Walking to Work

(The post below this is actually newer. Somehow this is on top, odd)

I love walking to work. It takes me about 25 minutes each way. Today I decided to take my camera and take a shot or two. I know it's a bit geeky taking pictures before work but that's ok.
I was taking a picture of this nice fountain:


When from behind comes the Kissmobile! The Kiss crew was asking me for directions to the Barbara Bush Hospital. I figured since the Bush family lived in Kennebunkport it would be there(sorry Kissmobile) I also told them to ask someone else.


Here is the Kisscockpit

Stuff

This is the transcript of an ACTUAL radio conversation of a US
naval ship with Canadian authorities off the coast of
Newfoundland in October, 1995.

Americans: Please divert your course 15 degrees to the North to
avoid a collision.

Canadians: Recommend you divert YOUR course 15 degrees to the
South to avoid a collision.

Americans: This is the Captain of a US Navy ship. I say again,
divert YOUR course.

Canadians: No. I say again, you divert YOUR course.

Americans: THIS IS THE AIRCRAFT CARRIER USS LINCOLN, THE SECOND
LARGEST SHIP IN THE UNITED STATES' ATLANTIC FLEET. WE ARE
ACCOMPANIED BY THREE DESTROYERS, THREE CRUISERS AND NUMEROUS
SUPPORT VESSELS. I DEMAND THAT YOU CHANGE YOUR COURSE 15 DEGREES
NORTH, THAT'S ONE FIVE DEGREES NORTH, OR COUNTER-MEASURES WILL
BE UNDERTAKEN TO ENSURE THE SAFETY OF THIS SHIP.

Canadians: We are a lighthouse. Your call.


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This story is interesting. A baby born with superior muscle structure. More importantly scientists know why he was born this way potentially leading to scientific breakthroughs.

Uber Baby

I love coffee! I do not like caffeine which is why this story makes me happy. Wahoo!


Stem Cell research. It has so much promise with so much controversy. I am intrigued by it but also a bit disgusted. I know the stemcell stocks went up today, this may be why: Japan ok's embryo cloning
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This is a wonderful mushroom wall hanging. My mother has lots of decorations like this all around the house. Isn't it wonderful?


I am taking a coupleics from my parent's house testing to see if I can remotely update the site. This is one of myself and my two sisters. Notice the 80's styles(well 93 for me right before the grunge explosion)


Motorcycles

Perhaps its just me, but does anyone else ever get annoyed by just how loud motorcycles are? I'll be at home on a weekend morning enjoying some much appreciated sleep, when I hear a loud thundrous roar coming up the street. I look out the window, thinking I am under attack, when I see a motorcycle ride by. Why aren't there any laws against this? There are very strict laws against cars being too loud. I hear stories of people being pulled over because their cars are too loud. These same cars are only a fraction of the noise of a motorcycle.

The people who ride these motorcycles(Harley's are the loudest)are ofcourse aware of how loud they are. This is just plain rude.

Anyways I don't mean to whine. I know there are many other problems that need to be dealt with first. I was awakened this morning and wanted to express my opinion.
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I may try some Kiyaking in the morning. My parents live near a river that goes into the ocean a little ways away. The water is a combination of fresh and salt. There are some islands that I would like to explore. I may bring my camera. I'm afraid I may tip the kiyak however. If I do bring the camera I'll try to get some nice nature shots. My 3x zoom will not get the greatest shots, but perhaps if I'm really sneaky I can surprise a deer or some seals.

Monday

There are some aspects of Monday I dread. I think everyone does.
Anyways, looks like a new Grudge movie is out(4th in the series). I'll try to get my hands on it soon. Here are a couple of shots.




Read the user reviews for this, too funny: Ladybugs

I love all kinds of chocolate, I think: Maybe not

Do you Feel Lucky?

strict but fair teacher

More Picture Tests

Just came back from my grandparents. Sebago is beautiful in the Summer, especially before the tourists get here. I am testing a couple of test pics taken around the apartment etc. I think I have it figured out.


Here is John with Baby Bravo last week.

I took this in NYC on the Intrepid.
Hopefully I'll add more pics on a regular basis, not that I ever do anything exciting, but who knows, that could change.

Barry Bonds

Many people believe Bonds is bad for baseball with his attitude problems and general dislike from the rest of baseball. Most did not want him to break the all time home run record. There is no doubt steroids were a factor.

