As I said at the end of my last post, I was gifted some funds so I can go and buy my own present. Well, as you can see from the thumbnail image, I just had to get a 5.5 gen 30 GB iPod. When the fifth generation iPod came out, I thought to myself, “Why the heck do I need one of those? I don’t have much use for playing videos outside the home.” I quickly found out, through my own home movie making, that I’d love to take my self-made videos to show people, not to mention the stories I’ve heard about these things being boredom killers on long trips, ie. air flights. Click on the thumbnail to see it in detail.

I bought the case for it today, a DLO PodFolio leather cover case, which is the sweetest thirty dollar case I’ve ever seen. I took the picture while it was playing DragonForce’s “Operation Ground and Pound”, a video I featured on this very blog. I got the iPod yesterday direct from Apple, set it up, and immediately went video-download crazy! I even put our bird videos on it as well. My in-laws were visiting us yesterday for dinner, and I thanked them profusely for enabling me to get it. I even showed then some vids on the TV, using the special patch cord I used from the color iPod.

The other presents I got this season are also pretty nifty. My parents sent us a American Express gift card, which I told Christine she can have all of the amount on it for clothes shopping. My in-laws also gave me a cool looking Doors tee-shirt. While I’m not much of a Doors fan (I don’t have any of their tunes in my music library), I respect their music and enjoy it whenever it’s on anywhere. Besides, I think it’s cool to have Jim Morrison and company gracing my frontside once in a while! My aunt and uncle in-law gave me a Stetson Black aftershave/cologne set, which smells very nice.

Well, I gave Christine a gift without a card and she gave me a card without a gift. She apologized for not getting me a gift, but said she wants to get me a CD or iTunes gift allowance or something (hey, everyone who knows me knows they can’t go wrong in giving me music! ). I told her not to worry about getting me anything. Truth be told, I wasn’t concerned about or expecting anything for Christmas. In recent years, I’ve been more concerned about giving than receiving. Isn’t that what the spirit of Christmas is about? All I want, I already have or can get easily or I don’t exactly need it. There is a difference between a want and a need, something that some people don’t quite understand. I just want everyone in my life to be happy and content and that is what makes me happy.

In closing, I want to say this and not go on a rant. The holiday is there to celebrate family, love, God and his Son. Anything else is just a bonus.

Cheers to you all!

Technorati Tags: Esoterik, Christmas, Gifts, iPod, Doors, Stetson, iTunes, Giving

Well, I hope all of my readers (all two of them! ) had a wonderful Christmas. The unfortunate thing about my wife’s family in AZ is that most of them succumbed to a rather violent stomach flu. We were encouraged to stay home and dodge the bullet, and it’s too bad because I really looked forward to seeing them. Our thoughts and prayers were with the afflicted family members this weekend.

Anyways, I’m very happy with the way the blog has turned out. As you can see, I changed the header banner to look more “cracked-skin” like. A nice touch, I must admit! I’m also happy with the way the photo and art galleries have turned out. Next up on my agenda sometime soon is more mods to the homepage and finally make those bird pages.

Speaking of art, I have unearthed an older desktop I made and used back when we were using the good ol’ iMac G3. It’s 1080×810, since that’s slightly bigger than the screen resolution we were stuck with before (I’m spoiled with this 1680×1050 res!). I mainly made it for Christine, since she loves birds, but I loved what I did too! It’s on display in the Art Gallery, so click the thumbnail to go see it.

Also, check out the new photos in the Photo Gallery. There’s a neat pic of Christine’s new computer rig, courtesy of me for Christmas. She’s very happy with it, especially since she’s now no longer bogged down by system limitations when she simply wants to check her Yahoo e-mail. I must say, for being a Mac Mini, it’s still got more features than the iMac G5 I’m currently writing this on!

Well, that’s all I have for now.

Wait. There’s one more thing… I was gifted a little money for the holidays. It’s going towards something I’ve been considering, and I found out today that it’s on its way.

Cheers!

Technorati Tags: Esoterik, Desktops, Apple, Gifts, Mac Mini

Everyone that knows what kind of person I am knows I love tinkering with technology. So far I’ve made several short home movies and music videos. Now, after messing around with iMovie, I think I’ve got this encoding business down, without making the files either too big or too small with crappy quality. On Saturday, I made something really cool for all my family, friends, acquaintances and fellow bloggers and visitors to see. Without further ado, here it is…

Just click the play button… and enjoy.

