NASA's fiftieth anniversary today!

"Per aspera ad astera."

Through adversity, to the stars.

NASA's motto is apropos to our life's journey, isn't it? We overcome hardship as we reach for our stars. 

I remember as a kid, watching the moon landing.  I wasn't really aware of what what going on. I knew the whole world was tuned into this broadcast, and it gave me a sense of "there must be so much to learn about the universe." 

It was that germ of an idea, from the image of a man walking on the moon, that started me on my lifetime of appreciation of science fact and fiction.  Thank you NASA. 

I spent an hour doing what?

I spent an hour with Photoshop, turning a photo into interweaving strips, as in this tutorial.

http://www.photoshopessentials.com/photo-effects/photo-strips/

My result was pretty darn good. My daughter passes by and casually observed "That looks just like something I can do on PaintShopPro with a button." A BUTTON? No way. Way. She pulled up PSP slapped a photo on the screen, applied a WEAVE filter, and accomplished in thirty seconds what I cobbled together in an hour. 

THWACK, THUNK, THUD.

That's the sound of me smacking my head on the wall and collapsing in a frustrated heap. 

All is not wasted. I learned that Photoshop also had external filters that can be added in. I learned about grids, and a bunch of shortcut keys that I will never use again. 

Subject change. Youtube. I'm having just as much fun learning about Photoshop as I do watching Youtube tutorials about Photoshop techniques. Donny at "yousuckatphotoshop" has a unique way of presenting what ordinarily is tedious "click here, drag this" tutorials wrapped in a wry humorous story about his ex-wife.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=YNfBF2xvhaE

I was engrossed in the tutorials just to hear the patter. And I learned a good many lessons in the process. Isn't that what education should be about? Even if you don't want to learn Photoshop, it's worth the price of admission to hear his comedy routine. I he had a Paypal button, I would contribute. 

Subject change again. Mirrors and Bumps. Two years ago, DH decided to buy a bunch of dirt, which the delivery guys promptly dumped on the lawn. We moved God knows how much dirt (a ton?) by shovel and wheelbarrow,  from point A to point B. Don't ask. After a week of shovelling dirt, I discovered a thick ridge on one side of my back that was not on the other side. That bump was a muscle. Apparently, whilst shoveling, I favored my right over my left arm. 

In my DVD Gil exercise session,  I caught myself in the mirror at a different angle for the first time. I noticed some interesting bumps. All that time I was whining to myself that "I can't do one more rep of this, I give up."  yet continued to do it for one more rep. It paid off in bumps. I have something I never had even in my younger years: I have definite shoulder muscles!

And you know what the dumbest advantage of all this exercise is ...  I discovered that I can braid my hair behind my head, without tiring my triceps. That, and I carrying  heavy trash out to the garbage can without having to hug it next to my body. That is a good thing.  Modern life has no real use for bumps. I know, it builds bone density, and all that good stuff.

Mirrors. I used to think that exercise people were fairly vain to surround themselves with mirrors. For me, the two mirrors allow me not only to hold myself in correct form, but it helps me to dissassociate my self from my body. I don't have the mental focus to move myself, but I can watch that body in the mirror, and force it to do one more rep.

Back to the grindstone. 

Better than sliced bread

More geek talk.

I've been using really archaic tools for site design. Watching everyone power saw their way to building web pages, while I'm sitting here with my piddly hand saw.  It's about time I've joined them. I've been using freebie html composers. Well I get what I paid for it. Nada. 

I just learned to make a template in Dreamweaver.

Thanks to a ten minute Youtube tutorial:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bd5RRCcYXY4 

Big sigh. I wasted all those years struggling with updating nav bars on mulltiple pages,  for nuthin'.  Dreamweaver  and Frontpage had this stuff built in.  One click on the template, and all linked pages are updated. What a beautiful feature ... it's just like watching a sunset. Sniff. 

Idiot's Guide to Design

I've said it before, and I'll say it again: "I do not have a designing bone in my body."

It took me a mere two hours to modify html code, and load up a mock-up site with dummy data. It took me two more hours to struggle with the colors on the stupid, and I mean STUPID-looking menu bar.

Should I use  "gaussian blur", "gradient", "wind" "button" or "blast"? Blast, blast, blast! I never did get it right. And what's gauss got to do with graphics? Why doesn't he stay in electrical fields, where he belongs? 

Eventually the neurotransmitter crossed the great synaptic divide -- I had an idea.  I borrowed the color scheme off of an open- coded website. Not great, but much improved over any of my own  painful attempts.

Let this be a lesson to all you struggling hobby designers. Why invent when you can borrow from freebie sites.

Onward.

Discourse on exercise or "youth is wasted on the young. "
Whilst in the first fifteen minutes of an hour-long session with my DVD coach, Gil, I was thinking, the etymology of the word "exercise" must surely come from the Latin "ex-ciso"(*), meaning, to separate one's brain from the body. This exercise thing is not a logical endeavor.

