Ricks College 1980-1982

I've been wanting to do a post of Ricks College, and now that ,y daughter Tory has been accepted into BYU-I, well it has been making me more nostalgic than ever. My days at Ricks were very special to me because it was a pivotal time in my life where I started to make important decisions that would impact my life forever more.

1) Returning for my 2nd year Fall 1981, here visiting Yellowstone national park (Dad, me, Mom, Sandra Joyce) 2) Me and proof that I did once have nice hair (and no gut)

I started in the Fall of 1980, I was assigned to a 6 man (3 bedroom) apartment at Targhee Chalet with only 4 other room mates: Cal Collins and Jess Kohlert (returned missionaries from Lake Oswego, OR) and Larry Soderquist (a local from Rexburg, ID who was not attending Ricks), and his cousin Joel (last name slips my memory). Joel was a cowboy from Nevada, he was in the Agriculture major, a rodeo boy of sorts. He often kept his gear (saddle, boots, etc.) in the front room though he was rarely ever home in the apartment. My good friend and neighbor from Southern CA would join me a week later to be my room mate, Craig Bingham.


Rocky "Rock" Babcock standing in front of the Rock Lobster mural that I drew and a few of us colored, readying for some "dancing this mess around" at the Star Palace.

Craig and I were a little culture shocked in our "own Private Idaho" and we set out to bring a bit of CA to Idaho with us. At that time, punk rock was big in Southern CA so we decided to introduce the small town of Rexburg to the "new wave" culture. We tried to stick to the more reserved punk/new-wave bands like B-52's, DEVO, Adam and The Ants and spare them the likes of the hard core: Dickies, Sex Pistols and Dead Kennedys. We met some other Californians that joined in on the "party gone out of bounds" fun, namely Rocky Babcock and Barron Smith.

Pictured below: 1) Larry Soderquist, Craig Bingham (and his girl friend) and me 2) Craig ready to hit the Star Palace disco for some "bikini whaling", posed against our wacky wallpaper


3) Craig and me at a Stake activity back home in CA, summer 1981 4) Craig Bingham would later marry my little sister Debbie while I was serving my mission, this is them in VA Summer 2008 here in VA.

I recently hooked up with Jess Kohlert's younger brother Doug on Facebook (seems he may have been a Tau Sigger at BYU, as was I). I never knew him at BYU (and I don't really know him now), but I knew he was Jess's brother just from his picture, his last name, and Oregon residence. Through him I was able to reconnect after way too many years (25+) with Jess. Jess is now a Professor at Kings college in PA, he's married and has 5 kids. I was also able to reconnect with Tom Knudsen as well, through Jess. I guess now I just need to find Cal.

1) Cal and Jess 2) Lisa and Jess at the end of the school year


3) Jess and his family a few years ago 4) Jess and Tom a few years back

I can't remember why, but Cal Collins left us at the end of the Semester and Tom Knudsen, another Lake Oswego pal became Jess' immediate room mate. Jess and Tom would eventually turn out to be major factors in my transition to a better me. Larry and I reconnected several years back but didn't exchange any photos. I need to reconnect with him too.

1) Tom and Larry (no they weren't gay, we wrestled around a lot in those days) 2) Me and Tom last day of school before I would go back to CA.


3) Tom's beautiful family 4) Tom's oldest is now married, and also pictured his lovely wife LaNae (whom he met in Rexburg, she was a local)

With Craig Bingham in the family now (by the way he and my sister had 5 boys, awesome kids) it was only fair that we get another Ricks College buddy in the family. My wife and I would eventually hook Barron Smith up with my wife's younger sister Irene on a blind date, and they got married shortly thereafter in 2001.

1) Rocky, Barron and me 2) Barron


3) Rocky, Barron and me reuniting in CA 1984 4) Barron and Irene

It has been great hooking up with my long lost Ricks College Oregon pals. It has also been great to have some of my Ricks pals become brothers. Life is good!

Amazing Photos

Zoomed in on the photog section - Inauguration Day 2009!

