Watch me make this pencil disappear

Three things about the Dark Knight:

1) Heath scared me real bad- as he should have. I was nervous every time he was on screen.

VS.

2. I think that Batman and Jack should have a "Talking like this contest".

3. Did anyone catch the Cat Woman reference in the movie, or was it just me?

Brother Beck

There are some really weird pictures of Glenn Beck on Google images, and I realize this one is off center, but it was one of the best I found. Anyway, I went to our stake center last night to hear him at a "Meet the Mormons" presentation. Our stake has members that are more well known in the NYC area to speak about their beliefs and the role the church has in their lives. They invite anyone in the community to come and listen to these discussions.

I was so glad that I went last night. Brother Beck has some amazing insights and a very powerful testimony of the gospel. I must be honest, I'm not familiar with his professional work, but I respect him very much and am grateful for his encouraging words. He said a lot of things that I really needed to hear and it made me so happy that I have the knowledge of the gospel in my life. One quote that was interesting to me was this: " I didn't ever want to be a Mormon. I don't really want to be a Mormon now- its really really hard! But I HAVE to be....I HAVE to be a Mormon".

I hope several visitors there were touched by his life story and his journey in finding the church. I'm pretty sure he has some books out- I'll have to look into it.

I want to hold is hand....

This movie is very sweet. The Pixar magic is pretty impressive too. You should go see it.

"Poor kids."

I come from amazing families- I really do. My grandparents and great grandparents were not overtly successful or grand people. They were some of the hardest workers and most devoted members of the church I can think of and I am so grateful for their examples.

My aunt recently sent some letters from my great grandfather, Paris. My aunt is really great about keeping track of journals and family letters, and she works on transcribing and preserving the letters so that my grandkids can enjoy them someday too.

There were several things about the different letters I loved. Even though I never met my great Grandpa Paris, I could hear his voice and exactly how he talked because my grandma and even my dad talks the same way. Even though I am amused ( and touched) by the little excerpt below, it also was very sweet to me because my dad, still to this day, calls me and my sisters "little girls". I was also glad to learn that my grandpa doesn't want me to settle for anything less than what would make me happy.


June 14th, 1942 - wrtitten by Paris Ira Ashcroft


Another funeral was held here Friday for Marie Burk or used to be Burk. I don’t know the name of the fellow she married. She was a daughter to Ural Burk. I guess it was a blessing she died. He was a tough case from what I hear.

It is a sad thing for these little girls who just marry for the sake of getting married. No thought for the future life or this life either. Poor kids. I believe parents will be held responsible for not teaching them more. Guess I shouldn’t talk too much, I haven’t got my family raised yet. Perhaps I’ll fail somewhere. I do love my children so much, and will try to do the right thing by them.

Whatever Lola Wants.....

On Saturday night, I went to go see "Damn Yankees". Sean Hayes ( Will & Grace) , Jane Krakowski ( 30 Rock) and Cheyenne Jackson ( He plays the lead in Xanadu the musical) were all really great in the show. I wasn't very familiar with the storyline, but it is a very sweet love story.

The Cheyenne guy has a really amazing voice, but I couldn't stop thinking about his goofy role in Xanadu. Jane Krakowski is a really great performer. She was dancing stronger than any of the chorus and her voice is really great- I think she just hams it up on 30 Rock for her character, but she really can sing. Sean Hayes had some pretty funny moments playing Mr. Applegate ( The Devil)- he cracked himself up a couple times, which is always fun to see at a live performance.

The only problem I have now is that the music is stuck in my head. It was great for a day, but now I'm starting to annoy myself.

There aren't any ties in America!!

I was lucky enough to attend the annual hot dog eating contest that takes place at Coney Island every fourth of July. The crowd wasn't as bad as I thought it would be- so that was a pleasant surprise. The actual contest almost resulted in a tie, with Joey Chestnut ( USA) and Takeru Kobayashi (Japan) eating 59 hot dogs in 10 minutes. The emcee of event seemed confused once the ten minutes ended and the judges had matching counts.

Emcee: "Ok folks- it looks like there is a tie for the first time in the history of this competition."

The crowd started booing at this point. A guy a couple rows behind me yelled:

" What!!??? You kidding me!!??? THERE AREN'T ANY TIES IN AMERICA!!!!"

Emcee: " Judges, Brooklyn is not accepting a tie! AMERICA is not accepting a tie!!"

The contest resulted in Joey Chestnut winning at OT which involved finishing off five more hot dogs faster than Kobayashi.

After the contest, we wandered around for a bit, grabbed some lunch, took a ride on the roller coaster and then went to take in the Coney Island Freak Show.

They didn't allow any pictures once you got inside, so you get a picture of the sign. Outside of the show though, I had free reign:

Not only can you see how excited Dave is to check out the lovely ladies of Coney Island, you can also see the little rivers of trash everywhere....gotta love it.

Proud to be an American

Wednesday night, I went to Ryan's "Patriot Act" performance. Before the performance, I met up with Chelsie and we bought Ryan some flowers we thought would be appropriate for the occasion.



Once we got to the bar, we crammed into a little cabaret theatre, and was forced to purchase $5 waters all night- well, at least two of them. The room was packed and everyone was very excited to see what Ryan had prepared.

I must say, I was thoroughly entertained by:

His opening number of "Coming to America" dressed as a Jewish immigrant making his way to Ellis Island.

"This land was made for you and me", had some great props as well as some fancy foot work/marching. I really wish I had some high kicks on film, but I was never fast enough, and frankly, he busted them out at pretty random moments.

Ryan explained that during his grandmother's geneology research, she found that they are related to Pocahantas, so he sang " The Colors of the Wind" as a tribute to his heritage.

There was much more, but I am mad at blogger for taking so long to load my pictures and videos.

Can't.....look....away......

What could make Dan look confused, a little anxious, and yet he can't look away??


I don't blame you Dan, I don't blame you.....

I went to a Roller Derby game, match, show (??), whatever on Saturday night. The teams were the Brooklyn Bombshells and the Queens of Mayhem. If you are interested in actually learning a bit about the whole derby thing, feel free to read this. If you are more interested to look at the action take a look at this:

I had some footage of the game, but I can't seem to find in on my computer.....and I already deleted it from my camera..ooops. Anyway, it was just a bunch of hefty chicks on roller skates pushing each other around.

Jealous? You should be....

I have the honor of attending a cabaret performance tomorrow. Please go to this link:

http://one-nation-under-blog.blogspot.com/

You HAVE to make sure your speakers are on. I'm so excited!! This guy is in my stake and he is entertaining just watching from a distance, I can't even wait to see him perform.