Guest post written by Ryan Killian
Prior to 9/11 one of the big issues in the United States was whether or not we should be getting involved in foreign affairs and taking military action. One such case was Somalia, where an unruly warlord had taken control and caused the starvation of thousands of people. In 1993, Bill Clinton decided to send troops in to take the warlord out. It did not go well. The planning was poor, the enemy was underestimated, and American lives were at stake in a foreign and reckless land. A movie was made about this event, which is called Black Hawk Down.
The movie is called Black Hawk Down because the trouble begins when a Black Hawk helicopter is shot down from the sky. This leaves several highly trained yet vulnerable Americans in the middle of a war zone where they’re the primary target. After watching this movie on Movies on Demand the other night, that I found on tvbydirect.com, I had a much greater appreciation for those who have to suffer through such intense and life-threatening situations. I can’t imagine having to go through what these soldiers went through. I felt myself out of breath several times throughout the movie.
Did the American soldiers survive? If you’re not familiar with this story, it’s highly recommended that you watch the movie Black Hawk Down. It’s not only entertaining, but highly educational in many ways.
Guest posting by Alex Parker
During this time of year, my favorite sport to watch is soccer. Soccer is a fast paced game where players show agility, skill, and aggressiveness in order to score a goal against an opponent. This year, I have been watching the World Cup on direcTV en espanol. because I love the Spanish commentators, they are just so passionate about the game and even though I have no idea what they’re saying I still love to listen. The World Cup is taking place this year in South Africa and teams throughout the entire world have been participating and competing against one another. My favorite team is the United States of America. The United States tied against England, tied against Slovenia, won against Algeria, and lost to Ghana. The series of games have been very exciting and I have anticipated them for a long time. The 2010 Fifa World Cup has been an entertaining event for all people who enjoy soccer. It has been remarkable to see people from cultures throughout the world unite in one area to show love for the game. It is also interesting to watch how competitive countries are against one another. This summer the World Cup has been an entertaining soccer competition to watch on television.
I’ve been a fan of baseball all my life. When I was younger and playing softball, I wanted nothing more than to be able to play with the boys. For some reason, baseball just seemed more fun to me. But alas, I had to settle for watching it on television. I don’t watch it that often anymore, but when I can catch one of my favorite teams games, I’ll usually sit down and watch most of it. Especially the World Series which, happily, I get to watch quite often since I’m a Yankees girl.
Now that I’m older and doing more traveling, I’ve started thinking more and more about starting to actually go to ball games. That’s where Ticket America comes in. I can browse for tickets online and not have to worry about getting to the stadium to find that they’re all sold out. You can even browse by team or by stadium. So of course I searched around and found some of the stadiums I’d like to visit.
Obviously Yankee Stadium is number one on my list. I’d kill to catch a couple Yankees games. Of course, if I’m in New York I’d also have to hit up Citi Field as well. I might not like the Mets as much, but they’re a New York team so why not check it out?
Then there are a couple fields that I’d like to visit just because they’re fields I hear about quite often and not necessarily because I like the teams. I want to visit Camden Yards just because when I was a young girl and trying to impress boys I was an Orioles fan for quite some time because the boy I liked was a fan. He was killed two years ago in a car crash and I think going there would be a nice little homage to him. The last field I want to see, based on reputation alone is Fenway Park, even though I absolutely HATE the Red Sox. Ideally I’d love to see Yankees at Red Sox there so my Yankees can kick their butts, but that’s just wishful thinking.
All I know is that when it comes time for me to make good on my idea of heading to baseball games, it’s sites like Ticket America that are going to make the entire process a million times easier!
July 4th, 2010 in
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July 4th, 2010 in
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Written by guest blogger Meredith Vanhousen.
After two failed marriages, I decided it was time to go it alone. The only thing I took from my ex-husband was a beat up old pair of his cowboy boots, not as a souvenir, but to put at my front door so that strangers who came knocking would think there was a man inside. A big mean cowboy.
I bought my house on a busy street so that if “the intruder” came I could run out and flag somebody down. I introduced myself to my neighbors and after getting the scoop on the ones who were nice, I told them I was alone and said I would appreciate them keeping an eye out when my car was gone. They agreed to if I would periodically take them cookies or beer to thank them.
I call my daughter before I go to sleep at night and in the morning when I get up. I sleep with my cell phone, a shrill whistle around my neck and a bat. I have a table next to my bed with a tablecloth over it so I can hide if I have time. I’m still paying for the divorce so I have to wait to activate the alarm equipment I had installed. I’m thinking I just ought to reconsider this living alone thing and take a leap of faith on a third husband, but then I break out in hives. And remind myself why I haven’t gotten a dog.
In about a month I’m going to be moving to Pittsburgh and with the big change is going to come a lot of decisions… One of the biggest being what kind of television am I going to end up with? Do I want to stick with cable or is it time to make the jump and switch over to satellite? But choosing the satellite option just opens up a whole other can of worms: what type of satellite should I get? I know there are a billion companies out there that portray themselves as the best satellite providers, but honestly when it comes down to it I think it’s going to be all about the money. And since directv comes with free satellite dish installation I do believe I might have to go with that. Plus, tons of my friends use directv and they all love it.
But, even then its only if I live in an area where they allow dishes. I know there are some apartments and such which won’t let you hook them up because of the potential damage they could cause. I just hope that I don’t end up in a place like that. Provided I don’t, I’m still going to do my research though and I won’t go with any company that doesn’t follow the government rules for installing a dish. The last thing I need is to get screwed over in my lease for whatever apartment I get because the company has don’t shoddy work or caused damage. But I’m overly critical when it comes to doing things like this so I’m assuming that I’ll be just fine. I have to be, since I don’t particularly want to have to look for a new place so soon after I’ve just moved in…
June 27th, 2010 in
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I haven’t been camping in forever… Not since I was seven or eight. But lately everyone I know seems to want to go and rough it in the woods. More and more it’s sounding like a good idea! I might be somewhat of a girly-girl, but I love hiking and exploring new areas, so I think camping is a great idea for something to do one of these weekends.
And I mean real camping. Like… Tent, making your own fire, and using the woods as a bathroom camping. I never really got how people who own those rv motorhomes can say that they’re camping. It’s like driving a hotel room out into the woods… Where’s the challenge in that? I think that if you’re going to go camping, you might as well do it right and rough it 100%. If you don’t, then you weren’t really camping… At least not in my opinion.
Not that I’d mind renting a motorhome someday… They always look so awesome and I’d love to drive across the country with one like my aunt and uncle did a few years back. They said the whole trip was amazing and wanted to do it again, but unfortunately my uncle died before it was possible. Ever since they did it, it has been a dream of mine to do the same… Someday!
