Best of 2008: Movies and Television and other cool things

So, here is my annual list of the best television and the best movies of 2008 as well as some other happenings from the past year:

Television
My television list looks very similar to last year though two shows broke onto the list and one show (Its Always Sunny in Philadelphia) fell off the list due. Its Always Sunny is still very funny but the characters are so morally corupt that it is hard to like them at all. With that said, I am not going to recommend any of those shows because they may be a little risque or they just be a bit over the top, but here are my favorites from the tv world this past year.

1. BattleStar Galactica: OK, I won't talk about it anymore on this site but it is still frakkin' awesome.
2. Dexter: Great storytelling and it takes a lot that this show makes you really like the main character who just so happens to be a serial killer. Each episode is interesting, scary and highly entertaining.





3. 30 Rock: Week in and week out, the funniest show in television. The characters are absurd and always funny and always absurd and always funny.
4. Burn Notice: Set in beautiful Miami about a former CIA agent who was 'released' from the CIA and he spends his days and nights helping others and trying to figure out why he was 'burned' by his agency.






5. True Blood: if you can get thru the naughty scenes (too many), the story is actually pretty cool about vampires trying to fit in or not fit in with the human population.
6. The Office: Often uneven but still a lot of fun.








Movies
1. Dark Knight: It is hard to get cooler than this movie. You had a great performance by Heath Ledger as the Joker...the storyline was dark and brutal and terrific.
2. Tropic Thunder: Over the top and often offensive, it was also terribly funny. Definately not a movie that I will recommend to others but a movie that I would happily watch again and again.






3. Dr. Horribles Sing Along Blog: Not a full length movie as it sits at around 45 minutes but it has laugh out loud moments and it is written by Joss Whedon (Buffy and Serenity fame) which would make it worth a viewing for that reason alone.
4. Iron Man: another comic book movie (which once again shows my obsession with anything comic book related) which did not feel like a comic book movie. How can you not love


Other cool things from the past year:

• Carter taking tennis lessons and starting kindergarten
  
• Beckham continuing his craziness.
• Obama winning the presidency...whether you are a democrat or a repub, it is pretty cool.
• Utah Utes going to the Sugar Bowl.
• Brodi's dad Dennis kicking cancer's arse.
• Cool trip to South Carolina and Georgia
  

Pioneer Park: Friend or Foe?

For those that live or have lived in Salt Lake City, you know all about Pioneer Park. It is a downtown park on 3rd West and about 3rd South. It has quite a history though often not a pleasant one. It is the park that loves drugs. By that, I mean that there are more drug dealers and troublemakers per squarefoot than anywhere else in Utah and it aint even close.




I remember my freshman year in high school taking the school bus from the Avenues to West High School (we were the first class from the avenues to go to West High) and we would go under the viaduct close to Pioneer Park. One of our classmates yells loudly, 'look, there is a dead body there.' We didn't see many dead bodies up in the avenues so this was thrilling and we all rushed over to the side of the bus for a better look. He was lying on the ground and he wasn't moving so he was either sleeping or he was dead. Nobody really knows if it was a dead body but it made a halfway decent story.

Anyway, SLC has little idea what to do with the park. People stay away because of the drugs, sex and rock and roll (rock and roll being the poor homeless man playing his ukelele). But with large developments going on around it (Gateway, $1 million loft apartments, etc.), the city is stepping up its efforts to clean it up and have it be a destination spot for families who are visiting downtown.

The Farmers Market is a funky food and crafts place every Saturday at Pioneer Park. Brodi and I go at least a couple of times every month to pick up bread, drinks and a little crack cocaine (just kidding). The kids have a blast. They get to wander around and pet dogs, play with trinkets and eat some food. For one day at least, Pioneer Park becomes a fun place to hang out.

The boys love to dance for their woman

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Dennis: Cancer Fighting SuperStar

Brodi's dad, Dennis, is recovering from surgery yesterday. For those that have not been following his ordeal, you can check it out here: www.ashtonclot.blogspot.com

He has been battling pancreatic cancer since Halloween of this year. Chemotherapy, radiation and finally the 8 hour long Whipple Surgery has hopefully taken care of that stinkin' tumor. He is recovering nicely now and he will undergo another round of chemotherapy in about a month.

He is as good of a guy as there is around. He is a huge Ute fan, a great pediatrician, a terrific dad and a fabulous father in law and grandpa. Even though he is down to under 115 pounds, he is as tough as nails and fighting this cancer with all he has. Keep him in your thoughts and prayers.

