When I was a kid, my family had Pong and that made us pretty cool. Then my dad got an Apple IIe and we had text-based games like Lemonade Stand and Oregon Trail. Yep, we were the hip family in the neighborhood with the techie dad. The only thing that even came in as a close second was the fact that my friend Kathleen had an Intelevision system. Man, I LOVED playing Astro Smash at her house.

I don’t have to tell you how much times have changed. My daughter and my nephew were born into a world dominated by a video game culture. My nephew got a DS last Christmas and my daughter got one this Christmas. Neither of them can image a life without computers. My nephew has a couple of console systems at his place, but here at our house we stick to the DS and games we can play online.

Both of the kids are little sports nuts, too. They’ve recently graduated out of the kinds of games you can find on Noggin or Nickelodeon. They want more “grown up” kids’ games Of course, that means I have been screening more online games than ever to find ones that are safe, kid-friendly, and fun. Free is always good, too. You have to watch your pennies in today’s economy.

I signed Gigi up for an account at ActionAllStars.com. She got to choose how her avatar looks, dress her, and even give her a hairstyle. She even named her (GigiA). I made a screen cap when we were done creating the character. That made her happy. I was happy, because I was able to determine whether her avatar could use Safe Chat or Safe Chat Plus. Both chats allow players to communicate with one another, filtering each message that includes blocked words or personal information. The Safe Chat Plus (which is what I chose) only lets the player use predetermined phrases and words.

Once we were done, I had to click on a link in an activation e-mail that was sent to my e-mail account and we were ready to have some fun. He headed over to the Pavement server and played a little basketball, baseball, football, and took a turn with some virtual surfing (Gigi especially liked doing the “Dolphin Ride” and the “Lazy Boy”). You get to pick your favorite team for some games, because MLB.com (MLBAM) and NBA.com (National Basketball League) have partnered with Action Allstars. Gigi picked the Tampa Bay Rays when she was trying out one of the baseball games that was sort of a cross between a baseball diamond and a pinball machine.

Since she needs to get the hang of things, we played everything in regular mode instead of challenge mode. She earned a few tokens and was able to shop for new items for her avatar. You can even buy furniture to add to your “Home Turf”.

All in all, this was a great experience for both of us. We had a lot of fun playing together, I felt like it was a safe environment, and many of the games were simple enough for her to play without my help. I very much recommend giving it a try.

When Tous les Matins du Monde (All the Mornings of the World) first came out of video, back in the very early 90s, I fell in love with the music and the story. I also began an appreciation for Guillaume Depardieu. He was achingly beautiful in this film, wise beyond his years, quite perfect in the role of the young Young Marin Marais. He was about 20 when he made the movie.

I followed his career over the years, his films, his motorcycle accident, the tragic events that led to the amputation of one of his legs, the troubles with his family, and on October 13 of this year – his death.

When I read of his passing from pneumonia, I was stunned. I knew he lived hard, but it seemed such a sad way for him to die after all he had lived through. I rented Tous les Matins du Monde again today, because I wanted to see Guillaume again at his most beautiful. I think I loved the movie even more this time around. Of course, knowing Guillaume is dead made it all the more poignant, but the music also impacted me on a deeper level than it did all those years ago.

Recently, I helped my dad photo catalog his collection of Roy Rogers memorabilia. Actually, I took the pictures some time ago, but I recently can across them again and re-started the project. My dad has been a fan of Roy Rogers since his childhood and all his life he collected little bits of this and that to remind him of the days he would spend a Saturday afternoon at the movie theater watching his cowboy hero.

Back in 1985 or 1986 my family took a two-week trip out to the west coast. We spent time driving around and seeing the Petrified Forest National Park, the Painted Desert, Joshua Tree National Park, the Grand Canyon, Meteor Crater, Hoover Dam, and lots of other amazing attractions. We also took time out to visit the he Roy Rogers – Dale Evans Museum in Victorville, CA. The trip to the museum is one of my clearest memories of our vacation.

In 2003, the he Roy Rogers – Dale Evans Museum picked up and moved to Branson, Missouri. I have heard that while the museum retained much of its homey, personal feel, it also benefitted from the move. Now it is surrounded by hundreds of other exciting shows and attractions. I’ve been anxious to see the new museum and want to plan a trip out to see it, and the rest of Branson. My dad’s sister and wife and mother go often, so I would love to have them along as unofficial tour guides.

