tdelatte's Blog

Guitar Hero is a classic mindless way to escape reality at my house. I admit, I'm really not that good at the game. I still play on the easiest level. But that doesn't mean I don't pick up my guitar-shaped controller and pretend to be a rock star every now and then.

Now, the makers of the game are betting there are a few people who will enjoy the escape at the office too. They've released a widgetized version of Guitar Hero. You can play several different songs using the numbers on your keyboard as frets and the enter/return key to strum. It's actually pretty hard to play. But if the boss isn't looking, it's a fun distraction.

Wanna try it?

I joined in on a debate with a co-worker earlier this week about whether or not TV on the web is the future of our industry.

He doesn't believe anyone watches TV online. I personally watch a lot of TV online. I do have DVR, but every now and then I forget to record something. Every now and then I also want to re-watch old series or entire series. FOX and NBC made it even easier for me this week with the launch of a site Hulu.com. There's tons of stuff there and you can even embed clips on your blog or Web site. I think it's awesome.

What do you think? Is TV online the wave of the future?

P.S. I thought I'd share one of my favorite clips to help demonstrate how convenient TV online actually can be.

 

Okay this is a shameless plug for my new Video Vault widget. If you click on the Share link you can get the code to put it on your own blog, Web site, MySpace or Facebook account.

In the meantime, watch the video too. It's great stuff.

I took pictures for my annual chinchilla-themed Christmas cards tonight. This year I have two new chinchillas for a total of six. I have two girls in one cage, one girl who doesn't like to play nice in another cage and three boys in the last cage. My husband only let me take in the two new boys because my little brothers were neglecting them and because I promised I'd have all three boys live together in the same cage.

So here are (in order left to right) Astro and his biological sons AJ and Cotton (the new guys).

In this second video I've convinced Lily and Flower to come out and play. It is also their bath time. Chinchillas roll around in dust to bath. Their fur is so dense that if it got wet it would stay wet and not dry off. Instead the dust (sand or volcanic ash) absorbs the dirt and oil from their fur.

Unlike Molly and Astro, Lily and Flower are cage mates. They are both about a year old. Flower is a standard gray chinchilla and Lily has a mutation color called violet. Her fur is a light, soft and has a blueish tint.

Chinchillas! Part 2

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My oldest chinchillas Astro and Molly say hello to me as I put a load of laundry on. The younger girls were sleeping and didn't want to make an appearance. After all, daytime is their bedtime.

Astro and Molly share a cage with a Plexiglas divider. We don't want any baby chinchillas especially since Astro is Molly's father and the fact that breeding two white chinchillas together can result in a fatal gene combination for the babies.

Well as much as I'd love to sit around and talk about chinchilla genetics or their nocturnal cycle, I'm sure you're just ready for the show.

Chinchillas

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P.S. Astro is the solid white chinchilla and Molly is on the right with a white head and beige butt. 

 

Are there any other Meerkat Manor fans here? Is anyone else as sad as I am to hear that little Shakespeare may have died defending Flower's pups at the end of season one?

Last night's season two premier did not give a definate answer about Shakespeare's outcome. The Animal Planet Web site only says he is presumed dead. I find it hard to believe that with all the cameras there and with all the researcher there keeping track of the meerkats that no one knows what happened to him. Then again, I find it easy to believe that if he did die they would edit it from the show.

Little Shakespeare was a hero on the show. In season, one he saved his brothers and sisters countless times from preditors. Though only a wild animal, on Meerkat Manor his character was equivilent to the respected and heroic big brother. If he is truly dead, I say he is the second Animal Planet hero that will be mourned and missed.

Want to see your picture with our FOX 4 reporters and anchors here on the blogs?

I will be at the Plano Balloon Festival on Saturday from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. with a camera in hand and a laptop at my side. Find me at the FOX 4 booth and I'll take your picture with your friends and family or our talent for the blogs. Then come to the blog again on Saturday to look for your pictures online.

More Info: http://media.myFOXdfw.com/KDFWMISC/balloons06/ or http://www.planoballoonfest.org

Tons of people have posted pictures of their pets in their blogs. I decided it was time to do the same. My four chinchillas - Astro, George, Daisy and Molly - are now in my photo album.

Are they rats? No, they are South American rodents with extremely soft fur and fluffy tails.

Can I make slippers out of them? Well... fur farms do exist, but you can't have mine. And why would you want to hurt these cute and cuddly animals anyway?

I've had chinchillas since college and now I'm adicted.

Wednesday's Reel Big Fish and MXPX concert was HOT - literally.

The show started for me and my husband Casey at 3 p.m. A long-time fan of Reel Big Fish, he used MySpace to find out about VIP tickets. They allowed us to meet the band, take pictures with them and get a signed copy of their new double CD/DVD album.

Like all other fans with VIP tickets we showed up before 3 p.m. ready to meet and greet. But like all concert events things were running behind. We stood for nearly an hour outside the Curtain Club. I'm sure when we finally got inside the band got a smelly impression of North Texans.

The members of Reel Big Fish are pretty cool. Things were very informal. Particularly it was interesting to hear their answer about being the "reel old fish." I believe it was lead singer Aaron who replied that the music is definitely changing.

The show started a little after 5 p.m. with a generic group called Transition. Whole Wheat Bread followed and then Street Light Manifesto. Those two groups impressed me. You don't normally expect opening acts to be good. They were. Both had their own group of fans in the crowd.

Reel Big Fish played a short set both because they shared the stage with MXPX and because it was so damn hot inside the club. You could tell they were flying through the songs rather than banter like I've seen them do in other occasions.

I don't blame them, though. Casey and I left before MXPX even showed up. Neither of us know their songs and we were melting. It was cooler outside than it was inside and we weren't even in the pit.

In the end, it was a good show. It was HOT.