Photo slideshow: New Fantasyland Grand Opening Celebration at Walt Disney World Resort

Had there not been a slideshow in this entry, it would have just been a boring blog post about the grand opening of New Fantasyland. Writing about what’s new in the park, who was in attendance and how the celebration was kicked off wouldn’t have been enough, but the photos nicely display most of the new elements of the park’s expansion, which I think makes it an effective piece.

Audio: NBC’s “Today Show” podcast

This is a podcast of the first hour of Friday’s “Today Show.” I don’t think it’s very effective because all it’s doing is eliminating the original visual aspect of the show and turning it into an audio clip. With this one in particular, there is a segment previewing Super Bowl commercials, which are things you have to see. I think podcasts are better when they are conversations that are only meant to be heard and not seen, not in this case when it is a tv program re-packaged as audio content.

Video: Touring Tolkien in New Zealand

 A video from the Times about fans visiting locations where “The Lord of the Rings” movies were filmed and the guides who take them on tours. The tours grew more popular with the release of the first part of “The Hobbit.”

Interactive: Milestones of the Superdome

This came up just in time for tonight’s Super Bowl, which is being hosted at the Superdome. I love that it shows how the arena has become a haven for sports and music fans alike and has also hosted the Pope and politicians. But the Superdome was also one of the backdrops for a dark time in our country’s history, Hurricane Katrina. I like that this piece shows how it bounced back following the disaster.