We are Siamese

I got the opportunity to get a glimpse of the dance that Georgia and her group are going to perform in a couple months. They are dancing to the Disney song "We are Siamese" from "Lady and the Tramp". As we walked to the car I tried to encourage her by telling her what a good job she was doing and how I really liked the song. She replied "Yeah, but actually I think the first part could use more "Rock-n-Roll". Don't you think?" She's four. I think I'll be in trouble in about 10 yrs. ;-)

Vegas, Baby!

Highlights...... Pete Rose sat down at the table next to us at breakfast...... We had an amazing sushi dinner the first evening..... Found a $1000 chip!!!! (Seriously :^P)...... Won $380 at $25 Blackjack in about 20 minutes..... Ate 10 crepes over 3.5 days..... Sat thru a 2hr Timeshare presentation for free tickets to Zumanity..... Amy found a $100 bill CASH!!! (Still Seriously! ;-))....... Had an amazing steak/bday dinner at Morton's of Chicago...... Saw Dennis Rodman at the same restaurant as Pete Rose (They shook each other's hand)...... Won $500 (with 4 aces and a deuce) on quarter video poker........Met a serial killer taxi cab driver....... Saw Zumanity....... Won $250 (with 4 sevens) on dollar video poker in about 3 tries......... Shook Phil Gordon's (poker legend) hand while walking thru the lobby of the Bellagio.......AND since our flight was delayed 6 hrs we got to bed at 4am so......THAT'S JUST THE HIGLIGHTS! Details to follow. Needless to say, an action packed Vegas trip baby! ;-)

What is a Blog?

Andrew called me this morning wanting a definition of what a blog is. I searched the internet for the definition and was amused to find many varying definitions. While the name comes from a shortened term "weB LOG" I feel it's definition is continuing evolving. In reality the term blog is probably a broader term for an easily maintainable website were content can be added, viewed, edited and commented upon by anyone invited to do so. Many times one individual controls the adding and editing of content and letting pretty much anyone that happens upon that blog to view and comment. I am more or less trying to use this blog as a family enriching experience. I see multiple ways for us to use this tool. In fact I am using ONE of those ways right now, by responding to a question from someone. Without this tool I could only respond to a question by the phone, in person or by email. All of these ways would usually just answer the question to only Andrew ( or anyone listening in) and if it is something complicated I would probably have to say it a few times and they might even have to write it down. By posting (entering my thoughts) to the blog "ONE TIME" anyone and everyone that is interested in the subject can view it, print it out, even start a conversation or ask a question by using the comments section. Then the answer to that question will be forever available, so if in six months you forget the answer you return to the blog to fresh your memory. I know I may sound a little patronizing at this point, but I am just trying to spell out ALL the details. So this way to use the blog would be great for ... recipes, instructions for just about anything, invitations, etc. Along those same lines but just a little different, the blog could help make family gatherings more enriching by knowing more about someone without having to specifically track someone down and ask them "What's been going on?" That part of the conversation would have already been serviced by the blog. That way you could get right into "So it sounds like Cancun was a lot of fun. The pictures looked great. We are thinking about trying that resort that you linked to next time. It looked really cool" It would also relieve the person that went to Cancun retelling the same story 5 times during the night, writing down the name of the resort, passing around the photos from the trip and even sending an email (with large photo attachments that take up space on your hard drive and open you up to viruses) around to everyone that gets forwarded from person to person. Instead you could send an email with a simple link to the blog. It may take a little while to get used the format of the blog or comfortable writing something about yourself, but I think if you can get yourself to use it, it could turn into something exciting for the family to enjoy. Be sure and tell your family member to sign up and start blogging. If someone needs to be invited to the blog send me their email and we'll get them started. I'd be happy to help anyone with issues or problems they run into while trying to get signed up or posting or commenting to the blog. Don't hesitate to email me at tim@barelyblue.com

Hope 2CU on the blog!

Seeing isn't always believing.

I was always thought that I understood that "some" photos in magazines were airbrushed. However, I always assumed that it basically amounted to smoothing out blemishes etc. Evidently I was very naive as to how often and how much "airbrushing" goes on. I find it an interesting conundrum. I can see where if a model has a skin blemish one day the obvious solution would be to digitally adjust it. Ironically, at work a coworker asked me to do exactly that for a photo that was going into the weekly newsletter. I see no problem with that, but it seems it quickly turns into a very slippery slope. At what point does it go from mild adjustment to altering a young person's perception of what reality is and how they decide to try and attain that media created standard?

To see what I am talking about go to this website...

Hmm. Interesting. This is in no way for effect. But I just went to the website to tell you how to navigate to the pictures and it seems that website is no longer available. I can only assume some of the actors didn't appreciate their secret being exposed.
See the site anyway
(Maybe it will be up later)

UPDATE... I did find a couple other sites that show the same effect (without the famous actors)
Good example.
(look at the blonde up close, and give it time to load)
Another example

(these aren't quite as shocking as the other site, but still emphasis the point)

It's also kind of funny when they go to far and it your mind tells you how obviously fake it is...
Does it look fake to you?


Be sure and give the images time to load. After you mouse over it, it will change from the real photo to the touched up one. Seems like these people are trying to sell their skills to edit the photos.

Anyway, seeing the before/after shots of how these images are created is enlightening. Beyond the marvel of seeing a persons waist being literally thinned by three inches, wrinkles erased, hair added/removed/lightened/colored, it was a little scary to see how easy it was to manipulate my mind with a touch of digital trickery. I would say that I had a discrimating eye for detail and would be able to subliminally pick up on the changes, but they are seamless(on some of the sites). So the next time you see that beautiful picture just remember it is possibly as close to real life as "E.T" or "The War of the Worlds".