Off The Record

I haven’t blogged in a while, and many things have occurred in the past month that I would like to write about. So instead of numerous posts that could simply go on and on, I decided to make a package of random thoughts.

Bemidji

The wife and I have moved to Bemidji, where I have been hired as a reporter/copy editor for the Bemidji Pioneer. The job is going great, and I have gotten the chance to write some stories that I never imagined I would get to.

One story was about John Thavis, a retired journalist who lives in Bemidji who covered the Vatican for about three decades. He is a very interesting guy and had some great stories to share. He was in Rome promoting his new book when Benedict XVI resigned as pope.

I wrote the story and strangely enough the day it was to going to go into print also happened to be when the new pope was introduced. So I re-wrote the beginning of the story, and it was packaged with the new pope story in the Pioneer and also in my former paper, the Daily Globe (both are owned by the same parent company). I also wrote a reaction story for the issue as well. And I have never written a story on religion or religious affairs in my life.

The Return of David Bowie

I’m not a huge fan of David Bowie. I own “Ziggy Stardust” and the “I’m afraid of Americans” single which contains remixes by Nine Inch Nails. I have heard most of his albums from a decade of working in record stores. I have enjoyed them, but I never really got into his music like I have with other artists.

It was on the basis on some of my friends on Facebook posting about how great his new album that I decided to listen to “The Next Day” on Spotify. And I am impressed.

The album is interesting, funky and great. After being silent and not putting anything out for about a decade (his material in the ’90s and early ’00s did not interest me for the most part), Bowie has returned with an album I personally think is one of his best. From the first rack to the final, it is already a contender for making my “favorite albums of the year” list.

‘Star Wars’

I already wrote my initial reaction to the news that we, the people, are about to be bombarded with news “Star Wars” films. I was glad to hear that J.J. Abrams will direct the new one (not sure if he will do all three of the next chapters). His rebooting “Star Trek” was amazing. I actually enjoyed watching a “Star Trek” anything, rather than be annoyed by the franchise.

Rumors that Harrison Ford, Mark Hamill and Carrie Fisher will return to their iconic roles. It would be cool to see. But I am skeptical after seeing the first 5 minutes of the last “Indiana Jones” film and turning it off because it was horrible. Sometimes we just don’t need our childhood character icons to comeback. If they can keep George Lucas from these films, they may be great. We will just have to wait and see.

There are more things to write about, but I’ll save them for later. I’ll try to post more often, hopefully on a weekly basis.

When “Seinfeld” came out in the early ’90s, it re-wrote the rules on how viewers react to characters. Having rewatched the series with a fresh pair of eyes last year, I saw just how revolutionary this show was. Sure, it had hilarious jokes that people in offices and workplaces all over still quote. But it set a template that other shows have used since in varying forms of success.

Basically, not only was it a show about nothing, but it also was a show which the main characters are horrible people. They are narcissistic, self-involved and care little, if any, of anyone else. They were truly horrible people. Sure, they were funny, but they would be people most would hate if they ever met them in a real life scenario.

And I think the crucial aspect of this design was co-creator Larry David. It was like he used “Seinfeld” as a personal justification for all the crazy things he actually did in real life. The characters, especially early on, all seem like psychological extensions of David’s persona, even Jerry Seinfeld himself on the show. I picked this up after not watching “Seinfeld” since it aired. I am a huge fan of David’s HBO program “Curb Your Enthusiasm” and after watching that, it was clear to me the characters were all somewhat a “Larry David.”

And that angst and anger, cleverly masked with hilarious stories and dialogue, is what made this show stand out. Before this, sitcoms usually had one jerk in the cast. The rest was a family or a group of friends who help each other through conflicts.

Not here. These characters only help one another when there is something to gain. Which usually there was for plot sake. If you think about it, there are no redeeming qualities in Jerry, George, Elaine and Kramer.

And I think that is what made the show as popular as it was. Nothing like that had really worked before, but “Seinfeld” came at a time when angst was on the rise, especially among younger viewers. They could relate to ripping on their friends without apology. It came after a decade of “Cheers,” where the characters pretty much all got along and so forth.

I also think, after speaking with people, that there is this weird rivalry between fans of “Seinfeld” and fans of “Friends.” I certainly in the former camps, seeing that I find “Friends” as unwatchable. I see the appeal, but I also see the appeal to modern pop music. It’s there but not very interesting.

What David and Seinfeld laid out was a new model for programs. Get rid of the cute, friendly, safe scenarios and replace it with bizarre, cynical and risky content.

And shows like “It’s Always Sunny,” “The League,” “Arrested Development” and “Community” all took note of this formula. Some have been more successful than others at it, but they stand out a little more than most programs.

Growing up, there was a place kids could go to waste money on mind-numbing entertainment. The arcade was a great place for lazy little fat kids like myself to unload our allowance for the week on video games at a place that was not our home.

