Daily Twaddle

A young girl out of Montana (whoop whoop!) won National Geographic’s Planet Contest by coming up with a mnemonic to remember the planets’ order. “My Very Exciting Magic Carpet Just Sailed Under Nine Palace Elephants.”

Okay, so I just happen to know the order of the planets by memory and I was stumped when I got to “Carpet.” What planet starts with a C? Well, back in 2006, the International Astronomical Union classed Pluto as a dwarf planet, along with Ceres and Eris. Now we have eleven planets in our solar system. Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Ceres, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Pluto, and Eris.

Lisa Loeb recorded a song based off this mnemonic and I just listened to it - now it’s totally stuck in my head! It’s a cute song and an unforgettable way to remember the order of the planets from the sun.

Listen to the song at National Geographic »
Take a look at all the planets »

By the way… three other objects in our solar system may become classified as dwarf planets: Sedna, Orcus, and Quaoar.

Dang it!

The price changed from 41¢ to 42¢ - effective on May 12th.

I just bought a whole roll of 41¢ stamps last month! So, I had to buy a couple pages of 1¢ stamps to make up the difference, but I hate putting two stamps on an envelope.

It’s just so annoying. I always find out after I mail a letter that the price went up. Why not wait 5 years and increase the stamp price by 5 cents? Or, why not wait until January first? That’s when I expect prices to go up, or major national changes to happen.

I’m thinking seriously about purchasing the “Forever Stamp.” The Postmaster encourages us to by these stamps because they are good forever. Meaning I spend 42¢ now for a stamp, it will still cost just 42¢ when I send a letter five years from now.

My only problem with this forever stamp is that it comes in a booklet of 20. I like rolls of 100 better. I still don’t really understand why the post office created this stamp. I find it hard to believe that their motive is just to provide convenience for their customers - there must some some ulterior motive.

Do you remember this 1987 hit? If not, here is a short recap: Micheal and Sam move to Santa Carla to live with their taxidermishious uncle. Micheal falls for Star, almost turns vampire and the Frog brothers save the day by shooting holy water from their super-soakers? Yes, you remember! This movie rocked out loud!

Well, good news… the sequel to The Lost Boys is coming to a theater near you. How exciting! I loved the original, but then again, who didn’t? Here are some of the highlights for the upcoming film:

• Both Coreys have been casted again (Feldman & Haim).
• The artist who recorded “Cry Little Sister” in the first film has recorded several new songs for this film.
• Angus Sutherland (Kiefer’s half-brother) will play the vampire-gang leader.
• The release is scheduled for July 2008.
• The movie is titled Lost Boys: The Tribe.

That’s all the good news I know about. I hope this movie rocks just like the first. But… I can only think of a few of sequels as good as their originals. The Bourne Supremacy, Toy Story 2, The Empire Strikes Back, Batman Begins, Rush Hour 2, Dead Man’s Chest, National Treasure: Book of Secrets. I guess that’s it.

References & Related Links

Preview Trailer on YouTube
Wikipedia Article: The Lost Boys 2

I’ll start out with the good news first.

Overflow

I found an awesome download for the dock called “Overflow.” It works like Leopard’s stacks, but it’s for Tiger. Overflow will display an icon on the dock that gives you quick access to applications and folders of your choice. It basically cleans up your dock by providing more space for your icons.

And now the bad news…

Blue Screen of Death

Oh my gosh. It’s true. Apple’s newest operating system crashes into the horrible blue screen of death. Last week, I helped a friend set up their new Mac Mini. They called me after spending hours on the phone with tech support wondering WTF is up with their screen. They first called HP (the maker of their monitor) because how could it possibly be a problem with the Mac? Macs don’t crash, they don’t get viruses… they just work. Hmmmm.

I did some research and I found out that Apple credits the crash to third party software installed on the computer. Oh crap - right? What the heck did I install on my friend’s computer? Nothing. That’s right, nothing. Apple provided this “third-party software” as part of the operating system!

So, I will not upgrade to Leopard just yet. Hopefully Apple will conduct proper testing before they release their next upgrade.

By the way, I used the instructions over at SilverMac.com to fix my friend’s problem. The instructions are similar to Apple’s official instructions except they included three more files to delete.

My square dancing club reached it’s 60th anniversary this year. We’re having a huge celebration this Saturday and the club invited all square dancers via the frontpage of the newspaper! Cool huh?

I’m the one with the big pink fluffy skirt (click on the photo for a larger view). Don’t I look cute in pigtails? It’s a bummer that you can’t see my husband in the photo. He looks so handsome all dressed up.

I love square dancing. If you’re interested in learning how to square dance, find a club near you in the Dosado database.

Read the full story at Ravalli Republic Online »

Harry Potter theme park is scheduled to debut in 2009 at Universal Studios, Orlando. Some of the attractions include Hogsmead Village, the Forbidden Forest and the Hogwarts Castle. I would hope to see Diagon Alley - where I can buy books, wands and wizard clothing.

Watch the pubic announcement video below or go to the official website at universalorlando.com/harrypotter.