Isy Rivers Blog

Movie Commentary: Three Stooges

2012-04-15T13:40:00.000-05:00

Thought I would experiment with different kinds of blog posts to try to shake things up. I will try to review or commentate about movies. Don't always get to see a lot of movies but I try. For the first movie on the lineup: The Three Stooges movie.

The movie follows The Stooges through their lives at key points in their lives at the orphanage through adulthood. The ultimate mission in the movie is to raise enough money to save the orphanage. Three divisions are made in the movie. Early years, conflict of raising money and separation, and resolving all of these ends. It was a well constructed movie with the MacGuffin of trying to safe the orphanage but kinda seems like a common Three Stooge plot element. Ever play the Nintendo game?

Mostly the movie seems like a vehicle to modernize the Stooges. It's pretty much the same stuff that you would see in the old shorts but with elements of modern day. It starts really strong in the beginning with the laughs. About the half way to two-thirds seem to dry out with some of the laughs. There is a typical buddy film break up. The break up seems non-characteristic for the Stooges. Having watched the original series of shorts (Watching a short now as I write this.) , not really a believable element for me.

See the Jersey Shore crew beat up on by Moe is pretty great. Overall I think it works as a movie for a few laughs. It does have an extra clip right after the movie that explains how the gags work. Later in the credits there is a little extra in the form of extras and music video kinda thing.

I think I'm always a little rough on movies at first. Sometimes they just have to sink in before I can either appreciate a film. Then again I can say I've seen them and can move on. Having given it a few hours, I don't think it'll be a classic but interesting attempt.

KDHX Membership Drive

2012-04-09T15:27:00.000-05:00

The KDHX Spring 2012 Membership drive has completed. Pretty stellar that the station raised 101% at the time of this writing. It's pretty neat that I was one of the phone volunteers and helped make that happen. I helped make part of that goal happen. Yes, I do have a few bucks in there too. Keep listening folks. Lots of great stuff coming up. Get a sticker from me if you see me on one of the many KDHX events. Don't guarantee I'll be at all of them but I will make what I can.

I have thrown boomerangs in the station using what I could find in the station. Not sure if it's a first or anything but I'd probably say it was. New members are not calling full time, so got to fill the time in interesting ways during the down time.

KDHX Concert Series with Guster

2012-04-05T09:58:00.001-05:00

Volunteering at a radio station has it's perks. Got to usher and see Guster with Golden Bloom as the opening act at the Sheldon Concert Hall over in St. Louis, MO. It was a good show. Lots of energy flowing with the band and the crowd. Great random funny stories. There was even great art. Michael Landon holding a squid. Whoa. There was even a Demon fire drill where the fellas had to play an instrument they were not familiar with. It was funny. You should give these guys a listen sometime.

Three out of four is not bad....

2012-03-31T21:59:00.001-05:00

Busy day for March 31, 2012.... Started at 7:15am with a Kiwanis Blood Drive. Got the room all set up and situated for the drive. Food table was stocked with snacks, food, and coffee. The problem was that the supply truck for the Red Cross never showed up. GRRRRR. Don't know the details of what happened yet but I will let you know when I find out. Early April Fools Joke?

Next up Toastmasters Division 6 contest. Got to be the Sergeant at Arms and Ballot counter. Escorted contestants to the sound proof booth and preparation areas. Interesting experience for doing both duties for the first time for the Toastmasters at a contest. The after contest hang out was cool at the IHOP too. Tasty.

Also helping KDHX with their phone drive to collect funds for the station. It's a 10 day process biannually. It's a great station. Member supported. They can play pretty much anything, as long as it complies with the rules of broadcasting stuff. You should give it a listen. I'd bet there is something there for you, if you give it a sufficiently long listen.

Three out of four events that happened successfully is not bad at all.

Change The World

2012-03-30T13:55:00.001-05:00

Changing the world is not as hard as it seems. It does not matter if you're the small fish in the pond or the top dog. We can all do things that can have an impact on the world. It can be the little thing such as picking up a piece of litter. The little things count even if no one is around to observe it. You can make a different.

