A Fun Game to Play

Here's a sophisticated, amazingly well-made game that is lots of fun to play. It's called Get the Glass! and is produced by the California Milk Processor's Board. You will see the "Got Milk?" logo at the bottom of the opening screen.

The storyline for the game is this: The Adachi family are in search of milk and they are in trouble with the law because they will go to any lengths to procure a glass of the white stuff. You roll the dice to move them along on the gameboard, but the police are always in hot pursuit. When the family is caught they are taken to Milkatraz, get it? Alcatraz, Milkatraz. They have various ways to escape and continue on the gameboard. Here are a couple screen shots from the game. When you have a few minutes, give it a try.



Oh, and the Got Milk website is really clever, too.

...and here's another reason why I need an iPhone

You can use the Brushes application to create drawings and then send them to your friends.

Read Through the Bible in a Year

Pastor Chris Smith, of Resurrection Presbyterian Church here in St. Louis, offers links to various Bible reading plans in his December 31st blog entry. I like the one called "Bible Reading Plan for Shirkers and Slackers," 'cause, hey, that's me! So I'm going for it. And the good thing is, there's no pressure. Shirkers and slackers have low expectations.

Need Books?

The St. Louis County Library is in the process of converting a number of the branches into self-checkout. It's quite an undertaking as the materials for the new system are quite expensive. So, right now there's a lot of "weeding" going on in all sections (fiction, non-fiction, childrens, etc) at a number of the branches. Except for the processing labels, many of the books are library-bound and in new condition. I know that Oak Bend is just starting, Daniel Boone and Eureka Hills have been underway for awhile. Others, too, I just don't know which ones. Toward the end of January there will be a big sale, 10 cents a book, but I noticed that some of the books are already going out on the sale table at my local library. I'm sure they will be advertising, so, if interested, be on the lookout or ask your friendly neighborhood librarian for more information.

Photo: Copyright FreeStockImages.org

Ukelele Orchestra of Great Britain performing the Theme from Shaft

This is fun, and it really gets particularly good around the one minute mark.



I think I may like this one (Theme from The Good, the Bad and the Ugly) even better.

The Power of an Inspirational Teacher

I think you'll enjoy this video:



These are the students in the Chorus at PS22, Staten Island, NY. This is not a magnet or fine arts school, but a typical big city public school, with a different group of fifth grades making up the chorus each year. Wow! The faces and the body language! Note the two girls on the right side of the aisle playing their imaginary pianos during the introduction. No doubt these kids are involved and loving it.

You can read more about the chorus and their instructor, Gregg Breinberg, in this ABC News article: Music Class Is Hit With Kids, Online Viewers

The chorus was formed in 2000 and Breinberg started blogging about their activities a few years ago. If you scroll to the bottom of the home page there are many links to past performances. They've been on various TV programs and performed at major special events, but I had never heard of them. Of course, I live under a rock. Had you heard of them before now?

Free Entertaiment at the Expense of Your Family and Friends

There are a thousand things I should be doing right now, but this somehow seems more important. Have you seen the fun OfficeMax site where you can turn yourself and your friends into dancing elves? Check out this one of Fran, my mother and me getting down with our bad selves at JibJab ElfYourself. Yeah, I know, pretty impressive. Try to wipe that image out of your mind.

You can have hours of fun at this site, creating "elves" who can perform five different dances. Email your creations to anyone who needs a good laugh. Or put them on your blog. Or post them on Facebook for the world to see.

Marshmallow Experiment

Good, but I bet they can't do this with their eyes closed. Now that would be something!

FAO Schwarz - Big Piano
Uploaded by soanepowate. - See the latest featured music videos.

It Just Dropped Out of the Sky and Came to Rest in Our Neighborhood...

...right at the top of our driveway, to be exact. At about 3 this afternoon, I happened to look out our bedroom window, did a double-take and then grabbed my camera. Within five minutes the balloon was deflated. Another five minutes and it was packed in the trailer and gone. I almost missed this wonderfully unexpected sight!