Partisan Politics Edition!

Fellas,

First off, I'm sorry it's been so long! My best excuse is that my fascination with Newt Gingrich's recent campaigns for President of the US and also possibly of the Moon was occupying all my time.

Anyway, some links/ideas:

1. Anyone interested in going to LIGO? Cool factoids about LIGO:
              a. It's built to detect gravity waves from collapsing stars and to expand our knowledge of the universe and the beautiful planet upon which we live.

              b. It's so sensitive, it can sense when planes are landing at Seatac. From Hanford.
              c. It's housed inside the largest vacuum chamber in the world. You can't go in that part unless you tell me about how much you liked Twilight.
              d. Smart people work there for science and it's government run, ergo the Tea Party hates it.

              e. It's only a few miles from the world's first fully functional nuclear reactor! Yup, built in 1943 and still more advanced than Syria's and North Korea's nuclear plants.

2. We had a recent FHE at Town Hall! It was really good, I think. Anyway, a brother who is to remain anonymous pointed out that many of the events/lectures at that august institution were of a leftish orientation. Perhaps. So in his honor, I hereby offer a few Town Hall events that are not even remotely left wing:
              a. A lecture on nuclear reactor design and super-efficient power sources!
              b. A lecture on how to cook like a man! Hint: cornflakes will not be a topic of conversation.
              c. A lecture by one of my favorite authors, Dan Ariely, on irrationality and human behavior. Dan wrote two very influential books that I've quoted from in at least one sacrament meeting talk.

3. Democrats love cities more than Republicans, and both sides of the spectrum love Seattle. Another thing we all can agree upon: our generation is the one that will suffer for the recession, and we're already paid about half what our parents were at our age. But cheer up! Seattlites have the highest wage growth of anywhere in the US. Enrichissez-vous!

Last but not least,

4. To prove that I have the capacity for thinking across the wide spectrum of political discourse in this great nation, I'd like to call your attention to this column by George Will, eminent political analyst and baseball pundit. And sworn enemy of blue jeans. Say what you will about the man's sartorial preferences, but he knows how to rock a bow tie.

Joking aside, you may not agree with everything he's written (and he's taken a turn towards the right in recent years), but this column is remarkably insightful. I hope we all agree with the man on this one.

On that note, the topic of this week's Elders' Quorum lesson will be on acceptance and love.

Antarctica Update

Fellas, 

We got an update from our very own Antarctic correspondent! Jeramie appears to like the chilly down-under Down Under: 

The Antarctic continent is very beautiful if you love snow capped mountains and smooth frozen ocean as far as the eye can see with spots of water from the summer melting season that's just beginning.  In a month or so the ocean ice will melt and a supply ship from Seattle will be brought in full of containers for the year.  I haven't seen any wildlife yet, but I'm told I will if I go hiking just outside of the station.  All there really is to see are penguins, seals and a type of bird called a Skua.  I share a small room with 5 other guys (it's where they stick the first year people).  Next year I'd likely have a room with just one other roommate if I choose to return.  There is about a 65:35 ratio of males to females here with a total population around roughly 1,050 people.  There's a contractor to scientist ratio of about 5:1 here.  The U.S. research stations in Antarctica exist solely for the advancement of science here according the Antarctic treaty signed by several nations.  There are a large variety of jobs here for people who just want to have the opportunity to say they visited and lived in Antarctica.  My job is pretty cool.  It's mostly dealing with cargo and loading pallets that get put onto the aircraft.  I spend half of my time in town and the other half on the airfield.  There are opportunities few and far in between to fly out to other stations for a day to help out.  I'm hoping to to go on one of those assignments later on in the season so that way I'll be able to see more of the continent than just McMurdo Station.  The food is not too bad here given we're in a remote location.  We do get fresh vegetables contrary to rumors that there weren't any.  The only down side is no pasteurized milk here :(

Anyhoo, he brings us photographic evidence he's not just chillin' in New Jersey: 

Mt. Erebus, site of a horrific plane crash and home of 1 of the 5 lava lakes of the world. Shorter than Rainier!

This is probably Jeramie Farnes. Note either Mt. Terror or Mt. Erebus in the background. Oh yeah, and the C17. 

I'd just like to point out that our man Farnes is on a distant continent and still insisted on having a home teaching route. I gave him two, and he's doing them. That man is a stud. 

About Mt. Erebus: it's awesome! It has a lava lake in its crater, perfect for destroying the precious or perhaps for disposing of a robot from the future. 

Terminators like their hot tubs on the toasty side

Anyway, there is a point to this: Mt. Erebus came up in a conference talk by none other than Elder Uchtdorf some years back - one of his better ones, in my opinion. 

Classy B&W Photos of U1EQBlogites

Jill Cox acts as though nothing is going on. As if. 

David Hendel gives us his Megawatt smile

I hope Jen doesn't hate me for posting this

Jen and Kaylene

Dan Schwab, man of many talents and ladies. 

This is what John Kay looks like when you forget to pay rent on time. 

Rookie U1EQ'er Owen Bennion, displaying classic Bennion family elan. 

Jill Cox, stylist. 

