Ian & Katie's Costa Rican Adventure

I wanted to try loading some video onto my blog (inspired by Cblakes), so this is the video you get. This is a little video montage I put together of our trip to Costa Rica. Its over a year old, but I still think its a pretty cool video with some pretty cool pictures. Maybe it will inspire some of you to take a trip to Costa Rica. Pura Vida!

The Canadians Hoarked Our Idea, Eh

Cblakes and I did a lot of smooth things while we were down at BYU together, but one of the smoothest things we did was to make a romantic fire video. While languishing away in our little apartments during the long months of Provo's winter, we longed for the comfort of warm fire. We longed to curl up in front of a cozy fireplace with a book and a warm cup of cocoa. So we decided to do something about it. We made our own fireplace. With the help of either Mike or Judd (I can't remember which one of you was on a mission and which one was helping us at this time), we got a camcorder and recorded the gas fire at Jim and Jane's for about an hour or so. While we were recording the fire, we played smooth, romantic songs for background music. The finished result: a video of a warm, inviting fire that we could play on our apartment TV that played smooth love songs in the background. We were very proud of it. Tell me that idea and execution were not brilliant. What girl could resist such charms?

So what do I find out the other day from my cousin Whitney's (the Canadian) blog (http://whitneyjdavis.blogspot.com)? The Canadians have hoarked our idea. Not only do they have a cable station that just plays video of a fireplace with Christmas background music, but you can also buy DVDs that do the same thing! I'm not sure whether to be mad because the Canadians hoarked our idea or to admire them for their brilliance.

Welcome to the Blogosphere

I hope you will all join me in giving Katie a warm welcome into the blogosphere! She has started a blog, and we have been working on getting it ready for the public for the last couple of weeks. It is now ready to launch. Enjoy: www.katiecafe.blogspot.com

Stupid Microsoft

This is a really funny video review of Windows' new operating system, Vista. It compares Vista with Mac's OS X. Its short, and I promise you will like it. It appears that this guy does weekly video reviews of technology-related things for the New York Times, and the few that I looked at were pretty funny. This might be a site to bookmark, especially for technology buffs like Cblakes (I don't know why the URL is so long, but it works).

http://video.on.nytimes.com/ifr_main.jsp?nsid=b26f34614:10f8c404286:-3172&rf=sitemap&fr_story=d14603c1e23e6ce37920a8134a2e27b1405a4991&st=1166290646873&mp=FLV&cpf=false&fvn=9&fr=121606_120614_26f34614x10f8bf8e912x694d&rdm=999742.9494534861

More Pics

Its been a while since I posted any pictures of Grace. She is now 4 months old. She got her shots yesterday, and she has been a little fussy, sad, and lethargic. We feel like she is getting pretty big, and she has grown, but she is still only in the 2nd percentile for weight (she's in the 40th percentile in length). But the doctor said she is healthy, so we're happy. She is really aware of her surroundings now and gets excited to see you, which is awesome. She will also "talk" to you with her "goooo"s and her "coooo"s. She loves music and will sometimes "sing" when Katie plays her violin.

Some of these pictures are from Thanksgiving and have Owen in them as well.

Movie Review: The Prestige

Two weeks ago, I went and saw The Prestige with Darth Spencer, Rumbler and TJ. It was really good. Its hard to review because you don't want to give anything away. Basically, its a cool story that takes place in an interesting context (19th Century magicians). There are all kinds of twists and turns, which keeps things interesting and keeps the audience guessing. I thought the film-making was quite nice. The cinematography, set design, and costumes were excellent, creating rich images of 19th Century England. And the editing/directing was masterful: the director managed to simultaneously tell the story from three different time periods without confusing the audience and without resorting to flashing dates up on the screen each time the time period changed. The acting was excellent and engaging. My only complaint is that the story seemed to leave a few loose ends, but that flaw is understandable considering how much subject matter the director managed to fit into the 2 hours. Overall, I would highly recommend this movie.

Thanksgiving Ham

I like turkey, but I like ham better. So this year, I took matters into my own hands and made sure we had ham to go along with our turkey at Thanksgiving dinner. For about a year, I have been wanting to try a ham recipe with a secret ingredient: Dr. Pepper. That's right. I found a recipe for a spiral ham with a Dr. Pepper glaze (I'll provide the recipe at the end of this post, for all those eager to try it). So for Thanksgiving diner this year, I was in charge of preparing the ham, and I made it with the Dr. Pepper glaze. I thought it was quite good and would be interested in anyone else's honest opinion on it. It was really sweet, but I didn't think there was enough of it. You could really taste the glaze on the pieces of ham that were near the bottom of the pan that got soaked in the glaze while it cooked, but the rest of the ham tasted like normal ham. If I had to do it again, I would have doubled the glaze recipe and had half of it available (warmed) just to spoon onto your ham when you dish it onto your plate. Anyway, here's the recipe (thanks to the good people at Cooks Illustrated):

1/2 cup Dr. Pepper
3/4 cup light brown sugar
2 Tbs. fresh orange juice
2 tsp. Dijon mustard
1 spiral-sliced, bone-in ham (7-10 lbs.)

1. Bring Dr. Pepper, sugar, orange juice, and mustard to boil in medium sacepan. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer until mixture is syrupy and measures 3/4 cup, about 8 minutes.
2. Remove ham from packaging and discard plastic disk that covers bone. Place ham in plastic oven bag, tie bag shut, and trim excess plastic. Set ham cut side down in 13 by 9-inch baking dish and cut 4 slits in top of bag. (If you don't have an oven bag, place ham cut side down in baking dish and wrap tightly with foil). Let stand at room temp. for 1 1/2 hrs.
3. Adjust oven rack to lowest possible position and heat oven to 250 degrees. Bake ham until center registeres about 100 degrees on instant-read thermometer, 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 hours, depending on weight of ham.
4. Remove ham from oven and roll back sides of bag to expose ham. Brush ham liberally wit glaze and return to oven briefly until glaze becomes sticky, about 10 minutes. Remove from oven, brush entire ham again with glaze, loosely cover with foil, and let rest for 30 to 40 minutes before carving.

