Mines to Moria, in reality!

This... is the coolest, nerdiest thing I have EVER seen in my entire life... and I love it to death. :P
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=By_ZzbnTSoE&feature=player_embedded

Music in the Parks 09

So Friday and Saturday, our music department (minus the freshman band, chorus, and orchestra) all went on a trip to Massachusetts where there was a Music in the Parks competition. Friday was when the actual competing was, at Holleyoak High School; Saturday was when the awards were given at Six Flags New England. The trip was a blast and we all had a lot of fun. Concert Choir was awarded First Place in the AAA division with a rating of Superior. Women's Choir was also awarded First Place with a rating of Superior, but I don't know what division they were entered in. We were also awarded for having the best choirs. I'm not sure the awards given for the bands, because there were so many different types and divisions that I lost track. However, I know that there was one school that kept beating us in that category. (Their school began with an N, I forget the name.) The Phil Harmonia Orchestra was awarded First Place with a rating of Excellent, and Symphony Orchestra was awarded Second Place. (I think, we were kind of confused with those categories and divisions as well.) Here's some pictures!

Friday:

Saturday:

If anyone wants clarifications on who's who, just leave some comments.

Rae, if you read this, I want your pictures too. Email me: christa.firegal@yahoo.com

Junior Prom

Woo! Prom has come and gone, and although it was fun, I'm glad that I don't have to worry about it anymore. Now I have NYSSMA and the SATs to look forward too. Woo...
Overall, the prom was very enjoyable and pretty, although being sick hampered things a lil. (Hope you can't tell in the pictures!)

I couldn't help but take pictures of the totally AMAZING corsage thingie that my mother gave me. It's so shiny...

If you want to know who's in a particular picture, just leave a comment because the pictures keep cutting off the words.

Can't Have It All

Ish a good video, just wanted to share. (It also told me to.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6AV5XzKjz2Y

Multiple Sclerosis Zelda Marathon.

From tonight until the 23rd (Monday), The Returners (found here: http://www.returnersgaming.blogspot.com/ ) are holding a 72 hour Legend of Zelda videogame marathon (playing most of the games through) to raise money for the MS Foundation. PLEASE, visit their site, donate money to the foundation (through paypal, see details on site). It would be very appreciated!

Ok, so maybe not "tomorrow".

The Fish #3!

Well I Have Been Lax Lately.

I'm sorry, all who read this, for not updating for a while. I've been busy with school and other things. So, what's going on lately? Well, last weekend was my brother's birthday, so all of our friends came with us to the bowling alley and we played two games. He seemed to have a lot of fun, and was sad when it was over. Here's some movies:

There would be more videos, but my friends don't have the *best* language...

Btw, there is a new Fish coming tomorrow, as I don't have time to post it right now because I'm about to leave to go "prom dress shopping" and then to my friend Sam's house. Happy watching!

The Fish #2

The Fish #1

The Fish will be a comic updated frequently, made by Sam and I. It will be either posted on DeviantART or on my friend's site, that is still being decided. Anyways, here is number 1!

To see larger version, click here: http://ainulin.deviantart.com/art/The-Fish-1-112463606 .

My Birthday

So, the day before my birthday (the 24th), Sam invited me over to her house and she held a little party for me. It was so much fun, and I'm so glad she loves me enough to throw me a party.

From left to right: Sam, Val, Mariana, Isaac, Dan.

The cake Sam and I made, with Val taking the chocolate icing with her into the livingroom and then being the barmaid and serving the cake to everyone.

This is Dan after Sam, Val, and I dressed him up in some of Sam's clothes (they're guys clothes technically) and gelling his hair with some old L'Oreal (sp?) hair gel. This was the best picture we got of him. Yay lighting!

...we like to tickle and have fun. Yes, we are still kids at heart, THANK YOU. Sorry, the lighting sucks the majority of the time.

I love my friends. ^.^

Legos!

Anyone who knows me (well) knows that I LOVE legos. Recently, my friend had to write a report on the history of legos, and that reminded me of this one article I read about this guy who got paid to make lifesize sculptures of things with legos. AMAZING! So, I've decided to make a top ten of my favorite lego artwork.

