Omaha, NE

I was dicking around on You Tube last night and came across this fun little video. It takes you on a little mini-tour of Omaha, proving to the doubters that we’re so much more than cornfields.

Popping in to remind everyone that Chris Isaak will be at the Stir Concert Cove tonite at 7:30 pm and Keith Urban will be at the Qwest Center tomorrow night. If that international talent isn’t what you’re looking for, head on out to Westfair for all the great local shows and carnival rides/games.

Happy Friday all!

There’s a new Catholic school in town, and despite it only having less than one week to finish filling it’s necessary 100 spots to open this fall, it looks likely it will find those students. St. Peter Claver Cristo Rey Catholic High School (what a mouthfull!) is part of a Chicago-based Catholic High School group that targets lower-income students. During their four years at the high school, the students attend class four days a week and work in the community on the fifth, gaining valuable work experience and helping cut costs of their education.

If I had a child, I would want to send them to a school like this, Catholic teaching aside. The valuable experience, plus the boot camp-style pre-school program they have to attend beginning July 30, makes this school unique amongst Omaha high schools. Here’s hoping they get the rest of the students they need!

I’m giving in, people. Personally, I caved long ago, but for blogging purposes, today is the day. Harry Potter mania is sweeping the nation, from spoilers and pages being scanned and posted to bloggers across the world posting costume pictures and party ideas for the big day. I won’t be attending one of the many parties happening Friday evening, although I will be heading to Buffalo Wild Wings for their Friday night special Harry Potter trivia game.

Because, deep down, I’m still a dork like that.

Here’s a list of some Harry Potter-related stuff happening in and around Omaha.

Long Live Potter!

I’m back from vacation, back to work, and already overwhelmed with my to-do list! I might not get to posting some real content here until tomorrow, but I’ve got some great stuff lined up, so don’t give up on me!

For those who watch the tv show Heroes, “save the cheerleader” was a part-time mantra for many weeks. But for Nicholas D’Agosto, 20-year old Omaha native, that cheerleader has become his television girlfriend. D’Agosto has joined the cast of Heroes for it’s second season to play West, Claire’s new girlfriend.

Having gotten his audition just three days before he began filming the pilot episode, D’Agosto’s life has been a whirlwind ever since, filled with interviews, superpowers, and loving his moment in the sun. Not his first acting gig, D’Agosto was cast by Alexander Payne in Election, and then later was replaced by Jason Schwartzman for the tv show Cracking Up.

For the World Herald article, click here.

For Nicholas’ IMDB page, click here.

For his wikipedia page, click here.

Omaha, Nicholas D’Agosto, Heroes, Election, Cracking Up, Jason Schwartzman, Omaha World Herald, IMDB, Wikipedia

Lyndsey over at “Lez Keep It Real” posted about a truly sad event in Indiana, one which happened several months ago and yet has not been on the national news AT ALL. Makes me angry, and makes me want to share the story.

check out her blog post here.

It’s that time of year again in Omaha. Invaded by college-age men and their families, along with several thousand rabbid baseball fans, Omaha becomes the home of the College World Series for the 57th year! To kick things off, I’m throwing trivia up today, along with some pictures from years past. As the series progresses, I’ll continue with the trivia, some stats from the games, along with many more pictures. If you head to one of the games and snap some shots, send them on over to me at “robyn.charles@gmail.com” and I’ll include them in a future post (with proper credit given).

Omaha, College World Series, CWS, Rosenblatt Stadium, Kalamazoo, Witchita, division two, division three, Division II, Division III

so, i’m taking the day off. maybe just the morning. but with good reason … it’s my birthday today and i’m going to celebrate it by sitting on the couch and watching trashy tee-vee!

so tired. long weekend away. i won’t get to posting until later today, but wanted to be sure it was known that i am here, that i’m super tired, but that i’ve got tons of great Omaha news coming soon.

hey all. hope you’re all having a great weekend. i’m copying a post my friend Kelli wrote a day or two ago, because I feel we all need to hear what she has to say. Check it out.

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“Searching For Change”

Today I met with our staff, had a brief meeting and then went with a field officer into the village of Mbatwe. This village sits near the Beira airport, a few hundred yards from the runway. Although only a small handful of planes land here each week, it is safe to say the people living near the tarmac haven’t ever traveled.
The village was clean - much cleaner than I remember last time. The homes are tidy and the sand outside is swept carefully. The trash is piled in neat pyres and burned in the evenings, leaving the morning air thick with a plastic odor. There were more latrines dug and being used and a few community wells that seemed rather well protected and maintained.
Walking through the village, you got a sense of well-being and pride. Children chased us everywhere we went, playing tag and begging to have their photos taken. Women and men of all ages waved at us as we walked by. They were picking rice in their paddies, mashing corn in large wooden mortar and pestles, washing their laundry in buckets.
But when our field officer walked us a bit deeper into the village, the children who had been relentlessly following us suddenly fell away. Home after home we visited with people who were dying of HIV. Their bodies mere skeletons and their souls quickly fleeting. They told us that although they’d done what we’d asked - been tested and enrolled in the free antiretroviral program - the drugs had stopped. The hospital is temporarily out of stock, leaving thousands in these villages without the drugs they need to stay alive. With a two-week gap in coverage, God only knows how the virus mutates and then becomes impossible to treat. Simply, these people are dying and there is no one willing to care for them. Stigma surrounds their tiny huts. The system — widely touted — is failing them.
You grow a certain thickness of skin in this work. You have to. But today was just brutal. The last family we met with was a woman who had three girls aged 7, 3 and 1. The mother is HIV-positive and was told not to breastfeed. Her youngest is dying of malnutrition. Without her antiretrovirals, she is too lethargic to consider how to solve this problem on her own. Her neighbors are looking the other way. I sat, holding the three-year-old, and couldn’t believe how a child of just 15 pounds could have survived this long. We split a protein bar, the only food we had with us, among the four and watched as even the one-year-old carefully ate every morsel. I couldn’t hold back my tears. I won’t ever be able to describe the desperation I felt in this moment — or how this mother must feel watching her children die at her feet because she too is succubming.
I don’t know what to do for Mozambique, Mbatwe or even this family. I don’t know how to stop a disease that is wiping entire generations off the map. I don’t know how to draw attention to this problem or what to do with the attention if I had it. There are no simple solutions with HIV in Africa. But I know today, more than ever, I won’t stop fighting for the solutions.

~kelli

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check out Care For Life if this story moves you like it did me. it’s not where she works, but an organization she partners with, and any aide they receive will help out people like those Kelli is helping right now.

Well hello there all you Omaha-lovin’ folks! I’m Robyn, and I’m here to give this city the love it deserves. Having lived here for almost a decade I’m excited to bring some of the great news about town to those not yet in the know.

Most people assume Omaha is a small town with too many problems to make it worthwhile. While we can all sometimes have a “small-town mentality” (Omaha is famous for being a big city with a small-town feel, after all!), this city is far from small! We’ve got tons of new stuff happening every day, and being the home of Saddle Creek Records (and Connor Oberst and the Faint and so much good indie vibeage it’s unreal) doesn’t hurt us any.

So stick around and you’ll see why Omaha’s the place to be!

(okay, super cheesy. i promise i won’t be THAT bad all the time, but i really do love this city.)