1474 Megapixel Image of Inauguration

This is pretty cool. A 1474 megapixel shot of Pres. Barack Obama being sworn in.

You can zoom in. It's pretty cool to see all the people there, to zoom in and just look around.

Into the Groove

This is one of those silly put your iPod on shuffle games.

Rules…
*Put your music player on shuffle.
*For each question, press the next button to get your answer.
* YOU MUST WRITE THAT SONG NAME DOWN NO MATTER HOW SILLY IT SOUNDS!


1) IF SOMEONE SAYS "IS THIS OKAY" YOU SAY...
Alright, I was wrong

2) WHAT WOULD BEST DESCRIBE YOUR PERSONALITY?
Christmas in Hollis

3) WHAT DO YOU LOOK FOR IN A GUY/GIRL?
The Ground Beneath Her Feet

4) HOW DO YOU FEEL TODAY?
Liberation

5) WHAT IS YOUR LIFE'S PURPOSE?
Hanging by a moment

6) WHAT IS YOUR MOTTO?
Rewind

7) WHAT DO YOUR FRIENDS THINK OF YOU?
Retrace

8) WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT VERY OFTEN?
Livin' on a Prayer

9) WHAT IS 2+2?
Windowsill

10) WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR BEST FRIEND?
Five Iron Frenzy is either dead or dying

11) WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THE PERSON YOU LIKE?
Get to Heaven

12) WHAT IS YOUR LIFE STORY?
Extreme North of the Compass

13) WHAT DO YOU WANT TO BE WHEN YOU GROW UP?
Fabulous, like you

14) WHAT DO YOU THINK WHEN YOU SEE THE PERSON YOU LIKE?
Wake Up

15) WHAT DO YOUR PARENTS THINK OF YOU?
Always Yours

16) WHAT WILL YOU DANCE TO AT YOUR WEDDING?
Don't Wait (but I'm already married...)

17) WHAT WILL THEY PLAY AT YOUR FUNERAL?
1979 (that would be a few years off)

18) WHAT IS YOUR HOBBY/INTEREST?
I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For

19) WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR FRIENDS?
Summer Rain

20) WHAT'S THE WORST THING THAT COULD HAPPEN?
No One Like You

21) HOW WILL YOU DIE?
Only Time

22) WHAT IS THE ONE THING YOU REGRET?
Someplace Worth Being

23) WHAT MAKES YOU LAUGH?
Berlin Kitty

24) WHAT MAKES YOU CRY?
X&Y

25) WILL YOU EVER GET MARRIED?
Nothing Like a Train

26) WHAT SCARES YOU THE MOST?
More Everything

27) DOES ANYONE LIKE YOU?
Mysterious Ways

28) IF YOU COULD GO BACK IN TIME, WHAT WOULD YOU CHANGE
40

29) WHAT HURTS RIGHT NOW?
I'm Not Letting Go

30) WHAT WILL YOU POST THIS AS?
Into the Groove

Behind the War of the Worlds

I was in the newspaper today, because I'm one of several local broadcasters teaming up for a stage remake of the classic radio broadcast of War of the Worlds.

I'm officially Announcer #3, which means I have about 5 lines. But it'll still be fun!

A step back to ‘War’ - Grand Island, NE - Grand Island Independent

The show is next Thursday in Grand Island at the historic Grand Theatre. It's a fundraiser for the Grand.

Jesus is a friend of mine

Favorite Movies

Tag, I'm it! Courtesy Ben Reis, it's my turn to play one of these blog games.

The rules of the “game” are simple:
1. list your top ten favorite films (in no particular order).
2. if you’re tagged, you’ve got to post and tag 3-5 other people.
3. give a tag back (some link love) to the one who tagged you in your post
4. give a hat tip (HT) to Dan

So here we go… My Top Ten Favorite Films (in no particular order):

1. Star Wars trilogy

2. Indiana Jones triology

3. Lord of the Rings triology

4. Wallace & Grommit films

5. Spider-Man (I liked #2 best)

6. Chronicles of Narnia (mostly because I like the books)

7. The Final Sacrifice -- Rowsdower! (youtube link) OK, this isn't a *good* movie, but maybe my favorite MST3K movie. I've got to have at least one movie that's so bad it's good on this list, and this is it.