Number 10: "Your LEGO PC"
Would be cooler if it was functional; but hey, legos ARE awesome.
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1895,1853580,00.asp

Number 9: Red Dragon
Who doesn't like lifesize dragons?
http://www.lifebrings.com/article_images/Legoland/D20061120_193220.JPG

Number 8: Giraffe
This is located somewhere in Berlin.
http://lh5.ggpht.com/_Fqi-Xgba00s/SEt92SSkcDI/AAAAAAAABrQ/dACfV_AF6BI/DSCN1869.JPG

Number 7: Death Star diorama
I'm sorry, but you can't NOT like this, even though it isn't life size. It's pure epicness.
http://www.geekologie.com/2008/06/lego_star_wars_diorama_is_legi.php

Number 6: Harry, Hermione, Ron, and Hagrid
Harry Potter fan here. This had to be on the list.
http://lh5.ggpht.com/_0NCmIAnRLVA/Rw2IgIe345I/AAAAAAAAA5I/0caQvpcNWUA/Picture+253.jpg
http://static.travelmuse.com/docs/artwork/columns/travel-news/issue-8/news-deals-legoland-boy-with-harry-potter-full.jpg <- Better picture


Number 5: Lego Millenium Falcon Stop Motion
Again, this is not life size, but it's a pretty sweet annimation. Kudos to technomonkeymedia!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aEc8v1OWeE4

Number 4: Talking Darth Vader
Not only is he life size, but he talks! Only $50,000.
http://www.toygoround.com/pages/Selection_Pages/LIFE_SIZE_LEGO_DARTH_VADER.htm

Number 3: Minas Tirith
I wanted to put this first, I really did. T.T Displayed at Brickfest 2005 at the annual conference for the AFOL (Adult Fans of Lego). Who knew that existed?
http://www.wired.com/news/images/full/001_f.18712.jpg

Number 2: The Empire State Building
Complete with King Kong!
http://image22.webshots.com/22/4/64/15/239246415EttYlo_fs.jpg

And finally...

Number 1: The Dragon
According to the link, this dragon is the biggest lego model in the entire world. Plus the fact that it looks so awesome, this deserves the number one spot on my list. Kudos!
http://blogs.mysanantonio.com/weblogs/geekspeak/archives/biggest-lego-model-in-the-world-the-dragon-010907.jpg



In other news, Geekologie is my new favorite site. And this cross between a beanbag and a pillow has made it onto my wishlist (black). Long live bastard children! http://www.sumolounge.com/omni.php

Straight No Chaser

Some of you may have heard of the Acapella group, Straight No Chaser. Recently, they signed with Warner Music Group. On their youtube page, it says,

You may have read recently about Warner Music Group removing all of their artist's videos
from Youtube. This affected us as well, so many of our videos are no longer available here.
Please visit www.myspace.com/sncmusic to watch The 12 Days of Christmas and send to your
friends!

Now, I am looking for my favorite song from them, "The Lion Sleeps Tonight," which was posted on December 18th, 2007. There are a few fan videos from the shows they've done, but it's not the same as the original video (which WMG insisted they remove) mostly because Steve Morgan doesn't go as high, and the quality of the videos stink. I was very upset to learn that all their old videos were removed. In my opinion, shouldn't all of their old videos stay, because they were posted BEFORE they signed with WMG? I can understand not letting them keep videos up AFTER they signed...

So I figured, "Ok, fine. Let them have their way. I have a dollar and fourteen cents left in my iTunes account, they'll have the song there for me to buy." So, I opened my iTunes and searched for "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" by Straight No Chaser. Guess what? IT WASN'T THERE. So now, not only can I not hear the original on youtube, but I can't even buy it on iTunes. On one of their videos made especially for YouTube, "The 12 Days of Christmas (2008 version)" (I believe it's called), it says in the sidebar to go to myspace to hear the original 12 Days of Christmas.

Now, my friends who know me, also know that I HATE myspace and facebook and all of those internet communication sites. Although, I was so desperate to hear the song that I actually went to myspace and looked up Straight No Chaser's page. Guess what? IT'S NOT THEIR EITHER.

So now, I'm left with nothing of the song. THANKS A LOT WMG. I mean, if they're going to make them get rid of the videos, at least make the song BUYABLE. -.-

I think that Straight No Chaser should fight WMG for the rights to have their original preformaces publicized the way they want. WMG should NOT have control over the music recorded BEFORE they were signed.

What can someone do to get this song the way it was originally sung by Straight No Chaser?

Please leave a comment if you agree!

Snowball

Friday was the Snowball (Winter) dance at my school. Here are some pictures:

Unfinished Stories

Unluckily for me and my readers, I have so many unfinished stories. Why am I telling you this? Because it's the first thing I thought of to write here. Right now I have two unfinished stories that have not been read, and two unfinished stories that HAVE. (I'm terrible) For some reason, if I write a story that's more than a couple of chapters long, I get writer's block and then give up. Go figure. And then sometimes I'll just get too bored to finish, or I'll get sidetracked. If anyone wants to read these unfinished stories, (I think there are also two finished ones there...) http://www.fanfiction.net/u/1401192/ .

