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Friday, July 31, 2009

♥ Happy Anniversary ♥






hiii all i am back again.
sorry for the lack of the post, i have been really busy. xD


so yesterday was my anniversary with my BF. heheee. i am so very happy!.
it's actually our 4 years anniversary but i count it as our first anniversary.


well, the first year we dated, we were in highschool in China, we both have totally forgotten when was the exact date we got together. so we never celebrated it.
the next 2 years, i had to moved to Indonesia & we suffered with the long distance relationship.
on the 3rd year, i finally moved to malaysia to study & to be together with him again.
we made a pact that we would meet again in malaysia since malaysia it's the closest country from Indonesia & Thailand where he came from.
on this 3rd year, he officially asked me again to be his GF although we never really did broke up.
i said YES.
it was on the 31st July 2008.
now we have the exact date to celebrate it. hahaa.


the sad part is that he was away on our anniversary.
he was in Thailand doing his off-college days.
1 minute after midnight to 31st July, we were on the phone & just talked.
i thought it was just as far as how it goes. but it wasn't. hehee.


on 21.50, somebody was at my door.
it was a delivery guy, he delivered me a BIG bucket of pink roses (my fav color) along with a teddy bear, chocolates, & glitters love shaped.
the letter says ..


"To: Risya Ayu Destyana

Life's greatest happiness is to be convinced we are loved.
Happy Anniversary.

Sincerely, Stinkyfeet."



baldie is my nickname from him because i used to have a hair-fall problems so he used to mocked me that i would be bald someday. hahaa.
stinkyfeet is his nickname from him because he has a stinky feet. hahahahaa.


i cried that night.
he's such a sweet boyfriend. i'm such a lucky girl. he's the best BF a girl could ever have.
:)


" Happy Anniversary, hney.

May our love stay pure in eternity & may our life would be blessed everyday.
AMIN.
Thank you for being such a good husband.

Being with you are the most happiest time in my entire life.

I love you forever.

♥ Risya."
































your well wishes for us would be much appreciated. :)
love.love ♥♥


background song:
Screaming Infidelities - Dashboard Confessional
(our song)

♛ HOMEWORK

homework dari Echa, thanks ya akhirnya blog'ku ada kerja juga gara2 loe. hahaa.

Rules:
It's harder than it looks!! Copy to your own note, erase my answers, enter yours, and tag to 10 people. Use the first letter of your name to answer each of the following questions. They have to be real, nothing made up! If the person before you had the same first initial, you must use different answers. You can not use any word twice and you can't use your name for the boy/ girl name question.



What is your name: Risya
A four letter word: Rock
A boy's name: Raouf (my BF.. hehee)
A girl's name: Raysha
An occupation: Reporter
A color: Red
Something you wear: Retro Shirt
A food: Rice
Something found in the bathroom: -
A place: Rome, Italy
A reason for being late: Raining
Something you shout: Rock Onn!!
A movie title: Revolutionary Road
Something you drink: Rootbeer
A musical group: Radiohead!
An animal: Rabbits
A street name: -
A tipe of car: Renault
A song title : Red Lights Indicates Doors Are Secured (by Arctic Monkeys)

hahaa a bit easy actually. :)
good luck with the rest of you, i tagged this for you ALL. xD

Me vs. Movies



I have blogged many, many times about my personal love-hate veering towards hate-hate relationship with movies. I grew up watching two genres of movies: classic black and white and color pre-1970 movies and horrible situation comedies from the 1980’s, both of which I worshipped with equal fervor. I probably thought the best movies on the earth when I was a kid where something like Some Like It Hot, the original Cape Fear, To Kill a Mockingbird followed by The Money Pit, Overboard, Short Circuit 2, Ghostbusters 2 (I had a thing for sequels, apparently) and Labyrinth. I have since discovered that my taste in movies came from the fact that my mom essentially stopped watching movies in 1970 and I liked anything my mom liked and, more importantly, we were really poor and couldn’t afford to go to the movies so my access to movies was limited to what local channels played on Sunday afternoons. Hence why I can still recite the entirety of Blind Date, the 1987 “comedy” starring Kim Basinger and Bruce Willis. Yeah, the whole thing. It’s kind of like when you see current footage of people protesting on the streets of some impoverished African nation but one of the kids is wearing a brand new Space Jam t-shirt.

When I watched I Love the 90’s on VH1, I was shocked to realize that I apparently was not alive in the 1990’s, as I knew NOTHING about anything they were talking about. But then when I watched I Love the 80’s, I realized that I had somehow existed in that decade. Which lead me to realize that the 1990’s were my 1980’s. Apparently it’s possible to be so poor that you can miss an entire decade. Let me explain: Every movie discussed in I Love the 80’s eventually became a staple of basic cable or local stations by the 1990’s. So while I didn’t see those movies in their original decade of origin, I would end up seeing them years later on TV and mentally associating them with the 90’s. So as kids raved about something called Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, I was probably extolling the humorous nuances of Splash. I think maybe this was the foundation of me being so grumpy about movies.

Now I’m an adult and can occasionally scrape together enough pennies and coupons to see movies in the theater. And when I do, it is almost always a letdown. I wasn’t always this way. I worked at the Magnolia when I was 22 and we would get to see all the movies before they premiered at the tech screenings. Usually just a half dozen or so (more often than not, only two or three of us) employees watching whatever was about to come out. And I saw a lot of movies that were either not that bad or fairly good. My friend TJ and I saw 28 Days Later almost a dozen times, I think. I even took my friend Salim and his 9 months pregnant wife to see 28 Days Later, hoping the entire time that the baby would at least wait until the alternate ending after the credits if he decided to make his entrance that night. In short, movies used to be fun to me. Or at least not the ass-beating that they have become.

