Airplanes and Dragonflies: 15

Saturday, August 29, 2015

Saturday 8/29, Low Entry Giveaways!

Just Because I ♥ You Stationary Bundle - U.S. - Sandals & Sunnies *RC

[Blue Avocado] Click n’ Go Seal Kit Luncbox

2 Sets Of Bamboo Nursing Pads

More Giveaways!

Chloé Mini Marcie Crossbody Bag in Tan (All 50 U.S. States) Ends 9/16 - Style Briefs *RC

Friday, August 28, 2015

Pixar in a Box, A Behind-The-Scenes Look at Pixar Animation Studios’ Creative Process! #Pixar

Khan Academy launches Pixar in a Box, a behind-the-scenes look at

Pixar Animation Studios’ creative process

Free online curriculum shows how Pixar filmmakers use science, technology, engineering, art and math to create movie magic

Pixar in a Box - a new online resource that explores the academic concepts behind Pixar Animation Studios’ creative process - goes live on KhanAcademy.org. Through a series of video lessons, interactive exercises, and hands-on activities, students will discover how the academic concepts they learn in school enable Pixar filmmakers to create new worlds, animate unique characters and tell stories through animation. Although designed especially for students in middle and high school, these resources are available to learners of all ages, completely free of charge.

“Our mission at Khan Academy is a free, world-class education for anyone, anywhere,” said Sal Khan, Founder and CEO of the not-for-profit Khan Academy. “Sparking student interest in math and other academic fields is a key part of that, and we’re delighted to collaborate with Pixar to achieve this goal. Pixar in a Box gives students a new way to engage with key academic concepts and see how creative these concepts can be.”

"Learning makes us beginners again,” said Ed Catmull, President of Pixar and Walt Disney Animation Studios. “In my experience, creativity involves missteps and imperfections, which is one more reason it is important for every one of us to keep learning - in order to remain flexible and keep our brains nimble. By working with Khan Academy on Pixar in a Box, we hope to encourage the excitement of learning and creative thinking for middle and high school students and to provide the tools to do it.”

“For years, we’ve heard from teachers at every grade level interested in creating animation-based curricula,” said Elyse Klaidman, Director, Pixar University and Archives. “We’ve wanted to provide free online resources for them, and Pixar in a Box makes that dream a reality. We hope that it not only gives students a behind-the-scenes look at how our movies are made but also gets them excited about STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics) concepts.”

Khan and Catmull officially unveiled Pixar in a Box at a special event yesterday evening on the Pixar campus in Emeryville, CA. After an introduction from Klaidman, local educators learned the story behind the project and then received a live demonstration of Pixar in a Box from two of its creators - Brit Cruise, Content Producer at Khan Academy, and Tony DeRose, Senior Scientist and Research Group Lead at Pixar. The evening concluded with a question-and-answer session moderated by Klaidman.

“Many students start to lose interest in academics in middle and high school, partly because they don’t see how academic concepts relate to things they care about,” said DeRose. “Pixar in a Box aims to address this disconnect by showing how Pixar filmmakers use these concepts for creative benefit in their everyday work.”

Starting today, students can access Pixar in a Box and learn:

· How combinatorics are used to create crowds, like the swarm of robots in WALLŸE.

· How parabolas are used to model environments, like the forest in Brave.

· How weighted averages are used to create characters, like Buzz Lightyear and Woody.

· How linear and cubic interpolation are used to animate characters.

· How trigonometry is used to create the worlds in which Pixar stories take place.

· How simultaneous equations are used to paint all of Pixar’s images.

“These lessons are the first phase of the project,” said Cruise. “While the first year focuses on math, future Pixar in a Box lessons will explore science, computer science, arts, and humanities.”

All Pixar in a Box resources are available free of charge at PixarInABox.org. The site will be updated as additional lessons become available.

About Khan Academy

Khan Academy is a 501(c)3 nonprofit with a mission to change education for the better by providing a free, world-class education for anyone, anywhere. We believe that students of all ages should have free, unlimited access to the best educational content, and that they should be able to consume and master this content at their own pace. In addition, we believe that there are incredible opportunities to use intelligent software development, deep data analytics, and intuitive user interfaces to more effectively surface and present these educational resources to students and teachers around the world. Our library of content covers kindergarten to early college math, science topics such as biology, chemistry, and physics, and reaches into humanities with tutorials on economics, finance, music, philosophy, and art history. We have over 26 million registered students and to date, we have delivered over 580 million lessons and 3.8 billion exercise problems. For further information, visit KhanAcademy.org.

