WalleyWorld

Dame Edna's Message To The Commonwealth

2011-12-24T08:52:00.002-06:00

Every year, I try to post this video Christmas message from Dame Edna Everage. Enjoy!

The Big Switch

2011-12-12T04:42:00.003-06:00

After 11 years, we decided to leave DirecTV for AT&T's U-verse. We liked DirecTV... very much. But the price kept increasing and the value kept decreasing as the years went by. Our equipment was more than 6 years old and only one of our HD TVs actually had HD. DirecTV gives HD equipment away right and left for new customers but charges a fortune for established customers. 500 channels is not much good if you only watch 10 or so regularly and we had no premium programming, but we did have 4 DVRs.

U-verse uses fiber to deliver TV, phone and broadband to our home. We keep our previous number and email addresses and get more channels (that I actually watch), premium channels, games, HD for all TVs, one DVR that records more programs for all the TVs in the house and a broadband rate that staggers my efforts to clog it up or slow it down! And all of this for less than DirecTV, DSL service and phone coist me previously!

Installation was long and has been buggy but things seem to be smoothing out. New technology always comes with problems but the rewards are often worth it. I'll report back my continued experiences or my shift away from U-verse.

Notes From The Big Chair

2011-11-16T10:34:00.001-06:00

-Robert has notified me that the new Muppet movie starts next Wednesday, the day before Thanksgiving. Normally, I'd be there front and center for such an occasion but Thanksgiving in WalleyWorld takes some preparation. I'll have to get to a theatre soon though!

-Word on the internet is that Doctor Who may be coming to a theatre near you in the near future! The folks behind the Harry Potter films see the good Doctor as a perfect subject for their next endeavor and we may even see Daniel Radcliff in the starring role!

-Courtesy of Catchie Crider via Facebook:
According to a news report, a certain private Catholic school in Brisbane was recently faced with a unique problem. A number of 12-year-old girls were beginning to use lipstick and would put it on in the bathroom.
That was fine provided it was of a natural or neutral skin tone, but after they put on their lipstick they would press their lips to the mirror leaving dozens of little lip prints.
Every night the maintenance man would remove them and the next day the girls would put them back. Finally the principal, Sister Paschal, decided that something had to be done.. She called all the girls to the bathroom and met them there with the maintenance man. She explained that all these lip prints were causing a major problem for the custodian who had to clean the mirrors every night (you can just imagine the yawns from the little princesses). To demonstrate how difficult it had been to clean the mirrors, Sister Paschal asked the maintenance man to show the girls how much effort was required.
He took out a long-handled squeegee, dipped it in the toilet, and cleaned the mirror with it. Since then, there have been no lip prints on the mirror.
There are teachers.... and then there are educators.

Thanks, Catchie!

-In all the news I've posted lately about DC Comics recent revitalization there have been increasing reports of trouble at Disney owned Marvel Comics. Marvel for the first time in decades has seen their market share drop below DCs, a new owner, a shake-up in the leadership, significant layoffs and cancellation of several titles. This is too bad as I have recently started reading several Marvel titles. While I have found many entertaining, I do see where the Marvel universe is probably too big and unwieldy for a new reader to get a firm grasp of what is going on. That said, Marvel rules at the box office right now as this past summer saw not one but THREE Marvel properties on the silver screen and the super team The Avengers is on its way!

-

Happy Holidays from WalleyWorld

2011-11-10T17:14:00.001-06:00

The Holiday season has officially arrived in WalleyWorld! If we were flirting with it the past 10 days, we hard core committed to it today!

Duran Duran- Girl Panic

2011-11-09T16:25:00.002-06:00

After 30 years, these boys prove they are still the masters of the music video. Enjoy!

Photo Ketchup: Walley Halloween Extravaganza 2011

2011-11-06T08:48:00.016-06:00

It may only be the second year, but it looks like our Halloween Parties have already become local legend. We had a bigger crowd this year with lots of new faces. Robert made his debut this year in a big way claiming the top prize in the costume contest and I partook of Sam's green punch and danced the night away! Classic!

It all ended as so many big events at the Walley Hacienda have in the past...

Duran Duran in Baton Rouge

2011-11-06T08:21:00.001-06:00

Just as I did in 2005 with the older kids, last month I took the HayBee to see Duran Duran for her first time. The concert was great and the band sounded pretty damn good. Sam got us seats on the third row so Hailey could see Simon LeBon in all his glory unobstructed. Great show!

DC Storms Back To The Top!

2011-11-06T07:18:00.006-06:00

After decades trailing behind Marvel Comics in sales of monthly titles, DC, the grandaddy of comic companies and arguably home of the most familiar super hero characters is back on top!

I reported a few months ago that DC was wiping all history and continuity from their 70 plus years and starting over fresh and brand new with their titles even starting all titles over with new #1s. Robert and I have been crawling all over the new offerings for three months now and there is a lot to like... a whole lot to like. But before I was prepared to discuss them here, I wanted to know if the new beginning had any effect outside of my tablet. Wow, has it ever! DC now accounts for more than HALF of all comics sold by ANY publisher. Also, in the third month, when sales were expected to drop dramatically, DC now commands 17 of the top 20 titles sold and they keep selling out all issue runs, some going back to press as many as 4 times!

This is unprecedented in a world where all comics publishers have seen decreases month to month for almost 15 years. DCs intention was to open up their universe to new young readers by giving them a place to jump on and the ability to read these stories on their iPads and tablets, phones or computers as well as the traditional print version. While it remains to be seen how many new readers were brought in, it is pretty clear that many (like myself) who left comics years ago are coming back... and in droves. In a curious twist, in our family it is the technologically savvy Robert who prefers his super hero goodness on paper and ink while I only read my books on my tablet!

But how about the books? Having just gotten back into reading comics and Robert having just started reading them consistently month to month, we both had reservations about how DC could do this as well as whether they should have done this. DC stated over and over that this was a complete line wide refresh and a jumping on point for new readers. Then out of the side of their mouths they started saying that some titles would be little different than they were before and then leaked that some titles would even retain a lot of their previous continuity. Didn't sound so much like a fresh restart anymore.

No worries. Prior to this restart, DCs two best selling monthly book properties where the Batman books and the Green Lantern books. There was a lot of complex storytelling going on here and the fans were liking it, so why change what was working? And I have to agree. I am not a Green Lantern reader but I devour anything Batman (and have for forty years!)

But what of the others? I have to admit that this reboot made me realize just how much change was overdue for Superman, Wonder Woman, Green Arrow and the rest. These characters were tired and predictable with decades of continuity that actually pulled them down. Fresh origins, new storytellers and artists with new visions have made these characters and their books exciting again! Grant Morrison and George Perez have created a Superman relevant to our times who more resembles the character's creators efforts from the 1930s. Wonder Woman, who always had a mythology backdrop is now immersed in it. Green Arrow is much more of a costumed James Bond. Best of all has to be Aquaman, the perennial King of the Seas joke in the DC universe who now eats at seafood restaurants and proclaims that "I don't talk to fish!" If this isn't my favorite title I'm currently reading, I don't know what is... and I've never been visibly happy about reading an Aquaman adventure! And as mentioned before, all my Batman books are still intact and in many ways even better than before. If Bruce Wayne is doing something in this book, there might be a reference to it in this other one. Dick Grayson is just passing through this title while on his way to this other one. You believe that these characters all exist in the same universe!

But the biggest surprise may be that the new DC universe is less about super heroes than it was before. Many titles have no spandex or capes in sight and are much more concerned with combat or the occult... and even the return of the Western! One of my favorite new books is Voodoo which is very much like Men In Black in reverse! Demon Knights is comprised of nearly a dozen old DC characters from the Middle Ages. Men of War updates the old Sergeant Rock and brings him into the 21st century. All Star Western features tales of Jonah Hex with some surprising links to the present day DC universe. And much more...

DC comics rebirth has been a success on many levels and appears to have some staying power. Stay tuned for additional progress reports in the next few months.

Harrison Ford Playing Nathan Drake

2011-10-19T11:45:00.003-05:00

For those of you who don't know, 'Uncharted' is the modern Indiana Jones. The world-shattering greatness of Indiana Jones playing Nathan Drake who is new Indiana Jones - and ENJOYING IT - is great.

The Con of Wrath

2011-10-19T10:46:00.002-05:00

Holy &%!@# Walter Koenig is getting old! Just a couple of years ago when we saw him he was looking himself, but this is truly sobering.

My Favorite Comic Today

2011-10-09T23:23:00.001-05:00

Fun Post

2011-10-09T23:12:00.004-05:00

Thoughts From The Big Chair

2011-07-29T05:52:00.005-05:00

Thought I ought to get something in during the month of July while I could.
-The NFL season is back on again and all is right with the world. Now if Brett Favre can just keep away from a football field we'll have a smooth August!
-Looking like the next Star Trek movie (Star trek 2?) won't be out until 2013 at the earliest now. This is gonna be 4 years since the last, but 5 since the last one was completed. The first was ready to go in 2008 and was held back until 2009.
-The DC Comics Universe officially starts over on September 1. Over 70 years since they started, the powers that be at DC decided stop all current comics and their stories and start over from scratch with all new stories and rolling back all titles to #1. This coincides with Robert and I getting back into comics and we are pretty pumped!
-Hailey spent a week at Mississippi School Of Math and Science in Columbus, MS. Long time readers of this blog will remember that Meg attended MSMS for her junior and senior years of high school. Hailey attended a summer camp designed to court high school underclassmen to come to the school later. She met a lot of people and enjoyed her experience. Hailey is seriously considering attending in two years.
-Hailey has also started workouts for her first year as a High School cheerleader! She has a busy schedule. Once again, Sam is a Booster officer!
-I asked this on Facebook, but, who decided that Poker is a sport?
-Just looking at how some of these posts relate to similar posts from last month. Oh well...

Thoughts From The Big Chair

2011-06-05T06:45:00.006-05:00

-2011 St. Paul's Seafood Festival was not even close to what it was in years past. The crowds were so low it was actually possible to get a seat under the big tent. The temps were 100 plus all afternoon and only got bearable after the sun went down at 8pm. Still saw lots of friends and past acquaintances. Sam and I rode the wild rides like we were kids again. She loved it and went for beer and tamales. I loved it and sat down till my queezy stomach rested!

-Went to H'Burg last weekend and resumed the quest for the hottest hot wing with Robert. I think we are making real progress, but we really need to move on from the same place each time. Had such a good time, I hauled him and the daughter in law back to the coast for Memorial Day. Had a great weekend!

-DC Comics is erasing their past and starting all titles over at #1! We're talking comic books here, so there's no real damage but it is kind of a cool proposition considering Robert and I recently returned to the world of comics. As long as they don't mess with Batman too much, I'll be fine.

-Newest addition to family is Mr. Baxter, a young Golden Retriever inherited from my Mama! Talk about a kind, sweet soul! Mr. Baxter is this big, imposing beast of an animal that lumbers around the house... and runs from the cat! Hey, it is the Mufasa Kitty Yoshi we're talking about here...

-Charlie Sheen is out and Ashton Kutcher is in. Looking forward to Two And A Half Men Punkd!

-New Star Trek movie moved from Summer 2012 to Christmas 2012. I'm thinking 2013 at the earliest!

-2011 NFL season truly looks in danger now and it is the players who have caught my ire this time around surprisingly. I'm all about everyone making the most they can but the players are taking an unfair approach with this one. Owners are the ones who take the big risks and thus deserve the larger reward. If the players were not being treated fairly, then I'd be singing a different tune. Instead, players spoke out this week equating what the owners are doing to the players to slavery.
Really...
In the meantime Superstars Brady, Manning (P) and Brees have separated themselves from the NFLPA to forge their own suit against the owners to protect their brand of high priced talent.
Come on...
I'll be happy if the NFL takes the field this fall but I'll never look at it the same way.

Found On The Web: Historically Hardcore

2011-04-06T09:15:00.001-05:00

Democrats Wasted Their Opportunity

2011-04-05T12:41:00.004-05:00

I like to play nice and try to stay fair whenever I can... so watching the coverage of the impending government shutdown and the back and forth between Republicans and Democrats, I really only have one question:

Why didn't the Democrats pass a 2011 budget when they had complete and total power in 2010?

