First Time Disney: Quick Answers to Common Questions
Maybe you’ve never considered yourself a Disney person. But now you’ve got kids who are itching to go to Disney World for the first time. And well, you want to make that happen.
Florida
My links for June 4th through June 6th
These are my links for June 4th through June 6th:
- Awesome photo of Enterprise “lifting off” – Space Shuttle Enterprise is finally at its home in the Intrepid Sea, Air, and Space Museum in New York City. Here’s a really great photo of the shuttle during the final part of its journey.
- Newspaper Map – Here’s a cool tool to find all the world’s online newspapers
- Ray Bradbury: 10 of his most prescient predictions – On the day we learn about the death of writer Ray Bradbury, the Washington Post tells us about the world he predicted. Creepy how these things came true.
- 8 Ways to Make Siri Smarter – I don’t even have a 4S yet, but I really like the suggestions for making Siri (and your phone) smarter.
- American Airlines to reduce July flying – So, American Airlines has a shortage of pilots…
- Photo Of The Day: Street Art In Rome – I filled in on Tuesday for the “Photo of the Day” post on Gadling. I’m kind of proud of how this short piece turned out.
- We Stopped Dreaming (Episode 2) – A New Perspective – YouTube – “We went to the Moon, and we discovered Earth” – Neil Tyson on why we need space exploration
- The Wire: The Musical – Funny or Die gets almost the entire cast of The Wire to do a musical-style parody of the show. Hilarious.
- Princeton University – 2012 Baccalaureate Remarks by author Michael Lewis – “If a professional athlete paid millions of dollars can be misvalued who can’t be?” This is some great inspirational stuff.
Spending the Holidays Three Houses Down from America’s Christmas Lights Display Winner – #sonyholiday
Semper Fi Christmas House, Tallahassee, Florida
I’m spending the holidays in Tallahassee, Florida, which happens to be the town from which the Whitis family, the winners of Good Morning America’s “Our Lights Are Better Than Your Lights”, hail. I’m not only in the same town as this Christmas lights attraction, but approximately three doors down from it. When my family and I arrived after a very long drive yesterday, we had to get a police escort to stop traffic so we could get down the street to my sister’s house. Cars were lined up for at least a mile to get a chance to drive by the GMA winners’ home.
So what does it take to earn bragging rights for the best Christmas lights in the nation? Apparently, it takes 17,000 LED lights and a patriotic, red-white-and-blue light show set to the techno remix of Lee Greenwood’s “Proud to Be an American.” I can’t say it’s a beautiful display – the word “tacky” comes to mind. But it certainly took a lot of effort and the winners have asked visitors and online admirers to contribute to the Semper Fi Fund, an organization that provides “immediate financial support for injured and critically ill members of the U.S. Armed Forces and their families.”
I took a few photos* of the Whitis’ lit-up home, but you can’t really appreciate the audaciousness of this light display until you watch the video complete with music. Thankfully, for the neighbors’ sake, the family has purchased some radio spectrum (92.3 FM) for the duration of the Christmas light show so the neighborhood doesn’t have to endure techno music repeating on a four-minute loop for five hours per night. (I understand there’s currently a lawsuit against the family because of the light and music display, which is probably one reason why the radio spectrum was purchased.)
Semper Fi Christmas House, Tallahassee, Florida
Christmas house during the day
Cars lined up for the Christmas house
LED Christmas tree
Christmas house
Here’s the full video of the Whitis’ family’s Semper Fi Christmas House, which will be on display through Christmas night. I promise you this is real:
*All photos (except featured photo) taken with the Sony Cyber Shot DSC-WX9 camera, which was provided courtesy of Sony.