The Infinite Irrelevant

The Specter of Disruptive Technology

2011-11-24T10:50:00.001-10:00

Congress held hearings to discuss the new technology. Even though it has been available for a number of years, it is a serious threat to large copyright holders. The Motion Picture Industry's chief lobbyist has given stark reality to the situation by saying this new technology "is to the American film producer and the American public as the Boston strangler is to the woman home alone."

The year is 1982 and the technology is the VCR. Eventually, the media lobby is defeated and the supreme court decides Sony should not be held responsible for individuals who record things with their VCRs. However, over time, all the precedent set by main points of the case has been overturned. The media industry successfully lengthened copyrights to ridiculously long periods. Ironically, Sony now makes movies and so has switched sides in the debate.

Here we go again. Currently Congress is debating the most scary set of changes to copyright laws in my lifetime. Under the guise of "protecting jobs," the Stop Online Piracy Act and the PROTECT IP Act of 2011 would give big media businesses the right to shut down any website they deemed likely to have documents that infringe on their copyrights. And they make incidental copyright infringement via streaming a felony. So if you sing a pop song on YouTube you could be convicted of a felony and receive 5 years in prison.

One of the overturned precedents from the Sony case was that a copyright holder must prove a reasonable likelihood of harm from non-commercial private use of their material. That's right, precedent has been overturned and now big media can take away your websites and the burden of proof is on you, not them. (It looks like "Guilty unless you can afford better lawyers than them," to me.)

But don't worry. If this law passes, you won't be able to sing a pop song on YouTube because it would likely be blocked, as could blogger, search engines, twitter, facebook, and loads of other sites that facilitate possible piracy. You'd have to leave the country to visit such sites (but don't bother going to China or Iran, as they already have these restrictions).

The greatest irony is that because the media industries lost their fight against the VCR, video recordings have become their greatest source of profit. However, they still treat the threat of disruptive technology as if it will rob them of all their money. It is as if they think they have the right to prevent any change in the market because their current revenue streams would be altered in some way.

Where is the great watchdog of America -- the free press -- that is supposed to keep an eye on too much centralization of power? Oh yeah. They're owned by the media industry. In the original hearings on the VCR, there was a powerful testimony given by Fred Rogers (of Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood) on behalf of the value of the VCR. I remember watching it. Unfortunately, I can't seem to find it any more. It has been whisked away off of YouTube, Google, and the public conscience.

Do you want to do something? Visit AmericanCensorship to join a lobbying campaign with your local congressional delegation.

How do you define success?

2011-08-18T16:21:00.000-10:00

If we want to assign a responsibility to an entity like the free market or the government, we have to know how that responsibility will be viewed through the definition of success to the entity. For example, what makes a successful congressman? Success is getting elected and reelected. So if we give the government responsibility over medical care, the cost of the care is secondary. An efficient hospital is nice, but success is not defined by efficiency, it's defined by getting reelected. So efficiency cannot be the top priority. Similarly, businesses in the free market are successful if they make money and failures if they lose money. No matter how nice or conscientious a business is, if it looses money it's a failure. So if you put education in the hands of the free market, success will not be defined as "educated graduates" but "in the black." It's something we have to understand when we assign out these types of responsibility.

These definitions of success are, I think, generally understood -- even though individual companies or politicians may have very different sets of values.

So, in politics, success is defined by getting reelected.
In business, success is making a profit.
For a middle class family with children, success is getting the children graduated from high school (and college).
For young adults, success is being entertained. (Even when young adults want to find themselves and do service, it can't be something mundane around home, but they have to join the Peace Corps and go to Africa -- something more entertaining -- to be truly successful.)
For a senior citizen, success is to be able to retire and be comfortable.
Athletes are successful when they win their games or events.
A successful soldier returns home honorably.

So it's something to think about. In your various capacities, how do you define success? And when you are interacting with someone else, understanding what they would consider a success can be very helpful.

With that in mind, what makes a successful school system? If we want to make schools more effective at education, we need to make "educated students" the definition of success. Currently, I wonder if success is defined as "all students feel good about themselves" or "no children are left behind." Schools try to define success with vacuous terms like "making lifelong learners" and "empowering students" when the obvious definition of a successful school is "students achieve graduation."

What makes a successful teacher? What makes a successful student? Students are also young adults, so how can a teenager be both successful as a student and be entertained as well? Is it possible?

"Yay!" for higher gas prices?

2011-06-15T09:47:00.000-10:00

For billions of years, plants have been absorbing the light of the sun and dying with that energy trapped inside them. That energy is still there after they have been pressed and formed into coal, oil, and other fossil fuels. That's a potent, concentrated energy source that we can't really duplicate now.

Most alternative energy sources are not practical for large scale energy production. For example, it takes 3300 wind generators to replace one gigawatt coal generator, or 100 square kilometers of photovoltaic panels, or over 16 thousand square kilometers of corn made into bioalcohol (see Transactions of Fusion Science and Technology, vol. 49, Feb. 2006). I don't have the numbers for geothermal, but unless it turns out to be absurdly potent, it won't be able to replace fossil fuel powered generators, either.

In the long term, only nuclear fission has shown the potential to produce the kind of power we demand. Fusion has the potential to be much cleaner and far more efficient than fission, but it is, in my opinion, at least 20 or 30 years away from viability if it's viable at all. I really hope it is.

Luckily, we do have enough fossil fuels to last many decades, though they will become more and more expensive to extract. Currently, the only two ways we have of reducing our dependence on fossil fuels is to build a large number of nuclear power plants or reducing energy demands through large scale coordinated effort (carpooling, reducing AC usage, etc.). The rising prices for gasoline and electricity will naturally "encourage" people to conserve more. I guess that's good, right?

(Image from the U.S. Department of Energy)

A woman is a woman and a man ain't nothin' but a male!

2011-03-25T09:19:00.000-10:00

My favorite pop vocal group just came out with a music video. Check it out - Jump Jive an' Wail!

Aliens

2011-01-07T14:06:00.000-10:00

Animator Ryan Woodword took a story and picture by his child and animated it. Enjoy!

Aliens from Ryan J Woodward on Vimeo.

This is the same animator that did that cool dancing video called "Thought of You". If you haven't seen it yet, you should definitely click here and watch it. The site also contains a "making of" video.

Total Lunar Eclipse

2010-12-16T11:46:00.001-10:00

Monday, December 20th, if you stay up late and have clear skies, and live in North America or the Pacific, you'll be able to see a total lunar eclipse, where the Moon travels through the shadow of the Earth. In the above chart (click it to see a larger image) all times are Hawaiian Standard Times. Add two hours for Pacific time (8:33 becomes 10:33). Add 3 hours for Mountain, 4 for Central, and 5 for Eastern.

