ZooLights 2008

It has become a Walker tradition to attend Phoenix Zoo's ZooLights while the family is in town for Thanksgiving. Last year, it was cold and crowded on whatever night we went. This year, it was cool and not too crowded. The only nitpicky thing I can say is that the new LED lights are not as brilliant. I forgot. There is one more nitpicky thing I can say. Keith and family left before ZooLights, so the only people that went were Valley locals.

Yes, we are at ZooLights. You can tell by the clever sign saying ZooLights.

Here a few of us back at the synchronized lights in the trees.

Granddad and Bella checking out some of the LED lights.

Here are the synchronized lights at the trees as seen by Vincent Van Gogh. Well, it also could be an upside down photo of the lights reflected in the pond. I like my first explanation better.

Here, Kendall and her Daddy are getting a close-up view of a swan.

Here is a sign Dad finally determined says that feeding certain animals can cause loss of hands and severe bleeding. It worked for us. We fed no animals.

Let's finish this up with a lovely depiction of the Monty Python Killer Rabbit. Well, that's what it looks like to me.

Thanksgiving photos coming soon to a monitor near you!!

She Didn't Remind Me

OK, so what if you asked your spouse to remind you of something and they did not? Wouldn't you think it was their fault and not yours? Me, too. OK, what if the request went something like this? "Hey, hon. Remind me to blog about getting soap in my eyes and that reminded me of God." Now, would you remind your spouse or not?

Exactly. I am certainly suspicious. OK, so, I did get soap in my eyes and I did consider God in that moment. I got enough soap in my eye that it was stinging like crazy and I could not open it for a couple of minutes. And it continued to sting for quite a while. Sure, we have all done that. I guess my own uniqueness shows up in that I considered God in that moment. No, I was not blaming Him. God made it so that my eye shut and tears began to wash out the impurities. Try as I might, I could not open that eye at first. I finally held it open under the water to assist the natural healing. Didn't God design our bodies systems perfectly?

The other night, Kathie was sick and throwing up. Again, God designed our bodies to remove those things that could injure us. As a programmer, I think logically about how I could simulate some of these things in a program. God considered every part of our bodies and our being. It is amazing.

Time to shut down tonight.
I have another post scheduled for tomorrow. I am not going to tell you what it will cover. You'll just have to wait and see. I also have to post about Thanksgiving and the warm welcome I continuously get as the self-appointed photographer for these events. Hmmph.

Pre-Thanksgiving Post

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving. We'll be over at the folks for turkey and stuff. Well, hopefully we'll be there. Kathie was sick last night and still is not feeling great.

Did I tell you I spent most of the day yesterday at the park? Yup. We had an IT Picnic at Kiwanis Park in Tempe. Activities included Risk in Middle Earth, chess, checkers, kickball, cricket, badminton, horseshoes, poker, ping pong, hacky sack, frisbee, Guitar Hero, Rock Band, Madden Football, Halo. Quite the spectrum of fun, eh? Oh, I forgot to mention one game. It involves thumbs and war. More later, I'll tell the crew tomorrow and then blog it.

Finally took some time to play in Photoshop tonight. Here is an abandoned cabin near Telluride. I think it is on the road to Alta Lakes. The sky is a little blown out. Sure, I could replace it, but I was playing with the details on the mountains and the cabin.

Let's take a trip in the wayback machine. Here is a glimpse of decorating our tree back in 1986. This is the traditional weekend for doing that, but it is a bit less fun with no kids. We'll need to figure a way to involve Bella and then Kendall.

Playing WIth Photoshop

Did I tell y'all about the reunion of ex-Motorolans I went to last Friday? No? Well, it was weird. We all worked together sometime between the mid-80s to the late-90s. When did all those people get so old? There were about 30 of us. We planned to do it again just before Thanksgivinig next year. No one but me brought a photo book to show. Hello. Can you say granddaughters? I had to show off.

No specific photos to add today. However, I followed a couple of tutorials I found for Photoshop and came up with these. Kinda cool.

Abbott and Costello 2008

I don't normally post things circulating through emails, but I liked this idea. Enjoy.


In today's world, Bud ABBOTT and Lou COSTELLO's famous sketch "Who's on first?" might have turned out something like this....

COSTELLO CALLS TO BUY A COMPUTER FROM ABBOTT . . . .

