This week I was waiting for Sue to finish selecting her books at the library. The last light of the winter afternoon was casting an interesting color off of the Merced County Courthouse museum.
I snapped four photos that I am happy to share with you on the Flickr side of this blog. When you look at them you will notice the classic error of most amateur photography of buildings.. keystoning.
The buildings seem to sway away from you as see them in the photo. This is why architects often shoot with bellows. This corrects for the parallax of the lens. See these sent me digging into the Kelby books to find the way to correct such a deficit. The way it is done is my running a vertical guide through the photo and aligning it with something that should be straight such as a corner. Then with all of the image selected the photo is skewed to line up with the straightness of the guide. The final step is to "unsquat" the photo so that a compressed photo do not result and consequently do more damage than the alignment. It sounds pretty complicated but really it isn't. The results are tiny but overall it makes a difference.
The suite is loaded.. The next thing to do is to order up ILife 09. I am supposed to be able to get it for ten bucks.. because of the new computer purchase. We shall see.
Love
Pat
Saturday, January 31, 2009
"Deal"
I just watched a really funny movie.. "Deal"
It stars Meg Ryan and William "ginger Fargo" Macy. According to the reviews other places that movie did not make it to the big screen. It was a big hit at Sundance however. Here is a small review of it from Lexgo on the web:
But the movie is not without merit. Or to put this more positively, its DVD release this week provides viewers with a chance to see the movie, which is at times funny, suspenseful and engrossing.
The Deal continues the longtime Hollywood tradition, as practiced in Billy Wilder's Sunset Blvd. and Robert Altman's The Player, of biting the hand that feeds. Based on novelist Peter Lefcourt's satirical farce about deal-making and movie production in modern Hollywood, the film was brought into being by Macy, who co-wrote the screenplay with director Steven Schachter and stars as has-been Hollywood producer Charlie Berns.
Despondent and suicidal, Charlie is about to end his life when his nephew Lionel (Jason Ritter) shows up unexpectedly at his falling-apart L.A. bungalow with a screenplay. Although Lionel's story appears to be on a rather unlikely subject for a feature film — 19th-century British Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli and the tariff laws of 1876 — Charlie gets a brainstorm. Reading in the trades that rapper-turned-movie-action-hero Bobby Mason (LL Cool J) has converted to Judaism and wants to make movies with Jewish themes, Charlie meets with Bobby's rabbi (Elliot Gould) and convinces him that he has a great project for Bobby.
And before you can say “I'll take a percentage of the gross instead of a salary,” the screenplay has become a modern-day action-thriller titled Ben Disraeli — Freedom Fighter, a big Hollywood studio has committed to it and a studio development director (played by Ryan) has been assigned to work with Charlie on the project. Although Ryan's Deidre Hearn quickly figures out that Charlie is scamming the studio and essentially making everything up as he goes along, she's intrigued by Charlie's chutzpah and finds herself being drawn to a man she originally had viewed as a loser.
The Deal isn't the most original Hollywood satire. Its riffs on agents, studio execs, the entertainment media, and the egos and extravagances of movie stars are hardly new. And the romance between Charlie and Deidre is hard to accept, even within this farcical setting. But I must admit to having laughed, or at least smiled, my way through the movie.
I enjoyed and laughed with this movie. Its pretty funny in parts.. clearly worth the rebbox buck but don't be late..its not worth the late charge.
It stars Meg Ryan and William "ginger Fargo" Macy. According to the reviews other places that movie did not make it to the big screen. It was a big hit at Sundance however. Here is a small review of it from Lexgo on the web:
But the movie is not without merit. Or to put this more positively, its DVD release this week provides viewers with a chance to see the movie, which is at times funny, suspenseful and engrossing.
The Deal continues the longtime Hollywood tradition, as practiced in Billy Wilder's Sunset Blvd. and Robert Altman's The Player, of biting the hand that feeds. Based on novelist Peter Lefcourt's satirical farce about deal-making and movie production in modern Hollywood, the film was brought into being by Macy, who co-wrote the screenplay with director Steven Schachter and stars as has-been Hollywood producer Charlie Berns.
Despondent and suicidal, Charlie is about to end his life when his nephew Lionel (Jason Ritter) shows up unexpectedly at his falling-apart L.A. bungalow with a screenplay. Although Lionel's story appears to be on a rather unlikely subject for a feature film — 19th-century British Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli and the tariff laws of 1876 — Charlie gets a brainstorm. Reading in the trades that rapper-turned-movie-action-hero Bobby Mason (LL Cool J) has converted to Judaism and wants to make movies with Jewish themes, Charlie meets with Bobby's rabbi (Elliot Gould) and convinces him that he has a great project for Bobby.
