MARILLA: Doorway to Manistee’s past

By CEAN BURGESON
Associate Editor

In 1870, Marilla petitioned for and was granted township organization. Relatively unchanged today, this quaint corner of Manistee County has remained untarnished by strip malls, parking lots, and the other blights of urban sprawl since its inception.
The lumbering and trapping days which helped put Marilla on the map have since ebbed, but the area still maintains its charm and sense of history, thanks in large part to the Marilla Historical Society and Museum, along with the museum’s director, Jan Thomas, and the many volunteers who labor year-round to promote the area’s historical landmarks, buildings, and artifacts.
The museum, which is also the Township Hall and community center, has been in operation since the early 1980’s. “It’s a community building; a lot of things happen here,” says Thomas. “We have food bank, there’s a church that meets here every Sunday, TOPS, and our historical board.”
The town hall, like much of Marilla, has been kept true to its historical beginnings. “It’s changed a little, but not a lot,” says Thomas. With the closest major highway (M-115) five miles to the north, Marilla is off of the beaten path. The area wasn’t always so isolated, though.
Now just a raised earthen bed, a railroad track once ran through the area. “How enthused the people felt when the train came,” says Thomas. “Because we’re such an isolated community, and when the train came, that was bringing the world to them, and allowing them to go out into the world.”
This early growth and connection to the rest of the world brought some colorful characters and stories, as Thomas explains. “In the cemetery, there’s a tombstone that says George Lever, and it says ‘shot.’ The story we hear is that he was out hunting, foolishly — he was wearing a fur coat — and he was leaning over his kill, and someone shot him.”
Another early citizen was Nells Johnson. “He had never married, he lived by himself in the woods,” says Thomas. “Nells was an interesting gentleman.”
His re-imagined cabin lives on for the education of visitors on the museum grounds. “This cabin represents that self-sufficiency spirit of the early pioneering people. When he came, he lived in a little dugout in the bank. Then he built something called the ‘bark house.’ And then he built the cabin, himself.”
Johnson had quite an influence on the area’s early inhabitants. “He was a wonderful trapper, and a lot of the young men in the community would come out here and spend time with him in the woods and learn the skill of trapping.” Johnson was also what was called a “road monkey,” whose primary job was to clear manure and debris off of the logging trails for early lumberjacks.
The area holds a wealth of interesting lore about its people, and these are only two of the early Marilla settlers who are the root of a good yarn. “There’s just so many interesting stories I could tell you of the early people who came,” says Thomas.
Luckily, these stories are preserved by the Museum, and the people of Marilla for the enjoyment of visitors and tourists. “What we’re trying to do is interpret the agricultural forestry life,” says Thomas.
Farming, which despite the loss of logging in the area, still goes on, just as it did back when the township incorporated. “Farmers had a connection to the logging people,” explains Thomas. “Furnishing food to the hungry loggers. So they did very well. They prospered. They started out with seven farmers, and in eight to ten years time they were up to almost 80 farms.”
Many of the historical farms, farm buildings, and early businesses are still standing, and they all have their own stories. Because history is so alive in the township, Marilla is the perfect place to see how things were in Manistee County before urbanization and commercialization changed the landscape forever. “Marilla has not changed as much as some townships, and so it still is very very rural, and in a sense we’re still isolated in a way,” says Thomas.
In addition to their recent Sugar Bush Tour and Pancake Supper, which was held in March, the museum also has several other events on its calendar: a Strawberry Social on June 23, an Open House and Antiques Appraisal on Aug. 18, and their Autumn Reflections event on October 13. School trips are always welcome, and a special treat is the Tea and Tour. “When you come to visit, plan on spending two to three hours visiting. A very special part of your visit is being served a delicious dessert plate with cheese and fruit accompanied by a fresh brewed tea in the Pioneer House Kitchen,” boasts the museum brochure.
For additional information on how to sample a piece of Manistee County and Marilla’s history or events at the Museum, contact Jan Thomas: (231) 362-3430.
Cean Burgeson can be reached at: cburgeson@pioneergroup.net

Acupuncture: An ancient art in modern practice (MNA April 07)

By CEAN BURGESON
Associate Editor

For most people, the idea of having a needle put into your body isn’t looked upon as a favorable experience — but for anyone who has actually had the opportunity to have an Acupuncture session, the undertaking is no longer looked upon with anxiety or apprehensiveness.
Acupuncture is rapidly being accepted as an effective form of complementary medicine in the United States. Unknown of 30 years ago, acupuncture is now used successfully by millions of Americans to treat pain and disease. This form of treatment has not only survived the scrutiny of Western science and controlled, double-blind studies, it has been endorsed by a National Institute of Health consensus committee for use as treatment for many health disorders. The World Health Organization identifies over 40 conditions that acupuncture successfully treats. Currently, the National Institutes of Health are funding several studies on the effectiveness of acupuncture in the treatment of certain conditions.
Manistee County residents don’t have to travel far to receive treatments, either. Margaret Batzer, who operates Healing Perspectives, is a nationally board-certified Acupuncturist (NCCAOM). She holds a Master’s degree in Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine from the Oregon College of Oriental Medicine in Portland. Her training included over 3,000 hours in Acupuncture, Chinese Herbology, Western sciences, and Shiatsu — all of which she practices at her Manistee facility for patients.
“It’s a nationally accredited program,” says Batzer. “As part of our training, we studied Acupuncture, traditional Chinese medicine theory, Chinese dietary therapy, meditation, Asian body-work therapy, and then we also have pretty extensive background in Western sciences as well. We studied anatomy, physiology, and can diagnose really basic things, so we can refer out to other practitioners as appropriate. Just about anyone I am working with, also is working with their primary care physician as well.”
Acupuncture does not seek to replace any other form of treatment, but rather, complement other forms of medicine. Batzer refers patients to other practitioners, and they refer patients to her as well. “I refer to massage therapists, chiropractors — really any other health care provider.”
There is a long list of ailments which Acupuncture will work to alleviate. “Common conditions that I treat,” says Batzer, “are back pain and sciatica — the number one conditions that I treat — and various body pains and aches, like headache pain or migraines. I also treat a lot of Sinusitus, digestive disorders; and I also work part time at the West Michigan Regional Cancer and Blood Center. So, I treat folks for affective chemotherapy, and other issues that they’re dealing with along with their conventional cancer treatments.”
Batzer decided to become an Acupuncturist after having her own favorable treatment experience. “Acupuncture helped my asthma, and after my experience with that, I really wanted to learn more about it, and how I would be able to help other people in the same way that I’d been helped.”
There are some misconceptions about Acupuncture, and what the practice actually entails. Acupuncture uses extremely fine, sterile needles, which are inserted at specific points in the body to restore balance. Electromagnetic research has confirmed the location of traditional Acupuncture points. Practitioners like Batzer use a detailed theoretical framework over 2,500 years old to diagnose patterns of “disharmony” that causes disease.
Acupuncture is rapidly becoming more commonplace in Michigan, and is being noticed more by the medical community and the general public here in the state.
“We now have an Acupuncture Registration Bill which has been passed in the state of Michigan, and right now the Acupuncture Board is working on establishing what standards will be so people can register under the bill,” explains Batzer. “Michigan was one of the last seven states that didn’t have some sort of regulation on the practice of Acupuncture, so we’re really stepping into the complementary medicine mainstream.”
Treatments usually take an hour and a half to two hours for the initial visit, and about an hour and a half for follow up visits. Patients have a medical history taken at their first visit, then receive a pulse and tongue diagnosis. The Acupuncturist then determines how to treat based on the meridians of the body.
“There are 12 different meridians,” explains Batzer. “And then there are eight extra meridians. The 12 meridians are basically like the superhighways of qi (pronounced ‘chee’) in the body, and the additional eight are sort of like the reservoirs.” Qi, also commonly spelled ch’i or ki, is a fundamental concept of traditional Chinese culture. Qi is believed to be part of every living thing that exists, as a kind of “life force” or “spiritual energy.”
“Depending on the condition that they’re coming in for, I’ll choose appropriate meridians to treat that,” says Batzer. “All of these different meridians have relationships with one another, which is part of how I construct treatment for people. Each channel also has its associated organ.“
At that point, Batzer will make a Chinese differentiated diagnosis to treat the problem, and may recommend Chinese herbal medicine in addition to the Acupuncture treatment, which she has right in her office.
Sessions consist of having the patient lie down on a table, with soothing music, comfortable pillows to help the recipient relax, and then the insertion of the needles, around 15 to 20, according to Batzer. “I never know how many I’m going to use until I actually get started,” says Batzer.
Patients then relax and let the needles do their work on the pressure points for about 45-60 minutes. The experience is similar to a therapeutic massage or a spa treatment in comfortability level, and involves no pain or discomfort. “Sometimes there is feeling of pressure when the needle first goes in. Some patients say it feels like a pin prick, others don’t feel anything at all,” says Batzer.
If there is an unusual amount of sensation at the Acupuncture point, all it takes is a deft adjustment by Batzer to relieve the pressure a little. There is no pain to endure — the entire procedure is a pleasurable experience.
The response to a treatment varies with the individual. Many people notice immediate total or partial relief from pain or other symptoms. For others, the results may take a few days or a few treatments. “Part of it depends on the person’s general state of health,” says Batzer. “Part of it depends on the type of condition they’re coming in for, how long they’ve had that condition, and how severe it is.”
For anyone seeking an additional treatment for their medical ailments, Acupuncture is definitely an avenue that has been proven to work, and should be considered — and most importantly — not feared.
Cean Burgeson can be reached at: cburgeson@pioneergroup.net

