Introducing...

Here is the first "picture" of Noah Douglas Wines. This is the ultrasound scan taken a few days ago. Congrats Suzi & Chuck and of course there will be lots more pictures in the future. For better detail go to Flickr to see the original.

It has been very busy for Chuck & Suzi lately. Moving into their new house, the pending arrival of Noah, Chuck's new promotion and last but not least they are officially engaged as of this last Sunday.

We wish you the best!

Max & Spiderman

Chris sent me an email this morning with pictures they took at Universal yesterday. This picture has a little story with it. Just as Spidey came up to Max for the photo-op Max said "I have waited my whole life to meet you." Chris said he thought Spidey was impressed as he hung out with Max longer than normal. As usual the pictures are available at Flickr.

It's Official...

All your hard work and perseverance finally paid off Chuck. Congratulations on becoming the new Store Manager at Albany!

Firefly Season 2

Check out this website where organizers want your help in determining the future of Firefly. Be sure and take a minute to fill out the short survey.

Other resources:

FireFlyFans.net
Great, comprehensive fan site

DoneTheImpossible.com
The Fans' Tale of Firefly & Serenity - DVD Documentary, Order Now!

SerenityMovie.com
The official site of the film "Serenity".

Browncoats.com
Complete resource.

Nationstates.net Region: Firefly
For those in Nastionstates who wish to spread the verse to all regions.

Disneyland Trip

Chris, Jolene, Jake & Max are spending the week at Disneyland. Chris is sending me some pictures each day. Here is the Flickr link for day 1 and day 2.

Back To Work

Hi Everyone,

Well, I am back and ready to go to work this morning. I got back in town last night from Phoenix...but Phoenix was not the highlight of the trip. We decided to go spend a day in Sedona, Arizona which is only 2.5 hours out of Phoenix. It was super commercialized, but the scenery was strikingly majestic. Here is a picture...you should visit one day!

Have a great week,

Dave

Seahawks Dismantle Panthers...

Had a great time yesterday watching Seattle completely outclass Carolina. Should be a great game in 2 weeks against Pittsburgh. I'm thinking Super Bowl party time!

What do you think??

GO SEAHAWKS!!!

New Photos

Chuck & I drove up to Vancouver yesterday to attend Jolene & Max's Birthday Party. Along the way we stopped at Albany so I could check out Chuck & Suzi's new home. You can see the house pictures at Flickr and the Birthday photos also.

Enjoy!

One Duck Fan...Takin' Down Zona!

Hi Everyone,

Well, as a nice little surprise my buddy Brian's girlfriend is flying me out to Arizona for the weekend. Bri just turned 30 a few days ago, and she thought it would be nice to get me out there for a celebration. She has paid for the flight, entertainment for tomorrow, and a stretch Hummer that will pick me up at the airport tonight. How sweet is that? Very sweet I tell you...very sweet.

Anyway, I hope that you all have a lovely weekend without me. Dad, if you start to shake and quiver from missing me, remember to take your pills. Also, I just want to wish everyone happy times in California! I hope that your trip is full of memories that will last forever! Bring back some great pictures as well. I want to see Jake benchpressing Mickey in one of them.

With undying love,

Dave

Next Mastercard Ad ???

Cost of cheerleading, tumbling lessons and camps since age 3: $30,000.00

Annual cost for attending USC: $50,000.00

Annual cost for staying just the right shade of blond: $10,000.00

Cheering when the other team scores: Priceless

The Da Vinci Code...The Movie

Really looking forward to the May 19th release of this movie. It will be starring Tom Hanks and is being directed by Ron Howard. I just finished the book by Dan Brown and it was excellent. Anyone in the family who hasn't read it and would like to borrow it is welcome to.

Backup or else...

One day it will happen to you. Your computer will not boot up, your hard drive is toast and all your documents are lost. Pictures, resumes, tax returns, music, all the data you ever created is gone.

Fortunately there are many ways to backup this data. External hard drives, re-writable CD's, photo websites and one of my favorites, Gmail.

If you have a Gmail account you have a backup device. With nearly 3 gigabytes of storage space you can save pictures and all the important documents you ever created.

Just create zip files (as long as they remain under 10 megabytes) and email them to yourself. Store them on Google's servers and they will be available where and whenever you might need them. You can organize them in folders within Gmail (they call them labels).

Better spending a little time wishing you had done this than creating or losing forever your data. If you need a Gmail account let me know and I will send you an invite.

