Brit and I excited to receive the Christmas Sweater by Glenn Beck for Christmas from Grandma. She bought us tickets to see a live performance that was also fun! It was a great Christmas message.

We hope everyone had a Merry Christmas! We had a fun one. It was nice to be around so many loved ones. The big presents this year were as follows:
Trav: Office chair, belt, and plastic floor thing to roll his new chair on, blue ray movies
Tia: Batcave (see picture on left), gift card to Buckle, dress coat, dress boots, winter hat, Disney movies!

To explain the batcave, yes I really did ask for it, mulitple times, but he kept saying no, we don't need it until we have kids. Now don't take that wrong, we are NOT pregnant! But I still got the Batcave which I was quite excited about. How ironic though, this year I didn't get Trav anything that had to do with Batman. I guess that is just the way it goes sometimes.

Enjoy the snow everyone, we will!

MERRY CHRISTMAS! Hi everyone! Merry Christmas from Trav and I. Sorry we are not very good at keep ing you posted but it's been a busy time of year. We had our shopping day yesterday for Christmas and had a blast. We went to dinner with my brother and his date and then went to Off Broadway Theater. It was so fun! It was nice to have a night out and to shop. Have a Merry Christmas Everyone!

Love you all!

Home for Thanksgiving! We are headed up to my home town in Montana for the holiday. I am excited to go home for the break! I will be a nice little vacation. We'll take some pictures and post them when we get back. Hope everyone else enjoys the holiday!

HAPPY TURKEY DAY!

So this is Brit and I trying to find Trav and my celebrity heritage! It was kind of fun to see what we came out as.

Celebrity Collage by MyHeritage

MyHeritage: Celebrity Collage - Family tree diagram - Geneology

Celebrity Collage by MyHeritage

MyHeritage: Family trees - Genealogy - Celebrities - Collage - Morph

Here is the whole Batman family! Robin is Liz, Joker is Jeff who is holding Batgirl (little Paige). Trav as the Riddler and me as Poison Ivy. The star of the show was little Ethan as Batman!

Here is me as Poison Ivy. I think most people called me plant woman, Mother Earth or a tree-hugger.

Happy Halloween

So this is my first post to our blog! Yay for me! I am putting some pictures of our fun Halloween get-ups. Our landlords little boy, Ethan, wanted to be Batman this year. So we all followed his lead and did a Batman theme. It was quite fun! I will put them on Monday because I can't get them to upload :) But now I will be posting a bit more so hopefully you will be a little more update with our life.

Here is Trav as the Riddler. He made his costume all by himself...what a crafty hubby I have!

Hey everyone---I am on face book

My face is on facebook! Yippie!

Batman 3 (rumors and thoughts)

My Bat Blog has my rumors and thoughts should be for the upcoming Batman movie. I am pretty proud of the general storyline. Take a peek here.

Whew! Long time coming

Hey everyone-

What a busy time this last month has been. Aside from Trav and Quinci's wedding, Tia and I have handled Comic Con, job interviews (Tia), Wedding showers, school planning and regular work. Needless to say life has been nuts.

So I know each of you are dying to hear from me about Comic Con. It was the greatest vacation ever! We were so busy and so much happened. I will be posting in some sketches and photos as soon as possible so you can enjoy the nerdity of it! I will make a post this week...heh, if I have enough time!!!

My Dark Knight review

As I am sure many of you are curious if I liked that movie that came out last weekend. (What was it...? Oh Yes, it was the GREATEST MOVIE OF ALL TIME!)

Check out my review on my Bat-Blog that I am sure all of you visit regularly.

You can find it here.

Go and see this movie if you have not seen it already. If you have go see it again. It is better the second time, I promise!

The Dark Knight

Hopefully many have you gotten your tickets because this show is selling like it's never going to be seen again. I am obviously very excited. I will be posting up my review as soon as I can but it has been a busy week and the time is only going to get more busy. Comic Con is a week away from today. Whoo hoo. It will be a blast.

I will be in touch again soon!

Get Smart Review

Spoilers Ahead:

Well I am going to assume most of you have seen Get Smart with Steve Carell. I am also going to assume most of you HAVE NOT seen Get Smart with Don Adams (the 1960's version). I was worried about that. A lot of remakes of classic shows like this often keep the same corny jokes from the 60's or have so many humorous references to the original show that younger viewers miss the boat and don't get the movie.

Get Smart is not that way at all. I think this movie is the perfect example of a TV show update. We do still have some of those same old jokes (ie the cone of silence) yet they have been updated in a way to make it fit our time. All at once they have their own jokes as well. They have taken their own spin on each one of their characters.

The best example is 99. In the original show she was fascinated with Maxwell Smart. Head over heels in love and he could do no wrong. And it was funny she made that funny. In the new movie however 99 is completely irritated with Smart. She thinks he's a doofus and not ready for the field. It was perfect.

In the final note of a good remake they didn't reference a whole bunch. There was the perfect amount of references for that particular movie. We see some of the old cars, hear some of the old sayings, heck he even uses a shoe phone but makes it work. A shoe phone in the day of microscopic cell phones and they make it work.

This movie is littered with twists and gags that I find great. Like when the chief almost gets spear headed by that fish through the window and Max asks him if he is thinking what he is thinking. Then the chief replies if you are thinking ,"Holy sh**, holy sh**, a spear almost went through my head, then yes!" As a fan of both the original show and the originals shows movie "the nude bomb" (ask if you really want to know what it is about) I just became a fan of this incarnation as well. This is a great movie and if you haven't seen it get out and see it now!

Movie Grade: A-

Get Smart Review Coming soon!

P.S. Get Smart was awesome and I will be reviewing it as soon as I find the time. It was fantastic.

What's been going on?

Well I thought I would give you a quick blurb with what is going on in my life. There will be no pictures because my computer is having a conniption and won't upload pictures and I am not sure why yet.

So Tia is working and keeping busy with her calling as Primary secretary. She does an amazing job with that and I am constantly impressed with her devotion to that calling. Just another thing that she amazes me with. Tia's sister Brit has moved down here and is moving into her new apartment today. Brit is awesome and has been living with us/my parents for two weeks and she is great to live with. It can be frustrating having some one live in your space but Brit is easy to work with just like her brother before her.

We are weeks away from the Dark Knight opening in theatres and I am incrediably excited because following that we will have Comic Con. It will be a nerdy month but I am way excited and so is Tia. Other then that not much is happening for me. I am still working at Little America and applying around for a second job. If anyone knows anything let me know.

Well that about catches us up. Thanks

Travis

Batman Blogged

Hey everyone-

To try and keep my nerd and married life separated I have created a new website/blog that focuses on Batman and some other nerdities. I know this will have little interest to most of you but I hope you can spread the news to any nerd friends that you might have and let them check it out.

I would really like to see it get big enough and develop enough of a fan base to get an actual website and some google ad's going. We'll see I guess.

You can check it out here!

Barry the Gummy bear!

In every state in America and most countries in the world, you can find Gummy bears. They are delicious and popular and each little bear has it's own story, but I will bet you have never heard the story of Barry the gummy bear. Though I would suppose that to fully understand Barry's story you would need to understand the Gummy bear life.

Gummy bears, or G-bears has they like to be called, have one really big goal in their life. The goal is to be eaten. People always think that when we eat a gummy we are killing it or in some way hurting it when in fact we are helping it reach it's true gummy goal. They call this gummy zen. To be eaten is the highest honor awarded any gummy.

