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adventures / links / site / video / Wednesday — Comments Off
18
Aug 10

Warming the lamp

That was the afternoon. A threat of meteorological drama which pittered and flittered into nothing. But for a while it looked as if something was about to descend from the clouds.

But that was just part of the day. There was scanning. And scanning! And also I reproduced a digital representation of some real-world items into my computer. Finally, I placed things on a glass that covers a light, pressed a button and watch the light move in a predetermined back and forth fashion.

Took The Yankee out to dinner at the local First Date Place. Haven’t been there in maybe 12 years. (I’ve had dates since then, but just not there.) Provino’s has moved since my last visit. The new place though manages to retain much of the look of the old location. The restaurant was a little cleaner and brighter than my memory — but my recollections can be dusty and dim.

It was good back then and Provino’s was good tonight, too. The garlic rolls still come out in a pool of melted garlic. The salad is cheesy and … well, it is a salad, OK? She had the chicken francese, I had something that was acceptable, but wouldn’t be my regular dish.

Before we ordered The Yankee said “Maybe it will be like Rome.” And then the waitress walks up and says “My name is Amy Leigh and — ”

Yes, exactly like Rome.

Random things: Noted the Eight Commandments of the gas pump. There were more, but they didn’t focus group well. The second one is well written. I do not follow the one about cell phones, because I am not orthodox. I had a picture re-published on The War Eagle Reader. And, tomorrow, it is back to class; so tonight it is back to ironing.

Alabama / Auburn / iPhone / Monday / video — Comments Off
16
Aug 10

Anyone for a drive?

Monday. As I have said here before, but only rarely, I seldom have the typical Monday experience. Came fairly close today, the details of which aren’t especially riveting.

I shot a video.

I shot a video on my phone. I edited the video on my phone. I edited video with my fingertips.

Those sentences were never uttered in the 20th Century.

So it was a Monday. Even still, the day ended with dinner in a mansion. Life is pretty great.

books / friends / iPhone / links / video / Wednesday — Comments Off
11
Aug 10

From the library

I am not a father. Nor will I be one at any time in the near future. But this is terrific:

Except for that one line. They just left it out there like they knew you’d hate it. They knew they should have written something else, but they couldn’t make it work.

We received flowers today from Kelly (she’s the best, you should pick up a Kelly for yourself). They are beautiful hydrangeas, which have a lot of rules.

They were dropped off by the UPS lady, who probably spends exactly .16 seconds thinking about what is in each box she’s delivering. She left it at the door, rang the bell and was back to her truck before I managed to unlock the thing.

UPS drivers wear their keys on their thumbs so they don’t have to waste time fishing them out of their pocket. You have to think, for an agency that concerned with the seconds on the margins, that they are investing in teleportation technology. Sure, you could fly it, but why would you do that when you can beam it? As appealing as that sounds, I hope it is a generation or two in the future. My step-father is a UPS pilot. He might have hauled those flowers somewhere along the way for all we know.

Just a day in the house. Added apps to the iPhone. You’re intrigued, I know. I added two voice recorders, QuickVoice and BlueFiRe, because you never know when a soundbite will break out. I picked these two because any outfit confident enough to ignore the rules of grammar and capitalization must produce a good product. And also because they are free.

One day soon I’ll make a great point of all of this to the students. The things you can produce, from your phone, for free.

BlueFiRe, if you are interested, offers you a realtime waveform while you record, which is pretty fancy. I have two computers where I can do this. I have a voice recorder, a portable studio and a mixing board that gives me levels, but this is taking place in my phone.

When you spend a lot of time at home you get an interesting feel for the rhythms of the place — the heat, the sun, the plants or people or animals or shadows, whatever you’ve got — that go on without you. Even more interesting is to see how these rhythms are established in a new place.

The cat, for example.

She’s been especially vocal lately. Very demanding. I’ve begun to wonder who has fallen down the well. And I wonder if she is ever frustrated by our lack of understanding, or our apparent lack of cat vocabulary. We get frustrated when she’s doing this at 3 a.m.

Pardon me for a moment.

I just noticed that the books in the Keeping Library are out of order. I somehow have a book on FDR between a book on Reagan and Clinton. This is a shelf based on chronological organization and, thus, this error must not be allowed to stand. Sadly, the books had existed in this state for more than a week. Meanwhile, the DVDs remain unorganized.

Started scanning things up this evening. I have a book to show you, starting later this week, and a project to finish tomorrow.