Stardust Returns Part 2

The Stardust sample return capsule was transported by helicopter from its landing site at the U.S. Air Force Utah Test and Training Range. This image shows the return capsule inside a protective covering. The capsule, which landed at 2:10 a.m. Pacific time (3:10 a.m. Mountain time), contains cometary and interstellar samples gathered by the Stardust spacecraft.

Image and story credit: NASA

I was up at 1:30 am PDT this morning to see or hear the return and was going to take some video along with some photos. The conditions here in Eugene were excellent and my view to the south fairly open. I didn't see or here a thing, was very disappointed. NASA is asking all those that did take photos or video to send it to them. If you were able to get some footage and would like to participate click here.

Time to Step Up to Apple

Apple computers is making some major transitions. Their new iLife applications have gone through some cool upgrades, and they have introduced a new program as part of the suite. It is called iWeb, and I know it is going to take the world by storm. Basically it is an Apple (read, idiot proof) application designed to create and post websites. They have around 12 templates, but if I know Apple, they will have hundreds in the next year. The application runs seamlessly with other Apple applications...so it is incredibly simple to add movies, music, and pictures to your website. In order to publish you need a .Mac account...unless you have a server already.

Apple has also upgraded their notebooks and desktops. The new iMac has incredible speed...over twice as fast as the G5 that came out last year. The real change came with the Powerbooks. They have a new name...MacBook Pro...and they are four–five times faster than Apple's previous Powerbook. Now, those are some major changes. It all came about when Apple began using Intel processors. Intel has designed a DuoCore Processor just for Mac, and it burns baby.

You can check out the keynote address that shows all of the new upgrades. Steve Jobs does a beautiful job of presenting and selling his new products. I hope that everyone has a great weekend!

Dave

http://macworld.apple.com.edgesuite.net/mw/index.html

The Tradition Continues!

Just got an exciting phone call from Chuck & Suzi, it's a boy! The strong male domination is alive and well on this side of the Wines Family. Congratulations Suzi & Chuck. Our new addition is expected on June 1st.

Alaskan Volcano Ready To Erupt...Live on the Net

St. Augustine, a volcano located about 300 miles SW of Anchorage has been rumbling and spewing steam and ash. Showing all the signs of a possible eruption. The Alaska Volcano Observatory has 2 live web cams that refresh every 5 minutes and 30 minutes respectively. There is also a lot of seismic data available as well. This picture is from yesterday. Check out the live images @ http://www.avo.alaska.edu/activity/Augustine.php ...

Stardust Returns

In the early morning hours of January 15, 2006, the Stardust mission returns to Earth after a 4.63 billion kilometer (2.88 billion mile) round-trip journey carrying a precious cargo of cometary and interstellar dust particles. Scientists believe Stardust's cargo will help provide answers to fundamental questions about the origins of the solar system.

Living here in Eugene, OR we should be able to view (weather permitting) the return. It is scheduled to re-enter the atmosphere at 29,000 mph, the highest re-entry speed of any spacecraft. NASA will begin TV coverage on their channel at 1:30 am PDT with a scheduled landing in Utah at 2:12 am PDT.

Even if the weather doesn't co-operate we should be able to hear the sonic boom. I'm hoping for a clear night so I can take some photos. It is entering on an arc from Crescent City, CA, flying over Winnemucca, NV and then onto Utah. Look towards the southwest at about 30 degrees above the horizon, should be visible about 1:56 am PDT.

NASA site link.

Firefly Feast

I have been nagging Char to watch the Firefly series that I got for a Xmas present. Finally got her to sit down and watch the pilot epsiode ( 2 hrs).

Hooked after that, never moved from the couch for 7 hrs and made it through disk 1 and disk 2. I figure we will watch disk 3 today after work and disk 4 tomorrow. That will leave the final movie for this weekend.

Another fan hooked!

Final Ranking

Oregon fell to 12th in the final AP and USA Today polls. Complete and utter BS if you ask me.

How can you drop 7 places with a 3 point loss to Oklahoma (who only moved up 1 place). We get no respect.

Space Shuttle Photo

Just thought I would share this very cool photo of the Space Shuttle at the moment it broke the sound barrier. I don't know which launch this was but it's still cool.

Work Sucks

Hated going back to work today after 11 days of laying around the house, watching movies, enjoying everyones company and playing Star Wars Galaxies. The only bright spot was opening my desk calendar that Chuck got me for Christmas. It is a "Get Fuzzy" variety. If you aren't familiar with this daily cartoon check out your newspaper and start reading it. Very funny stuff, basically a cat with an attitude like Chuck's. The cats name in the strip is "Bucky Cat" although I was always think it should be "Chucky Cat".