This is actually one of the better times of the year to visit Branson. Christmastime and the coming New Year celebration have inspired all sorts of charming light displays and special events. In particular, the packages at the Hilton Promenade at Branson Landing and Hilton Branson Convention Center Hotel are about as festive as you can get. They have already hosted special theme packages for Thanksgiving and Christmas (“It’s a Wonderful Life” and “Santa’s Coming to Town” were their themes – how cute!), the New Years’ Eve package is still to come.

I just keep thinking how fitting it is that the Roy Rogers Museum is part of Branson now.

Movie night is a whole new animal now that I have a daughter. Gone are the sexy French films, subtitled Japanese horror flicks, and difficult to understand indie films. When I bring a movie home to watch on a Saturday night now, it needs to be suitable for both me and my five-year-old daughter.

When I was still married, making our movie choices suitable for Gigi’s eyes was a hard sell for my ex. He pretty much never joined us for our family movie night, preferring to stay up later and watch something wildly violent.

Anyway, now that it is just me and Gigi we can bring home all the family-friendly films we want. We generally pile onto the couch, grab some cold drinks (milk for Gigi and iced tea for me) and enjoy of a couple of hours of snuggling and movie watching.

I am always looking for great idea for movies I can share with my daughter. “All Roads Lead Home” is being billed as the perfect family night movie and I’m inclined to agree that it looks just like the sort of movie I want to see with Gigi. It’s family-focused and showcases forgiveness after a difficult situation. Loss is dealt with in a moving and real manner. And, there are characters in the film that my daughter and I will both be able to relate to in a natural way.

Plus, I love Peter Coyote and Jason London. Peter Boyle has a part in the film and died before it was released. It is the last film he appeared him and it seems a fitting end to a memorable career. Since animals play major parts in the movie, I know my daughter will be engrossed no matter what is happening. Little girls can always relate to horses and puppies.

Watch the trailer. I was misty-eyed before it was halfway through. All Roads Lead Home The Movie came out in theaters back in September and will be released on DVD on January 13, 2009.

<

They are two artists I associate with time I have spent in New York City. I remember being at the Rainbow Room when Eartha Kitt was performing and I saw Harold Pinter’s play Betrayal in New York City when Liev Schreiber performed in the play with Juliette Binoche and John Slattery.

Kitt died today in New York, at the age of 81. Pinter died on Christmas Eve. They both died of cancer, as is unfortunately the fate of so many in our times.

Christmas is bittersweet this year.

I have not seen a film in years that was as outright entertaining from the first frame to the last frame as Bedtime Stories!

My daughter and I made it part of our Christmas Day together to go and see Bedtime Stories and I am thrilled that we did. It made the memory of our day together all that more special. This film is as close to perfect as anything I have seen in a long time.

You can read a synopsis of the film on nearly any movie review website. My “in a nutshell” version is that Adam Sandler’s character agrees to look after his niece and nephew while his sister looks for a teaching job out-of-state, due to the closing of her school. Sandler years to run the hotel his father founded, but later sold to a chain. As Sandler tells the kids bedtime stories, he realizes that elements from the stories are coming true.

The special effects are stunning, adding just the right level of fantasy to the story sequences. Bugsy, the pet guinea pig, is aw-inspiring (as in “Aw! How Cute!”) There are also a couple of very delightful, albeit brief, cameo appearances by other Disney Pixar characters. (Also look for blink-and-you’ll-miss-them appearances by Carmen Electra as well as Sandler’s wife and one of his daughters.) I cannot remember even a second when the movie slowed down, but I can remember several times I realized I had a huge grin on my face as I was watching.

There is not a single weak link in the cast. Of course, Sandler is charming and easy to sympathize with, Courtney Cox is Sandler’s perfect foil as his sister. Russell Brand, a British import with a pretty much non-existent profile in the United States, is absolutely engaging. There is, of course, even the obligatory and uncredited appearance by Rob Schneider. Guy Pearce and Lucy Lawless are the ideal villains for this children’s film, as they is never actually menacing and generally bumbling.

The only objectionable material I can even highlight would be some very mildly suggestive flirting between some of the characters near the beginning of the film. Both a horse and a guinea pig pass gas, but even that is in context of the story. Also, a character does say, “Oh My God.” My daughter picked up on that, but not all viewers may be as sensitive.

