It wasn't that long ago, 20 or so photos were taken
at a wedding. They've been sitting on my laptop,
the subject of Picasa modification, experiment and
simple creative techniques.
It was my assumption that there were so many photos
taken at the wedding, that these few would be of no
importance. It was discovered this morning at a church
service that at least one of the wedding party was disappointed
by the lack of photos.
Safe to say, the photos left have been sent, post haste.
=30=
Sunday, January 30, 2005
Saturday, January 29, 2005
Speech Class, 1964
It was for my Speech Class in 1964 I had to memorize
Poe's The Raven. I was walking around school reciting,
"Once upon a midnight, dreary,
while I pondered weak and weary,
over a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore..."
=30=
Poe's The Raven. I was walking around school reciting,
"Once upon a midnight, dreary,
while I pondered weak and weary,
over a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore..."
=30=
The Raven (Edgar Allan Poe) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Raven (Edgar Allan Poe) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: "Trivia
The basic meter of the poem is 'trochaic octameter', that is, lines of 8 trochees (pairs of syllables, the first with strong stress, the second with weak).
Ravens can be taught to speak. Poe's raven is thought to have been inspired by the raven Grip in Barnaby Rudge by Charles Dickens. Dickens' bird has many words and comic turns, including the popping of a champagne cork, but Poe felt that Dickens did not make enough of the bird's dramatic qualities.
Baltimore's professional football team, the Baltimore_Ravens, is named after the poem. The name was selected after a telephone poll of Baltimore residents.
The Raven Society (http://www.student.virginia.edu/~ravens/), founded 1904, is the University of Virginia's most important honor society, combining requirements of high-level scholarship, service, leadership, and - for the student members - 'promise of further advancement in the intellectual field.' New members have to supply a parody of the poem for initiation, which takes place in Poe's room where he lived when studying at the University, which is now under the curatorship of the Society. The Society also owns and takes care of several other Poe sites, including the grave of his mother in Richmond, Va."
The basic meter of the poem is 'trochaic octameter', that is, lines of 8 trochees (pairs of syllables, the first with strong stress, the second with weak).
Ravens can be taught to speak. Poe's raven is thought to have been inspired by the raven Grip in Barnaby Rudge by Charles Dickens. Dickens' bird has many words and comic turns, including the popping of a champagne cork, but Poe felt that Dickens did not make enough of the bird's dramatic qualities.
Baltimore's professional football team, the Baltimore_Ravens, is named after the poem. The name was selected after a telephone poll of Baltimore residents.
The Raven Society (http://www.student.virginia.edu/~ravens/), founded 1904, is the University of Virginia's most important honor society, combining requirements of high-level scholarship, service, leadership, and - for the student members - 'promise of further advancement in the intellectual field.' New members have to supply a parody of the poem for initiation, which takes place in Poe's room where he lived when studying at the University, which is now under the curatorship of the Society. The Society also owns and takes care of several other Poe sites, including the grave of his mother in Richmond, Va."
Spot Color using Picasa
This was taken at a UU wedding a few months ago.
The spot color on the candle was done using the upgraded Picasa.
The newer version of Picasa gives you a more varied control
of how your digital snapshots are displayed.
It also lets you post it on a Blogger based blog with little trouble.
The only thing I find inconvenient is the automatic posting
when the ENTER key is hit. This make the caption section
sometimes posted too early
=30=
Sunny Five Degree Saturday
Here in Massachusetts, the sun is shining.
It is reflecting off the snow to the point that
sunglasses are needed to look out the window
at the five foot snow mounds lining the road.
Our mailbox was a casualty in the last road
clearing. We first replaced it with a cardboard
box shoved into the snow bank. This worked for
a day or two, but the box was wearing out.
We replaced that with a Rubbermaid mail
box.
Let's see how long this one lasts.
Remind me again why I don't live in Marin?
=30=
It is reflecting off the snow to the point that
sunglasses are needed to look out the window
at the five foot snow mounds lining the road.
Our mailbox was a casualty in the last road
clearing. We first replaced it with a cardboard
box shoved into the snow bank. This worked for
a day or two, but the box was wearing out.
We replaced that with a Rubbermaid mail
box.
Let's see how long this one lasts.
Remind me again why I don't live in Marin?
=30=
Friday, January 28, 2005
Ma is reforming...
When I was a young man there was one phone company.
In fact, we called it just The Phone Company. Your phone,
the one phone you had in your house, belonged to The
Phone Company and you rented it from them.
