The Orange County Register is holding a Disneyland photo contest, where the winner will receive tickets to a Disneyland party being held in the park for the diehard fans.

For one part of the contest, a winner will be selected based on how many votes they receive. I submitted 5 photos I took last year. If you could PLEASE pick your favorite of mine and vote for it, I’d really appreciate it!

Just click the photo you like the best below, then hit the orange “Save Vote” button on the page it brings you to. Thanks a ton!

Minnie and Pluto enjoying a stroll down the Hollywood Backlot in California Adventure.

Pluto needs help deciding which ice cream to get.

A small statue of Minnie outside Cinderella’s Castle.

Pluto begs for some free ice cream.

Flowers along Disneyland’s Main Street.

- Lia and my friend Pam suggested talking Oscar predictions. I love watching the Oscars, but I’m not a big movie watching person. The only three films I’ve seen that are nominated this year are Avatar, District 9, and Up In the Air. In fact, I don’t watch movies in general. I haven’t seen any of the Star Wars or Lord of the Rings films. That’ll give you a good idea of how few films I’ve seen compared to the general public, lol.

But if I WERE to predict, I’m sure it’s going to be another landslide year like it was for Slumdog Millionaire in 2009. Avatar all the way.

- Nat suggested I talk about idiots at the gym. WOW, this girl read my mind. I’ve wanted to bitch about people at the gym for a while.

In a nutshell, I hate when people at the gym: 1) do not put their free weights back on the racks, 2) sit on machines – not using them – just to socialize with people, 3) SMELL, 4) sit on machines using their phones, and 5) scream loud when they’re struggling with their weights. I understand some grunting cause you’re pushing yourself, but I dislike the obnoxious people who go ‘AGHHHHHHHHHHHH’ and then let their weight hit the floor with a huge thud.

- Gabrielle suggested I make book recommendations. I wish I had something more recent to talk about, but sadly I don’t. I plan on spending a lot of time at the pool and/or beach this summer so I want to have a couple really great books to read. If YOU have any recommendations, let me know in the comments. Let me know why I would like it!

- This wasn’t a request, but here’s a product I’ve wanted to rave about for a while: Keurig coffee makers. Possibly one of the greatest home inventions in recent years. These coffee makers are special in that they make coffee really fast. You turn it on, it heats up, you insert a “K-Cup” (the coffee type/flavor you want), and it pours the coffee into your cup.

There are a few different brewers available. I got the “Select Home Brewing System” for Christmas and love it to death. My current favorite K-Cup flavors are CoffeePeople’s “Donut Shop Coffee“, “Black Tiger“, and “Santa’s Buzz“.

The best part about these K-Cups are the price. You can buy a pack of 50 of most flavors from Amazon. If you order through Amazon Subscribe, you get free shipping AND 10% off. For Donut Shop Coffee and Black Tiger, that equates to 35 cents per cup. And these are Starbucks-like sizes. Keurig’s can dispense up to 10 ounces at a time. If you want more coffee in a cup, then just use two K-Cups for a price of *gasp* 70 cents. Check ‘em out at Target, Costco, or online.

There are so many other flavors I’m dying to try. This new Tree Hugger flavor is described as sweet and chocolaty. Mmmmm.

… Actually, some of you thought I went insane in mid-2008 when I created a Twilight site.

No matter… I have my dignity and you can’t destroy it!! Today I’m launching a new fansite with the help of a couple friends: LadyGagaLive.net. It’s your go-to place to keep an eye on the ever evolving beat of Lady Gaga.

So the question is: why?

If you’ve listened to MuggleCast or Imprint (no, there will not be a GagaCast for The Gaga Beat) you’ll know I love her music.

And it’s not just me who loves her music. My friends do too. And so do their friends. And so do their friends. And so do their friends.

Like Harry Potter and Twilight, Lady Gaga is a phenomenon. She’s a real musical artist who has captured the world’s attention.

Like MuggleNet and Twilight Source, The Gaga Beat will be updated daily with new videos, photos, interviews, and more. We’ve also put together a couple unique features that you can only do on a music fan site. You’ll see those those blog posts appear on the site in the coming days and weeks.

I really hope you enjoy and support the new site! Please feel free to post your thoughts in the comments of this blog post. And tell your Gaga-loving friends about it too!

Special thanks to John Noe (who designed the site), Ben Schoen (who coded the site), and John Thrasher (who’s running the site with me).

- I added links to my Yelp and YouTube profiles. Check them out on the right side of this page under “My Social Networks”

- My Contact page is now using a form. Previously I had an e-mail address on that page, but this new way is much more efficient for both you and I.

- My Resume has been updated. It now has an improved format and better wording. Thanks so much to Twilight Source staff member Ashlee, who helped spruce it up!