Then came Juno. Really. I blame it all on one movie. One movie that turned my movie-enjoyment tide. I think I not only hated the movie so much that my friend Chad had to hold my arm so I didn’t leave the theater before the end but I also saw it as a new subgenre that would spawn a million imitations. Twee, self-congratulatory and ultimately a celluloid version of the website stuffwhitepeoplelike.com. My hatred of Juno and Diablo Cody is so well-known that two friends of mine who do not know each other have, completely independently of each other, taken to teasing me with insinuations that I love the movie Juno and that I revere Diablo Cody. It’s hilarious (eye roll).

I also saw The Hangover recently, and though time has dulled my rapier-sharp hatred for the movie, I still can’t say that I enjoyed it. And looking back on it now, I realize that I went into each movie really wanting to like them. I saw Juno the night it opened and saw The Hangover on opening weekend as well, which is extremely rare for me. Were my expectations set so high that no movie would ever reach the bar? Doubtful since I basically expected The Hangover to be two hours of a couple of dudes recounting stories of a rough night of drinking. But maybe all this is a good thing. Maybe the fact that I have severely disliked most of the movies I have seen recently has lowered my expectations and enthusiasm to a reasonable level finally. In fact, take this weekend’s movie outing that my friends and I will be embarking on.

They are going to go see 500 Days of Summer. I will go see Funny People. For some reason, Funny People could literally be two and half hours of Judd Apatow taking a crap into his own hand and then describing it while the song “We Didn’t Start the Fire” by Billy Joel plays in an endless loop in the background and I will probably still like it. I am an unabashed Judd Apatow enthusiast and I have seen a few specials featuring a lot of the stand-up clips used in the film, 98% of which were really amusing. Maybe I’m setting myself up for failure once again but I somehow doubt it. What I don’t doubt is how much I don’t want to see 500 Days of Summer. You see, my whole “getting burned by seeing cloying, twee or overhyped movies” armor is up on this one. A few years ago, if you told me there was an indie film about a girl who really likes The Smiths, I probably wouldn’t have immediately clenched my fists in rage. I might have even thought, “Hey, I love the Smiths more than any other band on earth too! Maybe I will go see that!”

But no more. I see the words “indie romantic comedy” and I get queasy. I read this:

Tom, the boy, still believes, even in this cynical modern world, in the notion of a transforming, cosmically destined, lightning-strikes-once kind of love. Summer, the girl, doesn’t. Not at all. But that doesn’t stop Tom from going after her, again and again, like a modern Don Quixote, with all his might and courage. Suddenly, Tom is in love not just with a lovely, witty, intelligent woman – not that he minds any of that -- but with the very idea of Summer, the very idea of a love that still has the power to shock the heart and stop the world.

And I get this eye twitch followed by a rumbling in my lower intestines. I haven’t seen 500 Days of Summer yet. It could be great, it could be ok. But for now, I would like to refer to it as Garden State 2: When Earnest Indie Rom Coms Attack. Then again, in ten years when it is showing on Channel 33 on a slow and lazy Saturday afternoon, I might watch it and realize that it’s a pretty good, solid little film. Kind of like I did with Mannequin back in 1991.

Ranch Rodeo Championships


There was an amazing turnout at last nights Ranch Rodeo Championships presented by Dacotah Bank. The twelve teams competed in trailer loading, trailer rely race, team mugging, and yes even wild cow milking. Everyone was on the edge of their seat the whole time. Congrats to our winners!

Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Free Agents - Who's Left?



Mats Sundin at poker table
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With little more than two months remaining until the 2009/10 NHL season gets underway, and some big-name free agents still left unsigned, there is certainly room for change. Topping the list of unknowns is the ever-enigmatic Mats Sundin. Sundin spent most of last season deciding whether or not he wanted to return, and finally signed a pro-rated $8.6 million contract with the Vancouver Canucks, to score only 28 points in 41 games. Sundin’s play improved in the playoffs, where he managed 8 points in 8 games, but the Canucks were nevertheless eliminated [...]

Now Sundin is again undecided as to whether or not he will return. If a team picks him up, Sundin could be either a huge difference maker or a huge distraction during negotiations. This is a hard call, but if Sundin does return, I’m guessing he’ll only play half a season… not to mention he will most likely need to take a pay cut.

Next on the list are former Habs Alex Tanguay and Mathieu Schneider. Both had OK seasons with the Canadiens last year, but after bringing in many new players, neither looks to be a part of GM Bob Gainey’s current plans. Schneider is a capable offensive denfenceman who could change the dynamic of teams lacking on the blueline, while Tanguay, though he hasn’t reached the plateau yet, has the calibre of a 30-goal, 80-point scorer.

Players that may need to take a pay cut in order to get a deal done are Keith Tkachuk, Mike Comrie, Robert Lang, Maxim Afinogenov, and Miroslav Satan. All made in excess of $3 million last season. Few, if any, of them earned it. Among the more affordable free agents remaining are Petr Sykora, Jason Williams, and Todd Bertuzzi. Of his 13 NHL seasons, Sykora has scored 20+ goals eight times, and reached 30+ twice. Though aging, Sykora is still a dependable winger who could bring an immediate jump to any team’s depth chart. Jason Williams spent last season in Columbus, but rumours have him either going back to the team who drafted him, the Detroit Red Wings, or possibly signing in the KHL. The possibility of him staying in Columbus isn't excluded either, but looks unlikely. Todd Bertuzzi is a story in himself. A promising scorer in his rookie season, Bertuzzi struggled with injuries and inconsistency until playing some of his best hockey in Vancouver with Brendan Morrison and Markus Naslund. After an incident which saw Bertuzzi sucker punch Colorado centre Steve Moore in the back of the head, Bertuzzi never played another game as a Canuck. After playing with the Panthers, Red Wings, Ducks, and Flames, Bertuzzi is starting to regain his form and could be a good addition for a team in need of grit and secondary scoring.

