The Boys

Wendy and I loved this photo of the boys.

Again...

Fun to compare with the previous post. A couple faces are especially fun here. William Donald is howling-my guess is at something Don said. Henry looks cute-but I am pretty biased. Wendy and I were both struck by how beautiful Jocelyn is, and her dress looked really good too. Also, gotta love Burke, draped over David's leg-and in constant motion

Dave and Joc Photo Op

I loved this photo and the memory associated with it. Fun to think about the future, especially when I think about previous generation family reunions. Look at each person-very fun. Four people are cooperating-Dave, Joc, Nate, and Kate.

old pics

We just came across these again. They were taken on our European road trip a few months ago. I took a picture of the boys watching a movie, because they did so much of this on that trip.

A few minutes later, I looked back again, and this precious sight is what I saw.

Things that Don and Amy must do in Australia

Denmark, not being a high priority on my vacation dream, it was tough to make a list of what Don and Amy must do. But now that they are going to be in Australia here is a list of things that I think they must do while they are there.

Things that must be done in the land down-under

• You must see the All-Blacks vs The Wallabies (Australia vs NZ Rugby, in Australia, Aug 22, 2009)

• Find out if the toilets really do flush Clockwise (rather than Counter clockwise as in the States)
• Go to the Sydney Opera House
  

• See a Kangaroo in the wild
• Get an accent

• Get a Boomerang
• Eat Vegemite sandwiches

• Do a Tim Tam Slam (Tim Tam's and Milo drink. Bite of each end of the cookie and drink Milo through it like a straw)

and remember that while you're down under that we are Happy as Larry for ya!

Happy Birthday Joe!!!

 

I like Joe because he is such a hard worker. He is determined to do well and I am confident that he will succeed at whatever he puts his mind to.
I like Joe because he is so thoughtful of others and loves to give gifts. He thinks about what we wants to give and then goes to great strides to make it special.
I like Joe because he is working hard at being a good student and I am pleased that he is doing well.
I like Joe because he loves children and is good about playing with them and spending time with them.
I like Joe because he loves books and ideas and loves to talk about things of consequence.
I love Joe because he is a great son and is working hard to do well.
With much love and wishes for a wonderful birthday!
Dad

Happy Birthday Mom!

I think Mom and Dad have internet at their campsite, but no cell service (go figure.). So in the hopes she gets this on her day, here is my top ten reasons I love Mom.

Number 10 - She loves music. Be it the Little River Band, Pavarotti, the Supremes, Mozart, or U2, Mom enjoys good music. She is fun to listen to it with and to talk about it with. She even watched Rattle and Hum.

Number 19 - She has a great eye for style. She did the reception, styled the house. She does beautiful things (bows, wrapping, cards, rooms, art, etc)

Number 8 - She is supportive and positive. I love talking to Mom because she is upbeat and makes me upbeat. She is also directly supportive and encouraging and provides a great lift. One word - Scouts.

Number 7 - She is smart and well read. I love seeing Mom's nightstand and getting a feel for her reading list. She appreciates good writing and good thinking and thinks deeply about things.

Number 6 - She is tender to her children and grandchildren. Mom does a great job of being loving to us and to the kids. She plays with them and works with them and knows how important it is. She also passes on her learning about how important it is to do this as a parent.

Number 5 - She laughs hard and well. Mom loves a great joke. She likes laughing and does it very well. She makes you feel like you are the funniest person--until you see her with Don, who can make her laugh harder than anyone.

Number 4 - Mom is down to earth. She is well educated and loves the high thinking but at the same time appreciates the day-to-day stuff in life (hoops, cycling, YouTube, Lost).

Number 3 - Mom is a hard worker. She goes hard at everything she does. Seminary, garden, homework, P-Chem, Girls Camp, Elections, PTA, Booster Club, Whatever. Mom is committed and works to make the thing she is supporting the best that they can be. It is not enough to just watch and follow. Mom works to make things great.

Number 2 - Mom is beautiful. She has great fashion sense and takes the time to look good (the only exception being the MooMoo-Moon Boot combo - which-let's face it-was beautiful in its own way).