Now not every gummy that goes to the store will be eaten though. A gummy has to maintain it's best appearance and look the juiciest to chosen. A gummy must never forget to stretch or it will become hard and less likely to be eaten. And finally a gummy must always (and I repeat) always stay clean. The frank fact is that gummys' attract fuzzies and if a gummy gets fuzzy well it's no good for a tummy to swallow a fuzzy gummy so the gummy will never get eaten for sure. I guarantee that.

Now how does this relate to our hip bear, Barry? Well Barry was destined to be special. The gummy Gods of the Black Forest created the finest gummy juice in the world. It was a new flavor, berry-twist and the rumors had already circulated that it would be the best in the world.

Barry was going to be created from this flavor and he was sure to be chosen for eating, but has the silver mold lowered to create this perfect bear something went terribly wrong. The machine hit a kink. The mold stopped and the juices began to harden. The mold must be pressed immediately or the bear won't create right. Just at the last minute the machine suddenly kicked back in and molded a bear. The bear was Barry but instead of being perfect the delayed mold had turned him into a squished and flattened bear with only one arm.

Barry awoke and found himself squished without an arm. He would never be chosen to be eaten His deformed body and missing arm had taken him from being a perfect gummy to being nothing. Now he was just a nobody sitting amongst everybody else.

"Why am I not special?", he cried aloud.

"You are very special Barry." said a voice somewhere nearby.

"Who said that?", he sniffed.

Out of the corner stepped a old gummy bear with only one leg and covered in fuzzies. This bear hobbled over to Barry and said his name wasn't important to just call him Grandpa.

Grandpa told Barry that each bear was special. Regardless of appearance or color what mattered was what was inside. Barry wasn't perfect because of his arms or shape, he was perfect because he was a bear. A gummy bear. And each bear was created in the image of their creator, the silver bear mold. Sometimes if someone turned out different it was because they were strong inside and they had perfect flavor to help them. He told Barry to stay strong and he will be eaten.

They were about to be scooped into the bag and Grandpa turned to go back to his hiding spot. Barry stumbled over his words, "but...but...Grandpa if you don't come now you will never be eaten!"
Grandpa replied something that Barry never forgot, "If I would have left a year ago when I was molded, who would have told you how special you are. No Barry, I must wait here and teach the new bears that what makes a Gummy special is what's inside. That is what's important!"

Barry realized that Grandpa sacrificed his own Gummy-Zen to teach everyone. Barry would not let him down. He would help everyone learn in his bag. They would learn that what makes you perfect is on the inside not the outside. No color or shape mattered more or less then any other color or shape. (Even the Gummy worms were someone special.)

In the end, at the store, Barry's bag was the first one off the shelve and he was the first gummy to be hand picked by the boy to be eaten. Every Gummy cheered at Barry rose to the boy's mouth and disappeared inside.

The End

In memory of Grandpa Gummy

Indiana Jones Review! (Spoilers ahead)

Right off the bat I want to say that I am giant fan of the previous three Indy films. Just behind me on the wall is the original poster from Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, while not my favorite of the three it is my favorite Indy Poster. That being said...

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Chrystal Skull is pretty decent. I think the largest problem I had with the movie was the very distant totally unbelievable, far-fetched Lucas inspired ending. Aliens? *rolls eyes* Really?

Now I know I am getting ahead of myself. The beginning was stellar. With Elvis playing and some 50's styled kids racing some army guys. Yeah it was an awesome beginning. The great part was it only got better. Indy is apparently in that Army racing car's truck. He has been kidnapped by the communists and is being taken to Area 51 for the single best fight scene of the whole movie. While at Area 51, Indy shows the soviets (at gunpoint) this box that seems to contain an alien skull. This skull idea is one of the pinnacle points of the movie.

From here we get a great fight scene. Some awesome footage of Indiana fleeing into a town that he thought was some average town but it turned out to be testing for the A bomb. Nice stuff. Classic Indy.

Then it gets weird. The weirdness starts with the entrance of Mutt. Mutt is played by Shia LaBeouf, an actor whom I admire and respect. Even in this movie Mutt is a decent addition, like short stack before him in temple of doom he adds some much needed youth and humor. Now if you haven't heard by now (or guessed for that matter) Mutt is Indy's son. Mutts mom is Marion Ravenwood who plays Indy's woman in the very first, Raiders of the Lost Ark. The catch is Indy doesn't know this is his son and Spielburg wastes no time in letting the audience find this out.

So as Mutt pulls in the weirdness for awhile it is okay and then it goes down hill. About the halfway point the movie gets confusing and difficult to follow. The CGI seems to take over and no real stunts are done from this point on. And the aliens get more involved.

Now I know that everyone has been claiming they wanted Indy up against space for oh 20 years but needless to say I don't think this is what everyone was looking for. I don't want to fully spoil the movie but the last 15 minutes are pure crazy, confusing, star wars meets National treasure meets James Bond in Space kinda thing. Amongst all the things that it is the one thing it is not is Indiana Jones.

I guess the hard part is the Indiana Jones to me is the symbol of struggling faith. He never quite declares in the previous movies that he believes in God, but he does. Especially in Raiders and Last Crusade Indy teaches us something about faith in God and the divine. Sadly this movie teaches us more about believing in aliens. It steps away from it's religious message to place itself with a more politically correct ending. And this ending left me bitter. If I would have written this the day after this review would be a lot more harsh but naturally time heals all wounds and so I am less against this movie now.

Overall while the ending was posh CGI garbage, the story of Indy, his son, and his son's mom holds quite a bit of the movie up from sinking. Coming in at a very decent B average this movie is good enough to see in the theaters, good enough to own on DVD, but not quite good enough to stand up with the previous three.

Rating: B

Thoughts on Weekly writing

I have titled this particular post, thoughts on weekly writing. I did this because people always seem to post their thoughts on something...dating, motherhood, boys, girls, rabbits, and monsters. It would seem we are living in a world where thoughts are posted constantly. People give way to utter ramblings of sheer opinion. So hence I followed suit.

This is Travis writing in case you missed out on that. I have explained my new blog direction to my wife who more or less told me that she will put me in charge. Good. I needed the freedom of this blog to work my magic and science. Along the lines of magic and science I have decided to form a weekly writing escapade on this blog to help strengthen my writing and creative juices.

The idea behind this is that I am going to post my thoughts to this blog has regularly has possible. You are probably saying to yourself, "I don't care much about this boys thoughts." Well you must have some level of care if you have decided to view this blog, but rest assured more then just my thoughts I want to post my life. I want you to know and read stories here, I want you to know why I hated this movie or loved that book. I want you, the reader, to step in and be apart of my life. It would be awesome if you commented every once and while just so I know you are still alive.

So there you have it. My new direction and new purpose starts now. And by "now" of course I mean tomorrow. Later

Changes ahead!

Well Folk, school is out. I passed my class with a flying A and now this blog has been rendered useless. But rather then end it and delete my wonderful informative posts I have decided to revamp this bad boy. I am going to give this guy a new direction and a new purpose.

Some things will stay the same mind you. I will still recount stories and tales of my life. I will still nerd up all over this thing but somethings will be changing. Here's a couple of things to look forward to.

• A new title. 13melvins fit when I was in school and created weird twin based websites but now I want something with more Zing. Or less Zing...I am not sure.
• More consistent involvement of my loving wife and details of our life right now.
• MORE PHOTOS, it is time to see me. I am going to be camera-ing it up for your viewing pleasure.
  
• Actual reviews. I know, I have promised it before but now I am getting serious and real. I want you folks to know what I am excited about and what disappoints me.
  