As far as free-agent goaltenders are concerned, one name stands out in particular – Manny Fernandez. In 325 games, Fernandez has 143 wins, 15 of which were shutouts, a .912 save percentage, and goals against average of only 2.50. With Tim Thomas and youngster Tuukka Rask in Boston, Fernandez was not offered a new contract. The market for goalies isn’t strong at the moment, but look for a team like Atlanta, or even Detroit to pick him up.

In other free agent signings, the Boston Bruins bolstered their defence by adding Derek Morris (NYR), while Colby Armstrong (ATL), Denis Grebeshkov (EDM), Tomas Plekanec (MTL), Travis Zajac (NJ), and Tuomo Ruutu (CAR) all signed with their respective 2008/09 teams.

- Josh Lind

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San Diego Comic-Con: The Sketches

The last couple years at Heroes Con, SPX, Baltimore, wherever, it seems like I get asked to draw a bunch of sketches...but I never remember to take pictures of 'em! So, among the stuff I packed for San Diego was a big pad of bristol board, my little battery-powered pencil sharpener, and of course, the camera.. At it turned out, I didn't do many sketches at all... maybe a little more'n a half-dozen over the 4+ days...and of those, I forgot to photograph about half!

But here're the ones I did remember:

A dead Laura Palmer, for Brett Warnock's TWIN PEAKS sketchbook:



And a Wonder Girl, for Brett's little boy's Teen Titans book:



Power Girl! The only one I didn't ink. There's no way all those spheres don't come out wonky when you're using a brush pen in your lap:



A sexy pirate. This one's my fave:

Kid's Showdeo!!


The Kid's Showdeo started off with a bang as the stick horse racers gave it their all! The Showdeo is divided up into three age groups and each age group competes in six different events. An All Around Champion is crowned in each age division and they each receive a belt buckle. Great Job to all who participated!! Thanks for a great Showdeo :)

BLOG 40: It's Early, But Ferris Softball Schedule Taking Shape With Early Trip To Alabama

BIG RAPIDS - The 2010 softball season seems an awfully long time away, but the schedule is now beginning to come into focus.

In addition to their traditional trip to Florida (March 6-14), the Bulldogs have a tentative date in Alabama for a pre-Florida tournament against some good Division II competition at an event hosted by the University of Alabama-Huntsville.

The three-day Alabama-Huntsville Tournament would have Ferris in heavy competition with two games a day (Feb. 19-21).

Feb. 19
The Bulldogs take on Augusta State (Ga.) and Missouri-St. Louis

Feb. 20
The Bulldogs face Indianapolis and Alabama-Huntsville

Feb. 21
The Bulldogs face North Georgia and Southern Indiana

For the tentative Ferris softball schedule, visit: http://www.ferris.edu/sports/softball/2010sked.htm

Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Tractor Pedal Pull

We had a good turn out this year at the Kid's Pedal Pull. There were 9 different age groups, from 4 to 12 years old and about 8 kids per group. All the kids did a great job pulling those heavy loads and man were they cute doing it! We found that sticking the tongue out and leaning from side to side was a popular strategy. The kids that won first, second, or third will be invited to the State Competition and from there they will have the opportunity to go to Nationals and Internationals. All the kids who participated received a ribbon and a frisbee donated by Cloverdale Meats.

What Is Causing Greed?

By Patrick Driessen

“No drug, not even alcohol, causes the fundamental ills of society. If we're looking for the source of our troubles, we shouldn't test people for drugs, we should test them for stupidity, ignorance, greed and love of power!” - P. J. O'Rourke


A couple of months ago I attended a presentation about the Global Economic Crisis (GEC) by Professor Andries Terblanché here in Sydney. He gave an excellent and detailed overview of the impact of the GEC and the most likely future crises. As two main causes behind the GEC he highlighted: 1) complexity and 2) greed. He explained how the level of complexity had increased beyond the capacity of the available risk models, resulting in huge hidden risks, which could lead into a painful crisis such as the GEC. Unfortunately an explanation for the deadly sin of greed was not given.

The greed aspect kept me busy. It intrigued me and I wanted to understand what had caused so much greed that it could result in a global crisis.
In first instance I started interviewing other people about their views on what's causing greed. I gathered many different insights, but still could not explain to myself what the real greed causes were. It took me several weeks of research and thinking to create some possible route cause scenario's. I saw the light when I started analysing changes in human behaviour and in particular changes in our social skills!

I concluded that in the last two decades young children have lacked free play time and changed the way they spend their precious spare time. In other words; children lack time and opportunities to develop their social skills, which results in more selfish (greedy) and often arrogant behaviour!

Go figure: The average teenager these days will spend most of their spare time on: watching TV, surfing the Internet, utilising social media, messaging on their mobile phone, playing games on various game consoles, etc. So....What happened to their free play time to play and have fun with other children?

When I grew up in the seventies and eighties we had loads of spare time to free play: building (tree)huts, playing military games in the forest, playing soccer in the garden, forming play gangs, cycling through the neighbourhood, etc., etc. In those days we had enough time to have fun and play with friends and to socialise with them. Nowadays that socialising is often done via electronic media instead of face-to-face contact. And time to free play? It seems it does not exist any more!

Do children still play with each other? Yes, but most often in their own virtual or online world! A good example: last weekend I was having lunch at a nice hidden restaurant at a small marina here in Sydney. It was sunny and the outdoor terrace was packed. When I looked around I saw many families with young children. Were their children playing with each other and having fun at the waterside or in the harbour? No way! Except for one family, the children of at least eight families were all playing games on their game console or on a mobile phone.... It prevented them from meeting other children to play together with, enjoy the great weather and have fun!

