The "Random List"

If you are a visitor to my Facebook page, this all may be old news. Below is one of those Facebook trends that work its way around. The point is for people to list 25 random facts about themselves and then tag others that they'd like to get a similar list from. Since I went through all the work to think through my list, I figure I might as well post it here too. So.. here are 25 totally random things from me, you never know what you might learn.

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1. While I enjoy lots of things, I really get obsessive about a few things 1. Star Wars (both the movies and collecting Galactic Heroes toys), 2. The music of U2 (even after all these years I can listen to all their stuff over and over, it takes up half my i-pod and I am obsessing over the new CD and possibility of a tour.) 3. Disney theme parks (and all things related to them) and 4. Calvin and Hobbes (although due to the series being over, there's nothing left for me to buy).

2. One of my all time favorite treats: butterscotch pudding, the cooked kind. You cook it and immediately pop it in the fridge.Give it a good 15 minutes so that there is a nice, thick pudding skin on top, yet it is still very hot in the middle. Eat the hot stuff first, pudding skin last: the perfect treat! (I have been told I am out of my mind for this... but I like it)

3. My senior year of high school, I played the role of Marcelus in the play "The Music Man". I had to both sing and dance on stage. While many old high school friends will remember this, anyone who knows me as an adult would never believe it.

4. My family is my sanity. My wife is my best friend. Simply curling up next to her for a movie or a game of Phase 10 is a great way to finish my day. I also love my kids and doing simple things with them. An ideal evening is just playing board or heated card games for hours. Now I just need my dog (a golden lab) and the fam will be complete. (Stupid small yard...)

5. I love pulling off a great practical joke. Whether its scaring Miki with giant spiders, or sending the song "ghostbusters" repeated constantly over the top of my boss's radio station (while he scratched his head in confusion), pulling off classic jokes can make my month.

6. My drink of choice: Mountain Dew (or Nectar of the Gods, as I like to put it). But it must be COOOLD. Keep it in the fridge, make it nice a cold, then put it in the freezer for 10 minutes prior to opening. Just before it starts to form ice crystals: totally perfect.

7. I get my most creative ideas when surrounded by hot water. Now if I only had a hot tub.. but the shower works too.

8. My life philosophy is simple: A good life is not about money or worldly standing, but about having a good attitude. I believe that even if you go through trials or hard times, life can still be a happy place if you keep a positive attitude. You could have the best life possible and still be miserable, if you have a bad attitude. It's all what you make it to be.

9. I wish I had learned to play the guitar as a kid.. It looks like something that would be lots of fun and I get excited watching my son learn to play.

10. I secretly like the TV show I-Carly. It's a cute show. (Just don't tell my wife.. she'll give me crap forever)

11. I seem to be be happiest when running around with a camera in hand. I don't care if it is a still camera, or a video camera. It's when I am creatively engaged that my mind just feels right.

12. I am fascinated by the power of mother nature. For the sake of my family and our safety, I count my blessings every day that I live in a state without much extreme weather, but I have to admit when I see news of giant hurricanes or tornados, part of me wishes I could experience the thing. I guess I'll just live vicariously through the "Storm Chasers" shows on the Discovery Channel.

13. Add the TV show "Lost" to my obsession list in answer #1. I love ripping every episode apart looking for little details, I can't wait to learn all the answers, yet dread the ending of the show as I wont want all the fun to end.

14. I am one of the few people on the planet that could win the world's biggest lottery prize and still not have enough money for my ultimate dream: building my own theme park. Unless someone is giving away 5 billion dollars... That doesn't mean I live my life unsatisfied.. it just means I dream big.

15. I love wearing my socks half way off and half way on. It's the most comfortable way to go..covered toes and bare heal. It's the perfect foot blend of warm and cold. It drives my wife crazy. Someone needs to make "half-socks". I'd buy them all.

16. My testimony of the Gospel of Jesus Christ brings me strength and power. To me it's fun being the odd man out while traveling on business, to be the one who's NOT drinking, sleeping with co-workers or looking up the local strip clubs. When I travel I find the closest local temple and catch a session, then enjoy all the bewildered looks from my drunk co-workers as I walk into the hotel lobby in my shirt and tie.

17. I think I can do way more than I can in reality. I look at obstacle course shows like "Wipeout" and think "no problem.. I could totally do that" and yet deep down I know I'd die in 2 seconds.

18. I watch the "making of" features of movies far more than the actual movie itself.

19. My favorite month is October.. the psychotic halloween decorations, the smell of fall, the colored leaves and fall sports season. It's a great time of year!

