My new camera is a canon elph 780is. It boosts 12.1 mg pixels. Almost all of the new point and shoot cameras have this level of image attainment. Sadly most do not map at 180 dpi. Most map at 72 dpi.
This translates into a very different photo when it comes to do some digital photos. Realize that when photos are not used on the web or made into email snaps the dpi that a photo is collected makes a huge difference. Most of the point and shoots uses this collection number to make huge 72 dpi prints. Most of the time, most people are not going to get a 5 foot by 3 foot size photo yet this is the size that is collected.
The canon collects its 12+ mg pixels into a 180 setting. The collection size is 16 by 22. When making a 13X19 photo this fits into the framework with a little bit of editing. Trying to find this in the specs fora camera is impossible.
I reduced the photos for better loads on the web before I loaded them up for Fickr. This is easily done in photoshop.. but at least I have that option and the density to take any photo that I have shot and make it a print that will print on my printer without too much reduction... yeah!
Saturday, June 19, 2010
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
Unsanitized Breakfast
The slamized breakfast made famous by Denny's and adapted by chains everywhere is not the diner breakfast experience.
The hash browns are about the size of a silver dollar. The pancakes come for a plastic sack or worse a mix that bites your tongue while the preservatives so common in pancakes become part of the "flavor"component. Thus is the state of affairs of the Denny's. the IHOPs and around here the Perkos. Sure they are clean. The sizes are regulated. They might as well have run them through the banana smelling cleaning fluid they us to clean the bathrooms.
Then lets talk about price. A breakfast should cost not more than 6 bucks. I was watching the food channel... another form of domestic porn.. and they were highlighting a couple of pancakes with a little rocotta cheese in them and a handful of blueberries.. cost 13 dollars.
Try to get out of one of these chain places for under 10 dollars. I just won't happen. I know I could chock it up to inflation. And it does cost more to get the materials to the stores with the cost of fuel.. but 10 bucks for a mini portioned breakfast. Its no wonder that Subway is getting into the market.
Don't think you are getting away cheap if you get a pastry where you get your coffee. You will pay mightily for that privilege. My starbucks charges $1.65 for a single donut. Don't get stuck buying coffee and donuts for your office and not make the extra step to the donut shop. Donuts are 65 cents apiece there. That is pretty outrageous. Back in the day they were 15 cents each.
A couple of places I have discovered in the environs still produce a breakfast of thunderous proportions and charge around 5 to 6.50 per person. That means you can get of the place with change to tip the waitress for under a ten spot.
The Winton cafe in downtown Winton on Walnut is a discovery Linzi and I made. I couple of my friends were raving about it and we took the plunge since we were up their by our favorite strawberry stand. She had Denver omelette with the the pancake and I had the chicken fried steak with the biscuits.. would you like some gravy on that too? You betcha... no charge.
I had the home fries (option green peppers and onions) and she had the hash browns (size of two palms). Coffee kept a coming and was helped out by the owner/chef's 8 year old kids. The interior is nothing to write home about.. a couple of Rock and Roll 45s with photos around them. and you sit on sturdy folding chairs or the benches in the front. We snagged enough leftovers in the a white clam shell for mom to have a meal when we got home.
I little less opulent is the spot at the end of main with the pig in the front. Its been repainted a coke theme and the folks that left because of food handling are back. The old sinks are waiting to be hauled away in the parking lot. It continues to have the best biscuits and gravy short of my place in town. Prices are off of the chains and service is quick and attentive. Its the Barbecue Pit.
Of the two the trip to Winton (about 8 miles) is probably worth it. Both pull off an unsanitized portion control and breakfast the way it used to be and should continue to be.
: ) Pat
The hash browns are about the size of a silver dollar. The pancakes come for a plastic sack or worse a mix that bites your tongue while the preservatives so common in pancakes become part of the "flavor"component. Thus is the state of affairs of the Denny's. the IHOPs and around here the Perkos. Sure they are clean. The sizes are regulated. They might as well have run them through the banana smelling cleaning fluid they us to clean the bathrooms.