The phone came in one color, black Bakelite.
Then there was the break up, the forming of Baby
Bells and the birth of newly independent companies.
Now there are thousands of ways to use the phone.
But, it looks like AT&T, the original name for The
Phone Company is about to be bought by two, or
three of its babies. To me that looks like what was
split is reforming, Borglike.
I don't know, I kinda liked Bakelite.
=30=
In fact, we called it just The Phone Company. Your phone,
the one phone you had in your house, belonged to The
Phone Company and you rented it from them.
The phone came in one color, black Bakelite.
Then there was the break up, the forming of Baby
Bells and the birth of newly independent companies.
Now there are thousands of ways to use the phone.
But, it looks like AT&T, the original name for The
Phone Company is about to be bought by two, or
three of its babies. To me that looks like what was
split is reforming, Borglike.
I don't know, I kinda liked Bakelite.
=30=
Sunday, January 23, 2005
Good Night Johnn y...
Ernie Kovacs, Steve Allen, Jack Paar and now
Johnny Carson.
Combined, the two gentlemen now occupying their
timeslot haven't a tenth of the intellectual wit any
one of these men had on a bad day.
It's either that, or I am just getting old and grumpy,
waxing nostalgic about the days when two super powers
were lined up at either side of Dodge City waiting
for the other to flinch. Wit had a place then.
Now we're sitting around waiting for another pathetic
misguided religious zealot to blow a mere fraction of us
up.
When will the truly good old days get here?
=30=
Johnny Carson.
Combined, the two gentlemen now occupying their
timeslot haven't a tenth of the intellectual wit any
one of these men had on a bad day.
It's either that, or I am just getting old and grumpy,
waxing nostalgic about the days when two super powers
were lined up at either side of Dodge City waiting
for the other to flinch. Wit had a place then.
Now we're sitting around waiting for another pathetic
misguided religious zealot to blow a mere fraction of us
up.
When will the truly good old days get here?
=30=
The New York Times > New York Region > Roaring Snowstorm Shoves Northeast Into Winter's Grasp
The New York Times > New York Region > Roaring Snowstorm Shoves Northeast Into Winter's Grasp: "Cape Cod and southeastern Massachusetts were expected to be hit hardest, with more than two feet of snow blown by winds that gusted up to 60 miles an hour. 'The snow is falling not in inches but in feet,' said Gov. Mitt Romney, who warned that the threat would be complicated by a full moon and a tidal surge in coastal communities."
The Blizzard of 1-23-05
This is our cat, Mougli, try to decide whether ot not
this would be a good time to run out in the yard and
frolic.
Welcome to New England on the day the Patriots play
Pittsburgh, in Pennsylvania.
Hoo-Boy
=30=
Saturday, January 22, 2005
William Tolliver Painting for Sale!
This is an oil painting we bought in New Orleans over
eleven years ago. It's called "And Then I Rest."
It's an oil on canvas by William Tolliver. (1951-2000)
Almost all of the other works by William Tolliver that
we've seen have to do with New Orleans' Jazz culture.
This is more along the line of his famous
" Sunday Service" lithograph.
=30=
Thursday, January 20, 2005
I shouldn't have said anything...
"How does Zero sound?"
The same radio station, on the way home this evening,
was kind enough to inform me the temperature will drop
to four below zero over night.
I shouldn't have complained about four above zero.
When will I learn?
=30=
The same radio station, on the way home this evening,
was kind enough to inform me the temperature will drop
to four below zero over night.
I shouldn't have complained about four above zero.
When will I learn?
=30=
Wednesday, January 19, 2005
Okay, too cold!
On the drive into work this morning, the woman with
the lovely voice on Magic 106.7 started her traffic and weather
report with something like. "It's 4 in the Backbay!" When I
first heard this, I honestly looked at the car clock and saw it was
twenty to seven. How, I asked myself, could she get the time
so wrong.
Then the horror of what she said struck me. When she said
four she meant a four found on the F. scale.
Damn, that's cold!
=30=
the lovely voice on Magic 106.7 started her traffic and weather
report with something like. "It's 4 in the Backbay!" When I
first heard this, I honestly looked at the car clock and saw it was
twenty to seven. How, I asked myself, could she get the time
so wrong.
Then the horror of what she said struck me. When she said
four she meant a four found on the F. scale.
Damn, that's cold!
=30=
Monday, January 17, 2005
Leave it Behind
The author of the Leave it Behind, Brian Bailey said that
blogger should mention other blogs. There, I mentioned
your blog, Brian...