Those were the days. We had Nintendo, the 8-Bit gaming system that was limited to Mario punching bricks and eating mushrooms to fight turtles, dragons and sea creatures. To play more complex games, we had to go to an arcade, be it a creepy Chuck-E-Cheese or one in a mall somewhere, which was even more creepy, dingy and usually run by a sweaty old man with too much hair on his knuckles. That man’s creepiness rivaled the animatronic woodland creature band at Chuck-E-Cheese.

There were co-op games like “X-Men” and “The Simpsons” that allowed us kids to learn to work together as a team to achieve a common goal. Or to stomp on our friends’ feet to divert their attention so we could get a higher score than they.

Then there were the fighting games like “Street Fighter” and “Mortal Kombat.” The latter stole the thunder of the former because, well, the graphic violence was taboo and controversial at the time. The early ’90s were not that different from today, with people blaming violent videogames for a lot of ills in our society. And there may be some truth to that, but from my experience, I know of no one personally who went insane from games. As an aside, if someone is mentally ill, games such as these probably do not help.

“Mortal Kombat” sticks out because I spent way too much money on the franchise. Heck, I even bought the latest version for my X-Box 360 last year. But in the arcade days, this game was king for three installments.

It was a rock star for arcade games. Lines of 10 to 20 people waiting for their chance to play a round were not uncommon. You had to be really good to play more than one round. I mean, the kids who were really good were videogame ninjas, pulling out moves that to this day baffle the mind.

Was I one of the greats of this game? No, I was terrible in comparison. Sure, I had moments of glory of bashing buttons in such a randomly clever way as to win from time to time, but they were few and far between.

But what happened to the arcade? One day it is raking in huge profits, then it they were slowly vanishing like Marty McFly’s family in “Back to the Future.”

I think the obvious reason was home gaming systems became as advanced as arcade machines. Specifically, the first PlayStation. People could play high quality arcade games from the comfort of their own home. I know that is what happened to me. I could save myself the embarrassment of being horrible at games I enjoy by staying home.

Then as I got older, these places pretty much went out. At the time I didn’t really care, because I had discovered Pink Floyd, Black Sabbath and Nine Inch Nails and music became my number one priority. These days, I balance my entertainment media fairly evenly.

But when I do come across an arcade, it’s like seeing through a time window. They look foreign and strange, but I can’t help but plop in some quarters and amuse myself for an hour or so.

Gina introduced me a cool bar/arcade when we visit Phillip, S.D. every now and then. I’ll stick to pinball mostly, because though many of my skills have gotten better over time, I have come to the realization I will never be great at videogames, especially in the arcade. But having fun is the key.

I just finished Neil Young’s autobiography/memoir collection, “Waging Heavy Peace.” Like everything the rock legend has produced, even his book is a hit-and-miss affair.

As a big fan of Young’s music, I went into this book with a lot of knowledge of his career. This book has many references a lot of casual fans will probably miss. I would recommend “Shaky: The Official Biography of Neil Young” to read first before launching into Young’s rambling, heartfelt accounts. Because Young certainly recalls things from his past differently from what some who were interviewed in “Shaky” do. One example of this is the rocky friendship he had with former band mate Stephen Stills. In Young’s account, the two got along wonderfully. In “Shaky,” friends and members of Buffalo Springfield and CSNY repeatedly discuss the rivalry between the two in both groups over control.

What is endearing about “Waging Heavy Peace” is Young’s ability, over time, to come to terms with his past behavior, thanking those who helped along the way and avoiding mudslinging (sans his rants against Geffen Records when he signed to the label in the ’80s).

I did not go into this book expecting him to give detailed accounts of the highs and lows of his life. The book reads as if he were sitting next to you and telling stories of his past and present. It pretty much reads like a Neil Young album sounds.

There are a few major themes in this book: his family, his friends who have passed away, Crazy Horse, cars, trains and PureTone/Pono (his high quality streaming music venture). The music quality aspect does get unnerving because it seemingly pops into his brain all the time. He could be writing a chapter on making some album, then suddenly he goes on some tangent on how music doesn’t sound as good as it used to. Insightful at first, but gets annoying quite quickly.

There are some interesting nuggets in the book as well. He once tried to help cult leader/killer Charles Manson a record contract in the ’60s. He tried to reach out to Nirvana’s Kurt Cobain around the time of his suicide. Perhaps interesting to me (from a journalism point of view) is his distaste for reporters. He has been burned by reporters quite a bit, most notable was a couple of Associated Press reporters who ragged on President Reagan to Young in the ’80s so much that he ended up defending the president. Then they labeled him as a staunch Reagan supporter. That apparently still miffs him to this day.

But overall, this was an entertaining read. It gives the reader a slight glimpse into the thought process of one of rock n roll’s most enduring artists.

