Ever Heard Of Flaik?

Technology Comes To The Vertical Challenge

Here's the latest press release for this year's Vertical Challenge:

News: For Immediate Release

Info: Andrea Abbott 801-447-4200 andrea@bobaamodt.com

Fifth Annual Bob’s Vertical Challenge Fundraising Event Goes High Tech

Farmington, Utah—February 1, 2012—This year marks the fifth anniversary of Bob’s Vertical Challenge, Utah’s premier winter charity event being held on February 28 2012. The event again returns to Snowbasin Ski Resort where it’s been held each year since 2008.

This year’s event will be like none before it. Thanks to FLAIK, a company specializing in GPS tracking (www.FLAIK.com) all teams of four skiers and snowboarders will be equipped with GPS units to verify all vertical feet skied in one day. Company representatives from FLAIK will be on hand to authenticate the results.

The goal of the event is not necessarily to see which team skis the most or who skis the least, but to help local youth. Like every challenge before all proceeds from Bob’s Vertical Challenge go to Scoutreach, an officially recognized charity arm of the Boys Scouts of America (BSA). Scoutreach aids youth groups such as YMCA, Youth Impact, The Boys and Girls Clubs of Weber-Davis Counties, and Boys and Girls Clubs of Brigham City and Cache Valley. It also offers assistance to Ogden City schools as well as providing camp scholarships and program and registration fees these deserving programs.

“Scoutreach helps our troop do things we wouldn’t normally be able to do,” says a 13-year old scout from the Trapper Trails Council. “Because of Scoutreach we can go on campouts and jamborees. It helps a lot.” For the past four years the Trapper Trails Council will benefit from this great event.

Please go to www.BobsVerticalChallenge.org for sponsorship information and to register online. Or call Bob Aamodt, Inc., 8010447-4200, 630 N Main, Farmington, Utah, 84025, www.bobaamodt.com.

The Neighbor's Project...

The Father & Son Project

Yesterday I cornered by neighbor and I asked him about the big wrapped thing in his driveway. "That's my Corvette Killer," he said and his eyes lit up. The man involved in the racing industry is building something with his son. I'm excited to see what becomes of his project. If I were mechanically inclined I'd love to help rebuild it, but I'd probably do more harm than good.

"We're really good at at taking things apart," my neighbor admitted. "When we take things apart we put all the the parts in plastic bags." Ah, my kind of tinkerer... What's more American than a father and son fixing up a car, even if it's a father from England fixing up a Japanese import? Nothing, I say.

I asked when said project would see a completion date. The answer is yet unknown, but my neighbor is excited about the prospect and the possibilities. Perhaps the car will never see the open road again, or if it does, it may not be my neighbor who completes the task of restoration. In either case, father and son project brought a smile to my neighbor's face.

The Ward Choir...

The Ward Choir...

"I am so glad to see so many people here! I'm so excited!" The choir director welcomed us, even though she was getting over a cold. And indeed the turn out was pretty good considering how many we've had sing in the past. There was one week when our choir was a quartet. 

We sang for about 45 minutes in a member's home. I sang bass because we had two already singing tenor and if I had sung tenor, tenors would have outnumbered basses 3 to 1. When we were done my voice wasn't as worn out as it was Wednesday night after 2 hours of Beethoven. This week we had chocolate cake after practice--a very nice incentive, indeed...

I've sung in some of the most elite groups in the state and with some of the most talented voices anywhere. And leading the choirs I've sung with have been some incredibly gifted directors. But there's something humble about a little ward choir. There's a lot of jokes about the ward choir--many of the jokes said at rehearsals of those other choirs I've been in. In the ward choir we're not the elite voices or the most talented, but that's not really the point now is it?

Noises Off...Fun On!

A Great Time Was Had By All

Tonight the Mrs. and I decided to be a tad impulsive. On our way back from Salt Lake at 6pm, we decided to go see a play and the play we chose to see was "Noises Off" at the Centerpoint Legacy Theatre. I highly recommend seeing this show.

In short, the production wore me out--not because I was tired but because there is so much to see on stage. Each actor presented a complete show that their character needed to portray and with all the actors acting together, it was wonderful to watch. I did laugh many many times.

Of course, seeing such a show when good friends are on stage improves the entire experience. Such was the case tonight. And my friends did a marvelous job. Even, what I believed to be a technical problem in the third act--a microphone malfunction--worked perfectly with the scene. It was only natural for a microphone to fail, just as everything else did with the show within a show.

The moment I stepped into the theatre I reconnected with good friends. After the show ended I reconnected with good friends. There's something wonderful in being part of a cast and making others forget their cares, if only for a few hours. Well done Tuesday/Thursday/Saturday cast of Centerpoint Legacy Theatre's production of "Noises Off."

Signs Of The Good Times...The Whitlocks

Signs I Saw At The Whitlocks...

