OK, I don’t have one of these vans yet…but these commercials are hilarious… You gotta see the Swaggar Wagon music video and then all the glimpses into the lives of mom and dad with the kids. http://www.youtube.com/user/Sienna

Some web sites and blogs are now calculating the lost hours of productivity cost by the recent PacMan tribute offered by Google in honor of the 30th anniversary of Pac Man on May 23rd, 2010. They calculated the cost at over $120 million!

These calculations don’t take into account that the time spent on Pac Man would take away from a 100% productive work hour. Instead of the time going to some other activity, it happened to go to a minute of PacMan that provided joy, a smile, a laugh, and lowered stress.

Studies show that increasing play (even at work) can lead to increased productivity and better health. The official term of “Workplace Internet Leisure Browsing” (WILB) is used to refer to activities that can actually increase productivity by about 9 percent according to one study.

In another way of looking at the event, Google provided a lot of free entertainment. TV and Facebook can account for a lot of unproductive activity, too…depending on what your’re watching or what you’re doing with Facebook. Actively connecting with friends and family and sharing photos en-masse can actually save you time or make you more productive. Watching an educational program on TV (and fast forwarding through the commercials with Tivo) could be considered quite productive as well when you put that knowledge to use.

Fun at work involves taking the ordinary and making it enjoyable. It can be a reward for commitment and hard work. Adding fun lowers stress and gives us a common bond with team members. When we are having fun we develop new brain cells in areas devoted to learning and memory.

Some people might consider playing a game to be childish behavor…but there is a difference between “childlike” and “childish”. Childlike behavior leads to creativity and innovation while childish behavior can interfere with work. Distinguishing between the two is important.

Just for future reference, you can play Google Pac Man it any time by going to  http://www.google.com/pacman

To begin a game, click the “Insert Coin” button. If you want to play with two people, click the “Insert Coin” button twice and Ms. PAC-MAN will join in. PAC-MAN is controlled with arrow keys or by clicking on the maze. Ms. PAC-MAN is controlled with the WASD keys. You can mute the sound by clicking on the button in the lower left corner of the game.

If you have FileMaker Pro, download fmPacMan to play Pac Man in your database!

Just use it as a short break…not an addictive past time. Have fun!

Yesterday, I had the opportunity to visit with my daughter’s kindergarden class. I got to ask the kids some questions about their moms and record their responses. As you can imagine some of the responses were quite entertaining.

How old is your mom?
That’s tricky. 5 is too young. 100 is too old. Maybe she’s 68?

• The Five Love Languages: How to Express Heartfelt Commitment to Your Mate
• The Five Love Languages for Singles
• The Five Love Languages of Children
• The Five Love Languages of Teenagers

Arianna explains how to become a grandparent.
Listen to Audio

We took the girls to ice skating lessons for the first time yesterday. Ever since the winter Olympics they’ve been dreaming about skating. In the parking lot, Brielle was demonstrating how you skate with one leg up in back and arms gracefully poised. It looked a little different when she actually got on the ice.

It was fascinating to see how they taught them. Brielle had a little walker (minus the tennis ball feet) and she shuffled along timidly not wanting to wipe out like the other kids around her.

Arianna being older and having experience roller skating one time was a little more confident.

They tossed stuffed animals out on the ice and had the kids retrieve them. They also had them move stuffed animals to another location. It was a struggle with a goal that could be attained with some perseverence. One time Arianna took the easy way out and just tossed the toy into the pile ahead of her. That surely saved a few steps.

In a sing song tone similar to Dory in the movie Finding Nemo, we tell the girls “Just keep trying. Just keep trying.” You’ll get it if you don’t give up.

Overall, it was really fun to watch them learn. With plenty of encouragement they didn’t quit. In a few more lessons they’ll be on their way…and probably teaching mom and dad a few things.

Marlow and Frances Cowan, played a piano duet in Mayo Clinic’s Gonda Atrium and became a YouTube sensation. They’re an inspiration and a lot of fun to see and hear. Great examples of kids at heart.

Here’s the behind the scenes story about their video. Enjoy.

As we were checking out a DVD at Hollywood tonight, my daughter Arianna proudly announced to the cashier “This is the last time we’re getting a movie here! Now they come in the mail!” He responded with a smile “Netflix?” “Yeah.” I said somewhat sheepishly, “Thanks for spilling the beans Arianna.”

So this week marks the last time I’ll step inside a Hollywood Video store to rent a DVD. I’ve been a loyal customer for many years. A while back I even used their web site to help select movies…then overnight they changed the web site making it worthless for all but purchasing DVDs.

I’m a very satisfied Tivo customer. It’s made watching television an enjoyable experience. We can see the programs we want whenever we want and fast forward through commercials.

Recently, Netflix teamed up with Tivo…and it became an option to view Netflix videos streaming through the internet directly on our TV or computer without even needing the DVD. This opens up about 12,000 movies (currently) for instant viewing.

Netflix had a free membership offer for a couple of weeks and so I gave it a try. Now…I’m a satisfied customer. Here are some of the advantages of Netflix that drew me in:

• Netflix has an awesome web site that makes it easy to find movies I like. It will even suggest movies that are similar to those I like. This experience is so much better than randomly wandering the aisles in a video store and reading the back of DVD boxes. 
• Netflix keeps a list of movies I want to see for me…even if they’re not out on video yet. 
• I can have DVDs out for as long as I want. 
• DVDs and streaming come directly to my home without driving out to a video store to waste my time. This is a great advantage in Minnesota during the winter when you want to stay home to stay warm. 
• Netflix tracks movies I’ve already seen so I don’t need to waste time going over old movies. 
• Netflix comes for about the same price as a video store subscription. 
• If I want to purchased used DVDs, I can do this easily through Amazon.com 
• Netflix shows viewer ratings of films. 

