Disturbing HBO show about the LDS church

I received this from a friend and decided to post it here:

"Dear Friends And Family;
I don't usually have time to read or send forwarded emails but I feel
that this one is rather important and we should all take a minute to do
something about this HBO show.


This is a serious matter for all members of The Church of Jesus
Christ of Latter-day Saints!

HBO's new series, "Big Love", is about a polygamous family and is set
in a Salt Lake City suburb. About the likely impact of this sexually
driven show, the New York Times said, "We may never look at Utah and
think white bread again."

Parodies of beliefs of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day
Saints occur in this show as a belief in priesthood by a man blessing
his hunting rifle, belief in personal revelation from the Holy Ghost by dramatic visions
that the polygamous leader discusses casually with a friend. Talk of
"celestial kingdom", "free agency", and the "Choose the Right" slogan are included.
There is a brief disclaimer stating that the polygamists don't have
an active connection with the LDS Church. But if the writers don't
intend for viewers to make the connection, one wonders why they set
the show in Salt Lake City, the Church's world headquarters, and why
they included distortions of LDS beliefs.

In an official news release by the Church the representative said:

Public Affairs representatives have had several discussions with HBO
executives. The discussions have been amicable and constructive. HBO's decision to
place a clarifying "epilogue" after the first program, which states that the
"Mormon Church" discontinued polygamy in 1890, is appreciated. However, the
Church believes that if the statement is intended to clarify the distinction
between Latter-day Saints and non-Mormon polygamists, it is inadequate, both in
its language and in the fact that it will appear only after the first episode.

For the Church's official stand on this story go to:

http://www.lds.org/newsroom/showrelease/0,15503,3881-1-23019,00.html

I have seen the commercials for this HBO TV show on both television
and in the movie theatres and I have been appalled that they would
make a show like this. I am affiliated with American Family
Association and they do a great job of getting notices out to people
about TV shows that go against Christian beliefs. In most cases,
those TV shows have been canceled all together or fined for
inappropriate content. However, this particular show is directed at
the LDS Church specifically and so AFA wont put forth the effort to
get it canceled. So its up to us and all the LDS people you know.
Please forward this on to any and everyone and hopefully enough
people will take a stand for our beliefs and this show will be taken
off the air. I know it takes a little effort to email and/or call
HBO, but this is what we are all about. This is a message that could
reach not only HBO, but a global audience.

Please, take 3 minutes out of your day and stand up for what?s right.
(Read below for more info)

NBC recently cancelled a show about a dysfunctional Episcopal priest
who saw "Jesus", after almost 700,000 people emailed and complained.

Couldn't we do the same for this show? If you agree, will you:
- forward this email to at least 8 people
- email a polite protest to HBO:

Go To:
http://www.hbo.com/apps/submitinfo/contactus/submit.do?

Then enter your information, specify it's about Big Love, and leave a
message asking them to cancel this offensive show.

One or two sentences is all it takes. Or feel free to copy or edit
this message:
I am offended that you would produce the series Big Love. It demeans
and distorts sacred beliefs of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day
Saints. By setting the show in Salt Lake City, it blurs the line
between the Church and the long renounced practice of polygamy.
Please cancel the show immediately.

For "extra mile" effort and effect, call HBO's operator at (212)
512-1208 from 9am to 5pm Mon-Fri EST and ask to leave a message asking HBO
to cancel the show "Big Love".

Thanks!"

Suggestions for Disneyland

As I have become somewhat of a zealot lately on how to make a Disneyland trip the best, here are some suggestions and lessons that we have learned:

CONSULT THE UNOFFICIAL GUIDE TO DISNEYLAND. Don’t buy it. Check it out from the library. Some rides that you think are fun aren’t, and some rides that you think the kids will like will make them cry. Pay special attention to the Fast Pass suggestions, as well as the park itinerary suggestions at the back of the book. By the way, you can use your kids’ Fast Passes.

WHEN TO GO: Go in the offseason (January, February, or between Thanksgiving and Christmas). Hotels are cheaper and lines are incredibly shorter. Also, middle weekdays are best (Tuesdays to Thursdays). Days near a holiday are too crowded. This includes UEA.

GET A HOTEL RIGHT ACROSS THE STREET (on Harbor Blvd). Why?
(1) you don’t have to pay for parking,
(2) you don’t have to wait for a shuttle,
(3) you can rest each afternoon there then return refreshed to the park for a fun, full evening,
(4) you can eat in your room (most come with a microwave and fridge), go to a local grocery store, or walk down to McDonalds and save a ton of money. We often made oatmeal, macaroni and cheese, and other microwaveable foods in our room.

WHAT TO BRING TO THE PARK EACH DAY:
* food/snacks (they do allow food)
* water bottles (you can refill them at the park)
* sunscreen
* sunglasses
* I recommend a hat (otherwise the sun saps my energy and gives me a headache)

IF YOUR DAUGHTERS WANT TO MEET THE PRINCESSES: We found the lines to see them much shorter in California Adventure at the Animation Building. It seems that most people are looking for them at Disneyland. And the princesses are incredibly great with the kids! Take tons of pictures! Your kids will look at them again and again and again.

