That’s why glass breaks…
by betoman on Mar.09, 2010, under Around the Web
Pretty interesting video. This woman sings and “shakes” the string sculptures.
Although, I would have sung something else…you know…when I stubbed my toe.
Beto
Baseball begins!
by betoman on Mar.05, 2010, under Creativity, Family, Sports
My son started baseball this week. So I put together a schedule from one of the pictures I took yesterday while we were in Fredericksburg TX.
Yes…Fredericksburg TX!
We have a school in our district (San Antonio) that is located in Fredericksburg TX so we drove over yesterday for a game at 4:30pm. We hooked up with another parent driving over so that was good.
The boys lost 5-6 in the last inning. They were up but just lost their bats at the end. The season is still early.
I’m posting this here so my family can see his game schedule. You can click on it for a larger view. I used a picture of my boy wearing his shades and “looking cool.”
Oh, and he has a tournament tonight as well. Gosh, it seems like we just finished Basketball and now Baseball is starting…including my daughter Emma’s team! She’s starting up too.
Gotta do a schedule for her as well!
Here we go…
Beto
There’s something you don’t see every day…
by betoman on Mar.01, 2010, under Humor, TV
So my wife and I were watching the newest episode of The Big Bang Theory and we laughed as the episode chronicled the nerds adventures in meeting their Demi-God, Stan Lee. It’s a good show, you should watch it.
The show ended and I was starting to flip through the channels when I came across a familiar scene.
A balcony view of an arena, in the middle was a big square white canvas surrounded by blue ropes, three to a section attached to four padded poles. You could see the audience cheering the numerous combatants inside the ring. A striped referee bounced from corner to corner.
I noticed platinum blonde hair, curly brown hair, straight black hair, snapping in all direction as short shorts and knee high boots thrashed around the ring.
I realize I have just described the attire of the male wrestler but then I noticed short cropped tops, bulging cleavage, eye shadow and lipstick! It was the WWE show with a female-all-out-fight/match…but with pillows! They were using the pillows as WEAPONS in a badly choreographed fight for the title!
Suddenly I snapped back to reality when I picked up Liz in my peripheral vision. She was craning her neck towards the TV and said, “What, is that?”
Quickly, I recovered and doing my best to feign disinterest, I calmly stated “Hmmm…that’s odd. It’s a pillow fight in the wrestling arena….”
I pursed my lips and raised my arm holding the remote to show I was about to change the channel…it was a tricky move to pull off, but I had to go for it.
“I’ll change it,” I stated, my eyes darted back to her and then to the TV. If I was greeted with the mannequin look**, well, I was ready to bolt like a Gazelle on The Serengeti, when it spots the rapidly approaching cheetah…
But before I could do anything, she yelled, “Wait! Don’t change it!”
I was startled and confused, an inexplicable variable had been introduced to my precarious situation.
She told me to not to change the channel.
I even mouthed the words back to myself to be sure I had heard it right. She didn’t want me to terminate with extreme prejudice the buxom, tanned, over acting combatants from the TV. Did she want to watch more?
I looked up to Liz and saw that she was staring at the TV, pointing…
Dumbfounded, I turned to the TV and saw something I hadn’t expected.
There in the audience, in the front row…no…in front of the front row, were Cheech and Chong, seated in leather chairs watching the match! They were laughing and pointing at the women in the ring. Having just the grandest of times.
Wow…that was a shocker.
And if you don’t believe me, below is the link:
WWE RAW Preview: Big Match, Bret Returns, Cheech & Chong By Ryan Clark | March 01, 2010 Tonight’s edition of WWE RAW takes place from the Ford Center in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Here’s a preview: – Cheech and Chong will host. Despite the fact that WWE is TV-PG programming, it appears the company will be playing off the comedy duo’s marijuana-based routine, as WWE.com lists the following preview for tonight:
link: WWE RAW Preview: Big Match, Bret Returns, Cheech & Chong – WrestlingInc.com
I finally was “told” to change the channel so I clicked off the TV then noticed Liz smiling.
