E-bay and The Last Mimzy

Our daughter really likes the movie The Last Mimzy. Of course, it is because of Mimzy. In the move, Mimzy is what appears to be a stuffed rabbit but turns out to be more than that. The Tonner Doll Company came out with a replica of Mimzy earlier this year and it was so popular it sold out (I think the Mimzy frenzie really hit when the DVD came out). You can buy them at e-bay, of course, but you'll have to bid a chunk of money to get it ($100 plus) when the ones available were originally $24.95 (there was a more deluxe version available for $59.95 or so).

New Line, the company that distributed the movie, made available a new talking Mimzy in a limited quantity of 2,000 just yesterday for the price of $29.95 (originally - they increased the price to $36.95 today). Despite there still being some available, these talking Mimzys are already showing up at e-bay for as much as $229.00 (Buy-it-Now price). If anyone bids on one of these Mimzys before the retail supply of 2000 is exhausted, they're nuts! If you want one go to New Line Shop before they run out but don't go to e-bay and pay a ridiculous price.

With e-bay there seems to be a trend. I think professional e-bayers are buying certain popular products to a point they are almost not available at your standard retail outlet (either brick and mortar or online). Our oldest son wanted a Bumblebee transformer based on the one recently seen on the Transformer movie. You couldn't find them anywhere except on e-bay. After some diligent effort on our part we located both versions (the older camaro model and the new one) at local stores right after being stocked. In both cases we got the last of each and ran into others trying to get the same ones.

I have purchased one toy on e-bay for more than standard retail once. It was a Jessie doll from Toy Story 2. We never saw them in stores and we really wanted to get it for our daughter because she was always playing with her brother's Woody doll. I did not, however, pay an exorbitant amount for it nor would I for any toy.

I will be watching this gift giving season to see what happens with these short supply high demand toys to see what prices are paid. I wonder if supplies will kick up for the transformers but thus far most retail outlets have had few of them (Wal-mart has been the worse) though Target and Toys 'R Us have had more in stock (though Toys 'R Us had been without them here locally for two weeks after they ran an ad advertising them - at least the $9.99 versions). Most likely procrastinators will pay - either in price or in a disappointed child.

Oh, and for those shopping on e-bay, check around before bidding.

Eric D. Snider

I added some Sniderite links today. In other words, I've added a link to, first of all, Eric D. Snider's website who is a movie critic and funny guy (seriously). Included in the links is the message board/forum that used to be part of his site but now resides at his brother's site (Snider Board). There are a few blog links to some of those who participate on the board/forum.

I visit Eric's site on occasion to read his Snide Remarks, blog and movie reviews. I don't post often at the board/forum but do visit at least once a week.

Halloween Hangman

How about a little Halloween Hangman to bone up on your Halloween vocabulary.

Getting Under the Skin of 'Toons & Knitwit

Have you ever wondered what the skeleton of Charlie Brown would look like? No matter, it is below whether you ever wondered or not:

This is the work of Michael Paulus. You can enjoy more of his work at his website.

Lauren Porter, an art graduate at Bath Spa University (UK), knitted a Ferrari sportscar for her honors degree.


She didn't do it alone, however, with 20 of her family and friends helping out making the 250 squares that make up the Ferrari. The article notes that she also welded the steel frame herself. Quite a unique project . . . if only it were real.

St. George Pics

Yes, this is going back a bit but I've meant to post some since March when we were there for Spring Break.

We did some ATVing. Everyone enjoyed it. On the way back at the end of our riding around, Amy had to stop because Deveny started to fall asleep. Cyrus rode with me. We got some good speed going in places. Near the main road there were some good hills to get some air on.

There were some petroglyphs where we ATVed to. This is one of them. You can see a few more pictures of our ATVing time here.

Flowers

Okay, I do like flowers and thought I would share pictures of a couple I recently (this summer) took pictures of.

This flower is from our front flower bed. No, I don't know what it is and neither does Amy. I know it is from some bulbs I bought her but I can't remember the name of the flower.

The above picture was taken at Palo Duro Canyon. Again, we haven't been able to identify yet (though we have tried). I thought it might be a thistle of some kind but reference material at the visitor's center at Palo Duro Canyon did not have it listed and the personnel there could not identify it either. They were in abundance in June, a product of the wet weather this year.

