don't do the "namesake poses" of hers correctly. For example:

Here Sammy is clearly telling me either 1) my nose smells interesting, or 2) my "Upward Dog" pose doesn't have my chest high enough, or my legs straight enough with my knees off the ground. I'm not 100% sure which one she was telling me here... or possibly both.

Here you can see that once I correct the pose... OR my nose smell is determined to be "not food"... Sammy lays down in the most intrusive "in the way" spot possible and waits for me to continue to the next exercise.

Well, I have one more picture to share with you. I'll tell you what it is up front, and leave you to it for the day. It's a picture of me performing a side-kick from the Kenpo-X workout. There are a few things to note here:

1) The picture was taken in such a manner so as to appear to be head-on to the kick, and yet NOT show my.. er... NUTS, what was I going to say?

2) The dog appears to be satisfied with my form on this kick...

Have a nice day everyone. I'll be in what P90X calls "recovery week" for a bit, but hopefully I'll find time to check in more often that I did since... well... day 14 apparently.

P90X - "Bring It!" "Just Push Play" "Do Your Best and Forget the Rest" "Don't Forget to BREATHE People!!!" (But... I was doing my best, and forgetting the rest.. including breathing... I'm so confused!!!!!!)

Ciao!

P14X... and a little interwebs catchup!

2011-01-18T16:15:00.003-06:00

Hey peeps!!! Fear not, I have not fallen off the proverbial wagon or anything silly like that. No no, instead, I have been focused on a couple specific things:

1) Doing my P90X and BRINGING IT!!!! every day...

and 2) (aka, the reason I haven't been updating the Musings as much....)

Fallout: New Vegas.

Yep. What can I say? After a li'l workout and shower and food and whatnot, especially after working all day... I don't mind zoning out in front of my PS3 and a little Fallout: New Vegas action to spoil myself.

So, we're on Day 14, and this is the 1st time I am doing a P90X workout from a hotel!

That's right... x-Stretch in a hotel room. There's enough space in here, and I have the DVD's and my trusty laptop to play them... the only concern is of course, going to inevitably occur... Housekeeping WILL pop in just as I'm getting all bendy and balancy and I'm nearly 100% positive I'll fall on my melon.

I know it will happen, so I can pre-laugh it off. Hahaha!

There.

Ok, well, as promised, you get a day 10 picture. I was going to post all the poses from Day 10 like I did for Day 0, but I figure, nah, the internet has way too many pictures of me missing clothing already, we'll shorten the peep show down to 1 photo.

I resized it appropriately to fit onto most standard paper sizes should you decide to print it out and tape it to the ceiling of your bedroom.

ENJOY!!!!

P9X - 10% completion!!!!

2011-01-14T11:19:00.002-06:00

Plyo X - take two - represents the P9X in my efforts. That's 10% OF THE WAY THROUGH P90X!!!

Awesome!!!!

I'm eating better, feeling better, sleeping better - all good things!

So Plyo X is still all the bouncing and jumping and squatting and a HINT of fart-suppression for an hour. VERY COOL

Tomorrow is Day 10, Picture Day, and Arms + Shoulders plus Ab Ripper X

And my doggie really likes Plyo X by the way... she chases my legs during the leg swings over the chair. VERY fun to watch. She also seems to really like the "bonus" basketball exercise at the end when you catch the ball on one side, and shoot the jump-shot on the other... she chases the direction I "shoot" the ball and tries to block the "pass" - very funny!!! I like my doggy!!!

PICTURES TOMORROW!!!! P10X... BUH-RING-ING-IT!!!!

P8X - Week 2 Begins....

2011-01-13T09:46:00.002-06:00

P8X, the beginning of week 2...

And a MUCH better way of attacking chest and back then the week one debacle!!!!

For starters I already knew the form of the exercise (not that they're terribly difficult), but that allowed me to basically use the audio of the DVD 90% and the video 10% - allowing me to concentrate on what I was doing, not the demonstration on the TV.

Spot-checking for proper form is one thing, but dividing my attention is another. Kinda made me wish I watched the DVD, just sat and watched, on week 1 just before actually DOING the exercises (or at least watching the set, then rewinding and re-starting).

Either way, I was mostly happy at the end. By the last push-up, I literally went to failure, pushing myself to the furthest I could go. I'm not 100% convinced I did that on the pulling-based exercises (chin-ups, etc), thought I know I pushed hard, I think there might have been 1-2 reps on left on the table... DRAT... mental note, don't do that again. EVUH!

The return of Ab Ripper X afterwards, and that one is now pretty fun.. I'm in the mindset that this pain in the abs (see what I did there?) is coming for me 3 days a week... and I can get through 25 reps off the first 10, and 25-30 Mason Twists - thought I admit, the "Scissors" form could greatly improve with more stretching and flexibility in straightening my legs. Will come with work... and time...

Now I KNOW you're all looking for the snarky funny comments in here, but I honestly got nuthin' today. Day 10 pictures will be posted after day 10, and you'll be able to see me to my Ah-nold impersonation, so that'll be fun...

Other than that, keep it real, and keep BRINGIN' IT!!!!

P7X - X Stretch

2011-01-12T16:09:00.002-06:00

So I finished week 1 of "bringing it" P90X style.

And what a great way to wrap up. X Stretch made me more bendy then I've bent in more directions (at the same time on occasion) in a long time...

I finished feeling a bit gumby-like.

Some of the stretches were common or familiar a bit. Some we've done before on other days, and some were brand new ways of experimenting with the laws of physics. I kind of enjoyed those the best, to be honest.

So after a week, I've done a bit of food-changing... focusing on protein and balancing carbs while trying to cut the vast majority of the fat out of the regular intake.

Granted, I know carbs can be killer for those using P90X or another exercise and diet plan to lose weight, but as that's not the intention from my perspective, I'm working toward a balance instead.

So, 1 week done out of 12 for the program, and a new fit feeling abides... like the dude...

Interesting to note... toward the end of the 12 weeks, I'll need to hit the "13 week training plan" for the 1/2 marathon later this year...

It's gonna be one of those years!!!!

CIAO!

P6X - Kenpo X

2011-01-10T22:22:00.003-06:00

Short-ish post today...

I have a dog. She's partially famous because she went missing a little over a year ago here in Milwaukee, and spent 48 hours away from us.... We searched high and low and printed flyers and put stories and photos in newspapers and websites and Facebook and there was even a mention on the radio for our lost pupper.

We found her - a resident contacted us and told us they spotted her tied up in someone's yard, and we got her back. She's a good doggy with the bestest personality. Here's a picture of her:

That's my doggy woggy!!!!!

Today I almost kicked her in the face.

Well, I had to do SOMETHING, I mean, Tony was telling me to BRING IT!!!! and so I was brining it with the Kenpo X and doing back kicks, and, well... there was my doggy!!!!!

The good news is I didn't kick her in the face or anywhere else. I said "SAMMY! GO UPSTAIRS AND PLAY!!!" and she did just that, whilst I continued on with the Kenpo X.

Which made me sweat. Alot.

In fact, this workout, P6X, was the first one that worked me to shirtlessness. Oh, the Plyometrics came awful close, and the Ab Ripper X almost does it every time. But Kenpo X (a combination of Eastern and American fighting techniques applied to a fitness routine) had me half-nekkid by the half-way point. I also feel for my poor upstairs neighbor who had to listen to the Ki-yaaaaa!! and other grunting noises I was making with all those punches and kicks.

So this is day 6 - and so far, so great.. I love it... tomorrow on the menu is "Stretch X" - which I intend to combine with some ellipticalling (as I haven't done that for a while now, and I miss the "zone" I get in while running).

I know you're all waiting for the next 4 days to fly by so you can see the first 10 days of improvement photos... well... you'll just have to keep waiting... four more days....

P3X, P4X and P5X...OH MY!!!!

2011-01-09T22:04:00.002-06:00

Hellooooooooo and yes, I survived a day or two in the land of the no-interwebs. Hopefully you survived a day or two without me. I know it's tough, but I believe in your ability to persevere under such extreme anxiety and duress.

So lets start with P3X, Shoulders and Arms.

Don't get me wrong, this was a FAN-FRIGGIN-TASTIC workout, but I'm still struggling with the concept of resistance bands and proper selection of and augmentation of said bands to provide the proper amount of work to failure in the appropriate number of reps.

Wow, that sounds kinda bad-ass, like I almost know all the lingo!!!! Truth be told, except for the "to's" and "the's" I only know the work "augmentation".... and some of you readers know why I would know all about an "augmentation"....

UH-HUH.....

...you know... for musical chords... major, minor, diminished, augmented. I have musician friends. You know who you are.

Oh yeah, for some reason, that reminds me... HI SINDERZ!

Anyways...

So resistance bands and recording the set properly are still a bit weird to me.

Normally, with say, dumbbells (the weight kind, not the Dan kind) you would record # of reps to amount of weight... like 20 reps at 5 lbs (and then get all excited about your general awesomeness).

With the resistance bands, don't get me wrong, they do their job and provide resistance just fine... but I have to record it like... "10 reps at 'red' resistance band with approximately 1-1/2" diameter loop stepped on by my right foot, and by the way, my leg is approximately 36 inches to the waist.... (etc etc etc)" to accurately grab all the variables at play and truly track what I'm doing.

If someone out there has a better formula and it accurately tracks the workout, I'm all eEars.

So arms and shoulders, check. Good tiring workout... and of course, included MORE Mason Twists with the Ab Ripper X portion... I fell over significantly less this time. I'm down to double digits in falling over, and up to double digits in completing Mason Twists.

P4X - Yoga X

As Tony said "Don't fall on your face, that could hurt"

I think he actually said that when preparing for the Crane pose. Or is that the "Crane-X" pose. I digress.

FIRST AND FOREMOST - MAD PROPS TO THOSE THAT SUPPORTED MY COMMITMENT TO THE P90X PROGRAM AND DIDN'T COMPLAIN THAT I WAS DOING IT ON THE ONLY TV IN THE HOUSE THAT COULD HAVE BEEN TUNED INTO THE NFL WILDCARD PLAYOFF GAME!!!!

Luv ya both!!!! MUWAH! (There will be important cabinet positions for you both when I am elected King of the world... stay tuned...)

So, this being Yoga... my FIRST experience Yoga-ing... Yoging. Yoganizing? "Doing Yoga" (Why do I want to sing Weird Al's Parody Song "Yoda" every time I say that word????)

I didn't know I had muscles there. And by "there" I mean all those places Yoga makes you discover muscles, just before falling over (and for the next 24 hours of recovery from Yoga X!)

Don't misconstrue, I can do some of those poses quite well for some genetic reason (I can only surmise) such as the "Lotus" (or, sit there, close your eyes, and do nothing).

But when Tony says "Now hop into the Warrior 3 position" and all the fitness peeps on the video stand with 90% of their body on a horizontal plane perpendicular to their one leg holding them up by the third toe from the right... well... I tend to fall over. By the thirtyeth or fortyeth attempt, I was able to actually do it. Well, I held the pose for roughly 0.0001202 seconds before falling over, BUT I HELD THE POSE!!!!!! SUCKAS!!!!!

I'm thinking of upgrading my yoga mat from the simple one I have to a Sealy Mattress with a feather top. That way, when I inevitably fall on my face, it will hurt SLIGHTLY less.

P5X - Legs and Back

Some of these workouts were, and I use this word purposefully, GLORIOUS...

I love the wall squats, especially the one-legged ones. That stuff I used to do in High School when I was on the track team. The one part of my body that somehow stayed relatively "in shape" all these years have been my thighs and calves. I have strength, and more importantly, confidence in those muscles. My recent foray into running and "ellipticalling (especially with resistance)" on a regular basis can only have helped to bolster that. Even though it burns, sometimes I think I can sit in a wall squat pose, legs at the right angle, and read "War and Peace" or at least "The Far Side Compendium" end to end without quitting on the exercise. Luv it luv it luv it...

The back part, much of which was worked out with different pull-ups (and mutiple sets of them) was a different story. Now, I'm not ashamed to say I used a chair to help plow through 1-2 extra reps per set on these, but I guaran-damn-tee ya I was putting as much of the "work" into the right muscles as possible to max-rep that workout. I wanna get ripped baby... and I'm gonna get there by BRINGING IT!!!

I really appreciate all the support I've gotten from the readers and friends and family. I know some of you follow this "anonymously" and that's cool... But even a unknown reader is support.

Thanks again, keep it real... and we'll see ya tomorrow after KENPO X!!!! (or as I like to call it - "How to be a complete novice at a martial art, follow a DVD instructor, and not accidentally kick your dog"

G'NIGHT!!!!!

(And, I do have to put in a obligatory GO PACK GO!!!!!)

Heading out of town where there is no internet...

2011-01-07T19:12:00.003-06:00

P3X and P4X updates on Sunday... with a P5X update as well!!!!

P2X - Learning the Plyometric System

2011-01-06T23:10:00.003-06:00

See, I went into this having never heard the word "Plyometrics" before and (*sigh* - I know I'm about to waste my best joke of the day right here...) I grew up on the PlyoEnglish measurement system, so I knew it would take some time to adjust.

Cuz it's metric.

And I live in America.

Where we don't believe in things like "base-10 measurements"

.....

(crickets...crickets...)

Really? That was my BEST joke of the day?

ANYWHO...

Plyometrics... otherwise known as 1 hour of jumping and squatting and lifting your leg.

Heheh. There's a joke in there too... squatting and lifting your leg...

Seriously, it was a fantastic aerobic workout as well because of the concentration on proper breathing. I'm a little upset that my workout mat is slippery-backed, making it impractical for a "jumping" based set of exercises, and my carpeting is just too thin to provide a cushioned cat-like landing. My knees are in good shape, so they can handle it for now, but I'll want to do something about that sooner than later. I'm thinking either a better mat, or perhaps putting velcro on the bottom to keep it in place. I'd use magnets because I have a pre-disposition to believing that magnets can fix anything. In fact, if MacGyver had discovered magnets, he'd have thrown away both his Swiss Army Knife AND his roll of Duct Tape - I kid you not. Magnets are like natures glue... or... anti-glue... all at the same time. SO AWESOME.

What was I talking about?

Lets see.... anti-glue...glue...magnets...MacGyver... velcro...AH! Workout mat.

This is technically still a workout blog.

So - I got to do (an obnoxious number of times) a Heisman pose. It felt natural... like I was born to win the trophy... ok maybe not... perhaps my body semi-resembling a toothpick with a nose in High School and College prevented that from happening, but hey, that's why I'm BRINGING IT with P90X now!!!! So I can go back to High School and join the football team en route to winning the Heisman in college! Wait... that's not right either.

MAN - I am off my comedic game today.

Better quit while I'm ahead.

Plyometrics. Very cool. Learned two important things.

1) I look absolutely silly trying to do a baseball style pitch lefthanded. I almost fell over 10 out of 8 times. You read that right.

2) My basement ceiling is WAAAAAYYY too short for jumping style exercises. Good thing it'll be a couple weeks before I'm consistently bashing my knuckles and head into it :)

Tomorrow is P3X - AND the return of the Ab Ripper X and those Mason Twists... Oh... those Mason Twists... I won't have nice things to say about that tomorrow either....

GOOD NIGHT!!!!!!

P1X - Chest and Back and a Little Ab Ripper X OH MY!!!!

2011-01-05T21:35:00.003-06:00

(Note - this posting is dedicated to everyone's first day with P90X. If you haven't done it, then please understand that 84.7% of the jokes may not resonate...)