It is my personal version of medieval self-flagellation. I can't publicly do the cat-o-nine tails thing, so, in its stead,  I choose the socially accept method of exercise.

It's not even that strenuous. It's just tedious. I've been following Gilad Janklowicz's "Cuts and Curves" DVD for six months now.  On alternate days, I try to get  some form of aerobics, whether it's the elliptical,  tabata squats, or serious bash sessions with the punching bag.

I have resigned myself to the fact that I was not built for a "curve", so I'm aiming for a"cut" instead. I like Gil's variety of  using exercise bands, as well as free weights.  I started with both green and red bands, and I just graduated to the blue band for biceps.

I used to follow his Bodies in Motion program in the 80's, and he is consistently encouraging. He shows both proper and improper form,  to work the correct muscles.

My goal used to be to not be out of breath when I run up two flights of stairs, and to move furniture and lift things easily. I've since accomplished that, and raised the bar.  Now  I want to be able to run for some distance without huffing, and to lift my own body weight, or at least do the rock climber's hang (first two-handed, then one).

Back to the self-flagellation bit. I am neither anorexic nor bullimic. I love pizza, chocolate, cheesecake, and french vanilla ice cream too much for  my own good. And I don't even eat that much of it! My body seems  to enjoy those foods so much, it holds onto them for a good long time. I keep telling my scale "muscle weighs more than fat. "

A moment on the lips, leads to much mental anguish, and more punishment on the elliptical.  I have no will to resist my comfort foods.  Rather than alter my diet, I'd rather pay the sweaty sacrifice to the gods of Precor and Nautilus.

Surely, God did not intend for me to eat like a bloomin' rabbit, because he cursed me with taste buds. No matter what you do to salad,  dress it up, blend and mash it and arrange it prettily on the plate, face it, any green leafy vegetable is still a bitter abhorrent grassy fiber. I may as well chomp on printer paper.   

My ideal setup would be to strap a keyboard to the elliptical so I could surf while I paid for my sin of indulgence.  

(*) There is no Latin "ex-ciso". I made that up. Apologies to my dear Latin teacher, Mr. Kizner, who must surely have disowned any memory of the quiet kid in his class.

Restless in New York
Mood:  not sure

It's been seven months already? Boy that calendar just keeps flipping when I'm not looking at it.

I spend way too much time watching the latest nonsense youtube vids, like improveverywhere, charlie the unicorn(?), and old clips of Whose Line.  

Looks like C. is quite busy this summer, with a rerun of "The Atheist" up at the Festival. Good luck to those who are going. I had a gal pal whose daughter is interning there, who mentioned my taking a field trip. I told her, uh.... no more field trips, this go around, or...ever. My focus has faded. Any updates will be even less sporadic.

Moving along, moving on....

Have a great summer guys and dolls.

Eve 

TV marathon headache
Mood:  caffeinated
Now Playing: Josh Groban's Noel

Belatedly, Merry Christmas to all. And in advance, Happy New Year!

I just finished watching a marathon of Adrian Paul's "Tracker" series. For those cave dwelling types, such as myself, Adrian Paul is better known for his Highlander TV series, as the immortal, Duncan MacLeod.

"Tracker" was a series that ran on the Sci-Fi channel around 2000-2001. The premise intrigued me because it reminded me of an old Kyle Maclachlan movie, "The Hidden." I enjoy "fish out of water aliens learning to adapt to human culture" flicks.

In interviews, Paul objected to the series being pigeonholed into the sci-fi genre. Given, it's shown on Sci-Fi stations, it's hard to ignore the sciency-fictiony aspects of the series.  Just as Gene Rodenberry passed his morality plays off as science fiction, Tracker wraps similar messages in many of its episodes. The hyperspeed effect, which Paul self credits, is neat. And something about the way he wields his weapon and liberates life forces during the takedowns, is very cool, indeed. 

There's plenty of eye candy. Two stunning actresses and a star with the build of a... well, an underwear model. In one episode, he's strapped down, and looked much lot like Da Vinci's Vitruvian Man. Paul reminds me of a cross between Tommy Lee Jones, and Sean Connery.  He's multi-lingual, and a bit of a Renaissance man. His background in jazz/ballet dance and martial arts, allows him to  inject plenty of motion into the series. This bloke knows how to move on the dance floor and the alleyway!

What I'm trying to say is, my mind is reeling once more. Videos are forthcoming.  

Now for Companion business.

- I added a link to the first page, to C's newest project with Patty. He plays a principal, and she stars as a schoolteacher. It was filmed in Long Island, NY.

- I toyed with the idea of actually shelling out bucks for the site, to get rid of the annoying advertising, and getting more space. At four bucks a month, it didn't look too bad, but then, the yearly cost, was a bit daunting. $48 a year could be spent on other endeavors (like a shiny box set of Highlander!). Yeah, them pennies hurt when I pinch them.  

