Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Kokopelli Triathlon

i love a bunch of people gathered together physically pushing themselves. Maybe i just love the outdoors alot and could run, swim and bike all day in them. whatever it is, i will not die with only 1 triathlon under my belt.

well, let me explain how i look at the results of this triathlon before i give them to you. I got promoted to Associate Producer, which doesn't mean anything really other than i now boss around way cooler people than myself, manage a lot of money that i never see, write about 68 emails per day and finally manage cost, artist hours, projected time until delivery and all so we come in under budget. pretty much i analyze numbers.

So, here are #s to play with. 3rd in my age group, 48 overall of >300.
Place Number
Name
Home Town
Class
Swim
min/100yd
T1
Bike
mph
T2
Run
min/mi
Total Time
Back
3 915 Jarom SIDWELL

LOS ANGELES CA US

Inter M 25 - 29 00:28:42.600 00:01:54.8 00:03:27.020 01:20:11.210 18.0 00:01:44.180 00:54:22.750 00:08:46.3 02:48:27.7 +00:14:16.2
19th overall in swim, 1st fastest in age group, pace of 1:48 100m.
58th overall in bike, 3rd fastest in age group, avg of 18mph, total time of 1:20.
57th overall in run, 4th fastest in age group, avg mile time of 8:46. total time 54min.

so, i didn't make my goal of 1:40, but i love moving my freshly shoven legs for 2:48min straight in the Utah desert. In fact, i climbed a scenic 5mi to Angel's Landing in Zion the next day with Krock.

Monday, September 1, 2008

Hearkening Back to the BaYoU

"I know you from somewhere," is how it started. I did quite a few things back at the BYU and some i have forgotten, so it's nice to be reminded of the good ol' days. Sure, it was only 2.56 years ago, but much fun was created and run-ins with D. Ashcroft (the PPD Officer who hated fun more than anyone else i know and tried to shut down a number of our parties and threatened to take both me and my brother to jail) were few. Janna, the girl at the 90s Party in Huntington Beach) was quicker than most, and after only about a minute, she guessed something I had not expected, "Did you hand out pancakes one friday morning to all the students going up that hill to class?" I immediately time warped back to that day and blurted out, "Well, yes i did there Missy, and i hope you got one of them fine Hotcakes!"

She relayed how she was grateful for them and that she especially loved our hats, the taglines shouted and me standing on my head at some point trying to convince people that these would be the best pancakes they had ever tasted (which i actually don't remember). So, thanks Crusaders for making her day.


The Crusaders were privileged to be the receiver of some press attention from the Daily Universe the following Monday:

http://nn.byu.edu/print/story.cfm/56457

The image that will never be erased from this day was when Aaroneus climbed into the halted bus on the corner of 800N and 700E and handed out flapjacks until everyone on the entire bus had had their fill. Thanks to Janna and her placenta friends for bringing these and other memories back. A few of them i remember :
Playing Cupid on Valentine's Day -

Oktoberfest, which I hold very dear -
http://newsnet.byu.edu/story.cfm/66013
http://media.www.uvureview.com/media/storage/paper982/news/2007/11/05/Life/Provos.Oktoberfest-3079052.shtml

Thursday, August 21, 2008

Cinema's Dark Night

July 19th was the greatest day of my life. A lot of people express themselves by writing a good journal entry, their clothes, tattoos, music, their gchat status, or even number of Facebook friends. Not I, I express and share who I am though the parties I create. Cinema's Dark Night was a celebration of the inner super hero in us all. This Big Fish Tale tells how this Fest came to fruition.

Advertising - Once Jessica PreeceKraft & I nailed down the official title, the buzz pretty much took over. All we said was that Bruce Wayne invited everyone to a film festival at his house. "I heard Batman is crashing through the roof!" "Yeah, well i know for a fact that they made a lifesize batcave with real bats!" "I heard they even got Heath Ledger to come dressed as the Joker." None of which was true, but the The invitation, :
Some people put a lot of time into their make-up & daily hair-dos. Ma SMAC and our committee are completely devoted to entertaining the masses and when its event week, its like a 2nd job. No really, probably put in another 30 hours to get everything in place.