Unluckily for me, I also happen to procrastinate on my homework. Today I'm supposed to be doing a history essay to bring up the grade of the last quiz I took. (It was HORRIBLE, and I was doing so well...) Now, I've had the whole weekend. However, on friday, I went to the school dance. On Saturday, I wasted the whole day until 7, which was when I had to go sing at our local tree lighting ceremony. And now today, I'm sitting here writing a blog entry and will shortly be going christmas shopping with my family and my best friend.
Yup, I'm a DEFINATE procrastinator.

Hopefully I'll be able to do the essay RIGHT when I get home, and then I'll finish writing one of my stories. (This will be the agenda for today, but my agendas NEVER work out right.)

Thanksgiving.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I thought I would give you all a bit of insight for thanksgiving. According to Joseph Farah, this is the real meaning of Thanksgiving. Take it as you will, but I believe that the true meaning of Thanksgiving is to give thanks, not to eat turkey. So all you mothers out there who are fretting over your overcooked turkey; relax, take a seat for a second, and give thanks that you HAVE a turkey, albeit a dried up one.

There are many myths and misconceptions surrounding the people responsible for the American Thanksgiving tradition. Contrary to popular opinion, the Pilgrims didn't wear buckles on their shoes or hats. They weren't teetotalers, either. They smoked tobacco and drank beer. And, most importantly, their first harvest festival and subsequent "thanksgivings" weren't held to thank the local natives for saving their lives.

Do you know there are public schools in America today actually teaching that? Some textbooks, in their discomfort with open discussions of Christianity, say as much. I dare suggest most parents today know little more about this history than their children.

Yet, there is no way to divorce the spiritual from the celebration of Thanksgiving – at least not the way the Pilgrims envisioned it, a tradition dating back to the ancient Hebrews and their feasts of Succoth and Passover.

The Pilgrims came to America for one reason – to form a separate community in which they could worship God as they saw fit. They had fled England because King James I was persecuting those who did not recognize the Church of England's absolute civil and spiritual authority.

On the two-month journey of 1620, William Bradford and the other elders wrote an extraordinary charter – the Mayflower Compact. Why was it extraordinary? Because it established just and equal laws for all members of their new community – believers and non-believers alike. Where did they get such revolutionary ideas? From the Bible, of course.

When the Pilgrims landed in the New World, they found a cold, rocky, barren, desolate wilderness. There were no friends to greet them, Bradford wrote. No houses to shelter them. No inns where they could refresh themselves. During the first winter, half the Pilgrims died of sickness or exposure – including Bradford's wife. Though life improved for the Pilgrims when spring came, they did not really prosper. Why? Once again, the textbooks don't tell the story, but Bradford's own journal does. The reason they didn't succeed initially is because they were practicing an early form of socialism.

The original contract the Pilgrims had with their merchant-sponsors in London called for everything they produced to go into a common store. Each member of the community was entitled to one common share. All of the land they cleared and the houses they built belonged to the community. Bradford, as governor, recognized the inherent problem with this collectivist system.

"The experience that was had in this common course and condition, tried sundry years ... that by taking away property, and bringing community into common wealth, would make them happy and flourishing – as if they were wiser than God," Bradford wrote. "For this community [so far as it was] was found to breed much confusion and discontent, and retard much employment that would have been to their benefit and comfort. For young men that were most able and fit for labor and service did repine that they should spend their time and strength to work for other men's wives and children without any recompense ... that was thought injustice."

What a surprise! Even back then people did not want to work without incentive. Bradford decided to assign a plot of land to each family to work and manage, thus turning loose the power of free enterprise. What was the result?

"This had very good success," wrote Bradford, "for it made all hands industrious, so as much more corn was planted than otherwise would have been."

As a result, the Pilgrims soon found they had more food than they could eat themselves. They set up trading posts and exchanged goods with the Indians. The profits allowed them to pay off their debts to the merchants in London much faster than expected. The success of the Plymouth colony thus attracted more Europeans and set off what we call the "Great Puritan Migration."

But it wasn't just an economic system that allowed the Pilgrims to prosper. It was their devotion to God and His laws. And that's what Thanksgiving is really all about. The Pilgrims recognized that everything we have is a gift from God – even our sorrows. Their Thanksgiving tradition was established to honor God and thank Him for His blessings and His grace.

Today we continue that tradition in my home – and I hope in yours. God bless you, God bless America, and Happy Thanksgiving.

-http://www.wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=25419

Scholarships.

So we all know that hopefully I'll be off to college the year after next, and I'm already being pressured to start looking at schools and applying to scholarships. (Yay?) So, I just entered my first today, and I need all of your help. The point of the... contest, is to have the most votes for your entry. This is where you guys come in. If you would all be totally awesome and vote for my entry, that'd be wonderful and it'd help me get that one step closer to college! Thanks a ton if you vote!


Show Us Your Best Facial Feature
Brickfish
Vote | Share | Details






If you can't see that, I don't know why, and I'm not sure how to fix it... but if you click the details button, it shows you my entry. Also if you click vote, it shows a mini version. Please help me out!

