Sink me!

Do you recognize this man?! This evening we went and saw Sir Percival Blakney (Anthony Andrews) star in a play here called "The Letter." The play was fantastic (particularly Percy), and we met him afterwards. He was really nice and gracious. The best part was that he said "sink me" for us. Now we're watching the Scarlet Pimpernel--I can't believe that we met him!



Alyssa and I at the play:

Us at the play: L-R back Alyssa, me, Ellen. L-R front Aimee, Bonnie, Angie. Elisabeth, alas, is taking the picture.

I'm tickled pink that we saw him. I love this movie!

Where are you in HP7

I just barely finished. How much do you all have left? Come on you slow pokes!

Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS)

For a computer there are few things that can be more catastrophic than a sudden loss of power. Power loss can cause damage to hardware on your computer which can cause loss or corruption of information stored on the computer or even total system failure (death) to the computer. The easiest way to combat sudden power loss is to invest in an Uninterruptible Power Supply (otherwise known as a UPS or Battery Backup). UPSs store power so that when a power outage occurs a computer can have power to safely shut down. Most UPSs come with a USB connection to the computer and can supply information to your computer and even tell your computer to shut down at a predetermined time (mine will shut off automatically when there are only 4 minutes of power left in the batteries). UPSs also guard against power spikes or undervoltages which can damage computer components also. Overall UPSs are an easy way to insure the safety of your computer.

(Prices range from $50-$1000. I recomend not spending more than $50 for single home computer's protection. Workgroups need a bigger UPS)(The one Displayed is on sale at Staples this week for $50)

HP7

In order to avoid plot spoilers, and so that I can chat w/ whoever is interested, I'll post stuff on my blog (the link is on our blog--dwinsiaradcymraeg.blogspot.com). I'll post the chapter I'm on on the blog itself, and then anything to do with the plot in the comments, so even if you get on my blog you won't see any spoilers unless you check the comments.

Anyhow, so far so good!

just joined the blog

This blog is great! Wonderful way to keep in touch. Well in a few hours Jeremy and I are off to Texas for the Mary Kay convention in Dallas. I am hoping to have some very good BBQ and some great swimming opportunities. Our flight has a 3 hour layover in Cleveland, so I will see my Mom, Sam and Charlie in a few hours.

Hopefully, I'll have some good pics for the blog next week.

Looking through the blog, everyone looks great! The baby Bennions of the group are real lookers!!! Adorable. My favorite is Grandpa playing Star Wars with one of the little ones. Can't wait to see all of you in December. Seeing Donald a few months ago was great and to see all of you would be wonderful.

Love you all,

Naima

HEAVENS TO BETSY

Here it is! This is the British cover. I only wish I were in easier calling distance so that we can chat about it as we go. Maybe we can have chats on my blog? Love you all!

An Historic Moment

I'm off to go pick up HP7! I don't know if I'm ready for this!! :) We just got back from our long trip, so I'll download the pics and post soon!

Movie Snacks

When I go to the theater I generally like to bring along treats. My favorite treat to have at a movie is a box of Jujyfruits.
The reasons are as follows.

1. They last a long time and thus generally last all the way through the trailers
2. They are a fruity candy
3. if the movies is boring you can use the movie to find out what kind of Jujyfruit you are eating, and thus avoid the dreaded black ones.
4. They come in a shareable size.

Close favorites
Milk Duds, "everlasting" Gobstoppers (also Chewy), Junior Caramels.


Discontinued Favorites
Heath Bites (I cannot find them anymore), Dweebs

What are your favorites?


-Joe

William at Oceanside

Willam at Oceanside.

More from Oceanside

Note: G overcame his fear of "the big water" with Randall's help. Hooray! Everytime after that, he wanted Papa to come with him. Also, I love this photo of William. He looks so curious about the beach.

Since only 3 of you wanted to hear from us...

We had an incredible time in Oceanside, OR with Randall and Sondra Taylor (Wendy's parents). We rented a cabin across the street from the beach, and spent the time doing beachy things. Thursday we went down to the water and Papa and the kids went down into the water. We started to make sand castles, but instead switched to digging holes and connecting them with tunnels (always a fun thing to do) which reminded me of the beach the base of Coral Street on Balboa. We made smores that evening. Friday, we went to Cape Meares Lighthouse, Cape Lookout State Beach, and back to the real beach. The cabin had a skim board, and I remembered watching Peter do that on Huntington Beach, and thought I could do it to. It was a miserable failure. However, the water was spectacular. We went in, and found we could walk out 50 yards into the water and be up to just our knees. After getting in up to your waist the water felt great.