Then lets talk about price. A breakfast should cost not more than 6 bucks. I was watching the food channel... another form of domestic porn.. and they were highlighting a couple of pancakes with a little rocotta cheese in them and a handful of blueberries.. cost 13 dollars.
Try to get out of one of these chain places for under 10 dollars. I just won't happen. I know I could chock it up to inflation. And it does cost more to get the materials to the stores with the cost of fuel.. but 10 bucks for a mini portioned breakfast. Its no wonder that Subway is getting into the market.
Don't think you are getting away cheap if you get a pastry where you get your coffee. You will pay mightily for that privilege. My starbucks charges $1.65 for a single donut. Don't get stuck buying coffee and donuts for your office and not make the extra step to the donut shop. Donuts are 65 cents apiece there. That is pretty outrageous. Back in the day they were 15 cents each.
A couple of places I have discovered in the environs still produce a breakfast of thunderous proportions and charge around 5 to 6.50 per person. That means you can get of the place with change to tip the waitress for under a ten spot.
The Winton cafe in downtown Winton on Walnut is a discovery Linzi and I made. I couple of my friends were raving about it and we took the plunge since we were up their by our favorite strawberry stand. She had Denver omelette with the the pancake and I had the chicken fried steak with the biscuits.. would you like some gravy on that too? You betcha... no charge.
I had the home fries (option green peppers and onions) and she had the hash browns (size of two palms). Coffee kept a coming and was helped out by the owner/chef's 8 year old kids. The interior is nothing to write home about.. a couple of Rock and Roll 45s with photos around them. and you sit on sturdy folding chairs or the benches in the front. We snagged enough leftovers in the a white clam shell for mom to have a meal when we got home.
I little less opulent is the spot at the end of main with the pig in the front. Its been repainted a coke theme and the folks that left because of food handling are back. The old sinks are waiting to be hauled away in the parking lot. It continues to have the best biscuits and gravy short of my place in town. Prices are off of the chains and service is quick and attentive. Its the Barbecue Pit.
Of the two the trip to Winton (about 8 miles) is probably worth it. Both pull off an unsanitized portion control and breakfast the way it used to be and should continue to be.
: ) Pat
Saturday, June 5, 2010
The Evolution of two Retirement parties
Its over, that is true.
With the finality of school and my retirement came the prospect of the end of the year/ retirement celebrations.
Both of my High Schools used last Thursday to do the honors. Both had very different approaches.
At the new school, (15 years old) the party is a mandatory last faculty meeting where the classified are also invited.
In the past its been a huge potluck kind of thing with the FFA supplying the tri tip food, beans, salasa, salad and rolls. They are adept at this and do many meals in the community with just this sort of formula. It also becomes an instant fund raiser for the club. Over the years some faculty members objected to the 5-6 dollar charge for this and still showed up and ate. The faculty club also charges 20 a year to cover sunshine expenses and provide sodas and paper goods to other events throughout the year. There are also two scholarships awarded to students who claim they will be teachers when they finish. Each of these scholarships are $250. It might buy a book or two in today's collegiate environ.
Only 43% of our teachers actually pay their dues
The classified who most do not have this kind of money going into the summer without pay often did not attend because they couldn't. Over the years our faculty club paid this and invited them as guests. This worked out until sub groups of ethnic origin decided that they could do it for less. We had Mexican fiesta, and barbeque pork from the Philippines, Hmong egg rolls. Last year they decided to have it catered again. The restaurant near the school and wonderful all you can eat Mexican place brought in food for a hundred. The coaches and the eaters should have been counted as two or three as the line finished with people that paid money had nothing put crumbs to show for their 5 dollars. This year's started out with "There will be nothing but cake and sodas at this event." Knowing that it is a minimum day and the kids are out at 1pm and the meeting starts at 1:30 faculty members will be starved.