8. The Goonies. I had to pick an '80s movie. Sorry Ferris Bueller and Better Off Dead.

9. Planet of the Apes (the original, you manaics. you blew it up! damn you, damn you to hell!)

10. I'm going to cheat and put everything else I can think of: The Matrix, Monty Python and the Holy Grail, Princess Bride, Army of Darkness, Blues Brothers, UHF (Weird Al!), Dances with Wolves, Equilibrium, 2001, Forbidden Planet, Andromeda Strain, Christopher Guest movies (Spinal Tap, A Mighty Wind, Best in Show, etc).

Now I'm tagging: Lisa, Jeff, and Colleen!

Announcement!

After getting on a roll where I was going bloggy, bloggy at least one a week, I've been floating on the outer edges of the blogosphere.

But I can explain if my head's been elsewhere.

Sara and I are getting married!

New website is up at http://www.steveandsaraw.com/

Including a new wedding blog.

Thank you, thank you!

Quick hits:
* I present to you last week's Story of the Week -- a pheasant chasing a tractor. I kid you not. No one prepared me for that one in journalism school.

* At the TV station, we ordered up a big controversial story just in time for the November ratings period. It's the story of a 25-year-old teacher who fled to Mexico with her 13-year-old student. Pretty weird, and pretty sensational. Not necessarily a lot of substance, but when us TV folks find a story like this, we latch on.

* Interesting article on a subject I was wondering about. How Shyness Became a Mental Illness. I hate these ads that try to make people feel they need drugs to cope with life. Just because I tend to be introverted doesn't mean something's wrong with me.

* Had an interesting discussion yesterday with my youth pastor/history teacher/all-around-smart-guy friend Matt. It was about giving birth at home, something he and his wife did. We talked about making pregnancy a medical condition to be treated, a commodity in a sense. Interesting philosophical discussion too of why Nebraska allows home birth, but does not allow midwives to be present.

* Can you believe we'll have a new president in less than a year? I have no idea who I'm going to vote for. That's not for a lack of looking. I just don't know.

* Our church surveyed us last weekend, as the church begins the search for a new senior pastor. I'm glad they're seeking input. And while such an exercise is certainly useful, I hope it doesn't dictate what the search committee does. I'm confident it won't. It's like teaching to the test. The kids all look like they know what they're doing, but aren't well rounded. I hope we don't search to the survey. What people think they want could differ greatly from what God wants for them.

All righty... that's it for now. Hopefully if I throw a dozen topics in a post, something will stick. Discuss away.

$180 Burritos

I'm officially *not* a fan of standalone ATM card swipers at restaurants.

What pushed me over the edge? Paying $180.80 for burritos.

Some places, like the Arby's down the street here have the integrated card readers. It's built right into the register. The kid takes the card, swipes it, and gives it back.

But we have some of these joints with two cash registers and they share the ATM reader. So the kid has to manually punch in the amount.

So the girl at the local Mexican joint keyed in $18.08 as $180.80. When I pointed out the error, I asked for a refund, so she reached into the till and started pulling out cash. Woah, woah, woah! I want that on my card. But she couldn't figure out how to do that! Yikes! Fortunately I had a bank branch across the street so I took the cash and immediately deposited it.

But still!

And it happened to me just two weeks ago. The fine young man working at Taco John's couldn't figure out his card reader. This after he was daydreaming and never saw us even come in the place to begin with. It was stellar. Apparently their ATM swiper runs through a phone line. Not even a dedicated line. So he kept yelling in the back "who's on the phone!? I gotta use the thing"

So he kept swiping my card, and swiping my card. I looked at the receipt he gave me, and it was accurate, so I breathed a sigh of relief.

Until my bank statement came and showed two identical charges at that Taco John's. Doh!

Random

Don't you hate it when you click your car's remote, and the mailbox fails to open?

You mean yours doesn't work that way? Hmmm, mine does. Well, I guess I've never tried until today, but I sure thought it would work. Why else would I have pressed it?

It's kind of like those times I've been driving down the road, and suddenly feared I left my keys at home. You know, the ones right there dangling from the key in the ignition. D'oh!

Good enough to eat

"Ooooh... that sounds good enough to eat!"

Uh, I would hope so dude. You're our waiter and we just ordered food. If it's not good enough to eat, why are we here?

People say the dumbest things.