Red Bull Rampage - 2008 Utah

See more skate, snow, surf, and moto videos at Shred or Die

Reminds me of my brother-in-law Rob! If the music is annoying mute it. There are some people out there with some sick biking skillz.

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince - Movie Trailer

If the trailer is any indication of the movie it will be amazing. Next best thing to reading the book itself.

What Is It that Scared You While You Were Growing Up

Last night at the school our children attend the faculty put on the annual "Spooktacular Math Night", as part of the evening, students go scurrying from class to class as fast as they can getting stamps on their playing cards. The object is to fill all the slots on your card with a stamp so that you can go through the school spook alley.

Here we are getting started. In this game we each had a dye and we would throw it at the same time. Whoever got the highest number got to fill in their pumpkin and if we tied we got to both fill in a pumpkin with our color.

This next game involved dice and stacking blocks. You would throw down your dice and what ever number appeared on them you need to stack your blocks to match the blocks on your paper.

Another game that involve dice, this game was like Bingo, you filled in your card trying to get four beans of your color in a row. By this time our cards were getting filled up with many stamps and we were getting close to the big event of the spook alley.

We still needed a couple of more stamps so we threw our dice down, counted the numbers on the dice and made skeleton's out of the number that appeared on them. This activity reminded me of that girl on Zoey 101 that likes to collect Q-tips, I think her name is Stacey.

After collecting all the required stamps we went to the cafeteria where there was a lot of hustle and bustle. People were anxious to get to the spook alley. You could get some popcorn, make guess on some candy jars on your way.

Here's the gateway to get into the spook alley. We had finally arrived. Hannah was feeling reluctant to go. We made it in the first few steps and that's all she could do. As these creepy guys came from our of the walls. McKay and I had done the spook alley earlier and were ready to take Hannah through, but she got too scared.

I can't remember anything that specifically scared me in my wee years. But my father always tells me that one time when we used to sleep in Grandpa Plowman's unfinished portion of the basement in Smithfield, UT there was a great thunderstorm. Think of Queen's song, "Thunderbolts and lightning - very very frightening". It was in the summer and there was lots of lightning an thunder. I must have been about 4 years old. My father says I came over to the roll-away bed he was on and said, sleep me daddy. That's a phrase I continued to hear while growing up, especially during my teen years.

Another more recent story, of scary experiences didn't effect me but my old boss. We had to go to our two Florida offices in Ft. Lauderdale and Tampa Bay. (I used the word had but it was an enjoyable trip.) Well, at the Tampa Bay office there was a lifesize poster of our then company president, Ray Noorda. If you were not paying attention and walked by the poster it could catch you off guard. Well, much of the work we did after all the employees left the two offices and it got to be dark. Well, I took the lifesize poster of Ray and moved him strategically around the office so when my boss passed by it would scare him. After doing this several times, he thought he'd get back at me. He thought I had gone to the bathroom and set the lifesize Ray so that when I came out the bathroom I'd be startled. Well, it so happens that the janitorial service was in the bathroom cleaning and when they came out they about jumped through the roof. My boss got a good laugh at that and fortunately the janitor did as well.

What are the most disappointing Treats for Trick-or-Treators

Since Halloween is coming I thought it would be interesting to blog about Trick-or-Treating. I still remember going to certain homes each and every year because they would be handing out full size candy bars. I also, remember avoiding certain homes because they would give out a plastic trinket. I don't directly go Trick-or-Treating anymore, but I do try to talk my children out of some of their treats. I like the chocolate covered coconut candy bars and my kids usually don't. Also, I like the dark chocolate and they usually don't either.

What are top treats that kids would rather not see in their bags at the end of the night?! These are the treats you end up throwing out six months after Halloween.

Pencils

I know kids don't get home and say hey look at all these cool pencils I got. These pencils are usually the kind where the eraser doesn't work or they don't have an eraser at all. Keep the pencil because the kids want candy.

Toothbrushes

About the last thing any kid want to see on Hallows Eve is a toothbrush. Come on all you dentists handing out a toothbrush is what you get when you go for your six month checkup.

Plastic Toys























I couldn't find a good picture to represent all the junk plastic toys that get handed out at Halloween but here are some rings that are typically handed out. Usually the rings do not look this good, they are deformed in some way. These plastic toys go straight to the trash.

Black & Orange Peanut Butter Nougats












Okay sometime in the 70s some candy company made these things. They keep getting circulated out each and every year since then. Because no one could get rid of them, they get mixed in with other candies. These candies are as hard as a rock usually and are artificially peanut butter flavored. Even our dogs wouldn't eat these candies.

Stickers























The stickers are usually not this cool. They usually are not even Halloween themed. The stickers end up getting pasted in all the wrong places. Kids want candy not stickers!

Raisins
















I heard it through the grapevine that these are not a kid favorite. The kids get a box of sticky, shriveled globs of raisins or they get these rock hard, blocks of last years left overs. This a great quiet time treat for toddlers, not trick-or-treaters.

Crayons
















Okay these are not Crayola crayons. These are straight from China crayons. Who knows what toxins were put into these things. These are crayons that don't color well, and break easily.


