| Magnatune Song of the Day for Friday, September 11, 2009
Genre: Ambient Listen to the album: hifi lofi (only available today, Friday) | |||||
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| Today's free song is from the album:
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Friday, September 11, 2009
FREE Robert Rich Download TODAY ONLY!
Thursday, September 10, 2009
FREE William Brooks Download TODAY ONLY!
| Magnatune Song of the Day for Thursday, September 10, 2009
Genre: Folk Listen to the album: hifi lofi (only available today, Thursday) | |||||
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| Today's free song is from the album:
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Wednesday, September 9, 2009
Walt Disney World Vacation - Day 3: The Magic Kingdom
Follow prior Disney vacation posts here.
After a very late night at the Magic Kingdom, we were up with the sun the next morning to have breakfast with Mickey and Minnie Mouse, Donald Duck, Goofy, and Pluto at Chef Mickey's inside Disney's Contemporary Resort. It was another day of many, many character greetings for my daughter, and thanks to the quick actions of the world's favorite mouse,
my son -- who has always shied away from tall costumed creatures -- was even drawn into the action, when after posing for a quick picture with my daughter, Mickey wandered around the table between my wife and son, taking my daughter with him, while I snapped a quick picture with my son it. This, indeed, is a rare photo. Some more quick pictures of the characters from breakfast:
The breakfast package was supposed to include a professional photograph of the family, but my son was very uncooperative, and we chose not to get the picture taken. He is not the typical kid you would expect to see at Walt Disney World. He avoids the characters, is hesitant to ride most of the rides, but still found some way to have a good time. Luckily, he began to loosen up as the week progressed.Rather than take the buses to breakfast and to the Magic Kingdom afterward, we chose to drive the car to the Contemporary Resort, where we had breakfast, and leave it there while taking the monorail to the Magic Kingdom. It was quite nice, actually, eliminating the cramped Disney bus rides from our day. It turned out to be a cause of frustration later in the week, though (more on that in a future post).
After breakfast, we spent a second day (our first full day) at the Magic Kingdom, where my daughter met more and more characters, starting with Cinderella's Fairy Godmother.
When she met Alice (yes, that one -- the one from Wonderland), whom I don't think my daughter really knows much about, she practically knocked her down giving her a hug.
Finally, my little girl got to meet one of her favorite Disney characters at Story Time With Belle, when Belle (from Beauty and the Beast) told her story to the children. It was an interactive story, and it surprised me to learn just how much of Beauty and the Beast I actually know.More character greeting pictures:
One of the most memorable character greetings of the entire trip came while we were waiting for Story Time With Belle to begin. We were walking around the park in the area where Belle was to tell her story when we stumbled across quite a terrible threesome:
Cinderella's step-mother Lady Tremaine, and her step-sisters Anastasia and Drizella. Wow, what a hilarious experience, and I imagine that the actors in these roles quite enjoy their jobs, because they don't have to be dripping with happiness, like every other character at the parks -- these three actually are expected to be mildly rude.Each of the three signed my daughter's autograph book (she filled up two of them during the trip), and Lady Tremaine handed it back to her and said, "Write your name in your book." My daughter, of course, who is only three years old, didn't react to it, but my wife and I were both rolling in laughter. Then Anastasia taught my daughter how to curtsy, and my daughter caught them a little off-guard by acting on a tip my wife read online when she asked them, "Will you sing for me?" It was one of the funniest and most memorable moments of the trip. Judge for yourself.
Direct video link.
Have you ever seen something so funny?
My son found a ride he enjoyed quite a bit in the Pirates of the Caribbean attraction. 
In fact, he enjoyed it so much that he actually found a set of Mouse Ears he liked. And a sword, too, of course, which he can be quite dangerous with.
Of course, it goes without saying that no trip to Walt Disney World is complete without riding the Tea Cups. My son absolutely loved this ride, as we spun and spun and spun in dizzying circles throughout the ride.Our third day of vacation was quite enjoyable, regardless of the rain that began falling around 4pm without stop. We donned our ponchos and made a fun wet day of it, splashing in puddles and just making the most of the situation.
Your comments?
Joe
Maddy's Cancer Battle
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
Walt Disney World Vacation - Day 2: The Magic Kingdom
Follow prior Disney vacation posts here.
