The Godfather of Fitness

Jack Lalanne is a true inspiration. He was born on September 26, 1914 in San Fransisco, CA. At a young age, Jack became a pioneer in health and fitness and he devoted his life to it. He had a mission to "help people to help themselves feel better, look better, and live longer". Jack had designed numerous fitness products such as the first as exercise machines using pulley's and his famous Power Juicer. Jack is known for completing incredible feats throughout his life. Just to name a few, he has: Set a world record of 1,033 pushups in 23 minutes on You Asked for It, a TV Show with Art Baker (age 42 in 1956); Swam from Alcatraz Island to Fisherman’s Wharf, for a second time handcuffed, shackled and towing a 1,000-pound boat (age 60 in 1974); And towed 10 boats in North Miami, Florida filled with 77 people for over a mile in less than 1 hour (age 66 in 1980). (builtlean.com)
I'm not a fitness freak, but Jack has showed me that taking care of your body really is important. He lived to be 96 (he passed away in January 2011) and he was extremely healthy, even for his old age. With his quote, “Exercise is king, nutrition is queen, put them together and you have a kingdom!” he really makes me think twice about what I eat and how much I exercise. It is definitely something I need to work on, and by using Jack Lalanne as an inspiration, taking better care of my body is something I can achieve.

A person that really taught me a good life lesson is Gordon Freeman. He is from the video game Half Life. He was a scientist who was going off to work on teleportation. Then the experiment went awry. He then had to use his intellect to escape and to fix this problem. He might be a mute but his story is shown in his actions and by the way people react around him. This story is the one that you must do what you can to help those around you no matter how much danger it puts you in. Gordon has gone to an alternative world just to save his friends. Though the person that tried to stop Gordon and make friends with the aliens that killed so many people stopped Gordon and asked “you have destroyed so much for what? And yet what have you built." You start to wonder yourself but then the partner of Gordon turns to him and says “You have created a new hope for the people. “I would love to tell you how his story ends and how he helps everyone but the last game has yet to come out. The only clue that we have is what the Vortagons say “The world will be saved by the one free man."

An important figure in my life that means a lot to me is, Carlos Hathcock. Carlos Hathcock was born in Little Rock, Arkansas, on May 20, 1942. Joined the Marines right out of high school; he would soon quickly proving him as a competent shot with a rifle. Prior to his entering into the Vietnam war, Carlos had won the prestigious Wembledon Cup. Awarded to number one competitor up at Camp Perry, Ohio; the completion is a coarse of fire from the 900 yard and 1000 yard shooting to see who has the highest score.
Carlos is considered the Father of the Marine Corps Scout sniper program, Carlos was one of the most highly decorated sniper in the Vietnam War. Acclaimed to have 93 confirmed kills, Carlos has many crazy stories. But to me the one that stands out the most is when he assassinated a NVA General. Carlos basically was asked if he was willing to take an extremely dangerous mission that he could not know the details about until he was in-rout to the drop off point. He accepted the mission and soon found out that a recon patrol had earlier confirmed the presence of a NVA General, and his job was to kill him. He was dropped into the jungle alone, a good distance from where the General was supposed to be. Taking days just moving Feet in an open field covered in elephant grass. He waited to kill him till when the General was out eating his breakfast. He eliminated the general and made it out alive against all odds.
This story to me serves as an inspirational story. It’s the stuff that not even Hollywood can think of, and it turns out He did it in real life. it shows how a little determination can drive normal people can do extraordinary things. To this day Carlos Hathcock serves as one of my most inspirational people that I know about.

Bring it on

So my selection is probally way different from most. I think that the movie Bring it On means something to me. It is a movie about two different cheerleadering squads going though different problems. The Toros cheer squad won six national cheerleadering championships, their cheerleaders are very wealthy and have many things the other cheer squad, the East Campton Clovers on the other head are not so lucky you would say as the Toros squad does. One of the teams,the Toros old captain "Red" stole all of their routines from the East Compton Clovers. The Toros went to the championship every year they could and have won, the East Compton Clovers are a good squad too but just couldnt afford to go to the championship in the past, until now. Seeing how the Clovers are going to compete against the Toros they can't us the same routines. So the new captain Torrance takes it into her hands to get the rest of the squad motived to work hard and boounce back from a rough time. At the end the Clovers, first time competing at the championships win it all, and the toros come in second place.