Well, hello there Tony... you're so energetic, and you really want me to succeed, and I appreciate that. As my P90X guide for the next 3 months and beyond, it's great to have a high-energy, kinda funny fella as my personal TV trainer....

So chest and back you say? Pushing and pulling? Push ups and Pull ups?

Alrighty then! I'm warmed up (OH!!! Look what you did on those arm circles, you made me THINK you were going into rotation #4, but really you were REVERSING the arm circles!!!! YOU!!!!!!)

So now you've warned me multiple times to "pace myself" on the first go-round cuz we're gonna do this all a second time.

**Authors Note: Having never done exercises in a gym before where I had to deal with "sets" this can be a bit daunting to figure out what "pace yourself because another set is coming" means....

(Fast Forward to 12 Chest/Back exercises later....)

SUNUVA...HOLYCRAP...JELLO-FOR-ARMS... wait.... WHAT DO YOU MEAN WE'RE ONLY HALF DONE??!?! YOU SHOULDA WARNED ME TO...oh.... well then....

So... Set #2 and boy have the reps gone dooooowwwwnnnnn.....

But you know what... fuhgeddaboutit... I did those 12 killer exercises... though quite a few less reps.... the second time too... cuz that's how I **BRING IT**

Consider it BROUGHTEN!!!!!

YEAH!!!! I MADE THAT CHEST AND BACK DISC MY B... what??? Ab Ripper X starts RIGHT NOW??? I'm gonna hate it but love it? What, like Wasabi on my Sushi? Like cloves in my ham? Like pleasuring myself with a cheese grater? (OK, now, to be fair, I ONLY put that last bit in there because Dan's going to read this and I was hoping he'd be drinking something while he read it and did a spit-take all over his laptop. So... here's hoping...)

Ok Ab Ripper X... let's see what you go- OH MY WORD!!!! What... what are these froggy clappy things, and why do I keep falling over when I do them? Has anyone realized that NONE of these exercises are normal movements found in nature? By any animal, vegetable or mineral?

AND WHO THE CRAP IS MASON??? AND WHY DOES HE TWIST LIKE THAT????

ARRRGGHHHH!!!!!!!!!!

THAT

WAS

...

AWESOME!!!!!!

So, a protein recovery drink and some time later, I only KINDA feel like I'm going to barf, but I'm sure that'll go away in the next year or so... so that's good.

Tomorrow.. Plyometrics... I'll Bring It... oh yes... (and for the record, I'm quite certain Plyometrics will bring it as well)....

The food in the nutrition plan looks amazingly delicious!!!

PPS

I'm taking pictures daily, but I'll only post them every 10 days (after every 10th workout).

Because nobody should be subjected to seeing me topless EVERY DAY.... :)

P-0-X.... Tomorrow is Day 1 (Warning, some material may be disturbing to the weak-stomached...)

2011-01-04T21:38:00.010-06:00

Today is my last day of not "Bringing It" (as the tagline would go)....

So, from 1/5/11 and for the 89 days following, I will be building my musculars as best as possible...

There's really only one thing left to do at this point, and that's to post the "before" pictures...

I assume there'll be much snickering, but hey, isn't that the point? To go from "skinny little git" to something a little better.

Here's to skinny dudes everywhere!!! Hopefully I can inspire some other skinny gits as well ;)

Here we go, in true self-deprecating fashion:

PICTURE ONE!!! The Frontal Shot!!!!!

Ok, so we see here, that yes... I'm skinny, with a "tuft" of chest hair and an apparent love for the Milwaukee Brewers. I'm not that guy with da-beer-belly looking to lose it, just the guy who wants to actually DO SOMETHING about his physique before my metabolism realizes I'm not a teenager anymore. (PS - note to self, take P90X Nutrition Plan seriously...)

On to picture 2, the side shot... or as I like to call it... SCOLIOSIS?

As you can see clearly, I have no clue if there's anyway to properly straighten my spine. Maybe if I add "hanging upside down at night" to my list of exercises... you may also notice my chest is roughly as flat as Taylor Swift singing live (ZING!!!!!!!!!).... Looking to address that in the next 90 days, of course... I'd also like to thank my dog Sammy for her undying support...or...nosiness during the photography... Don't go away, the funny pictures are coming....

Picture 3, the back, or as I call it "MY GOOD SIDE!"

Ok, first and foremost, I didn't have a "wedgie" (not even a leftover from High School)... it's the unfortunate stitching on the Milwaukee Brewers shorts. The only thing to note here really is that I only went through three or four razors man-scaping my back. I kid. Or... do I....???? No, I do. Do I? Hmmm...

Now for the picture you've all been waiting for...

THE GUNS!!!!!! (Well, maybe at this point, the Warhammer-Miniature-Pistole's would be more appropriate)

What can I say...

Yep... really... what can I say....?

New posts will be fast and furious moving forward. Similar pictures will be taken daily. Hoping to make a flipbook when done. And of course, my "before and after" photos should slightly resemble the following when done:

NUTS!!!! Oh well, it's justa couple days...

2011-01-01T14:59:00.003-06:00

So, P-0-X was SUPPOSED to be today, I have the pull up bar, the resistance bands, the push up grips, and all sorts of "wicking" clothing...

But no DVD's.

D'OH!!!!

So, we're at P (-2) X today, with plans for a good run, a Rose Bowl victory for the Wisconsin Badgers, and a slight wait until the DVD's arrive..

Stay tuned....

Printf(“…and a very optimistic Christmas to YOU sir!!”)

2010-12-22T11:40:00.001-06:00

So Christmas is upon us here in 2010, and one of the rarest gifts that can be given or received right now is optimism. Contrasted to 2008 after Obama was elected (but the economy was still in the crapper), optimism reigned supreme. Today, team Elephant is pompous and arrogant and team Donkey is whiney… and well, arrogant, both run the country in their own selfish interest and neither has made anything better for anyone. Meanwhile people are still out of work (whether by choice or by circumstance), innovation is hard to come by, self-motivation seems lacking and charity and goodwill are both minimal and taken advantage of.

Merry Christmas.

That’s not where the story does or should end…thank God.

We’re in a weird technically wired world where at my last family Christmas gathering, I watched 7 people sit around a living room as a TV lazily droned on some football game and the setting was ripe for some interpersonal communication and plain old quality family time. Well, instead, all seven were playing on their smartphones, Intendo’s, iPhones, FacetubeGoogleDroids and none of them even seemed to realize (much less acknowledge) others were in the room. That’s not, by the way, an indictment on any of the people specifically, but more on the wired culture. Granted, I’ve been known to fling those Angry Birds at those stupid pigs from time to time, and on occasion, I demand my following to read my blogs, but at no point could I possibly handle that being my lifestyle… it’s just an activity.

I know some who prioritize BookSpaceTubeFace as a can’t miss part of their day to the point where it causes emotional angst if it doesn’t happen. I know some who can’t set down their phone, ever, because there’s a chance someone may possibly be Texting/Interwebbing/GoogleDroiding to the point where conversations in person are set aside for a MORE instant form (apparently) of communication. MORE INSTANT THAN IN PERSON!!! Imagine that! People make specific plans to spend time with each other, only to have those plans disrupted and interrupted by a PHONE. Unreal.

Technology and the proliferation of access to the internet has made the world “smaller” and “connected” people virtually as never before… At the teeny tiny cost of connecting people physically.

Now, I’m not the Unabomber type who thinks this is just awful and that technology is dooming us to a zombie-like existence…

I am the type who would challenge those who heavily use / rely on technology to better utilize it as a way of enhancing interpersonal relationships instead of interrupting them. Maybe it’s a growing pain and tech isn’t there yet, but the virtual world is actually a great way to expand your personal network of connections, and the physical world is actually a great way to expand your personal connections. How do we bring the two together? When Facebook becomes a distraction from connections instead of a way to enhance them, we could start by admitting and recognizing it. Then maybe getting back to that innovation and try to find a way to combine the positive aspects of it.

Take this little blog for example… I use it to fart my opinions onto the internet, but in the process, I accidentally re-found a friend of mine on the interwebs that I enjoy talking to and winning trivia contests where I re-donate the prize to his firstborn. There are a couple readers here I’ve not met in person, and one specific reader who, between the two of us, decided that we can be frank and honest with each other BECAUSE we’ve only met online! That’s a pretty cool dynamic, and it kind of made me realize that the inter-social paradigm can, has, and will continue to change with technology. In the mean time, I have my family and friends that I prefer to see more often than I do, but in the meanwhile, the technology can help me keep up with them. It augments the relationship, but it’s all about the balance.

There’s really no point to this posting today other than the aforementioned internet-brain-fart… so… there ya go.

As a final note – in 10 days, we’ll be at “P0X” beginning the long, rough ride to “P90X”. Once I get the pictures uploaded for the 90 days, if someone creative wants to make a “flip book” for me, let me know! That could be fun.. J

Cheers!!

And remember Zeno’s Paradox. You can’t get all the way until you get half way first.

Just like prom night…

WHAT??!?!?! Update of the Musings....

2010-11-23T14:37:00.004-06:00

Where the heck have I been lately???!??!

Well, I'll tell ya... new things goin' on...

New job, new company, new laptop, new button-down shirts....

Went deer hunting... saw a porcupine. That was neat. Then I saw another porcupine. Man, the DNR underestimated the porcupine herd this year.... That's 2 more porcupine's than I *EVER* saw in all my years hunting. I'm surprised the DNR isn't ramping up on porcupine hunting licenses to appease the car insurance companies so they don't have to constantly pay out for porcupine accidents.

Been running... as much as possible. Did the Make-a-Wish, did the Brigg's and Al's Run, doing the Berbee Derby on Thanksgiving and targeting the Madison half-marathon next year.

So my cardiovascular is getting into shape, and I'm feeling good about my health. I think I'm in better shape now than I've been in my life.

BUT

I'm still a "Skinny Little Git" (right Dan?)....

So I've been looking around for strength and toning programs. It's going to take commitment, it's going to make me hurt and tired (if I do it right), and it's all going to be worth it. I'm not young enough to pretend I'm a kid anymore - I've grown older (but trust me, I'm not growing up)...

So, it's the P90X system... yeah, I know... looks like a fad, sounds like a fad, blahblahblah... but the one thing I appreciate about the system is that it's not trying to say it's a "magic bullet" for fitness and strength training. It's part of a huge deal of WORK that I will have to commit to.

So I'm committing. And congratulations to you the readers... you get to witness the 90 day log!

My start date will be just after Christmas, and my workout time will be morning before the work and stress of a day has a chance to wear on me.

So, fair warning, there will be photos... so I apologize to those who don't want to see that, but.. TOUGH! (Don't worry, nothing lewd, my name's not Favre!)

That's my announcement. So there. Wish me luck... looks like I got 90 days of work waiting for me in 2011!!!!

Update: The 2010 Walk & Run for Wishes Raises over $80,000 for the Make-a-Wish Foundation

2010-08-30T10:53:00.004-05:00

Friday night was a quiet, low key night for me. My dog and I simply ate a quiet dinner (well, mine was quiet, she is actually a noisy eater) and then relaxed for a bit before calling it a night a little earlier than normal. In nine hours, my sister, her husband and their kids would be over for a quick pre-run breakfast, where assuredly, I would need to provide a hint of coffee for asking them to wake up so early on a Saturday.

Saturday morning, the alarm went off at 6am, and I woke up after a fantastic sleep. The day had arrived for the Walk for Wishes. In reality, it’s a simple 5k walk/run in Milwaukee, one of several that occur every year near the lakefront. But this one was certainly different. In my attempt to do something active and healthy, I quite innocently chose an event off of a flyer I got at Summerfest this year that mentioned an organization I was familiar with. I honestly hadn’t known the emotions and memories that participation in this specific event would bring up. Not just within myself, but my entire family, my friends, and many readers of the different internet sites that Gabe’s story was redistributed.

At last count, I believe Gabe’s story was “shared” on Facebook several dozen times (that I know of – I found out at the event that others had shared it and I hadn’t even known! Even Vince Condella knew my sister and I by name because he had read and shared the story on his Facebook page), we received very kind comments and emails and memories of my brother, and a lot of support from many different people. This includes many people we had never met before but were touched by Gabe’s story and the work Make-a-Wish had done with our family and continues to do. Gabe’s wish in 1987 was the 58th Wish granted by the foundation. Since 1984, they have granted nearly 4000 Wishes.

So we met some more family at the run (my aunt and uncle, cousin and a family friend), and took in quite a sight. I’m not sure I’ve done a 5k in Milwaukee since I was a little kid doing “Al’s Run” (well, “Al’s Walk” for me, I was 5 at the time), but the sheer number of people was quite amazing. This wasn’t like going to Summerfest and seeing gobs of people, this was seeing gobs of people nearly all there with an honest emotional purpose and investment. Participant Teams had signs decorated with pictures and messages to the Wish Kids they were walking in honor or support of, other teams had custom T-Shirts made…

(Anecdotally, there were also some people there who simply wanted to run another 5k, the cause was secondary. I met one guy who runs *all* of them and claimed he was addicted to Milwaukee 5k’s. I wonder if there’s a support group for them. Is a “12-Step Program” a pun at that point?)

So, thousands participated that day (for the record, I ran the 5k in a nothing-to-brag-about 27 minutes – though for my first 5k run ever, I’m not sad about it), and over $80,000 was raised from the event in donations!

Our team, Team Bu-Streva (sister’s last name “Buus”, my last name “Kostreva” – yeah, you get where I’m going with that one…) raised OVER $2600 in just 10 days and that’s THANKS TO YOU for supporting the foundation. It was never about us and our team, but rather the Make-a-Wish Foundation and everything they can accomplish. The organization is exceptionally highly rated in terms of non-profits, with 82.6% of every dollar raised going straight to Wish Granting.

As a final note, our team was considered a “Gold Star” team for having raised over $2500. For achieving that, we became the “sponsor” of a specific Wish Kid and were given a Gold Star with the Wish Kid’s name on it, as well as the story of his wish. Like my brother, this Wish Kid wants to go to Disney World in Florida. Later this year, a surprise limousine will pick up him and his family and drive them to the airport for their trip to Orlando. They will be staying at a special resort designed for Wish Kids called “Give Kids the World Village,” go the Disney Theme Parks, and have a special meal while down there with Mickey Mouse and friends. This Wish is able to be granted, not thanks to our team, but thanks to all of you who donated to the Make-a-Wish Foundation via our team. In a personal note to us from Patti Gorsky, President of the Make-a-Wish Foundation of Wisconsin, she shared the following – which is a note to all of you who donated as much as it’s a letter to us.

“Thank you for all you have done to make wishes come true in Gabe’s memory. His legacy lives on through your efforts.”
-Patti

Team Bu-Streva - (Left to Right and relationship to Gabe)
Brad Kostreva (Brother), Shannon Jevorutsky (Cousin), Linda Bradle (Aunt), Jim Bradle (crouching, Uncle), Andrew Buus (Step-Nephew-in-Law), Gavin Buus (Step-Nephew-in-Law), Tim Buus (Brother-in-Law), Kristy Buus (Sister), Matthew “Chuey” Rangel (Family Friend)

Thousands of Participants Raised over $80,000 for the Make-a-Wish Foundation at this event!

Team Bu-Streva Co-Captains Brad Kostreva and Kristy Buus (Gabe’s brother and sister). Brad is wearing the “Goofy Hat” that Gabe wore when Make-a-Wish granted his wish and sent them to Disney World in 1987.

It was a beautiful morning for a run. Clear skies and a gentle breeze off the lake helped stave off what felt like 400% humidity!

