Scott called and reminded me tax season is coming up and I wanted to remind everyone to get their stuff in early. You will need to mail it or bring it in to our Salt Lake office, so call and set up an appointment today! Boyd will be handling the heavy stuff, correct social security numbers and number of dependents and I will handle the easy stuff, installment sales, 1031 exchanges, family limited partnerships, debenture bonds and other of your easy tax issues. Remember even though pa is millions of miles away it is still a race to get your tax information in.
Monthly Archive for January, 2007
I like this picture and I love these guys. Hope you have a wonderful birthday Shane. We love and miss you. Take care.
I hope you have a great day on your special day! I love this picture of you. You are such a beautiful and good girl. Love you Grandma and Grandpa
Click on FLICKR to see ‘a day on the project.’ This shows the wells and bathrooms being constructed. DIC did 33 wells in 2006 and we are currently in the middle of a 20 well project. Elder Martin is over the wells and he goes home on the 7th, then they will be my responsibility.
Happy Birthday, Father! May you enjoy the adventure of life and find success on your crusade in Laos! I love you and think your the best dad a girl could ever wish for!!
I have a few photo’s that show the stages of rice planting. If you want an informative and educational experience just click here FLICKR and enjoy. When you get to the sets, click on the detail view. Be sure to click on the photos to get the detailed notes.
For anyone that still has questions on how to do a spic and span, perfect post at the Dwight Cook Family Blog, follow this link to Flickr and check out the notes on the picture. As always, if you have questions, just let me know. Have a great Sunday and a great week.
By the way, Flickr can now have unlimited uploads and sets and is really awesome (just ask Elder Cook) and will save - as you probably already can tell - load times on the homepage of this blog. I will email you all the username and password.
I was looking for an activity for our FHE since we are incharge tomorrow and I came upon a site that you all should try. Just go to FHE and it lists 116 activities but also provides links to a lot of other games and activities. Check it out!
THE BEST TEN
This fantastic book, written by James Bradley and Ron Powers, is brought to life through the lens of Clint Eastwood (“Million Dollar Baby”) and highlights the bloody and brutal fight against the Japanese in the Pacific at the close of World War II. Moviegoers looking for tense battle scenes from start-to-finish will be disappointed, but fans of war films and of the book will latch to the individual stories of the flag raisers at Iwo Jima.
Martin Campbell (“The Legend of Zorro”) put the Bond franchise back on the map with Pierce Brosnan in “Goldeneye” in 1995, so it’s no wonder the studio turned to him to reinvigorate the series with a new Bond, Daniel Craig (“Layer Cake”) in 2006. Gone from this outing are the double entendres and the overcharged sexuality, instead replaced by a more humanistic, fallible Bond and oodles of taught action. Plus, it has one of the most excruciating torture scenes (for men at least) in all of movie history.
It’s not the story – the intersecting lives of workers and patrons at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles the night Robert Kennedy was assassinated by Sirhan Sirhan – but the performances delivered by an extremely eclectic cast. From Demi Moore (“GI Jane”) as the drunken, washed up lounge singer to William H. Macy (“The Cooler”) as the hotel manager, the acting and the intertwined character stories is what gives “Bobby” its power.
Paul Greengrass (“The Bourne Supremacy”) puts together a film that isn’t boring like a bloated documentary on A&E or cheesy as the Lifetime-esque “World Trade Center,” but rather a nail biting, real-time window into the fear, confusion and heroism aboard Flight 93 and throughout the country on September 11, 2001. This is my pick for best picture and best director in 2006.
This dark comedy was the first laugh-out-loud funny movie of 2006 and quite the coming out party for newcomer Jason Reitman (son of “Ghostbusters” helmer, Ivan). From politics to Hollywood to journalism, nothing is spared by the film’s ironic and sarcastic eye. This certainly could be nominated in the Best Adapted Screenplay category come the Academy Awards next month.
Justin Timberlake might be bringing “sexyback”, but “The Descent” and director Neil Marshall brought scary back this past summer with this first-class horror film about stranded female spelunkers. Part “Alien,” part “Deliverance,” the real scares come as the women face their internal monsters. Some of the blood squirting gore that occurs in the latter part of the film is silly, but I’d be lying if I said I didn’t cover my eyes from time to time. Definitely not for people who are (a) afraid of the dark, (b) claustrophobic or (c) don’t like bleach-white bat people clicking in their ears.
Perhaps a tad bit overrated and definitely imperfect (the final scene is way over-the-top), this movie starring Greg Kinnear (“Invincible”), Toni Collette (“In Her Shoes”) and Steve Carell (TV’s “The Office”) is brutally honest but not hard to digest because it has heart. I think Kinnear, Carell and Toni Collette could be considered for acting awards come the Oscars in February.