You can't judge a best friend by his name (MNA April 07)

By CEAN BURGESON
Associate Editor

My best friend is a Dork.
That may sound mean to some of you, so let me explain. My best friend of over 30 years has the unique and sometimes difficult to believe moniker of: Steven A. Dork.
As you might have guessed, this name — what some may call unfortunate — has caused some leers, laughs, and giggles to come his way over the years, but he’s persevered, and never let it get him down.
He wears his name like a badge of honor.
The story of the name, as I’m told, is that it was shortened to Americanize it from Dvorak. That’s right — the same name as the famous late nineteenth century Czechoslavakian composer who wrote nine symphonies, fourteen string quartets, and nine operas.
So, from the lineage of a European musical genius came a name which, when the second and second to last letters were taken out, now means something far different. Today, as you are most likely aware, Dork is a term of abuse favored by Americans, designating the target of its use as quirky, awkward, eccentric, socially inept or simply of lower status.
Similar epithets include nerd and geek, but that’s not true at my house.
No, we don’t use the word much. Because the Dorks to us are my family friends of more than 30 years, and my best friend’s wife Kathy. Steve’s kids, Cameron and Spencer Dork, are even my godsons, and quite frankly, I feel un-loyal using the word in a derogatory sense, and have for a long time.
I met Steve some time around Kindergarten in Sunday school of all places. And we’ve been buds ever since.
We went to the same church (were acolytes together, went through confirmation, youth group, and many church retreats), attended the same grade-school from fifth grade on, went to Walter P. Reuther Junior High together, then Rochester High School, and four years as college roommates at Michigan State University. He was the best man at my wedding, and I at his.
He was there with me for every major event in my life, really.
No matter where I’ve lived, he’s come to visit me, too, from Washington D.C. to Los Angeles; and we make time every summer to play a round of golf or two — it’s one of our traditions.
My kids are friends with his kids, and we get together with them at their cabin in Traverse City or at our house whenever possible. And no trip down to see my folks in Rochester Hills is complete without dropping by to see the Dorks.
He coming from a family of three sisters, and I having a solitary girl sibling, Steve and I are each the brother the other one never had. We’ve been a duo for all this time, Burg and the Dorker.
And as corny as it sounds, we’ve been there for each other whenever times were good, or bad. I could always count on Steve, and I hope he has always been able to count on me.
So I’d put my best friend up against anyone else’s — because I’m proud that my best friend is a Dork.
Cean Burgeson can be reached at: cburgeson@pioneergroup.net

Every decade or so, being a Spartan pays off (MNA April 07)

By CEAN BURGESON
Associate Editor

There are some who shovel manure for a living. Still others are sewer inspectors or roadkill-removal specialists (I saw all of these on the Discovery Channel’s “Dirty Jobs”, so I know what I’m talking about).
And then there is one of the most difficult, unappreciated, unthankful — and difficult things to be — a Spartan fan.
We are loathed by those who follow the maize and blue. We are disliked and disdained by anyone who sees our school and our athletic programs as inferior.
That’s okay. I equally loathe those guys from Ann Arbor. As the old saying goes, my two favorite teams are Michigan State and whoever is playing Michigan.
But the seem to chalk up a few more wins than we do in certain sports. And it gets frustrating, I’ll admit.
Yet we Spartans still cheer. And hope. And pray. And are often disappointed.
But not this time baby!
Every decade or so, all of the collective “stuff” we eat as our Michigan State teams fall short of their dreams again and again and we endure the mockery of Wolverines, Buckeyes, Fighting Irishmen, and other assorted hecklers — is worth it.
And we are vindicated — at least for a little while.
This time, our salvation came a day before Easter as the Spartans won the NCAA hockey championship, beating Boston College, despite coming into the contest as the underdog; a position we’ve become used to over the years.
But, today, and for the next year, we can say we are the national champions, although it didn’t come easily.
In true Spartan fashion, the boys in green and white couldn’t just win the game outright, either. They had to make us sweat.
They trailed for much of the game, and just when the Spartan fan collective was starting to think, “here we go again,” then tied it up in the final period. Before we even had a chance to google the NCAA playoff hockey rules to see how they handle a tie, it happened.
It was that moment Spartan fans seldom get to experience, the clutch score in the final seconds, as Justin Abdelkader (which the announcers always make sound like abdicator) gave us the go-ahead with 18.9 seconds on the clock.
An open net goal with a few seconds left on the clock sealed the deal — and even the M.S.U. skaters couldn’t believe it had actually happened. They congratulated each other, and one after the other stared at the clock and you could read their lips as they muttered “I can’t believe it.”
We couldn’t believe it either, boys.
Boston College had a better record (29-12-1) made it to the Frozen Four seven of the last 10 years, and had outscored its opponents 61-23 during their winning streak. B.C. boasts 12 NHL draft picks on their roster.
Few pundits picked Michigan State. As usual.
So, as I watched the Boston players hang their heads in disbelief, because they had traveled to the finals two years in a row and come up short, I recognized that look on their faces.
Because it is the look usually found on the faces of Spartan hockey, football, basketball — and even baseball and lacrosse players for all I know. Because we’re usually the ones who got upset, or embarrassed, or sent home disappointed.
That’s why being a Spartan fan is so great when we catch a break and finally win one. Because when the win finally does come, it’s all that much sweeter. It’s been 20 years since our appearance in the finals, so we’re gonna milk this one for all it’s worth, too.
I’m a fan of Michigan State because I love the school. I graduated with both of my degrees from Moo U.
That’s why I tell people I root for the Spartans.
I’m a fan for the same reason I love my family so unconditionally. Not because they’re always good — because I have to — I’m one of ‘em.
Cean Burgeson can be reached at: cburgeson@pioneergroup.net

A ruffled mind makes a restless pillow (MNA March 07)

“If a man had as many ideas during the day as he does when he has insomnia, he'd make a fortune.”
- Griff Niblack

By CEAN BURGESON
Associate Editor

It is a curse I have lived with for 20 years or so.
Since my teens, I’ve been an acute insomnia sufferer. For long stretches, days, weeks, a month — I go to sleep, fall right asleep, and sleep through the night.
But every so often — I just lay there — in the darkness; wide awake, with no hope of the sand man arriving any time soon.
Sometimes I can’t sleep because my mind will spin endlessly about the events of the day, some little act in the great film that is my life which I wish I could do over, fix, or re-shoot. Or I’ll obsess about the future, the kids, the threat of global thermonuclear war, the price of gas, whether the Tigers will ever win another world series. Other times, a song will get stuck in my head, and replay over, and over...and over.
I’ve come to grips with the fact that my body may be weary, but my mind is still working overtime. “There’s so much to do,” my brain shouts, “you can’t go to sleep now!”
It used to really bother me, not sleeping. I’d get all wound up because I couldn’t sleep, and it would aggravate my condition even further. I’d roll over again and again, and each time another hour would fly by on those little red numbers on my clock. I’d look at it, groan, and think: “if i can just fall to sleep now, I’ll get 6 hours of rest,” then, later, “if I fall asleep now I’ll get five good hours in,” and “If I just got to sleep now, I can get two good hours in,” and so on, until it eventually was six in the morning and I’d just give up.
The day after one of these episodes, I’ll walk the halls at work like a zombie, sucking up as much liquid cafeine, canned energy drinks, and pre-processed sugary snacks as I can, in order to get myself into a state where I can function at a bare minimum of efficiency. At some point, around two o’clock in the afternoon, the inevitable crash comes, and I have to fight to keep awake.
Later that night, despite the tiredness, when it comes time to go to bed, I will STILL have trouble falling asleep. Usually, after a week or so of this night-time torture, my body finally gives out and I go into a coma and sleep okay for another month or so.
The problem hasn’t gotten better in recent years. It’s gotten worse.
I only used to have insomnia about every six months. As I aged, it would happen more often; every three months, then two, then every month would inevitably bring a period of time where the blissful state of sleep just eludes me.
I used to stress out about the loss of sleep, so I made every attempt to rectify the problem. I tried exercising more, exercising less before bed, not eating after 6 p.m., eating after 6 p.m., cutting out caffeine, drinking less alcohol, drinking MORE alcohol, overdosing on Ny-Quil, herbal remedies...but nothing worked. I even got some of those pills from the doctor to get me back onto a regular sleeping schedule, which worked for a month or so. Then it was back to the same old routine.
I was faced with only one alternative.
I embraced the insomnia. I made it my friend.
Now, if I can’t fall asleep, I simply get up and do something. I watch TV, read a book, surf the Internet; anything to occupy my time until I can fall asleep naturally. And I changed my thinking about insomnia. Instead of feeling cursed, as I mentioned earlier, I try now to think of not being able to sleep as my own special super-power. Like the guys on the television show “Heroes.”
My new philosophy is not that I CAN’T sleep — it’s that I don’t NEED to sleep.
Yeah, that’s the ticket...
Since I incorporated this change in attitude, my mental state has improved. I snooze only when I’m tired.
When those no-sleep gremlins bite, I get up and use my newly found free time to do something I enjoy. I relax, unwind, or do whatever makes me happy. As the time ticks by on yet another restless evening, I no longer care. When 4 a.m. comes around, and I haven’t slept yet, I just think of all the free time I now have because of my special powers.
I am a brand new breed of super-hero. I am “no-sleep man.” While others must rest, I am tiling the floor in the basement. I am doing dishes. I am cleaning my workshop. I am writing a column. I am playing Xbox.
Sleep? What a waste! I laugh at slumber! Sleep is for mere mortals!
So, if you drive by my house at 3 a.m. and the lights are still on, you’ll know why.
And if you call me at 10:30 a.m. the next day, and I’m sleeping, don’t judge me. I’m not lazy.
No-sleep man was just on duty last night, that’s all.
Cean Burgeson can be reached at cburgeson@pioneergroup.net