New Star Wars Race

Well, since I'm entertaining myself here I'll post an amusing image that I can look at when visiting my blog. This is from Hawk who takes part in the Avalanche Software blog. I don't know who Hawk is (of all the creatives listed) but if I find out I'll let you know. Take a look at the blog - lots of creative contributions to enjoy (but, of course, I'm "talking" to myself so I will continue to take my own advice and visit on a regular basis).

This is a Test

Okay, I do exist and I have not been posting on a regular basis. The test part of this is . . . has anyone even noticed?

The Lost Prince of Darkleaf

Bean Leaf Press has their next book out - The Lost Prince of Darkleaf, the second book in a series that started with Bean's Song. I read the first book with my oldest son and have the second on the way. The authors are Aimee Duncan and Travis Hanson with Travis doing the illustrations. We enjoyed the first book and are looking forward to this one.

ST Lewis - Hot Dog on a Stick

Okay, you need to go check out S. T. Lewis' Hot Dog on a Stick. Another hilarious piece and accompanying blog entry. Be sure to click on the pic for a bigger view. There's a flag in it so it goes with today being Flag Day. Hey, it's my birthday, I can stretch the topic a little!

Potpourri of Information

As I mentioned previously, I planned to be diligent in my posting. I try to make my posts worthwhile so sometimes I don't post because I don't have much to share. This post is sort of a mixture of information that alone would not be posted.

Summer activities have begun. Cyrus experienced a school "camp" last week that occurred for a couple of hours each morning. He seemed to have a good time with the activities which were centered on a pirate theme. He was invited to attend due to his good behavior and grades. Now he is involved in scout camp which he was originally not going to attend as there was one kid last year that made it miserable and he didn't think there would be anything new to do. A kid dropped out due to a schedule conflict so Cyrus was invited to take the open spot which he decided to do. He enjoyed the first day. By the way, the scout camp's theme is pirates.

Swimming lessons will be coming up for Alonzo and Cyrus. Alonzo is excited. He likes the water and really enjoyed swimming at an indoor activity center in St. George during spring break. He was so excited he want down a water slide without any flotation device before we knew he was gone. Not knowing how to swim, he was somewhat surprised when he got to the bottom and had to make his way to the side! Thankfully, he made it and if he had had problems there are lifeguards posted in several places.

Amy's birthday has passed and mine approaches. We're getting old...er. We don't feel it yet and hopefully won't for a while but to me time is passing too fast. We went to Chilis to celebrate our birthdays and had a good meal. Cyrus and Alonzo had the ribs (kids meal version) which they really liked (they have always bugged me for some of mine when I order it). Deveny got the pizza but wanted everyone else's food (as usual). She seems to like ribs though she is normally not a big meat fan.

We still have to determine when and where we will vacation this summer. With gas prices we will probably not go far. Amy and the kids will probably go to Utah in our fuel efficient Geo (which can't hold the whole family but can hold all of us save one).

Palo Duro Canyon

We spend a decent amount of time at an area state park - Palo Duro Canyon. It is claimed that it is the second largest canyon in the United States. We spent Memorial Day there doing some hiking and playing in the water. Our area rainfall has been above normal so far this year and the result is an abundance of wildflowers in Palo Duro Canyon. I do not recall ever seeing so many Indian Blankets in the many years that I have been going there. There was quite a variety of flowers and colors to enjoy.

This Memorial Day also happened to fall on Amy's birthday so she got to choose what we were going to do. She likes to hike and usually two of the children do as well. However, Cyrus is usually our complainer and he made good on that description this time as well. We used to take him on regular hikes in Palo Duro Canyon which he greatly enjoyed when he was younger. At 10 he seems to have outgrown that enthusiasm for hiking. Deveny gives out before we are done and ends up on Amy's back or my shoulders. Alonzo tires himself out by going nonstop even when we are making a rest stop.

You could hear the buzz of bees as they made their way between the many flowers. You could see a bee in almost every flower on the prickly pear cactuses that were in abundance. Cyrus had the opportunity to chase some lizards. However, those lizards were too darn quick! We would try to corral them but they would make a dash past one of us.

At one of our rest stops we noticed a spider web on the cliff beside us. Upon closer inspection I noticed the nice little spider happened to be a Black Widow. Luckily, none of the kids were curious enough to check it out more closely before I noticed what it was.


To see more pictures from our day at Palo Duro Canyon go to my web album.

Yes, Squirrels are Evil!

The very same day I made the previous post, our cable company informed us the problems we had been having with our cable reception (ghosting) was due to squirrels chewing up our cable wires!

I even have a picture of one of the little terrorists.

Squirrels Evil?