This week Bonds issued a statement saying he would never play in Boston because the city is racist. Now I'm not the greatest fan of Boston or the people from Boston(from a baseball fan perspective), but you just can't say stuff like this. He went on saying:

"They built a tunnel to honor Ted Williams in Boston. What did he imagine would be built for him? "Nothing, man," he said. "I'm black. They don't build stuff for blacks." -- Barry Bonds*

Bonds makes a powerful statement on, off field - By Gordon Edes, Globe Staff | June 18, 2004

here's the problem with theat statement:

BARRY BONDS* WORK ADDRESS:
San Francisco Giants
24 Willie Mays Plaza
San Francisco, CA 94107

WILLIE MAYS PLAZA
Willie Mays Plaza, located at the corner of Third and King streets, honors one of the greatest players in Giants history. With an official street address of 24 Willie Mays Plaza, the entrance of SBC Park pays tribute to the Hall of Fame center fielder. The plaza features 24 palm trees in recognition of Mays' jersey number and is home to a nine-foot bronze sculpture of the famous ballplayer.

Once upon a Sunday

Big Dog? Reall big dog

I love free Pinball

Yet another work productivity game: Shoot the kitty!
Kitty!

Meteor hits Couch

Florida driver

Grape Riding Spider would be a good band name. I have friends who say they occasionally find black widows on grapes, especially if you work at an organic store.

Saturday

The following are real paper clippings.

Friday

Good Soup? Very good Soup.

Poor Little Birdy

Here is One Way to win a fight.

Bad Kitty!

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This site is a lot of fun. Take a look!
good fun!

Good Old Thailand: Bathroom

Invisible Walls?

The idea Invisible Walls is finally coming true:
Invisible

Here is an excellent App: Draw the Bow back

This needs to be done: Lawn

Damn Rodents!

Lady Shoots herself

We all love him and today's his birthday!:

Happy Birthday!

Will you be celebrating?

Review Tuesday

The Maltese Falcon

Bogart's breathrough role, the first film noir movie, the first movie featuring Sydney Greenstreet. I think this movie created the modern movie good guy scoundrel. Where would Indiana Jones or Dirty Harry be without this role. Bogart is so dirty in this movie its funny. He uses everyone he can but surpisingly respects every law. Sam Spade is now a movie legend as is the line "Thats the stuff dreams are made of." The reason the movie is a classic is the performance by Bogart and the sharp writing. Its one of those movies where paying attention is essential. Key lines are said, or key mistakes made by others with only a slight acknowledgement by Spade. Watch the movie but just focus on Bogart.


City of God

I've been waiting months for this movie. As usual it did not play in Maine. I got it the first day it came out on DVD. Essentially this is a crime drama set in Brazil. The real surprise is the fact this is a true story. Not on the level of Amorres Peres but a decent movie.
I have Chunking Express and Onibaba here I will watch soon. A couple other highly touted films.

Ju Yon (The Grudge)

The makers of the Ring are bringing this Japanese movie to the states soon. This version will hit the states in July but as usual probably not Maine. I ordered it from Japan, somehow getting a version with region 1 compatibility(DVD's are coded by region 1,2,3,4 etc. You cannot play an English DVD in an American DVD player etc. Very frustrating. Be careful on ebay.)
Anyways, take a look at the trailer for this film. I will post it at the end of this page. It is about as scary as they get. Not on the level of the Blair Witch for pure terror but its up there and an overall better movie. Watch his one with a group of people when/if it hits theaters this Summer. Its soo confusing it's fun. You really need to keep track of names etc.
This is one of many Asian horror movies that are superior to anything the US is putting out. In Thailand in March these movies seemed bigger than any of the American films such as The Lord Of The Rings. The Eye 2 was playing which I did not have time to see. This was disappointing as the Eye was a pretty good horror movie(A Japanese/Thai movie about a blind girl who sees dead people after she gets her sight back). I cannot get most of these films in a US format DVD. There are a bunch of them. My next Asia trip I'll try to get some although trying to explain dvd regions in Thai is not easy. I got lucky last time and got help from a nice Australian guy.

Ok I lost track of what I was talking about. Here is a trailer:
a bad trailer, all I could find. click on 200k, fast forward past the ad.
trailer

More Testing

I had to teach myself about FTP. I think I did it now. Here is a random picture from my Thailand trip. Not sure if it will work. I also need a better picture editor.

Ronald Reagan

I am writing this as Ronald Reagan is being burried. I do not follow politics. I do not have many opinions about politics.
That being said, what do I remember about Ronald Reagan? I remember the don't do drugs saturday morning speeches. I remember watching the State of the Union speeches showing how few tanks we have compared to the Russians(complete with pictures of little paper tanks). I remember waking up screaming in the middle of the night: "The Russians are coming to get us!"

New Site as of Monday June 7th 2004

The new site will be up shortly. I have decided to go with Blogger, an easy to use web blog. This is much better than my old HTML design. I do not like the banner add at the top, but it beats having to manually update this part of my site.

The New address will be
James vanvalkenburgh

More to come once I move my material over.