Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Cute Kayla Pictures
Jana took Kayla yesterday to the IMF store to get gardening supplies and Kayla saw a rabbit there. She had a lot of fun playing with it.
Monday, February 23, 2009
Kayla
We have decided to enroll Kayla in a Chinese/English dual immersion language program at her school. It is a 1-6 grade program designed to teach her to speak, read and write Chinese by the 6th grade. It sounds very difficult but we did a lot of research and found that these programs at an early age are generally successful. I have always wanted to speak Chinese so I am thinking of taking some classes myself so Kayla has someone to talk to. If it works out and she ends up enjoying it, it would be fun to take her to China some day. Here is the explanation from the school website:
What is Dual Immersion?
Dual immersion is a way to learn academic content while acquiring another language at the same time. Students receive math, science, or social studies instruction in a target language, such as Spanish, French, or Chinese. Because of the teaching strategies used, the students learn the concepts and skills for the subject area and develop the ability to read, write, speak, and listen in another language.
What are the goals of the dual immersion programs?
The goals are for the students to develop literacy skills in both English and the target world language such as Spanish, French, or Chinese while attaining academic achievement that is at or above their grade level as measured by Utah core testing.
Furthermore, students will develop a world cultural sensitivity. We strive to prepare students academically, linguistically and socially for the challenges and needs of our global community.
What is Dual Immersion?
Dual immersion is a way to learn academic content while acquiring another language at the same time. Students receive math, science, or social studies instruction in a target language, such as Spanish, French, or Chinese. Because of the teaching strategies used, the students learn the concepts and skills for the subject area and develop the ability to read, write, speak, and listen in another language.
What are the goals of the dual immersion programs?
The goals are for the students to develop literacy skills in both English and the target world language such as Spanish, French, or Chinese while attaining academic achievement that is at or above their grade level as measured by Utah core testing.
Furthermore, students will develop a world cultural sensitivity. We strive to prepare students academically, linguistically and socially for the challenges and needs of our global community.
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Happy Birthday Jana
Happy Birthday to my beautiful wife Jana. She is my inspiration. She is a loving mother and friend and is always reminding me to try and be a better person. Somehow she has also put up with me for 18 years. Happy Birthday. I love you Jana.
Best Traits: kind, beautiful, smart, forgiving . . . when things seem hopeless she can always think of a way to make things better.
Best Memory: Our trip to Uganda when I found out how truly compassionate she is (the choice of picture above is from our trip.)
Coraline
Last night we saw Coraline. The entire family was amazed at how good this film was. I have been a fan of Tim Burton for a long time and love everything he does, but especially his stop-motion animation (films like the Nightmare Before Christmas, James and the Giant Peach and the Corpse Bride). Coraline is definitely the best of that group. It is at once charming, enchanting and magical, while at the same time dark and sinister. Coraline Jones, the film's heroine (Dakota Fanning), has just moved with her parents from Michigan to rainy Oregon into a Victorian mansion called the Pink Palace. Having left her friends behind and with parents that don't have time to spend with her, she is very bored and thus all the more excited when she discovers a hidden door in the house that opens to a parallel universe. What she finds makes for an incredible story of witches that cut out the eyes of children, funky music from They Might Be Giant, talking cats and rats and alternate worlds that leaves you on the edge of your seat. I'll be surprised if I see a better movie this year. 4 stars out of 4.
Friday, February 13, 2009
New Morrissey Single
I grew up in love with the Smiths. They were extremely influential to me as a teenager (as they were for many my age in the 80s). I have not been as big a fan of Morrissey on his own. I went to see him in concert last year and the crowd went wild when he played Smiths songs, more quiet with his newer songs. But this new single, I actually love it. Moz is getting back to his roots with this one. This actually takes me back to the Smiths. My only complaint is that it's too short. And I feel old when I see how old he is now.
Happy Birthday
I missed writing about three birthdays in the last couple of week that are important to me.
