Sonic Bubbleblower

The Doctor has a Sonic Screwdriver. We have a Sonic Bubbleblower!

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This e-mail was sent from my phone. Any spelling mistakes are due to the tiny keyboard!

Jacob

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Circus Time!

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Last Day of School...

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Celebrating Free Doughnut Day

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When Friends Virtually Tease Friends

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Interpretive Dance

We were heading over to Grandpa's house to celebrate Andy's birthday...

I was playing Sumner's favorite song Jumpin by No More Kings on the drive and I had no idea that Connery had recorded Sumner dancing in his seat to the song.

It is obvious that he has studied the video.

A True Gamer

Notice how the fingers are poised over the right shoulder buttons.

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Shots From a Friend Live at WDW

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This Is How We Roll

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Sumner's Hair Cut

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You have new Picture Mail!

You have a Picture Mail from gtaylor149@pm.sprint.com

Message: Options View Picture Print at Retail Reply to Sender Reply to All Forward Send and receive Pictures and Videos through Picture MailSM. For more information go to www.sprint.com/picturemail.

© 2008 Sprint. All rights reserved.

Kaitlyn

Ryan...

Connery and Ryan

Sumner

He was really excited about the torpedo. Or maybe it was that he didn't want to get back into the van after driving from Orlando.

Book Review - From the Notebooks of Dr. Brain

I am so enamored with the new superhero genre.

From the Notebooks of Dr. Brain, by Minister Faust, is written from the point of view of Dr. Eva Brain-Silverman, therapist to hyper-humanoids. Dr. Brain has written a self-help book just for superheros and the cape-induced issues that they suffer.

The book focuses on the therapy sessions for the Fantastic Order of Justice--the dysfunctional super-team. Through the various therapy sessions and crises, we learn what it is like to be a hyper-hominid in today's world and what psychological turmoil being a superhero raises.

Although Minister Faust does write with an agenda, it is well-woven through the entire book and really only comes to light in the finale. He has valid points, but don't let that scare you. It is a sold and well-written.

The real meat of the book is the back story and cultural references that he makes. From the absolutely astounding names for the superheroes to the mind boggling powers they posses. There were so many that it is impossible to single out my favorites. But Mr. Faust did a credible job of weaving the backstories together.

It is deceptively easy to trace the characters to the inspired origins. Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman and Spiderman all exist as the main characters, but with different names and psychological problems.

I highly recommend this book. There is some rough language in it, but if you grew up watching the Justice League or reading comics, you will love this title.

I just finished Invasive Procedures by Orson Scott Card. I am a big OSC fan, but I didn't really enjoy his previous work, Empire, compared to his other titles. I am a huge fan of the Alvin Maker Series and the Ender/Bean works. So, I did approach this title with trepidation.

I liked this book and I do recommend it. OSC is pretty forward that this book is written with a screen writer (Aaron Johnston). It would make a great film. I liken the book to classic Michael Crichton--without the need of a Ph.D--and Lincoln Child. OSC writes a great page turner and adds science and medical information that makes sense to the layperson. There isn't much I can tell you that won't ruin some part of the book, though. It does deal with gene manipulation and a megalomaniac that runs as the book's protagonist. With some unexpected twists and fun to read action scenes., it will fill a weekend easily.

It is a great read.

Where am I?

I have been MIA for a few days. I have been working on two projects with my brother about Walt Disney World.

You can find us here:
The Imaginerding: Home of the Disney Geeks
The Minute-by-Minute Guide to Walt Disney World

It has been a lot of fun creating these two blogs--mainly to share a passion about creating the perfect Walt Disney World vacation.

Halo 3 Multi-Player Beta

Whew...

We have been waiting a long time for this one.

We purchased a copy of Crackdown with the beta invite on it.

We were finally able to get online last night.

WOW!

It was so much fun. Played just like Halo 2 but much prettier. We got to see the bubble shield in action, although briefly.

Connery and I played five social games (no rankings, just rumble training) and I played three games by myself. The matchmaking was pretty smooth--it probably took about 2 minutes to set up each match. I did have to mute every player in my party. It seems like I was only playing against 14 year olds that wanted to curse and scream into the headset.

