U2 in 3D on IMAX

The official review: 8.5/10. (9.25/10 if you're purely looking for a straight-up concert film)
It's running 94% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes (link to that here)
Highs: Super-huge IMAX screen with such clarity that I thought I should smell sweaty concertgoers, 3D that didn't make my head hurt even after 1 1/2 hours, the thrill of seeing Bono reaching out for me (OK, this was a tad creepy), virtually no one else in the theater (Tuesday at 2:45, baby!), U2 is a cool band and Bono is going to bring world peace (via his song-intermingled ramblings and his "COEXIST" headband . . . his fans among the Israelis, Palistinians, radical Islamists, etc. are sure to respond with a collective slap to their own foreheads and exclamations of "Why didn't I think of that!?! We can just COEXIST!).
Lows: U2's songs are great, but they are not that complex. That's why I'd like to see something like Rush in IMAX 3D. THEY would really work the heck out of their instruments and it would be even more amazing on the huge screen. Also, this film is really just a concert film. They vary the camera angles, but that's about it. I would've liked to have seen some intermixed footage of the band around the world, interviews, video clips, etc.
Verdict: if you like or love U2, FOR SURE GO SEE IT (this means you, Will Z. and everyone else in Utah) If you're only ok with U2, it still might be worth it to see the cool 3D effects.


Down in front! Without the glasses, everything on the screen looks fuzzy and twitchy (and FLAT!)


I tried hard to resist the temptation to pocket the glasses. Also, the temptation to not post this picture. I'm preferring to delude myself into thinking I'm not THAT fat and not THAT bald!
All-in-all, a great day to not be at work! And, I wandered into the nearby Apple store and handled the MacBook Air. That thing is awesome! Knock $500 off the price and I'm all over it . . .

U2 in 3D trailer

Leadbetter Farms

One of the cool things about my job is getting to meet lots of people. And, if you help them well (in this case, removing a painful tooth with minimal discomfort), they'll help you well too. Such is the case with a man I helped dentally recently. He told me he's in the area working for Jacobsen Construction (link to their website) on a big lighthouse project north of Ocean Park. I know that Jacobsen does major projects like the Olympic stuff in Salt Lake/Park City and the underground library addition at BYU, but I had no idea they did anything residential. And this is only sort of residential. I guess it's actually going to be used for corporate retreats and stuff. Each floor will be a suite with an elevator stop, a bathroom, and so on. And, panoramic views, of course. I'd never heard of this project and had no idea anybody was doing anything this over-the-top so close to home. So, I gave him a call and he showed us around. I don't have much in the way of interior photos since it's all still just framed out in metal. Leadbetter Farms has their own blog, which we will now be following to watch the construction progress (link to that blog here).

My wife appreciated the fact that I cropped out her belly. Being due in April, she's feeling large right about now and has become determined to never get fat in the future because it's hard to get around and it weirds her out to have her belly touch her legs when she sits down.


The garage has a living area above it that's all oak and very gorgeous, according to our tour guide. We wish the caretaker would've been around so we could get in past the alarms to see it.


The kids really got a kick out of the dragon.


The treehouse is pretty serious. Unfortunately, we couldn't go up into it either because of alarms. In the past, it wasn't alarmed, but people went up and stole thousands of dollars worth of portholes. So, they had to. Still, it's pretty cool in a Swiss Family Robinson sort of way.

Leadbetter Farms

Cool iron dragon sculpture.


Sculpture made of iron and driftwood. Definitely reminds me of someting Harry Potter or Lord of the Rings. I think he's measuring the lighthouse . . . he must be 200 feet tall!


The "barn" doors are really cool and old (some 600-years-old from Europe, we were told)


The Captain and E-nille.

Leadbetter Farms

The "barn" has stall doors you can see here that are the split-type. I guess the rooms inside are pretty drafty, but hey, it's cool. The owner (who still remains a bit of a mystery to me, but I think they have something to do with NuSkin), likes Pirates of the Caribbean and Harry Potter, as you can tell from some of the design elements.


The dragon was crafted from a piece of driftwood. My kids sat on and expected it to DO something.


"Give me a big fat wet lickery kiss!" (shout out to all the Goonies fans . . .)


Yes, I asked before I put the kids on the horse. :-) Awwwwww, cute. You'll also notice I'm wearing a jacket from my extensive Mountain Hardwear collection (thanks to my friend Jane . . . one of my early blog posts was about how we met and stuff (click here for a link to it).

Leadbetter Farms

The view southward from the top of the lighthouse.


A close up of the boathouse, which was originally an actual boat and now has a nice living space inside it. Looks like you can have a campfire out front now, too.


Yes, those are full-size boats. And, we were told Eagles sometimes come sit on the totem poles (topped with eagle carvings, incidentally). It's no wonder . . . we watched as the fish were fed. Moments after the food hits the water, it starts to boil with 12-14 inch trout. Apparently there are some really large sturgeon in there too (it's 45 feet deep!)


It's about 12 feet from one floor to the next in the lighhouse, and you can see how it dwarfs the truck and van parked at the base.