And before you can say “I'll take a percentage of the gross instead of a salary,” the screenplay has become a modern-day action-thriller titled Ben Disraeli — Freedom Fighter, a big Hollywood studio has committed to it and a studio development director (played by Ryan) has been assigned to work with Charlie on the project. Although Ryan's Deidre Hearn quickly figures out that Charlie is scamming the studio and essentially making everything up as he goes along, she's intrigued by Charlie's chutzpah and finds herself being drawn to a man she originally had viewed as a loser.
The Deal isn't the most original Hollywood satire. Its riffs on agents, studio execs, the entertainment media, and the egos and extravagances of movie stars are hardly new. And the romance between Charlie and Deidre is hard to accept, even within this farcical setting. But I must admit to having laughed, or at least smiled, my way through the movie.
I enjoyed and laughed with this movie. Its pretty funny in parts.. clearly worth the rebbox buck but don't be late..its not worth the late charge.
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
A Great Night Out
My former TA who has now graduated from Chico in Communication Disorders and her boy friend (Sheriff) met us at Applebees for dinner tonight.
The meal and the company were beyond approach. We had a nice chance to talk speech path, and her future in grad school. She is currently doing some substituting in the Elementary Schools and going to Fresno State to pick up some undergrad electives that escaped her when she was going to Chico.
Sue had a chance to get out and talk to someone besides her family. We had a great steak and shrimp with Parma cheese melted on it. The veggies were really good.
To top it all off, Sue had a go at the 99cent store, and Ross after. I made a run to pick up some eye drops for her.
I am still trying to get my printer to print.. its one of the last pieces of the new computer switch over.
In classes I am showing "What's Up Doc" the old Barbara Steisand movie. The students are cuing in to follow the plaid luggage. I can hardly wait to get them to the part where the chase occurs. Rolling down the hills on the cart is something to behold. I love the part of the cement finishers that get the job done three times as the cars roll through it. The plate glass window is a great gag too.
Take care : ) Pat
The meal and the company were beyond approach. We had a nice chance to talk speech path, and her future in grad school. She is currently doing some substituting in the Elementary Schools and going to Fresno State to pick up some undergrad electives that escaped her when she was going to Chico.
Sue had a chance to get out and talk to someone besides her family. We had a great steak and shrimp with Parma cheese melted on it. The veggies were really good.
To top it all off, Sue had a go at the 99cent store, and Ross after. I made a run to pick up some eye drops for her.
I am still trying to get my printer to print.. its one of the last pieces of the new computer switch over.
In classes I am showing "What's Up Doc" the old Barbara Steisand movie. The students are cuing in to follow the plaid luggage. I can hardly wait to get them to the part where the chase occurs. Rolling down the hills on the cart is something to behold. I love the part of the cement finishers that get the job done three times as the cars roll through it. The plate glass window is a great gag too.
Take care : ) Pat
Monday, January 26, 2009
Big Day for Fed Ex Ground and Ups Ground
Today was a big day for both of the carriers.
I have been tracking the progress of a couple important items across the country for a week..(isn't tracking nice). The memory for my new computer.. it will be up to 4 gb of ram arrived by ups.. no signature required.
The adobe Design suite required a signature. Luckily Sue was up when the man knocked on the door from Fed Ex Ground. The label said that it came from Elk Grove but the tracking on the order said that it was coming from the East Coast. My only resolution for that was that they were out of Academic versions and they were waiting for the bulk replacements of the treasure. If you order the computer and the software together through Apple there is a 1200 dollar savings on the combined shipment of both. So it finally arrived this afternoon and it is installed. The way it works on this version is that they send you the academic version without a serial number. When you supply the verification of your academic workplace they send you by email your serial number. Without the number your version that took about 45 minutes to install is toast.. and I don't mean the program.
Its been a bit of major pain because the only access that I have had to photos and images has been through the old computer. I haven't set up the communication cord to go to both at once, although it is possible. So I have been moving the ethernet cord from one to another as needed and been working with the new one to get used to it whenever possible. There are some drivers that have to be downloaded from the web for everything to work as well as it was working on the old 20 incher.. non intel based.
Mom finished up the rest of the mac and cheese for lunch today. She admitted that she had met her tolerance for it.. remember, she is the one that called for it in the first place.
It was pretty bitter cold today, with just enough wind to make you cold no matter where you were. This is nothing compared to what is going on East of here in the mountains or on the East coast.
