Monthly Archives: September 2009

Chris’ Camera

Posted on by
Reply

Once more we delve back into the past and have un-earthed another family treasure.  One wonders, how deep is this well?  As you all will find out in future posts, it is much deeper then even I figured.

In this movie, both of my brothers collaborated, to create another masterpiece.  It is called The Boomer and Loomer Movie.  Boomer and Loomer were Chris and mine childhood stuff animals.  They are raccoons and I think that they were originally from FAO Schwartz.  In the movie,  Boomer and Loomer are on a secret mission to knock out a top secret lab.  And yes, that is Charlie Brown of Peanuts fame working in the secret lab.  Things are going well until there nemesis Oink the Warthog shows up and foils their attempt.  According to Chris, Loomer is the smart one, “You can tell by looking at him!”  The movie ends with a bang when Boomer and Loomer’s car crashes into a wall.

I’ve been having quite a few computer problems, as of late.  On Thursday night, on my way back from Seattle, I dropped my bag, with my laptop still inside of it.  When I eventually got home that night, the laptop wouldn’t boot.  The error message on the screen, said that the hard drive was disconnected.  After some effort, I figured out how to open up the device.  The miniature hard drive, about the size of a pack of three by five cards, fell out.  I placed it back into its tray and reconnected its ribbon cable, which unlike a desktop computer’s much more substantial ribbon cable, is as thin a ribbon.  Anyway I eventually got the laptop to work and I am now typing this post on it.  This leads me to the second chapter in my tale of computer woe.

Tuesday night the desktop computer just up and died.  It just plain went flatline, no fans whirling, no drives spinning, no sign of life.  I opened it up, wiggled all the wires, changed plugs, nothing worked.  I think that it is a power supply problem.  I took it into a local repair store on Wednesday night.  I had to pay them sixty buck upfront, just to leave the computer with them and they probably won’t get to it until next week.  In the mean time Anne and I are using the laptop.  I’ve got it hardwired into the DSL router, which helps quite a bit on the internet, much faster then wireless, don’t ya know.  I got the desktop’s mouse to plug and play, so that I don’t have to use the damm touch pad.  Did you know that the touch pad was invented in Saint Louis?  So I’ll just hunker down until next week.  If worst comes to worst, Dell is now selling desktops, starting at only $250.  At that price I’m wondering why I spent sixty bucks.

Ms. Blockhead models Anne’s new creation

Posted on by
2

Ms. Blockhead Models Anne's Newest Creation

Ms. Blockhead in the Conservatory with the Knitting Needles?  No, well then I don’t even have a Clue.  Pictured above is Anne’s latest knitting creation.  She calls it, Three Strikes and You’re Out!  She started knitting it a week ago Monday at the Cardinals baseball game, which they won, thank you very much.  It is destined to be donated to The Red Thread Project, this coming weekend.  Ms. Blockhead is my name for Dan’s sculpture that was used to model Anne’s cap.  She started off life all fit and trim, but after a few years in the weather, she has developed a rather severe case of curvature of the spine.  This is especially hard to treat, considering that she does not have any spine.  Now it is time for Anne’s guest post:

OK, for you knitters out there, here’s the scoop.  Pattern is a 5-stitch repeat, ribbing is K1, P1, and the crown decreases need a multiple of eight.  I used US 8 circular needles with Aran Worsted weight yarn, ( I think).  My gauge was 4.5 stitches per inch.  Cast on 90 stitches, join and do K1, P1 ribbing for ~1″, or six rows. Place marker to mark beginning of round if desired.

Three Strikes and Your’re Out Pattern.

Row 1:  *K3, YO, K2Tog*, repeat * to * around.    3 stitches =  3 strikes, get it?

Row 2 and all even rows: K all the way around. 

Row 3:  K2, *YO, K2Tog, K3*, ending with K1 on last repeat.

Row 5:  K1,  *YO, K2Tog, K3*, ending with K2 on last repeat.      3 pattern rows = 3 outs, time to switch sides.

Row 7:  K1, *SSK, YO, K3*,  ending with K2 on last repeat.

Row 9:  K2, *SSK, YO, K3*,  ending with K2 on last repeat.

Row 11:  *K3, *SSK, YO*, repeat * to * around.    3 pattern rows = 3 outs, time to switch sides back to first side.

Row 12:  K all the way around

Repeat Rows 1-12 until hat is desired height.  On this hat, I knit 1-12 twice, then 1-6 again.

Decreasing on the Crown

Decrease twice on first row of knitting to get stitch count from 90 to 88.  Place markers every 22 stitches. 

Row 1 (decrease row):  *After marker, SSK, K2Tog, K to next marker.*  Repeat around hat.  (8 stitches decreased)

Row 2:  K all the way around.

Repeat Rows 1 and 2 until 16 stitches remain.  Repeat Row 1, so 8 stitches remain. 

Cut yarn ~ 8 inches long.  Thread on yarn needle and run through all eight stitches twice.  Remove knitting needle(s), and draw stitches together.  Weave in ends.

I was trying to get a nice square decrease, like a baseball diamond, but the decrease lines have a little bit of curve.  Oh well, I’m certainly not in the mood to rip it out and try again.