20. When I experience periods of stress in my life, I tend to dream I am visiting a Disney theme park. I have decided it's my brains way of going to a "safe, stress-free, happy place" to keep balance.

21. I love reading kids books and reading bed time stories to the kids. "Click Clack Moo, Cows that Type" and "Where the Wild Things Are" are two of my all time favorites.

22. I avoid conflict like the plague. I hate to argue. To me, it's just a waste of time as it is a heated exchange where no one really says what they mean, they just try to defend their positions and don't really listen to what the other person is saying. When people start to argue or fight, my primary goal is to get away from it as soon as possible.

23. I loved burned things: Especially cookies. And a roasted marshmallow, just isn't right unless its engulfed in flames.

24. And speaking of burned things: My ideal lunch is a Quiznos Chicken Carbonara sandwich, extra heavy sauce, no mushrooms, and double toasted (to the point where it almost catches fire)

25. Even as an adult.. I still love toys. They inspire creativity and imagination in me, two things I don't want to lose as I get older. Christmas and birthdays are not for practical things... they are for the "toys" we just can't justify during the rest of the year.

Movie Update: The Indy Trailer

Just a quick post tonight to announce that our little "boys summer project" is finally getting finished. Yes, I know.. only 6 months late. I technically completed editing the film just before Thanksgiving and we had a screening of it with friends just after Thanksgiving dinner. But based on the reaction that I got from showing it.. I wasn't satisfied with it yet, but didn't have the time to properly fix all the little details that bugged me.

Now that my work layoff has been extended a few more weeks, I finally have the time to go back in and make it right. So this last week, the cameras came back out, the microphones were pulled out of their cases and we went back to work, re-recording some dialogue, and filming a few tidbits to pop in. With those new elements in place, I am much more satisfied with the (almost) finished product. I just have a few more scenes to refine and it will be all done. But, finally getting all these tweaks completed did allow me to also have a version good enough that I felt comfortable cutting it all to pieces to make our official "trailer". You can watch it below, or you can visit the film's official website, now updated to include the trailer and poster. Visit it at www.swordofcumorah.com.

Very shortly, the site will be updated to include the full film, a behind the scenes video, and much more. Here's the trailer:

And just for extra kicks, in case you are wondering what the photo is at the top of this post, I am adding a quick "behind the scenes" video of some work Little Calvin and I did yesterday. I am augmenting the "head explosion" sequence with a few more exploding brains. Yes, I am a sick, sick man.. but the original version just wasn't gross enough.

Growing up Calvin: Want a Dollar?

In my last post, I hinted at a new feature coming to my blog. Now, it's time to get started and reveal my intentions. But before I jump right in, let me give you some background as to what it's all about.

One of my kids favorite times seems to be "Dad story time" where I go into one of my crazy stories from my growing up years. Sometimes this happens in the car on long drives, sometimes at the dinner table. But quite often I get the "Come on Dad, tell us another story" pleading and I have to comply, assuming I can think of one on demand. I begin (typically with "One time when I was bored") and the kids grin and get enthralled. Then the story ends (typically with me saying something like "but now that I have told you that, don't EVER repeat that yourselves!!!!") and inevitably my daughter asks "Why don't you write these down?!". I have never had a good answer. And so, this year I am going to start to chronicle my crazy, very "Calvin like" stories from throughout my life. Yes, I still manage to have Calvin Stories as an adult.. some things you just don't outgrow... And I'll put them here, on my blog, for the world to see. These may be embarrassing, or just quite wacky, but at least it will be written down somewhere, for future generations to look back at me and say "Man, that guy was nuts!" Each time I post one of these stories, I'll post it under the feature name of "Growing Up Calvin" so you'll know what you are about to get into.

Now... a bit of a disclaimer here.. these stories are from my life. As such, they are entertaining to me and to my kids. To the rest of the world these stories may be a bit.. tame. I mean, I grew up in a very conservative, religious home. I never drank, or went to wild crazy parties. So none of these stories are about that kind of thing. Instead, like Calvin, I grew up as an awkward kid with a vivid imagination. I did things that made perfect sense to me in my own little world. But looking back on them as an adult, I just hang my head and think "What a goofy kid I was!" So these are my stories, entertaining to me, and possibly bland in comparison to most.

Sooo.. what to admit to first? It's an easy one for me. It's the story that seems to come out of my mother's mouth the most. I swear, you get a bunch of people together in a room and it takes my Mom about 30 seconds before she starts into one of my stories. And she normally starts with this one. And so I'll start my blogging confessions with this one as well. Here we go...

