| HP all in one 3200 problems (scanner printer) |
[May. 14th, 2006|06:55 pm] |
So I got this machine. I always heard it's a bad idea to get anything with the 'all in one' idea. This thing is supposed to be a scanner, copier and printer and of course as luck would have it, it won't scan. I have to scan in pics to print out photos to put on my door in this hotel where I am going be staying at the end of the month. Ugh. My old scanner is disconnected and this thing is essentially half connected. My 'save me' friend will get a call tomorrow and with luck he'll be able to stop by and it won't be that my dinosaur machine (an old PC that runs windows 98) can't handle this massive all in one unit or something. That's what you get for waiting until a few weeks before you go somewhere to get it together for a trip!
Wish my luck,
AM |
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| San Francisco and Monk's Dentist ending... |
[Mar. 31st, 2006|11:52 am] |
Spent the day last weekend in San Francisco and could not resist doing some touristy things. We had dinner at a seal-rich restaurant on Fisherman's Wharf with a killer view of Alcatraz. Great view of everything from that restaurant. For a huge change it wasn't raining. Why hasn't it been raining on Monk? Magic on Monk, which is set in magical San Francisco.
Anyway, we were watching the Dentist episode and my friend is asking about the ending, where the four of them are in Stotts' office. It looks like Monk's chair is up on blocks or something. Is he levitating? Dunno. So she asks me why Adrian and Natalie are even there when Randy is getting his badge back. "Don't ask me," I say. "The show is called Monk, after all. Adrian can be wherever he wants to be." Consensus is that the Dentist episode is a season favorite so I'll whip that one out (that's supposed to remind Disher fans of something the LT said in an earlier episode) when folks come over. Natalie did have a good line in that final scene though, she is a great character. After they watched The Randy Disher Project's music video, she said something like, "There was a lot of good energy there." That said it all. Sums RD up perfectly.
"I don't need a captain shootin' me down all day long.
I don't need your moustache, don't you condescend to me.
I don't need nobody 'cause, Baby, I am free."
-- from Don't Need A Badge ~~ The Randy Disher Project
AM |
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| Brokeback Mountain - Regional tv ads different? |
[Mar. 3rd, 2006|08:28 am] |
I recently read, in a probably old issue of Time Magazine, I think it was, that they were running different television ads for the film Brokeback Mountain in different parts of the country. They would tone down, way down, the homosexual aspects of the film in different parts of the country. I saw, repeatedly, ads for the film in the San Francisco, CA area and several of us commented on how, if you didn't know what the film was about, you would think it was about one or two straight love stories. There were some sort of symbolically gay shots, a cowboy standing on a hilltop with fireworks, including a rocket going straight up from the ground, going off behind him. A pal said, "Oh that's gay." Okay, I'll take your word for it, dude. There was no dialogue from the film, just some dramatic music and some guy in a voiceover with this vague, "Once in a lifetime, a film like this comes along..." type thing. Haven't seen the ad in a while though the film's still playing here, but that is my recollection. I think there may have been one embrace between the guys. Maybe. But 99% of the ad, in the San Francisco market, was of the guys hugging the wives and kids and looking forlorn in their pickup trucks. Where was the homosexual aspect of the film shown more clearly than that?
AM |
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| Speed bag- Punch photo of your wife....? |
[Jan. 27th, 2006|01:02 pm] |
I am trying to figure out if something I heard on the radio was a joke or not. A man on a talk radio call-in show was advertising a product he has developed. Well it's really something he's selling as an addition to an existing product, I guess you'd say. He sells speed bags, the punching bags you see hanging mainly in gyms, the ones that hang that people I believe don boxing gloves and punch. This man puts clear plastic envelopes on these speed bags and the idea is that you place a photo of the person you'd like to punch in the pouch then go to town beating the speed bag instead of beating on the person. I want to say it's called the Trina (sp??) Speed Bag in honor of his (the inventor's) wife, a woman who he would like to slap around. The story was that he first tried painting Trina's likeness on the speed bag and then got the idea for the pouch to hold the photo. He also slips in photos of other people. Also useful, he said, is wrapping piano wire around the speed bag with the photo then boxing its 'ears' and spitting in its 'face.' "It saves you from being number one on the coroner's list tomorrow morning," he can tell his wife or daughter if she brings home an F on an exam. The phone calls they got from interested potential customers just made the show all the more interesting. I believe also that a portion of the proceeds went to a domestic violence charity.