Is Bertuzzi right for the Wings? (MNA Feb. 07)

By CEAN BURGESON
Associate Editor

The Detroit Red Wings acquired Todd Bertuzzi from Florida just before Tuesday's trading deadline, supposedly adding the tough forward they wanted to help them in the Stanley Cup playoffs. This begs the question:
What?
The 6-foot-3, 245-pound Bertuzzi hasn't played since he had lower back surgery in November, after being sidelined for more than two weeks by a herniated disk. So what can he bring to the team?
He has only one goal and six assists in seven games after being acquired last summer in a trade that sent goaltender Roberto Luongo to Vancouver. Babcock can’t possibly want him for his goal producing ability,then.
Could he be adding him to the staff for pure goon factor alone?
Let’s not forget how hated this man is in the NHL and among hockey fans, alike. While playing for the Canucks, Bertuzzi attacked Colorado's Steve Moore in one of hockey's ugliest episodes — if not the ugliest ever — in March 2004.
On Feb. 16, 2004, during a Vancouver-Colorado game, player Steve Moore injured Vancouver Canucks team captain Markus Näslund by striking him in the head with his elbow while Markus Näslund was reaching for a puck ahead of him with his head low. Markus Näslund suffered a minor concussion and a bonechip in his elbow as a result of the hit. The attending referee did not call a penalty on the play. The hit was later reviewed by the NHL and no suspension or further discipline was administrated to Moore. This drew the ire of many Vancouver Canucks as their captain was sidelined with a concussion for three games. Canucks head coach Marc Crawford publicly criticized the non-call by the referees on the incident.
It was a missed call, and a bad one at that, I’ll admit. But it didn’t warrant what happened next.
During another Vancouver-Colorado game three weeks after the Naslund hit, on March 8, 2004, Steve Moore fought Matt Cooke in the first period. Late in the third period, Bertuzzi began following Steve Moore down the ice attempting to instigate a fight. When Moore ignored him, Bertuzzi punched Moore in the side of the head. Anyone who saw this could describe it only as a “sucker punch.”
Then, the hockey world watched in awe as the fight escalated well beyond what is the accepted norm for hockey brawling in any era of the game.
Bertuzzi grabbed hold of Moore's jersey before driving him headfirst into the ice. Watching the replay of this hit — by far the cheapest one I’ve ever witnessed in the sport — was sickening.
As a result of the hit, Moore suffered three fractured vertebrae in his neck, a grade three concussion, vertebral ligament damage, stretching of the brachial plexus nerves, and facial cuts. For this, Bertuzzi served a 17-month suspension, glossed over and almost forgotten due to the 2004-2005 lockout, which resulted in a lost season of hockey for everyone.
So, I ask again, what exactly were coach Mike Babcock and manager Ken Holland thinking when they picked up Todd Bertuzzi?
In exchange, the Panthers acquired forward Shawn Matthias and up to two conditional draft picks in the deal. If Bertuzzi signs with Detroit when he becomes a free agent after the season, the Red Wings will part with one pick this year and another next year. It hardly seems worthwhile to lose picks in order to keep a much-loathed goon like Bertuzzi on the roster.
Hopefully, the wisdom of this strange transaction in the 11th hour of the trade deadline will somehow be made clear in the coming months and with the start of the NHL playoffs in April. Because, for the time being, the Wings’ front office has me scratching my head on this one.
Cean Burgeson can be reached at: cburgeson@pioneergroup.net

Movies I'm embarrassed to love

By CEAN BURGESON
Associate Editor

• Heat — No, not the one you’re thinking of with Robert DeNiro and Al Pacino. This Heat is a 1972 film starring Burt Reynolds and Peter McNichol of Aly McBeal fame. Reynolds plays an ex-soldier-of-fortunish character in Las Vegas, taking "chaperone" jobs, fighting with the mob, and trying to get enough money together to move to Venice, Italy. He takes the nebbish, nerdy computer magnate McNichol under his wing, teaching him how to be a tough guy. The film is filled with tons of action, and even though it is definitely dated, it still has some raw appeal, a buddy film feel, and a great action-filled ending.

• Lone Wolf McQuade — Before there was Walker: Texas Ranger, there was J.J. McQuade, played by Chuck Norris in 1983, during the height of his career. McQuade is the archetypical renegade Texas Ranger who wages war against a drug kingpin (played extremely well by David Carradine; even more evil than his Kill Bill character) with automatic weapons, his wits and martial arts after a gun battle leaves his partner dead. All of this inevitably culminates in a classic martial arts showdown between Norris and Carradine, and the accidental death of the woman they both love. The question is finally answered: Who is tougher, Caine from Kung Fu or high kicking movie tough guy Norris?

• Battle Beyond the Stars — The classic film Seven Samaurai has be remade time and time again as films like the The Magnificent Seven, a film I’m not embarrassed to love. It’s the formula you’ve all seen before: a band of diverse heroes in outer space are assembled to defend a planet of peaceful colonists from an armada of aggressors. If the special effects look familiar, it is because you've seen the same space sequences recycled in other low budget SF films. This Roger Corman classic stars Richard Thomas, The Waltons’ John-boy, the great Robert Vaughn, playing the exact same character he played in The Magnificent Seven, and George Peppard, who was a long way from Breakfast at Tiffany’s, and much closer to his stint on TV’s The A-Team. It’s typical Corman cheese, with a predictable ending, but what can I say? It’s a formula that works.

• Can’t Buy Me Love — Grey’s Anatomy’s Patrick Dempsey is Ronald Miller, typical school nerd, who everyone ignores, especially his extremely hot next door neighbor, popular girl Cindy Mancini, played by Amanda Peterson. It’s a simple plot. Cindy borrows a suede outfit belonging to her mother without her permission. At a party someone spills red wine on it and she has to come up with $1000 to buy a new one in order to avoid getting into trouble. Ronald offers to buy the new outfit in exchange for her to pretend they are dating so he will become popular. This all works until Ronald starts getting a big head due to his newly found cool status. In the words of one of the characters in the movie, he “goes from totally geek to totally sheik.” He learns a very valuable lesson, and still gets the girl in the end, who finds out that she really likes him for who he is, and not who he pretended to be. It’s all very sweet and satisfying. I saw this on a high school date in 1986 with a girl who was a cheerleader. I didn’t fare as well as Ronald.

• Bring it On — For some reason, I seem to like films that only 15 year old girls should like, such as Mean Girls, Freaky Friday,and this feature, which was released in 2000. I read this script when it was first written, while working as a lowly talent assistant in Los Angeles when it was under the working title Cheer Fever. At the time, I couldn’t believe a studio was making a movie about cheer leading.
It breaks down like this. The Toro cheerleading squad from Rancho Carne High School in San Diego has got spirit, spunk, sass and a killer routine that's sure to land them the national championship trophy for the sixth year in a row. But for newly-elected team captain Torrance (Kirsten Dunst), the Toros' road to total cheer glory takes a shady turn when she discovers that their perfectly-choreographed routines were in fact stolen from the Clovers, a hip-hop squad from East Compton, by the Toro's former captain. This is high-drama for the high school crowd.
While the Toros scramble to come up with a new routine, the Clovers, led by squad captain Isis (Gabrielle Union) have their own problems — coming up with enough money to cover their travel expenses to the championships. With time running out and the pressure mounting, both captains drive their squads to the point of exhaustion: Torrance, hell bent on saving the Toros' reputation, and Isis more determined than ever to see that the Clovers finally get the recognition that they deserve. But only one team can bring home the title, so may the best moves win.
It’s like watching a live-action teen novel. But for some reason, the tension of the competition keeps me drawn in. I would deny ever watching this film if anyone ever asked me, it is such a guilty pleasure.

