Story of the Year coming to U.V.S.C.

Utah Valley State College gets ready to wrap up the semester by hosting a concert with the bands Story of the Year and The Bravery playing at the McKay Events Center in Orem.

The event will take place Tuesday, April 8 at 7:30p.m. and doors open at 6:30p.m. The tour is part of a promotional campaign for Story of the Year’s new album release “The Black Swan” which is scheduled to his stores April 22.

The Utah concert is the third stop in their spring tour. The show was originally scheduled for the Salt Lake Fairgrounds, but sponsors relocated it to U.V.S.C. to better accommodate the audience with the unpredictable April weather.

The concert is sponsored by X-96, The Daily Herald, Ken Garff, Spring, and Novell who have been hosting many ticket and prize giveaways as the concert grows closer.

“Its great, I got five tickets from X-96 when I went in to their studio. They were just giving them out for free. You just had to spin a wheel to see how many you would get,” said U.V.S.C. student Dan Eicher.

Story of the Year has headlined many big shows in Utah including the Vans Warped Tour and the Taste of Chaos Tour. Many U.V.S.C. students seem to be excited for the tour to arrive.

“I am excited to see Story of the Year. They always seem to put on a good show and it is a good break during the end of the semester,” said U.V.S.C. student Carrie Andrews.

Story of the Year has had great success with their 2003 smash debut album “Page Avenue” and their second release in 2005 “In the Wake of Determination.” The 2003 single “Until the Day I Die” received platinum awards for their album sales.


The bands The Spring Tour will include 40 shows ending June, 2 in Melbourne, Australia.
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Brooke dragged me to the stupidest thing ever right now and I am very luck to have my computer so I can complain about it. After we got out of class Tuesday night Brooke went in to watch this stupid ballet dancing practice in the Reagan Theater. I was forced to go because I did not drive to class today. Now I am regretting every moment of my entrance into this room. There are stupid, bad dancers prancing around the stage in front of me. Swaying and swinging to some Latin influenced music. I am so fortunate to have my laptop with me so I can at least get something productive done and write my last and final blog entry.
I can’t believe it; school is almost out for summer. I have so much to do as the semester winds down to an end. All of the difficult things that we have learned in the semester come to this challenging climax as all of my teachers assign the biggest most difficult assignments to try to have us, students implicate the many things we were supposed to retain through the semester. All I can say is that I am excited for it to end and take a break this summer. I can’t believe what I am in for this summer. It is going to be fun, and exciting with many new things to face. The summer starts out by me going to California for Brooke’s sister’s wedding. Her poor parent dealing with two daughters getting married within three months. The next adventure and the biggest (possibly the biggest ever in my life) is my own wedding. I get married June 7 and immediately following my wedding I leave on a week cruise to the Mexican Riviera. The following week I will stay in San Diego and have another wedding reception in Escondido. After that two-week vacation I will return home for two weeks. The next adventure I have planned is my annual family Lake Powell trip which happens to be one of the best vacations one could ever dream of. My family is so cool and we always have a good time together. Later in the summer I will go to Northern Idaho to my mothers lake house. Then I will go to San Diego and Phoenix one more time to conclude my summer before I begin my fall semester at UVU.

Tonight is poker night. Every so often on thursdays we get a group of people together who are interested in playing poker. Some individuals in the area are against it because it is gambling. I do not seeit as this because it is a form of inexpensive entertainment the way we play. If you think about it a typical movie is about $8 now and that only lasts 2 hours. Our poker tournaments are $5 buy in Texas holdem tournament so we play to the end. We usually start at around 9 in the evening and often go past 1am. That is ofer 4 hours of entertainment. If you break that down that is about $1.25 an hour and you get the opportunity to sociaize, meet new people, and play a fun game together. There are few forms of entertainment that cheap that would get a group of 10 or more together week after week. If you look at it from the sense that you may win, you could make money. If the winner takes all and 10 people play every week, you would only need to win 1 time evert 10 weeks to break even. If you did it more than that you would be ahead. For a cheap form of entertainment I would reccommend a low entry tournament of texas holdem. With this in mind, I wish you all good luck and happy betting. Go make a new friend, have a poker tournament today!

Slope Style Competition at The Canyons

Skiers and snowboarders push it to the limit at The Canyons annual Slope Style Competition.

The event was held yesterday in the Upper Respect terrain park at The Canyons ski resort. The only qualification to compete was a $20 entry fee to be entered in to the competition and the will to try the best tricks one would dare do.

Local Rider Preston Weekes at The Canyons terrain park.

