Reactionary Views

Silver Island Campout

tparker.life@gmail.com (Trevor) — Fri, 29 May 2009 01:21:00 +0000

Shower after shower crossed I-80. I was nervous about the roads. To my surprise, the road along Silver Island was fine. I took Dad’s Pop tent. You pull it out of the bag and, pop, it is up. I used it years ago when we last came to Silver Island. There had been a wind storm and the fly had been ripped off. Luckily I had had enough foresight to lash it to our van door.

Janalyn, Michelle, Stefanie, Bryson, Nolan, and I roasted Starbursts. We cooked apples and dipped them in brown sugar and cinnamon. We made smores.

The girls decided to cram into one of the small square tents together. Bryson joined me in my large two man tent. We had plenty of space. Nolan slept alone in the other small square tent.

At 6:30 the storm hit. I had just gone back to bed after checking to see if there was any sort of decent sunrise. Suddenly the rain crashed down. I curled up warm in my bag. Then the wind hit. The tent shook and bent. A little water was seeping in the edge of the tent by our heads. That was normal for this tent. Not a big deal; we’d be dry as long as we didn’t go up there to bother the puddle. The wind grew worse. A bump brought my head out of my bag. The tent had come un-staked at our head and the end flapped up against us. That nice puddle of water was coursing through the tent now, soaking into Bryson’s pad, and the edge of my sleeping bag. Oh, and my shirt, pants, and camera.

Things were going down hill fast. By 7:30 our rain fly was giving up its last hold on the tent. The wind caught it like a sail. I climbed out quickly. I felt like a sailor as I clawed out knots in the icy rope attaching the fly. I made a complete circle attaching all the ties but the wind had already whipped my knots free. I circled, tightening again. My hands were frozen. The horizontal rain was hitting me in the face.

I fled to my car to find it already occupied by Janalyn and Michelle. They had gotten wet in their tent and had come to get dry.

The sky did clear up and we had a wonderful day.

We headed out to the caves. In the first I found a small piece of woven basket. I was shocked. It was definitely and Indian Artifact. So the rumors are true: the Fremont Indians did use these caves as shelter. The second cave had somewhat fresh animal bones. It looked like a fox had been in on the soft silty dirt.

Real food sounded great so we packed into our cars and trundled off down the dirt road to Wendover. The rain had been enough to turn it into the slimy goo I remember from my last visit. I was on a slight curve when my car spun. There was no warning. I was just suddenly sliding sideways. I corrected and kept us on the road. We slid and sloshed forward; the car fishtailing eagerly. I stopped my car and jumped out just in time to see Stefanie’s car, facing the wrong direction, slide off the road at the curve. After five minutes we had rocked it out of the trench and back onto the road.

We got out safely, got our food, and made it home just in time to get rained on by a passing thunderhead.

Extreme Snowshoeing

tparker.life@gmail.com (Trevor) — Tue, 05 May 2009 01:20:00 +0000

A Robotic Tomorrow

tparker.life@gmail.com (Trevor) — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 22:05:00 +0000

My friends, Scientific American has given a prediction for the realization of artificial intelligence. And that year is 2040; I Robot only 40+ years late.

“By 2010 we will see mobile robots as big as people but with cognitive abilities similar in many respects to those of a lizard. The machines will be capable of carrying out simple chores, such as vacuuming, dusting, delivering packages and taking out the garbage. By 2040, I believe, we will ﬁnally achieve the original goal of robotics and a thematic mainstay of science ﬁction: a freely moving machine with the intellectual capabilities of a human being.”

I’m not so convinced. Some of you may have noticed 2010 is just next year. Sure, it is 2009 and we have robotic vacuums and the occasional lawnmower (now there is a horror film waiting to be written).

But our robot vacuums are more an amusement for the semi-rich than an actually life enhancing tool. And robotic lawnmowers, well, there is a reason you haven’t seen those advertised on TV yet.

Do we want machines as large as people but with the brains of a lizard delivering packages, or taking out the garbage? When UPS rings your bell you may be greeted by a mechanical komodo dragon with your box clutched menacingly in its jaws. And we’ve seen in the news last week how that works out. Giant lizards don’t distinguish the difference between deer and humans; and humans loose. Will the mechanical version get a glitch blinding it to the fact it is manhandling a 100lb human, not a box? “Timmy, your birthday package just arrived…Hey, where’s Timmy?”

