WIGGLES

Welcome to New Hampshire, where ice storms dominate the news. Here is a picture of one of the Wiggles, the coolest new singing group for kids (Gage loves them), and a picture of sun, to brighten your day. I am a twenty nine year old senior at NMSU, but I love the Wiggles' live CD!!


CHILDREN can escape into a kingdom of fairytales, music and dress-ups when Baulkham Hills based The Wiggles Production Company launches its new television series on the Nine Network from Monday.

This new children’s television series follows on from the international success of The Wiggles and The Dorothy The Dinosaur Show and brings the local production company into a league of its own for children’s entertainment.

Created by Blue Wiggle Anthony Field and his brother The Wiggles producer and director Paul Field, The Kingdom of Paramithi is a collection of musical stories for young children in 30 half-hour episodes.

TURKEY DAY, THE ECONOMY, AND WHAT WE HAVE TO BE THANKFUL FOR

A dinner table for all

By MICHAEL COUSINEAU

Here is an excerpt from a Union Leader article on how some families are celebrating Thanksgiving a little differently, because things are tight in some places.

"If you want to take the temperature of the economy, stop by places such as Blessed Sacrament.

Church volunteers fed about 200 families yesterday, about 50 more than last year, which was 50 more than the year before.

"I think the economy has a lot to do with it," said the Rev. John Bavaro. "Mostly it is for people who are alone and want to be with a bigger crowd for Thanksgiving.""


Things are not all bad. Here are some pictures of New Hampshire weather, to brighten your day. Remember, He will take care of you. When you get a chance, check out my "Lift One" page to see something else that is very important to me--child poverty.

LOVE IS HERE

Here is a great new worship band . Check out Tenth Avenue North when you get a minute. I have a tendency to say things when I should just think on them for awhile, but this is a great song.
We sing this song in the OASIS PRAISE Service at St. Paul's United Methodist Church in Las Cruces. Have a great weekend, and let me see if I can get a picture of Gage for you. I think he's growing like a weed.

City Planning

Here is the official seal of the city of Manchester. I am sorry it has been so long between posts, but summer just sort of disappeared. This post is about the setup of Manchester, because Las Cruces, where I live, is set up so badly that the public bus system will never be able to stay on time, no matter how the routes are changed, and I wondered if Manchester had the same problems.
Here is an excerpt from an article about a coming new mall in Manchester. Wonder if it will cause traffic problems.
Outlet mall on its way

By JIM KOZUBEK
New Hampshire Union Leader Correspondent
Wednesday, Feb. 20, 2008

Merrimack – Shoppers just got a step closer to getting an outlet mall in the southern end of the state.

The planning board last night unanimously approved a conditional-use permit for a 135-store Chelsea Property Group outlet mall on 170 forested acres on Industrial Drive, near Exit 10 of the Everett Turnpike.

The $100 million project is expected to take 18 months to build.

CHEERS TO "THE AVENGERS"

That's right, folks, I will never post the discouraging news of Manchester in my blog. That's a promise. Here is a picture of my favorite radio Series being recorded.., the Avengers, for South african radio, and remember, NO ONE IN THE WORLD looks like what they sound like. In Manchester, NH, weathermen are warning of severe thunderstorms. Quite good news if you are from New Mexico and the current temperature is 105 degrees....

BINGO

Greetings from Manchester, New Hampshire, where it is getting warmer and more sunny,
and the young uns are playing SCRABBLE!!!!



The word is: Scrabble

By SUZANNE BATES
Union Leader Correspondent

For the first move in a Scrabble game against fellow fifth-graders Troy Miller and Evan McCarthy, Bradley Robbins got a Bingo.

For all the non-Scrabble fanatics out there, that's when a player uses all seven tiles in one turn.

"That's not a word," Miller said, looking at his partner for reassurance.

"I don't think it's a word," McCarthy said.

They eyed Robbins nervously. He was known for occasionally putting down fake words, assuming other players won't know when he's making one up.

Bradley Robbins, 11, of Windham, counts a Scrabble score as his father, Phil, looks up a word. (DAVID LANE)

"We're challenging you," Miller said, calling in the judge, Robbins' mom, Jill Robbins, who checked the official Scrabble dictionary to make her final ruling.

