Happy Feet didn't make me feel happy despite the activist statement the movie tried to make. Pros: lots of good music, cool roller-coaster ride type sequences, and the best CGI humans I've seen yet. Cons: Not much for plot, too much penguin time & not enough time for the other sea-based creatures, and a hokey ending.
We took Norah & Dejaquan to see the movie for Dejaquan's 5th birthday, the night before his actual birthday. With Norah being 2, she didn't last all the way through, and I ended up spending 1/3 of the movie with her in the lobby. I don't remember seeing a single creature actually die in the movie, which is better than most Disney movies.
We went to the music instrument store nearby afterwards and bought them each a recorder. It sounded like Happy Feet singing in our house then that night. You'd have to see the movie - oh wait, I told you to not see it. Uh, then I should say it sounded like a dieing penguin in our house that night.
Thursday, December 21, 2006
Saturday, December 16, 2006
Leopard seals are to penguins as cats are to mice
National Geographic's November issue has the coolest picture of nature I've seen in a while: the "death shake". Don't look at it if you don't think you can stomach looking at the blood & innards of a penguin coming out the moment it's head is ripped off. About the expedition, they have a little clip from the photographer's perspective on studying the leopard seals, including more on how they got that photo. NG also has another short video about one leopard seal preying on penguins.
I haven't even seen March of the Penguins or Happy Feet yet, but I can't wait!
I haven't even seen March of the Penguins or Happy Feet yet, but I can't wait!
Monday, October 30, 2006
Why are kids supposed to say "Trick or Treat"?
I found out why kids are supposed to say "trick or treat" when going door to door on Halloween. Here's the story.
I took Norah (2) and Dejaquan (4) out around the neighborhood this time. Norah was wearing fairy wings and Dejaquan was a storm trooper. At the beginning of the candy trek, I would came up with them to the door and tell them to say "trick or treat" and "thank you", as they obviously are too young to understand the process without some help. Dejaquan took off his storm trooper mask after just one house because he said it made his face sweaty. After about 5 houses, they were just getting the hang of saying trick or treat when the person would come to the door.
We rarely allow my 4 year old, Dejaquan, have candy or gum, and he actually likes gum more than any candy. So when he got a piece of gum from a house we had stopped at, he thought he would start asking, "Do you have any bubble gum?" after ringing the door bell. So as he started asking that question instead of trick or treat, I thought it was humorous and let him ask it because it showed his interest in the whole thing and the candy givers were getting a kick out of it.
"Do you have any bubble gum?" Dejaquan would ask.
"Sorry, no, I don't have any gum." the person would reply.
Door after door, he would say it religiously. But something happened that made me realize what he was doing was inappropriate. Norah started saying it too. Ugh, I was kicking myself for having let it go on so long that she thought that's what was supposed to be said. So I had a talk with them about how it was rude to ask for something specific and we should be grateful for whatever they might have to give (one woman was giving out handfuls of pennies). I explained it was the same as when responding to what they give you with "hey, I already have this!", which Dejaquan managed to say a couple times. That one I jumped all over.
By the end, they were saying trick or treat, and thank you. Even though it was the second time I had gone trick or treating with my kids, I still learned a lot from the experience just like them.
I took Norah (2) and Dejaquan (4) out around the neighborhood this time. Norah was wearing fairy wings and Dejaquan was a storm trooper. At the beginning of the candy trek, I would came up with them to the door and tell them to say "trick or treat" and "thank you", as they obviously are too young to understand the process without some help. Dejaquan took off his storm trooper mask after just one house because he said it made his face sweaty. After about 5 houses, they were just getting the hang of saying trick or treat when the person would come to the door.
We rarely allow my 4 year old, Dejaquan, have candy or gum, and he actually likes gum more than any candy. So when he got a piece of gum from a house we had stopped at, he thought he would start asking, "Do you have any bubble gum?" after ringing the door bell. So as he started asking that question instead of trick or treat, I thought it was humorous and let him ask it because it showed his interest in the whole thing and the candy givers were getting a kick out of it.
