The Car Show

On Sunday, we went into DC to the Convention Center to see the Car Show with Randy and Theresa. We rode the Metro from Vienna and got off at Mt. Vernon Ave. I was really impressed with how easy it was to get there since there is an exit right into the Convention Center. By the way, the Convention Center is HUGE. No, HUGE is too small a word, its FRUGE (Thats Friggin Huge).

The DCCC takes up about two square blocks and is cavernous. The Car Show took up only a fraction of the space that the center offers and there was still enough room for a second show if they wanted it.

We started downstairs and went to see the Mercedes (gotta dream) and then went to see the VWs, which have a sporty little hard top convertible. Very cute, but kindof a chick car for my taste.

We moved on to see the Nissan stuff and then the Toyotas, Jeeps, Dodges. I got into a few of the cars to see how they felt and some I liked better than others. I really liked the Mini Coopers, and fell in love with the newest one that has a slightly longer back so it looks a little more like a van or wagon than the sporty version. I like that car, its cool and you feel like you are poured into the vehicle, but plenty of room to move around.

After that we went to see some of the dream vehicles like the Ferrari, Lamborghini, Bently's, Ford GTs and others. Wow, some of those cars are art, pure Art.

Jack liked the Mercedes SUV. I did, too.

Me and Jack in a Durango.

Kate and Jack in the Murano.

Interesting, Nissan. Looks like the truck pooped a tent. Would that make it a "Poop Tent"? Randy said that it came with a free hose to hook up to the exhaust, I said they should call it the "Nissan Kevorkian".

Great paint job on this Suzuki.


My Dream Machine - the Mini Cooper

Ford GT

A little too flambouyant for me, but cool butterfly doors.

Sex, on wheels.

The other Bently that made my mouth water.

Bently Convertible

Library Opening

We opened the new City of Fairfax regional library on Saturday morning. I got there about 8:30 in the cold and Kate took Jack over to the Starbucks to get some heat and caffeine. I helped to set up the ribbon for the cutting ceremony and helped out with a few other things before the actual opening at 10.

About 15 minutes before the ribbon cutting, there was a small parade from the old library site of people that brought over books, only a few, since there were already plenty of them inside. After a few remarks, the pledge of allegiance and putting a time capsule in a hole in the wall, we opened.

44,000 feet of glorious new library space (from 14,000 feet).

A writer from the Times called it " A Cathederal to the written word" and he wasn't far off. Its a really beautiful place and did I mention it has 199 parking spaces!

The library was a joint effort between the City of Fairfax and Fairfax County.

"Weiners", "Poopies" and "Jesus"

I just finished reading, what has to be the most interesting story I have read on the internet in some time. It involves three words that I thought I would never hear in one sentence and if I could construct said sentence I wouldn't know just how to fit these three words into that sentence. The words: Weiner, Poopies and Jesus.

The story goes like this:
Jean Mansel from Oakfield Township, Michigan received what has to be one of the hottest ransom notes in history. A few of Jean's neighbors are mad, because they believe she's not picking up her dog's doodie. They have kidnapped her statute of Jesus which was in her front yard and are holding it ransom. She received a phone call from a raspy voice. The voice told her to check her mailbox. She did and found this note:

“We are holding Jesus ransom until you clean up the poopie from your wieners and trust us we see you take your wieners for long walks w/out picking up their poopie in our yards. This has upset us dearly so please clean up all the weiner poopie, if you want to see Jesus unharmed. Sincerely, Lindy Lane Residents.”

Jean claims she picks up her dog's doodie and just wants her Jesus statue back. It's a family heirloom. She said, "It has to be a young person because they put these lines around Jesus, no adult is going to waste their time doing that. And referring to weiner poopie…my gosh."

In the name of wiener poopie! Give Jean her Jesus back!

There it is, did you spot it? "please clean up all the weiner poopie, if you want to see Jesus unharmed."

Good stuff. I love the internets and the googles. :)

(Digital) Painting of Jack

I busted out my Wacom tablet and painted a portrait of Jack from one of his pictures. This is a digital picture, so no actual paint was used, but the effect is a painted effect and can be printed on canvas.

