It's that time of year.

Makes me wanna watch 28 days later

Yes, yes y'all

That Matt Treanor. Lucky son of a bee-sting.

Too much hair, too much sexy

I uncovered these pictures not too long ago. I had this hair when I was attending BYU, which does have a dress code which prohibits long hair for males. This wasn't even as long as it got. They would mainly enforce this code by not allowing you into volleyball matches and the like, but nobody gave me any guff. They were probably disarmed by my looks. Anyway, long story short, my employer eventually told me to 'look into cutting my hair,' and being that i liked my job, I cut it, then immediately lost all of my physical strength.

Goates, myself, and Lo

Andrew, Shawna, and Father Bill
So there we have it. I am grateful for a full head of hair, and that I am not like this guy:

On a dark, dark night...

There was a dark, dark cave. And in that dark, dark cave, was...a bunch of bat guano! Ace Ventura woulda freaked. On this next installment of my little travelogue that I seem to be posting lately, I got to go to an adandoned mine near Caliente, California. What I saw there was too horrible to descibe with words, so I'll put some pics for ya viewing pleasure.

There aren't any evil murderous okies that live near Tehachapi, right? Right?

There are a bunch of Resident Evil 4 style cabins that are right outside the cave. They seemed to be adandoned, but I couldn't help but feel we were being watched. 'Matalo!'
When you see mummified cats in front of these places, I think it looks a little tacky, but it could just be me.
This is an old abandoned miner's nightclub. It was called the 'Mine Shaft'. After all, when you work hard, you play hard. Or so I've been told.

This is the entrance of the mine. And this is Janna for all those in the know. Since this is a public blog, that's all I have to say.
Now after entering the mine, we came face to face with these little rabid buggers.

There were a lot of offshoots that led to who knows where. I didn't want to run into any gollum types, and not having any invisibility rings, I didn't venture too far.

These little guys would swoop down by our heads, but would never hit us. I think they even look kinda cuddly, but I hear these little guys suck blood. Shicaca!

Dodger Dogs and Dodger Dads

For Father's Day, I took Dad to a Dodger game, and it might have been one of the best ones that we've seen in person. Ethier's 3 hr's provided plenty of fireworks, and Los Doyers won 8-2. Then we were invited onto the field to watch even more fireworks after the game. Here are some pics of our evening.

As the crowds got thicker in right field, I thought to myself that this might be my only opportunity to streak in Dodger stadium without getting caught.

I Love LA was blaring through the speakers as we found our spot.

Dad is standing over the throng.

Being woefully deficient in caloric intake for the week, we decided to go to the all you can eat right field pavilion. We left carnage in our wake.



Kershaw pitched a great game with only 2 earned, and Pau Gasol threw out the first pitch. Dad approves

The worried look over Dad's face could mean only one thing, I'd better make another Dodger Dog run

We were pretty high up, with the diehard Mexican fans. Viva los doyers.

Dad lookin like Geppetto.

They gotta to be startin something when the lights went out and they honored old Jacko by playing a timeline of his music.

A great game, great performance, great weather, great (and by great I mainly mean quantity) food, and great parking to where we left without waiting, it was a pretty nice evening.

Disco Inferno

Luckily for me, I don't have that much hair to singe, unlike some others that night.

Hey y'all.
I got to play with fire the other day. Gushman has a fire baton, and we got into Polynesian daredevil mode. This picture was taken with a long exposure setting, and I liked it.

Lakers Bring Home The Title!

Pure gold.

Bite Face

When I went to the wallaces on Sundays, their dog Lucky (aka Muffy, Skippy) would give me bite faces because she was ornery. Kobe gave the Magic his own bite face. Go Lakes!

I like this video.

check it.

Dom Deluise

"It may be some kinda bug, or some kinda slug, or a portuguese manowar"

Dom Deluise passed away recently, and I always thought he was really funny. I remember first seeing him on Dick Clark and Ed McMahon's TV Bloopers and Practical Jokes when I was little. I don't remember what he did, but I do remember him running around with all the manic energy that Chris Farley used to portray him on SNL.

You could tell he was very talented. If you haven't seen the end of Blazing Saddles, where he is directing the chintzy and flaunting 'showmen', you need to do it now. I'd post it, but I don't know if it's technically possible. It might be too gay to function.

"Come on boys, let's..."

Finally check out this clip from Carson. Funny stuff. They don't make entertainers like him anymore.





Here's the real deal, followed by the spoof. I'm sure Dom woulda spoofed himself like that if they asked him too.

The Lake Show

Go Lakes! After doing the traditional thing of watching NBA playoff games in the eatery at Yosemite, I'm getting excited for this team, but at the same time I'm worried that I'll jinx them if I say too much. But let me say that they looked pretty good beating what I think is a pretty good jazz team. With Kobe, Odom, and Pau (I loved how Pepa told the missionaries that he looked like Jesus) playing so well, they are going to be tough to beat.

Also, Leo, what's up with wearing a Georgia hat at last nights game? Maybe his movie shoulda been called, "The Man in the Stupid Hat." Somebody get this guy a Laker jersey.

Max: In Memoriam (1989-2009)

Andrew wrote this epitaph for Max, and it's a loving tribute. For that reason, I've included it here.
Bought in a cake decorating store, you first came into our lives when I was in fifth grade. You were so small, you fit inside Mom's coat pocket. You were so small, in fact, we had to tie a small bell to your collar so we could know where you were.

You fit into the family immediately, even if you would run away from us in the front yard. You were loud, and funny, and sweet. You were good with everyone who came into our lives, both young and old (well, maybe with the exception of Myron and Soto, that is).

