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Entry bubble National Christmas Tree Lighting Lottery

By: Colleen | November 04, 2009 | Category: Fun

I was in the drugstore two days before Halloween and I was greeted by the melodies of Christmas carols and the shelves were jam packed with holiday merchandise.tree

Once again, Thanksgiving gets the shaft.

Since everyone else is jumping the gun and springing right to the holidays, we here at GovGab are going to follow suit.

The 2009 National Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony will take place on Thursday, Decemer 3rd. The ceremony includes not only the lighting of the National Christmas Tree, but music from the U.S. Marine Corps Band and 56 (one for each state, 5 territories, and the District of Columbia) other smaller trees arranged in a "pathway to peace."

To attend you must enter a ticket lottery- but hurry! You can only apply from November 4th through November 6th!

In preparation for the holidays, remember to be safe.  Check out some tips HERE.

| Post a Comment | View Comments [1] | envelope E-mail This Entry | Tags: christmas   holidays   national_christmas_tree   safety  

 

Entry bubble My Halloween Revenge

By: Ginger | October 30, 2009 | Category: Fun

Boy and girl dressed up for HalloweenNormally, I am a law-abiding citizen and not prone to perpetrating Halloween pranks. However, earlier in the week my trainer, Mike, made me do push-ups. He claims he did not get my memo stating my “No Push-Ups Policy”, but when he denied it, he had a shifty look on his face. Anyway, I am very sore. I can't even lift my arm to offer a friendly wave or other friendly gestures. I want some payback. This friendly gal is going to get some revenge by toilet papering Mike's yard on Halloween night.

I like to bring professionalism to everything I do, so I have done my homework and I have come up with a plan:

  • I have hired some of the best toilet papering commandos in my neighborhood .
  • My team has done reconnaissance in Mike's neighborhood. We know where the street lights are located, how to handle the barking dogs, and which neighbors are prone to nosiness.
  • We have identified an escape route should things go south.
  • I have purchased black face paint and selected the perfect black outfit, with matching accessories, for the big event.

The surprise element in my whole plan is the actual papering medium we will use. Now that I have been forced to perform push-ups, I am “strong like bull.” Instead of cheap, wimpy, toilet paper, we will be going hard core and using double rolls of 2-ply!

For those who have been following my blog regularly, you know that I am kidding... or am I? Bwah Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha! Have a scary, but safe Halloween. The Halloween page on USA.gov features links to Halloween facts, healthy Halloween treats, safety tips, and pumpkin carving tips. For those of you who are interested, here is my Halloween blog from last year and the Halloween blog from 2 years ago by Samantha. Enjoy!

P.S. To Lazy Ghoul, who left this comment last year,

“I live on a hillside in a suburban community, my front door is a good 20 feet above street level. Rather than subject the children to climbing my steps i sit and throw candy to (at) them from my porch. Some kids really get into it. I've learned to judge candy by it's loft to drag ratio and found that Dum Dums get the best range, followed by Tootsie Pops, then Blow Pops...”

I hope to hear from you again. Did you try my suggestion to build a candy catapult with a mouse trap, some duct tape, and a bobby pin? Let me know, because I can think of all kinds of uses for that thing if it works!

| Post a Comment | View Comments [8] | envelope E-mail This Entry | Tags: ginger   halloween   halloween_safety   pranks  

 

Entry bubble Behind the Scenes at the National Zoo- and our First Podcast

By: Colleen | October 28, 2009 | Category: Fun

**Arlene Hernandez is the manager of Kids.gov, the U.S. Government's webportal for children, their parents, and educators. zooToday she steps in for Colleen to talk about Kids.gov's first podcast.**

Do you remember your first trip to the zoo? Seeing a live elephant or giraffe for the first time? It's moments like this that inspire kids to become veterinarians.

Earlier this year, Colleen and I visited the National Zoo in Washington, DC to meet Dr. Carlos Sanchez, Veterinarian. We were lucky to interview him for the Career Spotlight on Kids.gov. We found out about his duties, his training programs, and took a tour of the animal hospital. Colleen was most impressed by the wide spectrum of a zoo veterinarian's knowledge. They have to know all sorts of anatomy- from a butterfly wing to an elephant's knee!

