A Little Photo Editing and Collage

I took this photo a while ago in downtown Cleveland. At the corner of Superior and East 9th Street; I was traveling west, so I'm right near the Catholic Diocese Headquarters, which you can't see on my right. But directly across the street is the Hampton Inn.

I took two pics. The first one I just wanted to toss out. And the second one is in the top left corner. I used the night snapshot mode on my Canon A570IS digital camera. I like the second picture. But the first picture has found life in the photo editing world.

I used Picasa to do some very minor editing. You can see the results in the other three pics. I sharpened each of them, then added an additional feature: the one in the upper right corner is focal black+white; the lower right corner is warmify and the lower left corner is black+white. Nice, huh?

Oh and then I had to assemble a collage to exemplify my work. Up next, I plan to try to utilize some actions using Gimp.

Communicating Via Signs

I took the picture at a nearby park a few months ago, then I could not find it. I've been trying organize my pics and my other files and I rediscovered this funny picture. I really do want to know what the 'or else' means ...

MOVIE REVIEW: "Burn After Reading" - WTF

MOVIE REVIEW: "Burn After Reading"

So I was coaxed into seeing The Coen Brothers "Burn After Reading" because so many of the critics said that it was incredibly awesome. Well, they did not use that language, but they made it seem as if I was really missing out on a really good flick amongst a sea of really bad ones.

I'm a sucker for laughter. I would spend lots of quarters on nothing but laughs. Well, in this case I spent 24 quarters and ... and well, I spent 24 quarters.

Overall, I did like the film. It was a bit complex at times though it's not really complex at all. How can I put this: It's a smart dumb movie. Their writing is really crafty and witty. And yeah, I fork over quarters for that too.

I was really anticipating seeing Brad Pitt in a comedic role. I must admit that I have not seen many Brad Pitt movies and I think the last one that I saw was the last one in the "Ocean's" series, what was that 13...? Anyway, again, more quarters for seeing a bumbling Pitt on screen. Not hilariously funny, but funny. Oh and George Clooney is good, but John Malkovich is my fav in this one.

This movies gets points for not being shy about dropping the 'f-bomb'. It became a crutch, a funny one at that.

The cast was cool. So much fun to watch and try to predict who would do what next. I would see this one again, only on video, more like 16 quarters.

One of My Fav 30 Rock Clips

This is my little tribute to Alec Baldwin who is up for Best Actor in a Comedy for tonight's Emmy's:

MOVIE REVIEW: "The Family That Preys"

MOVIE REVIEW: "The Family That Prey's"

I saw a preview for Tyler Perry's "The Family That Prey's". It seemed, well, interesting. Interesting because I saw that Kathy Bates seemed to have a lead role. Whaaddd? And Alfre Woodard too? Nice get there Tyler.

My girlfriend, Josee, recommended that I see the movie on opening day. Good idea. So, yes, it was a week ago that I saw the movie and I am just now blogging about it. What are you gonna do about it? ;-)

Well, I liked the movie. I actually that I'd be more on the it was so-so kind of vibe. But it was bonafide likeable. For real. And let me tell you why:

• the scenes w/Kathy and Alfre are priceless; such a genuine friendship
• some real deal eye candy for the ladies.
  
• it was a believable storyline; not too contrived or dramatic
• Robin Givens character was refreshing; she usually plays a different type of gal
• Props for the cast (and you know that Tyler is in the movie...?)
  

What I did not like:

• Sanaa Lathan's depthless acting

I'm going to keep this short so that I don't give the story away, heck, I guess I have not given you much anyway, huh?

Test <Radiogirl/Kim>

Trying out Picasa3

Just trying something out here.

I've downloaded Google's Picasa 3. Very nice photo program. You can organize your images, you can make collages and movies, you can add text and watermarks and so much more.

So here is a quick collage that I made. I then uploaded the image to my Picasa Web Album. These are some handmand greeting cards that I created along w/some other projects.

From Collages

One note: when getting the code to embed on your blog, you can select the size of the image from thumbnail to large.

I am still trying to figure out everything. I am real close to creating a quick movie.

My Trip to the Oprah Show

Last week, I ventured to Chicago to see a taping of the Oprah Show. My friend Diane and I had been trying to get tix for some time, years. She was the diligent one to get through and secure the tix. Nice job!

She had four tix and of course she and I would be attending, but who would the other two tix go to ... well, I discovered that I have a friend in Detroit who is as much of a fan as I and Diane has a colleague who also wanted to tag along. It took us several weeks to get the names confirmed for our group, but all four tix were accounted for.

That done, how to get to Chicago since everyone lives in various parts of the country. Two flew in, one drove and I took the Megabus.

Our hotel was nice enough - The Chicago Essex Inn on S. Michigan. And right across the street from the Hilton. What I discovered, since I was the first to arrive, was that many of the Olympians who were in town for Oprah's season opener w/all of the medal winners were still in town and staying @ the Hilton. Cool. Chaotic, but cool.

My friend and I did manage to stumble into Harold's Chicken Shack on Wabash. She had fried fish and chicken, I just had fries. But the atmosphere was entertaining.

Well, no real hangin out since we were scheduled to be @ the Harpo Studio @ 7 a.m. The hotel room was small, but surprisingly there was no problem w/four women trying to get ready to go to the Oprah Show.

We grabbed breakfast @ Dunkin Donuts and headed over to the studio in the rain. That's right, it was raining. Such a bummer. We did find a really cush parking spot on the street near the studio - and at no cost.

Once we got in line, we tried to take it all in. We were definitely excited. We took a handful of pix though we should have taken more since as soon as we got in, our purses were checked and cameras and cell phones were confiscated until after the show. I hate when that happens.

They then gave us a little bag w/a huge muffin, huge apple and a juice. They also gave us a audience survey to fill out and another form too. They then shuffled us off to a waiting area where we could eat our goodies and fill out the survey. Only the room was packed and there were no more seats available. I hate when that happens.

I managed to fill out the survey and the other form, but I did not get to eat my muffin and apple, but I did drink some of the juice. Lucky for me, Diane had a nice sized purse and she stuffed a couple of the muffins in her bag otherwise, you had to throw out the food because food is not permitted in the studio. I hate when that happens.

We eventually get cattled into the studio. We were like kids on Christmas morning. Wow, this is the place where the magic happens - magic like the "My Favorite Things" Show. Very cool.

There was some audience questions related to the survey - the topic was forgiveness. That went on as people were seated. It seemed to be a pretty rigorious process; people would sit, then be asked to move ...

When Oprah came out, the electricity went bonkers! Crazy fun. But things fizzled rather quickly because the topic turned out to be about a family w/two sons. One sons somehow loses his mind and begins to plot to kill the family. He manages to kill his mother and his brother. It took a will for investigators to determine that the son was involved w/the killings. The father forgives the son even though he is on death row. Lisa Ling was also on the show w/the father. She had interviewed the son on death row. Wake me when you are done. I like the topic, but the focus on this one family for the entire show was a sleeper and a downer.

The good thing, we were asked to stay for a second taping. Yea. It was a Dr. Oz show. Not as much of a sleeper, but still not quite exciting and fun.

When we finally left the studio, it was still raining. We hopped over the The Oprah Store, which is right across the street. I had also signed up to possibly attend another taping in the afternoon. At the store, we were, again, not permitted to take pix. I hate when that happens. I ended up getting a t-shirt for my mom. Oh, and we decided not to attend any further tapings - just underwhelmed.

Conclusion: I went to a taping of the Oprah Show and all I got was a muffin - a carrot cake muffin, ummm tasty.