Want!

I'm talking about the Parrot AR.Drone. It's a remote control helicopter-bot, so? You control it with. your. iPhone. (!!!) Over wifi. It has cameras that show the bot's eye view, on your iPhone. And oh, also augmented-reality games you can play while flying it, alone, or against other Parrot drones. Check out this flight video - it's like something out of a scifi flick!

10 Things I Learned While On My Disney Cruise

10: Not all cruises are created alike. Disney Cruise ships are clean, bright, and fun. From the looks on the faces of people I saw coming off of those massive Carnival cruise ships (and from others on the Disney cruise with me who had done Carnival cruises before), those Carnival ships are like "Motel 6 on the ocean". Guess we picked well!

9: The waiters at dinner on our ship apparently had some sort of eerie "spidey sense". For instance, one night one of our dessert selections was a very tasty warm chocolate "lava" cake. "You had me at 'lava cake'" was the immediate response by everyone at the table but one after seeing it on the dessert menu. I remarked that what it needed to top it off was a nice scoop of vanilla ice cream. This was while not one Disney server, assistant server, or maitre'd was anywhere near us. When the lava cake appeared at our table, our server followed immediately behind it with a scoop of vanilla ice cream for each. It's magic, I tell you! And it was good.

8: While visiting the ruins of an ancient Mayan settlement on the island of Cozumel, Mexico, our tour guide told us about the Mayan calendar - a complicated series of symbols on two interlocking wheels. The next time the calendar will run its course so that the last symbol of each wheel meets, and the cycle restarts, is December 21, 2012 - A date predicted by many cultures to be of Armageddon-like proportions. There's a new movie in the works that ties to this legend, and more about the idea can be found here.

7: Car dealership finance managers are not all evil. Jamie and I met Todd, who had been a finance manager at auto dealerships for quite some time, and his lovely wife Jenn at our dinner table on the first night, and hung out with them quite a bit over the course of the cruise. They were both warm, friendly, and just a wee bit crazy, so I liked them both a great deal.

6: I discovered I like French onion soup -- and I'm not such a huge fan of Tiramisu or Panna Cotta - but I tried them all.

5: The best Spaghetti Bolognese I ever had was at an Italian restaurant overlooking the sea in, of all places, Grand Cayman Island. Who knew?

4: Did you know that there is a form of tequila called "Patron XO Cafe" that when mixed with an equal amount of cream, makes what I would best describe as an "adult coffee smoothie"? It's quite nice. Thanks to Todd for that bit of info, and the shots!

3: Being a Disney employee is NOT all sunshine and butterflies. These people work HARD, work long hours, get fairly low pay, in an extremely high-pressure, highly political working environment. If you want to get ahead working for The Mouse, be prepared to do NOTHING else. (Thanks to our new friend Jenn for some "inside" information on life in the house of the Mouse).

2: Loafers, white socks pulled up to the shins, ragged polo shirt, and the SAME GREY SWEAT SHORTS EVERY DAY (that look like underwear, by the way) is apparently acceptable cruise wear for every occasion for some cruise passengers. This particular one was middle aged, 6' 5" or so, and British. For "Pirate Night" - where some folks went all-out in full pirate regalia, what did this fellow show up in? The same thing...with the addition of a leather belt with a small plastic sword shoved into it. Argh!

1: Disney puts on the most technically proficient, talent-filled, bombastic, cheesy, romantic, silly Disney-themed stage shows on their ships. Absolutely top notch performance and execution. And cheesy. And silly. ...and I am an absolute sucker for them. I swear every time I heard "Tale as old as time...song as old as rhyme....Beauty and The Beast..." I almost got misty. But you didn't hear that from me.

I'm a Christian...

You're welcome.

Indie Gollum

"The trail was long cold when I took it up again, after Bilbo left here. And my search would have been in vain, but for the help that I had from a friend: Aragorn, the greatest traveller and huntsman of this age of the world. Together we sought for Gollum down the whole length of Wilderland, without hope, and without success. But at last, when I had given up the chase and turned to other parts, Gollum was found. My friend returned out of the great perils bringing the miserable creature with him." - The Lord of The Rings: The Fellowship of The Ring

There's not much more than that to go on concerning Gandalf's search for Gollum in Fellowship, but it seems a group of apparently VERY talented fans wanted to see more of the story. As told on NPR here, director Chris Bouchard and 150 volunteers have completed the 40-minute film, which will be available for viewing on the web at www.thehuntforgollum.com on Sunday, May 3rd, 2009. It was intended to be an homage to the look and feel of Peter Jackson's epic LOTR films, and from the look of the trailer (below), they've succeeded. I for one can't wait to watch it!

