Big Dave's Stupid Blog

Another Era Bites The Recycling Dust

2009-10-14T16:10:00.000-07:00

Made a run to Re-PC today and recycled of a bunch of old computers. A couple of these date to the early 90s. Good bye, sort of left to right, Monty, Shirley, Shayla, Mitsu, Ursula, Austin, Steve, Andrew, Tom, Birthe, Vern, a nameless Gateway 486 and (not in picture) Leslie. It was nice to know ya! There was also my HP Scanjet 4C scanner and several large boxes of PC accouterments such as speakers, motherboards, hard drives, CD ROM drives, PC cards and cables. The van felt quite sluggish carrying it all. It was a good day!

Fred is Whacked!

2009-10-07T15:07:00.000-07:00

Whacked Fred today. It's a little early, but the tree removers had started the process a few weeks ago. Good bye Fred! See you next year!

So Long at the Fair

2009-09-05T20:38:00.000-07:00

IMDb (1950) B&W The DVD is from Spain but is in English with subtitulos en Castellano. And, I can't figure out how to turn off the subtitulos. Leslie wanted to see this one at the Film Festival but couldn't so I found it on eBay. I'm so nice! Stars Jean (we love her so) Simmons, Dirk Bogarde and David Tomlinson. Set in Paris in 1889, it's very atmospheric. Moulin Rouge. Dancing girls! Zowie! Sleepy time. Big mystery about to begin. Side note: This is really weird hearing dialog in French with Spanish subtitles. The movie is so so. Only interesting as a period piece.

I'll Be There

2009-09-03T21:23:00.000-07:00

IMDb (2003) A Craig Ferguson movie. He wrote it too. Medium good. Lots of music. A depressingly happy ending.

A Tickle in the Heart

2009-07-26T20:34:00.000-07:00

IMDb (1996) A black-and-white documentary about the Epstein brothers. You know the Epstein brothers, right? Interesting. But, imho, no accordian, no Klezmer. There should be a fiddle too.

The Ramen Girl

2009-07-25T21:03:00.000-07:00

IMDb (2008) Very good! An exploration of the magical power of noodles. A nice look at Japanese culture. The Grand Master played the Cowboy in Tampopo.

I Quit!

2009-07-15T20:32:00.000-07:00

Beginning now, I will blog only movies that I choose. There's something on the screen, but I'm not watching.

Clubland

2009-07-11T17:31:00.000-07:00

IMDb (2007) aka Introducing the Dwights. Australian. For Leslie's movie project. Boobies!!! In the first ten minutes already. It can't be all that bad. I decline to answer on the grounds that it might tend to incriminate me.

Iedereen beroemd!

2009-07-04T19:42:00.000-07:00

IMDb (2000) That's Belgian for Everybody's Famous. You guessed it, another one of Leslie's movies for the club. This is just weird. I decline to answer on the grounds that it might tend to incriminate me.

Conversaciones con mamá

2009-06-27T17:44:00.000-07:00

IMDb (2004) Another one of Leslie's movies for the club. For research. In Spanish with subtitles. Too much work. I take a nap. Oops! Towards the end of Chapter 7, the thing stops playing. Google! Clean disk with rubbing alcohol. Good! Now it won't even load. Contemplate. Insert disk in XBox. Plays fine. Continue watching movie. Wow! These people are old! And short! The pace is slow. A lot of talk, no action. The music doesn't help much. Not my kind of film. China is interesting tho.

The Royal Tenenbaums

2009-06-23T20:36:00.000-07:00

IMDb (2001) One of Leslie's movies for the club. For research. Alex Baldwin narrates. Anjelica has aged a lot. I don't think I'm watching. Time passes. The languid narration and style induces somnolence. Leslie had to get so tea to wake up. Time passes. Leslie decides it's not worth watching. w00t!

Secondhand Lions

2009-06-14T20:44:00.000-07:00

IMDb (2003) One of Leslie's movies for the club. For research. I don't think I'm watching. Time passes. Well, it could have been worse. No way to describe it.

Madagascar

2009-04-18T17:41:00.000-07:00

IMDb (2005) A bit strange but not bad. Needs more music! I can't take this modern animation too often tho. Leslie says its cute.

42nd Street

2009-04-05T20:27:00.000-07:00

(IMDb (1933) A Busby Berkeley spectacular. Music! Dancing girls! What more could you want? It's swell. Except for the high-pitched 30s-style singing. Catch it if you can.

Once, I Had A Fax Machine...

