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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.

adventures / friends / photo / Thursday / video — Comments Off
15
Jul 10

He skates better than you or I

Atticus is skateboarding!

Atticus is taking part in the A.skate Foundation program. His parents invited us to watch him skate today — and skate he does! I had the chance to help a little. He’s doing the balancing and learning to steer. The big person, that’s his coach Rick above, is really just providing the propulsion. That’ll come.

He’s great at it, and I think this is just his second day skating. Atticus has just nearly perfect balance. And he has the biggest smiles, skating on the pavement, being pushed up ramps or even up a small half-pipe.

That picture is from my cell phone, because today was a silly day to forget my real cameras. Not to worry. I ended up stealing his mom’s camera and taking pictures for her. She had a great day, because it was a big day because Atticus had a big time.

He’ll be in a documentary. This isn’t it, but I shot a few seconds of video from my cell phone.

We also visited Toys R Us and had dinner at Whole Foods, but his little chesire grin while skating was the best part of a great day.

friends / photo / Tuesday / video — Comments Off
13
Jul 10

Nothing from me, amuse yourself with video

I haven’t been feeling well today — nothing bad, just the cotton swabby feeling of medicine head, without the medicine. Sitting or relaxing is fine. Getting up and moving around doesn’t feel so hot today.

So have some videos I discovered. Sadly there is no embed function on this site, but the videos are golden.

Auburn beats Miami 14-13 in Birmingham in 1954. My parents hadn’t even been born when that game was played. Even better, meaning older, there’s this Auburn versus South Carolina game, featuring Shug Jordan and the Phantom of Union Springs, the great Jimmy Hitchcock. That Auburn team was 9-0, they’d outscored their opponents 255-34 before this game. And then Carolina fought their way to a 20-20 draw. The game made Time Magazine, Auburn finished the year 9-0-1, winning the Southern Conference title.

The description on this one says “workers being employed under Works Progress Administration for constructing houses in Birmingham, Alabama.”

Here is the 1939 National Air Carnival and it is clear that these guys might have been nuts. Incidentally, here’s the poster from the 1937 air show:

The 1937 National Air Carnival in Birmingham, Ala.

And here are some driving scenes from Cullman, Ala. and through Birmingham in 1960. The first stretch of interstate-65 you see here might not even be open yet. As best I can tell it would see traffic the next year.

The second stretch you see actually has cars on it, but not many. That section in the middle of the video is supposed to be the drive into Birmingham, but the skyline is wrong. (The last segment of the video, on the surface streets, is actually Washington D.C. The sharp eye of Andre Natta caught the change. A little tour on Google Maps showed me the right street and then it changed again, to this one.)

Check out some videos yourself. When you do, thank Ken Booth; he found the site.

I have another video from there I want to share, too, but I want to shoot a contemporary companion piece. Give me a day or two to get back out from under the weather.

Monday / site / video / World Cup — Comments Off
12
Jul 10

Reaching out for Facetime

Just to catch up from yesterday: Watched the World Cup final, pitting a disappointing Netherlands versus an underwhelming Spain. Referee Howard Webb tied his hands early with cards and that hurt the game. Spain were the better team, so the outcome is neither a surprise nor upsetting, but the manner of the resolution was unfortunate. It is a shame, really. A game, no, the game was too easily swayed by one person who wasn’t even playing.

I’d rather have seen the two sides play, but Netherlands didn’t really oblige us of that either. The legendary Oranje temper came to play late after it was clear their game plan wasn’t going to work. Spain just kept moving until the opportunity presented itself, as they had the entire tournament. The resolution was unsatisfying for everyone not already a fan of La Roja. And now we have to wait four more years.

(I watched every game. Had a great time doing it.)

We visited Ann Taylor yesterday, marking my second time in almost as many days. The Yankee visited again today, but I declined. A third time in a week was just too much. I consoled myself at the Apple Store. I did not buy anything, but did play on the iPad. I’m no better at the air traffic controller game on a touch screen than I am with a mouse, making me believe I’ve made a good career choice there.