When I searched for scientific proof of my findings, I came across Boston College developmental psychologist Professor Peter Gray who suggests that use of play helped early humans to overcome the innate tendencies toward aggression and dominance which would have made a cooperative society impossible. "Play and humor were not just means of adding fun to their lives," according to Professor Gray. "They were means of maintaining the band's existence - means of promoting actively the egalitarian attitude, intense sharing, and relative peacefulness for which hunter-gatherers are justly famous and upon which they depended for survival."

This theory has implications for human development in today's world, said Professor Gray, who explains that social play counteracts tendencies toward greed and arrogance, and promotes concern for the feelings and well-being of others. "It may not be too much of a stretch," says Gray, "to suggest that the selfish actions that led to the recent economic collapse are, in part, symptoms of a society that has forgotten how to play!"

Interest in play is very much on the upswing among psychologists, educators, and the general public, according to Gray. "People are beginning to realize that we have gone too far in the direction of teaching children to compete," he said. "We have been depriving children of the normal, non-competitive forms of social play that are essential for developing a sense of equality, connectedness, and concern for others."

Gray stressed that the kind of "play" that helped hunter-gatherer children develop into cooperative adults is similar to the sort of play that at one time characterized children's summers and after-school hours in contemporary culture. This play is freely chosen, age-mixed, and, because it is not adult-organized, non-competitive, he said. This "free play" is distinct from leisure pursuits such as video games, watching TV, or structured extracurricular activities and sports.
"Even when children are playing nominally competitive games, such as pickup baseball or card games, there is usually relatively little concern for winning," said Gray. "Striving to do well, as individuals or teams, and helping others do well, is all part of the fun. It is the presence of adult supervisors and observers that pushes play in a competitive direction, and if it gets pushed too far in that direction it is no longer truly play!"

The most important skill for social life, Gray said, is how to please other people while still fulfilling one's own needs and desires! In self-organized play, he contends, children learn to get along with diverse others, to compromise, and to anticipate and meet others' needs. "To play well," he said, "and to keep others interested in continuing to play with you, you must be able to see the world from the other players' points of view.

"Children and teenagers in hunter-gatherer cultures played in this way more or less constantly," he said, "and they developed into extraordinarily cooperative, egalitarian adults. My observations indicate that age-mixed free play in our culture, in those places where it can still be found, has all of these qualities."

Gray's article addresses not just children's play, but also play as a fundamental component of adult human nature, which allowed humans to develop as intensely social and cooperative beings. Through the course of his research, he said, it became increasingly apparent that play and humor lay at the core of hunter-gatherer social structures and mores.

Hunter-gatherers used humor, deliberately, to maintain equality and stop quarrels, according to Gray, and their means of sharing had game-like qualities. Their religious beliefs and ceremonies were playful, founded on assumptions of equality, humor, and capriciousness among the deities. They maintained playful attitudes in their hunting, gathering, and other sustenance activities, partly by allowing each person to choose when, how, and how much they would engage in such activities.

“Professor Gray's novel insight sheds new light on the question of how such societies can maintain social harmony and cooperation while emphasizing the autonomy of individuals,” said Kirk M. Endicott, a leading anthropologist and hunter-gatherer expert at Dartmouth College. "Conversely, his demonstration of the wide-ranging role of play in hunter-gatherer societies focuses attention on the importance of play in the evolutionary success of the human species."

Is there a solution? Can we turn this negative path of becoming less social and more greedy around? Can we change our social skills and minimise the risks of a society which is too greedy? Yes of course! It's up to all adults to change the behaviour of our children and indirectly change and improve our future! As we've learned from the past; children have the future and create our future. That's where we have to start our change process: allowing our children to free play and socialise!

“Greed is a bottomless pit which exhausts the person in an endless effort to satisfy the need without ever reaching satisfaction!” - Enrich Fromm

Make this a Positive & Fruitful Day…..unless you have other plans!


Warm regards & success,



Patrick Driessen

© Patrick W. Driessen. All rights reserved.

The Health Benefits Of Dairy

By Patrick Driessen

"There is no finer investment for any community than putting milk into babies. Healthy citizens are the greatest asset any country can have." - Winston Churchill

It is a proven fact that the high dairy consumption of Dutch people resulted in becoming the tallest nation on this planet! As a 100% Dutchman I am part of the living proof: I'm 191cm/ 6' 3.2" tall and being tall was not in my genes or family; both of my parents are much shorter (approx. 172cm/5' 6.4").
Most people do not believe me when I tell them that, although I started the first 11 years of my live consuming lots of dairy products (in those 11 years my dad ran a large international dairy business), till my 15th birthday I used to be the shortest boy in class. I started my last growth phase when I was 16 and by 17 I was one of the tallest boys at school! My secret growth recipe was: extraordinary dairy consumption! For over three years I was drinking at least 2 litres of milk a day and consuming loads of Dutch yogurt and cheese....

So drinking milk and eating milk products as child can really make you grow. Well now scientists have proven various additional benefits of dairy consumption when you are young: it extends your length of life and minimises various health risks! Hear, hear!

According to their research; children who eat plenty of dairy foods such as milk and cheese can expect to live longer. They found those who had high dairy and calcium intakes as children had been protected against stroke and other causes of death, journal Heart reports. Despite dairy containing artery furring fat and cholesterol, high consumption did not raise the heart disease risk. The findings appear to back the practice of giving extra milk to schoolchildren.

The study looked at family diets and found higher intakes of both calcium and dairy, predominantly from milk, cut mortality by a quarter! A higher daily intake of calcium, of at least 400mg as found in just over half a pint of milk (approx. 280 ml), cut the chance of dying from stroke by as much as 60%!

These beneficial effects were seen at estimated intake levels similar to those currently recommended by experts. Three servings of dairy foods - for example, a 200ml glass of milk, a pot of yogurt and a small piece of cheese - will provide all the calcium most people need each day! Other factors may play a part - though researchers say they took into account that children with the highest dairy intakes came from wealthier families and ate better diets overall - but there is evidence that high calcium intake is good for blood pressure.