Oahu

2010-09-20T21:33:00.001-10:00

I used to be Roc of the Desert, and now I'm Roc of the Island. I moved from the Mohave desert to a tropical island in Hawaii. We used to get less than four inches of rain a year. Now we get at least a little rain almost every day, and the folks here think this is too dry. It makes for beautiful rainbows. And there's a lot of wildlife here, much of which has been imported and competing with the native species.

Here's a wild rooster (they make a lot of noise all night -- why do we have nocturnal roosters?)

Here's a cattle egret, a hen with chicks, and a feral cat deciding whether or not to challenge the hen for her chicks.

Native wildlife is here too, like this crab at the beach.

ALOHA!

March Madness - Academic style

2010-03-18T05:33:00.000-10:00

The folks over at insidehighered.com have put together an interesting bracket for March madness - an Academic Performance tournament where the winner is the team with the higher academic progress rate (APR). This is what the NCAA is using to measure how well schools are keeping the "student" in "student athlete."

See the article here

Notice that the team favored to win the tournament, Kansas, also has won this tournament. That's quite a feat!

Nine Pies

2009-11-27T08:58:00.000-10:00

In the book, Harold and the Purple Crayon, Harold makes a picnic that consisted of his nine favorite kinds of pie. So when my wife was asking what kinds of pie we should make for Thanksgiving, the little ones wanted nine kinds of pie, just like Harold. So here are the nine pies -- clockwise from the far left, we have pecan, cranberry-apple, pumpkin, cherry, butterscotch, chocolate, blueberry, peanut butter, and peach.

We, of course, had made way too much food for the feast -- it wouldn't be a feast, otherwise. We all had to think of one thing to be thankful for. I chose modern communication -- after all, I can post pictures of our feast for friends and family to see. I'm also thankful for friends and family, the fact that I have a job, and most of all, I'm thankful for the opportunity to repent, change, and grow. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Perseids

2009-08-13T08:16:00.000-10:00

The Perseid meteor shower occurs every year as Earth passes through the orbit of comet Swift-Tuttle. This year we had clear skies and a late rising moon, so the situation was perfect to take dozens of people out to a darker location for the shower. I saw about a dozen or so nice meteors, while my daughter saw over 30. While the Perseids usually peak on August 12 (the evening of Aug 11 in the western US), there are still a lot of meteors a week or two before and after the peak, so it's not too late to catch a few meteors this year.

The image is of a Lyrid meteor from earlier this year, courtesy of Astronomy Picture of the Day

Two Decades

2009-07-12T12:11:00.001-10:00

I can't believe my high school twenty year reunion is coming up. Where did all the time go?

Aspiring Writers?

2009-06-08T20:05:00.000-10:00

Any aspiring writers out there? I know of a college writing teacher who posts 15 minute podcasts with a couple writer friends every week. They are entertaining and very informative. The three regulars on the show are a fantasy writer, a horror writer, and a sci-fi web comic artist. So they're heavy in the speculative fiction end of the spectrum, but still provide great advice for all writers. They are starting their third season, and you can order previous seasons on CD or just download them all one at a time. Check out Writing Excuses by Brandon, Dan, and Howard!

The Most Energetic Laser in the World

2009-05-31T12:41:00.000-10:00

My wife went to visit her brother who works at the National Ignition Facility (NIF) in Northern California. There, they have just completed construction of the world's most energetic laser. She got to tour the facility and was very impressed. Check out this video about it:

At the movies

2009-05-30T12:53:00.000-10:00

I took my five kids to see Pixar's UP yesterday. The most exciting part of the movie (just barely) was during the credits where my kids all watched intently all the names. We watched all the people in Animation go by and were still waiting. Then when Character animators started to scroll up, my oldest two pointed and said "there he is" in near perfect unison. The kids saw their uncle's name scroll up the screen. Yay! How exciting to have a family member associated with such a great film. I highly recommend it. The problem is that we didn't get to see the trailer to Pixar's next film, Toy Story 3! The showed a bunch of trailers to films that I would never see, but left off a sure-fire winner. I feel a little gypped.

Under the hood of UP!

2009-05-16T17:07:00.000-10:00

Here's a great behind-the-scenes clip at Pixar, where they are making the movie "UP!" A clip that goes from around the 3:15 mark to the 3:35 mark has my wife's brother working with the director, Pete Docter (who also directed Monsters Inc).

We were able to point out to our kids many of the things that it takes to make a movie. They got to see the Orchestra recording to the movie, digital modeling, and many other things. Enjoy!

They did it again!

2009-03-24T06:58:00.000-10:00

BYU's animation students did it again. Last year, their short animation Pajama Gladiator was just a bit too late to qualify for the Student Emmys. So it was entered this year. And it only took second place. You see, it was up against this year's entry from the BYU students, Kites, which beat it out to first place.

This is a clip from Pajama Gladiator.

And here's a clip from Kites.

Trivia about me

2009-03-08T19:08:00.000-10:00

A few months ago, it was popular in Facebook to list twenty-five pieces of trivia about yourself. I did it, and thought I'd like to post it here.

1. I started teaching my first class for pay when I was a sophomore in high school. I taught a Calligraphy class for Community Education in Boise. Most of my students were female senior citizens, and the class was a ton of fun to teach. After that I knew I wanted to be a teacher. Since I was good at math, and math teachers tend to be valued, I got a PhD and became a math professor.

2. I consider myself politically active, but I don't tend to agree with either the Democratic or Republican platforms. I think the Republican platform tends to ignore our responsibility to care for others, educate our children, and manage the environment, while the Democratic platform tends to ignore the importance of family health, sound fiscal policy, and national security. Neither party proposes what the country really needs -- more personal responsibility from its citizens.

3. I love to ballroom dance. I've taken medals exams in Latin and American Social Dance at BYU. I served as the president of the Oregon Ballroom Dance Club in 1996-7, and I taught a regular dance lesson for a time. My wife and I once placed third in a polka contest.

4. When I was a kid, I was given a telescope and learned to love the sky. I joined the BYU Astronomical Society in college where I wrote and gave planetarium shows. I even taught several semesters of astronomy at Nevada State College.

5. I love to juggle, and some day I want to juggle more than four balls.

6. I have taught classes (or at least been a teaching assistant) at six different colleges (BYU, New Mexico at Los Alamos, U of Oregon, Utah State, U of Arizona, and Nevada State).

7. I have played the baroque recorder in a public concert. (I was in the Red Mountain Music Company and we had a piece that required a recorder.)

8. I bike to work (school) every day (except when it's raining).

9. I used to speak Mandarin Chinese fluently, and I was able to read about 1500 characters. But my Chinese skills have been diminishing over time. I still like Chinese food, though.

10. I have sung in the Salt Lake Tabernacle as part of a guest choir appearing with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir on Music and the Spoken Word.

11. There was one point in time (back in 1993) when I had visited a significant portion of the world wide web (probably about 20% of the web). I wrote my first web page that summer. There was only one graphical web browser back then -- NCSA Mosaic.

