Patti O'Shea's Blog, page 107
February 18, 2016
NASA Travel Posters
NASA has created some super cool travel posters for various planets and moons in our solar system (and a few outside our solar system). They're free to print and come in both PDF and a high res TIFF format. Be warned that the TIFF takes a while to download--the one for Earth is more than 200 MB in size.
This is such a great idea! I just wish that I had more room (and the right decor) to actually put these up in my house somewhere. I'll have to settle for using them on my computer for wallpaper. There's always room in the cyber world. Anyway, I love the vintage feel the posters have! Art is subjective, and of course, there are some posters I don't really like and others I think are awesome. I'm sure you'll have your favorites, too.
My personal favorites are: The Grand Tour, Mars, and Earth and Titan is incredible, too. My only lament is there isn't a poster for Saturn. :-(
This is such a great idea! I just wish that I had more room (and the right decor) to actually put these up in my house somewhere. I'll have to settle for using them on my computer for wallpaper. There's always room in the cyber world. Anyway, I love the vintage feel the posters have! Art is subjective, and of course, there are some posters I don't really like and others I think are awesome. I'm sure you'll have your favorites, too.
My personal favorites are: The Grand Tour, Mars, and Earth and Titan is incredible, too. My only lament is there isn't a poster for Saturn. :-(
February 16, 2016
Super Bowl Commercials
Those of you who know how into advertising I am are probably wondering why I haven't talked about any of the commercials from the Super Bowl yet. The biggest reason is that none of the ones that I saw were OMG good. There were a couple that I really liked--The trailer for Independence Day 2 was fun and I also liked the ad where the dad was trailing his daughter and her date wherever they went, but other than that? Meh.
And then there were the two that I really didn't like: The Doritos baby ultrasound ad was gross, but the worst beyond all doubt? That puppy monkey baby thing. WTF?
I'm sure the Mountain Dew executives were thrilled the next day because they were trending on Facebook and Twitter. I'm also certain that they didn't care that the vast majority of the response was extremely negative--any buzz is good buzz--but I believe that they are wrong.
Do I remember the name of the product? Surprisingly, yes I do. Win! say the Mountain Dew ad team. Not quite, say I. You see, that commercial was the weirdest thing I can remember seeing and very, very high on the disgusting meter. My reaction to that ad is so negative that I also have an extremely negative opinion of the product it was pushing. When I see that drink in the store, I can guarantee that some part of me will physically recoil. Judging by the strength of the negative reactions I saw online, I don't think I'll be the only one.
I could be wrong, but there's a line between making a bizarre commercial that people are talking about and making one that people are all talking about, but that is so repellent that it hurts the product. I believe that the Kick Start ad falls into the latter category.
And then there were the two that I really didn't like: The Doritos baby ultrasound ad was gross, but the worst beyond all doubt? That puppy monkey baby thing. WTF?
I'm sure the Mountain Dew executives were thrilled the next day because they were trending on Facebook and Twitter. I'm also certain that they didn't care that the vast majority of the response was extremely negative--any buzz is good buzz--but I believe that they are wrong.
Do I remember the name of the product? Surprisingly, yes I do. Win! say the Mountain Dew ad team. Not quite, say I. You see, that commercial was the weirdest thing I can remember seeing and very, very high on the disgusting meter. My reaction to that ad is so negative that I also have an extremely negative opinion of the product it was pushing. When I see that drink in the store, I can guarantee that some part of me will physically recoil. Judging by the strength of the negative reactions I saw online, I don't think I'll be the only one.
I could be wrong, but there's a line between making a bizarre commercial that people are talking about and making one that people are all talking about, but that is so repellent that it hurts the product. I believe that the Kick Start ad falls into the latter category.
February 14, 2016
February 11, 2016
Word Peeves
I have a bunch of pet peeves when it comes to the English language.
Alright - No. I've been seeing this a lot lately, even on television, and it drives me crazy. It's ALL RIGHT. Two words. Always two words. It's not like already. Please don't use this.
Alot - While we're on the subject of something that should always be two words it's A LOT. Would you write ahome, afork, aspoon? No, you would not. Then why do people think a lot is one word? Sometimes they spell check it to allot, which is a completely different word.
