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so, this is the second year the church has had the “Broken Home Thanksgiving”… this year it was at the Lockmans’ and it was quite an event, the drive-in totals are 59 pics, 3 vids, somewhere between 80 and 100 people, 1 football game, deep fryer fu, electric carving knife fu, and i think the final count was 9 dead turkeys…
people are already asking for these, so, they’re up, and the rest of my november pics will be up in the next few days…

i once again used the BluPlusPlus album skin, i have found a winner and am sticking with it… comments can be left on any pic, videos will play right there in your browser, the slideshow mode is pretty darned good, and i used an autumn theme on this album, just to see what it would look like to try something different…

so, enjoy the pics from The Second Annual Calvary Chapel Rio Rancho Broken Home Thanksgiving…

all right, roll it…

(…and we do it all again for christmas!)

karl sent me the news…

99% of the readers of this post have no idea what i’m talking about, but, to those of you that do, this is truly the end of an era, even if that era ended for us long ago…
no more Ch@bTalk, URL Chat, and, if i read it right, no more MyRooms… all those things we spent so many late frustrating hours for months trying to figure out… i remember clearly Curtis announcing he had finally figured out how to get it to work, even making a long-distance phone call to japan (jeez, that was almost five years ago)… then, months later, after everyone had given up on it, Vegitto figured out the way to open Ch@bTalk to the masses… the controversy over the selling of ISAO ID’s, people stumbling through the programs to create them for everyone… and, speaking of frustrating, trying to teach people how to use it… they were certainly our most used guides… then came DreamPassport Premier Ch@bTalk and all the amazing features and having to feel around in the dark all over again to work out all the buttons (the definitive exhaustive guide created by the guy at this keyboard)… JavaCh@b and then DPPC and no one believing Danny that he got it to work until he finally posted a screenshot of it running on his machine… hours spent on the URL Chat at ISAO, trying to get someone who could translate for our guides… months of trying to carry on conversations with people who spoke little to no english, but, needing their knowledge so continuing to try… and several times that it was declared that it was now impossible to create new ID’s, yet, someone always found a way… and, of course, several Ch@b directories, just so you could actually find people to chat with…
Drobb was the first person to Ch@b us… minutes after posting our number in the original DCBG Ch@b listing…
when i installed ICQ on my psion, i even switched out all the sound files with Ch@b sounds… and, here a few months ago, i dusted off my old generation 0 dreamcast and logged into Ch@b to check my messages and just see who might be on…
man, i can hear that god-awful music that played on DP3 when the client would open and close when you went in and out of the email client… sometimes blaringly loud because you turned the volume way up to hear the quiet VoiceCh@b someone sent you…
and who can forget “HALLO! HALLO!”, no matter how bad we want to…

those glory days were great while they lasted… and now, one more piece of those days is about to expire…
glad i was there for it… we really did make a bit of history, even if no one knows but us…

ok, so, i really do honestly believe that the pics i just posted are the best it has ever been my privilege to take… words like ‘breathtaking’ , ‘stunning’, and ‘moving’ come to mind… so many of them will surely be desktop wallpapers for a long time to come (good thing i run dual screens, i can double up on them) and they are already my screensaver photos… and, it was probably the hardest whittling operation i have ever had to do… i took about 100 and could only shave them down to 70… i probably should have just posted them all…

the content is sunrise on the flight from abq to los angeles… i bounced back and forth between a couple of white balance settings, so, the colors are not always exactly true, but, perhaps that’s where the art of photography comes into play 🙂 to borrow chris dunn’s comment, i was practically directing the scenery to pose, saying “come on! work it!”… it was the most beautiful flight i’ve taken yet and photos can only convey the slightest fraction of the majestic artwork god created that morning… he created it, i can only humbly try to capture some parts of it to share with those who couldn’t be there to see it themselves…