The red carpet and Anaconda's entryway:
Riddler spoils DeeDee's time to shine -
Alfred welcomes a not-so-welcome guest?
A portrait by Jesse Bushnell of the Great Master Wayne himself :
So you understand, everything you are about to see was first preceded by hours and hours of careful planning, brainstorming and delegation to the SMAC committee.
Below are blueprints sent out to the committee for layout reference :
The red arrows indicate the secret entrances to the Batcave(s).

concept of the building climbOnce inside Wayne Manor, many casual visitors of the Fest stumbled across Bruce Wayne's biggest secrets.

The building climb (thank you the 60s and Adam West)(and Kirk and Rachel)
Combat training room, complete with sound fx and POWs
the Batcycle
The films themselves were smashing successes. 'Kent the Undefeated Runner' reeled in the People's Choice Award, while Dave Thompson danced, though with the devil, his way into Best Actor and Esther Rawlings was Best Actress in 'Danger Dancer'. Mike Warner's Film "Hideaway" won an online music video contest.

http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=FB01E68D1CEFEC7B

The intermission turned out to be almost a complete disaster. Joker blew up a chunk of the wall and threatened to take over the ward. Then Catwoman, Penguin, Poison Ivy & the Riddler stomped onto stage. Luckily, Batman rappelled through the roof, followed shortly thereafter by an upside down Robin.

Don't worry, it was all scripted. In fact, here is the script JPreece and I wrote:
___________________________________________________________________
Intermission of a Dark Night

Movie screen slowly rolls upward, revealing a lone figure in black holding a bomb.
She sticks bomb into wall and runs off opposite side of stage.

!!!Explosion!!! and dry ice flows over the stage as Joker steps out.

Joker : finally, the fortress of the gotham city 1st ward penetrated…

Poison Ivy : the coveted calling of RS president is now mine…

Penguin : yes, EQ president is just the position I need to spread the mono …..

Catwoman : I like cats…purr purr

Riddler : Riddle me this…what is the ward w/o the D? the same as treachery w/o me!

Joker (Russ L)
Penguin (Nahum) Poison Ivy (Kat)
Catwoman (Preecekraft) Riddler (Kenny)

[batman begins to descend from ceiling]

ALL VILLIANS: maniacal laughter

Joker : AND I will be the NEW and most powerful bishop of the greatest singles ward in the Gotham stake!!

[batman swings from desk onto Joker’s shoulders and knocks the joker down ]

batman music begins

[catwoman runs and hides behind desk]
Poison Ivy takes step back while P and Riddler jump on Batman.

He throws them off.

PI throws vine and pulls Batman backwards.
Riddler runs to other side of stage next to Penguin.

Catwoman pushes chair into Batman and he falls back into chair. PI pushes him across stage towards Penguin & Riddler who POW him with a straight-arm

Penguin, Riddler, PI and Joker push batman to center and spin him in circles in chair

Robin descends rope and WHAM catwoman.
She retaliates with a cat toss.
Robin is startled, but tosses it back.

Hops off desk, grabs Happy Sunshine picture & SMAC penguin over the head.

Batman is freed.

Robin: Holy centripetal force Batman! you were spinning out of control!

Batman: the only thing spinning out of control is the crime in this city Robin.

Their heads turn simultaneously toward Riddler. Riddler tries to run.
Batman & Robin grab Riddler together & WEDGIE him

Both spin on Joker, Batman holds him in headlock and Robin gives NOOGIE.

PI runs behind desk w/ Catwoman.

The 4 dance back and forth, B & R trying to get around desk w/o letting them escape. Batman and Robin dive & slide over desk and fall onto floor.
PI knocks over trees, pinning them down.

Catwoman grabs Tithing envelope with PI.

Penguin, Joker & Riddler grab batman and robin’s feet and pull them from under desk and roll them into tithing envelope. Catwoman licks it shut

Joker: hah ahahah. The big bad bat all sealed up in an envelope of …. No one but
with authority has the power to break the seal…..

VO: is the batman at his final 10 percent?
Will the robin be cashed in?
Are the windows of heaven closed to the dynamic duo?
Will they perish in unbelief? or Is there one who can deliver them?