A solution came down that if you wanted a sandwich from the independent sandwich store in Atwater they would take orders and supply a sandwich, a soda and a bag of chips for 5 dollars. It had to be ordered by the Friday before. I ordered one for me and one for Sue. When the day arrived, Sue went with me to my morning classes to help be a scribe for the final. After two classes she was pooped and had to go home. The event started and there was a sandwich for all that ordered one. No one ordered one for the kid that made the video honoring the retireees. I told the principal who was overseeing the distribution that he could have Sue's. He was very relieved. The meeting- party progressed and the retirees were part of a "To Tell the Truth sequence" The audience held up photos supplied at the tables of the retirees that they felt matched to unknown facts. It was really fun and engaging with the audience. Their was a video produced by a student in the school with a faculty member introducing and saying a lot of nice things about the retiree. The principal made the presentation of the flowers and the gifts. Each retiree got a dozen roses/carnation mix in a vase. I also received a very nice watch in the process. Each retiree had a chance to say a few words. I loved the chance to say some nice things about my career with this school. I talked about taking the tour and trying to figure out with the cement forms in place where everything was going.
The older school traditionally has made their retirement fete a picnic. They often would have it at a real estate wealthy teacher's backyard that would accommodate 50-100 people. Those wealthy teachers do not exist in our teaching corp now. They mostly came from the officers that flew the jets in the Viet Nam war and education was their second or third professions. They had houses with an acre around them. The remnants of the that generation left the teaching ranks in the last golden hand shake round about 5 years ago.
This year the retirement party was held in the group section of a local park. This school's tradition goes back many years. The retired teachers are all invited to this park every year. Most of them by their own admission look forward to seeing who is left and to socialize with their friends as well. They hired the FFa to do their catering (see above). It was a much smaller event. About 50 in total arrived. They had a little roast and of the retirees based on a movie theme. In the heyday their were skits and all kinds of wild stuff. A teacher and a student put together some black and white posters with our heads photo-shopped in. A saying was added. I was "shopped" into a Steve Jobs photo holding the first mac laptop. It was a photo of me in 1986 with the big black glasses...the quote was.. "It may be a fairly lengthy adjustment period."
It was a great party. The wood shop with laser carving tools made us each a wonderful wooden paque highlighting our years of service. Each retiree got card and a crisp 100 dollar bill. All 8 of us had a chance to say something. Teachers are seldom at a loss for words.
Friday was the last day of working with students at this district. The students took their finals and I brought them a little snack and something to drink as they worked. The last 30 mins. we opened up the wii and all kids took a swing around the race track with Mario Kart.
33 years doing Speech. 25 years with the High School district doing Speech. It was good run.
: ) Pat
With the finality of school and my retirement came the prospect of the end of the year/ retirement celebrations.
Both of my High Schools used last Thursday to do the honors. Both had very different approaches.
At the new school, (15 years old) the party is a mandatory last faculty meeting where the classified are also invited.
In the past its been a huge potluck kind of thing with the FFA supplying the tri tip food, beans, salasa, salad and rolls. They are adept at this and do many meals in the community with just this sort of formula. It also becomes an instant fund raiser for the club. Over the years some faculty members objected to the 5-6 dollar charge for this and still showed up and ate. The faculty club also charges 20 a year to cover sunshine expenses and provide sodas and paper goods to other events throughout the year. There are also two scholarships awarded to students who claim they will be teachers when they finish. Each of these scholarships are $250. It might buy a book or two in today's collegiate environ.