With lots of love for everyone this Christmas,
–Christopher

Technorati Tags: Esoterik, Christmas Vids, Quicktime Vids

School board idiotic overreation at it’s finest!

Taken from ABCNews.com:

“Making a movie in which evil teddy bears attack a teacher got two budding filmmakers expelled from their high school, but a federal judge says it was the school that was wrong.

However, the judge said the boys should apologize.

Cody Overbay and Isaac Imel, both sophomores, must be allowed to return to Knightstown High School for the second semester, U.S. District Judge Sarah Evans Barker said Friday in Indianapolis in granting a preliminary injunction. She also ordered the school to allow the students to make up any work they had missed since their expulsions in October.

The boys worked on the movie “The Teddy Bear Master” from fall 2005 through summer 2006. It depicts a “teddy bear master” ordering stuffed animals to kill a teacher who had embarrassed him, but students battle the toy beasts, according to documents filed in court.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana sued on behalf of the two teenagers last month arguing that school officials overreacted to a film parody and violated their First Amendment rights.

“I had a feeling we’d come out the winner,” Imel said.

Attorneys for the school district did not say if they would appeal.

School officials had argued that the film was disruptive and that a teacher whose name was used in the movie found it threatening. Prosecutors reviewed the movie but declined to press charges.

State law allows expulsion for activity unconnected with school if the activity is unlawful and interferes with school operations.

The judge said the movie was “vulgar,” “tasteless,” “humiliating” and “obscene,” but ruled that school officials did not prove it disrupted school.

The judge said she did not believe it was a coincidence that the teacher in the movie had the same name as a math teacher at Knightstown Intermediate School. She urged the teens to apologize to the teacher and the school administration.

“School officials need to know you’ve learned a lesson,” Barker said.”

So, to all of the high school officials out there, what have we learned today? If kids can find a productive and non-destructive way of pouring out their creative energies, there’s no need to overreact. Take it as a case-by-case basis and find the specific wrongs in the doing, if there are any, then have the students apologize. Don’t expel them!

Technorati Tags: Idiots, Amateur Filmmaking, High School, ABCNews, Expulsion

AAAAAAaaaaarrrrrgggghhhh!! I’ve been hit with a meme of alphabetical proportions! This meme comes to me courtesy of Britgirl. Funny thing about it is, I read the post that the meme was on and I didn’t even notice that she tagged me until she reminded me by email!

A – Available/Single? Married to a PITA!
B – Best Friend? My friend Travis in Florida
C- Cake or Pie? This is a toughie… ummm… cake. Especially with dark chocolate and strawberries
D – Drink Of Choice? With alcohol: Guinness. Without alcohol: Water
E– Essential Item You Use Everyday? My iMac G5 (see the “About” tab)
F – Favourite Colour? Hunter Green or Dark Green
G – Gummy Bears Or Worms? Definitely gummi bears.
H – Hometown? Chicago, IL. U.S.
I – Indulgence? Any dark chocolate. Any.
J – January Or February? Februrary. Only for Valentine’s Day.
K – Kids & Their Names? I have birds. Does that count? They’re our feathered kids!
L – Life Is Incomplete Without? Freedom. (I second that!)
M – Marriage date? May 25th, 2002
N – Number Of Siblings? None
O – Oranges Or Apples? Apples. The crispy, sweet kind.
P – Phobias/Fears? Any insects bigger than half of my little finger.
Q – Favourite Quote? “And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.” – 1st Corinthians 13:13

R – Reason to Smile? Being alive.
S – Season? Spring or Fall, I can’t decide. Perfect weather for outside activities!
T – Tag 3 or 4 people? Hmmm… I choose Birdchick, Sebastian and… Captain Picard!
U – Unknown Fact About Me? Actually not unknown, just little known. I was held back in high school for English studies requirements. I was supposed to be class of ‘90 but I got my diploma in ‘91. All because the homework bored me to tears!

V – Vegetable you don’t like? Okra.
W – Worst Habit? Biting my fingers.
X – X-rays You’ve Had? Everywhere you can think of. I’ve had numerous injuries!
Y – Your Favourite Food? Food? Did you say food!? FOOOOOOOD!! I love all kinds of food!
Z – Zodiac sign – If you must know (sigh)… Cancer (July 5th).

Hopefully I took care of this meme. Now it’s on to the three bloggers that I mentioned in “T”. Good luck, guys!

Cheers!

Technorati Tags: Esoterik, Meme, Alphabet, Captain Picard, Birdchick, Void Inside, Britgirl