Cal Croucher's Space

Below you’ll see the recently released video widget from HuLu.com that allows you to select any of HuLu’s video content from a drop list and embed it into your website or blog. Creating the widget code is totally automatic and there are a few options available to you. You can configure the widget as either a horizontal or vertical scroll list with from two to four episodes displayed. Within the widget there is a dropdown list for selecting from full length episodes or short clips. HuLu even provided a search function which allows you to find other TV or Movies you might be interested in right from your blog. After selecting all of the option you like simply copy the generated code into your blog and viola you are done.

By the way I decided to feature Fox networks “24” in my blog about this new video widget. I’m not a conspiracy nut but I really enjoy, no I take that back, I really love watching “24” staring Kiefer Sutherland on the FOX network. Kiefer Sutherland stars as Jack Bauer in which the entire season takes place in one day, with each of the 24 episodes covering one hour which is told in real time. It’s very exciting and easy to get addicted to this one.

Give the new HuLu Video Widget a try and I hope you enjoy it.

Cheers – Cal

If you know me you know I’m a Microsoft bigot with logos of Bill Gates tattooed into my forehead. Everything’s got to be Microsoft… except when it comes to the world of desktop and mobile chat that is. Microsoft’s Live team has just released Windows Live Messenger 2009, which is a pretty good chat client with lots of neat, albeit somewhat childish grins, nudges and games galore. But when it comes to CHATTING (isn’t that what Live Messenger and AOL are supposed to be doing?) I’m so frustrated because Skype is still light years ahead of WL Messenger. I was hoping for some real functional improvements in WL Messenger but that was just not to be.

Why do I say Skype is still better than the new Live WL Messenger? Well here are just a two reasons:

First, Skype is available to be installed on any Windows Mobile phone! I dare you to try to Find a client version of WL Messenger for installation. Microsoft has bowed to all the wireless carriers and has removed Messenger from their installable Windows Mobile Live. The Live team says they are working on a mobile version but frankly I wouldn’t hold my breath. What is available now is a web-based version of Messenger. Anyone that chats knows it needs to be done in a client environment.

The second and most important reason Skype beats out WL Messenger is that Skype has supported a very slick implementation of Multiple Points of Presence or MPP for several years. MPP allows you to be logged into the same Skype account on several machines simultaneously. The same MPP technology goes for your mobile device. When you log on to Skype from your mobile phone all of your contacts status, current active chat conversations and phone call history comes flowing into your Skype mobile client without missing a single message! Imagine you are in the middle of a heated conversation with someone on your home computer. You have to run out for something at the store. No problem, open Skype on your mobile phone and continue chatting with your friend, being able to see everything that you’ve been saying from your desktop computer. When you get home and back on your computer all of your conversation while you were on your mobile phone is right there on your home computer! You don’t miss a beat and it all works so smoothly that your friend has no idea you’ve been bouncing around on different devices.

That same situation using WL Messenger would go like this… You chat with your friend from your home computer, you leave for the store and log onto WL Mobile Messenger which automatically logs you off your home computer. You have no idea what you were saying to your friend on your mobile device since none your previous conversation from your computer is available to you. You spit and sputter trying to get up to speed with all the points you wanted to make. When you get home and back on your computer you have to log back into WL Messenger and of course none of what you were discussing with your friend while you were on your phone is available to you. After a few screams of frustration you pick up the pace again with your friend.

Like I said, it pains me to have to knock Microsoft, especially after all the really great work the Windows Live team has been doing recently, but for now, if you have a Windows Mobile phone, either a Pocket PC or a Smartphone you are going to want to install Skype for Windows Mobile 2.5 beta. Don’t let the fact that it’s listed as a beta release scare you. Skype has had a mobile client available for several years and version 2.5 is simply a refinement in voice quality, a consistent interface similar to the desktop client and offers improved stability. I would recommend installing the CAB file directly onto your phones memory card rather than installing with ActiveSync over a USB cable from your PC but here are the instructions for both install approaches. The Skype application runs very well when installed on a mobile phones memory card so you don’t need to waste precious main phone memory.

