FattJake's Blog

Some thoughts on Harvey Pekar

2010-08-02T00:10:00.006-06:00

I'm not a big reader of comic books, but I have lately been reading a few. One series that I plan to read is called American Splendor. The author, Harvey Pekar died a few weeks ago, and I was sorry to hear it. There was something beautiful, familiar, and tragic about the character and maybe the man himself.

On the suggestion of a friend I watched the movie with the same title. The movie stars Paul Giamatti as Pekar and also features pieces of the comics and clips from interviews with Pekar himself. Giamatti does a great job of capturing his physical eccentricities. The comic is auto-biographical and tells the stories of his life. Most of the time Pekar represents himself as a depressed, tragic character whose life is unremarkable except for some of the unfortunate events that he encounters. Many of these brought on by his own attitude.

What makes the comic and the movie interesting is how faithfully he is able to capture the sense of of his characters. He is able to represent the conversation, tone, and pace of his life in a way that feels so real, so familiar, so honest. Most of the stories in the movie are simple, or mundane, or tragic. But, they feel completely real.

What's amazing is that in life's mundane pace, there is so much that is beautiful and interesting, even if it's unremarkable. The beauty and interest arises from the detail. The complexity of real people is interesting, their quirks, their shallow conversation and their trite interests. I found the man's work so rich. It's as though in his negative, complaining attitude, he's obligated to record and portray the complexities and eccentricities of real people. To sum up what I took away from the movie: In its richness life is wonderful, even when the dominant theme is suffering.

Remembering Enemy Mine

2010-07-13T23:00:00.004-06:00

"Jerry, old Drac ... where would you be without me, huh?" -
"Back home."

When I was a kid, like every self-respecting middle class American family, we owned a VCR. Unlike most families, we didn't have any rhyme or reason as to what movies we owned. We didn't buy movies for ourselves, and so we owned whatever movies we received as gifts. This resulted in only a handful of very random movies. What few movies we did own we watched over and over. Maybe a hundred times, we'd quote them, we'd make fun of them, the language in these movies became a part of our vernacular growing up. One such movie was 'Willow.' We called each other 'peck' for years.

Another wonderful movie that we owned was called 'Enemy Mine'. Enemy mine stars Dennis Quaid and Louis Gosset Jr. as the Drac. The story is about a future space war between humans and Dracs (the aliens). Quaid and Gosset's characters shoot each other down in a space ship battle royal and get stuck on a hostile planet. They end up cooperating in order to survive and becoming friends. When other humans are found on the planet and become a threat to Gosset, Quaid decides to side with his new friend instead of his own kind. I know what you are thinking, and yes, it's Dances with Wolves, with aliens.

It's a weird movie. Yet it does have it's appeal. I cannot watch it objectively. It's so familiar and ingrained, that I don't have the ability to see it with new eyes. Although, the effects are terrible.

It's available as a streaming movie on Netflix. I encourage anyone who reads this blog to go and watch it, for the first time if you've never seen it before. And tell me, is this a good movie or is it a joke?

Description from Netflix:

Earthling Davidge (Dennis Quaid) is one of many space warriors facing a brutal battle against the reptilian Draconians, among them the soldier Jeriba (Louis Gossett Jr.). But when the pilots' spaceships crash-land on the same planet, these foes must team up to stay alive. The stakes climb higher after Jeriba gives birth to a baby Drac, and Davidge becomes foster father to his own natural enemy as he tries to survive in a hostile land.

Iphone 3.0 . . . Better than Christmas

2009-06-08T14:24:00.003-06:00

I can't tell you how excited I was when I rose from my bed this morning. Today is the first day of Apple's World Wide Developer Conference (WWDC). What that means is that today is the announcement for the new Iphone. I felt like a little kid Christmas morning. . . that makes me a fanboy.

Sometimes my wife asks me why I get so excited about these technology things ("Yes, I love technology. Not as much as you, you see. Still, I love technology."). I have tried to explain, but the answer never seems to satisfy her. Maybe it's one of those things . . . you get it or you don't care.

But, I care. Oh, how I care! Among other things, the new iphone has a better camera that will also include software for video recording. (Now, if you were motivated you could already do video recording, but it required a hacked phone.) Statistically speaking, you are probably more like my wife than me (on this point, anyway), and you are saying . . . "Who cares?"

Let's get into it. The camera being better means close up photos of text, barcodes, etc. One application that already exists that will now work properly is the a barcode scanner that looks up products online. WHAT! That's right! You walk into the store, take a picture of any product, WITH YOUR PHONE, and it will tell you what it costs on Amazon, Ebay, etc.

That's just one example, though. You could read any text into the phone via the camera and connect that information to any online source. Check you flight status by taking a picture of your ticket, save business cards of associates and search for keywords online, read nutritional information about your last meal from the lable on the box and keep a perfect record of all the foods you eat, etc, etc.

So, there's that. The video recording has it's own applications as well. I'm going to get a little more theoretical now. Suppose that you are at a major event, rock concert, presidential inauguration, local bar, etc. Suppose everyone has a video recording enabled phone at this event. If there are thousands of people video recording from different angles, it's possible that this could create a near perfect 3D representation of the scene. You've probably seen Batman where he hacks into everyone's phone and Morgan Freeman is like, "No man should have this power." It's kinda like that. What if something goes down? Someone is injured, or history happens, or you are arrested? There's a perfect record of what happened from every possible angle.

The thing I like about technology is that as it develops it bridges the gap between our meat brains and omniscience. I have no illusions, we are far, far away from perfect knowledge, and the progress we have made is but a tiny step towards it, but where we are now, relative to where we were say, 40 years ago, is incredibly profound.

Think about how you used to get information, and how you get it now. Do you have questions about your health or available jobs or when a movie is playing? How much effort did it take to get those questions answered 20 years ago? What about if you wanted to know the definition of an unfamiliar word? How about if you wanted to know what 30 of your not so closest high school friends were doing with their lives? Pieces of information that were simply too much effort to be worth it, are now trivial to get to. Idle curiosities can be instantly satisfied, which leads to a broader and more intricate general knowledge base. The integration of technology into our lives is accelerating, which means that the progress that we make in the next 10 years will equal what we did in the previous 30. How can you live in these times and not get excited about it?!?

Well, I suspect that those of you pre-disposed to my argument are already with me, and those who are not pre-disposed are still saying, yeah, but, so what? I get that.

Followed the ECTO-UT into work today . . .

2009-05-15T08:42:00.003-06:00

Flea Market! Montgomery!

2009-04-24T14:40:00.001-06:00

My only problem with Susan Boyle . . .

2009-04-16T12:51:00.005-06:00

Is that I don't think she's real. Inspiring, but planted.

My heartstrings were yanked on, just like the other gajillions of people currently watching the youtube video. But, I remember the same basic set up a few years ago. I remember Paul Potts. I remember being inspired when I heard the something divine coming out of what looked to be a homely vessel.

Notice anything eerily familiar in the set up??? Well, hold on, there's more. A little later, on America's Got Talent, there was this guy . . .

Besides the obvious similarity of song choice (he may have known about Paul Potts, chosen the same song deliberately). It's a popular piece. Notice the caption, 'insurance salesman.' Not unlike 'cel phone salesman.' Now we have Susan Boyle. Sorry about the link, they've disabled embedding (infuriating!).

Susan Boyle

Never been kissed, lives at home with the cats, full of confidence. It feels manufactured. I think that people who make TV for a living know what appeals to people, and I think for millions of dollars they are willing to manufacture so-called reality TV. Is it possible that the whole thing is on the level? Of course it is. If I had to put money on it, I'd go with created, not discovered.

There's more, here's another example of success in Britain, copied in America: Connie Talbot

Kaitlyn Maher

Neal Boyd and Kaitlyn Maher were both on the 3rd season of America's Got Talent, just months after Paul Potts and Connie Talbot faced off (they were 1st and 2nd respectively) on Britain's Got Talent. I'm seeing patterns, maybe I'm crazy.

My wife is AWESOME!

2009-03-17T20:42:00.002-06:00

She has finally seen the light and been converted . . .

Check out her latest post

ZOMBIES!!!

Do these commercials have the reaction that they intend?

2009-03-15T12:42:00.003-06:00

When I see this one I believe they want me to avoid drugs . . . however, the feeling is one of such whimsy. My impression from this ad is that drugs are fun.

This one makes me think gaining weight is awesome. I don't feel like avoiding heavy foods, I feel like reveling in them.

Am I the only one? I know what I am supposed to think because of who pays for the ad, but the way they make me feel is exactly opposite.

Chad Vader goes to the Dentist

2009-02-23T11:17:00.003-07:00

This last week someone posted a video of his kid messed up on laughing gas and pain killers after a trip to the dentist, pretty funny. 11 million views in a couple weeks.

But, what's funnier was the community response. Here's Chad Vader's (Darth Vader's ne'er do well son that works as a night manager in a small local grocery store) response. This is one of many.

"Don't put that in your vent Chad!" Awesome! . . . I'm a nerd.

If you liked the secret . . .

2009-01-08T15:47:00.003-07:00

If you find the 'science' found in the secret compelling, you may still (in spite of that) find the following review helpful.

Ari Brouillette - The Secret Saved My Life

Scroll down to the first review. If you like his criticism, you will also enjoy his other book reviews, click on his name.

New youtube contest (the onion)

2009-01-06T21:33:00.001-07:00

Make a video that's "actually good"

Bachelorhood

2009-01-05T22:04:00.003-07:00

My cousin Jen took me to a magical place this week. A group of her friends have xbox 360 parties. They have about 5 tvs and as many consoles. They set them all up and play from 10PM until dawn. Here's a picture:

You can see the 2 tvs on the left and right and above them is an HD projector screen, about 10 ft diagonal.