Dairy consumption may also influence heart and circulation health through a hormone called insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1), say the study authors from the UK's University of Bristol and Australia's Queensland Institute of Medical Research. In adults, high circulating levels of IGF-1 are linked with reduced cases of heart failure and heart disease deaths.

Joanne Murphy of The Stroke Association said: "This is an interesting study, but we need to take a further look to really assess the benefits of milk in reducing the chances of dying from stroke. "In the meantime, we advise parents to opt for a diet rich in fruit and vegetables and low in saturated fat and salt for the overall health of their children." "However, older children and adults should consume low-fat dairy products such as semi-skimmed, 1% or skimmed milk and low-fat yogurts, which will help keep saturated fat intake low to help protect the heart."

Studies investigating a link between cancer and dairy products have not given clear results. Some research shows an increase in the risk of developing cancer, and some shows a decrease.

As you might know, tall and healthy people are usually more successful in live. So please invest in the future of your children by allowing them to consume as much diary products as is healthy for them! Children have the future and will create our future!

"Cheese, milk's leap toward immortality!" - Clifton Fadiman

Make this a Positive & Healthy Day…..unless you have other plans!


Warm regards & success,



Patrick Driessen

San Diego Comic-Con: The Haul

About two-thirds of it, anyway. What I managed to lug back in my suitcases. There's more great stuff that I had to ship.


Monday, July 27, 2009

Horse Pull


The BIG teams went up against each other again this year at the North Dakota State Fair's famous Horse Pull. There were two classes, Percentage and Overload, and 8 teams in each class. Jeremy Longie from Rolla, ND was 1st in Percentage and Rick Byrne's team from Canada took the Overload by pulling 11,000 lbs. Rick's team was also the heaviest team in the Pull, coming in at 4,431 lbs. Tony Reller commendably won the Teamster Award and overall all the pullers did very well. Paul Geray did a great job announcing the pull and kept the audience updated on the weights and scores.

BLOG 39: Softball Golf Scramble Set

BIG RAPIDS - The Ferris State University softball program will holding a 2009 Bulldog Softball Golf Scramble on Saturday, Sept. 12, at FSU's Katke Golf Course in Big Rapids, Mich.

The cost is $80 per player which includes 18 holes with cart, registration gift, dinner and awards, raffle prizes and pin/proximity prizes. Registration begins at 9 a.m. (EDT) with a shotgun start scheduled for 10 a.m. (EDT).

Sponsorship opportunities are also available with a hole sponsorship for $100 and a cart sponsorship for $500. With the hole sponsorship, a sponsorship sign featuring your name or business will be placed on either a tee or green and be seen by all participants. The cart sponsorship consists of a sponsorship sign featuring your name or business to be placed on up to 30 carts and a free single golf registration is also included.

For more information and/or questions pertaining to the 2009 Bulldog Softball Golf Scramble, please contact Ferris State Softball Head Coach Keri Becker at (231) 437-0027 or via e-mail at beckerk@ferris.edu.

Sunday, July 26, 2009

Buffalo Softball Blog

I'm a little slow right now at updating this. But give me some time. I hope to report high school scores and updates, as well as travel updates.

Saturday, July 25, 2009

Pony Pull

We had an awesome Pony Pull this year. 14 teams competed for the win and Harold Flick's team came out on top. Harold received the grand prize of $350 and a plaque for 1st place. The top 9 places recieved a cash prize and earned it respectfully. The bleachers in Heritage Hall were completely full during the event and people were lined up around the arena to try and get a closer look at the mini power houses. These little ponies practice often for the event and for some it all payed off.

During the event the announcer, Paul Geray, informed us that the padding used during the pull protects the horses and pulling does not harm them. In fact he says that if well cared for, these horses often pull up to 18 to 20 years of age.

Life Lessons

By Patrick Driessen


"One thing is clear to me. You can't know everything you'd like to know. You can't do everything you'd like to do. You can't read everything you'd like to read. You must hold onto some things and let go of others. Learning to make that choice is one of the big lessons of this life.” - Real Life Preacher

“Never be afraid to laugh at yourself, after all, you could be missing out on the joke of the century!” - Dame Edna Everage

