Just stuff

Wowsers! The Christmas season is here and the year is almost gone. and I'm happy. We just had the best Christmas party ever at 105 Queensbury here is the Creek. What fun! David with assistance from Aimee provided entertainment. Straight (well, almost straight for AK). My sis and her husband were here along with nephew and wifey-mate. Lots of music and food and fun. About 50 personages.

But now is the time for buying and wrapping gifts. Both of these skill somehow elude me. I think that they are probably gender specific. But alas the deeds are semi-done. No wrapping yet. Should I use the Sunday comics again for wrapping paper?

David has gotten me started on playing the guitar again. I have flirted with this idea for over fifty years. But I'm practising again. A Santana I will never be! The weight loss program is still working. Without my muse this would indeed be and impossibility.

self-relaince

Remember when? Like a lot of people in my age bracket I frequently receive e-mails recalling days gone by with the title "REMEMBER WHEN". The nostalgic look at the past is good and we can learn from the past and apply it to tomorrow. Self-reliance seems like one of those old fashioned characteristics that we and our parents had. I haven't seen much reference to it lately. Why? Perhaps there isn't much self-reliance any more. Is there a place for self-reliance in an entitlement society? I don't believe there is one. Could self-reliance replace entitlement? I believe it can. But it must be and individual group effort. Is that a conflict of terms? Yes and no. Let's ask ourselves what is self-reliance. From the dictionary: self-re⋅li⋅ance--reliance on oneself or one's own powers, resources, etc. Would everyone embrace the idea of determining there own future? If each of us take control of our futures, indeed the future of our governing body, then we can obtain self-reliance. It must be and individual decision0n to act collectively to obtain this common good. And that, my friend, would reclaim the freedoms we have lost due to and entitlement mentality. We could rely on our own decision about our future whether tomorrow or for the next generation.

Priorities

There seems to be a lack of priorities in Washington these days. Congress and the President are busy hyping their Health Care Plan. Is that where the government's priority should be at this point in time? I hardly think so. The first priority should be the economy. Putting people back to work. We hear much of the Government's stimulus plan, but where are the results? The government reports jobs created or saved, but who can count them? The unemployment rate continues to increase. The government seems to think that the only to solve a problem is to throw money at it. Money, I might add, it doesn't have. When the government creates a job, it is another job on the government payroll. Jobs without a profit incentive are inherently inefficient. The kind of jobs that are needed produce goods and services. Private sector jobs do this, government jobs do not. The new health care plan if passed is to be a private company owned and operated by the government. The government has proven that it cannot operate a business. Just look at the example of the United States Postal Service and Amtrack. The continuous increase in unemployment benefits will continue to fuel unemployment rate to some degree. I assure you that currently there are people being coached on how to receive the maximum amount of benefits with the minimum amount of effort. Lifestyles are being downsized to live on this additional government "benefit" not only for the short term but forever. The government reason for not addressing this problem must be that the problem is either too difficult to solve or that unpopular measures are needed to solve the problem. By concentrating on health care, real problems such as the economy are not addressed. Indeed, where should the priorities be?

Lately

I have been busy with my political things. Designing printed pieces and building websites. Also there is the ongoing project of meeting and greeting people and telling them what I'm all about. I think I have been successful thus far. June seems to be such a long way off. I'm working on e-mail blast now. I must say that all of the people. I've met thus far seem to have been supportive. I must design some counter cards for a local doctor's office.

and then there are other things...

Blogging is suffering here. Recently I have become a candidate for Berkeley County Council and all my energies are in campaigning. My posts here will be less frequent.

Volunteerism="other oriented"

Just the other day I received an interesting Facebook e-mail from my friend Jim on the left coast. Jim is career volunteer. Oh, I don't mean that is all the Jim does. Like the rest of us Jim has a regular job and does the household chores as well. But Jim always to find a way to volunteer for something. Jim volunteers for those projects that help people. Whether it's working in a community garden helping inner city kids with art projects, Jim is there. His Facebook page is continuously recruiting volunteers. In fact Jim was honored by the city of San Diego for his efforts. Although Jim and I are political opposites we agree on the value of helping others. Actually, I believe you can't recognize your full potential as a person unless you help others. Orient yourself to the needs of other people. Become other oriented!

So...What about it?

I often hear people complain about our government. Along with their complaining I frequently hear them say they can't do anything about it. And that is not true. Every one who is qualified can vote. But then they complain that it won't make any difference. Every vote counts! I am not defending the government, heaven knows it does many things of which I do not agree with. As an American citizen I have the right to institute change. How do I do this? I must work and vote for the candidates that best represent what I believe the government should be and do. We cannot sit back and let some other citizens elect whom they wish and then complain if we did not attempt to elect candidates that be represented our opinions and views. There is another alternative. Compete for public office your self. That's what I am going to do. I'm announcing my candidacy for Berkeley County Council representing District 5.

What's All The Fuss About?

In the last few days there has been a great deal of controversy about the President's addressing the school kids. Why? At a recent Republican breakfast the superintendant of the local school system was grilled about how the school system would handle the president's speech. He said that parents would be given the option whether their children would watch chief executive's address or not. Is paranoia sweeping the country? I think it is a good thing for the most powerful man in the free world to take a few minutes to address the future of our country. Would the president embed some radical idea in those young minds? Could we not let our classroom teachers make the decision of what the children see? The rest of the year we let them determine what little Johnny and Janie learn. I think that the simple truth is that a vast number of Americans no longer trust their president. I know some will say that he is not their president. But in fact, whether we voted for him or not, he is our president. This should be a learning experience for our president. He must be accountable to us, the citizens of this great country and that his power comes from us. He has the opportunity to be a great president, but that can only happen with the approval of the people.

What am I today?

