Well, I think that these are all of the books I have read for the year. I know it's not so great compared with many peoples reading lists but it's better than I usually do so Back Off! Anyway, I had about a six month period where I didn't read anything because summer came around and then school started so I got distracted. Anyways, I was able to finish December with four books. I enjoyed every one of them and look forward to a new year of reading.

2001 A Space Odyssey
Contact
The Hobbit
The Lord of the Rings
The Two Towers
The Return of the King
Gateway
The Giver
Jurassic Park
The Lost World

Christmas at the Mckinlays

Rock Band Night Video

Rock Band Night

This was a fun night to play some Rock Band 2

The killers sing "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun"

Just thought this was awesome

Jurassic Park

I finished another book a few days ago. I thought I would take another look at a book to film adaptation. Jurassic Park is a clever and realistic piece of science fiction. It is a look into technology that we already have but limit the use of for moral reasons. It questions weather or not we should clone an extinct animal we hardly know anything about. Cloning an animal that was killed off not because of humans but because nature selected them to go.

The book also brings up a good point about corporate scientists and how they move forward. They are not as disciplined as someone that is doing ground up research. They grab a hold of something that is so close to being completed and they find a way to sell it without taking enough time to think about the consequences.

This book changed some of my views on responsibility over what we create. I see no problem with cloning something like a Wholly Mammoth because it is something that humans killed off so we know we can control it. I would like to see a dinosaur cloned yet we will never know if we can control it. It's funny to think that even after reading this book I would still go forward with it. How could I resist the ability to bring back one of the greatest mysteries of the past.

Joseph, better you than me

Brandon Flowers, Elton John, and Niel Tennant perform a Christmas song about Joseph. Proceeds from those who buy the song go to Project Red. If you would like to see the official video copy and paste the link is below into your address bar.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bK32yyTYmXw

Some good advice

Advances are made by answering questions. Discoveries are made by questioning answers.
— Bernard Haisch

I'm Reading again.

I went through the majority of my life reading only one book a year until I met Mandi. She reads on average two to four books a month. This year I have decided to challenge myself. I started off the year pretty good. By April I had read. 2001 A Space Odyssey, Contact, The Hobbit, Fellowship of the Ring, Two Towers, and Return of the King, I was in the middle of reading the Silmarillion and work interrupted my life, like it always does. That's what managing a restaurant does to you.


Since then I have quit my job and I am now back in college. Last week I decided to start reading again. I found a book from the top sci-fi book lists. It is called Gateway. If you are into more practical science fiction this is a book for you. The story takes place probably 100 to 150 years from now. Humans find an asteroid orbiting Venus. It is not ordinary asteroid. Inside it are the remnants of an alien civilization that died off half a million years ago. They left behind almost 1000 spaceships. Each spaceship is pre-set to a destination. This destination could lead to fortune or death. Although this book can be vulgar at times it is a great work.



Gateway was just what I needed to start me up again. I plunged into another book a couple days ago called the Giver. I'm sure many of you had to read this in elementary school but I was in elementary school when it was written so I did not have the chance to read it at the time. It is a book about a society that has taken away anything that could lead to emotion. They felt that true emotion inflicted too much pain. After hundreds of year living this way only one man knows why. He passes this information down to a 12 year old boy and changes the village forever.

Now it's on to the next book. I picked up Jurassic Park from my bookshelf at 1 am this morning. I have seen the movie but I am always curious of how much more of the story I am missing. Until then. Rip Michael Chriton. 11-4-2008

just needed an image

WAR???

I am scared that this war will never end. To justify this war we would have to take out every ruthless dictator in the world. Do we have that kind of power? I think we need to figure out where we go from here. Do we fight on forever strengthening our defenses across the sea or do we come back home and strengthen our own coastlines and boarders waiting for someone to penetrate our defenses? The world is an even scarier place than ever.Open up our closed military bases at home. Strengthen our boarders, coastlines and military force at home. We are not ready for an attack at home.

Where do we go from here?

Where do we go from here? I am so frustrated with the politicians. It is driving me to the point to where I might not vote in this falls election. With any of the candidates running this country is headed for more separation. Politicians are forgetting about the people.

Jammin in Russells basement

Nate, Russell, Krystal, and Mandi Jammin in Russells basement

SPEECHAES DON'T MEAN JACK SQUAT

I'm sick of people talking about presidential speaches. His speech was better than hers; she said this and that makes him look like an idiot. Great! They can speak well. What are their policies? What do they plan to do with this country? Don't tell me I am throwing away my vote when I don't vote for a Republican or Democrat. I believe I would be throwing away my vote and not being true to myself if I voted for someone I didn't think was worthy of running the most powerful country in the world. That might be your view but don't tell me I am wrong for my decision. I don't think you are wrong in your decision because we all choose what works best for our country but also what works best for ourselves. It's a free country! Let Freedom Ring!

Limits

I found this pretty cool. Setting limits on how far you go in politics is very important.

MONROE, Michigan (CNN) -- Sen. Barack Obama said firmly that families are off-limits in the campaign for president, reacting to news that GOP running mate Sarah Palin's 17-year-old daughter is pregnant.

"Let me be as clear as possible," Obama said. "I think people's families are off-limits, and people's children are especially off-limits. This shouldn't be part of our politics. It has no relevance to Gov. Palin's performance as governor or her potential performance as a vice president."

