MormonDaddyBlogs

One in a Million

May 5, 2012 By Dennis 1 Comment

Some guys just seem like they were made to be dads. Not that all of us guys can’t get there eventually, but some, like maybe one in a million, seem like they come ready made to be great dads.

Josh Tenney is one of those.

I’ve had the opportunity to know Josh through some key milestones in his life, from finally finding The One (took awhile, but she was worth the wait), to his marriage to her, to giddily expecting his first child, to her birth.

Anna Liberty Tenney. A little sweet-pea, if ever there was one.

I also saw Josh go through the pain of seeing his treasured Anna stricken with sunburns so severe, even with limited exposure to the sun and the protection of copious amounts of sunscreen, her eyes would blister shut.

Several trips to the doctor’s office later, as well as traveling cross country to the specialists at the National Institutes of Health in D.C., the diagnosis was confirmed. Anna has XP, an extremely rare condition that has changed how the whole family’s lives.

Some characterize XP as being allergic to the sun, but Josh points out it is much more than that.

“Each day, Anna’s skin is covered with sunblock and lotions,” writes Josh on his blog. “She must remain indoors to be completely safe. Before going outdoors on occasion, Anna must wear shoes, long pants, long sleeved shirts, gloves, sunglasses, and a custom made hat with a specialty UV-blocking plastic face shield.”

Josh has created a blog about his daughter’s life with XP. It’s called Anna Liberty: A Girl Who’s One in a Million, including this post here, which explains how the family is approaching the coming summer, with its longer days, but with the treasured warm, post-sunset hours, when Anna becomes a night owl.

Math for me seldom makes sense. But sometimes, when the one-in-a-million kid scores the one-in-a-million dad, it clicks.

Filed Under: Actors, Featured, New to MDB, Parenting Tagged With: Anna Liberty, Josh Tenney, Xeroderma Pigmentosum, XP

Broadway Squeeze Play

June 16, 2011 By Dennis

Sure, we’re noted for being “nice,” but it doesn’t mean we Mormons can’t at least share how we feel about how our faith is being portrayed on Broadway, where The Book of Mormon (the musical, not the book) has just won 9 Tony awards, including Best Musical.

“Dealing with parody and satire is always a tricky thing for churches,” wrote Michael Otterson, head of public affairs for the Church in the Washington Post. “We can easily appear thin-skinned or defensive, and churches sometimes are.”

But he goes on to share exactly how he feels about the show.

“Specifically, I’m not willing to spend $200 for a ticket to be sold the idea that religion moves along oblivious to real-world problems in a kind of blissful naiveté.” Read Michael’s full article, Why I Won’t Be Seeing the Book of Mormon Musical.

►Braden Bell, who has three degrees and a job in theatre, notably musical theater, blogged about what a musical theater guy is supposed to make of this show that everyone loves and has officially taken Broadway by storm.

“I don’t think it’s productive to get upset or boycott or things like that, either. The Church’s official statement is a one sentence thing that basicaly amounts to: ‘Meh.’ Personally, I think we all just need to grow a thicker skin and stop being offended at everything. Freedom of Speech is an incomparable gift and the cost is that we might hear things that offend us.

“I just wish this were practiced more equitably. Why is it ok to mock Mormon beliefs and things we hold sacred, but jokes about other more favored minorities are immediately off-limits?”

Read Braden’s full post, A Musical Theatre Mormon’s Thoughts on The Book of Mormon Musical.

►Davison Cheney is a “poor Idaho boy living in Utah,” who has not seen The Book of Mormon musical. But the former BYU musical theater major has followed the rise of the show with interest.

“What bugs me is not that this stereotype is poorly researched or shallow or incomplete. On the contrary. Nor is the problem that others will look at the stereotype and go no further in their pursuit to understand Mormons and Mormon beliefs. I know that, having been trivialized, there will be many who won’t be able to get past the caricature of rose-colored-glasses-wearing, naive and unsophisticated Latter-day Saint trying to save the world. That kind-a describes me.