Based on some recent questions I have received from a few close friends about what my best life lessons are, I've been stretching my own thinking about my best life lessons. I've now worked these out in a list to help improve my own personal & business performance. It's quite personal and you might not appreciate all of it, but I'm sure you can benefit from some of it as well.
  1. Compliment even small improvements.
  2. Call your mother/father on a regular basis.
  3. Keep your promises (no matter what).
  4. Don't be afraid to say "I made a mistake".
  5. Communicate openly, honestly and directly.
  6. Never underestimate the power of love.
  7. Compliment at least 3 people every day.
  8. Think big thoughts, relish small pleasures.
  9. Say "Thank you" and "Please" a lot.
  10. Wish friends, family & colleagues a happy birthday.
  11. Be kind and respectful to anyone you meet.
  12. Sing under the shower.
  13. Commit yourself to constant improvement.
  14. Have a firm handshake and look the other straight in the eyes when shaking hands.
  15. Send anonymous Valentine cards with the text: "From someone who thinks you're terrific".
  16. Don't waste your precious energy on gossip, energy vampires, issues of the past, negative thoughts or things you cannot control. Instead invest your energy in the positive present moment.
  17. Look people in the eye and focus your body language to the other, so you are in full listening mode.
  18. Always raise more questions to gain more knowledge.
  19. Expand and maintain your network (it's not what you know, but who you know).
  20. Do a good deed every day.
  21. Plant a tree at least once a year (on your birthday!).
  22. Do not multi-task while listening to what someone else has to say.
  23. Be the first to say "Hello".
  24. Don't compare your life to others. You have no idea what their journey is all about.
  25. Stop blaming others. Take responsibility for every area of your life.
  26. Be there when people need you.
  27. Treat everyone you meet like you want to be treated.
  28. Take a multi-vitamin pill, a Vitamin-B Complex pill and sufficient fish-oil (Omega-3) pills every day.
  29. Make at least three people smile each day.
  30. Frame every so-called disaster with these words: 'In five years, will this matter?'
  31. Never waste an opportunity to tell someone you love them.
  32. Become an expert in kissing, dancing and making love: you'll be the best lover in the world!
  33. Care about your own health and have a full health check at least once a year.
  34. Be the best parent to your children and spend enough quality time with them.
  35. Don't expect life to be fair. But it's still good.
  36. Always wave and smile at kids on school buses.
  37. Drink champagne for no reason at all.
  38. Live your life as an exclamation, not as an explanation.
  39. Regularly think about and plan for the top-50 things you want to do/achieve/experience before you’ll die.
  40. Surprise yourself and your loved ones at least once a week.
  41. Smile and laugh as much as possible! A good sense of humour cures almost all of life's ills.
  42. Life's too short to waste time hating anyone.
  43. Don't save on the quality of food or wine/champagne.
  44. Watch a sunrise at least once a year.
  45. Always accept an outstretched hand.
  46. You don't have to shout to get your point across if you use the right words.
  47. To constantly improve yourself: be self-critical and ask your friends and colleagues for their honest feedback to help you improve.
  48. Have a dedicated external coach and a mentor, and an internal mentor as well. They should be your trusted advisers.
  49. The more you exercise your networking muscles, the stronger they get.
  50. Dare to be different and stand-out.
  51. Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does.
  52. Set a bar high when you take on a new challenge.
  53. Leave the (cleaned) toilet seat in the down position.
  54. Entrepreneurs are people who take the cold water thrown on their idea, heat it with enthusiasm, make steam and push ahead.
  55. Make new friends but cherish the old ones.
  56. Learn four clean jokes.
  57. Share your thoughts, ideas, knowledge and experience with others, so they can benefit from it as well.
  58. You need to win the war and not necessarily every battle.
  59. Technology should improve your life, not become your life.
  60. Reward yourself at least once per week if you have earned it for something challenging you have achieved or overcome successfully.
  61. Wake up with a smile!
  62. Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a college kid with a maxed-out charge card.
  63. Plan and take quality time to focus on your personal development.
  64. Eat more foods that grow on trees and plants and eat less food that is manufactured in plants.
  65. Carry jumper cables in your trunk.
  66. Do everything you do with passion and dedication.
  67. Always try to control yourself: Remember, anger is just one letter short of danger.
  68. A lot of people lie. Surprising isn't it? Well they do, so accept it. Do not start lying as well; always be honest to yourself and to others, it will make you a better person.
  69. Strive for excellence, not perfection.
  70. No one is in charge of your happiness except you.
  71. Buy whatever kids are selling on card tables in their front yards.
  72. In business, you should walk your talk... and know when to talk before you walk.
  73. Amateurs practice until they get it right. Professionals practice until they can't get it wrong.
  74. There will always be people who do not like you, and you don't like. Be very nice to them (especially to your enemies); it will annoy them!
  75. Feed a stranger's expired parking meter.
  76. Always smile just before you answer an incoming phone call.
  77. You are not so important that you have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.
  78. It is amazingly rewarding and satisfying to help someone in their time of need. It helps them, and it also helps you!
  79. The most powerful single thing you can do to influence others is to smile at them.
  80. Forgive everyone for everything.
  81. Keep it simple.
  82. Always listen to the advice you give to others, and apply it to your own life.
  83. Friends are amazing, and true friends are rare, so cherish them.
  84. You're never old enough to stop learning.
  85. Dress to impress.
  86. Marry only for true love!
  87. What other people think of you is none of your business.
  88. How people play the game shows something of their character. How they lose shows all of it.
  89. Leave everything a little better than you found it.
  90. Miracles happen everyday.
  91. Become the most positive and enthusiastic person you know.
  92. Be brave even if your not, pretend to be. No one can tell the difference.
  93. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.
  94. When you help others, they will help you in return. It comes in handy.
  95. Good jokes will always bring laughter and smiles, just share them.
  96. Let go of the past, you can not change it. Just take the lessons learned and apply them in your future.
  97. Take the time to relax.
  98. Ask for a salary raise when you feel you have earned it.
  99. Do at least twenty hours of community work per year.
  100. Expect the unexpected.
  101. Never give up on anybody.
  102. Learn to listen. Opportunity sometimes knocks very softly.
  103. Never deprive someone of hope, it might be all they have.
  104. When someone hugs you, let them be the first to let go.
  105. Never cut what can be untied.
  106. Be forgiving of yourself and others.
  107. Always be the first to make a proposal; it will get you in a better negotiation position.
  108. Your job won't take care of you when you are sick. Your friends will. Stay in touch!
  109. Remember that nobody makes it alone. Have a grateful heart and be quick to acknowledge those who help you.
  110. Never underestimate the power of a kind word or deed.
  111. Overtip breakfast waitresses.
  112. Don't miss the magic of the moment by focusing on what’s to come.
  113. Remember: Success comes to the one that acts first.
  114. Watch for big problems. They disguise big opportunities.
  115. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.
  116. Avoid negative people.
  117. You have only one life, make every day the best it can be.
  118. Always see the positive side, the glass is half full!
  119. Read at least one book a month (leaders are readers).
  120. In deal-making: all rules can be bent or broken (except in law and science)
  121. Take a friend for coffee once a week.
  122. Give more, expect less from a personal perspective.
  123. Allocate time for personal development on a regular basis.
  124. Life's too short not to show your love or appreciation to someone or something!
  125. What we have done for ourselves alone dies with us. What we have done for others lasts forever!
  126. Always wear polished shoes.
  127. If a relationship has to be a secret, you shouldn't be in it.
  128. When it comes to going after what you love in life, don't take no for an answer.
  129. Growing old surely beats the alternative: dying young!
  130. Remember other people's birthdays.
  131. Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beautiful or joyful.
  132. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.
  133. Become an entrepreneurial leader and a leading entrepreneur!
  134. You can get everything in life you want, if you help enough other people get what they want.
  135. The best is yet to come!