Mom
My mom in haloween costume since she loves to throw halloween parties.
Yesterday Jana and I took my mom and Reinhardt to the theater and to dinner (The Green Papaya -great Thai and Vietnamese food) for her birthday. We love hanging out with them. My mom is one of the best influences on my life. Happy Birthday mom. I love you.
Some good traits - Smart, hard working, selfless, caring, health conscious
Good memory - My mom taking me out for lunch and a movie every year when we would go shopping for school clothes.
Diana
My older sister Diana just had her birthday also. She is a great role model for me and a great mother who has raised incredibly smart and likable kids. Happy birthday Diana. I love you.
Some good traits - level headed, smart, wise, beautiful, willing to help anyone, tolerant
Good memory - The year Diana could drive, but before I could, she would take me and my friends anywhere we wanted to go. She never made me feel like I was putting her out.
Dan
My friend Dan just celebrated his birthday also. Dan is the person whose choices I most trust. He has never disappointed me in the decade we have been friends. He is a very involved father and husband and very forgiving. Happy birthday Dan. Nobody deserves to be happier.Some good traits - Only person I am close to that I have never even once seen mad. He is smart, wise, kind, forgiving, honest, puts others before himself, athletic and patient.
Good memory - Kicking back on a warm Utah summer night at the Lollapalooza concert
Monday, February 9, 2009
San Diego
I had to speak at a company event in San Diego on Friday (one of my favorite places on Earth!) It was gray and stormy the entire time I was there but still beautiful in its own way (and much warmer than Salt Lake City).
Thursday, February 5, 2009
Tyler's Birthday
Every year we do something with the family for Tyler's birthday, but he had never had a full birthday party with invited friends and he wanted to do something like that this year. Thus, last Saturday we packed up the 16 kids, most of them 9 years old, and went to Chuck-e-Cheese (Tyler's choice . . . I had been hoping he would choose going to a movie). Jana and I were frazzled 4 hours later when it was over but Tyler had a great time. They have pizza and video games and the kids loved it. They bring the birthday kid up to dance with Chuck-e-Cheese and Tyler actually was dancing. It was pretty funny, but I didn't have my camera. He said it was his best birthday ever.
Tyler with Andrew
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
Trip to Singapore
I was in Singapore last week on a business trip. I was lucky to be there as Chinese New Year was getting under way and had a good time.
My friend Blake with three strange mannequins
Me on Mohamed Ali Lane
My friend Blake with three strange mannequins
Me on Mohamed Ali Lane
Book Review - The Story of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wroblewski
Ok, this was an Oprah book. I am generally not a fan of recommending fiction books on the current best sellers list (this books has been on for a number of weeks), especially Oprah because generally they are not my type. However, I read this one because it was the choice for our book club at my work and I have to say that this is one of the best books I've read this year. It is at times Hamlet and at times Steinbeck with the small town characters like the sheriff and shop owners. Its the coming-of-age story in the 1960s and 1970s seventies about a boy growing up in deep rural Wisconsin. He is born with the ability to hear, but not to speak. Edgar's family breeds and trains dogs and he has grown up not only in the family business but loving the dogs as his best friend. When his father dies in suspicious circumstances involving his uncle, Edgar finds himself in a Hamlet like plot. It was suspenseful and I quickly cared about the characters, especially Edgar and his dogs. I highly recommend it.
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Top 10 Movies of 2008
My annual top 10 movie list:
1) Slumdog Millionaire
5 out of 5 starts
This movie of the year deserves all the accolades it is receiving. It is suspenseful, dramatic, inspirational, and romantic and teaches an incredible message. The story is set around a game show and a brutal police interrogation. The cops don’t believe that a poor homeless, orphan teenager from the slums, Jamal Malik, could possibly know all the answers he has give on the Indian version of “Who Wants to be a Millionaire” that have earned him one question shy of the top prize. After being tortured, Jamal explains the dramatic story from his past behind each one of his answers and we go back with him. The film has been called a love affair with Mumbai and I can see why as these flashback stories introduce us to an India that I want to get to know better. This movie is directed by Danny Boyle who normally directs very dark, intense films like Trainspotting, Shallow Grave and 28 Days Later, but who has also shown a softer side with the family movie Millions. Slumdog Millionaire reminds me more of Millions with its upbeat inspiring story (albeit with some very dark and tragic elements). I feel I am a better person for having watched it. It is the best movie of the year.
