Happy Birthday to You

Happy Birthday, honey. We love you.

View at Your Own Risk

We went to see Vantage Point last night. Our esteemed local Inquirer reviewer gave it 3 stars in Friday's paper, so that was pretty encouraging. We were a little skeptical though because we've seen the previews for this film for about a year on and off in the movies. I was thinking that it was so bad the makers had to take it back to editing room for a lot more work before they released it. But 3 stars! That's a good recommendation. Geez, they gave Michael Clayton 3 stars.

The story revolves around a threat to the President of the United States who is speaking at a rally in a Spanish square. Of course that's definitely the best place to put him because the whole square is surrounded by tall buildings and there only seems to be one way in or out. But they have sharpshooters up on the roof, so that's okay. However, the decision is made to substitute a double for the President due to the unrest in Spain and the serious nature of the threats. Now, here's the hook. The President (well, actually the double) is indeed attacked and chaos ensues and the audience gets to see it over and over again. From different "vantage points" --get it? So you watch about 10 or 12 minutes of the action and then the screen goes black and the clock resets to before the attack and you get to watch it again . . . and again . . . and again. By the third time they do this, the audience was chuckling; by the fifth time they were outright guffawing. This raises the question of this being a very effective plot device. The movie wasn't billed as a comedy.

The iPhone and the Sony video cam got great air time though. It's amazing what technology can do these days. Press here to fire.

Special Delivery From Middle Earth

Our challenge this week was "mail." One terrific thing about the challenges is it makes you really look at things you would ordinarily just pass by. I saw this mailbox and immediately thought of Middle Earth and realized Frodo would be getting his mail in a box much like this. Or, just deliver all the Bagginses's mail here.

A Little Valentine Present For You

Happy Valentine's Day to All My Loveys

There is a present for you all above.

This Could Be A "Good Thing"

Well, it's obvious with all the blogs in the world, that the traffic in blog-related gadgets, goodies, freebies, and not-so-freebie things will be growing eponentially. This one looks interesting. You can make a hardback (or softcover) book out of your blog, complete with all the photos, text, hyperlinks, and comments. It looks easy and I may give it a try. Watch the video to see how it works. I can think of all kinds of ways this would enhance your blogging. You could make a book just of your vacation or maybe a hobby. You can pick and choose the posts you want to appear so you group everything together that you have found interesting over, say the past year, and publish a single book about it.

Deere John, You Need A New Tractor

I've been searching for a subject for my photography class challenge for almost two weeks. The topic was "junk" and I couldn't find anything interesting enough to submit. Bill said, "go take a picture of the attic," which was a valid suggestion, but it was too dark up there to get a decent shot. Anyway, as we were out driving the other day, we passed this rusty old tractor. I yelled, "Wait! Stop! Turn around! Go back! Look at all that heavenly rust. Perfect. It was sitting in a field next to a deserted farm market. I guess it's just there for decoration. I sure don't think it'll be much use for spring plowing. Here's a couple of close-ups. Good junk.

Undecided?

Are you still thinking about which candidate you like best? If so, go here and take the quiz to see which one is most in line with your views. It may surprise you. . .or not. At least you will learn a little about where each one stands on the issues.

A New Gadget--Among Other Things

As you can see, I added a new column about books I am currently reading or want to read. It's pretty self-explanatory, but I would just like to say to ignore the "buy now" command attached to each book. There doesn't seem to be a way to opt out of that being included. It does, however, take you to Amazon where you can read reviews. But don't buy all these books. . .get them from the library. I am in the process of trying to weed out some of the books I have bought over the years and it hurts, believe me. As luck would have it, the first box I pulled out of the attic was filled with classics, and I had to go through it and decide which to keep and which to donate. I had a very difficult time. Even books I had never read and didn't remember I owned, stuck to my hands. I guess I saved about half the box. Now where do I put them where I will remember I have them and finally read them? So take some advice from a book hoarder and borrow them from the library. You will thank me years from now.