Monday Music Spotlight...

Wow, that sounds kind of official.

Anyhow, I was up late the other day (actually most days) and I happened upon Vh1's show called Nocturnal State. It features "alternative" or "Indie" type videos, so I'm usually glad I come across it. I tend to like finding out about new or up-and-coming bands or groups and solo artists, and Nocturnal is pretty good about showcasing those kinds of acts.

Long story short, when I switched over to Nocturnal State, this video was already playing, and I liked the sound of the music right away, so I continued to watch and listen. As it ended, I thought that I really liked that song, and looked to see who it was from. It's from a band called "The Airborne Toxic Event", and the song is called "Sometime Around Midnight". (Here's their MySpace page.)

Here's the video I saw... (don't forget to stop the page music at the bottom of the page)




I really like the sound of the music and the vocals on top of it. I haven't decided if I like all the actual lyrics yet, but I like how their sung.

What do you think?

RIP Don LaFontaine

Who's Don LaFontaine? Millions and millions of people have enjoyed his work. Here's a better hint...
(you can mute the blog music at the bottom of the page to hear the video clips)




Don LaFontaine is the "voice" of the movies. Not only movies; movie trailers, commercials, special events, etc.

Here's a commercial where you get to actually see him...



Lets learn a little more about Don...



Here is a list of some of Don LaFontaine's more memorable trailers(click the sentence).

Don Lafontaine died earlier this week. He was 68. The movies will never be the same again.

This guy does a pretty good impression though...



A sad week for movie trailer lovers everywhere.

Friday Flashback

Here are this week's (yep, there's two) Friday Flashbacks!

This first picture of Liam is probably one of my all time favorites of him. It's so clear, and colorful. We were at Sea World. In 2006, we had passes to Sea World. I think we went 2 or 3 times that year. Liam is just about 3 years old in this picture.

This second picture of Liam was taken about a month earlier than the first one. Liam was building this tower, and it had gone past where he could reach from the floor, so I showed him that standing on the table would help him build his tower higher. I quickly grabbed the camera and took this shot as he continued to stack his tower taller. He was not so sure about standing so high up on the table, but he had to keep stacking it taller.

2006 doesn't seem that long ago, but to think that Jennan is older now than Liam is in these pictures is wild. That also means, that Liam is now older than Duncan was when these pictures were taken, and Jennan was around Tegan's age now. At the time of these pictures, we hadn't even been in our house a year yet. Anyway, fun stuff.

UFC 88 Breakthrough PPV picks...

The next UFC PPV is UFC 88 Breakthrough this Saturday night. That means I better get to picking my fights... so here are my picks:

The main event is Chuck Liddell vs. Rashad Evans. I think this will be a really good fight. Rashad held his own with Tito Ortiz earlier this year (in my opinion, he should have won), and showed he can hang with the "top" 205ers. Rashad's still on the up-swing of his career, and he could give it a huge boost with a win over Chuck. But Chuck is a former light heavyweight champion, and not a push over. He's was very dominant as a champ, and is looking to get his title back. A win over Rashad would put him pretty close to a title shot in the very near future. With that all said, I think Chuck will probably come out with the win, but I think it will be by decision.

The other huge fight on the card is Rich Franklin retuning to the 205 weight class and fighting Matt Hamill. Matt Hamill is a bear to wrestle with. He lost an extremely close fight to Michael Bisping (and in my opinion probably should have won) last year, but has taken that loss and used it to improve his skills. His striking has improved by leaps and bounds as of late, and that makes him more dangerous. Rich Franklin back in the 205s adds a lot to that division, and I'm excited to see him fight at that weight. He has a ton of experience over Matt in MMA, and is a very smart and technical fighter. This fight has the chance to steal the show. I think it will go the distance, and probably a split decision in favor of Rich.