12. I published a science humor newsletter for a number of years. My wife and I did it all in WordPerfect 5.1 for DOS, until we upgraded to WordPerfect 6.0 for DOS.

13. I once worked for a chocolate company, where we made chocolate covered macadamia nuts. I still love macadamia nuts, but I have never been much of a chocolate fan, even before working there. I don't like chocolate ice cream or hot chocolate.

14. I sometimes play organ in church. The first time I played organ for a church meeting was when I was 13 and a general authority was visiting. And one of the hymns was really hard. But I practiced my fingers raw and acquitted myself well.

15. I love Broadway musicals, and have many of them memorized word for word. But I never was able to attend one, even a touring show, except for once when my brother-in-law was in the Broadway Tour of Les Miserables, just a few years ago. That is still the only Professional production I've ever seen.

16. I only went hunting once. I was 14, I had passed the required hunter's safety course, did decently at the shooting range, and my Dad and I went up into the cold Idaho hills. I carried around a cold piece of metal in my bare hands all day, didn't see anything to shoot, and decided I didn't like hunting. I'd rather hike around without a cold piece of metal in my freezing fingers. So I never went hunting again.

17. I once worked at an experimental corn farm. It was run by a seed company. We had to carefully cross-breed corn according to instructions from the scientists. Mostly it was sweet corn, but there was also popcorn and these GIANT corn plants that were used for corn nuts.

18. I played french horn in school. In high school, my school band played at a 49ers half-time show. In college, I got to play at the Holiday Bowl. I still love going to football games (especially BYU games), even though I'm not in the band any more.

19. I used to be on a swim team when I was young. I wasn't all that good at any stroke (I was best at the breast stroke), but as a pre-teen who could actually complete an individual medley, I always got points for our team.

20. I love to drive. I tend to feel much more comfortable as a driver than as a passenger in a car. I used to have an international drivers license when I lived in Taiwan, although I never got to use it. But traffic was really scary there, so I'm not too disappointed.

21. My favorite dessert is fresh strawberry pie. My favorite confection is Almond Roca. And my favorite drink is orange juice.

22. I love to read. If I could support my family by being a book critic, I'd be in heaven. I have to stay away from bookstores if our budget is tight. I spent hours on end (and plenty of money) in a large used bookstore near our house in Tucson. My favorite novel of all time is The Secret Garden by Frances H. Burnett. I started reading it one evening, and by the next morning I had finished it. I have read it many times since and still adore it.

23. When I grew up, my family never had cable TV. Nor did we have a personal computer (unless you count a system that was primarily for video games). I was married before I had either.

24. As a child, I disliked milk products, particularly cheese. So I was always the only kid in my classes that didn't like pizza. I was cured of that by the time I reached high school, though. And I never disliked vanilla ice cream.

25. I like to wear odd things. I love bow ties, and I often wear sandals with socks. I even have a nice pair of dress sandals that I've worn to church.

I'm tired of Bad News

2009-03-04T11:03:00.000-10:00

At the end of January, I was informed that in the governor's proposed budget, and using the funding formula for higher education, our school was going to have to take a 46% budget reduction. That's a staggering percentage. Even if the state legislature tempers it some, there's no way the school can keep up regular operations without some serious reductions. So 35 positions are slated to dissolve, and mine is one of them. Technically, I can't be let go without a full academic year's notice, but the budget cuts will affect my ability to be paid next year, so the school offered me a contract buyout that will pay me next year's salary with this year's year-end money. So we will be okay for now. Right after that, we found a leak in the plumbing -- the sewage line from the second floor. Yuck! That's fixed now.

Currently, I'm trying to plan a trip to Idaho, to go to my grandmother's funeral. It's bitter-sweet because I'm happy that my grandmother gets to see grandpa again, but sad that I have to wait until my time to go to see her again.

Also, a member of the community choir I sang in, the wonderful mother of both our excellent director and brilliant accompanist, has been diagnosed with a very serious form of cancer. Then to top it all off (at least I hope this tops it off) one of my earliest childhood friends died in a plane crash in Utah yesterday. Challenges and troubles help us grow, and are a part of the testing process of life. I wouldn't give up the blessings, growth, and opportunities that have occurred due to hardships and disappointments in my life, but I am getting kind of tired of bad news. A little break before the next batch of troubles would be appreciated.

Happy New Year!

2009-01-25T13:14:00.000-10:00

Congratulations!

That's what people say to each other during the Chinese New Year celebration. Congratulations and have good fortune. Some of the traditions are quite interesting. For instance, it is bad luck to cut anything during the first 15 days of the new year, or you'll cut into your good fortune. So barbers do really good business on the week leading up to the new year, but virtually none during the celebration. Also, it's important to clean really well before the new year because if you sweep during the new year celebration, you'll sweep away your good fortune.

Traditionally, there is a monster that comes down out of the hills at the new year which eats children. You have to keep him away. One way is to write good luck phrases on red strips of paper and put them on your doorposts. That will keep the monster out of your house. Also, firecrackers scare the monster away, so beginning at midnight on new years eve, firecrackers start popping and they go on for days. The celebration culminates on the 15th day of the lunar year, with the lantern festival. It is also customary to post the character for "fortune" upside down to represent good fortune pouring forth in the new year.

Many people have noted the similarities between Chinese New Year and the Passover. The destroying angel was kept out of the houses of the Children of Israel if they had the blood of a sacrificial lamb on their door posts, while children of the Egyptians were killed. Also, the Passover was held on the 15th of the first month, the same as the culmination of the Chinese New Year. There are other similarities (for example, a feast of bitter herbs) that have also been noted. I just thought it was very interesting.

Let it snow. Let it snow. Let it snow.

2008-12-18T05:16:00.000-10:00

So Wednesday at about eleven in the morning we noticed occasional flakes of snow falling from the cloudy sky. In the Las Vegas area this is not terribly unusual in December or January, but it hardly ever sticks. It got thicker and heavier, but still didn't start sticking until about 1:30 or so.

By two it was sticking to the roads, which is really really rare here. So my wife and I went to pick up our kids from middle school. By the time we got home there were about two or three inches of snow on the grass, and an inch or so on the pavement. So we started in on snowball fighting immediately. It was a fluffy wet snow, perfect for snowballs. My daughter insisted on building a snowman before the snow melted. Temperatures were still in the forties, so we weren't sure how long the snow would last, but it was still coming down.

By three thirty or so, we realized that we needed to go to the park with the kids. There were hills there, but the snow was too heavy for sledding on our cardboard pieces that we brought. So we started building a fort. By this time there was about four or five inches on the grass, and the stuff packed into snowballs like magic. It was still snowing heavily, so we didn't take the camera with us for fear of it getting wet. After we came home, we watched movies and ate popcorn. By nine it was still snowing, and the palm trees were just loaded with snow. It was a weird sight, but it was too dark for pictures. I thought I'd wait and get a picture by morning light.

