Sometimes I see a commercial I don't understand. It's a recent McDonald's commercial. Guys sitting around some bench, likely on their lunch break, playing poker and eating. One guy says he's got to pick someone for shipping supervisor (or something). One guy surveys his lunch (from McDonald's), sees his hand has 4 Queens and some other card, thinks a few things, and then folds, saying "I got nothing." What just happened? I don't understand this commercial at all. What am I supposed to get from this commercial?
Is he folding because he wants to eat his lunch? Does he not want the supervisor position? I really don't know. Have I seen the short version of this? Maybe they have a longer version that explains it.
I also should gather together more stupid commercials that really bother me. Such as: MaxTall shoe inserts that are supposed to make you look taller for some reason. That Gyrobowl commercial where you see some kid flip his hand around wildly. Why does he do that? And then you see some other kid trying to skateboard while holding that bowl in one hand. Isn't that dangerous? And then that thing claiming a familiar style of cheap amber lensed sunglasses is "HD". No, SunGlasses Are Not HD You Stupid People. Why do you keep trying to sell them? And why does Breathe Right need to say that their product that sticks to most people's noses is "drug free"? I don't get it. They don't advertise "Band-Aids" as drug free and they could be stuck on your nose. They do have a variety that has something on the pad, but they don't draw attention to the ones that don't have anything on them.
I say it sticks to most people's noses because I'm sure it won't stick to mine. Draw whatever conclusions you want from that.
Some commercials annoy because of the music they use. Usually it annoys me when it plays too many times during the day.
Sunday, January 29, 2012
Friday, January 13, 2012
Grammar ignorance that annoys me
There's a number of grammar ignorance errors that I see on the web that really annoys me. Let me offer some examples:
1. "should of" - OK, what you are saying actually is the contraction of "should have" and that's "should've". You are NOT saying "should of", you are saying "should've".
2. Take and Bring - These verbs are used wrong A LOT. You take medicine, you take things with you, but you bring it when you when someone asks you to bring it. You don't bring back it to the store, you're taking it back to the store. When you're away going somewhere else, other people ask you to bring something with you. While you're doing that, you're taking it with you.
3. Than and Then - 3 Is More Than 1. Then you'd write it 3>1.
4. How to Use Only.
5. Apostrophe S - It's sad when people get this one wrong. Plurals don't need an apostrophe. People even get the possessive "its" confused for the contraction "it's" which means "it is." I really hate seeing plurals that use an apostrophe.
6. Using "revital" (which isn't a word) when they mean Rejuvenate or Renew.
7. "Even know" when you mean "Even Though."
8. Your and You're - It's just 2 more characters. Type Them. One means "You are". The other is 2nd person possessive.
The other thing that annoys me, aside from grammar ignorance, is people who don't know where to pull up at a traffic light. There's a white painted bar on the road that shows you where to stop at the red light. You do not stop behind the vehicle detector loop, but instead on top of it at least. But get that front bumper (or even your front tires) on that white bar. And a green light during a left turn (this is known as an unguarded left turn) means progress into the intersection and wait until it's clear. If this means waiting until the light turns red again for traffic to clear, so be it.
1. "should of" - OK, what you are saying actually is the contraction of "should have" and that's "should've". You are NOT saying "should of", you are saying "should've".
2. Take and Bring - These verbs are used wrong A LOT. You take medicine, you take things with you, but you bring it when you when someone asks you to bring it. You don't bring back it to the store, you're taking it back to the store. When you're away going somewhere else, other people ask you to bring something with you. While you're doing that, you're taking it with you.
3. Than and Then - 3 Is More Than 1. Then you'd write it 3>1.
4. How to Use Only.
5. Apostrophe S - It's sad when people get this one wrong. Plurals don't need an apostrophe. People even get the possessive "its" confused for the contraction "it's" which means "it is." I really hate seeing plurals that use an apostrophe.
6. Using "revital" (which isn't a word) when they mean Rejuvenate or Renew.
7. "Even know" when you mean "Even Though."
8. Your and You're - It's just 2 more characters. Type Them. One means "You are". The other is 2nd person possessive.
The other thing that annoys me, aside from grammar ignorance, is people who don't know where to pull up at a traffic light. There's a white painted bar on the road that shows you where to stop at the red light. You do not stop behind the vehicle detector loop, but instead on top of it at least. But get that front bumper (or even your front tires) on that white bar. And a green light during a left turn (this is known as an unguarded left turn) means progress into the intersection and wait until it's clear. If this means waiting until the light turns red again for traffic to clear, so be it.