The word was "taenias," and it is a headband worn in ancient Greece.

Good News For Bikers and Walkers

Efforts to pave trails are paying off, one step at a time

MANCHESTER – Gisele Sevigny Fontaine drove from her home on the east side to meet her friend Orianna Dolbec on the West Side.

The two senior citizens crossed the newly opened pedestrian bridge over the Merrimack River, strolled along the riverwalk and ended up at a late-morning Fisher Cats game next to the paved pathway.

"It was like killing two birds with one stone," Sevigny Fontaine said. "You got your exercise and you got to see a good game, even though they did lose."

Piece by piece, the city is expanding and paving existing or over-grown natural trails to make it easier for people, such as Dolbec and Sevigny Fontaine to walk and bike around the city.

"The whole point is for this to connect into the neighborhoods, so people don't use their cars," said Chuck DePrima, the acting director for the city's Parks, Recreation and Cemeteries Department.

GOOD NEWS IN THE NEWS...FINALLY

Outpouring of help

By GARRY RAYNO
New Hampshire Union Leader Staff
17 hours, 23 minutes ago

MANCHESTER – Deb Gaudette of Goffstown knows what it is like to be without a home because she and her family twice were flooded out by the Piscataquog River.

Yesterday, she called the Salvation Army Manchester Corps to say she wants to donate some of the things she was given to help the victims of Tuesday's Pearl Street apartment house fire.

"It's not a big deal; it's just the right thing to do," Gaudette said yesterday.

So there you have it; some good news for your weekend, and it's 49 degrees currently in Manchester. (It's hot in New Mexico....)

TONY HAWK'S DOWNHILL JAM--REVIEW!

Also number 8 in the series, Tony Hawk's Downhill Jam (THDJ) is the exclusive version for Nintendo & feature on the GameBoy Advance, DS & the upcoming Nintendo Wii.

THDJ takes a completely different approach from earlier Tony Hawk's games with the ultimate goal to each the end of the course, grinding & jumping down interactive environments against other opponents. A step back from traditional skating, THDJ is a great title for younger players and offers a fantastic multiplayer experience.

THDJ offers the choice of 8 skaters, including Tony Hawk & over 90 events in 8 environments & different gaming modes such as race, trick attack & slalom. Available also on the Nintendo DS is the local wireless play and online gameplay using the Nintendo WI-FI connection for up to 4 players

Tony Hawk's Downhill Jam delivers an innovative and unique skateboard experience focused on head-to-head racing. The game allows players to feel the breakneck speed of downhill competition as they tear up the world's steepest terrains while performing tricks and outmaneuvering opponents in such locations as San Francisco, Machu Picchu and Hong Kong. Taking on the role of Tony Hawk or one of nine characters, players compete in time-based challenges in one of three gameplay modes including race, trick and slalom.
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YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

After stressing out about finding a good site for my research, I found two great ones and I was overjoyed, so here is a picture for you. I will add some more after I have prepared for tomorrow's classes (cp tends to make things go slowly), but I suspect the weather in NH is still to cooooold for sk8ing.

Finally....A Positive Review!!!!!!!!!

Gameplay
For those of you who have not played Tony Hawk's Pro Skater, where have you been? Tony Hawk's Pro Skater has been the one of the best game series released on the PlayStation. You choose a skateboarder and proceed to perform various tricks, score points and collect hidden items throughout the wide variety of skateparks in the game.

In all fairness I should compare this game to Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2. The graphics are pretty much the same. Executing tricks? Same. "So, if I own T. Hawk 2 why should I buy #3?" you ask. Well, my friend, besides the new character line up, there are many improvements in this game.

The tricks in T. Hawk 3 are all executed the same. Tricks are performed by pressing a button and a direction on the D-pad. The biggest change in the game is the addition of the "Revert," which is the newest trick in the arsenal of the T. Hawk 3 skaters. When coming down from a ramp, pressing R2 activates the revert, basically pulling off a switch with your board. This move will open the door for half pipe skaters, because before you were limited to ending your trick as you came down a ramp. Now you can hit the revert to execute a manual, go up the other side of the half pipe, come down, and repeat.