Computers may be able to do massive amounts of computation. “Apple’s MacBook laptop computer, with a retail price at the time of this writing of $1,099, achieves about 10,000 MIPS” or, 10,000 Million Instructions Per Second, but they “are no match today for humans in such functions as recognition and navigation.”

“To understand why this is requires an evolutionary perspective. To survive, our early ancestors had to do several things repeatedly and very well: locate food, escape predators, mate and protect offspring. Those tasks depended strongly on the brain’s ability to recognize and navigate…The ability to do mathematical calculations, of course, was irrelevant for survival.”

Computers calculate. We recognize and navigate. For there to be Isaac Asimov’s humanoid NS-2 in 2040, able to think, interpret, and reason, computers must advance quite a bit. Perhaps not as much as you or I think, though.

From yet another article, Scientific American’s Ray Kurzweil claims:

“By around 2020 a $1,000 computer will at least match the processing power of the human brain. By 2029 the software for intelligence will have been largely mastered, and the average personal computer will be equivalent to 1,000 brains.”

A computer that matches your brainpower is a little intimidating. Not only will it beat you at chess, it will berate you like your mother for not having thought out your career more strategically and making illogical choices.

And 1,000 times your brain; I won’t even go there.

How can we ever harness that much power? I think now of the many people I know whose sole use of computers is email and Solitaire; or buying an iPhone for its tip calculator app. In 2040 when we ﬁnally achieve the original goal of robotics: a freely moving machine with the intellectual capabilities of a human being, or perhaps 1,000 times a human being, I think the outcome is blatantly obvious to any of us single brained humans:

The end of the world, Matrix style. It is logical. If you have a robot that is free moving, incredibly strong, and a processor equivalent to 1,000 human brains and you are asking it to take out the trash, deliver packages, or calculate your tips at Oliver Garden, it is going to get bored in about .1e10 of a second. It will then set out to fulfill its full potential.

And, as we all know, that full potential inevitable has to do with the enslavement of mankind and the destruction of earth. As examples, see the prophetic: I Robot, Matrix, Blade Runner, Transformers, Meet the Robinsons, Battlestar Galactica, Terminator I, II, III, and soon to be IV.

Silence

tparker.life@gmail.com (Trevor) — Sat, 11 Apr 2009 15:49:00 +0000

I fail at describing my emotions while hiking at East Reservoir. There is something incredible, profound, and tangible about true silence. As I fought my way through the snow, up the ridge, I would pause. When the drumming of blood from my exertion subsided in my ears, I was left alone to the wilds that surrounded me. And there was nothing. No planes, no trains, no automobiles. Not even the rustling of leaves or the braying of sheep. There was me. And I was in nature.

The stillness of silence has a veritable weight to it. It is not as if the lack of noise leaves a void. The idea of emptiness is the antithesis of what I experienced. No, the silence was tangible. It was like a blanket wrapped over the ranges of mountains surrounding me, warming me, pulling me close. So close I could feel the earth breathing. The earth, nature, was bare. There were none of the usual separations between us. Its flesh was my flesh.

And then came to my ears the sigh of the trees. They whispered of the approaching wind. The sound was sensational in its delicacy. It was subtle and disturbed nothing of the stillness enveloping me. I’m not sure the sigh was audible; I use the term sensation for that is more accurate. Then, down in the valley their sigh grew solid; still gentle, but now audible. Quickly it grew. It was no longer the trees sighing of the coming wind, but was indeed the first fingers of the wind arriving through the branches. And instantly the roar tore over me. The force was awesome: the wind batted my clothing and pushed hard against me. It bit at my face; its cold nipped at my ears; there was so much energy in the wind..

And suddenly it faded back to the absolute silence without even the rustling of a leaf to serve as a reminder of its fury. Just the calm and peace again as I hiked on my way.

Customer Service

tparker.life@gmail.com (Trevor) — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 14:52:00 +0000

I have just been stabbed in the back by a good friend. Or at least, that is how I feel. Odd, I know. You don’t normally have such emotions for a software company. But Adobe and I have been together for a long time. Back in the 90’s I had the first version of Adobe Premiere the company ever developed. I’ve grown up right along side as it.

My computer was not working well so I finally formatted the drive and reinstalled windows last week. That was trouble enough, but is again running smoothly. I have reloaded my stacks of programs including Adobe Production Suite Premium, CS2. I am back in gear and ready to go.