Congress is required to pass it's budget for the following year before concluding it's session in December. The Democrats enjoyed a majority that even the fiercest rebut by the Republicans couldn't dent. The Republicans simply didn't have enough votes. The Democrats had an open checkbook and could pass anything they wanted and had plenty of time in which to do so. They still managed to spend just over 1.3 trillion dollars between January and December, but just couldn't find the time to write a budget for 2011.

The Republican House has now twice agreed on extensions to keep the government running while trying to hammer out a budget the last Congress was responsible for. At the same time, the Republicans announced today their plans for the 2012 budget. WOW! What an idea! Let's get the 2012 budget complete BEFORE 2012! A budget that aims to reduce spending by 6 trillion in the next 10 years. That's right... reduce! No way they are gonna get that one passed, but I have to hand it to them... they've actually put something out there.

Meanwhile, the Senate Democrats and the Obama White House proceed in playing a game of "chicken" with Speaker Boehner and the Republican controlled House of Representatives. I can't really blame the Republicans for being resolute. This is a small fight. The next budget will be a real brawl. House and Senate Democrats lined up for the cameras this morning and the Obama administration released statements detailing the heartless and irresponsible actions the opposing party is trying to inflict on the American people. Really?

This is gonna be an interesting year...

And The Winner Is...

2011-03-31T06:07:00.001-05:00

Remembering Best Top Chef

2011-03-30T16:06:00.004-05:00

I was browsing stories about tonight's Top Chef All Stars finale when I came upon an article that took a look at the best moments from all 8 seasons. This has been hands down one of the best seasons of the show yet, but you kind of knew it would be special with all of the memorable cheftestants returning to compete with one another. Fabio, Casey, Stephanie, Tiffani, Richard, Carla...even Marcel! All of those names are special to viewers of the show and to the credit of the producers, the bar was raised for these vets. The competitions were inventive and difficult and drama was kept to a minimum. This was a welcomed season after Season 7 (Washington, DC) went down as one of the worst and more controversial.

Season 7 had something else working against it: Season 6 (Las Vegas)! In the best moments article, I was reminded just how perfect season 6 really was from beginning to the breathtaking end. Check out this video---

Wow!

For the record, I am pulling for Richard Blaise to win it all tonight. Good luck!

The Shatman Turns 80!

2011-03-22T13:06:00.004-05:00

William Shatner, the incomparable Captain James T. Kirk, Price Line pitchman, Rescue 911 Host, star of Shit My Dad Says, super stud T.J. Hooker and perhaps greatest of all... Denny Crane turns 80 unbelievable years old today! Give a shout out to the SHATMAN!!!

Found On The Web

2011-03-21T10:08:00.000-05:00

Click on image to enlarge

Let's Eat!

2011-03-21T09:41:00.004-05:00

Last night was another edition of the Walley Family Dinner, an institution that began as a weekly affair and much like any good television series full of famous stars, the dinner has morphed into a monthly feast due to the increased costs of putting on the production. Because the show...er, dinner is such an event now, we are able to attract the rare guest star every now and then. This time around Robert and Beth were able to make it to the table! Both are doing well and hinted at the possibility that they may be moving back to the coast in 18 months or so. Meggie was detained at her other job and couldn't make it, but we saved her lots of food. Hope made it by in between her many other commitments both here and in Hammond and Hailey and Tais did their part to consume their fair share. Gordon and Jordan were in attendance and we must find something to replace NFL football as I found Gordon in the den watching Undercover Boss!

Now for the important part, the menu: Sam prepared her famous fried chicken, two batches, one mild and one spicy, rice and gravy, fresh green beans, fried okra, broccoli salad, hot biscuits and a home made pound cake!

DAMN!!!

Found On The Web

2011-03-20T11:46:00.002-05:00

Click on image to enlarge

RANDOM Thoughts From The Big Chair

2011-03-20T09:35:00.004-05:00

- Anyone watching Top Chef this season? This year is an All Stars year where some of the best (or maybe just some of the favorites) from past years converge to cook and beat each other with turkey legs. Entertaining for sure, the Top Chef formula is showing cracks and I no longer believe that the system actually produces the "Top Chef," just the "Top Chef on this particular day!" The hosts are preening, self-consumed egotists and the shine has started to wear off. Time for a shake up in the formula before "Regular Top Chef" resumes later this year. In the meantime we have a third edition of "Top Chef Masters" to look forward to in just a few weeks. Start your ovens!

-Finally starting to catch up on some of last years movies. Of note, The Social Network was no Oscar contender and demonstrated how out of touch the Academy has become. I found the story interesting (even though I had already read most of the facts years before) and some of it was fictionalized for dramatic effect. The movie itself was hardly remarkable in construction or performance. I'm glad I took the time to see it, but it won't find it's way into my collection nor am I likely to view it again.

-TRON Legacy on the other hand was a visual cinematic wonder with little to offer on the storytelling side. Stunning visual effects dominate and strong performances led by Jeff Bridges (reprising his role from the 30 year old original) can't help the lack of story that seems to get lost in the visuals anyway. There is a satisfying end and the obligatory set up for any sequels Disney wants to spit out is firmly in place. Fans of the original will be giddy with Bridges computer enhanced de-aging as Klu as well as Bruce Boxleitner's Tron, but for me it was the aged Bridges and Boxleitner that made the movie real for me. The original was pretty weak storywise as well and I found myself watching it again and again, year after year. I'm sure TRON Legacy will be no different. Let's just hope that I won't have to wait another 30 years for the next one.

-As devastating as the triple catastrophe in Japan was, we stand to learn a great deal about earthquakes, tsunamis and nuclear power production from all of this. A 9.0 earthquake is a magnitude that no engineer truly considered when designing the infrastructure of Japan and yet the Japanese are perhaps the smartest and most prepared when it comes to earthquakes. Their knowledge and preparation surely saved tens of thousands of lives. Watching the video of the tsunami gave a new understanding of how terrifying these waves truly are. Just like words cannot accurately describe what a hurricane does, only pictures could show what a mountain of water looks like as it takes over the land. And the failure at the nuclear power plant may yet end in catastrophic disaster, but so much is being learned at this 30 year old facility, it can only result in better and safer plant designs in the future. Future disasters may well be averted because of what we learn here. I only hope that fear won't derail nuclear power development for a generation. But perhaps the most surprising lesson learned here is the strength and resolve of the Japanese people. Impressive!

-Visited the Audubon Zoo in New Orleans last week for the first time in 10 years. The Zoo looks beautiful! What a great testament to the people and city of New Orleans to have such an attraction. The grounds and facility look better than ever and the animals seemed happy and well cared for. Add to that some beautiful Spring weather and we had a wonderful day!

- Also went to the Rascal Flatts concert last weekend at the New Orleans Arena. All in all a good show that suffered only from too much volume (and I'm not one that usually complains about loud concerts.) Not my favorite country music band, I recognize Rascal Flatts appeal to the younger generation and the many accolades they've received in their 10 years together. What surprised me (or maybe I should say confirmed for me) is the bands secret desire to be a rock and roll act as they played quite a bit of rock standards from acts like Journey and Boston. They may be country superstars, but they grew up dreaming of being Steve Perry!

39520

2011-03-19T15:48:00.004-05:00

I often joke with the daughters that life is not like 90210... or around here 39520. Teen angst and drama are tops on my list of things to avoid at all costs, but I don't always succeed. Recently as I was recuperating from some minor surgery, Hailey and I settled in to watch Make It Or Break It, a teen drama about gymnasts. Broadcast on the ABC Family network and now in the middle of it's second season, I now have new reason to curse Netflix and it's unsettling ability to provide me whole seasons of shows I really don't want to watch and stream them to me instantly. That's right... Kayleigh catches her best friend Lauren with her on again off again boyfriend Carter and the screen fades to black. Oh well, we'll have to wait until next week to see how it resolves... uh, no... we'll just queue up the next episode and watch right now!

ARRRGGGHHHHH!!!

As I write this we are watching the last episode of the first season and the second season's first episode is ready to go. What's worse is the second season resumes broadcast on ABC Family next week, so there is a time limit to catch up and be ready. Fathers will go to extraordinary and sometimes ridiculous lengths to make their children happy. In the meantime, Kayleigh needs to drop Carter and Lauren and find some new friends...

Old Is New Again

2011-03-19T14:49:00.008-05:00

As I was putting together the last post I was looking over past entries. In fact, I went all the way back to October 2004 (you read that right) and realized that the first post was about Duran Duran and their new album at the time "Astronaut." It was a pretty exciting time as the original line up was together again for the first time in 20 years.

So it seems appropriate that I restart this blog with a post on Duran Duran's newest CD "All You Need Is Now" to be released this week at a store near you. 9 of the 14 tracks on this CD have already been released digitally on iTunes last December and propelled the boys to #1 for the first time in 25 years. (Bonus points if you identified the last #1 song as 1985's A View To A Kill) The CD has been billed as a return to the bands early 80s style of New Romantic Pop. Mega-producer Mark Ronson explained that he wanted an album that could have been a follow up to the classic Rio.

After the second departure of guitarist Andy Taylor and the underwhelming answer to Astronaut, Red Carpet Massacre, All You Need Is Now feels a lot like a time travel adventure with old friends. The music sounds very much like it was pulled from a stash of tunes stored away for 30 years, only this time performed by a Duran Duran that is more confident, seasoned and experienced than the one that sang Hungry Like A Wolf so long ago. Simon LeBon's lyrics come across more imaginative and incoherent (what the f**k is Simon talkin about?) than they have in years and his voice has only improved with age. John Taylor (bass) and Roger Taylor (drums) have reconnected rhythmically in a funky 80s dance groove and Nick Rhodes has pulled out his treasure trove of old synth effects and made them sound new again. Dominic Brown (guitar) is learning not to fight but embrace Andy Taylor's legacy while adding his sound to an already established act. All You Need Is Now is a triumph for a band rarely taken seriously by critics or music aficionados. Duran Duran has spent almost all of their 30 years reinventing themselves both musically and with a constantly rotating lineup of members. They have discovered their greatest success first by reforming their original lineup and keeping it together (albeit without Andy Taylor) and returning to the distinctive sound that they themselves created.

There are very few low points on AYNIN. A song that doesn't resonate the first listening seems to explode the senses during repeat visits, new discoveries popping up all the time. I've listened to The Man Who Stole A Leopard, arguably the CDs masterpiece track, dozens of times and only recently uncovered the background lyrics which harken back to the bands lyrically complex New Religion. LeBon and company sound like a Duran Duran at the top of their game.

SLAP!!!

2011-03-19T13:48:00.008-05:00

I've been away for a while.

Not that it's the first time I've stopped posting on this site only to return out of the blue, but I have been away... for a while. I never really left, or even stopped posting here, it was all just in my head. I love my blog and I love sharing my thoughts with those who read it, but something got in the way.

Facebook.

A lot has been written and discussed about the joy and curse that is Facebook. Hell, even a movie has been made about its creator. It is that very movie that has me here now once again typing away. It is said that we (at least the "we" that is 25 and younger) barely remember a time before Facebook. I'm a good 20 years beyond that age group and I can safely say that I find it hard not to check in with Facebook at least once a day. The link sits there at almost dead center on my browsers homepage and when I'm out and about the familiar "f" logo also sits about dead center on my smart phone.

Facebook is easy. Simple as that. A thought can be broadcast to everyone you are connected with in seconds. A link to a video or funny story or fascinating website is shared with people you've known for 30 years or your own child's best friend with just a few clicks. Nevermind that the opportunity to go into detail or flesh out your feelings or opinion is lost in the brevity of the post. The post is more important than the person who is posting it.

It was that realization and watching "The Social Network" as well as a recent article by "the great" John C. Dvorak that started the wheels turning again. I have more to say than a Facebook post allows. I still love Facebook. Facebook has successfully reconnected me with some of my favorite people in the world and I hope that at least some of them will occasionally stop by here to get to know the real me a little better than the "mini-me" represented on Facebook. I'm not leaving Facebook anytime soon and I don't believe it is the evil obsession that some do. But Facebook can be overused. A friend asked me just this week to "Gibbs-slap" her (look it up) if she ever showed signs of living her life on Facebook. Not only did I promise that I would, I decided that maybe I needed one before I became too dependent!

"Thanks boss..."