AM |
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| "Just Legal" gets the axe |
[Oct. 21st, 2005|12:50 pm] |
Too bad. I was actually going to check this out. My friend who's a big long-time Don Johnson fan told me about this show. She always ends up writing DJ character slashfic around whatever show he is on. I was talking to her recently because I remembered that he was SFPD in Nash Bridges and Monk is SFPD now. I need all the help I can get with that. Nash was an "Inspector" and damn proud of it. Very misunderstood rank when it comes to San Francisco PD. Randy could tell him what to do and he'd have to call Randy Sir.
So she was just starting some stories and they were kind of mirroring mine in the age difference arena and then, sorrow of sorrows, the show's life support was cut off very quickly. My mother used to be a Miami Vice fan. It seems like that show wasn't given much of a shot. I never even got to see it. Don Johnson, if my friend is any example, in a show like that where he has a male 'partner' of any kind, is just slashfic fodder. The WB web site called it a 'comic drama' sort of reminds me again of Monk. Depending on your proclivities, the title of the show, "Just Legal" could've sent some gals into heaven with slashfic.
I am taking a bit of time off from my longer S/D story to work on a tasty vignette, pieces of which came to me while I was exercising. As you watch Monk, the things that make this sort of relationship interesting to slash, and unusual for me, are the 'Man Friday' things, the fact that they are of one mind, that Leland can turn his head and Randy is there with whatever he needs at the moment even if Leland isn't aware of what it is he needs just then. But how will the captain reciprocate? That's worth contemplating. The last 2-3 weeks have been intense for me with work and other things and then this silly vignette jumped into my mind and said why not write something to take a break from it all? :-)
AM
Don Johnson talks about Just Legal |
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| Murder and Mayhem: A Doctor Answers Medical and Forensic Questions for Mystery Writers |
[Oct. 9th, 2005|08:22 pm] |
This afternoon we went to a favorite used book store with an agenda and I found nothing on my list. All I found was the above book by D. P. Lyle. Here is the book's "official" description:
A frequent adviser to published mystery writers, as well as writers for TV shows such as Law and Order, Dr. Lyle tackles subjects such as traumatic injuries, doctors and hospitals, weapons of death, poisons and drugs, police and the crime scene, the coroner and the crime lab, and more. In extremely organized and accessible detail, he answers questions spanning a wide range: Do pupils shrink or enlarge with death? Can X-rays be copied? Can ingested cocaine kill? How soon do strangulation bruises appear? Lively and accessible, this solid reference book is bound for every mystery writer's shelf.
It looks like a really helpful book for all types of mystery fic and just a fun read. Fanfic authors, particularly h/c hounds, would have fun with this one. I'll have to add it to my bibliography.
AM |
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| White Masai & Unveiled, film review links |
[Oct. 3rd, 2005|03:11 pm] |
I was watching the German news recently. (Our local tv is pretty cool in that we have a lot of interesting channels and three PBS stations. All we can afford is basic cable so thank goodness that gives us some decent programming.) Their movie review show featured a couple of interesting films I wanted to remember and I found some sites for them.
