Matt Jaku

Winter is the Best Season

How do you feel about cold weather?

As a resident of the Midwest, I absolutely love Winter. I know a lot of people who hate it, but it’s definitely my favorite time of the year. To be fair, I don’t actually like being cold. I hate being cold, but I absolutely love being in the cold. I love it when things freeze over. I love it when it snows. It’s just my favorite time of the year.

One reason I love the cold so much is because I do play hockey. While I do play hockey indoors (most of the time), I do like skating outside and occasionally playing hockey outside. This winter, I had the opportunity to play hockey outside three times. It was nice because it reminded me of where I started. I learned to play on a pond over 15 years ago, and those were some of the best winters I’ve ever had.

Secondly, I love skiing, and I ski at least once a winter. I usually go skiing with some family and friends. We try to go to Colorado, but it doesn’t always work out that way, mostly because of the cost. Colorado is expensive and we go for a week. Not to mention, ski lift tickets are way more expensive now than they were five years ago. If we don’t get the chance to go to Colorado, we just head up to Wisconsin. Our resort of choice in Colorado is Winter Park, and recently, we’ve been going to Granite Peak in Wisconsin.

As for Wisconsin, Wilmont is too easy for us. Alpine Valley is ok, but still too easy. Cascade is fun, and we spent a lot of time there over the years. We started going to Granite Peak more recently because we wanted something new in Wisconsin. It’s a fun time there, but nothing in the Midwest can compare to Colorado. Colorado is just magical. We did make it to Colorado in January of 2025, but unfortunately, we all took turns with the Norovirus. It was not our most fun trip.

I am still editing a ski trip video that you’ll be able to watch on my YouTube channel here. As of posting this blog post, I have not finished editing the video yet. I’ve definitely been slacking on it, but you can watch ski trips from past years. They’re all up there, from Wisconsin to Colorado.

Overall, I love the winters here even though they’ve gotten warmer as time goes on. I don’t think I’d ever move somewhere warmer, though. And if I did, it would be to Colorado. There’s just something magical about winter in the Midwest that I don’t think I could ever leave behind.

The Next Six Months

What is the biggest challenge you will face in the next six months?

The next six months will be interesting to say the least. There’s a lot I need to finish, and at times, it can feel overwhelming to think about all at once. I have to remind myself to take it day by day. I’ll talk about each item individually below. They aren’t in any particular order.

The first thing that I need to do is help with the post-production on the film I worked on last semester called Epochal. We made it as a part of our Advanced Film Production class. My job on the film was sound designer. It was my first time doing sound design, and my job isn’t done. Once we have the picture locked, I can work on adding sounds and music. There’s a good chance we’ll need to do Foley for it as well. I’m actually really excited about it.

The second thing is I need to finish my last class for my degree. I’m taking cinematography, and it is the final class I need for an A.A.S. in TV and movie production. I’ve been in college since I was 18 (that’s roughly 15 years). I spent a majority of that time not knowing what I wanted to do. It wasn’t until 2017, when I took a class called Intro to Motion Pictures & TV, that I discovered what I wanted to do. I want to work on TV shows and/or movies. That’s the goal. My dream job is screenwriter/director, but I also love editing videos. I still edit videos weekly. Most of what I edit is my own gaming videos that I post to YouTube, but I’ll edit videos for people if they ask me to.

The final challenge of the next six months will be finding a job in the motion picture and TV field. The film industry is a hard one to get into, and having a degree doesn’t guarantee a job. To start, I’d be looking for any job in video work. I feel like I’m a pretty good video editor, so I’d probably start there to build up a portfolio of work. I have done work for people in the past, so I wouldn’t be starting from zero. I’d be adding onto what I already have. While my future is uncertain, I am positive that I will find a job in that field. It’ll just take some time.

Life Before the Internet: A Nostalgic Reflection

The author reflects on life before the internet, recalling a slower, more engaged existence without constant digital distractions. While technology has made life easier and connected us, it also breeds addiction and unrealistic portrayals through social media. The nostalgia for a less connected time highlights a complex relationship with modern technology.

Do you remember life before the internet?

I like this question because I do remember life before the internet. It was so much different from life now. There are days I wish I could go back. We’ve become so reliant on our phones and being “online” that trying to unplug from it is nearly impossible. I constantly find myself checking my phone even though I know no one is messaging me. Or if they are, it doesn’t require an immediate response.

But life before the internet? It was slower. You couldn’t just look things up. News traveled by mail or phone call. There was no such thing as email. What did I do without the internet? Well, I didn’t have cable growing up either, so my TV watching was limited. I mostly played outside or played with the toys I owned. I did have two brothers growing up so that was also a source of entertainment. Honestly, it was a magical time to be alive. You had to be there.

But I also remember when technology started to be introduced. I remember when AOL was the big thing. I remember when cell phones went from big, to small, to big again, so we could watch videos on them. I remember when a phone call would kick you off of the internet. I remember having a timer on how long I could be online. It was about an hour, by the way. Maybe an hour and a half. Two hours if I was lucky.