Also the latest qik video (on the right) is of the same.

Homeless James Bond

2009-01-02T14:54:00.002-07:00

This one's great, homeless James Bond. "Consumed by my dream!"

Very cool video, 1 year in 40 seconds

2008-12-30T10:24:00.000-07:00

One year in 40 seconds from Eirik Solheim on Vimeo.

Some more charts

2008-12-11T10:37:00.003-07:00

more music charts

Pugs Puppies

2008-11-23T23:28:00.005-07:00

Little puglies

Couple of video from the Coldplay concert

2008-11-23T22:27:00.001-07:00

King of men . . .

2008-11-20T18:24:00.002-07:00

Some guys just have everything going for them.

Bluegrass Evening

2008-11-14T21:43:00.002-07:00

Wednesday night at the Rocky Mountain Pizza Company on Wasatch Blvd. the local bluegrass musicians get together and jam. I used to go with buddies when I was still single. I really enjoyed the music and the atmosphere. So, Traci and I have gone a couple of times since returning home to Utah. The problem is that in the last few years either my tastes have gotten better or the pizza there has gotten worse, because the food is not good. However, the bluegrass hasn't changed and that's what I really go for anyway.

I took a little video with my phone, my cousin Jen went with us this week and you can see her long, flowing hair in the shot.

There were about 30 musicians there this week. You can hear them playing pretty well in the video, but it sound much better live. There just folks, and you can tell they love playing. It's one of those things.

New Feature - Qik Feed

2008-10-22T09:44:00.003-06:00

I finally broke down and jailbroke my phone (pun, pun, PUN, pun). Jailbreaking the iphone allows you to add functionality that apple hasn't approved. One such function is Qik. Qik is live streaming from my phone. So I can take videos from the phone and while I am doing so, if you are watching my blog, you'll be seeing what I see. There's a 2 or 3 second delay, but it's pretty close to live. So, enjoy it.

Also, if nothing is being recorded live, you can watch the latest video by clicking on the Qik button on the video, it will bring up thumbnails of the last few videos I have shot.

Granted the quality is low, but I think . . . this is mindblowingly cool. I'm a geek like that.

There's a video from this morning of the spider that we set up in our office, instead of working. Beautiful.

Up in the Night

2008-10-15T04:45:00.003-06:00

I have been remiss in my blogging duties of late, so I guess this blog post will tell you why.

I got a new job a couple of weeks ago, nothing profound, it's a $12 an hour temp job at the Univeristy of Utah. I do billing for the hospital, which means that I call the insurance company and say, "I want my two dollars!" Or $200,000, as the case may be.

Anyway, it pays the student loans until I can get more gainful employment.

I have also been working for Famous Fashions Found. They are an online fashion retailer. We are in the process of moving the site to a new host will all kinds of new capabilities, like affiliate marketing, promotions, and stuff.

This is what a day looks like for me:

Traci wakes up early, like 6:00 to get ready for her work, she's on the 4 10s with the state so she needs to be into work by 7:30 so she can go home at 6:00. Long days, but it means that she has 3-day weekends. Usually I try to sleep for another 30 minutes or so because then I will be ready about the same time and we go into work together. We are living in Sandy for a few months and we both work downtown so we drive together.

So, I start work around 8:00, and I am off around 4:30. Then I go over to the library to wait for Traci and work on Famous Fashions. We drive home together at 6:30, get something to eat for dinner, and maybe relax for a few minutes, that makes it about 8:00. I will then try to put in a few more hours of work before going to bed.

I do this every day but Friday, when I can leave early because I don't have to wait for Traci. Saturday this week involved winterizing the rental house, looking for a washer and dryer, and then another days worth of work on Famous Fashions.

Now some of you might be medical residents or something like that, and you are probably thinking, "Wow, sounds like a pretty light week."

The temp job at the U is low stress, the hospitals and the insurance companies have computer systems that talk to each other, so I am not so much collecting on bad debt as I am correcting information in the computer system so the bills go through correctly and get paid. 80% of the time after the hospital staff has input the information into the computer system, the billing goes out, the insurance receives it, and pays the bills without being without and human intervention.

Going from being not busy at all, to very busy, has messed with my routine. I haven't been to the gym (although I hurt my back 3 weeks ago, so I wouldn't have been for 2 weeks anyway), I haven't been posting fascinating blog entries, and worst of all, I haven't been able to watch nearly as much TV. That's not right.

So, the other weird thing is that I am having trouble sleeping, so it's about 5:00AM right now, I have been up since 3:00, can't sleep. I guess I am off to the gym, I was up to running 3 miles, before the injury, I'd like to get back to it soon.

2008-10-07T20:20:00.000-06:00

Thumbs up . . . , or down???

I found this new video called "WSYK." I can't decide if I like it or not, what do you think??

What Should You Know: Understanding the Financial Crisis from openSermo on Vimeo.

What Should You Know: The Bailout from openSermo on Vimeo.

Interesting or annoying?

2008-10-01T20:36:00.000-06:00

Why I no longer speed, and how I got married . . .

I almost never speed. There is something humiliating about being pulled over that I just can't stand. My natural reaction to being stopped by a cop is to get angry and act belligerently. Of course, this makes the situation worse, so I suck up my pride and act contrite. The process of stuffing my ego down into my stomach is supremely painful for me, so I just don't speed. It isn't worth it. It's not about the fine, it's about the pride.

Let me tell you how I became this way. When I was still single, I was interested in this girl. I took her out a couple of times, but she wasn't giving me any signals. She was nice, pleasant, when I asked her out she said yes, but no signals. At the time I was still shy and afraid of rejection, and in need of signals in order to make moves in progressing the relationship.

So, after a few dates, I became frustrated and insecure and began to wonder if there was any potential there or not. I was really interested in this girl, which made things worse. Had I been willing to walk away, it would have been easy to make a move and accept rejection if rejection was the response.

I noticed that this girl was really friendly with my roommate and I began to wonder if she was interested in him. In retrospect, it was probably that she liked me, and my roommate was safe, so she was buddying up with him, in order to have more in common with me. (I don't mean that she didn't like my roommate, they were friends, but I don't think she was interested in him in that way.) But, at the time, I was jealous of their relative ease and decided to back off a little.

This is where we get to the part about speeding. There was a ward activity (this girl was in my ward) where we all went down to Moab. I drove a lifted Toyota Tacoma at the time. I thought that truck was pretty cool. I drove it down to Moab, planning on doing a little 4 wheeling and showing it off. (In this, I was dissappointed.) I had a friend from high school who was in the ward with me on the drive.

I had gotten my first speeding ticket a few weeks earlier. A motorcycle cop (who was not on his bike at the time) saw me speeding and furiously waved me to pull over as he ran after me. Being afraid of the consequences if I didn't stop, I complied. (Today I might just keep driving and if he caught me pretend I didn't see him in the rearview.) Being pulled over by a cop on foot is humiliating. So I got a ticket. It was a good one, too. I think it was like 13 over the limit.

So, on my way down to Moab we went through Price. Those of you who have been through Price understand that most of the revenue in Price comes from out of town speeders. I got pulled over as we entered the city limits because I didn't slow down fast enough. I was probably about 15 over the limit again. He ticketed me for that, ticketed me for not having a front license plate (lame!), and ticketed me for driving with an expired registration. This added up quickly. I was at $450 or something for all that.

So, I was pretty upset, but trying to let it go and focus on the fun of the Moab trip. No sooner had I left the Price jurisdiction and entered the next one, but I get pulled over again (this time I had slowed to 9 over the limit.) So I get a second speeding ticket, expired registration ticket, etc. (He did me a favor and let the front license plate thing go.) My tickets at this point are adding up to about $800-$1,000. So far, so fun. I am really upset the rest of the drive to Moab.

We finally get to Moab after it got dark. We took a turn off the road to follow a dirt road just for kicks. As we get to the end of this dirt road, it dead ends and I need to turn around. As I am trying to turn around, I back off the edge of a cliff and my truck is high centered, perched on rock. Three of my four 33" mudders lifted completely off the ground. We weren't going anywhere.

The next day it took us about 3 hours of jacking up the truck and building a rock driveway to get it back onto the dirt road. When we finally did, the truck ran, but it had crushed some of the fluid lines, dented the bottom of the truck, and bent the drive train. When I accelerated it would make a lovely grinding noise. I did get it back to SL safely, where I promptly turned it into my insurance company.

Anyway, so the trip started out GRRREAT!. During the trip this girl tried to talk to me, but I gave her the cold shoulder. I was in a foul mood and I was convinced she was interested in my roommate and was just being nice to me. She later asked me what my deal was and explained that she was interested in me, but by then I had moved on and there was another girl in the picture that I ended up dating for a while. The problem was that I was really interested in this one that got away and I was always wondering what things would have been like had I not imagined myself out of the deal.

So, after I had some time to reflect, I vowed to myself that if I was ever interested in someone who didn't respond again, I would pursue her until I got a clear message yeah or nay. The next serious relationship I had was with Traci, my wife, and wouldn't you know, Traci gave few and conflicting signals in the beginning of our courtship. But, because of my experience, I would not back down without a fight. Turned out to be a really good lesson.

And that is how I got married and why I don't speed.

2008-09-25T09:45:00.000-06:00

The winner is Traci, the winner is TRAY-See, the winner is Tray-SEE.

I have uploaded clips of Traci's Price is Right experience. I put them on my blog, even though she clearly has first dibs, because I need the traffic. She'll post them on hers as well, I am sure.

You should watch for the following highlights.