Riders of all ages were sorted in to age groups to compete in their sport. The day was a cloudy day, but it did not stop the show. As riders started to group at the top of the run to begin, other fellow riders speckled the sides of the course waiting to watch as the event kicked off.

The snowboarding groups went first starting with the younger age group of 15 and under. Many of the spectators were impressed at the determination and skill of these younger competitors.

“They are so crazy it amazes me,” said a proud parent and spectator, Al Heaton.

After the younger group was finished the 16 and up group followed raising the bar with new more technical tricks. Many of the spectators would show their respect and support through the cheers and whistles.

“This is a fun laid back competition that allows people to push it as big as they want. There is not a lot at stake so it is more fun,” said Josh Maza, a competitor in the 16 and older skiing group.

“Anyone can enter, but you need to throw a big trick to win,” said Maza.

The three top ranking people in each group were awarded prizes. First place won a cash prize of $500, second place won a free night stay in the Grand Summit Lodge, and third place won two free day ski passes.

The Canyons has hosted the annual Slope Style Competition for 5 years. Over the past 10 years there has been a push at ski resorts to expand terrain parks for riders to test their jumping and rail riding abilities in these designated areas.

The past few years Park City has been rated as the top terrain park in the world. With all this notoriety Park City has received, it has pushed some surrounding ski resorts to expand their terrain parks. The Canyons has a larger terrain park than ever before with 36 different features to test your skills on and 6 natural half pipes.

The competition to have the best ski resort is likely to continue benefiting the local skiers and snowboarders that like to test their ability in these areas or watch from the side as others perform difficult feats of skill.
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Car companies seem to be in a race to create the best energy efficient, low emissions automobile.

Most of the major car companies in the world have become much more competitive in making “green” cars.

“Gas prices have created a lot of complaints from customers, but they keep buying gas because they need to drive,” said Clint Cristiansen from Crest Gas.

The cost of fuel over the past 10 years has had almost a 300% increase in retail costs. With the depletion of the ozone and global awareness on the rise, more means of alternative power are tested daily. There are several more reasonable solutions under testing such as E-85 Ethanol, Bio-Diesel, Electricity, and the possibility of Hydrogen powered cars.

The Saab 9-4X Bio-Power Concept has

a 2.0-liter, four-cylinder turbo Engine

created for E-85 fuel to give 300 hp.

Each of these sources of fuel has benefits and disadvantages. E-85 is described as an alcohol fuel mixture that typically contains a up to 85% denatured fuel, ethanol and gasoline. E-85 Ethanol produces far cleaner emissions than standard gasoline, but the amount of fuel the world consumes is greater than the current capability to reproduce this fuel and keep up with current demands. E-85 is basically a fuel produced from corn oil. This form of fuel is available in the United States and is very common in Sweden.

Bio-diesel is an incredibly efficient form of fuel. Biodiesel is a fuel similar to petroleum derived diesel fuel, but manufactured from vegetable or animal fats. This is a low emission fuel that is very economical because the efficiency that can be achieved in a vehicle. There are a few problems with this fuel that is under testing. The fuel can wear out rubber gasgets and hoses in older engines of vehicles in automobiles made 1992 and earlier. Newer diesel vehicles use a non corrosive rubber substitute.

Electricity has a no emission output used by itself. The benefit of electricity as a power source is that it is instant. It does not need to build up power like other engine fuels such as gasoline and diesel. As soon as you require it, it is there. This makes fast accelleration possible. The problems with electricity starts with distance capabilities, time recharging, and the heavy weight of batteries. The technology has been increasing, but is not where it needs to be.

Hydrogen is another potential form of alternative fuel. This is a benificial source because it is not carbon based so its emissions are very clean. Hydrogen has been deemed by some critics as the most expensive and least efficient means when compared with other tested alternatives.

Toyota Prius has sold more

than three times any other

hybrid in the U.S.

“The Prius has been the highest selling hybrid in the U.S. from when they were introduced through 2007.” said sales representative Mike Terry of Brent Brown Toyota.

Many manufacturers are conquering the issues of these alternate fuel sources and combining the options as they do in Hybrid cars. Companies have combined resources such as an electric powered car that has a small efficient gas generator that can constantly recharge the battery source while using minimal fuel.

