The Utah State Fair

Was invited to go to the state fair last week with my son and his two anklebiters. It was a very nice morning, only the second day the fair was open so everything was fresh, clean, and just getting set up. There's not too much trouble to get into with the little ones, but they ooh'ed and ahh'ed over the animals - got to see the usual pigs, cows, chickens, rabbits, pigeons, chickens, and things. Kirsten, the 4-year-old didn't have any trouble connecting the dots between cows and hamburgers and didn't seem fazed by the concept at all.

Robots in disguise:



Some animals are more equal than others:



The model:



The Sculpture (butter over mesh framework)



Details:







There was also a cool tiger show by the people that are trying to breed and restore white tigers, but my camera phone just doesn't do it justice.

They hadn't even launched Sputnik yet

... but this rocket ship, with it's glowing red cutaway interior, was probably my favorite place in the Hayden Planetarium. There were places to weigh yourself on the various planets, using jiggered mechanical Toledo scales (Honest Weight! No Springs!) instead of the amazing multimedia devices you can find today.

Went to the Clark Planetarium here in Salt Lake with my grandkids on Saturday - I can't believe the strides that have been made in science since I was Kirsten's age.



Pretty convincing Marsscape, at least for the camera's eye. I can't imagine what a planetarium will look like when these tykes have children.

If the world is still in one piece, that is.

A hidden gem

If you're ever hankering for a movie that will make you feel good, and give you hope for humanity, see if you can find a copy of Saving Grace somewhere. It took me years to find an old VHS copy, which a good friend is now burning to DVD for me - but it was worth the hunt.

Tom Conti is the pope, but he has a problem - he hates his job. When he inadvertently locks himself out of the Vatican, it's the beginning of an adventure that helps him get back in touch with the people he was elected to serve.

The acting is superb, the story heartwarming, and Tom Conti is brilliant throughout. This is easily my favorite movie of all time.





It's a great shame that the studios will copy a dog like Batwoman to DVD, but leave a treasure like this languishing in a vault somewhere.