• Finally involvement of family and friends. I am going to reach out to you guys and get myself heard in the family and bloggers circle. I am going to read about you and give you comments and hope you will come read with me.

Prepare yourself for these changes. Some of them might have already happened. I am ready.

Are you?

Well here is my final fiction project

It has become a very complicated story that I have struggled telling on this scale. I hope you enjoy it but if you get confused sorry.

Find my twin

Find my twin myspace

Sam Wilck Report

Sam Loves Vanessa

I am not sure if I will finish this story or not. It is complex and very time consuming and frankly know one is really reading besides you. Thanks reader! You are the best!

Few interesting sites? Are they connected?

Here is some of the invention. While they may look unconnected they are in fact quite connected and will be coming together sooner then later. Take a look at my blogs:

Find my Twin Please!

Wilck, Sam 25347.76

Sam Loves Vanessa

Find His Twin Myspace

What do you think? How will these come together you ask? Well let's just say that Capt. Sam Wilck's main mission may have more to do with Tim then you know.

A great disaster is coming...

Fiction summary

One man is sent back in time to prevent two long lost twins from coming in contact for the safety of the future world.

One twin begins his search to find his long lost brother. With a prophecy of disaster coming when they meet one USX agent is sent back to prevent their meeting. Along the way he solves other ridiculous small time continuum problems. But as the twin draws closer to find his brother the lines of who's right and who's wrong begin to blur. We learn that this meeting of brothers is in fact what saves democracy and that the agent has been deceived by his leaders. In desperation we see in letters to his wife his attempt to bring the boys together before his damage can't be undone. In a final post we learn of the meeting of the brothers and the security of our future is in place.

The characters are Tim Waterson- lost twin brother and blogger extraordinare. Tim posts his blog thoughts and quest for finding his brother in a semi serious semi humorous way. Tim his supported in his quest by his girlfriend Tina. Tina is a geeky punk girl who speaks her mind. Tim's parents seem to either not know about his twin or not want him to know. His blogging is a secret.

The other main character is Capt. Sam Wilck who is the agent of USX. Generally a good person, he follows his orders to a T. You see his professional side in the blogs to his leaders but a romantic human side in the blogs to his wife Vanessa. You never hear Vanessa because she in the future but you learn a lot of what he thinks about his life.

Online fiction: What can you do?

So we have to start brainstorming in class for what topic/story we can do our online fiction about. So I have been trying to decide what would be best. A few years back I created a fake online persona named Jimmy Plant. He would email my friends (and me, so they believed) and cuss them out. He was a bastard. I might bring him back and give him his own full blog. I think I might make him opposite of me in every way. Except gender. I would give him African heritage and make him love sports. Perhaps he would be an atheist chain smoker as well.

I could though make him Jewish and that way I could just use a picture of me because I look Jewish. I think my Jewish friend would try and create a new religion called i-jew. An apple loving man who feels that Steve Jobs is the new messiah and that Pixar members are new apostles. Who knows.

I thought maybe I could write something totally unbelievable as well. A time traveler's Blog. This would be a man from the future sent back in time to "base" in 2008. His job is to frequently travel back in time and fix hiccups in the "space time continuum". His blog acts as his journal and report to his leaders back in 3011 who log onto the old fashioned internet and check the blog as the updates come. So the blog would represent his stories of how he saved our world. For example pushed the iceburg into the titanic to make sure that James Cameron could make his grossing movie hit which would send Leonardo DiCaprio to fame where in 2022, Leonardo would donate all his money to a children's orphanage that would eventually raise up our 2047 President of the United States. Thank heavens for that save, otherwise we all be under Communist rule in 2047. This would be his blogging adventures.

Two pieces of online fiction

I am going to stick with the ones I know best. First we ARG online game for The Dark Knight. This website(s) focus around creating an alternate reality for the upcoming movie the Dark Knight. The websites aim to create Gotham as real place. Some are very realistic, not even mentioning Batman or even Gotham. For an example of this take a look at Betty's house of pies or Acme Security Systems. Which the latter of the two is so tricky that it takes the "toxic watch warning" at the bottom of the page (a reference to Batman Begins) to know it is related. Some though are more obvious, such as I believe in Harvey Dent or the main website, Why So Serious? This has been awesome (and time consuming) to keep up on.
Another one is awesome one is the time fake Bono (from fake U2) took over fake Steve Job's blog and began to update his life on Fake Steve Job's Blog. It is pretty funny stuff. Check out the first article here.

Final Wikipedia Article

It took some work to do but I was able to create an article that was focused around the online game for the Dark Knight movie. Wikipedia decided to "speedily delete" my old marketing article, so I routed that article to this new one based more on the game. I am very proud of this article, take a look and let me know what you think. You can view it here.

Another Wikipedia article

It's not that Batman is all I know, it is just something I know best. So stick it if you have a problem with the Bat. Here is my new Wikipedia article. I created this bad boy from scratch.

Check it out here

Ta-da

Then We Came To The End (review)

I have recently (last hour) finished the book, Then We Came To The End, by Joshua Ferris. The book revolves around a group of coworkers who work for an advertising firm. They are slowly being laid off as it is the end of the 90's internet boom. This is a first novel for author Joshua Ferris and it is a very top notch first piece of work.I throughly enjoyed the story and interaction with the characters.

Ferris writes the novel in the first person-plural format. Meaning that the novel is written in this "we" idea. Hence the title, then WE came to the end. Ferris starts off the novel with a lot of office humor similar in many ways to the humor found on NBC's the Office. Then something starts to happen, you start to become emotionally involved with these characters. By the end of the novel you no longer feel like he is trying to be funny but that the attitudes of the characters are funny. You know their personalities and are familiar with what they might do in these situations.

Ferris' descriptions are classic. For example, when Ferris is describing the office coordinator he says, "It was rumored that, like an ant, her back could bear the burden of something several times her body weight." It is rich descriptions like that one, that leave you imagining the person in your head as you see her and not as Ferris so much describes her.

As the novel goes on you learn about each person and become familiar with their names. It is very much like the first day at a real job in the idea that when you start you don't know names and their is just to much going on to keep up, but by the end you know everyone and care for them. I highly recommend this novel for someone looking for a good laugh, a chance to care about some characters, and even a little action (Tom Mota comes back to work after being laid off for "vengeance"). You can pick up the book through Amazon here.

The Dark Knight Marketing Campaign

Starting in March of 2007, the advertising company, 42 Entertainment, began promotions for the upcoming Batman movie, The Dark Knight. The sequel to the box office smash Batman Begins was heavily kept in secret up to this point. The promotions started out as an online game, but has turned into a whole fictional alternate universe. With over 20 fake Gotham websites and scavenger hunts that are on a global scale. My article will be split off from the main Dark Knight movie article. I have already split off the old information into a new article but I need to go in and update the article and add all the new information.

Three Ghosts of Batman cont'd

I would just like everyone to take a look at the link for the Three Ghosts of Batman article. I have been in Wikipedia and have created an sign in id for myself and have been making edits. This has turned out to be very fun and full of nerdity. It is awesome. I will for sure do this more regularly now. It is really exciting to be part of this knowledge creation. Take a look at the article and let me know if I sound very "wikipedia-ish"!

To go to the article click here.

The Three Ghosts of Batman Wiki article

In class we have been discussing wikipedia. One of our assignments is to take a wikipedia article that we fill needs some editing work done and make some edits on that article. The article I have chosen is the Three Ghosts of Batman. This is an article that discusses a Batman storyline from the Batman comics. I feel like this article needs some minor and some major updates. Some of the things I want to edit is, the fact they are not ghosts of Batman but merely a lost memory from his past. Also this story seems to have been resolved yet Wikipedia still has it has incomplete. I want to finish the story. That is my article.