Only 43% of our teachers actually pay their dues
The classified who most do not have this kind of money going into the summer without pay often did not attend because they couldn't. Over the years our faculty club paid this and invited them as guests. This worked out until sub groups of ethnic origin decided that they could do it for less. We had Mexican fiesta, and barbeque pork from the Philippines, Hmong egg rolls. Last year they decided to have it catered again. The restaurant near the school and wonderful all you can eat Mexican place brought in food for a hundred. The coaches and the eaters should have been counted as two or three as the line finished with people that paid money had nothing put crumbs to show for their 5 dollars. This year's started out with "There will be nothing but cake and sodas at this event." Knowing that it is a minimum day and the kids are out at 1pm and the meeting starts at 1:30 faculty members will be starved.
A solution came down that if you wanted a sandwich from the independent sandwich store in Atwater they would take orders and supply a sandwich, a soda and a bag of chips for 5 dollars. It had to be ordered by the Friday before. I ordered one for me and one for Sue. When the day arrived, Sue went with me to my morning classes to help be a scribe for the final. After two classes she was pooped and had to go home. The event started and there was a sandwich for all that ordered one. No one ordered one for the kid that made the video honoring the retireees. I told the principal who was overseeing the distribution that he could have Sue's. He was very relieved. The meeting- party progressed and the retirees were part of a "To Tell the Truth sequence" The audience held up photos supplied at the tables of the retirees that they felt matched to unknown facts. It was really fun and engaging with the audience. Their was a video produced by a student in the school with a faculty member introducing and saying a lot of nice things about the retiree. The principal made the presentation of the flowers and the gifts. Each retiree got a dozen roses/carnation mix in a vase. I also received a very nice watch in the process. Each retiree had a chance to say a few words. I loved the chance to say some nice things about my career with this school. I talked about taking the tour and trying to figure out with the cement forms in place where everything was going.
The older school traditionally has made their retirement fete a picnic. They often would have it at a real estate wealthy teacher's backyard that would accommodate 50-100 people. Those wealthy teachers do not exist in our teaching corp now. They mostly came from the officers that flew the jets in the Viet Nam war and education was their second or third professions. They had houses with an acre around them. The remnants of the that generation left the teaching ranks in the last golden hand shake round about 5 years ago.
This year the retirement party was held in the group section of a local park. This school's tradition goes back many years. The retired teachers are all invited to this park every year. Most of them by their own admission look forward to seeing who is left and to socialize with their friends as well. They hired the FFa to do their catering (see above). It was a much smaller event. About 50 in total arrived. They had a little roast and of the retirees based on a movie theme. In the heyday their were skits and all kinds of wild stuff. A teacher and a student put together some black and white posters with our heads photo-shopped in. A saying was added. I was "shopped" into a Steve Jobs photo holding the first mac laptop. It was a photo of me in 1986 with the big black glasses...the quote was.. "It may be a fairly lengthy adjustment period."
It was a great party. The wood shop with laser carving tools made us each a wonderful wooden paque highlighting our years of service. Each retiree got card and a crisp 100 dollar bill. All 8 of us had a chance to say something. Teachers are seldom at a loss for words.
Friday was the last day of working with students at this district. The students took their finals and I brought them a little snack and something to drink as they worked. The last 30 mins. we opened up the wii and all kids took a swing around the race track with Mario Kart.
33 years doing Speech. 25 years with the High School district doing Speech. It was good run.
: ) Pat
Thursday, May 27, 2010
UC and Patents
The University of California was awarded the most U.S. patents of any university last year, according to an annual report by the Intellectual Property Owners Association.
In 2009, the 10-campus UC system received 251 patents for discoveries made by its researchers. The patents stem from UC ideas and inventions for products ranging from health care to clean energy. UC now holds 3,617 active U.S. patents.
This was the 17th consecutive year that UC topped all U.S. universities in the IPO's annual report, which is based on data from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
"UC's high number of patents is another measure of UC's research impact," said Steven Beckwith, UC vice president for research and graduate studies. "Winning patents is not our primary goal, and we don't receive a whole lot of income from them. But they are one way to transfer our discoveries into products or services that benefit society."