A little more common courtesy (MNA March 07)

By CEAN BURGESON
Associate Editor

When did people stop being polite? Americans are an angry, confrontational, in-your-face group of people.
And it shows.
It’s difficult to put a finger on how this started. And what do we have to be so angry about? We live in the greatest country in the world and enjoy the many splendors of living in a free democratic society.
If a theater patron forgets to turn off their cell phone and it rings during the previews, someone in the crowd yells “turn that @#$% thing off!” If someone accidentally distracts a golfer in another group while he is teeing off, coarse words are exchanged. If someone gets up to take their child to the bathroom during a sporting event, a fan yells “down in front!”
We’ve all seen all of these things happen — and more.
How hard is it to introduce yourself politely and ask nicely for someone to turn off their phone, please be quiet, or say “thanks for moving out of my way so I can see the game, I appreciate it?”
We’ve become a rude society, especially with strangers, the very people we should use a higher level of etiquette towards.
But what counts as rudeness today? Do Americans have a shared definition of what is rude? In a recent survey called “Aggravating Circumstances,” funded by The Pew Charitable Trusts, researchers took a detailed look at what Americans think about courtesy, manners, rudeness and respect.
Not only do eight in 10 Americans in the study say a lack of respect and courtesy is a serious problem, but six in 10 say things have become worse in recent years. A surprising 41 percent admit that they're part of the problem and sometimes behave badly themselves. More than a third (35 percent) admit to being aggressive drivers, at least occasionally, while 17 percent of those with cell phones admit to using them in a loud or annoying way.
We’ve all been witness to the road-rager or the public-place cell phone loud-talker. Some people just need to be politely reminded. We all make mistakes. But too often we treat each other with disrespect in these situations.
Customer service situations were prominent in the survey’s findings. Three-quarters of those surveyed said they've often seen customers treat sales staff rudely — while 46 percent also say they've walked out of a store because of the way the staff treated them. Nearly everyone surveyed (94 percent) said it's frustrating to "call a company and get a recording instead of a human being," and 77 percent said telemarketing is "rude and pushy."
Yet the news isn't all bad — many positive experiences occur in the marketplace. Nearly half of those surveyed say they often meet people who are kind and considerate in stores and other similar places. Many Americans say things have gotten better in showing respect and consideration to African Americans (59 percent), people with physical disabilities (51 percent) and gay people (50 percent). Large numbers acknowledge, however, that treatment of those groups still needs improvement (45 percent for gays, 42 percent for African Americans, and 34 percent for the disabled).
The warmth and support shown after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks raised hopes among many that Americans would reconsider what was important in their lives. I visited New York for the first time exactly one year after the disaster, and was astounded at how many people stopped to help me navigate the subway in Manhattan when I was unsure of which train to take in order to meet a friend.
Having lived on the East Coast myself and personally witnessed the infamous “New York attitude” associated with this group of people, I had to say I was pleasantly surprised at how this tragic event pulled together a whole city and helped them to return to a state where they were a little more considerate of their fellow man.
The Pew survey echoed my feelings. Almost three-quarters of those surveyed said that people had become more caring and thoughtful to others because of the attacks. But only 34 percent said the feeling would last a long time; 46 percent thought it would only last a few months and 18 percent believed it was already over.
With war raging, and other issues here in America taking the forefront of our daily concerns such as the economy, gas prices, joblessness, and the like, it’s easy to put our manners on the back burner. Yet most human enterprises proceed more smoothly if people are respectful and considerate of one another, and they easily become poisoned if people are unpleasant and rude.
As the old saying goes, politeness goes far, yet costs nothing.
Cean Burgeson can be reached at: cburgeson@pioneergroup.net

Career journey of a writer (MNA Feb. 07)

By CEAN BURGESON
Associate Editor

I got a phone call the other day, and in the midst of small talk, the caller asked me how I liked my job.
This took me back a little bit. So I thought about it.
I’ve had a lot of jobs in my life. And most of the time, they’ve just been a paycheck, or a way to the next step up the ladder.
Then the realization hit me. I actually DO like my job. How many times have I been able to say this over the past 21 years?
Not very many. So I started to think about the jobs I’ve held in my life.
My first job, at 15 years old, was as a busboy at a now long-gone restaurant called “Scallops.” You guessed it, they served seafood. It was a cool job, because I got tips from the waitresses in addition to my meager $2.52 an hour salary. I did that job until I went away to college. I even came back in the summers and advanced to the position of waiter. It wasn’t a glamorous job, and I can’t say I ever loved it – except there were always a lot of cute “busgirls” and waitresess that I worked with who helped me to pass the time until my shift ended each night.
While I was in college, I worked a bunch of different jobs. One was at the bookstore during “book rush,” that time of year when the students flooded the store in search of their school supplies. I didn’t mind that job too much, because, once again, there were plenty of young attractive female students who needed assistance finding a used copy of “Calculus 101” or Cliff’s Notes on “To Kill a Mockingbird.”
I did have at least one job back then that I absolutely hated. I worked for one month, just one month...at Burger King. I was desperate, the savings were almost depleted. So I worked the graveyard shift, which meant an extra 50 cents per hour, but for that extra monetary incentive, I had to break down the fryer and scrape — that’s right, I said scrape — layers and layers of grease off of all the fryer components. There were about 52 different stainless steel pieces that I would toil over nightly, and I couldn’t leave until they were spotlessly clean.
I hated that job. I hated the grease scraper. I hated the polyester uniform. I hated the little hat I wore. But I liked the manager. I even ended up dating her a few times. (I’m starting to see a pattern here with my pre-marriage jobs.)
As soon as I got the chance, I found another restaurant job. It was a brand new place on a golf course. I worked my way up from busboy, to waiter, and then to bartender. I also got to know the course pro and played rounds of golf and hit buckets of balls on the range at no charge. (Free drinks will get you a lot of perks.) It was a pretty sweet deal. I made good money, always had cash on me, and somehow was able to always barely make rent money on the last day of the month. (I was usually short with the rent because I spent some of the rent budget on beer.)
I didn’t love that job, but it was work, nonetheless, and of course there were plenty of attractive waitresses there as well. I stayed there for over five years.
One of the worst jobs I had during college was the one summer I was assistant manager of a Payless Shoesource in Pontiac. The store wasn’t in a nice neighborhood, so I didn’t have any trouble getting the job. The store was constantly shoplifted, and the one Sunday I took off all summer was the same one in which the manager was robbed at knife point. He was filling in for me on my shift so I could go to a wedding. I couldn’t wait for that summer to be over.
Back at school, I was a research assistant for a Telecommunications professor from Austria for a while. The job was boring, but he sounded a lot like Arnold Schwarzenegger, so at least the position was amusing. I also worked as a production assistant for WKAR TV, working camera, audio, and floor directing live shows. That was actually fun, but there were some boring times, like when I had to work shooting MSU classes that were broadcast to remote locations via satellite. The chemistry and science classes were the most snore-inspiring sessions. We actually had camera people pass out while shooting those programs; I was never sure if it was from boredom or not.
After school I worked in advertising sales for a cable company. I hated cold calling, but I did get an account at a golf course on a trade, so we took “clients” to play free golf about three days a week. We also had a driving range set up outside the back door of our production studio. That worked pretty well, until the industrial park manager busted us for hitting golf balls into the neighboring construction site.
When my wife got a job in Washington D.C., I took a job as an editor at a place called “The Video Editor” (real original name, I know). People would bring in their home movies on video or film, and I was tasked with editing them together, adding titles, and music. I’ve edited weddings, bar/bat mitzvahs, demo reels for wannabe actors, product demonstrations, and even a videotape of a woman giving birth in her home (that was a little creepy.) That didn’t last long, as I loathed doing America’s Funniest Home Videos for a living.
So I started selling production services for a TV production facility, but just wasn’t satisfied with the work. I’d yearned for my entire lifetime to do something creative with my career, and this wasn’t it. This inspired me to move to California and work in the entertainment industry. I started at the bottom rung, as a lowly assistant. I ended my career in Hollywood two years later — still as an assistant — but with three unproduced screenplays under my belt — yea!
After moving back to Michigan, I kicked around some more, working as a temp at a CPA firm, and even did one day as a construction temp. Then came work at the casino — blackjack dealer, payroll, inventory, Information Technology nerd...but I still was missing something. When I left there, I free-lanced for a year, doing a lot of writing, miscellaneous communications work, and cashing few paychecks, but I was getting closer.
Then, by accident, I saw the listing for the job at the newspaper. And the rest is history, as they say. Write for a living? I can handle that.
It took 21 years to find out what I really like, but I finally got here. I’m sure when I tell my kids this in the ensuing years, when they have their own career frustrations, they will groan.
And I don’t blame them. Everyone has to find their own way. Hopefully we all all find our bliss, eventually.
And if you’re lucky, it won’t take 21 years.
Cean Burgeson can be reached at: cburgeson@pioneergroup.net

Alternative endings to Hollywood favorites (MNA Feb. 07)