T. Hawk 3 has completely eliminated money. Levels are unlocked by completing level goals. Buying stat points and new boards are also no longer available. Instead "stat points" and the "hidden deck" are scattered throughout the levels.

Characters
Like in all the other games, there are plenty of skateboarders from which to choose. Here's the rundown of selectable characters:

* Tony Hawk
* Steve Caballero
* Kareem Campbell
* Rune Glifberg
* Eric Koston
* Buck Lasek
* Rodney Mullen
* Chad Muska
* Andrew Reynolds
* Geoff Rowley
* Elissa Steamer
* Jamie Thomas
* Bam Margera

There also are hidden characters to unlock by beating the game with a 100% score with any character.

Levels
T. Hawk 3 features a wide variety of new level designs. All are unique to the area from which they come. For example, Los Angeles has a freeway, the airport takes place in an airport, and Japan has lots of neon lights (Japan has lots of neon lights?). Here's a list of selectable levels I could choose from.

* The Foundry
* Los Angeles
* Rio
* Suburbia
* Airport
* Skater Island
* Canada
* Tokyo

Customizable
There is also a "Park Editor" where you can create your own skate park. There are various bowls, halfpipes, rails, and ramps to choose from. Each bowl, halfpipe, and rail has a submenu where you can select from many different versions of each item. Naming gaps is back in T. Hawk 3, which was always a cool feature in T. Hawk 2. I remember, back when my friends and I played T. Hawk 2, we named this one gap, and would always grind it the opposite way. To this day "backwards up the poop shoot" has to be the funniest trick in T. Hawk 2. Well in our park, anyways.

While we're on the topic of "editing" I think it would be appropriate to mention the "create-a-skater" mode. Like the mode suggests, players have the ability to customize their own skater. There are no changes from the second T. Hawk. All the options are basically the same. There are many new heads and clothes to choose from, but the ability to select sunglasses, with different hairstyles and colors is not available. Too bad, I really wanted to make a disco stu character. Guess I have to do it on PS2.

Here is the personal sk8 story of Tim Walker, who started way back in 1978:
guess it must have been near the end of the long, hot summer of 76 when I first became aware of the addictive, compulsive new 'craze'.
My best mate Pete Saxton (show us a handstand Pete!) arrived at my house with two pieces of plywood with mangled roller skates screwed beneath them. Thinking he must have mugged a clown at Butlins, I asked him what they were. "They're skateboards", he said, with a glint in his eye…nothing would ever be the same again.

We went to our local park where the long, sloping paths had just been covered with fresh, smooth tarmac. After several speed-wobble induced grazes, we were hooked. Soon we met other skaters, Mick Cluderay on his Skuda, Kev, Dale, Max, Ed, Sam, Pipkins & a really annoying kid called Nigel, who thought he was the bees knees cos he could tick-tack uphill and spend £70 on the very best board…he was wrong.

By the spring of 77 the world had gone mad. 'Skateboard Area' signs appeared in Peel Park and the footpaths had turned into a teeming mass of self-destructive children. This thing was BIG.
We went to the cinema to see Grease and in the supporting skate flick there was our mate, Ian Convey, our very own Alva look-alike!

plymouth_zoo_79kidderminster_78plymouth_zoo_79

Mick & I had our own claim to fame that year - doing a catamaran on the 'Nationwide' TV show…wow!
Our first attempts at ramps came in the shape of a paved banking in St. Francis' schoolyard. That's where we learned 180's, 360's & even 540's. The fave trick was a lipslide and then with wider trucks came the grind. London may have had Meanwhile Madness; but Bradford had Franny's Fever. Skateparks were poor in West Yorkshire: The Wheel Thing in Shipley, the rough concrete one in Halifax and some dodgy wooden ramps in Leeds Queen's Hall. Travel improved things though, with the mighty Roxyskate near Rotherham and Colne's mega pool. Of course holidays were a bonus if you moaned enough to get Ma & Pa to take you to Kidderminster or Plymouth!
Then, as quickly as it arrived, it was all over. By early 79 there were just four of us left: me, Dale, Kev & Andy Davis. Even the Queensbury Cool Cats and the Skateside-sponsored Team Alpha had disbanded.
We took four buses to get to Colne when we could and skated rickety homemade ramps the rest of the time, but paradoxically that's when we started to get rad. After one of our street ramps was axed to death by an angry neighbour ("My wife's trying to sleep!") we built the legendary pool ramp. With an angle-iron frame, vert plexi-glass on the top, dado rail for coping, painted white, with felt-tip blue tiles, no-one was going to trash this one! It even had supermarket trolley wheels bolted to the back, so we could take it home with us each night…
One by one the skaters 'grew up', however and I grudgingly decided to put my second hand Bones & Trackers in the loft.