My daughter is five and was thoroughly engaged the entire time. She did not even ask to use the restroom during the film, and that is generally something I can absolutely count on her doing. In fact, there was a child in front of us who looked like he was about 18-months-old and although he was fussing and crying before the movie and during the previews, we did not hear a single peep put of him once Bedtime Stories began.

Even with skyrocketing ticket prices, this film is well worth your money.

This afternoon I went and saw Twilight. One of my friends was taking her 14-year-old daughter and two of the daughter’s friends to the movie and wanted another adult along for the ride. Though it is not a movie I would have chosen on my own, I was OK with keeping my friend company and being able to see what all of the hype is about at the same time.

My first thought is that Twilight is to today’s young teens as Flowers in the Attic was to young teens when I was that age. We’re talking about two very popular series of books that made a splash with the younger end of the teenage reader group. Both had movies made to follow on the tailcoats of the wildly successful books. The main difference in that the movie for Flowers in the Attic was pathetic. The movie for Twilight was actually quite skillfully executed.

I know the movie cut out a lot of what was in Twilight the book, but show me a movie based on a book that doesn’t do the same thing. There’s just never time to film everything that is in most novels. Nonetheless, most of the story in Twilight would make sense even to those who have not read the book version.

I was perplexed as to how anyone would find the character of Bella Swan irresistible after seeing the film. She is morose, unenthusiastic, dull, and monotone. The actress portraying Bella (Kristen Stewart) speaks in a whiney, breathy way that seeks to simulate emotion, but it falls flat. It’s that same voice quality Neve Campbell uses in all of the Scream movies. After talking to the teens I saw the movie with, I was assured that the Bella of the book is deeper, more romantic, and compelling.

Overall, though, the film was intriguing enough to compel me to borrow the book from my friend’s daughter. I asked everyone in the car on the way home to refrain from giving me the details about the future of the story, as I would rather read about.

Black Friday is typically when brick and mortar stores like to pull out their popular merchandise and price it all at prices that will make you want to wake up and be banging on their doors at 3 a.m. Internet stores, though, tend to wait for the following Monday, which has fondly been called Cyber Monday for the past several years.

Charter Communications is celebrating both black friday and Cyber Monday with a surprisingly cool deal on their Ultimate Bundle. Aside from Charter’s deals on 1 Service ($25), and 2 Service ($75), and 3 Service ($150) packages, you can buy Charter’s Ultimate Bundle and get $250 gift card. Plus, you will be automatically entered into a drawing to win one of 45 X Box 360 game consoles.

The Ultimate Service Bundle is the way to go, since for only $165.97 you get high speed internet, unlimited home phone calling, digital home TV, Charter HD, Sports View, Digital View, HBO, Cinemax, Starz, Encore, Showtime, and the Movie Channel. Not only is this a great price per service, that $250 gift card covers about a month and a half of your service – so it’s like getting that month and a half for free.

You get to choose your gift card and they have a ton of stores to choose from, including Best Buy, KB Toys, Applebee’s, Chili’s, Kohl’s, Shell gasoline and more.

Not even a year ago, I was writing about how Mary Delgado punched her fiancé, Byron Velvick, in Pinellas County, busted open his lip, and made her infamous trip to the local jail. Now, she has been arrested once again, although this time it happened in Texas.

In case you need a pop-culture refresher, Delgado was the winner of the sixth season of The Bachelor and Velvick was said Bachelor.

Delgado was arrested Saturday night for public intoxication, resisting arrest and disorderly conduct at Lorina’s Cantina in Del Rio, Texas. Velvick is apparently still in her life. He is the one who bailed her out of the Val Verde County Correctional Facility.

You can’t second guess love, folks.

…but they last longer now, too.

Did you know that you can already get a 2009 Fun Card for Busch Gardens in Tampa? My daughter and I used to get our sometime at the beginning of any given year and then we would be able to get in to the park for the rest of the year on the same full-priced, one-day admission ticket.

The price for an adult Fun Card is going up 8 percent, to $69.95. The price for children ages 3 to 9 is going up 9 percent, to $59.95. However, you can start using these cards now and keep using them through the last day of 2009.

In January, Busch Gardens will replace the Fun Card with a “Pay for a Day” deal where you can get unlimited park visits without blackout dates for the price of a 2009 single-day admission. No news yet on those prices.

Despite what sounds like it might be a money losing venture for the park, their revenue is actually still very strong. They make their money off of parking, food, and other concessions from your repeat visits.

