• Category Archives Family

  • Freddy, Amy and Terry (and sometimes Cassie).

  • Skyrim

    Posted on by beno Comment

    If you have been watching my 365 Project at all on Facebook, you would have seen a few shots on the topic of ‘Skyrim’.
    If not, here is the un-boxing sequence I did for it;

    unboxing skyrim

    It was a big night… Terry has been looking forward to the game arriving for a year. The past month before it arrived we had a daily count down and he was just about unbearable to live with.

    So, now that it here, and he has shown me a few things, I thought I would (should?) take a moment and explain to the non-gaming world just what it is and why there was so much excitement about its arrival.

    I have already mentioned its a computer game… You are a character roaming a world, on a series of quests. That’s it. There is no real start, no real end.
    This game is a little different in that area. There is no princess to rescue and the game is over, no mighty beast to fight or free the villages from the bad guy, but there is plenty of either of those if you want to play it that way.
    Skyrim is unique in that you can freely roam around the world and can interact with all of the characters as you please. Its the largest ‘world’ of its kind.
    This is the core reason for its appeal. No bumming into fake walls, the programmers way of saying ‘you cant do that, you cant go there’.
    Its pretty amazing.

    I was not sure how to convey all this too you all until Terry sent me an email this morning with a link to a video of a time laps that the folks over at Eurogamer did.
    Here is the link to both their blub about the video and the video itself.
    If you have the bandwidth, please please PLEASE watch it in high def full screen. Its worth it. (Dad, I will describe it next time I ring).
    Remember, this video just shows just 44 of the hundreds of locations in the world.

    Anyway, bottom line, Terry has not been disappointed.
    He has worked hard (4.33 GPA) and as long as he keeps that, he can explore the world of Skyrim to his hearts desire…..

    (Coopurr thinks its pretty good too)


    Computers Family

  • 22 years.

    Posted on by beno Comment

    Tonight was our 22nd wedding anniversary, our 4th while in America.
    This year, as we did on our 2nd anniversary here, we drove out to Indian Springs to watch the sun go down and count satellites (15.5).
    It was a really beautiful night, some wine, cheese and soup, a great light show and a great conversation.

    Here is a little time laps I took of the evening to give you all a tiny little taste of what it was like out there….
    (I have uploaded it to the blog in the lowest res for my Dad, if you have some bandwidth, feel free to hit the HD version (just click on the ‘360p’ button and then select your resolution from there).

    We both agree that moving here has changed each of us and thus changed our marriage.
    It will be interesting to see how/where the next year finds us.
    (And where we end up observing it).


    Family Photography

  • New photos of Amy

    Posted on by beno Comment

    Its been a while…. a long while actually, but Amy and I finally got out after work one day last week and had a little photo shoot.
    Seems like months since we last shot together. It also reminded me how much I enjoy shooting on location when its simple. Just the camera, no reflectors, flashes nothing, just me, the camera and Amy. Nice.

    Anyway, they are in her album…. I know that my dear sister cant find any of the albums past the first page (heh, Hi Sue), so here is the link direct to her album.

    I know, I know, only one shot with the fish eye… What can I say? Sorry? I’ll try harder next time?
    And no, I am not turning over a new leaf… I just was in a 50mm mood.


    Family Photography

  • Home update – wild flower garden

    Posted on by beno 2 Comments

    So I used to have this moto for the longest time…..
    “If ya can’t mow it, dont grow it”.
    Then it became;
    “If ya can’t eat it, dont grow it”…..

    I must be getting old…..

    Ben and Freddys wild flower garden

    (Click once to get on its own page, then again to see big… or just head over to my ‘home’ album and check it out there).

    Freddy and I really love the wild flowers in SoCal, so we spent about 12 bucks and got three assorted packets of wild flower mix and spread them all over the slope. (That we are still trying to figure out what to do with).

    But, rest assured, we can still eat parts of it;

    Freddy harvesting tomato's.
    Corn on the cob.

    We have a few different vegies in. We are going to move the vegies to go between the retaining wall and house.
    This will give us more room for the wild flowers and make tending the vegies easier.

    Did I mention the wild flowers?

    We are thinking of making a small retaining wall on the slope, this will push the grass back about 3 feet, make the yard bigger and make less of a slope. This will make the slope less of a water way when it rains 2-3 times a year. It will also make this part of the yard match the rest of the yard (Im told this is important).

    Last but not least, we got the fish pond in, which turned bright green 3 days after we got it going. Nice.

    Green water pond.

    We got some stuff to put in the water, but I suspect that we will have to end up putting a UV light in. It seems to be all the go over here.

    Hope you enjoy the photos, we are enjoying the back yard. Its slowly coming together and is the peaceful place we want / need it to be (except for the screaming kids and barking dogs in the park over the back…..).


    Family