Thursday, October 30, 2008

Listener Beware

Have you ever seen a movie and later decided to watch it again with someone else? You tell them, "This is the greatest movie. You'll love it." Then while you are watching it together you come to that part you forgot about. You know what I'm talking about. It's the part you don't want to see while sitting next to your mom, or your 14 year old son, or your bishop. (All of which I've done.)

Well, I recommended The Moth podcast and the last 4 episodes I've listened to have had either explicit language or "adult themes." So, maybe I don't recommend it. I liked all your suggestions though. "Stuff You Should Know" is a great podcast and I also started listening to audiobooks. Thanks!

Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Radio Burnout/The Moth

I drive around A LOT for my job. During this time I usually listen to NPR. But, I am so tired of all the talk about the election and economy. It used to be I could listen to varied and interesting shows like the woman who has a passion for growing melons. Or there was the one with the guy that plays his clarinet with whales.  

Lately I have been listening podcasts. One that I recently discovered is The Moth. The Moth is a not-for-profit storytelling organization. The podcast features people telling true stories on stage without notes. Some of the stories have been featured on This American Life - another of my favorite podcasts.  The other show that I podcast is Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me

The problem is that this only gives me about 2 1/2 hours of podcasts per week. Help! Can anyone recommend any others? 

Saturday, September 13, 2008

Zach gets a Helmet Trick

Last night Zach had one of those once in a lifetime games. He got the ball on 3 consecutive possessions and scored 3 consecutive touchdowns - in the first quarter! All three were on the first play of the possession - 79, 61 and 75 yards. His defensive squad was getting a little annoyed that he wasn't giving them much rest. Keep in mind that the opponent, Hillcrest is not the greatest team (2 and 2 for the season). Here's a link to some video that was on KSL. It shows his 3rd touchdown run. When you get to the page click on the Riverton - Hillcrest game link.


Tuesday, September 2, 2008

Sports Schedule


A lot of people have asked me to let them know when there is a game near them. Here's schedules for all our kids. As you can see, most of them are in Riverton or Sandy. But, there are a few scattered in other areas. No one is obligated to come, but if you do, let us know in case there's a change in location. Zach's schedule won't change. If you come to one of those games you can look for us on the 30 yard line.

Saturday, August 30, 2008

Swiss Cheese

Kirsten has started her own blog of comics she has created. Check her out at www.funcheese.blogspot.com

Wednesday, August 13, 2008

Welcome to Utah

Harrison arrived yesterday for his 5 week Tour de Utah. It is great to see him. He and Zach picked up right where they left off. They caught up on each other's lives and talked about everything from religion to Yo Gabba Gabba. I don't think learning about the video games "Assassin's Creed" or "Half Life" were on the list of Jolyn's "hopes for his trip," but he and Zach did a little of that too. His first evening with us was a glimpse into what life is like for us - busily running here and there, then finally getting home to a late dinner. He was lucky to catch us on a night that we didn't have grilled cheese sandwiches or leftovers. Grandma Spencer will host him for a few days before the family reunion and then it's wide open.

Thursday, July 31, 2008

Three sickles and a dung bomb

Welcome to the new home for our blog. We will soon be changing the name. Lost in Translation never really felt right. We are looking for a name that represents our essence, our values and our dreams. It should be the embodiment of everything that is good about our family. Or, it could be something random and wacky. Zach's vote is for "Three Sickles and a Dung Bomb." But that's a little too scatological for me.

Saturday, July 5, 2008

With fun like this, who needs Hannah Montana?


We love Riverton City’s Town Days celebration. Every year we look forward to the parade on July 3rd. Who can’t appreciate watching all the royalties from surrounding towns waving and posing in their sleeveless gowns? We also saw a 30 member Senior Citizen’s singing group performing on a flat-bed trailer. Lizzie earned 5 bucks by going out on the parade route and dancing in the middle of one of the little girls’ dance routines. We laughed ‘til we cried. The vote is still out on the most ironic entry. Sean Thomas is running for Salt Lake County auditor. His slogan was pasted along the side of a stretch pickup truck: “I’ll make your dollars stretch.” Or, the Wal-mart float - a pirate ship. What do you think?

July 4th started with the Riverton Country Mile 10K and Fun Run (2.2 mile). Kirsten took 2nd place in the fun run behind a 13 year old boy, finishing in 16 minutes. Lizzie ran the 10K in 54 minutes with no training. Ian posted his best time in the 10K at 41:21. Paula finished in 48:45 - not bad.

After the race we headed up to the Lytle’s for the annual 4th of July breakfast. Grandma Spencer joined us and we had a great time and ate ourselves sick. At the end of the day, as always, we rounded out the holiday at the Riverton Park watching the best fireworks show in Utah.

Sunday, June 29, 2008

Dwayne Chose this Color


A few years ago, Ian and I were driving through Provo and came across puce colored house with a big sign out front, “Dwayne chose this color!” This week while driving through West Valley I saw this great home. It’s fascinating, they liked this color scheme enough to paint the wall around the yard exactly the same. What do you think conversations were like on the street when saw that their neighbor had done this to their home? Maybe they should have a sign at the top of the street that says, “We don’t know what they were thinking!”

Tuesday, June 17, 2008

Paper or Plastic? No Thank You.