Of the three maps, we definitely liked Highground over the other two. Snowbound was alright--it was small enough for 4-6 players. Valhalla needed way more than 6 people on the map--it really reminded me of a much greener and 'lusher' version of Blood Gulch (Halo) and Coagulation (Halo 2). Those maps were wonderful when you had more than eight people in a group.

Once I get my stats displayed on Bungie, I will share them.

LD5X6296
Originally uploaded by illustrator_ian.

Here I am at the Technology Summit at the Public Library of Charlotte/Mecklenburg County

Yes, I am totally rockin' "Surrender" by Cheap Trick.

I don't know who my bandmate is, but we are going to go on tour under the name, "The Red Shirts!"

For those of you in the library world, the highlight of the day was seeing (and hearing) Stephen Abrams of Sirsi-Dynix.

Ooo Oooo, That Smell?

This blog posting was 13 years in the making.

Sounds incredible, right? Read on.

Our first Disney trip in 1994 seems like a whirlwind at this point in time. When I think about what happened and what we learned, it reminds me of an introductory swim class. We just threw ourselves in and attempted to swim.

We did alright. I had done some research and Teresa had visited before. I knew that I wanted to ride the Haunted Mansion and Star Tours. I read both of the eminent guide books of the time: Birnbaum's and Sehlinger's. This was before the internet was so mundane.

Anyways...

We first noticed this odd smell in Pirates of the Caribbean. Hard to explain what it was. It just seemed to permeate the attraction. We didn't smell it until we were in the main part of the ride--just after you enter the battle between the ship and the fort.

I mentioned it to Teresa and she smelled it too.

It seemed to be everywhere the animatronics were: Spaceship Earth, the World of Motion, the Energy Pavilion, Journey Into the Imagination, the Great Movie Ride...

And so on.

We didn't smell it during theater shows or outdoor rides.

It wasn't until almost a year later that we figured out the smell.

We lived in an apartment that was in walking distance of a few fast food eateries. We would go on occasional walks and plan our upcoming Disney trips.

I remember walking down Mountain St., next to a bank, and getting a whiff of the smell.

I stopped.

"Do you smell that?", I asked.

Usually, that means that I have, uh, changed the quality of the air myself. Teresa must've sighed.

I told her about the smell from WDW and she stopped to check it out. Then she smelled my arm.

That was the smell!

It had been one of the first times we had gone on a long walk during the warmer and sunnier months.

Still struggling?

Heat, sun and being outside? Very pale people?

It was the sunscreen that we used.

We realized that we were smelling ourselves on those attractions. They were all indoor attractions where you were conveyed. We would smell ourselves whenever the wind blew (or was blown on us) inside one of the show buildings.

I was reminded of this smell when I went with my brother, his two kids, my youngest son and grandpa to our local street fair. When I helped strapped the kids into the dual stroller, I got a whiff of the smell.

Ahh...sweet, sweet sunscreen.

I have three other smells that take me there: Cool Waters (1997 trip), a foot spray from Bath and Body Works (2000) and citrus smells (1994 and 1997--I miss you , Horizons).

Disney Collectible

DSC03846
Originally uploaded by biblioadonis.

Here is the 2001 refillable mug from Disney's Hilton Head Resort. Part of my Disney Collectible collection.

I forgot I had this one, till I looked way in the back of the cabinet.

North Carolina Disney Event!

Jeff P. over at 2719 Hyperion (and contributor to Lou Mongello's WDW Radio Show) is hosting Charles Ridgway, author of Spinning Disney's World, at the Barnes & Noble in Winston-Salem.

Hit his site for details--or just keep reading.

Who: Charles Ridgway, Disney Press Agent Extraordinaire
What: Book Discussion
When: Tuesday, June 5th @ 7:00 pm
Where: Barnes & Noble Booksellers
Why: If you like Disney at all and live in North Carolina, you need to be there.
How: Any way you can make it!