I'm interested to see the Martin Kapman vs. Nate Marquardt fight. I think Martin is underrated as a fighter. There's not been a fight I've seen him in that I didn't like. He uses quite a few of different techniques in his fights, particularly on the ground. His win over Drew McFedries is one of my favorites. Martin's been sidelined with some injuries the past 6+ months, so I'm sure he's pumped to be back in the octagon. Nate Marquardt has really turned the corner in his career in the past year. His loss to Anderson Silva was an eye opener for him. I think he should have won against Thales Leites back in June. The ref took unnecessary points from him during that fight. I enjoy watching both of these guys fight, and often route for them, but I think I'm going with Nate to win. I think he'll be able to out punch Martin, and on the ground, I think he'll be stronger. I think it will be a TKO victory.

Karo Parisyan vs. Yoshiyuki Yoshida. I'm not a big fan of Karo, so I'm going with Yoshiyuki to win by TKO probably somewhere in the 3rd.

Dan Herderson vs. Rousimar Palhares (Kyle might have to give us the phonetic pronunciation in the comments section). Dan Henderson lost both of his Pride titles last year. He could really use a win. Rousimar just made his debut in the UFC recently with a quick win over Ivan Salivary. He looked very dangerous on the ground (BJJ black belt), and will be a hand full for Dan. But I think Dan can win if he keeps it standing and throws some heavy hands at Rousimar, and defends the takedown. If he does end up on the ground, I think he'll be able to do some damage as long as he stays on top. Dan to win, TKO.

Thiago Tavares Vs. Kurt Pellegrino. Thiago has shown he gets tired in the later rounds, and Kurt is pretty close to the top of the lightweights. I think they're both coming off losses, so I win would be very important. I think Kurt will pull out the win, probably with a submission.

Tim Boetsch Vs. Michael Patt. I think Michael Patt is making his UFC debut that night. That's a lot to handle, and then he also has to fight Tim Boetsch. I'm going with Tim to win with probably a TKO.

Dong Hyun Kim Vs. Matt Brown. Everyone on the last season of TUF steered clear of Matt Brown, but he was beaten. I think he has a ton of heart, but I don't think he'll be able to beat Dong Hyun Kim.

Jason Lambert Vs. Jason MacDonald. I like both of these guys. They've both had great fights in the UFC. Lambert's had a string of bad luck in his fights with getting caught, and MacDonald has also lost a couple tough fights as well. I think this will be a good fight. I'll be looking for MacDonald to try and catch Lambert on the chin, so I'm sure he'll try to keep it standing. As strong as Lambert is, and as heavy as his hands are standing, I think he'll do best to try and get this fight to the ground, and pound out a victory. When It's all over, I think MacDonald will have the "W", either by KO or armbar.

Roan Carneiro Vs. Ryo Chonan I think these guys are both coming off of losses, and need to get a win. I'm going with Roan.

Well that does it. Those are my picks. One of the exciting things about MMA is anything can happen. So everything I just said here, the opposite could happen just as easily. Even the guy who looks like he's beating the snot out of his opponent can get caught and it's all over. Or the reverse... One guy may be taking the beating of his career, but be able to catch his opponent with one punch or quick submission, and pull out the win. Good stuff!

Roadshow...

A couple of weekends ago, our Stake had a roadshow weekend.



"A roadshow weekend? What does that mean?"



The Stake roadshow was done over two nights, at two locations each night; Friday and Saturday. The two locations were the Stake center and the Highland building. Each ward would perform their first show at one of the two locations, and then pack up and head to the second location, and perform their roadshow there as well. Then the next night, they did it again, but not in the same order, and starting at the other location than the night before. So we got to do our show 4 times.



In the show, there's a point where we're recreating a reality "audition/performance show" like American Idol or Dancing With the Stars, and I played the "Simon" type character. I did my best to use a "Simon-esque" sounding accent, to deliver my lines. The crowd usually liked it, so that's always the best feedback.



Anyway, here's a picture of me on stage...

ps- I didn't have anything to do with the name on my stand.

