Gay Rights at Oktoberfest

So, I recently heard about a huge Gay Rights issue that erupted during the Oktoberfest Parade.

Basically, what occurred was nothing but an ignorant statement that obviously went to far. During the parade, the LBGT Resource Center was marching with an altered American flag. The flag was altered by the LBGT Resource Center to include all of the colors of the rainbow, to support their cause. Soon after they started marching, a young girl carrying the flag was approached by Riverfest Commodore Mark Schneider. Schneider soon told her that the flag was "a disgrace to his country" and demanded that they leave.

I find this completely appalling. Our nation is a wonderful place because of all of our various freedoms. These certainly include the freedom of speech and the freedom to protest without violence. What Mark Schneider said is both cruel and unamerican. I am a firm supporter of LBGT rights, but moreso, I am a supporter of the personal freedoms that we are graciously allowed to live with in America.

What Music Means to Me

Music has always been special to me. I love having the ability to create something unique and powerful whenever I want, which is something that I can only find in music. This essay isn’t just about my thoughts regarding music; instead it’s about the defining moment in my life that made me realize music’s importance.

                Ever since middle school, I have loved playing guitar. The band that first got me interested in playing guitar was Green Day. In seventh grade, my cousin’s boyfriend Josh introduced me to Green Day, and I instantly fell in love. Their songs were so instantly catchy, but also contain important messages, which was something that I quickly grew to appreciate. Soon, I wanted to make music of my own.

            My first guitar was an old, beat up acoustic that had been sitting in my grandma’s basement since the 1970’s. Needless to say, it wasn’t exactly my guitar of choice, but it got the job done. As my interest in music grew, so did my desire to get a new guitar. Finally, shortly after I entered 8^th grade, I got my very own electric guitar. It was a Squire Stratocaster. I played that guitar every chance I could get, and even started to take lessons as well.

            I began to take lessons in 9^th grade from a local guitar teacher named Dan Driesen. Dan was a great teacher, and taught me everything that I know about the guitar. In fact, I still take lessons from him to this day. Taking lessons greatly increased my play skill, and introduced me to many different play styles and techniques. After some time, I became quite proficient with my guitar, and began the search for a band to play with.

            During my high school years, I often attended local shows at The Warehouse in La Crosse. There, I got to see many of my favorite bands, and even meet other local musicians; however, I never got to play there myself. Then, during the fall of my sophomore year in high school, that changed. My friend Danny was in a local band called Asthmatic Massacre that was looking for a lead guitarist, and he asked me to try out. I was quite nervous because I had never been in a band before, but decided to give it a go.

            I showed up to the try-out session both scared and confident. In my mind, I knew that I was a good enough guitarist to be in the band, but I was still nervous about what might end up happening. Even with my doubts in mind, I knew what I needed to do. I showed up to their practice space (their guitarist Jeremy’s garage) and quickly got to work. I learned one of their songs and even came up with a cool lead riff to use. After a few hours of practice, I headed home feeling relieved, but I still didn’t think that I would get a call back. Surprisingly, just as I started driving away, Jeremy called me to let me know that I was officially in the band. Feelings of excitement and joy quickly came over me and at that moment, I knew that this was exactly what I wanted.

            Late in October, I learned that one of my favorite bands, Vanna would be playing at the Warehouse, and I knew that I wanted to share the stage with them. I told my band mates about the show, and they laughed at me. “Why don’t you go check the line-up for that show” Danny said. When I went on the Warehouse’s website, I couldn’t believe my eyes. Our band was going to be opening for Vanna. I was ecstatic. We then began to practice nonstop in preparation for the show.