Emeritus U1EQ'er Adam Bowen 

Jamie Luthy and Anita Kunzli, shortly before the Apocalypse. 

Susan and Stephanie

Cassie Klingler in the process of an off-color hand gesture?

Cassie, Julie Olsen and Kaylene, straight-up thug. 

Maggie Brown, who still doesn't trust me with a camera. 

U1EQ veteran Chris Koontz

Adam Whitney puts his shoulder to the wheel 

Emeritus Danny Hass does yardwork like it ain't no thang

Service Opportunity, Curriculum, Science

Boys,


Tomorrow we have the opportunity to do some yardwork and prepare for church on Sunday. That's what Saturday's for, apparently. Anyway, if you want to earn up some brownie points in Heaven, be at:


1802 N 38th, Seattle, WA 98103


at 9AM for some yardwork!


Also, here is a list of the lessons for Sunday school for the rest of the year: 



10/23/11  Lesson 38   “Thou Hast Testified of Me”
10/30/11  Lesson 39   “For the Perfecting of the Saints”
11/06/11  Lesson 40   “I Can Do All Things through Christ”
11/13/11  Lesson 41   “I Have Finished My Course”
11/20/11  Lesson 42   “Pure Religion”
11/27/11  Lesson 43   “A Chosen Generation”
12/04/11  Lesson 44   “God Is Love”
12/11/11  Lesson 45   “He That Overcometh Shall Inherit All Things”
12/18/11  Lesson 46   “He Will Dwell with Them, and They Shall Be His People”
12/25/11  TBD            "Why you didn't get what you wanted for Christmas, sinner."


Who likes science? I do! Who wants to see some science awesomeness? Anyone interested in probing the origins of the universe on a Saturday in November has found the right blog, because we're going to LIGO for a Saturday field trip! Here's the schedule. 


November 12, anyone?


Lastly, more science. When you watch this video, ask yourself why I did this post in Helvetica font.  

Announcements for the most amazing week so far ever

Boys,

A couple things:

1. This week we heard about things that may be faster than the speed of light. One thing that is definitely not very fast is the person who set up the incredible Fantasy Football League. The dude may or may not have neglected to set up the draft mechanism correctly. Draft time coming soon.

2. More artsy photos of people in the ward! Check it out:

Taylor McCarrey measures practice time in months, not hours. 

Bryce Youngquist's perfectly practised pensive profile pic

Holly Vance doesn't need to practice - she's got radiance down. 

Newcomer Chris Koons, shortly before running over the photographer

Missionaries! The tall dude is a rather redundantly-named Elder Partner, with a surprised former comp.

3. Ever go to the Cinerama? It's only coolest most amazing theater in a town full of cool amazing theaters. Anyway, it's a truly rare event  when you actually get to see a movie in the format (70mm - think IMAX before IMAX was invented) and now you can! Check out the Schedule.

...and on that note: 

Crowd Participation!

Fellas fellas fellaz,

Apparently, this blog is getting big. How do we know?

1. According to the page counter at the bottom, we've served over 1,000 pages. That's about 1/100,000,000th the number of Big Macs ever sold. Think about that.

2. We got some fan art! Check out this little diddy:

This may or may not be an original Banksy. I'm thinking it's more like a Tyler Stout or possibly a Brian Robinson. In any event, I think we can all agree that's some solid font selection. Kid, next time I say let's go some place like Bolivia.....

3. We have a European fan club. Check out this photo of an actual French/Swiss/Kiwi cosmopolitan in her Fiat 500 with U1EQ society reporter Bob Glass: 

Sadly, our European fan club is moving to Madison, WI in the near future. She shall be missed. This has been a bad week for Bob Glass, as both Arielle Pettitt and the Fiat 500 are leaving by the end of the week. 

Stay classy, U1EQ. Oh, and set this page as your home page so we can get above 2,000 page views. 

Famous People Endorse U1EQ, or something

Peace and blessings,

So we're all sophisticates in the U1EQ - you know, people that have their finger on the beating pulse of society. Call us classy. How classy, you ask? Check this out:

Yes friends, that's our very own Bob Glass with comedy genius Richard Ayoade, better known as Moss. Bob picked an opportune moment to wear an ironic shirt, in true Seattle style. Might as well be wearing a short that says "you've probably never heard of them". Who's Richard Ayoade, you ask? You could say he's like Al Gore: 

This is from a britcom called "the IT Crowd". It's so cool, stars of the show flock to members of the U1 just for the photo-ops and in Bob's case, hair styling tips. 

How about rock stars? Check out this photo of the author with none other than Jimmy Buffett: 

I'm on the left wearing a shirt that apparently was salvaged from the wardrobe of 'the Simpsons' Broadway Revue'. Rumor has it Mr Margaritaville (that's not me) was never the same after this experience. It looks like the only guy in this shot that really enjoyed himself is the dude in the green shirt. Does it look like has a massive head? Apparently this photograph was taken before sideburns were invented. 

Right then: Announcements. 

1. This Saturday and Sunday: Stake Conference. Temple Session (for all those endowed) at the Temple at 7AM  Saturday. Yes, that means getting up on Saturday morning. And yes, that means YOU. 

