On Friday, I thought to myself (around 3:30pm as Rachel was about to be heading home from a day of meeting with students in Monterey) that it would be fun to go to the drive in with the kids, an activity we enjoy as a family.  I throw the idea by Rachel when she gets home, and we decide to head out after dinner, driving over the hill to see Nemo and Ice Age 4.

Now here comes fail #1.  Nemo is released again because now it’s in 3D.  Being that it’s the main movie for that screen, and it was advertised that you could see it cheaper than your friends at the normal theater, I guess I must have just assumed it was 3D.  So after we pay, I ask, “Do you guys have 3D glasses up here?”
The look on the gals face said it all.  “Is this guy an idiot?”
Her manager is right next to her and says, “We don’t have the technology to do 3D here.”
Seriously?  They can broadcast an episode of Chuck in 3D in my living room but you can’t do it at the drive in?  Whatever, it’s all good.  So we paid to see a movie that’s sitting on our shelf.  We’ll have fun anyway.

We get all settled with pillows and blankets in the back of our Swagger Van.
The sound starts off fine, until half way through the second preview it drops out of one speaker and is low.
So I go to find out what the deal is.
They tried to fix it, but really just made it louder.

Enjoyed the movie.
Started the car a few times so the battery wouldn’t die.
Ran the car for a few minutes in between that and the next movie to charge it up some.
A big pick up truck (Ford F-150? Ram 2500? Something like that) pulls really close right up next to us for the second movie. (This will come back into play in a minute.)

Now that we’ve seen Nemo for the umpteenth time, Rachel and I are looking forward to seeing something new.
Until our battery dies and we lose the radio about 15 minutes in. <sigh>
Luckily I know they have those battery powered jumper cable things for people like us.  So I go to get those so we can start it up and see the rest of the movie.
Except someone has it out.  And somebody else is waiting for it.  Apparently there’s a lot of us out there.
Guy brings it back and let’s us know it wouldn’t work.  It’s dead.  Apparently didn’t work for the lady before him either.
The couple who was waiting for it just need a little juice so they’re gonna try anyway.  OK, I’ll keep waiting and see how this pans out.
More waiting, and they come back with no success.  Turns out they have a big truck, though.  I just have the mini-van, so maybe it’ll work for me.  Mind you the battery tester says it’s good…until you connect it to a car.  The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over expecting different results.  Yes. I’m insane.  What else was I gonna do?
No…it didn’t work.

I took it back in where someone else was waiting for it.  I let them know that’s four times in a row it hasn’t worked.
They too needed to see it for themselves.

By this time the kids are asleep, Rachel is mostly asleep, and we need to just wait out the movie and then look for a jump.
Although I did Facebook that we might need a jump and had 3 or 4 offers almost immediately.  It’s good to have friends.  I almost said yes just so I could see some of them I hadn’t seen in a while.

Movie ends.
I ask a few cars around and no one has cables.
Remember the truck that pulled up next to us?  I figured a truck like that should have jumper cables.  But I also remember it’s a fairly young guy and a chick in the passenger seat.  I notice her lean over to kiss him and figure I’ll check with a few other cars.
Still, no dice.

I see em both just chillin in their seats, so I decide it’s time to approach the truck.
I look at the girl in the passenger seat who gives me an uncomfortable look back.  I kinda make a motion like, can y’all roll down the window?  The guy either doesn’t see me right next to him or is trying hard not to make eye contact.
After another few seconds, I notice her kinda pull her had from under the bottom area of his shirt.  He raises his seatback to a more upright position, and i think buckles his pants.
Awkward moment.
I walk away.
Don’t think they’re anxious to help us.
They took that as their cue to leave.
*Sidenote: I get that someone might go to the 10:15 kids movie for that sort of thing, but if so, wouldn’t you think you’d find a fairly secluded spot rather than pull up right next to the family mini-van? Just sayin.

Finally we found some cables and a guy in a truck who saw our hood up and stopped to help.
And we returned home after keeping our kids out late to see a movie we had at home and another one with no sound so we have a vague idea what happened…just enough to ruin the movie when we actually watch it.
#fail

Every Thursday for the next couple months I’m teaching an Improv class for CYT.
Basically I get to laugh, have fun, and play improv games with 25 13-18 year olds every week.
This class serves as an audition for the Improvathon team, which I will most likely be coaching in the Spring.  Then we get to go to San Diego in the summer to compete against teams from other CYT’s across the country.

So it occurred to me as I was getting ready today to include you in the class every so often to keep it interesting.
Today we’re talking about creating a character.
One of the exercises I will do with them is Worlds Worst… (you may have seen a version of this on Who’s Line Is It Anyway and that should hopefully help a little).

So here’s where you come in.
Leave me a suggestion of a verb, hobby, or profession.  They then have to act out a character that is the world’s worst example of said whatever.
Remember, they are 13-18.  So keep it clean.
I’ve got a coulpe hours, so ready…go! 

That’s a screen shot.
Click here to check out the whole thing.

Pretty funny, and pretty accurate, too.
You might even learn a thing or two reading it.
Thanks to Chris Gott for turning me on to that.
Good stuff.

HT: Eugene Cho

Merry Christmas.

To a certain degree, my take is that people aren't gonna remember it for he most part.  Repetition is often how we learn.  A mentor of mine said that's why he figures there are 3 synoptic gospels in the Bible.  God knew it would take us hearing it that many times to even begin to get it.

Anyway, I figure if one of the legends of animation can rehash the same clips over and over, why can't we do it to?  Check out this video that Rachel's friend sent her of Disney movie scenes that are virtually identical!  Hilarious!

As an added bonus, I'm just curious…
How many of you who go to CLC remember the 4 main points we focused on through Advent Conspiracy last year?  Without cheating!

Along with the kids photos, Joel posted a couple shots he took of me.  I liked how they came out and promptly decided to use this one for my Facebook profile pic:

The feedback?  My half-brother Kevin said I need a teardrop and tattoos on my arm, my mom said I needed San Quentin printed across my shirt, and even Rachel’s cousin asked on Joel’s blog who the hard core convict is in the pictures.

I guess when you’re as tough looking as myself, it’s hard not to look menacing.
So as not to disappoint, after a little Photoshop fun, and per Kevin’s suggestions, here I am sporting the new body art.

The look is kinda growing on me.
Should I get started with the sleeves or the teardrops?

What is the most ridiculous thing you've heard someone complain about recently?

Well, I found that there is one more video by the same group, so I thought I'd get that one to you as well.
Check it out:

HT: The House Of Hunt

I was trying to find out more about this group, and I confess I haven't found anything online yet, but it was interesting when I Googled The Way International.  If the lyrics seemed a bit odd to you Christ-followers out there, it my shed some light if they are part of the same The Way International as the religion/cult.

Looks like a group that kinda combines the beliefs of several, including Jehovah's witness and a whacked out Pentecostal.  The most important thing to note would be their belief that Jesus was not God, nor is the Holy Spirit.  Pretty interesting to read about.  Go check it out.

And if you can find any more about this performance group, let us know!
Maybe we can see them on tour nearby!!

For the past several weeks it seems like a wake up singing songs from Sesame Street or Choo Choo Soul in my head.  Looks like I need to get this CD for Caleb:

HT: Chuckk Gerwig