Star Wars Exhibit at Space & Rocket Center in 2010

Hold on to your lightsabers folks, a Star Wars exhibit is coming to the U.S. Space & Rocket Center, Huntsville, Alabama, in 2010. Full story HERE.

Am I happy to see this? Oh yeah! I also thought it was kind of random that a Darth Vader prop suit (#232 of 300 from The Empire Strikes Back) just randomly showed up at the Space Center earlier this year. My guess is that this idea was brewing for a while, and Vader was a visitor reaction test.

Like many other traveling exhibits (Titanic, Katherine the Great, etc), this could be a big draw, because you're getting two treats at once, space, and Star Wars. And if memory serves, when there was a Star Wars exhibit at the Smithsonian Air & Space Museum in Washington D.C. a few years ago, it was packed every weekend with some very long waits.

To do: Picture with AT-AT, AT-ST, Speeder Bike, R2-D2, General Grievious, Darth Maul, random Jawa...

Hello Barricade!

Mustang custom from the local car club out front of the Monoco Theatre.

Happy Birthday Mom! :)

So when are we doing mini golf and skeeball again ? Love you and see you tonight. ;)

Microsoft Flight Simulator X and Father's Day

Had a chance this evening do so a little flying in simulator and cap a relaxing weekend. The hops to night included Hot Springs, Arkansas, Nashville, Tennessee, and Chattanooga, Tennessee.

While I was not able to find particular land marks like the Gaylord Opryland Hotel, or Chattanooga Aquarium, the pretty views, hills, and valleys, did not disappoint.

Yep, just a quiet way to end up a nice Father's Day weekend.

Incidentally, as time has worn on, I've come to share Dad's love of flight and aerospace and I have good memories of him taking me to musuems and showing the things he'd worked on. Among the notable good times with him, the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum in DC, The Air Force Museum in Dayton, Ohio, The Dayton International Air Show, Kennedy Space Center in Florida with he an Mom, and numerous sport events.

Dad always made things fun and we always had good laughs during those times. It didn't matter that we were in the nosebleed seats of Reds Stadium (the old one now demolished) for a double header. We were stuffing ourselves with hot dogs (I had 7 and that's a lot for a little kid) and watching Pete Rose come really close to breaking Ty Cobb's hit record. Same for all the hockey games both college and pro. We just had a good time out and I'm really glad for that, and, frankly, for all the things he's done for me throughout the years.

My sincere hope, when my time comes to be a father, is that I do half as good a job as he did. He really did a great job, and I am very proud to call him Dad.

Love you Dad, and Happy Father's Day. :)

Power Outage

Power dropped out @ 7:15 pm friday night and was still down @ 10 pm. South Parkway lights @ Byrd Spring road and Main Street South affected. No idea on cause or when power back on. Cooling down outside but not too hot. 81 @ last check. Blackberry only internet/com capability. Doing ok. :)

Well, I wanted a quiet night, but geez!

** Power came back on during the night and everything is back up and running. Black Diamond and Energizer LED headlamps are so my friends. :)

Spring Park

Recently, I got out to Spring Park in Tuscumbia, Alabama to check out the handful of amusement rides and the scenery. The sunny weather, after several weekends of storms was a welcome sight as I walked around this surprisingly fun little park. Kimberly even came down from Memphis for the day, which was an added bonus. Hey, I'm always glad to have company on these outings. Much more fun than flying solo.

If you'd like to see more of my pictures from Spring Park, CLICK HERE.

Before we go further, Spring Park is not to be confused with (though alternately named) Big Spring Park, in downtown Huntsville, Alabama. Spring Park is a separate and decidedly different atmosphere consisting of various bits of local Native American culture, Cold Water Falls, the kiddie playgrounds, and the amusement rides. The man-made falls are at one end of the lake while rest of the attractions are well to the other end, leaving some tranquil moments. The amusement rides include a Chance CP Huntington miniature train, a carousel, and a resucued Python Pit Miler kiddie coaster. There's also a standard playground and small water playground toward the middle of the park and near the railroad station respectively. The train winds around the park on about a 5 minute trip, so there are some good views to be had. There's also a concession stand that sells everything from hot dogs to shaved ice. Oh yes, shaved ice is definitely my friend on a hot day.

There are several fountains in the middle of the lake that put on a dancing waters show before closing. Unfortunately I didn't see this show, but plan to on a future visit.

If you live in northern Alabama, Spring Park is just a nice little place for a picnic and to spend part of a Saturday afternoon. For more information, have a look at http://www.tuscumbiarailway.com/. As always, thanks for reading!