Thee was no rain however. We have just had about enough of that rain stuff for a while.
Hope your Monday was good
Pat
I have been tracking the progress of a couple important items across the country for a week..(isn't tracking nice). The memory for my new computer.. it will be up to 4 gb of ram arrived by ups.. no signature required.
The adobe Design suite required a signature. Luckily Sue was up when the man knocked on the door from Fed Ex Ground. The label said that it came from Elk Grove but the tracking on the order said that it was coming from the East Coast. My only resolution for that was that they were out of Academic versions and they were waiting for the bulk replacements of the treasure. If you order the computer and the software together through Apple there is a 1200 dollar savings on the combined shipment of both. So it finally arrived this afternoon and it is installed. The way it works on this version is that they send you the academic version without a serial number. When you supply the verification of your academic workplace they send you by email your serial number. Without the number your version that took about 45 minutes to install is toast.. and I don't mean the program.
Its been a bit of major pain because the only access that I have had to photos and images has been through the old computer. I haven't set up the communication cord to go to both at once, although it is possible. So I have been moving the ethernet cord from one to another as needed and been working with the new one to get used to it whenever possible. There are some drivers that have to be downloaded from the web for everything to work as well as it was working on the old 20 incher.. non intel based.
Mom finished up the rest of the mac and cheese for lunch today. She admitted that she had met her tolerance for it.. remember, she is the one that called for it in the first place.
It was pretty bitter cold today, with just enough wind to make you cold no matter where you were. This is nothing compared to what is going on East of here in the mountains or on the East coast.
Thee was no rain however. We have just had about enough of that rain stuff for a while.
Hope your Monday was good
Pat
Sunday, January 25, 2009
Swearing off the Box
Lindsay, Sean, and Heather were over this weekend.
They have all gone back to their homes. The white manx cat Georgie is happy to see them go.. we are not
Lindsay made the most wonderful mac and cheese from scratch. Its enough to swear off ever opening the big blue and orange Kraft box.
She made a delightful white sauce where she slowly added the gated cheese (coastal white English cheddar) that was breaded with panko.. ala Cooks illustrated. Seasoning was fresh nutmeg and laural. Yummie Yummie. We had several goes at it and there was enough for her to take home. She especially enjoyed my 3 quart magnalite sauce pan which now has a new home north in Sacto.
We took the required trip to Target. She bought a wefit. It is an exercise game on the Wii. She was very happy about that. They have been in short supply. I am still twenty pounds over its weight liimit.. so I have a goal.
We had a great walk this morning without rain. This evening the rain has returned. Heather was able to come down the three hours on Amtrak because her boys (two very large black Maine coon cats) are no longer in need of twice daily shots of insulin. Before a trip to Merced neccessitated a drive over to pick her and the boys up at the Bart station in Dublin (about 2 hours a way) then drive home. Then another two hour drive back to Merced repeated later in the weekend with the same 4 hour round trip. I am pretty happy that she could just get on the Amtrack and do this without the Dublin freeway driving. I must admit that I would be happy to do this every day if she could come to see us. We love our girls so much. We are especially happy that they get along with each other so well.
We are all looking forward to some family time together when we depart for the Mexican Rivera on the NCL Star on February 14th. We will all go down together on the Friday the 13th (we are not superstitious) and stay overnight in Long Beach. We will board the ship and head to Cabo, Mazatalan, and Puerto Valarta.. muy cool. We all need the vacation,
Sean (Linzi's husband) helped me get some light back into the garage. Light is provided by cheap hanging florescent light. Slowly those plugs that the lights plug into are wearing out. We temporary solved the problem with an extension cord to an outlet that actually had some power and the florescent lights came on again.. wonderful.
I helped dad get rid of the excess email entries. Go Daddy has a wonderful "purge" command on their email client. Just hit the button and everything that is check marked is instantly gone. Most email clients require a 2nd or a 3rd step. We got down to 38 percent and he wanted more gone.. I finally found that there was a copy of everything that he had sent including email going back to 2002 in the sent folder. Since he didn't send photos, there really wasn't much there.. except 38 percent of his capacity. I upped the amount he can have in his e-mail with a a twenty spot for two years so that should reduce the anxiety somewhat and allow us to send him photos and he will be able to send us photos.
They have all gone back to their homes. The white manx cat Georgie is happy to see them go.. we are not
Lindsay made the most wonderful mac and cheese from scratch. Its enough to swear off ever opening the big blue and orange Kraft box.
