JJ. Abrams takes on Star...Movies

Unfortunately for myself I had started off as having Star Wars: Episode I, be my first movie in the storied franchise. While I do enjoy Episodes I, II, and III, and don't think they deserve as much bad press as they get, there is no doubt in my or anybody else's mind that the original trilogy was much better. Lucas managed to create a great legacy with a boy named Luke and a mask named Darth Vader. Until the 2009 movie, I had never really been interested in Star Trek, despite my dad's fond remembrance of the old series. I loved the movie and even spent the better part of a month trying to get my fingers into Spock's "Live long and prosper" position. Now the sequel for that film has been announced ,the trailers have been released, the speculation has begun and the geeks are psyched. Older, but possibly even bigger news however is that Disney acquired Lucasfilms and will be making a new Star Wars movie, set to be released in 2015. JJ. Abrams will be the director of these upcoming movies. Can he do it? Can one man take on take on movies that are extremely similar, yet wonderfully different? I think he can. To put it simply, unite these two fanbases Abrams saved Star Trek. Interest in the series was waning and the numbers of people who could speak Klingon were disappearing. Now people will be lining up to see the new Star Trek movie, not only because of the old TV series, but mostly because of the 2009 film. On the other hand, there is the Star Wars franchise. Star Wars has never really been on a downhill slide, mostly because some of its fantastic video games. But it has lacked a spark that it had, really since the end of the original trilogy. Perhaps Abrams will provide that spark. Regardless of what the box office brings in (Episode I: The Phantom Menace was extremely productive, yet generally disliked by fans), Episode VII will have to set the tone for Star Wars from now on. I for one, know that I, along with many others, will be lining up to see whatever Abrams produces, if nothing else, for the legacy he is taking on. Please though Mr. Abrams, no Jar-Jar Binks.
http://www.usatoday.com/story/life/movies/2013/01/27/jj-abrams-star-wars-director/1865955/

Armstrong Admits

Back in October, the report accusing Lance Armstrong of doping came out, shocking many people around the United States and even around the world. Rumors had been thrown around for years of course, but the report directly accused the 7-time Tour de France winner of cheating so that he could win the biggest race in cycling. This accusation hit my family especially hard. My father is one of the few people to actually watch cycling on TV. He enjoys biking himself, and follows the sport avidly. I must admit that while it did get tiring at some times, he has passed on a love of cycling to me, even if I don't watch races. I had grown up hearing about some of the greats like Eddy Merckx and Armstrong. Naturally my dad and I defended Armstrong at first. He was a hero. He had survived cancer and come back to win the most Tour de Frances ever. Unfortunately for us and cycling fans everywhere, Armstrong's interview on Oprah in which he admitted to taking banned substances was a crushing blow. It depresses me to think that such a great athlete achieved most of his success through shady ways. The fact that he defended himself for so long really made many people stick by him, but by his own admittance, it was "one big lie". The article in USA Today summarized the interview that aired on Thursday, in which he admitted to doping, told exactly what he took to boost his performance, why he cheated, and various reactions, including the one from Livestrong. Livestrong is the cancer support group that Armstrong started following his own recovery. Aside from all the negativity, Armstrong is making a step in the right direction by admitting to cheating. Even more important, at least to me, is that while he has made some major mistakes, he did survive cancer, and he has contributed a lot to the world by starting Livestrong, which has inspired many people to fight their own battles against the disease. In the end, what will matter most is what Lance Armstrong does with the rest of his life. If he agrees to talk under oath about the doping he did, he may be forgiven. If he is rude and uncooperative, he will go down as a fraud and a jerk. For the sake of cycling fans and cancer patients everywhere, I hope he makes the right decision.
http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/cycling/2013/01/17/lance-armstrong-oprah-winfrey-confession/1843641/

My Life

Me, Ben Reckmeyer

Sometimes, everyone can just blend in with the crowd, and finding individuality is difficult, if not impossible in some cases. Individuality should be something that each person should value beyond measure because it allows him or her to identify with himself or herself, and know their own self better. I am glad that I am different than other people, but not so much that I can’t relate to anyone. My life started out pretty normally. I was born in Bellevue Nebraska, and lived there until the end of the second grade. I attended St. Mary’s School, which is where my mom went to school when she was a kid. I had a pretty good life. When I was in Pre-K, I found out that I would be getting a sister. However, my sister wasn’t gotten in the conventional way. My mom and Dad flew over to China to adopt a baby girl. Having an adopted sibling is uncommon, but as far as sisters go, I’m glad I have her. Moving ahead to second grade, near the end of the year, I found out that my dad had gotten a new job. However, this job didn’t just come with a new office and a pay raise. My family packed up and took a nine hour plane ride to Germany. This was probably one of the best experiences of my lives, especially in culture. We traveled a lot on vacations to the majority of the European countries. We lived in a great house and I went to a great school. When we decided to move back in the middle of sixth grade, I was sad, but I was also ready to be back in the U.S. for my middle and high school years. I went back to St. Mary’s where almost all of my old friends still attended, as well as some new friends. I stayed at St. Mary’s until graduation, and still fondly remember my days there. My parents had decided on sending me to Creighton Prep, and I am really glad that they chose this school for me. Freshman year was challenging because nobody I had graduated with in 8^th grade went to Prep, but I survived, and even excelled. Sophomore year has been even better.  One of my favorite pastimes is music. It has always been a huge influence on my life since my Grandpa on my dad’s side has been conducting and playing music for over 55 years, and everyone on that side of the family plays some form of instrument. I played piano for a while, but I started playing clarinet in sixth grade in Germany, and did very well. When we moved back to Nebraska, I was involved in a few bands in my middle school years before settling on taking private lessons. When entering Prep I got into the varsity band, but I was challenged musically for the first time. Since picking up the pace in my practicing, I have managed to do well at the high school level too. I think I have had  pretty good life so far, and hopefully, it will just keep getting better.