Two War Novels

While I was reading All Over but the Shoutin (the book I just reviewed), I was also reading All's Quiet on the Western Front. I did not expect two war novels--or, more accurately, two anti-war novels--but that is what I got, though the styles varied vastly. All's Quiet on the Western Front is a traditional war novel, taking place (mostly) in the trenches of World War II. It tells of a group of young German soldiers and how they deal with the war and how the war deals with them. Everyone I know that has read this book rave about it, but I'm sorry to say that I never really got into it. Maybe I'm used to more modern, in-your-face anti-war novles/stories, which I love.

All Over but the Shoutin' probably couldn't even be labeled a war/anti-war novel--Bragg (the memoir's author) only tells one story early on in the book about his father's time in Korea. But that story is told with such skill that it really evokes that gut-wrenching feeling that makes you feel that war is never good. For me, that one story was much more effective than the entire book All's Quiet on the Western Front. But what made Bragg's book even more effective as an anti-war novel was the stories he told about what happened after his father returned from the war. He left a good, decent man and returned scarred man whose only refuge was alcohol. He was always drunk and made his wife and kids live in squalor and in fear of him.

Still, the best anti-war piece I have ever read is a short story by Tim O'Brien called "How to Tell a True War Story." It is a short story in O'Brien's collection of short stories about war called The Things They Carried. There are a lot of very good, highly regarded short stories in this collection, and I would recommend it, though it would probably be very depressing to try to sit and read it cover to cover. This story, more than any other anti-war story/novel/movie/documentary I have ever seen, makes you feel how terrible war is. It doesn't just describe war; it makes you feel it. Its cathartic in that sense--its tragic and sad, but it invokes feelings that, while unpleasant, are good to have because they remind us how terrible war is. I found a link to a pdf (thanks to the University of Wisconsin) of the story if you're interested in reading it: us.history.wisc.edu/hist102/pdocs/obrien_story.pdf.

Book Review: All Over but the Shoutin'

I just finished "All Over but the Shoutin,'" and it is the best memoir I have ever read (and I've read a few good ones: Life & Death in Shanghai, When I Was Puerto Rican). It is written by Rick Bragg, who is a Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times journalist. He has had an amazing life. He grew very poor in a tiny little town in Alabama. His father was a Korean War vet, an alcoholic, and a terrible father. But he had an amazing mother. Most of the book is really about her.

Bragg is an amazing storyteller, and the book is really just a series of well-told stories. The book is very well-written (if a little over-punctuated). He tells stories about growing up poor in the South, about the Korean War, and about his mother. Then he tells stories about being a journalist and the stories he covered. He specializes in telling stories of sadness and heartbreak, and he shares many such stories through his memoir. He only had 6 months of formal college education at a tiny little community college near his home, but he was a talented storyteller, and that took him all the way to a Harvard Fellowship, to a job at the New York Times, and to a Pulizter. I would highly recommend this book. Its only about 200 pages long, its easy to read, and its quite worth the effort.

BBQ Sunday, Anyone?

I know that I have already crowned Pat's BBQ the best BBQ in Utah--and that still stands--but new information has come to light that solidifies Q4U in second place: the BBQ sunday. Yes, Q4U features a BBQ sunday on their menu. It features a fine blend of pulled pork, beans, and coleslaw. Can you think of anything more appetizing? This is pure genius.

More Halloween Pics

As promised, here are some more pics from the Halloween party. That way you can see all of the costumes/contestans. Here's the link to Allison/Owen's web site: http://web.mac.com/spencerallison/iWeb/Owen/Halloween%20Party.html. Enjoy

Gracie's Blessing

We blessed Gracie a few weeks ago. Sorry I'm a little slow getting these pictures up. It was such a privilege to be able to bless her, and we were very greatful to all out friends/family that traveled to be there. Gracie did great. She did not cry, and when I held her up to show everyone how cute she is after the blessing, she flashed her winning smile. We had everyone over after the blessing for a brunch/open house. We had breakfast caseroles and sticky buns to go along with the fruit and the pina colada slush. I think everyone had a great time. Here are some pictures of the day.

Colbert + LOTR = Hilarity

This is funny, especially for those LOTR buffs out there:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dZnxNfBVr0U

The Annual Halloween Party

Spencer and Allison hosted another succesful Halloween party this past weekend. The theme was "The Amazing Race," and, after enjoying some hourdorves at our home, the couples were pitted against each other in a race across Salt Lake. The first stop was the church near our house. There, the contestants got their first clue, which directed them to find Mountain West Small Business Finance. At MWSBF, they had to show off their dance moves, and no one could advance without advancing a few levels in "Dance Dance Revolution." After MWSBF, the couples had to go to a store and buy a quart of ice cream and take it to the church by Katie's parents' house. Each couple had to eat the whole quart of ice cream before they could advance. To speed up the process, most couples microwaved their ice cream and drank it. Keler tried to cheat by spooning ice cream into the garbage can, for which he received a penalty. Then the teams had to race to my parents house in Bountiful, where they had to complete a 100 piece puzzle. We enjoyed more snacks there, and the winners of the costume contest and the race were revealed. I am pleased to announce that, for the first time, Katie and I won the costume contest. I don't have pictures of everyone's costume. If I get more from Allison, I'll post them (Or, if she posts them on her web site, I will provide a link). For now, I'll post what I have.

Katie and I as Kip and Lafawnduh.













Gracie as a cute bunny













Keler and Melissa as Sergei and Petrova, Russian figure skaters.

