Top Ten Tips for Planning a Graduation Party

When I found out that I was in charge of planning my cousin’s high school graduation party, I felt like I was squeezing blood out of my turnip brain.   I did manage to find a few drops.  Here is what came out.

After searching through all the different theme party ideas such as casino night, luau, beach party, normal “You Did It” party, Dr. Seuss Oh the Places You’ll Go pary  etc., I figured out that really what a graduate wants is to be the center of attention, have their friends think they are really cool and for their party to go down in history as the best ever.

Given that the graduate wants to be somewhat of a rock star for a day here are some things that you can do to make it happen:

1.  Have a life size board cut out made of the graduate and have it at the entrance of the party.

2.  Have your local photo shop blow up pictures so that you have huge posters of the graduate.

3.  Have a custom banner made and string it across the room.  Oriental Trading is a great resource for these banners. 

4.  Make custom confetti where the person’s pictures actually make up the confetti- Try Photfetti.com.

 5.  Make hand fans/masks from the person’s face. 

6.  Make party invitations out of custom printed t-shirts.  

7.  For party favors, make custom dog tag necklaces with graduation details like Bridget’s Blow Out Bash 2008.  If it is a small party you can include all the friends names in the group on the tags. 

8. Have a coffee bar and include these rock candy coffee swizzel sticks  as stirrers.  They are all the rage right now.  Most kids in high school and college drink coffee and these are sure to be a big hit.

 9.  Serve this Diploma-Worthy Sangria (with or without alcohol) as the signature drink at the party. 

Ingredients

Apple juice, for ice cubes
1 1/4 cups (10 fl. oz) water
1 small bunch fresh mint
1/2 cup (3 1/2 oz) sugar
3 cinnamon sticks
3 1/4 cups (26 fl. oz) dry white wine (substitute with white grape juice for a non-alcoholic version)
2 medium peaches, peeled, pitted and sliced
2 small pears, cut into chunks
2 medium oranges, sliced crosswise
2 small lemons, sliced crosswise
3 cups (24 fl. oz) sparkling apple cider
Mint leaves, to garnish (optional)

Preparation

 10.  Last but not least, hire a DJ and have them rock out the party.  Mix the songs up and have the DJ play some of the following graduation theme songs:

• Time of Your Life by GreenDay
• Forever Young by Rod Stewart
• So Hard to Say Goodbye to Yesterday by Boys II Men
• Graduation by Vitamin C
• Here’s to the Night by Eve 6
• Breakaway by Kelly Clarkson
• I Feel Home by Of a Revolution (O.A.R.) 
•  Mrs. Robinson by Simon and Garfunkel
• Revolution by The Beatles
• Congratulations by The Rolling Stones
• School’s Out by Alice Cooper
• Once in a Lifetime by Talking Heads
• I’m Moving On by Rascal Flatts
• Goodbye by The Corrs
• Shout by The Isley Brothers
• Photograph by Nickleback
• In My Life by The Beatles
• Graduation Song by The Beach Boys
• I Hope You Dance by Lee Ann Womack
• This Used to be My Playground by Madonna
• Graduation Day by Chris Isaak
• Closing Time by Matchbox 20  
• I Believe I Can Fly by R. Kelly
• Good Riddance (Time of Your Life) by Green Day
• Here’s to the Night by Eve 6
• Everybody’s Free (To Wear Sunscreen) by Baz Luhrman
• On My Way by Phil Collins
• Unwritten by Natasha Bedingfield
• I Will Remember you by Sarah McLachlan
• Whenever You Remember by Carrie Underwood
• I’m Not Gonna Cry by Corey Smith
• I’ll Be There For You by The Rembrandts
• You Raise Me Up by Josh Groban
• What A Wonderful World by Louis Armstrong
• A Moment Like This by Kelly Clarkson

If you use some or all of these tips your graduate will absolutely feel like the rock star that they are. 

Tags: college graduation, dr. seuss, graduation party, high school graduation, parties for teens, party, party for kids, party for teenagers, planning a graduation party | Posted in Life and Learning | 2 Comments »

Win $1000 in the MindBites Spread the Craft Video Contest

Are you a Crafting Queen, a Naughty Knitter or a Siren of the Scrapbook? Well have we got the contest for you! Share your mad skills through a video lesson and be eligible to win from more than $1500 in prizes in the MindBites Spread the Craft Contest. Lessons must be uploaded by June 23rd, so register today to gain access to tips, resources, and help. It’s free to enter, it’s fun, you could win $1000, and most importantly, you’ll be helping to Spread the Craft. Visit the contest page here to learn more and check back to see the most recent entries as they come in. Best of all, from June 24th to July 7th, you’ll be able to help choose the People’s Choice Award winner by voting for your favorite. Enter Now!

