Patti O'Shea's Blog, page 112
October 25, 2015
Humanity's New Cousin and An Ancient Virus
Let's hope none of these ancient viruses coming to light are able to hit humans.
October 22, 2015
Adventures With Microsoft
One evening as I was working on my laptop, I look down and notice a strange icon. I hover over it and discover it's my invitation to download Windows 10. While I might decide to buy a Windows 10 laptop at some point, I have no intention of upgrading my current Windows 7 computer. I love Windows 7 and 10 is still an unknown commodity.
But that annoying icon has to go. I right click on it, but I'm not given an option to delete it. This doesn't make me happy.
I begin searching online to find out how to get rid of it. All the instructions called out this one Windows patch that was released only I can't find that name in my list of installs. Maybe that's not the number they used for Windows 7. I keep searching, but everything points to that same patch. I look through the list again.
This time I find it. I uninstall it, reboot as required, and then wait for Microsoft to search all the available updates because I have to turn it off otherwise it'll just reload. This search by Windows Update took forever!
As I'm waiting for it to pull up the available patches, I discover Microsoft has a second patch that does the same thing for Windows 7. Now I have to uninstall that one and turn it off, too. And oh, BTW, Microsoft might have sent all the files for Windows 10 to my computer even though I never requested them. Great.
Now I go searching through my computer for the files mentioned. I couldn't find anything, so maybe I caught this before Microsoft could download them.Thanks a lot, Microsoft. Major fail.
But that annoying icon has to go. I right click on it, but I'm not given an option to delete it. This doesn't make me happy.
I begin searching online to find out how to get rid of it. All the instructions called out this one Windows patch that was released only I can't find that name in my list of installs. Maybe that's not the number they used for Windows 7. I keep searching, but everything points to that same patch. I look through the list again.
This time I find it. I uninstall it, reboot as required, and then wait for Microsoft to search all the available updates because I have to turn it off otherwise it'll just reload. This search by Windows Update took forever!
As I'm waiting for it to pull up the available patches, I discover Microsoft has a second patch that does the same thing for Windows 7. Now I have to uninstall that one and turn it off, too. And oh, BTW, Microsoft might have sent all the files for Windows 10 to my computer even though I never requested them. Great.
Now I go searching through my computer for the files mentioned. I couldn't find anything, so maybe I caught this before Microsoft could download them.Thanks a lot, Microsoft. Major fail.
October 20, 2015
Review: Into the Woods - The Movie
WARNING: THERE WILL BE SPOILERS! TURN BACK NOW IF YOU WANT TO WATCH THE MOVIE AND BE SURPRISED! Before I even begin this review, I'll admit that I'm a fan of the theatrical version of Into the Woods. Of all the musicals I've seen, I'd probably put this in my top 5, so I'm coming at the movie with a biased point of view.
Into the Woods has this super premise. It takes a few fairy tales and twists them together. The first half is the stories were accustomed to and the second half is what happens after happily ever after. The last half of the play is very dark and somewhat grim, but not without it's moments.
My understanding is that the story that anchors the others, the baker and his wife, was created for the play, but the fairy tales that everyone knows are Little Red Riding Hood, Jack and the Beanstalk, Rapunzel, and Cinderella. Since I loved the premise, I bought tickets to see the touring company when it came to Minnesota--all the original Broadway cast members were there with the exception of the girl who played Red Riding Hood and Bernadette Peters who played the witch.
When I first heard they were making a movie of the play, I was excited. Until I learned that there were going to be changes. The reviews I saw when the movie was released were mixed, and I waited for it to come on cable. So what did I think?
It wasn't bad, but it didn't have the same magic as the play.
Things I loved: Chris Pine can sing! And he made a terrific Prince Charming. His duet of Agony was one of my favorite scenes in the movie. I liked all the special effects that made the movie come to life in a way it couldn't in the theater. Beanstalks to the sky, getting to see the giant that was causing all the trouble in the second half, and I actually liked how they managed to eliminate the narrator's role, which was prominent in the play.
But there were things I definitely missed. In the play there's a reprise of Agony by the two princes. I loved it! It's one of the few truly funny moments in the second act and it was badly needed amid the grimness. I definitely missed it in the movie.
