As I mentioned a while back, we had been looking to replace our old 27-inch television set with one of the new flat giant screen plasma jobs. And in so doing, we were also replacing the receiver and speakers of our old stereo system, to keep up with technology and the times. After a couple of months of pondering and researching, we finally went ahead with the project.
Guess what? Technology gets more complicated with each new wave. What used to be a simple project that we could set up and hook by ourselves with simple tri-colored connector cables, and ordinary lamp cords for the speakers, has now become a major production involving many hours of intricate labor and testing by specialists who are able to speak with grave conviction about the benefits of DTS and THX and RGB and 5.1 audio and optical connectors and progressive scan and high definition and heaven knows what else. It is an arcane world that most ordinary retired persons like me would be extremely loath to enter.
Even the straightforward old remote control with just a few buttons to change channels and sound volume has now taken on the look and function of an elaborate and elongated handheld computer, with more buttons than are visible on any of the component parts of the system. Indeed, the DVD player I have needs its dedicated remote control to do things that are necessary but cannot be done on the player itself. You lose the remote (as I did) and the party's over.
Technology is wonderful, as we all have come to accept, and I'd be the first to say that the picture on our new screen is unbelievably lifelike, and will be even more so after we sign up for digital broadcasts in high definition. Still, no one should be blamed for expressing a longing for the less complicated technology of yesteryear.
It goes without saying, of course, that I would not be likely to miss the old blurry black-and-white television programs.
A compendium of images - most original, some not - words, and links, sometimes musical, gathered for the exclusive enjoyment of friends and relatives, some old, and some new.
Friday, November 04, 2005
Thursday, November 03, 2005
The China Clipper
The San Francisco Chronicle today has a story about a celebration of the 70th anniversary of the first trans-Pacific flights by Pan-American Airways from San Francisco to points in the Orient, including Hong Kong and Macau. Very nostalgic.-
Wednesday, November 02, 2005
About Oil Painting
Now here's one topic dear to my heart that I haven't yet touched upon.
As mentioned in my profile, I am into oil painting, and since my retirement I have turned out well over a hundred paintings, large and small. They're mostly landscapes and cityscapes, with a number of still lifes and portraits thrown in. Tried abstractions, but they did not turn out well. Mostly I do studio, as opposed to plein air, work. I work from photos, not copying them, mind, but using them for composition or to round out an idea. On occasion I have copied the Old Masters just for fun.
My original paintings have been exhibited in several of our local public buildings over the years: the City Hall, the Public Library, the County Court House. When I started exhibiting, I was excited about it, and sent out announcements to my friends and former co-workers. The exhibitions attracted the attention of a local newspaper reporter, who gave me a bigger headline than I might have deserved, and some twenty or thirty sales eventually resulted. My collectors are loyal folks, and several of them have come back to acquire more of my works.
I've given away dozens of paintings to relatives and friends as gifts on their birthdays, anniversaries, and such. Also donated several to be used as prizes at functions of the social club to which I belong.
I used to stretch my own canvases, and prime them with acrylic gesso — usually three coats — to give them the right 'tooth' for the application of the paint. Nowadays it's less convenient to make my own canvases, so I buy them ready-made, but I still give them a couple of extra coats of gesso, with the required drying time between coats.
I have tried using acrylic paints, but oil is really my medium. I like the feel of it, its covering power, the brilliance of the glazes you can achieve with it, the heavy impastos when needed. Oil is more forgiving of mistakes — you just scrape the paint off of the canvas and do it over. You just can't do that with watercolors.
My granddaughter has been trying her hand at oil painting also. A senior in high school, she has excellent hand-eye coordination, and a definite feel for the medium. She is still learning, just as I am. One never stops learning. There's always something new you can find. That's the fun of it.