In the 2009 fiscal year alone, UC research also produced 1,482 new inventions and spawned 47 startup companies. UC inventions have led to the formation of 461 startup companies since 1976, and these companies serve as an important engine for economic growth in California.
In IPO's 2009 report of patents granted, UC ranked 83rd overall, behind only the top U.S. companies. IBM ranked first with 4,887 patents last year.
Among universities, UC was followed by Massachusetts Institute of Technology (ranked 153rd, with 134 patents), the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation, which manages patents for the University of Wisconsin at Madison (173rd, with 115 patents), Stanford University (178th, with 110 patents), the University of Texas (191st, with 98 patents), the California Institute of Technology (198th, with 93 patents), and the University of Illinois (266th, with 65 patents).
Intellectual Property Owners Association, established in 1972, is a trade association for owners of patents, trademarks, copyrights and trade secrets. IPO is the only association in the United States that serves all intellectual property owners in all industries and all fields of technology.
Sunday, May 9, 2010
Hardware Infract
There are two things that you can be sure of in electronics and computers.
One: The piece of hardware will become obsolete. It gets down to the fact that we all must realize, will something new with greater features be worth the trade off to learn the new interface.
Two: The piece of hardware will burn out and will need to be replaced.
This weekend in the middle of the most contentious IEP that I will preside over, the DSL modem burned out.
It sort of fired up and then died a couple of times. I am sure that an autopsy would reveal a faulty power board. There is no shame in its demise. As a bleeding edge adapter to DSL this one is my third. Each time it gets easier to swap out the hardware and replace it with the identical equipment. I looked all over for a CD to plug in the initialize the new piece of hardware.. as it said in the literature.. but no it was an on line like to a download piece of software that hooked me up. I was able to give this new beauty a new password that I could remember and son of gun it worked without a call to New Delhi via ATnT. I saw that my airport extreme was not communicating with the hardware. The software in the mac identified that the ethernet connection was empty. A hookup with with the yellow wire and I was back in business.
The first DSL connection had to have a phone installer.
The second DSL b0x required and hour and 40 minutes with a Mac person at ATnT.
This last one was all handled in the software. I didn't even have to do submask or any of that other gobbly gook.
Life is good.
: ) Pat
One: The piece of hardware will become obsolete. It gets down to the fact that we all must realize, will something new with greater features be worth the trade off to learn the new interface.
Two: The piece of hardware will burn out and will need to be replaced.
This weekend in the middle of the most contentious IEP that I will preside over, the DSL modem burned out.
It sort of fired up and then died a couple of times. I am sure that an autopsy would reveal a faulty power board. There is no shame in its demise. As a bleeding edge adapter to DSL this one is my third. Each time it gets easier to swap out the hardware and replace it with the identical equipment. I looked all over for a CD to plug in the initialize the new piece of hardware.. as it said in the literature.. but no it was an on line like to a download piece of software that hooked me up. I was able to give this new beauty a new password that I could remember and son of gun it worked without a call to New Delhi via ATnT. I saw that my airport extreme was not communicating with the hardware. The software in the mac identified that the ethernet connection was empty. A hookup with with the yellow wire and I was back in business.
The first DSL connection had to have a phone installer.
The second DSL b0x required and hour and 40 minutes with a Mac person at ATnT.
This last one was all handled in the software. I didn't even have to do submask or any of that other gobbly gook.
Life is good.
: ) Pat
Sunday, April 11, 2010
Why Tiger will Survive the Comeback
The Masters, the first "major" tournament of the year is over and Tiger while not publicly playing golf for the last five months, did very well. He finished 4th and had a chance to win it all even to the last 8holes.
The tabloids had cranked up the hype and made sure that everyone was very aware that a disarming inappropriate non golf related media frenzy could ensue.
Not so. Golf reporters do not have much room to ask probing questions even on the best days. Their only questions seem to be "how does it feel?" In sports reporting that is an open question that any answer for any question is appropriate. Do you think that a cagey Stanford grad(such as Tiger) is going to get trapped into revealing something that would more likely show up on Access to Night rather than Sports Center. Nope.
