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03/10/2010 --
Welcome to my Ballard Family home page. Not all of the Ballard's on this
page are a part of the same nuclear family. For those who aren't related by
blood, I'm including them here as note worthy folks. Many of whom inspire me to
contribute my own best efforts at an honorable use of our common name if not ancestry.
Learn, live, teach others. Make a difference.
Best wishes.
If you have items that you'd like added or updated,
Want your own family web site? Here's how I did it.
- Get a domain -
You can buy these through a web host or if you don't want to be married to a host then register the domain and manage it separately.
Most desirable ".com" names are already in use, but if you use something like ".ws" (like I did) you can sometimes still find the name you want.
Here's a tool you can use to see if a name you want is available.
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Get a host -
You can find hosting for free, though I recommend using a paid package (you have some rights, and reasonable expectations when you pay--even a little).
Here's a free hosting provider.
Here's a professional hosting provider.
Whichever you decide on, choose the transfer domain option (this doesn't mean actually handing over control of your domain, if you registered it separately).
The transfer option (related to hosting) means you are going to tell your registrar to use your web host's primary and secondary DNS servers to find
your site, which lives on their hosting solution. Yes it sounds complicated... just power through it, get it working, and suppress this horrible technical memory
until you have to do something else with these folks! ;-)
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Build your site -
You can use software, a hosting service's own built-in tools, or hand code your own HTML (for better or worse, this is what I did).
If you use the free hosting link above, that provider has a built-in SiteBuilder product you can use to start out.
If you just want a template you can choose from a collection of templates
or find more web design resources here.
If you are a budding web developer, or you have a wad of cash burning a whole in your pocket you might buy Dreamweaver or some HTML software.
(Though I'm philosophically opposed to that route, HTML is free to learn and develop... well free in a monetary sense, it costs sweat equity and time to acquire.)
Links to Ballards
Thomas Ballard - Personal website, resume, ...inane chatter
Robert Ballard -- I don't believe we're related, but he's still my hero!
Family Slide Shows
Honorary Ballards
Pete Ashdown -- Pete is somebody I'd point to as a great role model.
Ballard Back-stories and Trivia
The Movie: Windwalker
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When I was a child (a younger child than I currently am that is)
I remember my dad coming home one day and saying something like "I just
read the most amazing book called Windwalker. It's about an old Indian that helps his family
and I'm going to make it into a movie." Yeah right... he had no experience
with movies, he was a land developer. Well, he pulled it off. It changed my life,
(and the lives of many around me.) It was so exciting to see the local premier in Phoenix, Arizona.
I even got to invite some of my teachers from Kiva elementary. It was so cool, and
I couldn't be more proud of my dad.
Having lived in Utah for part of the summer and
seeing a few of the locations and scene's being filmed, it was really exciting to
recognize them in the finished film. I was disappointed to find that a scene in which
the Indian as a young man finds his son, and wrestles one of his captors
on a cliff only to fall off into the river didn't make it through the editing
process. In fact, thinking about it, I don't remember seeing the village
get set ablaze by the wild horses running through it when we watched it again
on VHS. (That scene was so chaotic during filming I remember wondering how they
would ever be able to use it, but I swear I saw it in the film during the theatrical
release.)
A sadder note, and the back story that's haunted me is that my dad was apparently never paid.
Worse, as a producer, he'd obtained funding from extended family and other investors.
Since we later lost anything of value (I was young, but now I assume that meant a bankruptcy)
I'm guessing that meant he wasn't able to pay back anyone who'd invested either.
Arthur Dubbs, the other producer credit on the movie is a bit of a villain for me.
While I doubt he "got rich" from the film, he did manage to take my future along with
those of so many others. The money that presumably would have been used to support our
family (seven siblings... mormon families are pretty big), and the money that other
investors would have used to support their families was instead apparently kept by Art
and his production company.
I guess the irony is that a movie (the story of which was based on the book
by Blaine Yorgason I believe) which had such a great message was used to
create such chaos and division in the lives of those that made it. The tantalizing
bit to me is that watching the film so easily transports me back in time. Even today
it's a very enjoyable viewing experience. So dad, even if you got screwed in the effort,
you did a great job, and I'm proud as hell of you!
Windwalker Related Links:
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Projects and Favorites
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