Memorial Day Weekend in Memphis

Fate has a way of guiding a person in life, and it definitely was fate that brought me to Memphis, Tennessee this past Memorial Day weekend. You can see more Memphis Zoo and Liberty Land pictures here in the Photo Archive.

As with any trip, you just never know what will happen, even with the best planning. I left on Friday afternoon and forgot my car insurance papers. After lunch at McDonald's, it was back to the apartment and 20 minutes of hunting before finding them. Ok, no worries. A little later start, but I'm still getting on the road.

Next GPS decided to route me through Nashville to get to Memphis. The shorter and better route is to go through Tuscumbia, Alabama. What would've been about a four hour trip, turned into six and a half. Why I didn't turn around, no idea, but somewhere there is an old and wise Grail knight saying "He chose...poorly."

After getting into town an hour later than expected, Kimberly and I went out to dinner at Huey's to try their famous burgers...and wings! All were tasty, however, three burger bites and a wing and a half into the meal, CRUNCH! A filling broke and came out of my back left tooth. Thankfully no pain, but most of the plans to try the various great Memphis food specialties were out the window.

As a bad as all this sounds, a little comedy did mix in. For some reason I found it humorous buying "tooth spackle" at Walgreens and the underwear I forgot for the trip at Target. Yes, I didn't get my wash done and had no underwear. Oops. Oh well, now I have special souvenirs from Memphis and you probably have more info than you cared to know.

Now, fate does have a way of balancing things out, even after all that weirdness. Saturday morning we started the day at the Farmer's Market on an old railroad platform downtown. The last one of these I'd seen was in 2006 at UC Irvine. Surprisingly, I enjoyed that market, and this Memphis market as well. Kimberly treated me to an orange cranberry scone as we walked around downtown in a slight rain. The somber rain was fitting, especially when we stopped at the Lorraine Hotel and Civil Rights Museum. The Lorraine is where Martin Luther King Jr. was shot. You could feel a heaviness and sadness in the air, much like the Vietnam Wall in Washington D.C. Part of me couldn't help but wonder what might have been, had he lived on. This seemingly little experience had a profound effect on me. I was forever changed and much more appreciative of the world around me in feelings that transcend mere words. Very glad Kimberly brought me to that place.

I was also glad Kimberly brought me to another inspiring place, the Memphis Zoo. I was impressed with the wonderful themeing, the abundance of bamboo, and the tranquil gardens. We had a ball seeing everything and boy did we ever feel it after the 5 hour visit! Every section had a particular theme with some creative details. The panda exhibit, for example, had you walk through something of a palace courtyard with a huge bell in the middle, then a nearby Zen garden, then around a lily covered pond with various trees, then to the panda enclosures that have a temple feel to them. Huge lanterns hung from the rafters, almost giving you the feeling of an imperial court and visiting royalty. In some respects, this is actually true.

Of all the fun things to see and do, I enjoyed the kiddie farm train the most. Yes I got video and yes I am THAT sad. What part of theme park enthusiast do you not understand. ;)

Speaking of theme parks, I did get out to Liberty Land and was able to get good pictures and video of the still accessible areas. Meanwhile, barbed wire fences, numerous signs, wild dogs, and a police cruiser sitting near the coliseum were healthy deterrents to any trespassing. Translation: Don't even think about going into the old park.

It was exciting and disheartening to see Liberty Land in person for the first time. The Zippin Pippin was still in reasonably good shape. The grass everywhere was very high and, of course, the buildings were boarded up with most of the rides long gone. Part of the log flume was still standing next to the Revolution's old station. Wild dogs were roaming the loading platform where the track used to be. Revolution was moved at some point to Del Grosso's and sits in storage. Last rumors I heard were that the coaster was rusting away and very little had been done with it. This substantiated other rumors that once you blowtorch an older Arrow coaster, that welding it back together is a difficult task at best and then does it run nearly half as well as it did before. Logic suggests not.

This great weekend was capped off (yes I meant that) with meeting Kimberly's Mother. She was very sweet to open her home and share her food with us, and I really appreciated the warm welcome. Thank you very much to Mom and her hospitality. Also really enjoyed doing The Robot to the Dream Girls soundtrack while Mom drove and sang, and Kimberly cringed in the back seat. Yep, you just had to be there and yes, there are more trips to Memphis on the horizon. I look forward to seeing not only the many touristy things there, but also hanging out with new friends and family.

