Wishland Festival September 30, 2008
Posted by emuleman in Family.Tags: Family, personal, wishland festival
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Wishland Family Festival
Last Saturday Monica took Kyle to the Wishland Family Festival. Wishland Family Festival is one of the worlds largest live butterfly releases. Each one of the over 500 butterflies are released in memory of the children Wishland has served or to honor those still battling their illnesses. They encourage the public to buy or donate a butterfly on behalf of one of our kids or for a loved one of their own. The release is a great kick off to a fantastic family festival event where for only $10/per person guests are treated to a BBQ luncheon buffet by the Calif. BBQ Association, beverages and snacks by Frito Lay, Langers Juice, & Sunny Delight, Cotton Candy, snow cones, and an all access pass to the kid zone overflowing with bouncers, obstacle courses, giant inflatable slides, rock climbing wall, petting zoo, ponies and carriage rides, face painting, arts & crafts, cookie decorating, music, entertainment and more.
Monica went with her friend April, her son Alex, and her parents. They had a wonderful time. Kyle was fascinated with all the different animals at the petting zoo. Kyle also got a taste of his first snow cone, and he loved it! Probably because it was a hot day.
All in all it was a fun day for Monica and Kyle and their friends April and Alex. They all cannot wait to go again next year since everyone had such a wonderful time.
The Economy and my Video Camera September 26, 2008
Posted by emuleman in Family.Tags: economy, Family
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I absolutely love my little video camcorder that I purchased with my computer several years ago. I had used it quite a lot lately taking little mini movies of Kyle. Many of them I have posted on this website. I have been very happy to have this video camcorder to record the “special moments” of Kyle during the first months of his life. I even made a nice dvd movie for my family that I recorded at the hospital the day that Kyle was born, and of taking him home and us getting used to our son the first few days together.
I really enjoy filming, editing the clips, adding music, and making them look professional and then making dvd’s for my family. Since my Dad lives far away it makes me happy that I can occasionally send him a new dvd of Kyle and then he can enjoy seeing him growing up as well.
The other day I discovered that my video camcorder was not working. I had it plugged in to re-charge the battery. I tried turning it on and nothing happened. No power light, no sound, no nothing. I was upset that it just seemed to have died, and all of a sudden too.
I looked up the phone number for Canon who made my video camcorder. I was happy to learn they had a service repair center in the next town over. I looked up the address, and decided to go by to see how much it would cost to repair. I was hoping it might be something simple that would not be too expensive to repair.
When I explained the problem to the service center employee they said it sounded like the circuit board inside the camera had gone bad. It was not going to be cheap to fix, since they most likely would have to remove the circuit board and replace it. They then told me that since the camera was so old and outdated it probably made more sense to apply the money it would cost to repair towards buying a new one. I would receive a small credit to exchange this broken camera for a refurbished one.
I then was given a number to call to get more specific details on this exchange program. The technology on these new video camcorders is getting better everyday, and the prices are coming down as well. The camera I have uses little mini tapes to record on. The newer versions do not even use tapes, but instead have a hard drive similar to a computer, and you never need to buy tapes. I really want to get one of these newer hard drive video camcorders, but the least expensive one is $599 with the exchange. It is a good deal because I looked up the camera prices online and they normally sell for much higher.
Checkout the Camera I want by clicking here
The only problem is we cannot afford to spend this kinda money on a luxury like this. Since Monica stays home with Kyle now and only works a few short hours a week we have had to be much more careful with our money and spending. It also doesn’t help that the economy is really bad right now, and my paycheck has also been suffering lately due to a decrease in sales lately.
We have been very fortunate that Monica has been able to stay at home and raise Kyle. I am so grateful to have such a wonderful wife who also is a good mother and who really knows how to shop for a bargain and sale. She always amazes me when she comes home from the store with several bags of groceries that will last us for a couple of weeks, yet spends a very small amount of money. She is a natural when it comes to spending money wisely, and I am lucky for that.
I hope maybe after the first of the year business will pick up at work and the economy will start to improve. Most people I talk to are a little concerned right now with the economy, and even if they have money they are not spending it like they use too. This has been kinda a scary thing watching the financial markets almost collapse around us. I am confident that the economy in this country will eventually improve and we will come out of this recession we are currently in. Until then we all have to tighten our belts and spending habits and learn to get by with the essentials.