Exclusive Look At "STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS" #StarWars #TheForceAwakens

Yesterday, August 27th, Instagram announced that - in addition to square posts - you can now share photos and videos in both portrait and landscape orientation on their platform. With this update, Instagram users can upload widescreen video which will be more cinematic than ever.

@StarWars released an exclusive look at their upcoming film, The Force Awakens, using Instagram’s new landscape orientation. As part of this collaboration, Star Wars: The Force Awakens is the very first video content to be showcased in this new format for the Instagram community. Direct link: https://instagram.com/p/65PhxOs_RH/

There has been an awakening... #StarWars #TheForceAwakens

A video posted by Star Wars (@starwars) on Aug 27, 2015 at 10:00am PDT

About “Star Wars: The Force Awakens”

Lucasfilm and visionary director J.J. Abrams join forces to take you back again to a galaxy far, far away as “Star Wars” returns to the big screen with “Star Wars: The Force Awakens.”

The film stars Harrison Ford, Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, Adam Driver, Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, Oscar Isaac, Lupita Nyong’o, Andy Serkis, Domhnall Gleeson, Anthony Daniels, Peter Mayhew and Max Von Sydow. Kathleen Kennedy, J.J. Abrams and Bryan Burk are producing with Tommy Harper and Jason McGatlin serving as executive producers. The screenplay is by J.J. Abrams & Lawrence Kasdan. “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” releases in U.S. theaters on December 18, 2015.

Like STAR WARS on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/StarWars

Follow STAR WARS on Twitter: https://twitter.com/starwars

Follow STAR WARS on Instagram: https://instagram.com/starwars/

Follow STAR WARS on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/starwars

Visit the official STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS website: http://www.starwars.com/the-force-awakens/

STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS Products Unveiled in the World’s First-Ever Global Live Toy Unboxing Event! #ForceFriday #StarWars #TheForceAwakens

The Force Awakens Around the World:

Star Wars Fans Invited to Join Epic Global Event on YouTube

Toy unboxing phenomenon goes live globally for the first time ahead of ‘Force Friday’

Online event featuring talent from the Maker Studios network gives fans first look at film-inspired toys ahead of midnight madness at retail

Star Wars: The Force Awakens products are set to be unveiled in the world’s first-ever global live toy unboxing event. Unfolding over 18 hours in 15 cities and 12 countries, the event will see highlights from the range of epic merchandise revealed in a rolling New Year’s Eve style celebration featuring top digital stars from the Maker Studios network.

“Star Wars toys have always played an important role in how our fans interact with the Saga,” says Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy. “They’ve inspired multiple generations to relive the experience of the movies and to create new adventures all their own. These spectacular Star Wars: The Force Awakens products will continue that tradition.”

Kicking off in Sydney, Australia on the morning of September 3, and continuing through Asia, Europe, Canada, and North & South America, selections from the new toy line will debut to global fanfare leading up to retailers around the globe opening their doors at midnight.

“Over the course of 18 hours, some of Maker Studios’ biggest stars will each be unboxing a new toy from the Star Wars: The Force Awakens product line in a different city around the world and sharing the experience live on YouTube.” said Leslie Ferraro, President, Disney Consumer Products. “We’ve seen tremendous excitement for these new products and can’t wait to see the global reaction from the Star Wars fan community.”

The Star Wars YouTube channel will host the live stream, which kicks off with the first unboxing in Sydney, Australia at 7:45 a.m. local time on Thursday, Sept. 3 (5:45 p.m. EDT on Wednesday, Sept. 2), with the grand finale at Lucasfilm in San Francisco at 8 a.m. PDT (11 a.m. EDT) on Thursday, Sept. 3. Each of the 15 locations will reveal a new product inspired by Star Wars: The Force Awakens.

These “unboxing” videos will feature online personalities sharing the excitement of opening the new Star Wars: The Force Awakens toys. Unboxing videos overall have captivated millions of Internet viewers and continue to grow in popularity. Eighteen of the top 100 most viewed YouTube Channels worldwide are dedicated to toys and toy unboxings. These 18 channels accounted for 8.1 billion views in Q1 2015.[1]

“We’re excited to be part of this first-of-its-kind initiative,” said Chris M. Williams, Chief Audience Officer, Maker Studios. “The unboxing world continues to expand rapidly as audiences around the world connect with digital creators who share their passions. This shared fandom helps attract billions of monthly views and consistently puts the genre at the top of the YouTube charts.”

