|
Wednesday, February 28, 2007 Is Your Thirst Ready I salute the cardboard artist who had the inspiration to erect this artwork next to a decimated brick wall:  Thanks for allowing me to teach my children the time honored clarion call of the Man of Juice, who is, as we all know, second only to OMAC. ------------------------------------------------
Got My Mojo Rising  Civil War ends with a collective "WTF" as Captain America surrenders after suddenly realizing he's fighting a losing battle. For me, it's a final nail in the coffin of a story that payed no attention to the characters that were made a part of it, and shoehorned them into predefined roles whether they fit them or not.Stunning, nonsensical plot twists. Clones. Deaths of minor characters. Total 180% personality changes. It all sounds like one huge mess of a made-for-TV movie. And therein is the way to revert everything back to where it was: Mojo did it. Every little strange discrepancy and plot element can be explained by Mojo having mentally manipulated the heroes into acting the way they did. He pushed Peter into giving away his secret identity, and then taking back his black costume, because its a great visual. The Thor Clone added 'mystery'. The penultimate fight had no in the Negative Zone had no sex appeal, so he pushed Cloak to move the battle to New York where things would be more interesting. Heck, the whole story began with a reality show running amuck, and the New Warriors acting totally out of character from their earlier 90s series. So there's your out, Bullpen. Let some cosmic hero stumble upon the awful truth in about a year or so, leading to yet another crossover, and the events of the past few years erased, including Spidey's outing. And if in the process Night Thrasher and Namorita make it back to the land of the living, I won't complain. Labels: Marvel Zombie, Mojo, Retcon, Steve Rogers ------------------------------------------------
Friday, February 23, 2007 1-2-3 Like a Bird He Sings  Parker got up the other day singing a new song. We thought he had made it up, but he kept insisting he wanted to hear it, so Kristin looked up the lyrics on Google. And, as it turns out, Parker had memorized the brand new Tim McGraw song after hearing it just one time on the radio the night before. Although it isn't yet available for sale, Parker has been listening to a free copy from McGraw's site incessantly, it having replaced Mika's Grace Kelly as the flavor of the week (Oingo Boingo made a valiant effort with Weird Science, but came in a pale second place).Later I was working on an identity project with a tight turnaround, and Parker came to me and asked to play a game. Thinking I was being very clever, I said sure and told him we were playing a computer game where letters had to be linked together. After watching me for about twenty seconds, Parker announced solemnly: "That's not a game daddy. That's a logo." It's getting that you can't pull anything over his eyes. Labels: Kira, Let Kids be Kids, Parker ------------------------------------------------
Monday, February 12, 2007 Happy Birthday Jane!  Labels: Art, Sheer Awesome, Spot the Pop Culture Reference ------------------------------------------------
Viacom Dios  Viacom decided it didn't like the slow speed in which YouTube was moving to protect its content or allow them to garner income from it, and so has decided to sue the living bejeesus out of them unless they drop it right away.Again, a corporate giant has refused to see the untold amount of free advertising for their content they were getting. And what will be the end result? Like the demise of Napster, poeople sharing video content will start using some sort of personal node software that allows them to share content with one another peer-to-peer instead of from a central source, and it will become that much harder to monitor or enforce. Labels: Anti-Fun, Got a Permit for Breathing ------------------------------------------------
Going on a Trip in Our Favorite Rocketship  I find myself reading a lot of blogs regarding Disney lately, primarily the ones regarding a populist urge to get the Parks to take better care in maintaining current rides and in making healthy decisions for the parks' growth. My two favorites are ReImagineering and EpcotCentral.EpcotCentral really got me thinking of how this park could be retooled. It really is my favorite for just being in - it's landscaping, buildings, design of the walkways, and lighting make it a joy to just stroll through, without having a particular destination in mind. However, what makes it fun for me makes it precisely not fun for kids - walking only captures their imagination for so long (thank the heavens for amply number of ducks and bunnies to pick up the slack). Ride and attraction wise, Epcot has in recent years been catering to a more teen audience, and this leaves the little ones out in the cold. With the loss of Horizons, Universe of Energy, and Body Wars, there's far less to take the little tykes on, and Mission to Mars, Test Track, and Soarin' don't make up for it, given the minimum height requirements. So what to do? EpcotCenter has recently railed against the inclusion of Kim Possible as an attraction at Epcot. Currently, teens gets clues from a Kim Possible character that resides in the remains of the original ImageWorks facility on the second floor of the Imagination pavilion (now only open for special events). The clues take the teens to various places around the World Showcase to earn some sort of prize. I don't share EpcotCentral's hate for the concept behind the Kim Possible quest; getting an audience to actively participate in the parks that