Traci (winning showcase showdown) Velociraptor Punch!

Seductive Traci

And finally the "Rock On!!" version of "Should I do it?"

Here are the videos:

Part 1

Part 2

I am married to someone who WON THE PRICE IS RIGHT!!! I bet you're not.

2008-09-22T22:45:00.000-06:00

Last week was Mary, Martha, Katherine

This is a hike up Big Cottonwood Canyon. There are three lakes that you can visit. They are all small, but when we got to Katherine, there were some folks up there fishing, in shorts, in the rain. The trail head starts at Brighton Ski Resort. It was a pretty moderate, 2 hour hike. It did rain on us a little this week. It wasn't too bad. The area up at Brighton is really pretty.

Start:

Lake Martha:
Lake Mary and fishers:
Lake Mary, this one is the largest, I just didn't get a good photo:

2008-09-21T16:21:00.000-06:00

A Donut by any other name . . .

This is a Dunford Donuts, Chocolate Donut. You can find these all over Salt Lake City, in 7-11s, in Albertson's, in Dan's. These are my favorite Donuts in the whole world. When I went to the MTC, my parents sent me a box of these. Whenever we came back from Indiana to visit family, we get these. I have looked for these Donuts in other places. I have looked in California, I have looked in Vegas, I looked and looked in Indiana, all with no luck.

So, the other day I looked up this, King of all Donuts, and found out that they are called Dunford Donuts and are made by a company in West Valley. I am not sure why Dunford hasn't taken their Donuts national, but if they need an MBA to help out with that project, I am looking for a job.

These are the greatest donuts in the world.

2008-09-16T11:59:00.000-06:00

Propaganda wars - music/film Piracy

I know that this is an old issue, but it's one dear to my heart. I saw the South Park clip today and it inspired me to put together this collection of videos.

RIAA - Would you steal a car???

South Park - Doomed to a life of only semi-luxury??

Kid Rock - Stealing is Stealing Warning: Some foul language

Parody of the Anti-piracy ad

2008-09-11T12:12:00.000-06:00

This simultaneously makes me laugh and feel superior, but could it be real?! Self-smarted, what a concept.

Books, you see, people say, are for, to be, to make you smarter, but (and listen up because this part is critical) they can also be, for, to be, to get you dead. Few realize this. And because only a precious, elite few understand this critical relationship between spare oxygen, spare brain capacity, and getting, to be, made dead, it's very important. Whatever you do, don't stop smoking dope, that is the only thing keeping you alive!

2008-09-10T16:03:00.000-06:00

Didn't know there was an opposite to the helium effect.

2008-09-06T19:23:00.000-06:00

We did it!!

Today Traci, Jen, and I hiked to the summit of Mt Olympus. It was really hard, although it was harder on the way down than on the way up. Still, it was worth it. It took us a long time, about 3.5 hours to get up, and about 1.75 hours to get back down, add a few rests in and we were on the mountain for over 6 hours. Oh, the pain. But, again, good pain.

This dog was described to us as a "Summit Dog" - Not scared of bouldering, but it was scared of us.

View from the top

I did indeed make it

Look mad were the instructions, it's kind of our thing, I guess

Jennifer and Traci, I think this is some kind of Kaysville thing

While on our way up to the summit, you are forced to do a little bouldering, we took a wrong turn and ended up on the dangerous side. It got a little scary, but we made it. In the process we found out the my cousin Jen is surefooted like a mountain goat.

2008-08-30T05:12:00.000-06:00

More Like This

Don't know if I have talked about this yet, but I . . . LOVE . . . ZOMBIES. I'm really not sure why, but I watch every zombie movie that I can. They are horrible, and I love them.

Well, I thought claymation was dead, but oh man, you gotta see this:

Chainsaw Maid

Was that not awesome?!?!

Why aren't there more stories in which the protagonist is a maid? Look, after "Maid in Manhattan" and "Maid to Order", you'd think there would be more maid movies.

2008-08-29T14:53:00.001-06:00

Another week, Another hike

Today we went with my cousin Jen (if you are reading this then you know who Jen is, because you, Jen, are the only one the reads my blog) to hike up Mount Aire. This hike was supposed to be a little more difficult than last weeks hike, Alexander Basin. It was actually a little easier, but it was a decent work out, all the same. Here are some pics.

Next week I think we are going to try Mount Olympus. We aren't ready yet to complete such a hike, but I think we will go as far as we can, and turn back. It will be a good warm up and give us an idea of how close we are to being able to do it. (I actually think that we could do all now it if we were determined, but, oh, how we would pay for such hubris afterwords.)

2008-08-27T13:39:00.000-06:00

Is Michael Phelps a jerk?!?

Phelps is a sore winner - Watch more free videos

To many, Michael Phelps embodies what it means to be a true Olympian and American hero, but could there be a dark side to our national swimming champion?

Phelps, who took home 8 gold medals in the 2008 Beijing Olympics, beating the previous most won gold medals in a single Olympics record, has brought glory to his country and is being celebrated as a national hero.

However, in this newly uncovered footage he is clearly behaving in an unsportsmanlike manner. Seen here splashing, flipping the bird, choking and even nipple twisting his disappointed competition, some are outraged that an American athlete would behave in such an unseemly manner.

Is this the image of the United States that Americans wish to portray to the world. Especially in these politically sensitive times, such an act of aggression could, in fact, have implications in foreign relations.

What do you think?

2008-08-25T12:17:00.000-06:00

Garrison Keillor

Traci took me to the Garrison Keillor "Rhubarb Tour" at the Red Butte Gardens the other night. I really enjoy, "A Prairie Home Companion." He is simultaneously silly and profound. It was a great night. If you're not familiar with Garrison Keillor, here are some quotes from his radio show.

"Cats are intended to teach us that not everything in nature has a purpose. "

"Some luck lies in not getting what you thought you wanted but getting what you have, which once you have got it you may be smart enough to see is what you would have wanted had you known. "

"They say such nice things about people at their funerals that it makes me sad that I'm going to miss mine by just a few days. "

A fictitious ad for Powdermilk Biscuits, "the biscuits that give shy persons the strength to get up and do what needs to be done."

And his famous tag line, "That's the news from Lake Woebegone, where all the women are strong, all the men are good-looking, and all the children are above average."

2008-08-25T09:25:00.000-06:00

A few weeks ago I asked Traci if she had ever hiked Mt Olympus. When she said that she hadn't, I realized that it was time that we got in shape to do it. I did Mt. Olympus a couple of times, the first time was in high school. I hiked it with my neighbor, Jason Park. One day he showed up and said, "I want to hike Mt. Olympus, will you do it with me?" I foolishly said yes, not knowing the level of intensity the hike required. So he and I did it. It was really difficult. At the time is was the most physically demanding thing I had ever done. But, it was worth it when we reached the top. I did it again a few years later, it was still hard, but I was in better shape that second time.

Anyway, we are going to be hiking each week end. Two weeks ago we did a short hike in Park City and this last week end we did Alexander's Basin. Alexander's basin is about a 2 hour hike. It's 1.5 miles each way and you gain about 1300 feet. Here are some pictures from the basin.

We need suggestions for this weekend. We need something just slightly more intense than Alexander's Basin. So if any of you are hiking folks, chime in and let us know where our next summit lies. We would like to build up to doing Mt. Olympus in 6 weeks or so. So we need maybe a 2 1/2 to 3 hour, moderate intensity hike.

2008-08-22T12:14:00.001-06:00

"Where is the man that is free from vanity?" - Joseph Smith

I have always liked this quote. As I grow older and hopefully wiser, I seem to see vanity more and more. I see it more in others, and more in myself.

I would like to tell you a story. When I was a missionary in France I served in a small area called Rodez. Rodez had a small branch with 10 or 20 active members. The Branch President and the Elders Quorum President kept the small congregation together.

This was perhaps the most difficult area of the mission (for me, certainly). We were alone, the closest missionary peers were an hour away by train. The Mission President rarely visited. The membership struggled. We were on our own. I used to joke that, like the earth being the farthest planetary body from the home of God and therefore receiving little light (is this true or Mormon myth?), Rodez was far from the mission home and likewise was almost forsaken.

Anyways, the Branch President, explained to me once I became the senior companion, that every year the missionaries performed a skit or play for the members at Halloween and Christmas. I am not much of an actor and neither was my companion, so I suggested we play some sort of game. Oh no, said he, "it's tradition, you will do a skit."

I tried to talk him out of this several times, but he was determined that we would perform a skit. I put off the responsibility as long as I could, because I had no idea where to even start with such an assignment. I tried to discuss it with my companion, he didn't really care, wasn't worried, wasn't going to put any thought into it. I felt that I had to deliver something, so I became more and more nervous about this.

Let me give you some background about me, I don't act. It makes me uncomfortable, really, really uncomfortable. I remember church functions where we were required to perform skits, I would freeze when it was my turn to perform some funny thing. I was really terrified. I could barely utter sound, usually it would come out in grunts or I would bury my face in my hands or some other physical shrinking from the task.

Finally, we were about a week or two before Christmas and it was time to start doing something, or it would be too late, we would show up, the Branch President would announce a skit performed by the missionaries and we would have nothing. I asked if we could perform the story, "A Christmas Carol", by Charles Dickens. Turns out that the French don't know this story. This was a relief because I felt that it was a story worth telling. So, I had an idea that I liked, this gave me the confidence (misguided perhaps) to get to working on the play. First, I had to translate the story. This was not easy, but ultimately I came up with a simple translation.