Recently in the media the current administration has been calling me names. I remember when I was a kid sometimes other kids would make fun of me. I wore glasses and they called me "four eyes". I could usually answer all the teacher's questions , she called on me a lot and I got the name "teachers pet". Like many Americans I have taken a great interest in how my country is being run. I try to let my feelings be known by writing my elected officials and attending "Tea Parties" and other patriotic meetings. My political beliefs are conservative because I believe that is what the Constitution is all about. It, the federal government, should be "for the people, by the people". However, when I support these ideals, I'm called a "a right wing extremist" and more recently a "right wing terrorist". It could be said that there is nothing wrong with extremism in defense of liberty. But, a terrorists! Terrorists blow up buildings and fly airplanes into skyscrapers. I don't do that! And now, since I am a member of the Republican Party, a high level government official calls me an A****le. By the way, my tax dollars help pay the salaries of the folks doing the name calling. Your taxes too. Could we stop payment? Is our current administration so desperate that it resorts to name-calling? I think so. When the government forgets whom it serves there will be resistance by the unserved. And may it grow to facilitate change to a government "for the people, by the people".

The names I am called may change but what I believe will never change. What I believe begins with: "We the people...".

Do They Know Who You Are?

In today's political climate the average folks often ask the title question. Do they(they being elected officials) know who I am? Unfortunately, probably not. Until recently the "unknown majority" was not quite so vocal and the word accountable did not exist in many politician's dictionary. It was simple: People voted, the elected took office, and did exactly what they wanted to do. Such was representative government as we knew it. Maybe this would have continued if we had not elected a new president with very different ideas about things and the country suffered a financial collapse The "unknown majority" isn't quite so unknown any more. The vocal protest, in most cases, has made known the feelings of thousands of formerly silent Americans heard. They are demanding accountability from their elected officials. "Tea Parties" are being held. The name based on the 1776 protests of "taxation without representation". The elected have answered by holding "town hall" meetings. I believe the this intercourse between the government and the people is a very healthy thing. Modern media plays a big part in this as well. The many cable channels carry different points of view and a plethora of websites and blogs carry alternative ideas on issues at the forefront of the meetings. The ease at which the average person can broadcast their ideas via blogs ,websites, andvideo sharing networks allows many people to be heard the first time by others. The voices of the voters via meeting or media is changing the current political environment. They, the government, will know who you are!

Ode to the Sweet Potato

I've just finished dinner, London broil with sauteed mushrooms and baked potato. It was accompanied by a cabernet sauvignon we had picked up in White Oak Vineyard in Napa. However, the peace de resistance was desert, homemade sweet potato pie. Like in the Randy Owen song, "Song, song of the South, Sweet potato pie and a shut my mouth..." The wedge had an old golden color to it somewhat like burnt sienna. Slightly warm with a flaky crust and a dollop of whipped cream. It was the food of gods. We had bought the potatoes at Cook's Produce stand in Edgefield, South Carolina. The recipe was my mother's. The texture was a course but creamy. The native sweetness of the tuber enhanced slightly by the spices of the Orient. So quickly it was gone. No crumbs were left. But in the middle of the saucer was one lonely tear. When the last bite of this undeniable icon of southern cuisine is gone it is, indeed, a time for sadness and morning.

NO SUCH THING

"An ambitious story that scorns sensational journalism. Beatrice (Sarah Polley) is a naïve reporter sent to find out what happened to a camera crew that disappeared in Iceland. Instead, her focus turns to a depressed and suicidal monster she encounters there. She promises to help the monster but instead feeds him to the hungry international media. The first-rate cast includes Helen Mirren and Julie Christie." says Netflix.

We thoroughly enjoyed this movie. Although the premise is sort of hokey. I mean a monster in Iceland? Get real! The performances really make this movie. Dame Mirren is right on. But then that is not a surprise. The music is good as well. But most of the monsters I've seen in movies did not have X-rated dialogue. But all this adds up to a thoroughly entertaining movie. This is one of the best of the fantasy/science fiction films.

Grape Stompin'

Yesterday, we went to a grape stompin' at Irvin House Vineyards on Wardmalaw Island. It was the first grape stomp for either of us. Traditionally, harvested grapes were placed in a huge wooden vat and the harvesters would stomp on them to remove the juice from the ripened grapes. Part of the process of making wine. This Carolina vineyard only cultivates native American grapes and from it create their five varieties of wine. The Grape Stompin' celebrates the grape harvest and is a family event with grapes being stomped in half wooden barrels with live music, arts and crafts sales, barbecue, games and, of course, wine. We found it enjoyable and reconnected with some folks we hadn't seen in awhile. We would have enjoyed it more had we brought some chairs and some friends to have shared the joy with.

Whew!

The last few have wiped me out. I've been working on a special project of mine and it's been energy intensive. It's required a lot of research on line and a number of face time meetings with some other people. I've been learning to use Google Docs. And have been investigating starting a facebook group.

Gotta love it

This kind of blows my mind. Is this a mash up or what? Sometimes the creativity just blows you away in it's universality!

Just a blog

Today was one of those days that was good although nothing exciting happened. But what is exciting anyway? Nothing of creatively happened although I did watch a Disney/Pixar film on TV. There was a very good show on this a.m., The Rise of the Video Game. It traced the games from their humble beginnings of games such as "Pong", to the multi player games of today. Not only the graphics and technology but how the games reflect our society. Role playing with avatars in virtual reality environments are almost spooky. It is easy to see how a person could get the two confused. What is real and what is not. It begs to answer Plato's question about the shadow of the lion on the cave wall.

Which was real?

Enough of this heavy stuff! We spent most of the day at the lake with church friends. We had fun and overate of the hamburgers, hot dogs, and chicken sandwiches. After returning home I tried my hand at veggie burgers. A combination of chick peas, potatoes, breadcrumbs and various made a presentable pattie. I browned 'em up in a skillet before serving 'em up on a bun. They were surprisingly good. I was testing the recipe for a camping menu.

This is a link to one of our favorite San Diego resturants. http://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&aq=1h&oq=&ie=UTF-8&rlz=1T4ADBR_enUS277US277&q=hash+house+san+diego

Dillinger

This is a great gangster film. I liked it very much although the 1973 movie Dillinger starring Warren Oates was good, let's face it , although Oates may have looked more like the real Dillinger there is no mistaking Johnny Depp's adding something to the role. Besides, Depp's brooding look adds so much to the character. I liked the music to this one, it wasn't some banjo picking of some '30's vintage jazz.