2) Wall-E
5 out of 5 stars
Once again Pixar, the filmmakers with the most consistently excellent record in the last two decades, has hit a home run. For me, every Pixar film that has been made can be divided into two categories: 1) the well made entertaining movies like A Bugs Life and Cars, and 2) the step above classic, great movies like Toy Story, Finding Nemo, and Ratatouille. After several months to think about Wall-E, I still put it in the second category. This is an incredibly, wonderfully inventive, sci-fi film, that is also funny and romantic, and with a timely environmental and taking care of our bodies message. Brilliant story telling techniques allows much of the communications throughout the film to be wordless. There are only a couple of spoken lines in the film. The story is simple. In the year 2700 a robot named WALL-E (short for Waste Allocation Load Lifter - Earth class) has been doing the same job of cleaning up garbage for several hundred years since human kind left the planet to live in spaceships after the Earth became uninhabitable due to pollution. While he is a robot, he also has human characteristics such as his friendship and caretaking of a pet (cockroach) and falling in love with another robot named EVE. The film takes us on a great adventure as WALL-E visits the spaceship where the descendants of Earth now live where we see obese humans living in a pampered luxury that enables them to live without even having to stand up, let alone exercise. I have heard criticism that the message of the movie was too in your face and judgmental but for me it worked completely. A great movie for anyone.
3) Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist
4.5 stars out of 5
Nick and Norah makes the list of my favorite high school / coming-of-age / romantic / comedy films of all time. Growing up in the 1980s I was able to see some of the best films in this genre such as Breakfast Club, Stand by Me, Heathers, and Ferris Buehler’s Day Off. Recently I would put Mean Girls and Juno on the list. Nick and Norah fits in the group fine. The story is simple; Michael Cera is Nick, the ultimate awkward yet likeable teen geek (really the same character he played in Juno. He’s the straight bassist in a gay band and is hurting over his recent break-up with Tris, his beautiful but shallow ex. Kat Dennings is Norah. She is pretty but not as beautiful as Tris, but has everything that Tris does not when it comes to personality (actually she is supposed to be less attractive than Tris, but I actually liked her better). She has that teenage girl balance between being cocky and insecure down perfectly. The story is a mad cap night of crazy fun as they search the city to find where their favorite band is playing while falling in love. However, the real story for me was the great alternative soundtrack (which is a must for any coming of age film). In this case the music is from Richard Hawley, The Real Tuesday Weld, Chris Bell, and Army Navy. I plan on buying the DVD but first I will buy the soundtrack. A very fun film.
4) Rachel Getting Married
4.5 stars out of 5
Up until now, I didn’t get Anne Hathaway. She kind of bothered me in her early Disney rolls and when she later tried more adult rolls, I kept seeing her as the Disney character. However, in Rachel Getting Married I finally see the incredible acting ability that she has. The story is really a weekend with a dysfunctional family (as if there was such a thing as a perfect functional family). Hathaway plays Kym, nervous and edgy as she re-enters the world after six months in drug rehab. She has come home just in time for her older sister Rachel’s wedding. Overshadowing everything is the pain she caused the family during her years of drug use and it’s not clear whether she can truly be given a second chance. She resents both the grudges and the sympathy she receives and counters with cruel verbal attacks. Sounds like an unsympathetic character, but we come to feel for her. Hathaway is the star but the other performances are good as well, particularly Debra Winger as the icy cold mother. A brilliantly acted great film.