Then we had to assign parts, create costumes and sets, and rehearse the play. The Branch President had made it clear that this would be quite a production. Guess who got the part of Scrooge . . . that's right, it was me. I was the star performer. Mercifully, I couldn't fret about it too much because I was too busy putting everything together. We got some missionaries from the town an hour away to come and help us, but there are too many characters and too many parts in Christmas Carol to pull it off with just 4 missionaries, so we recruited some of the members and eliminated some of the parts. Can you guess where this is headed?

One of our recruitees was a member named 'Gaby.' Gaby was beloved by all who knew him, and he was mentally handicapped. He loved to perform. He was a very large man, larger than me, for a Frenchman that's big. He played the Ghost of Christmas Present. My companion played somebody, I don't remember now, Jacob Marley or Bob Cratchet, maybe. The other missionaries played the Ghosts of Christmas Past and Future. I don't remember who played Tiny Tim, and I think we had eliminated all the other characters.

Our costumes were random selections from some elderly woman's chest of drawers. We bought some streamers or something to satisfy the decoration requirement that we were given. My translated and adapted script abridged the story such that it fit into about 15 minutes of stage time. Again, I am not a drama person, and I guess part of me wishes that I was because of all the scenarios into which I could be forced, this is perhaps the most threatening to my ego.

Can you guess what happened? This is not movie, remember, it's real life. Most of this was put together in "pure survival, we need anything as a costume, anything as a set, and we should probably eliminate Scrooge's family back story because we don't have enough actors to play them" mode.

It was exactly the disaster you would expect from such a set up. The story was lost in the translation, the acting, and the abridgments to the script. Four missionaries and a mentally challenged behemoth dressed in old lady's clothes didn't help either, I'm guessing. It was just a random collection of poorly translated french phrases strung together and spat out in monotone, barely comprehensible, American-accented French. Probably the worst part was that it made no sense. The beauty of the story was lost.

However, at the time, I didn't think the worst part was that the message was obscured, to me the worst part was that I was being forced to present myself to others in a way that made me feel squirrely, insecure, incompetent, and idiotic. I didn't want to portray Scrooge, and being forced into it, made me more anxious and more sensitive to criticism about my performance. It was, actually, the most humiliating experience of my life. You may think I am exaggerating. After all, who cares what 20 french people, that I will likely not see again, think about me? It didn't really matter, though. Whether is was 200 of my closest friends, or 20 complete strangers, it was being forced to face my own ineptitude that humiliated me. For the most part, I just recited my lines, but towards the end, it was my responsibility to emote the pain of a damned soul, one who is brought to face his own actions, recognize that he had squandered his life in the pursuit of material things. Then, in an instant, Scrooge wakes to find that he still has time, I had to portray the elation of a second chance, an opportunity to act better in light of real knowledge. I had to act, and I hated it. I failed completely, and that to me was excruciating. I had gotten into the habit of avoiding such scenarios, those that threatened my vanity. Now I was thrust into it, to face myself, and my utter failure.

Well, when the play (travesty) was finished I emotionally froze up for a few hours, not daring to reflect upon my performance. I couldn't handle the self-condemnation that would inevitably follow my failure. However, after I got over this initial shock, something strange happened. I realized that I sucked that night, that everyone knew it, and that . . . it was OK. I was OK. I didn't have to be a good actor to be valuable, didn't have to impress people to have a right to interact with them, didn't have to be good at things to be good. For a couple of hours, I let go of my ego. I was amazed. I had never even considered the idea that I didn't have to be awesome in order to have a right to be a part of the social strata.

This didn't change my life, it just opened my eyes. My ego came back, my fears and my vanity. But, I learned something that hopefully will change me.

Why do I share this now? Well, humiliation is my daily bread, or so it feels. I realized that I am having to face myself now, as I try to convince other people I'm worth hiring. I hate that. I don't like to present myself to those that are antagonistic to me, to sell myself to the unconvinced. I avoid it, almost always. But, why do I avoid it? What's at stake? My ego is all.

How many opportunities lost in order to protect that fragile dominatrix? How much experience forfeit, to avoid a bruised ego? How much life unlived, for something that when it's really examined reveals itself to be of no worth? I included the quote by Joseph Smith at the beginning because I am not the only one with an ego. I find comfort in this, but I shouldn't. I should just lay down my monkey, and live.

2008-08-18T16:58:00.000-06:00

"These are my principles. And if you don't like them, I have others." Groucho Marx

This was on Digg today. I have to say, I agree wholly with this sentiment, we need to protect the animals. We can't have them getting sick. Animals have rights, when will we learn to respect this fact?

2008-08-16T08:17:00.000-06:00

You have been weighed in the scales and found wanting . . .

I haven't posted for a while, the main reason being for the last few weeks I have had the wind knocked out of me.

I have been looking for a job here in Utah since I graduated from Indiana University. I graduated back in December, so that makes . . . 8 months now. I started a little slowly, but we moved in April and since then I have been hitting it pretty hard. For a long time I wasn't worried about it, thinking, "It'll work out, what's the use worrying?" A couple of weeks ago it caught up to me.

I have now sent literally hundreds of resumes to companies here in Utah. Here is a non-exhaustive list of the companies to which I have sent resumes, some in Utah, some outside of Utah.

In Utah:
Interpace Industries, Inc
Anderson Development Services
Permier Mentoring
ISI
Encover
Tomax
406 Partners
Raylia Designs
Novell
Select Portfolio Servicing
Infopia
Ivory Homes
Ken Garff Automotive Group
The Modellers, LLC
GE Motor Credit
WorldStrides
First American Corporation
Overstock.com
Comcast
LexisNexis
XO Communications
Intuit
Omniture
U of U
Utah Retirement Systems
Zions Bancorporation
eBay
L-3 Communications
General Growth Properties
LDS Church
American Express
UnitedHealth Group
George S. May
CB Richard Ellis
ITT Industries
Sirsi Dynix
REMX IT Staffing
HealthPort
Investools, Inc
Cambridge Financial Center
Robert Half Finance and Accounting
Marketstar
Select Portfolio Servicing
Harman Music Group
The Generations Network
Wells Fargo
MonaVie
Anderson Development
City of Salt Lake
Rio Tinto
Attensity
Skullcandy
Wasatch Advisors
Avalanche Software
Cambridge Financial Center
Maden Technologies
HCA Physician Services
Myriad
CR England
StoryRock
Morgan Stanley
Goldman Sachs

Not in SLC:
Countrywide
Deloitte
D & B
Cisco
Google
Apple
Omniture
Microsoft
Nordstrom
Amazon
HP
Dell
Nvidia
ATI
Ocean Tomo
Disney
EA Games
Motorola
Broadcom
Logitech
Nordstrom

There are many more, these are some of the more commonly known companies. You can see that many of them are tech companies, I like tech.

Of all these I have only been invited to interview twice, TWICE! I'm not really sure what it is about my resume that won't get me in the door. I have a couple of ideas, but they are just speculation.

I have applied for mostly business analyst, financial analyst, db analyst positions. What one does when you work in these positions is take information, numbers mostly, analyze them using all kinds of statistical techniques, and gain insights into how the company is performing. Sometimes this process results in profound insights that can help a company get a real advantage, usually it simply results in a small, but significant improvement in profitability. I am good with numbers and this is the kind of thing I like doing.

I have tried to avoid going into the practice of law, it just doesn't fit my nature. But, it is one area that is untapped. I haven't applied to any law firms yet, and I think that I will have more success if I do. So, I am going to apply to take the bar in February and if I haven't found anything else soon, that's the direction I will be going.

This is me, failing, and giving up. I am accepting that I cannot go in the direction that I have wanted to go, and so I am taking a job that I can get, but that I don't want. I am exchanging happiness for pragmatic, responsible misery. I am ashamed and embarrassed. Hopefully it's only temporary, but how do these things usually go?

2008-08-07T00:03:00.000-06:00

More Memes! More Memes!

I don't know how many of you have been following Andy Samberg's stuff on SNL, but a lot of it shows up on the dipity time line of memes I posted last time. "Lazy Sunday", "Laser Cats", and "Andy Punches" are especially funny. (Notice the Zombies in the Andy Punches video, we'll talk more about zombies later, I promise!)

In his latest post, Samberg talks about "Dear Sister." A sketch that pokes fun at the OC. If you haven't seen this yet, you are in for a treat. Here's the original clip from the OC.

This is the SNL Digital Short, "Dear Sister":

Snldigitalshortindie
by Barneyk

Of Samberg's stuff, "Dear Sister" has become the most spoofed meme of the internet community. There are over 1,000 recreations of this joke, including "Dear Matrix", "Dear Boromir", and my favorite, "Dear Duck Hunt":

Samberg got his job at SNL by creating internet videos. He and his friends Akiva Schaffer and Jorma Taccone created a group and website called "The lonely Island". The exposure their material got from the website led to their creating (among other things) a pilot for Fox and ultimately they were all three hired on at SNL. Schaffer, Taccone and Samberg are responsible for the SNL digital shorts (Schaffer and Taccone write/direct/contribute music).

The first big hit was "Lazy Sunday." It was created in mid December in 2006 and by February when NBC requested that Youtube remove it from the site, it had been viewed 5,000,000 times. Some say that it reinvigorated SNL (I know it did for me).

I can't hear that Imogen Heap song, "Hide and Seek" any more without seeing Shia Labeouf lying shot on the ground. So tonight when Katee chose it for her solo (on "So You Think You Can Dance"), I had to laugh.

2008-08-03T14:08:00.000-06:00

I found this interesting time line about internet memes when I was doing research it includes everything from the dancing baby to Numa Numa to LoLcats. Check it out. As you zoom in more events will appear.

2008-07-31T11:24:00.000-06:00

Ninjas!

When I was a kid, Ninjas were awesome.

