Stay In School

If you haven't already, check it out...

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I half-expected there would be a Republican rebuttal.

Other Stuff - Picture Backup

Another thing I did over the summer was get my digital pictures organized. I burned to CD's or DVD's all of Lynette and I's photo's.

I also scanned in over 300 pictures of our wedding day and receptions. Now I have a back-up of all the pictures Lynette and I have taken since we were married (6 years ago).

I made labels for each DVD. Here are pictures from some of the CD's.

Other Stuff- Websites 2

Ok, so here is the other other website I had my web designer create.

lynetteandreasen.com

Aside from writing a check (this was a birthday present), I didn't do too much to get this going. Mostly I served as interpreter between Lynette and the web designer. Both Lynette and I are happy with the result.

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Check out Lynette's portfolio, shop, blog and news.

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Scott

Ridiculous-

I know there have been many editorials on this, but I thought I’d throw in my thoughts…

The conservative wing of the political spectrum is dying. For better or for worse, mainstream Americans are seeing the political right for what it is…the obnoxious side of the political spectrum.

The nation is currently going through a ‘situation’ that perfectly demonstrates what I mean. Conservatives are up-in-arms about the President’s upcoming speech to America’s children that will encourage them to stay in school. For the life of me, I have no idea why anyone would oppose this.

I hope it’s not because they believe a stay in school message is unwarranted. I hope it’s not because they feel President Obama is ‘campaigning’. I hope it’s not because they feel this sort of presidential speech is illegal. I hope it’s not because they are afraid of a minority role model.

But, I can’t help but think this uproar is a result of the extreme right loosing power. I imagine the right wing talk show hosts are afraid of loosing listeners because of Obama’s calm, sensible explanations of his ideas. More and more, this new century is producing Americans who prefer respectful discourse over intense, one-sided monologues.

So, to preserve their power the extreme right is telling people that they should fear President Obama. They are telling people that a 15 minute speech will brainwash a generation of youth into socialism. And the practitioners of the extreme right are encouraged to be loud in their opposition. The extreme right hopes this will create the illusion of solidarity, strength and power. An uproar, to hide the deterioration of the conservative movement from their followers.

The sad part is…there are reasonable people who only get their news from AM radio and they don’t realize they are dependent on the one-sided fountain called "talk radio." Some people can’t form their own opinion until they hear what Beck, Hannity or Rush have to say first and I think that’s sad.

In a sense, I’m not worried about the ideas that come from the talk radio fountain, but instead I worry about the way it’s presented. Opposing viewpoints on those shows are typically met with rudeness, interrupting and at worst, yelling. So naturally, when the listeners try to express their “own” opinions in comment rooms, blogs or talking with friends they unconsciously also adopt a subtle disrespectful ‘take no prisoners’ attitude.

As I see it, this is one reason why the conservative movement is going down…and going down fast. From my perspective, our nation is moving into an era where ranting and raving won’t get anyone anywhere and unless they can re-introduce an atmosphere of civility into their discourse the conservative movement is dead.

And that’s what I have to say about that.

Other Stuff - Websites

Another thing I did this summer was work with a local web designer to get a couple of websites up and running.

The first site I want to mention is a Family History Website that was designed and built especially for my family. It’s called Turning Our Hearts and was actually created at the end of last year, but my dad and I have been slowly adding information as it becomes computer ready. That takes time.
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(My uncle, dad, mom, and both sets of granparents are pictured in the sites header)

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My dad’s parents and grandparents were enthusiastic journal writers and I have been blessed to read their writings—some of which is over 100 years old. I never knew my great grandma, but as I read her words I think she and I will get along very well when we do meet. Sometimes as I read her journal entries I think to myself that I could have written those exact words. Not only are her opinions consistent with mine, but her thought process, and the way she presents her thoughts feel distantly familiar. Her diction is often different than what I would use, but I think that is because I am reading her work several generations later.

My sisters have volunteered to type up the copious journals for the benefit of all. Once a journal is all typed up, I put it up online. It often takes me a few days to put the journal online because I start reading it and cannot put it down.

Anyway, I have learned some great things about my ancestors. Some notable things are:

In 1905 my great-great grandfather traded in his rifle for a suit of clothes.

This entry was particularly enchanting to me. It prompted me to start writing a country song about a backwoods country boy moving to the city to provide for his family. He was sad to leave his farm and was determined not to let ‘city-life’ change the way was, deep down inside.

Although I haven’t finalized the song (mostly because I need help with the music) here is a DRAFT of the chorus.

He made a vow to not forget, it’s by the sweat of the brow that you get ahead. He always would remember God and treat his neighbor with respect. His wife and kids would at all times know, that he’d provide for them until he was gone. So even though he lives in town, his country ways will always be found. In the city, he won’t forget the things that put a mind at ease. Mind your mama—Love your wife—take time out for the secrets to life. You may be working, overtime, but it’s the country way that gives you delight. Say please and thank you all the time, love wisely and enjoy your life.

Yes, I know that is way too long and a bit dis-jointed to be a chorus…but like I said this is still in draft form. Once I get a melody I can fine tune this a little bit more. Does anyone know a country music composer? I’d love to finish my song.

Well, this post got too long too fast. So, I’ll save the rest of what I wanted to say about my turningourhearts.com and the other website I worked on this summer for a later post.

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Feel free to click around our site. It's interesting...but maybe just to me and my fam.

Movie Making

So, in Varsity Scouts, after the AutoMechanics Topic, we started a new topic: "Movie Making" with the intent of producing some sort of film. One of the first activities was to visit a film production studio in Phoenix. A guy from CopperPost was willing to give us a tour of his studio and talk about his job. The studio is located in the same location that the Wallace and Ladmo show was filmed way back when...(if you are an AZ native you probably will remember Wallace and Ladmo and their prized Ladmo bags).