2. Priesthood on Saturday. I am sure Christian announced this on Sunday. I think it's at 4 or 7PM on Saturday. Definitely Saturday, in any event. 

3. Conference Sunday. 

4. Ward/Elders' Quorum Fantasy Football! See below. Be sure to mark your calendars appropriately: the 22nd of this Month (a Thursday) at 8PM is the draft. Fabulous prizes. 

5. With Mormonism being the flavor of the month in the Republican party, expect lots of press coverage, for better or for worse. Here is an example of responsible reporting in the face of bigotry, via the Church Newsroom. Bon Appetit. 

Let us all concentrate on feeling love and empathy for others this week and on being obedient to the commandments. Oh yeah, and let's do our home teaching. Dodgeball on Friday, anyone?

Ward Campout, etc.

Fellas,

First off, you're doing things right and you're okay. We constantly wonder if we're doing life right and where our place in the cosmos is; yours is right here and you're good. Each of us has things we can improve, but cut yourself some slack. I'm ok. You're ok. We're doing a'ight.

Laird Bennion with Jeramie, treasured Sunday School President and Globetrotter. 

Trevor Crump in a heroic pose. Note EQ emeritus Brennan in the background. 

Kelley Cade shortly before her departure to Gotham. 

Ken Snider and Arielle Pettitte

Bishop Metcalf with Kelley's dad, who was fun to talk to. Looks kind of like a Bond Villain in this shot. Doesn't help that he lives in a hollowed-out volcano with a Shark tank. 

Holly Metcalf posing perfectly. 

...And Christian not posing perfectly. Stephanie has her game together here. 

EQ emeritus Layne Mohlman shows us how tough love looks in human form. I had to stand on top of 6 phonebooks to get this angle on him. 

Announcements for Memorial Weekend

Fellas,

Stuff for this weekend:
 - The Bishopric has the lesson this Sunday, and I'd imagine that we'll be combined with the RS for class.
 - You may not have noticed, but we've just had our first post that's not by me!
 - Folklife Festival is this weekend at Seattle Center. Good music, lots of hippies.
 - We appear to have survived the Eschaton! Here's more good news:

Armadillos

Gentlemen,

Here are some interesting facts about the armadillo mean to uplift the heart and educate the mind, for not nearly enough is known about the armadillo:

1. Armadillo means “little armored one” in Spanish, which is fitting because of their dense leathery shells, which provide them a natural defense.

2. They are native to the Americas, and have been consistently expanding their range as they have no natural predators because of their armor (see fact 1).

3. Armadillos have unusually large eyes, but surprising poor eye sight.

4. Armadillos tend to jump straight in the air when surprised, which, because of their poor eye sight (see fact 3.), happens quite frequently. Consequently, they often collided with the undercarriage or fenders of passing vehicles, negating their armor (see fact 1.) and their lack of natural predators (see fact 2.). This is unfortunate, because if they didn’t jump, cars would pass over them, leaving them unharmed.

5. Armadillos typically give birth to 4 monozygotic (genetically identical) offspring, which means that if you happen to run one over (see fact 4.) you need to feel too guilty because there are three more of the same running around. (If you hit 4, you should feel a little bad).

6. Armadillos can hold their breaths for up to six minutes, and because of the density of its armor (see fact 1), an armadillo will sink in water allowing them to walk along the bottom of steam and rivers. However, when the distance is too far, an armadillo will inflate its stomach and intestines with air, which often doubles its size and allows it to paddle across bodies of water.

May the force be with you,

Christopher

More Blasts from the Past

These are mainly photos from an Elders' Quorum Retreat we had in 2009 and this is a particularly treasured photograph of U1EQ Emeritus John Denison about to dump a bowl full of cold water on a sleeping Jon Cox. Good times, for all of us except Jon.

The U1EQ Flickr Page is Back

Fellas,
We've had a Flickr page for a long time now I just forgot to remind everyone. Here's a taste of what's on it: Dan Schwab jumping off a bridge about 50 feet over the water. We think he may not have survived and that the Dan amongst us today is a replicant. Check this out:

...and another thing

Saw this and thought we could all use an inspirational message from Team CoCo.

Conan O'Brien Kinetic Typography from Jacob Gilbreath on Vimeo.

New York Times gets Religion!

...or not. We tend not to associate the two, unless it's an in-depth analysis of cooking methods for your Passover dinner or analyses of Eastern Orthodox art. Still, check out David Brooks' column last week on the latest Musical smash hit on Broadway. From Brooks' column:

Rigorous codes of conduct allow people to build their character. Changes in behavior change the mind, so small acts of ritual reinforce networks in the brain. A Mormon denying herself coffee may seem like a silly thing, but regular acts of discipline can lay the foundation for extraordinary acts of self-control when it counts the most.


This is a well-reasoned column that came as a pleasant surprise. Curious to hear your feedback in the comments section, y'all.

Pick the new masthead

So we're making a few changes to the blog to make it more nice. Tell us what you think of these options:

Or: 

Or the current selection: 

Comments open! Feedback desired! Seeing as how most of the EQ budget is already spent, please don't post any comments wondering aloud what photolettering.com is or why the masthead is watermarked.