I like the gangster films. I guess it's the rat-tat-tat of tommy guns and the "high-speed" car chases. I thought there was a serious flaw in this one . I remembered that Dillinger was betrayed by "the woman in red", but noticed the "the woman" in this movie wore an orange dress. Further research shows that the movie was historically correct and "the woman" wore an orange dress. However, the lights of the the theater made the dress appear red to the FBI agents in the ambush. Another interesting fact was that Purvis had a problem lighting his cigar as a signal to the other agents to ambush Dillinger but they recognised his attempts as the signal which allowed them to surprise Dillinger and successfully shoot him in the back.

As an aside, I'm amazed at how easily the gangsters and G-men handle the tommy guns. I picked up one of these, Thompson sub-machine guns, the other day and found that it weighed about ten pounds without the drum magazine.

Notes on the FBI's list of public enemies of this era:

* John Dillinger was killed and not captured.

* Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow were killed and not captured.

* Baby-faced Nelson was killed and not captured.

* Machine gun Kelly was the only notable public enemy that was captured rather than killed. he died in prison of natural causes.

Video Doodling

I am continually working on ways to make my video stuff more interesting. I am currently working on a short piece concerning my great-grandfather's service in the American Civil War. i doing so i had to find a way to animate maps to illustrate his travels. By the use of the transition features of the Ulead Video Studio program I was able to do this. however in order tho perfect this task, experiments were necessary. There for the results of my experiments are shown here. The term" video doodling" comes to mind. The images and effects have no significance but did induce a certain amount of humor.

Bang! Bang!

We jumped at the sound of automatic weapon fire. The sound echoed off the cement block walls and after the burst the clink of spent cartridges falling on the concrete floor. There was a heavy smell of cordite in the air. And it smelled good! I sent Claudette to see the girl behind the counter for some hearing protection because my ears were ringing. The earplugs used for rock concerts didn't come close to doing the job. When safe inside the earmuffs I filled the cylinder of the revolver with .32 caliber Smith and Wesson long cartridges. Taking careful aim at the silhouette target down range I squeezed off three shots. . Then Claudette had the opportunity to further ventilate the target. With a flip of the toggle switch on my left the target comes to us on a device similar to clothesline apparatus. Upon care observation we found that all bullets had perforated the torso of the target. This lead us to believe that we could have stopped and intruder during a attempted home invasion.

Fishing and so on...

It has been good week. Several good movies watched, daily gym trips, and the Wednesday morning apple fritter breakfast with friends. Did I mention fishing? This week I think we went 3 times to our neighborhood lake. Some days we were lucky and some days we weren't. One thing of interest though, alligators. When the gators are close I keep one eye on the bobber and one on the alligator!
I finished the Shutterfly picture book for Mama. It took a little while but I think it came out good. I had a coupon from Delta Airlines for a free 20 page book. all I had to pay was the shipping.
I won my auction on Ebay for a deHavilland DH-3 Otter model airplane kit. I will construct it as a turbo Otter like the one we flew on in the Misty Fjords of Alaska. And speaking of Alaska, I spoke with David this week and he is doing well. Making music and making beer! He has also caught a lot of salmon that he is processing for the winter food supply.

Paper vs. Pixels

I recently watched two films via DVD based on comic books, Ghostrider and Electra. Although they were beautifully done, they seemed to be missing something. What was it? I don't know but I think it has to do with the imagination. We all know that story telling, especially in print, feeds the imagination. When we read those words in print we interpret them into visual images. When you first read Tom Clancy, did Jack Ryan look like Harrison Ford? Probably not. I think that the same is true when making the transition form comic book or graphic novel to movie. Regardless of how the artist has depicted the events, the images remain static. For that reason the movies take away that bit of the imagination used to animate. And , besides, you miss the great pictorial layouts in film.

By the way I liked both movies, but the comics appeal more to me.

The drawing below was done during vewing the films....

Just a Building

I've just finished reading these two books. I first read Ken Follett's The Pillars of the Earth and found it fascinating. Although the excess of 900 pages almost did me in. I'm not a very patient guy. I applaud the writer for keeping my interest. Pillars is about the construction of a cathedral during the Middle Ages and the people involved in that monumental endeavour. Although the writer offers much architectural detail there are some gaps that must be filled in by the imagination. Enter David Macauley. His book, Cathedral, fills in the blanks with beautiful drawings. I was familiar with Macauley's work from a previous book.

I had recently visited cathedrals in the British isles which piqued my interest.

Recent films watched, DVD and otherwise:

Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince

Hostel

Cannery Row

Jacket

Gotta Play

Now there was a little time to play. I wanted to throw some of my favorite images into a mix with a little animation. Of course there's Marilyn and me. The premier issue of Vampirella cover by Frank Frazetta. There is something about fish I like for moving objects. The use of found images...it sounds almost ecological. I used Photoshop and Ulead for software.

...it's good to be back home again

Somehow those words from the John Denver song seemed to fit this post. We had left the Creek on Friday for some R and R. Retired people need R & R too! We visited some friends in the Greenville area. We ate at some new restaurants and I got the sights fixed on the cowboy gun.

Our real goal was the campground at Table Rock State Park in Pickens county. The temperature was in the 80's when we checked in on Sunday afternoon. There weren't many campers and we discovered that we had forgotten the tent. We rigged the dining fly for shelter. We got camp set up and I cooked some brats for supper. My camping partner is a fishing fanatic so we went fishing. But we caught only bug bites. The best thing about fishing was the great panoramic view of Table Rock reflected in the lake.We kicked back by the campsite to catch up on some reading. I was reading Ken Follett's Pillars of the Earth and Claudette was reading the latest Jason Bourne novel.

The next morning it was bacon and eggs for breakfast, a menu that would be repeated. We fished some more and it rained in the afternoon and there was a thunderstorm that night. It was real relaxing as we read , played Scrabble and gin rummy. Of course there was a campfire for roasting marshmallows. One day we went out for lunch to Aunt Sue's on Highway 11. Near the restaurant is Victoria Valley Winery. We did the wine tasting thing and bought a couple of bottles.