Well, it has been a good run. For more than two years I have been the night editor at the Daily Globe, designing the news section pages, reporting occasionally, doing some photography — basically just about a little bit of everything for a journalist. The experience was incredible.
But times change, and I will be moving on to be a general assignment reporter for the Fergus Falls Daily Journal. It will be quite the lifestyle change for me. Waking up to be at work at 8 a.m. will be a little tough after two years of working night shifts.
This decision was not an easy one. My wife, Gina, and I have met some incredible people here over the years, and it’s never easy to have to say goodbye.
We both want to thank everyone we know for all the good times we had. There are a lot of great people in Worthington, and we are going to miss them.
I will miss my co-workers here at the Globe. I remember moving down here from St. Cloud in September 2010. I was moving alone and was broke (I had been freelancing for The St. Cloud Times and working at a record store, so I did not have a lot of money), and Gina had to finish her time working up in St. Cloud for another two weeks. The whole time I was wondering, “Am I crazy to be moving three hours away from home?” But the people here were great to me from the start.  I would like to thank Managing Editor Ryan McGaughey and now Community Content Coordinator (former Sports Editor) Aaron Hagen for making my first few weeks here a little less unnerving.
During my time at the Globe, I’ve had some great experiences both professionally and personally. Hey, I got married to the love of my life; that was pretty great. For the wedding, we even had Mr. Hagen and former Globe Sports Reporter (and Australian Football enthusiast) Daniel Kerwin attend.
Professionally, I got to write stories on some interesting people.
My bylines usually were in the special sections like Spring Builders and Car Care, but my journalistic triumph so far was heading to Sibley, Iowa, to cover a Michelle Bachmann presidential campaign stop.
There are many reasons I’ll always remember this wacky story (I say wacky because it was the most surreal event I’ve ever attended, and I’ve been to concerts of bands like Phish, Roger Waters and Rage Against The Machine).
The first reason was that Bachmann was my representative when I lived in St. Cloud. So having a somewhat local “celebrity” from my hometown  in the Globe’s coverage area was weird.
Secondly, Bachmann is super nice in person and said the craziest things I’ve ever heard come from a politician’s mouth. Her crazy rants wrote the story for me.
Thirdly, I now know that Hunter S. Thompson’s depictions of the presidential campaign trail in “Fear and Loathing On The Campaign Trail: ’72” was not that far off base in how strange these events actually are.
But all my stories were important to me. I got to meet and share the stories of many people in the community. And every person I did interviews with were nice and accommodating.
And now I must thank everyone at the Globe, especially the newsroom (both current and former) staff who made the past two years great for me. You all helped me out when I needed help on things. I think as a team, we have made the Daily Globe look and read great for the people.
I would also like to thank the Daily Globe for taking a chance on hiring a guy like me, who wrote some weird stories and columns in my college paper, The Chronicle. Considering if you Google my name, there is a whole thread of hate messages about something I wrote about skateboards years ago.
But it’s been a great ride. Election nights were frenzied and fun. Breaking news nights were frustrating and fun in a weird way (changing everything at the last minute is not an easy task). I remember when bin Laden was killed. Wow! That was almost a “Stop The Presses!” moment for me. And there have been many other late-night instances where breaking news came along. It’s a weird rush to do everything you worked all day all over again within minutes of a deadline.
So, thank you Worthington and the Globe, it’s been quite the ride.
Gina and I will miss all of you.

P..S. I will continue my screeds here at offtherecordglobe@areavoices.com.

Since I moved to Worthington two years ago, I have not stayed in contact with many of my friends and family from St. Cloud and Minneapolis. This is due to distance and a lot of my friends scattering around the country after college.
But there has been one thing that has kept me somewhat in contact with these people — the game “Words With Friends” that I play on my phone.
For the most part, it’s fun to chat and play this game with various friends.
But when my older brother, Jason, and I started playing this past summer, our much-buried sibling rivalry emerged in a passive- aggressive ,digital way.
It is an interesting rivalry. My brother has been a great “Scrabble” player (which is basically what “Words With Friends” is) for as long as I’ve known him. That is his advantage.
My advantage is that my job is to read and write every day, so I’m privy to words a lot of people probably do not use in casual, every-day conversations. (For instance, I love dropping the word “Tzar” on people because I can normally make that a 30-plus point word.)
At first, my brother and I were casual opponents, but something changed in the past few months.
Our victories, either his or mine, are usually crushing. Our games usually result in both of us raking up well over 300 to 400 points each.
And it went from one or two plays a day to consuming my time before work and after work.
As I wait to pick Gina up from work at 2 a.m., I spend a good couple of hours with my phone charging and playing my brother. We do chat a little while we play, but mostly we are just playing this game obsessively on our phones.
We have always been pretty competitive, but “Words With Friends” has brought out something more in our competitiveness. When I win, I’m like a football fan whose team has just won the Super Bowl.
Yet, I’m not like this when I play against anyone else. I guess things are different when it comes to competing with family.