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UPDATE
So, now Kayla and I are pretty much settled in to our new place and we love it. I know I haven't posted in over a month (again), but I have a legit excuse. She and I have been spending about an hour 4 evenings a week walking/running around the large track that circles the man-made lake here. But that doesn't mean I haven't been thinking about the site. Here's a run-down of several things for you:
Nicholls State University officially announced the Athletic Department's new website - GeauxColonels.com. The site is part of College Sports Television's (CSTV) large network of collegiate website. The new site is GREAT, looks wonderfully professional and is FINALLY on-par with other schools in the Southland Conference and around the country. Also, it finalizes the department's effort to remove blue from the
color-scheme in university athletics, going back to the original red and gray, initialized by the change in logo from THIS to THIS.
Some of you may find this very interesting (Blake) while other may not (mom), but someone has actually spent the time to put together a fairly detailed map of Springfield from the Simpsons cartoon series: SEE MAP HERE.
Have you or someone that you know ever made a "mix tape" for a significant other or the object of your attention? Well, we all know what happenned to this past-time once cassette tapes became obsolete. Sad, isn't it? Well don't fear! Some brilliant person came up with the MIX TAPE FOR THE DIGITAL AGE. It's a USB jump drive inside of a case that looks like an old cassette tape. BRILLIANT!
Every year since 1989, Baton Rouge has played host to the Pennington Balloon Championships which features hot air balloon enthusiasts from around Louisiana and the country. The event is free (all you pay for is food, drinks and other souveniers sold at the event) and features mass balloon ascensions, balloon "glows", the US Army Black Daggers parachute team, live music and fireworks. Events start on Thursday and last through Sunday. Last year, Kayla and I tried to check out the night-time festivities
on more than one occasion - but Mother Nature didn't cooperate and rained out the events on both nights. This year (aside from the heat), we had perfect weather. So Heather and Will joined us in Baton Rouge along with Kayla's cousin Erin, mother and brother Ryan along with his family to take in the fun this past Saturday night. We had a GREAT time and the entire thing was one big photo-op that I'll be sharing images from over the next few posts.
Below you will find the first slideshow in the series:
Roller Coaster of the Day
Below is the entrance plaza for one of the best rides at the Walt Disney World Resort - Rock 'n' Roller Coaster: Starring Aerosmith!! Sadly, the ride will be closed for maintenance during our upcoming trip to Orlando.
Roller Coaster Pic of the Day
August 15, 2007
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UPDATE
Yes, I am aware that it has been over a month since my last post...but I haven't forgotten about this site. I have several topic ideas jotted down that I plan on covering in the near future. Unfortunately, they are packed up in a box at our new apartment in Gonzales.
Yes, as some of you may know, Kayla and I leased an apartment in Gonzales which we will be moving into this weekend. Over the last few weeks, we've been moving things almost nightly to make the last day of moving as easy as possible.
Add that to me staying pretty busy at work plus having to attend a brief training session in New Orleans as well as planning for our upcoming Walt Disney World trip, I haven't had much time to update the site. But I plan on doing so many times in the next month. That's right, Kayla and I - along with Heather and Will - will be visiting Walt Disney World from September 9-15; I plan to have much to report and share when we get back.
There are some things you always realize when you move though....we have a lot of stuff and not nearly enough room. We had loads of stuff stored under our bed because there was nowhere else to put it in our current place. Also, I finally got around to buying a new DVD rack from Best Buy to replace the old 160 capacity rack that I had filled a few years ago.
In other good news, we'll be closer to the New Orleans area, directly across I-10 from the Tanger Outlet Mall, in an apartment with exponentially more storage space, 2 bedrooms AND a ceiling fan in the master bedroom (which is the thing I'm most excited about since the current apartment doesn't have one).
Therefore, it may be a few more days before I post on here again as we won't have cable, TV or phone at the new place until Wednesday afternoon. But here's a sample of the subjects that I plan on covering in the coming posts:
- Summer Movies
- Football Schedules
- Upcoming Video Games
- Walt Disney World
- And LOADS of other really interesting stuff! Because, let's face it, that's all I talk about!
Roller Coaster of the Day
Expedition Everest from Disney's Animal Kingdom in honor of our upcoming trip!
Roller Coaster Pic of the Day
July 12, 2007
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A Few Random Links
On my daily morning commute, I listen to a New Orleans rock station's morning show. For the last few days, they have been pushing something called Operation DVD, The program's sole purpose is to provide US troops in Iraq and Afghanistan with DVDs and CDs by creating libraries at different bases around the world.
They will accept new and used DVDs as well as tax-deductible monetary donations via credit card through their website: OperationDVD.us.
On INSIDE THE MAGIC, a website/podcast that both Blake and I frequently visit, someone posted a link to a rather humorous (and well done) website: GOONIES VS PIRATES.