Number 1 - Mom is loving. Mom knows how to read people and is good about showing love. I remember Mom coming to school if she knew the day was hard and taking you out for lunch. She is comforting and makes you feel loved. She sends cards and notes. She writes letters and emails. She Skypes and calls and blogs. Mom is great about loving her family.

Happy Belated Birthday Nai!

 

Happy Birthday Nai! We don't want to miss this chance to say all the nice things that can be said about you!

Linda fifty-eight years ago

I know it is more than a week before your birthday Linda, but I couldn't resist posting this wonderful picture.

Dad

William Donald Bennion is 4

Happy Birthday to William.
I love William Donald Bennion because
He is so nice to me
He wants to play games with me
He is so smart
He is handsome
He is very good at puzzles
He is good to his brothers, Burke and Soren
He is loves to read books
He wants to be good
He is a fabulous helper in the grocery store
I hope he has a Happy Birthday!

Wenatchee Omnium

Many may have seen pictures while in San Diego but I thought I would post some for all those random blog surfers out there.

Race 1 was a 9 mile time trial (TT) outside of Wenatchee. I will say that it was pure torture. Here is a picture of me trying to sprint it up to the finish line.



Race 2 was a criterium (Crit for short) along a 1 km circle in downtown Wenatchee. I wish I could start all over, but that is probably because I can breath again. Maybe I'll try again next year.

a first!

i hate covering up aunt robin's loverly bday post--so scroll down and post there. but i did just want to share some good news. check out this table of contents for a forthcoming book on adaptation and pedagogy:

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Foreword
Deborah Cartmell

Introduction
Dennis Cutchins, Laurence Raw and James M.Welsh

Section 1: Mapping the Field
How To Teach Film Adaptations, and Why
Thomas Leitch

Section 2: Adaptations in the Classroom
Frankenstein’s Monstrous Influences: Investigating Film Adaptations in Secondary Schools
Nathan Phillips
Adapting Composition, Arguing Adaptation: Using Adaptation in the Composition Classroom
Natalie Jones Loper
A Monster Course and a Course of Monsters
Anna Bennion
Oh My, They’ve Killed Socrates! Teaching Adaptations via South Park
Katrina Bondari
Sighting the Whale and the Rights of Man: Teaching with Film Adaptations of the Novels of Herman Melville
Robert McParland
Teaching Adaptation via Intertextuality: The Stepford Wives, Post-Feminism and Avant-Garde Cinema
Walter Metz
Life Without a Primary Text: The Hydra in Adaptation Studies
Jennifer M.Jeffers

Section 3: Adapting in the Classroom
Pedagogy in Intermedial Adaptations
Freda Chapple
Adapting Wilde for the Performance Classrom: No Small Parts
Frances Babbage
“It Must All Change Now:” Victor Hugo’s Lucretia Borgia and Adaptation
Richard J.Hand
Never Seek to Tell Thy Love: E-Adapting Blake in the Classroom
Richard Berger
Adaptation and Creative Writing: Brokeback Mountain on the London Underground
Mark O’Thomas
Towards a Pedagogy for Teaching Adaptation
Laurence Raw and Sevgi Şahin
Writing the Adaptation: Teaching an Upper Division Course for the Screenwriter
Diane Lake

Section 4: Adapting the Classroom
Why Adaptations Matter to Your Literature Students
Dennis Cutchins
Adaptability: Questioning and Teaching Fidelity
James M.Welsh
Teaching Adaptation, Adapting Teaching, and the Ghosts of Fidelity
Peter Clandfield
Whose Life Is It, Anyway? Adaptation, Collective Memory and (Auto)Biographical Processes
Suzanne Diamond
The Numbers Game: Quantifying the Audience
Alexis Weedon
Teaching Radio Drama Adaptations
Elke Huwiler
The Pleasures of ‘Theatre Film’: Stage to Film Adaptation
Milan Pribisic


my first publication!! huzzah!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ROBIN

I love Robin, our first born, with all the love a father can give.

I love the way she makes lemonade out of the lemons she receives from life.

I love her determination that has served her well in overcoming some bumps along her way.

I love the way she has made each day memorable in some very special way.

Robin had more experiences in her first thirty years than anyone else I know and came out the wonderful person I adore.