THE HUNT FOR GOLLUM - FULL Trailer 1 from Independent Online Cinema on Vimeo.

...Weirdness.

I've driven by this house near my in-laws in Jackson County 100 times, and I've always wondered...

Why do they keep a COFFIN on their porch? Things that make you go, "hmm..."

Ambition

Recently Jamie and I were having dinner at our new favorite Mexican restaurant (with the exception of El Torero, of course), Chepe's.  Suddenly, there was a clamor as a plate made its way to its eager recipient. 

What you're seeing is the famous Chepe's Monster Burrito.  I don't know how much is in that beast, but it took up ALL of a HUGE platter.  According to their menu, anyone who finishes it gets a free Chepe's t-shirt.

Looks like this little guy is not afraid of setting BIG goals for himself.

Go for it, I say.  Don't be afraid to try. You never know what you can do until you make the attempt.

Once more, with feeling....LOST!!!

More LOST Season 5 goodness

Once again, you're welcome. :)

A tasty tidbit for LOST fans

You're welcome.  :)

Get 'em while they're hot!

Sent to me by my real estate agent, of all people...

Double your pleasure

Lost? Good!
The Fray? Good!
Together? In one video? Priceless.

Geeking out

For your viewing pleasure:

All I can say is: Scotty, beam me to 05/08/09. Nuff sed.

Campaigning at the polls?

While standing in line outside of the polling place for advanced voting yesterday, we had a bit of entertainment. Starting from miles away, we saw what looked a parasail lazily floating hundreds of feet above the trees. It soon started to come our way, where it eventually started circling the parking lot where we stood in line. I got this picture with my sorry phone camera, so it seems like he was very far away, but he was only a couple hundred feet up at the most at this point:

The parasail was actually a three-wheeled, gas-engine powered ultralight aircraft, with a parasail for a wing. Folks remarked how uncomfortable he must be up there, with the engine buzzing like an insane mosquito, and the temperatures quickly dropping with the sun.

He turned toward the line near us, dropping to just 50 feet or so above the treetops, and as he passed, he shouted: "VOTE McCAIN-PALIN!!!!".

So, go vote. You never know what entertainment you might get.

Antici..........pation.

Nuff Sed.

Awesomeness

Like most red-blooded American males, I am completely addicted to those "tough guy" shows, like "Deadliest Catch", "Ice Road Truckers", and "Ax Men". If I catch one of them on, I can't help myself. I try to get out, but they keep pulling me back IN!

I also enjoy the occasional "reality"/competition show, like Survivor.

So what if you could have your cake and eat it too, perfectly melded together like peanut butter & jelly, ham & cheese, Simon & Garfunkel??

YOU CAN. Witness:



Awesomeness. Just awesomeness.

What a Pair

For those who didn't know, the amazing musician Meghan Coffee just got married, to amazing music photographer Zack Arias. I found out from her blog, where there's a link to photos that were taken in the Dekalb County Courthouse where the deed was done. I'm sure the wedding will be blogged all over the place, but I just had to point out the odd pairing on this photo (and no, I'm not talking about the happy couple themselves):
It seems that in Dekalb county you can file for the right to get married and the right to carry a weapon in the same place. Poetic, no?

Don't Worry About it...

With all the stuff in the news that is hyped as being cancer-causing, or world-destroying, or otherwise just BAD, we all need a little good news now and then. Here, for your education and entertainment, is a list of "10 Things to Scratch From Your Worry List".

You're welcome.

Join the Dharma Initiative Today!

GAW: Dharma Initiative
Originally uploaded by Giant Ideas

For your education and entertainment, I present you with a recruitment poster for the Dharma Initiative. Doesn't it make you want to go to "the island"?

...but only LESSER well known is THIS!

Just for fun...


more graph humor and song chart memes

If you don't get it, go to the movie store and rent this.

Strange Days, Indeed...

So, I'm driving home yesterday, and I hear the familiar backbeat of some hip-hop/rap anthem coming from a car nearby. Not so unusual, right? I look in the lane to my left and just ahead of me, and there is a tricked-out black Hummer H2, looking all "fly" and "gangsta". Fits the stereotype perfectly to find that such a vehicle has the windows down and the rap music booming for EVERYONE to enjoy, whether they like it or not.

Typical, right? Nope.

I turn my head further to the left directly beside me, and there is a white Lincoln Town Car with a late 40's-early 50's VERY white guy driving it with the windows down, and the hip-hop groove wafting from his open windows.

Shows ta go ya...just like books and covers, you can't always judge the music lover by the car.