THOU SHALT WIKI

In class we have been learning about Wikipedia. We have discussed that there should be rules to the Wikipedia. My professor has asked that we present our rules for the Wikipedia here. So without further ado here is the wiki-mandments.

1) Do not make personal attacks on Wikipedia. This is not a fighting ground. That is what your blog is for.

2)Articles cannot contain no unpublished researched. It is alright in some cases to mention theories if the theory is noted as a theory and is in the process of being researched by a professional.

3) Do not create multiple accounts to create the illusion of more support for an issue

4) Be prepared to see your work edited that is what wikipedia does.

5) Cite sources whenever possible

6) Give spoiler alerts. While we may give the information of a upcoming episode or movie, warn the reader of the spoiler ahead.

7) Be civil when writing and discussing articles. Do not make rude remarks.

8)Page revisions and edits can be deleted for legal reasons.

9)Material which infringes copyrights should not be added.

10)Most editing decisions are made by consensus of the editors.

There you go!

A Dastardly Deed! The whole story!

(Sorry this is a such a long story, once I got going I didn't realize how much I had done!)

When I was younger, my brother and I got into the habit of doorbell ditching. I guess you could say there was something about the thrill of it all. Maybe it was the escape, maybe it was the fear of getting caught or maybe we just liked to see people open doors when no one was there. Who knows? Regardless, my brother, Trav, and I had become experts of our neighborhood. We knew every tree, bush, and backyard. Frankly, we were amazing. We doorbell ditched countless neighbors and never got caught. Until Blaine.

Blaine was a leader at our church. His responsibility was to work directly with the young men of the church and inspire us to be better more upstanding citizens. Of course for this dastardly act of trying to inspire us to be better, Blaine would have to pay. What better way to make someone pay for their crimes then to leave them standing on a unanswered porch after they were sure that their doorbell had rang! Ha, it was pure genius.

Thus began the preparation. Now for an beginner, doorbell ditching (or DD has it is known in certain groups) is just ringing a doorbell and running, but for true masters like Trav and I it was nothing short of pure art.

You start by covering your face and upper body in your environment. By this I mean, putting mud, dirt, or gravel on your face if you are outdoors. If you are indoors, such as an apartment complex or your sister's room, you want to coat yourself in indoor scents such as spaghetti sauce, air fresheners, or the smell of your bathroom. (Note: to get a genuine bathroom scent you will need to use animal or human feces. If you are going to resort to putting feces on your face, you may want stuff you nostrils with those yummy mints from Cafe Rio. Also keep in mind that with feces you will officially become a poo poo face or sh** head, which you may have been called in High school, which may stir up bad memories (fyi)).

Once you are coated in the scent of your environment you want to dress up in the color of your surroundings. In most cases, black is going to be your best bet. Dressing in white to blend in with snow doesn't really work. I know that in many a James Bond movie, Bond will be in a snowy filled when out of no where he is surrounded by a hundred men dressed in white jumpsuits holding uzi's but that is the magic of the cinema for you.

So Trav and I, got dressed in black, tainted our bodies with the smell of pine (using pine-sol) and prepared to make Blaine pay. We moved up the street quietly and began to approach the door. Suddenly I felt a fear, a genuine fear, a honest fear, what if Blaine had a gun? What if Blaine was sitting at his door with two knifes just waiting to be doorbell ditched? He could murder us bury our bodies and no one would know we were here. I began to sweat. It was one of those annoying sweats, where the sweat drip runs down your back and you let out a nervous little girl giggle. "hee, hee"

"What was that?", Trav said clearly nervous himself

"Oh, ummm, I am just excited for another victory...my lord" I thought that by calling him "my lord" he might ignore the fact that I just giggled like a six year old girl. He's prideful like that.

"Oh", he said, "keep quite" Trav was always the professional.

We appraoched the door and my hands were quivering as I reached toward the bell. I felt my finger press the bell and suddenly I felt the sweet vibration of electronic chimes ring throughout their house. With that single moment the thrill was back. That wonderful sensation of fleeing the doorway at full speed as we darted across the street and into a nearby bush. It was amazing! In that moment of clarity I knew that I was afraid of nothing!

As we settled into the bush, we saw the door open and the puzzled look on Blaine's face as he saw no one at the door. Ha! Sweet victory! Then something new happened. He stepped out of the door. He began turning his head back and forth, back and forth as if he was...(gasp!) looking for someone. Suddenly he began to stick his head into bushes, look up into trees, and look over fences not just in his yard but in other yards. Then it dawned on me, he was going to find us.

My brother must have realized this too because he was sweating...a lot! I was also sweating and the last thing I needed right now was two guys sweaty arms touching each other in a small bush so I nervously shifted my weight. SNAP! Oh jeeze, a twig just snapped under my shoe. This was a beginners mistake. Maybe Blaine hadn't heard it, maybe he would just think it was crickets. I looked up and Blaine had stopped searching. Slowly his head turned towards our hiding spot and he began to move towards our bush.

We were going to be found. He was going to find us and then kill us. I was about to become a victim of one of those rage killings. I began praying to every God I had ever heard of. Right in the middle of my prayer to Aten, a Pharaonic God of early Egypt, Blaine looked over the bush and looked me right in the eye. Looked right in my damn eye. I stared back in his eye. I saw nothing, nothing but anger. Anger and cold...pure...evil.

So there I was staring into the face of death when something odd happened. Death started laughing, "I found you!"
"huh?" I said (opening my eyes just a pinch)
"you guys honestly thought you could get away by hiding in this bush."
"I...uh.." My voice was cracking like I was thirteen all over again.
"Well have a good night, try again some other time...amateurs." Then he just walked off into his house laughing all the way. It was a creepy laugh. Like a crazy old woman who had a sex change or something.

Defeated we walked home. As we walked I thought, "Try again we would and fail we would not."

We did fail. A lot. We must have rang that doorbell a hundred times. We hid in trees, bushes, sheds, under cars, and in dog houses. We covered ourselves with all sorts of scents. Some I am too ashamed to admit (cat pee anyone?). Needless to say we were always caught and Blaine always crackled like a hyena on coffee. Black coffee. Winners coffee.

Four months went by, we were once again on our way up to doorbell ditch Blaine. It had become tradition and in that way it had lost it's magic. We needed to spice this up some how. That's when I saw the sprinkler watering the lawn. It was attached to a hose and could be moved to any location on the lawn that needed to be a little greener. Then I thought of it. The front porch could sure use a little water! Ha ha!

We kinked the hose, and moved the sprinkler head to the porch. I kept the hose kinked and waited around the side of the house. My brother Trav rang the doorbell, and ran around the corner of the house. I waited until I saw a shadow from the light of the house and I un-kinked the hose! I felt all the water rush through the hose and heard it spray out the end. This was followed by a blood curdling scream. Sweet victory. Then I noticed something. The scream was girlie. I mean very girlie. We peeked around the corner and saw Blaine's six year old daughter soaking wet screaming as water sprayed all around her and into the house.

Blaine jumped out a grabbed his daughter, getting him wet too. "you're dead meat!", he shouted.
"holy hell", I mumbled, "we have got to get out of here"

There was no hiding, no fun, just running. Running for my life. We heard him get in his truck and so we just started cutting through backyards. We had no regard for anyone else, we tramped through flower beds, braved scary dogs in yards, and stepped on and over bikes and toys. We reached our yard in about, oh about 6 seconds. We hid under our trampoline for hours until we felt Blaine had given up. We had been afraid to go in cause he could be staking out our house, he knew we'd have to eat eventually. We slid into our basement and into our separate bedrooms.