Review: Western Digital WDTV Live Plus

2010-06-23T06:45:00.011-05:00

For quite some time now I have been producing my own little tech revolution in WalleyWorld. For almost 2 years I have been moving all of my media to digital storage. Now in truth, most of us began this revolution a very long time ago by purchasing digital cameras and storing our pictures on hard drives and printing just what you wanted while storing the rest like the pack rats we humans are. Then, with the advent of WinAmp and later with the original iPod we began "ripping" our music from our CD collections and converting them to MP3s, again storing them as well as listening to them on our computers and portable music devices. I have a collection of 10,000 songs, a ridiculous amount that I probably only ever listen to less than 1% regularly.

But in WalleyWorld, the largest collections have always been movies. We are a cinema loving people here and since purchasing our first VCR in 1985 we have amassed a staggering collection of video tapes and now DVDs, sometimes several copies of the same movie everytime a studio decides to release a "newer, better" version! Then, a couple of years ago DVDs gave way to Blu-Ray. Once again, I faced the chore of "upgrading" my collection.

I decided, at least for now, to go in a different direction.

I began to convert my existing collection over to MP4 format and store them on my hard drives. I started with home movies, then music videos (my very own MTV) and now movies and TV shows. It gave me an opportunity to look through my collection and pick out those movies that I very much loved and wanted to see again and leave the rest in storage, donate to my local library or give away to family and friends.

Watching this stored media was limited to computers at first, then computers that would connect to my TVs. The quality of viewing was always limited to the video card in the computer and the available connector type on the TV. Sometimes it was pretty good...most of the time "blehh."

Enter the WDTV Live Plus, a media center device designed to join the computer with the living room TV. Now, devices like this have been around for a few years now. Most notably the AppleTV and the gaming consoles XBOX360 and PS3 as well as several other brands not as well known. This is Western Digital's 3rd generation unit in the series and I find that that's usually enough to have knocked the major kinks out of a system. It is also very small, less than the size of a paperback book!

The WDTV wirelessly streams video stored on my computers hard drives to any of my HDTV and standard TVs in my house in beautiful high definition or upconverted standard definition. The HDMI connection provides up to 1080i or 1080p resolutions and Dolby digital sound. It also streams my music and displays my photos from my computer. You can connect an external hard drive to the WDTV as well.

The WDTV also streams Netflix movies just as the XBox, PS3 and Wii as well as YouTube and various other online services. One service in particular is Mediafly, an internet podcast and videocast broadcaster. For 6 years I have watched or listened to half a dozen different webcasts on my computer. Now, I can sit back and enjoy them on my television. And the quality is great!

Setup of the WDTV can be frustrating if you are easily boggled by network connections, but once you are connected, configuring is a breeze. Any snags you might hit are easily helped by the expert user group forums online. Just Google or Bing "WDTV Live forums." The best part of the forums is discovering all of the things your WDTV will do and how to quickly accomplish these tasks.

Once you are up and running, the living room couch experience is as pleasant as using a TiVo or PS3. A beautiful and concise menu system guides you to your content and starts the show. Once running, you can pause, fast forward, rewind, skip back 10 seconds, access the menus...just like a DVD player or DVR. Multiple sound and subtitle formats are supported as well as over a dozen video codecs. Just about any format your music, video or photos are stored in, the WDTV can recognize it! It can also play a DVD from your computer's DVD drive just as if you were operating a DVD player connected directly to the TV.

Many Blu-Ray and DVD's purchased today come with "digital copies" on the disc and these files are perfect for storing on your computer and playing with the WDTV, but you can also "rip" your existing movie collection to your computer using programs like Nero. Because of the internal upconverting and HDMI delivery, many programs we have viewed look slightly better than playing them directly from the DVD. High definition files stream and play beautifully over a wireless network.

Is this the answer for my Blu-Ray problem? Possibly. Will it mean the end of cable or satellite service in WalleyWorld? Not yet, but I see a day very soon where traditional broadcasting will give way to devices like the WDTV.

For now, I have found a great way to store my media collections...and free up a lot of shelf space!!!

...All About The Toys!

2010-06-19T22:42:00.010-05:00

A lot has happened in the 15 years since Disney & Pixar released the original Toy Story. Robert was 9 years old in contrast to Hailey who will be 14 this year. Sam and I had just celebrated 10 years together and now we can look back at a quarter century of marriage. Hurricanes, graduations, surgeries, deaths, marriages...life moves on. Throughout, Toy Story (and it's offspring Toy Story 2) remained a constant that all of the Walley's shared again and again, a well of happiness and laughter, a bit of temporary rejuvenation and emotional replenishment that filled the soul and touched the heart and reminded all of us how to see through the eyes of a child once again sometimes just before the clouds of the real world returned.
The anticipation for a Toy Story 3 began not long after Toy Story 2. Pixar had made a practice of avoiding sequels to their beloved movies and Toy Story 2 had been the lone exception. It's success had spurred Disney to request another follow-up...and quick. In fact, Toy Story 3 had a big part in Disney's acquisition of Pixar. Pixar could have easily gone alone after their partnership with Disney ended. But Disney owned the characters and made it clear that they would move forward with another Toy Story with or without Pixar. Pixar ultimately joined Disney for many solid and smart business reasons but the Toy Story sequel was a personal issue to it's creators. Disney's work on Toy Story 3 was immediately scrapped and the Pixar crew went hard to work developing the next chapter of Woody, Buzz and the rest of Andy's collection of toys.
So it has been 10 years since Toy Story 2 and the result was worth it! Toy Story 3 is the best of the series and the best Pixar movie yet, although that is only the opinion of this long time, die hard fan. The afterglow of the movie is still fresh with me and I may waver a bit in the years to come as I revisit the original Toy Story and it's kin (yes, The Incredibles comes to mind!) But for now, I am amazed that the third installment so thoroughly exceeded my already high expectations!
I don't recap or recount stories. For that you can look elsewhere, or better yet just get your rear to a theatre and see it! What I will say is be warned: you will shed a tear. Even the burliest, unemotional, usually stoic individual will not be able to swallow back the lump that will begin to rise in the last 10 minutes of the movie. And that is probably the best part! Toy Story has transcended the realm of Pixar blockbuster or Disney Classic and become ours now. With Toy Story 3 we, like Andy, have grown up and almost lost the ability to see through the eyes of a child...and then regained this almost lost vision once again, and just in time! That revelation is almost too much for Andy (and us) as the emotion overtakes us leaving us with only a tinge of sadness but filled to the brim with indescribable joy. That is a powerful magic only few movies possess, and Toy Story 3 only achieves this magic standing on the shoulders of Toy Story and Toy Story 2. It is now possible to see the three movies as one story told over a long span of time.
Though the series would be served well to end right here and go no further, there are more than enough directions presented to continue the films. There was a time were I would have said stop and let these films take their place in cinematic history but I will stop short of saying that now. John Lasseter and the crew at Disney/Pixar have shown time and again that they can improve on themselves over and over. Lasseter, Tom Hanks and Tim Allen have already floated the possibility of more Toy Story adventures in the future...and I'm perfectly comfortable with that idea.

The Big Chair: TV Edition

2009-10-15T01:52:00.002-05:00

Thoughts from the big comfortable TV chair: NCIS is better than ever this year and finally the #1 show on TV; It's good to see the old crew back on HOUSE this year; Hell's Kitchen was actually pretty good this year and I was extremely surprised by who won; It's a little early to be sure, but Survivor may have it's best cast ever; Two and a Half Men is the same show it was six years ago when it started and there is something comforting about that; Criminal Minds is probably the best show you are not watching; The Mentalist is not as appealing to me this year; I can't remember the last time I watched any episode of CSI; Numb3rs is the show I never watch until they stack up on my DVR...and then they always please me; Big Bang Theory is so good I often watch it again in the same week; None of the networks have put up something new that I want to jump onboard weekly, but Trauma is very close; NCIS-LA needs some serious work to hook me; Grey's and Private Practice are still my guilty pleasures.

Summer Has Been Good

2009-08-18T23:58:00.005-05:00

Just a few pics from what has been an exceptional summer...

All the chickees are home

Reunion with Misty and Paul Thorson

My Buddy!

Hey Baby!!!

Photo Ketchup

2009-07-02T00:49:00.001-05:00

Impromptu Patio Cookout

2009-06-05T09:13:00.001-05:00

Photo Ketchup- Hope's Graduation

2009-05-25T08:49:00.004-05:00

Photo Ketchup- Hope's Senior Prom

2009-05-25T08:39:00.000-05:00

Photo Ketchup- Stepper Banquet

2009-05-25T08:32:00.001-05:00

Photo Ketchup- Bay High Recital

2009-05-25T07:57:00.008-05:00

Walley Family Sunday Dinner- March 22

2009-03-23T12:58:00.003-05:00

Brandy's Little Princess

2009-03-23T12:50:00.001-05:00

Photo Ketchup- Walley Family Sunday Dinner

2009-03-23T12:39:00.002-05:00

Photo Ketchup

2009-03-23T12:33:00.002-05:00

Ricardo Montalban Has Passed Away

2009-01-14T16:02:00.000-06:00

Ricardo Montalban, the 88-year old actor who portrayed Khan Noonien Singh on Star Trek, died today at his home in Los Angeles. AP has just reported that Matalban’s passing was announced by Los Angeles City Council President Eric Garcetti. RadarOnline reports Motlablan died of natural causes.

This Is The Christmas Tree I Will Get Next Year!

2008-12-26T17:37:00.001-06:00

Can you imaginee number of gifts I can get UNDER this tree!

Found On The Web

2008-12-26T17:36:00.002-06:00

Amazing Pic

2008-12-26T17:35:00.002-06:00

Dame Edna's Christmas Address To The Commonwealth

2008-12-24T04:59:00.001-06:00

A WalleyWorld Favorite Passes Away

2008-12-10T06:58:00.000-06:00

From USA Today:

Actor Robert Prosky dies at age 77

Robert Prosky has died in a Washington hospital, his son tells AP. He was 77.
From Mrs. Doubtfire to Hill Street Blues, Prosky was a face we all knew well, from his hundreds of credits on stage and screen. His oldest son, Stefan Prosky, said his dad died Monday night of complications from a heart procedure. "He went gracefully last night, not in pain," Stefan said. "Everybody knows him as a fairly famous actor. My brothers and I know him as a marvelous father."

Prosky was one of the most visible character actors in Hollywood. The chances that you haven't seen a movie or show with him in it are very slim. Later in life he was more than often cast as judges, some of our favorites being in the remake of "Miracle on 34th Street" and a recurring part on Boston Legal. Prosky will be missed here in WalleyWorld.

Yoshi Watch- Holiday Edition

2008-12-09T13:00:00.001-06:00

Photo Ketchup

2008-11-21T11:14:00.005-06:00

Just a handful of pics, mostly from October, to catch up with family events. As you can tell, we spent a lot of time at high school football games.

Sam in her office

Rob & Sam the night of Toast To The Coast

Skyler & Meg the night of Toast to the Coast Bryce & Hope Homecoming Hailey & Meg Look at that 'stud!"Amanda Brogle & Meg Brooke Moran & Hope Hope & the Steppers Hope & Meg Meg Sam & Meg Sam in the kitchen Hope portrait

The Big Chair- TREK Trailer Edition

2008-11-15T08:07:00.004-06:00

A bootleg of the trailer for the new STAR TREK movie is now out and I have posted it on this page. Please view at your leisure. The link will almost certainly be removed and hopefully by then I can replace it with an official one from Paramount when that happens. In any event, there is a lot to glean from this new trailer and here are my thoughts after viewing it...oh, a dozen times now.

-Zachary Quinto definitely looks like Spock...but he doesn't sound a bit like Leonard Nimoy. That will be hard to reconcile for a while...not a deal breaker.

-The new Enterprise will work. It is not as offensive as it was when I first saw it and scenes of the girl make me more and more comfortable. She's different...but she's still the Enterprise!

-Spacedock is gone. But if you look closely at what has replaced it...well, all I can say is "bravo!" In place of the orbiting spacedock facility the new team has seen fit to place an orbiting station that looks just like Franz Joseph's design for the massive Starfleet Command HQ from the old Technical Manual. What a great idea! This thing is HUGE! You can see a scene of the Enterprise departing the station.

-There is a great scene of Kirk viewing the construction of the Enterprise on Earth, a scene we were told would not be in the movie prior to now. Freeze the frame here if you can. She's a beauty! Despite being pretty unclear in the Teaser released last January, you can see that the secondary hull is being constructed as well and from this angle the entire ship really looks good!