Even good sports reporters from other sports fall into this same trap when confronted with a golf interview. The interview after the event is carefully choreographed so that the 0ldest writers get their questions out in order. Then a few unknowns are allowed. But the tone is decidedly bland and non controversial. The one thing that always amazes me in a golf interview is the memory of the players. They remember and can orally recount a shot they made five years ago on the same course and how many strokes it took. At the 2000 US Open at Pebble Beach Tiger had blown away all the other competitors by a huge number of strokes at the end. Every golfer that was not Tiger was asked how it was to play with such a phenom. When Tiger got the questions he got was did he know that he had blown away the other golfers by so much and how do you think that they felt? Every golfer to a one answered the same way, Golf is an individual sport you do the best you can do. One reporter asked how he would compare the course to how it played three years before. He patiently ripped through his memory and gave a hole by hole account of the differences.
Then one foreign reporter was allowed to ask a question. He was from Malaysia. He identified himself and asked why Tiger didn't play golf in Malaysia as he flew through to do other international tournaments. Tiger diplomatically brushed him off and allowed him to hope.
So back to worries of the general press about the golf press for Tiger and his comeback. No worries. These golf press conferences are carefully staged so that not ill will will occur to the player (he might complain and not come back) or the site (only the Masters in Augusta has permanence for a major tournament every year.)
At the 2000 masters a couple Raider costumed fans for the lower deck decided to come to the Open in Tiger costumes. The management frowned upon this and they were quickly escorted from the driving range and sent packing. Sports camera men from local stations were told they were not welcome at the tournament in blue jeans. They quickly found the nearest Costco and golf style polo shirts and khakis were obtained.
Golf has a problem with crowd enthusiasm. When roars go up in different parts of the course it is a major distraction to other parts. this is a new artifact that cannot be changed. The gate in 2000 was 80 dollars who knows what it will be for the US open this year at Pebble. If you are paying that kind of money you should be able to cheer.
I still think the best sports to see in HD is golf. You never are left behind to wait for the players to walk up to do their thing. Quick they go to another hole and watch the critical moments for the players in the lead. Golf course design is pretty fascinating. Its just not one stadium to look at it runs through the landscape. In 2000 most of the golf sports reporters stayed in the big reporter tent, composing away, watching it on the big screen, seldom venturing on the dream scape the Pebble Beach course provides.
Here I am rambling again.. I guess its your fault if you are still here.
: ) Pat
The tabloids had cranked up the hype and made sure that everyone was very aware that a disarming inappropriate non golf related media frenzy could ensue.
Not so. Golf reporters do not have much room to ask probing questions even on the best days. Their only questions seem to be "how does it feel?" In sports reporting that is an open question that any answer for any question is appropriate. Do you think that a cagey Stanford grad(such as Tiger) is going to get trapped into revealing something that would more likely show up on Access to Night rather than Sports Center. Nope.
Even good sports reporters from other sports fall into this same trap when confronted with a golf interview. The interview after the event is carefully choreographed so that the 0ldest writers get their questions out in order. Then a few unknowns are allowed. But the tone is decidedly bland and non controversial. The one thing that always amazes me in a golf interview is the memory of the players. They remember and can orally recount a shot they made five years ago on the same course and how many strokes it took. At the 2000 US Open at Pebble Beach Tiger had blown away all the other competitors by a huge number of strokes at the end. Every golfer that was not Tiger was asked how it was to play with such a phenom. When Tiger got the questions he got was did he know that he had blown away the other golfers by so much and how do you think that they felt? Every golfer to a one answered the same way, Golf is an individual sport you do the best you can do. One reporter asked how he would compare the course to how it played three years before. He patiently ripped through his memory and gave a hole by hole account of the differences.