Below are some shots from the trip.

TWO THUMBS WAY UP!!!!

I just went to see Harry Potter 5, and I'm BLOWN AWAY by what a great movie it is. The other HP movies are fun because they are HP. This is fun because it's a great film. WOW WOW WOW!!! Let me know when you see it, because I'm dying to talk about it. I want to call each of you right now, but I have no phone card, and it's too late to go get one tonight. Great adaptation, great filming, great acting, great use of film. WOOHOO!!! It was a smart, smart film. For the first time a Harry Potter movie got it right!!

More Pictures

Happy boy!

Playing by a lake.

We went down to Arizona for a few days last month. Don was playing horseshoes with the Petersen brothers, and William just sat right near him in that chair and watched. I thought it was too cute to pass up a picture. Such a little boy in such a big chair!

Can you see the fangs? Burke's top side teeth have grown in before his top middle teeth, thus producing the vampire look. It's hilarious.

We had a birthday party for Will last month at our clubhouse pool and picnic area. The Dahmers, Rowberrys, Anna, Joe and Elizabeth all came. It was William's first time eating chocolate ice cream. He'd been asking for chocolate ice cream for the last couple of months, so I think he was thrilled. You can see he more drinks than eats the ice cream cone.

Anna got hima Mr. Potato Head, and William put his glasses on and kept them on for about 5 minutes, just walking around, looking at things. It looked so funny.

Jane Austen, Bath, Etc

Hi all! Yesterday we went to Jane Austen's house in Chawton. It isn't where she grew up, but rather where she spent her later years. Most of her writing was done here (revisions of Sense and Sense as well as Pride and Prejudice, and all of Mansfield Park, Emma, and Persuasion). I wasn't expecting much. I had visited her house in Bath and it was a shrine to Colin Firth--I expected this to be the same. But I was wrong--it was one of the best museums of it's type that I have ever seen, and it was a fantastic day. They letters that she had sent and received, her only surving manuscript, her writing table, and other things that she owned. Neither Jane Austen nor her sister Cassandra ever married, so they always lived together and were very close. Austen got very sick with what people think may have been Hodgkins disease or breast cancer and died at age 41. The most moving thing about the house was a letter that her sister wrote to their neice about JAusten's death. JA died in Cassandra's arms, and Cassandra expressed how much she would miss JA and how glad she was to have been able to be with her until the end. It was actually quite emotional--it almost made me cry. I was pretty fantastic to see parts of the life of such a genius. Elisabeth and I on the grounds of the Cottage:


We also visited Bath. JA spent part of her life there, and hated it. Here are the roman baths (natural hot springs dating from the Roman times) where the people of Austen's time would go for their health. It was kind of the late 18 early 19C pleasure grounds in England. Melissa from the trip is posing for us:

And here is the Royal Crescent, which was the posh place to live during JA's time. Bath is special for it's incredible Georgian archetecture, and everything in Bath is built out of this particular lime stone, so everything is this creamy color. Although JA disliked Bath, I always enjoy it. It's a great little town--very fun to visit. I also ate my first cornish pasty of the trip this day. Elisabeth, Amiee, and Bonnie are in the picture:

Now that Dad the master blogger has left the country, the task falls to me to keep our blog hits up in the UK. I hate to blog right in front of John's and Dad's fantastic posts, but I just can't put this off longer.

The program is going really well. Many fun things have happened, so I'm just going to post pics and give stories to go along with them.

I've become pals with Nick Mason's kids (he's my professor and mentor over the past few years), and offered to babysit while he and his wife went to a play the other day. We went to Hyde Park to watch the Tour de France (which came to England for the first time this week). Here's a picture of us at the race. Mukoo (Michael) is on my shoulders and Sam and Anna (Katheryn) are standing beside me. They are the cutest kids!


This is a picture of the group right before we went into the Tower of London. That's Lynn Elliott's (the program director of the trip, and the head of study abroad) son and daughter. The Elliott's are an adorable family, and the most amazing travellers ever. They are here with their six kids ranging from age 2 to age 16--and they are so much fun. Lynn and his wife Andrea are super, and they are so good with their kids.

