Proud to be an American.

Something really cool happened at work today. The entire office was talking about it. Our co-worker Tony and his wife took the Oath of Allegiance, joining with over seven-hundred others in becoming citizens of the United States of America.

Tony came to America from Brazil when he was 16. His journey to citizenship has taken 20 years. He spent thirteen years in the morass of visa applications before finally getting his 'green card' and another seven years waiting for citizenship. He now has the right to vote in the upcoming election and plans to do so; which alone makes him a better citizen than many other Americans.

He was so excited and happy that he could now say he is an American. His neighbors placed hundreds of American flags on their lawn this morning to help them celebrate this great event. It was a wonderful day for his family and a good day for America because America benefits from citizens like Tony and his wife. Tony's wife helps organize a local Brazilian Festival and we all know where community organizing can take you. (OK, she doesn't qualify for that office but there are others)

I'm currently linked into Jason Chaffetz's campaign in Utah's 3rd Congressional District because my wife, Jennifer, is his campaign manager. Immigration has become a hot-button issue in that campaign, so I was interested in Tony's experience. Basically, legal immigration is a long and difficult process. It sometimes requires paying a lawyer to help fill out forms, and even then it can get messed up. Tony's experience was long, but went fairly smooth. He says he can understand why some people who just want to come here to work choose to do so illegally; it's less hassle.

Now that just doesn't sound right, but then, think about what the government makes us do to get on an airplane: no scissors, only 3 oz. of liquid in a container, no nail files; none of which actually makes us safer in the planes. How many of us wouldn't jump at the chance to walk around that screening mess at the airport. Before we do anything about the millions of people here illegally, we need to fix the system. Voluntary compliance with laws and regulations will happen more when it doesn't take lawyers to get anything done. Imagine if you needed a lawyer to register your car. How about if you needed a lawyer, as well as an accountant, to file your taxes? Would you be less inclined to file? Americans would be screaming to fix the system and electing leaders who would do something about it.

Well, fortunately for Americans, they don't have to deal with the immigration system in this country; those who do don't have a vote. Jason Chaffetz has identified the current legal immigration system as a contributor to the illegal immigration problem we have in this country. The number-one item, the first step, on his plan for solving the illegal immigration issue is to FIX the legal system. That's why he will get my vote in November and possibly the votes of many who just went through the system as well.

We've got your back!

As some of you might know from reading earlier posts, I'm the Scoutmaster for Troop 1521 in West Jordan. Our main patrol is the Pedro Patrol (as in Pedro from Napolean Dynamite) and our patrol yell is "Pedro Patrol! We've got your back!" At the end of July we went to a week-long summer camp at Bear Lake Aquatics Base (BLAB) in north-eastern Utah. I've only now pulled the pictures off of the memory card, and so will share some key moments from camp here on the blog. For a full set of pictures you can view the web album.

Here is our wonderful camp site, named Daytona Beach. We were right on the waterfront, so the boys got to do a lot of swimming in their free time. You can see our kitchen/eating area on the right, our troop trailer in the center and our screened-fly gathering spot on the left. The leader's tent is also in this area behind the gathering area. Notice the boy's tents are not near this area. They are actually located behind the photographer several more yards. Note for Scoutmasters: Sound falls off proportionally to the square of the distance traveled. This is a technical way of saying, the farther away the boys are the less of them you'll hear.

Here we see Mitchell helping to cook breakfast: sausage, eggs, and hashbrowns. You would be amazed at how much a group of 12-year old boys can eat. Mitchell is helped in his breakfast preparations by two of the fathers that accompanied us on this trip; one of them his own.

The first class the boys took was for the Small Boat Sailing merit badge. This merit badge is the main reason we chose BLAB this year as it is one of the few camps in Utah that offers sailing. The boys had to learn how to handle a sailboat, how to tack and jibe, how to get into and out of irons, how to right a capsized boat, and a multitude of other information about the boats and sailing in general. Every boy took this class and they enjoyed sailing very much. However, Spencer (3rd standing from the left) did not enjoy it when the sailboat he was righting in the water came down squarely on top of his head.

The second class of the week was canoeing. Some had already earned their canoeing merit badge and so weren't present at this class. This class also represents the last pictures I was able to take at camp, but I'll explain more on that later. The boys had to learn how to paddle a canoe alone and with a partner, how to drain a swamped canoe in both shallow and deep water, the parts of the canoe and paddle, and how to take care of the canoe and paddle. The boys had to kiss their paddle if they ever set the blade/tip down in the sand because that hurts the paddle. They quickly learned not to do that. In the photo you can see C.C. (standing in red trunks) who taught the class but who also was our camp friend. He helped keep us informed about the goings on at camp. Mostly. There were some omissions, that led to some minor issues. (yeah, C.C. you heard me, issues.) But again the boys loved the canoeing class.

For me, canoeing was less fun because as you can see from the photos in the web album, I was out on the water with my camera to get good pictures of the boys swamping their canoes and practicing their strokes. I got some good pictures, but soon felt I was tempting fate by remaining on the water. As I was heading back to shore, I reached out to help with another canoe, and my canoe decided I wanted to go swimming. With my camera. And my cell phone. And the merit badge cards in my pocket. Yeah, canoes can be like that. Needless to say, that's where the photos end, but that wasn't the end of the week. No. This was only the second day of camp.

