Turkey Baster's of America - Unite!

A Parrot Story

I got this from 2 people (including Uncle Ron) today, so I'm taking it as a message that I should share it with you all.

A young man named John received a parrot as a gift. The parrot had a bad attitude and an even worse vocabulary. Every word out of the bird's mouth was rude, obnoxious, and laced with profanity. John tried and tried to change the bird's attitude by consistently saying only polite words, playing soft music, reading poetry - anything he could think of to 'clean up' the bird's vocabulary.
Finally, John was fed up and he yelled at the parrot. The parrot yelled back. John shook the parrot and the parrot got angrier and even more rude. In total desperation, John grabbed the bird and put him in the freezer. For a few minutes the parrot squawked and kicked and screamed. Then suddenly there was total quiet. Not a peep was heard.

Fearing that he really had hurt the parrot, John quickly opened the door to the freezer. The parrot calmly stepped out onto John's outstretched hand and said, "I believe I may have offended you with my rude language and actions. I'm sincerely remorseful for my inappropriate transgressions and I fully intend to do everything I can to correct my obnoxious behavior."

John was stunned at the change in the bird's attitude. He was about to ask the parrot what had caused this dramatic change when the bird spoke up and asked very softly, "May I ask what the turkey did?"

Happy Thanksgiving, everybody.

A random act of culture

Thanks to Uncle Ron, I just watched a wonderful video, which I've put here for your to enjoy. The following is quoted from the creativeminorityreport.com web site.

"Just this past weekend, shoppers at the the Macy's in Philadelphia (the old Wanamaker building) were surprised when over 600 choristers who were there mingling with regular shoppers suddenly burst into Handel's Hallelujah Chorus. It's pretty awesome.

The Opera Company of Philadelphia was instrumental in bringing it together to perform one of the Knight Foundation's "1000 Random Acts of Culture" which they'll be doing over the next three years across the country. Accompanied by the Wanamaker Organ - the world's largest pipe organ - the singers burst into song at exactly noon."

The incredible 360-degree panoramic photo of London

WOW, this is an article on an image of London in VERY high resolution (80 Gigapixels). It's an article from MailOnline

If you scroll down there is a link (See image at) to view the actual image. It's amazing.

Blue Bayou

Ray got me to thinking about Linda Ronstad this morning, so I decided to post this video of her singing Blue Bayou. Below it is another great singer, Roy Orbison, singing the same song. Oh the memories they bring back...

Google Chrome tops 'Dirty Dozen' list

Now, here's an interesting article which addresses the vulnerability of various software packages. It shows that Google Chrome tops the Dirty Dozen list of vulnerable applications. Interesting indeed...

Thinking machines 1959 (an IBM 704)

Boy, we certainly have come a long way in computer technology. What will the future bring, who knows?

Ivan Lovatt - Makes are in chicken wire

Now, this is a unique art form. One that I certainly had never heard of, but in it's own right, wonderful. You can check out an article on Mail Online to read about him and see more images. Below is Dame Edna Everage done in Chicken Wire.

Aspect Ratio - again (Updated)

So, I got my new video adapter yesterday and was playing with it a bit. At first glance, I got troubles.. First, when I installed it into my computer my network card stopped working (aka. no network or internet access) and second, when I set it for the correct resoution, the picture appeared to still have the wrong aspect ratio. I downloaded the latest software/driver for the card (112MB) and will give it another try today.

I sure hope that I can get this runnning ok.. :-(

Hurray, I finally got it. I was able to set the resolution to 1920x1080, which is the natural resolution for the monitor. The image displayed in Photoshop is now correct.

Image size in Photoshop
5.35 H
4.415 W
1.21=5.35/4.415

Measured image on the screen
7.375 H
6.125 W
1.2=7.375/6.125

1.21 to 1.2 is close enough for me. Actually it's most likely right on. I used a manual ruler to measure the image on the screen so I could be off. But, bottom line I'm happy again.. :-)

And thanks again Sean, you had the answer...

How movie sounds are made

This is neat!!

SoundWorks Collection: Gary Hecker, Veteran Foley Artist from Michael Coleman on Vimeo.

Our World Underwater 2010

I had never heard of this event before, but there are some breathtaking underwater pictures (still and video) here. Below is an image from the
World Underwater web site.



And here is a wonderful video, it won the Gold on Conservation. It was done by Zsolt Sasdi and is called "Survivors" and is best viewed in fullscreen..

Our World Underwater - 1st Place Video: "Survivors" from DivePhotoGuide.com on Vimeo.

Friendly game of golf anyone?