2009-03-16T15:47:00.001-07:00

No, not that kind. It was a big, ugly mechanical thing that I bought at a surplus electronics store. It was an RD-92A/UX Facsimile Recorder used by the Navy to get weather maps on ships. I got it because I had been interested in fax since my early radio days when I would hear these strange signals on the shortwave. I later learned that they were FAX transmissions! So, I bought this machine in the early 70s. Then, after an extensive search, I bought some of the special electrostatic paper it needed. From Fitchburg CPI in Scranton, Pennsylvania. Then, I designed and built a FAX converter for my shortwave receiver. And, voila, facsimile recordings all over the place.

What brings this subject to mind is the big pile of FAX recordings I found while cleaning out the under-the-basement-stairs storage area. There were over 200 wrapped in the original paper packaging along with some blanks. I find that the paper is Timefax NDA, it's 12" wide by 19.125" long, and there were 250 sheets. I went through them. Most were, *surprise*, weather maps, but some were picture stories like from a wire service. I saved a few of the, one is below. The rest go into the recycle bin. Note that the photo has been fixed up in PhotoShop Elements to correct the aspect ratio. Wirephotos are 8 by 10, not 12 by 19.

Pulling the rather thick folder on the fax converter, I have folders for everything, I find that I wrote an article about my experience and the fax converter itself. It was published in the January 1974 issue of 73 MAGAZINE, a magazine for amateur radio enthusiasts. I wonder how many other articles I have written and forgotten? Also in the folder was a photocopy of a Bureau of Ships, Navy Department, Instruction Book for Facsimile Recorder RD-92A/UX. Now, where did I get that?

No Pictures!

2009-01-14T21:53:00.000-08:00

Well ain't that nice? With the demise of the oz.net webserver, all my blog pictures went away. What to do?

Juno

2009-01-01T20:29:00.000-08:00

IMDb (2007) A chick flick. I'm not really watching. No comment.

La Môme

2008-12-27T17:58:00.000-08:00

IMDb (2007) La Vie En Rose. It's in French with subtitles. Rather depressing start. Dark and turgid. The story runs mostly in the past but flashes to the future now and then. This is a bit confusing. I can see why Marion Cotillard won an Oscar. She is very good. This is not a happy film, but it's a good one. The hardest part was listening to Piaf sing. It's all in her voice.

My Favorite Year

2008-12-25T20:49:00.000-08:00

IMDb (1983) Perfekt! Or as near as you can get in movieland. See it if you can.

The Basket

2008-11-18T20:34:00.000-08:00

IMDb (1999) A chick flick of the "Anne of Green Gables" genre. A tale of two German orphans in the Pacific Northwest in 1918. I'm not really watching. It's scenic. It's slow paced. It's schmaltzy beyond belief! Turgid flashbacks. Awful music. A fake Opera. Seems a bit overly melodramatic. Oddly enough, Basketball provides a unifying thread. I hope things get better. How could they not? Now, it's a basketball game! The kid saves the day! Well, sort of. Mushy, heartwarming end. Oy!

Bikur Ha-Tizmoret

2008-11-09T20:18:00.000-08:00

IMDb (2007) aka The Band's Visit. A tale of fish out of water. Very strange. Very good. Get it. Watch it.

National Treasure

2008-11-05T19:21:00.000-08:00

IMDb (2004) Disney. What a bunch of crap! Well done crap tho. High production values. We'll see how it goes. Lots of nice pictures and stuff. Looks good. But, it reminds me of CSI with it's "explain everything with video illustrations" style. Like I'm too stupid to "get it" without pictures. Oh, and the science and tech is pretty lame. Spotted an HP Product Placement! A real geek would have had a Mac. Nearing the end. Lame is the word.

Fred Whacked!

2008-10-24T16:52:00.001-07:00

Fall has officially arrived. I whacked Fred and his sister Rose today. It was a good year for them. Lots of blackberries and flowers. See you next year guys! Picture at Flickr.

Three Comrades

2008-09-14T21:30:00.000-07:00

IMDb (1938) Arrrgh! Chick flick! I liked Margaret Sullavan. Several familiar faces. Rather melodramatic. I missed the first half hour.

Repo Man

2008-08-10T20:27:00.000-07:00

IMDb (1984) Yes! I rented it on iTunes so that Leslie could see the whole thing. More, later. This is not a movie that can be blogged while watched. Oy! What a bomb! No, not the movie. That was great! It was the Apple Experience that bombed. Every few minutes the playback would pause for a few seconds. The colors were washed out, and the video quality wasn't very good. As soon as we caught up to what I had from last night, we switched back to the DVR. Quality standard definition trumps crappy widescreen. The movie is very good with some excellent camera work. Quirky and strange, with many satirical aspects. The plot is complex with lots of characters. You have to pay close attention to understand what's going on. The ending is spiritual. The geek wins! I wonder what happened next?