I hope someone on the Windows Mobile Live Team reads this and puts some serious effort toward correcting their weak implementation of MPP so those of us who are mobile-inclined can actually use Live Messenger.

- Cheers!

I just received word from wlive on Twitter that the new mobile version of Windows Live is now available at Mobile - Windows Live. There is a scaled down version of the new Live Home, Profile, Hotmail, Photos, People (Contacts), Spaces, Messenger and MSN Mobile website. If your phone has a mobile browser you should be able to access and us these great new services to stay up to date and in touch with all your friends and family.

With Windows Live for Mobile, you can live chat with friends on Messenger, send emails with Live Hotmail virtually anywhere, as well as receive real-time alerts to stay connected to your friends and family. With the new Live Home page you can quickly see what’s happening with all of your network of contacts. You can also directly update your personal Live message.

I’ve found the best address to save on your phone is http://mobile.live.com/ From this one page you can access all of the Live services. Optionally you can also use http://mobile.live.com/allservices.aspx which presents you with a single page list of all the new Live Services.

The Live team has made the mobile navigation very simple. For Home you can just type http://home.live.com or http://mobile.live.com If you want to view your profile type http://mprofile.live.com  for a searchable list of all your contacts type http://mpeople.live.com To view and add to any of your online photo albums go to http://mphotos.live.com The one address you have to give a little thought to is to directly access Live Messenger the address is http://mim.live.com There is one downside to accessing your Live Messenger from your mobile phone. Microsoft in their soon to be released version 9 desktop Messenger client will be introducing what is know as MPP or Multiple Points of Presence. This technology allows you to be simultaneously logged into several Live Messenger clients at the same time and never miss any part of your conversation. This is much like what Skype has had for several years so it’s good to see Microsoft catching up in this area. The one bit they forgot about is when you log into Live Messenger from your mobile device all of your other Live Messenger clients that you might have running on your desktops or laptops are disconnected. When you close out from your Mobile connection the other clients remain offline so you are effectively in the black until you manually reconnect. It’s something I hope Microsoft will address in a future Mobile Live Messenger update.

Here are a few screen shots of some of the new mobile services.

All in all the Live team has done a very nice job of providing mobile features to help you stay in touch that closely mimic all the other new Live services available from a desktop or laptop web browser. Give the new mobile services a try. I think you’ll like them.

Cheers – Cal

Well another Thanksgiving is behind us and I think the family had a nice time getting together at the farm and catching up with one another.  Below are a few pictures that I took of our time together. I set up a SkyDrive folder and gave everyone that attended access to it so they can hopefully upload and share their own pictures. Just about everyone had a digital cameras in their hand so hopefully we’ll all have loads of nice shots to share with each other.  

  
Thanksgiving Pictures

While dinner was cooking some of us began to prepare for a “Christmas at the Farm” that we’ll be holding on January 10th, Roni, Amanda and I put up a tree in the parlor -- and like the rest of the guys on the planet, I spent about an hour trying to get all the darn lights lit on the tree! Next year we’re using LEDs! Lee and Dottie put garland on all the doorways and helped decorate the tree with a few simple pink poinsettias.

After enjoying a feast of two 15 pound turkeys, stuffing and gravy, wonderful sweet and white mashed potatoes, creamed string beans and a load of mixed vegetables we all relaxed to let the food settle in order to tackle far too many deserts. During our planning we were expecting two pies but that number exploded into a caramel apple pie, two pumpkin pies, an apricot-orange pie, walnut bread, a yummy pumpkin mush sheet cake that Chris whipped up. Everything was spectacular and it was nice to spend a little time together.

Cheers - Cal

I thought some of our friends might enjoy seeing a video that was made about the Bercy Village Park which is just across from the Pullman Hotel where Roni and I always stay during our trips to Paris. This video will give you some idea just how beautiful the park is. Besides the obvious travels around the city to visit the sights, we also spend many hours in Bercy Park. Hope you enjoy the view!