-Simon Pegg has one scene in this trailer, but it is a doozy. He's exclaiming "I like this ship! This is exciting!" Hearing Scotty with a true scottish accent and coming from the mouth of Simon Pegg...hell, this will be worth the price of admission! I loved James Doohan, but Pegg was a great choice for this part.

-Karl Urban is McCoy! I am fully behind this casting choice.

-The old TOS style red alert klaxons can be heard at one point...but this is a trailer and they may not make it into the final cut when all is said and done. ***In a side note, an attendee at the UK preview where they screened 20 minutes of footage said that in one scene Kirk spoke into a wrist communicator (ala TMP) and it made the old communicator chirp sound.

- There is a token titillating scene of Uhura undressing. All I can say is that bra design doesn't seem to change in the next 250 years.

-It has been noted that there is a scene of the Enterprise shuttlebay, but I am going out on a limb to disagree. I believe that it is more likely a shuttle bay at Starfleet Academy where cadets are departing to their ships. The bay is just too big to be on a starship...even the new Enterprise.

-There is a scene of Sarek and Amanda on Vulcan on a patio. In the background you can see the famous Vasquez rocks made so famous in several TOS and TNG episodes. These folks really know how to slip in the small but important stuff.

-There is a scene of Kirk and Spock on the bridge with Sulu and Chekov at their stations behind them that just looks "right."

-The Enterprise at warp looks like a swirling cloudy vortex. No streaking stars or rainbow effects as we have seen before.

-Starfleet starship nacelles have a definite glowing blue exhaust at the rear now (ala Star Wars.) This always looked impressive in Star Wars but it flies in the face of Star Trek science. These are not proulsion engines. They are warp field generators. BUT...I can adapt my thinking and consider that now they are both. It does look impressive!

-The new corridors are BIG. Like everything else on the new E, they are white. The problem I have here is the high gloss polished black flooring which just makes me think Galaxy Quest! JJ Abrams has admitted that he is Galaxy Quest fan and I believe it WILL show in this movie. Enterprrise flooring should be carpeting or steel grating, not a polished floor that looks like it could be stone.

-We finally get to see a scene of Kirk in his gold uniform. Pine looks good as Kirk as he's exclaiming, "buckle up!"

-Reactions from females as to Chris Pine has been very positive. Even Sam saw the trailer and said, "he's a good looking man." Poor Shat-man. It may all be over soon.

-I think Eric Bana is going to make us forget every Romulan we have ever seen before. He is definitely different.

-I have read a lot about Nero's orbital drilling platform that he uses to try to destroy Vulcan but I wasn't prepared for how great this device would look. A lot of the movies action takes place on this device and I can see how nothing like this has ever been done on film before. This sequence is a showcase for Kirk and Sulu (as well as an ill-fated "red shirt") and looks to be spectacular!

Wow! Yes, I'm a fan.

New STAR TREK Trailer...Get It While You Can

2008-11-15T07:29:00.002-06:00

Untitled from mike woods on Vimeo.

Oh well, it was fun while it lasted. Paramount is pulling bootlegs right and left. Official trailer will be up Monday. Glad I got to view it a couple of dozen times before it went down.

New Enterprise Revealed

2008-11-12T08:23:00.007-06:00

Okay, after a long, long wait, the first pic of the new Enterprise from the new Star Trek movie is finally here.

***Long Pause***

Well, it looks like a Star Trek ship...but...the Enterprise? I am disappointed. There is little doubt left that this new Star Trek is a reboot like Battlestar Galactica and the current Batman franchises. That is not a bad thing and we will have to see how this new imagining turns out. But I had great expectations for the new Enterprise...and this is not what I had hoped for.

First impressions: What bothers me the most is the secondary hull and the interconnecting dorsal to the saucer. I can live with the rest. I don't love the nacelles but I do like their length. The saucer is PERFECT! The only great thing in the midst of a lot of disappointment. If you look closely, you will see that the saucer is almost a spot on reproduction of the TMP saucer, right down to the windows! There are some very slight differences, but man...they were on the right track here. Also, the airlock ports on the secondary hull and dorsal are in TMP style and placement. The main deflector dish is protruding like the TOS version, but it glows blue like the TMP version. The shuttlecraft flying around the Big E all look similar to the old style, the main difference being that the nacelles are mounted near the top of the craft. There is now a photon torpedo launcher on the dorsal just like the TMP version. The Reaction Control Thrusters on the saucer are exactly the same as the TMP version. I do not care for the NCC-1701 emblazoned on the underside of the secondary hull. There are no hull markings on the underside of the saucer, BUT the rust ring from the top of the TOS saucer seems to have found its way to the bottom of this saucer. In fairness, attention to the science of the Trek universe has been paid attention to here and some of the differences do make more sense based on Trek science. The design of the nacelles does now allow for what is obviously a particle ramscoop on the forward section. Also, even though I don't care for how they've moved the secondary hull dramatically forward from it's predecessors, it does make more sense considering that you really do want a wide berth forward for that deflector dish. However, moving the dish so much far forward now makes having photon torpedo launchers on the dorsal kind of dangerous. I'd have left that out if it didn't look so cool.

There has also been private screenings of the trailer and 20 minutes of footage from the movie in the UK that are getting raving reviews. The trailer opens tomorrow in front of the new James Bond movie Quantum of Solace, then makes it's internet debut on Monday. I really was planning to see the trailer in the theatres, but due to mediocre pre-reviews of Quantum, I've decided to just wait. I usually like any James Bond movie despite poor reviews, but when you add the cost of securing an employee on a Friday night plus the cost of the evening out...well, I can wait.

What do you think of the new Enterprise? Take our poll on the right side of this page to let us know.

UPDATE: I've blown the image up and set it as my wallpaper to study it. It's still not what I would have wanted...but it's growing on me!

Elections Are Finally Over!

2008-11-05T12:07:00.003-06:00

The longest and most expensive election is now finally over as Barak Obama has been elected president. It was also the second largest turnout ever with just under two-thirds of eligible voters casting a ballot. Obama captured 52% of the popular vote but ran away with the electoral college vote. Ready or not..."change" is here.
In Mississippi voting, Thad Cochran and Roger Wicker retained their US Senate seats while Gene Taylor will remain in the US House for another 2 years.

Michael Crichton Has Passed Away

2008-11-05T11:58:00.003-06:00

Michael Crichton has passed away. A popular novelist, TV & film producer, director and writer, and physician, Crichton was a particular favorite here in WalleyWorld. His novels include Jurassic Park and The Andromeda Strain and he co-created and produced the television series ER. He was 66.

Election Day Is Here- Passing The Torch

2008-11-04T14:39:00.004-06:00

Two new citizens of WalleyWorld have joined the voting ranks as Meg and Hope cast their first ever ballots today. The girls joined Sam and I as we participated in this years election for president, senate, congressional representative, judges and various other elected posts. A rite of passage, the girls have taken another step into adulthood and entered our country's political process.
Tonight, we will all take in a movie together, have dinner, probably decorate a little for the holidays and then tune in around 9 or 10pm for the election results. Since we all expect Obama to win the presidential election, we will be paying particular attention to the state and local elections.
As we drove to to the polls today, I considered that this would be the third time in my life that I have cast a vote for Senator Thad Cochran (the only year I missed was when I lived in Texas). I also recalled standing on the steps of the Capitol Building in Washington, D.C. meeting Senator Cochran for the first time in 1979. I was younger than three of my children are now and just a couple of years older than my youngest. After we voted, Meg and Hope informed me that they too voted for Cochran. It is a moment that will be lost in time and memory, but it was a warm moment that connected all of us...and passed the torch from father to daughters.

John McCain on SNL!

2008-11-02T04:52:00.002-06:00

The Big Chair- November is HERE!

2008-11-01T07:03:00.005-05:00

November is here! My favorite month. Winter is slipping in. The warm clothes come out. Football is really heating up. The holidays are creeping in. The nights are longer. Kids seem happier. Decorations are going up. TV shows and movies take on a holiday cheer. The election is winding up. God Bless Us...one and all!

Now a few days before the election, it seems a foregone conclusion that Barak Obama will win this one. It will be a historic event in our nations history. I still have many concerns about an Obama administration but have always firmly believed that we must get behind our president whoever he/she is. We do live in the greatest democratic republic ever attempted in history and while things have not always gone well, we seem to thrive in any event. We will continue to do so.

More pics and news on the new STAR TREK movie trickled in last week. Even though the powers that be have been careful to avoid the "reboot" words, it looks pretty clear that this is exactly what the new movie will be. While most vocal Trekkies condemn this, I'm pretty much okay with the whole idea. Those of us who have been around since the beginning have seen so much Trek come and go that we just want a good story and strong characters. JJ Abrams and his crew have entertained me well for many years and I have faith that they won't mess this up.

Hope and the Steppers dance team have been the focus around here for weeks and their season is now winding down. After a pretty chaotic year last year and many doubters as to the teams abilities and talent this year, the girls have surprised everyone. They participated in more competitions this year, scored superior marks in all and even best in class in one. This is a fine way for Hope to complete her tenure as captain and her career as a Stepper. Way to go, HOPE!

Hope also turned 18 this past month and celebrated by...going to another Stepper competition. That was the day they won best in class. How could Mama and Daddy top that?

Hope and Meg will both be voting in their first election this coming week. A tradition I always envisioned when the kids were younger is that they would all be registered once they were 18 and I would go with them to their first voting experience. I remember going with Robert 4 years ago and we are already coordinating our busy schedules around here so that I can go with the girls. A proud but bittersweet event.

Hopefully, Hailey has participated in her last childhood Halloween. After 23 years, Sam and I are quite ready to pass this parental priviledge on to the next generation. Hailey went out with two of her friends and came back unusually early and with very little candy. I think the girls were much more concerned with watching TV and hanging out til the wee hours of the morning.
...and all I got was a mini-Milky Way!

One of the best things about decorating for Christmas around WalleyWorld is that our little storage house gets it's Spring cleaning a few months early. You would think that after the hurricane there wouldn't be much in there but you would be wrong. Its always kinda fun to discover things I thought were lost and even more fun to toss most of everything once and for all.

DirecTV surprised us all when they called and said they were coming out to upgrade all of our equipment...free of charge! New dish is so big they had to mount it to the roof this time (Sam liked that as she didn't like it on the patio) and new HD DVR in the living room more that satiates any High Def viewing I ever wanted. Almost 100 channels in HD. Now if I could just find the time to watch even a few of them. In the meantime, the DVR is filling up!

Still compiling Christmas episodes of any TV show I can find for inclusion on a DVD set I'm creating. The list is pretty varied and I will add new programs in follwing years. This is the kinda thing that'll be great to pop in and play throughout the season. Already included is Home Improvement (of course), M*A*S*H (you knew it), Frasier, The Love Boat, Newhart, Doogie Houser, Roseanne, Two and a Half Men, The Odd Couple...and more! Plus, I'm including a few special tidbits here and there like traditional holiday cartoons, Christmas specials and, YES, some Dame Edna Experience! Let me know if you want a copy for yourselves and if there are any requests for inclusion!

More New STAR TREK Pics!

2008-10-29T08:30:00.002-05:00

BREAKING NEWS

2008-10-24T11:36:00.001-05:00

John McCain served aboard the aircraft carrier...USS ENTERPRISE! What more do you people need in order to convince you? Back to your regularly scheduled program...

Opie, Richie, Andy and the Fonz Together Again

2008-10-24T10:15:00.003-05:00

Wow, I love Happy Days and I love Ron Howard, so this was a fun trip down memory lane. But it still won't make me vote for Obama!

Watch How I Screw It All Up For OBAMA

2008-10-24T09:51:00.001-05:00

Robert created this and sent this to me. Hilarious!!!

The Election Choice Just Became Clearer

2008-10-20T12:41:00.002-05:00

The View From The Big Chair

2008-10-20T10:25:00.008-05:00

-Looks like my New Orleans Saints season is now in doubt. Tough thing to say 7 weeks into the season, but RB Reggie Bush is out and probably will be until late November. Just one look at the Saints without Bush in the line up is enough to know why they depend on him so much. Oh well...maybe next year.

-On that note, my U-Pick-Em sesaon is still above 75% picked correct and I sit in the middle of my Fantasy Football League at 7th place (out of 14)

-In the middle of our busiest weekend of the year, Hope turned 18 years old. Football games, Band competition and Homecoming festivities prevented a traditional celebration, but we will make time for a big gathering. We did make her favorite meal Sunday; baked ham, mac & cheese and sweet & sour greenbeans. We are all still stuffed!

