All Time Best?

Fine Katie I will update the blog. Sorry to all of my fans for taking such a long time to do this. It has been all too busy for me to update our blog so I will try and do better.

So what are the all time best of anything you can think of? Movies, Bands, Gifts, Friends, Albums... and the list goes on. This post is about my all time best albums of all time. Well one in particular. I love music. I don't think I can put my finger down on "The Best Album of All Time", and I don't really think that is even possible. I would say though that I could easily put Pink Floyd's album, The Wall, in my top five albums of all time. I love every song, and it is laid out so perfectly in the album. I can listen to it for days on end.

Well I saw a little bit ago that The Australian Pink Floyd Show would be playing at the Honda Center and would perform The Wall in its entirety. This was an amazing opportunity that I simply could not pass by.

As "Cover Bands" are concerned I can think of a few that are just spot on to the original. There is Iron Heart, Electric Youth, and now I can say The Australian Pink Floyd Show. They literally sounded just like Pink Floyd and did such an amazing job performing. I absolutely loved it and if you are a Pink Floyd fan and this band is coming to your town soon, I would definitely try and make it to this show.

By the way, although I hate Joey right now I must thank him for taking me and Jenny to this show. He really is the man for doing so, even when we are in a fight for our lives.

New Inspiration

I feel relieved that the election is over now and we can move on and write and talk about other things. I have however been struggling with something to write about and have experienced somewhat of a writer's block. I needed to do something and I needed to do it fast in order to get my groove back. Well here it is.

I promised Jennifer that as soon as the election was over we would go on a hike to some local area. Last July I bought Jennifer a book called Top Trails which has a bunch of hikes locally to Los Angeles. We decided to use it for the first time this weekend and we traveled to Mount Baldy in the San Gabriel Mountains. This hike was only about a 40 minute drive from our house and was well worth it. Here are some pictures of our adventure.

We started off on a ski lift that took us up to the point where our hike started.

Basically, I am getting ready to rock this mountain!

First thing was first; Jennifer and I had to get our bearings, so we climbed this tree.


I was totally amazed to see that when we reached a certain point we could to the east see the valley plain off to Victorville and Barstow, and to the west we could see Los Angeles, San Bernardino, and Orange Counties. This is to the east.

I don't know why, but Jennifer begged to get her picture taken with this Pine Tree. She really was becoming one with nature.

To me, these were awesome pictures.


Watching Jennifer go up this hill was a moment of pride for me.

And this is what it was all about.

At the end of the day it was a little hard to say goodbye. Jennifer and I felt even more connected with our beautiful local San Gabriel Mountains. We had to leave though so we could go bowling with our friends JD & Katie, but don't you worry! Jennifer and I will be back real soon to reconnect once again with Mother Nature.

Thanks for the Great time Mount Baldy!

Intolerance?

People who oppose Proposition 8 are really quick to point the finger and accuse the supporters of being intolerant. I appreciate people like "K" who was highlighted in my last post for the civility in their arguments. However I find that there are a lot of those who are not like "K" and who are some of the most intolerant people out there. They are trying to take away our free speech, and right to feel safe. Just this morning my Dad found my sticker on my car has been decimated, which might I add takes away my freedom of speech. Now who is being intolerant?

Outlaw Divorce?

In my last post about Bigotry I had a great comment by an anonymous reader who identified herself as K. I was so grateful for this comment for two reasons mainly. First this person was totally respectful and I feel sincere, and secondly it really is a great question she asked. Here is what she said in her comment.

Hey Michael,

I'm a 27 year old woman living in Orange County, CA. I'm opposed to Prop 8 however I'm trying to better understand your point of view. No worries, I'm not here for name calling or any heated arguments, etc. :) Anyway, if your true intentions are to protect marriage shouldn't you be campaigning to outlaw divorce instead of TAKING AWAY other people's rights? It doesn't make logical sense to me.

Thanks,
K

Well I think that this is a fantastic question and though it may seem a little extreme I have thought of the pros and cons if this were to actually happen and it is not a bad thought. Allow me to list them

Pros:
*People would take marriage more seriously
*This would prevent "Shotgun Weddings"
*Couples would work out their differences and try to understand each other better
*Children would still have a Mom and a Dad at home

Cons:
*Adultery would be more prevalent
*Couples would be forced to stay in an abusive relationship
*Children could be at risk by being in an abusive environment
*There still are "dumb" people out there who will not consider the life long consequences before entering into this union.
*My parents would still be married

Now K, if you want to understand my position on this you must understand that I am a devout Christian and my belief on marriage is that it is a institution that was designed by our Heavenly Father. The ideal marriage is a perfect plan that is used to bring God's children into this world and to establish families. I also believe that children should be raised by a mother and a father.

Now although God's plan for families is perfect, the participants are not. It is my opinion that the primary deteriorating factor in marriage is pride. As people become too proud to admit that they are in fault, too proud of their work to pay attention to their families, too proud forgive each other, and too proud in themselves. Pride, I think, can be a good thing when used correctly e.g. Being proud of children for accomplishments. However, when used unrighteously, pride will destroy people and families.

Now as for my family. I have experience with divorce in my family. My parents were divorced after being married for 18 years. I remember very well what it was like to have them both at home and I can very boldly say that a divorce was the right thing for them. I never doubted that my parents were in love. In fact a few years ago I found several letters from my Dad to my Mom written while they were in separate states working as they were courting. I saved these letters and today they are in my filing cabinet at home. These are some of the most loving and tender letters I have ever read and there is not a doubt in my mind that they were totally in love. Now over a span of 18 years things happened, hearts and values changed. I love both of my parents very much so don't expect me to go into any kind of detail about why they grew apart or what caused the divorce, I will say though that it is a good thing that they are not required to be together. Though they were very similar and in love 33 years ago, they could not be any different today.

One last point I would like to make. Proposition 8 is not taking away any rights of gay couples. Under California law, "domestic partners shall have the same rights, protection, and benefits" as married spouses (Family Code § 297.5). Proposition 8 does not take away any rights, it just restores traditional marriage.

K, Thank you so much for your great question. I hope that this response helps you understand my position on Proposition 8.

Bigots?

This past week I held up signs in support of Prop. 8 on Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday. I do have a lot of fun doing this but there is one thing that bothers me about it. I know that by the nature of what I was doing this week in support of Prop. 8, other people will respond in a supportive or negative way. I totally expect that and I must say that in the locations that I was holding signs there was an overwhelming response of people who are supporting this Proposition. However, the opposing side is there as well and I actually really appreciate it that they also feel passionate enough to exercise their freedom of speech as well. One thing that I don't like though is when I am being accused of bigotry. Prop. 8 is not about bigotry, hatred towards gays, intolerance, discrimination, or taking away of civil liberties. It is about protecting the sanctity of marriage, our families, our religion, our rights as parents, and putting back in place what California voted on previously. Here is a great video about what I am talking about. By the way, the second person to speak in this video is Katie from Fullerton, CA and I am friends with her. Doesn't she sound so smart?