Daily Archives: October 16, 2008

Photo-A-Day

Back from LA

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Back from LA
Photo-A-Day #1287

I arrived back home today at 6:55am. Then drove from the airport to the house. I signed in and started my day of work. It will be weird going into the office tomorrow because technically I am part of a new group but things haven’t updated yet. I don’t know if things haven’t become official yet or not. Also I haven’t been in the office for over a week again. And next week I’m gone all week as well. But then after that I have no trips planned at all. I think that is when stir craziness will set in but I do look forward to this new challenge.

I’m in the middle of a dispute with a restaurant in London. While I was in London there was one place I went to eat and their credit card machine was not working so I left them with my credit card number and later that night I went back to get a copy of my receipt. They couldn’t give it to me because it was in the middle of the roll or something but I did take a picture of it so I knew it was 29.99 pounds. I was charged for my meal and then the next month I was charged again for the same meal. I put in a call to the credit card company to dispute the charge and today I get a letter from the credit card company plus a letter from the Baker Street Food Station that they refused my claim of a dispute. I now have to write a letter to the credit card company to once again explain that I was charged TWICE. I’ll pay the once charge that is fine but I got charged 2 times for the same meal. Annoying.

Today I discovered something that was really very cool that Yahoo! has done. They created a set of bikes that have cameras mounted on them plus 3 solar panels on the back of the bike to power the camera. The camera takes photos every 60 seconds and automatically uploads to Flickr and also automatically geotags the images. They are using a Nokia N95 for the camera and the automatic tagging. It is a pretty amazing thing. I wrote more about it on The Wired Kayaker. Then I was looking at the blog of Eddie. Eddie is a really nice guy that I met in LA who was one of the Assistant Directors of the Nokia Productions Movie. Well, Eddie has one of the Y! Bikes. I had wish I had known that before meeting him I would have loved to hear more about it. Either way I entered the contest to win one of these bikes for my own so I can ride and geotag my rides automatically.

I was able to post my interview with Spike Lee and I also noticed that the WOM World site is up and running with lots of extras from the premiere as well as the LA death scenes that we filmed. You can see me in many of the videos. Sort of makes up for not having any of my work in the actual movie.

Another thing that I took care of today was to enter Eva into the Gap Kids Casting Call contest. I think she has what it takes to win. Here are the photos we submitted.

Eva's Baby Gap Casting Call images

You can view them on the Baby Gap Site by typing [email protected] as the submitting e-mail address.

Book, Family, Review

Nana Star and the Moonman

Nana Star and the Moonman

A while back I received two books in the Nana Star series. I have already reviewed the first book simply titled Nana Star. The story centers around a young girl who finds a lost baby star and decides to help him find his way home. That story also introduces us to Nana Star and the virtue of Kindness. It is through Nana Star’s kindness that she befriends the little star and her compassion that makes her decides to help.

In the next story Nana Star and the Moonman we see that Nana Star is making her way to some place where she can return the Star to the heavens. Along the way the day turns to night and Nana Star and the little star become scared, that is until the Moonman shines his light down upon the two travellers and offers his guidance so that they can continue on their journey.

The Moonman instructs Nana Star that there is a small boat that she can use to sail across the water to the mountain and there another will help Nana in her journey.

Don’t forget that Nana Star is much more than a book with a nice message. Nana Star is a family collaboration. There are four generations working on the book and the Nana Star Foundation. The Nana Star Foundation is dedicated to helping make life easier for inner city school. It is also dedicated to terminally ill children. A portion of all sales of Nana Star books and merchandise goes to fund the foundation.

Sadly the creator of Nana Star, Elizabeth Owens passed away this year. Her spirit and characters and family and foundation live on however.

Read to Me Dad Ratings

  • Story – Good – Nana Star’s journey continues and she finds some help along the way. Everyone needs guidance once in a while.
  • Re-Read-ability – Great – Because this book is part of a series it is easy to go back and re-read the start of the adventure.
  • Illustrations – Excellent – The colors and style of this book are simple yet look amazingly classic. Soft watercolors combined with ink gives this book a very unique look. Each page is beautifully composed.
  • Message – Great – Guidance in a task is often needed and we need good role models to look up to.
  • Plot – Good – Nana Star is a nice story with a message but also it is episodic and each story builds on the next.
  • Characters – Whimsical – The introduction of the Moonman was very nice. He can take care of guiding Nanan Star as well as comforting her on her journey.
  • Does Eva Like It – Eva is now just starting to grasp the concept of books. She makes me read some over and over. This one might be a little advanced for her though..
  • Recommended Ages – All Ages will enjoy reading this story about caring and sharing.

Purchase your own Nana Star Books.