Forget Arnold and Rambo, the ninja took the cake. From karate kid to Bruce Lee to Steven Seagal, martial arts made you invincible. Many boys (including myself) took karate or tae kwon do or aikido in order to possess these most excellent skills. Ninjas were totally rad!

Today ninjas are still around, but they have fallen from their previous stature. They could still be described as totally rad, but the calling something totally rad today evokes a different emotion than it did 20 years ago.

The internet is full of totally rad ninjas!

Chuck Norris v. Bruce Lee - Totally Rad back in the day!

Chuck Norris today reading Chuck Norris Facts - Still Totally Rad

Ask a ninja - this is one of the more dangerous ninjas, he spends his time critiquing films.

You may wonder when the ninja fell from grace. This may have had something to do with it.

Wheelchair Ninjas

In honor of ninjas, I have placed a feed from the Chuck Norris facts page to my sidebar. Each day there will be a new Chuck Norris fact displayed.

2008-07-26T18:23:00.000-06:00

My Talking Dog

My dog Riley has a blog now. You might be asking, "How's that?" Turns out that dogs are a lot more like people than we ever knew. Cats too, I understand. They are miniature versions of people, with all the same sophisticated thoughts and feelings that people have, only cuter. These pets opine about current events, celebrity lifestyles, fashion, public policy, you name it.

They want to dress up in fancy costumes and act out scenes from famous movies and plays, they just lack the dexterity to do this for themselves. Some pet owners are savvy and sympathetic enough to understand this fact and oblige, to the great satisfaction of both pet and owner.

Come to think of it, Riley and I have spent many an evening on the back porch in intense conversation. I usually struggle to keep up while Riley expounds the principles of economics and economic policy to me. She understands well the application of sophisticated theory to practical political problems. I have considered granting her permission to guest write posts on my blog from time to time. My only fear is that she will be overzealous at the opportunity to reach a wider audience (she is pretty conservative, almost libertarian) and will come across heavy handed. Still, I may grant her wish anyway. She has so much wisdom to offer.

2008-07-21T20:16:00.000-06:00

Things Nerds find Funny, Pt 1

Graphs:

Graph Jam

Indexed:

If you're still with me you might like Demitri Martin, law school dropout and professional comedian:

2008-07-19T10:04:00.000-06:00

Doogie Howser, MD + Buffy the Vampire Slayer + Musical = genius!

I found this new direct to web show called "Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog." Starring Neil Partick Harris and written by Joss Whedon, pretty funny.

Let's take a quick ride down memory lane with Neil.

Doogie Howser - Intro

Undercover Brother

Barney

2008-07-14T15:48:00.000-06:00

This was on Digg on Monday. The meat is at about 60 seconds from the end. But, the whole thing is impressive.

At first I feel like, "How do you learn to do that." By the end my mind is simply blown. I start throwing up all over myself, I just can't believe it.

2008-07-14T14:27:00.001-06:00

Sam the ugliest dog.

Look at this!!!
Meet Sam. He is no longer with us (he went back to the Pit from whence he came). But, during his brief escape from hell, he was voted the ugliest dog several years in a row (I know, hard to believe).

I am teaching a class at Utah Career College. Most of my students are vet tech students. They love animals. They pointed me in this thing's direction. If you want to know more about Sam, you can go to his blog.

2008-07-11T08:33:00.000-06:00

Rapture of the nerds started early

Some eager beaver crawled through apple's website yesterday and found the new 2.0 firmware on a server a day before it was to be released. So the nerd army jumped on it, downloaded the new itunes, installed the new firmware, and started installing 3rd party apps last night. I happen to be a proud member of that nerd army.

I wrote in a previous post about the new 3G iphone being released today, what I didn't explain was that 2 things happen today, the new phone comes out and the new software. The 2.0 software will run on both the new 3G phone, and the current Edge based phones. There are two important differences with the 3G phone, it has better GPS and it's faster. While this is all well and good, the real magic is in the new software, that runs on both phones.

The new software makes the iphone an open platform. 3rd parties can write software that runs on the phone. "So what?" . . . Well thousands of new features are going to be made available. So far there are several hundred new applications available, about half of them are free.

I have put about 12 new applications on my phone. There are new games, that use the accelerometer function in the phone, so you play the game by tilting the phone. There are location based search services, you ask about restaurants and the phone looks up your location, then using online databases looks up restaurants that are close by. These online databases include reviews, details, and other information.

There are applications like ebay, facebook, etc. The advantage here over just using the iphone's browser is there is less information that needs to be transfered so these apps will run much faster.

Pandora has an app, so you can listen to internet radio on your iphone. I installed an app that finds my location and then shows me photos that others have taken in nearby locations.

These apps are nice, but the ultimate capabilities are much more profound. For example, I am a real estate agent, I want to be able to be driving through a neighborhood and have the iphone grab the nearest 20 properties for sale and display them on a map. I want it to use sold comps information and cross reference to zillow to estimate the approximate value of the homes.

I want it to tell me about what my friends are doing and whether or not they are nearby (opt-in of course).

There are and have been other phones that do some of these things already, but none have done them really well, and none have been as appealing. The real power from all network based systems is when they are adopted into the mainstream. Each additional user of the system increases its usefulness, so hopefully apple can get major buy in and mobile computing will become common in the US.

2008-07-05T23:39:00.000-06:00

Real Ultimate Power

I don't know if you have heard of Real Ultimate Power or not yet, but if not, you better get a life quick!

Speaking of powers, they've apparently unearthed some real mutants who have super human powers. 7 Mutants I had heard of the german kid with super muscles, I guess he's about 9 now. Here's a toddler in the US named Liam with the same condition. I hope he lives a normal life, apparently Wendy did OK.

The eating guy is weird. But, the Godhand guy, that's just Awesome. Real Ultimate Power!

2008-07-04T18:11:00.000-06:00

July 11, greatest day of the year!

Why, you may be asking, is July 11 a great day. Well, I'm glad you asked, I'll tell you. To start off, the new HellBoy comes out that day. I wasn't a huge fan of the first Hellboy, but I did like it. It was a little soft around the edges, not dark enough, not serious enough, too cartoony. The new one looks like it's much more intense, so I am way excited to see it. Now that Hancock is out and getting bad reviews, Hell Boy becomes my #2 most anticipated movie this summer (after The Dark Knight).

Second, on July 11 we are having a family dinner. I know that really only affects me, but still I'm excited for it.

Another thing that happens on July 11? I will be watching the new episode of Burn Notice, USA's summer hit from last year. Seriously, this show is awesome. Now, technically, the show comes out on the 10th, but I'm gonna be watching it on the 11th. I just am.

Originally I thought that the new Strongbad game for the wii was going to come out on the 11th, but I can no longer find any proof of that, so I may have imagined it, or dreamed it or something. But, there's no evidence that it's not going to come out on the 11th, so I am going to count that, too.

Finally, the coup de gras, the new iphone comes out on the 11th. Now, most of you are probably thinking, "Great, the new iphone, whoop dee doo." Well, I say to you, you don't know until you have lived it. Buy one, and then you will see, everything is different after the iphone becomes a part of your life. Sunsets are more beautiful, food tastes better, life seems more exciting. In a post iphone world there is unending peace and prosperity.

Let me just give you one example: Let's say that you are at Blockbuster, you are thinking of renting a movie, but you aren't sure what you want. You saw the previews for "Jumper", and it looked pretty good. However, trailers can be deceiving. So you want to know what critics had to say. If you are a normal, everyday Joe, you are plumb out of luck. But, in an iphone enhanced reality, you can look up that information on the internet, while you are browsing the shelves. Results: you find out that jumper was a huge disappointment, disaster averted. Instead you rent Sling Blade, which you had never heard of, but Billy Bob Thornton is in it and it turns out is awesome. This is true power, right at your fingertips. Plus, it also doubles as a phone.

2008-06-29T20:34:00.000-06:00

Traci and I were talking about cartoons . . .

and she expressed how frustrating it was to her that Wiley Coyote never caught the Roadrunner. I found that odd. I had never considered that to be a desirable outcome. I always saw Wiley as a villain who got what he deserved. I identified with the Roadrunner. I considered him the protagonist. Was I wrong?

This theme occurs again and again in kids cartoons, Yosemite Sam and Bugs Bunny (although here Traci likes Bugs), Sylvester and Tweety Bird, Tom and Jerry, etc. I can see how if you identify with the predator, Sylvester, Yosemite, etc. you would find these cartoons unbearable.

I have added a poll to my blog. If you remember Loony Toons or any cartoon where this structure is set up, vote for who you rooted for on the right. I am curious to see whether there are many other folks who feel the way my wife does.

2008-06-25T14:28:00.000-06:00

A special thanks to Alex Albrecht, Jeff Cannata, and Dan Trachtenberg (hosts of the Totally Rad Show) for reminding me of a forgotten piece of my youth. Leroy v. Sho'nuff - the final fight scene of The Last Dragon. Take a look:

When my brother and I were boys, we used to act this scene out. Justin would usually initiate, "Who is the master?!?"

If you've watched the clip, you may be asking, "These fine actors, what happened to them?" Well, I'll tell you, Julius Carry, aka Sho'nuff aka the Shogun of Harlem, is still acting, mostly in TV shows, but one notable appearance was in the summer blockbuster "The New Guy", he played "Coach". "The New Guy" made almost $30,000,000 at the box office.

Leroy Green, real name . . . wait for it . . . Taimak. Just Taimak. He still acts, looks like a lot of martial arts movies, but they are still making B martial arts movies so he's got a pretty solid thing going.