- The Band competition at Perk was last Saturday and Bay High did very well scoring a superior, but the news of the day was that the Bay High Steppers not only scored a superior but also won "Best in Class!" What a way for Hope to finish her Stepper career as Captain of the Steppers!!!

-Robert and Beth made a brief trip to the coast this past weekend for a get together celebrating their nuptials. They are doing well and looking good. Married life definitely agrees with them. Word has it that their next scheduled appearance is at Christmas time.

-And speaking of Christmas...the holidays are near and we are already getting ready around here. The first poinsettia has made it appearance in the house and the first box of decorations have been inventoried. A wrapping station has been set up and the Christmas card list is getting the once-over. I really do love Christmas.

-Even though I got my copy of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull last week, I have yet to find a good evening to sit back and watch. Maybe this week! I have had the opportunity to check out the special features...and WOW! Be sure to get the 2 disc special edition or Blu-ray edition to get all of the amazing special features amd documentaries, they are almost as good as the movie itself.

-Hailey (as well as all of the other girls in the house) is reading the Twilight series of books. The series about Vampires is the current "in thing" and a movie based on the first book is due next month. Even Sam is reading this series.

-Hope, Hailey, Sam and Meg all piled up on the couch Sunday to view the "Sex In The City" movie. Their unanimous review is that it was great! As the resident male, all I can say is that I was in another part of the house!

-The new James Bond movie "Quantum of Solace" has premiered in the UK (it will open here in November) and the reviews are lukewarm. It seems the title song pretty much sucks, the action is toned down from the first, traditional Bond conventions have been abandoned and the director was probably not the right choice. After Casino Royale, any movie was going to have a hard time living up to it's greatness and I didn't really expect "Solace" to achieve that. My anticipation for the movie has not waned and I will be there opening weekend. Besides, Paramount plans to premiere the first tailer for STAR TREK before Quantum of Solace.

-Speaking of which, last week saw the debut of Paramount's marketing machine for the new STAR TREK movie which opens next May. The first 10 pics from the movie showed off the new cast and a few sets from the movie. Reaction has been strong and positive. This is definitely not Trek as we've seen it before.

-The stock market has been waaaay down and wayyyy up in the last week. No one is sure which way this debacle will shape up. On a bright note, the price of gas has tumbled! I could hardly contain my excitement as I filled up my tank at $2.65 a gallon three days ago. Hallelujah!!! I asked the folks who own the gas station I frequent how high the gas was at it's peak in the last few months. They said the high at that location had made it to $3.99 a gallon in September. WOW! There is good news!

-The debated for this election cycle are over and it is generally agreed that McCain just didn't perform as he needed to. BUT...for some reason, the polls seemed to have turned and McCain is now within 2 percentage points of Obama. Just the week before Obama's lead seemed insurmountable with his lead sometimes in the double digits. I have officially entered the election "fatigue" zone.

-All that is old is new again. I subscribed to Rolling Stone magazine and watched Saturday Night Live both pretty religiously from the time I was 10 years old til my early 20s. When both fell apart in the late 80s, I like many others abandoned both. Well, this year has been a bit of a renaissance for both as I have tuned in to SNL more often and after picking up a half dozen copies of Rolling Stone, I have subscribed once again. Both have become relevant again in the pop culture world and while they both tip to the left politically, they are both so well written and timely. Pick up a copy and tune in!

-Duran Duran seems to have fallen again. After the huge comeback that was Astronaut, Red Carpet massacre has been a disappointment. Last week, my brother and I were offered tickets to the band's show at the Beau Rivage later this year. Gordon and I both turned them down and agreed that after seeing the original band in a concert venue in 2005, seeing a fractured version in a casino theatre was not the way we wanted to remember our favorite group. The mere fact that they are playing casino theatres again (as they did in 1999) is a bad enough sign of their decline. We will always have the music!

-We attended the annual Toast to the Coast party last week in Pass Christian and there were some notable changes this year. The number of restaurants participating has increased two fold from previous years and the selection was fantastic! The live band was also huge step up and did an amazing job faithfully performing hits from the last 30 years. There was also an incredible fireworks display late in the evening over the beach. That said, attendance was noticably down from previous years, some estimated as much as 30% down. This in contrast to the annual CCA party we attended 2 weeks ago where attendance was up and most of the same vendors participated. It is possible the two events were scheduled too close to one another and one will have to go. The CCA event has the benefit of being more casual and informal which can make for a more relaxed evening. Even so, Sam and I were joined this year by Meg and her boyfriend Skyler Gex. Everyone looked wonderful decked out in their finest and we had wonderful time!

SNL- Palin and Fey

2008-10-19T07:12:00.001-05:00

Happy Birthday, HOPEEEEE!!!!

2008-10-17T07:38:00.005-05:00

This the day I've been dreading for soooo long. Today, Hope officially enters the world of adulthood as she turns 18 years old. This November, she will vote for the first time and next year she will be heading out into the big world.

I am so proud of this busy young lady, and hope that she has a wonderful birthday...whenever she finds time to celebrate! She has so many things piled into the next few days that she will be lucky to celebrate her birthday on Sunday, if she doesn't fall asleep!

Happy Birthday HOPE!!!

Holy Crap- First TREK Photos Released!!!- UPDATED

2008-10-16T11:22:00.014-05:00

I'm a kid in a candy store today as the first pics from next years new Star Trek movie have been released online! Entertainment Weekly's cover story for this week will be released Friday with Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto as Kirk and Spock. Quinto looks like he is wearing a hairpiece instead of his own hair like Nimoy, but, the duo looks good and should be convincing as the Trek icons. Click on each and every image for gloriously enlarged views

Seriously, this scene is so "Amok Time" I just can't stand it! Quinto looks just like Nimoy from that episode.

Eric Bana as the Romulan villian Nero has already been unfavorably compared to Nemesis' Shinzon. This image is not helping!

The gang's all here! Anton Yelchin as Chekov, Chris Pine as Kirk, Simon Pegg looking great as Scotty, Karl Urban is going to be a terrific Bones, Frank Cho as Sulu and Zoe Saldana channelling Nichelle Nichols as Uhura...all on the Bridge. A producer has stated that the black shirt Kirk wears in every pic here is part of the storyline. Zooming in over Sulu's head you can see the display says "Warp Factor." BTW, this image makes great wallpaper!

The USS Kelvin in battle. New above deck phaser turrets and hull markings closer to the TMP style, not the TOS style. Rumors have it that ILM is returning to using models instead of CGI. There is no way to tell from this shot, but it does look extremely good! Reminds me of scenes of the USS Reliant in Star Trek II.

Kirk sliding down an ice crevice (or is he climbing?) Note the Enterprise escape pod at the bottom.

The new bridge! Besides the new Enterprise, this is the shot we've been waiting for. There are a few echoes of the Original series here with Kirk's Captain's Chair, the red railing, a single sleeve braid to denote officers like the early TOS, McCoys grim stance behind Kirk and the early TOS style lamps on the console stations. Besides that, the set looks more like a logical progression toward the TMP and movie era Bridges than the TOS bridge. JJ Abrams has said that all consoles have a specific and logical real function.

The fan boards are already showing dislike for this design, but I can wrap my head around some of the changes and I can reserve final judgement until I see it in motion. Specific problems noted are the enlarged hull markings, the markings are pushed more toward the forward edge and the blue glow of the nacelle. I really don't know if it a nacelle but it's okay by me anyway. The markings are non traditional but I can get past it. Time for a video!

Speaking of which, Paramount now plans to release the first full trailer for STAR TREK before the new James Bond movie Quantum Of Solace!

Pine as Kirk

Excellent profile shot of Quinto as Spock!

Urban (McCoy) and Pine (Kirk) I've read a little about this scene. It takes place at Starfleet Academy as an emergency arises and newly commissioned officers are dispatched by the dozens to their new assignments. This is where Kirk and McCoy first meet on a shuttle on it's way to their new appointments.
It never occured to me until I saw this picture that Karl Urban looks like actor Gary Lockwood (Frank Poole from 2001 & Gary Mitchell from Star Trek TOS) What a missed opportunity!

Cho as Sulu.

Finally! A very good shot of Eric Bana as Nero. Bana's a great actor and he could make a great Star Trek villian. We've never seen a Romulan like this before.

And yet another of Sulu on the bridge.

We are still waiting for a view of the new Enterprise, but for now this is much more than we counted on so early in the game! Abrams and Paramount have given fans plenty to examine and pour over for some time. This is turning out to look much better than I had hoped with just enough homage to the original series and plenty of new looks and ideas.

The Big Chair: Election Edition

2008-10-10T10:37:00.004-05:00

The following thoughts are my own and do not reflect the views of all the denizens of WalleyWorld. - Rob

With 25 days left to go before the Presidential election, I discovered that this blog has been up long enough that this is actually the second Presidential election to make it to posting status here. The difference between 2004 and this year is that...I have less invested this time around. I've spent the better part of my life as an amateur political historian, a conservative (not necessarily a Republican) and a strong believer in a free market capitalistic society. In these past four years, I have studied early American political history (the first 50 years) a great deal more, I'm still conservative in principal and I still believe that the US is best served by a free market economy with as little interference from the federal government as possible. I have expounded on these issues and points with friends all over the world in recent weeks and I encountered some very interesting perspectives deserving of thought and consideration.

I enjoy different points of view, especially when they are well presented and substantial. They don't always change my mind, but they often stop me in my tracks and make the big picture a little bigger. I find that television coverage is of little use anymore since the viewer is often fed viewpoints of the broadcaster rather than viewpoints of the candidates which is usually contentious enough by itself. Believe it or not, it was very much the same 230+ years ago with the media of the time, the main difference then being that a news cycle then could be separated by days or even weeks while we now have minute by minute coverage ad nauseum 24 hours a day.

Presidential elections are often won or lost by the issues of the day and this years election has more than it's share of issues. Arm-chair quarterbacks 50 years from now will decide how the issues of today rank with the turbulent events from elections past, but right now CNN, FOX News, MSNBC and the like would have us believe that things have never been worse than it is right now. This reporting makes for good ratings and currently they are all seeing explosive viewership.

But there is no denying that things are bad right now. The economy is in serious trouble and recent actions by our Congress stand to make things worse in the long run, not better. The demands on our military are increasing, not decreasing around the world. Both candidates have plans to redeploy troops, even as they talk troop draw downs in Iraq and the hotspots awaiting our troops are growing. Bi-partisan cooperation in Washington is a pipe dream (and has been for close to 15 years now) and the only answer I see is a complete clean sweep of both houses.

Clearly, "CHANGE" is needed.

"Change" is the primary moniker used by one candidate in this years election, but the truth is, in this unique year with no incumbent candidate, "change" is gonna come either way. The events of the day alone would make it hard for anything to remain status quo, so the real question is who is making the nation "feel good" right now. This is a tried and true method for getting elected. Reagan used it to sail into office in 1980 and Clinton did so in 1992. It's not enough to say that the American public wanted to be rid of the problems of the Carter or (first) Bush administrations, they wanted someone who made them feel good and (more important) feel good about voting for them. Barry Obama (yes, he went by the name Barry in college) does this for the people! It's hard to deny that with all of the turmoil facing the next administration, Obama stands to be much different from the current administration than would John McCain's. No one knows whether Obama or McCain's presidency would be good or bad, successful or cataclismic, prosperous or deflating and campaign promises, no matter how good they sound, often go unfulfilled because the electorate has a tendancy to forget what a candidate stood for after they are elected and installed in office. Americans have short term memories and even shorter patience when it comes to their politicians. This election is like American Idol. We are getting ready to pick the popular choice when the current show ends in November, but come January, if we don't like his album...we aren't going to buy it!

As I write this, I've just erased a two paragraph examination of the virtue of the Electoral College system over the popular vote. No history lesson is needed here so I have decided not to include one, except to say that electing our President must always consist of more than Ryan Seacrest exclaiming "text message your vote to *555 if you think Barry should be the next American Preisident!"