IF YOU HAVE YOUNG CHILDREN WHO LIKE FANTASYLAND RIDES (Dumbo, Tea Cups, Peter Pan, Alice in Wonderland, etc.): Go there first thing in the morning. The lines get long for the rest of the day. Pass by the characters who stand near the entrance and try to distract you. See them later in the day.

AWESOME, USEFUL WEB SITES:
* www.disneyland.com - Print out the calendar for each day you plan to be there. This might sound dumb, until you realize that some days the park opens one or even two hours early, may or may not have the fireworks, Fantasmic, etc. Also, it will tell you what rides are down.
* www.getawaytoday.com - Good package deals. Well worth looking into! It saved us a lot of money.
* www.mis2palm.com/DLInfo (case sensitive) - My brother Matt’s web site. Full of useful tips to save time and enjoy the rides. Pay special attention to the part about Fast Pass use.
* www.geocities.com/ashpsyche/DisneylandLinkMap.html - Great map of the park and neighboring hotels. We used this site as the diving board for figuring out what hotel we wanted.
* www.tripadvisor.com - Check out your hotel’s ratings before your reserve.

SIDE NOTES:
* Stay in one area of the park as much as possible. Too much walking is exhausting.
* You might consider booking a lunch or dinner at one of their restaurants. We had lunch at the Blue Bayou, and it was great. #1-714-781-DINE
* Fantastic time saver: Splash Mountain and California Screamin’ (the roller coaster in California Adventure) both allow a “single rider” option. For both rides, you can go up to an employee at the entrance of the ride and ask for a single rider pass. Take that pass and go into the exit. Walk all the way up to where people are getting off the ride. An employee will wait for a ride with an odd number of people on it and seat you almost immediately. You might not believe this, but even if the estimated wait time for either ride is two hours, you will literally get on the ride in about two minutes. In other words, this option could save you hours of line waiting. The only drawback is that you have to go on the ride alone.

Enjoy!

Timmerz

Report of the Neil Diamond concert back on 12-2005

My friend Ken Craig asked me to tell him about the Neil Diamond concert. Here is what I can remember.

The concert was held was back on Friday, December 16, 2006, in the "E" Center in West Valley.

When tickets went on sale, Karin told me that she wasn’t so interested in going this time (we had gone together back on August 31, 1999), since she had already seen him. I tried to understand her, but that to me is like saying you’ve seen your dad so you don’t need to see him any more. Anyway, suffice it to say that Karin doesn’t share the same passion for the man that I do. I can respect that.

So, since Karin showed no interest in going, I had to find a partner. I couldn’t just go alone, could I? But who would go with me? I wouldn’t go with a woman, unless she were a relative, and none of them wanted to go either. I canvassed my ward and work. None of my buddies wanted to go with me either. Time edged towards the concert date. What was I to do --- go alone?

I finally decided to just go alone --- despite how nerdy, desperate, awkward, and socially unacceptable it might seem. I HAD TO SEE THE DIAMOND.

A couple of weeks before the show, I started searching eBay. Coincidentally, I found somebody selling ONE ticket to the concert. It was a $78 dollar ticket. I thought to myself, “Am I willing to spend up to and perhaps exceeding $78 to see Neil Diamond all by myself?” I answered that question. Time was pressing. I was more than willing.

Long story short: I won that ticket for $41!

My wife Karin helped me prepare by ironing on two different pictures of him on a white t-shirt. I then doctored it up some more: a large “N” on the right shoulder; a large “D” on the left. I also found an example of his autograph on the Internet and forged it on my chest: “To Tim, my biggest fan, Neil Diamond.” It had the write swoop and everything. On the back, by the picture, I wrote, “Not a hot August night, but a night of chillin’ with Neil.” Now I was ready.

When I got to the concert, I sat down in front of two ladies. I came to find out that they were two forty-something bus drivers from the Salt Lake School District. They were nice. We chatted a lot and quickly became Diamond friends. Right before the concert, one of them spilled her entire beer right behind me. Some of it splashed on my arm. The rest drizzled down around my feet. For the entire concert I had excellent footing, because my feet stuck to the floor!

The stage was most interesting and at first confused me. It was a large circle, angled up at the back as if it were being propped up. The middle of the circle was dissected by a large line going down the middle, running from top to bottom. In other words, it was shaped like a large, flat aspirin. The two segments were completely covered with large white drapes.

A few minutes before the concert, the announcer came on to say that the show was about to start. OK..... I couldn’t see how it was possibly about to start. There were no instruments, no microphones, no drums on stage! There was nothing at all! How were they going to put it all together in five minutes?

I never did figure it out until I started hearing music, the beautiful introductory sounds of “Crunchy Granola Suite.” Suddenly, the drapes covering the two segments were sucked down into the floor. Gradually, sections of the band were raised up as the elevating floor ascended! It was so cool!

Then finally Neil came out and we all went berserk, in our middle aged ways. “Dee dee dee; dum dum dee dum dum.... I know a man was out of touch; and he’d hide in his house and he didn’t say much! Deedle dee dee dee dee dee dee doodle ee doo!” I sang along, nerdy alone, to practically every song. People looked at me; I toned it down a little bit.

