The long awaited update!

Welcome back to the blog -- I promise that this review will be completely theme park free.

Our Best Purchase ever.... Yesterday we went to Costco, where they had this amazing display at the front of the store of a way cool airplane/teeter-totter/outside play thing. Karli pointed it out to me as something that could keep Dustin busy during his countless hours of playing outside. The price was right -- $189, and I liked the sign on the box that said it could be set up in as little as an hour.

Here's the proof that it said it...

With that, we decided to get it and brought it home to assemble in an hour. To make sure we hit that one-hour window I enlisted the help of Karli, Dallin, Katelyn and Kristen. With their help, we were sure to get it done in a half an hour, right?

So we started at 2:30 p.m By three oclock we were still unwrapping the various pieces and bolts, putting them in places in the yard so that we fetch them easily when their turn was called.

At 3 p.m., Dustin and his buddy Alex decided to watch us assemble it... for a few minutes until they dressed up as a Transformer and Ninja Turtle and started playing in the box while we busily worked on sticking to our one hour window.

@ 4 p.m., we were still working on the beginning of it, but had high hopes of having it done by 4:30 p.m. at least.

@ 5 p.m. we were about halfway done, but Karli was still diligently working by my side.

@ 5:30 p.m., Dustin showed up in full air pilot uniform ready to go and pleading with us to hurry up.

@ 6 p.m. I tightened the last bolt, and allowed Dustin, Kristen and Katelyn to start playing.

@ 6:30 p.m., I cracked my back and took the family to Cafe Rio.

As you can see, it's a fun little toy and Dustin is always out there playing on it with Katelyn and Kristen.

Dustin's Earth Day Pledge -- So, Dustin gets a homework assignment in his kindergarten class in which he is asked to draw a picture of what he can do to save the earth.

So, this little boy, who is into superheros and Power Rangers draws a picture of himself with Bulging Muscles. Karli then asked 'What is this a picture of?" Dustin casually responded, "I would save the Earth with my Super Strength."

Aaron Smith -- Had a nice lunch with my former high school best buddy Aaron Smith at the Paradise Bakery in Sugarhouse. It was funny to realize that neither of us had changed too much... and we spent about half the time talking about cool music that we listened to.

Aaron has five kids, and manages 9 program directors for the company he works for. And he looks exactly the same.... I wish I could say the same for myself.

We'd like to unveil a new feature of the weekly update, it's called Uncle Pat Reviews Everything, stolen from my favorite author and political commentator -- Orson Scott Card -- see the orginal here.... .


Of course, a lot more people read his website, but I have just as much ability to review things here than he does.... so here goes.... Uncle Pat reviews everything

Mario Kart Wii -- Love it, Love it, Love it... true enough to the classic to pick up and instantly be good at, while incorporating new whistles and bells (steering wheels, motorcycles) to keep you playing for a long time.

Iron Man -- I love SuperHero movies -- when they're done right. Superman, Spiderman, Batman Begins, The Incredibles, Indiana Jones are all franchises that I feel got it completely right. I kept telling myself that this couldn't do as well as those other franchises -- it would just get redundant after a while -- Secret Identities, Internal struggles, Save the world.

I really didn't know too much about Iron Man at all. My largest exposure to him came about a year ago when 1. We purchased 'Ultimate Alliance' for the Wii. 2. I heard this movie was coming out and did a quick wikipedia search on Iron Man.

The idea is that a genius weapons builder is involved in an accident while showing off his latest invention in Afghanistan. He should have died, but his life is spared when a magnetic thingamabob is inserted into his chest by another scientist, preserving his life and allowing him to power one cool suit that makes him look like a pretty slick robot. In the process, he realizes that his weapons are getting into the wrong hands and that he needs to save the world by not building weapons, but protecting the earth from those who use weapons.

Dallin and I watched this on Saturday night and we loved it. Robert Downey Jr. is an American Version of James Bond with gadgets even Q couldn't invent. He's rich, chauvinistic, borderline alcoholic and like all superheros, a bit vulnerable. This movie does a great job of making you believe his desire to serve the greater good. Like all superhero movies, the setup took a little while to get through but in the end you have a pretty amazing superhero who sheds his secret identity and doesn't play the whole 'secret' game.

