Happy Hallobamaween!

I thought this was a silly but fun video with a great political message (try to guess which candidate the video's makers support).

This video makes me happy

Where the Hell is Matt? (2008) from Matthew Harding on Vimeo.

What do you think?

Mormon Bikers Unite!

I liked this post about Mormons biking to work a lot. It's presented in a Q&A format. A little taste:

Q: Dan, what does bike commuting have to do with Mormonism?
A: Well, bike commuting is a way for Mormons to show their willingness to take responsibility for their quality of life. In an age where SUV owners are actually setting fire to their cars to get out of ownership arrangements they can no longer afford, and where the news is characterized by mawkish profiles of “pain at the pump” and politicians either going to Saudi Arabia to grovel for more oil or calling silly Congressional hearings to whine at oil executives who manage no more than 12% of the world’s oil prodution, bike commuting is a way for us to reject the world’s flailing, pathetic response to financial adversity that results from our own consumption decisions. Besides, I read somewhere that if you go to heaven and mention that you lived in the time of $5/gallon gas and drove to work every day, a hush will fall over heaven and the pioneers will fall at your feet, rolling on the floor laughing at you.
Parenthetically, during the 1974 oil crisis, President Kimball responded to the crisis by asking members of the Church to start walking to church where possible, and he and Camilla led by example, walking to their meetings. Just one more reason he’s my favorite…

I'm so proud of our family, half of us ride bikes and/or walk to work often. Feels great, doesn't it? Let's keep it up!

Where were you?

I guess this post is aimed mostly at Mom and Dad. I read this really cool post over at By Common Consent about people's memories of where they were on June 8, 1978. Kind of like hearing about where people where when Kennedy was shot or on 9/11, but happy instead of devastated. Check it out, read the comments, there are some good stories in there. Dad, you were on your mission, right at the end of it, correct? Mom, you said the next week you were in a ward where a young black kid was able to pass the sacrament, right? Where exactly were you when you heard the news? What kind of changes have you seen in the church since then?

For Diana and Benjo (and me): how hard is it to even comprehend how different the church was back then? Any thoughts/impressions/whatever?

Bonus (x2): one of the responses on the original post linked to another awesome story here about the first black woman to serve a mission. Great story with her, and also read the fifth response there for another awesome anecdote about how that day changed peoples' lives miraculously!