Then one foreign reporter was allowed to ask a question. He was from Malaysia. He identified himself and asked why Tiger didn't play golf in Malaysia as he flew through to do other international tournaments. Tiger diplomatically brushed him off and allowed him to hope.
So back to worries of the general press about the golf press for Tiger and his comeback. No worries. These golf press conferences are carefully staged so that not ill will will occur to the player (he might complain and not come back) or the site (only the Masters in Augusta has permanence for a major tournament every year.)
At the 2000 masters a couple Raider costumed fans for the lower deck decided to come to the Open in Tiger costumes. The management frowned upon this and they were quickly escorted from the driving range and sent packing. Sports camera men from local stations were told they were not welcome at the tournament in blue jeans. They quickly found the nearest Costco and golf style polo shirts and khakis were obtained.
Golf has a problem with crowd enthusiasm. When roars go up in different parts of the course it is a major distraction to other parts. this is a new artifact that cannot be changed. The gate in 2000 was 80 dollars who knows what it will be for the US open this year at Pebble. If you are paying that kind of money you should be able to cheer.
I still think the best sports to see in HD is golf. You never are left behind to wait for the players to walk up to do their thing. Quick they go to another hole and watch the critical moments for the players in the lead. Golf course design is pretty fascinating. Its just not one stadium to look at it runs through the landscape. In 2000 most of the golf sports reporters stayed in the big reporter tent, composing away, watching it on the big screen, seldom venturing on the dream scape the Pebble Beach course provides.
Here I am rambling again.. I guess its your fault if you are still here.
: ) Pat
Thursday, April 8, 2010
Amazing Movie Yet Hard to Watch
I checked out the movie 9-11 from Netflicks.
Its a collection of 13 movies each 9 minutes long. Its a reflection of the tragedy from various film producers from all over the world. Each producer/writer wrote made these short movies with a nod to the individual cultures and styles of the region each is very different in message and form.
It is really important to make the effort to turn of the subtitles as few of us speak Afganistan, French, Japanese or Spanish.
Most noteworthy in the collection were the film of my followed director, Alejandro González Iñárritu and American director, Sean Penn.
Alejandro's work is pretty stark. Most of it has a darken screen with stange voices in it. Ocassionally there will be a frame or two of people jumping off the tower, and snippets of news broadcasts from the radio.
Sean Penn's work uses actor Ernest Borgnine as the elderly man who still mourns his wife. Its pretty symbolic as dried flowers suddenly from the glow of the tragedy come to life as a viable bouquet again. Some pretty amazing simple vignettes presented in the same manner.
I made the mistake two times in a row to set this movie up when I was falling asleep. Some of the vignettes are truly without sound and as predicted.. they were lost on me as I went under. I ended up with some pretty weird dreams. Check this movie out when you have enough energy to watch it through.
: ) Pat
Its a collection of 13 movies each 9 minutes long. Its a reflection of the tragedy from various film producers from all over the world. Each producer/writer wrote made these short movies with a nod to the individual cultures and styles of the region each is very different in message and form.
It is really important to make the effort to turn of the subtitles as few of us speak Afganistan, French, Japanese or Spanish.
Most noteworthy in the collection were the film of my followed director, Alejandro González Iñárritu and American director, Sean Penn.
Alejandro's work is pretty stark. Most of it has a darken screen with stange voices in it. Ocassionally there will be a frame or two of people jumping off the tower, and snippets of news broadcasts from the radio.
Sean Penn's work uses actor Ernest Borgnine as the elderly man who still mourns his wife. Its pretty symbolic as dried flowers suddenly from the glow of the tragedy come to life as a viable bouquet again. Some pretty amazing simple vignettes presented in the same manner.
I made the mistake two times in a row to set this movie up when I was falling asleep. Some of the vignettes are truly without sound and as predicted.. they were lost on me as I went under. I ended up with some pretty weird dreams. Check this movie out when you have enough energy to watch it through.
: ) Pat
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