It's That Time of Year...

Fall started to be a really good time of year for the Cannon family back in 2005. It was then that Shelley and I were FINALLY able to cheer for the same college football team. Before then, life was tough. In what could only be described as a Mormon version of West Side Story, or Romeo and Juliet, Shelley and I fell in love and got married despite me (and my entire family going back generations!) having graduated from the University of Utah (Capulets, anyone?) and Shelley graduating from Brigham Young University (When you're a Jet, you're always a Jet!) As I type this I can just see a premise for one of those LDS-themed movies.


As a diehard Ute fan, I think I've come a long way in calming my feelings about "the rivalry". I've actually attended the same number of BYU football games live as I have Utah games since getting married (2). And I no longer openly cheer for the opposing team at those games. Though, my internal thoughts are another matter...but it's a baby-steps process, right? And finally I think I'm pretty good at not making snide remarks about BYU's football team to my son. Though I can't say the rest of my family abides by the same law. When Anthon and I returned home from the Utah/UCLA game a few weeks back, Anthon had learned the phrase, "BYU, stinks, P.U.!" and then he pinches his nose and makes a stinky face. I didn't teach him that...but I didn't not condone it either.

So we're back to bipartisan support for a common collegiate football team - USC, after two weeks of seeing BYU and Utah play live. And I have to say it's much better being on the same team.

As a postscript to all of this, it's always fun to really know when your kid has had a good time. Anthon woke up in the middle of the night after the game screaming because his leg got caught in his crib. As Shelley was trying to put him back down, Anthon kept saying things like "football game...fun," "go go SC!," and "more horsey" (the last one referencing Traveler the SC mascot that gets trotted out after each touchdown.) It's cute to see him verbalizing all the fun memories he had from the night.

I uploaded a short video of Anthon from the USC game, as well as a photo gallery of the three games. Please check them out.

Indian Bricks

This is just a shot of a pile of bricks at a roadside stop in India between New Delhi and Agra. I had just arrived in India the night before with my business school class and we had a day of leisure before we started our company visits. Talk about overstimulation! We couldn't keep our eyes off of the road...and I guess it's ironic that of all the pictures I took on the road to the Taj Mahal, the one that interests me most isn't shots of camels walking on the road or snake charmers...but a plain old pile of bricks.

Download the full photograph by clicking on the image below.

Giving "Bones" to the 12

So many of you know I'm a huge University of Utah fan. So, I went up to Salt Lake with Anthon and my Dad and brother-in-law Cam to catch Utah absolutely wreck UCLA 44-6. The week before, Cam taught Anthon about "giving bones" or doing a knuckle bump. It was at this Utah game that Anthon really caught the spirit of giving bones.

So, we were at the game, watching it from the President's box. Other fans included the former President of the U and his wife, donors, faculty and one distinguished alumni Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin of the Quorum of the 12 Apostles. Elder Wirthlin was a member of the Utah's football team when he was in college. He's 90 now.

So, I've set the stage. The Utes are doing well. Anthon has learned how to give bones and we're in a place where Anthon is the only child...youngest living thing around by aboutu 20 years. After the Utes score, Anthon decides it's time to start giving bones to people. He does this by clenching his fist and raising his arm in the air while joyfully declaring, "BONES!" He made his way down the aisle, giving bones to me, Cam and my Dad. The former President of Utah and his wife had to be educated on what "giving bones" was and they indulged my son.

Anthon crossed the aisle and found poor Elder Wirthlin watching the game. Anthon stuck his clenched fist near Elder Wirthlin and said, "Bones!" Elder Wirthlin looked puzzled, smiled and said, 'Hello young fella." He stuck his open hand out thinking Anthon wanted to shake hands. I had to sheepishly explain what Anthon was saying and Elder Wirthlin gave my two year old son bones. Elder Wirthlin sort of laughed after my son went off giving other people bones that kids are certainly a blessing.

As I think about it, I could have been witness to the first act of giving bones by a member of the Quorum of the 12 Apostles...ever! It's hard to imagine President Hinkley giving Elder Packer "bones" when Elder Packer says a really great prayer, or when Elder Oaks gives a "totally awesome" report of missionary work in Southeast Asia. You never know, though.

The two pictures are of Anthon giving bones, but unfortunately not to Elder Wirthlin. I didn't get my camera out in time to capture that. Too bad. You'll just have to believe me.

Shibuya at Night

I was in Japan a few weeks ago and I spent some time after work one night in the Shibuya area of Tokyo. Shibuya is known for being the hang out for the young. This shot is taking from Hachiko Square, near the main exit to the train and subway lines and the main entry point into the shops, restaurants and other nightlife of Shibuya.

The picture taken below is a panorama compiled from four individual shots I took with my Nikon. I then stitched the photos together using a really nice piece of free software called, Autostitch. All you need to do is take a number of pictures in succession with some overlapping scenes and then drop them into the program and after a while a panorama will appear.

Over the next few months, I will be spending a lot more time in Japan for work. I am taking my camera each time so that I can take more panoramas of places like the Imperial Palace and the Ginza area, etc.

A shot like this really needs to be seen in a much larger size. Download the full photograph by clicking on the image below.

Hiking the Narrows

Over Labor Day weekend, our friends the Derricks invited us, our friends the Mulliners and another family to spend the long weekend playing in Zion National Park. The deal was that half of the couples would hike The Narrows on Saturday and the other half would hike on Monday, leaving our kids behind to be baby sat by the non-hiking couples.

It was Shelley's first time hiking the Narrows, while it was my third time. It had been a while since I'd hiked this, so it's easy to forget that it's 17 miles of traversing down a river, oftentimes not being able to see the bottom and the ankle-breaking, slick rocks that await the feet of weary hikers.

To me, the best part of the hike is the upper 10+ miles that are really only accessible if you hike from the trialhead downstream. This is where you can really get through some narrow canyons. We had the trail pretty much all to ourselves until we got a few miles from the bottom. Then we ran into day hikers who had made their way upstream. We knew we were getting close when we could see "hikers" in skirts or walking barefeet.

The day before, I had been inspired by a few local photographers who had galleries of their shots from Zion's and in particular The Narrows. So that inspired me to shove my tripod into my backpack and lug it down river. There were a few tense moments when the current, combined with a lack of sure footing, submerged my bag. But luckily no moisture made it in into my bag. While I don't think these pictures are professional quality, the gallery does contain some shots that give you a sense of the color and beauty found on the hike.

Here's a picture of the group. As you can see, the backyard of the vacation home has quite the view!