Chris’ Camera

Posted on by
1

This installment of Chris’ Camera features a movie that Chris originally made in the early 1970s.  It is entitled Tools.  It was filmed by and stars Chris and was made while he was in high school, in Ann Arbor.  Amazingly it was filmed all in one take.  It uses a stop frame animation technique.  Using this technique, for portions of the film, Chris took pictures one frame at a time.  In between each frame Chris moves his props, ever so slightly and then repeats the process.  It is a time consuming technique.  There is no sound, it is a silent movie, the 8 mm movie camera that was used to film the movie didn’t record sound.  I think the movie is both imaginative and funny and as an added plus it involves bicycling.  I hope that you like it too.  I think that he did a really good job, considering the tools that he had at hand …

This movie is only the first in a series of movies that will appear over the coming weeks.  Apparently Costco now offers a low cost digitizing service for 8 mm films.  Look forward to more  animation treats from Chris’ Camera, in future weeks such as The Adventures of Boomer and Loomer.  In addition to Chris’ budding film efforts there will be films of historical significance.  These were shot by our Dad.  Look forward to viewing an exotic trip to India and backyard family fun, in the form of a pickup baseball game.  Lookout Frank!  😮

MS-150 Revisited

Posted on by
Reply

The first three photographs above were taken at this MS-150 bicycle ride in Columbia, MO by professional photographers.  The first photo shows the entirety of Team Kaldi’s at the start line on Saturday morning, even though it says finish.  We’re in there somewhere.  The second and third photographs show Anne and I riding the MS-150 ride, first on Saturday and then second on Sunday.  The fourth and fifth pictures are ones that I took of Anne.  The sixth photo shows the two medals that we were given at the completion of the ride.  Today’s header was also taken on the Sunday of the ride.  It shows  a fellow team member mugging for the camera.  I luv the juxtaposition of the cyclists to the left with the Loveall RV’s sign on the right.  Anne and I have always loved our RVs, our two wheeled RVs that is.

Last year, in 2008, I made a video of that year’s MS-150 bike ride, in which I ask various members of Team Kaldi’s, “Why do you ride?”  This year, the Gateway MS Society in what I’ll categorize as flattery, as in imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, made a very similar video called Why do you ride?  Naturally, I like my original version better.  I didn’t make a video this year, but a fellow Team Kaldi’s member, Dan, did make this one.  Both Anne and I appear a couple of times each in the movie.

Sunday was a rest day, well actually a rainy rest day.  It rained most of the morning, mostly a gentle rain.  After having been on the road for about a week, I think that I deserve a rest day.  I would like to take this opportunity to thank our donors, you know who you are.  Thanks again!  🙂

Forest Park Balloon Festival

Posted on by
Reply

At about ten AM we lost our power. The outage was a bit mysterious at first because there were no storms and it was not particularly warm, so the grid wasn’t burdened with a heavy load.  I decided to run errands and while driving I saw that the power company was working on the poles in the neighborhood.  Returning home, Anne was talking with one of the neighbors who explained that the power company had chosen this day to hookup all the new power poles that it had been installing all summer.

I decided to go for a bike ride, so I got ready in the dark basement and then launched into brilliant sunshine.  I rode to where the power company was working and noticed a bare steel wire lying on the ground, across the street.  There was a lineman standing there, just directing traffic, I looked at him and he looked at me, but he didn’t say anything so I figured it was alright and rode across the wire.  A few seconds later a second lineman comes up to the first and asks, “Is this wire hot?”  Hot or not, by this time I was out of earshot of the reply.  I rode on to the Park. 

The Forest Park Balloon Festival is the biggest event in the Park all year long.  Even though it was not yet noon and the main event, the mass balloon launch, wasn’t scheduled until five, the Park was already getting crowded.  I toured the festival grounds and photographed today’s header, a guy doing summersaults on a trampoline.  I searched for and eventually found some wildlife, a Great White Egret, some Wood Ducks and a bee on a flower.  The theme for the pictures with this post is things that fly.  I got fifteen miles in the morning.

Anne walked to a meeting for The Red Thread Project, at the Saint Louis Artists Guild, in Oak Knoll Park.  The artist, Lindsay Obermeyer, is assembling a piece of art that has hats strung together, about a yard apart, with a red thread.  Anne brought a knitted cap that she had made and helped put the piece together.  Next weekend, on Sunday the 27th, between one and three, the artist and the Saint Louis Artist’s Guild will perform the Dance of the Hats.  Afterwards, the hats will be donated to charity and the red thread will move on to another city.

Anne and I rode over to the Park for the festival’s balloon launch.  We arrived just in time.  It had clouded up a bit since the morning and more telling the wind had not slackened.  We positioned ourselves under the balloon’s flight path.  It gave us a great opportunity for balloon photography.  Anne made a really great salsa, that with chips we munched on.  It started to drizzle near the end, but we stayed dry on the way home.  We got eight miles. 

We caught the end of the MSU versus Notre Dame game.  Boo!  The Cards won though and now have a magic number of six four.

Seattle Photo Shoot

Posted on by
Reply

Today’s post is a photo blog.  I’ve collected a dozen pictures from my visit there.  I hope that you like them: 1) A baseball bat sculpture over the escalators at the main entrance into Safeco Field; 2) the plaque that commemorates the first Starbucks store; 3) hanging hot peppers in a produce stand at Pikes Street Market; 4) cut flowers at Pikes Market; 5) the piggy bank at Pikes; 6) the Boeing sign at Safeco, Jay, Carl (sitting) and their friend Mark can be seen in the lower left-hand corner; 7) scoreboard and lights at Safeco; 8) a fishermen sculpture at Pier 57; 9) a manhole cover near Pikes, with a street map of downtown Seattle; 10) the Boys posing as cheese heads at a cheese factory near Pikes; 11) a Potter-esque street address; 12) Pike Street Market restroom tile mural.  Today’s header shows Mariner’s right fielder Ichiro, crouching ready for the next pitch.