My attentions turned to music, but then in the mid 80's I noticed it was 'cool' to skate again…."Mum! Where's my board?" Still having no parks around, I built a gnarly quarter pipe in the basement of Flexible Response recording studios, for whoever wanted to ride and bought a new Variflex. Every weekend me & Gobber, who worked for Ghost Dance, would shred the ramp & chat about Goth bands & then the unthinkable happened! Gobber moved away, the studios closed & I was skateless again.

flexible_response_studios_ramp_bradford_88flexible_response_studios_ramp_bradford_88flexible_response_studios_ramp_bradford_88... and a invert

Tony Hawk...what the fans are saying

Most of the people who had posted opinions on the Tony Hawk games seemed happy with them. Most of the opinions I read reflected positive feelings about the Tony Hawk games--they liked the music and the new graphics and stuff. Being very new to video games and gaming, I do not get too picky...cerebral palsy prevents me from skateboarding and my parents were very strict--definitely never a PlayStation or a Nintendo in the house while I was growing up. One of the other things I noticed, which probably would not surprise any of you reading this, is the rock music. Some of it is great!! but...i was a disc jockey for a Christian pop station for about ten years, so the rock really gets to me. When there is music with a game, I tend to really listen to the music--"Tuning it out" is not an option. Check out some comments of what people are saying...
I became a fan of the series after I got Tony Hawk Pro Skater 2!

All the Tony Hawk series usually have a good soundtrack Cool

The latest one I own is America's Wasteland for the PS2. I like the fact that you can ride bikes and such, makes the game more interesting. And multiplayer is fun in all of the series Razz.

liked the sound track in underground 2 just cause lamb of god is in there!! YESYESYESYESS!!! Twisted
and uhm i like the newest one cuz ragdoll physics!@#!! if everygame has it you knnow its good!

Sk8Ing...The Greatest Subculture

I have probably just messed it up, but skating is the greatest thing. I love the shoes, the fat jeans, and the skateboards, especially since I am partially paralyzed and will never be able to skateboard. The weather is too snowy in New Hampshire for this kind of fun.

MORE SNOW!

In Manchester, NH, this is what they are getting. Here is a picture of the Currier Museum of Art. In New Hampshire, the weather is still
SNOW. Quite different from New Mexico! I have just finished buying textbooks for this semester, comparing prices, stressing out, so here is a little relaxation for you. The news was more tragedy that I will not depress you with. Enjoy the snow pictures...especially if you are from the desert!!!!

SNOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Fight in Nashua. (AP)
McCAIN WINS

Updated, 10:31 p.m. Sen. John McCain claimed his second New Hampshire primary victory tonight, denying Mitt Romney a comeback in his back yard.

In a victory speech in Nashua, McCain told a cheering crowd that while he was no kid, "Tonight, we sure showed 'em what a comeback looks like."

With 61 percent of the vote counted, according to the Associated Press, McCain has 37 percent. Romney 31, Mike Huckabee 11, Rudy Giuliani 9, Ron Paul 8, Fred Thompson 1 and Duncan Hunter 1. McCain won Manchester by 184 votes.
And...apparently it is very snowy in New Hampshire, not like New Mexico. Here is a photo for you, along with a weather report: . . . a foot of snow recorded last night in Pinkham Notch in the northern part of the state, according to the National Weather Service.

The second storm in two days also dropped 11.5 inches at Lost River while residents of Madison in Carroll County are shoveling 10 inches of snow.