Robin's smile and laugh brighten every occasion and brings tears of happiness to my eyes as I remember all the times that smile, that laugh made my day complete.

Robin is a great mother, auntie and wife.

Her talents are manifold and she exercises them always.

I love you Robbie with all my heart, HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Papa Bear turns 60!

Happy Birthday to the Papa Bear -
I love Richard because
* he is such a good man who will move heaven and earth to do what is right.
* he has taught me the best lessons which include - getting mad does no good, service to others is good for the soul, material things are just things and shouldn't have a hold on our hearts, don't put off a good deed....do it now even if it is a stretch.
* he does not give up easily on a good idea (this has been a tug o war at times, but I have learned the most from Richard here :)
*he is funny
*he is handsome
*he is a great Dad
*he is a great in law to my family
*he is a terrific worker
*he is a great doctor
*he is full of interesting ideas and is a great sounding board
*he is unafraid of big undertakings
*he is a great and creative cook
*he is wise
*he is interested in my ideas and listens well.
*he asks how my day went and is really interested in the answer.
*he lights up whenever he is with our children or grandchildren.
*he loves to hear good news.
*he is not all work and no play - he loves to have fun and is even willing to waste time here and there.
*he is intelligent and could always help the children with their most difficult homework.
*he taught me to "let up" and "chill" on my expectations for our children when they were little...straight A's in kindergarten weren't going to determine career success.
*he values family - past, present and extended
*he is my number one supporter - he is ALWAYS there to support and carry part of the burden of whatever cause, club, or church calling is in my basket!
*he is my favorite companion on earth
I am so lucky to married to my best friend....happy 60th birthday to the silver fox!

Oregon Zoo Photos of the Animals

Fun shots of the animals. I just noticed we were Northern Hemispheric on this trip.

Beaverton Bennion Clan

We went to the zoo. Below are pics of the kids.

Henry Taylor Bennion Blessing

Today was Henry's baby blessing. These are some photos of the day.

Henry doing what he does best... not much.


Henry just before naps in his blessing outfit. Again... lazy.

Family portrait. Seriously, the effort for this was herculean. We need some serious kudos for turning this one out.

Pop Culture Conference

Brooke, Alexis and I went to the pop culture conference in New Orleans this year and had a blast! The topic for the adaptation panels was pedagogy and literature and film and I presented a paper about a class I'm going to teach called Monsters, Villains, and Freaks--we'll be studying Victorian representations of monsters, etc. and their film adaptations. Good times! New Orleans is maybe the craziest city I've ever visited--kind of Disney land with voodoo, prostitutes, and bourbon. We hung out with our professor Dennis Cutchins, who is hilarious, and had a great time. We didn't even really get attacked during our panel's Q&A. Great people, great food, great times. Here're some highlights:



Me, Dr. Cutchins, and Alexis at the cemetery--they bury everybody above ground, which makes for some creepy graveyards.

Alexis, Brooke, and I trying on masks.

Some pretty cool street performers on Bourbon St.

Pirate's Alley


Me, Alexis, and Brooke at the Mississippi R.

32!

3 of my favorite Rob-isms ......

1) His beautiful 'ICE' blue eyes & big Robbie Bennion lips. ;)

2) He gets along well with all breeds and brings out the best in people.

3) He is F-U-N-N-Y and always making me laugh. (Not sure what was happening in the picture--well, just maybe he didn't want his picture taken--but I'd like to title this as Hammer's 'Can't touch this!')

Did you guess who my Bennion is this week? Happy *32* Birthday, Robert.....you're my favorite. :)

Rothenburg ob der Tauber

Our last stop was a small town called Rothenburg ODT. This was one of our favorite stops. The town was an amazingly preserved medieval town entirely surrounded by a wall. You really felt like you stepped a few hundred years back in time while walking the streets or walking around the town on the wall (the highlight). We found a small little family owned woodcarver shop and bought a nativity that we really loved.
Amy and Burke going up on the wall by one of the city's several entrances.
Will and Amy on the wall.
A view of the town forge from the wall.

We are so glad to be home finally. The boys were amazingly well behaved and we were happy to be able to see so much in such a short time. Sorry for so many blog posts. Once I started I felt the need to finish... we love you all and wish that we could all see Europe together.

Happy Easter!