We met a friend in Greenwood for lunch and then on to Mom's in Bradley before going on the Athens to visit Claudette's daughter. We visited Dahlonega, the gold capital of Georgia. It's a real tourist's trap but was fun and we enjoyed some home grown music while there. That night In Athens' Forty Watt Club we saw Better Than Ezra perform. It was a great show. Sunday after lunch we came home and it looked good!

Cross training

Recently, I've cut back the number of paintings I've been doing and worked on other creative stuff. Also, we've been doing a bit traveling as well. Frequently, I do a bit of sketching while traveling and maybe some small watercolors. But there is one thing I always do. I take a lot of photographs. Although the premise is usually a "reference " photo, as in reference material for a painting. So, I have a lot of photos which are never used as reference. But invariably while viewing some of the reference photos I would see subjects that I thought could have been better photographed. I'm not a photographer, but a fairly good weekend painter. So, I'm thinking that I can use some picture making principles and photo editing software to improve the pix. Look at these photos. The one of the left is the original and the other is the edited version. This what I changed using Photoshop. I thought the dancing girl was the center of interest.

• I cropped the photo to put the center of interest, the girls face, in upper 1/3 of the left side.





• I gave her a darker value.





• I lightened, reduced the value of the foreground.





• I blurred everything except the center of interest.

P-s-s-t, pass the popcorn!

Just recently watched some good and one not-so-good films. From bad to good.

• My New Gun (2002) R When Gerald Bender (Stephen Collins) buys his dutiful wife, Debbie (Diane Lane), a gun for her protection, she hesitantly accepts the gift, but has no idea how much trouble it's about to cause. Gerald's plan to protect his wife fails when their handsome but zany neighbor Skippy (James LeGros) swipes the weapon. Before long, chaos ensues as strange people start showing up without warning and bullets begin to fly. (from Netflix) This movie never seems to get going. There is the lacking of a plot, although movies don't necessarily need a plot, they need something to keep the viewer interested. We don't even have dazzling special effects to keep us entertained. The laughs aren't there either.
• Lost in Translation(2003) R Set in Tokyo, this subtle, nuanced film played Bill Murray against type and earned director Sofia Coppola an Original Screenplay Oscar. Two lost souls -- the young, neglected wife (Scarlett Johansson) of a photographer and a washed-up movie star (Murray, in an Oscar-nominated performance) shooting a TV commercial --find an odd solace and pensive freedom to be real in each other's company and away from their lives in America. (from Netflix) This is a character piece. At some point you think maybe writer/director Sofia Coppola is day-dreaming. I felt that the characters could have been developed a little better. However, the story of ships that pass in the night is well told. The location shots were great as well as how modern Japanese culture was depicted.
• Body Heat(1981) R In a sizzling-hot Florida coastal town, attorney Ned Racine (William Hurt) becomes involved with the sultry Matty Walker (Kathleen Turner) -- and schemes a way to get her wealthy, much-older husband (Richard Crenna) out of the picture. Ned's knowledge of legal matters may enable both conspirators to escape scot-free -- and Matty is craftier than anyone ever dreamed. Lawrence Kasdan directs this throwback to the early days of film noir. Ted Danson and Mickey Rourke co-star. (from Netflix) I had not seen this hot drama from the 80's. I was good to see Hurt with hair. I really liked this movie--I'm a sucker for a surprise ending. I think I'm losing my taste for sex and violence. ...maybe not!
• Moonlight Mile(2002) PG-13 Moonlight Mile is the story of a young man (Jake Gyllenhaal) who's taken in by the mother (Susan Sarandon) and father (Dustin Hoffman) of his recently deceased fiancée, as he's the only living connection to their daughter. Even as they're all still grieving, Gyllenhaal begins to fall in love with a woman (Ellen Pompeo) whose boyfriend has gone missing. But will Gyllenhaal's former in-laws-to-be accept the new girlfriend? (from Netflix) I really liked this character piece. There are some great subtle effects such as using the seasons in parallel with the story. And extremely well dome film with a great cast. This is a relationship film for everyone.

Continueing...

Pursuant to yesterday's thoughts of the decline of America, I thought it would be a good time to consider succession again. But what to name our republic? I took a note of the folks in the Florida Keys. They wanted to call their country the "Conch Republic". I would suggest the new republic the "Donut Republic". This is partly to insure adequate law enforcement for the lack of laws. Or maybe all this verbal garbage is just an excuse to design a flag.

Where will it end?

Recently I met a man who worked on Wall Street. He is a fourteen year veteran of one of the biggest firms receiving bale-out money from the government. Although he is thankful to still have a job he is critical of some of the corporations operating procedures. For instance, his boss, a lady, still receives fresh flowers for her desk daily. If he has an appointment over two blocks from the office there is a car service to transport him there. Isn't it good to know that our tax dollars are still delivering the flowers and providing limo service?

Once upon a time

I don't have much to blog about today. Yesterday we visited the Hunterdon Museum of Art and saw some interesting stuff. The work by Marion Held was very interesting. A lot of her pieces were organic in nature whether two of three dimensional.The upstairs gallery was of student print work. Quite a bit of originality here. One piece was a video. It was composed of photos as well as line art. Since I have been investigating this media I found this most interesting. I have video effects that I think would have improved it. The art used in the piece were on display nearby. I'm not sure this contributed to the piece except in "this is how I did it" note.
Museums to me are always learning experiences. I don't use the word educational because it doesn't mean the same to me.

Look Ma, no camera!

Sometimes I just can't help myself. I burn a lot of DVDs just as experiments. You don't know exactly how something is going to look on the big screen TV until you play the DVD. Anyway, I don't like to trash anything, I mean, we make collages from scraps of paper. Right? So, what do you do with discarded DVDs? I've painted on some of them. Painted on them. Cut them up and reassembled them. Tried to thermoform them. And nuked them.

This photo comes form the last. I placed the DVD in the microwave oven and hit the start button. There was a flash of light and some smoke was generated as well as sparks like miniature lightning bolts. All of this happened in the length of tome it takes to move your finger from the start button to the stop button.

I scanned the DVD into Photoshop and then, with a minor stroke of genius, I scanned my hand.
Then I combined the images,clicked auto adjustments to the image, cropped and fine!

