Fun with photos

I read an article last week on how to fake a tilt-shift lens photo using Photoshop. A tilt-shift lens shortens the focus range on a wide shot to give it an interesting miniature look.

Since I don't have the exorbitantly expensive Photoshop, I figured out how to get the same effect using a very powerful open-source (free) photo editing program called GIMP. GIMP is available for Linux, Windows and other platforms and it's free, free, free! Just Google it.

There are many plug-ins for GIMP that do helpful things. Most recently I installed the panorama plug-in to paste together some panoramics taken on the Parashant ride.

Anyway, below is an example of my tilt-shift experiments. This is the lobby at the Great Wolf Lodge. Looks like a dollhouse, doesn't it? Long shots work best (like landscapes, aerial shots, etc.) The bulky furniture and large-patterned carpet help the effect.

Make sure to zoom the picture for a detailed look.

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A Mafioso's Daily Chores

Something funny happened in my driveway this morning.

Yesterday I put a new Monte Carlo style stock on my SKS. When I inherited it, it had a pistol grip stock with a folding shoulder rest. The shoulder rest was gone and the point where it mounted was busted out. I don't like folding stocks anyway, so it just had to go. I put all the old parts in my little wastebasket by my desk.

Just at twilight this morning, before the sun came up, I was taking out the garbage . The last thing to go out was my little wastebasket. So there I was, in my pajamas on the driveway with a little wastebasket of old assault rifle parts sticking up out of it! I had to giggle - I just couldn't help to wonder if this wasn't happening all over New Jersey too.

Sorry, no picture. It would have been perfect if one of my neighbors had snapped a shot through their living room window!

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"S" Family Skills!

Gosh it's good to be one of "us"! Let me show you how someone in the "S" family gets a 400-pound engine block up in the back of his jacked-up truck when nobody is around to help...

My tires were due for an air change anyway!
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Adapt or Die!

Well, not literally die, but decoratively maybe.

We finally finished replacing all our outside lighting. The last touch was at the front door. We wanted fixtures that matched the lights inside since the chandelier in the entry way can be seen from outside. Unfortunately, we couldn't get a pendant light that matched, so we adapted....

This is what we could get that was similar to what we wanted.

This is how it looks after an overhaul by me and some clever painting by Peggy.

This is one of the post lights. The square bases were plain aluminum. Peggy painted them to match!
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Super proud Mom and Dad!

I just had to share this...

Klara's school teacher from this past year called Peggy out of the blue this morning. She said she had just gotten the results of the AIMS testing for her class and couldn't resist sharing her excitement with us. Klara scored way beyond OUTSTANDING in every subject. Even math, which she dislikes.

We're so proud! Way to go Klara!

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Klara serves a couple of aces

We were at Klara's volleyball game last night and I took some video with my phone as she served up a couple of aces. Sorry for the poor quality, but it was a cell phone...whadya expect?

We might be looking at a club team starting in the fall. It'll be expensive, but she's just that good! Maybe if we foster it a little she can work her talent into a scholarship eventually.

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I have the coolest bros!

I was talking to Scott a couple of months ago about how I needed to get around to building a welding cart so I could get a bottle of shielding gas and install the gas kit on my welder. Scott just said "I have an extra one I could give you" and that night I was driving home with this really nice cart. A little paint and it's turned out awesome! Thanks Scott!


Then I show up in St. George for a ride with dad, the bros and uncle Ken and his kid, Nate. The next day Kevin and Eric arrived bearing gifts for all their bros and dad. They made these really nice lift-stands for our dirt bikes from scrap metal they had and just handed them out like candy! Best candy I ever had. Thanks Eric and Kev!


I do have the coolest bros ever.

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How many computers can a guy use at one time?

Well, for me, the answer is 7 (so far). Six via two terminals plus a laptop!

I just though everyone would like a glimpse of my life at work.



Sorry for the crappy pic quality, it wasn't my doing.

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