Who killed Superman? That’s the question “Hollywoodland” poses but never really answers in this noir film starring Adrian Brody (“King Kong”), Diane Lane (“Under the Tuscan Sun”) and Ben Affleck (“Jersey Girl”). Affleck portrays George Reeves, who was best known for his role as Superman on TV and who also later committed suicide. The film explores the doubts surrounding his suicide and in the process of investigating the crime, Adrian Brody learns quite a bit about heroes, legends and being a father.
Anyone with kids nowadays is 100 percent concerned about their children encountering pedophiles on the Internet. In “Hard Candy” the filmmakers turn the tables and the prey becomes the predator. 14 year-old Hayley Stark (Ellen Page) is propositioned by a 32 year-old man on the Internet and attempts (and succeeds) to expose him for what he is – a pedophile/sex offender.
I had my misgivings about this film, primarily because of the title and what seemed like a nerdy Australian accent by Leonardo DiCaprio, but I learned it was directed by the talented Edward Zwick (“The Last Samurai”) and DiCaprio’s accent really is a dead-on South African dialect. The film revolves around the genocide and chaos in Africa, specifically when it comes to the African diamond industry. I bet celebrities wouldn’t wear so much bling if they knew how many African children were killed to obtain those diamonds.
THE WORST TEN
Luke Wilson (“The Family Stone”) and Uma Thurman (“Kill Bill I and II”) show how easy it is to fall from grace in Hollywood with this inane snorefest directed by Ivan Reitman (“Ghostbusters”). The effects are cheesy and the dialogue and characters are clichéd beyond belief. I can take cheesy and clichéd if I laugh, but I didn’t laugh at all.
I truly didn’t think there were movies that made you stupid, but I legitimately felt dumber after viewing this movie about a jetliner full of rabid snakes. I would actually give this movie a negative star rating if it wasn’t for Samuel L. Jackson (“Freedomland”). I fully expect the direct-to-DVD sequel (probably starring Steven Segal) to hit stores this summer.
From “The Village” to “Napoleon Dynamite” to “My Big Fat Greek Wedding,” this comedy spoofs films in the vain of the “Scary Movie” franchise and like its “Scary Movie” cousins, is anything but funny. The toilet humor (literally) is in such poor taste and so over-the-top that I literally did not laugh once. Anyone involved with this movie should be flogged and if you own a DVD copy of this you should rethink your life.
Bryan Singer, the director who helmed “X-Men” and “X-Men 2,” left this project to direct “Superman Returns,” so the studio handed the reigns to Brett Ratner (“Rush Hour”) so the fans of the X-Men franchise didn’t amass the largest army of nerds and start rioting in the streets. Nothing new came from Ratner’s turn at the wheel and I can only pray it truly was “the last stand” for the X-Men.
Some critics have this sci-fi gore-fest on their list of best movies of the year. I think the movie was pure, unoriginal drivel. The plot follows a small town infested with wormlike alien creatures that attack townsfolk and turn them into zombies. Wow, that’s never been done before. Sure, there are some bits of humorous dialogue uttered by Nathan Fillion (“Serenity”) and Gregg Henry (“Payback”), but not even close enough to redeem this movie.
No surprise here. The world’s most overrated, nap-inducing book becomes a nap-inducing movie. Poor Ron Howard. His excellent “Cinderella Man” is underappreciated in the summer of 2005 and this supposed surefire blockbuster sputters out after only a few weeks in theaters. Tom Hanks will most likely file this next to “Joe vs. The Volcano.”
If Jon Heder was looking to distance himself from the Napoleon Dynamite persona, this was the wrong role. Heder is essentially Napoleon Dynamite sans moon boots and curly red hair, instead donning a bicycle helmet, elbow and knee pads. Plus, if my agent came to me and said “you’ll be teaming with David Spade and Rob Schneider,” I’d fire him on the spot.
Finally, Adam Sandler breaks form and returns to the likes of “Punch Drunk Love” and “Spanglish.” Just kidding. Hopefully I can say that about his next film, “Reign Over Me,” about a man who lost his family in the 9/11 attacks, but until then “Click” is another unoriginal, unfunny movie stacked alongside “The Longest Yard,” “Anger Management,” “Mr. Deeds,” “Little Nicky” and pretty much every Sandler comedy since “Happy Gilmore” and “The Wedding Singer.”
News flash to the Wayans brothers (Keenen, Marlon, and Shawn): “White Chicks” wasn’t funny and neither is this piece of celluloid garbage. Another example of Hollywood playing to the lowest common denominator, and if you have this in your DVD collection, chances are you have “Date Movie” too and have already committed yourself to a mental institution.
