March | 2008 | BenSpark Family Adventures

Today I was up at 4:35am, got ready to head to the airport for a 6:00am flight. The flight was on time and the Tulsa airport is very easy to get into and out of. I even started my guest post for the Average Dudes blog. I had plenty of time to get things started. The flight itself gave me a chance to catch a few more Z’s and I read some more of my latest Clive/Dirk Cussler book, Treasure of Khan. I need to get this one finished before I see my buddy Ryan again.

I made a quick change at the Atlanta airport and then headed to Tri-Cities. I was very early today and today was what is called a travel day. All I had to do was get to my next destination. So I had the time and I went to see Drillbit Taylor. I really liked this movie. I was also a fan of My Bodyguard, and 3 O’Clock High. It must be that stories where bullies get their comeuppance resonate with me. I was bullied in grade school. But at the same time I did try and defend my smaller friends from bullies. That is what got me into my one major fight in my life. Another story for another time.

In the movie Owen Wilson is Drillbit Taylor, a homeless guy who is hired to be the bodyguard for 3 kids who are being terrorized by two bullies at school. One of my favorite parts was when the kids are interviewing potential bodyguards and as they interview people one of them is Adam Baldwin. I started laughing my butt off when I saw him because Adam Baldwin (of Firefly, Chuck and The Inside) was also in the movie My Bodyguard. His line was, “You’re hiring a bodyguard to defend yourselves from a high school bully, that is ridiculous.” He was also wearing a jacket similar to the one his character, Linderman, wore in My Bodyguard. I laughed right out loud and I figure that unless you were a child of the 80’s that one cameo would have made no sense to you. It is fun being a font of Pop Culture knowledge sometimes.

All in all the movie was good, it had a great Owen Wilson performance. He is an excellent actor and while he is still shadowed by his suicide attempt his talent cannot be denied. This movie uses his talents well and the kids that hire Drillbit are pretty decent in their own right. The character of Ryan was hilarious and had many of the movies better lines. The expressions and the acting was good. If you want to see a pretty decent movie, not a lot of swearing, many funny parts and some great awkward teen moments from some pretty likable kids.

I also wrote my latest IZEA Guest Blogger post titled “Phoning It In“. The post is all about mobile blogging with some focus on using Utterz for mobile blogging.

Today is my sister Tara’s Birthday, dad sent me a cute picture of Tara and Eva tonight too. Happy birthday Tara!

Mobile post sent by BenSpark using Utterz. Replies. mp3

Today I was supposed to do a demonstration. However, when I got to the hospital I ended up watching a demo that a co-worker was doing. Then I had lunch and was told that my demo had to be rescheduled. So I was free to drive back to Tulsa. So that is what I did.

The ride back was a long two hours on a rural highway. All along the way I saw signs of major ice damage and flooding damage. There were also many many farms. In the middle of the the ride between a half dozen farms I came across an Amazon.com shipping center and then right back to farms. There were so many cows and horses and I really wanted to stop but decided not to because it was a highway and I always see a shot I want just as I go by it. So if I wanted to take the shot I would have had to be able to see it well in advance so I could slow down to take it. However I am in the practice of taking shots with my eyes. I try and see things and compose a shot in my head that way I continually train my eyes and mind to see shots everywhere.

When I got to Tulsa it was around 3:00pm. I did a quick check online to see what time the Tulsa Zoo closed and I took a ride over there. The family membership to Capron Park Zoo came in handy because it got me a half price ticket. So $4.00 for two hours seemed fair. The ice damage was very evident around the zoo too. It looked really sad compared to the time I was here in 2006. It was such a hot day but the Zoo was really looking good. Here is the Tulsa Zoo photo set from 2006.

I was able to walk around for a while and take a bunch of photos of the animals. At first I was pretty disappointed because most of the animals were asleep. However, I have learned that patience is the best skill when dealing with animals. You have to take your time and let them do things at their own pace. I really get annoyed with slack jawed yokels who roar at the lions and shout to make the animals move and whatnot. People annoy me a lot sometimes.

Of course I think I may have been interrupting something when I took today’s PAD. But they both look pretty happy to me.

Here are the rest of the photos I took at the zoo.