Tonight I attended a cast party at a dear friend's house. If you're lucky enough to enter their home, your eyes will almost explode at all the amazing things to see. I took several pictures, but tonight I thought I'd share some of the signs hanging on their walls. If you don't know the Whitlocks, just looking at these pictures might give you a glimpse into what wonderful people they are. Enjoy.

Half A Work Week...

Work Diversion...

I received an e-mail earlier this week and because of what was said in the e-mail I called my boss and asked for the next day and a half off.

It's been a while since I had a real writing deadline. The e-mail asked if I had my novel to a point where it could be shared to certain individuals in order to generate interest in a film. When I got the e-mail the novel was not where it needed to be. After taking time off from work the novel's closer to where it needs to be, but just not there yet...

I have the next two days to work on the project. My deadline is to get things wrapped up by Saturday, wrapped up to a point where it can be sent to an editor and to others who can read it and offer critique that is desperately needed. It's exciting. I guess we'll see what comes of it.

A Tree Falls In The Forsest...

Falling Trees & Faith...

If a tree falls in the forest...we've all heard the philosophical question before. If no one, or in other words if no human, witnesses the falling tree falling, is any sound heard from the event? The question is simple enough but it denotes a much larger topic of discussion, mainly, it's all about faith. The only way we know sounds come from a falling tree is due to faith.

Faith is considered a curse word to academia, at least when it comes to verifiable knowledge. In science there is no faith, only facts. A scientist can prove that vibrations from released energy when a heavy object strikes the ground are emitted into the air and thus, sound is created. The fact that no human ear experiences these vibrations is irrelevant, say the scientists. They know there was sound because it can be recorded and photographed. But recorded and photographic evidence can be altered, adjusted, changed.  First-hand accounts are the only way anyone ever knows anything―knows it for sure. A person can read about the tests, study the physics behind the event (and even physics is based on someone else's first-hand account...), but unless they are there, they don't know for sure. Their conclusion that a falling tree makes sound even with no one to hear it it is based on faith.

I have faith in things I cannot experience first hand, faith in God, faith in love, faith in the goodness of man. I even have faith in evil. We're told one day faith will no longer be required for we will know with first-hand experiences the truth of all things. We'll all know, the scientists, the atheists, and the faithful.

If a tree falls in the forest and no one is there to experience it, does it make a sound? If God visits a boy in a grove of trees and no one else is there to experience it, did it really happen? Faith...it's all about faith.

Anniversaries...1 and 25

1 & 25...

I knew I was getting close to my one-year anniversary of my blog so yesterday I checked. I was so glad I didn't miss it. I can't believe that I've written every day for 365 days on this blog. Sometimes it was difficult to think of things to write about, other days--a piece of cake (hmmm, cake...). I've written about my family, our pets, food, church, cars, deer, and a bonsai man. It's been quite a ride.

Tonight as I downloaded pictures to include for tonight's blog post (because, seriously, what's a blog post without pictures...?), I got a message from a dear, dear friend. She reminded me that it was 25 years ago this very day that we returned together from our LDS mission to Denmark, Sister Magnusson, Sister Barlow, Elder Ellis, The Jespersens and myself. I had meant to check because I knew that anniversary was coming up, but it kept slipping my mind. I was so glad she reminded me that today was the day. Thank you Ann Magnusson Turner!

 

Ann Magnusson TurnerScott Taylor

AELDSTE!!!!!!!! It's been 25 years since that fateful day when we missed our flights from JFK, took a harrowing taxi ride across New York City and got our meal vouchers for dinner and thought we were rich! And they didn't have rootbeer! Great memories! Til lykke med dagen min ven! :)

So, on this day, a day of two anniversaries, I'm thinking about the last year and days a quarter of a century passed. I started the blog because I needed to write and write daily. I need that creative outlet. Even if no one read this, I need to do it. The time I spend on my mission was twice as long as I've spent writing a daily blog. I needed the mission for things eternally more important. I've never regretted these two decisions and I hope, if you're reading this, that my decisions have somehow--in some large or small way--made your day just a little bit better. Take care and God Bless.

Blizzard & Beethoven....

...it wasn't actually a Blizzard, per se, but I liked the alliteration... 

Today we got another storm and as I like to do, I hooked up the ol' iPod and cranked it (after getting the traffic report on the 9's, of course...). This afternoon's playlist included Beethoven, his 9th to be more precise. The plunked out melodic line is the tenor part of the song. If you're a tenor, feel free to sing along!

Now, I'm not recommending this type of driving/filming technique. It's been left to the professionals and since I've been driving for 30 years and taking pictures even longer, I count myself as a professional in both fields. Here's a breakdown of the pictures:

What it looked like at work before starting out

Slick roads claim a truck

Main Street sycamores flying by

A pretty good little Mexican restaurant downtown (the only restaurant downtown...)

