Awesome Day!

I haven't told you, but since about Sept. 24, Bettina and I have been keeping very busy learning about the computer languages known as PHP and MySQL. You may not have known it, but these 2 scripting languages just about run in all interactive websites. PHP is short for PHP Hypertext Processor. (Haha, the first word in the acronym is the acronym, just stay with me, 'kay?) MySQL is a language that's used for creating databases, and stuffing items into them, and taking them out again to be used later. We're learning it all from this book, titled "Visual QuickPro Guide: PHP and MySQL for Dynamic Web Sites" by Larry Ullman. Let me tell you, if someone decides to write a book about complex computer languages, be sure to have a sense of humor! That's what Larry Ullman has. So far we've finished 3 whole chapters of PHP basics. I am so proud of me and my sister, although really it's actually not our first time learning computer scripting; when learning Macromedia Flash 5 we got introduced to Actionscript and used it to create several interactive games. That was about 5 or 4 years ago, and we haven't made use of any computer language since, but now we're back on the horse, and PHP is quite similar in some ways to Flash Actionscript, as well as C++ and Javascript (don't know those two languages though). It's really a challenging, but satisfying endeavor to learn any new language, whether it's French, Chinese, or PHP. It expands your mind! Moving on...

This afternoon, after watching this video clip of Billy Joel's song "We Didn't Start the Fire" set to associating photos, Bettina and I decided to start trying to memorize the whole song piece by piece, just like we learned "Yakko's World", "Wakko's States and Capitols", and the "Presidents" song. We succeeded in learning the first 4 verses in the song, from Harry Truman to Santayana goodbye (if you don't know what I'm talking about, just Google the lyrics, you'll see).

Later in the evening, we went to the theater in Tamarac While Benny, Shira, and Danny saw "The Hangover", Adam, Bettina and I saw the movie "Ponyo".

"Ponyo" is a very sweet anime film that makes me think that it's the japanese version of the Little Mermaid story. It's about a 5-year-old boy named Sosuke (pronounced Sos-KAY) who finds a magical fish who he names Ponyo. During the course of the movie, Ponyo gradually turns into a human girl, and for Ponyo to stay a human forever, Sosuke needs to prove that he can love her no matter what form she's in. As usual in an anime film (especially one directed by Hayao Miyazaki), the animation is absolutely gorgeous! Smooth, realistic, colorful, capturing the mundane and turning it into beauty and grace, simple, yet incredibly intricate. These are just some of the many adjectives that may be used to describe the animation of Ponyo. It is an excellent example of a family film, and I'll bet, without a doubt, that if Pixar's "UP" doesn't win the Oscar for Best Animated Film, then "Ponyo" will.