Bounty Hunters

Jaron's 3rd Birthday

August 8th was Jaron's birthday and he was soooo excited. When we asked him what kind of party he wanted he replied, "A Mario Party!" Being the good parents that we are (-: we created the mushroom kingdom for his birthday. I designed and had printed and die-cut a couple of 38" Mario and Luigi's from foam core. Jessica took care of the cupcakes by making them look like toadstools and a Mario face. Overall the party was great fun and we appreciate the family and friends that traveled to St. George to celebrate with us. Jaron LOVED all of the trucks, animals, puzzles and other toys that he got. Below are a few select photos from the Birthday Bash!

Idiocracy Part 1

I realize that growing up on a farm in a small town may have given me an advantage in the following story I'm about to share with you, but do people ever research any marketing claims? First of all, let me preface this by saying that whoever had the idea to market the "Pure Angus Beef" angle is brilliant. Now for my experience.

Matt and I decided we wanted to get some McDonalds in our bellies for lunch the other day. As we were pulling up I saw they had banners all over the restaurant advertising their new 1/3 lb Pure Angus Beef burgers. Now Matt already knows how I feel about the Angus Beef marketing that started a few years back. It's not that I dislike Angus beef (or any other beef for that matter). It's the fact that there is no fundamental difference between an all Angus beef patty from any other patty, yet the general public has been duped into thinking it is somehow superior in quality and flavor. I'm sure in a blind taste test they couldn't tell the difference, but dang if it doesn't sound a lot better!

I decided I was going to ask the clerk what the difference was between the Angus Beef and the beef they use in their other burgers. The answer I received was pretty funny and I had a hard time keeping a straight face. I can't remember what the clerks name was so we'll just call her Sally. This is how the conversation went:

Jake- "Hey, what is the difference between the Angus burgers and the other burgers?"
Sally- "Well, they are made from 100% pure Angus Beef."
Jake- "What are the other burgers made from then?"
Sally- "...Umm...quarter-pounder meat?"

There it is, All "Full of flavor" and stuff

I couldn't make this stuff up. Maybe it's always been this way, but society in general seems to be out of touch with reality much of the time. Are we really so susceptible to whatever the Television and Magazines tell us that we will believe it all? Will we continue to be the marionette puppets of effective advertising and viral marketing individuals? Are we truly headed for an idiocracy in a matter of a few generations. Probably not, but incidents like these keep me smiling. Einstein was quoted as saying (and I'm paraphrasing) that "even though we consider ourselves to be superior to primitive man in every way, there are some things we are not superior in. How many people have any knowledge about the nature and origin of the things they use everyday? Primitive man knew how to create a bow, how to hunt, how to make clothing, grow food and all of the basic items for survival."

Ramblings

I wanted to do a post thanking my loyal readership of one, my wife Jessica. If my posts do nothing more than amuse her everyonce in a while it is still worth my while to post. Besides, I really just do this for myself. I really don't care if people read or what they think about my opinions. After all, that is why I love this country. You ARE entitled to your own opinion and it's OK if you disagree.

Writing is more like therapy for me. Some people exercise. Some people eat. Some people are assigned to go to anger management classes. Writing serves as my stress valve as well as an avenue for free thought and recapitulation. I would go as far as to say that if I were a good enough writer I would like to do it for a living. Unfortunately, I'm nowhere good enough to write for a living. Schooling would help I suppose. Reading others works is beneficial too... but in the mean time it will just be a hobby and a pipe dream.

Any medium that serves as a conduit for creativity will always interest me. I loved Legos as a child - I love Illustrator and Photoshop as an adult. This is one of the least focused blog posts I've done in a while. I'm really getting excited to see my brother Shay again. He will be returning home from his mission in Iowa this July. That's all for now.

White Chocolate: Uncovering the Myths

I got into a little discussion the other day with my neighbors, the Burbidges, pertaining to whether or not White Chocolate is really a chocolate at all. Lyn contests it is not and I contested that it must be. After all, I saw it on the internet once so you KNOW it has to be true.

I know that most of you reading this entry have been dying to know. No fear, I'm on the task. I did my homework (I'm thorough like that) and this is what I came up with.

