‘Xander and I were lucky enough today to sneak away and watch WALL·E and I have to say that I was amazed. I was amazed when I saw Ratatouille, too, but this is even light years ahead of that film in terms of visual style, radically innovative story-telling (the fact that this movie got made at all, much less was #1 at the box office this past weekend, is a miracle), and just sheer scope. This is the film that anyone who’s ever played with or appreciates animation wishes they could make. If over 100 years of making movies (telling stories, taking us to new worlds, broadening our horizons) culminates in anything, it culminates in this film. It really is, chiefly, a really sweet love story in which the survival of the human race is at stake. So, anyway, go see this film. One word of warning, though: this is not “Kung Fu Panda” or even “Cars” – this movie asks something of you, the viewer, and will make you think.
Oh, yeah: and it’s got Fred Willard – non computer-generated Fred Willard (!) – in it.

A farewell gathering for a dear friend. Her husband has a great new job in Maryland and they have left us. These are all fellow MOPS moms and friends. Best of luck in your new adventures Alison. You will be missed.
For the MQAI

Like layers of rock that develop over time, Italy is a stratification of cultures that goes back centuries. Intertwining images of Venice and Rome with Dante’s Inferno in old Italian, opposite Latin words of peace, this piece illustrates Italy’s tremendous and lasting influence on the world we know today.
We just created our very own YouTube Channel. At the moment it mostly just has my animation and video projects. If you haven’t seen them before, though, be sure to check them out (my personal favorite is still “Peas Grow There” because it’s just so stupid, but you are free to disagree). Look for new stuff posted in the future!
Super Toilet is a character created by our son and his friends in Kindergarten. To date, our son has written three Super Toilet adventure books (you can read the second one here) and Super Toilet will also soon be starring in his own video game. So it seemed fitting that he should have his own theme song, explaining what he’s all about.

Super Toilet (Theme)
Lyric:
Flying through the sky
He’s a very super guy
But he’s not really a guy
He’s a toilet
When evil’s all around,
He’ll protect the town
From anyone around
Who would spoil it.
When Evil Toilet or Mister Poop
Or Mini-Man or Jake-O plan
A devilish plot,
He can foil it.
With his friends Codo,
Bird, Wolf, and a weed-eater,
He is the one called
SUPER TOILET!
So I decided I needed a stamp of a foot print on a small project I’m working on. Why would I use my own foot when I have someone with one perfectly good foot sitting nearby? He was more than happy to help out and he got a black foot in the process which he thinks is really fun.

Seven-and-a-half years after I release the darn thing, the reviews are in! And they (well, it) are (is) glowing. I’m not sure who undomondo is, but they really like my Robot Love CD. Which makes them very cool in my book. Actually, since I think they really managed to articulate what I was trying to do with that album better than I ever could, I’ll post the entire review here (click on more). I don’t think my mom wrote it… never can tell with these Internets, though. Continue reading 'Wowsers, Inspector Gadget! A review!'»
Having a six year old with a fractured foot is a lot of work for those around him. Except for the two year old, he thinks his big brother is a sitting duck waiting to be whacked and wrestled with. So yes, we have had little time to do anything creative in this house. I have two deadlines coming at the end of the month and I am a little stressed about meeting them. Not much left to do, just no time to do them. Today I will be venturing to Target to get some activity and puzzle books for the Xanman. Even video games are starting to bore him.
This week almost all fiber work has taken a backseat to parent duties. Coupled with the last week of kindergarten (which is way busier than anyone would think), our six year old took a tumble off a foot stool and hurt his foot. He was trying to reach the prized snack food that I stashed up high to keep him and his brother from eating it all in one sitting. After he tried repeatedly over the next 12 hours to walk on his foot but failed due to lots of pain, I took him to urgent care. Thanks to Grandma for watching the other one all day today. Still don’t know whether his foot is broken, fractured, sprained, or bruised. He sees a specialist next week for that determination. But in the mean time he is in an aircast. Sounds cool doesn’t it? It kind of is, so much so that I told him we could add some stuff to it to make it look like a robot boot. Xander, being the six year old boy that he is, thought this idea was a really good one.
So tomorrow, instead of going to the U-Sew store to put a felting machine on layaway to lock in the price before it goes up, I will be embellishing my son’s aircast.
So just in case any of the few of you who actually read our blog were wondering why we haven’t posted lately, now you know why. I promise to share Robo-Boot with you when it is completed.
This new song is a collaboration with the eminent 1-2-Many, who is a fixture on the KVRaudio.com website, particularly in their monthly song contests. Collaboration may be pushing it a bit because all I really did on this one was write some words and sing them — he did all the music writing and production, so it was quite a nice break for me. I think it came out really well.

http://www.victorlams.com/kvr-vst/0805_drx2many_car_wreck.mp3