Irregardless - Is not a word. The word should always be REGARDLESS.
Mute Point - Just no. It's MOOT POINT. While they sound similar, they are not the same.
Conversate - Really? CONVERSATION is only one more syllable and it's correct.
Some of this is probably a losing battle. Spell check already accepts alright as correct even though it most definitely is not. Same with irregardless. This makes me very sad. Spell Check should try to toe the line on correct usage and spelling, not aide and abet.
I know I have my own language things that probably make other people crazy. I like single "they" when unsure of the person's gender. I've always spelled email and other hyphenated tech words as one without the hyphen. I rejoiced when the AP Stylebook loosened up on this. I can't remember which word they said no longer needed a hyphen, but I loudly cheered over social media.
And the language does evolve because it's a living language. When I listened to some audio lectures on this subject, the presenter quoted people from 100 or 200 years ago trying to preserve the language as it was then and it's amusing because what they were fighting against is now considered standard English. This kind of makes me feel as if having pet peeves is a losing fight. On the other hand, I actually do wince every time I see someone use alright or irregardless. I'm not sure I can overcome my instinctive reaction.
Alright - No. I've been seeing this a lot lately, even on television, and it drives me crazy. It's ALL RIGHT. Two words. Always two words. It's not like already. Please don't use this.
Alot - While we're on the subject of something that should always be two words it's A LOT. Would you write ahome, afork, aspoon? No, you would not. Then why do people think a lot is one word? Sometimes they spell check it to allot, which is a completely different word.
Irregardless - Is not a word. The word should always be REGARDLESS.
Mute Point - Just no. It's MOOT POINT. While they sound similar, they are not the same.
Conversate - Really? CONVERSATION is only one more syllable and it's correct.
Some of this is probably a losing battle. Spell check already accepts alright as correct even though it most definitely is not. Same with irregardless. This makes me very sad. Spell Check should try to toe the line on correct usage and spelling, not aide and abet.
I know I have my own language things that probably make other people crazy. I like single "they" when unsure of the person's gender. I've always spelled email and other hyphenated tech words as one without the hyphen. I rejoiced when the AP Stylebook loosened up on this. I can't remember which word they said no longer needed a hyphen, but I loudly cheered over social media.
And the language does evolve because it's a living language. When I listened to some audio lectures on this subject, the presenter quoted people from 100 or 200 years ago trying to preserve the language as it was then and it's amusing because what they were fighting against is now considered standard English. This kind of makes me feel as if having pet peeves is a losing fight. On the other hand, I actually do wince every time I see someone use alright or irregardless. I'm not sure I can overcome my instinctive reaction.
February 9, 2016
Review: Scooby Doo: The Mystery Begins
The other night, I was flipping through my On Demand choices and found Scooby Doo: The Mystery Begins. Since I love Scooby Doo, I decided to give it a try. I didn't expect too much since it had actors and animation mixed together, but I really ended up enjoying it.
If you've seen the Scooby Doo cartoons, you can guess the plot of the movie. The one twist is that the characters ride the school bus together and aren't friends already. What gets them together as a group is when they're put on detention together and then suspended. Clearly, they have to solve the mystery of the ghosts and clear their names.
This movie had me laughing a few times and smiling other times. It was fun, good hearted, and the actors they picked for the roles filled them admirably. Of all of them though, my favorite was Nick Palatas who played Shaggy. He looked the part and he had the Shaggy voice down perfectly. He also managed to make Shaggy hot and I didn't expect that.
The movie gives the characters backstories that the cartoon didn't. I also don't remember them having surnames before (but I could be wrong about that). This film gave them last names and gave Shaggy a real name. Again, I don't remember the cartoons ever giving him any other name.
I give the film 4 stars. It might be too intense for younger children, but anyone who's a fan of Scooby Doo will probably enjoy it. Now I'd like to see the next one, Scooby Doo: The Curse of the Lake Monster.
Disclaimer: I watched this movie free on On Demand and received no compensation for this review.
If you've seen the Scooby Doo cartoons, you can guess the plot of the movie. The one twist is that the characters ride the school bus together and aren't friends already. What gets them together as a group is when they're put on detention together and then suspended. Clearly, they have to solve the mystery of the ghosts and clear their names.