My Midevil Name

The other day, I overheard someone talking about seeing The Quill and the Sword club (Q&S) down on BYU's campus. For those of you who don't know, The Quill and the Sword is an awesome club down at BYU for those fascinated with the midevil period. As a rule of thumb, if you see someone walking around campus wearing a cloak, a large, puffy dress, chain mail, or armor, then they are members of The Quill and the Sword. You will often see them practicing their sword-fighting skills with their wooden lances in the early afternoons. I always longed to join them. Twice, I went to lectures by professors on Lord of the Rings-related subjects. The lecture was awesome, and I was surrounded by Q&S members. It was awesome.

Out of curiosity, I googled them and came across this fantastic web site: http://clubs.byu.edu/qands/. It appears that the larger club is broken up into smaller "guilds" according to area of interest (i.e., armory, dancing, cooking, and web design). What I find even cooler, however, is that it appears that each member of the Q&S takes a midevil name for him or herself. There is 'Ravishing Pixie' and 'Isabella Slayrock,' among others. That got me thinking: I wish I had a cool midevil name. So I started thinking of what my midevil name would have been had I shed my false pride and joined the illustrious Q&S. I think I would have liked being called 'Ian, Bright Scales,' or 'Ian the Gray.' Perhaps I would have totally dropped my name and gone as 'Durin Stonerocka' or 'Sir Blade.' Any of those would have been cool.

If you were a member of Q&S, what would your midevil name be?

General Conference

I thought General Conference was great. We say that every year (or, more accurately, twice every year), but it is always true. The major theme that I saw emerge was a general need to do more. At least I felt consistently motivated to work harder at work, to do more community service, to become more educated, to do more missionary-related activities, to put more into my church calling (when I get one), etc. Maybe that's just what I needed to take away from Conference because of my own personal sloth, but it seemed to be a recurring theme. Anyway, there were plenty of great talks, and I'll enjoy listening to them again on my ipod over the next few months (http://www.lds.org/conference/sessions/display/0,5239,49-1-646,00.html).

Some more pics

Gracie is growing fast. She is now up to 8 pounds, 3 ounzes. That seems like a lot to us, although I realize that baby Lukas (congrats, Jayme & Katie!) is over one pound heavier and he was born this past weekend! She is starting to smile a little bit, which is really fun.

The Office

What did everyone think of the season premiere of The Office last night? I thought there were some funny parts, especially Dwight's gay-dar, but I was a little disappointed. I guess I was bothered by the fact that the opted to go with a major cliff-hanger at the end of last season and that they just told you how it got resolved over the summer as part of a sub-plot in the first episode. This episode would have been more satisfying, I think, if it were the second or third episode of the season. Everyone wanted the juicy details about what happened with Jim and Pam.

Stuck in an Elevator

The other day, I got stuck in an elevator. I was heading home from work at about 5:15 (ah, government hours) and hopped in an elevator and pressed the button to take me to the first floor. Well, the doors shut, but the elevator didn't move. I pressed all the buttons there were to push, but no luck. I had to call maintenance and wait for almost an hour and a half while the elevator maintenance guys came and got me out of there. It was miserable. You might think that being stuck in a broken elevator on the fifth floor alone for an hour and a half might have caused one to do some self-reflection or soul searching or something like that, maybe turn into a life changing experience (kind of like a near-death exprience). But it didn't. I wasn't scared; just bored and glad I didn't have to use the bathroom. Maybe if the elevator was shaking or something; that might have lead to a more significant experience. But I just sat around and scared Katie by pretending that I might run out of air (at least my phone worked).

Gracie

She's making a funny face here, but I thought this was a cute picture.

Soccer and YouTube

As some of you know, especially Katie, I really got into the World Cup this past summer, even after Argentina crashed out of the tournament. And momentum has carried my interest into the current European club soccer season. I like keeping tabs on the Argentinians playing abroad and on things generally. The problem is that I don't have satellite and I don't have Tivo (which makes it almost impossible to watch any games). But I have found that highlights from most of the major games get posted on YouTube. So, every once in a while, I will search for the names of the teams that played and get to see a few highlights.

Here's a good example: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TrREN6kzm-w. The early stages of the Champions League started this week, and Lyon beat up on Real Madrid pretty bad. I searched in YouTube for "real madrid lyon" and it brought up a number of different highlight videos. I thought I would share this one because it has some really cool highlights (mostly from Lyon b/c they dominated almost the entire game). The other thing that makes this link awesome (at least for Spanish speakers) is that it is taken from an Argentinian highlight show (at least the announcer is Argentinian--you can tell because his accent is way cooler than any other spanish accent imaginable!). He's got some great expressions.

But you can find more than just highlights of recent games on YouTube. I have also found some cool highlight videos on certain players--just search for Leo Messi, Carlos Tevez, Cesc Fabregas, Ronaldinho, Steven Gerrard (this one's awesome: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SWzQn-FpEOU), Maradona, Zinadine Zidane, etc. There are also highlights of teams as they have made their run through tournaments and seasons.

Book Review: All the Kings Men

Just in time for the release of the new movie, I finished All the King's Men. When I started the book, I actually didn't know that they were remaking the movie (there was a movie made in the 50's I think), but the movie has quite a star-studded cast (see http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0405676/). I haven't heard any buzz about the movie, but I hope its good.

I quite liked the book. Robert Penn Warren (America's first poet laureate) wrote the book. At times, he gets a bit wordy and goes off on long meditations/diatribes (I found myself skimming fairly often, especially the first 50 pages), but, still, the language is spectacular. The book is most often sold as a political masterpiece (its loosely based on the life of Huey Long, the Louisiana governor/demagogue who rose to power by championing the cause of the lower classes), but I read it much more as a classic character study. The characters, especially the main characters, are all rich and deep. They are complex and real. The book charts the reactions of these characters, who are all very different and who act very differently as they encounter a variety of circumstances. The political/historical background is only an instrument that Warren uses to explore the psyche of his diverse characters and to explore rich themes such as fate, right and wrong, the nature of justification.