Team Bu-Streva Co-Captains Brad Kostreva and Kristy Buus pose with Make-a-Wish Foundation of Wisconsin President Patti Gorsky and Fox 6 Meteorologist Vince Condella. Brad is holding a participation plaque while Kristy is holding a “Gold Star” with the name of a Wish Kid our team’s donations helped to sponsor.

Memories of a Wish Kid, My Brother, Gabriel Wayne Kostreva

2010-08-19T09:04:00.005-05:00

It's a bit mind-boggling, but I can now state that I have memories from more than 25 years ago. Now, I'm not all that old in the grand scheme of things, barely in my thirties, but I pondered recently some very clear memories and realized, wow, that was over two and a half decades ago!

Now, that part of my life should have been the same as most kids; Saturday morning cartoons, my early school years, playing on bikes and running around outside. And, in reality, I clearly remember watching Looney Toones while eating coco-puffs (slowly, so the milk would turn to CHOCOLATE MILK, of course), I remember riding outside my house on the sidewalks and streets of Kenosha with friends from the neighbourhood and church (it was a silver and red Huffy bike which I rode both with and without training wheels), etc etc etc... I had Go-Bots, some GI Joes, a few Star Wars toys and a cat named Munchkin (who started off as a little skinny calico kitten, got "fixed" and blew up into a fatso - but she was very sweet). I remember the day we got some new-fangled "Cable TV", visiting the grandparents houses, (I even remember my maternal grandparents farm house in some blurry fleeting memories, which, according to my estimated timelines would make me 3 or 4).

But my "normal" childhood memories come with a little bit extra.

I grew up in a 5 person family for the first several years of my life. I was the "middle child" - born 18 months after (almost to the day!) my older brother Gabe, and 18 months before my "baby" sister Kristy. On April 26th, 1987, just a week or so before I turned 8, my five-person family, sadly and tragically became a four-person family. But, forgive me as I'm going to tell the end of the story at the end. First, let me back up about 5 years...

In mid to late 1982 I was barely three years old, and I remember sitting in an examining room at the local hospital. I remember rubber straps that "snapped" like a rubber-band and I remember being there at least one time. I can still sometimes smell the utlra-sanitized clinical smell of that place, and anytime I'm around a hospital or medical facility, that smell flashes back into my mind this memory.

What was happening at this time was Gabe was being examined because of a jaundiced condition on his body. Basically, he turned a strange yellowish-tan color all over his body. A few appointments and scans and tests later, and the hospital had diagnosed him with a form of Hepatitis.

About three months later, the Hepatitis and jaundiced condition hadn't cleared up, so the family pediatrician recommended we go to Milwaukee Children's Hospital (MCH) to have Gabe re-assessed. Dr. Stye from MCH took a few looks at the scans and results from his first diagnosis and essentially threw it out and had Gabe re-examined.

The results were as difficult as they were heartbreaking.

Gabe was diagnosed with Neuroblastoma just before his 5th birthday, in October of 1982.

From "Google Health":
Neuroblastoma is a malignant (cancerous) tumor that develops from nerve tissue. It occurs in infants and children.

Gabe's tumor was causing pressure on his common bile duct, backing up bile (which is a yellow digestive fluid) to spread through his bloodstream, hence, the jaundiced coloration.

There aren't many specific series of events that I can remember for the next two or three years, but I have images and flashes of memories of my brother and the life that we lived around a year and a half of treatments. And if you know anything about cancer, these treatments are just plain old torture on the body.

But that's not what sticks with me. In fact, very very few of my own memories are anything but a smiling Gabe. Despite a couple rounds of chemotherapy, whole body irradiation and at least one bone marrow transplant, my memories of Gabe are actually mostly just of having an older brother who went bald earlier than most men in my family. I can't honestly imagine the level of strength, courage, and faith Gabe found within himself and his family, friends and doctors that kept him moving forward. Even when he had an incision in his belly as the doctors re-routed his bile ducts to prevent the bile backup, he always, along with my parents, was willing to keep his spirits very high. We used to joke about "charlie" (I believe that was the name of the catheter that my mom had to clean and dress) and the "ketchup" that had to be applied during the cleanings.

We had mostly normal Christmases and birthdays with Gabe. I remember distinctly one Christmas where my I believe my mom got a new hammer for just regular household picture hangings and whatnot (my mom was a pretty handy interior decorator, she was a wallpaper installer and she did some decorating on some spec homes if memory serves). Well, for some reason, I picked up the hammer and though, well, Tom and Jerry do this all the time, and bonked Gabe on the head with it - probably to see if the "lump" that typically grows a few inches on Tom would actually grow. He looked at me with a ridiculous face for the briefest of moments as I waited for the celebrated prize before starting to cry, and that, my friends, is how I learned bonking people on the head with a hammer hurts them. In retrospect, it's a little funny, not so much because I hurt him of course, but more the bewildered look on his face for a brief moment and my childish expectation of a lump. Oh, don't worry, he got back at me in several ways mom and dad will never know about (as is the normal practice of an older brother getting back at the younger one)!

My brother won a GI Joe Aircraft Carrier from a Milwaukee Channel 18 afternoon cartoon contest of sorts as well, and boy, did we love playing GI Joes with it! Of course, he was the Joe side, and I was Cobra because after all, he wasn't going to get beat by his kid brother at GI Joes! We used to collect those GI Joe "points" from the back of the cardboard packaging and send them in to Hasbro to get some of the not-available-in-stores toys too, like the Sgt. Slaughter toy and the parachuting Joe.

Mixed into these memories are flashes of my brother in the hospital for some of his treatments and check ups, as well as memories of not being home. See, when Gabe was in multi-day (or longer) treatments, my parents had a rough time sorting out getting to Milwaukee to be with him while still getting me and Kristy to school or babysitters or what not. I remember many nights staying at my Aunt and Uncle Kresse's house in Milwaukee, staying with the St. Peter's in Kenosha or with the Mathis's. I remember trips to the Ronald McDonald house in Milwaukee and the cheeseburgers they would give us. These were times when Gabe was certainly tried the hardest. Kids obviously always have a bond with their parents, but there's another "sibling" bond as well, like a sub-team where brothers and sisters have a commonality of purpose and friendship (sometimes based on "surviving being our parents kids" in our own silly ways). I'm sure the hardest of times I was shielded from, with Gabe taking the brunt of it, and my parents aching with him at every turn. But Gabe had friends in the hospital as well. Dr. Casper, or "JC" as Gabe called him (or "Dr. Peanut-Butter-Nose" - though I don't know where that came from other than Gabe's imagination and sense of humor... or possible once Gabe stuck Peanut-Butter on his nose!), as well as many athletes who support the MAACC Fund. The MAACC Fund stands for "Midwest Athletes Against Childhood Cancer" and was supported by many local Milwaukee celebrities such as Jim Gantner, Robin Yount, Paul Molitor, Al McGwire, etc, and they would visit the cancer patients at MCH. I remember meeting a couple of them myself, though they weren't here for me nearly as much as for Gabe, who beamed as best he could when one would visit. Once, right around when the He-Man and She-Ra "Secret of the Swords" movie came out, well, He-Man and She-Ra made an appearance at the hospital as well!

In 1984, Gabe was finished with his treatment and officially, his cancer was in "remission." This is a grace period, both medically and in reality for us. What it basically meant was that the cancer was basically no longer detectable in his body, and the doctors will simply have "check ups" to ensure that it is truly gone for a period of years before announcing that the patient is "cured."

The next 26 months was probably the closest thing my family may have had to "normal life" in that, outside of the normal check-ups, we did the same things that many families did. We took road trips, went to Kenosha Twins minor league baseball games ($10 bucks got a family in, plus a hot dog!), went to school, church, played with friends, trick-or-treated, and just basically enjoyed being a family.

As seems to happen many many times, the final days of Gabe's life came very quickly. In mid to late 1986, after 26 months of remission, the cancer came back with a vengeance. The doctors at MCH could do very little with traditional treatment options because of various reasons, and a new experimental treatment protocol called Interluken 2 was started. I don't necessarily know much about the drug or it's affects on Gabe, but I distinctly remember the name. Perhaps because of how aggressively the cancer had resurged, it may have been difficult to tell the difference between the drugs effect on his body and the cancer's.

Gabe's body and spirit at that point took two distinct stances. His body was failing him. Looking back at pictures between September of 1986 and April of 1987, the changes were extremely dramatic and progressively worse. But my memory of Gabe was something a bit different. His spirit, his "gumption" was exceptionally strong. I think Gabe at that age had a pretty good idea what was going on. I know for a fact that he never gave up, but was fighting a war he also knew he couldn't win.

In the beginning of 1987, Make a Wish came to the house. I don't know who referred them or how they learned about Gabe, and frankly, it doesn't matter. What does matter is that they came, and quite literally gave Gabe, as well as the rest of the family, a wish come true. Gabe wanted to go to Disney World. He also wanted to ride on swamp buggies and air boats in the Everglades and see some 'gators! I remember very vaguely the discussion in our living room when Make-a-Wish talked to my parents about making this happen. I don't know if before then I understood what happy tears were.

Maybe three or four weeks later, we went to the airport. Gabe, still on his Interluken 2 treatment, my parents, my sister and I all walked onto that airplane for an adventure to Florida. We went to Disney World and Epcot Center. Gabe got a "Goofy" hat that had Goofy's nose as the bill and his ears flopping down along the sides. My mom still has that hat today. We went to a gator and snake farm, but that's not the only place we saw gators! I remember on the swamp buggy ride there were gators at the sides of the road. I even remember the sheepdog with the two different colored eyes back where we got on the swamp buggy running around, looking past the dog and seeing gators just hanging out by the road, chillin'. I remember Gabe smiling quite possibly the biggest smile a 9 year old could smile as the air boats loudly tore through the Everglades, skimming across the top of the water. Gabe had as much fun as a 9 year old kid could have. We, as a family, had one more chance to have a son and a brother, to be a family. Me and Gabe and Kristy, we could be kids in a kids favorite place - Disney World. There was so much laughing and smiling.

By the time we came back from Florida (and if I'm not mistaken, we returned a couple days before our luggage did), Gabe's body was in a free-fall. When we left for Florida, Gabe walked onto the plane with the rest of us. When we got back, he was in a wheelchair with an IV for hydration. His body was tired. He was tired. Gabe knew it, but he wasn't going to tell us. No, as far as my sister and I were concerned, he was going to be our big brother, and be as strong as a big brother needs to be.

Shortly after our return from Florida, the doctors informed us that the Interluken 2 had failed. I can't believe I remember this, but I actually can hear my mom trying to explain to me and Kristy that the doctors were going to "make him comfortable" at this point. We were both too young to really know what that meant, and I don't think I ever really knew the end was coming for Gabe. For the last few weeks, we saw Gabe's nurse, Lee, and Lee's DeLorean at the house regularly. When Gabe felt up to it, Lee would take Gabe on mini-trips on the "SS Jedi" (the DeLorean's license plate).

Gabe lost a lot of weight at the end, and was basically just always tired. But I don't remember once him complaining. I have just one or two memories of Gabe after that. Mostly I remember him laying on the couch with the cat, under the afghan that was made for him (I had a matching one - I believe my great-grandmother made them for us).

The rest of the story, I really don't have any memory of, but my mom filled in the blanks for me.

Gabe fell asleep on the 24th of April, 1987, laying on the couch. My dad carried him to bed that night, the lower bunk bed of Gabe and my shared room. He slept the entire next day (I have no memory of that day), and Lee and our Church Pastor Wayne Matejka stayed at his side, and our family's side the entire day and into the night. At 10 or 11 that night, Kristy and I were both asleep when my Dad took us from our beds and put us down on the master bed. I had no idea this had happened.

At 1:30 the morning of April 26th, 1987, my brother, Gabriel Wayne Kostreva, let his body die so his spirit could soar.

It's been 23 years since my brother died, and in reality, I only had about 6 1/2 years to be his kid brother that I can remember. But those 6 1/2 years have given me a lifetime of memories. And even though memories can fade, some things can never go away. The fact that I had a brother, that he was my brother, that will never go away.

Maybe the one thing that bothers me the most is his voice is gone to me. My memories are extremely visual, but not terribly audible. I try and try, but I can't hear his voice, I don't remember what he sounds like. Then one day, not long ago, my Grandpa had his old Betamax Home Movies out, and there was a home movie with my brother in it, laughing and playing and chatting away. As much as I didn't recognize his voice, I still knew it was him, and I have cherished the memory of that moment of watching the video ever since.

My brother would be 33 this November. I often wonder to myself if he'd be proud of me. I'd like to think that despite my own mistakes, flaws and foibles, something about his strength, courage and selflessness made it's way to me. Sometimes, when I make mistakes in life, especially huge mistakes, what can jolt me back is that exact thought. I can be better than this, because my older brother, going through all his trials his entire life, was.

Now, 23 years later, I'm continuously looking for ways to be a better me. I blame Gabe for that mostly. If I'm a better me, I can be a better husband, friend, family member. I need not look far for a hero, for an example of love, strength, faith, and basically all the good things in life.

So, one thing I am doing is supporting the Make-A-Wish foundation by participating in a 5K Run, along with my Sister, her husband, and their two kids, in honor and memory of Gabe, a Wish Kid from 1987. As I explained in my story what Make-A-Wish did for our family, the organization does this for families all over the U.S. - when a family needs it the most.

Consider joining me in supporting the organization. There's a lot of ways to do so. You can participate yourself in a 5K run/walk (they do several of them in different parts of the US). You can donate directly if you want, or you can join me and Kristy and her family by sponsoring us in honor of not just the memory of Gabe, but in honor of who Gabe was, and continues to be in our lives.

Please consider clicking HERE to make a donation or sponsor our run.

Humankind's Fascination with Balls

2010-08-06T09:58:00.004-05:00

GET YOUR COLLECTIVE HEADS OUT OF THE GUTTER (I know, that's asking a lot of some of you... Patti...)

I'm talking about spherical objects we play with starting as youth throughout our adulthood.

*sigh* ok, that didn't help clarify anything... Patti....

I'm talking about round things that bounce... OK.. I'M EXPLICITLY *NOT* TALKING ABOUT TESTICLES OR FORMAL DANCE PARTIES (sheesh...)

So...balls. Baseballs, footballs, soccer balls, tennis balls, golf balls, bouncy-balls, balls balls balls.

We, as kids, want balls. We take our balls and go home if the other kids tick us off, we go to K-Mart and see those HUGE bouncy-balls in the wire cage and have a fit until we can buy one and take it home...

But as much as we want balls... we DON'T want balls!!!

WHAT YOU SAY?

Well, think about it... what do we actually DO with the balls? We play with them by doing what?

Getting rid of them. We throw them, hit them with clubs and bats, kick them, bounce them, bump-set-and-spike them AWAY from us! We want the balls so we can more quickly and efficiently get rid of them. Therefore, we don't want them!!!!

Bouncing - Throwing a ball away at the ground or the wall, hoping it will return to us so we can throw it away again...over and over...

Baseball - Pitchers throw the ball away to a batter who's goal is to hit it away to a player who wants to throw a player out to the pitcher to repeat the process

Soccer - Players kick the ball away from them

Volleyball - team have three chances to hit the ball away from them

Golf - golfers are SO mad at the ball, they spend tons of money on equipment and lessons to hit the ball as far away from them as possible (I assume this anger comes from the ball often taking detours into lakes, "beaches", forests most of the time

So where does this crazy instinct to get rid of balls come from? I believe it's our internal fear that we cannot comprehend the math behind a ~~cylindrical~~ spherical object.