This movie had me laughing a few times and smiling other times. It was fun, good hearted, and the actors they picked for the roles filled them admirably. Of all of them though, my favorite was Nick Palatas who played Shaggy. He looked the part and he had the Shaggy voice down perfectly. He also managed to make Shaggy hot and I didn't expect that.
The movie gives the characters backstories that the cartoon didn't. I also don't remember them having surnames before (but I could be wrong about that). This film gave them last names and gave Shaggy a real name. Again, I don't remember the cartoons ever giving him any other name.
I give the film 4 stars. It might be too intense for younger children, but anyone who's a fan of Scooby Doo will probably enjoy it. Now I'd like to see the next one, Scooby Doo: The Curse of the Lake Monster.
Disclaimer: I watched this movie free on On Demand and received no compensation for this review.
February 7, 2016
Zika Virus: What We Know
I thought this was timely.
February 4, 2016
Sound of Music Moment
The Sound of Music is one of my favorite movies ever--something I've mentioned before on this blog--but there's one scene that's particularly poignant. It happens after Maria and the captain have gotten married and they return home from their honeymoon to discover that the Nazis have taken over Austria and put a flag on the captain's home. He's also been ordered to join the navy of the Third Reich, something Captain von Trapp doesn't want to do.
After they're caught pushing their car in an attempt to escape, the family claims they're on their way to perform at the festival. This is where the moment I find so moving happens. The captain sings "Edelweiss" in front of a crowd of Austrians with the Nazis in the audience, and as the camera pans the crowd, there's this sense of despair that comes across the screen.
Maybe it's because I know that the Nazi occupation lasts until the allies defeat Germany, but I felt as if these people knew their lives were forever changed and that oppression and fear would be their companions for years to come.
And as they sing "Edelweiss" along with the captain and his family, I can imagine the people knowing that things had changed and not for the better, but fearful of the Nazis. Too fearful to speak out against them and so their one act of defiance that they dare take is to sing a heartfelt version of "Edelweiss."
There's a darkness in the cinematography, a lack of lighting that enhances this sense of fear, despair, and yet the song suggests there's hopefulness. That quietly the citizens will hang on to their Austria.
Now, my knowledge of World War II Austria is vague. I'm not sure how many people embraced Nazi occupation like Rolfe did and how many just went along to stay alive like Herr Detwiler and how many openly opposed the Nazis like Captain von Trapp. I might not even be interpreting the moment in the movie correctly. Maybe that's not what the director intended. It doesn't matter, though--it's how I see that scene in the film.
I think that's one of the things current-day movies have lost. The subtle moments that allow the viewer to place their own interpretation on them. That's something that's totally awesome about books. They're more collaborative. The author sketches out the scene and the reader brings her own imagination to envision the scene in her mind.
But The Sound of Music offers some of that and remains one of my most favorite films ever.
After they're caught pushing their car in an attempt to escape, the family claims they're on their way to perform at the festival. This is where the moment I find so moving happens. The captain sings "Edelweiss" in front of a crowd of Austrians with the Nazis in the audience, and as the camera pans the crowd, there's this sense of despair that comes across the screen.
Maybe it's because I know that the Nazi occupation lasts until the allies defeat Germany, but I felt as if these people knew their lives were forever changed and that oppression and fear would be their companions for years to come.
And as they sing "Edelweiss" along with the captain and his family, I can imagine the people knowing that things had changed and not for the better, but fearful of the Nazis. Too fearful to speak out against them and so their one act of defiance that they dare take is to sing a heartfelt version of "Edelweiss."
There's a darkness in the cinematography, a lack of lighting that enhances this sense of fear, despair, and yet the song suggests there's hopefulness. That quietly the citizens will hang on to their Austria.
Now, my knowledge of World War II Austria is vague. I'm not sure how many people embraced Nazi occupation like Rolfe did and how many just went along to stay alive like Herr Detwiler and how many openly opposed the Nazis like Captain von Trapp. I might not even be interpreting the moment in the movie correctly. Maybe that's not what the director intended. It doesn't matter, though--it's how I see that scene in the film.