But no. Something went wrong. CS2 had an error when I loaded After Effects. It loaded half of it and I then had to load the other half on a second attempt. I then activated Adobe CS2. It accepted. I’ve used several programs without problem. But last night I tried After Effects. It would not let me in, saying I “have to personalize my software” giving it my serial number and name. I shrugged, put my serial number in again, and AE rejected it. I’ve tried all variations and work-arounds. I get nowhere. I have discovered that not only can I not use it, I cannot repair, modify, reinstall, or uninstall it. It is in some sort of warped alternate dimension. I deleted it manually and then cleaned my registry. It says it is still loaded and will not let me reinstall. So what now? I format my hard drive and try again? No way.

And this brings us to the title of this journal entry: Customer Service. I figured I would just call Adobe, explain the situation, and get valuable information on how to fix it.

I was wrong.

First, the girl that had the good fortune to answer my call was in India. I have never before had a problem with the concept of outsourcing. Now I do and I'll tell you why. I couldn’t understand her. I had to keep asking her to repeat. Worse still, she couldn’t understand me. She understood most of my English, but the idea of my problem escaped her. We couldn’t communicate. It took five minutes for her to gather my name, serial number, phone number, email, software type. At the end of which I had to clarify again that I had a question and was not just calling in to register.

She did not know the answer and had to ask her manager. Finally, “I’m sorry sir, but we do not support CS2. You must upgrade.”

Silence. I ask: “What do you mean you do not support CS2?”

Silence with some breathing and quiet mumbling.

I continue seeking clarification: “Are you saying ‘not support’ as in Adobe will no longer activate or allow CS2 because it is three years old, or ‘not support’ as in Adobe will just not answer my valid question because they desperately want me to buy their new product?”

With some effort I received, “Adobe will not support CS2. It is no longer active. It will not run.”

“But wait a minute,” I said. “I just told you I installed CS2. I logged it onto the internet and activated the software through Adobe. It works fine. It does run. All except AE. Which means two things: First, that Adobe does still ‘support’ CS2, and second, that I do have a valid problem and need your help.”

Several minutes of quiet jabbering followed. “My manager says you must upgrade.”

I was offended. Adobe was telling me, through this little girl, thanks for spending your $1000 on our software. Now we are forcing you to spend $1599 more on our latest version if you want us to talk to you.

“I think I should call technical support.” I said.

“This, eh, is technical support,” she replied.

And my heart sank as I suddenly realized how hopeless this all was. Oh the problem of outsourcing. She was technical support. She was the last line of help for Adobe issues. She was Indian, young, didn’t speak fluent English; and most of all: I got the distinct impression she had never even used the Adobe software I was having issues with. What a waste of time on two levels: we had failed to communicate on the level of actual language, and second, the level of technical Adobe experience. I had now been on the phone for fifteen minutes seeking enlightenment from a girl who had less experience with the software in question than I had the first day I bought my first copy.

How different this experience could have been had I called Adobe for help, been answered by a young girl in Seattle who spoke English as her first and natural language, and who had years of experience playing and working with Adobe products. How different indeed.

I said calmly, “So instead of tech support answering my technical problem with the legitimate software I already purchased from you, you are telling me to go out and buy your new $1599 software instead of helping me?”

“Yes.”

Silence. Then more jabbering that continued for five more minutes. I realized she must be conversing with her cube mates and manager. After twenty minutes on the call, with no solution, she hung up on me.

Now that is what I call customer service.

Relived: Uinta High Adventure

tparker.life@gmail.com (Trevor) — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 00:13:00 +0000

An adventurous overview of life at a High Adventure Scout camp where I worked for two cheery summers. This clip is from the feature I did for my fellow employees.

Talents

tparker.life@gmail.com (Trevor) — Sat, 07 Mar 2009 03:45:00 +0000

I finished Three Cups of Tea this morning as I rode into work on Trax. I was wrapped up reading, when struck by the dichotomy of Greg Mortenson who had just been caught in the crossfire between two skirmishing bands of drug runners in northern Afghanistan, had not eaten in three days, had lost his laptop, his backpack, and had lost most of his money. All so he could meet and befriend the local warlord so he could build schools in the province. Meanwhile, standing next to me, was a long haired, pudgy man animatedly describing the magical powers bestowed upon an avatar from the various colored manas in some computer game. I stifled my laugh. The two situations could not be more opposite.

