The 28th of April was my brother Jason’s birthday so we decided to go see a matinee at the Spanish 8 theater. We sat through about 20 minutes (at least) of local advertising, including this interesting commercial for Deseret First Credit Union:
Is there any chance in hell you would want your money to sit anywhere on their premises? The whole Mormon element doesn’t really belong in the banking recipe. It makes Deseret First look like a bunch of backwards country bumpkins, not to mention I find this commercial offensive for several reasons. You really can’t poke fun at LDS inactivity without it feeling wrong.
This bank’s ridiculous marketing strategy reminds me of a post I wrote last month about Utah business men who exploit the church and Mormon culture in order to cash in on the general sheep herd mentality of Utah Valley. When their main angle is that they’re a bunch of Mormons and so therefore understand my values, does that mean they’re supposedly more honest than other credit unions? Does it mean that I won’t feel comfortable going in there if I’m not an active LDS person? Or does it basically mean that I’m dumb enough to fall for their obvious sub-cultural smoke screen? Do you think I could get a little interest back on my tithing while you’re at it?
Anyway, after we’d seen the same 5 minute loop of local commericials about 5 times, we noticed that the movie was about 10 minutes late. Jason finally stood up and asked someone why the movie hadn’t started with which they responded that they had forgotten.
So today I got a call out of the blue from some timeshare people, I guess I must have signed up for some prize giveaway or put my business card in some box at some point in time (which is something I usually never do, which is a little fishy).
A couple minutes ago I got this email from ‘prizes@trendwest.com’:
Cameron,
Thank you for stopping by the Trendwest Digital Age vacation planning booth at CES in Las Vegas - we had a good time meeting with you.
Congratulations - you have been selected as a winner of our exclusive time-share giveaway that you entered with your business card.
This prize features a 3-day, 2-night all-inclusive vacation back to lovely Las Vegas - we hope you enjoyed coming for business, but we’re sure that you’ll love coming for pleasure!
This prize includes round-trip airfare from Los Angeles and 2-nights of accommodations at the non-stop party, all-adult exclusive Blue Moon resort (the url was here).
Please RSVP as soon as possible and let us know when the best time for you to enjoy this prize will be! The only thing that we ask is that you attend a 3-hour presentation on our luxurious resorts in order to fully appreciate your vacation.
I thought it was really funny so I read it out loud, and then followed the link that was provided on the email. The page didn’t even load completely before a very gay explicit image popped up. So, anyway, it was Preston that had spoofed the email, and it was a good laugh. I was impressed by the authentic feel of it, being completely plain text, and the name of the Trendwest Prize Coordinator sounded like a real name.
It is incredible how easy it is to spoof an email from a fake email address using outlook. My only real concern is how Preston knew about this site.
On 4/20, to balance out our militant blood lusty gun activity, Some of us went to see Shake Your Peace at the Alamo on his Utah Rock and Roll Bicycle tour. His sustainable rock project involves a PA system that is powered by a bicycle powered generator. He calls folks up from the audience to take turns pedalling, so it is a community involved show.
He is a very entertaining musician to watch; he puts a lot of himself into what he’s doing on stage. Its straight-up folk music with harmonica, stomping, and a little soft shoe. Several parts of some of his songs are improvised.
Anyway, check out his site, you can even hit the road with him if you like.
(sorry about all the crappy pictures shot in the dark lately with my 1.5 megapixel phone camera)
In spite of occasional violence that happens around the country because of insane people that are somehow allowed to own guns, guns can be fun sometimes. Sam recently got a .40 caliber weapon that is a taste of what it feels like for Zeus to throw lightning bolts.
Anyway, nothing much more interesting to say (except Mark, Sam’s roomate, had this really neat auto loading shotgun, so you could squeeze off 5 shotgun rounds in 3 seconds), except that after about 30 tries, I got this sweet picture of Dan. Its a dark picture because we started when there was plenty of light, but finally got a good firey muzzle picture when it was really dark:
There is a really good dark park in Salt Lake sort of near Sugar House that is located in Parley’s Way. It is ideal for larger dogs that need a good amount of time off the leash every day, and this park is no leash required. All dogs that are of the sporting dog variety (like labradors, or any retriever, or like my vizsla/lab mix) require a minimum of 30 minutes of off leash activity a day; not only for the bodily exercise, but for a requirement their brain has from centuries of genetic engineering to improve their sense of smell. Page goes crazy if she misses her daily smell buffet. This dog park, situated next door to Tanner Park, is ideal in that there are acres upon acres of running room complete with a river (water is a great way to tire your dog out since there is obviously more resistance) and plenty of healthy smellage. Among other healthy things, this dog park is full of friendly people with friendly dogs for a good environment for learning healthy social behavior. Obviously if your dog is less than friendly, it is required to stay on a leash.
How to Get There
As you can see on the map, take the 2300 E exit and then just take heritage way going east until it runs into Kenton Dr. The dog park begins in between Tanner Park and Parley’s way. You have to actually leash your dog for about 100 feet until you get to the sign that says you can unleash. To get down into the park, there is about a 100 yard walk down a dirt trail, but you can unleash your dog at the top of that trail
There is a convenient bag dispenser at the beginning of that trail so you can clean up after your dog without having to plan ahead with your own bag. If you thought it couldn’t get any more convenient, along the trail are tubes provided to leave your poop bags.
