Calling Lou Diamond Phillips

I was about to turn on tonight’s Sci-Fi Channel offering of Lou Diamond Phillips dealing with genetically altered bats (which sounds like a movie designed specifically to my tastes), when I came across something better. Engadget either getting owned or owning others (I’m not really sure which) over a dog brain in a dish.

According to this Engadget story, some cat (the human kind, but keep reading and you may begin to wonder) has grown a dog brain in a dish. Now we could make a Sci-Fi Channel offering out of that alone- but there’s more.

What, you might ask, is the highest and best use of a dog brain in a dish?

To play video games, of course. It sort of takes “man’s best friend” to a whole new level.

Now all we need is for the Sci-Fi Channel and Lou Diamond to team up and bring us a movie about the dog brain’s entry into and domination of the pro video game circuit. After the dog brains start winning all of the teens of dollars of prize money, Lou Diamond could play a human gamer who unseats them and returns mankind to its rightful place at the top of the couch potato chain.

Possible sequels could involve squirrel brains that needlepoint, whale brains that rap and turtle brains that play fart football.

Hill Country Day Three

Cassidy and Evie and Delaney and Aidan on a roller coaster

We spent all day today at Sea World.

We saw Shamu, a dolphin show and the shark exhibit. We rode the big waterslide and played in the wave pool.

The kids got to pet and feed dolphins.

More photos here.

Hill Country Day Two

Luke chilling by the pool

We did a whole lot of tubing today. Later we hung out by the pool and swam.

At night they have a campfire where the kids can make smores. Last night there was a huge game of flashlight tag, where one kid has a flashlight and the last kid to get tagged by the flashlight wins. Cassidy won one of the games and Delaney did great too.

Tomorrow we’re off to Seaworld to see Shamu.

Blogging the Alamo

Cassidy and Delaney in the Alamo

We are on the first day of a vacation in the Texas hill country. We spent part of the day in San Antonio. We took the kids to the Alamo and had lunch on the San Antonio Riverwalk.

Afterwards, we came to the Hill Country Hyatt, where we checked in and then went tubing on its man made “lazy river.” We’re going to do some more tubing tomorrow. We’re going to Seaworld on Friday.

Big fun so far.

Richard Querin on Photography

Richard has written the first post in a series that looks like the one I have been waiting for.

I understand what aperture, shutter speed and ISO are, and I am starting to figure out by trial and error how to combine them. Currently, I shoot almost all of my pictures in “shutter priority” mode, via which I constantly change the shutter speed and the ISO and let the camera automatically set the aperture. I have no earthly idea if that is what I should be doing, but that’s where I am at the moment.

What I really want to learn is how to look at a scene (day, night, light, dark, close, far, moving, slow, etc.) and know how to set the values to get the sort of look I am going for. I suspect that when Richard or Thomas Hawk or Darren Rowse see something they want to shoot, they know almost immediately what the settings should be for the desired effect. I want to get to that point eventually.

I’m looking forward to Richard’s series.

25 Backstroke

Delaney in the 25 meter backstroke

Cassidy and Delaney had their second swim meet tonight. They both improved most of their times. In their heat of the 25 meter freestyle, Rachael, Cassidy and Evie finished 1-2-3.

Get Well Sawyer!

I saw this post on Scoble’s blog about Howard Greenstein‘s nephew Sawyer, who is recovering from a mysterious spinal incident that has impaired his mobility from the hips down.

I don’t know Howard, but according to Scoble he ran the Twin Towers Fund which raised millions of dollars in support of the 9/11 victims. Sounds like a guy who knows how to make a difference, so it’s an honor to do a little something to help him help Sawyer.

In an effort to raise Sawyer’s spirits, Howard has started a web site where people can send well wishes and photographs with a “Get Well Sawyer” sign.

Here from my study at beautiful Rancho DeNada in Bellaire, Texas is my contribution.

If you are a blogger and/or have a camera and you want to do something cool for a kid who needs everyone’s support, here’s your chance.

Working on My Photography

I’m starting to get the hang of my new camera. It’s a slow process, but I’m getting there.

I learned code back in the day by looking at other programs and seeing how they were written. I found that approach a lot easier than just reading books (I read plenty, but it was the hands on stuff that got me over the hump). I’ve discovered a similar way to learn photography.

I explore on Flickr and when I find a photo I am interested in (such as brightly colored night shots, etc.) I look for the “More Properties” link in the “Additional Information” column on the right hand side. Via that link I can see all of the settings used for the particular shot. Over time I start to see patterns that lead to a better understanding of the interplay between ISO, aperture and shutter speed.

The shot above is of Aidan, who is becoming quite the swimmer.

Unbelievable Mixup

After sitting by what they thought was their daughter’s hospital bedside for weeks after an auto accident, a Michigan family learned today that she was not their daughter, but another blond-haired young woman injured in the same accident. Their own daughter, it turned out, was dead and buried.

Here is the report from the blog the family kept to update their daughter’s progress.

The girls were students at Taylor University in Indiana and were in an accident while preparing for a banquet for the inauguration of the new school president.

I have a good friend from Bellaire who went to Taylor, as did one of my good friends from high school.

I can’t imagine the grief this family must be going through.

Amazing Artwork

Roy Blumenthal is an incredibly talented artist from South Africa who paints portraits on a TabletPC. I saw this very cool drawing of Dave Wallace on Dave’s blog.

More of Roy’s amazing work can be seen on his Flickr page.