The global unboxing event will incorporate traditional toy unboxers such as the popular EvanTubeHD, channels featuring families such as Bratayley, lifehack specialists such as ExpCaseros, gamers such as AlexBy11 and Star Wars fans from around the world, including Chris Pirillo, bringing with them a broad audience and appeal. The global line-up includes:

COUNTRY	CITY	MAKER TALENT	LOCAL TIME 9/3	EDT
Australia	Sydney	Bratayley	07:45	17:45 9/2
Japan	Tokyo	Einshine	11:00	22:00 9/2
Korea	Seoul	Dollastic	12:00	23:00 9/2
Hong Kong	Hong Kong	Dante Basco	12:00	00:00 9/3
France	Paris	AyPierre	09:00	03:00 9/3
Spain	Madrid	AlexBy11	11:00	05:00 9/3
Germany	Berlin	Reyst	12:00	06:00 9/3
England	London	GamingBeaver	11:30	06:30 9/3
Brazil	Rio de Janeiro	Malena010102	08:30	07:30 9/3
USA	New York	EvanTubeHD	08:30	08:30 9/3
Canada	Toronto	Quill18	09:00	09:00 9/3
USA	Chicago	HobbyKidsTV	08:30	09:30 9/3
Mexico	Mexico City	ExpCaseros	09:30	10:30 9/3
USA	San Francisco	Chris Pirillo	08:00	11:00 9/3

The full schedule also is available at www.StarWars.com.

Several countries will join the live stream from YouTube Spaces (Berlin, Tokyo, London), with Star Wars commentators Anthony Carboni and Andi Gutierrez hosting the event from the YouTube Space, Los Angeles.

Fans can tune in to watch live unboxings at home or on mobile devices, and also enjoy the latest trailers on the upcoming movie, commentary from special guests, fun product videos and demos, and footage from recent Star Wars events.

The global celebration culminates at midnight local time, when many retailers around the world will open their doors to fans to purchase Star Wars: The Force Awakens toys, collectibles, books, apparel and more. Visit starwars.com for more details on participating locations. Additionally, select Disney Store locations around the world will take part. More details are available at www.DisneyStore.com/ForceFriday.

Like STAR WARS on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/StarWars

Follow STAR WARS on Twitter: https://twitter.com/starwars

Follow STAR WARS on Instagram: https://instagram.com/starwars/

Follow STAR WARS on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/starwars

Visit the official STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS website: http://www.starwars.com/the-force-awakens/

STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS arrives in theaters everywhere on December 18th!

Sex Education in Public Schools #SexEd #StopCommonCore

If your child attends Public School and they are being taught the Common Core Standards, then they are also being taught Sex Ed! From 2nd grade through high school, your children's teachers will be teaching them ALL about sex and then some!

By the end of 2nd grade, your child will be taught about appropriate touching and non-appropriate touching and to tell a trusted adult (teacher) or parents. That part is ok. They will also learn about how to "Identify different kinds of family structures." For some Christian families and others, this probably won't go over really well. I am completely surprised that this is in our schools at all! I feel that this is something that parents should teach their kids, at home! Send me the books, I would love to go over the information with my children all together, at the same time. Kill 3 birds with one stone so to speak!

OH, and don't forget, they will learn how to "Identify healthy ways for friends to express feelings to each other!" These kids are anywhere from 6, 7 and 8 years old. Still babies.

Between 3rd and 5th grade, children will be learning to "Describe how family, friends, media, society and culture can influence ideas about body image." What exactly will they be telling our children about this? Will it only be about this or an open class discussion? Or will there be something more about it? Such as bulimia, anorexia, etc. I feel that children between ages 9 to 11 don't need to know about these things yet! As body image has to do with all of these things. Are they going to point out which children in the class are skinny and which ones are fat? That would really take it's toll on some children's self esteem, and these children haven't even entered puberty yet. But they will be talking about it in 5th grade and learning how to put a condom on a banana! I didn't learn that until 6th grade and even then, it was super uncomfortable and I refused to do it.