Flashback Sunday has been interrupted

Flashback Sunday has been put on hold for a week for some good news. Brodi's dad, Dennis, has been fighting thru pancreatic cancer over the past couple of months. He was diagnosed on Halloween and he has been under chemotherapy and radiation treatment since then. As you know, pancreatic cancer is one of the 'real bad' cancers but there is hope as Dennis' was caught relatively early. It has been a brutal couple of months that has seen Dennis lose 35 pounds (down to 115 pounds). The good news though? Dennis visited with his surgeon on Friday and was given word that the tumor has shrunk some and they would be able to perform the whipple surgery in early February. This is fabulous news and exciting. Anyway, we have his website linked on the left (www.ashtonclot.blogspot.com) so you are welcome to go in and check it out to see his progress. Keep him in your prayers. This quick explanation is nowhere near as interesting as the detail given on their website, so please visit it. We are excited to get him healthy soon and back to spending quality time with family and working back at his pediatric practice. The picture on the left is Dennis, Joan with Brodi and her sister Erin on the first day of chemotherapy and radiation.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to CARTER--5 years old

Today is Carter's birthday. It is crazy to think that he is already 5 years old. I think of everything has changed for us over the past 5 years since he was born:

• Lived in Washinton DC, Denver and Salt Lake City
• Lived in 3 different apartments and 2 different homes
• Sam has had 2 different jobs
• Brodi has had 2 different jobs
• He now has a little brother
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We love our 'good little boy' Carter. For a kid that never talked until he was 3-years old, we can't get him to stop talking now. He loves running around, he loves role playing, he loves his imaginary friends and he loves bossing his little brother around. He is fearless. Whenever we go to Disneyland, he rides every single ride. That includes Space Mountain, Thunder Mountain, Indiana Jones and Soarin' over California. He has wanted to ride the horses from, it seems, since he was born and he happily jumps on the horse and wants to ride away. I can count on one hand the number of times that he has actually seemed nervous--he seems to take each situation, no matter how stressful or out of his element he is, in stride.


He has had his own share of mis-haps and accidents. He plummeted on top of a coffee table and got 3 stitches right over his eye...he had a chainlink gate smash him in the face opening up another gash which required 3 stitches over his eye...he was playing around with cousins and landed on the ground wrong and broke his collarbone...he pulled down a small cabinet at church and ended up with cuts and bruises all over his face...he had a door shut on his finger which nearly cut it entirely off but we were able to save it and it took 11 stitches to put it back together...he had a heat induced seizure at Disneyworld and had to spend the better part of a night at a hospital in Celebration, Florida. He knows what pain is and he has dealt with it like a superstar.


He loves trains and trucks. He loves going to big open areas like the UofU for football or basketball events. He loves Scooby Doo, Duck Dodgers and Harry Potter. He does not like it when his mommy or daddy sing to him either. He loves running (he loves to run around the Olympus High School track and he will go around it a couple of times before he even begins to get tired). He loves computer games and he loves scary books (like Where the Wild Things are and the Blue Monster).























We had a fun party with Brodi's family as well as our friends the Jefferies. They all came over to our house and Carter was spoiled and got great gifts and had fun hantoo good of stuff. It was then off to my family where he was spoiled again with gifts and cake. He had the time of his life today. Happy Birthday to our Big Boy.

My Uncle passed away this week

Roger Boden Pinnock
Roger Boden Pinnock "Papa" Roger Boden Pinnock, age 65, passed away peacefully at home September 21, 2007. He was born January 28, 1942 in Salt Lake City to Lawrence Sylvester and Florence Boden Pinnock. He received his B.S. in Accounting from the University of Utah. He married Kathleen Cannon August 26, 1965 in the Salt Lake Temple. Roger was proud to be an accountant. He loved his 30 years as the managing partner of Pinnock, Robbins, Posey and Richins, an accounting firm founded by his father. He served his profession with honor, integrity, and hard work. He served as president of the UACPA, and on the AICPA Joint Trial Board. He was honored as the outstanding CPA by the UACPA. He also served on the University of Utah School of Accounting Advisory Board. Roger was a devoted member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He gave freely of his time and energy to serve others in many callings, including bishop, stake clerk, high council, stake presidency, South Salt Lake Mission presidency, and most recently as a sealer in the Salt Lake Temple. In all of these positions, Roger thoroughly enjoyed the people he associated with and the service he was able to render. The accomplishment that Roger was most proud was the family that he and Kathleen raised. Roger loved to be with his children and grandchildren, and he took great interest in all of their activities. He created many rich memories with his family through vacations to Jackson Hole, Disney World, Sedona, and dinners in Park City, but most meaningful were the "fun" times together. He tutored his family with his example of hard work, integrity, generosity, and humility. His lasting legacy is his love of life and eternal optimism. Roger is survived by his best friend, wife, and eternal companion, Kathleen; children, Roger B. (Stacey), Kristina (Roger) Brockbank, and Katie (Erik) Olson; 13 grandchildren; and sister, Kathleen P. Johnson. Funeral services will be held 11 a.m. Tuesday, September 25, 2007 at the Big Cottonwood Stake Center, 1750 E. Spring Lane (5195 South). Friends may call Monday evening at Wasatch Lawn Mortuary, 3401 Highland Drive, from 6-8 p.m., and again at the church Tuesday morning from 9:45-10:45 a.m., prior to the services. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests donations to the University of Utah IPF Support Group or the Coalition for Pulmonary Fibrosis. He was a terrific guy. My mom had two brothers and both of them have passed away from Pulmonry Fibrosis (which is the scarring of the lungs...causes and cures are still unknown). I remember many hours spent with him doing magic trips, water tricks and other fun games that he would play with all of his nieces and nephews. He is loved and he will be missed.