Halloween Light Show 2010 HD - Thriller ( Michael Jackson )

And then this all time favoriate....
Halloween Light Show 2010 HD - Monster Mash

American Gothic - Sort of

So, in my previous post I said that I'd be posting my playground work with Photoshop. It took a little time to do this, but I certainly learned a bit about the program. I realize this isn't an expert job, but you got to start somewhere and I had fun doing it.

So, I'm sure that you've all heard of the famous painting American Gothic. If not, here it is..



I then took a picture of a friend, below..



Waved my magic wand and...



That's Terri on the left. We'll leave the individual on the right to be a secret..

And thanks again Terri for your permission to post.

Display aspect ratio of images

I recently purchased a new monitor (an Asus) which is wide screen (16:9). It was my belief that while Windows stretched the desktop, etc, pictures were displayed in their correct aspect ratio (height vs. width). But, the other day I was working in Photoshop on an image and I discovered that what I thought was not true. FYI, I'm going to put the picture that I was working on in another post.


So here are some numbers I got using an old fashion ruler.

First, here is the image size in Photoshop
5.35" High
4.41" Wide
1.21=5.35/4.41 Aspect ratio

I printed the image on paper, using Photoshop
5.34" High
4.41" Wide
1.21=5.34/4.41 Aspect ratio

As expected, the image size in Photoshop and the printed version are the same.

Now the strange thing. I physically measured the image on the screen in Photoshop. Note that the actual physical size can vary, because it depends on how the size slider is currently set. But, I was interested in the ratio of height and width.

7.00" High
7.75" Wide
.90=7.00/7.75 Aspect ration


From this I can only conclude that the image is being stretched horizontally, which is NOT what you really want. I mean everyone will appear to be a little fatter than they really are. So my question is this; how do I control this so that when I have a square box, it doesn't show up as a rectangle? I can't find any setting in Windows to correct for this. Does anyone know how to do this?

Oh man - woman vs. man? - Again

So I think I should follow-up on a previous post. Things in the house hold have settled down to a dull mummer, but with a little understanding and smiles on our faces.

But, now the challenge; I need to figure out exactly what the situation with the refrigerator is. The question is, are you always sure that the light goes out when you close the door and how do you test to make sure that it does? After some investigation, I figured that I could rig some sort of wiring inside and have wires come out through the molding in the door. Then I could measure with a meter to see if in face the power to the lights is staying on or going off. I'm sure that you've heard of Rube Goldberg and this would be one of those. So I kept thinking.

What if I take a camera with a timer on it and put it inside the refrigerator, wait until the time runs out and then retrieve the camera. If there is a picture of the bottle of milk, the light was on. If it's a black image the light is off. So, now I go and get my fancy DSLR and check for a timer function. There is none. :-(. Not being deterred though, I go in pursuit of my wife's point and shoot, figuring that a more consumer oriented camera would certainly have this feature. Well, I figured wrong. :-( A friend last night told me that his camera has a timer and that I could borrow it.

So, I hop in the car this morning to go and get it. The car won't start! An unkind thought has just entered my mind... Speaking of timers, did I mention that we now have to set a timer for our dishwasher for 18 minutes? You see, that's when it’s supposed to dispense the soap. It doesn't! :-( We manually open the door and pour in the soap.

As a side note here: The refrigerator is a Kenmore (made by LG) and is a piece of crap! The dishwasher is Kenmore. Do you get a trend here?

Oh well, these times shall pass or so someone that didn't have all these problem with STUFF once said....

You have a nice day now.. :-)

How to Hack Your Slow Cooker

Now, here's something that I ran across today while looking at some coffee and a store in S.C., based on something Uncle Ron had sent to me. I never would have drempt up such a thing, but it really looks like a good idea. As I said to Ron, Geeks of the world unite!!!

So here is how to Hack into a Slow Cooker.

Time Travel - it all makes sense now...

It turns out that there's a scientific and logical explanation for why people (mostly men) spend so much time in the pub and only get home in the early hours of the morning. The reason for this odd behavior is based on Einstein's famous Theory of Relativity.

It works like this: it is a well known fact that the more you drink, the faster time goes and thus the faster you move. After about 10 beers (or 5 double brandies, etc), you're moving at close to the speed of light, and this is where Einstein enters the picture. According to his Relativity Theory, anybody moving at, or close to the speed of light, undergoes Time Dilation, i.e. time for you in the pub passes slower than for an observer outside the pub.

Complicated calculations have shown that the pub becomes a type of time machine: - for every half-hour spent inside the pub, the equivalent of two hours pass outside the pub. A typical situation is: "OK fellas, it's 8 o’clock; I'm going to surprise the family and get home early!!" However, the moment this person steps outside the pub, the time travel effect is negated by negative radiation from the environment, and he then thinks: "What??!!?? - why is it so quiet?? Bo11ocks!!! It's half past one!! WHAT HAPPENED???!!??" and the answer, of course, is Time Dilation!!