I loved that part of it. While some superhero franchises make fun of secret identities -- The Incredibles -- others do a good job in helping us understand why those identities must be preserved at all costs -- Spiderman, Batman. Then you have Superman -- the guy puts glasses on and nobody knows who he is -- duh. For me, this was the most refreshing answer to the secret identity game. He chooses not to have one. Brilliant.

Perhaps the only drawback from Iron Man is that I could have used on more butt-whoopin scene in Afghanistan. But other than that, the casting was amazing -- Think what you will about Robert Downey Jr, but he's a very likeable actor in the end -- the dialogue was witty and the story was believable. In the land of superhero movies, that's all I need! Go see it, and wait in the theater until the end of the credits -- trust me.

They Might Be Giants -- The first time I heard this band was during my freshman year at Ricks. My good buddy Aaron Smith sent me a mix tape that included four of their songs -- Don't Let's Start, Santa's Beard, Cow Town and There's Only Two Songs In Me and I Just Wrote The Third. I liked them instantly -- mostly because they played music that spoke to me -- quirky, nerdy, intelligent and a whole lot of fun. They just didn't take themselves too seriously and that was the kind of music I dug way back in the 80's. I was instantly hooked.

When I got home from my mission I bought the 'Flood' CD and loved it but was particularly intrigued by a song of theirs called 'Particle Man.' Here was a song about silly superheros accompanied by their trademark Tuba and accordion, but was clearly meant for kids. A few months later, I heard they had teamed up with Looney Tunes to create a fun little video for that song.

That wasn't all. It seemed like every album had a song just for kids. (Do a search of youtube for They might be giants ... oh wait... I did it for you...)

A few years ago, they took the next logical step -- they started making entire albums just for kids. We first bought 'No' and loved it. Every song was written with that distinct TMBG's whimsical nod to kids -- understanding them, and writing to them, being one of them. My favorites on that album -- Clap Your Hands, I Am Not Your Broom, No!, and Bed, Bed, Bed.

We savored that album in the Poyfair household because we knew there could never be another one like it. Boy, were we wrong. A few years later they followed up with Here Come the ABC's. Similar in tone, but geared exclusively to helping kids remember their ABC's. My favorites on this one include -- I can't remember what D is for, C is for Confiners, Alphabet Lost and Found and the Alphabet of Nations.

Two weeks ago we had high hopes for their latest album -- Here Come the 123's and it too surpassed all of our expectations. They delivered the same craziness and zaniness with excellent songwriting geared towards the little ones. My favorites on this one is One dozen monkeys, Hot Dog!, Seven, The Number Two and High Five.

The great thing about all of these albums is that you don't necessarily need to have kids, or even like kids to enjoy these albums... you just need to be a lover of TMBG. And this is why I'm gushing! Buy these albums.

Getting Things Done -- Last Friday I spent the day in Newport Beach -- not lounging on the beach, mind you, but in an all-day conference entitled 'Mastering Workflow with Getting Things Done.' You see, my current job is amazing and I love it... there is just a lot to do and not a lot of time to get it done in. In an effort to do better at organizing my work efforts, I picked up a book a few weeks ago that I had read about on some Lifehacker blogs I frequent. It's called Getting Things Done, by a gent name David Allen. The book is based on the principle of having a Mind Like Water -- If you throw rock into a mountain lake, it ripples then returns to its placid, calm state. In the information economy we find ourselves in, our work is defined by what we decide it is on any given day. The hard part comes when we don't use our time doing the things that are most effective use of our day.

Getting things done is answer for those who are looking to wrap their heads around how you accomplish things when you get 200 emails a day, have scheduled meetings from 8 a.m. until 4 p.m. and agressive sales goals to meet. At the same time, you're also expected to accomplish 100 different projects, while keep those you work with/for happy. It's the ultimate high-wire juggling act.

The seminar spent the day with the more integral, physical parts of GTD -- setting up a system that empties all of your inboxes (Voice mail, email, physical inbox, notes) into one spot and then sorts them into useful lists that are accomplished within timeframes you can work with. Kelly Forrister was our presenter and she did a great job of moving the conference along, making it interesting for the entire 8 hours.

I hope to attend the next public seminar in the fall that deals with more of the creative parts of GTD. Here's a website if you're interested in learning more.....

So that's it. Enjoy.. leave a comment!