As I laid in bed that night, I began thinking about the poor little wet girl. A causality in a war that had gone too far. Perhaps we had pushed it soaking his daughter and half of his living room with a sprinkler. But then slowly a smile came to my face as I realized that we got away! We had escaped and we taught him a lesson. What a dastardly deed he was trying to accomplish by making us better citizens. It was poetic in the sense that he had probably made us worse citizen, sinking to lower levels to accomplish our goal of punishing him. What a dastardly deed he was trying. What a dastardly deed...

Why 2008 is the year of Trav!

Well fellow readers, we are a month and a half into the new year 2008! Not much as really happened so far to make this year spectacular but that doesn't mean it isn't going to become a wonderful year. To be perfectly frank I really feel this year was designed around me. "Why do I think that?" you ask. Well let me share with you some of the highlights of '08.

January 31st thru Mayish- Lost is back! Season four of everyone's favorite castaways is well underway. We have done three episodes so far with amazing promises of a excellent plots, characters, and of course flash forwards! Who are the oceanic 6? What do the rescuers want? And why does Jack want to go back?

Febuary 26th- It's time to seek a new Frontier. Based on the amazing graphic novel by the ever fantastic artist and story teller Darwyn Cooke, the New Frontier, tells the story of the origin of the Justice league and will be released on DVD and Blu-ray this Feb. Overseen by Cooke, the movie will be produced by Bruce Timm (Batman: The Animated Series) and will be the second in the new DC Universe movie releases. (The first being the Death of Superman in Sept '07)

April 22nd - The Glass Passenger by Jack's Mannequin will be released. This will be the second album by one of my favorite bands of this decade, if not one of my favorite bands ever. The lead singer Andrew McMahon is something of a piano rock genius. He was formerly in the band Something Corporate, but this stuff is much better. This album should be amazing, and I will give it a good through review here at 13melvins.

April 23rd- Batman: R.I.P! Beginning the epic story that will change the legend of the Dark Knight forever! Everything in Grant Morrison's groundbreaking run on Batman has been leading to this story, and nothing will ever be the same again. Who will live? Who will die? Who will be Batman? The answers are sure to shock you in "Batman R.I.P.,"

May 2nd- I am Iron Man! Iron Man hits theatres this day. Now Iron Man is not even close to my favorite comic’s hero, but I will say this movie looks fairly kick ass. Robert Downey Jr. who plays the lead Iron Man/Tony Stark looks quite right for the part. I guess we'll see how this plays out. Stay tuned.

May 22nd- Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull will make it's mark in history this day. I will admit right now, this is one movie I am really looking forward too. I am a huge fan of the original three, a huge fan of Shia Labeouf, and frankly this new one looks "wicked!" I will definately post a review for this movie when it comes. Take a look at the trailer here via this link.

June 1st- Heroes die! Legends live forever! This is Final Crisis. The Countdown began in May 07 counting down 1 issue every week from 52. When the issue hits zero the comic universe will change forever! Written by Grant Morrison and Geoff Jones this is the story of the last days of the DC universe. Good or bad this story is going to be huge!

June 13- "We sensed it, we saw the signs, now it's Happening!" M. Night Shyamalan's new movie, The Happening, will hit theatres this day. Now I am a big M. Night fan and have liked everything he has done so far. I think this will be right up there with some of his best stuff. Get excited, the review of this movie will be Happening right here! Check out the trailer here!

June 20- June 2oth is a double hit. Two smash comedies will be released in theatres this week. First we have Get Smart staring Steve Carell as agent 86. I am a giant fan of the original 60's series created by Mel Brookes and imagine this comedy will match up to the magic of the original show. Also starring Anne Hathaway and Dwayne "the Rock" Johnson. To watch the trailer click on the link above.

June 20- Second we have The Love Guru starring Mike Myers as a Indian Guru sent to America to help save a marriage of a leading sports player so he can get his magic back and help the losing hockey team win the cup! Also starring Jessica Alba and Justin Timberlake.

June 27- Wall·E by Pixar! This is one of my most anticipated movies. Pixar has done so many amazing shows and this one looks just as awesome. Watch the trailer by clicking on the link above.

July 18, 2008- My most anticipated event of '08. The release of THE DARK KNIGHT. Directed by Chris Nolan and starring Christan Bale, Heath Ledger, Micheal Caine, and Morgan Freeman this will be the single greatest movie of all time. I am so excited for this. Watch the trailer and tell me that you don't think this will be amazing. While sadly this will be Heath's final full performance it is going to be something to be proud of. Prepare yourself Batnation this is going to be fantastic. Watch the trailer via this link.

July 23- 27- This is the accumulation of everything else here on this list. COMIC-CON! Wether it is Batman, Lost, Heroes, Final Crisis, or the upcoming Spirit. There is going to be premotions, cast meetings, artist signatures, and the like. It is going to be amazing. I am very excited to spill my nerd out all over the place this summer with my geek people.

Septish- Heroes returns after it's nine month long break. Being one of the greatest shows to hit TV I am quite excited for the return of Heroes with Volume 3 cleverly titled: Villians. The show is going to see the excitement of season one return as all the villians come together to destroy the world! Destroy the cheerleader, destroy the world!

Nov 22nd- The Quantum of Solace- Bond 22 hits theatres with a bang! Considering Casino Royale was one of the most awesome movies of '06 giving Bond a much darker look I imagine this movie will also be fantastic and hopefully as dark and exciting as the previous.

Dec 30th- The Solomon Key by Dan Brown to be released. This is the third book in his Da Vinci Code series. Rumored to be based on Mormons and Masons this should quite exciting end to the year.

Eye M an a-mazing text-r! :)

Many times I am told by the elderly that I could never know the challenges of their day. They tell me stories of churning their own butter, of walking up hill to school, and something about farming. They tell me I could never accomplish such mighty tasks. Well tonight I performed a task the likes of which none of my grandparents could do! Tonight I talked with three people while watching a movie, playing a game and doing some dish washing to make it really crazy. Now I challenge the general population of 80 and older to match my abilities there.

My sister Carlee once sent like 10,000 texts in one month. Ridiculous. I could never do that, but I did send like a total of 20, I think. In my life I don't regularly text people, usually I just call them. This weekend, though, I decided to try and keep in touch the new fashioned way. So as my wife and I settled in with some scones to watch Spider Man 3, I sent out a text to several of my friends. The text said, " I need to have a conversation via text and I choose you...peek a choo." Within minutes I began getting responses. The first response came from my friend Smith, who said, "What the? You're kinda messed up." Smith never seems to fully understand what is going on, so I told him it was for school and called him a goob. He replied saying "Oh. Well if you weren't so stingy with your bananas Micheal..." It was weird.

My next reply was from my brother Miles who said, "K so what are u doing tomorrow?"
" I have school tell noon. What are you doing tomorrow?"
" Well I pretty much have sucky school"
"Do you work at the Marketplace?" The marketplace is a grocery store in Bountiful, it is actually called Dick's but times are a changing and I now call it the Marketplace.
"yep 7 to 11", Miles said.
"Hmmm, well the writers strike is pretty much over"
"really?"
"Yep, soon you will be able to watch the Office again. Oh also they might make an Arrested Development movie"
"really sweet!"
"What is the family doing tonight (at) home", I said. Mind you during this time, I was washing the dishes from dinner, which made my hands wet, which in turn made for lengthy turnaround times for replies.
"Watching a movie"
"what movie?"
"Evan Almighty"
"awesome, well I think I have enough that we can stop this forced conversation!"
"yeah it has been akward"

So within just a moments time, I was able to learn so much pointless information about my brother. I received several other responses but will not be posting them because of time. I will say this though, one thing I learned about texting that irritates me is that every time I type the word "at" it would populate with 28. This is because one time I asked my brother if he wanted to watch 28 days later and now the stupid phone thinks I am always asking questions about the number 28. It doesn't matter how many times I change it to "at" it always puts 28 first. So I now ask you, dear reader, when was the last time you accidentally said 28 instead of "at"?