Yeah, I'm going with that. Circles are hard enough. Defined as "an infinite number of points equidistant from a single center on a single plane" - that means every time I've ever drawn a circle, I've drawn an INFINITE number of points. Very quickly, I might add. I would think that's impossible.

Now consider a sphere. An infinite number of points equidistant from a single center on a three-dimensional plane.

HOLY CRAP

Every ball is an infinite number of points... THAT'S SCARY CRAZY!!!!!

THROW IT AWAY!!!!!!!!

Is it that time? YES! Yes it is...

2010-08-03T12:38:00.003-05:00

Howdy ho people of the Earth!

It felt like a proper time to get some things off my mind, so, without further ado...

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WRITING PARTY!

The man with the golden mane, my friend Fionnegan "Justus" Murphy (I have no clue why I put his actual middle name in quotes) hosted a writing party this past weekend and invited me to participate!

I invite, encourage, nay DEMAND (ok, so not demand) you to check out his website HERE to read through the submissions from the participants, leave a comment, and vote for your favorite! The entries are intentionally anonymous so that everybody doesn't just vote for mine to gain favors from me. (HA!) But vote for the one you think is mine anyways, and I'll love you forever. Or vote for your favorite. Or vote for a free and independent Suriname. Or Las Vegas.

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I'm taking a poll to find out what the best "Far Side" comic was. My personal favorite is the "Midvale School for the Gifted" one. Gary Larson captured the spirit of a generation with one simple drawing. He was way ahead of his time as the generation that attends schools these days clearly seems to not be able to read well enough to know how to open a door. I blame Eisenhower.

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I've started really enjoying "Tosh.0" on Comedy Central. The guy makes fun of people who do dumb things and post it (or have it posted on the internet). Which, of course, is something I like to do as well.

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It's SHARK WEEK on the Discovery Channel. Two things that I'd like to point out. 1) the super-slow-mo cameras for "Ultimate Air Jaws" are unbelievably fantastic. Watching those great whites fully launch their entire bodies out of the water at 1000 frames per second is amazing. 2) The scientists / marine biologists that go into the water with no cage to observe feeding habits and HAND-FEED SHARKS are absolutely insane. More than me. And that's saying something!

I think Shark Week is a worthy follow-up to this past season of Deadliest Catch. Discovery Channel... (with the exception of "The Colony" - I mean, what the..??) Well done!

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What's more entertaining? Watching two people (or groups of people) debate passionately with only a small number of the pertinent facts about the topic, or jell-o wrestling? I think jell-o wrestling loses its charm quicker.

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I'm pretty sure my life is a not-for-profit endeavor. Otherwise someone's cooking my books!! (And I don't mean that as a euphemism for something else. This time.)

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Does anyone think the line from Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back:

"When it's all over, I want you to say 'My, what a lovely tea party!'"

Is funnier now than it ever has been?

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Jackie Gleason was really only responding to Kennedy's speech when he told Alice "to the moon!"

Not sure who's speech he was responding to when he said "Pow, right in the kisser!"

...though Mel Gibson may have been responding to Jackie Gleason... not sure...

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How do you trust someone who tells you they would "take a bullet for you" without finding out for sure?

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I think that about covers my lunch break....

Ciao!

Things in movies that don’t make sense to me…..

2010-07-13T11:16:00.001-05:00

Note: This is not an all-inclusive exhaustive list… just the stuff on the top of my head.

Movie: Terminator Salvation
Skynet captures Kyle Reese to lure John Connor to them and end the resistance through his death.
QUESTION: Why not just kill Kyle Reese at that point and thus prevent John from being born?

Movie: Star Wars (Original Trilogy)
Galaxy far, far away, hundreds of planets, hundreds of species, etc etc etc etc….
QUESTION: Why do two relatively primitive species, Jawas and Ewoks, both speak the same language, AND C-3P0 needs to “learn” Ewok on the fly, but understands Jawa fluently?

Movie: Superman IV: The Quest for Peace
Lex uses Superman’s DNA from a strand of hair in the “Superman Museum” to create “Nucular Man” or whatever he’s called.
QUESTION: How did Lex cut Kal-El’s hair off the massive wrecking ball it was holding up with a simple pair of bolt-cutters??? Also, why did they make such a crappy Superman movie?

Movie: Ghost Rider
Nick Cage is rescued by the devil or whatever to be a “Ghost Rider” and exact vengeance on those that have wronged him.
QUESTION: Can I have those hours of my life back? Talk about ruining a comic book….

Movie: Signs
Mel Gibson is a priest who lost his faith trying to protect his family from an alien invasion.
QUESTION: Why does a race of inter-stellar being who are fatally wounded by WATER (like the Wicked Witch of the West) choose to invade a planet PRIMARILY covered in water inhabited by life forms that are PRIMARILY composed of water?

Movie: Iron Eagle
High school kid hijacks jet fighters, takes on a whole hostile middle eastern country, kicks their ass, saves his dad, and is let into the air force academy because of it
QUESTION: HUH????

Movie: Jaws the Revenge (Jaws 4)
Great white shark, rare in the New England coast, follows remaining Brody family to the Bahamas, where great whites are non-existent to go on a vendetta to eliminate the remaining Brodys.
QUESTION: Great white shark, rare in the New England coast, follows remaining Brody family to the Bahamas, where great whites are non-existent to go on a vendetta to eliminate the remaining Brodys?

Movie: Over the Top
Sylvester Stallone arm wrestles for custody of his kid.
QUESTION: Where do I begin?

Movie: Back to the Future Part II
Marty goes forward 30 years, then back to 1985, then back to 1955 to fix the mess the writers put him in.
QUESTION: How many different narcotics were the writers on when they added the part about the Cubs winning the World Series in 2015? Even I couldn’t hold the suspension of disbelief.

The U.S. Soccer Team Succeeds in the 2010 World Cup in Almost Every Way

2010-06-27T14:43:00.003-05:00

For years they were scoffed at.

For years they didn't even qualify.

For years the only professional soccer player most Americans could name was "Pele."

In 2010, the US Mens National Team (USMNT)went to the tournament in South Africa. But something was different this time. There was a buzz... a legitimate buzz about a team that not long ago shocked Europe with their defeat of Spain in the Confederations Cup. Suddenly, the world took notice. Suddenly, the world showed respect for the talent on the pitch. Maybe there was no expectation that the USMNT would win the Cup, but the teams that faced them knew they had to bring their "A-Game" if they wanted a victory.

They were expected to make it through what was considered a "weak" group, with only England as a soccer-superpower to contend with. England didn't bring their A-Game. (Arguably, you could say England didn't bring their A-Game to any of their 4 matches, the closest being against Slovenia, but I digress). Then something else happened and the soccer world took notice: the U.S. *won* their group, and they won it in thrilling, magical fashion with Donovan's late extra-time goal, moments away from being eliminated from the tournament. This, coming off of perhaps 45 of the best minutes of US soccer in recent memory, the comeback from 0-2 against Slovenia to tie them at 2-2 (and indeed, many - not just US 0 - still believe the score should have been 3-2 but for a questionable invisible foul).

Team USA was making a buzz in the soccer world. Did they win? No, of course not. They lost against Ghana in the 1/8 finals. Did they play perfectly? No, not at all. Their strange habit of conceding early goals (3 of their 4 games they were playing from behind at a very early point in the match). They missed a ton of chances in front of the net. Was it fair and balanced play? Nope, there were controversial calls in this years tourney that felt eerily similar to 4 years ago vs. Ghana...

But other than the exit, the US Team succeeded in this cup beyond measure.

Record Setting Numbers for TV and Internet Viewing. New soccer fans are cultivated from those curious as well as formerly disinterested. MLS gains fans as people re-discover the sport that they used to play - and they DID used to play it!!! US Youth Soccer has a higher number of participants than Little League.

More importantly than respect of the team or popularity of the sport, the USMNT gave Americans a chance to stand side by side and cheer again. Like the Olympics in Vancouver, and perhaps building off their momentum, the sport has brought together a population normally bent on tearing each other apart because of political or ideological differences. Look in the stands in South Africa. Look in the pubs in America. Americans side by side, blowing the vuvuzelas and screaming their heads off chanting "USA! USA! USA!" because they found inside them that despite it all, we are still DAMN PROUD to be Americans.

If we could remember that moving forward, if we could stand together and cheer for common goals with the SAME PASSION AND ENERGY that we do for our boys on the pitch, imagine where our National Spirit could take us? Need an example? Watch "Invictus" - it's not a Rugby movie, so don't let that wave you off. It's an extraordinary story of how something like a sport can bring together a politically divided nation. Sound familiar? Were Mandela's problems all gone after that Rugby World Cup? No, of course not. But with the nation united, South Africa has come a long way in 20 years. How far could we go in the U.S.?

Imagine.

Nice job US Team, you gave us something to come together and cheer for, and reminded us of US courage, spirit, "never-give-up" attitude, and talent. We'll see you in 4 years, and scream our lungs out in a familiar chant. "USA! USA! USA! USA!"

PS -

Team USA's loss versus Ghana has had yet another extraordinary positive impact on the world. Sure, it's heartbreaking for the U.S., but, with Ghana moving on, they represent not only their nation, but a BILLION Africans as they are the last team on the continent to still be alive in the tournament. In a small, unintentional way, the US Team has again brought people together. Weird. But fun!

Click Me!

2010-05-10T12:14:00.003-05:00

Hello readers, time for a bit of shameless self-promotion.

Correction. Time for a bit of shameless promotion of the arts!

I have registered to ride in the UPAF's Ride for the Arts in Milwaukee. That's a boke ride, for those uninitiated. I will be riding 12 scenic miles from Summerfest to Miller Park and back for a couple reasons.

1) Get my butt into some kind of exercise regiment (I do sit at a desk all day for my job and stare at a computer screen)
2) Raise money for UPAF (United Performing Arts Fund - kind of a "United Way" for Milwaukee Area Arts organizations) and the Milwaukee Rep Theatre.

So, please check the link below:
http://events.upaf.org/ride/BradKostreva

or click the title of the blog if you can find just a smidgen of $$ you would be willing to sponsor my rider-ship. I see 0% of the money raised, the Milwaukee Rep sees 50% (because I am riding on the Rep's team) and UPAF sees the other 50%. The Milwaukee Area Arts Scene is one of the most under-rated in the major cities of the U.S. Members and Affiliates of UPAF stretch from the city of Milwaukee west to Brookfield / Elm Grove, and south as far as Kenosha.

I have had the opportunity to see plays, musicals, and whatnot at many of the organizations that UPAF supports, as well as Milwaukee organizations that are not under the UPAF umbrella and need to relay on other funding methods to keep going.

From the UPAF website, the organizations that benefit from UPAF include:

UPAF Members:
Bel Canto Chorus
Danceworks Inc.
First Stage Children's Theater
Florentine Opera Company
Milwaukee Ballet
Milwaukee Chamber Theatre
Milwaukee Children's Choir
Milwaukee Public Theatre
Milwaukee Repertory Theater
Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra
Milwaukee Youth Symphony Orchestra
Next Act Theatre
Present Music
Renaissance Theaterworks
Skylight Opera Theatre

UPAF Affiliates:
Boulevard Ensemble Studio Theatre
DanceCircus
Festival City Symphony
Frankly Music
In Tandem Theatre
Kenosha Symphony Association
Ko-Thi Dance Company
Latino Arts
Milwaukee Chamber Orchestra
Milwaukee Choral Artists
Milwaukee Opera Theatre
North Shore Academy of the Arts
PianoArts of Wisconsin
Racine Symphony Orchestra
Sunset Playhouse
Theatre Gigante
Wild Space Dance Company
Windfall Theatre
Wisconsin Philharmonic

So join me and boat-loads of others in supporting the arts scene through sponsorship of my ride, or, if you decide you absolutely despise me and all I stand for, feel free to check out the UPAF website and if compelled, donate directly.

Thanks everyone for listening to my pitch!!!!

Ciao!

Happy Star Wars Day Everybody!

2010-05-04T13:40:00.002-05:00

And now, a collection of anecdotal Star Wars thoughts in no random order whatsoever.

Thanks to a few others for their contributions:

- "May the 4th" be with you!

- A Joke:
What did the R2 unit say to the Mon Calamari?
"Bleep boop beep doo whee!!"

- Why does a guy named "Solo" have a partner?

- Is there anything a buttload of Force Lightening can't solve? Well, until it unloads a Phantom Menace in your pants...

- "Ewoks" funny after riding a Bantha all day... (Groaner Foul!)

- How many midiclorians does it take to make a Jedi? Apparently a bloodstream full at first, then, as happens, science gives way to mythology and the force becomes a mystical energy that makes lightening come out of your fingers.

- Really Empire? After the first Death Star was destroyed because of an exhaust port that caused a chain reaction, you didn't think that the MASSIVE HOLE in the next Death Star big enough to fly a Millennium Falcon through would be a problem?

- We need to hide Anakin's (Vader's) kids from him to protect them from his evil ways... I KNOW!!! Let's hide one of them on his HOME PLANET!!! Even better.. let's hide him with his FAMILY!!!!

- When did Han Solo's handcuffs "fall off" after he was frozen and before Leia thawed him?

- Here's a tough call... what was more damaging to the legacy of Star Wars: Jar-Jar Binks, or the entire "Clone Wars" CGI Movie?

- Sorry, that was a trick question, clearly the Wookie Family Christmas Card takes that cake...

- Top Five parodies of Star Wars from #5 to #1
5) Something Something Something Dark Side (Family Guy)
4) Family Guy: Blue Harvest
3) Robot Chicken Star Wars
2) Robot Chicken Star Wars 2
1) Star Wars: Episode 1 - The Phantom Menace

- Little known fact: Hayden Christensen caused more re-shoots during his lightsaber scenes because he kept making the sound effects of the lightsaber during filming.

- Estimated Cost to build the Death Star: $43,000,000,000,000

- What's George Lucas' obsession with "de-handing" people via lightsaber?

- Did... Did Darth Vader just say "People will come, Ray"???

Well, that's all I have for now...

I have just joined "Twitter" or as I like to call it, Facebook on ADHD, so I highly recommend you follow "TheBradK" on Twitter for my latest quicky Musings.

Ciao all!

B

11315 Days of Glory

2010-05-03T10:53:00.002-05:00

Poor Earth... It has now been subjected to 31 years of me being on it. Or, as the title suggests, 11,315 days (give or take a leap day or 8).

Well, all I can truly say is "Happy Birthday to me, all hail.... YOU!"

What? Yeah. See, it's come to my attention that life is pretty crappy without the friends, family, and comrades we associate with. We come from different places, we will probably all go different places, but the crossroads of life where people meet, and sometimes journey together for seconds, minutes, days, and years, well my friends, those are the reasons life is so amazing and great. My life has been amazing and great, and it's thanks to you. Even Ditter.

So what have I learned in my 31 years? Well, some of life's simplest lessons.

Do unto others... That may seem ridiculously simple, but, it is about as true of a lesson as one can learn. And it's difficult. It's even difficult to do so in a selfless way. In some respect, many times people "do unto others..." for purposes of making themselves feel better or elevate themselves to a level of moral authority. That's kinda icky really, it takes what is intended to be something done out of love and respect for fellow humanity and makes it a perverse thing. So, do unto others is a good rule when the intention is (as best as one can do) altruistic.

Friendship and love can last forever... but it takes work. That work is well worth the effort.

Take responsibility for your actions. That can be hard. It can hurt. It can hurt those you care about. But, things in your control are in your control. The mistakes we make are usually repairable.

Help. Sometimes people ask for help, sometimes they don't, and sometimes they don't know they need it. Help when you can. Support when you can't.