Laura Charles, who played the damsel in distress, she also only has one name, Vanity. She was a Canadian Model. Her last recorded part was in '95. (Last Dragon came out in '85).

What about the white guy, aka Mr. Corrupted Moneybags, aka Eddie Arkadian? His name is Christopher Murney. His most recent gig was as a voice actor for the video game Neverwinter Nights 2.

Here's some more 80's magic.

William H. Macy is in this clip. He's still around. The good stuff is at 1:01 and 4:30.

2008-06-22T14:54:00.000-06:00

I have to say I couldn't agree more.

This was a top story on Digg today. Animals should not try to act like people.

2008-06-20T20:01:00.001-06:00

What is it about train wrecks that so appeals to our morbid curiosity?

Is it just me or is there something subtly disturbing beneath the surface of America's Got Talent/Britain's Got Talent? Maybe it's the fact that Jerry Springer and David Hasselhoff are involved, both represent something twisted in their own way. But, it sometimes feels more like a freak show at a carnival then a real talent competition. Is it supposed to? I watch it and I am simultaneously amazed and nauseated.

I will confess that I was moved when I saw Paul Potts sing opera for the first time. Hearing such a huge voice come out of so homely a vessel represented to me the spark of divinity that exists in even the most humble. Yet, somehow this show profiting off this idea, it seems dirty. I've never actually watched the show, I've only seen clips on youtube, so I suppose that I have only been exposed to the most extreme of the acts, but what gives?

Check out some clips if you haven't seen it or am wondering what I am talking about.

Paul Potts

6 Year Old Connie

Indingo / Dracula Sisters

Bianca Ryan

Quick Change Artists

Contortionist

Another Baby Singer - The comments on this one are great (not part of the original show)

The most Annoying

I don't know, is it just me? Does the whole thing feel a bit unseemly? What do you get when you mix American Idol, the Gong Show, The Jerry Springer Show, Toddler Beauty Pagents, and Baywatch? Summer Primetime Television.

2008-06-17T23:12:00.001-06:00

This picture of Jesus from a coloring book is one of the top stories on digg.com today. Traci has had it on her blog now for a couple weeks. The thing about it is, it gets funnier and funnier to me. Each time I think about it, I enjoy it more.

"Even though we know dinosaurs survived the flood." Eh, bon?!? Oh, yeah, that's right, we know that. It's confirmed. Moving on.

Being sure about the dinosaurs surviving the flood, well that's one thing. But, we cannot be sure whether Jesus rode them or not. Because, well, it's not in the Bible, so we can't be sure. We are obligated to admit this, we aren't sure.

"However, he probably did!" Lets be rational about this. First, Jesus is awesome! Now, what would an awesome person do? Well, I don't know about you, but riding a dinosaur is about the most awesome thing I can think that an awesome person would do, ergo, Jesus probably did! It follows a clear logical path, when you reason it out.

Good times.

2008-06-13T19:52:00.000-06:00

There's a new video out there, it's a parody of Mariah Carey's "Touch my body." As much as I appreciated Mariah poking fun at life by including Kenneth the Page in the video, it's still funnier to see someone else poking fun at her.

Maybe making fun of Mariah is a cheap shot, kind of like playing one on one with a blind kid. Still, it's funny.

2008-04-20T20:48:00.000-06:00

Well, we are back in Utah. The drive was long and boring, but we made it. We signed up for a gym membership and somehow that made it real.

We are staying with my folks for a couple of weeks until our Sugarhouse place is vacant. It is interesting to return.

I am on the prowl for a job. I would prefer to go into finance or consulting, something that focuses on business. I enjoyed studying law and I got a lot out of it, but I don't think that my personality or strengths lend themselves well to the practice of law. I have been applying at places like Zion's bank and some consulting firms that have local services. We will see how it pans out.

Til next time,

Oh, BTW, some of you may have noticed that in my last post I misspelled my wife's name (Traci is correct). How could I have done this, you ask? I have been using a voice recognition program to do some of my writing, so I didn't actually spell the name, Dragon Naturally Speaking did. The spell check didn't flag it and I didn't look all that close. This may happen again. And, I just don't feel that bad about it.

2008-04-01T14:02:00.000-06:00

I will miss Indiana when we leave. Yesterday three dear walked behind our house. I took a few pictures with my phone so they are not the best quality. Our next-door neighbor has a huge field behind his house there are always animals, squirrels, deer, cardinals, etc. out in his field.

I was on campus the other day. It had been several months since I had gone to campus. I forgot how beautiful it was. When I was going to school there I was always focused on what I was doing, I didn't often stop to appreciate my environment. But, it really is a great place to go to school and to live. I think I will go over and take some good pictures before we leave.

Tracy and I have about two weeks left before we return to Utah. The land of our inheritance. Zion the beautiful. The promised land. It will be fun to return home. See old friends. But I will miss it here.

2008-03-19T13:44:00.001-06:00

This post is a few months overdue. I graduated in December, the three of you who read this probably already knew that. Still, I thought I would post a picture and talk about what I have been doing since I graduated. Mostly looking for jobs, but I have been working on a few projects in the meantime.

2007-06-05T06:09:00.001-06:00

Here's that same scene now. It's been about 3 months since the original. You can see that on the left they have built a big twin home and they are building another on the right. Because we live in this new subdivision, they are doing this kind of construction all around us.

Word of caution, if you live in a construction zone, you will have many flat tires. We have had 4 in the last 4 months. You can compare that to 1 flat tire in the previous 3 years.

2007-06-02T19:46:00.001-06:00

This is a picture I took one morning out our front door.

The scene has changed in these couple of months. I will take another in a few days. The sun has since moved from that spot and there is a couple of twin homes being built in the background. The tree has some leaves.

2007-05-31T19:10:00.000-06:00

Here's a picture of Traci's Moosehead. It's proudly mounted in the garage. You guys should have been there, that was one crazy inflatable moose hunt.

2007-05-30T19:57:00.001-06:00

The following phrase can now be permanently retired from cinema: "You have no idea what I am capable of." That is all.

2007-05-27T20:48:00.001-06:00

I have just started a new blog chronicling my dieting efforts for the summer. Check it out at fattjakediet.blogspot.com.

2007-03-04T20:01:00.000-07:00

These are some of the pictures of our new place. It is a new townhouse that's about 1600 square feet. The first two pictures are of the basement room where I hooked up the projector. We watch movies and I play games down there.

The next few are of the living room and the kitchen. The last are the last couple are of the front exterior. We are really enjoying it.

I have been swamped with school this semester. I am taking a full load at the law school, 13 credits, 6 more at the business school, and I teach my excel class several times a week. So, I have been busy. However, when this semester is over, I will be pretty close to being done. I'll mostly have business classes left. Next semester will be much easier, then I will be done.

2006-08-20T20:14:00.000-06:00

We spent last week in Utah. Traci and I relived our dating days by rollerblading in liberty park and getting food from Betos and Training Table. I got to see almost everyone in my family, that was a treat.

We spent a few days at Bear Lake. Here are some pictures of the Cabin that Traci's mom was able to score for us. This place was a second home. Awesome.

The Lake
The Beach
View from the front yard
The front of the house

2006-08-01T12:51:00.000-06:00

Links for today - Cats that look like hitler at www.catsthatlooklikehitler.com

2006-07-21T19:30:00.000-06:00

Traci has been doing some work on the house lately. I thought I would take a picture to compare to the original taken almost a year ago. Here it is now,

She removed the stumps from the front and planted grass. She planted some plants and flowers around the front and around the trees. She added wood chips in these places and removed the border around the small pine tree on the left. It looks a lot better, that may or may not come out in the pictures. Our vine is going crazy, there are whole colonies of insects thriving there on our front porch. Heres what it used to look like.

2006-07-13T08:40:00.000-06:00

Two-faced kitten!

This just in, a kitten born with two faces. Poor little guy, probably won't make it. Check out the video. That kid rules!

2006-07-09T21:08:00.000-06:00

Mosquito Ringtone

I came across the story of the mosquito ring tone a few weeks ago. It turns out that as one ages, he loses his ability to hear high pitched tones. As such, kids and teenagers can hear tone that are above 17,000hz while folks over 25 or 30 can't hear these same tones.

This was originally exploited by a British company to deter loitering teenagers. The ring was played via loudspeaker outside of shops. The adults couldn't hear anything, but teenagers found it annoying.

So, kids decided to turn the tables and are using this high pitched tone as a cell phone ringtone. Pretty clever, eh. I have put a little website together in order to test yourself in order to see how high you can hear. www.fattjake.com

I thought I might add some more links to my list of favs.

The first one is an online cartoon site made by a guy named James Farr. It's called Xombie The Animated Series, and it's about a Xombie with a soul. He's now done 7 episodes and about 1 million people see each one. Check it out.Xombie

The second is perhaps my favorite website. It hasn't been as clever during the last few months. Still, it's about the funniest online cartoon website. It takes a while to warm up to, but once you appreciate the context and relationships between the characters, it's really enjoyable. Look for the "sb emails" link at the bottom of the page, this is the best stuff.HomeStarRunner

2006-05-31T17:18:00.000-06:00

In the spirit of keeping up better on the blog and due to numerous requests from the public, I have decided to post some of what I'll call, "Jake's Best of the 'Net." I come across some real winners from time to time, and it's just not fair to keep all the joy to myself.

First up, the Barbarian Brothers. I remember a long time ago, back when I was a child and lived at home, Justin, Dad, and I were watching TV. We witnessed greatness that day, and today, totally by chance, I was able to relive that greatness. I stumbled onto a website that mentioned David and Peter Paul. Twins and movie stars, known to millions as, "The Barbarian Twins." These two hulks have a string of brilliant big screen hits behind them, "Twin Sitters" (1994), "Double Trouble" (1992), "Think Big" (1990), "The Barbarians" (1987), and "DC Cab" (1984) - a film that also starred Mr. T. After an 11 year hiatus, they appeared recently in a movie called "Souled Out" (2005). I haven't been able to find this feature through rottentomatoes.com or blockbuster.com, but it must be good.