Observation of Superbowl...a little less rigid

The date is Sunday Feb 3. Superbowl Sunday. Two days earlier I got incredibly ill and have been waiting for the flu to subside before doing my observation. Needless to say we are within a couple of hours of the due time and I have not even observed anyone yet. So all drugged up, I went to my parents house to observe my two brothers, while they watched the superbowl together. This is their story.

My victims (ahem) or subjects are Miles and Jordan. Miles is 16 with longer shaggy hair, bone thin, and is shorter in size. Jordan is 14, he has a short buzz cut, and is bigger then miles even though he is younger. They both enter the room at the same time and turn the TV on to the superbowl. They hop onto my parents bed and are limited to one side because I am there. I can tell the small space is going to be cramped for them. This will cause fights, which in turn will make for a better observation for me. Maybe there will be blood? This could be good. I secretly pull up my sketch pad and begin to take notes.

They both lay there for a minute in silence until Miles calls out to my sister's dog, “Tommy come here". Jordan, quickly says "Mr. Tommy come here." Miles looks at Jordan and says “Pretty sure, Tommy does not want to see you" Jordan responds telling him to "shut up" Miles then says "Pretty sure you stink." Jordan replies, "Pretty sure can shut up." At this point the dog jumps up by me, I smile slightly, knowing that the dog likes me better then both of them.

They both sit quite for a minute and Miles says “Who did you pick for the superbowl winner?" Jordan takes a moment to respond but eventually does. "Giants.", he's says. Miles rolls over so he is not facing Jordan and says "well the Giants are going to lose." Jordan says "Shut up." At that moment the dog stands up and runs out of the room. Miles rolls over looks at Jordan and says "Tommy ran away from you, just like Chelsea did." Miles then starts to laugh. Jordan then tells Miles to “shut up.” Jordan sits up and slugs Miles. Jordan slugs Miles twice more and says "I am going to rub my feet all over you." Jordan then begins to rub his feet all over Miles. Miles yells "Stttttoooop." Jordan stops, removes his feet, and then there is silence.

I am going to break the non-judgmental observation here for a minute to say that no crime deserves the punishment of feet being rubbed all over you. This is especially true with a 14 year old's feet. Those feet are all scarred from the battles of puberty. It's gross!

Jordan asks, "Miles did you go for the Patriots?" Miles replies "yes. Do you know who the halftime show is?" Jordan replies "yeah, it is...something, something and heartbreakers...or the heartbreak kid...or something" (Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. While I think Tom Petty may be one of the uglies rock stars on the planet it is still just sad they don't know who he is.) During Jordan's mumbling his feet move over and hit Miles in the back. Miles then yells, "Jordan, if you touch me with your feet again I am going to break your toe." They begin slugging each other and mumbling stuff you can't hear. The slugging stops, and Miles says, "I don't want to watch this. Let's watch Nickelodeon" Miles begins to change the channel. Jordan yells "Don't!" He continues to rub his feet all over Mile's arm. Jordan stops and leans forward looking closely at Miles’ arm. "Whoa your arm is red now", Jordan says, "Sorry your arm is red". Miles does not seem to notice the statement or care and changes the channel to Nickelodeon. He then laughs "Ha, Zoey 101." Jordan starts rubbing his feet all over Miles again and yells "Change it back" Miles slugs Jordan and says "fine we'll watch your game" There is silence for a moment as Miles changes back the channel.

(Editors note: Zoey 101 is a show for 12 year old girls. I am deeply ashamed of my brothers for watching this. Other shows my brothers watch that bring shame to our family are Hannah Montana and the Suite life of Zach and Cody. For shame's sake!)

On TV the Fox NFL robot comes on and starts dancing. Miles says, "I hate that robot, he is so shiny and stupid". Jordan rolls over and grabs his stomach with his hands and then says "My tummy wummy hurts from my gummy wummy". Miles stares at him for a moment and then says, "Well I am leaving to watch something else." They both stop and stare at the TV and watch has a commercial comes on. The commercial is a man dressed up like a giant rat attacking some other guy for his Doritos. When the commercial ends they both start to laugh and then Miles sits up and leaves the room.

This was the observation that I...observed. It appeared to be mostly the way brothers act though. Except for the girly show and a couple of childish lines (ex. "my tummy wummy hurts" What is a tummy wummy?) My suggestion would be that Miles and Jordan spend some time acting like men. Maybe eat some steak, grunt, or watch Nascar... Yep that makes a man! Maybe they should pretend to be stunt men on a date. Worked for me...obviously.

A Superbowl Observation...

The date is Sunday Feb 3. Superbowl Sunday. Two days earlier I got incredibly ill and have been waiting for the flu to subside before doing my observation. Needless to say we are within a couple of hours of the due time and I have not even observed anyone yet. So all drugged up, I went to my parents house to observe my two brothers, while they watched the superbowl together. This is their story.

My victims (ahem) or subjects is Miles who is 16. He has longer shaggy hair, is bone thin, and is shorter in size. And with him is Jordan, who is 14, he has a short buzz cut, and is bigger then miles even though he is younger. They both enter the room at the same time and turn the TV on to the superbowl. They both lay there for a minute and then Miles calls out to my sister's dog, “Tommy come here". Jordan, on the other side of the bed, says "Mr. Tommy come here." Miles looks at Jordan and says “Pretty sure, Tommy does not want to see you" Jordan then tells him to "shut up" Miles then says "Pretty sure you stink." Jordan then says to Miles "Pretty sure can shut up"

They both sit quite for a minute and then Miles says “who did you pick for the superbowl winner?" Jordan sits quietly and then replies "Giants." Miles rolls over so he is not facing Jordan and says "well the Giants are going to lose." Jordan says "Shut up." At that moment the dog stands up and runs out of the room. Miles rolls over looks at Jordan and says "Tommy ran away from you, just like Chelsea did." Miles then starts to laugh. Jordan then tells Miles to “shut up.” Jordan sits up and slugs Miles. Jordan slugs Miles twice and says "I am going to rub my feet all over you." Jordan then begins to rub his feet all over Miles. Miles yells "Stttttoooop." Jordan stops, removes his feet, and then there is silence.

Miles looks up and calls to the dog again "Tommy come here." Jordan then says, "Miles did you go for the Patriots?" Miles replies "yes, do you know who the halftime show is?" Jordan replies "yeah, it is...something, something and heartbreakers...or the heartbreak kid...or something" While Jordan is saying this his feet move over and hit Miles in the back. Miles then yells, "Jordan, if you touch me with your feet again I am going to break your toe." They begin slugging each other and mumbling stuff you can't hear. The slugging stops, and Miles says, "I don't want to watch this. Let's watch Nickelodeon" Miles begins to change the channel. Jordan yells "Don't!" He continues to rub his feet all over Mile's arm. Jordan stops and leans forward looking closely at Miles’ arm. "Whoa your arm is red now", Jordan says, "Sorry your arm is red". Miles does not seem to notice the statement and changes the channel to Nickelodeon. He then laughs "Ha, Zoey 101." Jordan starts rubbing his feet all over Miles again and yells "Change it back" Miles slugs Jordan and says "fine we'll watch your game" There is silence for a moment as Miles changes back the channel.