Be respectful of others opinions. Surprise, everyone's different and even those that agree usually don't agree 100%. So, be respectful of others opinions.

...

and more. But why be preachy?

Let's get to the latest fun...

Last week I had the opportunity to serve on a jury. This was my first time (They found me, I don't know how, but they found me... RUN FOR IT MARTY!!!). I got to serve on a criminal case where the charges were 1st Degree Attempted Sexual Assault, Armed Robbery, and False Imprisonment. The maximum sentence was 81 years for the accused.

Not Guilty on all three counts, and what was more amazing to me is what we on the jury guessed really happened instead of what this man was accused of. It appears that to hide a coke habit, and to put guilt on the accuser's boyfriend, this accuser made up this lie (which she admitted she never would have taken to the police without her mother's coaxing) and threw this guy under the bus so as not to admit to her discretion. WOW.

Now, again, that's our guess. What we certainly saw was that the story she told was not true, so our best theory as to the truth came up with this terrible string of events.

My play is well on it's way. Act II is coming along nicely, and I hope to have it finished in the next couple weeks. I am very excited to set up a "reading" of it with some actor friends of mine to further develop it, and hopefully, I can work with some acquaintances on the West Coast to start a workshop.

Finally, I want to congratulate the cast and crew of both Milwaukee Rep's Route 66 and the UW-Parkside Theatre Department cast and crew of As You Like It for putting on some exceptional theatre I got to see this weekend. Bravo!

With that, I would like to leave you all with a quote:

"Never Start Something You Can't Fini..."

Where have you been all your life? Or at least for the last month?

2010-04-19T14:56:00.002-05:00

Hello happy people. BradK here with an update on life as I know it and my general whereabouts and whatchyabeendoinabouts of late.

Well, I just got back from Europe. Barely. I left London's beautiful Heathrow Terminal 3 a scant 14 hours before the UK Airspace was closed due to the ash cloud belched forth upon this land by the Icelandic Volcano Mount Icantprounounceitandniethercanyou. So, counting my lucky stars (that you can see through the ash cloud) I have returned.

(By the way, I'm told the ash on the ground is so thick right now you can't see the potholes in the streets... Yep, some Icelanders can't tell their ash from a hole in the ground. Wokka WOKKA!!)

So after a whirlwind tour of the UK, France, Germany, the Ukraine, Russia, and Switzerland in just over three weeks, the BradK has returned to the mostly-English speaking part of the world, albeit, we do speak "bad English" more than "English" 'round these parts.

Now, you may ask, "But BradK, with all that travel and seeing all those sights, surely a Musing had to have hit you on your adventures!?"

Loyal readers (and occasional curiosity seekers), it's true, there was much to Muse me AND a-Muse me. But my mind was a razor sharp focus over the past month or so. See, just before I left, I was driving home from work, and I had a "Grand Musing" - one that is still to this day, not quite ready for prime-time (or rather, blog-time). I envisioned a story that needed to be put to paper...er... Word Doc. And several weeks later, I realized the origin of my story came from an unlikely place. I was having a conversation in a bar with one of my favorite bartenders and a very Sweet Man... er.. Sweetman... (it's his last name, bear with me). We were discussing "Honesty vs. Selfishness" in some context that was basically, a silly fun premise. Fast forward a couple weeks, and the conversation had sat quietly in the cobweb covered moldy part of my brain called the "subconscious" until it came screaming into the forefront of my thoughts.

So it became a play exploring an extreme, but possible, situation where honesty may be the more selfish option between a couple.

What you say?

Well, yes... I said the play explores the situation as a dramatic concept. Act I is complete and sets it up pretty nicely I think. Act II is a little more tricky because I need to decide on 1) how to resolve the Act I conflict, 2) IF elements are resolved, and 3) justifying properly 1) and 2).

So far... so good...

"Woah, that's pretty heavy man..." you say? Yep! (I sez)

And if you think the conceptual conflict is heavy, wait until you see the CONTEXT! I do enjoy a good dramatic element. As a director, I like those moments in the script that rip out your heart and eat it for lunch (EXTREMELY well executed in say, the first 10 minutes of the Pixar movie "UP!"), and then have a moment or two midstream that takes a sledge-hammer and whacks you a good one in the nether-regions (preferably just before intermission in a play). Also, I think a really well written piece is proven so by the discussion it generates afterward, where people can talk to each other about the choices that were made by the characters, whether or not they would have done the same or different, or whether or not they personally can feel what the character felt and empathize, even without condoning or agreeing.

So that's what I'm going for. And I'm trying to find that "thing" that carry's through those ridiculously difficult choices. In the case of my play, I decided that the "X-Factor" called Love must partially prevail (yeah yeah, call me mushy), and how that plays out in Act II will be the toughest part of the writing. The goal is to not have it get all Nicholas Sparks formulaic. Although that works for him, I think there's an element of realism that will make any tragic event a little less "cutesy" and a little more true across the entire spectrum of the human condition.

For example, in real life, the loss of a loved one through illness, though a sad event and generally overshadowed with grief, often includes an element of "relief" because of the end of suffering. Without getting all mad at me, consider this possibility: is it not also true that the relief goes both ways? What I mean is, although there's an end to the suffering on the part of the newly deceased loved one, is there not also a "selfish" element in there as well, where the relief also hits the surrounding family and friends, relief from having to *watch* a loved one suffer and care for them in their need? It does sound callous, but in fact, I think it's a normal part of the human condition, and depending on the person, that more "selfish" relief has a greater or lesser impact on them based on who they are as a person. Is that ok? How does that affect someone if they examine themselves and realize this? Is it something some / many / most people even realize? Are there exceptions to this (does that suggest a more pure soul)? Does this usually morph into a form of guilt, and if so, what's the resolution for it? What else could come of it? Is there a form of acceptance?

So that's another element I'm slightly exploring with this script.

Yeah. Heavy.

But fascinating!!! In any event, I'm very much enjoying putting together this piece and am looking forward to sharing it with anyone who is interested. Please bear with me, as there are only a few select people I would bounce it off of while in it's "early development" stage, but once I have a full draft I'm happy with (note: Not the "final" version, but a full workable version), I would be happy to post it here...

Well, that's it for this musing... sorry if it depressed you a bit... that's why I started off with the bad volcano / ash joke..

MAKE YA LAUGH, MAKE YA CRY!

Ciao!

B

“How’s that theatre degree working out for ya?”

2010-03-08T15:44:00.001-06:00

“How’s that theatre degree working out for ya?”

I am a UW-Parkside Theatre Arts graduate (class of 2002). The question above is not one I hear sporadically, and always it is asked in jest. My job is in Information Technology (IT) at a multi-national consumer package goods corporation. For all intents and purposes, I am a salaried employee of “corporate America.”

So how does that work, exactly? What have I learned in my 5 years at Parkside, concentrating on my Bachelor of Arts degree that I am able to use effectively in my life?

The answer is as simple as it is complicated. For starters, my life has a great sense of completeness to it. Though I do not claim a theatre based profession, I probably spend more time working, caring for and thinking about theatres or theatre communities that I have involved myself in than any other non-work related endeavour. I have been directly involved in Racine’s Over Our Head Players now for over ten years, volunteering as actor, director, designer, booth, backstage or “whatever needs to be done.” Additionally, I have served on their board of directors, including a couple years as board president, for several years, helping to guide the business aspect of the organization in addition to working on the production half of the house. Also, from my Uni days to present, I have been able to spend time working with or working for other theatres in the Southeast Wisconsin area, including the Racine Theatre Guild, the Lakeside Players, the Racine Youth Players, and in a couple small ways, the Milwaukee Repertory Theatre. I do this because I love it, and I do it because I have a passion for the arts.

At no time in my life was that passion cultivated more so than my time at UW-Parkside. Passion is infectious. I came into UWP with a small case of passion, and through the instructors, the classmates, the artists and staff of UW-Parkside, this mild case of passion grew to become a full blown artsy disease, for which, thankfully, there is no cure, nor desire to cure. Between the expertise of the faculty, including Skelly, Lee, Dean, Judith, to the guidance and tutelage of the staff like Michael, Keith, Kim and the friendships and joys of such wonderful and talented classmates like Ditter, Tim, Dan, and Allison, it has been an honour to have worked with everyone in the department.

In my professional life, I have been able to use the skills of collaboration (directing), creative problem solving (set construction, lighting), public speaking and corporate presentation (acting) as finely developed tools thanks to my work at Parkside. In fact, I have been granted to opportunity to write, produce, direct and present internal corporate videos on multiple occasions due to my background and training in performing arts. These videos have been used to educate and entertain global teams within my organization.

The friendships and connections I have made during my time at UW-Parkside are both personally endearing to me, as well as my ability to pursue my hobby with the expertise of my friends available to me. A perfect example is my most recent involvement with an independent film being shot in Madison. My ability to consult and work on this film has been greatly enhanced by the knowledge and experiences I have obtained via Dan and Fionnegan since graduating. When I consider the writing and directing I have done since my time at Parkside, I credit Tim, Mike, and Dean for the knowledge and experience they imparted to me (as well as anyone they’ve ever come into contact with) to enhance and build upon my personal capabilities.

Finally, and I cannot stress this enough, my marriage to fellow classmate, Jenny is actually enhanced by my passion for theatre, which we both share, and my excitement for her profession as Education Director at a major professional Milwaukee Theater. Having the background in theatre and passion for theatre allows me to connect with my wife with a level of communication which often times is not easily obtained between a couple.

So, how’s that theatre degree working for me? I can’t stress enough how my time at UW-Parkside, despite the fact that theatre has not become my primary profession, has enhanced my quality of life personally, professionally, and through my volunteerism. It has made me a more complete, well rounded person, better able to empathize with others, collaborate, and drive toward common goals. My theatre degree is working out just fine, and better than any outside perspective could ever imagine.

I wish I could take credit for most of this...

2010-02-24T12:07:00.002-06:00

Followers of the Musings...

In an article on CNN.COM referencing the Labor Strikes in Greece, an anonymous commenter posted the following... BradK would like to, as well as speak in the third person, endorse these ideas to the fullest. Please read this comment entitled "Food for Thought"

*********************************************************************

Here is some food for thought. Can we as individuals, as a society and as a country do much better if we did the following?

(1) PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY

a. As a teenager, each one of us should be personally responsible for listening to our parents, for focusing our energies on our studies, for taking care of our health, for keeping out of trouble, and for developing our moral character. It is during our early childhood and teenage years that the foundations of our lives are built, and it is important that each one of us builds the right foundation. A lot of our social problems today have roots in lack of sufficient and proper education, lack of marketable skills, poor personal habits that result in poor health, and a weak moral fiber.

b. As a working adult, each one of should be responsible for working hard, being productive, and saving for our futures. Each one of us needs to be ambitious, work hard, work smart, and be entrepreneurial. Ensure that you earn more than you spend. Spending is most of the time in your control. Moderate it to levels that you can comfortably afford. Invest wisely. Build a nest egg for your rainy day, for your retirement, for your children’s education, and for your parents’ care.

c. When married, each one of us should be responsible to our spouses. Make a commitment to somebody else only when you are sure you want to spend the rest of your life with the other person. A lot of social ills today can be traced back to broken families. Every successful relationship requires give and take. Make sure you find the right middle ground with your spouse.

d. As a parent, each one of us should be responsible to and for our children. If we cannot be fully responsible to our children, then it is a shame to have them. And if you cannot be even partially responsible for the costs of your children, then we should not have them. As a parent it is our responsibility to personally provide early childhood education at home. You don’t need a school to teach your children ABCs and 123s. Children learn fast when they are taught early. Stop expecting the government, i.e. your neighbors, to pay for your children’s education. K-12 education in parochial schools can cost as little as $500/month. Cut back a little on your lifestyle, forego eating outside if necessary, but pay some part of your child’s education even if you cannot pay the entire amount. Save up for your child’s college through tax-free plans. Encourage your children to save up the money that they make in their summer jobs for their education. You will be successful in doing this if you have taught them the right values. The value of education, the value of money, the value of self-help, the value of having good habits in life and the value of a strong moral character. And you can teach them these values only by living those values yourself in your lives. You have to lead by example. If you don’t want your child to smoke, drink, waste money or party late nights, make sure you do not do the same.

e. As an older adult, each one of us should be responsible to our parents. It is time for us to repay them for the sacrifices that they made for us during their lifetimes. Do not forsake your parents when they need you. Living with your parents is not ‘uncool’. Taking responsibility for them and providing shelter for them is the right thing to do. If your parents need your help, and if you are not wealthy enough to pay for separate accommodations for them, then bring them into your house and enjoy living with them. Do not let them become charitable cases. It is a shame on you if your parents are totally dependent on some charitable organizations or the government, i.e. your neighbors, through section 8 housing and social security checks. Having your parents with you has a lot of benefits. Grandparents are a great influence on your children. They can help you in bringing up your children and reduce or eliminate your childcare costs. They can take over some home responsibilities and give you more time to go out and earn more.

f. As a grandparent, each one of us should be responsible to ourselves, and to our children and grandchildren. Make sure you spend your retirement nest egg carefully, and to the maximum extent you can, live within those means. Be gracious in accepting help from your children. It is better your children help you rather than neighbors and strangers. If it is possible for you to do so, help out your children by taking care of their kids. You are a great influence on the grandchildren. Help the parents in bringing up your grandchildren as good productive citizens.

g. Take good care of your health throughout your life. It is the biggest wealth you will have. Healthcare is not about just going to doctors and hospitals. Healthcare is about each one of us eating right, exercising right, sleeping right and living right. Abusing our bodies with junk food, overeating, smoking, drinking, drugs, lack of sleep, and lack of exercise will invariably lead to bad health, no matter what type of doctors and hospitals the nation provides.

h. Throughout our lives, continue to educate ourselves. Education does not stop with a bachelor’s degree… and definitely not with just a high school degree. Times change, technology changes, business environment and opportunities change and life changes. It is the responsibility of each and every one to continue to educate ourselves (not necessarily get additional degrees) to acquire new skills that will make us more productive and more valuable in the marketplace.

(2) SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

a. As business managers and business leaders, make sure we do right by not only our investors but also by our community and our country.

b. Be generous. According to your individual capabilities, without unduly burdening yourself, contribute to good charitable organizations that help the poor through programs that promote education, jobs, health etc. Your contributions could be in the form of your money, time, or talent.

c. Pay your fair share of taxes. Even a person making only $1000/month can pay $10/month and get the satisfaction that they contributed towards building our nation. If you feel the tax structure is not fair, then through our democratic process elect officials who will make it fair.

d. Look for waste and abuse in our government and in our communities, and shine the light of truth on them. Bring them to the attention of the larger public and work towards eliminating them.

e. Lead or participate in causes that is close to your heart, and are for the larger good of the community, your country and your world.

(3) PRINCIPLES AND HABITS

a. The principles that you lead your life by are very important. Universal morals and truths should drive our principles. Come up with a set of principles that your conscience can comfortably live with, and live by those principles. In formulating your principles, please remember to treat others as you would want them to treat you.

b. Everybody’s principles are not the same. We have to live harmoniously in our society and country. Therefore learn the art of compromising in coming to agreements that affect the entire society. Don’t try to impose your principles on others through force or through the power of the government. A majority imposing its principles on the minority will lead to unrest.

c. Humans are creatures of habits. Habits in turn make you successful or a failure in what you do. Identify the habits that will make you successful at work and in your personal life and inculcate those habits.