Played with the new iPhone, which has plenty of promise. The video is incredible. The speed is good, apps look strong and so on. Now they just have to convince everyone that antennae issue isn’t a flaw, but a feature. The first time someone calls that you don’t want to talk to? Finger over the antennae and disconnect. No more “I’m going through a tunnel!” That doesn’t work when the person on the other end knows there are no tunnels in your tri-state area.

And then there’s Facetime. It will, of course, catch on when there are enough phones in circulation. If the technology holds up there won’t even be any other way to look at this. (I’d like to be able to record Facetime, but that will come too.) So acknowledging the value and quality of the HD cameras and the opportunity that comes with Facetime I’d like to point out what is really important, the commercials.

These will be the most evocative commercials since the really good reach out and touch someone ads.

Is it a coincidence that both campaigns are for phones?

Upgraded WordPress tonight. The first step, the helpful tutorial says, is to back up your files and database. I’d assumed that WordPress was doing that for me and that all of these important messages I’ve been sharing with you were being preserved on some off-site, off-the-mainland island guarded by the mist from Lost, powered by the trees from some M. Night Shyamalan movie who were advised by aggressive ninjas amped on Red Bull and dozens of John Woo explosions.

These being important messages, and WordPress having been a free service I’d only assumed they went this extra mile. Turns out a guy named Earl, asleep in a rickety old chair leaned against a dingy wall next to the On/Off button has been serving as my backup. Earl, I read in the forums, doesn’t read none too good. But I don’t hold that against the guy. He’s got a lot of blogs to back up. It is only reasonable to expect reading comprehension to deteriorate over time and volume.

So I read on, now knowing that every moment I waited the threat to my data grew exponentially. There is no threat quite like the one you know you aren’t sure about.

The second step and the subsequent 15 steps became too much to consider this late into the evening. I found a widget that will back up my site automatically, so WordPress can do this, they just don’t offer outright. Safely backed up — I chose Email, offsite FTP, three Scandinavian children memorizing things in a limerick and a bird using a chisel and hammer — I could proceed to the next steps of the upgrade.

Which were, fortunately, incredibly easy steps. Click this, click that and you’re done.

I started playing around with the capability to host multiple blogs through 3.0, which kept me up late. Just to see if I could make it work I started an irregular snapshot photograph blog. (I back-dated a few posts, just to give it something to do.) The first few steps involved in starting that second blog using the new WordPress interface are a little more confusing than necessary, but once you get that figured out it the CMS is once again as you’ve come to know and love.

Elsewhere, there’s Tumblr, Twitter and the rest of the site. Tomorrow there will be … something. Be sure to come back and check it out.

Tuesday / video / World Cup — Comments Off
29
Jun 10

Your basic Tuesday at home

Just house cleaning today. And laundry. Do you want details?

I have a lot of clothes. On those rare occasions when everything I own is clean I realize I need more closet space and a few more hangars. This is an excellent excuse to not do the laundry too often. And it is also an excellent reason why I don’t need more clothes.

I vacuumed this afternoon. The Yankee bought one of those fancy machines on sale last year, the kind that requires you to empty the plastic container every so often rather than the bag you can ignore for weeks on end. I’ve finally figured out how to remove the thing without pouring out all of the dusty findings back onto the floor. It is rare that you find successes in something as mundane as vacuuming the floor, but there it is. I did it today.

I danced a little jig, pouring some of the dust and debris back onto the floor.

Good thing I’d yet to vacuum.

In the World Cup Paraguay and Japan played to zeroes and added on an additional 30 minutes. After two full hours of play they had to go to penalty kicks. Spain faced their Iberian neighbors and gave Portugal the defeat they had coming to them. I’m now hoping to see Spain and Netherlands in the final.

And since Portugal is out, I offer you this tribute to Ronaldo:

Anyway. Tomorrow, I pick up The Yankee from the airport. From the U.S. to Europe to the U.S. to Asia and back to the U.S. in a month … we’ll just have to get her sleep schedule back to normal.