I would argue it has been at least a decade since director Brian De Palma has achieved any financial or critical acclaim in Hollywood. His last hit was “Mission: Impossible” back in 1996. Since then he’s had “Snake Eyes,” “Mission to Mars,” and “Femme Fatale.” I really believed De Palma’s cinematic eye coupled with James Ellroy’s storytelling would make “The Black Dahlia” at least a critical success, but I was so completely wrong. This movie has nothing redeeming. The acting is terrible, the dialogue is worthless and there is no journey to be had in any way, shape or form.
Most of you are aware that Massachusetts governor, Mitt Romney, has filed paperwork to explore a possible run at the White House in 2008. From my standpoint, as a Mormon, I hope he is given a fair shot and is judged on his politics because I don’t really care about his religion and won’t blindly vote for him just because he prescribes to the same religion that I embrace. We’re hoping others not of the Mormon faith feel that way, so hopefully we won’t take the polar opposite and blindly vote for him because he is Mormon. Of course, this assumes he gets the RNC nomination. The road is long until Election Day to be sure.
Still, the microscope will be focused on his religion - our religion - and the amount of news about Mormonism is going to rise as Romney gets more and more exposure. In fact, his filing prompted the New Republic magazine to post a cover story entitled, “A Mormon in the White House.” I haven’t read the piece yet, but on Hardball with Chris Matthews, the pundits discussing Romney’s filing essentially said it was below-the-belt.
Here’s the transcript, which I think is spot-on:
MATTHEWS: On another front in the Republican Party, Mitt Romney is about to announce an exploratory committee tomorrow. And what happens, the “New Republic” runs a front page story on the cover of their magazine about the dangers of a Mormon president. That is pretty rough stuff. And I read the long piece. I don‘t think it does the damage they thought it would, but boy, what a long, exhaustive attack on someone‘s religion.
GERGEN: Can you imagine if someone who had been—when John Kennedy was running, if the “National Review” opened up the great big package on the cover the dangers of having a Catholic in the White House? Bill Buckley would never have done that. Of course, he is Catholic, but nonetheless, that is just so below the belt and so inappropriate.
MATTHEWS: Is this the season we‘re entering?
GERGEN: Well, I hope not because the mormonism issue is there. It‘s lurking there, but it seems to me it‘s been entirely unfair to have this kind of whisper campaign that says a Mormon can‘t win. You know, the conservatives believe that Mormons are engaged in witchcraft.
You know, you hear that buzz out there, and, you know, Mitt Romney may or may not be your choice for candidate. But he‘s got one heck of a record of accomplishment over a lot of things over time, that deserve to get a lot more attention before we ever turn to the question of whether the Mormonism is right or not. In a day when we‘re burying Gerry Ford, I mean, I just find this stuff so…
MATTHEWS: … Andrea, I worked for a man who was LDS, Church of Latter Day Saints, a Mormon, Frank Moss in Utah, and I must say, the whole two years for this wonderful senator from Utah back in the ‘70s, his religion, I hate to say it, was irrelevant to his public life.
It just didn‘t come up in the office. It didn‘t come up in his legislation. I never heard any discussion ever affecting the way he voted on issues, economic issues, political issues, whatever. I wonder whether this is a bum rap.
MITCHELL: Well, I think it might be. You know, we‘ve heard much from people analyzing the south, for instance, who say that Mitt Romney‘s religion will be a problem with southern evangelicals. Yet he did very, very well—I think he came out on top in that initial straw poll in Tennessee.
MATTHEWS: Actually Frist came out on top, but he gave the best speech. That was a home court advantage for Bill Frist, I think. But he gave a great—you‘re right though in your overall point. He was very well-received down there. He gave a heck of a good speech. He‘s prepared. He‘s not exactly lovable, but he‘s damn confident, I think.
GERGEN: Well, he‘s run a—you have to give him a lot of credit. You know, if you look at about two years ago, he and Mark Warner are about the same place in their parties way back in the pack. Mark Warner then dropped out.
MATTHEWS: He‘s fighting it out, he‘s butting heads with McCain right now for running the show, pretty much.
GERGEN: That‘s exactly right. So you‘ve got to give him a lot of credit.
MATTHEWS: That‘s why he‘s getting—that‘s why he‘s hanging fire.
That‘s why people are writing about him.
GERGEN: But you know, I hope we have bigger things to talk about than whether a Mormon is a good idea in the White House.
Here are some other related stories to check out. All in all, good stuff.
Is the Mormon Faith a World Religion?
Judge Romney on His Consistency, Not Religion
Can We Elect a President without Prejudice?
Latest Comments
RSS