You grew with us and went from a tiny, all black puppy to a greying, distinguished Elms family member. You were there for all of the ups and downs. You had a preternatural sense of how to comfort us, snuggling up to us when we were sad or knowing to curl up at our feet to watch over us when we were ill. Thank you so much for that.

You saw us go from children until some of us had children of our own. We're so happy that Ellie got to know you. She loved you so much that it was no coincidence that her first word was "doggy". We're thankful that it was her four-legged pursuit of you in Bakersfield that was the impetus that taught Ellie to finally crawl. And we will always remember how she would light up when she saw you appear over Skype.

We love you and will miss you immensely. You were part of the family--a true Elms brother. I'm sorry it's taken me this long to post this for you. It's been a hard time to get past all the raw emotion and find the right words. Here's to 20 great years!

We love you, Max.

The Guys

I've been finding and compiling pictures of Max for my family, and I've run across some pictures of those who have frequented my blog. I wanna share these with you guys.

La Familia Campbell

I've been finding and compiling pictures of Max for my family, and I've run across some pictures of those who have frequented my blog. I wanna share these with you guys.

Different world over there, huh.

Kath Rapps

I've been finding and compiling pictures of Max for my family, and I've run across some pictures of those who have frequented my blog. I wanna share these with you guys.

This was at my baptism.

Tyler Nichols

I've been finding and compiling pictures of Max for my family, and I've run across some pictures of those who have frequented my blog. I wanna share these with you guys.

To Max

The Best Dog in the World.
I love you, sweetie

1989-2009

Gael Garcia Bernal

When I was sleepwalking last night, I must have accidentally posted some of my early acting stuff. In response, Derek Smith says Andrew looks like this guy

This is the dirtiest picture in the world. It's coming off the blog soon, cuz I don't want to look at it everytime i open it up.

update: it's off

The Elms in the Movies

The other day I mistakenly said that Andrew looks the eldest incarnation of Samir in Slumdog Millionaire. Whereas that statement is baseless and false, I did, however, want to share with you all my cinematic debut from Hot Rod:

Jai Ho!!!

I recently saw the Oscar 'best picture' winner, Slumdog Millionaire. I liked it.

For those who haven't seen it the main plot is about an orphan from the slums of Mumbai who gets a shot at the Indian "Who Wants To Be a Millionaire?" (Even though the top prize of 20,000,000 rupees is the equivalent of around $410,000) He is able to apply his knowledge gained from experiences in his harsh life.

The movie's kinda like this, but in India. Remember those long pauses and cliffhangers? Who Wants to be a Millionaire was the catalyst that led to Tivo.


Remember on Oscar night when Slumdog won? It seemed like a thousand little Indian kids were running around like it was a Billy Madison graduation party. I like that the director Danny Boyle and crew were able to fly as many of the cast out as they could. They definitely took it all in. The reason I bring that up is that the movie really gives you a sense that it cares about the actors and the characters they portray. As a result the young actors, especially the children, shine. And since the actors are all unknowns, it reinforces the movie's theme of fate allowing one to overcome difficult odds.

Also, Andrew looks like Samir, the older brother.

Did I say Andrew? He looks more like a goomba. Does that mean Drew looks like a goomba?

The cinematography was great. Most of the movie took place in the sprawling slums of Mumbai. It shows third world poverty and overpopulation at its worst. Those visuals are so striking, all those people gotta be cg, right? It's unbelievable that people live in those conditions. Then they were able to create great chase sequences through this bustle. The setting also changes as time passes, although they do not do this as well as the astonishing City of God.

Speaking of which, Slumdog shares a lot thematically with City of God. Slumdog is set in the slums of Mumbai, City is set in the favelas of Rio. Both focus on the effects of poverty, violence, gangs, overpopulation, the values and flaws, the accomplishments and losses, and the humanity of those who live there. In slumdog, the main character Jamal maintains his purity and innocence. Fate then allows him to instantaneously leave his difficult circumstances behind, and get the girl. (Who grows up to be gorgeous. I wonder if he would still fall head over heels if she turned out to look like Juliet Lewis.) But how many people can fate allow to be on a game show?

She gets easily mistaken for Patrick Swayze

In City of God, all the characters struggled with their circumstances. There was no convenient escape. The characters in that movie had to choose to confront their society, or else be devoured by it. Rocket, the protag in City of God, was the closest to leaving the favela when he got a job as a photographer at a newspaper. But his assignment was to return to the favela to document what was taking place. In a memorable scene, he was stranded as a bystander in the middle of a gunfight.

City of God is a better movie, but Slumdog got the Oscar. It was the one I would have voted for out of those selected. It is more accessible than City of God, I guess. There were some dark and tense moments, but everything falls the way that we would want them to. I think it would be interesting to know what Jamal would do with his money, but unfortunately, the movie doesn't go there. If anything, he should spring for some dance lessons.

Which leads me to my turd in the punchbowl moment. Was the dance at the end of the movie necessary? It was out of place. It didn't fit the tone of the movie at all. I'm sure it was a nod to bollywood style movies, and maybe it was fun for those involved. But its still out of place. It would be akin to Benicio del Toro doing a Mexican hat dance at the end of Traffic. I knew some girls who would love to throw Bollywood parties, because they couldn't get enough of the kitsch and melodrama. I always thought that stuff was annoying.

This is Bollywood's Citizen Cane. I like it better than the American Superman and Spider Man movies,though.

So there we go. I was going to give it an A-, but I have to note that it had one of the worst soundtracks. I've ever heard.

Shudder. It's MIA. She has all the appeal of a kick to the min. Why is she still around?

That knocks it down to a B. But still recommended. Jai ho!!