As mentioned in my profile, I am into oil painting, and since my retirement I have turned out well over a hundred paintings, large and small. They're mostly landscapes and cityscapes, with a number of still lifes and portraits thrown in. Tried abstractions, but they did not turn out well. Mostly I do studio, as opposed to plein air, work. I work from photos, not copying them, mind, but using them for composition or to round out an idea. On occasion I have copied the Old Masters just for fun.
My original paintings have been exhibited in several of our local public buildings over the years: the City Hall, the Public Library, the County Court House. When I started exhibiting, I was excited about it, and sent out announcements to my friends and former co-workers. The exhibitions attracted the attention of a local newspaper reporter, who gave me a bigger headline than I might have deserved, and some twenty or thirty sales eventually resulted. My collectors are loyal folks, and several of them have come back to acquire more of my works.
I've given away dozens of paintings to relatives and friends as gifts on their birthdays, anniversaries, and such. Also donated several to be used as prizes at functions of the social club to which I belong.
I used to stretch my own canvases, and prime them with acrylic gesso — usually three coats — to give them the right 'tooth' for the application of the paint. Nowadays it's less convenient to make my own canvases, so I buy them ready-made, but I still give them a couple of extra coats of gesso, with the required drying time between coats.
I have tried using acrylic paints, but oil is really my medium. I like the feel of it, its covering power, the brilliance of the glazes you can achieve with it, the heavy impastos when needed. Oil is more forgiving of mistakes — you just scrape the paint off of the canvas and do it over. You just can't do that with watercolors.
My granddaughter has been trying her hand at oil painting also. A senior in high school, she has excellent hand-eye coordination, and a definite feel for the medium. She is still learning, just as I am. One never stops learning. There's always something new you can find. That's the fun of it.
All Souls' Day
Today is All Souls' Day, a Roman Catholic day of remembrance for friends and loved ones who have passed away. Yesterday was All Saints' Day, a universal Christian feast honoring all Christian saints, known and unknown. All Saints' Day used to be called All Hallows' Day, and the vigil of it was All Hallows' Eve, or Hallowe'en.
All Souls' Day is known in Mexico as El Dia de los Muertos, the Day of the Dead. There will be celebrations in cemeteries, with cut paper decorations, food, and picnics, in honor of the departed. The events held are not somber, but joyful. Mexicans believe that the spirits of the dead visit their earthbound families on October 31 and leave on November 2.
All Souls' Day is known in Mexico as El Dia de los Muertos, the Day of the Dead. There will be celebrations in cemeteries, with cut paper decorations, food, and picnics, in honor of the departed. The events held are not somber, but joyful. Mexicans believe that the spirits of the dead visit their earthbound families on October 31 and leave on November 2.
Nevermore
There was this goodlooking woman I saw today at our local Costco. Tall and elegant, she had the glossiest, blackest shoulder-length hair. She was dressed all in black, with a couple of tasteful silver accouterments here and there upon her person, and that black outfit of hers seemed to emphasize the color of her hair ever more.
Some writers would describe her as "raven-haired". Why is the raven the bird of choice in describing the color of a woman's hair, one might wonder? Why not "crow-black", or "blackbird-black"? My hunch is that it might have all started with E. A. Poe and the mysterious avian visitor who rapped on his chamber door, quothing the same word all the while.
Nevermore.
.
Some writers would describe her as "raven-haired". Why is the raven the bird of choice in describing the color of a woman's hair, one might wonder? Why not "crow-black", or "blackbird-black"? My hunch is that it might have all started with E. A. Poe and the mysterious avian visitor who rapped on his chamber door, quothing the same word all the while.
Nevermore.
.
