Month: October 2016

Duo Don Juan reflects on their work together and hoping to release new music next summer.

Former English teacher Don Cooper and guitarist, singer, and songwriter John Dodge began their small band of two about three years ago They have been writing music together ever since.

Cooper admits it was hard to “shuck the robe of responsibility”. He didn’t believe he could make a living doing what he loved to do so he settled for something that would make him less than happy.

Now Cooper and Dodge are working on new songs and doing shows. They performed with Jackson Browne and James Taylor last summer in New York at the club Trax. Browne and Taylor have since been big supporters of the group.

“We love each other and we fight all the time,” Dodge explains. “That’s the way we work, It’s all ultimately positive…We’re writing quite a few, but it’s tough. But it’s worth it.”

They understand nobody settles for anything less than the best. The two squabble on the fine points and the creative tension builds as the group creates a new song.

Dodge claims they are recording this Spring. He says Don Juan hopes to have a product on the streets by the end of the summer.

Creepy clowns create chaos

All across the U.S., people are becoming more and more terrified to see people dressed as clowns.

To most, clowns are seen as people trying to bring happiness and joy  through balloon animals and funny faces. To others, it’s always scary to be near one. A freshman at Morningside College, Kasey Nelson, gave me her take on clowns: “I think they’re scary in general. The face paint and their hair makes them look creepy and unapproachable.”

Within the past couple weeks, though, everyone has been on the lookout for them, not wanting to cross paths with the white-faced, crazy-haired spooks.

From cornfields to the woods to walking the streets, people are dressing up as clowns, but it doesn’t stop there. Many of these clowns are found holding weapons such as knives.

A viral video of two teenaged boys getting chased through the woods by a clown holding a knife spread like wildfire through social media. But this isn’t the only incident that has been recorded.

More and more people are catching their encounters with these clowns on video. Whether or not these videos are genuine or just a group of kids trying to scare the internet, everyone is on edge.

Upon searching “clowns” on Twitter, there are hundreds of thousands of tweets and multiple “clown sighting” accounts tweeting where people have supposedly seen one of these suspicious clowns.

Morningside College’s head of security, Brett Lyons, sent out an email to all students, staff, and faculty late Monday night saying there were “calls of a 4 door car with 3 individuals in it driving around campus. One of the individuals was wearing a clown mask and trying to scare individuals on campus.”

In asking Lyons what he thought about this situation and what they intend to do, he explains, “We understand the students want extra protection and security around campus and we are doing everything we can. We always provide escorts around campus, especially at night if someone happens to be alone.”

Even with this extra security being put in place, walking alone at night seems more eerie than on a usual nightly stroll through campus.

Some students are staying cautious, always traveling in groups and some are utilizing the security escorts. Others aren’t too worried, “If I saw it was a student I’d probably just laugh,” jokes Morningside sophomore Lynsey Fuller. She continues, “But if it was someone actually trying to scare people, I’d scream and run away.”

Morningside College, along with everyone else, continues to be on the lookout for these creepy clowns creating chaos.

Morningside thumps Doane

Morningside overwhelms Doane

Both of these stories cover our football game played on Saturday, October 8th at Olsen Stadium against Doane. The main point of each of these stories was the fact that we were ranked #6 (due to a loss to #2 in Division III, Wisconsin-Whitewater) and beat #3 Doane a staggering 67-9.

The video story includes more background information on the two teams while the text story didn’t include any. They both start with the offense, highlighting key players and plays, such as quarterback Trent Solsma, connecting with receivers Tanner VerSteeg and Michael Whitehead.

One thing the text story includes is quotes from interviews with players and even Coach Ryan after the game. The video story didn’t have any.

Another thing the text story includes is defensive highlights. The video story doesn’t include any which curious to me because football both a huge offensive and defensive game.

The videos that the video story included aid in showing just how dominant the game was. You can tell everyone the yardage and stats, but seeing these numbers being executed is helpful in reiterating their main point.

The text story ends with the top highlight of the game for Doane whereas the video story doesn’t mention Doane. This is understandable, though, because it is a local television station and I think the people watching a t.v. wouldn’t care about the other team as much as someone who reads a printed article.

Morningside College professor meets wife on bus tour while living in Chile

Some call it fate, while others a coincidence…either way, a tour of wooden churches in Chile brought a Morningside College professor and his wife together.

Patrick Blaine teaches Spanish at Morningside College and has been traveling the globe since his college years at the University of Iowa.

Blaine has visited almost 20 different countries, his longest stay being in Chile where he lived from about 2000-2003.  He got the opportunity to be a translator and teacher which is one reason he stayed there for as long as he did.

Another reason being a girl. Not just any girl, but his then, future wife and now, current. Chile being a big tourist country, they have many different bus tours people are able to take. One particular day, Blaine wanted to go on one, but the certain one he wanted was full, so he opted for a tour of old, wooden churches. This is the tour that brought him to Monica.

Monica was born and raised in Chile, but Blaine being fluent in Spanish, could still easily communicate with her. The tour was somewhere around February 7th (Blaine admitted he couldn’t remember exactly) and they went on their first date on Valentine’s Day where they saw the movie “Unbreakable”. From there, the relationship took off.

Monica’s family was not always keen on the idea of her having a foreign boyfriend. Blaine explained that Latin American families are super close and bringing a foreigner into her life was no easy task.

Blaine included what some of her older, male relatives told him: “We’ll kill you and make it look like an accident.”  Her parents were cautious at first, but after so long, they realized his intentions were good and he wanted a lasting relationship with their daughter.

As for their life together now, they are living in Sioux City, Iowa with a nine-month old son, Sebastian. Monica is a licensed social worker that works with catholic charities around the community. Blaine admits that they have thought about moving to Chile so that Monica could be closer to her family, but all decisions are based on their kid. While moving there isn’t quite an option yet, they try to visit every three years to reconnect with her family.

Morningside College professor meets wife on bus tour while living in Chile

Patrick Blaine, a professor of Spanish at Morningside College, met his wife Monica while he was living in Chile. Blaine was supposed to go on a different tour that day, but instead opted for a bus tour of old, wooden churches. Blaine said it was definitely not his first choice, but a marriage and child came out because of his decision that day.