Submitted by Ian:
The economy is in bad shape. There are starving people in Africa, genocide in Darfur, the polar caps are melting and the polar bears will soon be homeless...

There is a constant deluge of bad news to deal with. I feel overwhelmed and helpless, what difference can one single person possibly make?

Hang on, there is a way I can help. I can make a difference and help solve difficult problems. I am told all I need to do is shop and spend money - Clothes at Dillard’s, Flat screen TV, Blu-ray DVD, digital camera - this is going to be easy!

“The Greatest Generation” went through the depression, beat back the Nazis and the Japanese, put men on the moon, all through hard work, sacrifice and determination. Yet all I have to do is spend my stimulus check to buy neat stuff.

It doesn’t seem to be much of a sacrifice, I feel kind of guilty...

I know what I can do! I’ll go shopping, but I’ll do it with a home made reusable shopping bag! I’ll recycle by making it with leftover material, I won’t be polluting the world with plastic bags, and I’ll look like a dork!

I might not need to fight my way to Berlin in the dead of winter, but I can buy stuff while I look like the crazy guy with 30 cats back home.

Wednesday, June 4, 2008

The Scream Team Retires


Zach and his two friends, Spencer and Collin, had plotted a prank for weeks. It involved a car full of unsuspecting boys an abandoned house, fake blood, a made up story, and a chain saw which they purchased at a pawn shop for $40. The prank went so well, one kid even peed his pants.

The next day at church it was all the poor freaked-out boys could talk about. Word spread quickly about the deranged guy at the creepy old house. By Monday it was all over the place. Kirsten’s friend even told her about it (with details greatly exaggerated). In an interesting study of young manhood, the frightened boys were plotting a second trip. It looked like a great future for Zach and his friends until a girl entered the picture. Isn’t it always the girl that messes things up in the movies? Collin was trying to impress this girl. He made her promise not to say anything but, of course, she immediately went and told one of the boys that was in the car. Zach, Spencer and Collin tried to contain things. They plotted to get other kids. They devised and schemed, but the magic was gone. Yesterday they called the whole thing off. So, does anyone want a chainsaw?

Saturday, May 31, 2008

Advanced Refrigerator Art



I was startled a few days ago to come home and find a 2 foot ceramic zombie sitting on my counter top. This was Zach’s piece of work that he did in his ceramics class at school. It’s actually very good. I love the detail and the textures on him. The question is. . . do we display it?

Wednesday, May 21, 2008

Vote for Ally


Ally was running for student body officer at her middle school. This was her video. It was fun to make. At the end you’ll see a compelling reason to “Vote for Ally.” We found out today that she didn’t win. What does a Democrat need to do around here to get elected?

Saturday, May 17, 2008

A Day at the Races

There is nothing better than sitting around all day on a Saturday and not feeling one bit of guilt. We call it “guilt-free laziness.” Because our kids are involved in sports we spend much of our Saturday watching them run around and sweat and we sit in our picnic chairs and yell at them to go faster. If you don’t like yard work, I’d recommend getting your kids involved in sports. Today was the High School State Track Meet for Zach. He took 8th place in the State in the 100 meter dash with a time of 11.06. His 4x100 relay team took 2nd with a time of 42.20, behind first place by only 0.04 seconds. These times were both new school records at his high school!

We missed the drama of the meet when a cameraman was hit through the leg by a javelin. Zach saw it happen. He said the guy wobbled around, sat down and then started taking pictures of it. They sawed off the javelin and then measured the throw - 171 feet! It delayed the meet about an hour while they attended to him.

Thursday, May 15, 2008

5th Grade Torture


You’d think I would get melancholy about attending possibly my last elementary school program. Not so - I couldn’t wait until it was over. We sat through 18 patriotic songs and vignettes, at least one speaking part from everyone in the entire 5th grade, 3 dances, 2 choral readings (including one in sign language) and a slide show set to music. I am exhausted. It was sappy and melodramatic and oddly funny at times.

Each song had a vignette that went along with where kids acted out what was happening in the song. Two vignettes made me feel a little squirmy. When the kids sang “Battle of New Orleans” there was a boy pointing a facsimile rifle at everyone in the audience. During “Go Down Moses” another boy posed with a whip held high in the air over 5 cowering girls, 4 of whom were of Hispanic or Arab descent.

The highlight of the program was a rollicking jig about the Titanic disaster. The tune is similar to the Wiggles version of Head, Shoulders Knees and Toes.

Words to the chorus:

Oh it was sad, so sad, oh it was sad.. (it was sad.)
It was sad when the great ship went down.. (to the bottom of the sea).
Husbands, wives and children lost their lives.
It was sad when the great ship went down (it was sad).

Maybe next year they’ll sing a little ditty about the bombing of Hiroshima!

Wednesday, May 7, 2008

Inter-Species Duets



I was listening to the Diane Rehm show on the radio today. Diane was interviewing a man, David Rothenberg, who plays his clarinet with the whales. They called it an inter-species duet - no joke. He even has a website where you can watch him jamming with belugas.

Animal music is nothing new to our family. Our cat Frankie has been practicing piano for years, so we got him together with Kirsten for our own feline-human jam session. Watch.

One interesting thing from David Rothenberg, he said that if you speed up the sound of whale music it sounds like a canary. That’s pretty cool!