Life is a mashup of toys and gadgets, hobbies and recipes, kids and odd socks, all held together with love and duct tape.

Oh my goodness! This is a lip-sync video of a recording by a very talented a cappella group called moosebutter. They’ve taken several movie themes by composer John Williams (including E.T., Indiana Jones, Star Wars, Jurassic Park, Jaws), and added lyrics outlining the Star Wars story.

It’s Brilliant!

And don’t just dismiss this because you think all a cappella music probably sounds like Andy Bernard’s “Here Comes Treble” group on The Office. This video is seriously entertaining! I don’t post video often, because I think it slows down the loading of the page. But this one is worth it. Watch and enjoy!

Seen at canmag.

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Here’s a quick list I put together while I was thinking about my own family’s techie-tech lifestyle. In no particular order, and subject to revision… Hope this gives you a grin.

1. You refer to your baby’s due date as “Labor-CON.”
2. You catch yourself humming a song and realize it’s from a video game, not the radio.
3. You speak in Simlish (the language of The Sims), even a little bit.
4. Your kids incorporate game lingo and “special moves” into their non-electronic backyard playtime. (LARP much?)
5. Any of your gadgets have been named (our portable GPS is “Wanda”).

Have something to add to the list? Go for it! Cheers!

photo of my GameGirl on a GameBoy, taken by me on camera phone

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I sat down at my “secondary” computer recently, which is also used by my children. They’re not allowed to play with my MacBook, but they have their own limited-access account on the desktop iMac, and they like to watch DVDs, play games, and type on it. Yes, you might say they’re mini-geeks. They love computers.

While I was starting up my browser, I noticed a noise coming from the optical drive, where the CDs and DVDs go. It sounded like it was trying to eject a disc, and it kept happening every 10 seconds or so. I tried the conventional methods of ejecting, but the computer didn’t even seem to acknowledge the presence of a disc.

Unlike tray-loading drives, the iMac has a vertical slot without a tray. You just load the disc in part-way, and it takes it the rest of the way. It’s magical. Unfortunately, there’s no way to pry it open. There’s no door. There’s not even an emergency eject button to push with a straightened paper clip.

After trying everything I could think of, plus the tips recommended by Apple help, I shut down the machine and gave up. I asked the boys (ages 9 and 7) whether they knew what had happened to the computer. “I don’t know.” “It wasn’t me.”

I asked my daughter (age 3-1/2). “Do you know what happened to the computer? In here? Did you put something in here?” I pointed to the disc slot.

She smiled, flashed her big blue eyes, and said, “Um, yeah.”

“What did you put in here?”

“Two discus-es.”

Great. I don’t know how she did it, because when there’s one disc loaded, you can’t just slide in another one. She must have really applied all of her little fairy princess might to get that second “discus” wedged in there.

Well, it could have been worse. At least it’s not cheese and crackers… And now I get to pay a visit to the Apple Store.

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