However, we woke to the sound of heavy dripping. It was six in the morning and the temperature was already almost forty. I took a picture from our back deck, but the snow was already off the palms. You can see the packed snow on the rail of the deck, still about five inches deep or so, but it's not as spectacular as last night. There's still slush on all the streets, but I expect the streets to be clear by tonight and the snow gone from the grass by tomorrow. Still, school is canceled for the day (the first snow day here in nearly thirty years) and the kids are in snowy heaven.

Merry Merry!

2008-12-16T12:46:00.001-10:00

We wish you a Merry Christmas
We wish you a Merry Christmas
We wish you a Merry Christmas
And a Happy New Year.

Now where's my figgy pudding?

One December Bright and Clear

2008-12-05T11:29:00.000-10:00

A very good friend of mine sent me a link to this wonderful video by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. View it and pass it on.

Merry Christmas!

Great Commercial!

2008-11-18T15:12:00.000-10:00

Check out this commercial!

I regularly take a bike to work, and the way some drivers ignore bikes can be really upsetting. Please pay attention.

Vote for President?

2008-10-08T05:56:00.000-10:00

I teach a math class that includes sections on voting. I always make sure to tell my class that as Americans, we do not have any national elections. We only have state elections. Even in a presidential election, we only vote for state electors who then vote for president. I don't have a problem with that at all.

Where I do have a problem is voter apathy and negativism. I hear a lot of friends and acquaintances saying things like "I can't stand politics" and "We have to pick the better of two evils" without actually looking into the subject more than a cursory glance at the news. It makes me rather sad. Politics is the act of making decisions as a group, and that is fundamentally what makes our government great. We all need to participate to make the system work.

The other complaint I hear so much is that people don't like "partisan politics." But I think you'll find, if you study the political parties of other countries, that both of our major political parties are extremely centrist. On almost every issue, the parties largely agree, and the two-party system ensures that neither party can espouse a largely non-centrist agenda. Any party that did so would destroy their voter base.

Personally, I like the system that we have which encourages a two-party system. Except for a select few issues, which the candidates have to accentuate to separate themselves from their opponents, most candidates largely agree with each other. If you don't believe me, just take a look at the partisan arguments used in a legislature of a democratic country in Europe or other place in the world. You'll find political parties within that legislature that espouse such extreme views that you'll wonder how they get anything done. (The political parties all have to form loose alliances to gain power, or nothing would ever get done.)

I think both of our major political parties produce rather centrist candidates who are competent and basically agree with their opponents on most issues. The attitude I've heard that "If candidate X wins, we'll just have to move to Canada" is immature, while "Neither candidate would do a good job" is ignorant and I'm tired of hearing excuses. Be thankful for the wonderful governmental system we have, and do your part. Do some research then get out and VOTE!

Bail the water out!

2008-09-25T11:25:00.000-10:00

The mortgage industry is sinking, and the U.S. government wants to bail out the water to keep the boat afloat. This is a nice idea, but it doesn't address the root causes of the problem; bailing out the water doesn't fix the leak in the hull.

The number one problem as I see it is consumer irresponsibility. I know that there are a lot of people who have just walked away from their mortgages because they were upside-down. Others have succumbed to the promise of a bigger, better house, and paid way too much, falling prey to the teaser rate of an ARM, and now cannot make payments. Credit card and other consumer debt is at an all time high.

The "stimulus packages" that have come out of Washington (supported by members of both political parties) have been a joke. They are trying to save the economy by teaching people to spend more money. The government should be encouraging people to be fiscally responsible, rather than to spend spend spend. I have no problem with the idea of a bailout. Sometimes bailouts have to happen for the sake of stability. However, if this bailout becomes a handout, and encourages the behavior that is the underlying cause of our economic instability, then it would be better if we didn't have it.

A good bailout would be designed to penalize irresponsible behavior by companies and individuals, encourage families to get out of debt and save some money for the future, and provide a timetable for the government to extract itself from the mortgage business. That last point is important. Remember that most companies are somewhat kept responsible by their desire to be profitable -- they are in the business of making money -- but much of the government is in the business of getting votes, which often does not motivate fiscally responsible behavior, so they should not be in the banking business. (This is the very reason that the government should not be in the insurance business, and why capitalism will never be an acceptable steward of education.)

So unless the bailout does something to address the root problems of the economic instability it might just speed up the downward cycle. On the other hand, a well designed bailout package might be just what we need. Do the lawmakers in Washington have the courage do do the right thing, even if it might cost a few votes? I just don't know.

Music Soothes the Soul

2008-08-27T11:20:00.000-10:00

I have noticed that when I'm not listening to music very often, I tend to be a little more grouchy and a little more sullen. At least I think that's the case. When I notice that I'm just feeling a bit bitter, I sometimes notice that I haven't been listening to or making much music lately. And when I change that, I tend to feel better about things. Music gives me a bit of a lift.

So I'm really excited that the new season of Red Mountain Choir is starting. It's a non-audition community choir, and the Skouson brothers do such a great job leading us. If anybody lives anywhere near Boulder City, Nevada, and wants to be a part of something special -- something spectacular -- consider joining the choir. We meet on Wednesdays -- Click here for more information.

Oh Danny Boy

2008-07-24T10:33:00.000-10:00

It's Pioneer Day in Utah, so I thought I'd honor some of my ancestors that came to America in search of freedom and opportunity. My Gatliff side came from Wales, and my Brownfield side came from Ireland. Since music is so much a part of those cultures I thought I would focus on one of my favorite pieces, the Irish folk song, "Danny Boy". I have a son who really loves the song, too, so I thought I'd post a few of my favorite renditions of the song. First is the King's Singers.

This really has to be my favorite version of the song. They performed it at the Salt Lake Winter Olympics, and I just loved it.

Next, my son really likes this version, performed by a young British singer, Declan Galbraith. He's less polished than the King's Singers, but he's a truly amazing young singer with a powerful voice.

I remember that when I was in college I sang "Danny Boy" for Mack Wilberg when I auditioned to join the BYU Men's Chorus. I was too nervous then to sing it the way I prefer, which is to put a bit of Irish lilt into the pronunciation. I think the song just sounds better that way. This next version, though, puts a bit too much accent into the song -- as it's sung by the Swedish Chef and pals (thanks, Jim Henson and Frank Oz).

Finally, while the song is traditionally sung by male choirs or soloists, one of my favorite female singers has given her rendition of the song. Here's the late Eva Cassidy singing her version of the song:

Enjoy.

Buy N Large

2008-07-04T06:24:00.001-10:00

Warning: This post contains very minor spoilers for the Pixar movie "Wall-E". It is highly recommended that if you haven't yet seen the movie, you should go see it right away. If you have already seen it, seeing it again wouldn't be a bad idea.