=30=
blogger should mention other blogs. There, I mentioned
your blog, Brian...
=30=
Sunday, January 16, 2005
A book I am reading and a book I will read
A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson. This was given to me as Christmas present by
my nephew, Tad. I had never heard of Bill Bryson. It seems everyone in the room, including
my nephew had known him from another book of his:
I am a Stranger Here Myself Now that I am a quarter of a way through the absolutely amazing history,
I will have to get ALL of his books. It is what I do, as Winston Churchill and Samuel Clemens.
=30=
An interesting read about google...
If Google has become the only way you look something up
these days, you may want to take a few minutes and pop
over to Alan Williamson' blog city page to read about a lecture
he attended given by Marissa Mayer, Product Manager for Google.
=30=
these days, you may want to take a few minutes and pop
over to Alan Williamson' blog city page to read about a lecture
he attended given by Marissa Mayer, Product Manager for Google.
=30=
RSSCalendar.com - Product Overview
RSSCalendar.com - Product Overview: "School calendars"
I have little use for this feature, but I could see where some
organizations having use for it.
A problem may occur in explaining a RSS feed to some people .
...
=30=
I have little use for this feature, but I could see where some
organizations having use for it.
A problem may occur in explaining a RSS feed to some people .
...
=30=
update for w::Bloggar
If you are having trouble with ::w.bloggar and TypePad,
you may want to go over to the site and pick up the updated
.exe file. You dont' have to download the entire program,
just get the .exe file and replace the one in your w::bloggar
file.
=30=
you may want to go over to the site and pick up the updated
.exe file. You dont' have to download the entire program,
just get the .exe file and replace the one in your w::bloggar
file.
=30=
just Checking In.
The commute to work today was a breeze.
This could be because it's Saturday, the first day of
a three day weekend. There was some business
that needed doing that I did. The commute home was
just as nice.
Going into Boston can be a tricky thing, from the
north or from the south. Coming from the south,
if you leave ten minutes before the hour, the
ride can take 20 t0 30 minutes.
Leave a minute after seven and you might as well
take you knitting with you and a few newly burned
CD's with your favorite music because it will take
over an hour.
Pittsburg won.
=30=
This could be because it's Saturday, the first day of
a three day weekend. There was some business
that needed doing that I did. The commute home was
just as nice.
Going into Boston can be a tricky thing, from the
north or from the south. Coming from the south,
if you leave ten minutes before the hour, the
ride can take 20 t0 30 minutes.
Leave a minute after seven and you might as well
take you knitting with you and a few newly burned
CD's with your favorite music because it will take
over an hour.
Pittsburg won.
=30=
Monday, January 10, 2005
Boing Boing: A Directory of Wonderful Things
Boing Boing: A Directory of Wonderful Things: "Companies that have fired people for blogging
This page contains a list of companies that are purported to have fired employees for blogging 'fired, threatened, disciplined, fined or not hired people because of their blog.'
1.) Delta Air Lines
2.) Wells Fargo
3.) Ragen MacKenzie
4.) Starbucks
5.) Microsoft (some say yay, some say nay)
6.) Friendster
7.) the Houston Chronicle
8.) the St. Louis Post-Dispatch
9.) Nunavut Tourism (Canada)
10.) the Committee on Degrees in Social Studies, Harvard University
11.) Maricopa County Superior Court of Arizona Self Help Center and Library
12.) Mike DeWine, US Senator (R-Ohio)
13.) the Durham Herald-Sun
14.) Kerr-McGee
15.) ESPN
16.) Apple (according to this blog entry AND this article)
17.) Statistical Assessment Service (DC nonprofit)
18.) Minnesota Public Radio
19.) The Hartford Courant
20.) the International Olympic Committee (barred athletes from blogging during the Olympics last summer)
21.) Health Sciences Centre, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada (?)
22.) the National Basketball Association (NBA)
Link (via Apophenia)
posted by Cory Doctorow at 03:26:05 PM permalink | blogs' comments"
This page contains a list of companies that are purported to have fired employees for blogging 'fired, threatened, disciplined, fined or not hired people because of their blog.'