There are miles of trails that I haven’t even seen all of, even though I’ve been to the park half a dozen times going in different directions each time. There is a clean river that runs at various speeds throughout the park. (The picture below doesn’t make it look that clean, but its just some sand stirred up by other dogs).
There was one thing that happened on my latest trip there that was a little alarming. A hamster appeared out of the bushes, and I knew that page would eventually see it and chase after it. Eventually she spotted it and started running after it. It unexpectedly ran up to page bearing its teeth. This to me was a sign of possible rabbies so I grabbed page by the collar and pulled her back, but the hamster kept advancing. Pretty soon I was running with page by the collar away from this hamster that was chasing us around for like 10 seconds. Anyway, we finally outran the hamster (they aren’t known for great running speeds). The hamster proceeded to attack another dog, at which point the owner punted the hamster off a 50 foot ledge.
Page at the edge of the off leash area, that’s I-80 down below
Page socializing with a pug at a river bank. Water is cleaner than it appears.
Along one of the many trails.
The area also is a historical site. Page checks out an old wine cellar door.
The highlight of my day yesterday was this comment on my post from a Beckie Whittaker (if that’s your real name, sounds made up to me), commenting on the embarrassingly ridiculous subculture superstar Kirby Heyborne:
“How crass can a person get? This isn’t a proper review of talent or ability or personality. I don’t live in Utah and never have, so strike one there…
I’ve spent some time with Kirby Heyborne-and know people who work closely with him. There couldn’t be a nicer,more genuinely kind or any LESS self-absorbed person on this planet.
Some agencies or assistants don’t bother to respond, let alone send autographed cards out, so you’re pretty fortunate to have received a reply at all. Perhaps your time would be better served uplifting and contributing positively rather than posting rude “information” about people.”
Beckie, I hate to mode you in front of everyone (wait, strike that, I’d love to), but if you thought my post was crass, you obviously don’t know Kirby’s full body of work. At least I didn’t use the ‘f’ or reference the Olson Twins in a very degrading sexually explicit way as in Kirby’s “funny” music video that can be seen here:
So in response to what you said about how i should be ‘uplifting and contributing’ to society, should I cc Kirby on that? And also, I think you would be less of a burden on society if you didn’t make comments about things of which you are obviously clueless. Oh yeah and you probably shouldn’t use your full name to leave comments anymore; unless you want your name search engine optimized for something so embarrassing.
I had the opportunity a little while ago to watch a movie that has become somewhat of a phenomenon. “The Secret” is a self-help film that discusses a supposed universal law called the “Law of Attraction.” Essentially this law claims that there is an energy that we as human beings emit into our environment based on our feelings and thought patterns. The film trains you to think more positively in order to attract positive things into your life.
I’m a believer in several precepts of the Law of Attraction. I think you’d have to be pretty thick skinned and obtuse to not notice an attraction to people that are more confident. There also is something to be said about attracting good things to you through positive thinking, it just feels right. There is a lot about life that we haven’t been able to measure empirically.
One thing about the movie that troubled me is just the pure materialism of the message. Its all about how to get that car you want, how to make that money that you want, and how to score with that hot chick. Money is important, but the message was that The Secret=More Money=Happiness. I want money, don’t get me wrong, but the message didn’t resonate completely with me.
I also believe that there is a God that is actively involved with our lives. I think the law of attraction exists, but that our goal is really to allign our will with His. His will isn’t always to fill our pockets. In some ways the Law of Attraction could arguably be compared to faith, but that’s a whole other metaphysical can of worms.
The bottom line is that the movie is worth watching, if not just for an interesting point of view. I wouldn’t use the word philosophy, because the instruction is quite simplistic and unsubstantial.
Today, Sewell Direct launched a youtube campaign parodying the Blendtec “Will it Blend” clips. We admired the “Will it Blend” clips for quite a while, watching him blend iPods and golf clubs. We then found out that Blendtec’s headquarters were a block away from ours.
Obviously, instead of blending products, we decided to dip them in liquid nitrogen.
Every first Thursday of the month is the Utah Blues Jam in Spanish Fork. Its at 165 N. Main and starts at 8pm. Usually they have a host band for the first 45 minutes or so and then anyone may join the jam. Amps are ample, and a drum kit is also provided. Obviously you are too late to go to April’s blues night, so go in May.
On 4/20, to balance out our militant blood lusty gun activity, Some of us went to see 
There is a really good dark park in Salt Lake sort of near Sugar House that is located in Parley’s Way. It is ideal for larger dogs that need a good amount of time off the leash every day, and this park is no leash required. All dogs that are of the sporting dog variety (like labradors, or any retriever, or like my vizsla/lab mix) require a minimum of 30 minutes of off leash activity a day; not only for the bodily exercise, but for a requirement their brain has from centuries of genetic engineering to improve their sense of smell. Page goes crazy if she misses her daily smell buffet. This dog park, situated next door to Tanner Park, is ideal in that there are acres upon acres of running room complete with a river (water is a great way to tire your dog out since there is obviously more resistance) and plenty of healthy smellage. Among other healthy things, this dog park is full of friendly people with friendly dogs for a good environment for learning healthy social behavior. Obviously if your dog is less than friendly, it is required to stay on a leash.
There is a convenient bag dispenser at the beginning of that trail so you can clean up after your dog without having to plan ahead with your own bag. If you thought it couldn’t get any more convenient, along the trail are tubes provided to leave your poop bags.
at various speeds throughout the park. (The picture below doesn’t make it look that clean, but its just some sand stirred up by other dogs). 
