April 22, 2008

Tuesday Teaser for April 22, 2008

Can you identify the item depicted above? Just take your best guess and post it in the comments below. If your guess wins, you’ll get a nifty prize. Here’s how it works:

1. Write a comment giving your guess as to what the item is.
2. First person to identify the item wins.
3. The author of this blog will be the sole judge as to what constitutes a correct answer.

What will you win?

1. The author of this blog will write a LINKY LOVE POST (review) about the winner’s blog (commercial sites ineligible.) The LLP will contain the url for your blog plus at least two deep links and will be posted here on Skeet’s Stuff, a PR4 PR2 PR0 (bah google!) blog. Skeet writes good reviews.
2. The winner’s name will be entered into a drawing for a $10.00 gift card from Starbucks or Amazon.
3. Drawing for the gift card will be held on or about May 1, 2008, and will include all weekly winners for the month. There are five Tuesdays in april, thus the maximum number of people who will be eligble is five.

Other stuff -EDITED - PLEASE READ!

1. All comments to this blog are time and date stamped. The winner will be the first person (according to time and date stamp) to provide the correct answer. Guess as many times as you please, but please place each guess in a separate comment.
2. No hints will be given.
3. Answers must specifically identify the item. For instance, if the item depicted were to be a USB cable, the answer “some kind of electronic connection” would not suffice.
4. Decisions of the judge are final. Don’t argue with me. I won’t answer.
5. I will attempt to post every few hours as to whether or not a winner has been declared, but I am not continuously at the keyboard so please be patient.
6. Entries must be posted before 12:30 a.m. on Thursday, April 24, Hawaii time (GMT -10, approximately forty-eight hours from now.)
7. This is intended to be an ongoing feature at Skeet’s Stuff. If you or I lose interest it will cease to exist, but all qualified winners will get their prizes.
8. Skeet’s Stuff is a do-follow blog, so you get some link value just for commenting.
9. You do not have to have a blog to enter. Your review can be donated to a charitable or non-profit site if you don’t have a blog or just want to share the love. Sites to be reviewed are subject to my approval. I’m not harsh, but I’m also not interested in donating space to a life insurance website or a blog that is dedicated to porn. Commercial sites are ineligible and comments with commercial links will be deleted. If you would like to advertise on my site I’ll be happy to discuss your needs and my fees.

Additional Notes:

10. Let the fun begin!

Technorati Tags: contests, photos, photo contest, blog contest

April 20, 2008

Self Portrait Sunday for April 20, 2008

So I’m still feeling rotten, but it’s less rotten than I was so that’s good. Today I tried to make up for two weeks of doing nothing around the house. I did several loads of laundry, cleaned my room & bathroom, did all of the floors, cleaned the kitchen and the screened lanai. Hokulele has been detailed inside and out and her tank is full. For most of the day I worked for an hour or so, then sat for a while. When I move around much I get overheated & start coughing and it exhausts me, so lots of breaks in betwen chores. I probably should try to find a clinical laboratory service so I can find out if the plague has settled into my lungs, but do I really want to know? There are still clothes in the washer and the dryer which might get finished before I go to bed. I stopped at the beach for a few minutes after I gassed up the car and picked up dinner (mochiko chicken with fried rice from the new Chinese drive in.) I figured that since I look like death warmed over I might as well give you a pretty backgound to look at. After I eat and get the laundry moving again I’ll probably go over to Midlife Musings to see who else took a self portrait today. Join us?

Technorati Tags: meme, photos, self portraits

Posted by skeet @ 7:26 pm • Photos, Meme • 5 comments  

April 19, 2008

Hidden Mysteries - Civil War, new hidden object game

Fasten your seatbelts and hold on tight, folks. Big Fish Games has released a new hidden object game that’s going to take you on a rough ride. I mean that in a good way, of course. If you like your games to engage and challenge, download it for a free hour and take it for a test drive.

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Hidden Mysteries - Civil War is the toughest hidden object game I’ve played in quite a while. I struggled to find some of the items on the search lists in each scene. I had quite a few “duh!” moments, because all of the items are obvious once you find them. They’re well camoflaged and cleverly placed, though, and you’ll work to find many of them. Three hints are available on each level. You may find that that’s just not enough help to get you through to the end. A minigame is always on call to let you rebuild your store of hints, but I never did figure out the secret of solving it.