In case you haven't heard, there's a WHOLE LOT that will be going on in the Orlando area that isn't Disney-related:
THE WIZARDING WORLD OF HARRY POTTER @ Universal's Islands of Adventure
AQUATICA @ SeaWorld
In my opinion, both projects are going to be incredible if done correctly and on par with the artist renderings on the respective websites.
Better Late Than Never...Right?
While moving some files onto the desktop computer from the laptop, I realized that I didn't really share the pictures from our honeymoon in Walt Disney World. Well, I decided to add the pictures to my PICTURETRAL ACCOUNT when it informed me that I had reached my limit of files after uploading only 45 of over 250 pictures.
This presented me with a problem: How do I share these photos with my adoring fan and the rest of my family?
Well, I decided to look for a new picture hosting site and settled on PHOTOBUCKET for hosting my honeymoon pictures and probably many more pictures hereafter. While I still can't figure out how to share an entire album, the site has the capability to produce something much better: a customizable slideshow.
Well, I have uploaded all of the pictures to the site and am currently working on slideshows for different areas of the park. Over the next several posts, I'll try to share one of these with you. Today, it's Disney's Contemporary Resort - one of the original resorts at Walt Disney world.
Roller Coaster of the Day
Today's coaster is another from Universal's Islands of Adventure theme park. This one, however, may be endangered due to the creation of the Harry Potter-themed land.
Roller Coaster Pic of the Day
June 5, 2007
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Better Late Than Never...Right?
While moving some files onto the desktop computer from the laptop, I realized that I didn't really share the pictures from our honeymoon in Walt Disney World. Well, I decided to add the pictures to my PICTURETRAL ACCOUNT when it informed me that I had reached my limit of files after uploading only 45 of over 250 pictures.
This presented me with a problem: How do I share these photos with my adoring fan and the rest of my family?
Well, I decided to look for a new picture hosting site and settled on PHOTOBUCKET for hosting my honeymoon pictures and probably many more pictures hereafter. While I still can't figure out how to share an entire album, the site has the capability to produce something much better: a customizable slideshow.
Well, I have uploaded all of the pictures to the site and am currently working on slideshows for different areas of the park. Over the next several posts, I'll try to share one of these with you. Today, it's Disney's Wilderness Lodge - the resort Kayla and I stayed in for the duration of the trip.
Roller Coaster of the Day
Today's picture gives you a good look at the initial launch tunnel for the Incredible Hulk coaster.
Roller Coaster Pic of the Day
May 30, 2007
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POTC: At World's End
 Kayla and I decided to take in the 8pm premier of Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End. And as I promised yesterday on THE PETIT PAGES, here is my report.
I ordered the tickets yesterday morning online and met Kayla immediately after work to head to the theater. After picking up the tickets from the box office at 6pm, we decided to walk to the Lone Star Steakhouse for a quick dinner since they weren't going to be seating in the theater until at least 7:15.
After dinner, we walked back to the theater to find a fairly large, enthusiastic crowd waiting outside of the theater. At roughly 7:15, the doors opened and people began to sprint for the doors as if they weren't going to get a seat if they didn't. Needless to say, Kayla and I stayed back since the movie was to be playing on 8 screens (each seating an average of 300 people by my estimate) while the crowd outside was maybe only 400 strong.
Our plan worked fine, we walked to the theater farthest from the entrance and found outselves seats right smack in the center of the auditorium. After waiting until about 8:15 - because the manager had to give a little speech at each showing - we were treated to around 15 or 20 minutes of previews before the feature.
The movie starts off pretty fast and doesn't really stop. There are several plot lines that all converge onto the ultimate plot of the movie. As a result, it does make it hard to follow at some points - expecially if it's been a while since you saw the 2nd film in the franchise. The good news is that it did start to make sense a little later on and things that happenned earlier became clearer. The film is full of everything we've come to expect from this series: fitting humor, swashbuckling fight sequences and incredibly detailed special effects.
The directors did a great job in wrapping up the story lines that developed in the first two movies while developing a few new plot lines that can easily be used in future films - with or without Keira Knightley and/or Orlando Bloom. Also, be sure to stay past the credits (a mistake Kayla and I made) for a short clip that introduces another potential plot line.
The film is long with a runtime of 2 hours and 45 minutes - so be sure to take a bathroom break before the start of the movie. Despite the length, the story and action flowed throughout and I never once found myself checking the time. One of my favorite parts of the movie is how they incorporated even more nods to the rides at Walt Disney World and Disneyland - as well as a few other general Disney refernces. None of them seemed forced, however, and they worked into the dialog quite nicely.
As I said before, the fiel is full of action and humor and is a treat for the eyes. While it wasn't as good as the Dead Man's Chest, it was well worth the price of admission and my time. Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End gets a B+ rating from me. Nicely done and I'm definitely hoping for more.