Monday, October 31, 2005
Enough already
Words and phrases we could use less often or even do without
Basically
At the end of the day
In terms of
24/7
The fact is
The fact of the matter is
In point of fact
At this point in time
Pushing the envelope
Bottom line is …
Second of all
Hidden agenda
NIMBY
No doubt in my mind
Gimme a break
Proactive
Cutting edge
State of the art
World class
Boots on the ground
Heads up
Wake up call
Thinking out of the box
Between the lines
Window of opportunity
Sooner rather than later
Any way shape or form
Bring closure to …
Hasta la vista, baby
-
Basically
At the end of the day
In terms of
24/7
The fact is
The fact of the matter is
In point of fact
At this point in time
Pushing the envelope
Bottom line is …
Second of all
Hidden agenda
NIMBY
No doubt in my mind
Gimme a break
Proactive
Cutting edge
State of the art
World class
Boots on the ground
Heads up
Wake up call
Thinking out of the box
Between the lines
Window of opportunity
Sooner rather than later
Any way shape or form
Bring closure to …
Hasta la vista, baby
-
Elegant Automobiles of Yesteryear
These photos were scanned from slides taken in 1984 at an exposition of classic cars
Sunday, October 30, 2005
Travel and Statues
In the Travel section of today's newspaper is an article about São Tomé and Príncipe, the former Portuguese colony located off the western coast of Africa almost exactly on the Equator. It is a tiny country made up of two volcanic islands with a total population of about 160,000. The islands were uninhabited until the Portuguese discovered them during the Golden Age of Exploration. (In an earlier post I wrote about the nearby nation of Cameroon, and other Portuguese discoveries along the African coast and the Indian Ocean.)
A photograph accompanying the newspaper article shows a boy riding his bicycle past statues of Portuguese explorers, against a backdrop of palm trees and a brilliant blue sky.
It is the statues that drew my attention, for they so closely resemble the one of Pedro Álvares that stood (still stands?) on the Praia Grande in the Special Administrative Region of Macau in China. The statues are in a style that might have originated in the 1940s or 1950s under the Salazar dictatorship of Portugal. Indeed the statues in São Tomé and Macau might have been the work of the same sculptor, or might have come from the same Lisbon workshop, as others I have seen.
They are almost cartoonish in their stylization, and in their granitic larger-than-lifesize bulk, steely horizonward gaze, pageboy-bob haircut. Think Prince Valiant in stone, strong-jawed, with the heavy cloak of a Soviet soldier-hero, standing tall in sturdy boots, a weapon or a scroll tucked under one broad-sleeved arm. Heroic poses are common to monuments, but the Portuguese colonial empire seemed to have reached the very pinnacle when it came to heroic poses.
In the old days in Macau, that tiny blip on the China coast that today is a gambling mecca soon to rival Las Vegas, there were heroic statues galore. The main square in front of the Leal Senado building, now cobbled in wavy patterns in black and white that can give unsuspecting visitors a case of mal-de-mer, there once upon a time stood the bronze statue of the Macanese hero, Vicente Nicolau de Mesquita, drawing his sword to do battle against the Chinese at Passaleão, just across the Macau border.
During the tumult of Mao's Cultural Revolution, the city fathers (then Portuguese), were obliged to remove the offending effigy.
In its place there is now a fountain of sorts.
Sic semper transit … whatever.
-
A photograph accompanying the newspaper article shows a boy riding his bicycle past statues of Portuguese explorers, against a backdrop of palm trees and a brilliant blue sky.
It is the statues that drew my attention, for they so closely resemble the one of Pedro Álvares that stood (still stands?) on the Praia Grande in the Special Administrative Region of Macau in China. The statues are in a style that might have originated in the 1940s or 1950s under the Salazar dictatorship of Portugal. Indeed the statues in São Tomé and Macau might have been the work of the same sculptor, or might have come from the same Lisbon workshop, as others I have seen.
They are almost cartoonish in their stylization, and in their granitic larger-than-lifesize bulk, steely horizonward gaze, pageboy-bob haircut. Think Prince Valiant in stone, strong-jawed, with the heavy cloak of a Soviet soldier-hero, standing tall in sturdy boots, a weapon or a scroll tucked under one broad-sleeved arm. Heroic poses are common to monuments, but the Portuguese colonial empire seemed to have reached the very pinnacle when it came to heroic poses.
