I am usually not one for Oscar hype. It seems that more often than not, the movie that wins the Oscars is not one I would enjoy. So it was with no little trepidation that I went to see "Slumdog Millionaire" last night with my wife. We had wanted to see it on the weekend but with so many things going on that just wasn't in the cards.
We both really liked this movie. I liked it enough that it will be one I will own when it comes out on DVD. The acting was wonderful, the score was great and the scenery spectacular. Now the scenery wasn't spectacular in a National Geographic fashion. It depicted the slums of India and the daily lives of its inhabitants. It is not a pretty way to live. I have seen slums, but they take on a whole new meaning when your population is north of a billion souls.
The one thing that kept nagging at me after the movie was I felt I had seen the movie before. The themes during the movie reminded me of Oliver Twist and Great Expectations (to a lesser degree). I just wish I could put my finger on it.
But no matter what, this is a very good movie and one I highly recommend.
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Roses
These are the roses I got for my wife for Valentine's Day 2009. I know that they aren't the traditional red, but my wife loved them. I was shooting for a Clemson Orange, but didn't quite get there, but the fact that she loved them is all that really matters.
Valentine's Day
I took my wife out for Valentine's Day to Stellar. We had a wonderful dinner and a very enjoyable evening. The only thing that put a damper on the night was her knee. She is having trouble again with the same knee she had operated on in December of 07. She goes to visit the doctor today and we'll wait to see what he says about the whole thing.
Friday, February 13, 2009
Friday the 13th
Well don't let any black cats walk in front of you, stroll under any ladders and for heaven's sake be careful with that mirror!
Today is the day many fear, Friday the 13th! Now I am not one prone to triskaidekaphobia, or an irrational fear of the number 13. However it is good to remember one significant event which happened on this day.
On Friday the 13th, 1307 King Phillip IV of France, in league with Pope Clement V betrayed the Knights Templar. King Phillip had issued orders to arrest every Knight of the order on October 13th. Between the two conspirators they rounded up every knight they could find, put them in prisons and tortured confessions from them. The Grand Master of the order was also arrested, Jaques de Molay, and executed. Most believe the true reason behind the conspiracy between King and Pope was to lay their hands on the money in the Templar's coffers.
Today is the day many fear, Friday the 13th! Now I am not one prone to triskaidekaphobia, or an irrational fear of the number 13. However it is good to remember one significant event which happened on this day.
On Friday the 13th, 1307 King Phillip IV of France, in league with Pope Clement V betrayed the Knights Templar. King Phillip had issued orders to arrest every Knight of the order on October 13th. Between the two conspirators they rounded up every knight they could find, put them in prisons and tortured confessions from them. The Grand Master of the order was also arrested, Jaques de Molay, and executed. Most believe the true reason behind the conspiracy between King and Pope was to lay their hands on the money in the Templar's coffers.
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
A dog named Beau
Thanks to Momma Ruth for sending me the link to the youtube video posted above. It features Jimmy Stuart reading a poem about his dog named Beau on the Johnny Carson show.
If you are a dog lover, it's great. If not, enjoy it anyway. There will never be another man like Jimmy Stuart.
If you are a dog lover, it's great. If not, enjoy it anyway. There will never be another man like Jimmy Stuart.
Justice?
Is this justice or is this nothing more than another abuse of the American legal system? I can not believe that a man no longer has the right to defend his property against criminal activity.
Now make no mistake about it, the poor souls crossing the border are searching for a better life. There are many who come here in a similar fashion and become productive citizens. However that doesn't excuse the fact that they got here by violating the law. Here is a man who is protecting his property and livestock from harm. According to the article he never drew his weapon. He called his wife and the Border Patrol came to take them into custody.
Had Mr. Barnett committed an actionable offense the local prosecutor would have rightly brought charges. And this should be a local matter not a national forum for a public wailing and gnashing of teeth over illegal immigration. But since no such thing happened, a group hoping to make a name for itself has brought a suit against him accusing him of violating their civil rights. I wasn't aware that detaining someone during the course of an illegal activity amounted to a violation of their civil rights. Regardless of their immigration status, they were trespassing on his property. He had every right to detain them until the proper authorities were summoned and the situation turned over to them. Who would truly and rightly remember exactly what was said during a tense situation five years ago? I would suspect that both sides said things they would otherwise never have said. Does that make it a civil rights case? I hardly think that it does. I think this is nothing more than an attempt to fleece his pockets of cash for their cause, and garner attention.