Anyone need their portrait painted?



A Wacom tablet is a pressure-sensitive tablet that has a stylus that is used to draw images and transfer them onto a computer.

Ethan

Ethan with Adam and Thai Phi

A Visit from Ethan Stone

Adam, Thai Phi, Janine and Ethan stopped by this afternoon to pay a visit. Janine is in town to see Adam, Thai Phi and baby Ethan and was making the rounds. Its always good to see Janine, she is such a happy person and always brings that spirit where ever she goes.

Ethan has gotten BIG, the boy is growing and growing fast. He is only three months old and is growing out of those 3 Month clothes already. He is alert but quiet and reserved, unless he is hungry and then will let out a slight cry to let you know he wants some food. Cute kid.

Happy Birthday GG (Grandma Goodyear)

Takes a while to download, but oh so worth it.

Sitting In The Kitchen

We have a small kitchen with a peninsula that juts out to divide the kitchen and dining area. At the end of that peninsula its rounded and has a small shelf. Jack loves to sit on that shelf when we are in the kitchen making dinner or a snack.

What Are You Looking At?

I took a quick pic of Jack wearing his new PJs and he gave me this look. I think he's playing with me.

Thank You, Grandma for the Duds

Jack wore his new pajamas the other night that are now a 3T! He is growing like a weed! All the previous PJs were 2T and 18 month, so they are a little snug.



We had a cold snap and so we got Jacks new jacket out that is much thicker for the cold weather.



So thank you, grandma for the new clothes.

Converting to Digital

Anne T, one of my Moms friends asked about converting some 8mm movies she has in a box in her basement. I haven't converted any 8mm movies yet, because the tapes I converted were from VHS to digital (magnetic media), so they were already converted from 8mm movies.

I did read up a little about how to convert these movies to DVD and vendors usually charge by the foot and each 8mm movie has either 50, 100 or 200 foot reels.

Once they are in a digital format, you can do pretty much anything with them; put them on DVD, post them on the web, keep them on your computer, etc.

Google "8mm", "16mm", "movie conversion", "movie conversion to digital" and see what you get. moviehomedepot.com seems to have a good site and fair pricing.

The great thing about converting this stuff to digital is that you have effectively frozen the degradation process which is oxidizing the film. By converting the film to digital, you do two things; you put it in a format that is much more friendly and usable and you have stopped the process of the film degrading any further.

Good luck.

Karen on Dads Shoulders 2

Karen in her Highchair

This is a good one of Karen in her Highchair, she sneezes a few times in this.

Mema, Karen and Silly

Remember Silly? She was a good pekanese, had two puppies named Baby and Tuffy with Poco the Poodle, so they were "Peekapoos". I think Silly lived until she was over 20 years old.

Mema and Karen

More Movies

Karen on Dads Shoulders


I am still converting these movies into snippets, seems like they usually last about 15-20 seconds each and will cut to a new scene. Must have been a feature of the movie camera back then so you wouldn't use all the film on just one subject or something.

Anyway, I will post a few more and then I will make a DVD for Karen, Mom and Dad and Kenny as well. May take some time, but I will get all of them done. With about 20 minutes worth of slips at 15-20 seconds each, its about 80 clips total.

Mom and Karen

Check out that beehive! No, my Mom was not in the B-52's.

Karen and Dad

Karen and Dad in Oklahoma when Karen was just a wee baby.

What A Find

I had a few days off after Christmas and so I cleaned up my office of various junk and clutter, well, maybe just clutter, I have lots of junk. I cleaned out one of my drawers and came across old VHS tapes that were kept for various reasons, none that make much sense now; Star Trek episodes, a walk-through of an old apartment I moved into, a shooting match that Erik was in.

Anyway, one of these tapes has some old home movies on it that Mom or Dad had converted onto VHS years ago. What a find! Mostly just quick clips of Karen as a baby, us at Christmas (in Georgia), Disneyland, etc.

I converted the VHS tape onto a digital tape and am currently feeding into my computer. I have a few clips and so I will post them here so you can enjoy them.