Yesterday on the way home from work I saw the best bumper sticker:
"Minivans are tangible proof of evil."

Last night I babysat my 2-year-old niece Bella and she is smart as the proverbial whip. Nothing gets by her, even when she's super tired and ready to fall off to sleep. She likes to have a little 'bottle' (it's not really a bottle, sort of a sippy cup thing) of warm soy milk right before bedtime. I was really tired myself and went and filled it up and brought it into her room. As soon as I set foot in the room she said, "You didn't warm it up," in her cute little voice. Dang! Busted! She was listening for the microwave! I love it.
I brought her a CD of songs (They Might Be Giants - No) and we had to listen to, and act out, track 11 (Clap Your Hands) about 20 bazillion times... funny stuff.

For all my friends from the Great White North, now you can get a taste of home here in the states: Canadian Favourites - Canadian Food, Chocolate, Candy & Sweets. See, there is a 'u' in their name so you know it isn't American. like 'colour' or 'coumputer' or 'loullipoup'. Gotta order me up some of those Ketchup Chips.

The 30th anniversary Schoolhouse Rocks DVD came out yesterday and Target has it on sale for $17.99 until August 31st (I think). This is a great looking 2-disc set of ALL the animations, including a new one on the electoral college, plus extras and featurettes -- you can finally see what the guy who sings looks like. I watched these things all the time back in the day and I fully intend to introduce these great videos to my 2 year old niece.

Like some sort of killer whale, suddenly breaching the placid surface of the waters, he bursts back onto his weblog and tastes the sweet life-giving freedom of the oxygenated environment. Ummm, yeah... that probably doesn't work quite like that, but that's how I feel after weeks of being down in the depths...

I had to do a forced "migration" to a new server. It is a long story and I'd rather not relive it just now (lots of stress and time) but let's just say this:
keep an eye on your server and your firewall, eh? you'll be glad you did.
Some sites that I run have been moved to one box and some to another and while having multiple locations might be a bit more confusing, it should also be (I hope) a bit more hands-off for me -- I could use some of my time back! Whew.
So, to all five of my regular readers (if you are still out there), thanks for the concern during the downtime.
That opening line isn't much of an exaggeration, btw. I literally felt like I was stifled without my little weblog outlet. I know I don't necessarily publish anything ground breaking or ultra important, but I enjoy the experience and it is rewarding in a way that matters not whether anybody else sees it besides myself. If you do this sort of thing (weblog, journal, etc) yourself, you know what I mean.
AAAaaaahhhhhh.... [inhale]......

RES magazine and Perrier (fizzy water) have teamed up for an independent film-making competition: Perrier Across America. I have yet to watch all five entries, but the first one I saw really impressed the pants off me. "Tourist Pictures" was fun, well done, impressive, compelling and had great sound. I'd love to know more about how they made this film. View it and vote your impression.

drunkgamers.com has a pretty funny Apple Switch Parody related to computer games. It would probably upset some hardcore Mac addicts if it wasn't sort of true.

Last Friday night was the official release party for Apple's OS X 10.2 software and Apple stores around the country were in action for the event. Bill, Michelle and I went down to the Mall of America store to check out what was going on and we arrived about 10:15pm (official release 10:20 -- get it? 10.2). We finally set foot in the store at 11:45pm. Yes, for real. The line stretched halfway around the mall! An Apple guy said they were expecting about 500 people and it was my estimation that they had more like 2400+, which is more people than the grand opening of the store! It was fun, kinda nerdy, but cool. Everyone was very patient and eager to buy 10.2 and lots of other hardware/software as the store was 10% off during the night. They were doing a very brisk business (today I see Apple sold over 100,000 copies this weekend, something like 12+million dollars!) to customers of all types! We didn't buy anything (after all that time in line, too. mental!) as Bill and Michelle just bought a new vehicle and I figured I'd get 10.2 when I order my new Mac.
All the new interest is, no doubt, due to their "Switch" ad featuring Ellen Feiss. There, I said it... now I'm hip to the trends just like NPR, right?

Whew. This weekend was exhausting and I didn't even drink any alcohol (big surprise there, eh?). Non-stop scootering action. Fun. Funny. Great. But very tiring. Of course, working a double-shift at work yesterday didn't help me catch up on sleep or relaxation but it was nice of them to buy me dinner (food is always a decent bribe).
I was so tired today, and busy, that I could barely get excited about the new G4 PowerMacs which were introduced this morning (and which I badly need). Are they worth the price? Does DDR-SDRAM make a difference? In comparison to my awesome little beige G3/G4 desktop, anything new is a speed demon. Plus, the ability to burn my own DVDs is just to flippin' cool.

Now available from GeeThree are volumes 3 and 4 of their plugins for iMovie. If you are a nut about iMovie, these packages are money well spent! Great quality and affordable price.

I'm still here... just have been extemely busy with real work, freelance work and the upcoming scooter rally this weekend. whew. too many things going on! although I did sneak away for some R&R last weekend, which I'll elaborate on later (maybe with pictures, too). Ok, gotta make some more HTML/Flash.
(ps: Lauri - I'm struggling thru it and so far so good).