Tribe...

This past weekend I completed induction into the Tribe of Tahquitz. I am an "Honorary" member of the Tribe.

This will help explain: (from their website)

About the Tribe of Tahquitz

Tribe of Tahquitz – The organization was created in Idyllwild,back in 1925. It consisted of 15 honor scouts, which were chosen to start and maintain a perpetual volunteer summer camp staff at Camp Tahquitz. To keep active during the winter months, the Tribe has developed an extensive Indian Lore, backpacking and service program. These programs benefit the Long Beach Area Council and surrounding community and give the Tribesmen unique youth leadership experience. The Tribe is particularly known for the Indian Lore ceremonies that it's members perform throughout the year at Scouting and civic group meetings. A great sense of dedication and many traditions has been developed throughout the 80-plus year history of this great organization. The Tribe exists only in the Long Beach Area Council.

Tribe of Tahquitz Membership Requirements – To be eligible for membership, a Scout must be at least 14 by December 31 of this year; hold the rank of First Class or above with two of the following merit badges: Backpacking, Camping, Cooking, Hiking, Wilderness Survival; and have at least two long-term camping experiences, one of which must be at Camp Tahquitz. Scouts who will be 13 by December 31 of this year and are at least a Second Class Scout meet the requirements for Neophtye membership of the Tribe. All adults (18 years or older) who spend a full week at Camp Tahquitz with their troop are eligible to be Honorary Tribesmen.

Tribe of Tahquitz Membership Invitation – Near the end of the week of summer camp that a troop attends, the Tribe camp staff, along with scoutmasters present in camp, meets at Tribe Rock. There they discuss all of the Scouts present in camp who are truly “Honor Scouts.” Then, after a democratic vote, those Scouts are offered an invitation to join the Tribe. The Tribe announces and invites its new Tribesmen, Neophytes and Honorary members at the Friday night awards campfire. In order to become regular members, Tribesmen and Honorary Invitees must complete the Annual Induction ceremony held at Camp Tahquitz over Labor Day weekend.

One thing it doesn't mention is, you don't have to be from the Long Beach Area Council (LBAC) to join Tribe. I'm in the California Inland Empire Council (CIEC). Camp Tahquitz is only a 40 minute drive away from Highland, so that's really convenient. There are a few YSAs in my ward that were in Tribe as youth, and are still active in Tribe as honorary members.

It was a very cool experience. I'm happy to be a tribesman. I highly recommend Camp Tahquitz to any scout troop.

September ramblings...

Seems so weird that it's September. August went by super fast. When September starts, it always feels like the end of the year is so close. It definitely feels like the middle of the year has past, and the second half of the year always seems to go faster than the first.

Every September I start thinking about Christmas, and starting some shopping earlier rather than later. Plus I start thinking about the items I would like to make as gifts, and that I should start those soon. (Then I put them off till it's practically too late, and cram in the time.)

September is when Halloween stuff starts making it's way into the stores. But because I've got Christmas on my mind, Halloween seems to become more of an after thought each year. And each year I seem to care less about my own dressing up, and whether or not there's a "spook alley" at the ward party.

When it's September, it always feels like the weather should be cooling off, but that's rarely the case. It's usually as hot as the rest of the summer has been. Then on the news you'll here, "unseasonably warm" and "heat wave", but if it happens every year, isn't that then the norm?

Duncan and Liam started back at school today, and Anna's been back at work/school for a week already, which means today I'm back to only having Jennan and Tegan during the day. It's a bit quieter with just those two. Jennan's already asked me at least 6 times where Duncan or Liam are. She misses her older brothers already. But I don't think she minds getting to choose what shows she watches, or toys to play with.

Well, I think that pretty much covers what I'm thinking about on this, the second day of September. I gotta go and make some Christmas lists, decide if I'm dressing for Halloween and if so, as what. But it's so dang hot!

Happy September everyone.