Check it out to see not only the things that I’m interested in, but how I partake in them.

I want to mainly comment on this commonly heard observation: “It’s nothing special because it’s just a giant iPhone [or iPod touch]“.

If you think that, consider this: what if the iPad and iPhone release dates were switched? During the original iPhone introduction keynote, the audience crapped themselves at the sight of Steve Jobs using his finger to control the phone. Everyone was blown away by the technology they had created for a mobile device.

If the iPad was announced in 2007, I’m betting the large majority of people would’ve called it a must-have product. We would have all gawked at the multi touch, the portability, the beautiful screen, the apps, etc etc.

And if Apple announced the iPhone/iPod touch yesterday, people would’ve considered iPhones/iPod touches to be even more incredible than the iPad. “omg,” they’d cry, “all that incredible technology in the 2007 iPad can now be found in something that’s 1/3rd the size!”

So yes, the timing of the iPad is poor. Apple should have released the iPad first so that they could shrink all that technology into the iPhone/iPod touch. When it comes to technology, getting smaller is more impressive than getting larger.

One last thing to remember: people were skeptical about the iPhone when it was announced. I remember one of the main complaints was about the screen. People thought it would be crap because we’d get our fingerprints all over it. How little a concern is that now?

Point: it’s a 1.0 device that the general public haven’t touched.  Until we do, we can’t fairly judge.  Reporters who have played with it (who I trust to be honest with opinions) say that the most impressive part is – surprise surprise – actually holding and using it.

I’ll probably be getting the 16 or 32 GB one with 3G. The ability to be online anywhere for $30/month with unlimited bandwidth AND no contract is “magical and revolutionary” in itself.

Steve Jobs will be formally announcing the Tablet and all of its features tomorrow, January 27th starting at 10 AM PT. I’m very excited to see what they’ve come up with. And to pre-order it.

After they announce it, you all should come back here and admire how right I was about (mostly) everything.

- Tablet announcement: Yes
- Table price: $600 – $800 WITH a data plan.
- Table screen size: 10 inches
- Cell Phone Internet Capability: Yes (let’s hope Verizon)
- Tablet SDK: No – they’ll use the iPhone’s
- Tablet apps only from App Store: Yes
- Tablet runs existing iPhone apps: Yes
- Tablet OS is a new OS: Yes
- Book, Newspaper, Magazine content: Yes
- Video, Music, TV: Absolutely
- Built-in camera: Yes
- Tactile Keyboard (emits a physical response when pressing keys): Yes
- Supports Flash: Yes
- Tablet ships: March 2010
- The name: Either iSlate or iPad. I’m leaning more towards iSlate.

Additionally at the event tomorrow:
- iPhone 4.0 announcement: Yes
- iLife/iWork updates: Yes

By the way, if you feel so inclined to comment on this post, you’ll notice that there’s a new captcha box on the form (you type in letters to verify you’re not a robot). This is to prevent spam, which I was getting a crap load of.

I still love doing it but don’t have as many opportunities these days. EXCEPT for the Harry Potter/Twilight premieres, which I absolutely love filming.

I put together this new page to “showcase” some of my work. I really miss it and wish I could shoot some stuff more regularly and expand on skills I developed in ‘04 – ‘07.

Couple specs, for fellow video nerds:
- In high school my camera of choice was the Canon GL2. Today I shoot with a Sony HVR A1U.
- I only edit with Final Cut Pro and Final Cut Studio.

There are more videos I want to share with everyone, but it’s a matter of digging them up. Hope you enjoy!

I’ve been what one would consider a “regular user” for about 24 hours now and it’s pretty addicting.

Basically, here’s how both work: you are at Starbucks. You load up your FourSquare and/or Gowalla app. You “check-in” to the location. Depending on which application you’re using, you’ll also be able to see what other people/friends have checked in there, read tips about the place from others who have visited that exact location, and more.

Each app keeps track of where you’ve been. If you visit the place more than anyone else, you become the mayor. People can steal that mayor title from you if they visit the place more times than you do.

Unique to Gowalla is a fun items feature. People can leave items at any place they check in, then other users who go there can find and collect them.

Unique to FourSquare is the ability to earn badges and achievements.

My point: I think these services are going to be big in 2010. Both are simple, fun, and easy. They’re essentially a more fun way to tweet.

I encourage everyone to give ‘em a try! If you had to pick one, use Gowalla.. it’s prettier. You’ll be ahead of the curve when they go mainstream in a year or two. Start by just checking in to everywhere you go… you’ll find why it’s addicting.

I’m no longer taking as many photos/posting them on Flickr as I used to, but I just uploaded a batch that I’m really happy with. We got two feet of snow in South Jersey today and I took some pictures of the family.