The day of November 9^th, 2008 was one of the best days in my life. It was the first time that I would be on stage with my band, and would forever change my life. The day started out with band practice, as we wanted to run through our songs one last time before we would be on stage. Next, we loaded up our gear and headed to the venue. I remember feeling overly nervous and anxious at the same time. We arrived at the Venue early to load in. We first met up with the guys from Gun Barrel City, another local band that would be playing with us. They were pretty excited for the show as well, and we started talking about what we thought Vanna would be like and which songs we thought they should play. Before we knew it, Vanna had arrived. I started talking to their guitarist, Evan while helping him load in his gear. He gave me the impression of a pretty calm, reserved guy, and was very nice. He asked me what my band sounded like, and told me that he was looking forward to hearing us.

Around 6 o’clock, people started pouring into the Warehouse. I remember being baffled at the number of people inside, it seemed like there were hundreds of faces staring up toward the stage waiting for the music to start. This is when the nervousness really started to set in. I was very concerned that I would screw up or look stupid or something, but I wanted to give it a shot anyway. All of the sudden, the lights fell and we were told to get up on stage. My band mates and I all grabbed our instruments and headed up to the stage.

The lights were hot as they stared down at me from every angle. The crowd looked like a dark sea of faceless people. Looking out into the sea of people was very daunting to say the least, but as soon the first chord rung out on my guitar, I felt much more at ease. By the middle of our first song, the crowd had already started to move around and get into the music. I suddenly saw smiles and looks of approval erupting on the faces of the crowd. My feelings of terror and nervousness quickly changed to feelings of excitement and joy. Being on stage was a dramatically different experience to being in the crowd. Seeing people’s positive reactions to my music was a great feeling, and I knew it was something that I wanted to experience again.

After we had finished playing, many people came up to me, including members of Vanna, to tell me that I did a great job. I loved hearing about people’s “favorite parts” as well as their constructive criticisms of my songs. This concert was immediately a defining moment for me, and I thought it would be the perfect thing to write about.

Having such a perfect first show inspired my friends and I to continue to move toward our dreams of sharing our music with the world. I am still in Asthmatic Massacre today, although our name has been changed to Miss August. We still have most of the same members, and have become close friends through our band. In fact, we are just getting ready to play our biggest show yet, with some of our favorite bands.

Playing guitar has made a very dramatic impact on my life. It has kept me off of drugs, kept me in school, and has made me realize that anything is possible if I put my mind to it. I have always considered my first show with Vanna to be the point where this all really started for me.

All in all, I believe that everyone has something that they are truly passionate about. I may have been involved with music for many years, but my appreciation for it didn’t really start until I started playing with a band. Every person has their own defining moment when they learn what they want to do for the rest of their lives. Thank you for letting me share my defining moment with you.

Sexual Assault on UWL Campus

For those of you who haven't heard, there has been a pretty big story unfolding in our community lately. At UWL, two students were accused of assaulting their roommate.

The event began with fairly usual roommate disagreements. Brayden Wienke became aggrivated when his roommate began to throw playing cards at him while studying. Wienke called this behavior "immature" and decided that he needed to get back at his 18-year-old roommate. Brayden's friend Casey Gudis then began to assist him in sodomizing their roommate with a lint roller. Afterwards, they told him that he deserved it, and that they were now even.

I find this completely repulsing. I cannot even contimplate what would drive a person to sexually molest a roommate as a form of "retribution" for simply being annoyed for a few minutes. I understand that it can be frustrating to have someone mess with you while you are studying, but it doesn't ever need to provoke a reaction so violent and cruel.

The 2 assaulters have been expelled from UWL and face major criminal assault charges. It's hard to believe that something like this happened in the La Crosse community. There aren't a large number of violent crimes in the area, especially any this disgusting.

While reading comments on the various local new articles online, I found a large number of people attempting to defend Wienke and Gudis, saying things like: "they wouldn't have done it if they didn't have a reason" and "that kid had it coming for being so annoying." These reactions are completely unrealistic. This is a real crime, and these assaulters never were justified to do what they did, despite how "annoyed" they were.

I am curious to hear what you (whoever is currently reading my blog) think about this issue. Were Wienke and Gudis' actions wrong, or did their roommate deserve to be raped for throwing playing cards at them while they were trying to study?