Lesson in Advertising
An annual occurance now at Walt Disney World's Disney-MGM Studios theme park is the event know as STAR WARS WEEKENDS. This year, to promote the event, Disney came up with some very clever advertisements. The ads use an airport as the main setting with the primary tag-line of: Now Arriving - Star Wars Weekends. Accordingly, the ads depict famous characters in some funny, airport-related situations. Click the images below for a larger look:
In my opinion, they're all GREAT. But my favorite has to be the Boba Fett baggage claim ad with the Darth Vader ad a close second. There is one more ad that I didn't post above. Consider it a bonus image - HERE IT IS.
Roller Coaster of the Day
Another good look at the Incredible Hulk coaster swooping down to apparently brush the surface of the lake below.
Roller Coaster Pic of the Day
May 25, 2007
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Shrek: The Third
 Yesterday evening, Kayla and I decided to take in a movie - deciding almost immediately on Shrek: The Third. Now it's been a while since I actually took in a movie on its opening day, but we expected to see a lot more people there than we did on a Friday evening at 6:30.
Since we thought it would be packed, Kayla went to the theater and purchased tickets early while I was still at work; that way all I needed to do was change when I got home before heading straight to our seats. Once we got there, I sent Kayla in to find some seats while I purchased concessions. While in line, I noticed two of the best movie displays I've ever seen - more on those in a bit. After getting concessions, I found my seat and waited about 15 minutes for the previews (which are one of the best parts of going to the movies) and then the feature.
I would say that the theater was roughly 60-75% full, a far cry from the nearly 100% I expected. But you could tell that the people that were there were very excited about seeing the third part of the Shrek series...there was even a husband and wife there wearing Shrek and Donkey ears, respectively. Now for the movie review.
Let me start my review by saying that I absolutely loved the first two movies (the 2nd more than the first), and I was overly excited that they made another movie. Overall it was a pretty good movie, typical of the Shrek series with the altered fairy tale characters and terrific animation. That being said, I didn't laugh as much during this one as I had in the first and especially the second. The movie does add more characters - King Arthur, Merlin, Sleeping Beauty and Rapunzel to name a few - and they are all key players in the story line.
But this movie felt more of a reach than the first two, almost like they were somewhat reluctant to make it or were out of great ideas or made it just to make it. Don't get me wrong, I didn't hate it, but it didn't live up to my already high expectations which may have been too high to begin with. I give the movie a B-. Even though I didn't care for it as much as the first two, it has its funny moments and is still worth catching on the big screen.
The Sale of a Movie
We all know that a major factor in the success of any motion picture is getting the word out about it - selling it. This can be done in many ways: TV, Internet, word of mouth. But perhaps the most effective way to get the word out is through posters and displays at the theaters themselves - get the word out directly to the people that frequent the theaters.
While at the nearby RAVE MOTION PICTURES theater here in Baton Rouge, I saw two of the best movie displays I've ever seen. Usually, the displays are just large cardboard cutouts that sometimes take on a 3-D look. There were two, however, that took it a step further.
FANTASTIC FOUR: RISE OF THE SILVER SURFER and THE SIMPSONS MOVIE are two entries in this summer's blockbuster war - along with movies like Transformers, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End and Spiderman 3. As such, the studios need to do anything and everything to make their movies stand out - literally. The following images are three pictures I took with my cell phone last night of the coolest movie displays ever:
You can click on each image for a larger view...but as you can see, they're pretty damn cool. The Silver Surfer is flying down the facade of a building while the Simpson family is on their famous couch in their Springfield home. They're life size and very impressive.
Roller Coaster of the Day
Another good look at the Incredible Hulk coaster.
Roller Coaster Pic of the Day
May 19, 2007
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Promise Fulfilled
As I mentioned a month or so ago, Kayla and I made a trek out to the AUDUBON ZOO with much of her family. As any good Petit would do, I brought along my trusty digital camera to document our trip.
Of the more than 130 pictures we took, we were able to get excellent close-ups of the male silverback gorilla, beautiful pictures of the foxes in the Louisiana Swamp Exhibit and some pretty good shots of the African Wild Dogs - an animal that I believe has been added since Katrina since I had never even heard of them before this day.
As promised, I FINALLY got around to adding the pictures to my PICTURETRAIL ACCOUNT. So just click the link in the text or click on the banner on the right of the screen. Enjoy!
Roller Coaster of the Day
Staying in Univeral's Island's of Adventure theme park, we now take alook at the Incredible Hulk coaster with this INCREDIBLE view!
Roller Coaster Pic of the Day
May 16, 2007
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Featured Link
Do you find yourself sitting at work, feeling like you're trapped?
Prison VS Work
This is a site that may be able to tell you why.
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Picture of the Week
LIFTOFF!! Here's an incredible picture of the space shuttle liftoff from above.
This is definitely a view that you rarely see.
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