Movietime: Blood Diamond
August 30, 2008
I watched Blood Diamond tonight. My, oh my. This movie is rough and brutal and raw in all ways, but it’s really well made and tells its story so well. I have heard that there are many problems faced by those in Africa but haven’t done any sort of research into it. This movie opens my eyes to the problem of conflict diamonds.
The writing and the acting, from beginning to end, were fabulous, and the goals of the writers and actors were reached. This movie opens peoples’ eyes to the brutality to which people will subject other people in an effort to meet the demands of consumers around the world. I am saddened at the pain and suffering inflicted upon and felt by the innocent, outraged at the way that people knowingly reap profits at the cost of blood, and humbled by those who are willing to stand up and make an attempt to effect change.
plates
August 30, 2008
Last night, as I was driving home from work, I noticed that a car behind me made an obvious attempt to stay behind me by changing lanes. When we stopped at a light, I looked in the rearview mirror and found that the wife in the passenger’s seat of the car was using the camera on her phone to snap a photo of my car. It seems that they noticed my geeky personalized license plate and wanted to photograph it! I feel so special.
Public Property not for Public Use
August 27, 2008
I’m a little surprised at this.
Police in Denver arrested an ABC News producer today as he and a camera crew were attempting to take pictures on a public sidewalk of Democratic Senators and VIP donors leaving a private meeting at the Brown Palace Hotel.
Well, maybe I’m not too surprised.
olympics
August 25, 2008
I sure am glad the Olympics are over. Now I can get some sleep.
Waterboarding and Lawyers
August 20, 2008
Oh, come on! If you want to people to be upset about waterboarding, don’t demonstrate it on lawyers.
San Francisco Trip
August 20, 2008
I spent last week in San Francisco (technically Brisbane and South San Francisco) while attending a training class for CA Unicenter Desktop and Server Management. The class was helpful and I hope to be able to administer our DSM system better than before.
That said, I do remember one particular incident, though, that was pretty funny. In addition to the instructor, there were four other people in the class with me. The one lady that was in the class seemed to be in a little over her head. To give you an idea of how the week would go, with regards to her, I point to one specific question she asked. You see, we were all talking about where we were from, etc., and I had explained that I had grown up not too far from where we were at that moment. Here’s the exchange:
Cool Peter: Who do you work for?
Me: I work for an oil company that’s based in Utah.
Cool Peter: Did you say you grew up around here?
Me: Yeah, I grew up in Cupertino, which is about 40 miles south of here, but now I live in Utah.
Not-quite-so-in-touch-Sue: Where’s Utah?
Me: Oh, you know. A couple of states away, on the other side of Nevada. You can’t miss it.
Let’s just say that she seemed to be really slow to catch on to most anything. In some ways, the week was reeeeally long.
Offerings
August 9, 2008
We’re putting in an offer on a house today. It’s in Kearns, Utah, and it’s pretty nice. It’s a little over 2600 square feet, though only about 1500 of it is finished. We really like the neighborhood and the location, so putting a little time and money into finishing the basement will be fun.
UPDATE: It’s official. The offer has been made and sent off to the seller’s agent. *fingers crossed*
A Seriously Bad Day
August 9, 2008
I’d advise this guy to learn how to control his anger before he does something stupid. Oh, wait…
Payson Fire Photos
August 2, 2008
I went down to Payson last night to get some photos of the fire. I lived in Payson from 1999 to 2002 and still have a number of friends down there, so I met one of them and we walked around and took some pictures. Here are my favorite ones:
337-3781 - This was taken looking south-southeast from about 220 E. and 1100 S. This is 2.5 blocks due south from my old townhouse.
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337-3796 - This was taken looking south from the corner of 500 E. and 1250 S. The house in the right center area of the photo is the home of the bishop that I had when we lived there. He owns all of the orchards surrounding the area. The fire got really close to his home last night and I think the tree in the middle of the photo got burned.
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338-3803 - A fire hydrant at the corner of 500 E. and 1250 S. I thought it was pretty artistic.
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338-3807 - This was taken looking south from 1290 S. This house is across the street from my good friends, Dan and Marcey, who were evacuated. Dan happened to be out of town camping with their sons so Marcey was left to pack up the girls and get some stuff out of the house as mandatory evacuation order came. Our other friend, Kimball, showed up just in time to help her get the car packed and the girls in it. The truck in this photo is in the next cul-de-sac (1330 S.) down from my friends' street.
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338-3811 - This was taken looking east on 1290 S. The house on the far left of the photo is Dan and Marcey's. The fire truck at the end of the street had to move to get away from the scrub fuel and reposition itself as the fire came on.
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338-3814 - Here is another artistic photo. The truck was parked on Canyon Road just east of 500 E.