The book is fascinating and highly enjoyable. I recommend that you all read it before the movie comes out.

The Power of the Internet

So here's a cool story: my friend Rob flew into SLC from Florida last Thursday and we met up for some lunch. After considering a number of options, we decided to revisit Pat's BBQ (in addition to having great food, it had the advantage of being out of the downtown area, which was a little hectic b/c of the visit from our good friend Bushie). Anyway, we went and had an excellent meal. It confirmed the fact that Pat's is the best bbq in Salt Lake (see my previous post). But the cool part of the meal came when we went to pay. As they were processing our cards up front, I was looking around the restaurant. They have a wall where they have posted newspaper articles, thank you notes, and, apparently, blog entries--including my blog entry! I was shocked. I started reading one that started out, "Judd, Cblakes, and I . . ." and my jaw dropped. It was my post on the best BBQ in Utah. I have no idea how it found its way into Pat's restaruant itself, but I was very excited. I know Cblakes gets a lot of outside traffic because of his movie reviews, but I thought my audience was always pretty limited. At least in this instance, I was wrong. Anyway, I thought that was cool.

Here are a few more pics of baby Gracie. She is going great and is so much fun.

Book Review: Death and the Penguin

Upon the recommendation of my esteemed Cousin, Jayme, I picked this book up just after I finished the bar. I finished it a few days ago and quite liked it. I'm not sure I liked it as much as Jayme did, so I invite his comments on what he liked about the book (unless he is planning to do an independent post on his blog). And anyone else who has read the book should also feel free to comment.

The book takes place in post-Soviet Kiev (Ukraine) and, in large part, is an illustration of what life is like for the average Ukranian. The main character is a writer who has adopted a penguin from the Kiev Zoo (because the zoo couldn't afford to feed it any more). The book traces his life as he gets a job as a obituary writer for a local newspaper and comes into contact with a variety of interesting characters, some likable, some bizarre, and some sordid. For me, the book got a little boring at times, but Misha the penguin is very loveable, and the last 50 pages are quite good. The book deals primarily with themes of death and depression (the penguin--far from his natural habitat--is quite depressed). But the book also explores the post-modern idea that things and occurences have multiple meanings and that it is difficult to know what is real.

Overall, I would recommend the book.

Daddy Time

Baby Gracie is still doing great. She keeps Katie up most of the night, which is too bad, but she is so cute its hard to begrudge her that. Katie manages to sneak in naps while Grace sleeps during the day, which helps. The benefit of the situation is that, when I come home from work, Katie is pretty tired, so I get to spend a couple hours of good, quality time with baby Gracie while Katie lies down or takes a bath. I get to sit and rock her in the rocking chair, read her books, tell her stories, and take her on walks (sometimes Katie joins us for the walks). It is so much fun. I always thought that little babies were a little boring because they just sleep all day. I was always much more excited to have kids that were 2 and older because you could play with them. Boy was I wrong. Maybe other people's kids are a little boring in longer doses (for other people, not for the parents), but I could just sit and hold Gracie for hours while she slept, and I would be having the time of my life.

Little Gracie

Here are a few more pictures of little Gracie. I think these ones show how little she really is.

Baby Gracie

At long last, baby Gracie arrived. She was born Saturday night around 8:00. She weighted 5 pounds, 6 ounces. She is a tiny little thing--her premie diapers don't even fit her--but she is healthy and fully developed (she doesn't even have jaundice). She is still sleeping all day an all night, except for every few hours when she wakes up to eat and to tell us she needs her diaper changed

On a side note, Gracie was born during the Real v. Real game, and I take it as a good omen that David Beckam was gracing the soccer field at the time of her birth and that TomKat (that's right, Tom Cruise & Katie Holmes) were present in the stadium watching the game. I suppose that TomKat's baby, if, in fact, they really did have a baby, which is debateable, was also in town. With all that star-power just a stone's-throw away at the time of her birth, I figure that she will either be a brilliant soccer player, a famous acress, or a scientologist (after all, Katie (Davis, not Holmes) is certified in Dianetics).

Bratfest '06

In honor of Chris, Emily, Mary, & and unnamed baby boy leaving us to go to grad school in Wisconsin, we held Bratfest '06 at our home over the weekend. It was, by all measurements, a huge success. We had Wisconsin cheese (ok, so it wasn't Wisconsin cheese, but I am sure that it is very similar to the cheese you can get in Wisconsin) and crackers for appetizers. Judd provided a nice selection of root beers drafted in the Wisconsin area. Then we moved on to the main course where we sampled Bratwurst and some spicy Italian sausage (the faint of heart opted for masterfully grilled hamburgers). Then for desert we had ice cream and root beer cookies. That's right, root beer cookies. Katie found a recipe for them, and we had to try them. They were actually really good. I think the next time we serve them, we will serve them hot with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, kind of like a root beer float. But I can't think of a good name for such a desert. Any suggestions?

Anyway, everyone had a great time, and we missed those who could not attend. Chris, Emily, Mary, & baby will be missed. We'll have to hold the next Bratfest in Wisconsin itself.

Katie Davis, Registered Dietitian

I would like to congratulate my wonderful wife Katie. She took and passed her exam to be a Registered Dietitian today. She has been working hard for three years and has studied hard for the last two months, and now she is official. She can even sign patient charts at hospitals now. Now we are off to her family's cabin up at Alta to celebrate our new-found freedom.