Ladies and Gentlemen, the Barbarian Brothers

So, if that's not enough to turn your stomach, take a look at this depravity.

Animals dressed as people! They're so much like us!

Finally, check out askaninja.com, it's one of the top video podcasts on itunes. If you like ninjas (and who doesn't) you'll see why.

2006-05-14T22:13:00.000-06:00

Traci and I spent some time in Columbus with highschool friends Ben and Laura Williams this weekend. This is a photo of us in front of their house. We went to Columbus in order to meet Mike for Safecon, a flight school contest of sorts. Ben and Laura have a new addition to their family, James. He's a good one.

We drove home tonight after watching the latest episode of "The Office" with the Williams. I've got to get up tomorrow early to head up to Indy for the second week of my internship at INCAPS. I should have gone to bed because it's about midnight, but instead, I am watching "The Core" and putting something on the blog for the first time in almost a year. Go figure. I find this movie incredibly mediocre. Wait, scratch that, mediocre at best.

I am working at Indiana Center for Applied Protein Sciences this summer. We are a contract research organizaton. We do protein analysis and proteomics. Drug companies and other protein based researchers send us tissue samples and we can tell them the protein composition. The science of it is way over my head, but I get the gist of it. I work for the company in a marketing capacity.

The company is located in Indiana's incubator. It's a part of the Indiana University Research and Technology Corporation. The IURTC owns all of the intellectual property that is created at the University. It has the right to license the intellectual property to private companies. Some of those companies can qualify to spend time in the incubator where they enjoy reduced rent and other services aimed at helping start up companies. INCAPS is one of these companies. I'll spend my time this summer on a marketing project for this company.

I've only got about 5 minutes left on this movie. I sure hope our hero makes it out alive!!!

2005-09-04T22:20:00.000-06:00

The Indiana trees bring the Indiana birds

Welcome to The Community

The Gundersen Estate

Some of our shady neighbors

These last three weeks have been busy, busy. We have moved into our new place. You can see a picture of it. It's in the beautiful upscale community of Shady Acres. We live right next to our friends the Reeds. Dan Reed is a friend from law school.

Business school is starting to own me. I have spent more time the last week studying than any other week in my life. I don't mind it, though. I really enjoy learning how to analyze companies. We look inside and find out what makes them tick. It's kind of an extension of the thoughts I was raised on.

People always ask me, "Why did you decide to study both law and business?", or "What do you want to do with that?", or "Why not just do law (or business)?" I have yet to come up with a concise, comprehensible answer to this question. I know why. I guess it's hard to articulate. I wonder if, "I want to rule the world, one day," would fly.

In the future I plan to do some more contrasting and comparing between the two programs. I find these differences interesting.

2005-08-18T12:08:00.000-06:00

Well, I'm back in America. It's so good to be home. I missed my home and my family. I have been attending the Business School Orientation for the last few days.

It has been interesting already. We are organized into groups of four to five and we will be working together throughout the rest of the year. This is completely different from law school where each person is on their own. We have to be able to work together in order to succeed. It will be an education.

Stay tuned for more exciting B-school information.

2005-08-14T14:20:00.000-06:00

A shot out our window

This place is called "Partymania." If you zoom in you will see that they offer an incredible variety of things, "Hats Banners Cards Balloons Lights Poppers - Table Bombs Make-Up Candles Fancy Dress Hire (new line) Boas Wigs Toys Gift Wrap Ribbons Pinatas Masks Disguises Etc. Etc. Helium Decorations"

Main Entryway

Lovely Bathroom

This room is not as nice as it looks

It's Sunday night. We are leaving England tomorrow morning and we can't wait. It's been too long away from home. We have been able to stay with some friends in the program, so we didn't have to get a hostel. The state of this place re-iterates what a great job Bryan did in finding us the place that we stayed in.

In fairness, it's much closer to school and it cost them a little less. However, I am very happy with the place that we lived in. I spoke with our landlord a little about this. He is an Indian-Brit and a physician (general practitioner). He is a very nice and intelligent man. I really have enjoyed talking with him the few times that I had the chance. I told him that of all the students in our program, we had the best accomodations. He said, "Our American cousins have come to expect high standards, and that is what we give them."

Finals went as expected. They were reasonable and since we are recieving pass/fail instead of a letter grade, we didn't have to strain ourselves studying. The professors and the students here have been very fun to get to know. It has been a great experience.

We watched the finale of big brother, Eugene did not win, however, he came in second and it was a close match. I was proud of Britain for that. He did, however, win just as much as did Anthony, demonstrating that, sometimes, nice guys don't finish last. They finish second.

It has been a great trip, but I miss my wife and I am happy to return home.

2005-08-10T23:10:00.000-06:00

Well it's the last day of class, so in Products Liability we took some pictures. This is everyone but Geoff (the Canadian who is studying law in England). The kid on the top left is who we fondly refer to as Mormon Matt. He is the other LDS student here, Alberto, the Italiano, Maximillian, German, Nikita, Russian. I am kneeling down next to Genny. She's a USD student.

2005-08-06T22:13:00.000-06:00

Today I got up late because Bryan, Chris, and I had a late leg workout. I always get worked up during a workout so it took me a while to calm down. We were up til 2:30 watching movies. As it was Saturday, I didn't really have much to do, so I took the bike down the dirt path. It was a nice ride.

My legs were pretty tired from the night before, so I took it real easy. I rode about 3 miles down the path. It follows the river for a while, then branches off and follows the rail tracks. I ended up at the "Stanford Lock." I'm not sure what the purpose of this place is, but I took some pictures and headed back.

The weather was perfect. It has been overcast for the last week and so the temperature is like 73 degrees. It is a little chilly if you are standing around, but it's perfect if you are on a bike. The Oxford folk were out in droves, punting, boating, and fishing.

2005-08-02T23:54:00.000-06:00

This is one of the rooms that we take classes in. They seem to have put us in some of the ugliest rooms at Christ Church. In this picture you see a couple of Americans, a German, and a Russian. we take EU law from Professor Craig in here.

This morning I took my sweet time getting to school. I woke up early, so I had plenty of time to dilly dally. I took this picture of the river because the fog hadn't burned off yet. You may be able to see the rowers in the background.

When we first arrived in London, it was cold and rainy, completely fulfilling our expectations of English weather. However, once we got into Oxford and rented some bikes, it got sunny and hot. Because we only had our bikes to get us around, the heat was a nuisance. I was beginning to feel that I had been lied to. (The media always portrays England as rainy.) However, this last week, it has cooled off again and we have had some more rain. This was a welcome distraction from the sun and has made riding around on bikes ideal.

2005-07-28T22:29:00.000-06:00

Today was legal London day. Most of the students went down to London on the schools dime to see the home base of all the legal centers. The 5 of us decided to opt out. This meant a free day for all of us. Dan decided to go see the tall ships Newcastle-upon-Tyne. About his time with the tall ships he remarked, "One of the coolest things I've ever seen. It was pretty stirring. I enjoyed it."

The rest of us stayed around the house, slept in, watched some movies, worked out, and enjoyed the free time. Here is a picture of us after a hard chest/tricepts workout. We're huge.

2005-07-28T00:56:00.000-06:00

Typical day for the men at Oxford,

7:30ish - Awake and get ready for school.

8:30 - Head off to school, most days that means a bike ride for Bryan, Dan, and I. The ride is about 2 miles and takes us about twenty minutes.

9:00 - School starts at 9:00, although, school actually starts about five to ten minutes late each day, and most of us are greatful for it.

Our first class is EU law. We all participate in this one together. Professor Craig is excellent. He wrote the textbook we use. Each day he comes in and starts lecturing, without notes, starting right from the place he left off the day before. Bryan says, "He is a proper brit, with a sly sense of humor."

11:00 - Second class starts, that means Products Liability for me and International Public Law for everyone else.

1:00 - Class ends, some days we'll go to lunch with some of the other students, and some days we'll head home for lunch. There is a great place called Yates down by school. They have 2-for-1 fish and chips that are excellent.

3:00-5:00 - Most days we'll relax for a spell when we come home and then head over to the gym. Bryan, Dan, and I have been working out almost every day for about two weeks. Chris just recently joined us as well. We're all seeing results from our efforts, so it makes the effort well worth it.

5:00-10:00 - We come home from the gym, make dinner, watch big brother on the tube, and do some homework for the rest of the night. Sometimes we'll go get groceries or do other errands, but must days we just take it easy.

2005-07-22T00:52:00.000-06:00

Trip to Stratford

This is one of the windows in the Church

This is a first edition King James Bible

Shakespeare's Resting Place

Birthplace of Shakespeare

The program took us on a trip to Stratford-upon-Avon today. This was the birthplace and the burial place of William Shakespear. We went to visit the grave and the house that Shakespeare was born in. It was pretty cool.

We also went to the local theatre and watched a production of 'Comedy of Errors.' About 18 of the students in the program attended the production. It was really fun. The actors really made the dialogue come to life. The English accent also added to the entire effect.

The story is of twin brothers who are separated when they are young children. 33 years later, one brother goes looking for the other. When the searching brother happens unknowingly upon the town that his brother lives in, the townspeople (including his brother's wife) confuse him with his brother and hilarity ensues.

2005-07-18T20:23:00.000-06:00

This is a panorama and the regular photos of the river (I believe that it is the Thames) that we ride along on our way to school every day.