She made a delightful white sauce where she slowly added the gated cheese (coastal white English cheddar) that was breaded with panko.. ala Cooks illustrated. Seasoning was fresh nutmeg and laural. Yummie Yummie. We had several goes at it and there was enough for her to take home. She especially enjoyed my 3 quart magnalite sauce pan which now has a new home north in Sacto.
We took the required trip to Target. She bought a wefit. It is an exercise game on the Wii. She was very happy about that. They have been in short supply. I am still twenty pounds over its weight liimit.. so I have a goal.
We had a great walk this morning without rain. This evening the rain has returned. Heather was able to come down the three hours on Amtrak because her boys (two very large black Maine coon cats) are no longer in need of twice daily shots of insulin. Before a trip to Merced neccessitated a drive over to pick her and the boys up at the Bart station in Dublin (about 2 hours a way) then drive home. Then another two hour drive back to Merced repeated later in the weekend with the same 4 hour round trip. I am pretty happy that she could just get on the Amtrack and do this without the Dublin freeway driving. I must admit that I would be happy to do this every day if she could come to see us. We love our girls so much. We are especially happy that they get along with each other so well.
We are all looking forward to some family time together when we depart for the Mexican Rivera on the NCL Star on February 14th. We will all go down together on the Friday the 13th (we are not superstitious) and stay overnight in Long Beach. We will board the ship and head to Cabo, Mazatalan, and Puerto Valarta.. muy cool. We all need the vacation,
Sean (Linzi's husband) helped me get some light back into the garage. Light is provided by cheap hanging florescent light. Slowly those plugs that the lights plug into are wearing out. We temporary solved the problem with an extension cord to an outlet that actually had some power and the florescent lights came on again.. wonderful.
I helped dad get rid of the excess email entries. Go Daddy has a wonderful "purge" command on their email client. Just hit the button and everything that is check marked is instantly gone. Most email clients require a 2nd or a 3rd step. We got down to 38 percent and he wanted more gone.. I finally found that there was a copy of everything that he had sent including email going back to 2002 in the sent folder. Since he didn't send photos, there really wasn't much there.. except 38 percent of his capacity. I upped the amount he can have in his e-mail with a a twenty spot for two years so that should reduce the anxiety somewhat and allow us to send him photos and he will be able to send us photos.
Saturday, January 24, 2009
WE are all here having fun
Lindsay and Sean came down with their car from Sacamento.
Heather took the Amtrak to Merced from SF.
So we have been having a good time together.
We had lunch at our favorite Mexican restaurant in Winton.
Lindsay and I had the Grandma Brown favorite, chili rellenos, yum. Sue shared with Heather the carnitas plate..
It was great.
Hope you are staying dry this weekend\
Pat
Heather took the Amtrak to Merced from SF.
So we have been having a good time together.
We had lunch at our favorite Mexican restaurant in Winton.
Lindsay and I had the Grandma Brown favorite, chili rellenos, yum. Sue shared with Heather the carnitas plate..
It was great.
Hope you are staying dry this weekend\
Pat
Friday, January 23, 2009
Its Friday in the middle of a Pineapple Express
The weatherpersons always have such colorful language.
We were deluged with rain today. The rain came from the Pacific off of Mexico. The original forcast was for light showers these days.
It rained all night.. pretty gently. I started my walk at 5:30 this morning with just a light fleece. When I got to Starbucks about 15 minutes later the skies opened up and it started to rain ferociously.
We have campuses that were hurt in the 80's because the state used the overhangs to count as classroom space. The (new) school, constructed in occupied in 1996, has no such overhangs.. so when it rains, it really rains on kids and everyone else. The rain comes off the roof in torrents.
How does the song go? It never rains in California.. but oh don't they tell you, when it pours it really pours.
Girls area headed over here this weekend.. that is the plan. Sean is scheduled to come too. Maybe even the bunny.
Hope your weekend is good
Pat
We were deluged with rain today. The rain came from the Pacific off of Mexico. The original forcast was for light showers these days.
It rained all night.. pretty gently. I started my walk at 5:30 this morning with just a light fleece. When I got to Starbucks about 15 minutes later the skies opened up and it started to rain ferociously.
We have campuses that were hurt in the 80's because the state used the overhangs to count as classroom space. The (new) school, constructed in occupied in 1996, has no such overhangs.. so when it rains, it really rains on kids and everyone else. The rain comes off the roof in torrents.
How does the song go? It never rains in California.. but oh don't they tell you, when it pours it really pours.
Girls area headed over here this weekend.. that is the plan. Sean is scheduled to come too. Maybe even the bunny.
Hope your weekend is good
Pat
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)