(4) ENTREPRENEURISM

a. Even if you are working for some company and not for your own business, always think and act like an entrepreneur. Think of it as your own business, and put your pride, passion, talent and energy into it with full gusto. You will be well rewarded for it.

b. Cast away the ‘employee’ attitude. Truly care for your company and your colleagues. If you start thinking like an owner of the company, you will soon become one.

c. Look for ways to innovate, be cost-effective, more productive and to gain a competitive edge. This is what will make you successful as an employee, as an executive or as a business owner.

d. Be entrepreneurial and see how quickly your future will be in your own hands.

(5) GOVERNANCE

a. Self-govern. Make sure you do what is expected of you and more at work. Make sure you do what is expected of you and more in your society.

b. Governance is a necessary expense. But it does not have to be a hugely burdensome expense to us. If more people in a company govern themselves, the company will become more competitive and successful. If more of us in this society govern ourselves and live by the laws, and if more of us take care of ourselves, then the cost of governance and government will come down. Unless we do that, we will continue to have increasing costs of governance and government, to a point where it is no longer sustainable.

(6) ENTITLEMENTS

a. Know that ‘none’ of us are entitled to anything. If you feel you are ‘entitled’ to something, you are fooling yourself. Others will only give lip sympathy to you and your entitlement attitude will get you nowhere other than the bottom of the social ladder.

b. Entitlements are a disincentive for hard work and progress. If each of us felt that we are entitled to receive a section 8 home and a charity check through the courtesy of the government, i.e. our neighbors, then where is the incentive to work and succeed?

c. Accept the entitlements you receive with gratitude, and strive to get off of the entitlement rolls ASAP through your motivation and work. Remember living off of entitlements is not better than being a beggar. Somebody else is paying for your keep.

(7) MYTHS

a. That politicians will solve our problems, or will tell us the truth. They will mainly do the things that will get them elected and reelected. How many of them have had the guts to tell the American people that we are causing our health care crisis by our own profligate behavior? How many of them have told us that we should be primarily responsible for our own children, and that government is not the one that should be primarily responsible for the welfare of our kids?

b. That the government will take care of us from cradle to grave. We the people are the government. We have to take care of ourselves. All our entitlements programs are stretched thin.

(8) YOU CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE

a. Yes you can make a difference. If each one of us starts taking personal responsibility for our lives, our society will soon change dramatically. Remember little drops of water makes a mighty ocean.

b. Don’t be distracted or upset by others who are not taking responsibility for themselves. Lead by example. Soon others will also come around. It takes only one lit candle to light a million other candles. Be the source of light for others.

c. Be kind and sympathetic to those that are less fortunate. Help them light their own candles so that they can also become a source of light for others.

d. Change the lazy and irresponsible by being a role model for them to emulate. Bring them towards responsible ways through your leadership.

e. Make your company, your community, your country and your world better off because of your actions. Measure your self-worth by what you do for others and what you build.

(9) TRUTH

a. Whether you like it or not, in a poker game and in life, you have to play with the cards you are dealt with. Remember that the cards you are dealt with initially are not the ones that you will end up with in life. There are thousands of rags to riches stories, and likewise riches to ashes stories as well. Where you will end up in life has less to do with what you were dealt with initially in life, and more to do with what you personally make out of life.

b. It matters not how much you accumulate in your life. At the end of our lives, all of us take with us the same amount, which is absolutely zero. What matters is how you have lived your life and if you are happy and content during your life. Happiness and contentment has less to do with what we have and more to do with who we are. Happiness and contentment come from within and not from outside.

c. You are loved by others for who you are and not for what you have. You may have a lot of ‘friends’ who flock around you during fair weather. But are they really friends?

d. You will be remembered for what you do for others and not for how much you made for yourself. Do you personally care for somebody who is rich, or do you personally care for somebody who is good to you? Were Mother Teresa, Gandhi and Martin Luther King rich? Does not humanity admire Bill Gates more after he gave away his billions to charitable causes?

The Official Kevin Costner Movie Run Down

2010-02-23T10:27:00.002-06:00

Hey everybody. I stayed up late last night to watch Field of Dreams on the CMT channel (which, despite it being an HD channel, presented the movie in the woefully inept SD format with the "side bars" and also put commercials in at the MOST inappropriate times, like for example, just after he realizes his dad is the catcher (at the end) and before his man-cry moment where he says "Hey... Dad? Wanna have a catch?"

BAD CMT!!! BAD!!!

Anyways, it inspired me, twas my Muse perhaps, to give a run down on KC's movies.

Let's start waaay back at the beginning with the help of IMDB to make sure I catch everything... Actually, we'll be starting with the earliest Kostner film I have seen and work from there. Cuz if I haven't seen it, I don't care.

Silverado (1985)
Ah cowboys. Ah. Cowboys. At least it was "fun" overall. Would not rank it very high in cinematic art.

The Untouchables (1987)
What the...? End to End awesomeness in this movie. KC was overshadowed by Sean Connery in this one (ya think) and MR. DiNero, but you cannot take away from The Untouchables.

No Way Out (1987)
Weak on intrigue, despite it's best intentions. The "twist" at the end tries to make up for it, but only mildly succeeds.

Bull Durham (1988)
Sorry purists, but this is the entry in the "Kevin Costner Baseball Movie" list where I simply cannot get into the film. Tim and Susan were...um... ok I guess. But overall I give it a "meh"

Field of Dreams (1989)
Shut up fellas, y'all know you cry during this one. SO GOOD. Is it a father / son movie? Is it a baseball movie? Sci-fi? Ghost Story? Redemption? YES. And most importantly it's all of those things done SO WELL. If you build it, he will come. Ease his pain. Go the distance. "People will come, Ray... Oh yes, people will come." "Hey... Dad? Wanna have a catch?"

Revenge (1990)
Um. No. Really. No.

Dances With Wolves (1990)
When I saw this in the theatres, I was blown away by it. Subsequent viewings and the "test of time" have, as a friend pointed out, almost made it a parody of itself. However, if you can watch the super-long-extended-directors-cut-we-picked-up-all-the-edited-scenes-and-spliced-them-back-in 4 1/2 hour long version, it completes that movie and tells that story so well, it's comparable to the "Extended Editions" of Lord of the Rings in the way it fills out the movie.

Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (1991)
I think I saw this in the theatre on Sheridan Road on the south side of Kenosha when it came out, and it was LOUD... but... that was good! The soundtrack, Connery-cameo, fun-ness, Christian Slater, "TO THE TREES!!!", "Why a spoon cousin..." "Cuz it's dull you twit it will hurt more" fun-ness cannot be ignored.

JFK (1991)
Well... It was an Oliver Stone(d) movie. I'm not sure how I feel about it, except that if it was on, I probably would turn the channel and not think twice. Not a "bad" movie, but not captivating.

The Bodyguard (1992)
Um... Mmhm. It inspired haircuts for men across the world. I may have liked it better when it came out then now.

A Perfect World (1993)
THIS movie I liked. As the "antagonist" KC did a good job of making him sympathetic, while Eastwood's sheriff kept trying to track him down. I think I like this movie more as time goes on.

Wyatt Earp (1994)
This movie probably never got a fair shake. You can tell KC is romanticized by the story of Wyatt Earp and the Old West in general, but it came out opposite of one of the most ass-kicking cowboy movies EVAH starring everybody that should be in a cowboy movie. Like you need hints. Can you say Sam Elliot? Val Kilmer? Charlton Freekin' Heston? Powers Boothe? Bill Paxton? Michael Beihn as Johnny Ringo and of course Kurt Russell as THE Wyatt Earp? Yeah, I'm talkin' TOMBSTONE!!! Ooops, I got distracted by a far superior movie. Costner's Wyatt Earp. It was... pretty?

The War (1994)
I hold this film up as one of KC's finest. Starring as the father of Frodo Baggins... er.. Elijah Wood (fresh off his role in "Forever Young" if I'm not mistaken), KC is actually quite brilliant with the supporting character / limited screen time. If you haven't seen it. Check it out. It's worth it.

Waterworld (1995)
Ooof... When the most memorable part of a movie is the "Universal Studios" logo at the beginning (which shows the earth) being flooded by water to setup the movie... you know it's not good. The only other thing I really remember, and wish I didn't, is that he pissed in a cup on his raft, ran the liquid through some sort of purifier, and then drank it as "clean water". Al Gore would be proud of this cautionary tale of global warming. Can't wait to drink my pee.

Tin Cup (1996)
I like golfing. Quite a bit. This movie almost made me not like it. The only thing it has done for me is give me the sarcastic phrase "tin cupping it" when trying to chip a ball over a water hazard seven or eight times to no avail. What's the definition of insanity again? Oh yeah, watching Tin Cup.

The Postman (1997)
Kevin, if you're going to make 1 post-apocalyptic "wanderer" movie, and your choices are Waterworld and The Postman. DON'T MAKE BOTH. Just this one. I like this movie, Shakespeare. I like it a lot. And... well... Tom Petty. There I said it.

Message in a Bottle (1999)
Nicholas Sparks writes chick-flicks. OK, he writes chick-novels, but many / most / probably all of them are turned into movies that basically, I could care less about. Example: A Walk to Remember - forgettable (see what I did there?) There are a few exceptions. The Notebook. Amazingly good. Message in a Bottle - actually, a fine, fine movie. Is it a chick flick? Oh yes, but it's a good'n.

For Love of the Game (1999)
11 Years after Field of Dreams, KC goes back to baseball. And HOW! To get "revved up" for baseball season, sometimes you just want to go and watch all the baseball movies that have inspired you somehow... The Natural. Field of Dreams. For Love of the Game. A League of Their Own. The Rookie. (I'm sure Ditter would add Little Big League or others...). You don't really like Billy Chapel through most of the movie, but by the end, you REALLY like Billy Chapel. Love this flick. Love the way the story is told.

Thirteen Days (2000)
Hanging on the edge of my seat, just WONDERING if the nukes would launch in this re-telling of Thirteen Days in October. They didn't. The Titanic still sunk at the end. Passable movie.

3000 Miles to Graceland (2001)
Actually, this movie, as bad as it is (though a Kostner / Russel team-up in a film is awesome) is actually quite fun. I'd watch it one more time. Despite the naysayers that compare it to say, Reindeer Games, I think this film pokes enough fun at itself to be enjoyable. I mean, c'mon? Elvis Impersonating Criminals? HECK YEAH!

Dragonfly (2002)
This movie is under-rated. It's a "haunting" flick, but not a "scary movie". It's a bit of love-transcends-life. Another, like The War, that deserves a viewing. I'd watch it again, and enjoy it just as much.

Open Range (2003)
As he aged, Robert Duvall became more of a bad-ass. This is evidenced in Open Range as well as Secondhand Lions. Costner, again showing his deep rooted enjoyment of sweeping landscapes, horseback riding and ten-gallon hats, gave us an enjoyable western without devolving into a "cowboy and indian" stereotype. Good film. Slow, but deliberate.

The Guardian (2006)
No. Bad. NO. Without too much of a spoiler, the wrong lead character dies in this one. For starters.

Mr. Brooks (2007)
Oh boy, KC is a bad guy. So evil. Look out. YAAAAWN.

Swing Vote (2008)
Cute concept. Tepid execution. Skip it unless you're bored.

Well, there ya have it. I skipped The Upside of Anger cuz I didn't see it, and there's some older stuff I haven't seen, but oh well, it's my blog, I can do what I want.

CHEERS!

BradK

The one constant through all the years, Ray, has been baseball. America has rolled by like an army of steamrollers. It has been erased like a blackboard, rebuilt and erased again. But baseball has marked the time. This field, this game: it's a part of our past, Ray. It reminds of us of all that once was good and it could be again. Oh... people will come Ray. People will most definitely come.
Terrance Mann, "Field of Dreams"

Gay Corporations Press Lawmakers For Equal Rights

2010-02-15T21:57:00.003-06:00

Dateline - Everytown, USA

Since the Supreme Court ruling affirming "personhood" to corporations in their recent decision protecting political donations as a form of free speech as defined in the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, lawmakers and media outlets have seen a deluge of attention by Corporation-People demanding equality in all the rights bestowed upon the human citizenry.

Most recently, lawmakers in at least 32 states have received numerous requests demanding that Gay Corporations be allowed to Merge and have the same rights thereof as Straight Corporations.

Speaking under a shroud of anonymity, one Gay Corporation released this statement:

"Inasmuch as straight corporations are allowed to merge publicly and with the blessing of the SEC and federal recognition, it behooves us as Corporate People to press for equality across Corporation-kind. No longer should we feel the need to hide in the shadows or lie about our sexual orientation because as Gay Corporations, we are STILL 'people' under the protection of all the rights bestowed on us by the Constitution. If we make money, do you not tax us? If we hemorrhage cash, do we not downsize? We are the brothers and sisters of the straight corporation, not some freak or pervert to be shunned by the very government that defined our personhood, that we pay our taxes to protect us! It was difficult enough for many of us in the Gay Corporation community to come out to our parent companies, and we strongly feel and urge lawmakers to consider our rights just as inalienable as the Straight Corporation's."

Despite considerable objections to legalizing Gay Corporate Mergers by the likes of Kansas based "Fred Phelps, Inc" who went on record saying "Those f---- companies will burn in bankruptcy court for their heathen ways", the press for equal rights in the Gay Corporate community has drawn a considerable list of powerful supporters across the nation and abroad. France based airline manufacturer, Airbus SAS (the world'd largest suspected Gay Corporation - they have not come out, but suspicions abound in the Corporate Blogosphere) has supported the Gay Corporate position in the United States by saying "There have been many Straight Corporate Mergers that have resulted in a worse overall economic disasters. When Houston Gas and Northern Natural Gas Merged to become Enron, well, I think we all know the end result of that mess. We still have former Enron employees living in France who could not afford to fly home after the crash of that organization. Wait, we don't officially use the word 'crash' at our company. It's against policy."

Attorney Corporation Dewey Takem and Howe LLC, representing the ACCLU (American Corporate Civil Liberty Union) has filed several class action lawsuits on behalf of a large number of Gay Corporations against the 22 U.S. States who have amended their constitutions to state that a "Merger is Defined as a Union or Buyout of two opposite gendered organizations, and that no relationship outside this definition shall be granted substantially similar rights." ACCLU spokesman, former ACORN Tax Adviser I. Getmore Handowts, has been making a cross-country trek along with the traveling grassroots political movement known as the "COFFEE Party (Corporate Obligations For Fast Equality Everywhere)" and has made several stump speeches at the cafeterias of Gay or "Probably Gay" corporations through Butts County, Georgia, where resistance to the Gay Corporate movement has been harsh. Most residents in that county were a bit put off, however, by the hecklers at these speeches who kept shouting out "You have a purty PR Department" (obviously mocking Oscar winning movie "Bailout Deliverance" from the 70's).

"I don't care if a company is gay" said one unnamed resident, "but can't they be gay on a smaller stock market instead of where everyone can see them like when they're traded on the Dow Jones or Nasdaq? I mean, the S&P 500 would be fine, nobody looks there anyways..."

The issue has caught the attention of Foreign Dignitaries as well, including the President of the Islamic Republic of Iran who went on record as saying that Iran "doesn't have that problem [Gay Corporations]" within it's borders.

Barbados based Mount Gay Rum, LLC responded to all media inquiries with "No Comment" and then was reported to have gone straight back to flirting with Bahamas based Bacardi in hopes of a takeover.

