8:49 AM, Friday, February 18th, 2015:   My family now has an annual pass to the zoo...   ...and I'm torn. (sigh)   After I went on safari in 2009, I remember distinctly feeling that zoos were unnecessary. You could either go on safari or watch planet earth in HD and get a better sense of the animals in their original habitat. Zoos suddenly seemed archaic to me. Cruel and in this technological 21st century you can travel anywhere so vividly... why physically take animals that belong in Africa and put them in a cage? Will we still do that in 100 years? In 500 years?   With kids that answer is a resounding yes. Frustratingly so. The truth is? Kids don't connect TV with reality until they SEE those animals with their own eyes. And it makes them giddy. I do think that's important and I do think cultivating a love for the natural world is immensely important. Nature, animals... in essence the animals in the zoo are sacrificing their freedom so a generation can appreciate and connect to that world. Imagine a generation of children that never saw these animals except on TV? That also seems crazy. So I'm torn. I have equal amounts of frustrations on either side. However, in the end - I'm not letting my personal struggle keep my kids from seeing an elephant that lives 8 minutes from our house.   I also love all things "family" and it doesn't get anymore "family" than going to the freaking zoo. This was our first trip and that will always be special:     Of course further drilling home how torn I am I use "Zimonomonay" which I recorded in Africa during the safari for that video. I will need to get over this. Kids love zoos and I of course have some affinity toward them because the Columbus Zoo is one of the best in the world. Speaking of that...   The Los Angeles Zoo is straight the fuck uphill. It's on the side of a mountain (with Griffith Park on the opposite side). It's incredibly strange. And REALLY fun with a stroller. It's nice coming back down I guess, but wow it's an epic workout. Vienna wanted to walk and after about 30 seconds she just looked at us confused. "Wait, why am I barely moving?" She was happy to ride after that. :-)   My whole life is kids and Time Machines. How bizarre are these entries?   Adam