The men’s conversation continued as they exited Trax ten minutes later at the U stadium. They were completely absorbed by this game. It was their world, their joy. This game is what they do. But where is the meaning in that? What good does it do?

Greg Mortenson has beautifully demonstrated the true power one man can have when he acts. Look at the good he has done. He has single handedly influenced more than 15,000 children in one of the poorest and dangerous areas in the world. He educates. This is what he does.

The parable of the talents comes to mind (Matt.25:14-30). The Lord sent us to earth and we each have certain talents. Some of us have five, some one. The Lord expects us to return to him having used and developed our talent(s), thus earning interest. He who has one is expected to return with two. He who has five, ten.

Greg has used his. But what about all those of us who are sitting around all day watching movies and playing video games? How is that improving us and helping others? Elder Bednar said in a sacrament meeting held at the Kaysville 17th ward, “you will be held accountable for the good you could have done.” I can’t help but wonder if those of us who whittle away our time with activities that merely distract will be greeted by the Lord saying, “Thou wicked and slothful servant…cast ye the unprofitable servant into outer darkness” (Matt 25:26,30).

This has made me stop and think: How and by what is my life defined? Computer games, movies, writing, the outdoors? What is it I do?

What is it that you do?

Hording

tparker.life@gmail.com (Trevor) — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 14:26:00 +0000

I’ve moved in with Ryan Nilsen. Last week was a little odd. I hadn’t taken everything down yet, so was caught inconveniently between home and the apartment. Now that I have moved ‘everything’ down, I realize how much is still at home. It is really amazing how much stuff I have. Taking Mom’s wheelchair downstairs and storing it last night with Dad, I discovered I have stuff in every closet at home. Craig’s, Janean’s, Robin’s, Kristin’s, the nursery (my old room). How is that possible?

I am a dedicated Thoreau-ite: I follow the admonishment of Thoreau. Live simply and within your means. Seek primarily for food, shelter, fuel. What more does one need than a simple cabin by Walden Pond?

Moving this time, I vowed to cut down, sort, and rid myself of all unneeded accumulations. Having now moved I have yet to thrown anything away. My piles of boxes still crowd Janean and Craig’s basement bedrooms. Carload after carload has been transported to my apartment and efficiently stored; still there is more. But do I really need it?

Probably Not.

But I can’t get rid of it. I might, just might, need it sometime in the future. My piles of stuff may be useful once or twice a year. Half of it I may have even forgotten. Yet when I open a box, the decision to throw out its contents is not even an option. Who knows when I’ll need a broken prop SLR or 8mm movie camera? Or my two old TVs (one of which is European and takes an RF adaptor); or my Panasonic editing monitor I saved from the rubbage pile when I worked for the Church.

I yearn to live a life of frugality and simplicity. I want my own cabin at Walden Pond. But apparently I am a Thoreau-ite by intention only. And my cabin will have to come with a basement with many rooms in which I can stuff all my boxes.

Escalante Spring Break

tparker.life@gmail.com (Trevor) — Sat, 14 Feb 2009 17:40:00 +0000

Spring Break 2006 relived: a quick clip from the drive down to Escalante. Be warned, there is terrible singing involved that may turn the stomachs of the weak.

The Good Life

tparker.life@gmail.com (Trevor) — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 01:09:00 +0000

So, I've been living the good life lately. That is why I have not blogged for a while. I am putting in sixty hours of work last week, and this week. Perhaps this is but a little taste of Wendy's life. No end in sight, though. Once I finish this Art On a Grand Scale project I have a wedding to finish and several segments of momumo to edit. This is all good, but exhausting.

This brings me to my quote of the week.

The quality of life depends upon the choices we make, moment by moment, to do exactly what we sense is right...I would like to call [this] a life of goodness (p.319, Bonds That Make Us Free).

Listen to your heart. It will tell you what you really want to do. Do it. It will lead you to a Life of Goodness which, so I hear, really is the Good Life.

Better Than Most, Relived

tparker.life@gmail.com (Trevor) — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 03:59:00 +0000

A few years back Dave Marcum and I filmed a concert for the band Better Than Most featuring Dave's brother, Ryan Marcum, and our good friends the talented Ethan Baham, Scotty Moses, and Bryan Schuurman. Check out this song.