It is unclear whether any major political party will take a hard stand in the 2010 Congressional Elections or the 2012 Presidential Elections on this issue, despite having poll numbers that are nearly identical to party relationship. GOP Spokesman and potential 2012 Presidential Candidate Hardy Woodcock stated that "if they come to the table with enough contribution money, I'll listen to them, I don't care if they get off on Preferred Shares or Split Stock!" Meanwhile, the DNC issued a collective statement saying "We HOPE we can CHANGE the public's acceptance of Gay Corporations, we thought we had succeeded here in the past, but perhaps we may need to explain it better to the American people. HOPE AND CHANGE!" When asked a follow up question, the DNC let out a guttural scream reminiscent of Howard Dean's speeches and, according to his wife and nine out of ten mistresses, sexual climax.

In other Business-Person news, federal lawmakers are working out a bill that will ban the deletion of intellectual property of a corporation that is still in development, but beyond two-thirds completion toward applying for a patent. Proponents of the so called "Late-Term-Cancellation" bill call a cancellation at such a late stage of a property's development "cruel and in-corporate-mane" while opponents are holding firm to the mandate that a clause be included that such actions would be allowed in the case where a CEO would need to "protect the health of the general ledger."

Finally, the IRS has reported that it is auditing Time Warner for allegedly listing AOL as a "dependent" on it's income taxes since their merger several years ago. Time Warner attorney Max P. A. Yout defended Time Warner's actions, stating that although his client does not dispute the charges, since the merger "it's like having a stay at home spouse or a small child or a live-in college kid to Time Warner. They are there, they are legally bound to my client, but they sure aint bringing in any income. As corporate "people" that sounds to me like a dependent under the tax code."

Blatant Cross-Promotion

2010-02-07T12:29:00.002-06:00

Hey everybody!

Miss me? Yeah, me too.

So, here's a little bit of blatant cross-promotion because it's my blog and I can do what I want to, so there.

I have recently become involved with a Independent Movie Production of a film called "Love In IV Acts". Now, don't, like me, think that "IV" means "Intravenous" as though the love gets mainlined into a person like a saline drip. It's not like that at all. Apparently, those kooky Romans use LETTERS for NUMBERS. So, the great and might Roman Empire, as advanced as they were in technology and art and blahblahblah, REALLY couldn't come up with a system similar to "1...2...3....3.....3...." (that's for Ditter's benefit, by the way)...

No, no, how about I... II... III... III... III... I..V!!!! Nice work Nero.. way to be innovative.

That, my friends, is called a random tangent. I go on them often, and sometimes never return. I think I'm going to return this time, because "Love in IV (4, for those not keeping up) Acts" is a super-cool project using super awesome local people (with one dude from L.A.) to create a super-awesome film.

SO... On Facebook, cuz I know all-y'all have accounts, join the group "Love in IV Acts" and consider donating 2 beers worth of money (or a LOT more if you want) to support this project. As the sound guy, I'd really appreciate your donations because it's the difference between me getting some high quality SHURE LAV's and a Boom Mic and using soup cans and a string plugged into a donkey we re-creates the sound.

I hate the donkey method. And they really hate the part where I plug in the string.

It's also important to join the group for MORAL SUPPORT because we believe in this project and we believe you can believe, I believe.

More importantly, we need the money to buy the digital video editing equipment to make Dan look good. We don't know if that software is written yet, or is we need to call Pixar.. thought if we call Pixar, I think we'll end up with Dan digitally edited to look like Mr. Potato Head from Toy Story. Although an improvement.. it might make the story take a wicked turn during the "deep fryer" scene... I dunno... maybe.

So...

In conclusitorium, DO IT. Join the group, donate what you can, if you can, provide moral support (God knows we need some morals here), and wait eagerly on the edge of your seat for the premiere of "Love in IV Acts". (And, that's the *front* edge, as in anticipation, not the "back edge" like you did trying to live through "Michael Clayton")

Ciao...

Let's Discuss....

2010-02-01T10:56:00.003-06:00

Hey all,

I recently read an article on "full body scanners" being implemented in the UK at the airports. The article can be reviewed here:

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ukpress/article/ALeqM5gFU8wV43a_iNwGDVr89EWLXrrH_A

Towards the end of the article, there is a quote from a representative of a campaign group called "Big Brother Watch" that goes a little something like this...

"What kind of a free society does the Government think it is 'protecting', when it invades our privacy like this? When we are forced to expose ourselves at the airport in order to go on holiday, the terrorists have won."

That made me think about how to define when "terrorists have won"...

Now, me personally, I think when terrorists blow up our airplanes, they have won. At the same time, I can appreciate where the sentiment expressed above comes from. It's been said that "Those who would give up Essential Liberty to purchase a little Temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety." (by Benjamin Franklin)

This quote has been the calling card for people who are anti-PATRIOT Act, anti-body scanners, etc. The essence of what Ben Franklin was saying is certainly valid. However, I wonder if he intentionally used the following phrases/words:

"give up" - suggesting voluntary
"Essential" - can't do without (without undermining the meaning or spirit of the term)
"little" - not much
"Temporary" - not permanent

So there's that. Then there's the issue of "terrorists have won"

It's true that terrorism's nature is to affect the standard of living of a person or group of people to make them live in fear. I put to you this question: would you fly on an airplane in a heightened state or lessened state of fear KNOWING that everyone's been screened using the most advanced technology possible to ensure that there's no (or negligible) risk that someone will be successful in blowing up the airplane?

That question, I think, is personal. I might travel with a renewed sense of safety if I know everyone was screened to ensure there are no explosive devices. My quality of life is improved because I am not afraid, and my "lifestyle" has not been affected because I can still freely move about via air travel. Others might feel differently.

I think there are two ways to ensure that the plane I am on is not blown up:

1) Ensure there aren't any people out there that want to do it
2) Ensure the ones that do, don't get on the plane

I think attaining option 2 is a little easier than option 1...

Thoughts?

BradK

An Open Letter to the President of the United States

2010-01-29T14:20:00.000-06:00

Dear President Obama,

Having watched your State of the Union Address Wednesday, I was inspired by your call for ideas to address Health Care Reform. I, via this letter, would like to submit my thoughts and ideas for consideration and debate, with the intention of finding a path to a solution that meets the needs of all Americans with regard to available and affordable access to health care.

First, I would like to state that I have read through as much as possible, as published by both partisan and non-partisan organizations, research and details of the provisions outlined in H.R. 3962. I believe that bill to be quite aggressive at attempting to reform the health insurance industry in the United States. I also see that much of the controversy and divisiveness you referenced in Washington is, truly, putting a blockade in front of progress toward a solution. However, at the same time, I would caution that dissenting viewpoints to a presented bill (any bill, introduced by any author or committee), in any house of Congress, does not explicitly translate to a lack of desire to do the necessary work. A “NAY” vote on H.R. 3962 should NOT be politicized to suggest that a person or party is against health care reform. They are merely voting against THIS bill’s solution. To suggest otherwise is exceptionally divisive in a country where divisiveness has already torn away the fabric of healthy, progressive debate and dragged it down to an ideological Civil War of Words where the dirty weapons of politics such as personal attacks, “fear-mongering”, distortion of truth, and in some extreme yet unfortunate incidents, violence or the threat thereof. I am not talking about Congressmen and Congresswomen. I’m talking about everyday average Americans. For the Joe-the-Plumbers to the Brad-the-IT-Guys of America, our “Leaders” in government, all parties, and honestly, all branches, have given us the example of bickering, finger pointing, name calling and posturing to follow. This is clearly unacceptable.

Elected officials are servants of the public, their constituents. This means all of them, not just the ones that voted for them. The arrogance and narcissism must be dealt with. You were elected on the promises of hope and change for a better America. Millions of people voted for you. Millions did not. You must lead them all. You represent all of us. You need to lead - ALL of us. Naturally, as you said in your speech, there are deep seeded differences in ideology and philosophy across the political spectrum. My expectation from you, from Congress, from all elected officials down to the school board members to the local alderman in the smallest American hamlets is that a consensus can be attained, differences set aside, personal grudges eliminated, partisanship be damned and the progression of work toward the betterment of America be the one and only standing objective of the offices which you hold.

We are in a political society now where we have few choices come Election Day. We are in a society where we must choose elephant or donkey, red or blue, Democrat or Republican, and the nature of these party politics makes our support of any candidate backed by these parties a label. I voted Republican, therefore, in the public mind, I MUST be anti-gay rights, I MUST be pro-oil company, I MUST be a member of the “Religious Right”, I MUST be anti-health care reform, I MUST be a hard-line conservative. Similarly, I voted Democrat, therefore I MUST be Pro-Choice, I MUST believe in Tax-and-Spend, I MUST be anti-Military, I MUST be a hard-line liberal. This label concept is clearly on display in Washington politics. That attitude transcends the walls of the Capitol Building and White House, and seeps into the public psyche. These labels go further in countering any progression toward diversity of thought, understanding, mutual respect and agreement on the common goals of all Americans. They hinder our elected officials from truly understanding the complexities of philosophy of their constituents’ mindsets, beliefs, principles, and needs. But today, my choice is Team Red, “all-in” or Team Blue, “all-in,” and I am identified and classified by those narrow options. That is EXACTLY why Americans across the country are looking at their elected officials, even the ones they voted for, and still ask “but who truly represents me?”

Respectfully, Mr. President, I’d like to return to the topic of health care in America. I believe that we have exceptionally high quality of health care in this country. I believe that trusting your doctor and trusting your hospital is instinctive to most Americans. We believe in the health care system. We believe in the doctors, the medicines, the procedures and the technologies so much that when we do have a need to visit a physician, if he or she tells us to “take two of these and call me in the morning”, we do it knowing that is what will work the best toward fixing what hurts.

What has been the primary topic of political, economic and social concern is not America’s health care system. It is the cost of America’s health care system. I often try to use a very simple example when discussing with my friends where I perceive the root of the problem to be. Why does it cost $10 for a single dose of Tylenol at the hospital when I can go to a drug store and buy an entire bottle for less? Extrapolate that inflated pricing to the more complex medicines, specialized doctors, and complicated technology and it is any wonder the cost of health insurance is so high? Digging deeper into the causality, we need to truly understand the pricing of the health care and address that before, or concurrently, with dealing with the cost of the insurance. Another hot topic relates to the concepts of a pre-existing condition. Insurance companies price their products on the basis of risk. Because people with pre-existing conditions are at high risk for requiring more and more expensive health care than someone without, insurance companies will either charge massive amounts of money to cover them, or decide the risk is too great to cover them at all. This is certainly tragic. However, I would put to your consideration that if the cost of the care itself was better managed and less inflated, the risk analysis is fundamentally changed, suddenly making an insurance company’s pricing structure more manageable to the patient.

Now, don’t get me wrong, I would not suggest that the current situation exists absent of blame on the health insurance industry. What I am suggesting is a closer examination of the cause of the high costs of health care and its effect on the high costs of health care insurance. I also would not suggest that addressing the cost of health care alone would then immediately make the insurance available and affordable to every American. I am simply proposing that it will take more work to follow the cause and effect flow back upstream to truly understand and make intelligent choices about how to deal with the problem.

Mr. President, the following represents some personal thoughts to begin to address the cost of health care, and why insurance is still difficult, expensive, or impossible to obtain for many Americans.

- Require that the health care industry publish a rate schedule for their services so the public can better begin to understand the costs. If you cannot measure it, you cannot manage it.

- Investigate the feasibility of a “cap” on Malpractice Lawsuits. Detractors to this idea might suggest this could devalue the life or livelihood of the victim of malpractice, but I put to you that no amount of money truly defines or replaces the unfortunate injury or worse, loss of a loved one due to malpractice.

- Considering our intention of ensuring available, affordable health care to all Americans, perhaps think about mandating that heath care services be treated more as utilities than free enterprises, removing the risk of profiteering from health care, and helping to drive down costs.

- Consider grant-type funding for research, development and innovation in the health care medicine and technology sectors, allowing these organizations to provide the tools to health care organizations without needing to collect extra revenues to fund R&D. This would certainly include academic institutions. This can help drive down the cost of that new X-Ray machine or that new prescription drug for the hospital. If it costs less for the hospital to purchase, it should cost less for the patient to use it.

- Consider setting a baseline for basic preventative care costs. For example, a yearly visit to the doctor for a physical, blood test, cholesterol test and blood pressure reading should not break the bank, nor be radically different between doctors. Combined with published rate schedules as mentioned above, it allows the public to choose in an informed and educated way how to use this service, and it allows an insurance company to better price coverage for this basic need.

Mr. President, these are merely a couple examples of ideas that could constitute outside-the-box thinking on dealing with the problem of health care costs in America. These ideas might be impossible, impractical, controversial, tried and failed, or even currently in consideration. What I am attempting to encourage is to look deeper into the problem to find the basic root cause of it instead of focusing on the symptom. Ask the question, “why is health care insurance so expensive or hard to get and keep,” and follow the answer down the path to a solution. It is not so simple that it can be summed up to the greed of the health insurance company, although there may certainly be cases where that is a contributing factor. We cannot fix the problem by subsidizing the insurance without attacking the root cause.

The American people believe in each other. That is the spirit of America you alluded to in your State of the Union speech. They want to believe in the government. They want to believe that the government will act in their best interests in order to solve the problems we face today of unemployment, national security, financial security, and providing an America that is a beacon to the world in the name of freedom and liberty. Where our children and their children can grow up knowing that they live in the greatest country in the world because it is a country of the people, by the people and for the people, and our elected representatives never forget it.

In closing, Mr. President, please encourage yourself and your fellow Washington representatives to the American people to remember and live by the essence of why we are here and what we believe in.

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”

Sincerely, your constituent,

Brad Kostreva

What the WHAT???

2010-01-24T15:10:00.004-06:00

It's just after 3pm on Sunday afternoon. The AFC Championship Game is on, Sanchez just threw his second TD, and I realized... I just don't care. Is it the AFC? Nah.. Jets/Colts? Nah.... I think there's just nothing "fun" about watching this game. I barely have any interest in the Vikings/Saints game later. Granted, I do enjoy Peyton Manning's face after the Jets score... he has that "I though I was invincible?!?" look and then he goes and cries into the giant Gatorade bucket.

So I'm sitting in my basement - (huh, the Who is playing the Super Bowl halftime show... must be part of that CSI Theme Song contract with CBS) - watching this game in the background, it's mostly white noise, and deliberately NOT doing something for work I should be doing. I had a good weekend, that's bully for me, got a new TV to replace the one that died, and built an elliptical in the basement too. I've been playing both the gee-tar and piano lately, which has been fun, especially remembering that I know how to play the piano. There's even a couple songs that I can still play with my eyes closed. (Joseph Addai fumbles, Peyton face gets longer than the Oakland Raiders offseason... yeah.. Football humor)

You know what? Screw it! Lets turn this posting into Sports-Related humor!!!

I want to know who the first guy is that combined the letter "D" and the "##"-looking thingy to hold up during their teams chants of "de-FENSE!!!" etc... because as "visionary" that guys was, it's old-hat these days. Get an original sign buddy... that one's taken.

Heheh... another shot of Peyton Manning's face all red and poofy, kind like a baboon butt. That makes sense to me for some reason. Feely from 48... Good. His name's "Feely" - that either REALLY worked for him in High School, or REALLY didn't... 17-6 Jets, and Peyton Manning's updating his resume because he can't believe how awful his team is. NEXT SUNDAY ON CBS... THE GRAMMY'S! Yeah, the Grammy's... the awards that mean nothing to the musicians anymore either... You want an award? How about "Most Songs Illegally Downloaded"... that should be an honor if you think about it... Your product is so good, people risk getting sued just to have it. Or how about "Number One Song Moms Turn On After Turning Off Their Kids Jonas Brothers" - cuz all ya'll know that Barry White would be winning year after year after year after... cuz Moms dig Barry White. Especially Your Mom... That's what she tells me anyways. BOOYAH.