“It is confidence in our bodies, minds and spirits that allows us to keep looking for new adventures, new directions to grow in, and new lessons to learn - which is what life is all about!” - Oprah Winfrey


"The best investment anyone can ever make is an investment in oneself!" - Patrick Driessen

Make this a Positive & Fruitful Day…..unless you have other plans!

Warm regards & success,


Patrick Driessen

© Patrick W. Driessen. All rights reserved.

Friday, July 24, 2009

Dodgeball Tournament

The Fair took off with a blast this morning with our annual Dodgeball Tournament. 12 teams entered the tournament, but only one could have the glory of winning first place. The Youngest Team Here amazed everyone when they came back during the championship to take the win! In 2nd place were newcomers to the tournament, the Multiple Scoregasms, and in 3rd place were our veterans the Average Joel's. The Minor Problem came dressed to impressed, so they took the Best Uniform award and the Sittin' Ducks lived up to there name when
they took the award for the first team eliminated.

DJ Joe Goldade kept the teams motivated with classic songs, like "Eye of the Tiger". We had a great turnout and raised over $700 for the Minot Community Foundation. It was an awesome event and we would like to thank all of our sponsors and our volunteers. Without them this event would not have been possible.The 2009 Dodgeball Tournament is sponsored by:
KMOT
The Vegas Hotel
Splashdown Superslides
Anytime Fitness
Minot Country Club
Roosevelt Park Zoo
Valley View Go-Carts

Thursday, July 23, 2009

Ribbon Cutting 2009


The 2009 North Dakota State Fair officialiy began tonight with our annual Ribbon Cutting ceremony. The ceremony took place on the Fair grounds in front of an oil rig donated by Egale Well Services. They generously brought the rig in order for the people of North Dakota to become more educated about the booming oil industry. Bob Wagner, State Fair Manager, did introductions as Feddie the Flickertail stood close by for support. Stop by the state fair this week and see an oil rig up close and personnel, located in Machinery Row.

Odor-Eaters Rotten Sneaker Contest


These judges are ready to sniff some stinky sneakers. The gift bags for all the contestants were filled this morning with Odor Eater goodies to help those feet stay nice and freash. If you have stinky sneakers and are between the ages of 5-15 years old come on down to the ND State Fair Saturday, August 1st. The contest will be held on the JukeBox Junkie stage at 4pm. The winner wins a free trip to VT and $200!!

Christian Right and The Guardian…Mind If We Have a Little Pow-Wow Right Over Here?



I love reading The Guardian. Their arts and music coverage is unparalleled. Their articles on matters both international and Stateside are always well-informed, well-written and thought provoking. Also, when I am in London, The Guardian is usually the best place to find out what to do on any given night out. I remember hearing David Cross mention something during last year’s election about how sad it was that he had to read newspapers from other countries, such as The Guardian, to get a more accurate portrait of what was happening in his own country. That, sadly, is too often the case. But reading this article from The Guardian made my blood rise to a nice, simmering boil.

I really thought that The Guardian would be above this kind of sensationalist cage rattling. If you’re too lazy to read the link, the premise is: Oh here go those crazy conservative nutty Texans again! Would you believe what they are doing this time? They want to change all the history and science textbooks in the state to include “intelligent design” and God and the religious beliefs of the Founding Fathers of the country. Texas is a theocracy and all your liberal hatred can be easily focused with laser precision at the state.

There’s a foundation of truth there. Yes, there are nutty people in Texas (some of whom are in the State Legislature) who want to God up all the textbooks and tattoo the Ten Commandments on the buttocks of all schoolchildren or whatever they want to do. But no more so in Texas than say…

HERE

OR HERE

or if you like your facts in scroll-overable picture form, check this out.


Believe it or not, it’s not just Texas or even exclusively Southern states. There are ridiculous people all over this great nation of ours.

But The Guardian must have written this because of some recent development in Texas that, living in Texas, we MUST have heard about. Because every few months, you get a new little wave of poorly-spelled forwards from misguided coworkers or relatives about how you should refuse to use dollar coins because they no longer carry the phrase “In God We Trust”. You sigh and laugh a little and hit delete and go on with your life, knowing that everything is going to be alright. When you read the Guardian piece, it turns out that is all this is. Maybe The Guardian caught onto this late and think that this is some kind of news or that the empty threats of forced religious public education are real. Don’t worry Guardian, come over here and let me give you a hug and little pat on the head. These people are what you would call “nutters” and this is a big state so we’ve got plenty of them.

In fact, hold on. The one you featured, whose name and existence was so mysterious to me that I had to Google him to find out who/what/why he was, is someone named Reverend Peter Marshall. So you’re implying that he’s got something to do with a pro-religion education movement here in Texas? Well, I Googled him and found his (excuse the lack of a better term here) crazy-ass website. Yeah, he’s a nutter. You said in your article that he blames Hurricane Katrina and the US losing in Vietnam on sexual promiscuity and homosexuality. Wow. Yeah, I wish people would have stopped sodomizing each other long enough to make Hurricane Katrina turn and hit Cuba like Baby Jesus wanted to happen. But you just HAD to do your sodomy, you sodomites!

