Last night I had the opportunity to shoot Caged Combat 3 at Spirit Mountain Casino near Salem. Having never shot a Mixed Martial Arts(MMA) event, I had no idea what to expect. Watching a couple videos on the internet briefed me on the potential for intense and even brutal fights. But nothing could have prepared me for what I witnessed in the headlining fight between Charles “Kid Khaos” Bennett and Jason Gybels of Bend. If blood makes you queasy I’d recommend not scrolling any further.

Fans came from all over the state to watch the main event between Jason Gybels(left) and Kid Khaos. (Alex McDougall/Oregon Daily Emerald)

A powerful righthand punch landed by Kid Khaos opened up a wound near Gybels' right eye that covered both fighters in blood. (Alex McDougall/Oregon Daily Emerald)

(Alex McDougall/Oregon Daily Emerald)

The referee called a timeout during the fight so that doctors could attend to Gybels' cut. (Alex McDougall/Oregon Daily Emerald)

Waiting for the restart, Gybels scowls at the in-house camera, pumping up the crowd. (Alex McDougall/Oregon Daily Emerald)

Kid Khaos rests following a grueling fight in which a chokehold by Gybels forced him to tap out. (Alex McDougall/Oregon Daily Emerald)

(Alex McDougall/Oregon Daily Emerald)

This evening I attended a rehearsal of Playhouse Creatures, a play put on by the UO theater department at the Hope Center. The play is set in the 1600s in Great Britain after Charles II decreed that women should play the rolls of women in theater instead of young boys. It opens April 15th and runs through the 30th.

Scenes from the 2010 Oregon Brewers Festival on the Portland waterfront.

No one left lecture hall Columbia 150 on Wednesday evening without feeling profoundly affected. Invisible Children, an organization working to stop the war in northern Uganda and support former child soldiers, screened a short film about the conflict and then introduced their special guest, Jacob Acaye.

Jacob is a former child soldier who was abducted at the age of 11 and forced to fight in the Lord’s Revolutionary Army, a violent militia group in northern Uganda. Invisible Children is touring around the country with their message and raising money in order to give former child soldiers, like Jacob, an opportunity to have an education.

As a senior, this year marked the end of spring breaks for me… forever. I seriously considered allowing myself to partake in the usual debauchery and flying down to Cancun or Cabo for the classic college spring break. However, a lack of the necessary funds and interest in actually doing so conspired to lead me to one of California’s most remote beach breaks. I am not at liberty to disclose exactly where that is for the sake of keeping it remote, however I can reveal the process of getting there. What makes this place so special in fact is the difficulty of getting there. Consistent with the philosophy of other designated wilderness areas, this place is meant to be rugged. In keeping it that way, none of the creeks crossings have bridges, trees that have fallen over the trail are not removed and over four miles of the beach trail disappear during the high tide. But when upon arriving at the beach, one of the West coast’s most remote and unique waves awaits whoever is willing to pack a surf board for 22 miles.