The cool stuff I'm doing, you can do to. You can have the influence over your world. You can be the person behind the scenes too. It does not have to start out as some big thing that you have to organize. There are organizations out there that are out to improve situations of the community and the world. The Kiwanis, Rotary, or United Way are all great places to start out volunteering and making a difference. Alternatively if you feel shy and reluctant to meet up with new strange people you can work on it with the Toastmasters.

Anyway's I'm going to be at the KDHX radio station tonight (7p to 9p) and tomorrow (5pm to 7pm). Give me a call and support a great radio station. The number is 314-664-3688.

FIRST Robotics Regional March 2012

2012-03-27T09:18:00.000-05:00

This past weekend the FIRST Robotics Regional competition were held this past weekend (March 22 - 24, 2012). It is a neat event. This years goal for the FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC) is the Rebound Rumble, where teams are tasked with collecting and shooting foam basketballs into basketball hoops. The first day had more cooperation on some of the bridges. It got more interesting as the day progressed and bugs got worked out of the robots. The second day really got good. Robots were tweaked and got better in time. Scores evened out between the red and blue teams. There were many more rounds where there were higher scores of 50+ points for teams. The final rounds really got good with really good shooting and balancing on bridges. Teams really got aggressive on defense and attempting to get three bots on the balancing bridges. Lots of robot tipping as well.

It is a neat even to volunteer for. Sign up to volunteer for them if you get a chance at www.usfirst.org

Edit (4/15/2012):
Finally got around to emptying the camera. Photos are below of some of the neat stuff going on.

Volunteer season should be ramping up for 2012.

Great concert at Sheldon Concert Hall with Hayes Carll

2012-03-19T10:54:00.001-05:00

Got to hang out at the Sheldon Concert Hall with KDHX on March 18, 2012. Neat show. Got to see Hayes Carll and the opening act of Honey Honey. Not a bad gig to put in a few hours of work for a show with awesome music. There were funny stories, great music, and great people.

Should be an interesting start to the volunteering season. Coming up next weekend is the FIRST Robotics Regional completion. The following weekend of March 31, 2012 there is going to be a Kiwanis Blood Drive at the Public Safety Building in O'Fallon, from 9am to 1pm. I then run over to the Toastmasters Regional Contest later that afternoon and a KDHX phone drive. Looking forward to the madness.

Slow Winter...or not.

2012-03-10T21:09:00.001-06:00

Winter time is the slow time of the year. There is not much that goes on. I did manage help out KDHX with a few concerts at the Sheldon. The specific shows were Jay Farrar show and the Todd Snider show. Volunteering is cool. Some times you get to be behind the scenes and see stuff not many people get to see. I didn't see a large part of the Sheldon Concert Hall but I've seen more than most. KDHX membership drive is coming up again. Seems like it was only a few months since the last one in October. If you would like to send in a few bucks, it wold be appreciated.

Also helped out the O'Fallon Kiwanis a few times in the last few months. There was the Salvation Army Bell Ringing in December. Recently we has spaghetti dinner. It was good as always. Don't know how we did by the numbers though.

I am also a fully trained secretary by the Toastmasters. Kinda sucks that I've been out of service since mid-December. Life of a student but I am only 4 classes away from a Masters in Information Technology Management. I am on a mission to document all of these experiences. I've got 87 hours between August and December for 2011 and I want to beat that this year.

And I have moved this blog over to blogger. Figure I'd try it out for a while.

Strange Folk Festival 2011

2011-09-27T07:05:00.000-05:00

Another volunteer opportunity in the can from the Strange Folk Festival. Lots of interesting art and Strange People. Got to hangout backstage of the music and help with the setup of bands. Watched over booths for an artist and sold a few pieces of art in the process. Even helped out KDHX on the street team. Gave away CDs, stickers, temporary tattoos, and a few t-shirts.