Squeeeeal!
Mood:  happy
Now Playing: E.S. Posthumus

Squeeal?

That's the sound of a Josh Groban fan containing excitement at the newest CD release.  And it's full of Christmas songs! Christmas done come early this year. Made a special trip to THE MALL just to buy it on its official release date.

The CD is lounging on my writing desk, in its pristine shrinkwrap, like a box of Godiva chocolates...taunting me. I know if I open it I will not/can not contain myself and want to engorge myself with the whole box, all in one sitting. Take a deep breath. The feeling will pass. 

Back to "now playing". My umhhum birthday just passed, and I received the latest (and only) CD by E.S. Posthumus.

I know, the group's name sounds morbid, but the "E.S" stands for "Experimental Sounds".   The album is "Unearthed", which again, falls into a death theme. But again, a ruse. Each of the songs is named after an ancient city: Pompeii, Ninevah, Ebla, Menouthis,  Nara (which you'll recognize as the theme song for the TV series "Cold Case").  

Genre? I call it movie trailer music, or classical/rock, in the vein of The Trans Siberian Orchestra.  It's been classified as world music or electronica. Primitive, punctuated rhythms, layered orchestral. Give it a taste.

Check out their website:

http://esposthumus.com
 

I just finished another youtube video. I've learned a lot over these past months. Technically, I'm still experimenting, and improving in small steps. To break from my current fixation, I may embark on a C. youtube project, for the fans.  If I hear some show of support, it will encourage me to do so. Otherwise...not! It's your call, kiddies. 

ciao, 

Eve 

Crunchy flakes
Mood:  a-ok
Now Playing: The Inner Light Suite

The Inner Light

That's the flute and piano version, but I'm listening to the orchestral version. What in tarnation is the Inner Light Suite, you may not be asking? The Inner Light, as episodic TV,  is a tearjerker of a tale of a man who, in short,  falls asleep and has a most vivid dream about living a whole other life, experiencing the span of love to marriage to children.  The expanded soundtrack to this episode is poignant, bordering on falling-on-one's-sword morose.  I believe the correct phrase would be "haunting melody."

The series is Star Trek, the Next Generation. The man is Captain Jean Luc Picard. The story is that he gets "attacked" by a sort of space probe, that infuses him with memories of a race long gone. You have to see it, to feel it. This is classic Star Trek. Another aside, the original Ressikan flute that doth touched Picard's own lips,  sold for about 40 grand at Christie's auction. Holy non-functioning blowing instrument, Batman! Them Trekkers got deep pockets! Okay, I may have flute envy. 

The post title:"Crunchy Flakes". I was rereading my entry of 2 September, and thinking, "Well, who tossed nails in her cornflakes that day"? Did I come across as that caustic?  Must have been that darned alternative rock soundtrack.

Enough of salad, onto to the meat. I'm sure most of  you fans are looking forward to C's "The Atheist." If critics are to be believed, it looks to be a winner. To paraphrase Sally Field, "They like him, they really, really like him!"

Sorry, no new developments on the Companion front. I've been alternately woolgathering and working on my Youtube video. It's not as tedious once I acquired the correct toolsets. And I discovered a trick of tweaking memory usage under Moviemaker, which has not only speeded up the load time, but it hasn't frozen up at all, when I added clips and transitions.  

A bunch of MovieMaker tips from Papajohn

Here's the anti-freeze one:

"Control Panel > System > Advanced tab > Performance > Settings > Advanced tab > change Processor scheduling from Programs to Background services, and Memory usage from Programs to System cache. The computer needs to be rebooted to activate these changes."

I am indebted to PapaJohn for all his tips and his sample Transitions. 

The point of this post? Apology for no new updates, and a little view into what's been occupying hobby time.

Who's kidding whom
Mood:  chillin'
Now Playing: Alternative rock

Well, it ain't exactly rock, and it ain't punk. It's alternative. Thanks to the influence of my two teenagers, I am now listening to music I couldn't have imagined I'd be listening to, or even liking. Bands like Snow Patrol, and Red Jumpsuit Apparatus. They're creative, if anything, in the names of their bands. Their music, as it were, is good for road rage driving. Gets the blood pumping. 

Okay, back to business. Who am I kidding? How much of these C. photos am I going to move into albums. It's tedious work,  and I'd like to think I will do it.  I also have a half dozen ideas spinning in my head about music videos I want to make for my latest obsession.  This website, unfortunately isn't at the top of  my priorities.

This begs the question: how qualified is a site designer, to build a hobby fan site, if she is not a real fan? I suppose this is my one small contribution to the world wide net of misinformation. As C. is wont to say, and I'll mangle the phrase, I do it for the scads of money rolling in from web traffic. 

Actually, tweaking the look and behavior of a website is a form of relaxation for me. If someone paid me, it wouldn't be nearly as interesting.