Anyways, yeah, the guy is batshit crazy. And hang on…what’s this? He’s also based out of Massachusetts. In case you aren’t too familiar with US geography, Massachusetts is a) not in Texas and b) largely considered a very liberal state in the big scary liberal Northeast. So you’re telling me that the guy who The Guardian tells us is in some way related to a campaign to force references to God into the textbooks of Texas schoolchildren is not, as you are lead to believe in the article, from Texas, based in Texas or has any kind of connection with the state?

Because if the goal of the article was to find nutters in America who stand in the proverbial town square with a sandwich board, a cowbell and hastily scrawled flyers about the end of times or a conspiracy that Quizno’s and Subway are actually the same thing, you can really throw a dart at the internet and find something good and crazy. And speaking of throwing darts, I liked the last little kick to the junk you gave Texans at the end of your article. You know, the part about “There's no doubt that history education needs a boost in Texas. According to test results, one-third of students think the Magna Carta was signed by the Pilgrims on the Mayflower and 40% believe Lincoln's 1863 emancipation proclamation was made nearly 90 years earlier at the constitutional convention.” That’s right, we’re all a bunch of Jaywalkers who should not be allowed to use scissors that are not of the safety, rounded tip variety. Oh wait, that happens on your side of the ocean too!

And now a note to Peter Marshall. You see, when you do things like spew hatred and generally just exist, you give them ammunition. I know you can’t hear any of this over the sound of Money Jesus telling you to go out and spread more of the Good Word at crazy, discount prices. But let’s be honest for a second. You’re a snake oil salesman. You’re no different from

this guy who wants to help me have a pure colon

or

these people who want to help me cleanse the toxins out of my body with their Swiffer pad foot stickers

or even

the awesomely named Clint Stonebraker who has all kinds of personal motivation he can offer me if I just keep him on a $300 monthly retainer.

The only difference between these people and you, Peter Marshall, is that they surely don’t receive tax-exempt status or abuse people’s religious faith or fear for their own profit. They just want to get all the booze and cheeseburgers I have eaten in my life out of my body through my feet. But you offer visitors to your website the answer to “Restoring America” with the Restoring America Deluxe Package (a $170 value) is available for $149 with FREE shipping)! Maybe they are instead interested in “America’s Christian Heritage”? Well, there’s good news for them as long as they have a credit card, debit card, checking account or access to obtaining a money order. Per your website: >"America's Christian Heritage Package (a $60 value) is available for $50 with FREE shipping.”

I assume the free shipping is Ground and I can pay extra for expedited, pre-Rapture delivery?

Wednesday, July 22, 2009

Brain Uses Eyes First 2 Identify A Face

You'd better take off your sunglasses if you like to be recognised! According to researchers from the University of Barcelona in Spain, the brain looks at eyes first to identify a face, then the shape of the mouth and then the nose!

The new study found the brain adapts in order to obtain the maximum amount of information possible from each face. Matthias S. Keil ascertained which specific features the brain focuses on to identify a face. It has been known for years that the brain primarily uses low spatial frequencies to recognize faces. "Spatial frequencies" are, in a manner of speaking, the elements that make up any given image. Keil said. "Low frequencies pertain to low resolution, that is, small changes of intensity in an image," Keil said in a statement.

"In contrast, high frequencies represent the details in an image. If we move away from an image, we perceive increasingly less details, that is, the high spatial frequency components, while low frequencies remain visible and are the last to disappear."

Keil analyzed a large number of faces; 868 women and 868 men. "The idea was to find common statistical regularities in the images," Keil said. "The brain has adapted optimally to draw the most useful information from faces in order to identify them."

Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Action vs. Self-Delusion

“The difference between being a little successful and being ultimately successful is taking over 100 times more action!” - Patrick Driessen

By Jim Rohn
Knowledge fueled by emotion equals action. Action is the ingredient that ensures results. Only action can cause reaction. Further, only positive action can cause positive reaction!

Action!
The whole world loves to watch those who make things happen, and it rewards them for causing waves of productive enterprise. I stress this because today I see many people who are really sold on affirmations. And yet there is a famous saying that "Faith without action serves no useful purpose!" How true! I have nothing against affirmations as a tool to create action. Repeated to reinforce a disciplined plan, affirmations can help create wonderful results. But there is also a very thin line between faith and folly. You see - affirmations without action can be the beginnings of self-delusion. And for your well-being there is little worse than self-delusion!!!

The man who dreams of wealth and yet walks daily toward certain financial disaster and the woman who wishes for happiness and yet thinks thoughts and commits acts that lead her toward certain despair are both victims of the false hope which affirmations without action can manufacture. Why? Because words soothe and, like a narcotic, they lull us into a state of complacency. Remember this: TO MAKE PROGRESS YOU MUST ACTUALLY GET STARTED!

The key is to take a step today. Whatever the project, start TODAY. Start clearing out a drawer of your newly organized desk ... today. Start setting your first goal... today. Start listening to motivational CD's/MP3's ... today. Start a sensible weight-reduction plan ... today. Start calling on one tough customer a day ... today. Start putting money in your new "investment for fortune" account ... today. Write a long-overdue letter ... today. ANYONE CAN! Even an uninspired person can start reading inspiring books!

Get some momentum going on your new commitment for the good life. See how many activities you can pile on your new commitment to the better life. Go all out! Break away from the downward pull of gravity. Start your thrusters going. Prove to yourself that the waiting is over and the hoping is past; that faith and action have now taken charge!

It's a new day, a new beginning for your new life. With discipline you will be amazed at how much progress you'll be able to make. What have you got to lose except the guilt and fear of the past? Now, I offer you this challenge: See how many things you can start and continue in this; the first day of your new beginning!

“Thinking is easy, acting is difficult, and to put one's thoughts into action is the most difficult thing in the world!” - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

“Whatever course you decide upon, there is always someone to tell you that you are wrong. There are always difficulties arising which tempt you to believe that your critics are right. To map out a course of action and follow it to an end requires courage!” - Ralph Waldo Emerson
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