Blogcritics Author: Patrick Cossel

Kansas Wins NCAA Championship

Patrick Cossel — Wed, 9 Apr 2008 03:12:04 EDT

Kansas downs Memphis to win first NCAA championship in 20 years
A fade away 3-point shot by Mario Chalmers sent the NCAA Division I Championship game into overtime last night and insured Chalmers a place in Jayhawk history. The junior guard’s shot was a spark plug that rejuvenated the Kansas offense and ushered in their first national title in 20 years. In overtime the 'hawks defeated the Memphis...

Music Review: Green Lizard - Las Armas Del Silencio

Patrick Cossel — Sun, 2 Mar 2008 09:00:14 EST

Originally released in their home country of the Netherlands in 2006, Green Lizard released the third LP Las Armas Del...
Originally released in their home country of the Netherlands in 2006, Green Lizard released the third LP Las Armas Del Silencio to the United States in 2007.The album was recorded in different locations in the Netherlands and was mixed by Clif Norrell in Los Angelas. It was released in both countries on I Scream Records, home of legendary punk band...

How Michael Beasley Made One Little Boy's Day

Patrick Cossel — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 23:04:47 EST

In the midst of a leukemia battle, Kansas State fan Blade Winter got the sports gift of a lifetime.
Michael Beasley, 6-foot-10 freshman forward for Kansas State University men's basketball team, had no idea who 11-year-old Blade Winter was. He had no idea that Winter was having a bad day on Saturday January 19, and he had no idea that this future K-Stater has leukemia. What he did know was that this super-fan was trying to sit close to the...

DVD Review: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

Patrick Cossel — Sun, 16 Dec 2007 20:01:10 EST

This pre-Christmas release is sure to make little wizards and witches happy across the world this holiday season.
Newly released on Warner Brothers DVD is Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. This fifth installment of the Harry Potter franchise takes fans of the boy who lived on a much darker ride. Potter, now 16, is faced with vicious attacks from a new headmaster, training with his arch-enemy Severus Snape, and coping with the loss of a dear friend....

Hunting Pheasant in Kansas at Ringneck Ranch

Patrick Cossel — Mon, 3 Dec 2007 01:30:28 EST

Despite all the national TV publicity, the owners agree that you'll arrive the first time as a guest but leave as a friend.
The explosions of shotguns echo through the crisp Kansas morning air. To the unknowing it may sound like a war was breaking out south of the sleepy little town of Tipton. To the residents of Tipton though, it is an all to familiar sound from October till March. Situated approximately two miles south of Tipton and marked only by a stone sign sits...

When Your Team Disappoints, Don't Jump Ship

Patrick Cossel — Tue, 11 Sep 2007 22:25:35 EDT

A response to Benjamin Cossel's woes about following a baseball team in the playoffs.
Ah, yes, October is on the horizon, and the baseball playoffs are indeed shaping up. It is time to put up or shut up. But, is it time to jump ship? Or maybe there are other things that should be considered firstIn a recent article written by Benjamin Cossel, entitled "When Your Team Disappoints How Do You Stay Interested?", he pines about the woes...

Music Review: MutherF#ckin Saints - Burn

Patrick Cossel — Tue, 11 Sep 2007 07:31:14 EDT

Lincoln Nebraska's own MF Saints comeback with their latest album, Burn
With a market completely saturated with prefabricated American Idol crap, people are screaming for a bit of truth. They are tired of hearing the same droning monotonous junk that bleeds through our airwaves. Frustration is prompting them to turn the radio off and look to the underground. Here they find the warriors who call themselves the...

Music Review: Ministry - The Last Sucker

Patrick Cossel — Sun, 2 Sep 2007 21:02:47 EDT

Hard hitting and in your face Ministry launches their last studio album.
If it wasn't clear before, it should be now. Al Jourgensen, front man for the hard core industrial band Ministry, isn't very fond of George W. Bush or his administration. If there is any doubt at all after listening to Ministry's latest ride The Last Sucker, then you truly must have been one of the mindless twits who voted for the man...

Music Review: Lux Occulta - The Mother and The Enemy

Patrick Cossel — Tue, 28 Aug 2007 00:14:09 EDT

Lux Occulta's 2001 release is a mix of black metal and trip-hop. An interesting twist to the hard hitting genre.
Released in 2001, The Mother and The Enemy is the fifth release by the Polish black metal band Lux Occulta. The album, released by Metal Minds Poland, contains ten tracks that are hardcore, earsplitting, and somewhat -- scary. This album is harder than Matt Hughes in a tub full of cocaine!...

Announcement: Short-content feeds

Phillip Winn — Sun, 26 Aug 2007 12:00:00 EDT

Sunday, August 26, 2007, marks the switch of all Blogcritics.org article feeds from full-content to short-content. This is the result of several converging factors, and is unfortunately a permanent decision (as permanent as any decision can be on the web, that is). We are aware of all of the reasons that this is a Bad Idea, and we are aware that some of you will be quite upset about having to click on something to read the free content, and we're sorry. Unfortunately, despite great effort, full-content feeds are not currently economically viable. Two other factors are involved: full-content feeds have resulted in an unprecedented level of content theft, with BC content appearing on many websites, usually spam sites, without attribution or permission. This duplicate content causes a cascading set of problems, not the least of which is that search engines generally aren't favorable to duplicate content, and don't always guess correctly. Finally, our RSS advertising partner is strongly in favor of short-content feeds. We hope that you'll continue to subscribe to BC via RSS, and when an article grabs your eye, it's only a click away, still free on the BC website. Thank you for your understanding.

Book Review: Evil Business by John F. Nienstedt

Patrick Cossel — Wed, 15 Aug 2007 03:59:44 EDT

"Writers are people who can write about anything and meet a deadline. I have a lot of respect for writers. Authors have a burning passion that takes time to come out. I am an author," said John F. Nienstedt from his home in Surprise, Arizona.Nienstedt is a 1956 graduate of Beloit High School in Beloit Kansas, and the author of several books. His latest book, Evil Business, allows the reader to once again join struggling columnist Norm Fuller. In Nienstedt's previous book, See the Monkey, Fuller almost won a Pulitzer prize for the column he wrote about the commandments of "evil."As the reader joins Fuller in Evil Business, they find him struggling after not having won the Pulitzer. He is soon revisited by the voice of "Evil" and sent on a wild goose chase to Kansas City. Here Fuller discovers a new story in which he exposes the greed of businessmen by exposing the truths about three companies. The concept that Nienstedt uses is scary. His "Golden Triangle" consists of CEOs of a food company, pharmaceutical company and chemical company. The CEOs are very good friends and have used the knowledge gained from each other to get the respective businesses flourishing in snack foods, diet soda and anti-depression drugs.Fuller exposes the dangers of each of these items in another column that once again falls short of the pulitzer. As if to tease him, the voice leads him to a small town whose location is listed as "about two hours west of Kansas City by commuter flight." Here Fuller gets a taste of paradise and also the power of human greed.Evil Business is a ride that leaves the reader questioning what is fact and what is fiction. The three products used by the Golden Triangle scarily resemble products that are used in everyday, ordinary foods and makes the reader question just what they are putting in their mouths. At 200 pages, the book grabs its reader from the very beginning and holds tight until the end. If you enjoy a good read that makes you think, then this is the book for you.

Patrick Cossel is a staff writer for the Beloit Call in Beloit Kansas. He is one of the voices of the Beloit High School basketball and wrestling team.