This is Elisabeth and I in front of Blenheim Palace (Kenneth Branagh's Hamlet was filmed here). The tour guides here in the UK have been really funny. I was walking through the tour with Nick and Stacie (his wife), their kids, and some of the other students. After we saw the downstairs, we thought we'd also give the upstairs tour a try, as none of us had been up there before. It turned out to be this fruit cake "virtual" type tour with lots of wax figures looking into "mirrors" where lowbrow BBC actors gave in-character soliloquies about the history of Blenheim. We decided to move quickly through the tour rather than wait for each soliloquy to end, but got stuck in a room with a real tour guide who was very upset that we were going through the tour without listening to every word. She started grilling us on the history of the Palace: "What year was the Battle of Blenheim?" "How many French troops were there?" "How many English troops were there?" etc. She asked if we cared about history at all, and even accused Sean, this great student we have on the program, of not caring about anything. It was so funny! Luckily Nick was with us and knew all of the answers. Once we got past her room, we kept going really fast through the tour. The grounds are amazing. Good times!

Book Recommendation

I highly recommend Patrick O'Brian's Master and Commander and the series of follow on novels. I just finished book 3 of the series. I have loved every one. It is a great portrayal of male friendship. The books are spectacularly written. They provided the story for the film of the same name. I was introduced after borrowing Mom and Dad's book on CD which was given to them by Uncle Burke.

Highly recommended.

Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell also deserves a good read.

Any book recommendations?

Mt. St. Helens

Yesterday our family and the Xanthoses went to Mt St Helens and spent the day playing. It is about 1:20 from our house to Ape Cave (below), and another 90 min or so to Windy Point (aptly named), the close observation point at Spirit Lake.

The Ape Cave is the largest lave tube in N. America We hiked about 1/2 mile down one side of it. Pretty neat. Each family member overcame their fear of the dark. William loved it. It reminded me of Dad's talk on the Holy Ghost.


Katie, er I mean Katherine, at Windy Point (note the wind effect on her hair). Mt Adams in the background.

Wendy and John at Windy Point, on the observation deck. From this point you can see Mt St Helens, Mt Adams, Mt Hood, and Mt Rainier.

The climb from the parking lot to the observation deck. Nathan and Katherine made it on their own up and down. G made it 1/3 up and 1/3 down. Wendy did the sherpa work.

Notice the smoke rising from the Crater. It is always there. Kind of creepy.

Happy Birthday, Dear Joey ....

July 8, 1983 was a red letter day in our family! After a brief (but wonderful) pause to have a girl, we returned to the "baby boy" business. What a great reward we had in Joe! Happy birthday to a happy, easy going, delightful son. Happy birthday to you!

I like Joe because he is interesting,
because he works hard,
because he is the best computer guru at Provo Staples (and in our family),
because he is such a good brother (especially to Anna!!!),
because he helps me with difficult birthday gift choices :),
because he wants to do what is right,
and because I think his picture looks a lot like me!
Love,
Dad

PS. Mom loves the external hard drive. She will love it even more when I figure how to get her computer to talk sense to it...

Last, but not Least

Now that we are back in the US, a couple of Great Britain experiences are worth recounting:
#1
With recent terror threats and anticipating heightened security, we left for Heathrow airport early to get home. Rather than take the "tube" to catch a train for the airport, the front desk suggested a taxi. For 2 people, it wouldn't be that much more, and we wouldn't have to drag luggage up and down stairs, etc. So we got up at 5 to catch a taxi by 6 to get to Heathrow by 7 to catch a flight at 9:15. That would put us 2 hours + early. Everything went as planned. The taxi got us their a little early, and cost 40 pounds, as promised. 40 pounds is $80, but you just shouldn't think about such things. Heading for the departure entrance, we stopped to look at the tickets for flight and gate information. That's when we discovered we were at the wrong airport! We were scheduled to fly out of Gatwick airport, not Heathrow!!