I have said before that I do not worry much over which political party holds the White House. Presidents ability to effect change is usually limited to which party has control of Congress at the time. The next President will be working with a Democrat led Congress and both will find this a drag on their abilty to get anything done. It is a foregone conclusion Congress will work overtime against a McCain administration, but what would be more interesting is what might happen to an Obama administration. It is conceivable that the Congress as led by Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reed would try to assert their authority over an Obama agenda in the wake of the recent Banking bailout and their 2006 retaking of the congessional majority. No way career Washington Democrats are going to allow their newly coronated figurehead to threaten their power in a way that may translate into lost seats in 2010. That's right, they are already looking ahead to 2010! When the Democrats lost control of Congress in 1994, it took 12 long years to get it back. They understand that the Catch-22 of an Obama victory is the real danger of the Republican's regaining control in 2010. If the next 2 years do not produce significant improvements in American minds, there will be no one for the Dems to blame but themselves. In some ways, a McCain win is the Dems safest bet to stay in power.

I am supporting John McCain for President. This is not an announcement but an affirmation that if the Bush years have taught me anything it's that the only thing more dangerous than partisan gridlock in Washington is handing the reigns and the purse strings to any one party completely. As imperfect as things have become, I prefer to keep a system of checks and balances in place. McCain is not a concession choice, I really do believe he is the best man for the job and I am comfortable with my decision. But if I didn't believe in either candidate and I had to decide based on the "big" picture, then it would still be a choice for John McCain for a reason that also invokes another candidates moniker..."for COUNTRY."

New QUEEN Song & Video

2008-10-05T20:01:00.001-05:00

Thoughts from the Big Chair

2008-10-04T08:15:00.003-05:00

Here again with the stuff that just spills from my mouth and brain...

-The Mortgage Industry Bail-out plan has finally passed the Senate and House and the Market still dropped. This situation will not be relieved until the Credit Sector settles down and opens it's coffers. If this doesn't happen fast enough this will all have been pointless. Congress should have never gone down this path and just let things play out. A crash would have been certain and the Free market would have had to spend years pulling itself back up...same as you or I would have if we had declared bancruptcy.

-Biden and Palin Debate went off without any gaffs, so each can claim a win. Palin had more to do to calm GOP fears and she succeeded. Biden had to keep a reign on his mouth... and he succeeded. Came away feeling like a Biden vs. Palin election would be a great deal more interesting than the one we have. Both spewed their parties talking points and I prefer to call them inaccurate or misleading rather than out and out lies. Biden has always been one of my favorite Dems since I was a teenager, but I expected him to be a bit more fiesty and deliberate. He played things too careful and what we got was pretty much a watered down version of the real Joe. Palin was well coached and extremely confident especially as she moved further along into the debate. Both escaped without any injury or damage. In other words...it was boring.

-New TV season is in full swing and I am already caught up in several shows. Grey's Anatomy, which I swore years ago I would never watch, is actually one show I especially look forward to. I still have problems with the idea that I'm watching it, but I can't get over how good the writing is on this show! NCIS is even better than previous years, if that is possible, and I find myself saying "I love this show" at every commercial break. Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares is as good as it ever was and the appeal still hasn't worn on me yet. I'm sure it's my Gordon Ramsay fan-boy thing happening! House is in the middle of one of it's best storylines ever and I keep waiting for the bottom to fall out on this show...but, it never does. One disappointment is Boston Legal. The show is counting down it's last 13 episodes and while the writing is good, you can tell that they are steering it toward an ending, and this is not good for anyone. Survivor-Gabon is all HD this year and I wonder if I'll ever stop watching this series. Big Bang Theory has only gotten better with the addition of Sara Gilbert to main cast and Two And A Half Men is still the best comedy on TV today. My TiVo is loaded with more than I have time to watch but there a few new series that will get a shot on some rainy day.

-We are in week 5 of the current NFL season and it's tough to see any trends for any teams. I am scoring pretty well in my u-pick-em contest. My picks so far have been 75% correct, my best season in the 7 years I've participated. I began playing Fantasy Football in Ethan's League this year and I now know why this game is so obsessive! I watch my players each week like a hawk and I'm doing pretty well so far at 2-2 and ranked 7th of 14 in my league. So cool!

-For no apparent reason, I pulled out Star Wars-Episode III: Revenge Of The Sith for a viewing and followed it up with Episode IV- A New Hope. I was surprised that I keep liking Episode III more and more each time I see it. While still not up to the original Trilogy status, Lucas came so close with this one. Repeated viewings have made me at last make this one required viewing if you are going to watch the original three. The problem is that when you follow it with Episode IV, you realize just how damn good the original trilogy was!

-The WalleyWorld holiday season continues as Fall has now set in. The temps here on the Coast are dropping into the 50s at night, the air conditioners have been shut off and the windows fully opened. An extra blanket is thrown on the bed and the long sleeve shirts and warmer pajamas are coming out. The stores are stocking their Christmas items almost a full three months in advance and the grass cuttings are less frequent. More coffee is brewed, less ice tea is poured and the bottled water consumption is on the decline. Invites to parties and get togethers arrive every few days and the calendar is filling up. AND, Oysters are now in season again! God, I love this time of year.

-Fall has also brought with it the cleaning season around here as we have now completely torn three rooms in the house apart for a DEEEP clean! Meg spent a day giving the Den and Living Room a good scrubbing from top to bottom. To be honest, they haven't looked this good in well over a year and the amount of dirt she swept up could be the makings of a great mud bath!!! I spent a day and a half working on our #2 office and hauled 2 cans dirt and trash out. Every square inch of the office received a scrubbing or a dusting and even though the room was painted just last year, portions will be receiving a fresh coat. As is typical for me, no cleaning would be complete without re-arranging the room. All but one of our employees liked the changes and the garbage man was not at all happy. I think I'll survive.

-After months of planning, we finally migrated the Comcepts Answering Service system to a new computer complete with the newest version of the software. The migration went off without too much frustration and NO data was lost in the process. The new software has some pleasant new features and functionality we can't believe we ever lived without. It has also given us even more new ideas to throw at Jerome Berryhill, our software guru! I'm sure Jerome is loving us now, too.

-Nephew Justin Knudsen has joined the Texas National Guard. Denizen's of WalleyWorld are so proud of Justin and thank him for his decision to serve. It's been a challenging year for Justin and his plans for the future show a lot of character and strength. Way to go, Nephew!!!

-After years of thinking that it wasn't important to track stats for this site (and others I run) I decided to have 2 different services monitor traffic around here. I was gratified to see that traffic is heavier than I thought for a site that is pretty much family based and the unique visitors are pretty easy to identify by your ISP. I attribute a lot of the increase in the past few months to my presence on Facebook. What surprised me most was the staggering number of hits I receive on my art based site and I have implemented a series of upgrades and refreshes with the help of a friend in Portugal. Friends recommend that I start allowing advertising on that site to generate some income, but I will resist this as I have never done this for money. What it has done is make me rethink WalleyWorld and hopefully ideas that I have had for new features like a weekly podcast and some video projects. Stay tuned!

-...and speaking of Facebook, I went in to it all as a curiosity and have reconnected with a surprising number of folks that I might never have otherwise. What I had thought was going to be yet another way to socially blog with folks in my day to day life has become a bit more than I had anticipated...or counted on. We are all still in the first stages reaching out to one another after 20+ years and only time will tell what becomes of all of this. For now, the experiment is fun and nostalgic. What I don't like is how obsessive Facebook can be.

-The Bay High Band and Steppers Dance Team attended a competition last week in Ellisville and the Steppers came away with superior marks. Band director Catchie Crider and Stepper director Priscilla Austin agreed that the event was a good practice exercise for bigger competitions starting this week in Gulfport with the State Competition. In the meantime, Hope has scored her first victory as the captain of the Bay High Steppers. Congrats!

-Still looking for the perfect media player/manager for me. Windows Media Center/Player has a richer playback experience, especially video in a variety of codecs and at full screen but it's cataloging abilities are too frustrating to navigate. iTunes hands down has the best download service for podcasts and its cataloging features are far superior to Windows Media Player, but video playback is not as good and the new Genius service constantly recommends that I purchase music I already have. At first I attributed this to possible bad ID tagging on many of my files until I remembered that I let iTunes retag my complete collection of over 8500 songs over 2 months ago. Right now, using both in tandem works very well for everything I need but I can't help feeling that there is an all in one solution out there somewhere.

-The new employees and schedules at Comcepts have settled in and Sam and I feel that we have a strong support staff in place again for the first time in months. Everyone has exceeded our expectations and the schedule leaves us a bit more free time than before. The goal is to stop working 7 days a week, however, and unfortunately that is still a ways off...but we're trying!

That's it for this week! More always coming...

inSTEP has Hope, Steppers & More!

2008-09-22T14:10:00.002-05:00

Head on over to inSTEP for lots of new pictures of Hope as she leads this years Bay High Steppers. You will also find video of their last two halftime performances. Enjoy!!!

Finger Lickin' Good!

2008-09-22T14:04:00.004-05:00

It may seem like a small thing to most, but Kentucky Fried Chicken just reopened here in Bay Saint Louis. The store had been closed since Hurricane Katrina and there have been more than a few times where we here in WalleyWorld just needed some KFC! So on behalf of all of us...

WELCOME BACK!!!

SNL- Palin and Clinton!

2008-09-14T20:37:00.001-05:00

Happy Birthday Honey Lamb!!!

2008-09-13T10:34:00.003-05:00

Today is her BIG day! My baby, honey lamb, Manfa-Ray, hey baby, hey baby, HEY, baby girl, love of my life Sam is 39 for the third time!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!!!

Notes From The Big Chair

2008-09-13T07:38:00.012-05:00

A few notes and news from the inner workings here at WalleyWorld!!!

- XBox is seeing explosive sales growth after lowering prices across all lines. The lowest priced unit, the Arcade now sells for $199. That's less than the Nintendo Wii. Look, this is old hardware now and I have to believe that most of those being sold now are gamers who are picking up their second or even third units...not new users. So I don't think we'll be seeing any increase in sales for software (where the real money is made) and Microsoft has found yet another way to lose money on the XBox front. Congrats!

-Steve Jobs announced the new iPod Nano this week and unusual for Apple, it seems the leaked photos over the past few weeks were indeed accurate. The new unit is sweet looking and even furthers my desire to move toward an Apple solution. Being the old fogie that I am, I am only interested in an iPod Classic since what I really need is "a LOT" of storage. On the heals of my proclaiming that iTunes has become my music software of choice, Apple delivered iTunes 8 and I am stepping back from my previous statement for a few reasons. Version 8 acts a bit loopy on my system where 7 was rock solid. Video displays a lot of artifacts with material already on my HD (which should never happen) and use of the new Genius component makes my resource meter shoot straight up. I think all of these issues will be resolved in an update and I will be back to using iTunes regularly soon.

-In my temporary exodus from iTunes, I rediscovered how good a video player Windows Media Player 11 is. I shifted my Revision3 program watching to WMP11 and found a much nicer viewing and listening experience. Video is smoother, audio is deeper and the color is simply gorgeous. I still do not like the interface though...BUT I have found a workaround. I open iTunes and WMP11 together. I use iTunes excellent download manager for my podcasts and simply drag my podcasts over to WMP11 where they start to play immediately. Talk about the best of both worlds! As a further test, I opened the same episode of Tekzilla in both players and compared them side by side. Big difference. If I'm watching at my computer then one or the other will do, but when I watch Internet TV in my living room, for now I'll watch it through WM11.

-Watched Interview With The Vampire last night with the girls. A couple of weeks ago Cinematical reported that Tom Cruise (now head of United Artists) would like to bring the series to his studio and reprise his role as Lestat. After viewing the movie again for the first time in years, I'm inclined to agree that Cruise may have a good idea here. An attempt to film a movie version of The Vampire Lestat and Queen of the Damned a few years ago was visually appealing, but short-shrifted the books way too much. An adherance to the books (and Anne Rice writing the screenplay again) could be the ticket to another great movie series featuring the Vampires. And with Twilight drumming up so much interest in the genre, the timing may be too good to refuse. The lapse of time between "Interview" and now shouldn't affect a production since Cruise spent all of "Interview" in heavy pancake makeup anyway. Throw on a wig and some fangs and we're good to go!

- Hurricane Ike hit Galveston and Houston last night, but I spent the day out yesterday and got to see first hand how big the storm really was. While we got little rain, the storm surge carried by Ike was large enough to raise water levels here to flood conditions. The back Bay here rose enough to cover most of HWY 603 and a drive down Hwy 90 in Gulfport saw water all the way across the highway at some points. Impressive!

- New STAR TREK trailer is reported to be ready and we're all just waiting to to find out when Paramount will release it. Reports from a few who have seen it say it will excite an audience not usually favorable to Trek and leave traditional fans giddy with anticipation. There will be scenes of most of the new cast and a few space battle scenes thrown in for good measure. Just tell me where and when!