There is "real" white chocolate, which is sort-of real chocolate in that it comes from the same cacao beans as regular chocolate. It contains just the fat, the cocoa butter, which provides chocolate's unique mouth feel. There is no chocolate liquor, which ends up in the brown stuff we usually think of as chocolate. Most "white chocolate" has little or no real cocoa butter. It can contain any kind of fat. So can brown chocolate, but brown chocolate without cocoa butter can't be called "chocolate" in most of the world.

White Chocolate, the holy grail of unhealthy food... I salute you.

So there you have it folks. We were both right. For the record, I love white chocolate. White chocolate reeses are God's gift to the world. Dark chocolate can just go to H### for all I care. The single nastiest "treat" you can consume is a dark chocolate cherry cordial... oh snap I just threw up in my mouth a little!

Global Warming "The Fix Is In"

Well, It's about that time again. Time to throw some gasoline on this proverbial fire that is the debate of Global Warming. I know, I've written about this in the past, but I just can't get enough of the idiocy that seems to flow from the mouths of supporters of this politically driven agenda.

Allow me to paint a picture for you. It's an early Sunday evening and I'm enjoying a doomsday show on the Discovery channel. It's basically a top ten countdown of the greatest threats to humanity. The usual suspects are showing up so far - nuclear weapons, giant asteroids, major volcano eruptions, viruses and plagues- you get the picture. We get to the number one threat and I'm thinking, "they've covered all of the ones I could think of, including a few surprises (killer machines anyone?), the number one threat must be pretty menacing. And then it's the big reveal, or should I say this is when the politics and agenda pushing started. Number one is... you guessed it, Global Warming! Yeah that's exactly what I... wha... wait a minute, really? Global Warming? And was that just Al Gore I saw a quick snippet of? Yep, there he is in all his glory. The self-appointed czar of the Global Warming... wait... what? Oh, excuse me, I was just informed that Global Warming is no longer the buzz word for this supposed man-created phenomenon. It's now being referred to as simply "Climate Change." Yep, that's the best they could come up with. I better be politically correct here, I don't want "Big Sister" (Janet Napoletano) to read this blog and accuse me of being a quote "Right Wing Extremist" and "Posing a potentially serious threat to our nation." Nope, I won't do that because I'm a patriotic American that obeys the laws of my country, misappropriated as I believe some of them are.

So here is the host of this show interviewing Al Gore as if he is the one who has personally studied climate change and used his own conjecture and theories to prove it. I guess if you can't be a puppet in the White House why not be a puppet for huge multi-billion dollar organizations like Green Peace or GE or any of the other bureaucratic, pencil pushing entities that would have us living in little grass huts if they had their way. Yes, it's that same GE that owns NBC and who knows what other companies. Funny how they push their agenda to sell "Green" appliances and products through the NBC news propaganda and "Green Week" on all of their major TV shows. And people really think they care about the environment? They don't give a rats ass about it as long as it gets people to buy their ridiculously priced green products. I guess Discovery Channel is sipping... wait guzzling down the coolaid as well. Too bad. I would've hoped that scientific integrity (if there is such a thing) would have prevailed and they would have at least presented both sides of the equation so that people could decide for themselves.

I guess in the end the weapon that brings the most success is fear. Previous and current presidential administrations have used it to push their agenda. from Clinton to Bush to Obama. We've seen it used over and over again by our government anytime they want us to do something or react in a certain way. This goes way beyond Climate Change. People, please do not eat all of the bull$#!! you're being fed by those who do not have your best interest in mind. Let you're voice be heard or nothing will ever change. To quote someones famous words (or lyrics) "Those who don't stand for something will fall for anything."

This message is sponsored by no one and is soley aimed at those who may find the idea that finite man is bringing the earth to it's knees, and consequently our own knees in the process, by emiting carbon gases into the air to be a declaration of stupidity. Thank you, that is all.

The Summer of Blockbusters

Is it just me or does it seem like this coming summer's movies are going to blow last years crop out of the water (sans "The Dark Knight.") I mean, I'm having a geekgasm thinking of watching all of the movies that seem tailor made for me. Terminator Salvation, Transformers 2, X-Men Origins: Wolverine, Harry Potter, Prince of Persia, The Hobbit... the list could go on, but those are just a few off the top of my head. I need to start making some serious cash soon so I can go to the theater to see a few of them. I haven't been to the theater in what seems like forever. It's kinda tough to go when you have two young children and no money though! (-: Oh well, I guess if all else fails I can always wait a few months and Redbox it. Which by the way, bravo to the person that started Redbox. Brilliant, just brilliant.