This story begins back when I was in first grade.. a little kid trying to make sense of the new big school and how to interact with others. At this point in my life I was going through a phase where one of my highest priorities in life was not my school work. It was not reading, or math (it never was math!!!). No, my goals were simple: Trying to see what secrets were held, underneath the little girls clothes.

Now this was not an easy goal. Most first grade girls don't just undress on command. Yes, even in the 70's, the girls in my class stayed very clothed. And so my friends and I had to come up with.. shall we say, a more creative approach to accomplish our mission. We tried hiding out in the bathrooms (And whoever in my school thought that co-ed bathrooms was a good idea was nuts... I don't know what they were thinking) but we always got caught. (The principle knew me QUITE well.) We tried all kinds of tricks, and never succeeded.

One day, one of my friends came up with a crazy plan: "We offer them money and a creative line and maybe they'll go for it." He had the perfect line. We'd just go up to the girls and say "Want a dollar? Pull down your pants and holler!". It was catchy. It was clever! But would it work?

And so we started our quest, going up to each of the girl's in our class and asking our question. We got a lot of disgusted looks. Shockingly, no one seemed interested. It was yet another great plan, destined to fail.

Now, a little side note: As much as I strived to make my goal, to get one of my class mates out of their clothes, I think I always considered it a mission impossible.. something that I could try, but in the back of my mind I knew I would never succeed at. It was just something fun to do. That's why I really had no clue what was happening, or how to react when I walked up to one of my classmates one day after reading class and popped off the line. "Want a Dollar? Pull down your pants and holler!" She thought for a second and then replied with the answer I wasn't expecting.. "Ok!" She then proceeded to whip off her pants.. (and underwear) right there in the hall, and start to scream.. just as I had asked for.

Suddenly this whole "little plan" seemed to not be such a good idea, as I can remember the experience as an almost out-of-body experience where I could see myself standing there in shock while a pantless girl stood next to me screaming. Suddenly she was done, and the next part of my little predicament came to light. She wanted her dollar. And I didn't have it, and she was miffed. This is when the teacher came to the scene. Yes, this became another "principal's office" day as I was dragged down and had to explain all of this: our goal, our little line, and the fact that someone actually did it and I couldn't pay up.

And so kids, please never use this line. Trust me.. it's not worth it. It causes lots of trouble at school, your Mom gets disturbing phone calls and it creates some very awkward moments in class the next day (although strangely enough, I don't ever remember the girl mad about her pants.. just mad about not getting her money...)

And THAT is the famous "dollar story", the first of long line of stories to come this year. And until next time.. DON'T EVER DO THAT YOURSELVES!!!

08 Out.. 09 In

Happy New Year from "The Cosmos!" It's now a bit past New Years, meaning it's likely everyone has already broken all their new years resolutions. But that's ok. We all do it.

It's been a busy year for me! A hectic schedule at the office, a record number of DVD's to produce covering a variety of subjects, and of course family commitments. As the kids get older they just get more involved, meaning busier afternoons and crazy schedules.

As is traditional, here is my yearly highlights video, just to give you a glimpse as to our life over the last 365 days. (Click here for last year's full explanation as to why I put these together)

So enjoy a look back at 2008 with "Calvin" and all the crew: (Quick tip: Click on the video to view it on YouTube, then click on "Watch in High Quality" and it'll look a lot better!)

Now, looking ahead to 2009, what's ahead? Who knows. What I do know is that I have some changes in store for my little corner of the blogging universe with some new content coming that should make everyone smile. I won't go into details today, but my kids have been urging me to start adding some specific content to my blog and it's time I listen. So in the coming weeks, look for a new, regular "column".

Also ahead for 2009 will be a trip to Colorado in April for a week-long film shoot that I am already prepping (bought my plane tickets yesterday) that will by an insanely busy, but very rewarding experience.

But before we get to any of that... there is one little piece of unfinished business from 2008 to tease you with. Little Calvin urged me to create a special website just for our little summer project. I finally caved in and am proud to announce that VERY SOON, www.swordofcumorah.com will launch and everyone following the making of our little summer flick can finally watch the finished product. I'm just finishing some final sound tweaks and it will be ready.

2008 was a great year! Now, bring on '09...

Holiday Hits

It's been "memorable" holiday season in our house to say the least. I mean, isn't that what we always ask for? A holiday season to never forget? This year, I have learned to be careful of what we ask for...