Back from the Dead

I'm sorry that I took such a long break. July was a crazy month. We bought a house, packed, moved, unpacked, studied for the bar and took the bar. But I finished the Bar yesterday and it feels great. I feel pretty good about it, but you never know with such a difficult test. More than anything, I'm relieved its over. To celebrate, I went and saw Mission Impossible III late last night and I saw Pirates of the Carribean this afternoon. On a more unfortunate note, I also had a large, infected, pussy abcess under my arm drained by the doctor this morning. All I can say is, "thank goodness for pain medication." I knew it wasn't going to be pretty when the doctor asked the nurse to hand her the goggles.

Anyway, while I never made time to write a blog in July, I did think about a few ideas, so watch for some upcoming posts! For now, I have to go to one of Katie's showers.

gooooooooolllllllll

Let the World Cup begin! I don't follow soccer closely enough to make any predictions about who will win, but it will surely be fun to watch. I am cheering for the US, Argentina, and England to do well (all countries where I have lived, if only for a time).

We don't have ESPN at home, so I was worried that I would miss most of the games or have to ask my dad to TIVO the ones I really wanted to see. But thank heavens for Univision! It turns out that Univision is televising almost every single World Cup game, and you don't need cable to get it.

And as an added bonus, watching soccer in Spanish is way more exciting than watching in English. I watched the first half of the England v. Paraguay game this morning on ABC, and the announcers were so boring. The play-by-play guy knew very little about soccer (the extent of his commentary was that David Beckam is married to Posh Spice) and was not a bit animated. I switched to Univision for the second half and was very entertained. The announcers are so much more animated and make watching the game so much more exciting (but you do need to speak some Spanish to get the effect). There's nothing like an announcer yelling "Goool, goool, goooooooooooooooooollllllllll, goooolllllllaaaaassssssooooooo" for several minutes after a goal, or even yelling "se le fueeeeeeeeeeee" in a near miss. The Spanish announcers also have clever phrases. In Argentina's game this afternoon, Argentina had a breakaway, but the Ivory Coast's ("Costa de Marfil") defender was so fast that he recovered in amazing time (it truly was amazing how fast he was), and the announcer said, "Mira como se recupero el Marfilseno. Que rapido" and then yelled, "Como se dice ferrocarril en Costa de Marfil!" It was really funny.

Anyway, I hope everyone can take in a few World Cup games this time around, and, for you Spanish speakers, do it en Espanol.

Vamos Argentina!!!!!!

Best BBQ in Utah

A few weeks ago, Cblakes, Judd, and I met up on a Monday night and headed out looking for the best BBQ in Utah. We went to a place called Pat's BBQ (www.patsbbq.com) first. I had been there before and knew it had some amazing BBQ. It's location is a little sketchy, which, as it turns out, is a pretty good indicator of good BBQ. You drive up, and it looks more like a warehouse than a restaurant (that perception isn't helped by the fact that its in an industrial zone). Katie was very skeptical, but I went in to scout it out and found it very clean inside, so we went in and ordered. It was awesome! I ordered a half rack, but the ribs were so huge that I could only eat three. The ribs were nice and smoky, and they had a variety of sauces available at your table, so you could sample a number of different sauces. In addition to the great food, the atmosphere was outstanding. The tables are nice picnic tables to eat at, and there is a large bag of peanuts available to snack on while you are waiting for your food. They also have cool blues music playing in the background. Right then and there I declared Pat's BBQ the best Q in Utah, and I was looking forward to repeating the experience with Cblakes and Judd. But, unfortunately, they are not open on Monday nights, and we were turned away disappointed.

Determined, we called Katie and had her look up the address of the only other BBQ place that could compete with Pat's--Q for You in West Valley. We headed west and found Q for You in an appropriately sketchy, although not industrial, area. Fortunately, it was open, so we went in and ordered ourselves a couple racks of ribs. The ribs were just as large as those at Pat's, and they were nice and smoky, but they only provided one kind of sauce. The owner was a huge ethnic guy (I couldn't tell if he was black or Polynesian) that would walk around the tables and shoot the crap with other cool dudes, which was pretty cool. We were very satisfied, but, in the end, I must give the edge to Pat's. It had a greater variety of sauces, and it had a much better atmosphere. I found myself longing for Pat's peanuts, picnic tables, and blues music, while I was sitting in a ghetto table/booth, surrounded by rain forest decor (complete with a fake parrot), and lame music.

So, until proven otherwise, Pat's BBQ retains its title as best BBQ in Utah.

Neglect

I'm sorry that I have neglected my blog lately. This is finals week, so things have been really busy lately. On top of studying for finals, we've been house-hunting, which is very time consuming (especially since we're trying to do it without a realtor to save some money). But my finals will be over this week, and I'll soon be back to making regular posts. Until then . . .

Congratulations to Katie

If you will allow me to brag about my wife for just a moment, I just wanted to say a quick congratulations to Katie. She was awarded the Utah Dietetics Association Intern of the Year Award today at the Association's annual conference. I got to go to the conference's luncheon today, where they announced Katie's award, along with a few others. Basically, she was recommended by her teachers at BYU, and the Utah Dietetics Association chose her from a number of other interns who were nominated from BYU, Utah State, and the University of Utah. Its a great honor, and she has worked very hard, even when she was terribly nauseous from the pregnancy. She very much deserves the award. I have often said that during her two years in her dietetics program and one year in her internship, she has worked much harder than I have in my three years of law school. That says something about the rigorous nature of BYU's dietetics program, but it also shows what a great worker Katie is. She really knows how to wear herself out for a good cause.

Of course, in her acceptance speech she thanked her wondeful husband because, if he hadn't regularly ironed all of her shirts, she would not have had anything to wear to her internship.

Book Review: Devil in the White City

Upon Jayme's recommendation, I checked this book (on CD) out of the library and listened to it as I drove around town. The books full title is Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair that Changed America. It is extremely well-written, especially for a work of non-fiction, and is filled with interesting tidbits. I now find myself a little more educated in a wide array of different fields.

