Let the season begin!

Tonight at 8:00 P.M. the season begins when Utah plays at Oregon State.

Here is a little video I found to get excited about the start of the season:

Which Baseball teams are the farthest apart?

While watching baseball on Sunday evening, the question was asked, "Which two Major league teams are the farthest apart?"

Those watching the game settled on two different options:

Boston Red Sox and San Diego Padres

Seattle Mariners and Florida Marlins.

The winner: Seattle to Miami is 2734 miles. Boston to San Diego was 2nd at 2582 miles.

Yes, I know it is what my brothers would refer to as a UBI (Useless bit of information)

un amigo mio...

So I was listening to FM radio this morning, which I usually don't do any more. I am becoming my dad and keep the dial tuned to KSL - mostly for traffic and weather on the 9's.

Anyway, I was listening to 101.9, the End (which incidentally enough is preset right next to KSL 102.7 FM) when I heard an add for the jamboree music festival on September 8 at Thanksgiving Point. They mentioned that Toad the Wet Sprocket was playing.

I realized how out of touch I am with music when I looked up Toad the Wet Sprocket to find out when they got back together as a band. 2006. Last year. 34 tour dates last year. How did that slip by me?

Well, while looking at the lineup for the Jamboree, I noticed a band called Cub Country listed in the lineup. I had not heard of the band before, but I have heard of the front man, Jeremy Chatelain.
Jeremy has played bass in a few bands like Jets to Brazil, Handsome and Insight but that is not how know who Jeremy is.

I got to know Jeremy at Evergreen Jr. High. Jeremy wore Chuck Taylor high tops and skateboarded. I wore Chuck Taylor high tops tried to skateboard with my Town & Country skateboard that I bought from my brother Brian. Jeremy's family lived on Neff's Lane, just above 2300 East (I think his parents still live there). We had a few classes together, including LDS seminary. I recall learning to draw skulls and crossbones from Jeremy in seminary class and after school listening to punk bands at his house on vinyl albums while he tried to play the guitar. I graduated from Seminary, I don't think Jeremy did. We ran in different groups in High School but still remained friendly. I haven't seen him in years, but hear about him every once in a while as his older sister works with Wendy at OC Tanner.

So I was curious about the music he is playing these days. It sounds like Jeremy has put the hard core punk days behind him in favor of a more Americana-twang sound. You can hear a sample of it here. I downloaded the entire album and it is pretty good.

Newest Quiz...

So, once again, Dee Dee posted another quiz. This time it is a newest quiz:


1. What is the newest CD you own?
Aqualung - Strange and Beautiful. You may have heard the song, "Brighter than the Sunshine" in the movie, "A Lot like love". Good stuff


2. Newest article of clothing you own?

Camouflage cargo shorts from Target

3. Newest pair of shoes you own?

Retro Adidas - Stan Smiths

4. Who is your newest friend ?

how cool is this... I am friends with Chris Mullen and play basketball with him...

ok, so not the same Chris Mullen that played in the NBA, but he is still pretty cool

5. Newest DVD ?

I bought a DVD collection that shows rides, shows and fireworks from Disneyland

6. Whats is the newest thing you bought?

I bought some Popsicles yesterday

7. What is the newest thing in your refrigerator?

The same Popsicles are in the freezer - does that count?

8. Newest Id card ?

New ID for the Government agency where I work

Question of the day...

Are you really "reading" a book if you listen to it on tape (or CD or ipod)?

I came across a blog that the person talked about his/her love of books and then proceeded to highlight all of the books that he/she has recently listened to and will listen to soon.

Sorry, but I don't think it is keeping a keen reading mind by listening to a book. It is entertaining, yes, but just like watching a TV show or a movie. I wouldn't ever say that I saw a movie if I only read the script, so why do people say that they read a book when they really listened to it?

Oh, and for the record, I have listened to books on tape and it is entertaining - good for long drives, long flights, etc. But for me, nothing is quite like turning the pages of a book

Oldest Quiz

The baby of the family, Dee Dee, posted a quiz about some of the oldest things in our lives...

Here goes...

1. What is the oldest CD you own?

I hate to admit it, but Mister Mister was the first CD I purchased (right after I bought my first CD player at LaBelle's on 33rd) in 1985. I tried to give the CD away a couple of times but it is still in my CD collection.

2. What is the oldest article of clothing you own?

not really an article of clothing, but I wore it once: The Christmas stocking that LDS hospital put me in for the ride home shortly after I was born.

3. What is the oldest article of clothing you wear?

Probably a T shirt from my mission in Spain. It is thin and way too small, but works great under a basketball jersey - kind of like a wifebeater tank top under my jersey

4. Who is your oldest friend that you are still in touch with?

Brett. (I really haven't talked to him in months, but when we do talk, we pick right up where we left off)

5. What is the oldest DVD you own?

I was a little late on getting into DVDs - but I think Reservoir Dogs was the first one I purchased

6. Whats is your oldest childhood possession?

The same Christmas stocking... but I still have my "Ticky" stuffed animal - I think it is a raccoon?