I've tried to explain this to outside observers, but so far nobody (except fellow time travellers) has been able or willing to understand the sound scientific basis of this phenomenon.

Please share this with all your known fellow time travellers - maybe we can prove this theory by sheer, overwhelming force of numbers.

Can you create a car with a printer?

Well, I certainly think so...But, read this on The Urbee Hybrid: the First 3-D Printed Car.

As I once heard someone say, this is Kewl....

Oh man - woman vs. man?

I need some assistance. I know that that there is and probably will be forever, this male/female difference, no matter what some people might claim. There are physical and emotional differences.

OK, so given that I honestly believe that there are differences, I ask the females that are reading this to please jump in with an opinion.

First some background, I have not been feeling very well (cold/flue/fever/whatever) lately, a friend says that I have the punies (whatever that is). So I don’t feel well and whenever I don’t, I go into a complete different place. I get angry/emotional/depressed or anything else you want to describe, so I will readily admit to some fault here. To say the least, this past week has not been fun in our home. I scream, my wife screams…fortunately its Halloween time so screaming is normal, I guess :-(

Here we go: (God help me!) Act 1 scene 1:

I’m sitting on the couch and my wife announces to me that the lights are out in the refrigerator. I being the good husband get up and go to investigate. I find that the plastic surface of the control panel, to which the mounting screws hold onto, has melted, therefore the panel holding the lights and controls is now dangling in mid-air. Obviously something is wrong and I suspect this might be a manufacturing defect or something like that. But, just to make sure, I ask my wife ‘is there a possibility that the door might have been left ajar by mistake’. Now mind you, I tried to ask this question with no accusation as to blame, but simply a question of possibilities so that I would be able to continue my case against the manufacturer if in-fact this was a defect.

Somehow, this was a big mistake. I got this run right up one side and down the other. I think the bottom line was something like: how dare you accuse me of leaving the door open, after all the latches on the door are broken.

OK, act 1 scene 2:

Again, I’m sitting on the couch watching reruns of Sanford and Son, a great 70’s sitcom. So, the phone rings. I see displayed (callerID), that it’s my wife’s friend Sandy (actual name and identify withheld for security reasons) and I announce that she’s on the phone. Note - my wife is presently knitting an afghan for another good friend of ours and also she is physically has the TV remote in her hand.. After a few rings, it stops and a conversation (discussion!?!?) begins, based on the fact that she didn’t answer the phone because the TV was so loud and she couldn’t hear. OOPS, did I forget to mention that she had the TV remote in her hand.

So, you can well imagine that the rest of the evening is not going real well...So, again I ask for the females of the blog world to chime in and please explain what the heck I just did wrong.

Bill Cosby at his finest - You Bet Your Life.

This is Soo funny...

The future of reading? Maybe/Maybe not...

The Future of the Book. from IDEO on Vimeo.

Who know cats loved Pumpkins!

I've had it up to my eyeballs!

For those that know me, they know that I am not a political person. The two things that you don't discuss in public are religion and politics. There are probably more in this list, but those come to mind. Anyway, I got an email from a good friend the other day that contained a link to this, what I'll call a crap video on YouTube. My response to my friend was not pleasant. But, I've been thinking about it for a few days and responded to him with the following. I'm just curious if there are any other people out there that feel the same as I do right now.

Well, I’m sure that got your attention. However, I should have included more information on my response and why I did it. So, here goes…

I have had it up to my eyeballs with negativity and your email hit me at exactly the right (or maybe wrong) time. I am so sick and tired of hearing what the other person (be that person a Catholic, Muslim, White, Black, Gay, Straight, Democrat, Republican, etc. and etc.) did wrong and is continuing to do wrong. On the Political front, I have heard exactly ONE political ad stating (and he spoke personally) what he stands for and what he is doing and is going to do. Unfortunately, he’s not in my county and therefore I can’t vote for him.

I have, again, hit a point that I’m going to stop watching the news and reading the newspaper. I don’t want to read about all the murders, robberies, etc. I want to read what the girl scouts are doing or the local not-for-profit organizations that provide support for those in need. I want to hear about talking walks in the park. I want to hear about love stories. I want to hear about the positive things that people are doing (and again be it a Catholic, Muslim, White, Black, Gay, Straight, Democrat, Republican, etc. and etc.).

So if my note upset you in any way, I apologize for that. If you have good stories, jokes, etc. please continue to send those. Those I will read or watch and greatly enjoy.

As a side, maybe I’ll put this on my blog and see if there are any other people that feel the same as I do.

Thanks for listening.