annnnyway, i might also add that there are pics from the event for which we went to L.A., those do not fall under any of the descriptions above 😛 but, i didn’t put the two sets in separate folders, so, if you watch them all in slideshow mode, your “ooooohs” and “aaaaaahs” will come to a screeching halt when suddenly pictures of bleary-eyed merchandising reps appear… but, ah well…

i used the “BluPlusPlus” album again and YAY! i figured out how to set up the “viewer remarks” feature!! (bow before my leet php and mysql skillz!) so, you can now add a comment to every single pic you view… sweet…
anyway, using this album again also mean that means there is a nice layout, a nice slideshow mode, and the vids will actually play for your viewing pleasure… i set the pic slideshow times to 10 seconds and the vids for 45 seconds, it seems to work ok, feel free to leave a comment on how well it worked for your connection speed…

now, i need to re-do all the collections from the past so they all have these features… but, rest assured, all future pic postings will have all this cool stuff and, sooner or later, i will even set up the slideshow audio commentary…

anyway, so, on with the show, click here to view the latest photos!

what a thoroughly and hopelessly depressing, painful, miserable day… with more to come in the next couple months…
but, i’m not here to talk about that…

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so, with no further ado, the huge amount of pics i took this month are now all online… i had already posted about 150 pics from balloon fiesta and now i have uploaded the 259 pics/vids i kept from all i took for the whole TMEW conference thing (i took over 500) and 141 just regular pics i took this month…
that’s a grand total of 550 pics! that has got to be a new record…

the regular pics include my first time bowling, the conference in belen, a few of the lockmans/ferreris home fellowship, the church “fall festival”, as well as a few pics during balloon fiesta that i never posted in that collection, and, of course, just random things that came up throughout the month…

anyway, i will let the albums tell the stories…

speaking of – REALLY HUGE news… i tried a new album skin called “BluPlusPlus” and it has WORKING VIDEOS!! no more right clicking, save asing and such, just view them right there… very nice…
it has a pretty darned decent slideshow feature, too… i set the pics to stop for 5 seconds, but, only 30 seconds for the vids, and i probably should have made it 45… hard to get it just right… the vids are 20 seconds, and they take 10-15 seconds to load on my 1.5mb dsl line, and your mileage may vary, especially if you are on dial-up… you can always hit the slideshow pause button…
this skin also has the option to add an audio commentary and for people to leave comments on each pic, but, i haven’t set either of those up yet, will try all that out on future albums…
since i am sure i am going to take a ton this month, as well, it won’t be long until i get my chance…

so, click here to proceed to the photos and scroll down to the bottom of the page until you see the ones that start with “2005-10″… or follow the direct links below…

Albuquerque International Ballon Fiesta 2005

2005 Most Excellent Way Conference

Miscellaneous October Photos

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“well, it’s been ten years and [countless] tears, look at the mess i’m in …… i’m lonely and i’m tired, and i can’t take any more pain”
     -Mike Ness/Social Distortion

‘Burque Babble: Ten Reasons I Don’t Heart the Balloon Fiesta

but, he clearly loves movies so he can’t be all bad…

and, speaking of movies, he points out that he teaches “Humanities and Film at a local middle school“… WHAT?!! how come they didn’t have that in MY day? i’d be hangin’ with Aronofsky right now!
or something…

anyway, after reading a few posts, i like his writing, i deem him interesting, i’ll add him to my “Looking At” list and keep an eye on him for awhile…

i am already tired of every time i post pics and they have vids with them, i have to tell people to right click, save as, etc…. but, to stream with this host, i have to upload the vids into a different subdomain, i can’t just throw them in with the pics…

someone tell me, am i looking at this wrong? it really is this complicated, right? i just want them all in the same directory, pics and vids together, and all people should have to do is click on them to view them, whether they are pics or vids shouldn’t matter… is there something really simple i am overlooking? i am new to a lot of this, but, everything i read gives only one option: upload them to the streaming subdomain… which means i’d have to upload pics one place, vids another, try to cross link them or something, and the only alternative is keep telling people to right click, save as, etc…. firstly, many of my visitors aren’t particularly saavy on how to do all that, secondly, many of them are on dial-up, and thirdly, that’s just a pain…

and, btw, did i just get a bad host? or is this typical?