Scanning my hand introduced me to a whole new method of image creation!

AND no camera was used!!!!!!

Whew!

I'm happy this slideshow is finished. Life is so much simpler without cammentary. It is enough of a problem to get the narration synchronised with the images but there is more. The volume must be at the proper level and equalised, plus all pops, cracks, and misspeaks must be removed. The volume levels of the commentary vs. the background music must be adjusted. I never seem to get it (the final product) just right.

But, of course, now I will be starting a new project. I want to animate one of my sketchbook pages. Animate may be the wrong word. Perhaps, explore a page via the medium of video would be more descriptive .

I enjoy mixing mediums.

Ain't this some kinda creative stuff?

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Mixing it up

I often draw things from my imagination. There is no such structure such as the one in this drawing. Although I was watching a movie in which some men with hang gliders attacked a temple in the Himalayas. The fortress is simply from my imagination, but based on medieval fortresses.

Once I had drawn it, I visualised a stormy night. Enter video. I scanned the drawing into Photoshop and cropped it and increased the contrast. Then I imported it into Ulead Videostudio 9. First I duplicated the frame and with the color control I darkened it. By using the cross-fade transition and adjusting the length of each frame on the screen I created the effect of oncoming and subsequent darkness.

I used three different "lightning" video filters randomly. I also added two "rain" filters. I searched the Internet for the thunder and rain sound effects and used three "thunders" and two "rains". I mixed these effects on Audacity before adding them to the sound track in Ulead.

Lastly I added the music which was some royalty-free stuff I had laying around.

I think it came out OK. What about you?

Concerns

Most of the time I don't mention politics or the current state of affairs in our beloved country but now I feel helpless! What has happened to us? A once proud nation is now experiencing an economic decline. A number of years ago economists forecast the change to a service economy. Well we are certainly getting there. Instead in leading the world in manufacturing goods, we can look forward to leading the world to providing services. Or to say it another way: experts at operating the drive-through windows. Look around you today. How many people do you know who are involved in making a tangible product? I would venture to say that most of your friends are in some form of service industry. Whether it is banking or health care or lawn service they are not creating products. Why is this a bad thing? Real wealth is in the tangible. Would you rather have a new sports car or a promissory note for one? The note is easily destroyed and has no utility. But the car is real and has utility. Why is this happening? I think it is because we have become a society of the "entitled". People seem to think they are entitled to a certain life-style whether they have worked to obtain it or not. Success, if measured by a certain life-style, is not achieved by hard work but simply by "being". If you feel entitled there is no reason to learn a skill to obtain a better job. Therefore, we have become less educated and less capable of difficult tasks. The majority of candidates for advanced degrees in our institutions of higher education are now foreigners. If this trend is not reversed we will continue our slide to the bottom of the industrial nations list. And we, the European immigrants of the past seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries, who made this country great will be operating the drive-through windows at McDonalds serving the customers of Asian ancestry.

Vacation Flix

Sometime good things happen.

I have carried and used a sketchbook for many years and our trip to the British Isles was no different. I have never, NEVER, in over forty years of carrying a sketchbook lost one. But ,alas, with the advancing of age things happen. While visiting the Ironbridge in England I lost, a.k.a. misplaced, my sketchbook. It was not a new book bought for the trip but a book with drawings and notes from trips to Alaska and the Dominican Republic and other assorted and sundry drawings. I first noticed the 6 x 9 inch spiral bound book missing about half-way across the Irish Sea. I needed entertainment and did not like the movie on the ferry. Sketchbooks are more than just a place for drawings. they are repositories of visual data and words of thoughts. Indeed a visual record of my life. Needless to say that the search for a new book was of top priority upon docking in Dublin. We enjoyed watching the street musicians and found a local ATM for we needed Euros. And then a pub for some food before shopping for a new sketchbook. I bought a Moleskine book, my first, but it's more for drawing and writing the painting, I think.

Lest I forget, an unknown friend found my book and mailed it home to me!

Gee, it's good to be back home again...

We're home from our visit to the United Kingdom and Ireland. It was great. We put over 2500 miles on our rental car. Needless to say we didn't stay any one place very long. We spent two nights in each London and Edinbrugh but every where else was a one night stay. We used public transportation in both those cities extensively. We stayed at B & B's so we ate breakfast there and pub food for dinner. We usually had bread, cheese and fruit for lunch. We saw many great things and met many great people.

A few highlights would be seeing a rainbow over the walled city, Derry, above and sunset over the harbor in Oban, Scotland. Once while driving a lonely road in the highlands of Scotland a Royal Air Force plane tipped it's wings to us. The silence the crowd of tourists as they paid their respects to the war dead at a memorial to the Royal Marines on a mountain top in Scotland. The quiet reverence of the tourist crowd in Durham's Cathedral as bread and wine were served. People have worshipped on that spot since 1093 A. D. New-born lambs were playing nearby when we visited Hadrian's Wall. Soft-serve custard ice cream on the way the seeing Romeo and Juliette at the Globe was a delight!

It is a wonderful world.

Whew!

Just a quick entry. I've been busy working on a video about the military career of my great-grandfather, a Civil War veteran. But I did have the opportunity to paint with some friends for a few hours. "Sabine" is the results. I've painted landscapes for quite awhile and needed something more frivolous to paint. She fills the requirement. She has watched the fish in the fishbowl long enough, she's now becoming Pro-Active! Her name comes from the female character in the book, "Griffin and Sabine" by Nick Bantock. Every artist should read it.

untitled

I am working diligently to create DVDs. These are mashups of web content and personal artwork.

Urgh!

I have been working on a video of our Alaskan vacation. What started out to be as a simple project has continued to consume time. At first I would only use stills in a slide show. But then the question arose about what was I going to do with the video i had shot. Admittedly the quality was no too god having used a $100 video camera. BUT the images did move.!
So I used video. I cut and trimmed to the limit of the software. My software will accept only a given number of cuts before the image gets "jumpy". There, I was left with less than a quality video track. Now I am involved with the audio track. At first we recorded our comments to the video track while watching it. In certain cases I wanted to use the sound on the original video track and mix my recorded audio with it giving the commentary the background sound of the "event" sound. I wanted to hear Claudette's comments on the native dancing while hearing the dancers and musicians. So. today I', working on audio levels and adding the background music.