Hard Candy

This is not the jolly ranchers I'm talking about. This is candy that you would find at your great-grandma's in the candy dish that has been sitting there for years. If you were doing trick-or-treat at a bingo night get together these would be a hit.

Hard Bubblegum Balls


















I'm not talking about the double bubble gumballs you see in this picture but no-name brand gum balls, that are more like jaw breakers. These probably are from China, not a good thing for your kids.

Apples

















Okay, these end up weighing down the bag or container the kids are carrying around. It might even break their bags?! Parents worry, because when we were kids, there were the urban legends of kids getting "poisoned apples". This still concerns us today. Kids will end up just throwing these.

Other things that should not be passed out are pennies, popcorn balls (remember the razor blade scare of our youth), jawbreakers (teethbreakers really), pamphlets, card with sayings and old fashion jelly beans that don't taste like fruit.

Things you should be going for Willy Wonka Fun bags, Dum Dums, Chocolate Bars (Milky Way, Twix, Kit Kat, 100 Grand, Snickers, Mounds, Almond Joy, etc.), Candy Corn packs, Smarties, Necco Wafers, Sweet Tarts, Jolly Ranchers, Sour Candies that make your hair curl, Starbursts, M&Ms in the tube, Skittles, Suckers with a bubble gum middle or a whistle as part of the stick.

Funny Women's Auto Insurance Ad

Oops! Is all I have to say about this one.

Sarah Palin Rap On SNL

Funny Rap on SNL this last week-end

Sarah Palin Skit from SNL this last week-end

Quite enjoyed this one.

Myth Busted - Cerberus

Cerberus the three-headed hound of Hades?! What a cool dog costume. I'm sure this dog will attract attention while trick-or-treating.

The USMC Has Transformer Technology

The US military already has real transformers. This a video of the F-35B—the short take-off vertical landing variant of the F-35 Lightning II—it works, here's an amazingly detailed video showing its transforming capabilities in flight.

How Do You Wake Up In The Morning?

What is it that gets you up in the morning? My son has started waking me up in a different way. On Saturday morning, when the alarm went off at 5:45 am, I asked Julie to shut it off, as it's on her side of the bed. I thought hey it's Saturday and I can sleep in. At 5:45 it's still dark in our room so the light of the sun will not keep me awake.

Well, on Friday night I stayed up until midnight so I could be up when our daughters got home from their evenings activities. We would know that they got home and everything is okay. Sometimes they like to talk at this time of the night so you might find something out that you normally would not hear during the day. So on Saturday morning at 5:45 am I was a bit more tired than normal. On Saturday morning at about 7 am I was abrubtly awoken when our son hit both hands on the bed next to my head at a high rate of speed. My face was near the edge of the bed and my son's action worked well at waking me up. This is the second time he has got me to wake up in this manner.

I'm not sure where he got this idea?! He might have got it from me playing a game with him (as I have done with all of our daughters when they were young) when they are in bed about to go to sleep. I play a game called Timber! I pretend I am tree falling onto them in their bed. Just as I am about hit them, while falling over I hit both arms on either side of them and say Timber! Usually this game of Timber doesn't help them to get more tired for sleeping.

Robert Louis Stevenson

A Good Boy

I woke before the morning, I was happy all the day,
I never said an ugly word, but smiled and stuck to play.

And now at last the sun is going down behind the wood,
And I am very happy, for I know that I’ve been good.

My bed is waiting cool and fresh, with linen smooth and fair,
And I must off to sleepsin-by, and not forget my prayer.

I know that, till to-morrow I shall see the sun arise,
No ugly dream shall fright my mind, no ugly sight my eyes.

But slumber hold me tightly till I waken in the dawn,
And hear the thrushes singing in the lilacs round the lawn.

>Thought I'd share a poem from one of my favorite authors when I was younger.

Young woman riding a bike has an accident.

While riding the bike she needs to pay closer attention to the things around her. Don't worry she is not hurt in this video. You might get a laugh or two after watching this video.

Are you ready for the conversion to digital TV?

Just another reminder that digital TV over-the-air is coming.

Redneck Art?!

I wonder if the ribs are venison?! Just in time for the deer hunt next week.

Butter Commercial By John Lydon (a.k.a. Johnny Rotten)

When I was on my mission in Scotland there was a popular butter commercial that ran the jingle was, "Everything's Better with a little bit of Butter". The British do like their butter.

Which Twilight Character Are You?!

Take the Quiz and Share Your Results!

I saw this quiz over on my sister-in-law's site. So I took the quiz for the male characters.

This is what the Jacob character is :

You’re down to earth, easy to please and people usually enjoy your warm company. Although you form lasting relationships, those closest to you can be put off by your stubbornness and temper. You can also be annoyingly persistent, but you are loyal and would bravely defend those that you love.

If you are a female and you want to take the quiz click on the picture or the link below to take the quiz.

[ FIND OUT WHICH FEMALE CHARACTER YOU ARE ]

Sen. Ron Paul Talks About The Bailout

via videosift.com

Don't Buy Stuff You Cannot Afford

via videosift.com

A revolutionary debt and money-management program! This entertaining skit gives you the secret to financial success. It's all detailed in a new book called, "Don't Buy Stuff You Can't Afford." Every debtor in America should read it.