In addition to those in the article, here are a few of my favorite comments:

• It was…SOAP POISONING!
• Fragile… must be Italian.
• When Michael Bay starts casting calls for the Christmas Story reboot, you’re in a very good way!
• Shuttup, Randy.
• He looks like a deranged easter bunny. He looks like a pink nightmare.
• WOOOPPIEE A ZEPPELIN!
• Daddy’s gonna kill Ralphie
• SO HELP ME GOD, YELLOW EYES!!!
• You are the world’s best worst parent.
• I was expecting to see a kid with a flute up his nose.
• Does your job provide benefits for family psychological therapy?

Who knew a pic of a kid in a bunny costume would be of such interest?

Even more mind-boggling is the International Date Line. I will leave Utah on a Monday afternoon and will fly for 12 hours across the Pacific Ocean to Tokyo. But when I land, it will be Tuesday evening – well over a day after I left. But on the way home, I leave Tokyo at 4:15 p.m. on Saturday and land in Salt Lake City at 11:30 a.m. that same day – almost 5 hours before I left!!!

I’ve mentioned before that one of my pet peeves is when people say things like “9 a.m. in the morning.” Either “a.m.” or “in the morning” will suffice. But it’s not quite so clear when you’re talking about midnight.

It’s common knowledge that 12 a.m. and midnight are the same point in time, right? Answer the following questions to see if this is true:

1. Let’s say it’s 10 p.m. on Tuesday and you want to meet some friends at midnight on Wednesday. How many hours until you meet them?

2. Let’s say it’s 10 p.m. on Tuesday and you want to meet some friends at 12 a.m. on Wednesday. How many hours until you meet them?

Most people would answer “26 hours” for question 1 and “2 hours” for question 2. If this is the case, then midnight on Wednesday must be exactly 24 hours after 12 a.m. on Wednesday, right? OK, then when is 12 midnight Wednesday? If 12 midnight exists, then 12 and midnight must be the exact same time, not 24 hours apart.

If you think you’re a smarty pants and answered “2 hours” to both questions, then answer this question:

Let’s say it’s 10pm on Tuesday and you want to meet some friends at midnight tonight. How many hours until you meet them?

If your answer is “2 hours”, then you believe that midnight Wednesday (see question 1) is the same point in time as midnight Tuesday???

Confused yet?

The problem is that “midnight” is ambiguous – it is the exact middle point of two days. It is neither one day nor the other. Yet we often refer to midnight as being on a particular day. Sometimes it’s “midnight tonight” (369,000 Google results) and sometimes it’s “midnight this morning” (740,000 Google results). As such, midnight on Tuesday and midnight on Wednesday to two people might mean the same point in time, points 24 hours apart, or even points 48 hours apart (for one it’s the point at the beginning of Tuesday and for the other it’s the point at the end of Wednesday).

Saying “12:00 midnight” doesn’t remove this ambiguity. But what if you say, “12:00 a.m. midnight”? The “a.m.” generally clarifies that this refers to the beginning of that day rather than the end of that day, but a lot of people don’t understand this. This is why you never see trains or planes scheduled to leave at 12:00 a.m. – it’s always 11:59 p.m. or 12:01 a.m. Isn’t it interesting how one minute removes all ambiguity? Technically, 12:00 can be neither “a.m.” (before midday) or “p.m.” (after midday) at all, because it’s smack dab in the middle – neither before nor after midday. 12:00:01, however can be.

About the only way to totally clarify midnight is to use something like “midnight Tuesday/Wednesday” or simply use the 24 hour clock and refer to it as “00:00″, but that’s just weird – not unlike a long blog posting talking about midnight, er, I mean 12 a.m.

They are due Thursday at 10am mountain time. I’ll have a 2nd chance pool up after the first round.

All of Disney World had a Christmas theme going on. One of our favorite places was a tucked away, quiet spot where we would go to relax. The kids spent their time picking up Mickey Mouse shaped sparkles while mom and dad rested on a bench. It also made a nice photo spot.

Bryan was absolutely thrilled to see the Disney characters. Yes, thrilled.