Meryl Streep is a brilliant actress, but Bernadette Peters owns the role of the witch and I would have preferred to see her recreate the role. Since she and Streep are nearly the same age, I don't see why she couldn't have played the part in the movie as well. As much as I enjoy Meryl Streep, she couldn't live up to Peters portrayal of the witch, IMO.
In the play, Rapunzel is killed by the giant leading to one of the most poignant songs in the second act when the witch mourns the loss of he daughter. In the movie, Rapunzel leaves with her prince, abandoning the only mother she knew. This severely undermined the emotion of the song/scene IMO and lacked the sense of desolation from the play.
The other thing that kind of bugged me as I watched the movie was how dark all the scenes were. Not as far as tone, I mean the lighting. There were some parts that were difficult to see because it was too dark. Yes, I get that most of the story takes place at night in the woods, but couldn't they have managed just one more amplitude of light?
As you can see, most of my ticks against the movie are all in comparison to the play. If I didn't know the play, what would I think of the movie? I think I would have liked it a lot, but not loved it. Which is kind of a step above where I am now.
But I do know the play and so while I liked the movie version well enough that I'll probably buy it, it didn't leave me enthused. It was, however, a beautiful production and I enjoyed the richness of the scenery and the costumes. I just wish it had been a little more like the play.
My rating 3 stars out of 5.
Bottom line: If you like fairy tales and musicals and if you haven't seen the theatrical version, it's an enjoyable way to spend a couple of hours.
Into the Woods has this super premise. It takes a few fairy tales and twists them together. The first half is the stories were accustomed to and the second half is what happens after happily ever after. The last half of the play is very dark and somewhat grim, but not without it's moments.
My understanding is that the story that anchors the others, the baker and his wife, was created for the play, but the fairy tales that everyone knows are Little Red Riding Hood, Jack and the Beanstalk, Rapunzel, and Cinderella. Since I loved the premise, I bought tickets to see the touring company when it came to Minnesota--all the original Broadway cast members were there with the exception of the girl who played Red Riding Hood and Bernadette Peters who played the witch.
When I first heard they were making a movie of the play, I was excited. Until I learned that there were going to be changes. The reviews I saw when the movie was released were mixed, and I waited for it to come on cable. So what did I think?
It wasn't bad, but it didn't have the same magic as the play.
Things I loved: Chris Pine can sing! And he made a terrific Prince Charming. His duet of Agony was one of my favorite scenes in the movie. I liked all the special effects that made the movie come to life in a way it couldn't in the theater. Beanstalks to the sky, getting to see the giant that was causing all the trouble in the second half, and I actually liked how they managed to eliminate the narrator's role, which was prominent in the play.
But there were things I definitely missed. In the play there's a reprise of Agony by the two princes. I loved it! It's one of the few truly funny moments in the second act and it was badly needed amid the grimness. I definitely missed it in the movie.
Meryl Streep is a brilliant actress, but Bernadette Peters owns the role of the witch and I would have preferred to see her recreate the role. Since she and Streep are nearly the same age, I don't see why she couldn't have played the part in the movie as well. As much as I enjoy Meryl Streep, she couldn't live up to Peters portrayal of the witch, IMO.
In the play, Rapunzel is killed by the giant leading to one of the most poignant songs in the second act when the witch mourns the loss of he daughter. In the movie, Rapunzel leaves with her prince, abandoning the only mother she knew. This severely undermined the emotion of the song/scene IMO and lacked the sense of desolation from the play.
The other thing that kind of bugged me as I watched the movie was how dark all the scenes were. Not as far as tone, I mean the lighting. There were some parts that were difficult to see because it was too dark. Yes, I get that most of the story takes place at night in the woods, but couldn't they have managed just one more amplitude of light?
As you can see, most of my ticks against the movie are all in comparison to the play. If I didn't know the play, what would I think of the movie? I think I would have liked it a lot, but not loved it. Which is kind of a step above where I am now.
But I do know the play and so while I liked the movie version well enough that I'll probably buy it, it didn't leave me enthused. It was, however, a beautiful production and I enjoyed the richness of the scenery and the costumes. I just wish it had been a little more like the play.
My rating 3 stars out of 5.
Bottom line: If you like fairy tales and musicals and if you haven't seen the theatrical version, it's an enjoyable way to spend a couple of hours.
October 18, 2015
Does Your Birth Month Affect Your Health?
Some of this is interesting.