I was utterly delighted with Pixar's new movie, "Wall-E". Then, while flipping through channels on the radio, I heard a conservative commentator talking about how awful the movie was for making fun of Walmart and having an environmental theme. What?!?

When I saw the movie, the connection between Buy N Large and Walmart was obvious. They are both big, and have forced other retailers out of business. I thought it was rather funny, as was no doubt the intention. But when you stop and think about it, the bigness of it is about where the comparison stops. Walmart actually encourages small business by selling popular local items in their stores. If you make a great product, they'll sell it for you. They just do retail.

In fact, the business practices of BnL more closely resemble Steve Jobs' Apple company. Apple completely controls everything relating to its products. If you want to write a computer program that runs on an Apple computer, you can't sell it to others unless you get it approved by Apple and pay them royalties. You can't sell their computers out of a little home-based shop (unless you get express permission from the company, I guess). Apple actively discourages small startup companies.

The purpose for this is, of course, to make sure their products are more reliable. Apple prides itself on its more reliable computers. However, taken too far, this overprotective mindset would actually be the one that leads to a company like Buy N Large in the latest Pixar film. So while poking fun at Walmart (and to some extent, Microsoft), they are actually criticizing their own practices. I thought it pleasantly ironic.

Note of Explanation: Steve Jobs is the founder of Apple Computers, and was also the largest stockholder of Pixar before it merged with Disney. Because of the Disney merger, Steve Jobs became the largest stockholder of Disney.

P.S. Check out the Buy N Large website at www.buynlarge.com

Why can't we just get along?

2008-06-09T19:33:00.000-10:00

In the ancient Greek world, there were many philosophers, but two had philosophies so popular that they became the standard by which all philosophy is measured. Raphael's painting, "The School of Athens" depicts many great Greek philosophers, and smack in the middle are those two, Plato and Aristotle, Plato pointing up and Aristotle pointing down.

Plato believed you found truth by looking beyond or outside of the physical world, while Aristotle believed truth was found by looking at the world around us. In the first few centuries, Plato's philosophy became the "in" train of thought, so all ways of thinking were measured by what is known as neo-Platonism. Especially early Christianity. In order to survive, they changed their standard of truth from the prophets and apostles to the philosophies of Plato. Out of this circumstance, we get strange things like the mystery of the trinity, and the immaterial God.

Then, over a millennium later, during the Renaissance, scientific thought espoused the opposite, Aristotelian view. Truth was to be found by observing the world (and universe) around us. Over the past few centuries, this view has really become the "in" philosophy, so all truth should be measured by Aristotle's standard. Some religious practitioners have tried to change again to fit the standard, and we get things like intelligent design, and other interesting derivations.

But what usually happens is a bitter feud between science and religion, each side trying to show how valid their own side is by detracting from the other. But both are really quite flimsy when it comes to real truth. In fact, traditional Christianity is often based more on Plato than on Christ, and the Scientific Philosophy is based more on Aristotle than on actual data. Since both sides have chosen opposite philosophies, is it any wonder that sparks fly in the science vs. religion debate?

Remember how prosperous we really are.

2008-05-24T18:58:00.000-10:00

In the US, we are used to our lifestyle which is, quite frankly, the most lavish and prosperous lifestyle in the history of the world. Even poor families live in relative prosperity. My family lived under the poverty level for seven years and we still had plenty of food, safety, shelter, many modern comforts, loads of recreational activities, and freedoms most people in the history of the world never even dreamed of. (We did manage to basically stay out of debt, which helped a lot during that time.)

Yet it's easy to forget what we have and complain that other comforts to which we feel entitled are out of our reach. I think it's an important part of human nature, to not just be satisfied with what we have, but to want more. That's how we get progress and growth, rather than decay and stagnation. But we need to be careful not to totally focus on what we don't have, and be truly thankful for what we do have.

On the relationship between faith and works

2008-05-14T10:35:00.000-10:00

One of the seeming contradictions in scripture is the nature of salvation, and whether it is based on faith or works. There are some religions traditions that focus entirely on actions and obedience to commandments, individual works. While others entirely disregard works in favor of salvation by faith, no matter if the works of the individual were beneficial or destructive. These are often made to seem contradictory, or perhaps in need of a compromise. But I don't think the answer is somewhere in the middle, because both opinions have strong foundations in scripture. The answer, rather, is that both are true.

The principle can be seen in the way the lights in my home work. I walk into a room, flip the switch, and the light turns on. In order to get the light to turn on, I have to perform a very specific act, flipping the switch. However, the act does not provide the power to make the light glow. That comes from the power company. In the same way, the power of salvation comes exclusively through the sacrifice of the Savior. But there are certain things we must do to utilize that power.

If we have "faith" in the Savior but do not obey the commandments given to us by him, that would be like paying the bill to hookup the power to your home, but not flipping the switch to turn it on. It doesn't do any good. On the other hand, if we go through all the motions of being religious without developing faith in the Savior, that is like trying to light a lamp with a switch, but not paying the power bill. The switch doesn't provide the power, it just aligns the wires so the light can accept the power.

When the Savior told Nicodemus that "Except a man be born of water and of the spirit he cannot enter the Kingdom of God," He is giving instructions that everyone needs to be baptized to be saved. However, the act doesn't provide salvation any more than the light switch powers the light. But even though it doesn't provide salvation, it is necessary, as necessary as flipping the switch to turn on the light.

Ordinances like baptism and behaviors like chastity are essential, as it says in scripture. But salvation is only through faith on the Savior, as it also says in scripture.

Personality Rubbish

2008-04-29T06:44:00.000-10:00

I took an online personality test and tried to be as honest as possible. Then it came out with a report that did two things: first it regurgitated the responses that I gave, then it made some generalizations based on my answers that were flat out wrong. Here are the results:

My Personality


Neuroticism	27
Extraversion	60
Openness to Experience	80
Agreeableness	92
Conscientiousness	44

You very rarely feel depressed and are usually in a good frame of mind, however you often resist any cravings or urges that you have, but sometimes you give in. You tend not to talk much and prefer to let others control the activities of groups. You tend not to express your emotions openly and are sometimes not even aware of your own feelings. You are tenderhearted and compassionate, feeling the pain of others vicariously and are easily moved to pity, however you mostly assume that people are honest and fair, however you are wary and hold back from trusting people completely. You take your time when making decisions and will deliberate on all the possible consequences and alternatives.

Take a Personality Test now or view the full Personality Report.

Now, anybody that knows me knows that "You tend not to talk" describes me about as well as "dainty" describes a bull elephant. But they kept asking questions about wanting to be a leader, and that's very unlike me. They associated it with lack of assertiveness, and therefore conversational assertiveness. At least, I think that's what they did. And that's not the only problem with the analysis. My wife took it and it didn't do a very good job with her, either.

I don't trust others, it says. Well, I certainly don't trust personality tests. IQ tests fall in that category for me as well. I think they are a bunch of bologna.