Find more information at:
http://www.hybridcars.com/
http://www.autobloggreen.com/

(495 words)

Proposing to my love -Part 2

We left The Melting Pot and I told Brooke I wanted to try something new as we headed to the car. I never typically tell her what we are going to do when I plan a big date so she is used to it. All I tell her is what she needs to bring and what to wear. We drove around the streets downtown in order to disorient her with her surroundings. She is one to rarely know where she is with her navigation skills and I used this to my advantage on this night. I parked on this street downtown after driving around for about 10 minutes. I parked and told her we need to walk from here. As we took off down the sidewalk, I made a left in between some buildings commenting on how I thought we could cut through here. We walked across the east end of the Salt Lake L.D.S. Temple toward the Reflection Pond. My heart started to pound as we grew nearer to what only I knew was about to happen. I said to her, “Lets take a picture here.” Some sister missionaries happened to be walking by at the late hour and Brooke suggested they should take the picture of both of us. They kindly took the picture and started to walk away. I took the camera and told her I wanted to take a picture of her and instructed her to stand on the edge of the short pond wall. She stepped up on to the wall and I traded the camera in my hand for the ring box in my coat pocket. As soon as she turned around I knelt down on one knee. I had planned for several days what I would try and say and thought I would be able to pull this off with ease. All thought in my brain seamed to cease at that moment. I could not remember basically anything for that small moment in time with my heart rate pumping at maximum capability. Then I realized I needed to kick it in gear and I started to talk. I did OK saying some of my thoughts and feelings that I wanted to say. I asked her to take my name, be my wife, and marry me for time and eternity. She was in total shock and kind of mumbled out “Is this really…” and I started to nod my head. Tears started to pour form both of our cheeks as she jumped off the wall in to my arms and we spun around, kissing, her in my arms; like you would see as a perfect ending in one of those love movies. She popped her head back and said, “Let me see the ring,” with excitement in her voice. I still had the box in my hand. I responded, “you need to answer me first you never said anything.” She said, “Yes, yes, of course.” We stayed there holding each other close looking in to each other’s eyes slowly taking in all the excitement and try to start to grasp what just happened. I had other things planned for that night, but we did not do any of it. We drove around downtown for about 30 minutes then decided we had enough and just wanted to go home and play video games together. On the way home we called our parents and siblings letting them know the good news. We have now planned our wedding to take place 6/7/08 in the Salt Lake Temple right where we first officially committed to each other to spend the rest of our lives together.

Proposing to my love -part 1

I have finally done it. I am going to bite the dust as they say. I proposed to my girlfriend of over two years. To my skeptic friends who never thought I would do it, ha, you were wrong. To my friends that thought it was going to happen sooner or later, yes it did. I am so, so excited. I am marrying the love of my life, the girl of my dreams, and my soul mate. I love her with all my heart. She is amazing and every moment I spend at her side is never long enough. Yeh, all you guys think I am cheesy at this moment and maybe I am guilty of that. So what? I just don’t really care what most people think of me I have never really been one to care that much about those sort of things.
To get in to the story, I will tell you about the night I asked my fiancé to marry me. It was Valentine’s Day 2008. I had planned an evening of potential cool activities and nice dinner planed ahead with reservations made at multiple restaurants just in case some plans went south. I had planned this day to be the one I asked Brooke to be my wife since the beginning of December. I wanted it to be as perfect as possible. It was not possible to do exactly what I wanted to do because we are both full time students and Valentine’s Day was on a Thursday. When all of your classes are on Tuesday and Thursday, it makes those days very busy and difficult to miss or schedule around. Back in December I had ordered the construction of a custom made engagement ring. Brooke and I had looked at a few places and I had an idea of what she liked. I did not worry too much because our taste is very similar in a lot of things. This gave me the confidence to follow my own idea and get the ring made exactly how I wanted the design. I am somewhat of a perfectionist in certain areas of my life (most things besides cleaning and organizing). I ordered the ring and the company said that it would take four to six weeks to complete it. After patiently waiting I did not get the ring until two weeks before the big day. The dilemma was that I ordered a ring without a stone. I needed to see the ring to get the stone because it has a fairly specific placement to fit in. It added a little bit of stress to the whole situation, but it worked out. After waiting for all of this to come together, the ring did not get fit with the stone by the required date so I went to Wal-Mart and bought a temporary ring to ask with. After class ended that afternoon we headed out to Salt Lake to have diner at a restaurant called The Melting Pot. We had always talked about eating here, but never went because it is too expensive. This was a good of night as any to justify the splurge. It was perfect; we had the front corner table in the restaurant that had windows on two sides looking down Main Street in downtown Salt Lake. It was a four-course meal starting with a cheese dip, followed by salad, then the main course, ending with a delicious dessert. The total bill was $160 and if I never pay that again for a meal for the rest of my life I will be content. Dinner was finished off with a picture taken by the waiter that was attached to the menu and a rose for any girl that came to eat there that night.