Stay tuned. Same Bat channel, same bat time…
___ ___ ___
___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___

VO: Welcome back to that same bat channel, that same bat time…
We find the Batman and his winged Friend sealed in a Tithing Envelope of Doom inside the bishop’s office. The Joker is only moments away
Batfans, I give you the exciting conclusion to the Final 10%!


Alfred enters dusting while the villains erase the callings on board.
Villians : I want to be EQ for A-K. I am RS pres for L-Z. They always win in football.

Alfred: Don’t mind me. Just sprucing up the bishop’s quarters a wee bit before the Sabbath.

Poison Ivy : don’t mind the harmless old man, he isn’t ordained to open the envelope. Write me up there as …..

[Alfred pulls out letter opener]
Alfred : ahh, a letter addressed to me…Bishop A pennyworth [he opens up envelope]

BATMAN AND ROBIN spring out.

Robin: Holy windows of heaven batman! Alfred’s been bishop of the family ward this whole time!

Batman : yes robin, I suppose we weren’t the only ones living a dual life.

Alfred : Alright winged warriors, take care of them like the Trojans do UCLA.

Battle ensues….

Robin jumps on batman’s back and spin around kicking everyone.
Batman does awesome punch to Riddler BIFF
Robin walks on hands and kicks Penguin.
Joker gets double kicked off stage and falls into crowd

Batman : Citizens of Gotham, the world is once again safe, the film festival free of crime and the ward intact.
If justice is needed, if crime threatens, do not hesitate to call… the dynamic duo!

Bat Spotlight shines on wall and the 2 heroes run offstage.

Batman theme song plays

___________________________________________________________________

All in all, it ruled. Video of the conclusion coming soon courtesy of R Lloyd.

Thanks again to the dozens upons dozens of people who lent a hand and made everything sweeter than sweetness and awesomer that Awesometown. I have been released from Activities now (please see her Majesty Mama SMAC's blog for my Eulogy http://adagiomolto.blogspot.com/2008/08/eulogy-at-wayne-manor.html), but the greatest Film Festival the SM3 Ward has ever seen will live long in my heart.



Monday, August 18, 2008

Storytime with Weezer

I walked out to get some sun at about 3:48pm today and the security guard immediately motioned for me to come over to him. "You want in?" Hoping for the best, i said "Do I!" I slipped through a curtain and into the warehouse next door to find a row of security guards, but just beyond them was 75 people crammed onto a carpet sitting CrissCrossAppleSauce (when i was in kindergarten we called it indian style, but come to find out years later, there is no such thing as an Indian, but, and luckily, there is such a thing as Applesauce). Yeah, Weezer was rocking out. No, there were no cookies and milk. But there were stories from Weezer. Apparently, over the past week people have been calling Kevin and Bean trying to be caller 20 so they could get tickets (see full story here : http://weezer.com/news/default.aspx/nid/14054 ) . Ha, i just happened to work next to Weezer's garage.







Next time i bet there will be cookies and milk.

Sunday, July 13, 2008

Hi, I'm Owen

The hushed whispers in the office this last Wednesday hinted at the fact that i should get up and see what was going on. I made the usual round through the bullpen of CG guys and as i rounded the corner to head down the loooong hallway toward the front desk i noticed a guy in his mid 30s in a baseball cap petting his dog. His dog demanded more attention when the mutt charged me barking loudly. I played my apparent fear up more than I normally would have in hopes to figure out who this mystery was. As if on cue, he rushed after his dog and loudly assured me that his pup wouldn't hurt me. I replied that I wasn't worried and that I was just trying to play it up since i was in this town full of wannabe actors. He chuckled and patted his dog. He looked familiar.
Then he looked up at me, extended his hand and said, "Hi, I'm Owen." Digging deep, i hesitated, but answered, "Oh, hey Owen, I'm Jarom," as we shook hands and turned to walk down the hall. We made some small conversation about his dog, suicide attempt, upcoming projects and then my idea to market global warming calendars showing a variety of arctic animals floating face down in the melted ice caps. It ended with me shaking his hand and saying nice to meet ya.
I looked him up on google images. Found a pic of him. they were actually quite a few.
About 3 months ago i met a nice man named Bear Grylls at a Barnes & Noble. He said that Atom and I were crazy cuz we went outdoors and ate bugs and stuff too. Nice bloke.