-The new season of Gordon Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares has begun and it very much pleased me as they took a recommendation I made several months ago in an article I wrote at TVShowBlog.com. This season's first episode was in 'revisited" format as they caught up with six restaurant's from last season. My only disappointment is that all six stories had happy endings and I was counting on some drama from at least one of the stories. The UK version does "revisited" episodes often and not all of the stories have happy endings. The US version is still not as good as the UKs, but it is still too good to pass up! FOX has announced that they have ordered 2 more seasons of Kitchen Nightmares, Hell's Kitchen and a new show also based on a Ramsay UK effort called "Man Camp" where wives send effeminate husbands to Ramsay for some testosterone conditioning. I just don't know about this one.

-The new Microsoft/Seinfeld commercials are so bad...I just can't tell you. I will not post any links here, but you can search YouTube and watch the first two at your leisure. What is entertaining is to read and listen to some of the analysis online about what subliminal messages are trying to be delivered here. I'm sure there is an intention with these commercials that is over my head, but they have succeeded in creating some buzz...to what end I really don't know.

-Posted my very first YouTube video ever this week. Head over to thesteppers.blogspot.com to view! There will be more video to come soon as I get my equipment better organized and look for some content created especially for this blog. Maybe I'll get a real captain's chair and do these updates on video. Already discussing the idea of "cooking" posts featuring Sam.

-Best Buy will sell an Insignia branded Blu-Ray player with BD 2.1 specs this November for $225. Now this is a move in the right direction and I expect to see Blu-Ray sales spike heavily this holiday season. Watch for Wal-Mart to dump manufacturer's older sub 2.0 spec players at under-$200 prices near Black Friday. Don't buy into this! Stay away from sub 2.0 spec players and go with the Insignia at Best Buy!

-Chrome is the name of the new web browser created by the folks from Google. I can't recommend Chrome for most people but if you are the slightest bit tech inclined then go download it and give it a try. There are aspects of Chrome that Microsoft and Mozilla must pay close attention to. Some that will make their way into IE and Firefox in the future and some that may give Google strategic advantages in a Google-centric future. In the meantime, Chrome is not quite ready for primetime...but it's close!

-The new NFL season is underway and ratings are way up! Lots happened in the first week and some teams are already in danger of having poor seasons. Patriots quarterback Tom Brady is out for the season with an injury, much to the disappointment of Fantasy Football fans everywhere (including ME!) The NY Jets suddenly find themselves with a world class quarterback who still has some arm left in him and a real shot at a playoff run with the Patriots misfortunes. Atlanta surprised fans with a win and the Chiefs surprised fans with a loss. The Saints pulled out a win...but not enough to convince anyone that they are a true contender. Things have settled down now and week 2 should be revealing. My week 1 U-Pick-Em record was 10-6. My Fantasy Football rank is next to last! Damn you, Tom Brady!

-Someday, I am going to write a book about the strange calls you get running an answering service. This will be hot on the heals of the book I will write about the strange things that happen in the funeral business. At the rate I am going, the title of the book will be "Someday."

-I have decided to actively ween myself away from three things: Cigarettes, Facebook and Twitter. All are proving hazardous to my health and all consume resources. Wish me luck! I already don't drink (except the occasional glass of Pinot) and I do not gamble (except for the stock market) so I should prove to be quite a boring guy if I can stick to the plan!

-Hailey's Open House at school was this past week and I'm already liking their new principal Dr. Labat! She's a real drill sergeant! She kept the evenings events moving briskly by announcing over the PA when the parents needed to move on to the next class and finally concluding the evening by ordering the teachers to report to the office and dismissal. I loved it!!! It was great to visit with the teachers, many of which taught the older kids and are already friends. I have decided that I absolutely MUST get my own Promethian Board!!! For every room in the house!

-Got a call from a client during the Gustav lockdown who took the time to compliment the job we do and note that in a meeting the previous week, he and his partners agreed that we were the best thing to happen to their practice in years. The caller was one of our more meticulous doctors and his comments warmed us all. A ray of light in a sky full of storm clouds!

Back again next week!

Happy Birthday Becca!

2008-09-12T10:50:00.000-05:00

Today is my sister Laura Rebecca Walley's birthday.
Happy Birthday To You!

Gustav Pics

2008-09-11T15:37:00.005-05:00

Bay Saint Louis Beach
Alicia sent us these photos taken during Hurricane Gustav last week. While Gustav was no Katrina, there is the impression that it was no big deal. In fact, Gustav was a pretty good storm that had us on our toes for several hours.

Bay Saint Louis Beach

Waveland Beach on Beach Blvd.

Click on the images to enlarge

Election Season Is Here

2008-09-11T09:59:00.002-05:00

Click on image to enlarge

I know I'm going to hack someone off with this but it was too funny an I love the Wizard of Id. Thanks to Alicia Mays for passing this along!

Pics from Bay High vs Hancock Game

2008-09-10T09:38:00.006-05:00

Bill Melendez: 1916-2008

2008-09-04T06:45:00.002-05:00

The voice of Snoopy is gone.

The great Bill Melendez, who animated everybody from Mickey Mouse and Bambi to Bugs Bunny and Charlie Brown, passed away Tuesday at age 91.

An Oscar nominee and 8-time Emmy winner, Melendez was the only filmmaker Peanuts creator Charles M. Schulz allowed to oversee the animated versions of Charlie Brown and Snoopy --- in 68 TV specials, four feature films and more than 372 commercials.

His Warner Bros. work included such classics as “Wabbit Twouble,” “Mouse Menace,” “What Makes Daffy Duck,” “What’s Up, Doc” and “Gerald McBoing Boing.”

His first directorial effort was 1965’s “A Charlie Brown Christmas.” His last was 2006’s “He’s A Bully, Charlie Brown.”

Audiences should especially revere Melendez, the only adult among the Peanuts voice cast, because his vocalizations for Charlie Brown’s famous beagle (who managed to “talk” without words) were always so inspired.

More Wedding Weekend Pics

2008-09-03T10:53:00.005-05:00

Reportage: This Missing Album

2008-09-02T00:00:00.004-05:00

A couple of months ago, I discovered that my beloved band Duran Duran actually had recorded another album after 2004's Astronaut with Andy Taylor. The album was completed and even the art for the cover was prepared. It was to be released in 2006 but was halted when Andy left the band. The remainder of the group rushed to put together a new batch of recordings with the help of Justin Timberlake and producer Timbaland which ultimately led to 2007's Red Carpet Massacre, a CD that has done respectable everywhere in the world except where the big sales are: North America. Radio which embraced the groups return in 2004 virtually ignored the new album and the band's faithful fans are beginning to ask "what really happened with Andy leaving" and "will Reportage, the name of the unreleased album, ever be released?"

The answer to what happened with Andy is disputed and the truth will probably never be known, however, Taylor is set to release his autobiography next week which may give some clues. There are reasons to believe that Taylor's departure had little to do with he or his bandmates and more to do with Duran Duran's current label (Sony) and their management.

The answer to Reportage is more complicated and closely tied to the Andy situation as Nick Rhodes and John Taylor have recently come forward and admitted to the existence of the album, a fact the the entire band has denied for two years. Nick and John have both expressed a desire to release the album to the masses (probably due to Massacre's poor reception) and John has even been so bold as to envision a bootleg leaked online.

Why doesn't Sony just release Reportage themselves. It seems they cannot. When the band reformed in the early 2000s, they were careful to retain ownership of their music (much as The Eagles have done since their own reformation) and any release of material must have the consent of each and every member of the band. Naturally, Andy is the fly in the ointment for Reportage as he would see no return for his share since the band makes little or no money for sales of their music but reaps huge paydays for their concert tours...a job Taylor no longer participates in. Remaining members Simon, Nick, Roger and John have been extremely careful not to admonish Andy since his defection which can lead one to believe that they understand Andy's position while not exactly thrilled with the position it leaves them in. It is probably better not to make Andy anymore an enemy now if they ever hope to get Reportage released.

What is most intiguing about Reportage is that much of the album came from the same sessions that brought us Astronaut, arguably one of the bands strongest and most popular albums. It is maddening for a fan like me to think that there is an albums worth of music out there that approaches the quality of Astronaut, and we might never hear it! It is no secret among my family and friends my admiration for Andy Taylor, but even I can point to hours of Duran Duran music that I deeply love where Andy had no part in it.

Duran Duran can survive just fine without Andy Taylor (as long as we don't get anymore Red Carpet Massacre's) but I want to hear Reportage...and I'll bet that I'm not alone!

Update

2008-08-30T21:53:00.004-05:00

Okay, here is the latest projected path of Gustav as of 10pm Saturday. If you know where Bay Saint Louis is on this map, it looks as if we're pretty safe. But in fact, in many ways we are on the wrong side of this storm as the north east side is the worst winds, water and surge. Gustav is expected now to land as a Cat 5 hurricane, the strongest on the scale. This will be no Katrina for us but it could be quite destructive. We have prepared now as well as we can. There are a few small things left to do on Sunday and then we will evaluate our next course of action. It is a distinct possibility that we will evacuate and a plan has been made and arranged. We will try at all costs to stay at home but will not hesitate to leave if the situation degrades quickly.
More tomorrow...

--- Gustav Came ashore Monday morning as a Cat 3 storm in South Louisiana. We received Cat 1 winds, lost a fence and few shutters, but the business never shut down, we never lost power and all are okay. Catchie Crider and her beagle Sally Ann and Meg's boyfriend Skyler Gex stayed with us and we kept things going around the clock. I will post more after the storm clears the area.---

Foul-mouthed Gordon Ramsay: 'Food at Buckingham Palace is prehistoric s***'

2008-08-30T08:43:00.003-05:00

From the Daily Mail:

His foul-mouthed outbursts have so far been restricted to bumbling waiters and hapless chefs. But now it seems no one is safe from Gordon Ramsay's exacting standards.The fiery television chef has directed his latest four-letter tirade at the Queen, accusing her serving 'prehistoric' food at Buckingham Palace that tasted like 's***'.

Not impressed: Gordon Ramsay told American TV host Jay Leno he was left with a bad taste in his mouth after visiting Buckingham Palace. Ramsay, 41, was made an Order of the British Empire for services to the hospitality industry in 2006 and insisted on having his investiture in Scotland. But he said that a subsequent visit to Buckingham Palace left him less than impressed by Royal culinary efforts. In customary fashion, Ramsay has now delivered a broadside worthy of his television series Kitchen Nightmares.

'Lovely': Ramsay says he enjoyed meeting the Queen, but not the culinary feast on offer His abusive comments came on primetime U.S. television during an interview with chat show host Jay Leno on Thursday's Tonight show. 'You don't actually get to know who's cooking for the Queen - but I'd never employ him because the food was s***,' Ramsay told the audience. 'I'd never give him a job.' 'The food was s*** but she was lovely. Unfortunately you've got to go through the ceremony with the canapés which are just absolutely, shockingly s***. 'They looked prehistoric, like 300 years old, at Buckingham Palace.' Ramsay then had the chat show audience in stitches as he told them how he struggled to swallow the Palace's duck liver pate. 'It was dotted with cranberries - not very nice,' he said. 'I was trying to get rid of it as I was approaching her because this thing was taking forever to chew. You couldn't spit it out on the carpet, for God's sake.' The news is bound to anger the Palace's head chef Mark Flanagan, who is known to be as volatile as Ramsay himself. He was appointed to the £50,000-a-year job in 2002. On one occasion he lost his temper during a banquet for Russia's then-president Vladimir Putin, and shook a kitchen porter so violently when he failed a basic task that the man needed medical attention. He is also said to have grabbed a 21-year-old footman by the throat and pinned him against a wall after the servant ignored his commands. Nine Buckingham Palace cooks have quit over rows with Mr Flanagan, with one describing him as 'Gordon Ramsay without Gordon's sublime talent'.

Biden Maybe Not Right For Obama?

2008-08-28T11:06:00.004-05:00

While the Dems are having a great convention this election cycle, I am starting to question whether Obama is making good personnel decisions. So many people he is depending on to help endorse him are coming off looking like hypocites or at least flip-floppers because they are already on record opposing him. One of the funniest was Hillary Clinton. Just before and after her rousing endorsement speech Tuesday night, television networks showed a McCain ad where she pretty much dissed Obama big time.