Its hard to say what this book is about because it covers so much ground. Principally, it is about the World Columbian Exposition (the Chicago World Fair held in the early 1890's) and its influence. Basically, after the World Fair in Paris (an enourmous spectacle that brought us the Eiffel tower), we (the US) wanted a fair of our own that would outdo the Paris Fair. This book is about our efforts in that vein. But you could also say that the book was about one of Chicago's greatest architects; one of America's first serial killers; America in the 1890's; the city of Chicago; American architecture in the 1890's and its effect on subsequent architecture; landscape architecture; the invention of the Ferris Wheel; the American spirit; Buffalo Bill Cody; and much more.

Because the book covers such a wide variety of topics, you are sure to be more interested in parts of this book and less interested in others, but because the writing is so good, all of it is readable.

Overall, I would recommend the book. Here's the Amazon.com link. You can check out some other reviews there, if you're interested.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0375725601/sr=8-1/qid=1144432365/ref=pd_bbs_1/002-3306506-0480060?%5Fencoding=UTF8

Ears to Hear

Katie is now almost 20 weeks into her pregnancy (that's half way, I think). We went to our 19-20 week ultrasound last Friday to check to make sure that the baby is developing on schedule (two arms, five fingers, two ears, four chambers of the heart, one brain, etc.). Everything looked great.

And this weekend, we read in one of our pregnancy books that babies start being able to hear at about 19-20 weeks. For us, that means two things: (1) Katie needs to start watching her language (just kidding, Katie ;)) and (2) we can start reading to her. So last night, she was exposed to her first bits of literature (yes, we are fanatical first time parents; at least we aren't trying to use flash cards). We read her Wordsworth's poem Dafodills and then Curious George Goes to the Museum. I'm sure she liked them.

Guest Worker Programs

I've been tracking the recent stories about the immigration debate and whether we should have some sort of a guest worker program. It's a topic that really interests me. Many families that I met on my mission in Argentina are now living here in Utah (some legally, some not), and I regularly work with Latino immigrants at the Guadalupe Legal Clinic.

I am in favor of adopting some sort of a guest worker program, but only as long as that program has a path towards citizenship/residency in it. I like the idea of recognizing that our economy is driven by immigrants who do all of the jobs that we are too prideful to do, and I like the idea of allowing immigrants to come out of the shadows a little bit. But I think that the guest worker program needs to put the immigrants on some sort of a path to citizenship/residency. A guest worker program without such a path would be fundamentally flawed. It would presume that immigrant workers will return to their home country after their work visa expires. I don't see that happening.

I like the bill that Senators McCain and Kennedy co-sponsored and that, with the help of Senator Spector, got pushed through the judiciary committee largely in tact (Senator Hatch voted against the bill, which may prompt me to write a letter). It puts the guest workers/immigrants on a kind of citizenship/residency track, and it requires that the immigrants pay back taxes and a fee, learn English, stay out of trouble with the law, and a few other things. This country needs immigrants. There are a lot of bad immigrants in this country (caught up in drug trafficking, ect.), but there are a lot of good ones too. The good ones work hard, stay out of trouble, contribute to the economy, and their kids go to college and become professionals. I think this kind of a bill would do a lot to help the good ones, the immigrants who really deserve it. It rewards immigrants who come here willing to work hard and stay out of trouble, and its incentives help the immigrants to participate in society (speaking English, paying taxes, not always worrying about INS, not being afraid to stand up for themselves at work because their employer threatens to them you in to INS, etc.). I can't tolerate bills that seek to punish/segregate immigrants without distinguishing between the good ones and the bad ones, and this bill does not fall into that trap.

The Senate's bill is definitely better than the racist/elitist/protectionist piece of legislation that the House passed and that Senator Frist is trying to get, which would make it a felony to be an illegal immigrant (now it is only a civil violation), and it would establish civil and criminal penalties for anyone employing or assisting illegal immigrants (I can't tell if that would apply to all of us at the Guadalupe Legal Clinic or not).

The one counter-argument that I find persuasive is that this kind of a program is unfair to those who are in their home countries, going through the appropriate channels to get work visas, waiting their turn. I agree that this is unfair to them. The way I would remedy this unfairness is to make the fee/fine for illegal immigrants who are currently in the country and who want guest worker status significantly higher than for those who have come here or who are waiting to come here through appropriate channels.

Here are some links to some interesting news articles on the subject:

http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/front/la-me-immig26mar26,1,7374804.story?page=1&coll=la-headlines-frontpage
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/26/politics/26cornyn.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/03/27/AR2006032700684.html
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/03/28/AR2006032801223.html?nav=hcmodule
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/03/24/AR2006032401719.html?sub=new

Movie Review: Good Night, and Good Luck

Katie and I were up at my parents' house Friday night and, after watching UConn hold off Washington in the Sweet Sixteen, we popped in Good Night, and Good Luck. All I knew about it was that George Clooney directed it and had received a nomination for Best Director. I was pleasantly surprised, as the movie began, to find out that it was about Edward R. Murrow and how he took on Senator McCarthy when no one else dared. I had studied bits about the McCarthy era and his Senate hearings before--in law school and in an American Literature class (while studying The Crucible (a play inspired by the McCarthy hearings))--and I had heard a kind of tribute to Murrow on NPR that talked about how he had challenged McCarthy. So I already knew a little about the subject. But beyond the fascinating subject matter, the film is really well done.