"Do you have any bubble gum?" Dejaquan would ask.
"Sorry, no, I don't have any gum." the person would reply.
Door after door, he would say it religiously. But something happened that made me realize what he was doing was inappropriate. Norah started saying it too. Ugh, I was kicking myself for having let it go on so long that she thought that's what was supposed to be said. So I had a talk with them about how it was rude to ask for something specific and we should be grateful for whatever they might have to give (one woman was giving out handfuls of pennies). I explained it was the same as when responding to what they give you with "hey, I already have this!", which Dejaquan managed to say a couple times. That one I jumped all over.
By the end, they were saying trick or treat, and thank you. Even though it was the second time I had gone trick or treating with my kids, I still learned a lot from the experience just like them.
Friday, October 27, 2006
Joomla & Freehostia
Until recently, my only method for creating Internet-facing websites was using a client-based program to create static pages: NetObjects Fusion or just straight HTML-editing with Emacs. I've now tried out a CMS: Joomla!, an offshoot of Mambo. I would have to say Joomla! had a bit of a learning curve with modules & components, sections & categories, and menus & content. Not too bad, though. It's nothing like any of the wikis I've used other than you edit the site using the site.
Up to now, I had used doteasy for free web hosting. I had gotten tired of my sites hosted by them being down for brief periods often & on all the time. I also did not like not being able to use any scripts, wanting to get away from static pages and go towards a more self-managed setup so that anyone involved with the organization behind the site could edit the site and not depend on a client-side program.
I looked around and found a good candidate to try: Free Hostia. So far, it's been 10x better than doteasy. I registered my domain for $20 using paypal on a Sunday morning using their interface. The email address I specified for my user account and my paypal account's email address weren't the same, and they noticed that. So then sent me an email just 11 minutes of when I signed up. Within 20 minutes of my reply saying it was okay, I got another reply saying it was all ready to go. I couldn't believe it could be that fast, so I did an nslookup of the new domain I requested, and it was there! That's 50x times as fast as doteasy which I had to wait 24 hours before being able to do anything with the new domain. And this was on a Sunday no less!
Setting up Joomla was a breeze. I simply filled out a short form to create a MySQL database, and then another short form to create the Joomla instance, and within 5 minutes, I had a working CMS. Additionally with the domain, I got a subdomain of Free Hostia to play around with, too. So I decided I would put the Joomla instance in that instead of the domain to try it out before committing to using it for the new site. I wish I hadn't done that though, because I ran into a small glitch with Free Hostia in that when I then tried to install a 2nd Joomla instance, this one on the new site, Free Hostia's interface for creating it through a database insertion error. But to Free Hostia's credit, within 1 hour of my submitting a trouble ticket through their website, my problem was fixed & off I went with the 2nd Joomla! instance.
Up to now, I had used doteasy for free web hosting. I had gotten tired of my sites hosted by them being down for brief periods often & on all the time. I also did not like not being able to use any scripts, wanting to get away from static pages and go towards a more self-managed setup so that anyone involved with the organization behind the site could edit the site and not depend on a client-side program.
I looked around and found a good candidate to try: Free Hostia. So far, it's been 10x better than doteasy. I registered my domain for $20 using paypal on a Sunday morning using their interface. The email address I specified for my user account and my paypal account's email address weren't the same, and they noticed that. So then sent me an email just 11 minutes of when I signed up. Within 20 minutes of my reply saying it was okay, I got another reply saying it was all ready to go. I couldn't believe it could be that fast, so I did an nslookup of the new domain I requested, and it was there! That's 50x times as fast as doteasy which I had to wait 24 hours before being able to do anything with the new domain. And this was on a Sunday no less!
