Elation and Devastation

I was feeling guilty that I had only posted a few blogs in the past two months  (Shame on me!) until I took some time to start catching up on friend and family blogs that I read.  Turns out, I'm not the only one who lacks the writers spirit right now.  I ticked off the list:  "Whew, he hasn't written in a while, she hasn't written in a while, ok we're doing good.  I must not be the only busy person on the web right now."

Just as I'm starting to feel absolved of my guilt, remorse starts to build as I move further down the list.  Some of my friends are blogging like crazy.  My wife's cousin Allison for example, she still blogs several times a week - and I know she's busy, she has three little girls for crying out loud!  About half my list of friends, it turns out, are cranking out stories at a rate the infamous Jayson Blair would be envious of.

So to you, the dedicated bloggers, I offer my congratulations.  Someday I hope to achieve the lofty heights your example has given me.   Thanks also for giving me something to read over lunch!

It's The Brain!

In the computer lab Mrs. Juarez' afternoon kindergarten class was asked "What is this part of the computer called?"

"It's the brain!" Emma responds quickly.

"You're Right!" the lab director responds enthusiastically as Emma beams.

I was impressed my kindergartner was so quick with the answer. I was in 6th grade when I learned basic computer skills. Of course, that was 1988 and computers in the classroom were a rarity indeed.

Siting in that computer lab didn't help me feel any younger. All around me were oversize diagrams and lesson modules designed to teach the students to type. I was in Junior High when I took a type class I reminisced to myself.

What are the next generation of kindergarteners going to be learning that will make the generation gap seems like a vast chasam? I shudder to think of it.

Self Portrait

United Breaks Guitars

I immediately fell in love with this video. Subtle comedy, great songwriting, well produced - what's not to like?   Especially when you're introduced to artists like Dave Carroll and the Sons of Maxwell. I didn't immediately care much about who wrote or performed the song, like many YouTube videos i took this satire of a true story and chalked it up as a good giggle. When I found myself looking the video up again a few days later (because I couldn't get the chorus out of my head) I decided I needed to learn more and followed a few links. Turns out that Sons of Maxwell es a remakable country group from Nova Scotia who had posted some video from performances on Canadian TV stations that were fascinating to see and hear. A few weeks later and I couldn't convince myself of a reason not to buy some of their music. While I'm still waiting to get my hands on albums from the whole band, the leader of the group (the aforementioned Dave Carroll) did have several selections available on iTunes [shudder] which I picked up without delay.

I thinks is amazing that I find a great new artist because a ridiculously large business ruined a family heirloom. The next time my eBay item gets lost in the mail, I'll remind myself to write a song about it.

How To Count To 100

What's the number one hard rock song of all time?   If you were to ask me, the number one hard rock song would be "Back in Black" by AC/DC.  In fact, let me give you a top ten:

1. Back in Black - AC/DC
   
2. Crazy Train - Ozzy Ozbourne
   
3. Kashmir - Led Zeppelin
   
4. Enter Sandman - Metalica
   
5. You Shook Me All Night Long - AC/DC
   
6. Stairway To Heaven - Led Zeppelin
   
7. Foxy Lady - Jimmi Hendrix
   
8. Top Of The World - Van Halen
   
9. Pour Some Sugar On Me - Def Leppard
   
10. Paraniod - Black Sabbath

According to VH1's 100 Greatest Hard Rock Songs the all time number one is "Welcome To The Jungle" by Guns n' Roses.  Not a bad choice I suppose and it would have been easier to accept had I not watched the previous 99 tracks roll out in bizzare fashion.  There were songs that I wouldn't have put in the list at all, bands that were not (or were scarecly) represented while groups/songs that barely qualified as rock songs were occupying spaces on the list.  For example:  Survivor's "Eye of the Tiger" was number 63 while Black Sabbath's "Heaven and Hell" was number 81.  It seemed that popularity played a greater role in the choices than style or quality.  

Perhaps the internet is to blame.  You see, I learned that the list was not chosen by industry moguls (like the oscars) but was schleped together from an online poll.  The results therefore made more sense, but it left me wondering: can internet voting provide a broad enough response group to jusitfy the results of a poll?  Granted, the subject matter is not the most imparative, but can the methodology be considered genuine or is it discareded immediately as being incindiary and unreliable?

I might not care usually but I lived in the basement of a professor who was head of statistics at Purdue University and had my mind repeatedly twisted in new ways by the science of statisics. You see, wouldn't people's perceptions of what qualifies as Hard Rock would sway the results?  On the other hand, does the pure mass of the sample offset any variance?  Furthermore can the reslts be skewed by users influencing friends/peers to vote in a particular way (i.e. Vote for President Hinkly for Man of The Century!)  or again, does the extreme number of votes balance any attempt to hijack the winning spots?  I'm dubious at best and would love to hear from the interwebs on this topic.