We all have to remember that the most important things in life do not cost anything, our family and friends.
Pink Floyd member Richard Wright dies at age 65 September 16, 2008
Posted by emuleman in Thoughts.Tags: Entertainment, Music, Pink Floyd, Richard Wright
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Richard Wright, a founding member of Pink Floyd, died Monday. He was 65.
The rock group’s spokesman, Doug Wright, who’s unrelated, said Wright died after a battle with cancer at his home in Britain. He said the band member’s family did not want to give more details about his death.
“Rick’s keyboards were an integral part of the Pink Floyd sound,” said Joe Boyd, a prominent record producer who worked with Pink Floyd early in its career.
The band released a series of commercially and critically successful albums including 1973’s “The Dark Side of the Moon,” which has sold more than 40 million copies. Wright wrote “The Great Gig in the Sky” and “Us and Them” for that album, and worked on the group’s epic compositions such as “Atom Heart Mother,” “Echoes” and “Shine on You Crazy Diamond.”
The Associated Press
There is no other band that comes close to Pink Floyd. I remember listening to them while growing up, and they have definitely become one of my favorite bands.
Richard Wright wasn’t the biggest personality in Pink Floyd, but without him the band would not have had their very unique sound. In my opinion and many others, Pink Floyd is one of the greatest Rock & Roll bands of all time.
David Gilmour the guitar player from Pink Floyd posted the following statement on his website:
No one can replace Richard Wright. He was my musical partner and my friend.
In the welter of arguments about who or what was Pink Floyd, Rick’s enormous input was frequently forgotten.
He was gentle, unassuming and private but his soulful voice and playing were vital, magical components of our most recognized Pink Floyd sound.
I have never played with anyone quite like him. The blend of his and my voices and our musical telepathy reached their first major flowering in 1971 on ‘Echoes’. In my view all the greatest PF moments are the ones where he is in full flow. After all, without ‘Us and Them’ and ‘The Great Gig In The Sky’, both of which he wrote, what would ‘The Dark Side Of The Moon’ have been? Without his quiet touch the Album ‘Wish You Were Here’ would not quite have worked.
In our middle years, for many reasons he lost his way for a while, but in the early Nineties, with ‘The Division Bell’, his vitality, spark and humour returned to him and then the audience reactionto his appearances on my tour in 2006 was hugely uplifting and it’s a mark of his modesty thatthose standing ovations came as a huge surprise to him, (though not to the rest of us).
Like Rick, I don’t find it easy to express my feelings in words, but I loved him and will miss him enormously.
David Gilmour
Monday 15th September 2008
If you have never experienced the wonderful sound of Pink Floyd I would highly recommend listening to the albums Dark Side of the Moon, Wish You Were Here, and Animals. Those are three of my favorites from Pink Floyd.
Thank you for all the wonderful music. I am truely sadden by the death of Richard Wright, but his music will live on forever.
SNL: Sarah Palin & Hillary Clinton (Tina Fey & Amy Poehler) September 15, 2008
Posted by emuleman in Thoughts.Tags: Add new tag, Comedy, Hillary Clinton, politics, Sarah Palin, SNL
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This past Saturday on the long running comedy show Saturday Night Live Senator Barrack Obama was suppose to make an appearance. Due to Hurricane Ike he decided to cancel. Instead Tina Fey and Amy Poehler did a very funny impersonation of Sarah Palin and Hillary Clinton. Regardless of your political views I think you will find it funny. The impersonation of Sarah Palin is very good, at first I thought she made an appearance instead of Barrack Obama. See for yourself.
Disneyland visit for Kyle September 9, 2008
Posted by emuleman in Family.Tags: disneyland, Family, kyle
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Well today Monica and I took Kyle for his very first visit to the Happiest Place on Earth, Disneyland. At first I was against the idea because Kyle is almost 8 months old, and I thought he wouldn’t have much fun since he couldn’t really go on any rides or understand a whole lot. But Kyle loves to look around, and seems to absorb everything going on around him like a sponge. So overall I think he had a great time.