ABBOTT: Super Duper computer store. Can I help you?
COSTELLO: Thanks. I'm setting up an office in my den and I'm thinking about buying a computer.
ABBOTT: Mac?
COSTELLO: No, the name's Lou.
ABBOTT: Your computer?
COSTELLO: I don't own a computer. I want to buy one.
ABBOTT: Mac?
COSTELLO: I told you, my name's Lou.
ABBOTT: What about Windows?
COSTELLO: Why? Will it get stuffy in here?
ABBOTT: Do you want a computer with Windows?
COSTELLO: I don't know. What will I see when I look in the windows?
ABBOTT: Wallpaper.
COSTELLO: Never mind the windows. I need a computer and software.
ABBOTT: Software for Windows?
COSTELLO: No. On the computer! I need something I can use to write proposals, track expenses and run my business. What have you got?
ABBOTT: Office.
COSTELLO: Yeah, for my office. Can you recommend anything?
ABBOTT: I just did.
COSTELLO: You just did what?
ABBOTT: Recommend something.
COSTELLO: You recommended something?
ABBOTT: Yes.
COSTELLO: For my office?
ABBOTT: Yes.
COSTELLO: OK, what did you recommend for my office?
ABBOTT: Office.
COSTELLO: Yes, for my office!
ABBOTT: I recommend Office with Windows.
COSTELLO: I already have an office with windows! OK, let’s just say I'm sitting at my computer and I want to type a proposal. What do I need?
ABBOTT: Word.
COSTELLO: What word?
ABBOTT: Word in Office.
COSTELLO: The only word in office is office.
ABBOTT: The Word in Office for Windows.
COSTELLO: Which word in office for windows?
ABBOTT: The Word you get when you click the blue "W".
COSTELLO: I'm going to click your blue "w" if you don't start with some straight answers. OK, forget that. Can I watch movies on the Internet?
ABBOTT: Yes, you want Real One.
COSTELLO: Maybe a real one, maybe a cartoon. What I watch is none of your business. Just tell me what I need!
ABBOTT: Real One.
COSTELLO: If it's a long movie, I also want to see reel 2, 3 and 4. Can I watch them?
ABBOTT: Of course.
COSTELLO: Great! With what?
ABBOTT: Real One.
COSTELLO: OK, I'm at my computer and I want to watch a movie. What do I do?
ABBOTT: You click the blue "1".
COSTELLO: I click the blue one what?
ABBOTT: The blue "1".
COSTELLO: Is that different from the blue w?
ABBOTT: The blue "1" is Real One and the blue "W" is Word.
COSTELLO: What word?
ABBOTT: The Word in Office for Windows.
COSTELLO: But there are three words in "office for windows"!
ABBOTT: No, just one. But it's the most popular Word in the world.
COSTELLO: It is?
ABBOTT: Yes, but to be fair, there aren't many other Words left. It pretty much wiped out all the other Words out there.
COSTELLO: And that word is real one?
ABBOTT: Real One has nothing to do with Word. Real One isn't even part of Office.
COSTELLO: STOP! Don't start that again. What about financial bookkeeping? You have anything I can track my money with?
ABBOTT: Money.
COSTELLO: That's right. What do you have?
ABBOTT: Money.
COSTELLO: I need money to track my money?
ABBOTT: It comes bundled with your computer?
COSTELLO: What's bundled with my computer?
ABBOTT: Money.
COSTELLO: Money comes with my computer?
ABBOTT: Yes. No extra charge.
COSTELLO: I get a bundle of money with my computer? How much?
ABBOTT: One copy.
COSTELLO: Isn't it illegal to copy money?
ABBOTT: Microsoft gave us a license to copy money.
COSTELLO: They can give you a license to copy money?
ABBOTT: Why not? THEY OWN IT!

A FEW DAYS LATER . . .
ABBOTT: Super Duper computer store. Can I help you?
COSTELLO: How do I turn my computer off?
ABBOTT: Click on "START" . . .

Good Job

Yeah. Y'all were on the right track. A dude at work, Jim, said he has 86,231 songs in iTunes at home. It takes a 1TB drive to hold them, and he has a second 1TB drive for backup. At an average of 3.5 minutes per song, it would take 210 days to play them all. He has a 32GB iPod Touch that carries over 6,000 songs to and from work.

As for me, my numbers are:
8,690 songs in iTunes
12,771 pics in iPhoto (1,908 of Isabella, 702 of Kendall)

No photo for posting tonight. I was ripping Kyle's Barenaked Ladies CDs.

86,231

8432
You tell me what these mean. One is not mine.

Little Fashionistas

Well, Bella came by tonight after watching Cinderella performed by the students from Dobson Academy. She was a little wired from ice cream, but used some of it up chasing Morris around the coffee table. Whew! I got tired just watching. Anyway, I decided to try a fashion design technique on pictures of the granddaughters.

Here is Kendall as imagined by a fashion photographer.

And of course, here is a shot of Bella using the same technique. It uses alpha channels, gradients, erasers. It was kind of fun, but it does require the right facial expression to really work.

Trick or Treat 2008

Another Halloween has come and gone. None of us dressed like Strawberry Shortcake, but I guess Brenda had that angle covered for the family.
Let's start by checking out Minnie. Yes, she IS almost smiling. I'm glad. The ears did not make it too long, but Lyndsay and I caught enough photos of it that it looks like she wore them for hours.

This one had an entourage last year, and this year, she actually required one. After all, what is Snow White without her dwarfs? This shot was taken before we went out for the annual haul.