This biker reminded me of the mission--biking in a snowstorm...we did it

My street, pre-plowed

The neighbors doing some snow shoveling

Safe at home!

Blue Sky, Buildings, And Snow...

The air was so clean, it made the brilliant white of the snow burst from the ground until it kissed the deepest blue sky I've seen in a long. I just had to snap some pictures.

 

 

At 8am (or a few minutes after...) I found myself at our church building shoveling snow so that no one would fall either coming to or leaving from church. Most of the hard work was already done. We used a big box full of the ice melter stuff, though... Funny, the sun did more in a few minutes once it cleared the mountain that that big box of green chemical stuff.

 

I wish my camera could catch how incredible it looked, but these pictures will have to tell it all.

 

 

Snow...it's like being reborn.

Homemade Pizza...

I considered taking the boys out to dinner tonight, but decided against it...several inches of wet and slushy snow can help make that decision. And having a son who really likes making homemade pizza is another excellent reason to stay inside the warm house with the cat and the dog and the cat and my three sons. That's what we did tonight.

My son made two pizzas tonight. He usually makes two and one's usually a garlic cheese pizza. The kids love that one, and therefore, it's almost gone. The next one is usually an experiment as was the case tonight. We had an excellent ham for last Sunday's dinner so he made a ham and pineapple pizza with a tomato sauce. As usual, two enthusiastic thumbs up. It was really good.

The best thing about having a lot of pizza for dinner is not being able to finish it so it's available for lunch the next day. And since most of the kids don't like the "experiment pizza," I might even be able to save some for my lunch at work on Monday. I guess time will tell...

Ballroom Teens...

I accompanied my son to class this afternoon for a couple of reasons. It's only an hour. I can get caught up on a good book, but mostly I'm there because my 16-year old son isn't driving on his own.

While the couples circle the hardwood floor I don't watch my son dance because I don't want to embarrass him. I can't imagine trying to ballroom dance when I was his age, let alone have a parent in attendance. Nothing seems to phase him...a trait I wish I had...

The class lasts an hour and it was my son's second time dancing. He wants to continue and as long as I can have a place to take a good book (or play Angry Birds on the Kindle Fire...), I think I'll join him. Ballroom dancing...who'd have thunk it?

iPhone vs Android...A Conversation

Tonight after work I came home and logged on to Facebook. I usually don't check Facebook while I'm at work so I like to check in to see what's going on when I get home.

One of the first things I saw today was a post started by a neighbor of mine. He and his wife are lovingly restoring the house my father never was able to finish. I'll always be grateful to them for that.

But for all the great qualities he has, he's not as big a fan of Apple computer/phone products as I am. I'd have an iPhone if I could afford one and the next computer I buy for me will be to replace my aging white MacBook (even though I'll have to pay a lot more for it than my neighbor would pay to replace his computer...).

And so I read his post tonight and in his defense, he basically wrote what he wrote to get the exact response that he got. I admit he has valid points in his argument, but I know he also admits, I am too...

Apple Co-founder even uses Android phones.
And for all the Iphone users that want to know what their Iphone will do in the future, you can see it now, Its call android 4.0.

Steve Wozniak’s Android love is no surprise | TechBlog | a Chron.com blog

blog.chron.com

Steve Wozniak’s Android love is no surprise

· · · Share · 9 hours ago ·

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  2 people like this.
• • Monica... HA! You iphone hater! I still LOVE my iPhone:) The camera on the iPhone is the bomb and really that is the deal breaker for me. I hate that delay of all other phones when you take pictures. That equals IMPOSSIBLE when taking pictures of my kids and that is all I do! People have their preferences and I am more on the creative side, so I am an iPhone lover!
    

    9 hours ago ·
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    You can get a 12 mega pix now on Android. It will be 2 years before the Iphone does that. Android gives you far more flexibility to be creative on the open source platform. And Android is closer to an apple computer os than the Iphone. Android uses the Linux kernel like the apple os.
    

    6 hours ago · · 1
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    And it gives you more ram, cpu, memory,and screen at half the cost.
    

    6 hours ago ·
    
  • Bryan... Competition is a good thing. Be glad for it.
    

    5 hours ago · · 1
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    I know just looking for a little banter, I wont hate you for having an apple device two maybe but not for just one.
    

    4 hours ago ·
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    Scott Taylor Um, (and I know you know this and acknowledge this) without the iPhone, Android wouldn't exist. Blackberries would be all there is...
    

    3 hours ago ·
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    Scott maybe ill admit there is some truth to that, If you'll admit apple just stole the Iphone from the tablet PC and shrunk it down.
    

    2 hours ago ·
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    Scott Taylor Okay, but if just shrinking the tablet PC down was so easy, why didn't anyone do it earlier...because they lack vision...
    

    about an hour ago ·
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    they did it was the pocket pc. They just need to add the phone. :)
    

    44 minutes ago ·