Okay, I've liked squirrels for some time. As a kid I remember my Great Grandfather feeding a squirrel that would come right up to him. I enjoy watching them run around the yard burying nuts and looking for previously buried nuts (which they seem to only find again by chance). Even after we had one romping around in our attic, I still did not hate them. Now, however, they're crossing the line. First one car and then another have been attacked by these little beasties. How does a squirrel attack a car, you may ask? They chew on your wires, that's how.

The first vehicle was one I was getting ready to sell and was parked in the back of our house. After I took care of some minor repairs I noticed some wires had been chewed on and the hood insulation used to start a nest of sorts. The wires were to an electrical connection on a sensor that caused the check engine light to come on. With some soldering and additional wire I was able to fix the problem.

A couple of weeks later, I am driving my car (that is parked in the front) during a warm day to run some errands for work. I notice my air conditioning is not blowing cold air when it had just the afternoon before. I figured maybe it needed to be charged so I got a can of freon or whatever they are calling it these days. However, as I was checking that out, my neighbor noticed some wires had been chewed on and severed near an electrical connection for the air conditioning. Another car had been attacked by a squirrel!

No, I haven't witnessed a squirrel doing the deeds but they are pretty much the only critters we have running around that I have seen and can list as suspects. There's been a couple of regulars as of late. My wife is not appreciating their presence as they seem to be digging all over the place looking for their lost food storage. Also, it seems I'm not the only one that has had similar problems. There is actually a website called Squirrels Ate My Wiring with tales of this type of squirrel shenanigan.

Maybe it is time to look up some of those squirrel recipes. Is there a squirrel season? Do I need a license?

Meet the Robinsons

There's not much at the theaters right now for kids. Spider-man is in the spotlight but it is not the best movie for the younger ones. A movie our family enjoyed is still around - Disney's Meet the Robinsons. It is a good movie with a good message.

Meet the Robinsons was in the works before Disney purchased Pixar (who had a partnership with Disney for Toy Story, Finding Nemo, Cars and etc.). With that purchase, Disney made Pixar's John Lasseter (who directed Toy Story and others and had worked at Disney many years ago) Chief Creative Officer of Disney Animation. Pixar's Ed Catmull became president of Disney Animation (in addition to Pixar). They reviewed what was currently in the works at Disney Animation including Meet the Robinsons. There is a lot of talk about how the movie was vastly improved because Pixar came in and "fixed" it. Well, I won't argue that but the movie was largely done already by the time John Lasseter, came into the picture. Here is a quote from John Lasseter (made at a stockholder meeting if I remember correctly):

"... the day after the announcement of the merging of the two studios, Ed and I walked in the Disney Animation Studios, and there we got to meet all of the artists. And each of the directors took us through all the films, and the one director, the young guy named Steve Anderson, was directing this movie called "Meet the Robinsons," which was the next motion picture that's coming out from Disney Animation Studios. And he talked about this story, which is about a boy who is given up for adoption and he always wondered why. Why did his mom give him up?

And, as he told this story, Steve mentioned, "I'm adopted." And his personal story touched me so deeply that when I finally saw the movie, which, by the way, I have to say, it was about 80% finished when Ed and I walked into that studio. I looked at it and it was like the film didn't have in it what Steve's personal story had.

His personal story story brought me to tears, right, and I thought, ah, this feels like it's had too many cooks trying to stir this soup. So we gave him a lot of notes, some really strong notes. We were very honest with him about the movie, but then I gave it back to him. I said, Steve, make the movie you want to make. Tell your story.

And he came back with changes to this film, minor changes, but it made all the difference in the world, and this movie about Lewis, the main character Lewis, who is focusing on the past, and he's wondering, why did his mom give me up? And he wants to focus on his past, but this focus actually takes him to the future, where he meets this amazing, crazy, wonderful, appealing group of characters that actually
turns out to be his future family.

And he learns through this experience to look forward in life, not to look back. And this story, it's Steve's story. We're really excited about this. I'm very, very proud of the film and what Steve and his crew have done. The film is really beautiful too. They have a stylization in this film that is really striking."

So it is a personal story that teaches an important lesson. No wonder the story is touching (and it seems many are agreeing with that assessment of the movie).

"The Mormons"

I am posting this at both my blogs. I don't post often on religion as many are more articulate and complete on the subject. I have linked on this blog some great blogs on the subject of my religion and I will probably add more links as time goes on. My religion is very important to me and essential to my life. Thus, I feel it important to include this post here.