We were lucky that one of Monica’s friend Rick works at Disneyland. He met us at the gate and got us in for free. Did you know the price for a ticket is $96 dollars now? Wow, we are lucky that Rick got us in. Thanks Rick!
Monica and I only went on only one adult ride without Kyle, Soaring over California. That is still one of my favorite rides! If you never have tried that one I highly recommend it. Dinseyland has this parent pass where one parent goes on the ride, the other waits outside. Once the first parent is done he gives his ticket to the other and they get a entrance to the front of the line while the other parent watches the children. Pretty neat idea that we just learned about today.
We took Kyle on the Carousel, the Story Book ride, Winnie the Pooh and the Tiki Tiki Room. He really seemed to have a wonderful time. He even got a chance to meet Winnie the Pooh, and had fun shaking his hand and waving at him. Overall it was a great day!
Ten websites to waste time when you are bored-Part 2 September 7, 2008
Posted by emuleman in pc games.Tags: bored, stupid, waste time, websites
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It seems that one of my posts gets the most hits and traffic, and that was one I did a few months ago called “Ten websites to waste time when you are bored.”
Due to the high amount of visitors to that post, and many people telling me how much fun they had with those stupid websites I have decided to do a part 2. If you have not seen the first part just click on the link here to check it out.
So here is a new list of websites that you can waste more time on, and have a little fun at the same time. But please remember that I have warned you ahead of time that these sites are a waste of time, and you will never get that time back!
Now this is not that complicated, it is basically what the name implies. You select a time frame, you start the game by pushing the spacebar, and continue pressing is as fast as you can. The object is too see how many times you can push it within the time frame you have chosen. Really not that complicated. I guess you can challenge your friends, or just give your one finger a really good workout.
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Well this is a fun website to check out, especially if you want to make a cat or dog talk. You can choose a dog or cat from the gallery, or upload a photo of your own pet and then type in what you want your pet to say and enjoy watching your pet talk. You also can select from some pre-recorded messages from Happy Birthday to I love you. Then you can email your talking pet to your friends. Definitely a fun site to waste some time on.
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Well this site is really a complete waste of your time, yet I found myself having fun. Just click on the squares and see what happens. Basically you just continue clicking on the squares and they multiply before your eyes. How long can you continue to click?
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This one really doesn’t need much explanation. The name is the description of the game. A word of a color is flashed on the screen and you need to click the box below of the color it is, not the word color. Sounds easy, but it can play tricks with your mind. You are on a timer, so you need to answer within a few seconds before the time runs out. This should keep you busy for a while!
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Now this site actually requires a little brain power, but after the other useless sites I thought I would put a challenge in this list as well. Basically you can choose from photos, domino’s, or drawings. You have two photos put side by side, and need to pick out the specific differences. It is a little harder than you might think, since some of the differences are very small and somewhat difficult to pick out. Have fun.
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M.O.T.A.S. – Mysteries of time and Space is a very interesting site. It is an online graphic adventure game in which the adventurer has to solve riddles and puzzles, find and use objects, escape from locked rooms, find hidden passages and be a detective and examine everything to unlock the doors of the mystery of time and space.
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Now this game is very similar to an old arcade game I use to play back in high school called Asteroids. You have a little spaceship you control and you need to shoot the circles to break them into smaller pieces and try not to collide with the circles or pieces at the same time. It can be frustrating, but it also can be fun once you clear a level and move up.
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This is a basic maze game where the object is to blow on the bubble and guide it through the maze without touching the walls. Use the cursor to gently blow air on the bubble and point it in the direction you want it to go. Another fun game, but can get frustrating.
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This game is pretty much a computer version of the very popular guitar hero game that is out and available on Xbox and Playstation. The object is to play along by hitting the notes at the exact time. Try to get better and you will unlock different songs. You also can pick the difficulty level at easy, normal or hard.
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this is another strange game that actually is quite challenging. You basically need to move your man back and forth and avoid the many falling tangerines. You only have a few lives that are represented by red hearts on the bottom right of the screen. As the game progresses more tangerines fall, and it becomes much more difficult. Have fun!