White Masai and Unveiled
Reviews:
White Masai review
Variety White Masai
Unveiled review
Variety Unveiled
Check them out
AM |
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| Data in earthquake bag |
[Sep. 28th, 2005|11:00 am] |
Yuck. Doing a turnover in the earthquake backpack. I'd never put discs or disks as the case may be in there and the time was good to do that. Boy what a job this is going to be. The Fry and Laurie stuff from defunct web sites is mostly from the old computer, crashed hard drive. mostly on disks, floppy and zip. I do have an Iomega zip drive, but it's external and I have not hooked that puppy up in years. Some FryLaurie stuff is on CD but most seems to be in squaresville. For Starsky and Hutch I can say the most updated versions of everything must be on the CDs and man, there is just too much. You don't want to run out of the house with this, so I have to look through it and figure out what it is. Then there is the original fic, original characters, original poetry. I have single trib copies of journals and papers that my fic is in, fanfic and original fic. I guess you would want to put that in the earthquake backpack. I'll probably put the discs with the fanfic in there, my resume but put the original fic journals in there for sure. The zines are too heavy. The full computer backups go in there, things that are not creative, other digital things that are important to have with you. There isn't that much actual paper in our earthquake backpack. A few videos & items.
That's my mission these days. The backup, the StottleDisher story and the nonfic book. Keeping me busy along with real life.
AM |
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| Law Enforecement Bibliography Draft |
[Sep. 22nd, 2005|01:44 am] |
Writing stories with cops as characters is always a challenge. There is only so much reference material available online, and there, you sometimes have to dig deep to find out who created each site. I am nearly done with my police book bibliography. My friend is going to give me some web space to put it online. Here's the list as it is now. The descriptions are from various online sources, I didn't write them. Any prices you see are probably old, editions probably old, etc. I don't know where to get all of the books and have not read most of them but they sound as though they might be helpful to some folks writing/researching police ficiton. I'll also put up the obligatory SFPD, San Francisco links for MonkFic galore. :-) URL will be posted when .... IT'S ALIVE.
This will have to take at least two posts... I would suggest people try your local library as some of these books are $70 and up, written for those taking law enforcement courses. They could be very enlightening for people writing fiction and probably, from the photos I saw of some of them, might help with building your biceps, too while pondering paragraphs. :-)
( Draft of booklist, police, law enforcement kind of long ) |
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| Fanfic for series on the air: predictions coming true |
[Sep. 16th, 2005|08:07 pm] |
It's interesting when you've written a scene for a piece of fanfic that you are writing around a series that is currently on the air, and then you see something played out on the show later that has some of the elements that are in your scene. How accurate were your guesses? How right on were you about how the characters might act in a situation, if it mattered to you in a canon sense? Months ago, I'd written a scene with Leland and Randy, characters in Monk. They were talking about their feelings. I had Leland looking away, looking down at the ground as he spoke. Randy looked right at Leland as he said how he felt.
( Then there was an episode of the show, I think it was called Mr. and Mrs. Monk. ... ) |
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| Book: Blue blood, by Edward Conlon |
[Sep. 16th, 2005|11:34 am] |
I am currently reading this book and enjoying it. I don't want to jump in and give my 'intermission' opinion, but wanted to recommend it before I forget so I'm going to swipe and post this review from a reputable source. Anyone out there who's got an interest in police work might want to check it out. Riverhead Books, 2004.
( From The Washington Post's Book World: ) |
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| Gay characters in shows set in San Francisco? Monk? |
[Sep. 16th, 2005|05:23 am] |
Since one of the main things I talk about here in this journal is the fic I write around a show set in San Francisco, Monk, I was interested when I stumbled upon a web site that talked about how few television shows set in the city have gay characters and where stereotyping fits in all that.
( Quote from a web site and discussion of gays on SF shows & Monk. ) |
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| Criminal Minds? |
[Sep. 13th, 2005|10:06 pm] |
Has anyone heard anything about Criminal Minds? It's the new Mandy Patinkin, Thomas Gibson show on Wednesdays on CBS. Okay, so it doesn't sound deadly original. Who knows?
I saw Mandy Patinkin in concert a couple of times. Once in San Francisco and once in Arizona with my mom. Kicking show that guy does.