Not a crafter? Don’t worry this is just the first of many content contests to come. Have an idea for what our next one should be? Email us at contests@mindbites.com.

So what are you waiting for? Dust off that camcorder, get that crafting project ready and help MindBites Spread the Craft!

Need a little inspiration? Here’s AnnieRoonie popular How to Make a Pillowcase Dress MindBite:

Tags: contest, craft, spread the craft | Posted in MindBites News and Notes, Press | No Comments »

The Latest PC Editing Programs

Which Do I Need and Which Should I Buy?

Newcomers to digital video creation on PC really have two choices for software editing programs, 1. Go with the free built in Windows Movie Maker (or other free equivalent like pinnacle’s VideoSpin) 2. Purchase one of the many software packages that run around $100. This post addresses the most important question that arises from these two options: Do I need to pay for a program and if so, which should I buy?

The part of the question “Do I need to pay for a program?” can be answered by asking yourself if you feel limited by the capabilities of Movie Maker or whatever free software you use. There is nothing wrong with free as long as you don’t feel the need to do more than what the program offers. If you feel held back by the limitations, by all means spend the money and get a stand-alone editing program. I promise you will not regret the decision.

The answer to “Which should I buy?” used to be a convoluted one, but as of late, two programs, Pinnacle Studio 11 Ultimate and Adobe Premiere Elements 4, have emerged at the top of every list.

The reason Studio 11 and Elements fare so well is because of two very important concepts: Support and Cross-Compatibility. Other PC editors like Roxio Easy Media Creator, Corel Ulead VideoStudio, and Sony Vegas are created by companies whose main target is not video products. Sony is new to the video software marketplace and their editors, though not bad, require a lot of prior technical knowledge and don’t integrate all the video processes (capture, edit, export) very well. Corel is known for their Draw software, and again cannot compete within the video editing landscape that for so long has been dominated by Pinnacle and Adobe. Roxio makes CD burning software for God’s sake!

If you are serious about video-making, go with Adobe Elements 4 or Pinnacle Studio 11 Ultimate. It is worth the investment and the wonderful support, and frequent updates insure your software will not become outdated a few months after your purchase.

Another good reason to go with one of these two? MindBites will be providing feedback and instructional videos for these platforms to further your enablement as an author. You can already find two Premiere Elements videos (Beginners Guide, Intro to Animation), and one on Pinnacle Studio 11 is soon to come.

Tags: Corel, Movie Maker, Peremiere Elements, Pinnacle, Roxio, Studio 11, Ulead, VideoSpin | Posted in Video Production and Publishing | 1 Comment »

How to Avoid a Malware Infestation on your PC

… and save the computer-savvy folks a lot of time.

One of the areas where PC’s are considerably less user friendly than Mac’s is in the realm of Malware. While Malware still threatens Mac users, their operating systems are much more stable and can better reduce the amount of alien information trafficking around the file system. PC’s are easier to target; that is why 95% of Malware is targeted toward the PC platform. Before I tell you how to prevent Malware effectively on the PC, I better define it.

There are lots of words thrown around when it comes to things you don’t want on your computer: Viruses, Adware, and Spyware. Here are the differences:

- Viruses are computer programs that, like a organic virus, can reproduce on your computer and spread to other computers via e-mail, flash drives, and shared files.

- Adware is software that is installed on your computer to show you advertisements.

- Spyware is software which is installed on your computer to spy on your activities and report this data to people willing to pay for it.

Malware is sort of an umbrella phrase that covers all software whose perceived intent is malicious (Malware is a combination of the words Malicious and Software). This includes Adware, Spyware, viruses, etc.

So now that you know what it is how do you prevent it from happening to you? Here are so tips for preventing Malware on your PC:

1. You should have a good virus scanner running on your PC. Norton and McAfee are the most common, but there are many free virus scanners that work very well also (look at the Free Basic Protection at http://free.grisoft.com/). No virus scan will work unless you update it very frequently. All virus scanners have the option to get updates… DO IT! Virus definitions change every week and if you aren’t up to date your virus software is worthless.