Setting up Joomla was a breeze. I simply filled out a short form to create a MySQL database, and then another short form to create the Joomla instance, and within 5 minutes, I had a working CMS. Additionally with the domain, I got a subdomain of Free Hostia to play around with, too. So I decided I would put the Joomla instance in that instead of the domain to try it out before committing to using it for the new site. I wish I hadn't done that though, because I ran into a small glitch with Free Hostia in that when I then tried to install a 2nd Joomla instance, this one on the new site, Free Hostia's interface for creating it through a database insertion error. But to Free Hostia's credit, within 1 hour of my submitting a trouble ticket through their website, my problem was fixed & off I went with the 2nd Joomla! instance.
Saturday, September 30, 2006
Wisconsin Dells trip
Photos from our trip to the Wisconsin Dells area from Sept 27-29, 2006.
Wednesday, September 27
First we went to downtown Wisconsin Dells and bought our tickets for both the Upper & Lower boat tours. We had a little time to eat, so we quick ate some hot dogs and nachos before hopping on the bus that took us to the start of the Lower Dells boat tour. We heard the upper was better, so we started out with the lower to not disappoint ourselves. We wanted to take the Ducks, but it was drizzling ran & didn't want the kids to get too cold. Norah was a challenge to keep from running all over the boat, but we enjoyed it nonetheless.
After the bus took us back, we let the kids play at the local arcade there in the main tourist area of downtown Dells. They won enough tickets (with Mom's help) to buy some dinosaur stickers and a piece of candy. Next we went to Pirate's Cove Adventure Golf putt-putt course and did just one of the five 18-hole courses they have. Dejaquan wanted to zoom through the course not waiting on us, and Norah was basically done after about 9 holes--she just wanted to run around and get to all the places you're not supposed to go on a putt putt course (like a water fall & in the small crevices where you hit your ball through).
We then checked into our cabin at Christmas Mountain Village and got settled in. The kids loved splashing around in the jacuzzi, but did eventually settle down enough to go to sleep.
Thursday, September 28
Went to our resort's game room right away in the morning, but found out the activities planned for the day (like sand art, card games, etc) were cancelled for the day due to illness. We made the most of it, though by taking advantage of the small indoor water park they have there (every place there has a water park - it's crazy). We used our cabin's grill for lunch and then tried to have the kids nap, but one thing led to another & we headed off back to downtown Wisconsin Dells for the upper boat tour without anyone getting any rest.
The upper tour was more fun that the lower, as expected. We docked on the east side of the Wisconsin River and walked down a narrow cavern to a snack shop, ate popcorn, then promptly went back to not miss the boat leaving. Then it went across to the other side and docked where we got to watch the dog jump. We took the "long walk" which was so easy--they made it sound like it was going to be a big climb that would get your heart pumping, but it wasn't. As we road the boat on the way back, the kids fell asleep, of course. I let Norah sleep in my arms for probably 20 minutes.
Before you get on the boat, they take photos of you so that by the time you get back, they have a photo package you can buy. We opted not to buy it when we took the lower tour the day before, but decided we should buy it this time on the upper tour if the pictures were good since we didn't ask a stranger yet to take a good family photo of us with our own camera. So, when I looked at the package of the photos they took before we had gotten on the upper tour boat (while holding Norah, sleeping), they showed me they had the lower photos available still that I could still buy. Keep in mind that the tickets you buy for the boat tour are good at any time. They had no idea we were going to be on the upper tour the next day. Pretty smart, in my opinion, for them to transfer unpurchased packages to the other launching site, and then to take the time to try to match them up. They haggled with me, and I bought the lower Dells photos (without the key chain) for a 3rd its original cost with the purchase of the upper package.
With the kids thoroughly tired, we braved eating out. We were attracted by a sign for a steak-house restaurant that said all-you-can-eat buffet, but it turned out that was for their breakfast buffet. So we went back and ate at a Mexican restaurant we saw next to the putt-putt course called Pedro's. The food was good, and the kids behaved amazingly well. So, to reward them, we stopped at the pirate-themed kids' playground attached to the putt-putt course they had seen before and wanted to play at.