“Mormons are not the first group of people to be lampooned. But Mormons are the ones who won’t fight viciously in retaliation. There will be no picket lines. And other than folks like me commenting, the response will be decent and faith affirming (http://newsroom.lds.org/). Mormons will weather that storm with a smile — not unlike the stereotype.”

Read Davison’s post, About Mormons and Broadway.

What do you think? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

Filed Under: Actors, Featured, Stage Tagged With: actors, Braden Bell, Davison Cheney, Michael Otterson, stage

Kirby and Lincoln in Therapy

May 11, 2011 By Dennis

Kirby and Lincoln continue their comic kerBLINK capades with their latest video, Therapy Wagon.

Kirby (the “kerB”) Heyborne and Lincoln (the “LINK”) Hoppe are working to create a place where families can come view good, funny, clean videos and other creative content. They hope to become a site that features other people’s content as well, offering a more family-friendly version of sites like funnyordie.com.

Watch and see if you don’t agree that Kirby seems like he’d be a good therapist. And Lincoln seems like he’d be a good patient.

Enjoy Therapy Wagon.

Filed Under: Actors, Featured, Film/TV Tagged With: kerBLINK, kirby heyborne, lincoln hoppe

The Friday Five • Episode 3

April 22, 2011 By Dennis

So much good stuff – not enough days. Hence, The Friday Five:

An Abundance of Pudding. A husband’s offer to volunteer 30 minutes turns into a 9-hour ordeal and an experience never-to-be forgotten. In a good way.

Jeff Lindsay’s post in Mormanity shows that were more than just about the Jello at LDS functions. Sometimes, we’re about the pudding. Read An Abundance of Pudding.

The Easter Egg Miracle. Funny guys Kirby Heyborne and Lincoln Hoppe are at it again, just in time for Easter.

Kirby is the “kerB” in kerBLINK, Lincoln is the “LINK”. While the duo specializes in funny business, their aim is for something a little more serious. They are trying to create a place where families can come view good, funny, clean videos and other creative content. They hope to soon be site that features other people’s content as well, offering a more family-friendly version of sites like funnyordie.com.

We wish them all the best. For now, let them entertain you with An Easter Treat. Bring a tissue.

Smiling Guy Revealed! His winning smile will be an indelible memory from April’s General Conference. But who is he? What were his intentions? And is he single?

These questions raged throughout the LDS blogosphere, but leave it to a newcomer to MDB to land the Oprah-sized interview. Paul Wilson, co-owner of LDSFriends.com, tracked down the smiling guy in Australia and lined up a webcam interview. Paul and his wife have two daughters. He serves in the bishopric of his ward in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Welcome Paul and his blog to MDB by watching Interviewing Smiling Guy, who turns out to be Dan Smith, a self-employed carpenter from Melbourne. (And yes, ladies, he’s single.)

No Peace in the Restroom. With seven children under age 14, it’s been years since Ken Craig has been able to use the restroom in peace.

“Dad, look! I’m waving at you! (Little fingers sticking out from under the door.)”

Read Ken’s fun post, Reader’s Indigestion.

Pennies from Heaven. Another newcomer to MDB is from a blogger known only as Middle-aged Mormon Man.

MDB has learned that MMM is the father of 5, happily married, active in church service, and a former Bishop.

“Am quite ‘orthodox,’ in my beliefs,” writes MMM, “but feel we can joke and have fun within our unique culture.”

For his 99th post, he created a video to demonstrate how family budgets work using a table full of pennies. Welcome MMM to MDB by watching Family Finances – Penny Wise.

Filed Under: Actors, Featured, Film/TV, General Tagged With: Jeff Lindsay, Ken Craig, kerBLINK, kirby heyborne, LDSFriends, lincoln hoppe, Middle-aged Mormon Man, Modern Mormon Men, Mormanity, Paul Wilson

Sorry, it’s Taken

April 14, 2011 By Dennis

Quite possibly inspired by what may be a churchwide phenomenon of arriving an hour before the start of Stake Conference, only to discover that the dozen or so people spread throughout the chapel have collectively staked a claim on every inch of every pew (oh, the things we’ll do for a soft seat), funny men Kirby Heyborne and Lincoln Hoppe have just released a new video.