Petroglyphs and Pachyderms

2008-04-02T13:54:00.000-10:00

Our family and some family friends went on a camping trip to the Valley of Fire State Park in southern Nevada. The red sandstone formations are quite fun to climb on, as you can see.

Also, I saw this one that looks rather like an elephant descending the hill, don't you think?

There are also a number of ancient petroglyphs.

The above picture can be seen by ascending stairs to an observation deck as seen below.

Anyway, this is one of our favorite locations to camp. I highly recommend it.

What's Up?

2008-03-10T12:09:00.000-10:00

I have a brother-in-law who works for Pixar, and he has told us that he is working on the coolest movie they have ever done. But other than that, he will tell us nothing at all. So I'm not sure if this is his film, but Pixar has announced the name of their next three films, and after Wall-E and before Toy Story III they are releasing a film called "Up". And they've released almost no details. But here is some concept art:

It's supposedly about an old seventy-something man who has adventures. I love the zeppelin in the concept art. I'm excited to see more details when a teaser is attached to Wall-E.

Science is not true, it's valid.

2008-03-06T16:16:00.000-10:00

One thing that really bugs me is when people believe somehow that science is true, or that math is somehow part of reality. Let me give my personal view of this topic.

Math is a language that we invented. We use this language to describe the world around us. When we see a building, we use numbers to describe how tall it is, or how big it is, or how expensive it was to build. And in the language of math, we describe patterns and relations between these numbers. We describe the position of falling objects with a mathematical equation, and we call that equation a scientific law. Then we take a collection of these laws and put them together into a framework and call the whole thing a scientific theory, like the theory of gravity. It has nothing to do with truthfulness and falsity, so it doesn't mean the same thing as the common notion of "theoretical" as opposed to "factual." It simply means a model of how the world behaves using measurable scientific laws.

If others try to duplicate the measurements and come up with the same laws and relations, then the scientific laws are validated. If the theory produces predictions which are then observed to have been accurate, the theory is validated. There is no claim that the theory is true or false. In fact, if a theory is false, it doesn't make it bad. Let me provide a couple examples.

Example 1: Newton's theory of gravity is known to be invalid -- it fails to properly predict the position of the planet Mercury. Still, it's used most of the time to predict the positions of most objects because it usually works. Example 2: The theory of acoustics is used to describe how sound travels. However, one of the assumptions in the theory is that air is a continuous medium, a uniform substance. But the assumption is not true at all. Air is made up of a variety of tiny molecules that continually bump around against each other. But that doesn't matter. The theory works when designing concert halls and hospital rooms, so the theory is valid.

Many people subscribe to the "religion of science" and hold that science is true, therefore traditional religion must be false, which bugs me to no end. Others take the opposite view which equally bothers me. They try to say things like "it's only a theory" implying that it is not factual. For example, "Creative Design" is sometimes touted as an alternative theory to the theory of evolution, but it is not the same kind of thing at all. Where are the measured observations and the mathematical equations that describe their patterns? There is a fundamental difference between a "theoretical idea" in the colloquial sense and a "scientific theory" in its technical definition.

I love science. It is wonderful; it is useful; it is endlessly fascinating. But it is not "true." It is either valid or invalid (old invalid theories are often called "classical.") So don't use science to try to discredit religion, as science really has practically nothing to say about faith. And for those of faith, don't be so defensive that you have to come up with pseudoscience to combat science. Just look at the measurements and predictions and be amazed at the wonder of the creation in which we live.

Thoughts on escapist fiction

2008-02-16T07:12:00.000-10:00

The phrase "escapist fiction" is a rather derogatory term used to marginalize entire genres of literature today. What do these words actually mean? "Escapist fiction" is used to identify a different collection of books by each individual, but it usually means something to the effect of "the type of books that I don't read because I'm superior to the type of people who read those books."

Most fiction is written with attention given to characters, ideas, story, or prose style. Some authors of fiction tend to excel in developing characters, but don't focus as much on ideas. Others show different strengths. Readers also have their own preferences. Some readers, for example, value ideas but don't care so much about character development. What happens is that each reader considers the books with the strengths they value to be well written and the others to be "escapist fiction."

Consider, for example, the traditional librarians and English professors, or as I will call them, the English Educational Establishment (EEE). The fiction they value tends to focus on elocution rather than communication, on the style of the prose rather than its ability to move a reader, on the skills of the author rather than the message of the text. The EEE often considers anything written with more straightforward prose to be triflingly simple, and not worthy of the time of any discriminating reader. (They particularly loath anything that might be seen as popular, because liking that kind of thing would connect them to commoners when they are supposed to be the elite.)

Truly great fiction has strengths in multiple areas. Victor Hugo wrote his novels with beautiful prose, complex and engaging characters, and fascinating and clever ideas. Readers who value character above all will probably like Hugo's novels, as will those who read for prose. But the many historical asides and character histories that Hugo includes tend to break up the plot. This makes the book less enjoyable to those who value story.

The power of fiction is its ability to change and develop the emotions and concepts of the readers, and hence affect the culture of the audience. It can be something big and noble, or small and personal, but powerful none the less. For example, Nicholas Nickleby was written to try to shed light on some serious child abuse occurring in certain English boarding houses. But Dickens would not have had the power to affect change if he did not write fiction that appealed to a large portion of readers.

My wife and I refer to the preferences as "drives." Some readers are character driven readers, and they like books written by character driven authors. A writer that writes with a wider variety of drives will have a naturally bigger audience. Joanne Rowling writes with engaging characters and a brisk plot that uses well timed turns and surprises; her books are packed with ideas, and her literate prose shows off her vocabulary without drawing attention to itself. I would say she's not the strongest writer in any of these categories, but she is solid in all four. So it's not much of a shock that she enjoys a very wide audience for her Harry Potter books.

I've heard Orson Scott Card referred to as the science fiction writer for non-science-fiction-fans. The fact is, most science fiction is highly idea driven and usually has a decent storyline. It is rare to have well developed characters in these books. So a character driven writer like Card attracts a wider audience with his books than many other science fiction writers.

John Grisham novels are also very idea driven, often at the expense of character and story. As a story driven reader, I find it hard to forgive the lapses in storytelling when he goes on tangents giving seemingly endless streams of technical data or historical background. I forgive Victor Hugo for the very same thing because his prose style is so amazing and his characters so fascinating. But just because I don't prefer Grisham's novels should not mean that I consider myself above those who do like to read them. The books effectively communicate to their audience.

I think that this ability to communicate is an essential component of any form of art. In order to be effective, a work needs to communicate clearly to its intended audience, and in order to be considered great art, it should communicate powerfully to a particularly wide audience.

At least, that's my three and a half cents.

Magazine Cover

2008-02-07T15:43:00.000-10:00

I sing in a group called the Red Mountain Choir and we were featured on the cover of a local magazine. And I managed to get right into the center of the shot.