someone tell me some stuff here, please…

F u t u r e M e . o r g » Public » Random

in my links on the sidebar, i have a special section just for random links… click on them to visit a random weblog, a random homepage, a random webcam, even a random page on wikipedia… i love random links and don’t come across them too often, but, now i have a new addition to the list…

do you know FutureMe?
it is a site that lets you send an email to the future… the link at the top of this post and soon to be on my randoms list allows you to see emails people have sent (they have been anonymized), with the date they wrote it and the date it will be sent…
i hit it a few times and there is some fascinating stuff… a parent’s email to their daughter for her 18th birthday, a guy entering medical school sending himself a message to be received after he graduates, someone on their first day quitting smoking, a wife on her 5-year wedding anniversary sending a message to her hubby for their 10-year anniversary, and of course, mundane things like reminders for a doctor’s appointment, and many many many that are not easily described…

they are small pieces of stories of dreams and wishes, hope after regret, breaking of cycles, escapes from the past, beginnings and endings and new beginnings… and you can’t help but imagine these people and their situations, and the more vague the message, the more interesting it is…

so, go check it out, and btw, this is the best kind of random link, the url itself has the command to randomize, so, you can go there and just keep hitting reload…

i finally got a free night, haven’t had one in a couple of weeks, and i spent it sorting pics, making albums, and uploading them…

sigh… just look at all i do for you…

anyway, so, the morning of october 8th, chelsey, billy and tara, and angela, their friend from minnesota came over before the sun came up, luke and asbel were supposed to meet us here, but ran late, so, we had to leave without them… billy and tara have seen a fiesta or two from afar, but never from the field, and angela has never seen it at all…
we were already running very late, ended up making two stops before we even got really and truly underway, and then there was the disastrous “shortcut” fernando recommended… it is still unproven if it was his fault 😛

little bits of the story are told in the albums themselves…
i have given up on getting luke’s pics, so, you will see mine and the pics billy took with andy’s camera… as far as that cam goes (it’s a canon, mine’s a nikon), man, does it get some vibrant colors! however, sometimes they look very oversaturated and downright artificial… oh, and the digital zoom is absolutely hideous and billy used it ALOT… it isn’t his fault, he didn’t know…
oh, and angela brought a video cam, the non-digital kind that takes, uh, tapes, i believe they are called (how 20th century!) and she really needs to send me a copy! (i know you’re reading this!)

i didn’t post a whole ton of pics this time, probably less than a hundred, but, there are some cool ones… and, once again the reminder, streaming on this host is not a simple matter, so, when you see a video (i think there is only one in this set, but it’s worth it), right-click, save it, view it on your computer… and remember that you will see thumbnails and, when you click on them, you still only see sized-down versions of each pic, so, if you want the full effect, click on the pics when you see them…

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sooo, anyway, now that the aibf pics are up, that leaves 50 or so pics from the conference in belen, a good 500 or so from the TMEW conference (yes, i said five hundred), and a couple dozen or more various pics i have taken this month still to be sorted, “albumized”, and uploaded and i haven’t any free time until MAYBE the weekend, but, i doubt it…
we’ll see…

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anyway, another great balloon fiesta with some great people, can’t wait until next year!

without any further ado, click here to view the final set of pics from the 2005 International Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta (</keyword seeding>)

PointlessWasteOfTime.com » A Gamers’ Manifesto

or “20 things gamers want from the seventh generation of game consoles” and wow, this guy nails it, even if he spends a lot of time being comical…

(warning, language that some may find offensive…)

Astinus’ Junk » Internet Stuff

i love internet trivia…