Wednesday, January 04, 2012
It never fails
Ok, so Cooking Channel is running Anthony Bourdain's first travelling chef TV show, A Cook's Tour again, and now once again they promise they're going to air his first episode, A Taste of Tokyo. I waited for Dining with Geishas last time I noticed they were running his first foray into food TV (he later went on to No Reservations, a much better show) and Cooking Channel didn't even run it. I think I got on their case, asking when my TV provider and they would be getting on the same page. Last night it finally happened. I've been waiting to get Bourdain's 2 Japan episodes of A Cook's Tour on tape when I found out about that show.
However, I've had mom's VCR sitting atop the TV on a couple stacks of DVDs since I had it recording The Playboy Club (all 3 aired episodes of it) and was trying to remember to get the new Winx Club episodes Nickelodeon was running.
I hadn't used the VCR in a while, so it really increased my anxiety level when I dump a tape in it and it's making an odd noise. I get the cover off and there's something about the spinning video head on the underside hitting something when it's spinning. I make an analysis and determine the way I had it sitting on the DVD stacks somehow pushed on the wrong spot and flexed it just enough to make the VCR now sound like a film projector when the video head is in action.
It doesn't seem to be affecting recording or playback much if at all, but it's annoying to know this noise is going to be heard when it's playing or recording a tape. I've tried removing the bottom metal plate but I can't find the last screw to get it off. The best I can hope for is to wedge things between that plate and the plastic casing and hope it unflexes back the way it's supposed to be.
It's a decent Panasonic model VCR. If I had to replace it, I'd want the same exact model.
Oh - I did tape that episode in spite of the annoying noise. I did some tinkering and got it to abate somewhat, so this condition appears to be temporary.
However, I've had mom's VCR sitting atop the TV on a couple stacks of DVDs since I had it recording The Playboy Club (all 3 aired episodes of it) and was trying to remember to get the new Winx Club episodes Nickelodeon was running.
I hadn't used the VCR in a while, so it really increased my anxiety level when I dump a tape in it and it's making an odd noise. I get the cover off and there's something about the spinning video head on the underside hitting something when it's spinning. I make an analysis and determine the way I had it sitting on the DVD stacks somehow pushed on the wrong spot and flexed it just enough to make the VCR now sound like a film projector when the video head is in action.
It doesn't seem to be affecting recording or playback much if at all, but it's annoying to know this noise is going to be heard when it's playing or recording a tape. I've tried removing the bottom metal plate but I can't find the last screw to get it off. The best I can hope for is to wedge things between that plate and the plastic casing and hope it unflexes back the way it's supposed to be.
It's a decent Panasonic model VCR. If I had to replace it, I'd want the same exact model.
Oh - I did tape that episode in spite of the annoying noise. I did some tinkering and got it to abate somewhat, so this condition appears to be temporary.
Monday, December 26, 2011
Thursday, December 15, 2011
Does anyone else get this?
OK, what I'm about to describe will have some people think I'm crazy.
Every now and then, I'll get to listening to some audio and if it has a certain quality in it, I find that my right ear or eardrum twitches while listening to it. And I can get it to stop with only 2 methods: stop listening or plug my left ear. I don't know if it's got something in the audio spectrum that makes my right ear twitch, but I find this annoying. Plugging my left ear stops it for some reason.
Tell me I'm not crazy.
Every now and then, I'll get to listening to some audio and if it has a certain quality in it, I find that my right ear or eardrum twitches while listening to it. And I can get it to stop with only 2 methods: stop listening or plug my left ear. I don't know if it's got something in the audio spectrum that makes my right ear twitch, but I find this annoying. Plugging my left ear stops it for some reason.
Tell me I'm not crazy.
Tuesday, December 13, 2011
Chibi-pop Manga recipe for Beef Bowl
I had this recipe on a Geocities page that didn't get archived, but thankfully I had it saved on an external drive. I had a recent request for it, so might as well put it on my blog, and thoroughly noted.
Gyu-don (aka Beef Bowl)
Source: Chibi-Pop Manga issue V.1 #3, November 1998, from "Ask Takashi" by Takashi Harada, page 42.
Chibi-pop Manga lasted only 9 bi-monthly issues. A sad fate for what was a wonderful publication that wasn't by one of the big guys, it was done in by distributors who weren't paying their bills. But their issues will continue on in my collection. I have added some notes to the list of ingredients to help. Of course, like okonomiyaki and monja-yaki, restaurants in Japan offer gyu-don.