There are typically many kayakers, rowing buddies, and houseboaters along the river. There are also many picknikers, pedestrians, and other bikers that ride along the path. The river doesn't look like much (it's not that deep) but for some reason, they have life preservers set about every 50 yards. So perhaps it's more dangerous than it looks.

Either way it's quite pretty and it makes for a delightful ride into town each day. Personally, it gives me something to look forward to each morning.

2005-07-16T00:05:00.000-06:00

Another photo of Christ Church

Bryan, Nikita, and I at Noodlebar

This man with Bryan and I is Nikita. He is a marketing executive from Russia. He's unique among us because he is not here in order to get any degree. He graduated from an Indian College with an MBA degree in 1998. He has since worked for an advertising agency in Russia. He decided that he would take some law courses through the University of San Diego, because he felt that too often, people from countries with a common law system (us and England among others) had a hard time understanding, and therefore trusting, businessmen who operate in a civil law system (Russia).

So last year he took two classes in Florence, Italy, and this year he is taking the same products liability class that I am taking. He's a really smart guy. He is very able when it comes to interpreting cases, and drawing the law out of the American judges opinions, which is difficult for law students from civil law countries.

Bryan and I had dinner with him this evening. We went to an oriental restaurant called the "Noodlebar." It was good. He told us all about Russia and how in many ways, the poor in Russia live very much the same way people lived hundreds of years ago. Many people are subsistance farmers. The economy in Russia is still mostly agricultural. He asked what the American public perception of Russia is, whether Americans trusted the Russians. It was very interesting.

He said that to govern the Russian people, the government must use an iron fist. That the people respond to strength and strong rulers. I got an impression that the people were tough. He said that many times, if you buy one car, you must buy a big car. The little cars that you see in Europe are, "laides cars." Many times, a man will buy a jeep, then he will buy a smaller car for his wife. However, he will end up driving the smaller car, because it's more practical to find a place to park and it's easier to maneuver in city traffic. His wife will end up with the Jeep.

2005-07-14T00:00:00.000-06:00

A Typical Street in OxfordThis Guy is a Sentinel that Separates the Scholars from the Regular Folks (there are 13 more like him)

This is Where all the Students at Oxford Take their Exams (They have to wear special clothes)

This Cobblestone road is where we began our tour

A Building

McDonald's gets McCrowded at Lunch Time

We went on a walking tour of Oxford today. Kathryn Bevis, who has been a student here for like 10 years, is some kind of administrator for our group. She took us around and told us about all the different schools and monuments in town. There was a building that was a college founded in like 1200 or something. There is a place in the middle of one of the streets where some protestants were burned at the stake for heresy.

She showed us the building where all the Oxford students take their exams. They have to wear a special uniform. Then their grades are posted on boards in front of the schools. Most of us were glad that our grades weren't posted in public. It's a tradition to congratulate those in uniform who look happy. Those that don't look happy haven't taken their exams yet, I guess.

Apparently they found out who the bombers in London were. Dan said that a mother of one of the men had called the police because he had been missing for days. They put the pieces together and it turns out they were suicide bombings. They were all born and raised in the United Kingdom.

2005-07-12T09:00:00.000-06:00

Some Pictures of the Main Courtyard at Christ's Church

The Main Courtyard in Panorama

The Front Spire in Courtyard

Today is the first day of classes. We met our professors and sat through our first class. EU law was quite engaging. I am excited to learn more about how the EU works.

Bryan and I hit the weights again today. It was a good work out. One of these days I'll be strong again.

2005-07-12T00:10:00.000-06:00

A courtyard that we pass on our way to class

Picture of a tower from the "students garden"

Another tower from the "students garden"

The Hall in Harry Potter

Today was our first day of school. We had an orientation meeting at 3:00. Tomorrow will be our first day of actual classes. Bryan, Dan, and I went out this morning to get bikes so that we would have some form of transportation. We rode into town to Christ's Church (this is where we are attending school) for the orientation meeting. Our class consists 3 germans, 2 italians, 2 Russians, 2 Canadians, and a handful of Americans.

When the orientation meeting ended, we went on a tour of the grounds at Christ's Church. Some interesting things about Christ's Church are that, Lewis Carrol based his stories on the grounds and goings on at Christ's Church. Alice was the daughter of the Dean of Christ's Church, and the grounds and people there were the genesis of many of his ideas for his writings. Another interesting thing is the the dining hall is the basis for the Hall of Hogworth's in Harry Potter. The film crew came and looked at the hall, but because it was a little too small, they decided to make a replica of the dining hall that was a little bigger. 25 of Britain's prime ministers were educated in Oxford. Of those 25, 13 were educated at Christ's Church.

It's really quite amazing here.

2005-07-11T00:24:00.000-06:00

The front of the townhouse where 'da boyz' live

A typical bedroom (this one is mine)

One of the bathrooms

My bathroom (not too shabby)

Our oven

Our kitchen table

The entertainment center in Jordan's room

The sunroom (and Dan)

The back yard from the back door

The backyard looking towards the flat

Here are some pictures of our apartment. It's pretty nice. The problem with pictures, is that you get hardly any sense of scale, but whattaya gonna do? I am really pleased that we got such a nice place. The bathrooms all have slate style linoleum on the floors and tile on the walls and showers/tub surrounds. Everything is brand new. We figure this place is only a couple of years old. The plants in the back are on an automatic sprinkler system. The oven is electric with a gas range. All the bedrooms have nice sofa style chairs in them. The beds all have comforters.

Yesterday, we came in at about three. We had to meet our new landlords at that time and we barely made it. Our train got stopped for about thirty minutes about a mile from Oxford. We showed up, got settled, and went out to get lunch and groceries.

They have a lot of ethnic resteraunts in Oxford. Some of them are pretty cheap, too. We found one place that has doner kebabs. That was my favorite food in France and when I took my first bite it was every bit as good as I remember. I'll be going back there often. (They also have cheeseburgers and fried chicken at a decent price.)

It looks like the three Mormons will be riding bikes. It costs about the same as a bus pass and it will be more mobile than the bus. Bryan and I walked to church today, it is about 2 miles away and a bus doesn't really go there. (We could take a bus into town, then back out to church, but that would be lame.)

Church was awesome. They had an old school missionary farewell. The Brethren have asked us not to do that kind of thing, but the comments that the father of the missionary made were awesome. He was a british guy (there are a lot of American students in the ward, potentially more than the members who live here) who served a mission 30 years ago. He told his kid to read the Book of Mormon and all of the basic advice, but he had a good spirit about him. I have always enjoyed the faith of the European Saints.

We have yet to encounter air conditioning in this country. Our apartment doesn't seem to have it. The church didn't have it. Our hotel room didn't have it. It's hot here. London was raining, so it wasn't so bad, but yesterday and today in Oxford were really hot. We're a little confused as to why these folks don't adopt the whole air conditioning way of life. It's really hot. They need it.
Tomorrow we will be heading out to buy some fans. (I'll be keen on the lookout for a Walmart.)

2005-07-08T21:08:00.000-06:00

City Hall - Not OldTower of London - Old

Tower Bridge - Looks Old, but Isn't

We went out today to see the sights. We didn't spend a lot of money, mostly we just walked around and looked at different things. It rained lightly the whole time. As Zoe, the gal that occupied the seat next to me flying into London, would say, the weather was, "mad grotty." I took a few pictures.

I enjoyed wandering around the streets of London. I wondered if my dad had ever spent much time in the city. The street layout, the little shops, the age of the buildings, and the pedestrian lifestyle reminded me very much of France.

People were on edge. We were in the British Museum and an announcement came over the PA saying that whoever had chained a suitcase to the front gate needed to go retrieve it immediately. There were bomb scares all over the city all day. Unfortunately, because of the bombings, the tube was not going to be running again for as long as a week. Many of the stores were closed because employees could not get into work. We were unable to go to some of the sites we would have liked to, but it was certainly interesting to be in London at the time of such a crisis.

2005-07-07T21:20:00.000-06:00

Bryan and I flew out of Indianapolis together. The plane ride was as plane rides are, no real excitement there. We did have a wide selection of movies, television shows, and music available on our individual screens nested in the back of the seat of the passenger in front of us. A good change in my opinion.

When we arrived in London, we had a small problem. The country had been closed for the week. Due to the terrorist attack in the subway and on the bus, the public transportation was shut down. We were able to take a train to the victoria station, but we were stranded there. Not only that, but the PA system kept telling us that we shouldn't go into downtown London.

We weren't sure yet exactly what had happened so we decided to go ahead and risk it. I figured that if we ended up in downtown London and we were the only ones there, we would need to make a quick retreat. We wanted to take a taxi because that was the only option left to us (besides walking), but when we got outside of the train station, the line for a taxi was about 200 yards long.

So, we decided to walk. I don't recommend lugging 60lbs of luggage through london after a 20 hour plane ride. This was painful, but eventually we made our way to our hotel where Dan and Jordan were already waiting for us.

Our hotel room was a single room with 2 beds, a sink, and a closet. Our bathroom was shared with about 20 other rooms. While the 4 of us were a bit tight, squeezed into this tiny room, it was well worth it in order to save a little cash. I found London to be terribly, terribly expensive. We went to McDonald's our first night in to eat something safe and familiar, and I spent 4 pounds on a meal. That's almost double what one would spend in the States. The next morning, I was talked into getting the all you can eat breakfast buffet at the hotel. That was 6 and a half pounds. The food was pretty average. I figure I paid about triple what the food was worth to me.

So we are all holed up in the hotel room, glad to be doing well and be able to get some real sleep.