Image by eddiecoyote via Flickr
Memorial Day, originally called Decoration Day, is a day of remembrance for those who have died in our nation’s service.
We hope you take time to reflect on those who have gone on before us in the service of our country and we thank you.
Have a safe and sound Memorial Day!
BRILLIANT is the single word that expresses the great presentation we saw. Last night we attended the Amesbury Elementary School Open House. Part of the evening was a presentation of the “Wax Museum” followed by songs sung by the whole group.
All of the children shown in the video below were seated around the walls of the gym. They wore a name tag, like the one above, saying who they were portraying. When a visitor pushed the red star, the child stood up and recited their speech about their character from history. ALL of the children we interacted with were great. They stood up and gave their speech and sat down. AWESOME.
We only included one song, but you can see the enthusiasm displayed by the children.
We visited teachers, saw the ducks and admired the many art displays in the school. We finished the celebration at Maggie Sundae in Amesbury with ice cream.
There is lots of excitement at our house today. Our granddaughter, Violette, tried on all the costume pieces together to make sure everything is all set for tonight. She will be playing Martha Washington in the school play. It was a great relief that everything turned out well.
I learned of the play when she told me we needed a white bonnet and a white shawl. After the first wave of panic passed, I realized I could make a shawl quite easily. A triangular piece of material secured with a pin in front would do the job nicely.
The challenge was to make a bonnet. First requirement was to learn what type of bonnet Martha Washington wore. Thank you Wikipedia for solving that problem. Knowing what the end result should look like helped a lot. After a couple of attempts, we created the bonnet Violette is wearing in the picture.
I asked if she needed a white wig, but she said no, “I am portraying her as a young girl.” I never thought of Martha Washington being a young woman.
The whole challenging event reminded me of when our son Thom was young. He was excited to be the lead character in a play called “The Gumdrop Dragon.” Two days before the play he came home from practice and announced he was no longer in the play. When asked why, he replied, “I don’t want to be.” I explained that wasn’t fair to the teachers or the other members of the class. I asked him if there was some reason he didn’t want to be in the play.
“They want me to get on the stage in long underwear with spots. That doesn’t look like a dragon.” Back then we didn’t have Google and You Tube to help us find videos that give instructions, but I had basic sewing skills and imagination.
Using bright green material I constructed a long T-Shirt like form that reached the ground and had long sleeves. In the back, I created a long spiked tail and stuffed the spikes so they would stand up. I made a simple green bonnet with little ears. Thankfully, all the major parts were done by end of day. That night, Steve and I colored tons of little round stickers. The costume was a success and Thom was back in the play.
I guess clothes do make a difference – at least at school plays.
After seeing an animated movie, have you ever wondered how these movies are made. We know that the voices are done by real life people, but how do the voices get melded with the animation to make the movie characters believable. It is an amazing feat.
Our grandson was visiting and wanted to watch the bonus disc of “Despicable Me presents Minion Madness.” Steve and I were both sitting on the couch and the only other good seat in front of the TV was between us. With the TV in front of us, we just started watching.
The selection, “The Voices of Despicable Me” is awesome. Learning how the voices are more than just reading a script and how the part actually grows is amazing. I thought the actors just read the script, but they actually become part of the movie. They read the script and add their own voice inflections. Sometimes they add more words than are written in the script and the editors get to choose which parts they want. The voice, supplied by real people, and the animated character become one.
After watching this documentary, it is easy to understand why the actors become so animated and excited when talking about the characters they give voice to.
You can purchase this at our Amazon.com affiliate link below:
When Hachette Audio sent us some books to review they included, Stokes Field Guide to Bird Songs. For some reason, we thought it was a book with a story. In reality it is an audio version of Bird Songs that can be used with the Stokes Field Guide, or written version, of their book.
Each chapter gives the name of a bird and then the bird’s song is played. We like how it was done. There are 100 chapters on the first disk which equals 100 bird songs. The different chapters allows one to mark those bird songs they want to explore further. It also comes with a bonus MP3 version of the book AND a PDF file of the different birds.
We listened to all of the birds songs, hoping to hear the sound of a bird that goes something like “eb gb gb gb.” Alas we did not find a match.
Some of the bird songs are remarkable. Some of the bird songs would make neat ring tones for my phone.
This audio version of Stokes Field Guide to Bird Songs would be a great gift for any birder or even someone who has an interest in birds. In any case, it would make a great gift for many reasons.
If you cannot see the video, please click here!
To learn more or purchase the products discussed in the video, please click on our affiliate link(s) below:
Stokes Field Guide to Bird Songs – Eastern Region
Image by blmiers2 via Flickr
It used to be that when a person died, at least in my corner of the world, they had a wake, then a funeral and they were buried. We marked their grave with a stone with their name, date of birth and date of death.
In today’s world, things are different. People can leave instructions for how they wish to have their remains treated.
Some people say they will not have a funeral. “Just put me in a box and bury me.” My brother says that. When I told him I had read several reports that seeing the body of a dead person is cathartic for the people left behind. It marks a reality in our brain that the person has passed on to the other side.
Funerals are the final tribute to a person, but they are much more than that. Aunt Verna died last week. She was 100 years old on her birthday in January. She saw a great many changes while she was on this earth. She was a wonderful person and touched many peoples lives.