Players have the option of playing in timed or relaxed mode. I highly recommend that you go easy on yourself by selecting “relaxed.” The story line follows several soldiers on both sides of the conflict, with different battlefields serving as your search screens. You’ll find numerous personal letters along the way which will give the story and perspective of the soldiers. Upon completion of each level you’re presented with a brief history lesson that places it all in context.

You’ll also find some official communications which are written in code. Breaking the codes provides a pleasant break from the tension that builds up as you strive to solve each level. The codes will require a little work but are not terribly difficult.

My free hour of play went by much too quickly. Since I appreciate a good challenge, I bought Hidden Mysteries - Civil War and played through to the end. There’s an annoying twist to the storyline at its conclusion, but I’m still rating this one as “highly recommended.” The artwork is bright and realistic, the challenge level is high and it’s a fairplay game (ie: evey challenge can be solved.) The full version is available exclusively at Big Fish for $19.99, discounted to $6.99 if you join the Game Club. You’ll get two free games when you sign up, so it’s a pretty nice bargain for the serious game fan.

You can see all of my hidden object game reviews by selecting the games category from the drop-down box on my left sidebar. Each includes a link to a free download for you to try.

Technorati Tags: free games downloads, games, hidden object games, Hidden mysteries - Civil War

April 18, 2008

Four Foods on Friday #25

It’s time again for Four Foods on Friday over at Val’s place. If you’d like to play it’s really easy. Copy the four questions below, then answer them in a new post on your blog. Paste a link to your post in the comments to Val’s post. Later today she’ll disect all of our answers and give us all a little link love. Here are my answers:

#1. Cottage cheese. Small curd, large curd, chunk or whipped?

Low fat, small curd, and I add a splash of fresh 2% milk to it to make it a little more liquid. I also prefer it with raisins mixed in.

#2. Burgers. Made fresh, preformed fresh or preformed frozen?

Fresh made. I usually add seasoning to the meat before coooking. Can’t do that with pre-formed patties.

#3. If you could only buy one kind of salad dressing what would it be?

Ranch, hands down. Love the stuff!

#4. Share a crockpot or slow cooker recipe.

I had a crockpot years ago - probably a wedding gift. I’m sure I must have used it, but I don’t remember any recipes at all. I haven’t had one in many years.

I can’t remember if I’ve thanked Val lately for creating this fun meme for us. Have I? Well, just to be sure: Mahalo Val!

Technorati Tags: food, meme

April 17, 2008

Tuesday Teaser photo verification

I thought for sure that one of you would solve this. The wood grain is visible, though not obvious. I was sure someone would see that there were two different woods and that the darker one was part of a handle, thus leading to the solution. Alas, it was not to be. There’s no winner this week, but that’s great news for whoever wins next week. They’ll get two linky-love posts and be entered twice in the monthly drawing for a $10.00 gift card. I hope the unsolved puzzle didn’t frustrate you too much and that you’ll all come back next week to try again. Mahalo for playing!

Technorati Tags: contest, knife block, Tuesday Teaser

New homes, new hope

There’s a building boom in my neighborhood. It’s been a long time coming. We were told many years ago that a vacant government tract adjacent to our homes was being transferred from military ownership to the Department of Hawaiian Homelands. There have been numerous brush fires there over the years. No one was interested in keeping out the schoolchildren who were starting the fires because the property was “in transition” and would soon be someone else’s problem. About a year and a half ago we were told that plans were finally being made to develop the property. A transitional housing project would be built to move several hundred homeless people off of the beaches. One and two-bedroom apartments, a daycare center, job training facilities and other community services would prepare them for reintegration into a more “normal” lifestyle than the one they were living. Homelessness is at crisis levels, so the project was fast-tracked and scheduled for completion in six to eight months.

Community hearings and government red tape delayed the start of the project, but several months ago we began seeing some activity. The area was cleared of brush and graded. Water has been run into the property. Just recently the building began and it’s moving along rapidly. We’ll soon be seeing new neighbors move in, probably before the end of the summer. There’s some controversy, of course. The value of our homes will probably take a hit. Additional phases of building have been tacked on, which many of us think will lead to the creation of a getto community. For right now, though, I see this first phase as a good thing. Druggies, the criminal element and those with mental problems, who make up a large percentage of the beach population, will not be eligible for this project. It’s reserved for families who have been squeezed out of the housing market by our ridiculously high cost of living. They’ll stay in the transitional center while the second phase of the project develops affordable housing for them. Some of them will have a roof over their heads for the first time in many years. Children who have never lived indoors will finally have real homes. Whatever the problems that we’ll all need to face later, what’s going on right now will provide the best kind of tangible help for people living in dire circumstances. I see that as cause for celebration.