1.) Delta Air Lines
2.) Wells Fargo
3.) Ragen MacKenzie
4.) Starbucks
5.) Microsoft (some say yay, some say nay)
6.) Friendster
7.) the Houston Chronicle
8.) the St. Louis Post-Dispatch
9.) Nunavut Tourism (Canada)
10.) the Committee on Degrees in Social Studies, Harvard University
11.) Maricopa County Superior Court of Arizona Self Help Center and Library
12.) Mike DeWine, US Senator (R-Ohio)
13.) the Durham Herald-Sun
14.) Kerr-McGee
15.) ESPN
16.) Apple (according to this blog entry AND this article)
17.) Statistical Assessment Service (DC nonprofit)
18.) Minnesota Public Radio
19.) The Hartford Courant
20.) the International Olympic Committee (barred athletes from blogging during the Olympics last summer)
21.) Health Sciences Centre, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada (?)
22.) the National Basketball Association (NBA)
Link (via Apophenia)
posted by Cory Doctorow at 03:26:05 PM permalink | blogs' comments"
I know it is selfish...
...to complain about the trivial with so much sorrow in the world,
but I still am not overly fond of driving to work in the dark.
Circadianilly, we were meant to rise with the sun. I am at work,
in the catacombs of corporate worship when the sun rises,
the sun sets while I am still encased in concrete.
Oh, well, back to the wheel...
=30=
but I still am not overly fond of driving to work in the dark.
Circadianilly, we were meant to rise with the sun. I am at work,
in the catacombs of corporate worship when the sun rises,
the sun sets while I am still encased in concrete.
Oh, well, back to the wheel...
=30=
Sunday, January 09, 2005
I am tired
After a lovely 10 day vacation that only cost me three vaction days, I have
come back to work in a great way. This is my 10th straight day.
I need to be here at five in the morning and then back again at 2230. Two
more days of that.
In between that, it being transition STUFF, I am teaching an 80 hour course.
16 of the 80 hours have pased. Only 74 to go. Whoopee!!! Then next Saturday
I have an auxilliary class to teach. What fun.
The end line of all this is exhaustion. When exhausted,
writing witty blog entries is drained from my limited list of talents, if so they
can be called.
Say good night, Gracie!
=30=
come back to work in a great way. This is my 10th straight day.
I need to be here at five in the morning and then back again at 2230. Two
more days of that.
In between that, it being transition STUFF, I am teaching an 80 hour course.
16 of the 80 hours have pased. Only 74 to go. Whoopee!!! Then next Saturday
I have an auxilliary class to teach. What fun.
The end line of all this is exhaustion. When exhausted,
writing witty blog entries is drained from my limited list of talents, if so they
can be called.
Say good night, Gracie!
=30=
Saturday, January 01, 2005
Diego Garcia Safe
For those of us who have been on the horseshoe known as DG who were
worried, the following message has come:
Diego Garcia, British Indian Ocean Territory –
Navy personnel on board Naval Support Facility Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean
are safe following the earthquake and subsequent tsunami that had devastating
effects on Southeast Asia. Facilities and operations were not affected.
Favorable ocean topography minimized the tsunami’s impact on the atoll. Diego
Garcia is part of the Chagos Archipelago, situated on the southernmost part of
the Chagos-Laccadive Ridge. To the east lies the Chagos Trench, a 400 mile long,
underwater canyon that ranges in depth from less than 1,00 meters below the
surface to depths that plunge to over 5,000 meters. It is one of the deepest regions
of the Indian Ocean.
Diego Garcia is located to the west of Chagos Trench, which runs north and
south. The depth of the Chagos Trench and grade to the shores does not allow
for tsunamis to build before passing the atoll. The result of the earthquake
was seen as a tidal surge estimated at six feet.
Blessed BE!
=30=
worried, the following message has come:
Diego Garcia, British Indian Ocean Territory –
Navy personnel on board Naval Support Facility Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean
are safe following the earthquake and subsequent tsunami that had devastating
effects on Southeast Asia. Facilities and operations were not affected.
Favorable ocean topography minimized the tsunami’s impact on the atoll. Diego
Garcia is part of the Chagos Archipelago, situated on the southernmost part of
the Chagos-Laccadive Ridge. To the east lies the Chagos Trench, a 400 mile long,
underwater canyon that ranges in depth from less than 1,00 meters below the
surface to depths that plunge to over 5,000 meters. It is one of the deepest regions
of the Indian Ocean.
Diego Garcia is located to the west of Chagos Trench, which runs north and
south. The depth of the Chagos Trench and grade to the shores does not allow
for tsunamis to build before passing the atoll. The result of the earthquake
was seen as a tidal surge estimated at six feet.
Blessed BE!
=30=
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