On TV the Fox NFL robot comes on and starts dancing. Miles says, "I hate that robot, he is so shiny and stupid". Jordan rolls over and grabs his stomach with his hands and then says "My tummy wummy hurts from my gummy wummy". Miles stares at him for a moment and then says, "Well I am leaving to watch something else." They both stop and stare at the TV and watch has a commercial comes on. The commercial is a man dressed up like a giant rat attacking some other guy for his Doritos. When the commercial ends they both start to laugh and then Miles sits up and leaves the room.

To Carrie- With Fondest Regards, revisited

While I may be happily married now, my mind from time to time will wander back to some girls I once had a crush on. It was rare when I would actually date one of these girls because my shyness would get in the way, but once I actually dated one. It was a fluke situation that I ended up with her but never-the-less I did. Her name was Carrie and she was gorgeous. She was a runner-up in the Davis County beauty contest and she was miles out of my league but ironically she actually seemed to like me. So for our first (and only) date I decided to take her ice skating in downtown Salt Lake. I picked her up, brought flowers, opened her car door and even played a CD of music I knew she liked. It was very "studly."

We arrived at the skating rink, put our skates on and went out on the ice. It was a group date with some of my friends and that lessened the tension of a normal first date. As the night went on I began to doubt myself. Now "doubt is the seed of failure" someone famous once said (that someone being me) and once you start to doubt yourself you are bound to mess up. So to make things more exciting I started telling her that I liked to make movies. She asked what kind of movies and I said "oh you know, action movies" That was a lie. The closest I got to action movies was one called "Instep" a mockumentry about a male dance group. But she got all excited, "oh action movies", she swooned, "I love action movies, do you do your own stunts?" "Yes", I lied, "every single one." Now as if that wasn't bad enough I kept going. "Sometimes I just like to do a crazy stunt just to keep myself in the game, you know I will just run through traffic or jump off my roof and what not." "Can you do a stunt now," she asked? I told her I would, for her. I said I would do the worst crash on ice she has ever seen. I warned her "you might think I died, but remember, I am a professional." She went and sat on the bleachers and I began to wonder if there was a way out of this. Maybe I could tell her there was too many people, or maybe the ice would start to crack. But in that moment standing there alone on the ice, surrounded by hundreds of families having fun, I had a very teenager thought. I must make this girl my girlfriend! If that meant flying head first into the wall, I must insure this happens. Immediately I began receiving strength and courage based off of the image of Carrie and I spending summers together, maybe growing old together, buying a cabin by the lake and living happily ever after. It was all based on this moment. I could do it! I had to do it!

So I began to speed around the giant rink and prepare for my greatest, or worst, moment. I would just take it slow but make the fall look painful. So once I felt I had the adequate speed (not very fast at all) I took my right foot and just threw it in front of my left foot. With that single motion I felt my whole body rocket through the air and with a little puff I hit the ice and slide to a stop on my stomach. I looked up and, by golly, I was fine. No broken bones, ripped clothes, or scrapped knees. I looked right at Carrie and she was clapping and cheering, so I skated over to her, so full of manliness that I think I gained three chest hairs in that single moment. She was laughing and said that I was great and called my friends over. When they arrived she began to recite my lie to them. My brother who was in the group and knew I was lying said "well Travis, why don't you show her just how great you are by going as fast as you can, and then falling." I felt a lump in my throat and said of course I would. I was afraid of nothing. Carrie and I were going to have a cabin someday and this would all be in the past. Of course I would do it!

So I began to speed around the giant rink again. I felt like I was going so fast that I would have given the flash a run for his money. Once I reached the straight-a-way I threw my foot in front of the other and felt my body rocket off the ground, but this time something went terribly wrong. His name was Billy, or Charlie, or something, and he was cutting across the rink at the same time as I was flying. I hit Billy (or Charlie) at about a million miles an hour. I slammed him to the ground with such force that I swear we should have popped out in China. But the ground stopped us, and we were just spinning on the ice. Billy (or Charlie) was screaming and I could feel my stomach grinding his face into the cold ice. Meanwhile at my pants, all the stitching said "screw this strain" and just gave out allowing a giant rip down my left leg. We came to a stop and Billy's (or Charlie's) mom threw me off her child and pulled his sobbing body off to the bleachers where he was reviewed for any signs of a lawsuit. Laying there, half awake half dreaming, I thought about my life. First about my ripped pants, this was going to be tough to explain to my mom, plus the huge hole invited a lot of cold ice against my bare thigh. I then thought about the kid. He was only probably five and I felt awful about rubbing his face into the ice with my body. Lastly I thought about Carrie, I wondered if she saw this, maybe something else happened a building collapsed or a giant robot attacked the city. Slowly I opened my eyes and I looked up and saw Carrie. She was not cheering, no clapping for the stunt man, just a look of disgust on her face. She looked at me like I hit the kid on purpose.

The rest of the date was awkward and uncomfortable. I wished I could have said that it was awkward because you could see my scooby doo boxers through dinner but the fact was, it was because I hit a kid pretty damn hard and dragged him across the ice. I dropped her off at her home. She forced a smile to me as she went into her house, but it was more of a pity smile. Her smile seemed to say, " You poor little man, we could have had a cabin by the lake, we could have been so much more but you were so foolish, you did not know how to lie"

After that she avoided me like the plague. I learned a lesson that day, to be myself. From then on if a girl asked me what kind of movies I made I always would say "male dancing videos" and I would bust out some leotards and show her what it was all about. Needless to say that also sucked, so now I just tell them I like football.