There is a certain aspect to these events that really draw me in. It hits a nerve just right where I think I am almost maximally optimal. Being in the moment, making things happen. Its this idea that is where I think a part of my ISTP mindset just comes alive. Need to figure a way to possibly monetize this idea that I like being part of the action hands on. There is the short term purpose that drives me there but I get to walk away and do something different at the end of the day or the next weekend. Really like the hands on aspect of these events,the chance to see some cool "stuff" (not really always stuff but could be ideas or a neat product or food). The people, they are always pretty cool at these events and always out to make the event really work out.

It's all just a really neat adventure at these events. I've really only just started.

On a side note, let me know you're out there and post a comment about something or a question.

More volunteer opportunities....

2011-09-17T18:41:00.000-05:00

This past weekend I gave blood for the O'Fallon Kiwanis and worked at the local homecoming. Prior weekend I was at Off Broadway giving away stickers for KDHX and at Wingsfest in Fairview Heights. All very cool events and lots of opportunities to meet lots of interesting people, interesting music, behind the scenes, and I love this stuff. Just being involved doing thing to bring people together.

With all of these people coming together and organizations that need more members, there could be unlimited possibilities for cooperation. If we could only step outside our boundaries and reach out to others. Events that need more volunteers. Getting a group of people that come alone instead of coming out in groups.

What if instead of focusing on a particular area, an organization(s) over an area teams up and work on the area. We scratch your area and we scratch our area. Not just one town but many more. A team up of sorts. Organizations can reach out to other organizations to utilize the unique skill sets and missions. Toastmasters that emcee a Kiwanis auction or local concert. Some weird skill set of two or more organizations that improve the whole. There are hand full of organizations over a single town that have similar purpose but don't interact with each other but each struggle with membership and getting new ideas.

What if you needed more members only required opening up to more people? Truly building a stronger community by sharing and combining forces. Utilizing talents that we can all provide in our unique way. I'm one guy dedicated to being more open to my area. Using all the skill I've learned to pay it all forward. I can't do it alone but I can sure try.

In a nutshell what I am saying is that: if you want an community presence have a presence in your community. It doesn't have to be anything expensive but people just have to step out.

Salute to the Arts Weekend

2011-08-29T17:14:00.000-05:00

Busy weekend this past weekend. (Aug 25 - 28, 2011) The 25th was a setup day just setting up tables chairs, pulling electrical chord for artists, and just making the location look awesome. Went really quick but I didn't get their till 2pm. Only put in 4 hours that day.

I had to get to prior obligations to the O'Fallon Toastmasters and the humorous speech/table topics contest. I did place in both categories. Won myself a few gift cards. Think the system could be tweaked a bit but that's is a matter to bring up with the group specifically.

Anyway...Saturday (Aug 27) for the Salute to the Arts, I was helping the Fairview Heights, Illinois Kiwanis setup their ice cream booth and photo booth. Think it went pretty well throughout the day but the crowd seemed small outside the main event.

Sunday (Aug 28) was a Salute day once again. Helped out some of the artists with breaks and beverages. Watched their pieces as they took off for whatever. Followed though to also tear down the event. Consolidated the tables, chairs, plants, any rental equipment. Helped the musicians a bit to move their equipment.

All in all a good weekend, glad it wasn't raining like it was for the Art On The Square (Art On The Square Post). Weather started warm and in the mid 90's for the first few days but got down to mid 80's for the later days of the event.

Link to the event for future reference Midwest Salute to the Arts. Don't mind the erroneous title it does still say "Midwest Salute To The Masters", it has been brought to their attention for correction.

Boomerang Madness

2011-08-22T17:07:00.000-05:00

Just got back from a 13 day trip of throwing boomerangs a few weeks ago. July 30 and 31 there was the 32nd annual Free Throwers tournament and the 2011 NALDO. August 4 - 7 was the 2011 US Boomerang Nationals. I didn't do to bad but I wasn't exactly in the top 10 either. It's so much fun to be at these events. There are lots of great people with a common passion for throwing boomerangs.

Boomerangs are complicated things. You can never create the same boomerang twice. Little differences in the blades will determine how the lift gets generated. The weight on the tips will also determine how the boomerang gyroscopic precession will turn the boomerang. Tip weight further back will try to keep the boomerang upright longer and moved forward will cause the lower half to precess upwards. This is the difference between a fast catch and a trick catch boomerang.