In the old days in Macau, that tiny blip on the China coast that today is a gambling mecca soon to rival Las Vegas, there were heroic statues galore. The main square in front of the Leal Senado building, now cobbled in wavy patterns in black and white that can give unsuspecting visitors a case of mal-de-mer, there once upon a time stood the bronze statue of the Macanese hero, Vicente Nicolau de Mesquita, drawing his sword to do battle against the Chinese at Passaleão, just across the Macau border.
During the tumult of Mao's Cultural Revolution, the city fathers (then Portuguese), were obliged to remove the offending effigy.
In its place there is now a fountain of sorts.
Sic semper transit … whatever.
-
Saturday, October 29, 2005
Death in the Afternoon
We decided in late afternoon to drive to the Stanford Shopping Center in Palo Alto. My wife loves to shop there. Well, really, she loves to shop everywhere, but Stanford happens to be one of her favorite shopping places.
To join Interstate 280 southbound from Highway 92 one has to drive through a curved highway underpass at the interchange. This tunnel-like structure is perhaps a couple of hundred yards long, two lanes wide going one way, well lit even during the day. Cars usually travel through it at high speeds, if for no other reason than that radio reception is blocked by all that concrete and earth surrounding it. I have had cars pass mine on the right at eighty miles per hour. Crazy drivers.
So here we are traveling along at a good clip, oh, at about the speed limit, I would guess. Just as we are about to emerge from the tunnel into the late afternoon sunlight, suddenly there appears ahead of us a couple of jackrabbits. One makes it to safety easily, hopping into the shadows on the left. I can still see its mate, long ears upright, frozen in silhouette against the sunlit road ahead. Instead of leaping forward to join its companion, it suddenly backtracks, hesitates, and immediately I hear a bump beneath the car.
It's dead, I know. I have taken the life of a creature in one split second, willy nilly. Let me rephrase that, so as to absolve myself of blame. I have been the unwitting agent of the untimely demise of another living creature. The jackrabbit was wrong to hesitate and to backtrack. It could have gone forward, like its mate. Why did it do this dumb thing — hopping directly under the left front tire? No way could I have avoided hitting it. I could not have swerved in time. And if I had swerved, I might have hit one of the speeding vehicles on my right.
As far as I know, I had never before knowingly caused the death of anything larger than a housefly or a yellow jacket. But this jackrabbit made an definite impression on me. Maybe it was the unexpectedness of the incident, or the fact that the bump under the car reminded me of the pivotal scene in the Krzysztof Kieslowski movie "Red" when Irene Jacob's car hit the judge's dog, or my wife asking 'What was that?'
But for the next seven or eight miles I could not get the image out of my mind of this dead jackrabbit, the first road kill I had ever made in my life.
.
Wednesday, October 26, 2005
Technology and Togetherness
For many years I have made recordings, either on film or on electronic media, of the everyday activities of family members and friends. These were usually made candidly at gatherings — birthday parties, Christmas and other holidays, vacations and the like — or formally, when the subjects were aware that I was filming or taping, and spoke directly into the camera. Some people do this more easily than others, who may feel awkward or unsure when looking into a camera lens. I try to put the subject at ease with a joke. But, to be quite honest about it, this may or may not work, and it depends a lot on their comfort level when in the intimidating presence of a camera.
Still, ten or twenty years afterwards, when an opportunity arises for me to show the film — or more likely these days, the video — to the people who appear in it, they are generally delighted to see themselves, awkward or not, as they were years before. This is especially true of images of children shown to their grown-up selves.
This is what technology can do. It can capture a moment, or long sequences of moments. Capture and preserve them. It can, in a way, stop time.
It began with early still photography — glass plates, lengthy exposures, cumbersome equipment. The photographs were static, often posed. Then photography evolved to include miniature cameras. Movies had came along — this marvelous technology that has made such great strides over the past century, and made Hollywood (ugh!) almost as synonymous with America as Wall Street in the perceptions of non-Americans.