The boys took various classes the rest of the week and they earned nearly every badge for the classes they took including rifle shooting (.22 caliber long rifles), shotgun shooting, environmental science, photography, lifesaving, indian lore, and woodcarving. Those that didn't complete their badges only had a few requirements left and should still finish their badges quickly. In all, they had a fun week. For one boy, this was the first time he had been away from his parents for more than one night. Not one of them got homesick, and I think they all learned some valuable lessons at scout camp.

Declaration of Independence

I had the opportunity and privilege of seeing one of the original copies of the Declaration of Independence over the weekend. "One of the original copies?", you say, "Isn't there only one copy? The one that has a treasure map on the back?" Well, says I, this copy is actually older than the one we have all come to know and love; the one with John Hancock's signature writ large. This copy is known as a Dunlap broadside. Immediately after congress voted for independence on July 2,1776, they turned their attention to the declaration. They accepted the final version of the declaration on July 4, 1776 and sent the approved text to John Dunlap, a printer in Philadelphia. He produced 150-200 copies of the declaration to be distributed throughout the colonies. The title on this printing gives us a little understanding of the time line. You might make out that it says, "In CONGRESS, July 4, 1776 A DECLARATION by the REPRESENTATIVES of the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA in GENERAL CONGRESS assembled."

"Hang on a minute!" says you, "I know my Declaration of Independence and I know that it says 'The Unanimous Declaration of the Thirteen United States of America' at the top. You've been looking at a fake!" Well, as of July 4, 1776 the New York delegation had not yet voted for independence. The Declaration of Independence at this point was simply majority opinion.

"But," you continue, "I don't see any signatures at the bottom of this document and everyone knows the real Declaration of Independence has signatures at the bottom." That version of the Declaration of Independence was created in August of 1776 after the New York delegation had voted in favor of independence. The title was changed as indicated above, the text was hand written, and the current representatives signed at the bottom. That copy is the fancy show-piece document. The Dunlap broadsides were the work-horse copies. They traveled around the colonies. They were read in town squares. One was read by General Washington to his troops. Copies were sent to England. This is what the buzz was all about during July of 1776.

There are only 25 known Dunlap broadsides in existence today. This particular copy eventually made its way into the backing of a painting; kept there to preserve this precious document. The painting wound up at a yard sale, where it was purchased for $4; the purchaser liked the frame. As he removed the painting from the frame, he discovered the copy of the Declaration of Independence inside. It was eventually purchased by Norman Lear and made into a permanent traveling display. Watch for it to come through your city in the future.

Dr. Horrible (Act III) Finale

So the third Act of Dr. Horrible's Sing-along Blog came out on July 19th and then the entire show left the internet on July 20th. It has taken me this long to post a response, partly because I was just blown away by the ending, and partly because I didn't want to post any spoilers here for anyone who hasn't watched it yet. Now Dr. Horrible is back on the net, with limited commercial interruption (one commercial between each act) on hulu.com. I've embedded it here for your convenience. If you haven't seen it yet, watch it before reading further.



I loved Dr. Horrible, namely because I didn't expect the life altering tragedy at the end. After watching DHSAB numerous times (my kids know almost all the songs) I love the complexity of the subject matter. I love how Dr. Horrible sings about how we don't have a choice in life at the end, when in actuality he had so many choices he could have made; He could have talked to Penny instead of stealing the Wonderflonium, he could have gone to meet Penny instead of planning the demise of his nemesis. He says he "know[s] the course" but once everything is set in motion none of the outcomes are expected, or the result of his own action. He gets "everything he ever..." almost, and Billy loses everything.

Someone else on the net said that Joss and Co. could give lessons to the likes of George Lucas on the making of a villain, and I agree. Dr. Horrible is more tragic and dark than Anikin Skywalker ever was. I put Dr. Horrible in the class of great tragedies, like "Oedipus Rex", "Romeo and Juliet", and "Hamlet". "Be careful what you wish for" is always good advice even if you don't have a Monkey's Paw.

Jamming a spork into your leg

Dr. Horrible's Sing-along Blog Act II went live tonight. I've now watched it a few times. I love the creativity in the music and the dialog is great. This act had one line that lacked the subtlety I tend to look for in good innuendo and double-entendre. If you watched it I'm sure you know to what line I refer. There used to be a time (and it really wasn't that long ago) that the humor was even funnier if there was a possibility that someone might not have gotten the joke. I know the intent here was to show Captain Hammer is a tad slow in the thought department. I got the humor; I just didn't find it as funny as I might have had he, say, tried to explain what he meant without actually coming out and saying it.

There is so much subtle humor happening in Dr. Horrible's sing-along blog, (watch the server in the soup kitchen for an example) that one line seemed almost out of place. I'm not what anyone would call a prude. My mind is usually the first to identify the "alternate meaning" of many conversational phrases; it's required years of training to keep them from being blurted out. When I do say something, I try to make it subtle so that the person who said the phrase has to think about why I would say such a thing in response. Usually something above the ever popular "That's what she said." I guess that's probably the reason why that one line just stood out to me; it was like using a pile-driver when an ordinary hammer would do.

Edit note: The videos of Act I, II, and III are no longer available to watch for free on-line. That was a temporary convenience for fans. You can download it from iTunes or wait for the DVD to come out.