Perhaps the better topic to comment on would be what songs you think should have been on top of the list.  Click on the title of this blog post to see the VH1 list then let me know what should/shouldn't be on the list and where they truly deserve to be ranked.

It's Not Just Golf In Miniature

"It's minature golf mom! C'mon you got to try it!" was the jubilant cry from Emma when Hannah met up with us at the Kangaroo Zoo after work. I hadn't thought Emma had really caught on during our first 18 holes, but she was super excited to try again - I think it was the psychadellic glowing animals.

Zoo View

Emma loved her first trip to @Hogle_Zoo ! This was a super way to wrap up the summer. The facility was more fun than I remembered. I scooted about sipping Diet Coke while Emma raced to elephants, giraffes and monkeys. Emma loved the penguins and the zebras, I loved watching a leopard hiding the corner of it's enclosure. Staff were stringing trees with lights, looks like I already need to start gearing up for Zoo Lights this Dec.

Burger Education

I propose that all learning establishments be housed within Five Guys B&F restaurants. My kid is counting double digits after listening to the orders come up. We wrote a list of numbers below our order number (on our reciept) as the staff called for pickup. It didn't take Emma long to see the pattern that was forming, pretty soon we'd figured out how to count to 100. Now as long as she doesn't need to use the 'teens' we're all set.

Surely there is some magical aura or elixer of learning at Five Guys that produces such results. And imagine the parental involvement and familial participation, not to mention the opportunties to learn a foriegn language (emma likes to practice her spanish with a sweet hispanic woman who works at our neighborhood location) and the possibility for reduced cost from food sales. I need somone to sponser a bill this legislative session! Where's my state senator Greg Bell? Hmm, Lieutenant Govenor now eh? Guess he just dodged that bullet.

Rewarding Geocaching Adventure

Thanks to some kind team members at work I was able to get a day off to visit some family/friends for a big meetup and dinner in Springville, UT. I arrived early with my wife who was helping with some event details so I had time to burn, so with GPS in hand, I set out on a mini adventure for a few hours. After visiting a McDonalds (where I had the best Big Mac I've had in a decade) and tanking up for the afternoon we set off to scour the town for geocaches. The adventure became a bit of an ordeal after a few caches were either left uncared for and missing and others either far exceeded my skill or were also plundered. Out of 8 caches we sought, only 6 had containers to be found (we think) and we only actually found three of them. A bit discourageing but the fun is in the hunt afterall and we were treated to seeing a remarkable Presbyterian church in the middle of town as well as a relaxing wade though the chilled waters of Hobble Creek.

We also spent some time geocaching in Salt Lake City and in nearby Parley's Canyon. That was a very rewarding adventure. The caches up the canyon were just difficult enough to make reaching the goal rewarding without discouraging Emma (or myself.) Emma does a great job keeping up with dad and is usually excited to tag along. She did a great job taversing a hill with an extremely steep grade. Though she started out timid and clutching to dad for balance on the rocky and nealy 80 degree slope, she quickly learned that if she moved safely and with confidence her own balance system was superior to clinging to dad.

Even as great as dad is he isn't as cool as a playground when you've spent most of the day in the car. When I stopped to look for my last cache Mom stayed with Emma at a nearby park while I hiked off in the canyon below the interstate. I am still kicking myself for not encouraging Emma more strongly to follow me, becaseu I was treated to a grand experience when I poped up behind some weeds and startled some fawns a mere 100 feet in front of me. They ran to the brush and we spent a few minutes watching each other. Soon another fawn appeared in the opposite direction and let it's self get nearly as close before it realized the situation. It was a super cool experience and a great way to cap off another quick adventure spent geocaching.

Two Geocaching Adventures

In the not so distant past the family set out to find a few geocaches. One trip took us out to the palins of the Great Salt Lake. There were a few geocaches located North of the Airport that begged me to visit. We were lucky to have the airport using runways 34 so the traffic was taking off over our heads. We tried to work quickly becasue the area, though public land, is well patrolled by airport police (even considering they are usually accomodating, I would rather not have the meeting to begin with.) We embarked on another trip over the the Pioneer Day weekend seeking caches along East Canyon and the original Mormon Pioneer trail. The network of trails was beautiful with lush foliage and even a healthy amount of wildflowers. We didn't find as many geocaches on this trip, but we ended in the mood for more caching adventures (but that's another story.)