And it's the TRUTH!

Why not? Recently we went fishing in the neighborhood. Claudette caught some shellcrackers but I only caught a cold. I have never been that good of a fisherman. I took my little brother fishing once. i guess he was about ten of twelve. I outfitted him with a Zebco 202 spinning tackle outfit and a weedless hook with a plastic worm. He didn't catch but one fish. But that fish melted down the plastic gears in the 202 and we landed the fish by pulling it in by grabbing the line. We were at a farm pond. i don't know what the large mouth bass weighed but when he put it in his bicycle basket to show it off in the neighborhood it overhung the sides. I cleaned the fish for cooking. I had to fight off the family cat and almost never cut through the backbone. (It was as big as my thumb!) That may have been the last time we went fishing together. And I don't know if he's been fishing since.

Listening matter:

• Dwight Yoakam
• Cracker
• Jimmy Buffett
• Sarah Brightman

Sweatman's

There's something about going to Sweatman's Barbeque I like. It's that true down home feeling you get when you walk into the front hall of this renovated farm house. It was like I expected to hear a favorite aunt or uncle telling me to "lite and come in" and "take off my shoes and stay awhile". The wall are sort of dark with old pictures and antique looking furniture. And then things change when you see the girl in the t-shirt at the cash register. The menu and prices are on the wall. $9.35 for all you can eat of b-b-q with all the fixin's. Throw in an extra $.71 for homemade banana pudding The pulled pork and ribs are very good with a variety of sauces. The banana pudding is to die for. So, if you got a hunger for real good barbecue served in an early twentieth century rural atmosphere take highway 176 west out of Charleston and turn right on 435 in Holly Hill and stop by Sweatman's. Oh, yes. Don't come on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, or Friday because they're closed then.

Current listening matter:

• Andrea Bocelli
• LeRoy Parnell
• Levon Helm
• Danielle Howle

007

Yesterday, I watched three James Bond movies back to back. And that was good. It had been a while since I had seen the original 007 in action. Call me a purist, but Sean Connery is the true James Bond. Dr. Mo, From Russia With Love, and Thunderball. It brought back memories when I first saw Dr. No. The buzzwords among me and my buds were "license to kill". Wow! The Bond movies were the summation of a young man's fancy. Danger, excitement, fast cars and beautiful women. They may look hokey now but at their point in time they were fantastic! Who knew that a martini could be either shaken or stirred? Seeing an old Bond is like revisiting youth. And it's sweet. Very sweet.

My sketch book was in hand and I made a few sketches during Thunderball".

movie for a rainy day

I guess it could be a good movie for any day. I'm speaking of the sci-fi pic Next. I'm not a big Nick Cage fan but this story carries him along. He plays a magician with a talent for seeing into the future for about two minutes. Julianne Moore one of my favorite readheads, plays the tough FBI agent who wants to use Cage's talents to thwart a nuclear attack. And then there is Jessica Biel. She's just hot! She seems to have changed a lot since her preacher's daughter role on television.It's a good film with good visual effects and a good action story.

Todays Music

• Pink
• CVB
• Tobey Kieth

Car Show

It's been along time since I've seen a exhibit of drag racing cars. Most of the cars at this show at the local K-Mart parking lot were drag racing cars. The sanctioning body was the Southern Drag Racing Association. The SDRA set the rules for competing as well specifications for the cars. I was surprised to find that none of the cars were fuel injected, four barrel carburetors were common. NOX was used on almost everything. I talked with a guy that raced a Baretta. It had a small block Chevy engine and turned 148 mph in the eighth mile. That's haulin' and on the bottle. There were other cars such as a bathtub Porshe kit car. It was immaculate powered by a flat four with dual down-draft Webers. The most interesting thing I saw were the junior dragsters. Designed for youngsters, they have one cylinder engines. It was a lot of fun and I would like to smell the rubber burn.

Homeward Bound

Who says you can's go home? I thought it would be a good idea to put together a little video of Bradley, SC. I pondered the format and look a bit. i finally decided that a slide show would do nicely. The use of black and white images would give at somewhat of a vintage effect. Initially, I was going to use handwritten captions but that did not work out. Actually, it would have been too time-consuming. I did not have enough close ups. A crude attempt at humor was made.

Watchmen

The Watchmen is a superhero movie. Someone is killing superheroes and it must be stopped. Time: 1985. Place: USA

The movie is too long, about three hours. They could have cut an hour out of it and had a better movie. The first half really drags as the story is set up. The entire movie is full of hyperbolic action. After a head is smashed a couple of times, continued smashing is purely gratuitous. Most of the movie is dark or shades of gray and when color is used it is less than intense. Character development is fairly well done but could have been better. The flashbacks were kind of annoying. I did like the movie and the sound track was great. Perhaps if I had read the graphic novel?

Common Sense

An Obituary printed in the London Times - Interesting and sadly rather
true.


Today we mourn the passing of a beloved old friend, Common Sense , who has been with us for many years. No one knows for sure how old he was, since his birth records were long ago lost in bureaucratic red tape. He will be remembered as having cultivated such valuable lessons as:

- Knowing when to come in out of the rain;

- Why the early bird gets the worm;

- Life isn't always fair;

- and maybe it was my fault.


Common Sense lived by simple, sound financial policies (don't spend more than you can earn) and reliable strategies (adults, not children, are in charge). His health began to deteriorate rapidly when well-intentioned but overbearing regulations were set in place. Reports of a 6-year-old boy charged with sexual harassment for kissing a classmate; teens suspended from school for using mouthwash after lunch; and a teacher fired for reprimanding an unruly student, only worsened his condition.

Common Sense lost ground when parents attacked teachers for doing the job that they themselves had failed to do in disciplining their unruly children . It declined even further when schools were required to get parental consent to administer sun lotion or an aspirin to a student; but could not inform parents when a student became pregnant and wanted to have an abortion.

Common Sense lost the will to live as the churches became businesses; and criminals received better treatment than t heir victims.