Called Taken, the online 2-minute sketch is the latest in the Southern California pair’s kerBLINK series of funny, clean videos.

Take a look at Taken.

Filed Under: Actors, Featured, Film/TV, Media Tagged With: actors, film, kirby heyborne, lincoln hoppe, mormon daddy blogs

Devastating News (But Only For Now) (Maybe)

March 29, 2011 By Dennis

At first, the news was devastating. Mormon Daddy Blogs has just learned that best daddy ever honors go to Kirby Heyborne, making the rest of us, it would seem, second-best dads ever at best.

However, I looked it up, and “ever” is not the same as “forever.” “Ever” only appears to pertain to everything up to this point (“Have you ever been to France?” doesn’t necessarily mean that you couldn’t still go to France next year, for example).

So, yes, Kirby Heyborne may be the best dad ever, but who’s to say that one of the rest of us won’t win the prize next year? Who besides Kirby, that is?

Filed Under: Actors, Featured, Film Tagged With: actors, kirby heyborne

From Fast Food Worker to Writer in 13 Easy Steps

March 28, 2011 By Dennis

I first saw Brett Merritt on stage as a member of the improv comedy group, The Thrillionaires. He was the glue the held all the zany parts together, kept the show moving, managed to cleverly rein in the story whenever it started drifting off course or in a less-than-PG direction, and he did it all so skillfully, you couldn’t even see the wires.

By day, Brett is a writer. I didn’t know that. But for a long time, neither did Brett.

Turns out Brett is a late bloomer. He admits it took him 32 years to figure out that writing and acting were what he was meant to do. Rather than bemoan the years (and various jobs) it took him to come to that realization, Brett decided to find the positive in his delayed realization. The jobs he had along the way weren’t wasted time; they were the building blocks toward becoming what he was meant to be.

Learn how such diverse work as grocery bagger and fast food worker helped make Brett a writer in Why Do I Write?

P.S. The picture above isn’t really from Brett’s fast food days. It’s from his acting demo reel. But I’m sure those days at Dairy Queen provided at least some inspiration for this role.

Filed Under: Actors, Featured, New to MDB, Writers Tagged With: actors, Brett Merritt, writers

Kirby “Le Nez” Heyborne

March 15, 2011 By Dennis

It’s almost unfair, the number of talents Kirby Heyborne has.

Perhaps most well-known is his talent for acting. He’s starred in roughly 97.3% of the Mormon movies and can be seen in no less than half of the commercials currently airing on television (he’s been falling down that cliff for a credit card company for several months now — poor fellow).

What’s more, he’s gifted in the challenging art of improv comedy. (MormonDaddyBlogs featured his acting and comedy talents in this video, featuring the relatively unknown sport of Extreme Hand Slapping.)

Only slightly less well-known is his musical talent. Kirby has several albums to his credit, including the recently released Elm Tree.

As if those aren’t enough gifts for one man, Kirby is also blessed with extra olafactory perception (EOP). His latest blog post will leave you realizing how most of us go through life skimming the surface of what this planet has to offer.

Dive deep with Kirby’s sense of smell here.

Filed Under: Actors, Featured, Film, Music Tagged With: actors, comedy, film, kirby heyborne, music

Playing Catch

February 28, 2011 By Dennis

J. Scott Bronson

Okay, this post appeared in a noted Mormon Mommy Blog (C. Jane Enjoy It, of which I am a big fan since hearing her presentation at a symposium last fall), but it was a guest post written by someone I suspect is a “Mormon daddy,” plus it is a terrific post, so I’m including it here. Hope that’s okay.

The past decade has been brutal for J. Scott Bronson, an “actor/playwright/director, a cancer survivor and a couch potato.” He created a beautiful metaphor that helped him handle what otherwise could be considered an “unhandleable” situation.

You can read his post here.

Filed Under: Actors, Featured

Handslap Game

February 24, 2011 By Dennis

Remember the hand slap game? Actor Kirby Heybourne and pal Lincoln Hoppe take it to a whole new level in this clean (but painful) video on its way to going viral.