October 15, 2015
Real Life Ruins a Favorite Movie
There aren't many movies that I enjoy watching over and over, but two of them are The Mummy and The Mummy Returns with Brendan Frasier and Rachel Weisz. The first is better than the second, but that's pretty much always the case with sequels.
Living in Georgia, though, has pretty much ruined my enjoyment of the second movie, The Mummy Returns. To refresh your memory, that's the one with The Rock as the Scorpion King.
Yeah. You see, I get scorpions in my house and they totally freak me out. They're prehistoric, monstrous things and it creeps me out every time I see one, no matter how small it is. In fact, I recently had two scorpions in my house. One was in my office and I thought he was dead so I didn't smoosh him, only to have him disappear when I went back to sweep up what I thought was his dead body. A week and half later, I did find his dried out carcass.Then there was the one I found in my bedroom. I think he was dead, but this time I didn't take any chances. I crunched him first and then went for the broom.
I never liked scorpions, but when I lived in Minnesota, I could watch Mummy 2 without getting all creeped out. After all, scorpions were far away and abstract. Then I moved into my house in Georgia. Sigh.
There are worse things, I guess. Scorpions are slow and easy to catch, not like some of the bugs I had to deal with when I was living temporarily in the condo down here. I used to leave the canister vacuum plugged in so I could chase them with it and suck them up. I also grew to really hate centipedes and they are fast.
At least I still have the original Mummy movie that I can watch.
Living in Georgia, though, has pretty much ruined my enjoyment of the second movie, The Mummy Returns. To refresh your memory, that's the one with The Rock as the Scorpion King.
Yeah. You see, I get scorpions in my house and they totally freak me out. They're prehistoric, monstrous things and it creeps me out every time I see one, no matter how small it is. In fact, I recently had two scorpions in my house. One was in my office and I thought he was dead so I didn't smoosh him, only to have him disappear when I went back to sweep up what I thought was his dead body. A week and half later, I did find his dried out carcass.Then there was the one I found in my bedroom. I think he was dead, but this time I didn't take any chances. I crunched him first and then went for the broom.
I never liked scorpions, but when I lived in Minnesota, I could watch Mummy 2 without getting all creeped out. After all, scorpions were far away and abstract. Then I moved into my house in Georgia. Sigh.
There are worse things, I guess. Scorpions are slow and easy to catch, not like some of the bugs I had to deal with when I was living temporarily in the condo down here. I used to leave the canister vacuum plugged in so I could chase them with it and suck them up. I also grew to really hate centipedes and they are fast.
At least I still have the original Mummy movie that I can watch.
October 13, 2015
Not a Drop to Drink
A couple of weeks ago, I arrived home from work to find the city water department had dug a deep hole between my yard and my neighbor's yard. I stopped and got the mail, which was right near where they were working, but no one said anything to me and I didn't think anything more about it.
It was about an hour later, when I go to get water from the dispenser in my refrigerator and nothing came out. My first thought was that one of the doors wasn't closed all the way. The fridge won't dispense water or ice unless both doors are completely shut. But no, both doors are closed. I try opening and shutting them again. Still no water.
I get a little panicked. I'm worried my refrigerator has developed an issue. I never gave a thought to the guys outside--not yet--because I'd had water within the first half an hour that I was home.
It was while I was panicking about my fridge that I remembered the city's water department. To test out this theory, I tried to run the water in my sink. Nothing. Okay, it's not just the fridge. Now I panicked in earnest because it was late and what if the water guys had left already? I rushed to the front door.
I see a water department guy and I ask if they're still working. Um, yeah, I was so blind in my worry that I missed the guy standing in the hole and the rest of the team doing whatever nearby. No wonder he looked at me like I was nuts. Oops. Well, what can I say? The idea of no water was terrifying and no one had said anything to me about turning off my water when I was just feet away from them.
It was about another hour before one of the guys rang the doorbell and told me I had water again. They'd put in a new line and a new meter, he said. I was so relieved that they weren't going to stop working (it was nearly 7pm by this point) that I forgot to ask why they did the work. Another oops.
I already knew I wouldn't have made a good pioneer, but this reinforces that knowledge. It also underlines the fact that if I ever have a chance to time travel, I'll be going to the future, not the past.
It was about an hour later, when I go to get water from the dispenser in my refrigerator and nothing came out. My first thought was that one of the doors wasn't closed all the way. The fridge won't dispense water or ice unless both doors are completely shut. But no, both doors are closed. I try opening and shutting them again. Still no water.