By CEAN BURGESON
Associate Editor

My wife is a sucker for the formulaic Hollywood happy ending.
All of the loose ends in the film need to be tied up nice and neat for her at the completion of the film, or she feels a little bit cheated. Many a time the screen has turned to black and the credits start rolling, and I see her searching for something to throw at the TV while she screams, “But what happens next!”
I can’t say I blame her. As the old saying goes, “everybody likes a happy ending.”
I, on the other hand, am a big fan of films that break the genre, or go against the typical formula, with twists and turns, and endings that surprise me.
But I also have to admit, the selfish side of me, at times wishes that some movies would end differently, or that they would go on just a few more minutes, and let us know what happened next. This is what I like to call an “alternative movie ending fantasy.”
In the 1969 classic, “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid,” the final scene has our two heroes low on ammunition, bleeding, and surrounded by Bolivian Federalis. As they make their last stand, the action freezes, and we hear a hail of gunshots.
It’s a brilliant final scene.
But a little part of me wishes that the action didn’t freeze; that the boys kept running. My ending would go something like this: The boys shoot their way out in one of the goriest filmed western scenes since “The Wild Bunch,” kill about 50 of the Federalis, steal a couple of fresh horses, and ride off into the setting sun. They happen upon a quiet little village to retire to, and live happily ever after, under false identities.
Aaaah. How satisfying.
And who could forget Saturday Night Live’s imagined ending to “It’s a Wonderful Life?” After the whole town turns out to pitch in their collective savings and bail old George Bailey out his financial predicament, someone in the crowd discovers that it was indeed Potter who took the Savings and Loan’s missing $8,000. In true mob fashion, everyone goes over to the bank and takes turns tuning up Potter for stealing the money. George and Mary even get a chance to pummel the warped frustrated old man repeatedly after he is dumped from his wheelchair. It always bothered me that the mean old S.O.B. got to keep the eight grand.
Aaaah. The bad guy gets what’s coming to him.
How about the 1950 classic, “Sunset Boulevard?” Poor hack writer Joe Gillis. He wasn’t trying to hurt anybody, surely not aging silent movie queen Norma Desmond. Did he really deserve to die? In my imagined ending, Joe would have the guts to leave that nut-job Desmond, hook up with his love interest Betty Schaefer, and live happily ever after. The two would team up writing hit movie after hit movie in the ensuing years. Some time later, Desmond would die, and, remembering the joy Joe brought her during their brief affair, leave him a boatload of money.
Aaaah. The boy gets the girl. And doesn’t end up face down in the pool with a bullet in his back. And he ends up rich!
I’ve always thought that the incest revelation ending of Roman Polanski’s “Chinatown” was just plain creepy. How about instead, Evelyn’s sister is not really her daughter, and according to plan, they both escape to Mexico safely. Rather than “Forget it, Jake, it’s only Chinatown,” we instead hear, “Good job Jake, now that’s Chinatown.”
Aaaah. The innocent victims escape the bad guys. And there’s no lewd sexual triangle involved.
A lot of endings have people getting killed, and while it makes for a gritty, more realistic, non-Hollywood ending, it sometimes leaves us, the audience, a little unsatisfied. Take “The Bridge on the River Kwai,” for example. Wouldn’t it have been great if Colonel Nicholson, played brilliantly by Sir Alec Guiness, helped Commander Shears, played by Bill Holden, to blow the damned Japanese bridge up instead of trying to stop him? And then, Nicholson lives to finally escape the prisoner of war camp, and is lauded as a hero by his countrymen upon his triumphant return. In my cut, they’d get to build their bridge and blow it up, too. And live to tell their grandchildren.
And how many people wish that Jack Nicholson didn’t get labotomized at the end of “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest?” (I hope this didn’t spoil it for anyone). It’s a wonderfully bittersweet ending to the film, but when you root for the hero during the entire picture, darn it, you want him to make it in the end! What if Nicholson escaped from the insane asylum, and instead nasty old Nurse Ratched gets labotomized? How great would that be?
What about having “Bonnie and Clyde” (1967), take a detour from the historical facts, and just once more get away from the cops instead of having a hail of bullets end their lives in that old sedan? In my ending, the two take a side road, miss the police ambush, and live happily ever after — maybe even have kids and buy a nice little house outside Chicago with a little white picket fence.
Another alternate movie ending that would break with history would be to have “Patton” be able to keep his big stupid mouth shut in front of all the reporters and his superiors, make all the brass happy with his exemplary performance, and get assigned to lead the D-Day assault, going down in history as the greatest general of all time. Give em hell old blood and guts! And no way would he die in a stupid car crash in my version. He would make it to Berlin, personally choke Hitler to death, and die defending his battalion headquarters single-handedly with a pearl handled revolver blazing in each hand.
Yet another type of ending that drives moviegoers mad is the ambiguous, figure it out yourself ending. Wouldn’t it be satisfying just to understand the ending of “2001: A Space Odyssey?” It may be fun for movie purists, film school grad students, and sci-fi geeks to try to interpret that one, but in my special directors cut, a narrator comes on at the end and explains exactly what that damned big black monolith is, how it works, and why it does what it does. Nice...and neat.
Animals and other creatures aren’t excluded from the world of alternate endings. Why did “King Kong” have to die? It would have been extremely cool if instead, Godzilla showed up, the two smashed the living crap out of New York, and then he let Kong hitch-hike on his back while he swam him back to Kong Island, where the King had regular visits from his spicy blonde actress friend Ann Darrow and lived well into old age.
Alternative endings wouldn’t have to be complicated, either. There are some endings that could have been tweaked just a tiny bit to better please movie audiences. At the end of “Shane,” when Joey yells, “Shane, come back!” just once I’d like to see Alan Ladd turn his horse around, ride back, and have Joey’s mom patch him back up just like new. What was the deal with Shane and Joey’s mom anyway? Maybe in “alternative ending land,” Joey’s dad would catch a stray bullet during a gun fight and Shane would marry his mom. (That’s what the kid really wanted, anyway).
In alternative ending world, Dennis Hopper and Peter Fonda would have gotten away from those rednecks at the end of “Easy Rider,” too. In director Burgeson’s version, the two yokels pull up, point that shotgun at our heroes and — click — they forgot to load their gun. Wyatt and Billy ride off on their choppers while they flip off the rednecks, and discover America after all.
There are plenty of other perfect endings and “what ifs” out there in cinema-land — these are but a simple few. The wonderful thing about movies is that you can imagine any ending, sequel, prequel, or “viewer’s cut” you want, as long as you remember that each film is your own personal viewing experience — and no one can take your private interpretation of any given theatrical masterpiece away from you.
Cean Burgeson can be reached at: cburgeson@pioneergroup.net

Competition: it’s in our genes (MNA Jan. 07)

By CEAN BURGESON
Associate Editor

I recently watched the 2004 movie “Sideways,” which I thought was well written, because the way in which the two main characters, played by Paul Giamatti and Thomas Haden Church, spoke and acted — was just like real guys do.

Case in point: when they’re playing golf and the group behind them hits up on them, they do the typical guy thing. They turn around and hit their ball back at them.
Now, this may seem childish. It may even seem mean.
But it is what guys do.

And I have to admit. I’ve done it too.

More than once.

And I know that there are other guys out there who’ve done the same thing.
So what makes us so competitive? We all have day jobs. We aren’t professional athletes. We aren’t kids, or high school athletes, even. But, we still seem to play our sports as if we’re pros, and we’re getting paid for it.

I’ve also witnessed this zeal for adult sports in my hockey league. Grown men, who have families, kids, and go to church on Sundays – will still drop the gloves when they catch an elbow in a recreational league game from time to time. And they’ll use words on the ice that they wouldn’t want their mothers to hear.

I may have even once or twice had a potty-mouth when I’ve played. I come from a long line of highly competitive, amateur athletes (very amateur, as a matter of fact.)
Usually, in the hockey league, everyone is polite, and we all get along. But once in a while, that male competitiveness rears its ugly head, and scuffles ensue. A couple of times, we’ve even had to clean some blood off of the ice — but not very often.
We can’t help it. It’s in our genes somewhere, right next to the gene for waging war, not asking for directions, and drinking cheap beer by the keg.

Grown men cannot help playing every sport as if their livelihood, honor, and reputation depend on it. I’ve seen it in hockey, golf, softball, pool, bowling, videogames, horseshoes, fishing, hunting and lawn jarts, to name a few areas. I doubt there is any aspect of daily living that men haven’t competed at, and taken it seriously.

Sometimes way too seriously.

But isn’t that what makes sports fun? What good is playing if something isn’t at stake? Competition is healthy. It’s fun. And it’s why we play.

It’s also why we watch. We take pride in OUR team, OUR team’s record, and OUR chances for the playoffs, series, tournament, etc. We take this ownership as if we are actually playing right along with our heroes on the ice, courts, arenas and fields.

It’s this sense of belonging, of being part of the group, of competing — win or lose — that makes us human.

While I know that we take it too far sometimes, I think our sense of competitiveness is good for us – it makes life interesting, fun, exciting, and meaningful.
So if you’re the group behind me at Manistee National and you think I’m playing a bit slow, go ahead and hit up on me.

But be ready.

I’m gonna hit it right back at ya.

Cean Burgeson can be reached at cburgeson@pioneergroup.net

Burgeson child number three will soon join the fray (MNA Jan. 07)

By CEAN BURGESON
Associate Editor

As I sit on the precipice of becoming a father for the third time this April, I wonder what it will be like when all three children finally meet each other.
Our home is already like a combination between a zoo and an insane asylum with two children and the dog — getting the kids ready for school and daycare, drop-offs, pick-ups, hockey games, feeding time, bath time, bed time...
How will this new one affect the fine balance we have achieved in our household? Despite how mad it looks to outsiders, we’ve kind of gotten things down to a science. While it may not appear that way to the untrained eye, there is an order to things. But will this order be broken by the new youngling?
As we desperately attempt to potty-train my two-year old so we won’t have two children in diapers at the same time, my daughter fights us with every fiber of her being, determined not to comply. She also has a constant inner-dialogue going with herself, only it manifests itself as an outer dialogue — she continuously talks to us, herself, her baby-dolls, strangers at the mall, inanimate objects. And when she isn’t talking, she is screaming. This is one little lady who wants to be heard.
And while she loves her brother, and he loves her, they also both love to compete with each other. This usually builds to a crescendo of screaming, crying, and the separation of the two inmates into their own cells.
My seven-year-old son, while much easier to take care of as a rule, still refuses to ever stop moving, even to eat dinner. One foot is always on the floor, ready for him to sprint away at a moment’s notice. He runs from room to room of the house, or skoots around on his Heely shoes, rolling everywhere and spinning in the aisle at the grocery store.
When he isn’t running or rolling around, he plays hockey in every room of the house, with all manner of sticks, balls, pucks, and nets which are set up in various places. Keeping up with him is no small chore. And he wants to be an athlete when he grows up. So he plays hockey, baseball, soccer, does karate,... and I’m sure I’m leaving something out.
So how will our new baby boy, Owen, get the attention he needs from us? Will he be drowned out by his siblings and their constant bustling, chatter, and mayhem? Will he be a victim of third child-syndrome?
Maybe he’ll be the quiet one. The easy one. The one who is a dream to take care of.
Or — God forbid — he’ll become one of them. They’ll turn him.
The crazy Burgeson kids with their sibling fighting, yelling, screaming, tackling, and general high-level tom-foolery. The kids who scare telemarketers off of the phone when they call and hear my daughter shrieking at her brother to give back her toy, and him yelling back a her, to which the telemarketer usually says, “it sounds like you’d better go.”
I have to admit, at least it gets the telemarketers off the phone. And sometimes the grandparents.
Owen has to hear all of this going on outside of his comfortable little amniotic world.
What does he think of all of this?
I can feel him moving in the womb now, with the palm of my hand on my wife’s belly. He moves a lot.
I think it’s because he hears everything his crazy brother and sister (and parents, for that matter) are doing on the outside, and he’s getting ready. I picture him working out his little arms and legs like a boxer, readying himself to join the others, ready to defend himself.
You’ve got two more months, buddy. Get in shape.
Cean Burgeson can be reached at cburgeson@pioneergroup.net