In a panic, we ran back to the taxi dropoff, found a taxi just disgorging its passengers and pleaded for help to get us to Gatwick. "We're at the wrong airport. We need to get to Gatwick. I only have 40 pounds. Can you get us there in time?" The cabbie told us, "No problem, we accept VISA." That was our first clue... The taxi ride would take the better part on an hour, but if we hit no traffic, we would probably make it. Luckily, traffic was moderate, but it did take the better part of an hour. When we arrived, the meter read 125 pounds. You can do the math. The taxi ride from the hotel to the airport cost $330! Even though you shouldn't, it's hard not to think about such things.

#2
Security at Gatwick was fairly efficient. As you wait in line to check baggage, they have security folks with wireless computers on rolling carts asking security questions as the line is moving. "Did you pack your own bags?" "Has anyone asked you to carry a package?" and so forth. Pretty routine. The lady that put us through the security checklist looked English, but I found her accent hard to understand. "Do you have any webphones?" she asked. Puzzled, I gave her a blank look. "Do you have any webphones or sharp objects that could be used as webphones? she repeated. Trying to think of the fancy features my cellphone had, I replied, "I think I have webphone". She retorted, "Not webphones, 'whep-hones'! Do you have any whep-hones!" Rather sheepishly I responded, "Sorry, no weapons..."

It reminded me of the time in Las Vegas when Linda and I were eating at a casino lounge (just passing through, thank you) and the Phillipino waitress came and announced, "Here is your crub shroda". I told her, "No, I ordered a club soda". Linda spewed out her soft drink, began to cry, and about died laughing.

As you can tell, we had a jolly good time.

Dad

The Most Underestimated Computer Peripheral

Today in the Computer world, there are more and more devices that are getting easier and easier to use. There is the Thumb Drive (also known as the Flash Drive), CD-R and DVD-/+R's are getting more and more common in today's households, Computer Screens are moving from CRT (Tube) to LCD (Flat Panel), and Hard Drives are getting Cheaper and more sophisticated. As a seller of computer devices I have a question that is commonly put to me, "What is the best way to back up my Data on my computer." The Answer is an External Hard Drive. These Devices act very similarly to a Thumb Drive, you plug it in and start saving your information.

The Reason that Hard Drives are so good at backing up information is that they are HUGE. An average computer sold today will hold anywhere between 80-350 gb. That is a huge amount of information, and the average family will have approx. 20gb of information on their computer and this number is increasing dramatically with new Digital Camcorders, Digital Music, and Digital Photography. The things you can back up this information is Floppy Drive which hold 1.44mb (1024mb=1gb), Zip Disks hold up anywhere between 250mb-750 mb, CD's Hold 700mb, Flash Drives hold anywhere between 64mb-8gb, DVD's hold anywhere from 4.7gb-8gb, HD DVD-R's hold 15gb and Blu-Ray holds 20gb. Finally External Hard Drives hold from 80gb-1Tb or even Greater (1024gb=1Tb). External Hard Drives are also very cheap and very re-writeable. They can transport between computer's easily and they are getting faster all of the time. The one problem with an External Hard Drive is that Like any hard Drive they are Fragile. You do not want to knock one over! If you do you would have to replace it so It is nice to find a Hard Drive that can lie on it's Side and can be stored in a safe place. Also Hard Drives Don't last forever, but They work perfectly as a back up. It is highly unlikely that Your computer would Crash and your Hard Drive be destroyed Simultaneously.

So a wonderful Peripheral for anyone's computer is an external hard Drive. They are perhaps the best back up solution on the Market.

Ben Hur

Recently (Easter) one of my roommates introduced me to his tradition of watching the movie Ben Hur every Easter. I had never seen Ben Hur before this and I knew very little about it except Charlton Heston was in it. The movie is set during the times of Christ and Spans Israel, The Caspian Sea, and Rome. Charlton Heston plays Judas Ben-Hur, a wealthy landowner in Jerusalem. The movie is 214 minutes long and it would be futile for me to recount the whole movie to you, but it is very deserving of the 11 Academy Awards it received (Which is the most a movie has ever won, tied with Titanic and The Return of the King), and it is one of the most uplifting movies I have ever seen come out of Hollywood. I recommend it to anyone as one of the greatest films of all time, and perhaps one of my favorites.

Interesting to note that the famous Chariot Scene in the movie was obviously copied by George Lucas for his Podrace scene (and in George Lucas’s original script for the Race almost exactly the same with some sci-fi elements)

A word of warning: Make sure you have the time to watch a 3 hour and 34 minute film because it is just as long as The Lord of The Rings.

