Boilermakers Baby!

Yes, Purdue - The Boilermakers. I used to live in West Lafayette and I don't think I've ever really shaken that place off. Great school, great Basketball. I had to live in Indiana to gain an appreciation for the Big 10, and now I totally get it. As confident as I am in my choice for Nat'l Champs, the rest of my bracket is pretty much shot to Hell - mostly due to some optimistic hopefulness on behalf of the local schools. However, if Kansas, North Carolina and Duke each win, my final four selections will all be correct. Here's hoping - it should make for some good basketball.

The Games Kids Play These Days

Emma wanted to go outside to play. She didn't tell me she was going to play "Transient."

Geocaching The Shoreline

Our latest Geocaching expedition took us to the western reaches of Davis County, Utah. So far west, in fact, that we were as close to the Salt Lake shoreline as you can get on paved roads. Radio towers peered down on us from many places on the west side while cattle and horses greeted us to Emma's delight. (The high salt content of the surrounding soil makes for excellent grounding, so many stations place their transmitters here.) Our first cache of the day, Head West Young Lady, was placed by our long time friend Nate (rileyclod.) It was truly a great cache with a clever hiding place and a pleasant view. We lingered a while in the area and picked up another cache in West Syracuse then started trekking back to Layton where we collected two more caches. I had a goal to find five geocaches that weekend so the next day I traveled to West Bountiful to pick one more along an old rail bed. Good times while out caching this weekend, the favorable weather seems to be bringing us out more and more.

You Don't See That Everyday

While driving Hannah home from work we happened upon some slow traffic and became frustrated that the rush hour had started so soon. It didn't take long to discover that the rush hour was not the concern at all. A collision that appeared to involve five vehicles was strewn about I-15 (NB, about 500 N, SLC) this car was wost off, and Hannah gabbed a photo for me. It was a bit of a shock to see the woman in the convertible, still conscious, with apparent injuries to her head and either injured enough to remain in place or unable to extricate herself from the car. A shiver went down my spine as we passed. Drive safe out there!

Caching In Cache County

Business took me to Logan, UT a week ago and any trip away from home spurs the urge to dig up a few geocaches. Sadly, out of four attempts, only one was fruitful. Emma and I did, however, see a good chunk of the Utah State University Campus and find a cache near the commemorative plaque at the gates of the University - not to mention grabbing a scoop of "Famous Aggie Ice Cream."

The cache we located, GCY92B (Anne Carroll Moore,) was a well created one inspired by the history of an early advocate of the then Utah State Agricultural College and it's library. Emma was thrilled to exchange goodies and we set free a Travel Bug we'd had for far too long.

The great thing about Geocaching is that it seems we have fun regardless of whether, or what we find.

Maybe Next Year

Aren't spring break trips supposed to be made to sunny and warm destinations? I think the folks in Jackson Hole missed that memo because my impromptu spring break getaway to Teton County, WY was like taking a trip back to December.

The great thing about Jackson is that anytime of the year it's a beautiful place to visit. The hotel hot tub may not have been quite the same as a warm beach, but you can't stare at the majestic mountains whilst you warm your chilled body.

I don't enjoy shopping. Particularly, I've never understood shopping as a vacation actvity. Imagine my amazement when I entered the town of Jackson to find it was filled with "70% off" sales and I caught myself shopping around the town square.

Yes it was bitter cold, but lot's of fun to have an excuse to fly with mom to Jackson.

A Spring Break

A break in the weather brings a chance to break out of the house and break out the bike for an afteroon ride around the backuyard. Emma sponsers spontanious races around the patio with arbitrary finish line locations that have the uncanny habit of favoring her victory.

Coraline

4/5 Stars
Rated PG

Wow! How did a dark and scary movie end up being released in February and end up being so much fun. Not fun in a bubble gum way, but in an enjoying a devilishly decadent dark chocolate mousse kind of way. Coraline is, like that mousse, a remarkable story that unfolds smoothly and evenly.

The plot expands in a very organic way, nothing feels contrived or forced. Characters, which are initially unappealing (by design) become endearing by film's end and Coraline herself becomes the heroine you'd like to see in pretty much every movie. Add a fantastically stimulating visual style and the wonder of stop motion photography and you've got yourself an outstanding film.

All but the very young will enjoy this film (I'd suggest not younger than 5ish.) The film has a scary fantasy feel but doesn't dwell on the scary in favor of the fantasy. Also, there is a disturbing fantasy sequence where two aging actresses reveal scantily clad young bodies. The animation is so distorted that there isn't really a sensual element at play, but it was rather disturbing to me and I would think that anyone with an idea of how the human body comes together might benefit from brief eye shielding. (If not for this sequence, this would have been a five star movie in my opinion.)

A Note on 3D: 3D technology seems to be coming of age in a sort of way (loosing the gimmick and gaining credibility) but there are still some kinks to be worked out - primarily increased cost and integrity of the optics used by viewers. While Coraline was fun to watch in 3D and certainly added a dimension (excuse the pun) that a standard viewing would have lacked, I don't feel as though it was worth paying an evening fare at the matinee to see it, particularly considering the glasses I was provided seemed foggy around the edges - marred by scratches and smudges. If you're a real videphille (as I am) you'll appreciate the 3D experience - otherwise, I'm not sure I'd encourage you to see it in "Real 3D."

Gaming Girl

Emma has a fever! The only perscription is more gaming! Emma has become quite adept at handling the gaming controls and enjoys both the Xbox and the DS. Although dad sometimes fears he has created a monster, he does not regret time spent playing Wall-E, Dance Dance, or Kefflings with Emma.