2. You need more than a virus scanner. Most virus scans can detect viruses and Trojans, but most of them don’t detect adware and spyware. Spybot is a free program for detecting spyware/adware. Check it out at http://www.safer-networking.org/en/spybotsd/index.html. Run this in conjunction with your Virus scanner. Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: Malware | Posted in Life and Learning | 1 Comment »

Tread Lightly: Using Music in your Lesson

There is nothing I despise more than being dragged down into the legalese of copyright infringement, when all I want is to work and create unimpeded. Unfortunately, we reside in a world surrounded by red tape, and one must tread lightly and with severe caution, lest you find yourself lost amidst a mine field.

Infringement of music rights is something of a hot topic right now, what with peer-to-peer sharing and illegal album downloads at an all-time high (a recent study suggests that 58% of all music obtained in the U.S. is done illegally). Now, the reason we’ve decided to take up the reigns and discuss copyright infringement is because we’ve received several questions, usually about music, of such a nature that indicates many MindBiters are mistaken as to what is allowable regarding the use of other people’s material: How much of a song can I use? Is only popular music under copyright? If a work is really old, is it free to use? Can I record myself playing a “Coldplay” song and be safe from infringement?

Well, I hate to burst everyone’s bubble but essentially ALL MUSIC RECORDINGS ARE COPYRIGHTED, and use of a song, any piece of a song, no matter how long or short, must be cleared by its owners to be in accordance with the law. Yep, it’s lame, but true. Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: copyright, music | Posted in Video Production and Publishing | No Comments »

Cooking Sweet and Sour Red Cabbage- Candy to the Memory

Red cabbage is one of those things that occurs in nature and is absolutely breathtaking when you slice it open. The sheer fact that nature can create such a color, pattern, and contrast just blows my mind sometimes. I had a memory from when I was a child of red cabbage. Instantly, I was flooded with thoughts, times, and occasions that it was served. I began to ask friends and family members if they remember eating red cabbage and everyone seems to agree that they had it when they were younger but do not have many occasions to eat it now. I could remember its sweetness the most and decided that I was going to cook it for my children to pass on the memory and tradition.

As I began to chop the cabbage, I remembered the texture and more memories started coming back to me but I was still in awe of it’s natural beauty. I really love it when food brings back strong, great memories from the past.

When the cabbage was all chopped up, it looked almost like a monochromatic floral bouquet.

Instantly when I put the cabbage onto the stove and it started cooking, I experienced the smell and that completed the walk down memory lane for me. Red cabbage has such a distinct smell that you really are transformed back in time.

I would highly recommend giving it a try. I call this “food therapy” and it really works. The bonus is that it is much cheaper than retail therapy. Oh yes, I almost forgot, here is the recipe:

1 head of red cabbage, shredded or diced

2 sour apples, peeled and cut into cubes

4 slices bacon, ham or canadian bacon

4 tbsp. brown sugar

2 tbsp. vinegar

Salt and Pepper to taste.

Fry the bacon (ham or Canadian bacon) in the skillet until brown and leave the fat and bacon in the skillet. Add the rest of the ingredients. Cover tightly and get the cabbage mixture very hot, then turn down the heat and let it cook slowly until tender (at least 1 hour). This dish may be fixed ahead of time and reheated. Some people call this sweet and sour red cabbage. I don’t think it is sour at all, just extra tasty.

Tags: cooking red cabbage, food memories, how to cook red cabbage, sweet and sour red cabbage | Posted in Life and Learning | No Comments »

VideoSpin: Free PC Video Editing by Pinnacle

Pinnacle Systems recently released a free PC editing program called VideoSpin, requiring only a 148-megabyte download from www.videospin.com. I decided to give the program a try to see what the implications were for MindBites users and those looking for cost-effective ways to edit on the PC. Unfortunately, my heart is not set on VideoSpin, and all-in-all it doesn’t change the landscape of free PC editing in any fundamental way.

I will start with what is good about VideoSpin and then mention my critiques. The program has almost no learning curve. Its interface is simple and linear. You have mainly two modes: Edit and Make Movie. All the editing, adding sound effects, transitions, titles, and so on is done in Edit mode, and then Make Movie is used to export your final product.

There is a nice volume bar that you can easily key-frame and move around, making fading audio in and out very simple. The program also renders transitions as you place them, which alleviates the problem of thinking you did something wrong when your un-rendered video plays choppy. Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: DiVX, editing, Movie Maker, MPEG-2, MPEG-4, Pinncale, Studio 11, VideoSpin | Posted in Video Production and Publishing | 1 Comment »