You can also listen to the podcast interview that Lou did on episode 5 of the WDW Radio Show.

Refillable Mugs...only work at Disney???

I was at a mandatory training session and bored out of my mind. I've wanted to catalog my collectibles with pictures for a while. Most of my stuff is theme-park attraction related. These are shots from my cell phone. Hence, the blurry quality.

I got the idea from Big Brian over at his Walt Disney World postcard site. I love the early postcards showing us what might have been...

Hidden Cost of Driving a Prius

I ran across this editorial and was a little stunned.

http://www.philly.com/inquirer/opinion/20070404_Hidden_cost_of_driving_a_Prius.html

So...

The basic argument is that you are still consuming less gas driving a Prius, but there are still some thoughts about the damage to the environment and that no one is really sure how long the battery will last.

The nickel for the battery, for instance, is mined in Sudbury, Ontario, and smelted at nearby Nickel Centre, just north of the province's massive Georgian Bay. Toyota buys about 1,000 tons of nickel from the facility each year, ships the nickel to Wales for refining, then to China, where it's manufactured into nickel foam, and then onto Toyota's battery plant in Japan.

That alone creates a globe-trotting trail of carbon emissions that ought to seriously concern everyone involved in the fight against global warming. All told, the start-to-finish journey travels more than 10,000 miles - mostly by container ship, but also by diesel locomotive.

I wonder how much energy and resources are used with a normal vehicle. What about harmful effects on the environment?

There are many other scary facts in the editorial. Acid rain and the study that showed Hummers are more economical.

So, now what do I buy?

Disney Challenged!

I read this interesting post over at The Disney Blog. John Frost talks about a nonprofit company going after Disney to clean up some of the chemicals they use. Granted, this is worthwhile, but John talks about the fact that a lot of nonprofits pick a cause and go after a large company simply to get their name in the news.

I like John's comments in the third paragraph:
If the Center's investigation is accurate (and the letter from Disney seem to indicate it is) then there is room for improvement on Disney's part. I'd love to see some sort of pressure put on the providers of these 'toxic' cleaners to offer green alternatives. I'd rather see CHEJ praising Disney for its work so far and going to the government hand in hand asking for better regulations to eliminate toxic cleaners.

Even though Disney can stand up for themselves, it is nice to see someone point the issue in the more appropriate direction.

You can read about Disney's Environmentality on their corporate website.

If you have ever stayed in a Disney Hotel, you probably have seen the little placard that Disney puts out with Jiminy Cricket on it. It mentions that you can reuse your linens instead of having mousekeeping wash them every day. Also, several books I have in my collection talk about how Disney reclaims water and uses it throughout WDW for landscaping.

So...there.

Farewell, Mr. Vonnegut.

My first run-in with Kurt Vonnegut was after starting a job in high school as the library page at my local public library. It wasn't through shelving, but through a required reading list. Not mine--but one that I saw in a magazine or book. Actually, it would have been while I was in college and still working part-time at the library.

So, I took home Slaughterhouse-Five. I remember devouring it. And passing it on to my brother Andy. Over the next year we read most everything he had published. I remember hot days working as a clean-up crew with Andy for my dad's construction site. Digging ditches, sweeping, scraping and picking up trash. Discussing Vonnegut's work kept us going. I remember talking about Ice 9 while we were digging one day. And how it related to the Joe Satriani song.

So, I will go back and read some of his works again. I haven't talked to Kurt in a long time. I'm not sure which was the last book that I had read, but I think Slaughterhouse-Five will be the next one.

I have seen this quote on many blogs:

If I should ever die, God forbid, let this be my epitaph:

THE ONLY PROOF HE NEEDED
FOR THE EXISTENCE OF GOD
WAS MUSIC

--Vonnegut's Blues For America 07 January, 2006 Sunday Herald

Bubble Shield, Trip Mine and a Save Film

I just finished watching the new Halo 3 multi-player beta video. Wow.



Very exciting. They talked about three new things for the beta: the bubble shield, trip mine and save film.