Signing of the Declaration

This is John Trumbull's depiction of the Signing of the Declaration of Independence. David McCullough had a great piece in the paper about the picture. Below is an excerpt.



"At the time the painting was first installed at the Capitol, complaints were numerous. It was criticized for "violations of truth" and for the number of gentlemen's legs on display. (Rep. John Randolph dismissed it as nothing but a "Shin-piece.") It was noted, as it is still, that if one looked closely, Thomas Jefferson appeared to be standing on John Adams's foot. Indeed, it is this that inspires most of the questions present-day visitors put to the Capitol guides. Is it true, they ask, that Jefferson bribed Trumbull to make it look that way, to show that he, Jefferson, outranked Adams? This, they say, is "the story" they've heard.

There is no truth to it. The misplaced foot is something of an optical illusion, due mainly to Trumbull's less than masterful drawing.

That Trumbull felt deeply the symbolic importance of his subject there is no doubt, in both versions of the scene. Nor does he leave any question about the importance of both Jefferson and Adams in how he has placed them in the composition. Jefferson stands tallest, as he did in real life. His red vest further draws our attention, and it is he who holds the document in his hands. But it is Adams alone who is presented full-figure, and who has been placed at the exact center of the composition. (Lines drawn from opposite corners of the painting cross in the middle of Adams's chest.) It was Jefferson's declaration, Trumbull seems to be saying, but it was Adams who stood at the center of what happened, in that it was he who got the Congress to cast the all-important unanimous vote for the Declaration.

That Trumbull's large rendition at the Capitol continues to draw such crowds would surely please Trumbull beyond measure. Yet it is the much smaller version, Trumbull's gift to Yale along with an incomparable collection of his other history paintings, that is the masterpiece—and it, too, let us hope, will be the subject of increasing appreciation for a very long time to come."

The Yale version is above.

Happy Independence Day!!!

Happy 4th everyone! We had a wonderful morning filled with games, breakfast, parade, and sun. Our neighborhood held its own parade which was heavy on participants but light on spectators (all potential spectators were instead participants). During the parade, I was wondering why we parade, and it occurred it is to honor those that fought for independence. A pair of F-15 Eagle's flew low over the parade. I loved marching, playing, and being with friends, and I look forward to the fireworks! From McCullough's biography of John Adams comes this excerpt of a letter from JA to Abigail.

"The second day of July 1776 will be the most memorable epocha in the history of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival. It ought to be commemorated as the Day of Deliverance by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires, and illuminations from one end of this continent to the other from this time forward forever more."

How right he was! It is a great day full of great memories for me. Parades, picnics, fireworks at the Pulleys, Lemon Ice, Watermelon, Fireworks across Monterey Bay, Asilomar.

Below is a shot of us getting ready to parade around our neighborhood. Katie is in the mumu with the blue helment. Greg has the orange helmet, and Nate is to my left, his head is between the baby's and mothers.

Whaddaday

Today we saw a bunch of great stuff.

Westminster Abbey is magnificent. They don't allow photographs, but I found out about that after I took a few pictures. I didn't think repentance included erasing the photos I had already taken.




Security is tight at Number 10 Downing Street. This is as close as we could get. The guy with the machine gun eyeing us was actually very nice.



The Globe Theatre is a hoot. The stage is covered, but standing room only is open sky in front of the stage. Seating is also covered and is circular around the stage behind the SRO crowd. We saw the Merchant of Venice. I was glad to have read the Cliff notes in the program just prior to the production. We sat front row, bottom tier, center stage. It poured rain on the poor folks standing. By the end of the show I was understanding most of it.



We got home about 11:30 pm. We are packed. It is now 1:30 am and we get up at 5:00 for a taxi at 6:00 and a long plane ride at 9:15. Which brings up the question, "Why am I posting this now?"

Sneak Preview

On Saturday, Linda and I were exploring London and we walked to St. Paul's Cathedral. When we arrived, we found bright lights and a large crowd with a hundred or so priests congregated out in front on the square. I asked, "What is the occasion?", we were told they were filming a shot for National Treasure II. Nicholas Cage was not there, but his stunt double was in a scene involving a car (with the back window blown-out) being chased by a taxi trailing black smoke. We took a couple of pictures as they shot the scene. The following is a sneak preview.