Make sure to read this, because this is what most schools are teaching your children! From 6th - 8th grade, why does a 6th grader need to know or even be discussing or "explaining why a person has been raped or sexually assaulted is not at fault"? Why should a 11 or 12 year old, which some 6th graders are around 12, 13 or 14 years old, be discussing rape at all? I did see that it says that they will find this out by the end of 8th grade. I knew nothing about rape until I was 18, and I didn't need to know what it meant. I guess discussing this with other children their age might discourage them from raping someone? Is that their thinking? You do know that when children rape other children, the jail time isn't much! Or their parents cover it up, like a family that has been in the media a lot for one of their now grown children molesting his little siblings when he was a teenager! He merely got a slap on the hand. Now he has two small children of his own. One of them is a little girl.

I feel that rape is personal and should be taught at home by the parents, not by the teachers. I also feel that our public schools and Common Core (I call it common crap), are taking these rights to teach our children away from us. It's especially scary to me when my seven and a half year old son needed to complete a worksheet in front of him and he tells me "Mom, only my teacher can teach me. You can't teach me." Umm...YES, I can teach him and yes I will be teaching him for the rest of his life, well, most of it anyways, until he has a wife (or husband, I hope not) who comes along to help teach him some more. I have a gay sister who has been married to her wife for a while now. But I would love to see my son have some babies of his own from his own sperm. Pray that if he is gay, that he can find someone to carry a child for him that he can raise himself that has his beautiful blue eyes and blonde hair. I also pray the same thing for my girls. But I will love them no matter what, because they are my children and I will love them and support them no matter who they love.

Your children will be taught about adoption, abortion and parenting! Because us as parents aren't equipped to do so, according to this! Oh, and yes, let's teach our teenagers that they can safely drop their new babies off at their local hospital, fire station, etc. No questions asked! Also, they should all know about the morning after pill! This is something that a doctor should tell teens on birth control, not something that should be taught to teens by their teachers!

"Describe prenatal practices that can contribute to or threaten a healthy pregnancy." Now why is this going to be taught in our schools, to our teenagers? Are they going to be telling them that having a baby at a hospital is best and that having a baby in a birthing center or with a midwife isn't ok? I don't like this!

They will also explain to your children about relationships with others and about how they should appropriately break up with someone else! Because the teachers will be explaining to our teens about "why using tricks, threats or coercion in relationships is wrong." What? They will also discuss all kinds of sex such as vaginal, anal, oral, bondage, S & M and more! Because your children should know all about it and how to do it!

Those little quizzes, surveys and STAR tests that your children are taking in schools, your children's teachers have no idea what's on them. As the teachers aren't allowed to look at the screens. If you can't homeschool your children or put them in private school teach your children to answer questions about things wisely. I honestly don't care how my children compare to other children in the nation or how much better or worse they did on the STAR tests then other children around the world. I want to know how their individual score is. I don't compare my children to one another or to others across the universe! Why should the school be doing this?

Meaning, I have taught my children that they are not to take their clothes off in school for anyone else unless we are present. They do check children's BMI's every 2 to 3 years in school. I need to go to the school and sign something so that they won't be checking my son's eyes, teeth or his BMI this year. The school calls them "health screenings." Just say no to these! This all gets recorded in the large database with information about everything on you and your children that our government can get their hands on. My husband says they are fine. No, health screenings are not fine. I take my children to the eye doctor, family doctor, dentist, etc. They don't need the school to poke and prod them too!

I have taught them that they aren't to answer questions about guns, spanking, what we do at home, where we go, what we eat, etc. and that it's none of the school's business about any of this stuff.

All of this is making me feel as though I need to explain all of this to my children before they learn it at school. Which is most likely what will happen if they stay in public school. I really want to homeschool my children. That's where my heart is, but not my husband's, yet.

Public schools aren't all that bad. But there is very little that I like about them and the curriculum anymore. Lunch has been cut from 30 minutes, down to 25, my kids aren't eating much in school anymore. Which means that they are starving when they get home. Then after lunch, they head back to the classroom for more instruction time. Then about 45 to 30 minutes before school is over, they finally get to go outside and play, for 20 to 25 minutes, once in a blue moon, they get 30 minutes. The teachers are allowed to cut the recesses as they see fit. If they feel that the kids need more time in class to work, then there is either a short recess, or none at all.

Common Core has totally sucked the fun out of learning for the most part. My son's teacher even spoke of learning the new ways, and how she finds herself going back to the old ways, thank goodness for my son who is in second grade! But most of the older teachers are retiring, quitting or being forced to retire so that the schools can bring in these young 20-somethings who think that the Common Core standards are the best things created since the Pumpkin Spice Latte.