Cheers - Cal

Bercy Park (Paris)

   
Video: Bercy Park (Paris)

Although a formal wedding celebration is still planned for April 2009, Chris and Jess decided they couldn’t wait any longer to begin their life together. So on May 3rd, 2008 they made it official with a private civil ceremony held at the Croucher Estate.

In attendance, were Chris' family - Mom (Yolanda), Dad (Cal) with his wife Roni, and sister Breanna with her boyfriend Rob. Jess' family included Mom (Linda), Dad (Zeke), sister Amanda with her baby, Mason.

While it was a civil ceremony, several elements of a formal wedding were incorporated beginning with Blairstown Mayor Frank Vanhorn presiding. The ceremony was beautiful. He said that he was thrilled to do it since he's known Chris for many years and watched him grow up to become a man. There was a unity candle on the "altar", fresh flower arrangements around the parlor where the ceremony was held, the bride held a bouquet of white and yellow roses and there was a Boutonnière for the groom.  Wedding music was provided ala Chris' laptop computer. Adorable Baby Mason served as the ring bearer with a little help from his mom Amanda (since thirteen month old Mason can't walk very well yet!) Of course there was a champagne toast to the bride and groom by Jess' Dad Zeke. The groom’s Mom (Yolanda) prepared a feast for the guests which included a lovely two tiered wedding cake with a topper. Bre's boyfriend Rob (and several other guests) captured the day’s memories with their cameras which seemed to be everywhere!

We all congratulated Chris and Jessica Croucher on the start of their new life together as husband and wife and concluded the day with some food, wine and socializing. It was a truly enjoyable day.

Well like all good things, this trip must come to an end. We've had a wonderful two weeks: Bercy Park and Village, 1/2" of snow in Paris!, the castles of the Loire Valley, The Frog!, our visit with Ed and Nat at their home in Celle Sur Morn, getting together with Dan and Adry Bosatra (not at the Frog), seeing our good friend Odile (at the Frog), dinner with Stu and Ed (at the Frog), getting totally disoriented around the Rue de Rivoli and finally our quick trip through the Louvre to see the Mona Lisa and Venus de Milo.

A special thanks to Kala our waitress at our favorite pub, "The Frog". We enjoyed meeting you and wish you all the best in your Art History studies. Have fun in the South of France this summer and have a save trip back to California. 

Another special thanks to Dani, our Loire Valley tour guide. We really enjoyed the trip and learned a lot from you.

Cheers - Cal & Roni

Today we were fortunate to be able to get together for dinner with one of our dear friends, Odile (Dumont) Wojciechowski. We have know Odile since before the days of Aventis. In choosing a restaurant she of course wanted to go to a traditional French restaurant, so naturally we went to "The Frog". Being that it's a British Pub she was not amused. 

Things in the office really haven't changed that much. Time continue to march forward but in the world of HSE all things are just as they've always been, pretty much a mess to be dealt with.  The common theme from all our friends seems to be, how much longer must we continue to work. Since I've personally chosen to leave the corporate rat race and become an independent consultant, my answer is, get out as soon as possible! There's a life waiting to be enjoyed.

Taken from Cal Croucher's Space: April in Paris 2008

After a very nice dinner we walked Odile back to where she parked her cute little two seater Mini Cooper. Betsy eat your heart out!

Taken from Cal Croucher's Space: April in Paris 2008

All for now... We're still busy editing down the hundreds of photos from our trip to the castles of the Loire Valley. Hopefully tomorrow we'll have some ready to post.

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Despite heavy showers we had a wonderful day of castle hopping in a very famous area of France - the Loire Valley!

At 6:45 am we were picked up at our hotel by Paris Vision a tour operator in Paris. Our Tour Guide, Danielle De Cacqueray greeted us. Once settled in out MiniBus we met our tour mates, Beth, Debby and Mary - all from the US! We had a 3 hour ride to the Loire taking a stop on A10 the road that leads to Spain. The Loire is south of Paris. There are at least 100 castles in that region all because of difficulties with the British in the Hundred Years war. The French King made his "home" here until the British were ousted by Joan of Arc. The first castle we visited was Chenonceau on the River Cher.