It really is a sport where anyone can throw from 8 to 98. If you can throw something you can throw a boomerang. Much to learn about life in boomerang throwing. You can aim and throw perfect but still be thrown off by things out of your control (i.e. wind, temperature, humidity, atmosphere). Or you will never know the full potential of a boomerang till you throw it. Good things are coming back. Throw sticks, not stones. Boom to live, live to boom.

It’s been a busy June… Part 2

2011-06-30T05:00:00.000-05:00

This month I got elected to be secretary of my Toastmasters club. I got to go to the Toastmasters Leadership Institute (TLI) and learn about what I would be doing for the secretary position. Just for giggles and grins I attended the building club spirit and what to do for Sergent At Arms positions. They did mention that the trainers would be on the same page for this years TLI and it showed.

For the secretary position and Sergent At Arms position they covered some of the what you will be doing and some details about the Leadership Opportunities. Some of the leadership opportunities included setting realistic and attainable goals, planning, delegation, monitoring progress, and coaching team members as necessary. Their was also more depth in covering how to motivate, delegate, barriers of delegation, and how to coach.

Building club spirit wise was interesting because it covered aspects of how to make things interesting for people. It covered elements of how to keep people motivated to accomplish their goals. Some elements of building or keeping team spirit include: first impressions, teamwork, traditions, celebrations/socialization, or progress. All of these elements hopefully will keep the group motivated to continue accomplishing their goals that brought them to Toastmasters.

Isaac

It's been a busy June... Part 1

2011-06-29T05:06:00.000-05:00

I've been taking summer classes this summer. One of the classes met three days a week for three hours for 5 weeks. It was a public relations visual communications class. Interesting, dense, and moved quick. Think I learned a lot about analyzing visual communications and got some insight of the historical perspective of it all. It's done now.

Still have five weeks of learning about Oracle Database management. Meets up one day a week for four and a half hours. Not bad but it can be a long day.

As for the weekends it started with the Wine, Dine, and Jazz on June 10, 11, and 12. Did a lot for them. Started on the 10th with setting up canopies for some of the food vendors. There was a lot of sand bag moving but it paid off. Got to explore one of the basements one of the old buildings that are in Belleville, IL, it was a dark musty basement. Part of the reason I like volunteering is the chance to explore things you wouldn't normally see on a day to day basis. Also help sort sponsor ads to prepare the folks the next day to set up.

The second day (11th), I got water into coolers. I also got to be the parking assistant for the bands. The bands had to park and unload their equipment somewhere and I was the guy that help them out getting their stuff out near the stage. Got to hang out backstage and pass water up to the bands.

When that portion was done I got to help sell some wine tokens. Got to feed the people handling people but I also got to sell a few tokens to the crowds. Also rearranged some of the wine glasses that were being sold. After the festivities I helped move stuff inside for the night like the wine glasses and papers.

After all of that was done some of us got to hang out and get a few beers while we waited for the storms to roll in. The winds were pretty bad. Some of the canopies were thrown pretty far. Helped out with some of the storm cleanup in preparation for the workers that were going to hang out that morning and reset all the canopies and umbrellas that were knocked over.

On the 12th, the city and Mayor Eckert had some of his city teams out resetting all of the tables and canopies. I helped pull the wine glasses, event papers, more sponsor ads, and more water. Reset some of the sponsor ads. Went back to parking and band assistant. Got to sample some of the awesome bbq and wines. After the event shut down we tore down all of the canopies and moved buckets and sand back to the trailers. Moved picnic tables. Helped tear down the stage and move some of the band equipment.

The following morning me and a few others put the last of the umbrellas, buckets, stands, tables, ads, and poles back into the trailers. We moved water to its final resting place for the next event. We loaded all of the leftover glasses into vehicles for storage elsewhere. I moved event art into the Art On The Square Building. Basically cleaned up after the event.

Overall it was a pretty neat event. The Wine, Dine, and Jazz event and Art On The Square Events were both very neat events.