Highlights during the show:

* About half way through the show a guy in front of me turned and tossed me a bottle of water. He yelled something like, “You look like you need it. You know all the songs!” He and his posse were impressed.

* Neil sang a medley from Jonathan Livingston Seagull. It was beautiful. I would love to have a recording of it. While he sang they showed video clips from the movie in the background.

* He sang “We” from his new album, and, I think, “What’s It Gonna Be.” I can’t fully remember. By the way, check out the album. Stripped down, raw, open, emotional, touching, unplugged. Not what you’d expect from someone his age (no offense).

When he sang “America,” they showed multiple black-and-white video clips of immigrants arriving in Ellis Island. It was touching and inspiring. I love and admire Diamond’s patriotism, especially in a Hollywood world where it is so mindlessly hip to be rebellious and criticize all things dealing with our government. I can’t stand how so many celebrities think they know it all, as if their fame automatically empowers them to heightened political knowledge and clarity.

In a nutshell, the concert was fun, awesome, and memorable. I love Neil Diamond. He is a gracious, grateful, savvy showman. He loves his fans. He gives it his all. He was born in 1941 (that makes him 65).

Enjoy, Ken!

(This is my 10th blog.)

Sometimes I Wish I Were Famous (Just a Teacher)

Sometimes I wish that I were famous.... a rock star.... or an actor.... or a successful professional basketball player. To look perfect, sound perfect, appear supremely confident, have the image, wildly succeed in front of others, have the lauding admiration of millions, attention, praise, ....

I look at celebrities I admire and who have had a profound effect on me, like basketball player Larry Bird, or singer Bono of U2, or Neil Diamond, and I analyze them. I watch them and am fascinated by their focus, their success. I think to myself that they have known pretty much their whole life what they would do. They completely immersed themselves in their career, studied it, swallowed it, and made it part of their being. Even at a very young age, they showed greatness in their field, and consuming dedication.

The results for them have been marvelous, remarkable, amazing. They have achieved notable success, and set a precedent that others in their field are endlessly compared by/to. I admire them both so deeply.

I often wish I were as successful as them. I sometimes look at myself and feel that I'm not nearly as successful as they are.

But then I start to see some similarities between them and me. Although on a small, local scale, as a teacher I sometimes feel like a Larry Bird or a Bono or a Neil Diamond, in that I have enjoyed tremendous success in my own career. I too have been admired, albeit by 13-year-old kids. I have influenced and inspired a few lives. I started out my teaching career strong, passionate, full of ideas, full of desire for independence and a need to do things and establish things on my own (kind of like U2’s career). I wanted to find my own personal theme as a teacher; like a sculptor, I sort of knew where I wanted to go and began chiseling away at what I knew would NOT make up part of my desired masterpiece. Teaching so far has been a quest to discover what my masterpiece is going to look like. I'm getting a bit closer each year.

And as I reflect on my career I see myself getting better and better. I have a growing quiver full of skills on my shoulder now, many of which are unmeasureable or imperceptible. I know so much more than when I began teaching in 1995. I have made a ton of mistakes, primarily in that first year, learned by trial and error, and now feel myself more effective than I'’ve ever been. I'm not perfect, but I'm a solidly effective, successful, accomplished teacher. I feel tremendous accomplishment and satisfaction in that.

I'm in my 11th year now. That means I've taught approximately 12,000 periods, and around 2,200 students. There are cities in Utah smaller than that. I've given out somewhere around 2,000 scored assignments in that time too. I've had students involved in murder, suicide, drug abuse, sexual abuse, self abuse, binge drinking, and just about everything you could imagine. I've seen broken bones, vomit, more zits than I care to remember, spontaneous tears, fist fights, stealing, bullying, conscience-less shameless lying, and bizarre, alien, psycho behavior. I've heard profanity that would make a sailor take notes. I've been shoved, kicked, pushed, flipped off, caricaturized, and criticized like Satan. I've been criticized and blamed; I've also been praised to high heaven.

I sometimes feel like I've lived 11 lifetimes, in that every year is crammed to the gills with roller coasters of emotion, barrages of questions, crises, defiance, decisions, and challenges. At 38, I feel like I've had a 50-year-old's equivalent experience, career-wise.

Just last Monday (March 6) a 20-year old former student named Mike Massé came to my school. He sought me out just to thank me. He had hardly spoken one sentence when he approached and embraced me. He thanked me profusely for the influence I had on him six years previous. I didn'’t even have a clue that I had ANY influence on him whatsoever. He told me that because of me he had published 16 of his poems and was still writing. He must have emphatically said, "You were my all-time favorite teacher" at least four times. I was so flattered and happy to hear him speak. My heart was profoundly touched. I was grateful to be a part of his happiness and progress.

My patriarchal blessing tells me that I will have an influence on those whom I least suspect.

I may not play basketball very well, although I absolutely love it, and I may not carry a tune worth paying for; but I feel some definite satisfaction in knowing and hoping that I am creating a legacy in my own career.

Rock on.