I think that's one of the things current-day movies have lost. The subtle moments that allow the viewer to place their own interpretation on them. That's something that's totally awesome about books. They're more collaborative. The author sketches out the scene and the reader brings her own imagination to envision the scene in her mind.
But The Sound of Music offers some of that and remains one of my most favorite films ever.
February 2, 2016
My Favorite Word Tracker
I've tried word trackers off and on, but I usually ended up not using them for long. Usually, they were too simplistic to seem worthwhile and looking at a plain, Excel spreadsheet leaves something to be desired. And then I found the most awesome word counter spreadsheets ever.
The artist's name is Svenja Gosen.The art work is beautiful and the spreadsheets are a dream.
What I like about them--besides how pretty--is how useful it is. It keeps a running tally for each month and for the year. It also allows you to set goals for yourself (for the year and/or month) and it calculates the words you need each month/day to reach that goal.
I've thought about it and I've decided to use a different spreadsheet for each project I'm working on because it will allow me to know where I'm at on word count without mixing books together. Not that I'm working on more than one right now, but if I was...
Anyway, the spreadsheets are free, but the artist does ask for donations if the user finds them useful. I certainly did.
Disclaimer: I received no compensation for this blog post and I do not know Svenja Gosen at all. I only love these spreadsheets and want to pass along a great writing tool.
The artist's name is Svenja Gosen.The art work is beautiful and the spreadsheets are a dream.
What I like about them--besides how pretty--is how useful it is. It keeps a running tally for each month and for the year. It also allows you to set goals for yourself (for the year and/or month) and it calculates the words you need each month/day to reach that goal.
I've thought about it and I've decided to use a different spreadsheet for each project I'm working on because it will allow me to know where I'm at on word count without mixing books together. Not that I'm working on more than one right now, but if I was...
Anyway, the spreadsheets are free, but the artist does ask for donations if the user finds them useful. I certainly did.
Disclaimer: I received no compensation for this blog post and I do not know Svenja Gosen at all. I only love these spreadsheets and want to pass along a great writing tool.
January 31, 2016
Are Blue Eyes Going Extinct?
It also explains what makes eye color.
January 28, 2016
A 9th Planet?
I don't know if you've been following science news or not, but in the last week or so, astronomers at Caltech have said there's evidence suggesting there's a large ice giant orbiting our sun as the 10th 9th planet. (Sorry, I still think of Pluto as a planet. The ironic thing is that one of these astronomers is the guy who killed Pluto.)
How cool is this? Now granted, it hasn't been spotted yet, and until it's in the cross hairs of someone's telescope, it's theoretical only, but still...
A 10,000 year orbit? That boggles the mind!
And it makes me think of Zechariah Sitchin's work, The 12th Planet. I'm not a big Sitchin fan--I think he got too much wrong to take him seriously--but he did talk about this planet that has this huge orbit around the sun and about the anunnaki who live there. Hearing that there's possibly this planet out there that at least generally fits the information Sitchin gave in his book has me going OMG, what if he was right despite the mis-translations of Sumerian?
Sorry, the part of me that loves to write (and read) SF romance is all excited about the possibilities here. Um, anyway, I'm seriously looking forward to astronomers studying the sky, trying to get their telescopes on this planet and prove it really does exist. How cool would that be? We might have lost Pluto, but we might gain a new, larger planet in his place.
How cool is this? Now granted, it hasn't been spotted yet, and until it's in the cross hairs of someone's telescope, it's theoretical only, but still...
A 10,000 year orbit? That boggles the mind!
And it makes me think of Zechariah Sitchin's work, The 12th Planet. I'm not a big Sitchin fan--I think he got too much wrong to take him seriously--but he did talk about this planet that has this huge orbit around the sun and about the anunnaki who live there. Hearing that there's possibly this planet out there that at least generally fits the information Sitchin gave in his book has me going OMG, what if he was right despite the mis-translations of Sumerian?
Sorry, the part of me that loves to write (and read) SF romance is all excited about the possibilities here. Um, anyway, I'm seriously looking forward to astronomers studying the sky, trying to get their telescopes on this planet and prove it really does exist. How cool would that be? We might have lost Pluto, but we might gain a new, larger planet in his place.