Now make no mistake about it, the poor souls crossing the border are searching for a better life. There are many who come here in a similar fashion and become productive citizens. However that doesn't excuse the fact that they got here by violating the law. Here is a man who is protecting his property and livestock from harm. According to the article he never drew his weapon. He called his wife and the Border Patrol came to take them into custody.
Had Mr. Barnett committed an actionable offense the local prosecutor would have rightly brought charges. And this should be a local matter not a national forum for a public wailing and gnashing of teeth over illegal immigration. But since no such thing happened, a group hoping to make a name for itself has brought a suit against him accusing him of violating their civil rights. I wasn't aware that detaining someone during the course of an illegal activity amounted to a violation of their civil rights. Regardless of their immigration status, they were trespassing on his property. He had every right to detain them until the proper authorities were summoned and the situation turned over to them. Who would truly and rightly remember exactly what was said during a tense situation five years ago? I would suspect that both sides said things they would otherwise never have said. Does that make it a civil rights case? I hardly think that it does. I think this is nothing more than an attempt to fleece his pockets of cash for their cause, and garner attention.
Saturday, February 07, 2009
Photos
Ok, I'm done downloading the photos and have backed them up. Now if I can just put them in folders and tag them I will feel like I've accomplished something today!
Photos and Facebook
So I have finally given in and joined the Facebook crowd. I was enjoying my time as one of the last humans not on Facebook. I wore it as a badge of honor! But my 25th High School reunion is coming up and they are trying to get in touch with as many people as they can. One of the ways they are trying is by Facebook. So after much badgering from my wife and friends (all in good fun!) I took the plunge this morning.
Now as I sit here doing chores around the house I can tackle a few more on my laptop as well. I hooked up my Nikon camera to it and downloaded 129 or so pictures that have been quietly residing there. Now I just have to go through them and put them in some logical order. Oh, and BACK THEM UP! I don't expect there to be a problem, but then that's what I thought last time too!
Now as I sit here doing chores around the house I can tackle a few more on my laptop as well. I hooked up my Nikon camera to it and downloaded 129 or so pictures that have been quietly residing there. Now I just have to go through them and put them in some logical order. Oh, and BACK THEM UP! I don't expect there to be a problem, but then that's what I thought last time too!
Tuesday, February 03, 2009
update
Just on a whim while I was catching up on my reading I tried an experiment. I had managed to save some of the files off of my old hard drive onto the Free Agent hard drive. Some of my music made it onto the drive before the big crash.
So I opened up Songbird and tried to see if I could bring that over. Since I am limited in time, I just tried one file. It came over with a drag and a drop and now happily resides inside the Songbird.
That does bring up a minor annoyance. I'm not sure why this is, but the icons for both Firefox and Songbird aren't stable. They will look one way one day, and different the next. It is only an annoyance as they both do work. Now if I could only get Firefox to remember the tabs! That however is another project.
I really need to start a project list and keep up with it. That is now becoming more and more necessary.
So I opened up Songbird and tried to see if I could bring that over. Since I am limited in time, I just tried one file. It came over with a drag and a drop and now happily resides inside the Songbird.
That does bring up a minor annoyance. I'm not sure why this is, but the icons for both Firefox and Songbird aren't stable. They will look one way one day, and different the next. It is only an annoyance as they both do work. Now if I could only get Firefox to remember the tabs! That however is another project.
I really need to start a project list and keep up with it. That is now becoming more and more necessary.
Linux can't "touch" this
Ok I know the title is bad. Really bad. But it is true none the less. Last night I attempted to hook up my ipod Touch (2nd gen) and see what would happen. Linux could see that it was attached, and that it had photos, but was completely oblivious to the music that was on there.
So now it's back to the ol' google search. Now while this might be somewhat frustrating, there is some fun to be had. I am getting what I truly wanted. I am learning what Linux is all about. That is a part of the process here and one of the things I was looking to do.
Since my time was very limited last night, this will take just a bit longer than I expected. My time over the next three nights will be just as limited. Getting Linux and the iPod to play nice may have to wait until this weekend.
So now it's back to the ol' google search. Now while this might be somewhat frustrating, there is some fun to be had. I am getting what I truly wanted. I am learning what Linux is all about. That is a part of the process here and one of the things I was looking to do.
Since my time was very limited last night, this will take just a bit longer than I expected. My time over the next three nights will be just as limited. Getting Linux and the iPod to play nice may have to wait until this weekend.
Monday, February 02, 2009
Superbowl
My wife and I attended a Superbowl party last night at a friend's house. This is the second year in a row that we've done this. There was a very good group last night and we all had a great time. My wife made a new buffalo chicken and cheese dip that was superb. I brought along as well a peach salsa from Abbott Farms in Gaffney, SC. This is fantastic stuff as well and was well received.
