Stake Youth Auction

We had an auction for the youth in the LA stake for their various activities and such. It was funny to see all the stuff being auctioned off. Front row Lakers tickets x2 went for $500. Chelsie Hightower from Dancing with the Stars is in the singles ward and she donated tickets. A lot of high fashion stuff from Burberry junk to a Louis Vuitton bag. My personal favorite was to have Larry King record your outgoing phone message. Imagine getting my voicemail in the signature Larry King voice "Hello this is Larry King, Jarom Ellsworth is not here right now but if you leave a message he will call you as soon as he can..." It went for $110. (His wife is in the ward.)

There is a landmark hot dog joint in Hollywood called Pinks Hotdogs. It always has a long line even at 1am. I have always wanted to go but never wanted to wait in line. One of the youth donated himself to stand in line for you. At the end of the night they raised $10,000.

Million Dollar Baby

I wrote this to explain why I liked the movie Million Dollar Baby.  I posted it on my MySpace account but I deleted my account so I wanted to make it available again to the public at large.

If you haven't seen the movie and plan on it, DO NOT READ THIS! It will spoil the movie.
 First of all Million Dollar Baby is not about the death of Maggie.  It’s about the death of Frankie.  But you say Frankie did not die.  Yes he did, I will explain. 


"If there's magic in boxing, its the magic of fighting battles beyond endurance, beyond cracked rips, ruptured kidneys and detached retinas. It's the magic of risking everything for a dream that nobody sees but you."



Million Dollar Baby is a fairy tale about a man in search of redemption. Here is a quick synopsis of the movie by Brandon Valentine. "Frankie Dunn (Clint Eastwood) is a long-time boxing trainer and gym owner, who in an attempt to both find answers to his questions and help ease his guilt and pain from his estrangement with his own daughter, attends Mass services daily. After losing his prized fighter to another, more go-getting, trainer, Frankie soon encounters a 31 year-old female boxer named Maggie (Hillary Swank), who wants him to take her under his wing. Frankie initially balks at the idea of training a girl, but after much persistence and dedication from Maggie, and some convincing from his long-time pal, Eddie "Scrap-Iron" Dupris (Morgan Freeman), Frankie eventually agrees to train the girl. From then on, Frankie works with Maggie, the poor Southern-born waitress with an ambitious attitude, on her uphill climb to superstardom. In the process, an undividable bond forms between the three."



Maggie is injured in a boxing match and paralyzed. As a quadriplegic, she tries to take her own life but the Doctors prevent her. She pleads with Frankie to do it for her but he refuses. Frankie tires of seeing her suffer so he talks to his Priest. 

The Priest says, "Frankie I've seen you at mass almost everyday for 20 years, the only person that comes to church that much is the kind that can't forgive himself for something. Whatever sins you carry is nothing compared to this, forget about God, or heaven and hell, if you do this thing, you'll be lost somewhere so deep you'll never find yourself again."



With this in mind, Frankie does it anyway. It’s the last and final act of a man desperately seeking redemption. In taking Maggie’s life, he is taking his own. He pays the ultimate price for someone he loves. John 15:13 "Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends." Frankie sacrifices himself for someone who is more than a friend Maggie is like a daughter. In a letter written to Frankie’s daughter, Scrap says, "Frankie never came back at all, Frankie didn't leave a note, and nobody knew where he went, I'd hope he'd gone to find you, to ask you one more time to forgive him, but maybe he didn't have anything left in his heart. I'd just hope he found some place where he could find a little peace, a place set in the cedars and oak trees, somewhere between no where and goodbye, but that's probably wishful thinking, no matter where he is I thought you should know what kind of man your father really was."  Frankie knows he has lost his soul, so in a sense he goes off to die. The very last scene we see him sitting in the same café where Maggie had taken him for the best lemon pie, which Frankie referred to as "heaven."



But we can't forget the return of Dangerous Dillard. Danger is a skinny weakling with no talent to speak of. Earlier in the film, he is dropped off near the gym by his sister’s boyfriend who then leaves and never comes back. Danger, like the rest of the characters in the movie, has no one. He talks big and says he is going to beat the Motor City Cobra to become the Welter Weight Champion of the World. One of the guys training at the gym beats Danger up pretty bad. The hurt is more emotional and Danger disappears. He does not return until the very end. Scrap narrates, "...a ghost came through the door. 'I got to thinking what you said Mr. Grant.’ ‘And what was that Danger?’ ‘Anybody can lose one fight.’ ‘That's the truth, go ahead and put your clothes on, you missed a lot of training.’ ‘Will do Mr. Grant, sure thing.'" The return of Danger symbolizes a rebirth and completes the circle of the story. The movie does a full revolution. With death we have birth and with birth we have life.
 

Christmas 2009

I went to Yuma for Christmas.  It was fun hanging out with Emilee and Becky and their families and of course El Don Bryan.  Here are some pics at a big park in Yuma.

At church Jeb was the hymn book coordinator for our row.  He collected all the hymn books on the row and stacked them up on the chair next to him.  When it came time to sing he handed each of us our hymn books already turned to the correct page.  When the song was over he collected the hymn books again.  I liked having a hymnal coordinator.

I took some pictures of old Yuma on the way home.

Old Yuma 2009

Dad and I went to see Avatar but it was sold out.  We went by the river, which borders Mexico, on the way home.  Every thing is gated and fenced off.  It teed us off that we couldn't get down to our old swimming and fishing holes.  We finally found a spot and it even had a trail that lead down to the river.  The Border Patrol agents routinely drag a sled made from old tires on the road to cover up old tracks and create a fresh bed for new ones.  I don't remember what was said but dad got me into the mood to cause some mischief.  Before getting out of the truck I told dad to carry me on his back down to the river.  One set of footprints going down to the river, two sets of prints coming up.  We even made tracks that looked like we climbed out of the river.  I went walking down the road while crazy dad spun some brodies, donuts, or whatever you want to call them.  He picked me up down the road.  As I was getting into the truck I looked up and saw a tower with cameras, a radar and other hi tech gadgetry.

I thought Oh crap we are dead.  I pointed the tower out to dad and then looked around for a green and white.  Sure enough just up the road I see a border patrol bronco cruising our way.  I jumped in and we took off.  He followed us down the road.  When another agent showed up, the first turned on his lights and pulled us over.  They ran our drivers licenses and asked a few questions.  At the end they said the way we got out of the truck was a little weird.  I felt like I was 14 and hanging out with the Welker boys again.  The only difference is we didn't have any weapons drawn on us.

Video from the ET 2 Rally

Click here to watch the video.


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The ET 2 Adventure Continues

Last week I went to CAA (Creative Artists Agency) to talk to Spielberg's agent, Richard Lovett. I walked in and talked to the receptionist. She said I needed an appointment first. She gave me the phone number to the main switchboard. I stepped out and made the phone call. They transferred me to his office. His assistant told me he doesn't take unsolicited meetings which I already knew. She transferred me to special services where no one picked up. I figure it's just a way to get rid of people like me. I called her back and asked if I could send a letter. She said for legal reasons he can't read anything. The picture is of the building in Century City where CAA is located.




Today I talked to Keith Atkinson, the Southern California LDS Public Affairs director who's office is located on the temple grounds. I asked if he knew Jerry Molen. He said he did and would get some contact info for me. FYI Jerry Molen is LDS and produced several Spielberg movies including Schindler's List for which he won an Oscar. He also produced The Other Side of Heaven. He is currently living in Montana. This could be pretty big but I'm not getting my hopes up.