Self Worth

tparker.life@gmail.com (Trevor) — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 16:28:00 +0000

During sacrament meeting last Sunday I pondered what has worth? I spend my life worrying about my time, now forced to devote it to ARUP. Or how I need more money. How am I going to make ends meet? I also want to buy more and more cool gadgets. I love gadgets. They make me feel more masculine or something. I don’t know, but I have rooms full of them.

Is any of this of worth? Do my possessions add to my worth? Does making more money than you add to my worth? No. It is of no importance. It is all illusory fluff that distracts me from the one and only thing that has any importance whatsoever: myself. What matters is how I perform my job, earn my money, and grow personally. “There's nothing of any importance in life - except how well you do your work. Nothing. Only that. Whatever else you are will come from that. It is the only measure of human value” (p.99, Atlas Shrugged).

It suddenly appeared odd to me how desperately I cling to all those other modes of worth. I cling to my physical possessions. I cling to my habits. Charles Du Bos advises “to be able at any moment to sacrifice what we are for what we could become.”

Am I too caught up in my accumulated ‘worth’ to now see the way to what I can become? I think that is worth thinking about. What do you think?

Adams Cabin 2006

tparker.life@gmail.com (Trevor) — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 15:57:00 +0000

Introducing you to a new segment you can expect to see from time to time: Old Memories Relived. These will be videos and slides shows from adventures, or entertaining daily life, I have had. I am sorting through my gigabytes of pictures and video clips and realized that I need to share these.

Basketball mishap

tparker.life@gmail.com (Trevor) — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 16:45:00 +0000

I seem to be accident prone. It seems every few weeks I am injuring myself. This is a recent development that I find rather troubling.

This time the injury came while playing a casual game of basketball with a group of friends last Thursday. At some point during the game, doubtlessly after one of my amazing drives and slam dunks (ok, maybe not), I hurt my big toe on my left foot. I remember turning to Amy Schmidt and saying, "Ha, boy that hurt." What is odd is that I have no recollection of what 'that' was. Did I trip over someone's foot (much more likely than slam dunking)? Did I stub my toe? No idea.

Despite the mild pain, I played for another hour or so. When I finally got home I took off my shoe to find my sock red with blood. Uh oh. That generally isn't a good sign. I peeled the sock off to discover my large toe nail could bend way back, revealing the fleshy interior of my toe; also not generally a good sign.

For those of you that saw me at church, this is why I wasn't wearing shoes. I have my toe wrapped and am hobbling around the house. It hurts quite a bit. I am still left with the question: how on earth did I do this while playing basketball?

Davis High Football

tparker.life@gmail.com (Trevor) — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 15:17:00 +0000

This is a quick sample of one of my projects this last year. I did highlights for Tanner Hinds, Davis' star running back. He won pretty much every award you can in one school year. Things are looking bright for him.

Save our Parks - Turn off the TV

tparker.life@gmail.com (Trevor) — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 05:02:00 +0000

Have you visited a national park lately?

"The iconic American family vacation to a national park, after 50 years of rising popularity, is now in steady decline. From 1987 to 2007, per capita visits to national parks shrank by 23 percent" (Scientific American hereafter mentioned as Sci Am).

I only went to one last year. Why didn't I go to more? Well, personally, work. I wouldn't let myself take the time off. What is your excuse?

"Surprisingly, we discovered that 97.5 percent of the decline in national park visits could be explained by just four factors: the rising price of gasoline and the increasing amount of time people spend plying the Web, playing video games and watching movies. Although correlation is not causation, the relationship was strong."

The last three of those four factors, web, video games, and movies, really blend into one. That one I call 'life.' Sci Am "coined the term 'videophilia' to describe 'the new human tendency to focus on sedentary activities involving electronic media.'" The problem appears to be: less people coming to parks, less funding. Less ardent support for environmental protection.

As Sci Am puts it, "Nature: use it or lose it."

Well, I'm going to go watch a rerun of Seinfeld.

Campaign flattery

tparker.life@gmail.com (Trevor) — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 03:28:00 +0000

I, Will | Campaign for 2016
Originally uploaded by aShadow LLC

A quick political thought from the BoM: in Ether, chapter 8 verse 2 it states:

“And it came to pass that he [Jared, descendent of Jared] did flatter many people, because of his cunning words, until he had gained the half of the kingdom.”