Before leaving, my wife asked me who I was wanted to win. You see, I am a Panther's fan. I told her that I liked both teams and truly would be happy with either one winning, I was just hoping for a good game.
You have to be careful for what you wish for, because you just might get it. Well I think we were treated to a fantastic game last night. The quality of the play was fabulous. The only thing that I felt marred the performance was that Arizona committed too many penalties. That kept Pittsburgh going when the could have been stopped. But other than that, I felt it was a great game. My only question was why, with just a few seconds left on the clock they didn't review the fumble made by Kurt Warner. While watching it on the replays, I felt the argument could have been made that his arm was making a throwing motion. Then it would have been an incomplete pass, and Arizona would have had one more shot down the field. But nevertheless we watched a great game, and enjoyed the company of good friends. That certainly was a great way to cap the weekend.
Before leaving, my wife asked me who I was wanted to win. You see, I am a Panther's fan. I told her that I liked both teams and truly would be happy with either one winning, I was just hoping for a good game.
You have to be careful for what you wish for, because you just might get it. Well I think we were treated to a fantastic game last night. The quality of the play was fabulous. The only thing that I felt marred the performance was that Arizona committed too many penalties. That kept Pittsburgh going when the could have been stopped. But other than that, I felt it was a great game. My only question was why, with just a few seconds left on the clock they didn't review the fumble made by Kurt Warner. While watching it on the replays, I felt the argument could have been made that his arm was making a throwing motion. Then it would have been an incomplete pass, and Arizona would have had one more shot down the field. But nevertheless we watched a great game, and enjoyed the company of good friends. That certainly was a great way to cap the weekend.
Sunday, February 01, 2009
Seagate Freeagent
So after losing my hard drive to an untimely and somewhat messy death, I decided to go out and get an external hard drive to back up my data. I went to Best Buy and picked up a 250 GB Seagate Freeagent hard drive. During the final death throes I did manage to attach it and retrieve a few of my files.
I was a little hesitant to hook it up to the new laptop. I really am not sure why that was. But I finally got up the nerve to attach it to my new system this weekend. When I first tried to attach it, Ubuntu could see it but couldn't do anything with it. Not to worry, as I know there is a lot of support out there I just have to go find it.
Hop on to google, and do a search for the problem. Voila'! Up comes a number of similar problems and the solutions that they found. Before I went too far however I wanted to see if it was a Linux problem or a Seagate problem. So, hook it up to the home Windows system and see what happens.
Well, the problem couldn't be disastrous. Windows can see the drive and more importantly see what is on it. One of the error messages from Linux (didn't screen shot them - file that one away for future references) was that the device hadn't been closed properly or some such. So, now that I'm done on Windows, use the "safely remove the hardware" option and let's hook it back up to the Linux machine.
I move the hard drive over to the laptop and Linux sees it as before. But this time, not only does it see the drive - miracle of miracles - it can see the files and open them!
Now this does make me curious as to why it had the problem with the hard drive before. Was it a momentary glitch, or was it because I hadn't shut down the drive properly the last time I had used it? To be fair, when that happened the whole system crashed and there was no way to do that.
But I suppose that all is well that ends well. I don't think that trying to replicate the problem is such a good idea. That is definitely a sleeping dog best left alone.
I was a little hesitant to hook it up to the new laptop. I really am not sure why that was. But I finally got up the nerve to attach it to my new system this weekend. When I first tried to attach it, Ubuntu could see it but couldn't do anything with it. Not to worry, as I know there is a lot of support out there I just have to go find it.
Hop on to google, and do a search for the problem. Voila'! Up comes a number of similar problems and the solutions that they found. Before I went too far however I wanted to see if it was a Linux problem or a Seagate problem. So, hook it up to the home Windows system and see what happens.
Well, the problem couldn't be disastrous. Windows can see the drive and more importantly see what is on it. One of the error messages from Linux (didn't screen shot them - file that one away for future references) was that the device hadn't been closed properly or some such. So, now that I'm done on Windows, use the "safely remove the hardware" option and let's hook it back up to the Linux machine.
I move the hard drive over to the laptop and Linux sees it as before. But this time, not only does it see the drive - miracle of miracles - it can see the files and open them!
Now this does make me curious as to why it had the problem with the hard drive before. Was it a momentary glitch, or was it because I hadn't shut down the drive properly the last time I had used it? To be fair, when that happened the whole system crashed and there was no way to do that.
But I suppose that all is well that ends well. I don't think that trying to replicate the problem is such a good idea. That is definitely a sleeping dog best left alone.
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