Electronics have now made capturing live action so much easier than it had ever been. Lasers and plastics added into the mix have now given us the ability to easily preserve all of those precious moments which in the early days required the use of photographic film. Easily preserve, as well as easily share. I'm speaking of the dvd, or 'digital versatile disc', big brother of the cd, or 'compact disc' that is used to contain our music.
Computers with non-linear video editing programs have given us the means to clean up the home movies we make, add professional transitions and effects, include menus, titles, and other Hollywoodian gimcrackery if we want to, to create a video product that ultimately is good enough to be shared.
-
Tuesday, October 25, 2005
Central do Brasil
Saw a Brazilian movie called "Central do Brasil" ("Central Station" in English) starring famed actress Fernanda Montenegro, and an amazing young boy named Vinicius de Oliveira. A simple plot line, somewhat maudlin in places, but the landscapes and faces of Brazil are breathtaking. Worth seeing if only for the expressive faces of Brazil's people.
We were in Brazil twenty-five years ago, visiting friends, one of whom had a toddler two years of age. We have just been invited to the wedding of this 'toddler' next October, and we look forward to being in Brazil with our friends once again .
When we were there in 1980 we started in São Paulo, and then we visited Rio, Brasilia, and the famous Iguaçú Falls on the border between Brazil, Argentina, and Paraguay. I can still remember how hot it was at the Falls, how we perspired, and how colorful butterflies landed on our arms to drink our salty sweat.
Other than a short business trip to Panama some years later, and a cruise through the Panama Canal three years ago, we had not been on the South American continent since that visit to Brazil. So next year we plan to attend the wedding in São Paulo, and then maybe include a side trip to Buenos Aires.
.
We were in Brazil twenty-five years ago, visiting friends, one of whom had a toddler two years of age. We have just been invited to the wedding of this 'toddler' next October, and we look forward to being in Brazil with our friends once again .
When we were there in 1980 we started in São Paulo, and then we visited Rio, Brasilia, and the famous Iguaçú Falls on the border between Brazil, Argentina, and Paraguay. I can still remember how hot it was at the Falls, how we perspired, and how colorful butterflies landed on our arms to drink our salty sweat.
Other than a short business trip to Panama some years later, and a cruise through the Panama Canal three years ago, we had not been on the South American continent since that visit to Brazil. So next year we plan to attend the wedding in São Paulo, and then maybe include a side trip to Buenos Aires.
.
Monday, October 24, 2005
Intimations of Mortality
Today we visited an attorney who specializes in living trusts. We have had a living trust for many years, but as things change, so also must some of our legal documents. Hence our visit, a lengthy discussion, questions, review of the documents, while the meter ticks away, clocking the legal fees at a rapid rate.
It is not a pleasant thought — that of contemplating the inevitability of one's passage from this world. After all, aren't we just as young as ever, while everyone we know seems to be getting older? Wasn't it just a few short years ago that we were carefree teenagers going to dances and picnics? Where has all the time gone?
We learned today that what used to be called a "durable power of attorney", which authorizes another to make medical decisions when one is no longer capable of doing so for one's self, is now known as an "advanced health care directive." A change in name does nothing to ease the difficult task of making the ultimate decision, when and if that time should finally come.
Readers of this blog will, I'm sure, be aware that the subject of time is the thread running through much of it. Always I am aware, in the words of Andrew Marvell, of "Time's wingéd chariot hurrying near."
So carpe diem we must, for dies irae lies not far off.
*****
It is not a pleasant thought — that of contemplating the inevitability of one's passage from this world. After all, aren't we just as young as ever, while everyone we know seems to be getting older? Wasn't it just a few short years ago that we were carefree teenagers going to dances and picnics? Where has all the time gone?