5) The Duchess
4 stars out of 5
I saw the Duchess on an airplane and I was very happy that it was the movie they were showing as it is something I doubt I ever would have seen otherwise. It certainly didn't seem to be my type -other than the fact that the super hot Keira Knightly is the star. However, I was very impressed and was sad to see it end. Keira plays the Duchess of Devonshire, a true life ancestor of Princess Diana. She is married to the Duke, played with emotionless distance by the great Ralph Finnes. He really doesn't know how to show love and only wants a male heir while his wife keeps having girls. Keira is the real star here. It is amazing to see her play this incredible woman who was a political and fashion star, beloved and almost worshiped by a nation, and yet she is at the same time this lonely woman maltreated by her husband. Powerful yet helpless. Very well done and I recommend it to everyone
6) Dark Knight
4 stars out of 5
Dark and complex, this is the best of the Batman films, and maybe the best comic book / superhero movie ever made, at least from an artistic perspective. It is moving, thrilling, exhilarating, well acted and written and excellent while at the same time dark, depressing, violent and real. The greatness in this movie is in large part thanks to the late Heath Ledgers turn as the Joker. It has been said a thousand times by everyone and I can’t really add to it, but it is true that Ledger really does give the performance of his career in this movie as a creepy and menacing criminal who is evil just for the sake of being evil, not for gain. Amazing to watch.
7) Iron Man
4 stars out of 5
This is the type of movie like Star Wars or Indiana Jones that made me fall in love with movies as a kid. In some ways it is the stereo-typical summer blockbuster with fast paced action, dazzling special effects and dramatic and suspenseful energy. However, in many other ways it transcends the typical blockbuster mainly due to the talented Robert Downey who is having so much fun.
8) Burn After Reading
4 stars out of 5
Many critics panned this movie, even those who normally like the dark and quirky Coen brothers. I had a great time however watching these people who act like morons who find themselves in a madcap, screw-ball comedy, spy thriller. Frances McDormand gives her best performance since Fargo.
9) Changeling
3.5 stars out of 5
Critics were really disappointed in this Clint Eastwood directed film but I found it satisfying for a number of reasons. Both Angelina Jolie and John Malkovich appear in two of the movies that made my top 10 list. They give outstanding performances. Jolie gives the best performance of her career as a mother who’s young son goes missing. She was very believable. But what I liked best was the way Eastwood used color and ambiance to make this film, that took place in the early part of the 20th century, look and feel very much like an old Ingrid Bergman or Joan Fontaine film noir one might have seen in the 1940s. I loved those movies and this one too.
10) Wanted
3.5 stars out of 5
OK, this one is the 14 year old inside of me (although it is too violent for a 14 year old). It is a thrill ride, action pack escape type movie. You are on the edge of your seat the entire time with some of the coolest special effects I have ever seen. It is not great film making , but I had a really good time. Sometimes that is good enough.
Runners up – Gran Torino, Saving Sarah Marshall, Body of Lies
1) Slumdog Millionaire
5 out of 5 starts
This movie of the year deserves all the accolades it is receiving. It is suspenseful, dramatic, inspirational, and romantic and teaches an incredible message. The story is set around a game show and a brutal police interrogation. The cops don’t believe that a poor homeless, orphan teenager from the slums, Jamal Malik, could possibly know all the answers he has give on the Indian version of “Who Wants to be a Millionaire” that have earned him one question shy of the top prize. After being tortured, Jamal explains the dramatic story from his past behind each one of his answers and we go back with him. The film has been called a love affair with Mumbai and I can see why as these flashback stories introduce us to an India that I want to get to know better. This movie is directed by Danny Boyle who normally directs very dark, intense films like Trainspotting, Shallow Grave and 28 Days Later, but who has also shown a softer side with the family movie Millions. Slumdog Millionaire reminds me more of Millions with its upbeat inspiring story (albeit with some very dark and tragic elements). I feel I am a better person for having watched it. It is the best movie of the year.