The history of this movie really interests me. I think it's a fascinating time in American history. The movie takes place in the 50's, right when the Cold War was really beginning to heat up. McCarthy went after anyone in a military or governmental position that had had any affiliation (or whose family had had any affiliation) with communism or socialism. As the movie shows, quite a few people had had some sort of an affiliation with the communist party. You will notice that most references to a connection with communism came "20 years ago," or in the 1930s. That's so because socialism and communism actually became moderately popular in America in the '30s. We were in the middle of the Great Depression. Capitalism, it seemed, had failed. And on the other side of the world, Russia, which had been communist for almost 15 years, was putting out what turned out to be propaganda about how their economy was thriving under a communist system. That climate lead a lot of people in the US and all over the world to explore communist or socialist ideas. They would attend a meeting or a rally or sign up to receive a communist brochure or publication. That was all it took, and, 20 years later, McCarthy labeled them communists and ruin their lives and the lives of their families.

Really, the movie is about publicity (not as in publicizing a movie, a book, or a celebrity but as in keeping things open to the public). There are obvious warnings about the dangers of news outlets not being free to report the news as it is (either as a result of pressure from sponsors, fear, or a desire to please a certain demographic/political philosophy). The public, essentially, only knows what it does from what it gets from the media, and if the media isn't free to report the facts as they are, then that's a problem. In a similar vein, one major problem with McCarthy's methods were that they were secret. The hearings themselves were public, but neither the accused communists nor the public were allowed to see the "evidence" McCarthy had against them.

Besides the interesting history and themes, I thought the movie itself was well done. The acting was convincing, and the directing was excellent. The movie used actual footage from the McCarthy hearings and from Murrow's news stories, which I really liked. It made the movie seem so authentic. And since the whole movie was done in black and white, the archival footage blended right into the movie. Unlike Forrest Gump, where the archival footage was more of a novelty, this historical footage was used to make the movie really feel like you were seeing something authentic. Sometimes you couldn't tell what was actual footage and what was not.

Anyway, I highly recommend the movie. I hope you like it.


* Interesting tidbit: In one of the first few scenes of the movie, it shows the group of news reporters around a table discussing the news. You can hear a distinct reference to "Benson." They say Benson said something or did something (I don't remember exactly what they said he did or said, but you hear a clear reference to "Benson"). They are referring to the then-Secretary of Agriculture, Ezra Taft Benson. He was a member of the Quorum of the Twelve already, but he was permitted to serve as Eisenhower's Sec. of Agriculture.

Letting Our Lights Shine in Our Closets?

Since it is Sunday, I thought I would do a religious post. I'm mainly going to pose a question and see if anyone has some good insights on the matter.

For the last few years now, I have struggled to reconcile a couple of verses of scripture, both of which are in the Sermon on the Mount. In Matthew 5:14-16, it reads "Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works, and glorify your Fahter which is in heaven." But in Matthew 6:1-2 , it says "Take heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen of them: otherwise ye have no reward of your Father which is in heaven. Therefore when thou doest thine alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men. Verily I say unto you, they have their reward."

Its hard for me to reconcile these scriptures. I started thinking about this a few years ago when I was reading a Conference talk and one of the Brethren (Elder Holland, I think) said something about how when we are parents we should be conspicuous in practicing the gospel in order to teach our children by example. This struck me as odd because I had always focused on the instruction to not do your alms before men (yes, I recognzie the irony of me taking about how I don't like 'doing alms before men' in this public forum). Making sure that someone sees you doing a good act, even if it is your children, seemed odd to me.

I can now see how it is probably good to be conspicuous in your gospel practice, especially around your young children, so that they can see how gospel principles are applied in real life. But what about outside the family context? How can we follow the commandment to be good examples? To to hold up a candle or to set a city on a hill implies, I think, some degree of publicizing, which strikes me as odd. Maybe "alms" can be defined narrowly to only include religious rites like baptism, the sacrament, or prayer and not more general acts like honesty, kindness, and charity. But the footnotes (the Greek translation) define "alms" more broadly: "righteousness, acts of religious devotion." Maybe the distinction is in your personal motivation: if you are are doing an act of kindness so that people will think that you are a kind person--i.e. your own personal glory--then that would be wrong. But if you did it to set a good example and to inspire people to be better--i.e. to glorify God--then maybe that is ok. But in practice, at least for me, that's a hard line to draw.

Anyway, those are just a few thoughts. Its been helpful to write them out, and I think its an intersting issue to think about. That's one of the reasons I started the blog. Comments are welcome.

Raptor Red

I recently became possessed of an exceptional piece of literature--Raptor Red. It is a work of fiction by a paleontologist (most notable for his discover of the very large Utahraptor) who consulted Spielberg et. al. during the filming of Jurassic Park.

Allow me to quote from the back cover: "'A pair of fierce but beautiful eyes look out from the undergrowth of conifers. She is an intelligent killer . . . .' So begins one of the most extraordinary novels you will ever read. The time is 120 million years ago, the place is the plains of prehistoric Utah, and the eyes belong to an unforgettable heroine. Her name is Raptor Red, and she is a female raptor dinosaur." As People magazine aptly said, "Michael Crichton may be a great storyteller, but he even wouldn't have the nerve to write a dinosaur novel told from the dino's point of view."

I was a little skeptical at first--I wasn't sure how good a book told from the perspective of a female velociraptor could be--but it got great reviews on Amazon. I think this just might be the best little known work or science fiction since The Accelerators (written by Jenny Carter of MWSBF's brother and which also received rave reviews on Amazon).

I will keep you updated, and you can all borrow it after I am done.

March Madness, Baby

Its March Madness--one of my favorite times of the year. And, fortunately, this week is my spring break. I've been working a ton early on in the week, so that I can spend as much time as possible watching games. I just finished my bracket while watching the finale of Beauty & the Geek 2. I'm sure you don't want to see my whole bracket, so I'll just include a few highlights:

Final Four Picks:

1. Texas -- I wanted to pick West Virginia, but I don't think they can sneak up on people anymore;
   
2. Gonzaga -- I know they're prone to choke, and I almost picked Kansas, but I think Adam Morrison and his handsome mustache will be clutch;
3. UConn -- Can anyone beat them? Maybe Villanova;
4. Villanova -- I really hope that guy's eye is ok. I'm sure that, even with a bad eye, they can get to the sweet sixteen, but the eye's going to have to be good for them to make it to the Final Four.