I remember when you had to buy ringtones for your cell phone. I remember when cell phones couldn’t really access the internet. If you wanted to listen to music, you had to turn on the radio, or own the music on CD, vinyl, or cassette. There was no Apple Music or Spotify. There was no iTunes either. YouTube? Didn’t exist. Truth be told, I’m even older than Google.

The internet has made life easier, but it’s also made life worse. The creation of social media has plagued us with living in a world that’s always polished. Rarely do we post things on social media that aren’t good or happy times. We live for likes on posts and photos. We yearn for the feeling of being popular. And I was there for MySpace when you could rank your Top 8 friends. I remember it all.

Ironically, while I was in the middle of writing this post, I paused to scroll Instagram for 30 seconds. It’s like our brains are trained to participate in social media and there’s no way to stop it. It’s an addiction. I don’t wish for social media to not exist. There are good uses for it, and it has allowed me to keep in contact with people I otherwise wouldn’t be able to. It’s just that sometimes, I just miss the when the internet didn’t exist.

Collectibles: Everyone Has Something

Do you have any collections?

Collections are something everyone has. Some hide theirs, and others show them off. Do you show yours off? Or do you collect them in private and hope no one finds out? Me? I show my collections off. If I hide them, then what’s the point in collecting?

I really only collect two things. I’d love to collect more, but I don’t have anywhere to put stuff. I also don’t think there’s much else I’d like to collect anyway.

The first thing I collect is comic books. Old comics, new comics, I collect them all. I don’t actively hunt down certain issues of comics, but every comic I buy, I read, and then I store it away in a box. I haven’t counted how many I have, but it has to be about 1,000 comic books by now.

Most of my comic books are Marvel, but I also have several DC and independent comics. Some of the independent comics are just as good, if not better than Marvel or DC. If I see something I’m interested in, I’ll buy it. A good story is a good story, regardless of where it comes from.

The second thing I collect is Funkos. I love Funkos, and I have since I started buying them. I easily have a few hundred of them by now, and I have them sitting on shelves where people can see them. Which ones do I have? There are way too many to list, but the majority of them are Marvel related.

I do have several Funkos that have nothing to do with Marvel, too. I have a few Stranger Things Funkos, Silicon Valley, Happy Days, and even a few Metallica Funkos. I have no intention of ending my collection of Funkos. There’s always new ones coming out, and if there’s one I like, I’ll buy it.

There’s nothing wrong with collecting things. Some people might call it weird. Some people might hate it. But at the end of the day, if it makes you happy, then that’s all that matters. Collections bring people joy. So collect on!

My Podcast Listening

What podcasts are you listening to?

While I don’t listen to podcasts as often as I’d like, there are quite a few I do listen to. They are all over the place too which makes it fun in a way. This list won’t be in any real order. I’m just going to go through my Spotify so I make sure I get them all.

The first is The Office Ladies. I’ve been a fan of The Office for years and it’s super fun to hear stuff about filming, what was improvised, other details of things that happened, and just all things Office related.

The next on the list is Best Film Ever. This one is a podcast about films and TV. They do several different segments. One they talk about films and if they are the “best film ever.” Another segment is about if shows have a good first episode or not. They also do a segment where they review a movie and then tell you if you should see it or skip it. Of course, it is only their opinion and you are free to watch or not watch anything they talk about.

The next few are similar. There is REAL ONES with Jon Bernthal, Metaphysical Milkshake with Rainn & Reza, The Late Show Pod with Stephen Colbert, and The Back Lounge Podcast. While each one is different from the other, they are all interview type podcasts. A couple of people talking about whatever they want. These are always fun to listen to.

Norse Mythology: The Unofficial Guide is a podcast about Norse mythology. It uses different sources to talk about different things in Norse mythology. I do own several books on Norse mythology that I plan on reading, but in the meantime, listening to podcasts about it is super helpful as well.

Bellied Up is a fun podcast were two guys go to a bar and talk about literally anything. A majority of the podcast is people calling in to seek advice or ask questions. It’s a funny podcast to listen to and I highly recommend it. It also helps if you live in the Midwest in the United States. A lot of Midwest references in this podcast.

Lateral with Tom Scott is a fun one where they take turns asking questions and then the rest of them try to solve the question being asked. It’s almost like solving riddles. This is a good one to listen to if you’re trying to stay awake since it requires you to use your brain if you decide to play along.

Who Is NO/ONE is a really cool podcast that runs along a comic called NO/ONE. I highly recommend the comic. It’s amazing. The podcast is a continuation of it and it’s one of the coolest things I’ve seen someone do.

Foreign language podcasts. That’s kind of self explanatory. The one’s I mostly listen to are German since I’m still trying to learn it. It’s hard to listen to them if they require me to do exercises, but if it’s just a couple people talking I can listen to it whenever.

I’m always open to new podcasts as well. If there are any I should check out, let me know and I’ll give them a listen!