Is it just me, or do the Michael Phelps Subway commercials seems just icky... like seeing a dude in an uber-tight speedo makes me hungry for a sub? Maybe it's a "swing" thing, and I don't "swing" that way... but I guess I could see the marketing working for someone who does... "mmm...speedo... I want a meatball bomber." I guess that could work.

Indianapolis gets a touchdown on a blown coverage by the Jets. Peyton Manning claims he is the greatest to have ever lived.

So I'm selling my old TV on Craigslist... it's got 12-15 single pixels out on the screen scattered. For a video game machine or occasional use, it's a good thing. But for me, it's my "primary TV", so I don't want to deal with dead pixels. It's a 46" Samsung LCD DLP Projection TV. You can't hang it on the wall, but it's ultra-thin and ultra-light. I listed it for $150 on Craigslist, for a **46" HDTV** and I'm getting low-ball offers of $75!!! BITE MY BIG TOE!!!

*SIGH* more later... Ciao!

OPEN FORUM

2010-01-21T12:27:00.004-06:00

YO!

Before I announce this topic, I need to clarify that "BradK" is a 'persona' - not necessarily reflecting the 100% the author and creator of said persona...

Having said that....

Let loose all, this is an open forum to discuss, debate, disseminate and defer...

It's all about YOU!

Starter Topic:
Do we really need Lifestyle, WE, AND Oxygen in our cable channel packages?

Maybe I'm the JerkFace?!?

2010-01-20T11:29:00.002-06:00

So, some of you may have seen the back and forth I had with another Blogger who frequents Racine-centric blogs who goes by the pseudonym "OrbsCorbs" on an article on the Racine Post web site.

Now, in this back and forth, I have been accused of mis-quoting, immaturity, game-playing, singling out (his) opinion as lesser than anyone else's, and then basically challenged to a "rumble" as if we were in grade school with a playground octagonal ring.

From my perspective, I actually thought I was quite civil and clearly stated in what I had written. Basically, all this started when I asked him to clarify a comment he had made earlier in the "comments" section of the article.

Despite my perspective, it has dawned on me that perhaps *I* was the a-hole he had made me out to be, and I'm too ignorant to realize this.

For reference - here's a link to the article with all the back-and-forth beginning about half-way down the comments section.

http://news.racinepost.com/2010/01/liberal-media.html

At one point later in the exchange, Orbs invites me to contact him via his email address on his Blogger profile as opposed to continuing the discussion on the Racine Post site. I accepted his offer, and in fact, the full body - verbatim - of the email I sent him is this:

*******************************
Orbs,

Consider yourself emailed!

Sure, I made an assumption when you said "you and the wealthy dowagers..." that you were lumping me into that group. It still deosn't seem like an unreasonable assumption - despite that I was wrong about it.

I have no problem whatsoever meeting someone and debating in person. Perhaps in this way the ambiguity of the conversation which often occurs in written form can be avoided. How something is intended is not always how it is received, of course, and clearly you perceived my comments as personally antogonistic to you, the man. I would like to take this opportunity to talk to you and make up for that on my part.

I have to admit, based on other comments you have made on the Racine Post and JT Irregulars, etc, I thought that ideologically, we may have a bit in common, so I welcome the chance to meet up with you and chat. Honestly, I think it could be fun.

Again, no harm was intended by my initial comment on this thread, it was simply a serious request for clarification.

Brad
***********************

His response to this email was not via email as he had requested - but rather the last couple postings on the thread of the blog.

Now - maybe I am the jerk! In a moment of self-examination (no lumps found), I tried to consider this possibility, and put it to you, the loyal followers of my Musings, to come back and let me know where I stand. Because I trust you to be honest with me, I would expect that if indeed I am the jerk here, you would not only come out and tell me, but do so with no reservations.

Granted, I expect all of you to tell me I'm a jerk "in general" - but I'm looking for some feedback for this specific instance/exchange with Mr. OrbsCorbs.

I've got a bit more to say on the topic, but will hang back for a bit and consider your initial responses first....

So I put to you, followers of the Musings... Was *I* the jerk here?

Speaking of...

2010-01-11T12:37:00.002-06:00

HELLO and Welcome to the BradK Show!!!

With us here today is my id... or super-ego... or whatever it is that causes me to talk or type to myself in a narcissistic way.

Today we are going to interview one of the most engaging and entertaining minds of a generation - nay - a few generations. Winner of several meaningless and mostly made-up awards, this person has redefined shameful self-promotion, Appetizer Menu's at Applebee's, and has written a How-To guide on baking Smurf's (release date TBD).

Please welcome with all "due" respect... One of the other Voices in my head...

B:
So, BradK thanks for taking some time out of your extremely busy day to sit down with me and educate our readers a little bit about you and what makes you tick.

V(oice):
Thanks, physical manifestation of myself, it's been seconds since I last expressed myself in a way that others could understand

B:
Meaning..?

V:
Verbally, using English instead of my made-up language combining elements of Esperanto, Klingon, and the southern most dialect of Djibouti.

B:
I know Djibouti.

V:
I've seen Djibouti.

B:
Touche!

V:
So what do you want to know about?

B:
Well, what I want to know, what our readers want to know, what everyone else wants to know - what did you think of the latest Chilean elections?

V:
That's a great question me, I think the best way to answer that is to break down what really happened. The Chile elections were full of meaty debate, spicy rhetoric and just an oyster cracker's worth of intrigue and scandal. It's no wonder it came down to a runoff election which I nicknamed, of course...

B:
The Chile Cook-Off Elections?

V:
Don't interrupt me again.

B:
Sorry.

V:
I really hate it when you steal my punchlines, especially for the marginally funny jokes I pepper into my speech.

B:
But it works better when read that way.

V:
I hate you. Now I have no inspiration to continue my diatribe into food-sounding country politics like Hungary and Turkey.

B:
Don't forget Belgium.

V:
I never waffle on the important topics, Brad... you know that.

B:
Sorry... please continue.

V:
A lot of you have asked my opinion on the Gilbert Arenas incident where he pulled an unloaded gun from his locker and waved it in the face of his teammates, and whether or not the NBA has properly responded to the issue...

B:
Yeah, I don't care about that, let's move on to the next question. In your opinion, was Avatar worth the hype?

V:
That's "James Cameron's Avatar" and yes, it was worth the hype. And I mean that purely from a utilitarian perspective. They spent a crapload of money "hyping" it, and it made a crapload more than they spent. By definition - worth the hype.

B:
Very well. Who is your pick for the next Nobel Peace Prize?

V:
Clearly me. I mean, I have personally generated more ideas on how to bring peace to this world than anyone in history. Like the most recent winner, I have not actually disclosed those ideas, acted on any of them, or increased troop levels in a war, but MAN do I have some ideas. And I bet they're better than his. Here's a hint - Peanut Butter and Jelly Sammiches. I bet the most recent winner's ideas never included those.

B:
Imagine if they had!

V:
It wouldn't have been as good as MY PB&J idea.

B:
You're very sure of yourself.

V:
Ironically, you aren't, and that doesn't make any sense at all, given that we're the same person.

B:
Shut your pie hole.

V:
Well said.

B:
Well, we're coming to the end of our interview, is there anyone you'd like to give a "shout-out" to? We are quickly approaching 12 billion readers, so whoever you want to say "HI" to, go ahead.

V:
Why thank you BradK, I'd like to send a special shout-out to the following people:
Don Imus, Paris Hilton, Snoop, Nicole Richie and Howard Stern.

B:
Why them?

V:
Because they have negative Q-Scores.

B:
Well, thank you again, I hope to hear from you soon...

V:
Duh.

B:
Good night!

Stuff That Bothers You But You Don't Talk About

2010-01-08T11:54:00.004-06:00

Hoo-Ah

My foray into bringing the TABOO into the open! I'm certainly going to miss some, so please, feel free to add your own, and while you're at it, get friends and enemies to add their own and join the cult-status-following of the Musings of BradK....

1) Urinal Talkers
Sorry.. I'm standing there hanging onto my personal memorabilia, I don't really want to have a conversation. One of two things can happen... first, it will trigger a stupid sense memory later in life when my memorabilia should be doing something completely different, but no, my sense memory goes back to the Urinal Chat about how cold it is outside... and "cold" does not help the show if-you-know-what-I-mean. The other thing that can happen is that the conversation a la urinal can skew off to locker-room chats, and before you know it, I'm peeing all over the ceiling. There's a visual for all y'all. Speaking of locker room chats... do you suppose women locker rooms are full of girls bragging about their conquests and whatnot (as is the stereotypical male locker room... except for mine because I was always shoved in the locker by the jock-bully's and couldn't really hear the conversations or brag about finally figuring out that the Uvula wasn't what I thought it was).

2) The Guy/Girl that Won't Go Away
You know who I mean. You're at the bar, at a restaurant, standing in line for a movie, in bed, and there's that PERSON who just won't go away. You've given them clues like saying "Go Away" or clubbing them in the head with a large rock, or farting a lot - almost to the point of passing out (not from the smell, but from pushing so hard because you haven't had beans in a while... then the smell).

3) The Perversion of Traditional Religious Ideologies by Those With Personal Human Agendas Beyond the Purpose of the Teachings of the Religion.
Yeah. I hate that.

4) Sales as Kohl's.
Really...? REALLY..? Why call it a sale when it's ALWAYS that price?

5) "New Customer Promotions" from Time Warner Cable.
Sure, let's give the guy who's been giving all his money to DirecTV or Dish Network for years a break on his new cable bill. Not the guy who's loyally been raped monthly on their TIME WARNER CABLE SERVICE. That guy (cough cough, ME) is the sucker who will just put up with it. STOOPID...

6) 2-Year Cell Phone Contracts
You want to hear good stories about this... Talk to Jenny. 2 YEARS??? I don't even know what I'm going to do in 2 days, and I have to commit to a cell phone service for 2 YEARS!?? Other than World Dominance, I don't plan ahead.

7) Microsoft
And Apple. They both are very good at pointing out the other's bad points, and ignoring their own. Why is this taboo??? Well, wait until the loyalists read this and start defending their corporate baby.... Steve??? STEVE????

8) Anonymous Bloggers
Bite Me.

9) Butt Itches
Really... when are you supposed to take care of a butt itch? I vote for in public, for no reason other than to remove the stigma. And the itch.

10) Airplane 2: The Sequel
I can tell the same joke twice, and make it worse the second time too.

11) Airplane 2: The Sequel
It wasn't as gooder the second time.

12) People Who Are Famous Just For Being Famous
I'm looking at YOU George Harrison...

13) When a list of "Taboo" things just becomes a list of things that annoy me.
I HATE THAT SO MUCH I WISH THAT I COULD STOP IT IN MID-SENTE...

Muchas Gracias.

BradK

The Early Birds

2010-01-07T20:46:00.003-06:00

On my way to 12 billion followers by 2011, I'd like to personally thank "The 5"

Like Battlestar Galactica's 5, these 5 will have an extremely important role in shaping humanity as we know it moving forward.

For starters, there's Jenny Kostreva - who will bask in the fame and fortune along with me as we go viral baby... Global Web Domination.

Rick Ditter - "You're the meaning in my blog... you're the inspiration..." Or rather.. yeah. You know... You shall lead my entourage. Like in that show on HBO... "Oz"

MMaxwell - I'm not sure if you have time to be in my entourage with all that shopping you do with Jessica Simpson, but I would be honored of course to have you along!

Bakey - Good things will come of this... my fame is your gain...

Ryan Scott - I will try SO HARD to dig up the old Euro-Trip blog posts and get those on here!

So - there is is, we are 5/12,000,000,000 of the way to our goal. I will be working on syndication and re-feeding on Facebook and all that, and hopefully do some video blogging linked into YoubTube.

Just remember - tell your friends to follow... and their friends... and their friends... This is gonna be AWESOME!!!

More soon...

The Best Movie Ever Not Made

2010-01-06T15:34:00.001-06:00

When two colossi come together with such force, it breaks the molds of space-time and warps all life as we know it, and as we don't know it yet because we aren't smart enough to figure it out, but underneath the shadow of ignorance it's sooooo freaking cool you can't stand yourself......

Comes the premiere...

of...

The latest movie script that BradK will start writing, get bored of about halfway through the ideation, set it down indefinately and then forget he ever did it....

Based on characters created by people who weren't intelligent enough to combine them into a singular story....

Funded by no one because it's level of awesomeness makes people's heads explode unless they are wearing special protective UW Badger football jerseys that kinda look like hockey jerseys...

Starring Poncho Villa as himself, and an esemble cast of 3 million extras, side characters, sub-plot characters, Will Ferrel, and the voice of Orsen Welles...

Featuring 'splosions so large that 7 counties around L.A. thought they were under attack by Pyrenee mountain folk armed with nucular weaponry...

Written in the beutiful peotic rhythmic style of elegiac distich consisting of a dactylic hexameter and a pentameter....

I grant you...

"SHAKESPEARE HIGHLANDER 2: THE QUICKENING RENEGADE EDITION IN LOVE: ELECTRIC BOOGALOO: THE RETURN"

Notable quotes:

Kurgan:
"Oh happy dagger! This is thy sheath; there rust, and tonight YOU SLEEP IN HELL!!!!"

******************************************

Ramirez:
"Be not afraid of greatness: some are born great, some achive greatness, and if your head comes away from your neck, it's over!"

*****************************************

Kurgan:
"The unkindest cut of all!" (dies)
Connor:
"There can be only one!"

****************************************

Rated PG for strong bloody violence throughout, language, sheep mutilation, adult situations, Christopher Lambert's acting, excessive drug use by the writer, dizzyness, loss of appetite, water retention in your man-boobs, and a general lack of taste throughout

Welcome to the Musings of BradK

2010-01-06T15:17:00.002-06:00

Hi. BradK here.

You may remember me from my confrontations with such bloggers as "Anonymous", "Anonymous" and occasionally, "Anonymous" on such blogs as "Racine Post", "Free Racine", "Journal Times" and others.

Well, I decided to start my own blog, because darnit, what I think and have to say is so friggin' important, the whole of the GoogleWeb needs to see it, ponder it, comment on it, and dangit, follow this blog into history as I reach my newly refined goal of 12 billion readers in the next 12 months. That's only a billion readers per month people, and I know we can do it!

I'll supply the content primarily, but will allow guest bloggers form time to time who need some venting space or just have something interesting to say (though not as interesting as what I have to say because I don't want to be overshadowed by the superiority of others, which, I grant that they have, but probably won't ever admit in public except for just now in this statement. DAMN. Screwed that up).

If you are interested in commenting, do it. That is all I have to say about that.

If you are interested in guest blogging, I need to see three writing samples from 4th grade, a photo (not of you, but of a sexy-lady, unless you are a sexy lady. No Ditter, not you), and a promise to accept all the crap I give you in the comments section of your post. I'm willing to waive the writing sample requirement if you have a catchy title to your blog post.

Please note that speling errors and non-proper grammer are going to have happen in hear, so get over it. (See what I did there?)

Thank you.

These are my musings. They shall be on any topic I come up with at any givem moment of perspiration.

Here are the rules of commenting on my blog:

1) No "Anonymous" - sorry... you gots somethin' to say, put your name or fake-name-but-online-ID to it.

2) Any comments are subject to deletion at any time for any reason I see fit. This includes using words in "cutesy" text-messaging lingo like "IC", "2day", or "irregardless".

3) Personal attacks are... well, what the hey... keep it in good fun, and I don't care if you call someone a jackass. If you call me a jackass, see rule #2.

Let the fun begin!

That is all.