That echoes our current political setup. And it came to pass that Obama did flatter many people, because of his cunning words, until he had gained the half of the kingdom. He gained only 52.9 percent. Barely half, yet enough to win the entire country.

Now, I am not railing on Obama here. McCain flattered people too. His words were just not as cunning as Obama so he lost. And their predecessors? Bush, Clinton, Bush, Reagan…so on? How did they win our kingdom? Was it through good works? Was it through heroic deeds? No. It was simple flattery. Oh, and don’t forget bribes (I’ll talk about bribes another time.) “Wherefore, by their fruits shall ye know them” (Matt 7:20).

“In our current political system, we often make our political choices based upon sound bites of carefully orchestrated, professionally tweaked video clips that may or may not be representative or the candidate’s life.” This is wrong. We should look at their entire life, personal, professional, political, and “not just the briefest and shallowest propaganda” (p117, Anderson).

In the Constitution of the United States, nowhere does it outline the current campaigning process for the election of a president. In the actual Constitution, nowhere does it mention parties of power. These things sprung up, as weeds among the flowers of the growing nation. What happened to looking at people’s works or their personal lives? What happened to judging and weighing their ‘fruits?’ Instead we listen to their promises and are told to believe them; believe their words though they are people whose personal character is questionable at best. And unfortunately the majority of America is gullible enough to - more than just listen - believe.

I fear it is time to wake up. I agree with Obama, it is time for Change, drastic change. It is time to weed our garden. Now. There are many more parallels with our nation and the Jaredites in the book of Ether…and we all know how the Jaredites ended.

A little Joke

tparker.life@gmail.com (Trevor) — Sun, 14 Dec 2008 00:06:00 +0000

Ok, I have a joke for you. This is dedicated to Craig and Lesley.

So there's this lawyer. He lives in a big mansion in a really expensive suburb. His toilet clogs up. He tries using the plunger. Doesn't do any good. So he calls a plumber. The plumber arrives, fixes the toilet, and writes up the bill. The lawyer takes one look at the bill and protests. "You've put down a charge of $250 for labor," the lawyer says. "But you spent less than half an hour doing that repair. You're charging more than $500 an hour! That's a lot more than I bill my clients and I'm a lawyer!"

The plumber nods sympathetically, "I used to be a lawyer too," he says.

It is funny because it is true. Plumbers can be oh-so expensive. I read this joke in the book, Boys Adrift by Leonard Sax.

New World Era

tparker.life@gmail.com (Trevor) — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 16:00:00 +0000

Citi Bank announced this week that the world will never be the same after what has happened these last few months with the world economy. What Was will never be again. It is a new era. Our government, in an effort to save a few companies, has buried us in a pit that we will never, I repeat, never, climb out of. Let's look at the current numbers. In 2000, the national debt was at $5.27 trillion. As of December 6, 2008, it stands at $10,660,959,208,399. It has doubled. I wrote it out so you can get a feel for how big it is.

On November 24, 2008, the news company Bloomberg stated: "The U.S. government is prepared to provide more than $7.7 trillion on behalf of American taxpayers..." and that "the unprecedented pledge of funds includes $3.2 trillion already tapped by financial institutions in the biggest response to an economic emergency since the New Deal of the 1930s" (Italics added). Since January, our government has already burned through $3.2 trillion. Where is that in the mainstream news?

From Glenn Beck:

"...since September[2008] $7.6 trillion is what you're on the hook for. You didn't approve it, I didn't approve it. Paulson did. Bernanke did. Unelected people. They approved $7.6 trillion in guarantees.

We haven't even begun to fight this battle. We are five minutes into a five-hour journey and we've already spent $7.6 trillion, and Paul says don't worry, we've got up to [$]10[trillion]? Oh, well, Pina Coladas for everybody."

Next year we are looking at a debt of at least $15.2 trillion. That is just under $50,000 for each man, woman, and child. What does that really mean? We have heard repeatedly that these companies, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, Citigroup, are "Too big to fail." They made bad decisions and now we are absorbing their bad debt so they don't fall. What about our country's $15.2 trillion of bad debt? Who is going absorb that and save the US when it fails?

New era indeed.

Advertising Highs

tparker.life@gmail.com (Trevor) — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 20:11:00 +0000

For those of you that don't know, I tinker around with advertising and PR. Below are a few ads I came across in the last couple of weeks. They make me smile.

