THOMnottom

My site’s been needing a re-design for quite some time. I want to get the gallery back up and integrate areas for projects I’m toying with. So the May 1st Reboot, or more specifically the CSS Reboot, sounded like a good idea. But I was skeptical of putting up a holder page on the 25th and effectively taking my site offline for the week running up to the “reboot.” I mean, how could I not blog for the whole week?

It’s two days after the holder should have gone up, and this is my first post in five days. You do the math…

Boy am I desperate for football news. I’ll jump on anything these days. Thankfully, the draft is this weekend, which finally gives me something real to talk about. Not that I couldn’t gush about the Trotter and Ritchie re-signings or bitch about TO’s headline grabbing ways. But this is when we start to see next year’s rosters shape up.

So tomorrow afternoon it’ll be me, my big ass TV, a six pack of beer, and a little bit o’ Boomer kicking off 2005. If anyone else is bored enough to be interested, feel free to drop by (coverage starts as early as noon – we’ll see at what time Lisa wants to kill me). I might even be writing about the results over at the recently launched Philly Sports Net.

I wish I had followed Buttercup Festival more regularly, before Elliot decided to pull the plug on it. What a wonderfully charming comic he created. But my constant procrastination also led me to never ordering the now sold out books. Even worse, I didn’t even get the t-shirt I absolutely needed – based upon one of the single greatest strips ever drawn.

Of course this is the second time I’ve had to remind myself about this site. Perhaps it’s not the procrastination, but the crummy memory that’s doing me in.

I’ve been meaning to talk about all sorts of TV goodies lately – of the non-AI variety that is. So, where to start? Hmm, I guess I can work my way across my silly attempt at a clever title – uh-oh, that means I start with Stacked! How embarrassing.

Continue reading “Stacked House Development (on a Stick)”

This one should definitely get your inner gamer and/or experimental a capella juices flowing. Check out this performance by a group from the University of Wisconsin (this is in Quicktime (blech) and has sound, of course). Yup, that’s right, total geeky goodness. 🙂

(Thanks to eclecticism)

…to be obsessed with me, it’d probably be her.”

What a great line, and I’d definitely say that it describes Caroline Dhavernas to a “T”. If I wasn’t already convinced that Wonderfalls was the greatest show to never get a chance, that line would surely solidify it. If you didn’t get a chance to catch the few episodes that actually aired, do yourself a favor and fork over the thirty bucks for the DVD set. Trust me.

What if you hated dealing with people? Ok, maybe that’s not a big stretch for most of us… What if you were an underachiever in a very successful family? Hmm, wait, another easy one… Alright, what if random objects started talking to you, telling you to do strange things? Ha, weren’t expecting that one, were you? What if those actions had bizarre consequences that led to helping people in a roundabout, convoluted way, much to your chagrin? We’re talking tying shoelaces together, stealing disability checks, ramming cars, and even breaking International treaties all to get total strangers whom you don’t even like to right their wronged lives.

Yeah, it’s strange. But it makes for a great (albeit short-lived) show with a fantastic cast led by the aforementioned Caroline. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got another episode before Lisa gets home.

…the more money you spend. One of the highlights from Lisa and my trip down to Florida was a stop in The Pro Shop in Delray Beach. What started as an attempt to purchase an inexpensive telephoto lens resulted in a 2 hour discussion with the owner, Art NeJame (pictured here with beard). I can’t even begin to describe how much I learned from that conversation – not just about photography, but also life. Art was not just a great salesman, but a wonderful teacher.

Sure he talked me into the $500 lens, when I was originally looking at something in the $200 range, but there was good reasoning behind it. Even Lisa (who is far more frugal than I) encouraged me to make the buy. And the following day while taking some shots of a Great Blue Heron, some far more experienced photographers confirmed that he purchase was wise. And so did the photos I took!

But along the way he explained the benefits of various lenses and what other accessories I might need. The best comment he made was when he saw that I had the Digital Rebel and he noted that it was an excellent camera and a great unit to start with. He later added that between the stock lens, the 50mm f/1.8 Lisa got in Staten Island, and the 75-300mm IS USM I was picking up, I would be pretty set on lenses for awhile. So the only other major purchases I should look at would be a tripod (Lisa already has two, but he agreed with me that a monopod would be a smart buy), a better camera bag (since I’ve outgrown the original one), and maybe an external flash and a cable release (which will come later).

Looking at the UV filters I had smartly picked up for both lenses, he also recommended getting hoods for them all. They help cut down on excess light and glare and, along with the filters, protect the lens. Unfortunately he didn’t have the one I needed in stock, but now I’ve got all three in my Amazon cart, along with a replacement eyecup since mine managed to be pulled off somewhere. But Amazon’s helpful suggestion has led me to start poking around at all of the various purchases I could make. Now I’m reading about how extenders add better macro capabilities to your current setup and looking up prices on Tamron lenses.

The more I learn about photography, the more I want to buy all of that pretty, shiny equipment, and the more my paycheck dwindles. This time around I’m limiting myself to the more essential purchases. But I fear that has more to do with my desire to physically pick and choose items like a bag or a monopod than my need to conserve funds.

But what can I say, once I get into a hobby and really fall in love, it’s tough for me to hold back.

You lazy SOB! What the hell happened to our “live blogging”? As if you cared! For those who do, please continue to my minor rant…

Continue reading “American Idol – Top Eight”

Of course everybody knows about the glory of Google Maps by now. And even more importantly, you all know about the bitchass satellite view that gives us all freaky cool, Orwellian super powers. I meant to write about all of this. Really, I did. I wanted to mention what a superb job they had done in building a clean interface that actually made me excited to use the Web for directions again. I wanted to point out how easy it was to maneuver around the map and get a better feel for the area to avoid the usual pitfalls of Mapquest, et al. I wanted to praise their implementation of satellite imagery that, long after the gee-whiz effect wears off, will actually be useful in online map usage.

Really, I wanted to say all of that. But I didn’t…

I also wanted to point out the weird “censorship” they’ve done on places like The Capitol Building. Or the really beautiful images you can find of evaporating pools or the Frisco Bay. And of course the funny parodies floating all around. Not to mention the new concept of Memory Maps.

But I didn’t, and you’ve all seen them by now…

So instead I’ll just point out Google Sightseeing – a new blog dedicated to the cool images Google Maps is providing.

Also, Dave Shea talks about how this technology could be used by watchdog groups, and Jeffrey Veen points out how this is a somewhat inverse Orwellian model.

In conclusion (I hate it when people say that) I really want to point out to all of you geek-wannabes that this is not merely people jumping on the Google bandwagon. Yes, this technology has been around for years. Yes, it has been available to the public for years. But it was never this good. Kottke was right – it is about the user experience.

Did you know that “Copacabana” is about a murder and some old showgirl broad going crazy? I’ve heard that song so many freakin’ times, but I really had no clue what the story was about. I think I always just fazed out after the first verse and chorus. I swear I thought Lisa was making words up when she got to the part about the blood and gunshot. But she certainly is a lyric master.

Man, that Barry fellow wrote some messed up lyrics. Next thing you’ll tell me is that he wrote a love song about his dog or something…