How sneaky of me.

Year of the Rat

2008-02-06T13:11:00.001-10:00

Tonight the Year of the Rat begins. Tomorrow we can all congratulate each other.

What is there to congratulate, you might ask. Well, for one thing, the monster didn't get you. You see, in Chinese tradition, there was a monster who comes to eat children at the new year, and that monster needs to be scared away. That's what the fireworks are for. Also, you can paint good-luck phrases on strips of red paper and attach them to your door frame to keep the monster out of your house.

Okay, you may think that this is a little strange, but it's surprisingly similar to the passover, when Moses led the Children of Israel out of Egypt. Think about it. In Egypt there was a destroying angel which killed children, and to keep it out of your house you put the blood of a lamb on your door frame. There are other similarities. In the Chinese tradition, this happens for the first fifteen days of the lunar year, culminating in the lantern festival on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month. (Now-a-days people just get the first three to five days and the 15th off work. All 15 days would be bad financially.) The passover takes place on the 15th day of the first month of the Hebrew lunar calendar. Chinese tradition includes a meal of bitter herbs, very much like the Biblical custom, and there are other similarities as well, which I won't list here.

I have my own ideas of how these similarities came to be. Many people know how Christmas is a merged holiday between Christian ideas and Pagan celebrations. I think Chinese New Year is a merged holiday between ancient Chinese customs and traveling groups of Israelites that were scattered, and settled in the far east. Twenty-five hundred year old records are quite scarce; much could have happened that is missing from the existing records. Think about it.

Hinckley Remembered

2008-02-02T14:02:00.000-10:00

I recall as an older teenager realizing that when general conference time came around, the speaker I most looked forward to hearing was Gordon B. Hinckley. He was very clear and straightforward as a speaker, but not overly blunt. His talks were very easy to understand, yet very literate. He was an optimist, yet also very droll.

I remember as a college student attending a session of General Conference in the old Salt Lake Tabernacle. It was a very warm day, and the old wooden seats were quite uncomfortable. I was sitting in the balcony, which was even warmer, and Richard G. Scott had just spoken. I love Elder Scott's talks, but his warm and soft-spoken manner did leave me feeling more than a little drowsy. Then President Hinckley got up and told us that he was sorry that it was so hot in the Tabernacle that day, but that it would be a lot hotter if we didn't repent. His bit of humor was just right for the situation, and helped me stay awake through the rest of the meeting.

President Hinckley was the right man, raised up at the right time for the Church of The Lord, Jesus Christ, and future leaders will also be raised to face the challenges of their day. But I will always miss President Hinckley's talks, his overarching optimism, the waving of his cane, and his delightful humor. I'm happy for him that he has been given the opportunity to be with his wife again, but I'm sad that we no longer have him in our company here in the mortal world. Someday we will get to know him again, and what a great reunion that should be.

President Hinckley, God be with you till we meet again.

Environmental Responsibility

2008-01-23T13:55:00.000-10:00

I'm not given to believe in crackpot disaster theories like the imminent destruction of mankind because of a hole in the ozone layer or global warming. I don't believe a dynamical system like the Earth's weather patterns can behave in such a simplistic manner, as the eco-prophets seem to believe. Dynamical systems are far too unpredictable to make such forecasts (Read "Chaos" by Gleik for a good primer on the subject).

That being said, I still think we (American's in general) are wasteful gluttons that abuse our resources rather selfishly. For example, under the watchcare of Bush Senior and Bill Clinton, and through the start of Bush Junior's term, the US was able to keep the price of oil constant despite inflation devaluing the dollar. It was only a matter of time before the oil market had a major adjustment, but nobody seemed to notice. Now in all that time, while an average paycheck could buy more and more gas, what did we do? We developed a penchant for wasting gas. Most of the gridlock in Los Angeles or any other major US city is made up of large cars each containing one person, the driver. Gas guzzling SUV's became extremely popular, also usually carrying just the driver. When the market adjusted and oil became more expensive, everyone complained that gas costs too much, when it really doesn't cost much more than adjusting the 1980's prices for inflation. We've become gluttons and we don't seem to know how to stop. We just keep buying gas at the wasteful rate to which we are accustomed.

The US lawmakers try to combat environmental damage and avert a possible energy crisis by passing stricter laws on emissions, or changing the laws governing light bulbs. But what really needs to happen is individuals need to take personal responsibility for the environment. Carpool to work or use public transportation. Walk or bike to school. Spend the extra three seconds it takes to throw recyclables into a different waste container. Turn off electrical appliances and lights when they are not being used. These aren't new ideas, but until more people take personal responsibility for them there's nothing the government can do that would be remotely as effective to improve air quality, alleviate gridlock, and other such things.

Democrats keep trying to fight the problem institutionally while Republicans ignore the problem entirely. Neither party wants to tell voters that they need to adjust their own lifestyles to help solve possible future problems. Everyone feels entitled to their own personal gluttony. I'm waiting for a candidate from any party to start stressing the value of personal responsibility of citizens. That's a platform I might be interested in.

That's my half a bit.

Book Awards

2008-01-21T07:07:00.000-10:00

Here are the announcements for the major children and young adult literary awards, announced on January 14th. These have been distilled from the press releases from the ALA.

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"The White Darkness," by Geraldine McCaughrean, published by HarperTempest, an imprint of HarperCollins has won the 2008 Michael L. Printz Award (honoring young adult books). The award announcement was made during the American Library Association (ALA) Midwinter Meeting in Philadelphia, January 11-16.

Fourteen-year-old Symone's exciting vacation to Antarctica turns into a desperate struggle for survival when her uncle's obsessive quest leads them across the frozen wilderness into danger.

Four Printz Honor Books were also named:

* "Dreamquake: Book Two of the Dreamhunter Duet," by Elizabeth Knox, published by Frances Foster Books, an imprint of Farrar, Straus and Giroux, shows off the author's formidable world-building skills with a variety of striking physical landscapes, a vividly evoked Edwardian society, and the startlingly original concept of dreamhunting.

* "One Whole and Perfect Day," by Judith Clarke, published by Front Street, an imprint of Boyds Mills Press, Inc., tells the tale of one teen's perfect day with her anything-but-perfect family.

* "Repossessed," by A. M. Jenkins, published by HarperTeen, an imprint of HarperCollins, tells the story of Kiriel, a fallen angel who takes a vacation from his job as a tormentor to experience life as an American teenage boy in Jenkins' thought-provoking comedic novel.

* "Your Own, Sylvia: A Verse Portrait of Sylvia Plath," by Stephanie Hemphill, published by Alfred A. Knopf, an imprint of Random House Children's Books, shares poems in many voices illuminating the enigmatic Sylvia Plath in a unique blend of fact and fiction.