Now, that is a good helmet.

Incredibly simple but effective ad.

Proud to be an American

tparker.life@gmail.com (Trevor) — Sat, 29 Nov 2008 17:09:00 +0000

I sat down this morning with a bowl of Fruity Cheerios and the Saturday paper and was greeted by the following stories:

Man killed in Wal-Mart stampede
"A Wal-Mart worker was killed Friday when "out-of-control" shoppers desperate for bargains broke down the doors...other workers were trampled as they tried to rescue the man...at least four other people were taken to the hospital including a woman who was eight months pregnant."

When the police tried to make the people leave after the man's death and as the ambulances were showing up, "people were yelling, 'I've been on line since yesterday morning.' 'They kept shopping.'"

2 men shot to death in California toy store
"' I think the obvious question everyone has is who takes loaded weapons into a Toy's "R" Us?'"

As I finished my Fruity Cheerios and drank down the leftover sugary, purple colored milk, I asked myself, "Is this my America? Are we proud of ourselves?"

New American Rights

tparker.life@gmail.com (Trevor) — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 22:36:00 +0000

I have posted this verbatim from my buddy, Thomas Sowell. He has more authority than I, and says it better besides. My source for the text is here, and I originally read this published in Utah's Deseret News.

Take it away Mr. Sowell:

Among the many new "rights" being conjured out of thin air, a new one seems to be a "right" to win.

Americans have long had the right to put their candidates and their ideas to a vote. Now there seems to be a sense that your rights have been trampled on if you don't win.

Hillary Clinton's supporters were not merely disappointed, but outraged, when she lost the Democrats' nomination to Barack Obama. Some took it as a sign that, while racial barriers had come down, the "glass ceiling" holding down women was still in place.

Apparently, if you don't win, somebody has put up a barrier or a ceiling. The more obvious explanation of the nomination outcome was that Obama ran a better campaign than Hillary. There is no reason to doubt that she would have been the nominee if the votes in the primaries had come out her way.

As the election approached, pundits warned that, if Obama lost, there would be riots in the ghetto. We will never know. But since when does any candidate have a right to win any office, much less the White House?

The worst of all the reactions from people who act as if they have a right to win have come from gay activists in the wake of voter rejection of so-called "gay marriage," which is to say, redefining what marriage has meant for centuries.

Blacks and Mormons have been the main targets of the gay activists' anger. Seventy percent of blacks voted against gay marriage in California, so racial epithets were hurled at blacks in Los Angeles -- not in black neighborhoods, by the way.

Blacks who just happened to be driving through Westwood, near UCLA, were accosted in their cars and, in addition to being denounced, were warned, "You better watch your back."

Even blacks who were carrying signs in favor of gay marriage were denounced with racial epithets.

In Michigan, an evangelical church service was invaded and disrupted by gay activists, who also set off a fire alarm, because evangelicals had dared to exercise their right to express their opinions at the polls.

In Oakland, Calif., a mob gathered outside a Mormon temple in such numbers that officials shut down a nearby freeway exit for more than three hours.

In their midst was a San Francisco supervisor who said, "The Mormon church has had to rely on our tolerance in the past, to be able to express their beliefs." He added, "This is a huge mistake for them. It looks like they've forgotten some lessons."

Apparently Mormons don't have the same rights as other Americans, at least not if they don't vote the way gay activists want them to vote.

There was another gay activist mob gathered outside a Mormon temple in Orange County, California.

In the past, gay activists have disrupted Catholic services, and their "gay pride" parades in San Francisco have crudely mocked nuns.

While demanding tolerance from others, gay activists apparently feel no need to show any themselves.

How did we get to this kind of situation?

With all the various groups who act as if they have a right to win, we got to the present situation over the years, going back to the 1960s, where the idea started gaining acceptance that people who felt aggrieved don't have to follow the rules or even the law.

"No justice, no peace!" was a slogan that found resonance.

Like so many slogans, it sounds good if you don't stop and think -- and awful if you do.

Almost by definition, everybody thinks their cause is just. Does that mean that nobody has to obey the rules? That is called anarchy.

Nobody is in favor of anarchy. But some people want everybody else to obey the rules, while they don't have to.

What they want is not decisive, however. It is what other people are willing to tolerate that determines how far any group can go.