America is in need of some ‘Independent’ thinking (MNA Jan. 07)

By CEAN BURGESON
Associate Editor

Labels. Americans love ‘em. They make things simpler.
But they divide us.
Let me explain.
A while back I sent in a submission to a popular handgun magazine of a column I wrote about being a pro-gun democrat. The editor returned the submission and said he wouldn’t print it. No big deal. Rejection is part of the business.
But his reasoning was that he didn’t agree with my point. My point was that pro-gun individuals aren’t always conservative. I am not a conservative but I am pro-gun. I’m living proof of my own point.
How can he refute the point, then?
Because some liberals, conservatives, democrats, and republicans insist on categorizing everything. If you are a democrat you have to be pro-choice. If you’re a republican, you have to be pro-life. Says who?
Why can’t we choose which philosophies are right for us based on the issues alone — without having to declare a party affiliation, or live with a label that doesn’t exactly fit us? The two party system is no longer working.
People need to pick their elected officials based on how they represent their constituency, regardless of the party label. And a lot of people do this — by voting for candidates from both parties when they go to the polls.
Other people find comfort in not having to think about who to vote for; they enjoy just pulling that lever with the D or R on it, and then getting on with their lives. We have become complacent. We have become lazy. We need a third party. Hell, we need a fourth and fifth party. In the very least, we need independent candidates who can give us an alternative to the malfunctioning two party system.
Yeah, we have the Libertarians and the Green Party. We also have the Socialists, Communists, Libertarians, and others. But they are more often than not considered the fringe, not the norm.
The elections of Reform Party candidate Jesse Ventura of Minnesota to the post of governor, and Green Party candidate state legislator Audie Bock of California, have highlighted the roles of third party and independent candidates in American politics in recent years.
Independents and alternative parties seem to be what the public is looking for; why else would Minnesota have elected a former pro-wrestler and actor as their governor? And how did Independent Ross Perot, who won almost 19 percent of the popular vote in the 1992 presidential campaign, get his foot in the door?
The American public was obviously crying out for change.
The number of independent voters has grown steadily in recent years. And politicians are having a difficult time appealing to the less predictable group, which includes everyone from ex-Libertarians to young people who think of political parties as irrelevant. These growing numbers suggest that maybe people would vote in greater numbers if they had more choices, with independent candidates or a third party which appealed to them.
We still have the power to vote independently, and split our ticket (except for in some primaries). But how many people exercise this option?
Although third party or independent candidates rarely win elections, they play an important role in democratic government. Third party or non-party candidates draw attention to issues that may be ignored by the majority parties. If the issue finds resonance with the voter, one or more of the major parties may adopt the issue into their own party platform. Also, a third party may be used by the voter to cast a protest vote on an important issue.
But protest votes are often wasted if they are in the minority. They may, however, have an effect on the outcome of the election. In the 2000 Presidential election, George W. Bush won the deciding state of Florida by fewer than 600 votes. Some Democrats accused Green Party candidate Ralph Nader of having cost them the election, and in discussion of strategies for the U.S. presidential election in 2004, both parties weighed the costs to the Democrats of another Nader presidential run. While Nader really didn’t have a chance, he had an impact.
This doesn’t mean the current parties need to go away. If people feel that they are in agreement with the Democratic or Republican campaign platforms, there isn’t anything wrong with that. I’m not advocating scrapping the existing parties. It just might be time for some thinking outside the traditional boxes.
People need to spend more time researching and really getting to know what their parties represent, what their candidates represent, and take the time to decide if that agrees with their own personal ideologies. If we start to find that neither party really represents us, it might be time to consider supporting the independents.
And we need to examine the labels. What is liberal? What is conservative? Can’t someone be a little of both? Why do we just believe what the commentators on television and on the radio, or the politicians tell us is one or the other?
Can’t we decide for ourselves?
Cean Burgeson can be reached at: cburgeson@pioneergroup.net

Can’t wait for Beckham to bend it for the U.S. (MNA Jan. 07)

By CEAN BURGESON
Associate Editor

Many people in the U.S. probably don’t know who David Beckham is. In Europe, everyone knows him. He is a talented athlete. He makes the women faint. He is married to a former Spice Girl. In Europe, he is a superstar.
I came to know him when I vacationed with my family in London and Norway this past summer. Our trip fell at a very opportune time, as we found ourselves smack dab in the middle of World Cup Soccer, or “football,” as the rest of the world calls it.
Soccer in the U.K. and Europe, is bigger than any sporting event that I have experienced here in the states. These people go absolutely NUTS for the sport. Men, women, the young, the old. Everyone has their favorite team, and an opinion about a certain player. Fathers and sons, husbands and wives, brothers, are divided in their football team allegiances.
My entire family, too, was swept up by the whole mania of World Cup Soccer, the event which happens only every four years. The 31 day, 64 game extravaganza in Germany last year was some of the most exciting sports action I have ever followed.
I’ll admit. I was surprised.
Soccer has always had a slim following in the U.S., cited with having too little action, and too few goals. I bought into this analysis, too.
But once I gave the sport a chance, and had the opportunity to learn from our English and Norweigan hosts, my eyes were opened. This is a sport which we just haven’t given a chance yet in this country.
Enter Beckham.
He is to the U.K., and to the soccer (football) world what any sports superstar in the U.S. is. He is a Michael Jordan, or a Tiger Woods. His charisma and play brings that much to the sport.
Captain of the English team during the cup, he currently plays for the Spanish team, Real Madrid, which he joined in 2003 after a hugely successful run with Manchester United, where he won six league titles, two FA Cups and the Champions League title. But Beckham did not win a single major trophy with the Spanish club, and his spell coincided with Madrid's worst slump since the early 1950s.
So now, because of recent changes that Major League Soccer, (the league here in the states) has made, he is coming to play for the L.A. Galaxy when his contract runs out in June.
This is huge.
"David Beckham will have a greater impact on soccer in America than any athlete has ever had on a sport globally," said Timothy J. Leiweke, president & CEO of Anschutz Entertainment Group, which owns the Galaxy. "David is truly the only individual that can build the bridge between soccer in America and the rest of the world."
While sitting in an English pub during a match. I saw the power of Football, and of Beckham. The packed room had an almost electric feeling. Anticipation filled the air. Fans were mesmerized by the many big screen TV’s, carrying, of course, World Cup Soccer.
They cheered, they screamed, they cursed the referees. The fans wore their favorite team’s jerseys. They spilled their beers and stomped their feet. They were fans, rabid ones — as dedicated and in love with the sport as any American football, baseball, basketball or hockey fan.
And I think this feeling can cross the pond. That’s why I’m excited that Britain’s golden boy is coming to America, and to Major League Soccer.
Because if anyone can energize the sport in the U.S., it is Beckham.
Cean Burgeson can be reached at: cburgeson@pioneergroup.com

Why are we so worried about global warming? (MNA Jan. 07)