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Orson Scott Card is the recipient of the 2008 Margaret A. Edwards Award honoring his outstanding lifetime contribution to writing for teens for his novels "Ender's Game" and "Ender's Shadow." An accomplished storyteller, Card weaves the everyday experiences of adolescence into broader narratives, addressing universal questions about humanity and society. The award was announced January 14 at the 2008 Midwinter Meeting of the American Library Association (ALA) in Philadelphia.

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Author and illustrator Mo Willems is the 2008 winner of the Theodor Seuss Geisel Award (honoring books for beginning readers) for the book "There Is a Bird on Your Head!" The award announcement was made during the American Library Association (ALA) Midwinter Meeting in
Philadelphia, January 11-16.

In this humorous account of Elephant Gerald and Piggie's ongoing friendship, Gerald learns that there is something worse than having a bird on your head - having two birds on your head! Trying to help her friend, the always-playful Piggie ends up with a problem of her own.

Four Geisel Honor Books were named: "First the Egg" written and illustrated by Laura Vaccaro Seeger and published by Roaring Brook / Neal Porter; "Hello, Bumblebee Bat" written by Darrin Lunde, illustrated by Patricia J. Wynne and published by Charlesbridge; "Jazz Baby" written by Lisa Wheeler, illustrated by R. Gregory Christie and published by Harcourt, Inc.; and "Vulture View," written by April Pulley Sayre, illustrated by Steve Jenkins and published by Holt.

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Laura Amy Schlitz, author of "Good Masters! Sweet Ladies! Voices from a Medieval Village," is the 2008 winner of the John Newbery Medal, one of the two most prestigious awards in children's literature.

In "Good Masters! Sweet Ladies! Voices from a Medieval Village," thirteenth-century England springs to life using 21 dramatic individual narratives that introduce young inhabitants of village and manor; from Hugo, the lord's nephew, to Nelly, the sniggler. Schlitz's elegant monologues and dialogues draw back the curtain on the period, revealing character and relationships, hinting at stories untold. Explanatory interludes add information and round out this historical
and theatrical presentation.

Three Newbery Honor Books were named: "Elijah of Buxton" by Christopher Paul Curtis, published by Scholastic; "The Wednesday Wars" by Gary D. Schmidt, published by Clarion and "Feathers" by Jacqueline Woodson, published by Putnam.

In "Elijah of Buxton," Elijah is the first free-born child in Buxton, a Canadian community of escaped slaves, in 1860. With masterful storytelling, vibrant humor, and poignant insight into the realities of slavery and the meaning of freedom, Curtis takes readers on a journey that transforms a "fragile" 11-year-old boy into a courageous hero.

In Schmidt's "The Wednesday Wars," seventh-grader, Holling Hoodhood, is convinced his teacher hates him. Through their Wednesday afternoon Shakespeare sessions she helps him cope with events both wildly funny and deadly serious. "To thine own self be true" is just one of the life lessons he learns.

Jacqueline Woodson's "Feathers" tells the story of how a new boy's arrival in a sixth-grade classroom helps Frannie recognize the barriers that separate people, and the importance of hope as a bridge. Transcendent imagery and lyrical prose deftly capture a girl learning to navigate the world through words.

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Brian Selznick, illustrator of "The Invention of Hugo Cabret," is the 2008 winner of the Randolph Caldecott Medal, one of the two most prestigious awards in children's literature.

The 2008 Caldecott Medal for illustration was awarded to Brian Selznick for "The Invention of Hugo Cabret," published by Scholastic. From an opening shot of the full moon setting over an awakening Paris in 1931, this tale casts a new light on the picture book form. Hugo is a young orphan secretly living in the walls of a train station where he labors to complete a mysterious invention left by his father. In a work of more than 500 pages, the suspenseful text and wordless double-page spreads narrate the tale in turns. Neither words nor pictures alone tell this story, which is filled with cinematic intrigue. Black & white pencil illustrations evoke the flickering images of the silent films to which the book pays homage. Selznick has won a previous Caldecott Honor Award for "The Dinosaurs of Waterhouse Hawkins," in 2002, as well as numerous other awards. Selznick splits his time between Brooklyn and San Diego.

Four Caldecott Honor Books were named: "Henry's Freedom Box: A True Story from the Underground Railroad," illustrated by Kadir Nelson, written by Ellen Levine, and published by Scholastic; "First the Egg," illustrated and written by Laura Vaccaro Seeger, and published Roaring Brook/Neal Porter; "The Wall: Growing Up Behind the Iron Curtain," illustrated and written by Peter Sís, and published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux/Frances Foster; and "Knuffle Bunny Too: A Case of Mistaken Identity," illustrated and written by Mo Willems, and published by Hyperion.

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Christopher Paul Curtis, author of "Elijah of Buxton," and Ashley Bryan, illustrator of "Let it Shine," are the winners of the 2008 Coretta Scott King Awards honoring African American authors and illustrators of outstanding books for children and young adults. Sundee T. Frazier, author of "Brendan Buckley's Universe and Everything in It," is the Coretta Scott King/John Steptoe New Talent Author Award winner.

Two King Author Honor Books were selected: "November Blues," by Sharon M. Draper, published by Atheneum Books for Young Adults and "Twelve Rounds to Glory: The Story of Muhammad Ali," written by Charles R. Smith Jr., illustrated by Bryan Collier, published by Candlewick Press.

Two Illustrator Honor Books were selected: "The Secret Olivia Told Me," by N. Joy, illustrated by Nancy Devard, published by Just Us Books, and "Jazz On A Saturday Night," by Leo and Diane Dillon, published by Scholastic Blue Sky Press.

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My thoughts on the awards:

As usual, I think the Printz award committee is the most attuned to the audience of it's award's attributed readership. Those books all sound interesting, and should appeal to teens. The Newbery award book sounds like the author took risks which worked well. It's a vote by the committee in honoring a "different" kind of a book. Also, Christopher Paul Curtis is now 3 for 4. Of the four books he's published, only "Bucking the Sarge" failed to get a Newbery sticker on it's cover. His prose is very fun to read, funny and meaningful; so this comes as no surprise to me. The other Newbery honor books are the typical books that school librarians are trying to push into the hands of kids who would rather be reading adventure novels and comic books. Books about the difference a teacher makes in the life of a student, or books about a student's interpersonal interactions in the classroom are tempting to vote for by a committee of school teachers and librarians because they speak so personally to them. But their audience should not be school teachers and librarians, it should be children. Many great books for children are left out because of this prevalent bias, particularly adventure, fantasy, science fiction, mystery, and other books that speak more directly to children rather than to their teachers. Which is why I was surprised and pleased that Orson Scott Card was awarded the Edwards Award. Of course, the Edwards Award is awarded by the young adult division, so it shouldn't have been too surprising. They are more in tune with young adult readers than the Newbery committee with children. I am also pleased Brian Selznick won the Caldecott award, as I have always enjoyed his
illustration style.

Anyway, that's my three-and-a-half cents.