I get a little panicked. I'm worried my refrigerator has developed an issue. I never gave a thought to the guys outside--not yet--because I'd had water within the first half an hour that I was home.
It was while I was panicking about my fridge that I remembered the city's water department. To test out this theory, I tried to run the water in my sink. Nothing. Okay, it's not just the fridge. Now I panicked in earnest because it was late and what if the water guys had left already? I rushed to the front door.
I see a water department guy and I ask if they're still working. Um, yeah, I was so blind in my worry that I missed the guy standing in the hole and the rest of the team doing whatever nearby. No wonder he looked at me like I was nuts. Oops. Well, what can I say? The idea of no water was terrifying and no one had said anything to me about turning off my water when I was just feet away from them.
It was about another hour before one of the guys rang the doorbell and told me I had water again. They'd put in a new line and a new meter, he said. I was so relieved that they weren't going to stop working (it was nearly 7pm by this point) that I forgot to ask why they did the work. Another oops.
I already knew I wouldn't have made a good pioneer, but this reinforces that knowledge. It also underlines the fact that if I ever have a chance to time travel, I'll be going to the future, not the past.
October 11, 2015
25 Myths About the Middle Ages
that you probably thought were true. (Or not.)
October 8, 2015
Adventures In Updating
For a while now, my Mac laptop has been suggesting I upgrade my operating system to Yosemite. I've been resisting because I really don't like the flat graphic look of the new system and it's not as if any of the features were things I was dying to use. However, when I found out there was a security hole and it wasn't patched in my current OS, I felt I had no choice. I upgraded.
The download went quickly. This is going to be painless, I thought. And then the installation began.
Apple put a little meter to show how far along the installation was. About 1/3 of the way into the install, the bar seemed stuck. It didn't move for more than an hour. Okay, I thought, maybe it will jump forward by leaps and bounds in a bit. I went and did something else.
The progress meter didn't budge.
I touched the laptop and it was burning hot. The bottom of the laptop was even hotter than the top. I grabbed a chill pad and plugged the Mac into it. That cooled down the underside, but the top remained scary hot.
And still the progress bar didn't move. I begin Googling to find out what's going on. I read about people having issues because of some programs they've loaded, but I don't have any of them. In fact, my Mac pretty much only has the software it came with and the programs I use for writing. Some of the posts had links and I clicked through, but nothing helped.
Hard reboot? I wondered. Some people did it successfully. Other people lost their OS and had to boot in recovery mode. Gah! Okay, no hard reboot.
But after more than five hours without anything happening, I decided I had to try it and hope for the best. I held down the power button until the laptop turned off. With some trepidation, I turned it on again. And it immediately booted into the new operating system.
So apparently while it was sitting there, appearing to do nothing, it had finished doing all the installation. I don't know why the progress bar didn't move, but fortunately everything worked great. This was a huge relief because the last thing I felt like doing was messing around, trying to get my Mac Book to work again.
The download went quickly. This is going to be painless, I thought. And then the installation began.
Apple put a little meter to show how far along the installation was. About 1/3 of the way into the install, the bar seemed stuck. It didn't move for more than an hour. Okay, I thought, maybe it will jump forward by leaps and bounds in a bit. I went and did something else.
The progress meter didn't budge.
I touched the laptop and it was burning hot. The bottom of the laptop was even hotter than the top. I grabbed a chill pad and plugged the Mac into it. That cooled down the underside, but the top remained scary hot.
And still the progress bar didn't move. I begin Googling to find out what's going on. I read about people having issues because of some programs they've loaded, but I don't have any of them. In fact, my Mac pretty much only has the software it came with and the programs I use for writing. Some of the posts had links and I clicked through, but nothing helped.
Hard reboot? I wondered. Some people did it successfully. Other people lost their OS and had to boot in recovery mode. Gah! Okay, no hard reboot.
But after more than five hours without anything happening, I decided I had to try it and hope for the best. I held down the power button until the laptop turned off. With some trepidation, I turned it on again. And it immediately booted into the new operating system.
So apparently while it was sitting there, appearing to do nothing, it had finished doing all the installation. I don't know why the progress bar didn't move, but fortunately everything worked great. This was a huge relief because the last thing I felt like doing was messing around, trying to get my Mac Book to work again.
October 6, 2015
Cooking Success?