The picture above is of Patric next to a really fancy camera. This is one of only two or three in Phoenix. I can't remember what the camera was called. Basically, it was expensive.

Our boy leader really got excited about this topic, it was great to see him learning to really lead. I think it's activities like this...where the leader really wants to lead...that the boys to take major strides in their leadership abilities. The picture below is the guy who talked to us about his film making career.

After the studio visit, we sat down to write a script for a production that we wanted to film/edit and distribute. We realized we were going overboard and had to scale it back a bit. I know this disappointed Patric, but budget and time constraints are some of those things that any leader has to deal with.

I'm not going to give away any info about the film, but I was cast to be Santa (not a jolly Santa, but a sinister Santa). I probably could pull off jolly (maybe), but I definetly can't pull off sinister...so I did my best. My only fear is that my performance unintentionally turned the production into a comedy.

The church was definelty a circus the nights we filmed there.

We are trying to do some special effects with a green screen, so we will see how it turns out in the end. Here we wanted to use the double doors in the foreground and we plan to change the background.

Patric, our fearless leader and director.

Shooting one of the scenes...

The Stage Crew

This topic has caused some stress on the adult leaders...and I think we all agree we need to finish it, but I also think Patric will look back on this activity and realize that this is where he really began to learn what it takes to lead effectively.

Fishing

I was very happy that I had the chance to take the 12 year old scouts fishing last month. I helped them earn their fishing merit badge. The outing was a success and every one caught atleast 1 fish. The picture above is my new favorite fishing picture...I only wish the fish was bigger.

To earn the badge, the boys are required to catch a fish:

Clean a fish:

Cook a fish:

and eat a fish:

Ha ha...no, they didn't eat the raw fish, they ate their cooked fish.

For an extra badge, some of the boys kissed a fish:

again, just kidding...

When we weren't fishing from the creek shores, we were jumping in.

and the water was COLD!

I definetly didn't get any style points for this jump:

Teaching kids to fish is among my greatest joys in life...so far.

And this outing was VERY successful.

Tennessee

Lynette went to go work/study at Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts (in Tennessee) over the summer leaving me all by myself for most of the month of July and some of August. I know she had fun and that she was doing something that will be valuable to her school work now and her future as an artist. I'm glad she was able to go, but I missed her. I got a little bit lonely.

So, part way through I was able to fly out and visit her in East Tennessee. Country singers often sing about East Tennessee and I was eager to see what all the fuss was about. So, I got to see Lynette and visit the Smokey Mountains National Park which consistently falls on the top 10 must see national parks of America.

I always love the sunrise/sunsets at Sky Harbor Airport in Phoenix. Here the sun was coming up when I boarded the plane to go visit my little prickly pear. It was pretty and I knew it was going to be a good trip.

When I finally arrived we planned what we would do in the short time that I was there. One of the first things we did was take a scenic drive through the Smokey Mountains.

Here is a deer grazing in Cades Cove.
There were some beautiful views and I saw some trails that I would have loved to explore had I had more time.

We also decided to go White Water Rafting on the Pigeon Forge River.

Lynette was nervous, especially when she saw the rapids from the bus ride up to the put in spot.

Lynette had a worried look on her face in almost all the pictures taken by the rafting company.

Here is Lynette with her friend that she spent the summer with.

On the way back we stopped at this little out of the way Mexican Food Restaurant.

A Bluegrass Band was playing and it made me want to buy a Bluegrass CD.

Here we are drinking out of mason jars.

On the day I had to leave, we went out again to check out the Smokey Mountains.

Here we are at their highest (drivable) peak.

My trip did not disappoint. The scenery was amazing and the time spent with Lynette was well worth the flight out there. I wasn't a big fan of Gatlinburg (where Arrowmont is located) but we did eat at a nice breakfast place one morning.

Saying goodbye to Lynette and boarding the plane made me very sad. I wish I had arranged to stay with her longer than one weekend. And, I wish I had more time so I could fish a little out there too.

Conference for Youth

Our stake planned a Youth Conference for our youth group and several others in our area. It was very well done. Looking back I can't believe how much we did. There was an emphasis on having everyone bring a friend. I think all the boys in my group invited and brought a friend to tag along to most of our events (except one who moved into our ward a week or two before) .

For me, the highlight of the 4 day event was the evening that the Jesterz Comedy Troupe came to entertain. I had been to their studio before and seen their shows so I knew they were funny. And, on this particular evening they did not dissappoint. One of the comedians who came was a long lost friend of mine from high school. It was good to get reacquanted with him and see the show.

If anybody needs an idea for a good date night, I recommend going to the Jesterz show. It's all improv, all family friendly and all very funny. It's all good.

I'm sure I'm forgetting some things, but this is what I remember doing:

1) Game night with a missionary theme
2) Visit to the Temple/Visitor Center
3) Movie Night
4) Many well done devotionals scattered throughout the entire event
5) Service Project at St Vincent de Paul of Phoenix
6) Kiwanis Wave Pool
7) A very well done Mystery Dinner Theater
8) Jesterz Comedy Entertainment
9) Trip up to Tonto National Park and swim activity
10) Dance combined with another Stake
11) And lots of food

Like I said, I know I missed some stuff. As you can see, the days were jam packed from 7am to 10 or 11pm. Every night I went to bed exhausted.

Here are some pics.

Kiwanis Wave Pool:

Mystery Dinner Theater

Devotional:

Jesterz Comedy Troupe

Tonto Bridge Trip

I lead the group on the hike down to through the bridge and up the creek.

Luckily no one got lost, I let everyone spread out.

Then, the group went down to the creek to cool off.

Fun Stuff.