Truth in Advertising – World Cup Edition
By Brian | June 14, 2010
OK, by now, just about everyone has seen this image of British goalkeeper, Robert Green, mishandling an easy shot on goal from the U.S. World Cup Soccer team, tying the game at 1-1:
But how many people do you think noticed the advertisement right behind him that cautions, “Stay Alert!”
If only Mr. Green had taken a minute to read the sign, maybe things would have been different… ;-)
Categories: Sports Talk | 1 Comment »
Unlikely Twins, Part VI
By Brian | June 14, 2010
Whatever the astrologers have to say about people born on June 14th, they couldn’t possibly be correct for both:
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| Donald Trump, “You’re Fired…” |
Boy George, “You Come and Go-o-o-o-ooooo” |
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Brandon’s Blog
By Brian | June 13, 2010
Last night, my younger son, Brandon, asked me, “Daddy, can I have a blog?” When I asked why he wanted a blog, he told me he wanted to post pictures of baseball fields and funny houses. Of course, no father could possibly argue with such sound logic, and so, without further adieu, I present to you all: Brandon’s Blog.
It also has a place of honor on the top menubar of this site, in case you lose the URL and need a fix of ballfields and funny houses.
In the spirit of encouraging young bloggers, if you’re reading this and are so inclined, please take a peek over there, rate some pictures (Funny, Cool, or Interesting), and maybe even leave a comment. I’m sure he’d get a kick out of that. Thanks!
Categories: Blogging about Blogs, Family Matters | 5 Comments »
Long time, no politics…
By Brian | June 13, 2010
It’s been quite a while since I posted about politics around here, but tonight I want to talk a little about two of the hot-button topics that have permeated politics in recent months: health care and financial reform. And while I’m at it, I’ll throw in a little about the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, just for good measure.
Not interested? No offense taken. Move on to bigger and better things. Up for the discussion? Read on…
Categories: Political Rantings | 3 Comments »
Newspapers as Product Placement
By Brian | June 10, 2010
Pop quiz: what’s so interesting about this screen grab from Desperate Housewives?
Answer: you’ve probably seen this newspaper before. Click here for more.
Categories: Primetime TV | 1 Comment »
Unlikely Twins, Part V
By Brian | June 8, 2010
These two June 8th birthdays likely did not exchange gifts…
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| Kanye West, George Bush Hates Black People? |
Barbara Bush, George Bush Loves his Mother! |
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The Best of TED: The thrilling potential of SixthSense technology
By Brian | June 5, 2010
Here’s another installment of my Best of TED series, in which I share talks from the Technology, Entertainment and Design conference that have struck me over the years as particularly insightful or fascinating.
Today’s installment is a demonstration by Pranav Mistry, a PhD student at MIT, and inventor of what he calls “SixthSense” technology. This is wearable technology. Not in the sense that you can clip your iPhone onto your belt loop. This is stuff that will display a clock face on your wrist when you tap on it, so you don’t have to wear a watch, or recognize an airline ticket when you look at it and display the on-time status of the flight right on the ticket.
I’ll admit to being a gadget geek, but I can’t imagine anyone watching this and not thinking it is simply the coolest invention they’ve ever seen. Trust me – you won’t regret watching this one (and if you start to doubt me, give him until at least 5:30 or so, when he stops talking about the things he invented years ago that led him to today’s ideas, and starts demoing his latest stuff). I promise – this is even cooler than the iPad:
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Unlikely Twins, Part IV
By Brian | June 1, 2010
Both born on June 1st, I can’t imagine the constellations ever had the same thing in mind for these two:
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| Marilyn Monroe, A Pretty Face |
David Berkowitz, The Face of Chaos |
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Another Perfect Day at the Stadium…
By Brian | May 31, 2010
We celebrated our son, Avery’s tenth birthday today with a day at Yankee Stadium. We left the house at 9:30AM, got there when the stadium opened, toured the Yankee Museum (including the newly added 2009 World Championship Trophy and a special exhibit on Lou Gehrig, about whom Avery’s brother, Brandon, had recently completed a book report), grabbed some lunch, and enjoyed a picture-perfect afternoon as the Yankees crushed the Cleveland Indians, 11-2. Alex Rodriguez put an exclamation mark on this awesome day with a grand slam home run to blow the game open in the seventh inning.
Our own, personal fireworks came in the middle of the fifth inning when, unbeknownst to Avery, we added his birthday to the list of “Fan Marquee” announcements they make each game:
Click on the picture above for some great shots of a great afternoon at the ballpark…
Categories: Family Matters, New York, New York, Sports Talk | 3 Comments »
A Collection of Photoshop Tutorials
By Brian | May 29, 2010
When I first became aware of Photoshop, I went out and bought a Photoshop for Dummies book, figuring I’d sit down with the book, the software, and some snacks, and eventually become an expert. As it turns out, it’s hard to understand image manipulation by reading words about it. Some books provide lots of illustrations/screen shots, which is helpful, but still, only marginally so.
A much better way to get good at this stuff is to have a video demonstration running right next to the software. You can see it on screen, pause/rewind it when you need to, and “play along” to see how the techniques actually work. Once I found one or two of these videos, I discovered links to literally hundreds of them. Here’s a list of the ones I’ve used so far, which I’ll keep updated as I find more (so check back here often!):
- IceFlowStudios – YouTube Channel (Tutcast.com)
- Lynda.com – YouTube Channel – Photoshop Top 40
- Lynda.com – YouTube Channel – Photoshop/Digital Photography
- Deke.com
- Shanzcan Tutorials
- Luv2Help – YouTube Channel
- Acuity Designs
- Photoshop Lady
- PaintBits – Photoshop Tutorials You Should See
- 10 Step Photoshop Tutorials
- iDo Tutorials – Photoshop Category
- Smashing Magazine: Photoshop Tutorials
In particular, I’ll call out two of them: The Photoshop Top 40 playlist on Lynda.com’s YouTube channel is particularly helpful. The instructor, Deke McClelland, doesn’t just tell you what to do, but tells you why you’re doing it and how the tools work to make it happen. Some people might find this to be too much detail, but it suits my learning style well. Deke his own website, Deke.com, which I’ve also added to the list above, if you want more than just what he’s done for Lynda.com.
The other one I’ll call out is IceFlowStudios (this is the YouTube channel, but the videos can also be found at their website, Tutcast.com). The tutorials at this site are similar to Deke’s, but they go into a little less technical detail. If you feel like Deke talks too much, try Howard over at Tutcast.com.
So, there you go. Enough Photoshop tutorials to keep you busy for days. If anyone knows of other sites worth visiting, leave them in the comments here, and I’ll add them to my list. Thanks, and happy Photoshopping…
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