Friday, September 29
After checking out of our cabin in the morning, we drove down US12 out of Wisconsin Dells to Mirror Lake State Park. We got to see the remaining plethora of haunted houses, roller coasters, and water parks, all shut down since it was off season. At Mirror Lake State Park, we walked out to Echo Rock and got a good view of the lake. We drove around the rest of the south-east side of the park, spent a few minutes throwing rocks in the lake while it was drizzling rain, then went back and asked about the Frank Lloyd Wright-designed Seth Peterson cottage, finding out that it is only available for tours once a month.
After driving by the cottage, finding it totally closed for a private rental, we drove down to Baraboo, skipping the Circus Museum in lieu of going to Devil's Lake State Park. One of it's claim to fame is the balanced rock, and we took the Devil's challenge and dared the climb with Norah & Dejaquan.
That was the last thing we did on our trip before returning to Milwaukee & a home full of apples.
Thursday, September 21, 2006
Website hosting and mail clients
I use doteasy for two websites. http://dovelyquilts.com & http://milwaukeemennonite.org
At some point, I'd like to switch to another ISP. I get frustrated at how unreliable doteasy is--not a month goes by where I don't personally notice dovelyquilts.com is temporarily inaccessible. I haven't used a pop client with doteasy's mail. I do, however, have email forwarded from one of the sites to my gmail account.
Currently Sarah just uses doteasy's web mail interface, which, yes, has no spam filtering. She doesn't bring her computer home from the store (which has no good internet access--just one phone line), but at some point I'm going to get her a computer to use & leave at home, at which point, depending on the OS I put on it, would determine the mail client I have her use for use with doteasy--probably Thunderbird if the OS were Linux or Windoz.
I use Thunderbird for personal email (gmail POP which actually works just as well as IMAP, and some personal IMAP accounts), and have been using it for about 2-3 years. It has a decent spam filter learning algorithm included (catches about 75-85%). I also like Thunderbird for the nicely integrated enigmail add-on which allows me to easily de/encrypt and sign/verify email using PGP. And I use Thunderbird for reading blogs RSS/Atom feeds certain family members & friends have. For feeds from news sites & such, I use Google Reader.
As a side note, what I hope transpires over the next year is Google calender synchronization support with the Mozilla calendar add-on for Thunderbird so I can view & edit my Google calendar in my personal email and be able to send calendar entry invites via email. I'm not as hopeful on Thunderbird - Palm synchronization, though. For that I use airset.com to sync my Google calendar to Palmdesktop.
At some point, I'd like to switch to another ISP. I get frustrated at how unreliable doteasy is--not a month goes by where I don't personally notice dovelyquilts.com is temporarily inaccessible. I haven't used a pop client with doteasy's mail. I do, however, have email forwarded from one of the sites to my gmail account.
Currently Sarah just uses doteasy's web mail interface, which, yes, has no spam filtering. She doesn't bring her computer home from the store (which has no good internet access--just one phone line), but at some point I'm going to get her a computer to use & leave at home, at which point, depending on the OS I put on it, would determine the mail client I have her use for use with doteasy--probably Thunderbird if the OS were Linux or Windoz.
I use Thunderbird for personal email (gmail POP which actually works just as well as IMAP, and some personal IMAP accounts), and have been using it for about 2-3 years. It has a decent spam filter learning algorithm included (catches about 75-85%). I also like Thunderbird for the nicely integrated enigmail add-on which allows me to easily de/encrypt and sign/verify email using PGP. And I use Thunderbird for reading blogs RSS/Atom feeds certain family members & friends have. For feeds from news sites & such, I use Google Reader.
As a side note, what I hope transpires over the next year is Google calender synchronization support with the Mozilla calendar add-on for Thunderbird so I can view & edit my Google calendar in my personal email and be able to send calendar entry invites via email. I'm not as hopeful on Thunderbird - Palm synchronization, though. For that I use airset.com to sync my Google calendar to Palmdesktop.
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