After traveling a whole day to get there, we were invited to dinner at Wes and Monique Grant’s house. We had already eaten dinner, but we did join them for desert. Bob and Christine Grant had brought a Fiddlehead Cake. It has the texture of a zucchini bread or cake and sort of has the same taste. It was lots of fun to see who tried the great tasting cake and those who wouldn’t even eat it because of the name.
These folks are our relatives, but we don’t really know them too well because they are the younger generation and we don’t get to see them because of the distance that separates us. Their kids joined in and we had a great time.
The next day at the wake, funeral, burial, and reception, we got to meet more relatives we couldn’t name immediately because we had not seen them in quite a while. This is not unusual at funerals.
As we sat there meeting and greeting people, the love and emotion was almost visible in the room. Ages ran from 18 months old to 84 years old and everyone was nice to each other. At that moment I realized how meaningful funerals can be. As we say goodbye to someone, we greet the next generation growing up. Life goes on as we give strength to each other.
I had an idea! At the reception, we could shoot short video clips of the people gathered there. We asked that they give their name and then say whatever they wanted. Most people just gave their name while some gave their relationship to Aunt Verna as well as their name.
Funerals really do have a purpose. Saying good bye to Aunt Verna was sad, but making and renewing ties with friends and family was priceless.
We recently had the pleasure of having breakfast with Liz Strauss. She is a very big deal in the Social Media world and we wanted to do a really professional interview, but it didn’t exactly turn out that way.
When we were face to face, I had only one question that I wanted answered. Why does everyone like Liz Strauss? “What makes her special and what makes her loved?” That was my only question.
About five seconds after meeting her, I had a pretty good idea of what makes Liz Strauss an icon. She is easy to talk with and she is a story teller of the highest caliber. I noticed her unique wedding ring and asked her about it. That became her first story. She told us how it changed from her original wedding ring to what it is today. Who would ever guess that “The Liz Strauss” with all her impressive credentials would start our relationship with a “love story.” For me, this is a great example of why people love Liz Strauss. She is just so easy to talk with and she tells a great story.
We met Liz when we went to #RoastBrogan, a charity event to honor Chris Brogan. She told us she was in my place last week when her son was honored. Like our son, he was nervous about what stories Mom would tell and added a few of his own.
Thank you Liz for spending time with us and adding us to your long list of those folks who like “Liz Strauss.”
Image via Wikipedia
We cannot say enough good things about owning a Toyota Prius. It is more environmentally engineered then the prior Dodge products we have owned in the past. This was why we originally decided to purchase a Prius in the first place.
Diane and I had to pre-order our first Toyota Prius on line. We had to guarantee that we were actually purchasing the vehicle for our own use and not for the dealership. In 2000, Toyota was allocating only pre-purchased Prius’ to dealers. The Prius we received was the first one that was delivered to our dealer, Atlantic Toyota of Lynn, MA.
Our first Prius had only one challenge. It was not made to start in the cold, freezing winters of northeastern Massachusetts. But to Toyota’s credit, they worked on the vehicle until the problem was completely resolved, even after the warranty had expired, at no cost to ourselves.
We did not buy the “Green Machine Prius” because of its great gas mileage, but that certainly did not hurt. Over the ten years that we owned our first Prius, we averaged about 42 miles per gallon. We drove this vehicle for about 160,000 miles. We were hoping to keep it for at least 200,000 to 250,000 miles but we started to run into problems. Our other vehicle was a 1997 Toyota Sienna with over 130,000 miles and we decided it was time to purchase a new, more dependable mode of transportation.
So after 10 years of owing this Prius, we went to our local Ira Toyota Dealer in New Hampshire and traded in the old model for a new 2011 model.
In 2000, we could purchase a Prius, but, we had no choice of the color or options. You got what you got.
Back in 2000, our Prius Hybrid came with a price tag of about $22,000 – compared with $12,000 for a Toyota Camry. In 2011, our new Pruis was priced at about $22,000, which is amazing if you think about it. We chose the color we wanted and the option level, II, and we did not have to wait. A Toyota Camry today starts at about $16,000.00.
Even though gas savings are not a primary consideration for us, we will save over $8,000 over the course of the next ten years compared to a standard non-hybrid vehicle. Plus, we can convert our Pruis to run totally electric, using an after market third party conversion kit.
Regular gas prices per gallon over the last ten years:
09-14-2000 $1.56
09-05-2001 $1.32
09-09-2002 $1.34
09-02-2003 $1.77
09-12-2004 $1.78
09-03-2005 $3.06
09-02-2006 $2.48
09-04-2007 $2.50
09-16-2008 $3.48
09-01-2009 $2.60
09-04-2010 $2.50
05-17-2011 $3.90
So, all in all, this was a win win for us.
,
Diane and I have just finished listening to the newly published “Hollywood Hills: A Novel”, written by Joseph Wambaugh and narrated by Christian Rummel for Hachette Audio Books.
Set in the Hollywood Hills police precinct, Wambaugh weaves his magic and introduces us to the wide range of characters including police officers, druggies, movie producers, aging rich widow, surfer cops. The list just goes on.
.
If you cannot see the video, click here.
To learn more or purchase the products discussed in the video, please click on our affiliate link(s) below:
Diane Brogan