Birthday Cake - Grandma Strikes Again

My mom always makes elaborate birthday cakes for my kids. I posted pictures of the spiderman cake a few months ago. Well it's my eldest son's birthday shortly and we are celebrating today. Here are pictures of the amazing cakes my mom made this time.

Sysadmin Day

I work in IT and I am very proud to note that today July 27th is SysAdmin day?

What's SysAdmin day? Look here!

Star Trek XI

Leonard Nimoy to Reprise Role as Spock in 11th 'Star Trek' Movie

Friday , July 27, 2007

SAN DIEGO —

Leonard Nimoy isn't through with Spock yet.

The 76-year-old actor will don his famous pointy ears again to play the role in an upcoming "Star Trek" film due out Christmas 2008.

"This is really going to be a great movie. And I don't say things like that lightly," Nimoy told a gathering of 6,500 fans Thursday at Comic-Con, the nation's largest pop-culture convention.

• Get the low-down on Tinseltown in the Movies Center.

He greeted the crowd with a Vulcan salute.

Nimoy was joined by the newly named young Spock, "Heroes" star Zachary Quinto, who bears an uncanny resemblance to Nimoy.

Both Spocks were introduced by the film's director and co-producer, J.J. Abrams.

"This is a series I loved as a kid," Abrams said, acknowledging that he was "more of a 'Star Wars' kid than a 'Star Trek' kid."

"This matters so much to so many people," he said. "I'm honored to be here and do this."

While the character of Captain Kirk has yet to be cast, Abrams said that William Shatner, who played the role in the original TV series, would likely also have a part in the film.

"It has to be worthy, of him and of you," Abrams told fans, adding that production is slated to begin in November.

One fan asked Nimoy what he thought of his "replacement."

"It was logical," the actor said dryly. He then closed with Spock's classic line: "Live long and prosper."

Visit FOXNews.com's Movies Center for complete coverage.

How not to trim a tree

I work for the International Society of Arboriculture, and have a healthy respect for Arborists and what they do. Check out these videos, and when you need to take a tree down, even a relatively small one, hire an arborist and verify they are certified.



You can also check out this video.

Wild Storm

We had a wild storm in Champaign today. I've got a radar image of the storm system and pair of photos. Terry Hickman, a gentleman I work with was nice enough to share the photos with me.

Weekend in Saugatuck, MI

I took a long weekend in Saugatuck, MI with my wife, kids and inlaws. Everyone had a great time. My kids went up a few days ahead with my wife's folks (yes they are very brave).

The top picture is sunset on a stormy night at Oval Beach. The bottom photo is the view from our cabin.

Battlestar galactica preview

So if you are Battlestar Galactica fan you know we have a LONG wait until season 4. It doesn't air until 2008 but in the mid-fall a two part movie will air called Battlestar Galactica: Razor. This will jump back to the middle of season 2 and focus on events on the Battlestar Pegasus.

Here is a preview:

Perfect

My three boys spent the night at my in laws recently giving my wife and I a rare night alone.

We were preparing the boys for the evening away by explaining what was coming up. My middle son, who's five, had a number of questions.

My Son: "So were going to spend the night."

Me: "Right."

My Son: "We're going to spend the night with Grandpa and Grandma."

Me: "Right."

My Son: "And you and mom are not going to be there."

Me: "Right."

My Son: "Perfect!

How funny is that.

Saugatuck, MI

I took a trip with my family and in-laws to Saugatuck, MI last weekend. We go up almost every year. My wife's family has been making the annual trip since she was a little girl. My three young boys enjoy time at the beach and in the water. The town has great restaurants and many small shops. Large boats almost completely fill the docks at the edge of the water.

There is a web cam of Saugatuck that updates daily here.


I grabbed today's web cam picture because it represents the town very well.

In addition to the web cam there is great virtual tour of Saugatuck available here. Click on the shopping bag icons to bring up the 360 degree camera views. I particularly like the view of water street near the southwest part of the map.

A few more pictures

A few more...

Cool Pictures

My very cool mother-in-law emailed me these photos of unusual houses today. I couldn't resist posting some of the pictures.

Bud Swear Jar

This commercial is hilarious.

Baseball Weirdness

You've got to watch this whole clip to get the full effect. It's something else.


...and one more baseball clip. A plane crash in a game.

Son's Birthday - Cool Cakes

My youngest son had his 4th birthday party today. His grandmother makes the boys really cool cakes for most of their birthday's. Here is this years effort.

Microsoft Surface?

This is a cool article about a new Microsoft technology. Check out the link here If it's available watch the video of Bill Gates showing it off, I'll look for a you tube version to put in here too...

I found an alternate video clip. Here it is.

Shooting near where I work

There was a local shooting in the 1400 Block of West Anthony Drive last night. My office is located at 1400 W Anthony Drive. Scary. Here is the story.

Moona Flex & Gas Prices

So... the answer to the 1 million dollar question.

Moona Flex is Mozilla Firefox. My young son who is learning to read just missed a bit on the words, but now when I still call it Moona Flex (I think that's very funny) he gets upset and tells me it's Mooozilla Firefox.

On another note, here is a link to a story about rising gas prices. Apparently some gas stations can't make any money and are no longer selling gas.

Moona Flex

My middle son was asking me to run Moona Flex on my computer for DAYS. He was upset, sad, mad and everything in between. Any guesses regarding what Moona Flex is? He's five and he's just starting to read. He plays a handful of games on the computer and a few internet games, Dora, Thomas the Tank Engine, etc...

... I will post the answer in a few days.

Monkey dead from bubonic plague in Denver

the bubonic plague? Here Now?

DENVER (Reuters) - A Denver Zoo monkey has died of bubonic plague, apparently after eating a squirrel stricken with the disease, Colorado health and zoo officials said on Monday.

Five squirrels and a rabbit found dead on zoo grounds tested positive for the flea-borne disease in recent weeks, Denver Zoo spokeswoman Ana Bowie said.

Zookeepers on May 15 noticed the 8-year-old hooded capuchin monkey was lethargic, and the next day it was found dead in its enclosure. Zoo veterinarians sent tissue samples to a state laboratory where it was determined the animal died of the plague. The death was announced on Monday.

Zoo veterinarian Dave Kenny said that the risk of plague spreading to humans was extremely low but that visitors were being urged to avoid squirrels and rabbits.

"There are species in the zoo collection, especially monkeys, that could be susceptible to the plague," said John Pape, an epidemiologist with the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment.

Bowie said none of the 17 other capuchin monkeys in the exhibit -- or any other animals at the zoo -- have shown plague symptoms. But as a precaution, all the capuchin monkeys have been moved to an inside enclosure and are being treated with a regimen of antibiotics, she said.

Great Weekend

I had a terrific weekend. Saturday night I had a nice dinner out with my folks, my sister and her fiance. My sister Leslie was just engaged a week or so ago. Her fiance Tim seems like a great guy and I am very happy for both of them. It was also a rare night out with my family without the little kids (we got a sitter). That doesn't happen often, maybe once a year.

Sunday I visited with very good, old friends to me. I blogged about them recently and was thrilled that we got to grill out at their place. Our kids and their kids played and swam. We ate well and talked for hours. These are some of my dearest friends and although we have all become busy with our children, but it is inexcusable that I don't find a way to see them more. They are very dear friends and I have missed the horrible. Visiting felt like it had only been a day since I had seen them. We picked up just as it should have been.

What a great weekend.