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• The Joys of White Outs

  Saturday, Nov 22, 2008 11:40PM / Members only

  Last night I had to drive home in a white out. There's nothing more difficult than trying to drive in white out conditions. Imagine driving while it's snowing hard, the road crews either have not plowed or salted the roads yet because  it's either coming down so fast they can't keep up or else it's too cold for the salt to have any effect (salt is mixed with sand to melt ice/snow off the roads and add traction) So the ground is white, everything around you looks like a white cloud and you can't see more than five to ten feet in front of you. You can't really see where the road goes at all or what's in front of you. Driving at night is just as bad as the snow reflects your headlights' light right back at you!
  
  The first time I encountered this, I was driving on I highway and the only way I knew I was where I belonged was by looking for the yellow or white reflectors on the sides of the road. It's scary because if you go too slow, someone may come up on you too fast or hit you, or if you go too fast you could suddenly find yourself hitting the guy in front of you. Navigating  curves in the road is hard because even if you know the road well, you can't see any landmarks to tell you where you are. A lot  accidents can be avoided if people would just turn their headlights on during a daytime white out. It's not going to help you see better, but it does help people to see you! Some drivers think it's okay to count on the headlights that come on whenever the car is running but then they have no rear lights. And being able to see them lets you know there is a car there, even before you see the body of it.
  
  Another problem is when drivers decide to follow the tracks left by the person who drove by before them. A friend of mine was thinking she'd get home just fine by following the guy in front of her. Little did she know that he didn't pay attention at a curve in the road and went off the street and into a ditch. She saw him at the last possible moment and tried to slam on the breaks, spun and landed in the ditch next to him!
  
  This winter is setting up to be nasty already. We've had snow almost everyday and temps that are much lower than usual, even for up here! It's usually just about freezing (32F 0C) but lately the temps ahave been right around 23F (-5C). The winds that whip the snow into white outs also make it feel about 10 degrees colder!  Time to get the video games, crafts and board games out and spend some time hibernating with the kids!
  
  
  

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• Here Comes the Snow!

  Tuesday, Nov 18, 2008 12:42AM / Members only

  Today we are having our first  real snow fall. So far there's just  enough to cover the ground, but the roads are clear. That may change soon. And if it does I'll have to store my little compact car in the garage and bring out the minivan. It's not so much for the better weight (that does help traction!) but also because the van is older and has started to rust thanks to the way the roads here are treated with salt to melt any ice. So far the compact car has no rust and I'd like to keep it that way!
  
  They say that it will snow a little more today but then it will really come down overnight and tomorrow! Just a few days ago it was unusually warm and sunny.  Now it's about 2C
  
  I'm sure it won't be long before we have three and four foot snow drifts !!
  

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• Another Writer in the Family!

  Friday, Nov 14, 2008 12:06AM / Members only

  My eleven-year-old daughter, Kim has been bitten by the writing bug and she's loving it! She's always liked writing stories, comic books (which she draws the art for as well) and such.
  
  When her 6th grade class was given the writing assignment, she told me that the whole class groaned while she cheered! The assignment was to write a story that tells about negative peer pressure or bullying. The teacher said it should be at least two pages long...Kim wrote six. She showed it to me and I was floored! 
  
  It started off something like this (I don't have it in front of me because she had to hand it in. I may reprint it if she'll let me after it's graded)
  
  "Andrew crept cautiously into the cafeteria, clutching his bright red lunch box against his chest." She went on to describe the character in detail. The plot was that Andrew is pressured into breaking into a friend's locker and stealing her iPod for a bully. There's a funny bit where Andrew is reaching in blindly and pulls out the first thing his hand touches which turns out to be a box of mints, angering the bully who is keeping watch.
  
   It shows just how much she loves to write. She could have written the bare bones story, but to add additional scenes and details is really fantastic and absolutely not the kind of writing you'd think an 11 year old would be into. I can't wait to hear how the teacher grades the assignment!
  
  
  

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• Another Halloween done

  Saturday, Nov 1, 2008 11:00AM / Members only

  Ah Halloween... I remember when I was a kid, we would start our trick-or-treating as early as our parents would let us!  Here in the Rochester area the kids do wait until sundown. This makes it much easier for the treat givers as we know what time to start getting ready for kids, and they don't show up all day and night!  The festivities start around sundown and usually wrap by 9:30 the latest but usually by 9pm.
  
  My hubby gets to take the girls out to go door to door, and I stay home as the designated treat dispenser. This year Jojo was Snow White, while big sis Kim was ...well she didn't really know what she wanted to be so she threw together a red devil dress, a red pimp hat, red fairy wings and a reddish zombie mask. She called herself the "Scary Fairy ".
  