To Carrie, with fondest regards-

While I may be happily married now, my mind from time to time will wander back to some girls I once had a crush on. It was rare when I would actually date one of these girls because my shyness would get in the way, but once I actually dated one. It was a fluke situation that I ended up with her but never-the-less I did. Her name was Carrie and she was gorgeous. She was a runner up in the Davis County beauty contest and she was miles out of my league but ironically she actually seemed to like me. So for our first (and only) date I decided to take her ice skating in downtown Salt Lake. I picked her up with flowers and took her to the car opening the door for her and even played a CD of music I knew she liked. It was very "studly"
We arrived at the skating rink, put our skates on and went out on the ice. It was a group date with some of my friends and that lessened the tension of a normal first date, but as the night went on I began to doubt myself. Now "doubt is the seed of failure" someone famous once said (that someone being me) and once you start to doubt yourself you are bound to mess up. So to make things more exciting I started telling her that I liked to make movies. She asked what kind of movies and I said "oh you know...action movies" That was a lie. The closet I got to action movies was one called "Instep" a mockumentry about a male dance group. But she got all excited, "oh action movies", she swooned, " I love action movies, do you do your own stunts?" "Yes", I lied, "every single one." Now as if that wasn't bad enough I kept going. "Sometimes I just like to do a crazy stunt just to keep myself in the game, you know I will just run through traffic or jump off my roof and what not." "Can you do a stunt now?", She asked. I told her I would...for her. I said I would do the worst crash on ice she has ever seen. I warned her "you might think I died, but remember, I am a professional" So she went and sat on the bleachers and I began to wonder if there was a way out of this. Maybe I could tell her there was too many people, or maybe the ice would start to crack. But in that moment standing there alone on the ice, surrounded by hundreds of families having fun, I had a very teenager thought. I must make this girl my girlfriend! If that meant flying head first into the wall, I must insure this happens. Immediately I began receiving strength and courage based off of the image of Carrie and I spending summers together, maybe growing old together, buying a cabin in the woods and living happily ever after. It was all based on this moment. I could do it! I had to do it!
So I began to speed around the giant rink and prepare for my greatest or worst moment. I would just take it slow but make the fall look painful. So once I felt I had the adequate speed (not very fast at all) I took my right foot and just threw it in front of my left foot. With that single motion I felt my whole body rocket through the air and with a little puff I hit the ice and slide to a stop on my stomach. I looked up and, by golly, I was fine. No broken bones, ripped clothes, or scrapped knees. I looked right at Carrie and she was clapping and cheering, so I skated over to her, so full of manliness that I think I gained three chest hairs in that single moment. She was laughing and said that I was great and called my friends over. When they arrived she began to recite my lie to them. My brother who was in the group and knew I was lying said "well Travis, why don't you show her, just how great you are by going as fast as you can, and then falling." I felt a lump in my throat and said of course I would. I was afraid of nothing. Carrie and I were going to have a cabin someday and this would all be in the past. Of course I would do it! So I began to speed around the giant rink again. I felt like I was going so fast that I would have given the flash a run for his money. Once I reached the straight a way I threw my foot in my own way and felt my body rocket off the ground, but this time something went terribly wrong. His name was Billy or Charlie or something and he was cutting across the rink at the same time as I was flying. I hit Billy (or Charlie) at about a million miles an hour. I slammed him to the ground with such force that I swear we should have popped out in China. But the ground stopped us and we were just spinning and Billy (or Charlie) was screaming as I could feel my stomach grinding is face into the cold ice. Meanwhile at my pants, all the stitching said "screw this strain" and just gave out allowing a giant rip down left leg. We came to a stop and Billy's (or Charlie's) mom just threw me off her child and pulled his sobbing body off to the bleachers where he was reviewed for any signs of a lawsuit. Laying there, half awake half dreaming, I thought about the my life. First about my ripped pants, this was going to be tough to explain to my mom, plus the huge hole invited a lot of cold ice against my bare thigh. I then thought about the kid. He was only probably five and I felt awful about rubbing his face into the ice with my body. Lastly I thought about Carrie, I wondered if she saw this, maybe something else happened a building collapsed or a giant robot attacked the city. Slowly I opened my eyes and I looked up and saw Carrie. She was not cheering, no clapping for the stunt man, just a look of disgust on her face. She looked at me like I hit the kid on purpose. The rest of the date was awkward and uncomfortable. I wished I could have said that it was awkward because you could see my scooby doo boxers through dinner but the fact was, it was because I hit a kid pretty damn hard and dragged him across the ice. I dropped her off at her home. She forced a smile to me as she went into her house, but it was more of a pity smile. Her smile seemed to say, " You poor little man, we could have had a cabin by the lake, we could have been so much more but you were so foolish, you did not know how to lie"
From there after she avoided me like the plague. I learned a lesson that day to be myself. From then on if a girl asked me what kind of movies I made I always would say "male dancing videos" and I would bust out some leotards and show her what it was all about. Needless to say that also sucked, so now I just tell them I like football.

What is a blog? (and other questions you already know the answer to if you are reading this!)

What is a blog? My guess is, if you have found this post on this particular website then you already know what a blog is. But just in case, let's go over it. Some might say it is an online journal, others might say it is an online diary (same thing, fyi) some folks might say it is one of the new web 2.0 applications. I would place my betting chips with the last group, if I was a betting man. Web 2.0 is the newest version of the web that we all know and love. What makes web 2.0 special and unique is the fact that we are the ones creating it. These posts we do on our blogs, our videos' on youtube, and pics on Flicker is what is creating the web. Don't believe me? Try searching anything on google and see what happens. Most likely the word you searched pulled up certain web 2.0 websites. Maybe you searched a movie trailer (like the Dark Knight out July 18, 08 wink, wink), or maybe you searched a weird illness you have been having lately (irritable bowel syndrome?). Whatever you searched you may have found a youtube link, a link to someones blog, a link to wikipedia (yep that is web 2.0 also) or maybe a chat room on someones home made website. These are all web 2.0 sites. We control the internet, we control the message. Majority rules once and for all! What is great about web 2.0 is everytime I type the words "North Kansas Shoe Co." and enter it as a tagname, I become one of those links you will find when you search "North Kansas Shoe Co." (North Kansas Shoe Co. may or may not actually exsist)
So I bet you are dying to ask, "Travis, what is your favorite web 2.0 application?" Well fellow bloggers, like many of you out there, my favorite app is youtube! Why? Because it rocks! Where else can I see a video of prisoners dancing to Micheal Jackson's "Thriller"? Or maybe I want to see a practically grown man (girl?) cry for Britany Spears. You bet you're sweet cinnabon cinnamon rolls I can find those things on youtube. So go children fill OUR web with pointless videos or old action movies, homemade stunts and ninja information men.
I guess in closing, I would like you take a look at one of my favorite blogs. It is by upcoming artist Jeff Victor. His website explains a lot about him and who he works for but he also spends time doing quick sketches that are fun and different. Take a look. He's amazing. A big inspiration to someone like me, because I wish I could draw better then I can. Take a peek, you won't regret it.
http://jeffvictor.blogspot.com/
Jeff- if we ever meet, you owe me at least thirty bucks for that awesome plug...

Travis Meidell for dummies

Who am I? Those are the same words that are mumbled by hundreds of people with amnesia every year. Amnesia is a scary thing, I have never had it but in case I ever get hit over the head by a falling pipe or have some super powered Haitian wipe my mind clean of all my memories, I need to post some stuff about myself to prevent me from having to tattoo my body with my own history and personal information. Of course if I had amnesia I wouldn't know where to go and look for this post so I guess at the very least I will have to tattoo my blog address to my arm or something. Anywho, my name is Travis and this is your guide through my life...in thirty seconds or more. I grew up in Utah my whole life except for a short two years when I lived out in Maryland. My likes range from pretty much anything that is geeky or nerdy. To give you an idea of this, for my birthday my wife gave me Comic Con tickets. I almost passed out from the excitement. What is Comic Con you might ask? If you don't know by now, then you won't care when I tell you.
So needless to say aside from being a complete geek I was able to disguise myself as a sports loving jock long enough to marry a beautiful girl before my geeky-ness exploded out all over her two days after we were married when I moved six boxes of comics into our new apartment. Needless to say she was shocked, heh, but it was to late for her to back out! So ta-da my scheme worked and I haven't watched a day of sports since. My wife is named Tia and despite being tricked into marrying me she loves me very much and actually has come to love my nerdy-ness. We have been married for a year and a half and still get a long quite nice.
I am currently attending the University of Utah, with a pre-art major hoping to get into the graphic design field. I have found a way to also give myself an animation minor. I love animation and design. Two great fields that I am going to merge together to make me Lord of the animation/design field. It will be the most awesome thing since they combined Math and Science to make...ummm Mathotolgy?
Well there is at least another two minutes' worth of descriptions about me but I am going to save it for another day. Unlike my friends over at the writers guild I am not on strike so you will be hearing from me again and again. So when you find yourself missing Heroes, Grey's Anatomy, or whatever your favorite TV show is, just tune in here and you'll get that exciting feeling TV shows once brought you. That feeling of adventures, courtroom based dramas, romance and student assignments. That last part about student assignments is not really based on TV (although some shows sure write like it was a 5th grade assignment). It was based on that fact that my blogs will be graded, judged and placed before a jury of my peers...school peers.