By CEAN BURGESON
Associate Editor

It seems like every few years when I was a kid, we had a major snowstorm, i.e. “the blizzard of ‘76!” when the Detroit area would be paralyzed with snow, and we would miss multiple days in a row from school.
We would invariably have a yearly ice storm, too, which froze the roads, downed power lines, and made it impossible for my parents to drive to work, or for the school bus to make it down our street. One year my sister and I ice skated on our frozen street for two days after one particular storm.
Most of the time we had a white Christmas, too — allowing us to try out our new sleds and cross country skiis on Christmas Day in the state park by our home.
So, here we are — fast-forward to the 21st century — in the beginning of January with spring like temperatures; and I’m wondering what happened.
Some say global warming, resulting from factors such as the greenhouse effect, and El Niño have made their mark on the current meteorological situation. A lot of scientists, politicians, and media types, as well as members the general public, are very concerned.
The greenhouse effect actually is a bit player in global climate (although without it’s benefits the average temperature of the Earth would be minus 18 degrees celsius, or four degrees farenheit). Human’s did not cause the greenhouse effect, but critics maintain that human additions to atmospheric greenhouse gases may cause global temperatures to rise too much.
Generally understood, but rarely publicized, is the fact that 95 percent of the greenhouse effect is due solely to natural water vapor. Of the remaining five percent, only 0.2 percent to 0.3 percent of the greenhouse effect (depending on whose numbers you use) is due to emissions of carbon dioxide and other gases from human sources.
The other suspect in the warming game, El Niño, is an oscillation of the ocean-atmosphere system in the tropical Pacific, which has important consequences for weather around the globe.
The impacts of El Niño upon climate in temperate latitudes show up most clearly during wintertime. For example, most El Niño winters are mild over western Canada and parts of the northern United States, and wet over the southern United States from Texas to Florida. El Niño affects temperate climates in other seasons as well.
So, if the warming we are experiencing is mostly a result of natural factors, why do we humans keep beating ourselves up about it?
I agree that the citizens of this planet should work to slow the growth of emissions which contribute to the greenhouse effect, try to strengthen science, technology and institutions in order to protect the global environment, and enhance international cooperation in these efforts.
Don’t get me wrong.
What some people don’t realize, however, is that massive global climate change has been going on here on planet earth for millions of years. There were ice ages and warming trends back when humans weren’t even burning fossil fuels.
There is a plus side to all of this warmer weather that we might be forgetting about.
Milder winters aren’t such a bad thing. When I lived in California, I enjoyed being able to engage in outdoor activities year round. It was nice not to have to shovel snow, scrape ice off of my windshield, and pay those high winter heating bills.
Sure, it isn’t so great if you enjoy snowmobiling or skiing, but there are still places to go if those types of outdoor winter sports are your thing.
How many of us here in northern Michigan would really be all that sad if we could go to the beach year round? Or wear our shorts in December? Or get a suntan in February?
So I say, relax, all you scientists. Take it easy, Al Gore.
Lets protect the environment, do our best to save those species which are endangered as a result of the warming process, and embrace the global climate change. We can’t stop it, so why let it keep us up at night?
I, for one, would enjoy having to put on sunblock to golf in January at Manistee National.
And I don’t think I’m alone.
Cean Burgeson can be reached before the dawning of the next ice age at cburgeson@pioneergroup.net

Lessons learned from George Bailey (Dec. 06 News Advocate)

By CEAN BURGESON
Associate Editor

It’s one of the ultimate Christmas cliche’s, sitting down to watch Frank Capra’s classic, “It’s a Wonderful Life.”
Before there were VCR’s, DVD players, 200 cable channels, and pay-per-view, you could only see this film once per year on television, maybe twice if it was replayed. This is the way I remember the film from when I was little.
Just about everyone has seen it. Most people love the film. Some are sick of it — probably because it gets played and re-played so much now that it’s been run into the ground a little.
But I still love the movie, and I think most people will agree with me. With my timeworn copy on videotape, which I only view once a year, and only at Christmas time, I watch every season — just like when I was growing up.
And I only watch the black and white version. I remember when they colorized it and had a “world premiere” several years ago. Whoever it was who had the idea that we wanted to see our favorite black and white films re-mastered in color (I think it was Ted Turner), must have been smoking something.
I remember fighting with my Dad one Christmas because I turned the color setting all the way down on the TV so I could watch it in black and white, and he just didn’t understand why. I have been a movie purist since I was old enough to appreciate films, and tampering with one of my favorites of all time was the equivalent of blasphemy.
The reason I love this film is because just about anyone can relate to George Bailey. I have felt like him at several points in my life — the guy who always had big plans, but whenever he felt close to accomplishing one of his dreams, something happened to foil those plans. To put it simply — life happened.
Jimmy Stewart is my favorite actor of all time, not because of this film alone, but because of his entire body of work, from another Capra classic, “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington,” but also his westerns, like “The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance,” and “Winchester 73,” to his work in films for great directors, like Hitchcock’s “Rear Window,” and Otto Preminger’s “Anatomy of a Murder.”
One of the greatest Christmas gifts I ever received was a framed collage of movie stills from “It’s a Wonderful Life,” along with Stewart’s autograph, from my wife, over 10 years ago. It has hung on the wall of every apartment and house we’ve lived in since then.
One of my favorite scenes in “It’s a Wonderful Life,” is when George, coming home to his “drafty old house,” frustrated by yet another setback, begins to make his way up the steps, and that piece of the bannister comes off in his hand. He wants to throw it, wants to take out some of his aggression, but wills himself to put it back where it belongs. I can relate to this type of frustration, just wanting to blow up, and then re-composing myself.
That is what George does for the entire film. He is constantly fighting frustration, disappointment, and adversity – and overcoming it all, dusting himself off, and continuing on. We can all learn something from George.
We all know that the overall theme of the holiday classic is seeing how life would be without you. Yes, we all have it better off than we thought we did; we can all stand to remove ourselves from the grind of every day life to realize how much of a difference we make to others. There are other lessons at work in the story, as well.
Everyone has a Potter that they eventually need to stand up to. And hopefully, we all have a Mary to keep us sane, and to be our partner when times get rough.
I can also relate to George when he yells at those poor kids. There are angry words I have used towards my children when my patience runs thin, maybe the bills need to be paid, or something has gone wrong at work. That’s why, when George rushes home and hugs his kids, and kisses his wife, I know how he feels.
We’ve all been a little short with our friends and loved ones at times, and need to let them know we’re sorry. My kids have such short memories for these events, much shorter than mine. They forgive pretty quick, and realize when it really isn’t directed at them. The Bailey’s knew their father’s true nature, too.
George’s character arc in the story is certainly the most important, but not the only story of redemption we can learn from. There’s Violet, who realizes the grass isn’t always greener on the other side, Mr. Gower, who George saves from making the biggest mistake of his life, Uncle Billy, who just needed someone to believe in him despite his careless ways, and all of the other citizens of Bedford Falls whose lives George Bailey touched by sacrificing so much of himself.
Every one of us has our own demons, our shortcomings, misgivings, regrets, and broken dreams. At some time or another, we’re all George Bailey. This is the biggest lesson to learn from the film in the coming week when you and your family sit down to once again view this timeless holiday classic.
It’s really a story about second chances. We need to give them to other people, and we need to take them when they’re offered to us.
Most of all, we need to give them to ourselves.
Cean Burgeson can be reached at: cburgeson@pioneergroup.net

Resolve to get active (Dec. 06 News Advocate)

By CEAN BURGESON
Associate Editor

It’s that time of year again.
Time to make all of those sports New Year’s resolutions.
I have ‘em every year. This year, I have quite a few. Break 25 minutes in my 5K time, run at least 3 triathlons, go to another hockey camp, run a snowshoe race, work out more, get leaner.
In short: get more motivated!
I also have goals as a fan. Every year it seems like I promise myself I’ll go and see the Tigers and Red Wings at least once. Maybe shoot down to East Lansing and catch a Spartan hockey game. I also try to pledge to be a better fan -- following the teams more, watch more games on the tube or on listen on the radio.
Those who know me will tell you that I’m not a rabid sports fan. I have my favorites: baseball and hockey. Football and basketball hold no special interest to me. I enjoy seeing a game from time to time -- but I find trouble keeping interest. I have to specialize because, like most people, time is so sparce.
Life gets in the way. There’s work, spending time with family, chores to be done around the house. It becomes hard to be the kind of dedicated fan and athlete I want to be.
But this year, I hope, will be different. 2007 is the year, baby.
The lawn may get a little longer than usual this August. It might take all summer to get the shed painted. Perhaps the laundry will get to the point where it’s easier to just buy more underwear than to carry the entire load to the machine in the basement.
For sports, we must remember, are a diversion -- an escape from everyday life. On the fields, courts, and ice rinks of America, we go to be entertained. It doesn’t matter if you watch or play, folks, I urge you to make more time in the coming year to be a part of sports.
I do hope you will participate rather than just watch, though.
Besides the physical benefits of athletics, the teamwork it fosters, the stress it relieves, and the pure enjoyment it provides, there is also the escape from the grind of everyday life sports allows. To coin an overused phrase, the benefits are seemingly endless.
Everyone makes the same New Year’s resolutions to lose weight and exercise more. For 99 percent of us, it lasts about a week into January.
Then its back to eating Doritos on the couch.
The reason it fails, is because we forget that exercise should be fun.
For most people, going to the gym is not fun. Running is not fun. Lifting weights is not fun.
That’s why we fall out of our exercise routines. We forgot the fun.
My son has zero body fat. He runs around from day break to sunset. He plays baseball, soccer, football, hockey, and every other sport he can. My seven year-old son has never once asked if he could lift weights or go to the gym.
He goes with what’s fun.
So, why do we forget this when we get older?
For some reason, we feel that exercising has to be work. I’m not sure where this idea came from. Probably the people who built the Bo-Flex. Two things.
One: there’s no way 20 minutes per day three times per week gives anyone that body we see on the commercials. Two: There’s no way that goofy looking contraption is fun.
So, when making those same old New Year’s resolutions, resolve to set aside some more time for sports -- not just to watch on TV or buy tickets to a pro game -- make a resolution to actually play sports. I don’t care if its softball, hockey, swimming, basketball, frisbee golf, or lawn darts. Just get out there.
Why should kids or the professionals get to have all the fun?
Cean Burgeson can be reached at: cburgeson@pioneergroup.net

Lessons learned from my two year-old daughter (Dec. 06 Manistee News Advocate)

