Every year Christmas comes to Frisco Square in the form of a marvelous light show. It lasts from Thanksgiving to New Year’s Day. This is a time lapse of the show as visitors drive through.
Tour of Frisco Square
Here’s a very quick hyperlapse tour of Frisco Square, my home.
Frisco Christmas Tree Lighting
Over the weekend the City Of Frisco’s Parks & Recreation Department through a huge Christmas celebration at Frisco Square. Their Main Street Christmas was attended by thousands of people and oh so many happy children. Santa was there, along with a few of his reindeer. There were more than a Few children’s choirs singing Christmas songs of every variety. There was even plenty of food, including some super sized corn dogs that I just had to try. The main event of the evening was the lighting of the Christmas Tree. It was a quick moment, but the crowd loved it and the tree is quite beautiful.
Website Facelift
My website has had several iterations of the years. It started as a simple way to keep my family informed of the house I was building at the time, that was nearly 20 years ago. Now my site is more of a landing page, a place on the web outside of normal social media. It's sat dormant for several years. I want to change that a little.
I love to take photos, so I think I will use my website to show off some off galleries of my photos. Nothing fancy. I don't expect anything to come of it. I just enjoy taking photos and sharing them. To be honest I'm sure my photos will get more views on FaceBook or Instagram, but for those that like what they say they can more easily view my photos on my own website.
It's an experiment. In the end I'm not getting rid of my website and if I'm not getting rid of it, I might as well use it for something. Still be mainly a landing page. Realestate on the internet, but now maybe it will be a little prettier.
Civil Forfeiture - John Oliver (HBO)
This is just a fun as well as informational video from one of my favorite editorial comedians. I hadn't heard of civil forfeiture before, at least not referred to by that term. Seems hard to believe it is as easy as John Oliver indicates.
Get Ready for iPhone 6 - Sept 9th
Okay my fine feathered friendly Facebook family... I get asked regularly "when is the next iPhone coming?" Well, I can't tell you the date of release; however, I can tell you the date of announcement. It will be September 9th at 10 am Pacific. The invite to the press merely states "We wish we could say more." Not an atypical press invite for Apple.
Wait there's more. The event is being held in the very same location that hosted the public announcement of Macintosh way back in 1984. Thirty short years ago for those needing a little help with the math.
But wait... there's still more!!! A strange three-story building is going up next to the auditorium. It's believed this building is for Apple's event. An impenetrable force field (security personnel and a fence) has been established to keep prying eyes from the press, Microsoft and Samsung out.
That old hamster in the rumor mill is getting a work out as questions abound. Will the much discussed iWatch see the light of day? Will Apple premier the next version of the AppleTV? What's the purpose of that humongous three story structure? Why choose this venue for the event? Will we see two iPhones? How much will they cost? Will cats and dogs finally sleep together? Does anyone care that Brad & Angelina got hitched? Will J.J. Abrams use lens flare in Star Wars 7: New Hope for a New Trilogy?
Guess all will be revealed on September 9th, right? Maybe not, rumors continue to circulate about an October event. If a new iPad fits your finicky fancy, that's probably the event for you.
Life is a House
Let me wax poetic about life and how I think you can compare it to a house, or actually more aptly a home. Maybe I'm off by a million miles here, or maybe I've hit the nail on the head. Been awhile since I tried to wax poetic, so let's see how it turns out.
Every life is built like a house, needing a strong foundation, walls to protect us and places to hide that which we want secret. It's our home. Here's how I think we each do it.
A life's foundation is laid by those that reared us. The basement contains all that which came before our entry into the world. What our parents and teachers give us becomes the cement and timber that provides the flooring and structure to the house. The design of which is based on our early personality. Who we want to be, who we are and who we aren't.
The walls of our house are made of the many close people in our lives. They provide the protection from the world. Keep us dry and safe.
Each room of the house is made of our close relationships. Those that defined and continue to define us. At times those rooms change. Sometimes the look, sometimes the whole design.
The closets hold our deepest secrets. Usually found in the rooms of those we know best. At times though the secrets are hidden away in closet known to only us.
The attic is where we keep the dusty old memories we care no longer to regularly revisit. Memories that once defined us but are now unneeded.
At times our lives require the house to be expanded to make more room. At times our lives change and require the house to be completely remodeled, given the semblance of a new or fresh start. It's still the same home, the same foundation; we only get the one house.
Then one day we pass into the veil and the various parts of our life that are important to others get moved. Much will be discarded. Some will end up in our children's basements. A very little may end up adoring the walls or bookshelves of our children and our children’s children. Those memories they hold most dear. Those memories that make the family, a family.
Each home is different. Each home a life.
So, did I nail it, or am I totally out in an empty field?
End the Age of Traditional TV Networks - Free The Content
In an age when we can easily broadcast video just about anywhere in the world for not much more money than sending the signal down the street it's time that the current exclusive deals with the networks of the 200+ nations of the earth needs to come to an end.
I'm not saying for free, everyone gets to make money. There are multiple ways to make money while eyeballs watch content. There is the iTunes method of selling seasons or episodes. There is the netflix method of selling a service which includes a vast library of included content. There is the Hulu method of selling access on TVs to a then ad supported content stream (much like cable TV) and then there is the network website of ad supported content freely available. It's time the internet becomes the defacto delivery method to the home in contracts with content companies with the proviso that networks still can own exclusive rights to traditional methods outside of internet delivery. Heck, they could even show it on their own network websites.
It won't be easy. There are no true world wide entertainment networks. There is no world wide cable company. There are many existing contracts.
To make it happen would be a game of chicken. A popular show, content maker or premium network would have to say ENOUGH and then gamble big. A company like HBO is best positioned to do this first but risks alienating cable providers and studios, and at the moment I'm betting their contracts won't allow it.
Until then entertainment will slowly traverse the globe while citizens can with relative ease move about the globe.