While there, we had the privilege of paying $100 for a character breakfast with the Princesses. We got to quickly meet and get a photo with all of the princesses (with which Bryan, as you can see, was equally thrilled). It was definitely worth it to see the excitement in Abbie’s face as each princess came to meet us, though I did my best to get my money’s worth and ate so much I nearly puked.

The worst part about a Disney vacation is coming back to snow.

Here’s video of the hunt, including the first shot at just 10 yards!!! There’s also some cool slo-mo video at the end that you need to check out. Pretty cool!

The first shot slammed through the upper shoulder and through both lungs, but he stayed on his feet for another several minutes and 50 yards before being dropped. He was a 3.5 mile hike in on a big, nasty hill. I got the call at 6pm and by the time we all got together, it was 3am before we had completed the hike in to the bull. Four of us packed all of the meat out in one trip and made it back to the trailhead by 8am. A LONG night, but an incredible experience.

Congrats to Jon and his boys on a great hunt and a fantastic bull! These guys helped me get my elk off the mountain last year, so it’s nice to have finally repaid the debt.

I don’t consider myself a gun nut, but I do own guns and value my rights to keep and bear them. When I got my concealed firearm permit 2 years ago, I was really confused about where I could and could not legally carry. I then found the online community at utahconcealedcarry. It was a great help to me and I continue to spend time there helping new and potential firearm permit holders learn safety, the law, and other aspects of owning and using firearms.

In January I heard reports that gun owners were being harassed and threatened by Logan, Utah police officers because “all guns are illegal in Logan.” I looked into it, and sure enough, Logan City laws clearly outlaw all firearms, including your kids water pistol. These are old laws that have not been updated since the state of Utah initiated a uniform firearms law in 2004. This law says that cities can’t make their own gun laws – the intention being that citizens should not have to worry about firearm laws when they travel from city to city; the State makes all firearms laws.

When I contacted the city about the issue, I was essentially told that it wasn’t an issue, that they weren’t enforcing the laws, and that they didn’t have intentions to bring the city into compliance with state law. After several months of waiting and even doing a 30 minute radio show on the issue (listen here – MP3 format), I finally contacted the State Attorney Generals office for clarification and help. They told the city to get their act together and remove these laws quickly. Then, when we still could not get a timeline from the city, a group of us addressed the Logan city council on the issue. We finally got some indication that the city would address these confusing and illegal laws in the coming month or so.

The local Herald Journal decided to run a story on the issue today. I think it’s a fair representation of the issues, though they misquoted me a bit and published a rather unflattering photo of me. No, I don’t usually walk around town with my gun showing, but doing so is totally legal in Utah and we thought it would be a good expression of the rights that Logan City laws seemingly make illegal.

It’s been interesting to be a part of this process and to have a small effect on the system. I fought the law and the law lost.

2. Lightly toast some white bread. (Warning: Wheat bread should not be substituted. You do NOT want any extra fiber in your body after eating this thing!)

3. Apply a liberal layer of salad dressing (NEVER mayo!), barbecue sauce, and lettuce to bread.

4. While the bacon is still hot enough to make you swear, but not so hot that it requires medical treatment, break bacon into pieces just big enough to ensure you choke, but will not require the Heimlich maneuver. The desired final outcome is that alternating hocking/gurgling sound your body makes while trying to decide if the bacon should go down or back up. (Note: Back up is optimal as you get to chew it more.)

5. Gently layer bacon onto the bread. Do so with care so as to not drop or lose any bacon bits. Doing so is a crime in 23 states.

6. Apply one (1) slice of processed cheese. Real cheese can be substituted, but it’s just not quite as funky to look at in the end.

7. Close sandwich. Don’t worry about sauce spilling out – any spilled during closing will not end up on your shirt and/or chin later.

8. Microwave for 22 seconds (24.35 seconds at high altitude) until cheese is soft and tender and gooey, but not stringy or bubbling.

9. Eat. This sandwich is best served with a side of Cherry Tums.

Yeah, it’s as good as it looks!

(Warning: This sandwich is rumored to result in eternal damnation and torment in some religions.)