By CEAN BURGESON
Associate Editor

It’s been over a year now that my daughter has been living with us. I can gladly say that she has officially lived with us longer than she lived with her foster mother. Ariana turned two in June, and people have been asking for an update on her, so here goes.She is a tough, stubborn, willful girl -- and she clearly lays claim to our household.I often wonder how much of her personality is natural and how much has been shaped by her circumstances. She was left by her birth mother at two days old and taken from her foster mother at the age of 14 months when a ragged group of Americans named the Burgesons showed up on one sweltering September day in Wuhan, the capital city of the Hubei province of China.I guess she has a right to be a little particular. Her short life has been packed with uncertainty and trauma that most two year-olds don’t experience. I would have thought that she was too young to have it affect her at all or stick with her, but it has.Uncertain of strangers, and ever cautious in new situations, she still has some trepidation in her life. It took the better part of a year for her to open up to us. Kisses, hugs, and cuddling were not commonplace like they were with our son at her age. She was afraid of traveling in a different car than ours, being left with anyone new, and became clingy when we went to new places.It broke my heart that even after living with us for months, she was still afraid of being handed over again to someone new. For a long time, she was nervous if at least one member of our family wasn’t in the room with her at all times.But slowly, ever so slowly, her tough exterior, and the bulk of her fears, faded with the passing of time. Now, she insists on a “kiss-hug” from mom and dad on a regular basis. And when she hasn’t seen me for a while, she will sit on my lap and watch TV or read a book, or even just lean her head on me while I twiddle on the laptop. This is any daddy’s dream. And she has me wrapped around her finger -- a daddy’s girl if I ever saw one.I can’t tell you how hard it was to earn this trust and love from her -- far harder than I had ever imagined it would be. But it came eventually, and when she’s sweet, she’s the sweetest little cupcake you’ve ever seen.But she still has that stubborn side. She still won’t let us forget that she’s the princess, and she likes things her way. We stand up to her, but it’s not always pretty.Some of that is the terrible twos, and some of it is baggage from her former life. It doesn’t matter, though. All kids have a personality forged from both nature and nurture. With enough love and the proper direction, I know she’ll harness that toughness into a strength that will serve her well as she grows up and moves out on her own some day.So, after a year, we’re into a groove; a pretty normal family. My seven year-old son Reidar loves playing with his little sister. She calls him geh geh, Chinese for big brother, and really the only Chinese she still speaks on a regular basis. I’d put her language skills on par with kids a year older than her. Her mind seems to have worked overtime to catch up to her english speaking peers, to the point that she has surpassed them.Part of this is probably so she can compete with her brother. They get along pretty well, and they fight like any other siblings, and the normal rivalries are there too. The house feels like part playground and part insane asylum when they are together. It’s definitely a lively joint in the mornings when they get ready for school and daycare, and in the evenings when it’s time for dinner, homework, and baths.The next challenge for little Ari, as we call her, will come in April. This is when we will welcome the next addition to our family. I don’t know what kind of magical powers Chinese babies have, but she apparently has some affect on fertility among western women. After trying on and off for seven years to have another baby, and adopting as a result of our inability to conceive, we were finally able to become pregnant -- only after Ari came into our lives.Just another piece of evidence to support my theory that life is filled with strange ironies and even stranger coincidences. No doctor can explain this phenomena. But we aren’t the first adoptive family to experience it.How will Ari handle not being the baby anymore?I just hope we have a boy, because I’m not sure if there is room for another princess in our house.But if I’ve learned anything from my daughter, it’s that you just need to roll with the punches in life, take what it gives you, and stay strong. And I’m sure that’s what she’ll do.Cean Burgeson can be reached at: cburgeson@pioneergroup.net

Record your family history now...before its too late (Nov. 06 Manistee News Advocate)

By CEAN BURGESON

Associate Editor

Since Veterans Day was this past weekend, I was thinking -- as I always do on that day -- of the World War II veterans that I worked with on my Master’s thesis project. For the project, I interviewed several local vets, as well as some of the folks in residence at the veterans home in Grand Rapids.I also thought about one veteran in particular who just passed away a few weeks ago; and my grandfather, a World War II army vet and German prisoner of war, who passed away 10 years ago.It is estimated that over 1000 World War II vets die each day in this country. That’s why it is so important for us to record their oral histories. For my documentary project, I interviewed about a dozen vets and wives of vets from the second world war, videotaped them, and put them into a finished piece. At least one of those people I interviewed has since passed, that I know of -- I’m sure there are some who are now gone whom I have lost touch with. Just think of the information that would have been lost had I not gotten these interviews on tape. And think of what has been lost of those who were never interviewed.I often wish that I would have gotten my grandfather on videotape to get his impressions on the war, the depression, our family history, and his life in general. Unfortunately, I never got the chance, save for one cassette tape from a high school project. There are so many questions that come up from time to time in my family that we will never have answers for, and so much we could have learned if we would have sat down and taken the time to ask these questions.So, I urge everyone who has a parent, grandparent, friend or other relative of “The Greatest Generation,” as it is sometimes called -- to sit down with them and ask them about their lives. Get their stories on audio or video tape. These personal histories can be treasured by future generations, and will help to preserve a part of your families own history, and the history of our nation, for that matter.The interviews don’t have to be done with expensive equipment, lighting, or sound. They don’t have to be edited together into a finished program. All you need is a camera or tape recorder, and a list of questions.I also urge people to contribute their recorded pieces to an oral history project, like the Veterans History Project, sponsored by the Library of Congress. These projects collect and catalogue oral histories from people of all walks of life, and preserve them as a record for research and education.There are also oral history projects for Native Americans, African Americans, Vietnam War veterans, and many other different categories.Because of the availability of modern technology such as home video cameras, and their widespread use, we have the opportunity to save a special piece of each of our families for future generations. So, if you have ever thought of sitting down with a relative and making a recording, don’t put it off any longer, do it today. You’ll be glad you did. If you participate in an oral history project, you might even be contributing a piece of history that was previously unknown -- it’s already happened since these projects have been set up. And most importantly of all; your children -- and your children’s children -- will thank you for it.

Look out for the national liberal media! (Nov. 06 Manistee News Advocate)

By CEAN BURGESON

Associate Editor

Representative Pete Hoekstra has an ad on the radio right now admonishing the “Liberal National Media.” After hearing about how they are ruining our way of life, I’m glad that I belong to the “non-biased local media.”Whew!I’m a little confused, though, as I tried to figure out just who he was talking about. Because the last time I checked, the most listened to radio personality is Rush Limbaugh, (a neo-conservative). As of 2005, Arbitron ratings indicate the show's audience to average 13.5 million listeners weekly, making it the largest radio talk show audience in the United States. Also, relative to all other television and radio programs in the United States, Limbaugh's audience has the highest percentage (56%) of hard news consumers. So, at least the liberal national media doesn’t have a hold of good old radio. Whew!On television, we’ve got the conservative, “no-spin-zone” Bill O’Reilly. O'Reilly is best known as the host of the cable news program The O'Reilly Factor, broadcast on the Fox News Channel. Between 2003 and the first half of 2006, it ranked #1 among cable news programs, averaging 2.2 million viewers daily in 2005. Well, at least on cable, the liberal national media isn’t in control. Whew!Many Republicans have shown concern in the last year or so that public broadcasting is liberal. I worked at a public broadcasting television station for a few years, and never saw the political agenda of Sesame Street, Barney, Elmo and The Antiques Roadshow. Maybe I wasn’t looking hard enough, though.Thank goodness that Patricia Harrison, the one time co-chair of the Republican National Committee, was named president and CEO of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting in June, and new non-liberal programming was added, such as “Tucker Carlson: Unfiltered” and “Journal Editorial Report,” -- which features the conservative Wall Street Journal's editorial board -- in order to get more conservative voices on air.Thanks to the republicans, I guess the liberal national media has been kicked out of public broadcasting. Whew!Which brings us to the commercial broadcasting networks, in which the big three have national news programs which are, shall we say, sucking wind, in the ratings department. Why? Because the traditional format of network news shows is to present the most un-biased, objective news reporting possible. BORING!The American public wants to hear opinions. They want Anderson Cooper, Bill O’Reilly, and the other “news personalities” to give them the “real inside scoop”. So viewers have flocked to cable news to be entertained and informed at the same time. Network news has shied away from controversy for years and quashed anyone with an opinion on the evening news; and the news tidbits we see in the morning on the networks are surrounded by so much fun and games that its hard to take the five minute news report even remotely seriously.So, network news is in too much of a tailspin to tow the line for the liberal media agenda. Whew!Then it must be the print media who are spearheading the liberal agenda. Here’s what the website My Direct Democracy found in their research about liberal bias in the newspaper industry:Since 1940 when industry trade magazine Editor & Publisher began tracking newspapers during presidential elections, only two Democratic candidates -- Lyndon Johnson in 1964 and Bill Clinton in 1992 -- have ever won more endorsements than their Republican opponent. That's because newspaper publishers, who usually sign off on endorsements, tend to vote Republican (like lots of senior corporate executives), which means GOP candidates pick up more endorsements. A lot more. In 1984, President Reagan landed roughly twice as many endorsements as Democrat Walter Mondale in the president's easy reelection win. And in 1996, despite his weak showing at the polls, 179 daily newspapers endorsed Republican Bob Dole, which easily outpaced the Democrats' tally by nearly a 2-to-1 margin.So, at least the liberal national media hasn’t gotten a hold of the newspaper industry. Whew!What does that leave us with, then? Where is the liberal national media? In the minority, not the majority. Right where the conservatives want it.Cean Burgeson can be reached at: cburgeson@pioneergroup.net