Technorati Tags: Hawaii, homelessness, paverty, transitional housing

April 15, 2008

TV Tuesdays #1

Ou gal Sarafina over at Speaking My Mind has started a new weekly meme called TV Tuesdays. I don’t usually do TV things online because they expect you to know all kinds of trivia, which I don’t. This meme is a little different and you don’t have to know stuff to play, so give it a shot. Write a blog post answering the questions below and then link your post to the comments for the meme over at Sarafina’s place. My answers are below. Now it’s your turn. Come play!

1. What TV provider do you use? (ex: Time Warner, Dish, Direct TV)

Oceanic Time -Warner

2. What’s your go-to channel when nothing else is on?

Bravo! There’s almost always something fun on, though I do wish they’d drop those prissy housewife shows.

3. What’s your favorite game show (current or past)?

I don’t really watch game shows anymore, but Jeopardy has always been a favorite.

This is not a private party where you need birthday invitations to join in the fun. Anyone can play, so take your best shot!

Technorati Tags: meme, television, TV

Tuesday Teaser for April 15, 2008

Can you identify the item depicted above? Just take your best guess and post it in the comments below. If your guess wins, you’ll get a nifty prize. Here’s how it works:

1. Write a comment giving your guess as to what the item is.
2. First person to identify the item wins.
3. The author of this blog will be the sole judge as to what constitutes a correct answer.

What will you win?

1. The author of this blog will write a LINKY LOVE POST (review) about the winner’s blog (commercial sites ineligible.) The LLP will contain the url for your blog plus at least two deep links and will be posted here on Skeet’s Stuff, a PR4 PR2 PR0 (bah google!) blog. Skeet writes good reviews.
2. The winner’s name will be entered into a drawing for a $10.00 gift card from Starbucks or Amazon.
3. Drawing for the gift card will be held on or about May 1, 2008, and will include all weekly winners for the month. There are five Tuesdays in april, thus the maximum number of people who will be eligble is five.

Other stuff -EDITED - PLEASE READ!

1. All comments to this blog are time and date stamped. The winner will be the first person (according to time and date stamp) to provide the correct answer. Guess as many times as you please, but please place each guess in a separate comment.
2. No hints will be given.
3. Answers must specifically identify the item. For instance, if the item depicted were to be a USB cable, the answer “some kind of electronic connection” would not suffice.
4. Decisions of the judge are final. Don’t argue with me. I won’t answer.
5. I will attempt to post every few hours as to whether or not a winner has been declared, but I am not continuously at the keyboard so please be patient.
6. Entries must be posted before 2:00 a.m. on Thursday, April 17, Hawaii time (GMT -10, approximately forty-eight hours from now.)
7. This is intended to be an ongoing feature at Skeet’s Stuff. If you or I lose interest it will cease to exist, but all qualified winners will get their prizes.
8. Skeet’s Stuff is a do-follow blog, so you get some link value just for commenting.
9. You do not have to have a blog to enter. Your review can be donated to a charitable or non-profit site if you don’t have a blog or just want to share the love. Sites to be reviewed are subject to my approval. I’m not harsh, but I’m also not interested in donating space to a car insurance website or a blog that is dedicated to porn. Commercial sites are ineligible and comments with commercial links will be deleted. If you would like to advertise on my site I’ll be happy to discuss your needs and my fees.

Additional Notes:

10. Let the fun begin!

Technorati Tags: contests, photos, photo contest, blog contest

April 13, 2008

Self Portrait Sunday for April 13, 2008

I think I’ll try out for a part in the next remake of Night of the Living Dead. How many days has it been since I blogged or left the house or did anything normal? Four, I think. I’m weaning myself off of cold meds and hoping I’ll be able to work Monday or Tuesday. I’ve done nothing much other than sleep, yet I’m as exhausted as if I’d been running on a treadmill for a few days. I’m eating a little, though, and I’m no longer coughing hard enough to break ribs, so I know I’m on the mend. But as soon as I get this post linked up over at Midlife Musings I think I’ll go back to bed. Sleep is good.

Technorati Tags: meme, photo, self portrait

April 11, 2008

Sicko

I’ve started four posts in the last few days and been unable to finish any of them. I think maybe I’m dying from the plague. If I survive I’ll be back when I can actually string more than two sentences together and have them make sense.

Technorati Tags: colds, flu, health