Meeting and Surprise Baby Shower April 5, 1998

Today's meeting was filled with the usual assortment of business activities. This is a picture of Barbara of the American Legion receiving a giant chocolate bunny from our chocolate coordinator, Anne Marie. This was the second prize in our charity raffle.

However, this meeting was a little different. Two of our members, Chris and her husband, Mike, are expecting their first child. We decided to surprise Chris with a baby shower after the meeting. Mike was in on it. He took her home right after the meeting. All the Spokes-Women then hurried to prepare the place for a surprise baby shower. After about 15 minutes, Mike announced to Chris that he had left his jacket at the meeting. Fortunately, he was able to convince her to ride back with him to get it. The following shows some pictures from the surprise. Also included is a "streaming video" of the actual surprise. We had fun.

Your reporter decided to try something new today. I prepared a short video of Chris and Mike, captured it using a Connectix QuickClip module, encoded that in RealVideo format, and installed it on the website. The result is a so-called "streamed video" which means that you don't have to download the whole file before you view it. It begins to be seen just after the download begins. If you happen to have a RealPlayerPlus 5.0 viewer on your PC, you can view it. It is possible to download these viewers or buy one in your local computer store(approximately $30.). Going to http://www.real.com and selecting the "Order and Download Real Player Plus Now" will enable you to download the player(unfortunately, they still make you pay the $30 on your credit card).

This same technique is used on the Internet to view CSPAN1, CSPAN2, and the FOX News Channel in real time from your PC. Those of you who want to be on the leading edge of technology may want to download a RealPlayerPlus 5.0 viewer to view the Chris and Mike video and, more importantly, to be ready to view other video streaming events that will be occurring in the future.

This is a silent video. I can make one with sound but the quality isn't that good -- lots of echoes. The video runs for 1 minute and 49 seconds.

By the way, Mike once asked me across the table if I could take a video and transfer it to a website. At the time, I didn't know how to do it. Since then, I've become educated. So, this one's for you Mike.

See Chris being surprised. Length: 1 minute and 49 seconds(This requires a RealPlayerPlus viewer)

We quickly decorated the room


Preparing the food table	Surprise!


Our honored guests	Spokes-Women members queued up


Jane talking by cell-phone with Lynn, recuperating from surgery. The phone got passed around.	Mike and Chris with their first dinosaur


I don't think this car-seat will fit on my Voyager	Mike and Chris receiving a "jumpy-seat"

Chris bedecked

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