As a believing and practicing Mormon I have to take issue with the recent broadcast of "The Mormons" on PBS. I am surprised so many are calling this a thoughtful presentation of my Church and religion. The presentation missed so much. I found this article by Maurine Jensen Proctor to be a great response and to reflect my feelings on "The Mormons" quite well. I do not believe a responsible approach was taken in this production, not that I have a problem with the subjects that were touched on, but largely about what was left out and the lack of balance.

Belgian Cartoons/Comics

My mother is from Belgium so I thought I would mention two Belgian cartoons/comics. The first is one that many in the US are probably familiar with - the Smurfs. The little blue folk were created by a Belgian who went by the pen name of Peyo. While the cartoons have not been on TV on a regular basis here in the US since the 80s, a movie is in the works (CGI - Nickelodeon Movies).

Another famous Belgian creation is Tintin from The Adventures of Tintin by Hergé. This example, however, is not as well known in the US. With a movie being produced by DreamWorks, that may change. A lot of research went into Tintin's adventures, creating a lot of historic and political realism. The Adventures of Tintin ran from 1929 to 1986 (Hergé died in 1983 and his final work that was finished posthumously came out in 1986).

St. George, Utah

We spent most of Spring Break in St. George where my mom and sister live. Besides some ATVing, picnicing and swimming we went to a couple of local places. We visited Dinosaur Discovery, a site where some dinosaur footprints were found. I'll admit I wasn't too excited about dinosaur footprints and the kids weren't overly excited, either. However, it seems to be a great place for kids to learn about dinosaurs, especially if you live locally and can take them there for the various educational activities that are put on. There are some knowledgeable people there, as well. The work being conducted is ongoing and you can witness some of that. They even take volunteers to help with the work. In actuality, upon seeing it and reading on it, it is an important discovery site.

Then there is The Rosenbruch Wildlife Museum. A lot of great information with a lot of work put into recreating habitats of many different animals. I have to say all the dead animals makes it kind of creepy. It is like a zoo of dead animals. Don't get me wrong, I don't have a problem with hunting (for food) and I enjoy hunting myself (for food). I can't say how all the animals for the exhibit were obtained so I can't really comment on that beyond that I find sport hunting distasteful. Among the useful education, the museum is really is a big advertisement for hunting rights and I even agree with some of the points made. However, most often I find sport hunting wrong. I'll say that one would not be able to see so many animals in such a small space (relative to a large zoo) anywhere else. I did enjoy the bug and butterfly collection.

Updates

I'm going to try to be better at blogging so those who care actually find something new here when they visit. I did some link updating so I believe most are good. I added Toon Club since I have found the art so good and a link to the administrator of that site, S. T. Lewis, who not only does great art but has a hilarious blog.

Bean Leaf Press is the home of The Tales of Dark Leaf a five book series that is currently at book 2 (about to come out) and the artwork of Travis Hanson. The Tales of Dark Leaf is the work of Travis Hanson and Aimee Duncan. I've read the first book, Bean's Song, with my oldest son.

Watch for more updates.

GLADiator

Here's another from Toon Club that I couldn't resist. It is done by Seth Hippen.

20 Foot 'Shroom?

A fossil long un-classified is now believed to be a 20 foot fungus from about 400 Million years ago. You can read more here. That conjures up a vision from Voyage to the Center of the Earth. If you are truly bored and want to read up on the debate regarding this fossil you can you can do so here. This link includes an artist rendition of what the fungus may have looked like (it was created before the debate was settled). The world 400 Million years ago was definitely different from now with no more than insects running around stunted trees and bushes. That would have been an alien world to walk around in.

No Addiction Here...

You can tell from my frequent posts here that I'm addicted to blogging...

Anywho... Ran into a cool blog of creative people - Toon Club. Its populated by animators and illustrators. Here's a piece that caught my eye:


Yes, YIKES! Here's another - The Problems with Frozen Foods, Jurassic Style:

These samples are by Mark Swan (of Swan Animation, I believe). Go to Toon Club and check out all the great creativity. There are other great artists to enjoy as well!

Enjoying the Snow

Yes, yes, I know. This snow fell last month but as usual, I have neglected my blog. Cyrus and I had to make the best of our foot of snow so here is a couple of pictures of our snow structure (its not an igloo, so I didn't know what to call it). Now I can just imagine what we could do with what upstate New York got recently! It took a while for the snow to melt due to our unusually long lasting cold spells. The kids enjoyed the snow sticking around for a while.