You can listen to Dr. Carlos talk about his adventures as a zoo veterinarian in our first podcast. Find out what a "typical" day is like, how he ended up at the National Zoo, and his advice to aspiring veterinarians. You can also read the whole interview.

When you were younger, did you want to work with animals? Do you have special memories from trips to the zoo? Please share them with us!

| Post a Comment | View Comments [1] | envelope E-mail This Entry | Tags: animals   kids.gov   national_zoo   podcast   veterinarian  

 

Entry bubble Happy 2nd Birthday Gov Gab!

By: Jess | September 24, 2009 | Category: Fun

Birthday cake and presentThis week celebrates the second birthday of everyone's favorite government blog! In the past year, the Gov Gab bloggers have addressed all kinds of topics. We've debated the merits of the Post Office dropping service on a Tuesday or Saturday and discussed where people can find information on the digital TV conversion. We've covered the Presidential Inauguration and many of the celebratory balls.

Whether we were stirring up controversy or just sharing some of the government information we've found helpful in our daily lives, you've been with us the whole way and for that, we want to give you a big "Thanks!"

We appreciate every comment you leave, whether or not you agree with us. It's great to have so many of you joining our discussions.

To celebrate, we thought it would be fun to show you which posts you found the most interesting this year.

Here are the top five posts that got the most of you talking:

The Post Office Dilemma: 38 comments

Contacting President Barack Obama: 34 comments

Inauguration Day: 26 comments

Questions for the President: 26 comments

Your Turn: Making the Most of Libraries: 26 comments

| Post a Comment | View Comments [5] | envelope E-mail This Entry | Tags: birthday   gab   gov   jess  

 

Entry bubble World Peace Through Cowbells

By: Ginger | August 21, 2009 | Category: Fun

Man sitting with electric guitarSome of my blogs lately have been pretty serious and perhaps just a little intense, so it is time to lighten it up a bit. Whenever I am in a funk or taking life way too seriously, I turn to music to settle my nerves and put a little spring back into my step.

Recently, as I was driving down the highway listening to a 70's radio station, I heard a peppy little song with one of my favorite percussion instruments... cowbells.  I had a profound moment of clarity on highway 10. What the world needs now is love sweet love (hats off to Burt Bacharach and Hal David for that great song) and more songs with cowbells. If we were to put all of the people who are angry and hellbent on mayhem in a room and play them some songs with cowbells, it would suck the anger right out of them!

Thinking I was really on to something, I shared my love of songs with cowbells and my “peace through cowbells” theory with my husband. He just rolled his eyes and then he showed me a Saturday Night Live video clip featuring Christopher Walken directing the band to “add more cowbells.” Apparently, I can't come up with an original thought that SNL hasn't already covered in a skit.

I am kidding about the “peace through cowbells” thing... sort of, but music can significantly alter my mood and put me in better spirits. I listen to different music depending on my mood. Our country has such a rich, wide variety of music (blues, jazz, rock, rap, gospel, country, etc.) because of the various ethnic traditions and influences in our country.

I decided to do a search on USA.gov to see what musical resources were available from the government. I was amazed at the volume and rich history represented in our government's musical archives. Here are just some of the resources that are available:

Take a few minutes out of your crazy, busy day to sit back and relax. Go check out some of these resources and go put on some cowbell music. Drop me a line to tell me about some of your favorite songs and why you like them.

I will get us started. I love “Grazing in the Grass.” I like the original instrumental by Hugh Masekela, because of the cowbells, of course. I also like the 1969 version done by “Friends of Distinction.” This song just starts me dancing and fills me with happiness. The lyrics are about sitting back and enjoying the moment. There are times when we all need to do that. Have a good week and I'll see you next Friday.

| View Comments [5] | envelope E-mail This Entry | Tags: ginger   government_music_collection   music  

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