The second day of our vacation -- which was also our first actual day at Walt Disney World -- took us first to Downtown Disney, an area of shops and restaurants where it can be very easy to blow a rather large chunk of your vacation budget on souvenirs before you even make it to a park.
It also happens to be a great place to pick up a set of the world famous mouse ears that nearly everyone buys when they visit one of the Disney parks. My daughter was quick to choose a set of Minnie Mouse ears in -- her favorite color, of course -- pink. My son was much harder to convince and didn't pick up his ears until later in the week.
What turned out to be a week of many, many, many character greetings -- pictures, autographs, meals -- for my daughter started with her posing for a picture in front of a large plastic Buzz Lightyear at Downtown Disney. 
The "real" characters soon followed, when we arrived at Magic Kingdom, barely made it through the gates, and ran into the largest Pluto I've ever seen. I have one question: how does a mouse have such a large dog? Good thing it wasn't Clifford. I made the mistake of buying a drink for my kids to share while they waited in line to meet Pluto, and the beginning of what would be lots of fussing throughout the week soon followed.
Just around the corner from Pluto stood Chip and Dale (you try to figure out which is which, and let me know what you come up with). My daughter didn't even know who they were until they stood towering over her, but she was thrilled to meet them, anyway.As we made our way down Disney's Main Street USA, exploring the Magic Kingdom for the first time as a family (my wife has been there before, but with only vague memories, but for the rest of us this trip was a first),
we soon found one of my little girl's favorite characters: Ariel. She was quite excited to get to meet the Little Mermaid.Being guests at one of the Walt Disney World resorts rather than staying at a hotel in Orlando paid off in many ways during our trip, starting with what Disney calls "Extra Magic Hours" at Magic Kingdom. Extra Magic Hours is when a park stays open late -- often as late as midnight -- just for resort guests, after closing to general ticket holders. We enjoyed roaming around the Magic Kingdom until nearly midnight, riding rides with virtually no wait, and just basking in the Disney magic in the air.
The evening ended with an intense fireworks display over Cinderella's castle (sorry, no video of this one), and the family making our way aboard monorail and bus back to the resort for a very late night (which would be followed by a very early morning).
Your comments?
Joe
Maddy's Cancer Battle
Twitter, et. al., Just A Little TOO Mobile?
I'm convinced. CAUTION: the following video is VERY graphic!
Direct video link.
Thanks to Michael Hyatt.
Your comments?
Joe
Maddy's Cancer Battle
Direct video link.
Thanks to Michael Hyatt.
Your comments?
Joe
Maddy's Cancer Battle
Book Review: Fearless by Max Lucado
"...[T]he only thing we have to fear is fear itself..." Those immortal words of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, first spoken during his first inaugural address, are oft-quoted (and oft-misquoted).In his new release, Fearless: Imagine Your Life Without Fear
, best-selling author Max Lucado breaks down fear to its most basic roots. By showing us how large a role fear plays in our lives, Lucado shows us how we allow fear of even the most minor things to dictate what we do, how we live, who we are.What we fear defines us. Lucado points out how some of the most minor things we encounter throughout the day cause us to worry. Worry is fear -- fear that things might not work out as we wish. Fear that we won't make the payments, or succeed at work, or in relationships. Every time we worry, we are experiencing fear in it's most basic state. It is how we respond to this fear -- these worries -- that molds us and determines if we let fear control us, or if we control our fears.
There are many ways that we may choose to cope with our fears. The most common response is to turn to something that we can control, such as what we eat or drink, drugs, or how we treat those closest to us. We may not be able to control the things we fear most in life, but we can control what we put into our mouths, and many who struggle with fear find themselves feeding the fear, literally, resulting in undesired weight gain. Or drowning their fears with alcohol. Or taking out their frustration with fear by abusing those who are closest to us.
Lucado points out that the best way to deal with our fears is to turn them over to God. The one phrase most often repeated by Jesus Christ during His time on Earth was "Do not be afraid." More than anything, Christ spoke to us about fear. It is in the storms of life that Jesus does His finest work, for it is in the storms that He has our keenest attention.