"You've just been out-physic'd!"

This is a funny conversation between me and two of my friends (at different times, of course). I don't know if you'll find it funny, but I sure did.

Ainulin says: "Assume a scale is in an elevator on Earth." Oh yes, because scales are in elevators everyday. And on the Moon. <.<
Jason says: XD
Jason says: those problems were confuzing
Ainulin says: Heh
Ainulin says: Didn't you know? The aliens constructed little elevator shafts on the moon. That's what those craters are! Pfft, water pockets. *scorn*
Jason says: Christa....
Jason says: ....that...doesn't explain the scales.
Ainulin says: The aliens figured that while a foreign being was visiting the Moon, they'd want to know how much they weighed compared to their own planets. That way, if they weighed less, they'd buy condos and boost the Moon's property value.
Jason says: XD
Jason says: +1
Ainulin says: xD Oh geeze, I really am insane.
Jason says: You are, but we love you <3
Ainulin says: We? o.O
Ainulin says: Who else you got over there?
Jason says: Me and the people in the white coats.
Jason : "they're coming to take you away, haha"
Ainulin says: "They're coming to take me away-
Ainulin says: Damn you.


GtrGeek29 (8:52:15 PM): Overall I think this whole "physics" thing of which you speak is a fail.
GtrGeek29 (8:52:22 PM): Its failcup is full.
Ainulin (8:52:38 PM): Pfft.
Ainulin (8:52:45 PM): We wouldn't exist without physics.
GtrGeek29 (8:52:52 PM): Or would we?
Ainulin (8:53:00 PM): We wouldn't
GtrGeek29 (8:53:30 PM): The things that say we wouldn't exist would not exist if we didn't exist, THEREFORE there would be nothing to say that we wouldn't exist, thus proving that we WOULD exist.
Ainulin (8:53:48 PM): No.
GtrGeek29 (8:54:05 PM): i put a lot of thought into that...
Ainulin (8:54:08 PM): If it didn't exist because we didn't exist, than they WOULD exist if we did.
GtrGeek29 (8:54:26 PM): Well...
GtrGeek29 (8:54:28 PM): But...
GtrGeek29 (8:54:31 PM): and then...
Ainulin (8:54:32 PM): Pwned. ^^
GtrGeek29 (8:54:44 PM): But the thing!! You totally forgot about the thing!!
Ainulin (8:54:50 PM): What thing?
GtrGeek29 (8:54:53 PM): the uhm...
GtrGeek29 (8:54:54 PM): uh..
Ainulin (8:54:57 PM): :P
GtrGeek29 (8:54:58 PM): Look! A duck!
GtrGeek29 signed off at 8:55:00 PM.

Halloween!

Halloween is my favorite holiday, no doubt. It's so fun to dress up every year, even when everyone else thinks you're too old to be doing it. :P I have some wonderful pictures of all my friends dressing up. They were all so good this year! Normally at schools, you only get a handful of kids dressing up, because many think it's childish and stupid. But then again, all my friends and I act childish sometimes, but that's what makes the experience so fun and interesting! No one wants to grow up that fast! We might as well have some fun along the way.

Anyway, here's a sig I made for SOTW this week (which I now run :D). The theme is Halloween. I didn't really like it when I had finished making it, but now that I look back; it doesn't look to bad.

Here are some pictures of my friends on Halloween at school and afterwards:Sam, Val, and Dan dressed up as Aresia, Evil Haruka, and Roxas. (Aresia and Haruka are characters based off of Sam's fanfiction, which can be found here: http://www.fanfiction.net/s/4472642/1/Aresias_Intro ) From left to right: Val (Evil Haruka), Sam (Aresia), Dan (Roxas), Me (Hippie), Liz (Idk what she was, but she had these awesome fangs that her dad made), Isaac (Pirate), Tanya (Idk what she was), Kaitlyn "blonde chick" (Hippie), Rae (scarecrow).

This will be my first video post, woot! Dan and me playing DDR:

Sam and Dan playing DDR:

Val, Liz, and I doing Time Warp:

Bored and waiting.

This is what I did as I waited for four o'clock to roll around, when I'll be going to my friend's house to sleep over. Yay tutorials!

Tutorials

I officially LOVE tutorials. :D They're so fun! I want to make my own eventually, if I get enough experience doing all these different types of signatures. So here's two I made today. One's a picture of Lake George that I animated with rain, and the other is just a fun sig that I entered in the SOTW. Woot!

(I need to remind myself to only post images in LARGE, because they don't look right in medium.)

Animation: http://i234.photobucket.com/albums/ee274/Christafiregal/Signatures/Animation.gif (The picture didn't want to animate itself on the blog.)