But the most damaging McCain ad is the one featuring Joe Biden who in a debate just a few months ago declared Obama not prepared to be president and that he would serve with McCain. I understand Biden's position, both then and now. But I also think that this commercial is fair game and the McCain campaign would be idiots not to use it. All in all, it makes for great TV and Obama ultimately should have considered how these sound bites could be used against him. Consider this: Obama, whether he likes it or not, needs the Clintons and his chosen Veep to help him close out this election and Hillary, Bill and Joe have all stepped up to the plate and performed admirably...especially (IMO) Bill Clinton. But, no matter what happened at the convention, voters will likely be exposed ad naseum to McCain commercials reminding them of just what Joe, Bill and Hillary might really think, and doubt in Obama is just what might lose this whole thing for him.

This is becoming very much like the Super Bowl, where the commercials are as entertaining as the game. I'm looking forward to next weeks RNC convention to see how the Obama campaign strategicaly places their ads at key moments during the convention.

Update...hopefully the last

2008-08-28T06:36:00.001-05:00

Hopefully, this may be the last update on Gustav as it looks like the storm may be heading westward now. This is good news for us, but we will be watching closely for the next 24 to 36 hours.

Tron 2 or Tr2n...

2008-08-27T12:20:00.002-05:00

Click to enlarge

BEST COMEBACK RESPONSE OF THE YEAR

2008-08-27T11:43:00.003-05:00

From Wayne Hennig:
If you ever testify in court, you might wish you could have been as sharp as this policeman. He was being cross-examined by a defense attorney during a felony trial. The lawyer was trying to undermine the policeman's credibility.

Q: 'Officer -- did you see my client fleeing the scene?'
A: 'No sir. But I subsequently observed a person matching the description of the offender, running several blocks away.'
Q: 'Officer -- who provided this description?'
A: 'The officer who responded to the scene.'
Q: 'A fellow officer provided the description of this so-called offender. Do you trust your fellow officers?'
A: 'Yes, sir. With my life.'
Q: 'With your life? Let me ask you this then officer. Do you have a room where you change your clothes in preparation for your daily duties?'
A: 'Yes sir, we do!'
Q: 'And do you have a locker in the room?'
A: 'Yes sir, I do.'
Q: 'And do you have a lock on your locker?'
A: 'Yes sir.'
Q: 'Now why is it, officer, if you trust your fellow officers with your life, you find it necessary to lock your locker in a room you share with these same officers?'
A: 'You see, sir -- we share the building with the court complex, and sometimes lawyers have been known to walk through that room.'

The courtroom EXPLODED with laughter, and a prompt recess was called. The officer on the stand has been nominated for this year's 'Best Comeback' line -- and we think he'll win.

Newest Track

2008-08-27T10:06:00.004-05:00

This really sucks, folks! I just hope that next week we are all laughing about how worried we were this week.

Not Good!

2008-08-26T09:13:00.004-05:00

Okay, see how things can change in just 2 hours? Now Gustav is definitely moving more into a position less favorable for us. It is still verrrrry early...but nothing about the last 24 hours bodes well for us and we have now been trained to pay attention to EVERYTHING! The obvious worrisome track is the blue one, but the blue is also the most accurate computer model historically. Those who evaluate such things say this model will take Gustav into New Orleans as early as Sunday night. This is for real folks!Sam will probably take over the posting on Gustav soon, as she did for Katrina in 2005.

Here We Go...

2008-08-26T07:04:00.004-05:00

See the picture? That's the current projected path of Gustav which yesterday was merely just a really strong storm. In less than 24 hours it progressed to depression, then Tropical Storm and yes, now a full fledge hurricane...in less than 24 hours. Models do not project it to head our way, but e know better than to believe models this early in the game.
Here we go...

TheMOVIEBlog.com---R.I.P. Star Wars Obsession 1977-2008

2008-08-22T07:32:00.004-05:00

John Campea over at the Movie Blog has written an emotionally heart-rending but correct opinion on what has happened to a franchise that meant so much to my generation. An excerpt:

Star Wars had always been something that all ages could enjoy. Both kids and adults could adore R2-D2, we could all be scared of the Rancor, we all dropped our jaw at the size of the Death Star and kids and adults alike could agree that Darth Vader was the greatest character in all of fiction! But with Phantom and Jar Jar, that all changed. Now children were the target demographic. Fart jokes “Pee-UU-Sa” and cultural puns “Esqqueeeze Me” were now the norm.

For the full article please head over to his site and read it here.

The Wedding Day

2008-08-20T11:35:00.056-05:00

Okay, there are a lot of these and they have been reduced in size and resolution to make for faster loading but here goes! There are no captions as yet, but I encourage everyone to either log in and post a caption or comment on the post and I'll include the caption later. There are a LOT more pics than this, but this is a general sampling of the event. Enjoy!

CLICK ON ANY IMAGE TO ENLARGE

Thoughts From The Big Chair

2008-08-18T17:08:00.007-05:00

Various musings from the heart of WalleyWorld

- Sunday marked the return of the big Sunday Dinner at the Walley house. On Sam's menu was baked ham, homemade mac-n-cheese, greenbeans, cornbread and carrots followed up with fresh baked pound cake for dessert. Gordon and Jordan joined us and we settled in for a little NFL preseason action that soon gave way to more of the Olympics. We all stayed up too late for a Sunday evening, but vowed that we would try to continue every Sunday.

- The Olympics in Beijing are at their midpoint and I have watched a ridiculous amount of coverage. I started out interested in only the swimming and gymnastics but I have found myself sucked in on just about anything they're broadcasting. Team USA is doing well this year and nothing can top Michael Phelps performance.

-Tropic Thunder finally dethroned The Dark Knight at the top of the box office. I have wanted to see this film since I saw the first preview. Robert has seen it and said it was surprisingly good. I might try to actually make it to a theatre for this one.

-Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince, scheduled to open this holiday season, has been moved to July of next year. This is in addition to the new Star Trek movie which was moved from this holiday to next May.

-Also, more cast pics from the new Star Trek have been released, including Simon Pegg as Scotty and Karl Urban as McCoy.

-Hope and Hailey are now 10 days into the school new school year and both are surviving new classes, new teachers and new principals. Hope is now a senior and Hailey is now in 6th grade. All is well.

-Robert and Beth are home from their honeymoon in Disney World. I am prepping pics from the "wedding weekend" and will do a photo dump here shortly. The process was hindered when I thought I had lost my original shots accidentally. Luckily, I discovered that I had already created not one but two backups. The chore now is to reduce each of these HUGE files for posting here without breaking everyone's system.

-New employees and new schedules at Comcepts go into effect this week. There will be some shaking out before normalcy sets in again, but I am excited.

-Playing with Facebook and Twitter lately. My fascination period is over and the "weeding out" process is beginning. As fond as I am of some people, I'm discovering that I can only take small doses. On the other hand, I have caught up with folks I never thought I'd speak with again. I enjoy both, but explaining Twitter and getting friends to sign up is more work than it's worth.

-Answering Service had a banner month in July and posted more calls than any month since our inception. August just might top that!

-Big surprise viewing the John Adams miniseries recently is how much Sam and Meg enjoyed it. The discussion was as good as the program. Now if I can just get them to read the book!

-Viewed the movie The Deal over the weekend. Precursor to the recent movie The Queen, it detailed the rise to power of Tony Blair. Probably pretty dry to anyone not interested in British politics. I loved it.

-Saints should do well this year with everyone finally healthy, but it will be very hard not to watch the Jets now that Brett Favre has done a 180 on all of us. No national polls are predicting that the Giants will come close to last years performance...and I can't figure out why! Two more weeks!

-Found a very good German Pinot Noir this weekend; Peter Brum, 2006. Excellent smooth body and a bit sweet like many German wines I have sampled. Probably not appropriate with a meal, but just fine for after dinner or sipping.

-Realized today that I have been running Windows Vista for six months this week...and I haven't had the first crash or blue screen of death.
Amazing!

Honeymoon!!!

2008-08-12T15:08:00.005-05:00

As the typical Walleys we are, Beth and I spent our honeymoon and first vacation in years at Disney World. We stayed at the Animal Kingdom Lodge where we slept with animals all around us. It was a fantastic week thanks to everyone's help! Thank you so much. Here are some of the pics from the trip.

The beginning of the world tour of beer :)

The tour continues in Norway.

One of few pictures of us actually together in Disney. Sadly it's not often I trust the phone to someone else.

The world tour hit its peak here in China where I had my last really good beer.

Africa basically has an entire park (Animal Kingdom) so they're not represented in the world showcase. That also works pretty well as Africa's not a country and that could just get complicated. Regardless, this is the low point on the world tour of beer. I've never had beer as bitter as I did from the African cantina.

In the Hollywood park (when did it stop being MGM?) you can find random things like this. Beth and I discovered a pile of crates addressed to people from a bunch of really great movies including "Citizen Kane", "The Producers", "Gone with the Wind", and "It's a Wonderful Life"

After trying to volunteer me for a street show, Beth was pulled into a game by the Army men from Toy Story. It was fitting because even though she was clearly the oldest person in the group of volunteers (the rest being kids), she fit right in.

In Germany the world tour of beer ended. I tried to be fun and try different beers than the German beers I knew I liked but I found another disgustingly bitter beer. After throwing out two full beers due to horrible taste, having spent $60 on beer, and having 7 countries left to go I decided I would leave myself with something to do on my next trip to Disney.

Beth's favorite Disney princess, Snow White, was well represented everywhere but at the Princess lunch in Norway. I worried she was disappointed at not having seen enough Snow White but looking back on the pictures now I'd say we saw enough.

There are a ton more pictures, but the blog isn't the best place to post hordes of photos. Drop a line if you'd like more.

Welcoming new Walleys

2008-08-12T15:05:00.003-05:00

Though everyone here was at the wedding, I thought it was only right to welcome the newest Walley on the official blog :)

Dark Knight Spoof- Hilarious!

2008-08-06T07:39:00.002-05:00

Presenting Mr. & Mrs. Robert Walley

2008-08-03T17:37:00.001-05:00

Dark Knight Dissected- It Was Really Two Movies!

2008-07-28T22:49:00.004-05:00

So many people who rushed to me in the days after The Dark Knight premiered have been confused as to why I cannot give over my entire being to the greatness that it that movie. Even I could not decide just what it was that prevented my 99.9% love for this movie from tipping over into complete devotion.
Tonight I read an essay by Darth Mojo over on his website and everything was laid out crystal clear and beautifully. I will note that Darth Mojo is not some random blogger, but a Hollywood film veteran who has worked on some of the greatest genre projects ever including the Star Trek series and the current Battlestar Galactica and you should check out his entire site. Ultimately, Dark Knight was two different movies shoe-horned into 2 hours and 40 minutes and in the end cheats itself (and us) of what complete greatness the two movies could have been,
Robert and I both have stated our niggling feelings that Dark Knight could be doomed to an Empire Strikes Back syndrome, where the next movie cannot possibly live up to the standard set by this one. But it certainly could have and Darth Mojo explains how and why it should have happened that way. I totally agree with his thesis and instead of reprinting his article on this space, I'll point you to it HERE. Enjoy!

Sirius and XM merger approved by FCC, extreme partying commences

2008-07-26T07:18:00.001-05:00

From Engadget:

In a somewhat unsurprising move, the FCC has approved the merger of Sirius and XM after protracted -- and incredibly boring -- multi-year negotiations. The Federal Communication Commission decided tonight to allow a deal that will bring the two satellite radio providers together, creating a combined subscriber base of roughly 18 million users. The deal isn't without catches, however, with the Commission stating that the companies must cap prices for three years following the merger, allow subscriber choice on content, and lower fees for channel packages. FCC head Kevin Martin seemed pleased with the final outcome, stating, "Consumers will get to enjoy the best of the programming on both services." You know who wasn't so stoked? Clear Channel.

Rob: This will be a very cool thing!

Check Out inSTEP!

2008-07-24T13:47:00.003-05:00

While not officially part of the WalleyWorld family of sites, I have volunteered to set up a new site for the Bay High Stepper Dance Team named inSTEP! The beauty of this creation is that I can hand it off to future teams while preserving a history of the Steppers. Hope is captain of this years team and Sam is serving as president of their Booster Club, so this is a way that Daddy can participate too. Check it out here.

Who Ya Gonna Call?

2008-07-22T17:26:00.002-05:00