I successfully made chicken in the slow cooker a few weeks ago and I decided to push my luck and see if I could go for two in a row. The dish on the menu was a recipe my mom always made for us. It's seasonal and we always looked forward to the end of August/beginning of September because that meant plums.
Last year, I attempted to make this on my own for the first time. The dough ended up being an epic fail. I didn't even try to cook them. Since I was headed up to visit my parents shortly thereafter, I brought the plums with me and Mom made the recipe. This year, though, I wasn't going home and that meant if I wanted to have this dish, I had to cook it myself. :-/ Last year I used a dough recipe from the internet. This year I got a recipe from my mom.
So the basic recipe is this:
Italian (prune) plums (only available for a brief window around the beginning of September)cut the plums open enough to get the pit outfill the cavity with cinnamon and sugarThis is the easy part. My mom said to do this first and let them sit while I made the dough.
Dough is:
2 cups flour1/2 tsp salt1 egg3/4 cup water
Then it was time to tackle my mountain. Mom makes her dough by hand, but I'm not that patient. I threw everything in the mixer with the dough hook attachment. Instead of being firm and able to be rolled out, it looked like cake batter. This prompted a call to my mom for help.
Add more flour she said. I had to add quite a bit more flour than the recipe called for, but it finally firmed up enough to roll out. This didn't go without a hitch, but it wasn't out of the usual either--dough sticking to the rolling pin, etc.
Then I rolled the dough around the plums.
Next, they need to be boiled. I like to do it about 9 minutes give or take. I do know how to do this because when Mom made them, it was my job to actually cook them while she rolled more.
Only one opened in the water. That's a minor victory because it's not always easy to keep the dough sealed around the plum. But that's why you see that pinkish watery juice in the picture.
Final review of my work: Moderate success. The dough was a little heavy because of all the flour I had to add, but it was still pretty good.
Kitchen? Total disaster. I cleaned while the plums were cooking and even then, I still had to spend more than a half hour cleaning up after dinner. I filled the dishwasher with everything it took to make this recipe. So on a scale of 1-10 for how much work/total effort is involved, I'd give it about a 7. (The higher end of the scale meaning more effort.) It's time and labor intensive on the front end with the dough, but it's as bad on the back end for cleanup.
Last year, I attempted to make this on my own for the first time. The dough ended up being an epic fail. I didn't even try to cook them. Since I was headed up to visit my parents shortly thereafter, I brought the plums with me and Mom made the recipe. This year, though, I wasn't going home and that meant if I wanted to have this dish, I had to cook it myself. :-/ Last year I used a dough recipe from the internet. This year I got a recipe from my mom.
So the basic recipe is this:
Italian (prune) plums (only available for a brief window around the beginning of September)cut the plums open enough to get the pit outfill the cavity with cinnamon and sugarThis is the easy part. My mom said to do this first and let them sit while I made the dough.
Dough is:
2 cups flour1/2 tsp salt1 egg3/4 cup water
Then it was time to tackle my mountain. Mom makes her dough by hand, but I'm not that patient. I threw everything in the mixer with the dough hook attachment. Instead of being firm and able to be rolled out, it looked like cake batter. This prompted a call to my mom for help.
Add more flour she said. I had to add quite a bit more flour than the recipe called for, but it finally firmed up enough to roll out. This didn't go without a hitch, but it wasn't out of the usual either--dough sticking to the rolling pin, etc.
Then I rolled the dough around the plums.
Next, they need to be boiled. I like to do it about 9 minutes give or take. I do know how to do this because when Mom made them, it was my job to actually cook them while she rolled more.
Only one opened in the water. That's a minor victory because it's not always easy to keep the dough sealed around the plum. But that's why you see that pinkish watery juice in the picture.
Final review of my work: Moderate success. The dough was a little heavy because of all the flour I had to add, but it was still pretty good.
Kitchen? Total disaster. I cleaned while the plums were cooking and even then, I still had to spend more than a half hour cleaning up after dinner. I filled the dishwasher with everything it took to make this recipe. So on a scale of 1-10 for how much work/total effort is involved, I'd give it about a 7. (The higher end of the scale meaning more effort.) It's time and labor intensive on the front end with the dough, but it's as bad on the back end for cleanup.
October 4, 2015
Weather Misconceptions
It's never too cold to snow. I know because I'm originally from Minnesota.