I guess this is an appropriate President's day Post.

Click on the link image immediately below (or on the link) to open the picture. The control for the picture is in the upper left. Press the + sign to zoom in, or the arrows to move right, left, up or down. If the picture looks fuzzy give it a second to clarify.

This is a remarkable panorama of the inauguration. It might not work well with a dial-up modem, but you can actually focus in on faces near the back of the crowd- nearly 1/2 mile away!

http://gigapan.org/viewGigapanFullscreen.php?auth=033ef14483ee899496648c2b4b06233c

This is the MOST AMAZING picture

Focus on Obama (center stage) and then look behind him. There's Clarence Thomas, Dick Cheney in his wheelchair, Clinton, Gore, Bush 41 and even Dan Quayle and Justice Scalia. The clarity is amazing!

I found The Smithsonian "Castle", the Washington Monument and armed guards atop the Rayburn House Office Building.

The technology is truly amazing- and it's un-classified! Imagine what our spy agencies can see with classified technology!!!


Update 2/21/09

OK, so while still impressive, I'm a little disappointed. A coworker said this was actually a doctored panoramic photo made up of many smaller photos. As I was browsing around in the upper deck behind Obama, I discovered evidence within big-head guy (left above, just left of center in upper deck behind Obama) and a few headless people (far right in same upper deck up behind Obama). See if you can find any other anomalies! See if you can find Waldo :)
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If incredible photography is your thing, check these amazing photos out (I did not take them, got them in an email attachment, don't know who the author(s) is/are to give proper credit)!




http://bakerfam.org/stuff/eye-catching-photos.pps

Happy Valentine's Day to My Sweetheart!

Valentine's day fell on a Saturday this year and I work double shifts every Saturday so this was going to be tough. On top of that, I had been filling in during the week (yes, Friday too) for a co-worker who is on vacation, who works 2nd shift (3pm-11pm). So, my plan was to run over to Costco before they close and buy some roses for my sweetheart. But I got busy with a project and didn't remember until 8:50pm, 20 minutes too late. And I planned ahead for this, brought a pitcher to keep the flowers in until my shift ended.

I had to resort to Giant (the grocery store) and no doubt I paid more but at this point it didn't matter. I picked the two best dozen I could find, red and pink. I had given Cathleen a beautiful Lenox vase for Christmas that has been sitting unopened in its box in our dining room ever since. It was all part of the plan. Normally she is already in bed and asleep when I get home at midnight but not this Friday. She has been watching all of the back episodes of LOST, trying to get caught up on a few seasons, so that she can watch the current ones with me and Christopher. Several of the kids have been watching too. So when I came in, they were all engrossed in an episode and I carried out my plan in the dining room, trying to be very quiet. I turned the lights off in the dining room and had hoped that she would come down Saturday morning and discover them. I went on up to bed since I had to get up early for my double the next day.

When she came to bed, she gave me a hug and thanked me for the flowers. It didn't matter, it was still Valentine's day, and I was happy because she seemed happy. And she didn't even yell at me for spending the money :)



So, what to say to your best friend and romantic partner, sealed to you for all eternities??? I Love You! I could write or say volumes of wonderful things and not get the exact sentiment across. It is a feeling that I can not express in any way except maybe through the Spirit. I can offer my enduring gratitude and express my eternal love verbally, but it doesn't say what a hug, an expression and a sincere heart will say in person.

When we were engaged, she was in New York and I was in Utah at school. I had her framed picture and very expensive long phone calls almost every night to look forward to. In the present day, on my long Saturdays at work, we talk quite a bit, but we are apart. But I am grateful for the short moments of time when we are together, that I can truly express my feelings without even saying any words. A hug, a kiss, a smile from across the room. Those feelings can't be conveyed over the phone or through pictures. I am so grateful to share mortality with her, to share in the parenting responsibility that we have undertaken, to grow and progress together on our journey to eternal life. She is my best friend and companion and I love her. Happy Valentine's Day Cathleen!