Common Sense took a beating when you couldn't defend yourself from a burglar in your own home and the burglar could sue you for assault.

Common Sense finally gave up the will to live, after a woman failed to realize that a steaming cup of coffee was hot. She spilled a little in her lap, and was promptly awarded a huge settlement.

Common Sense was preceded in death, by his parents, Truth and Trust, by his wife, Discretion, by his daughter, Responsibility, and by his son, Reason.

He is survived by his 4 stepbrothers;

I Know My Rights

I Want It Now

Someone Else Is To Blame

I'm A Victim


Not many attended his funeral because so few realized he was gone.. If you still remember him, pass this on. If not, join the majority and do nothing.

To crop or not to crop, that is the question.

To crop or not to crop, that is often the question facing a painter or photographer. Why are we asking this question? It is because we are trying to improve composition. Occasionally I finish a watercolor which has great color and technique, but it just doesn't look right. The composition need work--that is my gremlin! I more frequently crop photographs for the same reason. Maybe the horizon is not level or a church steeple is not plumb and must be fixed. I have cut away half a sheet of watercolor with some very good brushwork just to make a good picture. The good brushwork just did not add to the picture.

The photo above is one of my Alaskan photos. I have beefed up the contrast and desaturated the color a bit for the look of a cold day. Although it is good I thought the cropping would make it better. To me landscapes almost always look better in a horizontal format. After deciding that I wanted a distant point on the river to be my focal point is began cropping.

You will note that I cropped off the top of the mountain. I felt it distracted from the river. Notice that almost every line in the landscape leads your eye to the river. Be aware that the center of interest is at the intersection of the lines that would be drawn for the "rule of thirds". Man-made elements are removed as well. I like it. Don't you?

Vincent

My friend Vincent left and did not give me a chance to say "Good-Bye". I found out about his illness on Friday and Saturday he was gone. I have many fond memories of our peddling art in Charleston. We passed many hours in Washington park and on king street hawking our wares. And we talked a lot. We talked about everything like who was the greatest painter or who was the best local painter or who was the hottest Italian ice girl. Yes we did talk about women. Vincent had been amazed when the white girls hit on him in England. It was a new experience for a young man from Charleston. But Vincent was a family man also. He loved his wife and kids. Octavia particularly stole his heart. Girl children do that. He had a habit of disappearing on those hot afternoon and would reappear with customers in tow. He had met them at the bar in a local hotel and sold them on his art before they had even seen it. He was always ready to help at any task when needed.

Yes, I'll miss him, especially his telling folks that we were brothers since we had the same hair style.

(I don't think anyone ever believed him!)

Good-Bye Vincent

Just Puck It!

I attended my first hockey game yesterday. It was kind of a difficult decision. The NASCAR Las Vegas race was on television. Since we got the big screen, it's kind of hard for me to get away and I wanted to see "Rowdy" Busch win in his hometown. But, alas, I went to the hockey game. The local minor league team, The South Carolina Stingrays, was playing the Gwinnett Gladiators. Now, I don't know much about this sport, but if there are a bunch of guys flying around on ice skates with sticks chasing a flat ball, it would have to be fun. And it was. Them fellas really take that game seriously.. Fights break out all the time (I guess they are argueing about the little black thing.) as you can see in that picture in the upper left. I think that the object is for one team to put the flat rubber ball, also called a puck, whose name is no doubt in the Shakespearian tradition in a basket at one end of the frozen floor without suffering extreme bodily harm. The team that does this the most is the winner. Without getting kilt, of course.

A Terrorist's Terror

This is my latest video. I am a big supporter of our troops in the Middle East. This video shows a weapon that could even the odds against the terrorists. It began with a couple of still pictures from a friend. I was impressed and did further research. I found a video about the Barrett 50 Cal. sniper rifle and added the heavily edited video to my clip. I wanted to use a magazine page format. I initially considered showing my hand drawing the spaces for the photos to be inserted.

Flashback

Billy Bobs in Fort Worth, Texas is the biggest honky-tonk in the world. Situated in the old part of this modern Texas city, it attracts visitors from around the world. If I remember correctly and I'm remembering through a haze of Lone Stars the place is about 10 acres under one roof. It is a part of the stockyards which were once an integral part of the city's past. Cattle from this part of the state would be gathered here and shipped north via railroad to the slaughter houses in Kansas City and points north. Billy Bobs has numerous bars serving thousands of beers per night, eateries, dance floors and even it's own rodeo. Many famous country music entertainers have performed there including Willie Nelson and George Strait. So, if your ever in Ft. Worth drop into Billy Bobs. You'll be glad you did! And get you some souvenir shooter glasses!

What a Day Was Yesterday

Whataday today was! I started at the flea market where an Hispanic guy told me how to repair my airbrush in broken English and I bought some roasted peanuts. Lunch was great with a Hebrew national hotdog. (Even we Gentiles like 'em!) And then it being Saturday and all there was a chore with my main squeeze.You see Miss South Carolina was collecting dresses for charity. North Charleston Dream Center's Cinderilla Day is a project thet accepts donated dresses for girls who may not be able to afford their own prom dress.

So we went right down to make the delivery. I stepped out of the elevator into the midst of group of (i) chicas caliente(/i)!) "I'm in the rwrong place!", I say. But I was invited in. It was fun to see all the pretty girls and Miss SC, Stephanie Smith. is a very charming young lady and extremely easy on the eyes. I got my autographed photo and was gone after being verbally reprimanded by my main squeeze that I could not carry any of the girls home with me. (She does this all the time.)

Crossing the street on the way to the coffee shop I saw a Lamborghini. For the second time and as many hours my heart skipped a beat. That twelve cylinder engine sounded like a choir of angels. At the coffee shop I had a nice African coffee and met an English bulldog named Lucy. Later we had barbeque at the church with friends.

On the way home a friend called me from a local gallery and told me I had wone three ribbons in a local art contest. I had only entered four paintings. My First Place Winner in the watercolor catagory is seen below.

It just doesn't get much better than this. But maybe if I coulder?