All three of these will revolutionize the game play. When Halo 2 was released, the dual wielding changed the game play. Players that relied on the melee attack or grenades suddenly found themselves outgunned--literally.

We were given a sneak peek at the bubble shield in the H3 teaser released several months ago. Master Chief throws something into the ground and a geodesic dome appears over him. Apparently, there was a missile being fired at him. It hits the shield and destroys the 'hog. Does this replace the over-shield?

The trip mine clearly shows us a new way to think about Halo. Assuming you can plant it and leave it for later. But check out the video and see what happens with the warthog.

Finally--Save Film. I am not sure if this is in game or saved for later. But it is a re-play of sorts where you can change the angle and the speed of the clip. Bungie said that it can be used for taunting or reviewing your own game play. I wonder if full games can be stored for later viewing. Can you imagine being able to post it on YouTube?

Seeing this clip really excited me. We have Crackdown with the Halo 3 Beta invite and we (me and Connery) are psyched about playing it. Of course, I might need to invite a few friends over to have a little four player madness. But we'll need to have someone bring an extra controller. We only have three.

Early Disney Photo's (Part II)

You can read about my first day at Walt Disney World here.

We continue our story with the Disney-MGM Studios. Specifically Star Tours. Besides the Haunted Mansion, this was the ride I was most excited about. Back in the day (1994), the Early/Extra Magic Hour was called Surprise Morning. They rotated the parks on a specific schedule and people really did not take advantage of them. Ah, those were the days. Anyway, Sunday was the Surprise Morning for the Disney-MGM Studios.

We arrived at the Studios a little after 8:00am. If I remember correctly, the park was scheduled to be open at 9:00am. For some reason, I remember the song Mr. Jones by the Counting Crows playing on the rental car that morning. But I could be wrong; it may have been another day we were there. Needless to say, that song reminds me of that time. Warmth. I remember that it was very warm in the mornings in Orlando.

There was no one in the park that morning. To the right and above, you can see my first view of the Star Tours attraction. I vividly remember the kid and his parents walking in front of us. The kid with the baseball hat and blue backpack. And yes, I am wearing a dark blue t-shirt. It was hot (the weather--not me). We followed the kid and his family through the line and rode the attraction. What can I say? It was great. We visited Endor and in the traditional Disney storytelling fashion--something went wrong! When we left the ride the Star Wars fanfare was playing (you know, the music they play over the credits) and it was really exciting. Then we walked into the coolest thing in the world: a Star Wars gift shop!

I know, you're laughing, right? Well, you have to remember that back in 1994, there was not a lot of Star Wars merchandise. Heir to the Empire by Timothy Zahn had just been published in 1991. Before that, the last Star Wars books, merchandise or toys had been released in the middle 1980's. Needless to say, Teresa let me gawk for a moment and then we went to the front of the building to ride it again.

And again.

And again.

And again. I think we stopped after the fourth ride to meander and shop. At least I did. This is another one of those moments that I remember. Picking out the books, toys and paraphernalia--trying to decide what to get Stacy, Andy and Matthew. And what I wanted. I picked out a book for myself by Stephen Sansweet called Star Wars: From Concept to Screen to Collectible. I consider it one of the first books of my collection. When we finally had finished, we had spent over $400.00. Whew! Talk about spending too much! But it was Star Wars.

I do remember that the cast member gave us a lot of attitude about shipping the items back to our hotel room. Which was really weird. We just spent a lot of money...and we were at Disney! Actually, she was the least friendly cast member we ran across during that first trip. I believe that we ended up riding it at least one more time before Teresa told me we had to do something else. I don't remember anything else about the day. I know we rode other things, like the Great Movie Ride and Muppet Vision 3D, but I can't recall exactly.

I have been able to take Connery on Star Tours in 2004 and 2007. It is one of his favorite rides and we tend to ride it two or three times while we are at Walt Disney World. Next time, Sumner should be big enough to ride it. We can only hope! On the left is Connery with a clone trooper at one of the Star Wars Weekends in 2004. The picture on the left is Connery waiting in line for Star Tours in 2006. Two cast members told him that he had on a cool shirt. He loved it.