Until then, may there be no weeds in your fescue.

adventures / Auburn / books / iPhone / recipes / site / Tuesday / video — Comments Off
10
Aug 10

Enter the band

Visited the local college bookstores today so The Yankee could make sure her texts were on the shelves. Found seven at one store, found four at the second store and met the very nice manager. Found a few at the third store. At the university bookstore we found a big stash. They are all expensive, but textbooks always have been.

I pointed out the prices. It always aggravated me when a professor was shocked to hear how much the text he or she demanded was costing the students. It is a simple enough thing, stop by the store and empathize, for just a minute. So that’s what I do.

The bookstores here let students rent books for the term. Oh you can still buy a $90 text and sell it back for $12. You can rent it for half that price and return it at the end of the term. Wish we’d had that option during undergrad.

My favorite book, Strunk and White’s Elements of Style has stayed the same low price these last 15 years. I appreciate that.

On the way back to the car we listened to the marching band. Is it football season yet? Apparently we’ll have a tribute to Frank Sinatra this year. They sound good, but the director insists you’ll hear more trumpet in this number when they are on the field.

I’m not faux-marching, I promise. Apparently I’ll need to work on hand steadying techniques before pulling out the iPhone. After this take they had a break and were then going to spend 45 minutes on Luck Be a Lady Tonight.

We put a lot of pictures on the walls this evening. Just a few more rooms to go on that project. We had a delicious dinner:

Delicious

Just add the veggies, shrimp, cooking wine, butter, salt and pepper to taste, stir over a respectable heat and serve.

We stood outside and watched the first of the Perseids (Thursday night is the big show), hung out with Jupiter to the east and tried to pick out unfamiliar constellations thanks to my new app, Planets. (That’s a great, free download.)

We had a great day. How was yours?

On the site: New, artsyish banners across the top and bottom of the blog. The blur across the top is the cardinal I vainly chased this afternoon. The one along the bottom is the yard in late evening repose. This is an excellent opportunity, then, to remind about the new banners page, meant more for me than for you, but nevertheless, see ’em again. Also, there’s a new picture on the home page.

And someone stop me: I’m thinking of redesign ideas.

errands / Monday / video — 1 Comment
2
Aug 10

Still unpacking

We have resolved our cable and Internet connection issues.

The guy came out to do this on Saturday, but he realized that the ones and zeros they use in Birmingham are different than the ones and zeros they use here. So he was ill-prepared which, somehow, meant he had to make a return trip with new equipment today.

So the equipment was brought. Things were connected. We had cable and the TiVo liked it and we’ve returned to the modern mediated culture. Or, rather, the 20th Century version of it. Our Internet connection is presently dial-up fast, which is not what we’d agreed to. The cable guy clucked and clicked and did all manner of professional looking things on his little pad. He pronounced it an office problem and that we must give them a call.

We did, they redirected a beam from a military satellite into our router and now we have NASA telemetry humming smartly through the network at a speed which makes Brian, our personal tech guy, jealous.

I made a series of phone calls today, which naturally means navigating a series of automated phone systems. I’d never thought of these as entertaining, but now I must. And I’m considering spicing up my own phone system recordings accordingly. One guy starts out “OK you already have service …”

I do a little voiceover work on the side, mostly web-based stuff, but lately I’ve been asked to do a little voice automation work too. This guy is beginning to make me feel as if I’m doing it wrong. I am for certainty, the occasional bit of enthusiasm but, mostly, authoritative. This guy really knows how to sell his passion with outright boredom.

Later, I get a more serious recording. I’m in one of those systems that requires a verbal input on my part. I start off by asking for things very casually. And at one point when I uttered a word that wasn’t in the program I was asked for a clarification. I replied with a synonym, in fake broadcaster morning banter voice, you know the one: “I’m Coffee!” “And I’m Cream!” from The Morning Zoo crowd.

That overzealous enthusiasm did not go over well. This recording is more serious. She said “I didn’t quite get that” with a scolding tone I haven’t heard in years.

Anyway. We’re all connected. Things are taking shape in the house. I’ve reorganized the garage once again. Sweated in the sauna-attic once more while storing things of not-so-vital national security. I finally figured out which cabinet holds the glasses and which drawer holds the silverware. Everything else is mostly a mystery. (I’m still learning the light switches.)

Fun. I watched The Most Interesting Man in the World tonight:

It was immediately followed by the Old Spice Man:

No one is man enough for that commercial sequence.