I cheered all thoughout middle school and high school. I always used to watch Bring it On to get pumped up and ready for tryouts. It meant more to me then other people would think of it because just like the Clovers cheersquad i was the underdog. None of my family has ever cheered and I was going into it in the dark. I wasnt lucky enough to get private lessons or anything but with my heart i had to do good and i was ever going to give up (like Clovers didnt) and just like the Clovers winning the Championship which no one thought they were good enough too. I was a cheerleader 7th and 8th grade and four years of high school, junior varsity my freshman year and Varsity the rest of my years. I really accomplished a goal just like East Campton did.

[ ! ] Street Art [ ! ]

Andy Warhol has a quote that reads "Art is what you can get away with." This quote got my interest in graffiti started. Graffiti as a whole is looked down upon because it seems to be nothing but slander and fowl remarks that are left on the sides of buildings, on billboards, on street corners or sometimes in restaurant bathrooms. But it is because the modern day graffiti artist used vandalism as their style.

As my research on graffiti continued, I was introduced to a man that goes by the pseudonymous name Banksy. He was nothing I had ever experienced, he used a combination of cardboard cut outs as stencils and organized them in a way that all he had to do was fill in the blanks with the right color to create a scene. He is also a very satiric artist who is very irreverent in his humor. He remained unknown to any interviewer and even stayed anonymous through out his documentary Exit through the Gift Shop. In 2004 a leak come out that is still questionable on his identity.

He does his art for the statement it carries, he does not sell any of his art for profit, and remains anonymous to keep away from media attention because that isn't what he creates for. He creates all types of media pieces that are anti-war, anti-capitalism, anti-fascism, anti- imperialism, anti-authoritarianism, anarchism and existentialism.

His work is seen all over the world, but he did a lot of his main work on his hometown in
London. The picture below is a piece that he created using his technique. The piece was done on the Israeli West Bank Barrier and was named Near Bethlehem.

His work continued through out America and London and he is world wide known for serious

vandalism charges. The picture to the right talks about Closed Circuit Television (surveillance, and noticed the camera right next to the spot he created this.)

He taught me that graffiti can go further then just vandalism; it can actually have meaning. And though I haven't illegally done graffiti, I do practice in free time, creating characters and scenes that now use more then just crude language and toilet bowl pictures.

True Sportsmanship

A public discourse narrative that has greatly influenced me is the story of Sara Tucholsky, Mallory Holtman, and Liz Wallace. In 2008 Tucholsky was a senior softball player for Western Oregon University, and during the doubleheader at Central Washington she hit her first career home run. After missing first base she turned to go back, and when she did she hurt her knee so badly she couldn’t finish her way around the bases. Her coaches tried to get her a pinch runner, but if they did her home run would only count as a single, and no one from her team or coaching staff was allowed to help her around the bases. At this point Central Washington’s first baseman, Holtman, and their shortstop, Wallace, made the decision to carry Tucholsky around the bases so her first career home run would count.

In this story Holtman and Wallace show true sportsmanship, when they make the decision to help injured Tucholsky around the bases. At the time this happened I was a sophomore in high school playing varsity softball, and their one decision showed me what the game is really about. I learned that sports weren’t all about winning or losing, but they were a tool to help mold young kids into more well-rounded people. The leadership and courage they showed on that day inspired me to become better on and off the field. I worked to become more of a leader and a positive influence to others. I also learned that it’s not the big exciting things, like hitting a home run, that make a difference; it’s the important decisions you make during a challenge that really changes things. To this day, I still look up to these two women, and they will always be role models of mine.

Motocross Hero?

I'd like to express my feelings on James Stewart, also known as Bubba Stewart.