No-o-o, my main squeese would never have let me get away with that...

food for thought

My Favorite Drawing Tool

I use a ballpoint pen for sketching in my sketch books. I thought that artists used charcoal or pencil. And I tried each of them. The charcoal was too messy but makes great drawings. I like to use it occasionally for studio work. Pencil is probably my favorite. I grew up with a stubby pencil in my hand. A pencil can create an infinite range of values and textural effects. But pencil like charcoal smudges. Smudging is a great way to create soft lines and soft textures. However, pencil drawings all get smudged by the rubbing of the pages together as you carry your sketchbook around. You can use a fixative, of course, but that adds one more item to you drawing kit. I like to keep things as simple as possible. I carry a sketch book and a black ballpoint pen. It's easy to use and doesn't smudge. The ink is waterproof so I can add a color wash without bleeding. By crosshatching and stippling many effects can be produced including a full value scale can be produced. I've been using a ballpoint pen successfully in my sketchbooks for many years now. (the casino drawing is on 1/2 page of a 5.5 x 8.5 sketchbook)

TESTING 1...2...3...

!@#$%^&#$%^

!@#$%^&#$%^

Where's the Field and Stream?

Why are there always chic magazines at the doctor's office? Where are the Car and Driver, Field and Stream or Maxim magazines. And if you do find one it is dog-eared and missing the cover. Baby drool is often found on them too. It's not enough for there to be almost all chic mags, the few guy mags are abused too. How many times have you wanted to find the shooting specs on the new new Sig Saur 45 caliber handgun only to find out that some rug rat had torn that page of Guns & Ammo to shreds. This isn't the only instance of what subversive male bashing. There are others, like on television. When was the last time that you saw a woman made fun of in a commercial? Maybe 1934? A perfect example of a television ad: We see this chic talking on the phone (subject for another rant) telling her chick bud about how she has been eating apple pie and all sort of good things while the man in the background are looking for these things is the fridge. She's talking about yogurt but of course the guy doesn't know about this. So we are supposed to laugh at his apparent stupidity. Even in that pseudo-entertainment of the situation comedy, the male is always the butt of the jokes. I mean, that this goes back a long way in history. Cleopatra made fun of Mark Antony. We men just need a little respect...and more magazines.

After all, we can write our names in the snow!

New Product

Needless to say, I promote the Snowshark Preservation Society. The addition of this product will allow you to increase the probability dramatically for viewing this incredible cryptozoological creature. Your information is greatly need in our ongoing research. Other new projects include tracking the sightings via Google Earth.Visit the Snowshark Preservation Society today by clicking the link at the right.

Jack's Cosmic Dogs

It's B-a-c-k-

It's back. After quite a few years of being is disrepair the Snowshark Preservation Society is back online. I had to do some revamping but all the old but necessary information is there. As some of you know the Society exists for the preservation of the crytozoological creatures. While many of know about the SPS and it's goals, you may not know how it began. here is that story.

I had taken a job in the northeast, upstate New York to be exact, and as a southerner was enduring my first winter there. I had never seen so much snow. one day I said to one of my co-workers, "Man, in all this snow you better be on the look-out for snowsharks!" He, of course, didn't know what they were. i had heard of them back in the days of my youth from a rock-n-roll deejay. I did embellish the snowshark story a bit on how they would literally consume anything in their path. A few days later he said that his grandmother thought she had seen and was sure that it had eaten her tomcat. I began to get reports of sightings from others. After work one day while having a few Gennies with my buds the Snowshark Preservation Society was birthed. We talked of organizational structure and publicity and marketing and all those business things. Of course we had to have a logo. And, yes, the logo was designed on a napkin. That is how the SPS began.

See the Snowshark Preservation Society at http://geocities.com/jack_young_us/

The Last Refuge of Man

I believe that the last refuge for men is disappearing. I mean, how many barbershops have you seen lately? They are part of my memories for sure. I still remember when my dad would take me to the barber. It was actually below street level in a small southern town. It was as bright as day in there as with mirrors on two walls behind gleaming black leather upholstered white and chrome barber chairs. And then there was the barber in a starched white shirt with a tie knotted perfectly. His hair cut was immaculate and he had a brush sticking out of the back pocket of his dark trousers. He would put a padded board across the chair arms for me to sit on. His hands turned my head into the proper position for the electric clippers to do their job. In a few minutes he was finished with a sprinkling of talc and a quick brushdown. He gave me a lolip9p and I waited while Dad got his hair cut. I looked at the pictures in the hunting and fishing magazines.Businessmen would come in for haircuts and shaves. Some of them while waiting would get their shoes shined by the old black man who had a shoeshine chair in one corner of the shop. He would sometimes sing a little song and play a little tune with the shine rage on his customers shoes. As I grew older I noticed the odors of hot lather and Wildroot Cream Oil. Yes, there was a time for Butch Wax which was about the time I noticed the scantily clad women on the Lucky Tiger hair tonic bottle.

Barber shops gave way to styling salons and shops that cut both men and women's hair. Men started getting razor cuts and perms. And most of the haircutting was done by women. Now more bottles of Lucky Tiger. No more Hunting and fishing magazines. What was a guy to do?

Not so long ago in a strip mall I found a place with a that rare symbol. Right outside the store front there it was gently turning in the morning that red, white and blue sign which I sought: a barber pole.

So I just had to go in. I needed a haircut since I didn't go to those other places unless I had to. The shop had three chairs and the wall behind them was covered with mirrors. I could smell the hot lather and I believe I saw a bottle of Lucky Tiger on the shelf. I took a seat and awaited my turn. While waiting I checked out the latest issues of Sports Afield and Road and Track. There was some Allman Brothers playing on the music system You know: "...I was born in the back of a Greyhound bus goin' down highway 41..." There was a lot of talking going on around me. Guys were discussing hunting and fishing and that surgically enhanced girl on Bay Watch. Some fella asks me, "Do you ever think that Dale Jr. will get his act together?"

By the time I got into the chair there was hardly any one was left. I got the full treatment: shave shampoo, haircut AND a scalp massage. Boy did I feel good! I paid the barber and when in came a young woman in jeans and a western shirt. She doffed the cowboy had plopped herself down in the chair and said, "A little off the sides, Hank!"

I haven't been back. you see, don't need to.