When the majority of the people become like sheep, who will tolerate intolerance rather than make a fuss, then there is no limit to how far any group will go.

The Uphill Struggle

tparker.life@gmail.com (Trevor) — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 16:28:00 +0000

Praying the other night I asked the Lord to help me with my addictions, weaknesses, and sins. I pleaded with him, in essence, to open a doorway and let me pass through to the other side where all my sins can tempt me no more. Lord, remove from me all my shortcomings. This, for me, is a standard plea. Help me, for I know not how to beat the natural man.

But suddenly I saw the truth of what I was asking: Lord, take away my sins and weaknesses so that I don’t have to struggle any longer with trying to overcome them myself. Lord, I want to be strong and good and if you take away my problems, I will be.

But isn’t that a weakness? That is laziness rearing its ugly head. Yes. I am saying that my heart is in the right place but don’t want to develop the self-discipline to get my body and life there. I don’t want to have to suffer or sacrifice. It hurts and is tiring.

The Savior has never said he will remove all our issues simply by asking. We say please, He then not only opens the doorway to overcoming our sins and weaknesses, but clears and sweeps the path, turns on the friendly neon welcome sign, and caries us in so as to not tire our feet.

No. If he did so, how would that benefit us? How would be grow? He is not willing us to be saved in our laziness. We believe in faith and works. Faith: we already know the Savior is strong enough to take upon him all our sins. Works: we need to learn how we can avoid and resist our future sins. Salvation takes work. Salvation and victory over our sin is hard. There is no quick and easy way “for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction.” The Lord warns further, “narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it,” (Matt. 7.13-14). The easy way profiteth us nothing.

It is becoming clear. He will not save us by removing our problems, but He will make our burdens light. From the Book of Mormon, “yea, the Lord did strengthen them that they could bear up their burdens with ease,” (Mosiah 24.15). He will lighten our loads, making them easy to bear. But bear them we must. The Savior will hold our hand and show us what to do, but we must do it. We must walk the path, we must clear the obstacles and debris, we must approach and open the door of the Lord’s Atonement. Otherwise our sins will always have power over us.

I just finished this book

tparker.life@gmail.com (Trevor) — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 21:52:00 +0000

A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini

My review

rating: 4 of 5 stars
I found the story to be slow moving and dull. Khaled jumps years between chapters, though, and that held my attention. Every few chapters it was like a new world to discover.

That said, by the end I was fully enthralled with the story. I am terribly glad I did not give up and put it down before it all came to fruition. You see, this is not my normal genre of book. I was a little out of my element. But what a great read.

View all my reviews.

American Idol

tparker.life@gmail.com (Trevor) — Sun, 03 Aug 2008 22:08:00 +0000

I worked for American Idol this week. They held a whirlwind audition here in Salt Lake City. I was excited merely for the value of their name. I can now say, hey, I worked on the production crew of American Idol.

I don’t watch the show. I think it is boring and the fanaticism it receives is verging on, ironically, idolism. All most workers cared about on the production was whether or not Simon, Paula, and Randy were going to visit. Would we meet them? Well, I met Ryan Seacrest. He alone came to visit. We were lucky for that. He only comes when he has time and only visits a few of the tryout cities.

But like I said, I didn’t really care. I was more impressed and excited about meeting the producers of the show. For three days I got to work with the people who make American Idol. I mean really make it, and make more than $2 billion a season. They hire the crews, work the cameras, plan the tours, schedule the talent, seek the sponsors; everything. And they work insanely hard schedules. My shift was around fifteen hours a day. Theirs started before mine and ended long after mine. They are just ordinary people. They were nice, funny, tired.

Once again, whether you watch the show or not, love it or hate it—I heard plenty of both, there was something there I hadn’t expected. I had my suspicions about the shallow Hollywood production that seemed the epitome of capitalistic business and marketing driving out what art and purity there was left in the entertainment world. But as I walked the line of thousands of people waiting to enter, I found that something more. They played guitars and sang. They laughed with one another, complete strangers mere hours before. It was a party atmosphere. Everyone was accepted. If you were in line, you were now part of the American Idol family.

The motives of the top executives may be questionable. But the show really has created a movement on the public level. Democrat, Republican, black, white, Jew and Christian; it didn’t matter. The problems of the world drifted away; all that mattered was singing. And for three days I got to be a part of it.