We learned today that what used to be called a "durable power of attorney", which authorizes another to make medical decisions when one is no longer capable of doing so for one's self, is now known as an "advanced health care directive." A change in name does nothing to ease the difficult task of making the ultimate decision, when and if that time should finally come.
Readers of this blog will, I'm sure, be aware that the subject of time is the thread running through much of it. Always I am aware, in the words of Andrew Marvell, of "Time's wingéd chariot hurrying near."
So carpe diem we must, for dies irae lies not far off.
*****
Market Street - Rainy Afternoon
A view looking north from Twin Peaks in San Francisco towards the Bay.
More about time
It's not easy to keep up a blog, mainly because of time constraints — which undoubtedly most people have nowadays. Often when ideas and thoughts surface that might be suitable additions to this blog, it is not convenient to log in to the computer right then and there, and later, one forgets.
A good friend of mine is in hospital with what appears to be pneumonia. He is in his eighties, and otherwise in good health except for some arthritis. We went to see him. He is on oxygen, and impatient to get home and back to normal.
* * * *
My oldest granddaughter is getting ready for college. The whole process of applying for college can be daunting for a young person, but she is determined to do it right, and has the support of all of us. She is a great student, and there's no doubt that she will succeed in whatever she sets her mind to do. Her younger sister is likewise a great student, and in two years she will have to go through the same process. But by then she can follow the path that her sister has already trod.
A good friend of mine is in hospital with what appears to be pneumonia. He is in his eighties, and otherwise in good health except for some arthritis. We went to see him. He is on oxygen, and impatient to get home and back to normal.
* * * *
My oldest granddaughter is getting ready for college. The whole process of applying for college can be daunting for a young person, but she is determined to do it right, and has the support of all of us. She is a great student, and there's no doubt that she will succeed in whatever she sets her mind to do. Her younger sister is likewise a great student, and in two years she will have to go through the same process. But by then she can follow the path that her sister has already trod.
Monday, October 17, 2005
Flu shots & Iraq elections
Got our flu shots yesterday. The doctor's office was full, even though it was a Sunday, and the doctor himself was there to supervise the operation. Patients, mainly seniors, filled out forms, showed their insurance cards, and were directed to several rooms where the shots were administered by aides. The whole process was orderly, and we were out of there in about twenty-minutes.
We are given to understand that the flu vaccine will not suffice to protect against the avian flu that has been so much in the news of late. There is a Swiss-made product called Tamiflu, but this is in short supply, and our local pharmacies are completely out of it.
The elections for a new constitution in Iraq seem to have gone well, with more people voting than in the last election. Let's hope that this is another big step towards the country's march towards a democratic future. Though there have been news accounts today of voting irregularities, it looks like the constitution will be approved as written.
Today is another glorious autumn day in the San Francisco Bay Area. Though we do not have the fall colors that are so much a part of the attraction of places like Vermont, we have our own small share of gorgeous foliage. And here, unlike in the southern part of our State, the air is clear and crisp. It does our lungs good to take deep breaths of this sweet air of ours.
Took an hour-long walk today, and plan to be constant about making it a regular habit.
We are given to understand that the flu vaccine will not suffice to protect against the avian flu that has been so much in the news of late. There is a Swiss-made product called Tamiflu, but this is in short supply, and our local pharmacies are completely out of it.
The elections for a new constitution in Iraq seem to have gone well, with more people voting than in the last election. Let's hope that this is another big step towards the country's march towards a democratic future. Though there have been news accounts today of voting irregularities, it looks like the constitution will be approved as written.
Today is another glorious autumn day in the San Francisco Bay Area. Though we do not have the fall colors that are so much a part of the attraction of places like Vermont, we have our own small share of gorgeous foliage. And here, unlike in the southern part of our State, the air is clear and crisp. It does our lungs good to take deep breaths of this sweet air of ours.
Took an hour-long walk today, and plan to be constant about making it a regular habit.
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