Not quite a marathon of binge watching, but as I have posted a couple of times already, we have been working our way through The Sopranos a couple of episodes a night. It took about a month with a few breaks (notably a week in Baja California), so it really wasn’t a binge, per se. In my other observations, I mentioned how unsympathetic the characters are, how callous their actions, and how...
A while back, I posted about (finally) watching The Sopranos, and how I became hooked. I am now about halfway through season 4, and completely addicted. From the catchy opening credit music, to the music that indicates the outro, I just can’t put these down. It is good that so many of the actors/actresses from Goodfellas found work. Including Spider (Michael Imperioli) whom Joe Pesci shot...
I just started watching The Sopranos. Yeah, I am lame. Of course I heard all the raving and wonderful reviews, but I didn’t have HBO, and I never rented the DVD’s. Now, with the Roamio, I have connected both my Netflix account and my Amazon Prime account for streaming. The Amazon app recommended “The Sopranos.” I am hooked, about to start the 5th episode of the first...
Capturing my early memories of my father, and one of the best memories was sailing.
One of the constants of my youth, and spending time with dad was his camera. Most often, he had a twin lens reflex camera (sadly, I don’t know if it was a Rollieflex, or one of the Japanese variants (like the Mamiya), but I do recall him loading the 120 medium format film, and doing his own developing and printing of black and white. Wherever we went, the camera went too. Hiking, to the...
As I continue this trip down memory lane, it is odd the things that stand out from my early memories. Today, I will talk about hiking and spending time outdoors. As I mentioned in the first post, we were in Sunnyvale, in the south San Francisco Bay Area. This was before Silicon Valley really rose to prominence, but the early whiffs of the greatness of that movement were in the air. Being in the...
Recently, we gathered in San Diego to celebrate my dad’s 83rd birthday. It was a wonderful weekend, and it was good to get (most) of the family back together. Alas, my father’s cognitive ability is slipping, and while he is accepting of the changes, it is difficult to see and handle. While I have some spare time, I am going to begin to document my recollections of growing up, and as...
Yesterday, I did a quick trip to Napa Valley. The first one since before I moved to Arizona back in 2003. Being a weekday, and off season, it was a pleasant drive with not too much traffic. A bonus. The reason for the quick day trip? My father is celebrating his 84th birthday this coming Sunday, and we are visiting him in San Diego, and one of his favorite libations is to take a nip of the...
This week, I spent a couple of days up in San Francisco. There was a big trade show, SPIE Optics and Photonics West at the Moscone center. As always, it was YUUUUUUUGE in the colloquialism of The Donald. Three halls, and seemingly a thousand exhibitors. Cameras, Software, Lenses, a LOT of lasers, and everything else that might be related to optics and optical devices. Since I know a lot of people...
Way back in 2008 or 2009, I worked at a place that wanted everybody to use Skype for instant messaging, and for impromptu phone calls. Ostensibly to “save money”. So I was a good doobie, and got me a Skype account. My handle is gander2112. I used it off and on for a year or so, then I left, and frankly, except for when someone insisted upon using it, I didn’t even have it...