Obama said reporters should "back off these kinds of stories" and noted that he was born to an 18-year-old mother.

"How a family deals with issues and teenage children, that shouldn't be the topic of our politics, and I hope that anybody who is supporting me understands that's off-limits."

DUCKTALES WOO OO!

Found in the Disney Vaults, here is the original 1987 un-aired music video for the hit show Ducktales.

Industrial Smoke and Pollution

Here we are in the secret special effects house of Industrial Smoke and Pollution working on The Adventures of Hick Johnson Space Cowboy. We should be done with this short Episode in a couple of weeks. I will post it on You Tube and My blog when I am done.

My Life

wands

sold another wand!!!!

One Wand Sold!

Well there you have it. My fist wand sold on Ebay. I hope this comes to be a regular thing.
PS: Go see The Dark Knight. Best movie of the year!

The Wands Go Up ON Ebay!!!

I know it may be a little early on Halloween but I have decided to take a shot at this and put a couple of my wands on Ebay. I have hand crafted these two wands and the starting bid is $10. Those of you who have seen my wands know that this is a very good price. The buy it now price is $15. If you know anyone who would be interested send them the link and spread the word. I am in the process of making about 40 wands so there is no limit to the amount I can do. I also offer family discounts. LOL.
Here are the links to ebay and a couple pictures.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&Item=260267954532&Category=88898&_trksid=p3907.m29

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&Item=260267939095&Category=88898&_trksid=p3907.m29

4th of July

Well here we are celebrating our fourth of July with the Blue Man Group. You talk about awesome. Thank goodness we got tickets to the stadium of fire this year to see them. We also saw Miley Cirus. That girl is on drugs or something because she has so much energy. The fire works were done to movie music such as Superman, Back to the Future and Indiana Jones. Anyways. Here are a couple of pictures

Cali is where the friends are :)

Mandi and I have sadly returned to Utah after a week in California. We had a great time with our friends James and Colin. I hope we can see you guys again soon and until next time. Let's go Surfin

I found a way to save money and look cool :)

My new niece

Check it out. I'm an uncle, again!

Canyon Lands

Last month Mandi and I took our first camping trip of the year along with Tyler, Alene, Caiden, Ryan, and Brady. It was so nice to get outside after a long winter. We took two ten plus mile hikes. One to Paul Buyon's Potty and another to Druid Arch. Getting to Paul Bunyon's potty was not easy. Most of the hike was through a wash. We were dragging our feet through the sand. We were amazed enough with the landscape that the hike didn't discourage us. We had a chance to look at some ruins from the Anasazi Indians. It's amazing how this stuff still stands.

I was most impressed with the Druid Arch hike. It was through this canyon. The Landscape seamed to change dramatically so there was always something to look at. The arch itself was huge. It was much bigger in real life than the pictures that I have. we were lucky to go when we did. There weren't a lot of people on these particular hikes. Just remember to bring some rope if you plan on getting to the top of Paul Buyon's potty. Especially if you have kids with you. Otherwise you might have to form a chain in order to get everyone down.

You can't play Rock Band unless you rock out like this. Otherwise, you are just a Gigantic Nerd playing a piece of plastic!

http://tylerroot.blogspot.com/

Book Report: Return of the King

What a way to finish a story. Once again I know many of you have seen the movie but if you think you have seen it all you are missing out on one last battle. The battle of the Shire! After all the crap they had to go through with Minas Tirith and Mount Doom they return to there own home and it is taken over with servants of the enemy. Little do they know these four Hobbits can kick some serious butt.

Friendship is such an important role in these books. Frodo wouldn't have made it very far without Sam. He is truly the ordinary hero. A gardener turned warrior turned Father. In the end Frodo leaves Sam to his new life and sails off into the west. To say goodbye to this fellowship is sad but there are always new adventures.

Every time I finish a series I think that there is nothing else interesting to read in life. It sounds dumb and I know it isn't true but I get too attached and I always want more. Lucky for me there are more books of Middle Earth I can read. I've already started the Silmarillion.

BOOK REPORT: TWO TOWERS

After I finished Fellowship of the Ring I started reading the Two Towers. I also went out and bought 7 books of middle earth that I plan on reading after I am done with The return of the king which I am reading now.

The Two towers is a perfect example of why I chose to read the Lord of the rings. There are so many differences from book to movie adaptations and it's always nice to know how much a director will change and for what reasons.

In the book Sam Wise and Frodo only have small disagreements over Smeagol. Sam never left Frodo and they went on to Shelobs layer together. In the movie Gollum separates Sam and Frodo by accusing Sam of eating all of their lembas bread. Sam turns back to go home when he finds the bread on the stairs down below. He gets angry and returns to save his master from Shelob the spider. I think this was a wise choice on Peter Jackson's part. It really set up a story for loyalty and unselfishness. It made Sam all the more ordinary hero.

We also have a character like Faramir. In the movie he is once tempted by the ring. He decides to take Frodo and Sam to Minas Tririth to see his Father. He has a change in heart when he hears Frodo pull his sword on his friend Sam who is trying to save him. Faramir realizes the ring can be held by no one and sends Sam and Frodo on their quest. In the book Faramir has the chance to see the ring yet he never desires to take it to his father. The book shows him as a smart and understanding person. His brother may have been the great warrior but Faramir shows his true qualities.