First, the "hits".. as in "the best of": The holiday gave us many opportunities to celebrate and reflect on the many blessings we do have. Starting out the season was Little Calvin's first local Christmas parade as a cub scout. As one of the leaders from our local pack, I got to help decorate our float for the parade: a large, Christmas light covered flatbed truck that all the scouts could ride on, representing the organization. This alone, helped really bring in the whole "Christmas Spirit" as friends worked together for the good of a bunch of rowdy eight-year-olds, to both give them a memorable experience and bring joy to the parade watchers.

Next, we were able to spend some great times just enjoying each other as a family, doing fun things together. If you are looking for a fun gift idea for future Christmas's, try doing what was done for us: send a gift of money that is to only be used "for family activities only". (Thanks Chuck!) With that little "Christmas bonus" we were able to do an activity-a-day including going to the movies, bowling, swimming, and a visit to Chuck-E-Cheese. It may sound juvenile, but I have to say, spending an afternoon playing all the latest video games with your boys can be a lot of fun.

Add to that the fact the my parent's Christmas gift to they boys was a set of Laser Tag guns each (thus giving us 4 guns all together), we can now have family "shoot outs". We just head to some large, darkened area (the gym at the church works great), establish bases, turn off the lights, light up any obstacles with glow sticks (to avoid injuries and to give it a weird green, glowing, eerie feeling) and we can have a lot of fun!! Just watch out for tables in the corner, Ty...

Add in the family traditions that we share for my wife's birthday (the day before Christmas Eve) Christmas Eve itself, and Christmas Day, and it is really hard to complain.

But.. since this is my blog and is meant to be a reflection of reality (even though it is my "chimerical cosmos") I also have to discuss the other side of the coin:

The "Hits" (as in.. the two-by-fours knocking you upside the head). The biggest came two weeks prior to Christmas at work. Now we all know that the economy is.. struggling to say the least. And throughout my 11 years at my current job, I have always kept in the back of my mind that if anything goes wrong, causing our economy to tighten, one of the FIRST things to go will be people making luxury purchases.. and as predicted, people just aren't buying $400,000 RV's right now. To make things far worse.. we actually have lots of people wanting to buy our products, with money in hand ready to get a great deal. But the banks have completely stopped allowing people to buy RVs (or even the dealers to buy them for that matter) as they have tightened their lending nooses and consider RVs a luxury purchase.. something that doesn't need to happen at this point in time. With the banks refusing to lend money, customers unable to buy our products and our dealers unable to even buy products for their lots.. it's put us in a critical place very quickly.

While we all stressed about the future each day at work, we were all a bit shocked to suddenly hear that the company was shutting down for awhile. And not just our factory as has happened in the past.. but even the office staff. For the next 4 weeks (now extended to 7 weeks) we'd all be unemployed... Merry Christmas! Gone were the days of "Merry Christmas.. here is your large bonus to spend on your families for the holidays" and instead we get to spend a team meeting figuring out how to file for unemployment. Not what I expected for my holidays.

Now let's look at the positive here (as is always my way).. I got to spend some amazing time with my wife and kids during the holidays (see above) and still make magical memories, financial stress notwithstanding. And it's not like I am out of a job.. yet.. (We are all hoping conditions improve so that we can return on February 2nd as planned). I am also finally able to finish up so many video editing projects that have been piling up for so long and perhaps dream up some new ones. I can't think of a single time in my history that I have gotten to kick back, do my own projects, relax for a time.. and have the government throw money at me each week. Granted, it's nothing like my regular salary, but I'll gladly take whatever I can get.

But as we head into 2009, I am taking these "Holiday Hits" as a sign of things to come to try to keep my perspective in the right place. First the "Hits" remind me that regardless of what kind of stress may be going on behind the scenes, I always have my family to have fun with, to de-stress with, and find peace (even if that peace comes from blasting each other with laser beams). And second, the "hits" to force us into a plan to be cost conscious, to not take my job for granted, and to help us make those tough decisions about my career and where we need to be to be stable for the long haul.

2009 could be a challenging year... but as long as I keep my "Holiday Hits" in perspective, I think we may just be better off by the end of it, regardless of what challenges get thrown our way.

So, to all my loyal blog readers (and all those writing me e-mails about not updating for far too long) here's to a fresh start and a great 2009! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Breaking "Being Boring"

Ok.. let's make one thing very clear... I am not having some kind of mental breakdown. This is not a Britney Spears style move to keep me in the news and on the headlines. I am not drunk nor have I been drugged. I have simply come to the realization.. that I am one boring person.

Now, I am not slamming myself here. I think my life is rather interesting and I enjoy living it. I have a wonderful wife, great kids, a job I enjoy and hobbies that.. well.. ok.. I can consume myself with hobbies, but that's been well documented here through many blog posts.