2) Wall-E
5 out of 5 stars
Once again Pixar, the filmmakers with the most consistently excellent record in the last two decades, has hit a home run. For me, every Pixar film that has been made can be divided into two categories: 1) the well made entertaining movies like A Bugs Life and Cars, and 2) the step above classic, great movies like Toy Story, Finding Nemo, and Ratatouille. After several months to think about Wall-E, I still put it in the second category. This is an incredibly, wonderfully inventive, sci-fi film, that is also funny and romantic, and with a timely environmental and taking care of our bodies message. Brilliant story telling techniques allows much of the communications throughout the film to be wordless. There are only a couple of spoken lines in the film. The story is simple. In the year 2700 a robot named WALL-E (short for Waste Allocation Load Lifter - Earth class) has been doing the same job of cleaning up garbage for several hundred years since human kind left the planet to live in spaceships after the Earth became uninhabitable due to pollution. While he is a robot, he also has human characteristics such as his friendship and caretaking of a pet (cockroach) and falling in love with another robot named EVE. The film takes us on a great adventure as WALL-E visits the spaceship where the descendants of Earth now live where we see obese humans living in a pampered luxury that enables them to live without even having to stand up, let alone exercise. I have heard criticism that the message of the movie was too in your face and judgmental but for me it worked completely. A great movie for anyone.
3) Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist
4.5 stars out of 5
Nick and Norah makes the list of my favorite high school / coming-of-age / romantic / comedy films of all time. Growing up in the 1980s I was able to see some of the best films in this genre such as Breakfast Club, Stand by Me, Heathers, and Ferris Buehler’s Day Off. Recently I would put Mean Girls and Juno on the list. Nick and Norah fits in the group fine. The story is simple; Michael Cera is Nick, the ultimate awkward yet likeable teen geek (really the same character he played in Juno. He’s the straight bassist in a gay band and is hurting over his recent break-up with Tris, his beautiful but shallow ex. Kat Dennings is Norah. She is pretty but not as beautiful as Tris, but has everything that Tris does not when it comes to personality (actually she is supposed to be less attractive than Tris, but I actually liked her better). She has that teenage girl balance between being cocky and insecure down perfectly. The story is a mad cap night of crazy fun as they search the city to find where their favorite band is playing while falling in love. However, the real story for me was the great alternative soundtrack (which is a must for any coming of age film). In this case the music is from Richard Hawley, The Real Tuesday Weld, Chris Bell, and Army Navy. I plan on buying the DVD but first I will buy the soundtrack. A very fun film.
4) Rachel Getting Married
4.5 stars out of 5
Up until now, I didn’t get Anne Hathaway. She kind of bothered me in her early Disney rolls and when she later tried more adult rolls, I kept seeing her as the Disney character. However, in Rachel Getting Married I finally see the incredible acting ability that she has. The story is really a weekend with a dysfunctional family (as if there was such a thing as a perfect functional family). Hathaway plays Kym, nervous and edgy as she re-enters the world after six months in drug rehab. She has come home just in time for her older sister Rachel’s wedding. Overshadowing everything is the pain she caused the family during her years of drug use and it’s not clear whether she can truly be given a second chance. She resents both the grudges and the sympathy she receives and counters with cruel verbal attacks. Sounds like an unsympathetic character, but we come to feel for her. Hathaway is the star but the other performances are good as well, particularly Debra Winger as the icy cold mother. A brilliantly acted great film.
5) The Duchess
4 stars out of 5
I saw the Duchess on an airplane and I was very happy that it was the movie they were showing as it is something I doubt I ever would have seen otherwise. It certainly didn't seem to be my type -other than the fact that the super hot Keira Knightly is the star. However, I was very impressed and was sad to see it end. Keira plays the Duchess of Devonshire, a true life ancestor of Princess Diana. She is married to the Duke, played with emotionless distance by the great Ralph Finnes. He really doesn't know how to show love and only wants a male heir while his wife keeps having girls. Keira is the real star here. It is amazing to see her play this incredible woman who was a political and fashion star, beloved and almost worshiped by a nation, and yet she is at the same time this lonely woman maltreated by her husband. Powerful yet helpless. Very well done and I recommend it to everyone
6) Dark Knight
4 stars out of 5
Dark and complex, this is the best of the Batman films, and maybe the best comic book / superhero movie ever made, at least from an artistic perspective. It is moving, thrilling, exhilarating, well acted and written and excellent while at the same time dark, depressing, violent and real. The greatness in this movie is in large part thanks to the late Heath Ledgers turn as the Joker. It has been said a thousand times by everyone and I can’t really add to it, but it is true that Ledger really does give the performance of his career in this movie as a creepy and menacing criminal who is evil just for the sake of being evil, not for gain. Amazing to watch.
7) Iron Man
4 stars out of 5
This is the type of movie like Star Wars or Indiana Jones that made me fall in love with movies as a kid. In some ways it is the stereo-typical summer blockbuster with fast paced action, dazzling special effects and dramatic and suspenseful energy. However, in many other ways it transcends the typical blockbuster mainly due to the talented Robert Downey who is having so much fun.
8) Burn After Reading
4 stars out of 5
Many critics panned this movie, even those who normally like the dark and quirky Coen brothers. I had a great time however watching these people who act like morons who find themselves in a madcap, screw-ball comedy, spy thriller. Frances McDormand gives her best performance since Fargo.
9) Changeling
3.5 stars out of 5
Critics were really disappointed in this Clint Eastwood directed film but I found it satisfying for a number of reasons. Both Angelina Jolie and John Malkovich appear in two of the movies that made my top 10 list. They give outstanding performances. Jolie gives the best performance of her career as a mother who’s young son goes missing. She was very believable. But what I liked best was the way Eastwood used color and ambiance to make this film, that took place in the early part of the 20th century, look and feel very much like an old Ingrid Bergman or Joan Fontaine film noir one might have seen in the 1940s. I loved those movies and this one too.
10) Wanted
3.5 stars out of 5
OK, this one is the 14 year old inside of me (although it is too violent for a 14 year old). It is a thrill ride, action pack escape type movie. You are on the edge of your seat the entire time with some of the coolest special effects I have ever seen. It is not great film making , but I had a really good time. Sometimes that is good enough.
Runners up – Gran Torino, Saving Sarah Marshall, Body of Lies
Monday, January 19, 2009
Tyler's Birthday
For Tyler's birthday Grandma Karen and Opa took us out to dinner at Rodizio Grill. It was Uncle Levi's birthday also so we all went together. It was a lot of fun eating all the Brazilian food and everyone had a great time.
Friday, January 16, 2009
Happy Birthday Tyler
Happy birthday to my son Tyler. He is 9 years old. Tyler is the coolest, most lovable guy and makes everyone happy. I hope you have a great day buddy. You deserve it.
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Movie Review - The Duchess
On a plane ride to Chicago last week I saw the Duchess. I was very happy that it was the movie they were showing as it is something I doubt I ever would have seen otherwise. It certainly didn't seem to be my type -other than the fact that the super hot Keira Knightly is the star. However, I was very impressed and was sad to see it end. Keira plays the Duchess of Devonshire, a true life ancestor of Princess Diana. She is married to the Duke, played with emotionless distance by the great Ralph Finnes. He really doesn't know how to show love and only wants a male heir while his wife keeps having girls. Keira is the real star here. It is amazing to see her play this incredible woman who was a political and fashion star, beloved and almost worshiped by a nation, and yet she is at the same time this lonely woman maltreated by her husband. Powerful yet helpless. Very well done and I recommend it to everyone.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