Taken from Cal Croucher's Space: April in Paris 2008

Of all the castles Chenonceau had the most beautiful gardens. Known as the "chateau of the dames" Catherine de Medici lived here with her husband Henry II and his mistress Diane De Poitiers (yes his mistress!) Supposedly Diane and Henry loved to spend time here. It has been furnished with renaissance furniture of the 15th century. We were surprised at the size of the chateau - it was smaller compared to the photos we had seen. Its the bridge across the moat that gives it the illusion of size. The castle was originally built by Thomas Bohier - who was imprisoned by a jealous king for his efforts! 

The next stop was the town of Cheverny. There we had lunch at a traditional Loire Valley inn served goat cheese and salad, baked salmon with mushrooms and traditional Loire Valley Red and White Wine. To top it off we had a wonderful dark chocolate mousse cake. Yummy!

Taken from Cal Croucher's Space: April in Paris 2008

Then off to the next castle - Cheverny. This castle is a classical renaissance chateau - built in the 1300's. This reminded me of Versailles because of its ornateness.  It was also owned at one time by Diane De Poitiers (she was one smart cookie!). The paintings and glided rooms were spectacular. This was also known as a "hunting chateau" The property where the chateau stands is about 272 acres but the forest surrounding it where the hunting took place measures about 4900 acres! The chateau has a kennel with English and French bred hunting hounds (they are a cross between foxhounds and poitevins). They were used to hunt boar and stags. Several rooms had stag antlers displayed on the walls. The dogs were a lot of fun to watch.

After a 20 minute ride we came to the last chateau on the tour - and probably the best one - Chambord. Chateau Chambord was built in the 16th Century again a renaissance chateau. When you first come upon it - it looks like a fairytale castle! Francis the I commissioned its construction never really lived in it. It was used primarily as a hunting lodge (hummm some lodge!). One of its highlights is the center staircase who some believe was designed by Leonardo Da Vinci. Leonardo was a close friend Francis I and was very influential in the design of the chateau.

Taken from Cal Croucher's Space: April in Paris 2008

Today we spent the day with Ed and Nathalie Holmes in Celle Sur Morin. They have a quaint house about 45 minutes East of Paris. We enjoyed great conversation. While Roni and Nat took a drive to a local boulanegrie to pick up a few baguettes of French bread, Ed and I took a really close look at his MV Agusta F4 R312. It's quite a bike!

Taken from Cal Croucher's Space: April in Paris 2008

Nat prepared a buffet lunch of fruits, various cheeses and breads. And we shared a bottle of Brut Creme d'Alsace, which is very much like champagne only a bit sweeter. One of the cheeses we had was Brie, which is made in this region of France.

Taken from Cal Croucher's Space: April in Paris 2008

After our visit we returned to Bercy Village to have a light dinner at The Frog micro brewery. We ran into Kayla, the same waitress that served us on Tuesday when we had dinner with Stu and Ed. Turns out Kayla is an exchange student from a small college in California. She is studying Art History at the Sorbonne. She is looking forward to spending the summer in the South of France before returning to California in August. She was very happy to chat with another couple of Americans (her French is much like ours... limited at best).

We ended the evening taking a stroll through Bercy Park. We have to turn in early tonight in order to get up in time to make our Loire Valley tour at 6:30 AM!

Till tomorrow. Cheers - Roni & Cal

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Late this afternoon Roni and I negotiated the Metro and made our way to the Louvre. Of course after exiting the Metro at Chatelet we circled the area for about 30 minutes trying to find the entrance to the Louvre. Chatelet is one of the largest Metro stations where you can easily get lost. But we had no problem getting out - our trouble was finding the Louvre once we were on street level! We kept getting ourselves stuck around Rue de Rivoli but what we should have been trying to find was Rue de Louvre. Eventually we found our way and spent about 1.5 hours roaming the museum. It's so huge that any more time and we just would have been too frustrated. There's just no way to possibly see everything so we set our sites on the Mona Lisa and Venus De Milo. We did get to see the Egyptian exhibit, many of the Italian paintings, some Ancient History sculptures. These were all in the Denon section of the museum. Of course we had our picture taken at the De Vinci Pyramid. I also purchased the guide to the museum. It has every painting, sculpture etc. After that quick tour, we made our way back to the metro and Bercy Village.