otherwise wouldn't is always a good idea. But I'd argue they used the wrong set of characters, and missed out on a golden opportunity to get young kids interested in Epcot. They should have used the Little Einsteins. For those who have not seen them, the Little Einsteins are a group of multicultural children who travel around the world in an anthropomorphic rocket on various missions. Along the way, they introduce children to different pieces of classical music, as well as famous works of art. Currently, the characters hang out in the backlots of MGM. To me, this is a much more logical fit for Epcot. Teens now have thrill rides in the park to garner their interest: little children don't. But now, they could interact with characters they are most likely familiar with (Little Einsteins airs daily on Playhouse Disney). Disney could reopen the second floor ImageWorks area: it's sounds and light oriented interactive displays go hand in hand with the lessons that are taught in the series, and would create a welcome area for parents with younger children to take their children and let them loose. From there, the Einsteins could send children on a mission: to gather clues from various pavilions in the World Showcase (these missions could also vary, to encourage repeat visits). Then, each of the missions would be tied to the unique art and music of that country - given that most of the pavilions already showcase art and music from the host country, it would be easy to integrate into the existing infrastructure with very little additional costs to the company). It enforces the ideals behind Epcot's founding (learning and fostering a better understanding of world cultures), expands on the show's basic concepts, and builds a fun and enjoyable experience for the children who otherwise would also grow up with the opinion that Epcot is the park with nothing to do. I oughtta be an Imagineer, I tell ya. Labels: Disney, Sheer Awesome ------------------------------------------------
Sunday, February 11, 2007 Where Did You Dig Up That Old Fossil?  The whole family went to Lake Santa Fe today for a birthday party. Lots of fun, though I still kept scanning the waters of the lake for the reptilian death I expected to lurk beneath the surface. Instead, Parker and I saw cute fuzzy otters swimming to their burrow, a hawk, and an egg-eating pig.The house we were at had stepping stones that surrounded the back end of the house. One of the concrete ones had etched seashells across its top. Parker thought they were fossils, and explained to me that the shells had been buried underground and became hard like rocks. Move over, Daniel Cook. Labels: Parker ------------------------------------------------
|
|
Tuesday, February 20, 2007 Paper in the nose .... Kira, while under her father's "watchful" eye, managed to pack her nose with paper. I was able to get it all out -- I think. Labels: Kira ------------------------------------------------
We WON A Silver ADDY Award!!  We participated in the regional advertising awards, and our website for Oogles n Googles won a Silver ADDY!!! Very exciting, considering we are designers more than advertisers! Labels: Union Design Photo ------------------------------------------------
Saturday, February 10, 2007 Kids and Work - Freelance/Homeschool Style  Today, we went to an artist's house to photograph some of her work, as we are creating a website for her. We asked in advance, and were able to bring our kids with us, which meant both Jeff and I would be able to go. As luck would have it, this was a beautiful location for the kids with lots of fun stuff to explore, including a large basin of water, which they happily made "soup" with, using leaves, twigs, and pine needles. The artist was very gracious about the whole experience, and when we left, the kids had had a good time, and seen many things there, including a kumquat tree! As homeschooling freelance/small business owners, we have to include our kids in our work in many ways. At times, it seems like it is so overwhelming, we'll never get ahead! And other times, like this one, it all seems to merge seemlessly. Labels: parenting, Union Design Photo ------------------------------------------------
Monday, February 05, 2007 Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz Ugh! Up until 3 am with three -- yes, 3!! -- of Kira's 2-year molars coming through .... Labels: Kira, milestones, sleep ------------------------------------------------
Saturday, February 03, 2007 No Shampoo I have been without shampoo/conditioner for 2 weeks now, and I am AMAZED at how much better my hair is doing! I do a wash with 1 Tbsp. baking soda in 1 cup warm water, and a rinse of 1 Tbsp. apple cider vinegar in 1 cup warm water. I'd had dry scalp since giving birth to Parker (hormone related, I've been told), but it got much worse in the past year, and nothing I did helped. Since switching to this, it honestly has NOT been an issue at all! And, instead of having to wash every 1 or 2 days with shampoo/conditioner, I only am having to wash it twice a week. It is totally amazing. Labels: Kristin, simplicity ------------------------------------------------
Friday, February 02, 2007 Happy 2nd Birthday, Kira!! It has been an overall sucky birthday, what with Parker and I having to go to the pediatrician's because of an asthma attack, and now Parker is on steroids, but my parents made the day start special by having a balloon bouquet delivered, and then our playgroup called and sang her "Happy Birthday" in the evening!! Normally, we would have gone to playgroup today. Labels: health, Kira, milestones, Parker ------------------------------------------------
|