Leadbetter Farms Lighthouse

The kids motored up all those stairs and had plenty of energy to do laps around the top. And, they would've stayed as long as we let them in spite of the numbing cold.

As you can see, it's pretty darn close to the beach. The easiest way to get a peek at the lighthouse is to drive up the beach from the south (when the tide is friendly, I suppose), and a lot of people do.

The 1000+ acres of the property border right on Leadbetter State Park. This is looking northward toward the tip of the Long Beach Peninsula.


Back on terra firma, E found a cute little bronze horse friend down by "the barn".

Parable of a Cherokee Chief

As is probably obvious (from the really tiny print), this is Chief Dragging Canoe. He was Cherokee, and I'm long-ago related to him (which probably accounts for any athletic endurance prowess I could claim). You can learn more about him, purchase this drawing, and so on at a website I found here.

So I was listening to a BYU devotional recently, and the speaker mentioned a parable of a Cherokee Chief. It struck me enough that I didn't even watch the Super Bowl today and instead did some churchy reading and spent some time being more engaged with my family than I often am. It was much less chaotic than having the TV blaring (except for the kids jumping off the ottoman and chasing each other on hoppity hops) and it was nice. So here's the parable from the speech:

Some years ago I heard of a parable told by an old Cherokee chief who was trying to teach his grandson this principle (moral agency). “A fight is going on inside me,” he said to the boy. “It is a terrible fight at times, and the fight is between two wolves. One is evil—he is anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, self-doubt, jealousy, and ego. The other is good—he is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion, and faith. This same fight is going on inside of you—and inside every other person too.”
The grandson thought about what his grandfather had said to him for a minute and then asked, “Grandfather, which wolf will win?”The old chief simply replied, “The one you feed.”

I feel like I fed the right wolf (and not my stomach) today.

It's Only Taken Me 32 Years to Figure Out Fasting

Above lies the most delicious sandwich in the world. I do believe my wife and I are in agreement on this matter. It's pretty darn close anyway. It's the South Shore Cheese Steak (all Hoagied up) from Surfer Sands in Long Beach, Washington. And, if you can believe it, I'm typing this entry thinking about it and the last time I had food or drink was about 23 hours ago.
I'm not usually Mr. Bri-onic fasting champion. My church is really into doing it once a month, though, and you may have seen the results of the recent study in the media. Apparently, it's good for my heart to do it. What's really interesting to me, though, on a personal level is how this fast was different from my previous one (which actually was a special fast a week ago, but that makes it even more interesting). This fast was easier, and I felt like my energy and mental status were better throughout versus a week ago.
So what changed during the week that made it easier? One big thing, I believe, is that I've gotten back to dialing my sugar way down (hey, it only took a year :-). I stepped on the scale and was 172, which matches the heaviest I've ever been. Too much "eating the Philly", I suppose . . . :-) One thing that's helped is a new tool I've been using on gyminee.com that allows you to track servings and calories and keeps a running total so you can see where you are throughout the day (it's especially easy on fast days) Ever notice that when you track things, they improve? It's certainly true for food and me. It really reduces my snacking if for no other reason than that it really raises the hassle of eating. Thus, I believe that fasting is substantially easier when my preceding diet is lower-calorie, healthier, and low-sugar.
My energy level and mood are a lot more steady without all those sugar highs and lows, and I find I sleep better too. This feeds a really positive feedback loop that looks something like: less sugar-->feeling better (after a little withdrawal)-->sleeping better-->easier to get up early and exercise-->feeling even better, etc. onward and upward.
So, getting back to that sandwich in the picture above, I'll point out that I really enjoyed it and we all had a good time chowing in the van in Long Beach. Unfortunately, sitting there for 20-30 minutes with the electronics, fans, and seat heaters on (and not the engine) is bad for Mr. Battery. Obviously, I'm alluding to the fact that the van wouldn't start. A quick check of the headlights outside (they were dim) told me a jump was a good idea, and the happy Surfer Sands guy was willing to pull right over. I whipped my jumper cables out of the Odyssey's handy lazy susan and we were started in no time. Then, though, we were running on fumes but didn't want to stop and turn it off to get gas. And, gas over there is like 20 cents a gallon more, to boot. So, we took our chances coming back. This got especially interesting, then, when it was snowing heavily and we had to cross the Astoria bridge. I was already a bit nervous coming up the steep span, and then we spied that a car ahead of us had stalled there. I was glad that the truck a vehicle or two in front of me stopped to assist and waved us by, because I almost didn't dare stop. Anyway, we made it to a gas station, and by this point the battery was charged enough that it started again. It's been fine ever since.

Fun at Dance Class and with Pull-ups!

It was fun to start a little dance class recently with a friend (Megan).


Think she's enjoying it? Watch it, though . . . those posts'll getcha!


So let's say you've got to head out into the snow, you don't have a hat, and you want to keep your ears warm. E's got your solution!


It's a fancy Disney Princess hat! (and standing right beside me looking at the picture, she's saying, "Like Daddy's hat!" because I kind of created this wacky idea . . .)