The Digital Life?! Part 7 _Technology Horror Week

As we all know, life throws the occasional curve ball, and boy did Iever get a few in the technology department this week. As said in an email this morning, moving to Ukiah to be a goat farmer has it's merits. Read on for a laugh at my expense.

The festering techno-evil began last weekend when my 9 year old DVD remote (still running on the original set of batteries that came with it) died. One minute, it was just fine, the next, nothing. While the 9 year old Pioneer DVD player still worked fine, a remote is just nicer to have. We'll come back to this part in a few.

Next, one night I was awake at 1 am and decided to update my Blackberry Curve software, since one of the improvements added video recording. Said update that I thought would take maybe 15 minutes lasted over an hour. While this was going on, the top part of my desk (lower right corner of picture) was slumping to the left. Yep, it had broken and my laptop was about to slide off. While Blackberry update progressed, I moved laptop, Xbox 360 controller, mouse, and pad. The 360 controller slid off the notebook, smacked the netbook, snapping 3 keys off it, narrowly missed my Blackberry, and then hit the floor. Controller seemed ok, and left shift, control, and FN keys all snapped back into place on the netbook, however, control key is now sketchy at best.

After getting all the computer gear off the broken desk, I moved a book case from the bedroom to the living room as a temporary fix. While turning it around, the sharp corner dug into my foot and left a 3 inch scrape. You know the old saying "Karma's a bitch"? It's true, but I can't for the life of me remember who's dogma I ran over with it.

An hour later (2 am), and the book shelf is in place, the computer gear is set up, and the Blackberry is finished updating. I would find out the next day, that moving Quicktime video clips to Blackberry would have problems. The go between software would either refuse to convert the videos or it would copy them over, only to play back the audio and not the video. Still sorting that one out.

Remember the DVD remote? In order to fix that problem, I bought (after some careful research) an Xbox 360 Universal Media Remote, thinking it would control the DVD player, or, if not, my Media Center laptop. It successfully programmed to my Magnavox tv (with an already perfectly working remote) and that's it. Now, you would think with the title "Universal" the remote would work with about anything. Guess again. It wasn't until the package was open that the instructions said it only worked with a 360 console, tvs, and a Media Center PC CONNECTED to an Xbox 360. Great. Just great. Well, I'm keeping it anyway, since a 360 is in the cards later this year and may just replace the DVD player.

Don't even get me started on the 360 chat pad that doesn't work with anything on a PC, even MSN chat, yet the headset is recognized and works just fine.

Am I trapped in a Chevy Chase Vacation movie? Seriously? Should the moose out front have told me something?

Ok, I'm not about to spout doom and gloom without pointing out some GOOD things here. The Blackberry update yielded said video camera, a sharper web browser, and access to it's App Store. The book case wound up being a better desk than the real desk it replaced. Also picked up a Memorex 2 gig Mini Travel USB drive at Target for $7, giving me an extra backup option for travel pics and vids on the netbook.

Like I said, Ukiah. Goat farmer. Yeah...

Travel Magnet Collection

For fun, I collect magnets (among other souvenirs) from various travels and events. Check back here now and again see what new magnets have been added.

Blogging Buffet & Nerdly News

Well gang, this week kicks off with some much needed blog org. Yep, a bunch of little updates and re-vamping the Photo Archive.

• Humorously, I finally discovered the public link at the bottom of a Facebook photo album and am cross-linking all those albums here. That way, you all can enjoy the pics from my travels. Yes, Picasa could've been used for online photo albums since it's in league with Blogspot, but for now, Facebook get's the call until I REALLY know what I'm doing. ;)
• Since I've been flying a fair amount in Microsoft Flight Simulator X, I thought it would be fun to track the flight hours and awards. In addition to what's posted, I have about 20 hours of helo time between Flight Simulator 2002 and X. With the recent X reinstall, it was less hassle just to start over so that the blog reflected the game's pilot's log.
• Added Huey's of Memphis to the Wings Credit section and took out the Top 5. Why? I just came to realize it was more fun to track the different places visited than to rank them. Bottom line, I loves me some wings and that's all that really matters anyway.
• Since I'm still tinkering with layouts, etc, expect a little shuffling the next few months, followed by notes on what went where and how many grey hairs resulted.
• Downloaded my first Blackberry game this past weekend. Pacman Pinball Deluxe. Nice to have pinball on my phone again. :)
• My latest little souvenir interest is zipper pulls. Don't know why, I just find them interesting and they travel well along with buttons, magnets, and lanyards. You can even see my ever-growing (and newly posted) magnet collection here. As new ones are added, the picture will be updated.