Taken from Cal Croucher's Space: April in Paris 2008

We ended the evening getting apricot jam laden crepes from a side walk vendor. Yum Yum! Cal had to have his Starbucks coffee too. You know we are always a little hungry after eating - all the portions are small. No wonder everyone is a size 0 in Paris!  

Well that's all for now - Roni and Cal
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Today after taking Roni over to Avenue du France (ADF) I walked around Bersy taking more pictures, some which I've uploaded to Windows Live Spaces, April in Paris photo album.

This evening Roni and I got together with Stu Dearden and Ed Holmes at "The Frog" micro brewery in Bercy Village. We had lots of fun catching up on old times. The company gossip was flying, but mum's the word on any details ... of course. 

Ed told use about his hot Ferrari red MVAgusta motorcycle. For those that may have never heard of MV Agusta F4 R312, it's an exotic Italian motorcycle. Natalie if I was you I'd be very jealous of that bike after hearing Ed tell us how much he loves to ride it!  

If all goes well we'll be visiting Ed and Nat at their home this Saturday.

All for now. Ciao
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We deplaned at CDG after a very smooth and uneventful flight. 

We arrived at the Pullman hotel at Bercy Village and after freshening up we spent the afternoon walking around Bercy Park taking photos with our great friends Dan and Adry Bosatra. It was so nice to spend time catching up with them. Above is a panoramic photo of Bercy Park which I made by sticking several photos together using the new Live Photo Gallery. Very cool tool. 

After a full day of walking around we went to Starbucks to warm up with a hot cup of coffee. I know, any excuse for coffee! Nothing more went on Saturday, that I can write about anyway...

Monday morning after the sleeping pills wore off we woke up to 1/2" of SNOW on the ground! Yikes can you believe it. It never snows in Paris. Just our luck to get it. After a little breakfast Roni and I slipped and slid our way over to Avenue du France.
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Well we're at the airport lounge waiting for our flight. Roni's been supplying me with crackers, cheese and of course... coffee. I decided to go with coffee rather than wine... or scotch (of course my favorite) so I could stay awake on the flight. Actually I was being cheap because I saw a sign listing drink prices and figured we paid enough for the flight I'll be damned if I'm going to pay for drinks in the Presidents Lounge. At least until I find out if there's any good movies playing on the way over.

Roni and I had the executive meal (gets all the courses over in one shot rather than drag it out for hours) on the way over and then watched a really great movie, "PS I Love You". It's a very sad/happy/emotional movie about a young couple who are very much in love and the husband tragically dies from a brain tumor. Think of "Ghost" with Dimi Moore and Patrick Swayze and you've got the idea. Well following his death, Holly finds letters from Gerry that seems to help her cope with his sudden death and encourage her to eventually begin dealing with life again. If you haven't seen it I guarantee you will love it. Yes Rob, it's a "chick flick" but you know Bre will enjoy it!
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Friday, April 4th:

Well once again Roni and I are heading for April in gay Paris! Ohh lala mon ami. We're hoping for some nice weather, or at least dry weather. According to friends that we'll be visiting while there, we should be prepared for cold weather so It looks like we'll be bringing a large suitcase full of sweaters.

We leave via Continental Air on Saturday, April 5th and will return Friday, April 18th. If all goes well we'll be visiting a few locations that we haven't been to in previous visits. The Louvre is top on our list. Every time we've been over in the past the waiting lines have been just too long to take. This time we'll get advanced tickets and cross our fingers. We're also hoping to take a bus trip to the Loire Valley to see several of the famous French castles including Chateau Chambord, Cheverny and Chenonceau, which is truly spectacular.

Well we're all packed and ready to go! I guess I have to close down the laptop and put it away. I'll post again on the other side of the pond... Cheers - Cal
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