What I mean, is that I am.. the same. I am the kind of person that when I find something that works, I stick with it. Ever since I was young, my preferred wardrobe is jeans and a t-shirt. Once I find a brand.. I stick with it, never venturing away from it, because, as they say.. "If it aint broke, don't fix it" As I kid I used Crest toothpaste, therefore, as an adult I still use it.. I don't go near that Colgate stuff. If I wear out a pair of shoes, I go back to the same store, and by the exact same kind that I had before. It's always the same same same same. I mean, look at our pop stars these days... every other month they have a different hair-do. Meanwhile, I have had the exact same hair style since I left high school. Like I said, I'm incredibly boring. So... I finally decided, it was time to do something different.. to challenge myself to step out of my comfort zone and take a chance.

A few months ago I was talking to a friend of mine from college (who will likely get blamed for this) and he had just done something wacky: He shaved his head. According to his logic.. some people just look good bald, but you never know how your head looks, until you try it. Sure, for many baldness is not a choice they get to make, but for others will a full head of hair, until they take the plunge and leave their comfort zone, they'll never know. Plus, if it doesn't work out, it only takes 3 weeks to grow back out, so it's a tiny portion of life that you are sentenced to look wacky.

I thought about this long and hard and finally decided.. this is where I have to start.. to break my normality schedule. Yup.. when the time was right, I would shave my head.. bald. And that time seemed to be: today. Yesterday we took the bi-annual family portrait/christmas card photos, so I didn't have to worry about screwing with that (My wife would have killed me if I was bald in the family portrait). Plus, she is getting ready to leave town for 10 days to visit various family for the Thanksgiving holiday (I have to work), so she'll barely have to see me if I look like a dork, because by the time she gets home, it will have mostly returned. So now was the perfect opportunity to step up to the plate.. to leave my comfort zone of normality and... do something wacky.

Here is the photo journey:

1. Start out with a nice (and getting grayer by the day) head of hair:

2. Convince the lady that cuts my hair that I REALLY do want this and give her the thumbs up to shave it.

3. Cringe in my seat as she finds great joy in giving me a mohawk. (At this point I got a little light headed.. this whole "leaving my comfort zone" bit was suddenly a touch more drastic than I had envisioned)

4. Done.. no more hair.. hope and pray my wife doesn't have a heart attack (No, I didn't tell her about this little venture before hand.. As I look in the mirror it suddenly occurs to me that not mentioning this to her, may have been a very bad idea)

5. Return to work to the gasps of my coworkers as I walk in the door.

So.. now what? Like I said, I am still a bit light headed with this sudden change (maybe that is from not having any more weight up there...). But never fear.. I am sure my hair will be back in no time and I can go back to my same old.. normalcy in life. Until then.. brrrrr... my head is suddenly a bit cold!!!

My Exploding Son

For the last several weeks my life has been volleyball volleyball volleyball. It's been a lot of fun trying to get through the season, but when I spend lots of time filming every game, and then even more time carefully sorting through and editing all that footage, often on a frame by frame basis.. suffice it to say I can get a little bit tired of watching the sport. So it's good to have little breaks once in awhile.

And this season, my break was... more video production. Yeah.. I know.. I'm nuts. As reported on many times throughout the summer, the boys and I have had a goal to make our own Indiana Jones movie. We began filming in mid-July and we continued, filling up spare weekends and evenings here and there, until we finally finished filming a few weeks ago. No, the film is not done. I have edited quite a bit and am pleased with the results so far, but several tricky sequences still need some work. With volleyball having tight deadlines, I have to stay on track, but this whole Indy film has been a nice break.

So while it may be a few weeks still until our little movie is done and released on the web for the world to see, here is a brief look at one of our trickier scenes, where I got to blow my sons head up. Yes, you read that correctly. I got a lot of strange looks from people when they asked "what are your plans for the weekend?" and I got to answer with that. But it was true. Not to give away to much, but in the movie, the villain, played by my son Tyler, gets his head chopped off by a supernatural sword that doesn't seem to like evil baddies. (Apparently supernatural swords only like good guys). To make the movie a little more "Indy like" (and because it sounded cool) we added a little flourish to the scene by having this decapitated head blow up after it hits the ground (blame the sword.. they have tempers after sitting in caves for hundreds of years).

This gave us a challenge... how to film the decapitation (Little Calvin figured out that one) and the head explosion. After some sick, twisted brainstorming, I came up with a plan that might work. And so, with the girls gone for the day (of course) it was time for the boys to pull out our toys.. and in this new YouTube age, document each step of our gross journey.

So.. without further ado... It's time to blow up my son's head: