All Pro Football 2k8

Cover of the game. Looks great. Nice animated shot of Jerry Rice, John Elway, and Barry Sanders. Best part about the game is how they are adding a huge number of legend players. 2K sports does not have the rights to the NFL or team names, but the game is fully customizable and it won't be long until there are files available with current teams, players, uniforms and stadiums. Until then, I will be happy to play in the 2k8 universe a bit. You customize and draft your own team from the legends and players they added to the game. The goal is to create and draft the best team.


This is a nice side-by-side shot of the Madden08 cover boy (VY is certain to break a leg now that he is the Madden cover boy) and a screen from 2K8. Interesting. Screens mean little when it comes to game play though and 2K8 should have that down. I just can't stand the Madden degradation of NextGen football. :(


This looks like a signature Emmitt Smith move to me. Scores and points to the stands with the ball under his arm. Looks perfect. Signature moves like this from legends will be cool. Can't wait to see Chuck Knoll and Gregg Lloyd!


Here are the 3 cover boys at the midfield coin flip before a game. Looks cool. Can't wait to see this game!


Johnny Unitas lives!

I am totally pumped for this game to come out for the 360. Of course, I'll need to get my 360 back from being fixed. Hopefully that'll happen next week. Seeing all the old Sega NFL 2K footage as I have been reading about the 2k8 game online in forums makes me really wish I would have kept my old Xbox and been able to play the old 2K games on it. I made a big mistake trading it in. But, who would have thought I would have this much trouble keeping a 360 working?

Regardless, it is costing me 0$ to get it fixed. So I won't complain. I just need July 17th to get here already! It will be great because that's the week I come back from my conference in San Diego. I'll be ready to play!

Friday night/Saturday morning at 1am SPIKE TV will have the first footage of this game on tv. I can't wait to see it.
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Summer Update

Ran a mile and a 1/2 tonight and it has energized me. I am up too late again. But, I am really proud of myself and of Norma for starting to workout again.

So tonight I thought I would give you a taste of "Summer Life" at our house. This summer Aidan has been very hot on the show Ed, Edd and Eddy. He can't get enough. Right now I am downloading (although it is uploading, because my TiVo is downstairs and the PC that I'm copying the files to is upstairs in the office [smile]) about 14 episodes of the show to my computer. Actually that is about 30 episodes, since each 1/2 hour is actually 2 shows. He'll have a nice DVD out of this to watch whenever he needs to (which seems to be more than he actually "needs" to).


I don't know what the fascination is with the show? He has had a different show that grips him from time to time and that he is more interested in depending on his mood. But, the "Eds" always light his lamp.

He is also loving the pool (see previous post). We are growing gills in my house we are at the pool so much!

We also spent the morning at Chuck E Cheeses. Another of Aidan's favorites. Cheap pizza, tokens, and arcade games. Oh yeah, and Stuffed Animal Mascots! It was pretty funny today, Chuck E was there (in the stuffed mouse outfit) and there was a bus load of kids there all huddled around Chuck. They started screaming out songs, and Aidan freaked. He started saying, "ShhhhH!" and put his finger to his mouth. Then he would put his hands to his ears. It was funny.

Tomorrow we'll be on a mission to find him a tux for his Aunt Aimee's wedding in a few weeks. Plus, we are going to get a portable dvd player for the car. We'll be taking some trips this summer and that will come in handy for sure.

Fun, fun, fun in the summer time.
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Video at the Pool

Today was a lot of fun. I received my new camcorder from UPS and also got my return box in the mail from Microsoft to ship my dead Xbox360 back. Using the camera is as great as I had heard. I read scores of great reviews on the camera and I must say, so far I totally agree. It's a great camera.

Here is some footage that I shot and put together from today at the pool. Or as Aidan calls it, the "POLE!"


June 2007 "At the Pool" from fordee on Vimeo

Can't wait to use the camera in PA in a couple of weeks. That'll be great to shoot lots of pictures and video and be able to put together some great DVDs from our trip and from our summer. :) We are looking forward to seeing everyone.
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The End for Battlestar Galactica

The end is near for one of my very favorite shows on TV: Battlestar Galactica.

The ending of this year's show really surprised me. They showed the "final four" cylons and it shocked me. The whole "All Along the Watchtower" song thing was odd and strange... but, it worked in the end. Although the "Starbuck Vision" in the end was strange. Is there really only one race of humans? Did the Cylons actually create the human race in the beginning of time? Or what twisted idea are the writers coming up with???

One more season and BSG will be finished!

Blogcritics Article on BSG End.
Bye-bye BSG.

It’s true, after months of rumor and speculation, hand-wringing among fans, statements from stars Edward James Olmos and Katee Sackhoff, Battlestar Galactica producers and the Sci-Fi Channel have announced that the upcoming 22 episode season will be the end of the series.

This not-so-surprising revelation was issued in a press release from NBC-Universal (the parent company of Sci-Fi). The release states that the choice to end the series at this point is that of Ronald D. Moore and David Eick, executive producers of the series.

"This show was always meant to have a beginning, a middle and finally, an end. Over the course of the last year, the story and the characters have been moving strongly toward that end and we've decided to listen to those internal voices and conclude the show on our own terms," stated Eick and Moore in the press release.

Sci Fi Channel had previously stated that they were looking at possible spin-off of Battlestar Galactica, entitled Caprica, which would focus on events that led up to those described in BSG. The press release did not mention anything about the future plans of this series.

A special two-hour episode entitled “Razor” will kick off the fourth season in November of this year. The rest of the season will then air beginning in early 2008.

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Presenile Dimensia?

Presenile Dimensia?

XBox 360 Dead Again

Earlier this week, celebrating my summer break from teaching, I turned on my Xbox 360. I was greeted with a lovely three flashing red lights on the ring of light. Yea! That means it's dead.

I made the service call to 1-800-myXbox and I am now waiting for the box they send me with the return service. Good thing is that it is still under warranty. Bad deal is that this is the 2nd time this has happened. They will send me a refurbished one. But, I am beginning to think this is ridiculous.

It is a real shame in this day and age that these kinds of problems occur. It's a great system. It has great games. I would not be happy with another product. But, these fried boxes are just absolutely stupid. Makes my head spin.

And to top it all off, we head to Pittsburgh on June 19th. So I will be hoping and praying I get the Xbox shipped here before we leave. Otherwise, I may not end up getting it. They could send it back! Very frustrating. We'll see. I'll call their service people if it is not here in time and maybe something can be worked out.

How stupid is it though that all spring I had NO TIME to play and now that I do... it's dead? Just my luck.

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messing with Vox

The past couple of days I have been messing with this Vox blog: Forty.Vox.Com. Thanks to Leo LaPorte and his blog "Life of Leo", I found Vox. It looks to be a very interesting community. Previously I have blogged on a couple of other services. Lately my home has been on Blogger for more than a year.

But, on Blogger you tend to feel like you are on an island and you shout out from that island hoping someone reads/hears you. On Vox there is more of a "community" feel.

So, over this summer I will be experimenting with Vox and see if it's the kind of place for me. I like MANY of the features and so far only dislike a few. I'll be posting more about what I think about this place. But, so far, so good!

Let me know which you like better - this current location/blog? Or the new Vox one.

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Potty Training, Haircuts and Naps

Aidan has been doing a great job with potty training lately. He has been going on his own each morning and after nap each day this 4 day weekend.

It is amazing to see him getting bigger and growing up.

He also sat perfectly for his haircut today and it looks very good. Amazing what I can do when he sits still and doesn't freak out. :)

This summer is really going to be amazing with him. I wore a shirt on Saturday to school during our checkout for the summer. It said, "Cool Daddy." I told everyone that it is my "Summer Job." After all, it really is.

Right now I am listening to the monitor and Norma is working her butt of trying to get him to take his nap. He's been great about it all weekend, but suddenly for some reason today he is rebelling. Hopefully he'll go down soon. It is raining and very cool today so it is actually nice nap weather for him and he could get some good sleep.
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New Camera: Sony DCR-SR200 Digital Camcorder

JR.com: Sony DCR-SR200 Digital Camcorder

Got it for $644.88 including shipping. It was going for $850 at BestBuy. A great deal and the cheapest price I could find on the web. I really, really like this camera. It has an internal hard drive that is 30 Gig. It also has a memory card slot so that it is a hybrid of sorts. If the hard drive ever goes out, or you fill it up on a long shoot or vacation, you can store to the memory card.

What I like best about this camcorder is that it is also a great digital camera. 4 megapixel, which is a higher quality than I have my digital camera set on to take images now. Plus, as you are shooting video there is also a seamless picture taking feature as well. Which means you can take a still image shot as you are also recording live video. Neat.

I am really looking forward to using this on our trip to PA this summer. It will be awesome to shoot some video and be able to immediately edit it and load it to the computer. I will also have much, much better quality video here on the blog of Aidan. :)

Can't wait until it arrives next week!

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Astros... ouch.

Good golly! My Astros haven't won in over a week! Holy crap.

Maybe it's time for a major change? I don't remember them sliding this bad since the 2000 season (first season in Minute Maid). Could this be the end of the Phil Garner Era?

I think they just have too many position players that are bad hitters. Catcher, Short, Third and Second are killing them at the plate. And I love Craig Biggio and all, but he can not continue to lead off every day while having a .200 on base percentage. He'll still get his 3,000 hits easily, but move him down and move Hunter Pence up.

My fear is that Phil Garner wants to change his lineup, but the ownership will not let him. I thought this was all supposed to be about winning games? Doesn't look like it from where I am sitting.

Norma, Aidan and I really have to get to a game soon though. We didn't go to a single one last year. It has been too long. I bet Aidan will have a ball there this summer. The problem is finding a good time to go. Games at night start too late. Maybe a good 6:05 start on a Saturday might work out well? We will have to order some tickets this week.


WOW was he little!


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30 Years Ago!

Star Wars.

I am 37. So when the movie came out I was only 7. But, boy did it influence me. Even today when teaching about WWII and Hitler... of course, I mention the "Storm Troopers" and "Darth Vader" (Adolf himself!). I can't wait to watch the History Channel's The Legacy Revealed on Memorial Day.

A time Far, Far Away... but, the memories will always live on. I can't wait for my son to experience the greatest movie villain of all time - Vader. And maybe the greatest underdog hero of all time - Young Skywalker - Luke. I wonder what age it will be when he discovers all the dvds that we have and starts to want to watch them instead of "The Wonder Pets?"

Has any movie ever captured it's spirit better in it's soundtrack? In those awesome sound effects when those Empire ships cruise through space (there is no sound in space, right? still didn't matter - it was cool!).

You gotta love it. I am feeling old though!

My birthday was this week. Monday. I didn't write about it because I had a MONSTER headache that night and went to bed early. It was a nice birthday though. I got cookies and cupcakes from my kids (I have no idea how they found out it was my birthday) and some really cool cards. One girl brought in a BYU pennnant as a present for me. I put college pennants up above my assignment board and she wanted to add her favorite school to the display. I put them there so that when they look up on that board to see what we are doing for the day or to see the assignment, they will remember why they are doing all this hard work. Really nice present because I will put it up each year.

I also got the coolest hand made card EVER from one of my favorite students. It was simply meticulous and totally well done. It's hard to even explain it was that nice.

Today I finished packing up my room. I go in tomorrow morning and will get the last signatures on my sign out form and turn in my grades. I'll put the last boxes in my car and it's cruise home for the summer! Kinda stinks going in on a Saturday morning, but it will be great to be all finished.

Hard to believe our first year is all over!
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Woody's Hat

Aidan in his "Woody Hat!" He loves that hat. We got it at the local (expensive) toy store and he loved it from the first moment he saw it. It is just like his pal Woody's hat.

This has been a really, really busy and crazy week. We are just about to finish the school year. Tomorrow finals begin. We finish up on Friday. Then I go in Saturday morning and finish up. We have to totally break down our rooms and move everything out since summer school will be in our rooms this year. That definitely sucks. I really put a lot of work into my room and it is superbly more enjoyable to build it at the beginning of the year compared to tearing it down at the end.

Today Norma and I showed our "Year in Review" videos to our classes. Mine was a :20 minute movie created in Windows Movie Maker. It is a huge video and there were TONS of pictures and music clips. The kids were really blown away. From the beginning of the assembly of the school to the last few weeks... it really got to some kids. One girl left the room with tears running down her cheeks and just mumbled, "It was... good."

I had to be careful not to lose it myself. It is really hard for me to say goodbye to these kids. It has been an incredible year and I am really going to miss them.

We have been interviewing for the past 3 weeks and finally have our AVID kids selected for next year. I am pumped about the freshman I have coming in. 29 kids. Should be a wonderful group. They will definitely be what I am focusing my summer on. In July I will be heading to San Diego for a week for the AVID Institute and will learn a lot more about the program. I have really enjoyed getting to know the other AVID classroom teacher and our AVID counselor over the past month. It is going to be great working with them. All three of us are just totally focused on these kids and working to get them into college. It is an amazing program and we have barely even started!

The school year ends this week. It is really HARD to believe!
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