Art On The Square May 13-15, 2011

2011-05-15T07:44:00.000-05:00

Helped out with this years Art In The Square in Belleville, IL. It was an interesting experience. Worked at the event three of the four days. The 12th, 13th, and 14th. The 12 was a Thursday and I helped set up canopies with windbreakers. Moved sandbags to weight them down, Set up flags for sponsor tents.

On the 13th, I moved more sandbags to weight down umbrella stands and umbrellas. Rearranged a few canopies and set up a few of the smaller stages. I also got to vote in the High School Art Fair that was being held at the event.

The last day of the event on the 14th we tore down all of the canopies, removed the covers, and loaded poles into trailers. We put the covers into the abandoned Meridith home to dry out.

Only bad part about the weekend was that it was raining and was cold. All of the artists and volunteers stuck it out. The event still hit it's target amount for the event.

Sound pretty dull but it is the nut shell of what I did at the event. I thought it was interesting. Got to work on several teams that hauled butt to get all of this done in the span of several hours.

Toastmasters 5 down, 5 to go for CC.

2011-05-05T10:04:00.000-05:00

Not like the dropped buttered bread that lands butter side up kind of thing but the international organization that facilitates better communication and leadership.

Just wrapped up giving my 5th speech out of the Competent Communicator book for the local O'Fallon, Il Toastmasters club. It’s the “Your Body Speaks” speech, where body language is emphasized. The topic was about the F.I.R.S.T robotics organization, the championships that they held this past weekend (April 27-30), the various competition levels involved, and how I volunteered at the event on Saturday. Did get the best speech award but it’s just not as significant if you’re the only speaker. That’s the way it goes sometimes. As Toastmasters, you will learn to adapt in those situations.

For the most part, I just need to stop swaying. If I can get past that I think I could potentially be a great speaker. Any tips or video equipment would be helpful, probably. I do get kinda nervous but I do feel kinda comfortable. Mostly depends on what I am presenting. The swaying could just be an internal level of nervousness but could somehow also be subconscious.

Just pondering my next speech. Number 6 Vocal Variety. Don’t really have any initial idea. I have been reading though http://sixminutes.dlugan.com/ for inspiration and perspiration. Some good ideas their for inspiration and a place for advice from people that have already done it but are in the same ball park.

Toastmasters is a neat organization for anyone wanting to improve verbal communication and/or leadership skills.

Interesting Weekend @ F.I.R.S.T. Robitics Competition

2011-05-01T10:05:00.000-05:00

April 29, 2011: USFirst.org Robotics Championships 2011 @ Edwards Jones Dome in St. Louis, MO.
Got to escort teams of kid and coaches (between first and third grade) between their presentation table to their review session at their designated times. Assisted in judging by running tallies between the main area and the judging area. Helped create award certificates for the final presentation. Kept things running smoothly to accomplish everything from sign in to awards within a 4 hour window. Also assisted with the presentation of the medals for all of the children that participated in the event. Their were 29 teams from 11 states that were involved in the events for JFLL.

It was interesting. Their are 4 levels of competition. JFLL, FLL, FTC, FRC.JFLL (Junior FIRST Lego League) involves kids in grades K - 3 and has kids do research on some chosen topic area. The teams then select some topic within that topic area, do research, and build a lego model. This year's topic was "Body Forward" All topics for JFLL and FLL were related to the body.

FLL (FIRST Lego League) is geared to grades 4-8. This team get to build robots out of lego robotics kits. All geared towards completing some basic missions relating to the topic. Some missions might include having a robot place a band aid on a patient or retrieving a syringe or mending a fake bone.

FTC (FIRST Tech Challenge) is geared towards kids in grades 9-12. These kids get to build robots that run though an obstacle course and complete some assigned tasks.

FRC (FIRST Robotics Competition) is also geared to kids in grades 9-12. Here kids completed one of 2 possible types of robot competitions. One competition involves getting large inner tubes on hooks 12 feet in the air. Their is also a side mission of having to get a little robot up a pole the quickest. The other big competition is an areal act of building a flying robot that is controllable enough to land on various platforms. Ground robots will also try to gather and shoot balls into a box.