Give it a try. It may save you time, money, and give you better service. The old video stores are on their way out.

Wii Sports Resort is quite possibly, the best Wii game ever. Even if the Wii only had Wii Sports (the original game that comes with the Wii) and the newer Wii Sports Resort, it would be worth the price. Sports Resort is full of fun games that are challenging, engaging, and fun! It’s great for a party or creating a party any day. Being from Minnesota during winter, it’s also great that Sports Resort is set on an island with palm trees and ocean! During the wake boarding competition, I’m tempted to turn on a fan and have someone spray water into my face for added realism.

Sports Resort requires the use of the new Wii MotionPlus controllers…an extension module for the original Wii controllers that adds motion sensitivity so games can be played with more accuracy. For example, MotionPlus makes it possible to play ping pong which requires smaller actions when before the new controllers, when you could only play tennis with larger swings.

My favorite game is Sword Play. You can play against an opponent and try to knock them off the platform (Duel) or attempt to beat them in a timed slicing match (Speed Slice). In the Showdown play game you go against tons of sword fighters and attempt to knock them all down as you travel through interesting environments on the island.

Here are some tips for Sword Play: Hit your opponent from the top if their sword is straight up and down. Otherwise, wait for them to move their sword so they are unprotected on a side for a moment and strike! Use quick hit motions to to knock one person into another. Don’t forget you can block using the B button. If your opponent strikes and you block them successfully, they will be vulnerable for a few seconds so you can hit them more easily. The beauty of this game (especially for kids or kids at heart) is that it is fun but essentially non-violent. People you hit do not die or bleed, they just fall over and disappear. Even people you might accidently (or intentionally) knock off the suspension bridge get rescued from their fall by little hot air balloons.

Take a fun vacation to Wuhu island with your friends and family right in the comfort of your own home and get the added bonus of burning some calories at the same time.

Check out the official Sports Resort site.

When I was a kid, I watched the local Minneapolis kids TV program “Casey Jones“. Lynn Dwyer played Roundhouse Rodney. One of his regular bits was being an upside down chin person called Oswald McGum. That inspired this little experiment with my girls Arianna and Brielle. Enjoy!

Here’s a list of some of the movies we enjoyed in 2009. Not all of them were released this year…but we saw them this year so included them. Hope they help you to find the movies that inspire you.

101 Dalmations II:Patch’s London Adventure — Fun family film that takes off where the former 101 Dalmations left off.

17 Again — A husband who has lost his way gets the chance to go back and do it again. Very funny with a good message.

A Walk to Remember — Great movie with a message about the value of life, love, appreciating every moment, and the miracles that can occur when we really need them.

Bedtime Stories — Heartwarming and funny story about a guy that hasn’t had much “success” in life and how things change when he has to babysit his niece and nephew for a week.

Bolt — Bolt is a movie star dog that thinks his escapades are real until he gets thrown out into the real world. He makes some new friends and learns about his real limitations. He starts out believing the impossible is the norm and loses that. In the end real friendship wins and he realizes what he thought was impossible is really possible.

Cars

Emmet Otter’s Jug-Band Christmas

Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed — Must see documentary concerning science and academia today.

FireProof — Story of a couple struggling in their marriage and the change that can result when they reprioritize their lives.

G-Force — Cute comedy action film where gerbils are the heroes. Shows that when you believe in yourself you can accomplish more.

Happily Never After 2: Snow White — Modernized fairy tale of Snow White… a teenager growing up and her father the king’s attempts to help her without her mother in the picture. Good theme of the importance helping others.

It’s a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie

Last Chance Harvey — A movie about second chances and how quickly we can change with the influence of others transforming our lives. Laugh and cry.

Meet Dave — Funny film…where the kid helps make the connection to an alien world.

Monsters Vs. Aliens — Creative and fun movie! I wish I could have seen it in 3D.

Muppets Christmas: Letters to Santa

My Sister’s Keeper — Powerful and deeply moving story of a girl with cancer.

Night at the Museum Battle of the Smithsonian — Funny sequel to the original…very entertaining. I especially liked some of the dialog between the pharoah and the other security guard at the museum. Great special effects, too.

Quantum of Solace: James Bond 007 — Bond doesn’t use any technology weapons in this film other than a cell phone. A lot of brute force fights and action scenes.

Space Chimps — Creative and funny film about a chimp that needs to live in the shadow of his grandfather who was one of the first chimps in outer space.

Taken — Exciting film about a former CIA and his pursuit of his daughter after she is kidnapped in Paris. Violent with a justice theme.

Tarzan II — A cute film that’s funny with a message about being valuable when you are who you were made to be.

The Hunchback of Notre Dame II

The Love Bug — Classic kids film with a lovable VW car named Herbie.

The Muppet Christmas Carol

The Proposal — Funny film.

The Tale of Despereaux

The Velveteen Rabbit

Up! — One of the best films of the year!

Welcome To Macintosh — Documentary about the history of Apple and Macintosh.

Young at Heart — Inspiring documentary about a singing group with a minimum age of 73 years old and their preparation for a new concert. This film will move you to really live.