From executive producer Mark Gordon ("The Day After Tomorrow") comes CRIMINAL MINDS, a thrill-a-minute drama about a group of "mind hunters," the elite squad of profilers in the FBI's Behavioral Analysis Unit, who meticulously piece together portraits of killers and other major offenders, leading to what they hope will be the arrest of a prime suspect. Emmy winner Mandy Patinkin ("Chicago Hope") returns to CBS as the leader of a team of investigators, including Golden Globe nominee Thomas Gibson ("Dharma & Greg"), who are as skilled as they are determined to get inside the criminal mind and get the criminals off the streets. |
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| Laughing after Katrina |
[Sep. 13th, 2005|02:32 pm] |
I don't have anything prepared to say. I happened to have the tv on last night as I was sitting there with my evening pain pills and tea. The Ellen DeGeneres Show was on. I think it was last night at least. The show was a particularly moving episode. I hadn't realized that Ellen's family was from New Orleans. In part of the very beginning of the show, she was clearly near tears as she talked about how the hurricane had hit her family and friends. She talked about how her show, at least that one, would be set up a little differently as she worked her way through the crisis along with the rest of the country, as a nod to those who are going through the struggle right now. She said that her mom was with her in her dressing room and told her something like people really need to laugh right now, they really need a distraction, so you'd damn well better be funny. Marvelous. I love Ellen. I admire her so much, I love her mother, and for no particular reason I will toss in that I think she's beautiful. Every photo I see of her I am just floored by her eyes. The true beauty comes through in what I think she has done to bring awareness in this country as well. She didn't have to become Ms. Gay Television. That could not have been a fun road to walk. She enlightened and reminded us that people are people are people. Sometimes you get bogged down in labels, us and them. My surgeon is from New Orleans. We talked about it in my post-op appointment. All of this is just rambling.
After 9/11 Newsweek and/or Time had a cover story about comedians and the late night shows, how hard it was to make people laugh when the country was so depressed. Their charge was a mighty one. What will they do at the Emmys? We were grieving. I remember when my father died. My mother said to just put one foot in front of the other. Go back to work, keep doing your daily activities. Ellen has a very hard job ahead of her as the hurricane has hit her close to home and she has to entertain an entire country that is in a state of shock, but she's out there doing it. There are people who have been hit personally and a lot of us who feel helpless, some who feel guilty about going on with our lives when others have lost everything. We feel let down by our leaders, don't know where to turn. We all need to do what we can to help, just put one foot in front of the other, and grab a laugh wherever we can. I've always been an advocate of "Laugh Therapy." Perhaps we really need it now if only to rev us up, to keep us going, as a release.
AM |
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| songs and links to their lyrics |
[Sep. 13th, 2005|01:34 pm] |
I chose as few sites with pop-ups, flashing gifs or audio and link to as few sites selling things outright as possible, but a few have them.
Names, if given, are usually of the performers and not the composers.
( Long list of songs and Lyrics Links ) |
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| Fanfiction A |
[Sep. 11th, 2005|01:44 pm] |
A bunch of friends are bringing sushi over for lunch. Can't mess with that to write an LJ entry but this will be the first of a series, I guess. Fanfic is huge. It was before I discovered it in the late-ish 90s and it has really skyrocketed since then. I just, looking for SFPD information for my story!!, found this BBC thing about Harry Potter and the Rowlings' opinion about fanfic. I don't have time for LJ and I really have zero time to work on my StottleDisher story obviously but this article is very interesting. I am going to put a link here with some quotes. Who owns the characters, who are we hurting by writing the fic, who are we helping, who really cares, and at what point might that change? I always thought the maturity and personal groundedness of the actors and everyone involved in the original work had something to do with it but yeah, I've never been on their end. I look at David Soul and Paul Glaser who've handled it with humor and grace for years and say, Right on, brothers! And the fantastic show lives on.
( Part A jumps off here ) |
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