  Kim may be ready to give up on trick-or-treats next year. She wants to stay home and scare kids who come to the door. She got a taste of that kind of fun when she donned a scary werewolf mask and tried to scare people who came onto the porch. while I went inside to do something. When I got back outside she beamed, "I made a "Hannah Montana" cry!!"  I chided her for scaring little kids, but she told me that the kid's mom said, "It's Halloween! You're supposed to get scared!"
  
  My fave part of the holiday though is decorating. I love to carve pumpkins. I used to decorate the yard with gruesome things like bodies hanging out of windows, witches, zombies etc.
  
  This year we went to the family's fave place to get pumpkins: A family owned pumpkin farm. This place is wonderful. It's a large wooded area that includes a huge bonfire, a petting zoo area, and two play areas for kids that are full of straw and hay bales to climb on and under as well as hold massive hay fights! There are crafts and hot cocoa for sale as well as other fun things like  pony rides and such. Then you can ride on a huge cart pulled by a tractor which takes you out to the fields to pick your pumpkin. Jojo seems to like unusual colors. Last year she found a yellow one. This year she wanted an un-ripe green one. We turned it into a witch, complete with tacked on hat and warty nose. Kim was not sure what to do with hers for a while until I drew a few random faces. One looked enough like her beloved "Wobbuffet" (Pokemon character) to make her happy. I didn't get a pic of them yet. If they survive the night without getting smashed I shall have to take a pic. In the meantime, please enjoy this carved pumkin from a few years ago. (The usual response I got from folks who came to the door was, "Ew...COOL!!!")
  
  
  

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• Newest Issue

  Saturday, Oct 11, 2008 11:02PM / Members only

  
  
  The latest Screen Power and Jade Screen magazines that I have worked on, are coming out on October 13.  In Jade Screen you'll find the interview that I did with Antony Szeto , mentioned in my last blog. I also have a review of Jet Li's The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor in there. Some other cool articles include, a look at Richard Ng's latest, Bodyguard: A New Beginning, a profile of Jimmy Wang Yu, and a look at Triangle.
  
  Screen Power has my review of the Hong Kong release of Forbidden Kingdom on DVD and it's extras which I go into detail on. I also have the next part of a continuing series about Jackie Chan's Golden Harvest films. This time around it's Wheels on Meals. (in earlier issues I had written about all of his films made while he was with Lo Wei) There's also an interview of Gary Daniels from City Hunter  and a look at Kung Fu Panda and Jackie's role in the film. Then there's the popular "Chan Files" which contains the latest news about Jackie Chan.
  
  hope you'll check them out!
  
  http://www.screen-power.com
  
  

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• 
  jayden1lee 

  posted on Friday, Nov 14, 2008 10:22AM  [Report]

  yw
• 
  jayden1lee 

  posted on Friday, Nov 14, 2008 10:19AM  [Report]

  hi lisa ty 4 droppong by have a good1
• 
  yangve 

  posted on Friday, Nov 14, 2008 6:23AM  [Report]

  hi, thanks for dropping by. enjoy!
• 
  moochacn 

  posted on Friday, Oct 17, 2008 5:00AM  [Report]

  ah it is cute but its def not my kitty lol i am actually allergic to animals with fur, cats dogs horses birds monkeys rabbits >_<
• 
  AlbertV 

  posted on Sunday, Sep 7, 2008 8:24AM  [Report]

  Hey Lisa,
  Awesome to see that we have another Jade Screen/Screen Power alumnus here :) Hope everything is going well. Take care!!!
  
  AlbertV
• 
  Morgan Benoit 

  posted on Saturday, Aug 23, 2008 12:33PM  [Report]

  Hey Lisa,
  
  I received a copy the other day, thanks!
• 
  snowduck 

  posted on Wednesday, Aug 20, 2008 7:28PM  [Report]

  Hi . Thanks for dropping by. Like your quote ;-}
• 
  Rosanne Wong  

  posted on Sunday, Aug 10, 2008 2:45PM  [Report]

  Hi Lisa,
  
  Thank you for your sweet support !!
  Hope to see your around =)
  
  xo
  Rozy
• 
  xibanyae 

  posted on Sunday, Aug 10, 2008 9:08AM  [Report]

  received the latest screen power the other day. good stuff! u've got lots of articles in it. hope they pay u well ;)
• 
  Denise Keller 

  posted on Friday, Aug 1, 2008 9:45AM  [Report]

  that's classic!! lol!
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