Upset Specials:

• Northwestern State over Iowa -- These guys played at Utah State for the Bracket Buster and gave Utah State all they could handle (which is very hard to do in the Spectrum)
• Utah State over Washington -- With Washington's small lineup, Nate Harris and Cass Matheus should do very well, and if J.C. Carroll's shot isn't bothered too much by Washington's athleticism (a big if), the Aggies should win
  
• Winthrop over Tennessee -- There's no way Tennessee is a 2 seed; they had an ok year in a bad SEC. And Winthrop has been tough in the tournament before
• UW-Wisconsin over Oklahoma -- They did it last year and should be able to beat a talented but inconsistent Oklahoma team

My favorite teams in the tournament: West Virginia, Gonzaga, Utah State

Let the games begin.

Movie Review: Millions

If any of you readers saw and liked Millions, please let me know why. I had heard that lots of people really liked this movie, and I'm baffled as to why. Yes, the little boy was cute, and it was funny how he knew all those facts about the saints, but I just felt like there was no coherent storyline. Why was the boy so set on helping the poor? Was he just kind-hearted? Was there some connection between loosing his mom and helping the poor? Did his mom do a lot of things to help the poor? I have no answers.

Also, the plot seemed to jump from one thing to another with no attempt at transition. It seemed like the boys were mentioning something about a nativity scene play and the next scene they were performing it and the bad guy was there to get them. The whole movie felt like that.

And the ending drove me crazy. It wasn't the ending itself--I actually liked the scene with the mother--it was the fact that it ended without explaining so many loose ends. Why were all those people showing up at the house? Was that just a "miracle"? What happened to the bad guy? Did he get caught? And what was that scene where the cardboard box took them to Africa? Where did the fact that the cardboard box house was a rocket come from?

Finally, what was the point? The kid learned that money does nothing but cause problems, so he burned it. But then the last scene shows what good things money can do like building wells in Africa (that's another thing: why Africa? Does he have some connection to Africa?). There are conflicing messages and no attempt to reconcile them.

Anyway, I was mad that I watched it, but a lot of people, including lots of people who know more than me, really like it. So watch it if you want, but don't get your hopes up too much.

It's a Girl

Katie is participating in some study for first time mothers at LDS Hospital, and one of the incentives they give you, along with a few Target gift cards, is a few free ultrasounds. We went this morning and got a great ultrasound tech (or whatever they are called), and we were able to see clearly that our baby is a girl. Katie and I are way pumped. It seems more real now that we can refer to her as a "she," rather than an "it." Now we are really going to have to start thinking of some names.

I have attached a few pictures of the ultrasound. We don't have a scanner, so I just took pictures of the printouts with our camera. One is a side shot, where you can see one hand up by her face and the other up around her head; the other is a top shot, showing the top of her head and her arm. She is really cute. I think she has my perfect bone structure.

Meeting Baby Owen

I met my first nephew this weekend--baby Owen. He is very cute and very good. He slept most of the time and hardly ever cried (although I can't vouch for how much he sleeps or cries at night). Just about our whole family went down to St. George this weekend, and we all had a lot of fun.

It was especially fun knowing that I would soon be a parent as well. It made me notice a few things about babies that I hadn't before. For example, from the moment they are born, they dictate everything (I had been told this before, but knowing that it was coming at me fast made it more of a reality). Your whole schedule and everything you do revolves around that little babe. I have, therefore, created a list of (selfish) things that I want to do before we have a little dictator of our own.

1. Get home from work/school and decide, on a whim, to go out to dinner
2. Go on lots of walks with Katie
3. Spend lots of time outside the house
4. On a whim, go on a weekend getaway to the country (which will probably be the cabin at Alta)
5. Enjoy being able to go somewhere with only having to dress myself
   
6. Enjoy being able to do what I want when I want.

You will notice that most of these have to do with being a little spontaneous. I am never spontaneous. Sometimes, at 10:00 at night, Katie will try to get me to be spontaneous and go out for some ice cream, and I always say that I am not a spontaneous person and that I want to go to bed. But I know that as soon as the option to be spontaneous is gone, I will miss it, even though I rarely, if ever, take advantage of it. Anyway, in the next few months, I am going to try to be spontaneous at least three or four times. That indulgence should last me a few years.

Finally, I'm sorry I don't have a picture of me being a doting uncle. Our camera was temporarily displaced, so we couldn't bring it down to St. George. The good news is that we found the camera this morning.

Maiden Voyage

Ah, my maiden voyage in to the blogosphere . . .

A number of different things have been the impetus for this mementos occasion. First was probably all the jokes I made every Wednesday before, during, and after our screening of Lost downstairs with Cblakes and Emily. Without fail, I would make some lame variation on the joke about logging onto the blogosphere to explore the various conspiracy theories surrounding the show. Then my friend Rob went off to Spain and Cblakes and I joked that he should create a blog about his trip. It was all fun and games until my dad registered the family for a .mac account, which provides space on a remote access disk (the iDisk) for the sharing of files and for the hosting of blogs and web pages. Then Rob really did create a blog (see http://robbiespain.myblog.com). I began exploring what .mac had to offer and researched the applications and upgrades available in iLife ‘06. The possibility of being able to easily create a family web site and blog with iWeb was just too tempting, especially considering the fact that Katie is with child. I just had to have a cool, electronic medium for showing off my sure-to-be adorable offspring (after all, I did convince Katie to let me get my PowerBook by saying that it would be like a high-powered, digital scrapbooking machine). So here I am. Enjoy.