Since the Tampa Bay area is basically devoid of real celebrities, the Hogan family saga is what passes for celebrity gossip around here. And since it has been several weeks since our last tidbit of Hogan hijinks, I suppose it was past due for a new Hogan-ific story.

Linda Hogan says the real reason she is divorcing the Hulk (Terry Bollea) is that he was cheating on her with daughter Brooke’s (former) best friend Christiane Plante.

While Linda insists the reason for divorce is as simple as Hulk’s cheating, Hulk himself is not satisfied to let well enough alone. I suppose he’s just not one to put his tail respectfully between his legs and slink off into the beautiful Clearwater Beach sunset. Nope, he repeatedly and often fires back at Linda with accusations that she simply wants to be in the limelight.

Hulk’s lawyer, David Houston, released this statement:
“It is unfortunate Linda Hogan will do virtually anything to keep herself in the public spotlight. We are not going to demean this process nor the family any longer by responding to what amounts to pathetic pleas for attention.”

He can blow as much smoke as he wants, but I agree that Linda is justified with her simple statement about Hulk cheating. That says it all. We don’t even have to get into the fact that the person he cheating with was the MUCH-younger BFF of his own daughter. That’s the tacky icing on the creepy cake, so to speak.

It’s been an amazing season for the Tampa Bay Rays. They went from being a black spot on our sunny map to the most celebrated team in the region. Tampa Bay Rays apparel can be seen everywhere you go. There is a lot of pride in the team, and a day of celebration has even been named in their honor.

And, even though the Rays did not quite take the World Series, they did win the American League title. And much like a tasty cherry on the top of an already delicious cake, our own Evan Longoria has won American League Rookie of the Year today.

The much loved third baseman won in a unanimous vote by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America. This is the first time in the Rays’ 11-year history that they have had a Rookie of the Year on their roster.

So many people seem in awe of the fact that Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie raise six children together – the three they adopted and the three they had naturally.

Me, I just roll my eyes? Why? Well, listen to this little bit of info:

“During a recent trip to New Orleans, the couple – who raise three adopted children, a biological two-year-old daughter and three-month-old twins together – originally flew out with four nannies but had to jet in an extra two after reportedly struggling to manage their large brood.”

Seriously? They need one nanny per child. I have friends with 5 and 6 children who do everything quite well without any help at all. In fact, I know casually one family who has 11 children and never use outside help. Even so, they have things well under control. It’s not impossible.

So, go ahead and send the Jolie-Pitts gift baskets to congratulate them on their stunning child rearing abilities if you must, but I will save my kudos for the day when they stop acting out the roles of privileged brats and run their won family without the help of hired hands.

As we close in on tonight’s World Series game, people around the Tampa Bay area are alive with the excitement that tends to unify a region. It’s funny to think about last season or even the beginning of this season and how people all over the area looked at the Tampa Bay Rays as a colossal joke. You never saw Rays t-shirts being worn. They could not even give away tickets to the game. And now…, now everyone is their biggest fan.

The irony amuses me.

At the same time, I love seeing the excitement in the kids at school. Even at my daughter’s elementary school I can find signs that say “Go Rays!” nearly everywhere I look. At the high school, the kids are more subtle, but the excitement is surely bubbling underneath the surface.

I haven’t watched any of the games, but I do wish the Rays the best of luck,. It would be thrilling to see them win the big one. This is such a young, enthusiastic team. They know they have a lot to prove and it’s been encouraging watching all that pay off for them.

One of the coolest things about living in Florida is that a LOT of movies and TV shows film here. A fun way to take advantage of the industry being so active in Florida is to get on board as an extra when I can.

Extras are those people you see in the background of a scene, or maybe sitting in a restaurant next to the tale for the main actors are doing a scene. I’ve had some friends get picked out of the crowd of extras for a one-line speaking gig or to get a lot of great screen time. Basically, an extra is a living, breathing prop Sometimes extras make a couple hundred dollars a day. Sometimes they work for free. Either way, you get a front seat to see all the behind-the-scenes action and the chance to see your mug on a movie screen.

I see noticed in the local paper from time to time, but common sense tells me I am missing most of the notices by not using a more reliable source for information.

To get info on more opportunities to work as an extra here in Florida (or anywhere, for that matter) it only takes a phone call to the toll-free number at Talent6. Jut talk to a portfolio manager and you can be well on your way to getting that screen time you’ve always wanted.

The number is 800-493-9047. Give them a call. You have nothing to lose and a thousand cool experiences to gain.