7. What is the oldest thing in your refrigerator?

A bottle of real maple syrup - although nothing stays for very long in the refrigerator at our house since I am constant cleaning it out and throwing out anything old - one of my little quirks

8. What is your oldest Id card ?

I am pretty sure I have my 7th grade ID card from Evergreen Jr. High.

In, but not quite out...

Last Saturday evening we drove down to Pleasant Grove to see TJ and Sarah's new townhouse and to help with some painting.

Tillie and Isaak started fighting 8 miles into the trip. We could tell that they were hungry so we told them we would go to a place that is like In-N-Out burger in American Fork. It got them to quiet down some - enough so that they could hear their Disney songs on the radio.

I have heard about Chadders since they opened in May. A few family members on both sides have been there and said it was close to In-N-Out, but not exactly. Without much of a reason to drive to American Fork, I had not been down there, plus I didn't want to wait an hour for a burger.

We found the place and pulled up to the drive-thru. I felt almost dirty ordering a "Double Chadders burger, Chubby style" instead of my favorite "Double Double, animal style" that In-N-Out offers.

It was a pretty good burger, but wasn't identical to In-N-Out. Maybe about 75% of the way there.

Would I go back? Yes, if I am in the area (like next week to help them move) but I wouldn't make a the long drive to go there just to eat.

Bop Bop Bop, Pulitzer to the top...

So last night I grabbed a new book to read. It isn't a new book and I have read it before. I am going to re-read Wallace Stegner's book, Marking the Sparrow's Fall: The Making of the American West. This is a collection of stories that Stegner wrote that his son, Page, compiled.

The first few stories are about his youth in Saskatchewan, Great Falls and several about Salt Lake City. While I was reading one of the stories about his youth in SLC, I was thinking about Stegner attending East High School.

I started to think that my wife, Wendy, graduated from East High School. So she attended the same school that a Pulitzer prize winning novelist attended (Wallace Stegner) as well as the fictional Troy Bolton (High School Musical, played by Zac Efron).

Of course my 7 year old daughter, Tillie, could care less about the guy that wrote all of those books on my shelf going to her mom's high school. She does let everyone know that High School Musical was filmed where her mom went to school.

East was also attended by Roseanne Barr (she dropped out), Astronaut James Irwin and Elizabeth Smart (class of 2006)

I then started thinking about my high school, Olympus High. We can claim Karl Rove, Mark Hoffmann and Shawn Nelson (the guy that started Love Sac) as graduates.

Then again Olympus can also claim David Zabriskie. Who is David Zabriskie? He is a professional Bicycle racer and one of only Five Americans to have worn the Yellow jersey in the Tour de France.

Which graduates would you rather claim?

I want a new car...

This is my current car - well, ok, it is the same model and color, but not my car.



It has been a decent car for almost 90,000 miles and 12 years. We have our 10 year anniversary in September so that means this was Wendy's car before we were married.



The car was quite nice when it was new. Leather seats. Sun roof. V6 engine. Nice wheels. Good stereo. But it has had a few problems. Since the car is a V6 engine, it is probably too much car for the suspension, etc. So we have replaced the CV joints and have had a few other small problems. At least it has been paid off for several years.



But I want a new car. I know, drive the car that is paid off and stay away from a payment, but I want a new car and Wendy knows I want a new car.



I have tried the subtle approach. I have strategically placed ads for the car I want in her magazines the way Ralphie in "A Christmas Story" hints at a Red Rider BB gun. I have pointed out the car that I want while driving saying things like "wow, that car looks nice. Do you like that car, Wendy?" or "what color would you get if you were to buy that car?"

I start talking to other people while in Wendy's presence about crossover SUVs and which one would they get if they were buying a new one and pointing out the one I like.



I think I may need to be more straight forward.


by the way, this is what I would like to buy:

On my desktop

This is the photo that has been on my computer desktop for the past 5 weeks or so. It replaced a photo that we took in the same spot in February 2006.

I love how Isaak was straining in the 2006 photo to pull the sword from the stone and I have had a lot of people comment on the photo.

So when Isaak and I took a quick trip to SoCal and ended up at Disneyland for the day, I thought I would take a picture of him at the same spot. But then I thought I wanted to get the castle in the background instead of King Arthur's Carousel... yada yada yada and we ended up with the photo above. No straining to pull the sword out this time, but a good photo of Isaak.

So a couple of days ago I was showing Isaak the photos I took on our quick trip and He asked me which castle was in the photo. I told him that it was the Disneyland Castle. (I mean, duh, the kid has spent a lot of time in Disneyland, he should know where it is) Then he said he knew it was Disneyland, but WHICH castle at Disneyland.

Ok, now I was really confused. Then I realized what he was talking about.

There is the castle that you can see from Fantasyland (like in the photo) and the castle that you can see from Main Street with the water in the front. (He didn't realize that it is the same castle, just different sides of the castle)

I guess that means we need to walk through the castle more often next time we go to Disneyland.