Smiling? Was she smiling? I think she rather enjoys seeing me in those situations.
Beto
**guys you know the look I’m talking about. When you’ve done something utterly stupidly wrong, your mate huffs, cocks their head to one side and then just stares at you motionless, like a mannequin..waiting for you to do something even more stupid.
You win some, you lose some
by betoman on Feb.28, 2010, under DIY, Humor, Technology
This past week I tried to fix my wife’s iPod. I thought, “I can do this.”
In the past week my wife’s iPod was acting funny. Since this was a “hand me down” from me I felt obligated to see if I could fix the problem.
Turns out there were some black streaks running through the LCD display of the 5th Generation iPod Video. I had replaced the battery myself about 2 months ago with a battery I ordered online but now these black streaks were bothering her…and me.
Upon inspection, I noticed the faceplate was coming off. So I looked online and ordered a replacement faceplate. Cost me about $12 with $2 shipping.
It arrived and went to work on replacing it. Click on the pictures for a larger view – they had some VERY VERY small screws! I had to get my daughter to help me put those on the tip of my screwdriver!
I carefully took it apart and replaced the new faceplate, held my breath and turned it on – but it didn’t do anything to fix those black streaks on the LCD. They seemed to be getting worse.
Some more investigation online and it seemed that the LCD was going bad. It’s a 5yr old iPod so I figured maybe it was time to see if I could replace the LCD myself. Looking and getting prices plus quotes to send it in and get it fixed, I decided I could buy the LCD online for $30 with shipping. I would be saving about $70. But it would mean I would have to totally disassemble the iPod and I was worried.
But then my mantra kicked in…
If it’s already broken, then take it apart and try to fix it – if you don’t then you haven’t lost anything but you have all to gain.
So I did a trial disassemble to see if I could get to the LCD before I ordered the part. I took it apart, then put it back together and it started up! So I ordered the LCD.
It arrived and I went to work…then I broke the battery connector that was soldered to the logic board…
DOH!
I can’t fix that. So I threw in the towel. I must’ve pushed my luck on the battery connector one too many times in my trial disassembly and it snapped off.
I showed my wife and I could see she was bummed (but not as much as me) so I purchased her a refurbished 120gb iPod online. She was happy to get something electronic from that was not a “hand me down.” I’m going to return the unused LCD part minus a $5 shipping fee.
You win some, you lose some.
Beto
Light box build
by betoman on Feb.22, 2010, under Creativity, DIY
I’m always trying to build stuff to help compliment the photography and video I tinker in. So, two weeks ago I built a “light box” to place items inside and have the product evenly lit.
There are plenty of DIY plans on the web so after some searching, I selected this one and modified it to my liking.
I wanted to make it bigger and “cooler” – from a light/heat perspective.
Most of the plans have you using bright incandescent bulbs but I used fluorescent bulbs that do not generate heat AND they are GREEN (save the planet) which my wife really loves to push on me.
So over the course of two days, I completed my build with stuff I bought at Home Depot – sans the white sheet Liz purchased for me at Walmart. And this time…I didn’t use PVC. Can you believe it?
I’m pretty happy with the results. Plus, it folds up nicely.
As soon I as built it I couldn’t wait to test it so I just started grabbing things and photographing them using Liz’s Nikon DSLR. See one shot below – you can click on it for a larger picture.
I didn’t really color correct any of the images in Photoshop (other than to get rid of some spots), so some might be a little dark but overall, I’m pleased with the results.
I should have used a light on top (other than just the two on the side) but that would meant tearing the light box down and moving it into my study and well, I was just too excited and just started shooting on my workbench.
I also posted more images of the build below plus other (macro) stuff I photographed inside it. Just click on an image to blow it up or view as a slideshow.
Beto
