SLC Chalk Festival
June 21, 2008 | Filed Under Kuei, Brighton, Keane, Family | 1 Comment
Even though we are in the process of getting everything together for the move, Kuei and the boys still made it over to the Chalk Festival. Nearly every year we’ve lived downtown, the Gateway has put it on, and Brighton likes to go. The street is sectioned off for foot-traffic only, and there is space where kids can grab a bucket of chalk and doodle all over. There is a lot of great artwork to check out too. Brighton got his face painted…pretty slick, eh? More pictures on Flickr HERE.
Zoo
June 19, 2008 | Filed Under Friends, Family | Leave a Comment
Kuei snapped some good pics of a trip to Hogle Zoo last week (thanks Todd and Julie!) Brighton had a good time with his pal, Chase. They have been buddies a long time and had fun together (getting sprayed by a metal elephant, playing with street performers, and eyeing leopards mostly). Fun stuff.
I’m In!
May 1, 2008 | Filed Under Architecture, Family | 13 Comments
Guess who scored a spot in the M. Arch program? Woohoo! 
Near the end of March, I got the dreaded thin envelope in the mailbox (the kind you don’t want to see when applying for schools). It wasn’t an outright rejection mind you, but quite possibly a slow and prolonged one, as it stated I had essentially been wait-listed. The letter explained I’d know my official admission status in April. So then April came and went. I had pretty much accepted the notion that I’d likely be trying another round of applications for next year (and maybe scoring residency too, by then).
But then today, I got an email, attached with an official acceptance letter and program requirements. It’s a go after all. How cool is that? I’m pretty excited.
Click the linked picture above for more pictures of Lincoln, including UNLs’ massive football stadium - (copyright urban-photos.com)
Agenda-Free Kid Movies?
April 15, 2008 | Filed Under Politics, Movies, Family | 3 Comments
Lately it seems some filmmakers are really living up to the Parental Guidance rating. And not in the way that you’d think. It used to be that movies for children were generally a safe bet. It was rare to have one of the main characters lose someone close to them, or encounter violence that warranted a stronger warning. Today, those events are commonplace, and nearly every kid movie has some underlining theme or ultra liberal* subtext. I’m surprised just how political the movies are, some with strong messages. Case in point: Seinfeld’s Bee Movie. We rented it about a month ago.
Now I think Seinfeld is a funny guy and still like watching reruns from his show. But the Bee Movie, in my view, is not an agenda-free movie. It was great about a third of the way through, then spirals into something else. It starts off with the main character unsatisfied with his life, but ultimately twists into some bizarre “Bee rights” battle that includes everything from lengthy courtroom drama, SWAT-like crews pinning down an elderly woman, and snipers shooting Winnie-the-Pooh. Crude humor in some circles, but not for my boys. In my view, it’s just another advocacy group planting seeds.
This isn’t the only film that prompted Brighton to ask questions as to why something was in the movie. I took him to the theater to see “Over the Hedge” when that came out, and again, it was very disappointing. The “moral” of the story? Little creatures should stay put, because there are angry, violent White people in suburbia who drive around in huge SUVs that hire stupid, male exterminators to kill them. It should have been called, “Over-the-top.” Nearly every movie out there now that is marketed toward children, either as cartoon or computer animation, turns out to be some Left-wing agenda bent on schooling my kids on a warped perspective.
My main problem with it is that it is specifically targeted to kids. Want to make a statement? Go right ahead. And Hollywood does it everyday. And a lot of the time they find it doesn’t penetrate certain markets. So they make a so-called kid’s movie. The studios make deals and arrange promotions, and the kids buy the stuffed animals and the Happy Meals and the games. And all the kids know the lines. But they’re not movies for children.
There are some good films out there, though, made for kids. And Pixar has made some good ones, like “Finding Nemo,” for instance. And I’m not one of those parents who think they need to stop having kids because the world is such a dark and evil place. My hope is that because my kids are in the world, it will become a better place. It just seems some studios are trying harder on the younger ones with some movies.
I’m finding that it’s easier to simply rent movies that I know are good, because I grew up watching them, and don’t have to screen them. Stuff like “Honey I Shrunk the Kids,” may seem cheesy to me now, but Brighton saw it recently, and thought it was great. Just like I did back then. No agenda included. This post is probably a little too politically charged for a family blog, right? Maybe. I know some of you will think I’m just being paranoid or exaggerating, but really I just tire of having to preview a seemingly harmless movie to determine what’s really the motive of its creators.
Is there a V-Chip out there to block indoctrination? Because that’s how I see it.
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*I’m a registered Independent…
Which means I’m not a “choose the lesser of two evils” voter…
Which also means I’m likely not voting for any of the 3 “candidates” this year. 
Smith & Edwards
March 2, 2008 | Filed Under Family | Leave a Comment
So we took a day trip up North, around the Ogden area and decided to stop by Smith & Edwards. It’s an interesting, but worthwhile spot. Our friends, Frank & Christine introduced us to the place when we went fishing up at Willard Bay a long while ago. The place houses a bunch of military supplies and surplus, and is a good place to get food storage - they even have the green military ration packets that the soldiers use. So if you ever had the desire to buy a crate full of dehydrated lasagna, this is the place to go. They have a ton of tools and knit-knacks, everything from carabiners to a dozen different types of beef jerky. We spent a couple hours there and only got half-way through the store. It’s rad.