I learned a great deal about fear and worries from Mr. Lucado in his book Fearless: Imagine Your Life Without Fear
, available today from Thomas Nelson. Most importantly, I learned that through anything that happens to me, God is in control, and one thing that God never lets go to waste is bad things. When bad things -- the things we are most likely to fear -- happen to us, God uses them to achieve His divine purpose.President Roosevelt was only half right: "The only thing we have to fear is" God. Fear of the Lord is the deeply sane recognition that we are not God. A healthy fear of God will arm us to face all of our fears, and to overcome them, through Him.
Whether you are struggling with fear, phobias, frequent worries, or just the stresses of everyday life, Max Lucado's Fearless: Imagine Your Life Without Fear
will be a valued addition to your library. Your comments?
Joe
Maddy's Cancer Battle
Monday, September 7, 2009
Walt Disney World Vacation - Day 1: Coke Museum
Having just returned from a week at Walt Disney World with the family -- our first real vacation -- I have lots of thoughts, pictures, and video to share over the next several days. You can keep up with the content here.Thanks to somewhere between twelve and eighteen months of planning and preparation -- for which I am extremely grateful to my wife, who did all of the planning -- we took off on our first family vacation with what will likely be one of our biggest, a week at Walt Disney World and their Saratoga Springs Resort and Spa. We loaded up the car and headed out on Friday night at 10:30 PM, ninety minutes ahead of our planned departure. The goal? For the kids to sleep for most of the drive. We kept them both awake until time to leave, then loaded them into the car and rolled out. They fell asleep shortly after.
Our agenda called for us to drive roughly half of the thousand mile trip before making our first stop at the World of Coke Museum in Atlanta, Georgia. Along the way, our three-year-old daughter had her first bout with car-sickness, throwing up three times in rapid succession, all over herself, the floor, her car seat, and a blanket and pillow she was using. It was, as I'm sure you can imagine, quite disgusting! After a quick stop to clean the car, and my daughter, up and to give both the kids some Dramamine (should have thought of that sooner), we were back on our way with ninety minutes left before arriving at the Coke Museum.
If you've never been to the Coke Museum, it's something I highly recommend if you find yourself in the area of Olympic Centennial Park in Atlanta.
The World of Coke Museum is like Willie Wonka's Chocolate Factory for soft drinks. Literally anything and everything Coca-Cola that you could possibly imagine await you at the World of Coke Museum. My sister described it as Coca-Cola Brainwashing, but I would say that you probably aren't even at the Coke Museum unless you've already been brainwashed by the best-selling soft drink in the world. However, if you do venture into these hallowed halls without already having been brainwashed by Coke, then you are sure to come out with a freshly washed brain.
The museum features every type of Coca-Cola memorabilia one could possibly imagine. Signs, shirts, games, ad posters -- you name it, they have it. The World of Coke is rich with history and the heritage of that fizzy refreshment we have all come to know and love.
What turned out to be a week full of a new dimension of entertainment for us began with a 4-D audio-visual presentation that set out to reveal the secret formula of Coca-Cola. That's four dimensional, which added not only the dynamic third dimension made popular by movies like Monsters vs Aliens 
and Up, but also the fourth dimension of feel. That's right, you can literally feel the action, as water sprays and seats rumble and wind blows through your hair. Quite simply put -- an awesome experience.
But the most anticipated -- and most enjoyable -- part of the visit for myself and at least my son, was the opportunity to taste up to sixty-four different varieties of Coca-Cola products from around the world, including my all-time favorite (available only in Germany and Austria), Mezzo Mix. Unfortunately, I felt the fountain version of Mezzo Mix at the Coke Museum was over-carbonated, a problem which was not the case at the Coke Cool Club at Epcot Center.After our visit at the World of Coke Museum, we had planned to have lunch in Atlanta, but quickly escaped the city instead. I have long had a hatred of the airport in Atlanta, and the highways of Atlanta turned out to be just as bad. I must admit, I literally hated driving through the streets and highways of Atlanta.
After stopping for dinner at Fuddruckers (a first for my wife and kids), we made our way to Lake City, Florida, where we stayed the night just a few short hours from Walt Disney World in Orlando, getting a good night of rest before meeting the mouse on Saturday.
Your comments?
Joe
Maddy's Cancer Battle
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