First you have to prepare for "rice". (4 servings)
12 2/3 ounces rice, cooked
14 ounces beef, thinly sliced
1 onion, appr. 5.25 ounces
Sauce
10 ounces dashi (dashi is a broth, like konbu dashi)
2 tablespoons mirin (It's a kind of sweet sake; if you can't find it, go ahead and leave it out)
3 1/3 ounces sake
5 tablespoons soy sauce
3 tablespoons sugar (optional)
Cooking directions
1. Cut beef into 2 inch pieces. Cut onion in half lengthwise and slice thinly.
2. Place all ingredients in a skillet, bring to a boil, add beef and onion, and cook for about 3 minutes.
3. Place hot rice in bowls, and transfer beef topping onto rice.
4. You can add red-dyed ginger on "gyu-don."
Takashi adds you can add raw egg and oshinko. Some people like to dip their gyu-don into the raw egg. And since there's no vegetables in gyu-don, people order the oshinko. Add them to the table when you cook and serve gyu-don!
Gyu-don (aka Beef Bowl)
Source: Chibi-Pop Manga issue V.1 #3, November 1998, from "Ask Takashi" by Takashi Harada, page 42.
Chibi-pop Manga lasted only 9 bi-monthly issues. A sad fate for what was a wonderful publication that wasn't by one of the big guys, it was done in by distributors who weren't paying their bills. But their issues will continue on in my collection. I have added some notes to the list of ingredients to help. Of course, like okonomiyaki and monja-yaki, restaurants in Japan offer gyu-don.
First you have to prepare for "rice". (4 servings)
12 2/3 ounces rice, cooked
14 ounces beef, thinly sliced
1 onion, appr. 5.25 ounces
Sauce
10 ounces dashi (dashi is a broth, like konbu dashi)
2 tablespoons mirin (It's a kind of sweet sake; if you can't find it, go ahead and leave it out)
3 1/3 ounces sake
5 tablespoons soy sauce
3 tablespoons sugar (optional)
Cooking directions
1. Cut beef into 2 inch pieces. Cut onion in half lengthwise and slice thinly.
2. Place all ingredients in a skillet, bring to a boil, add beef and onion, and cook for about 3 minutes.
3. Place hot rice in bowls, and transfer beef topping onto rice.
4. You can add red-dyed ginger on "gyu-don."
Takashi adds you can add raw egg and oshinko. Some people like to dip their gyu-don into the raw egg. And since there's no vegetables in gyu-don, people order the oshinko. Add them to the table when you cook and serve gyu-don!
Thursday, December 01, 2011
Tired and exhausted
I spent several hours on a DVD project for my older sister. She presented me with 40 MOV files that usually clock in at a crappy 15 fps and MediaCoder converted a lot of those just fine. But then I'd run into a MOV with erroneous data saying that it plays at 60 or 75 fps. What's strange is that these older format MOV files would not play in VLC, and VLC plays almost anything. Well, to be more correct, it played the audio, but the video caused it to crash. MediaCoder IDed the video as a Sorensen type of MOV stream.
So those that correctly came out at 15 fps, I used MediaCoder. Those that didn't, I had Super force the input frame rate at 15 fps to get an AVI which then I had MediaCoder convert again - mainly because I needed files running at 900 kpbs, and the closest Super will let me select is 912. And I needed stuff in which the audio remained in sync with the audio.
In the end, after finding out each set of clips made for 1 longer clip, I took all those converted pieces into VirtualDub and appended them in groups as designated by their file names and according to content that I saw so they'd be in order. If you've worked with VirtualDub, you know how picky it is that all streams you append be all the same - same resolution, same frame rate, same video bit rate, same audio sample rate, same audio channels, and same audio bit rate. Maybe a few other things I don't know about. But if everything agrees, VirtualDub appends it and works with AVIs only. Very handy in its Direct Stream Copy mode. It even fixes AVIs with bad index tables.
And after looking at the converted pieces, I found 1 extra piece that I didn't need. The DVD took almost 4 hours to generate. It doesn't look or sound all that bad on the TV considering the small 320x240 resolution, nor does it sound bad considering the 22050 hz sample rate of the audio.
So those that correctly came out at 15 fps, I used MediaCoder. Those that didn't, I had Super force the input frame rate at 15 fps to get an AVI which then I had MediaCoder convert again - mainly because I needed files running at 900 kpbs, and the closest Super will let me select is 912. And I needed stuff in which the audio remained in sync with the audio.
In the end, after finding out each set of clips made for 1 longer clip, I took all those converted pieces into VirtualDub and appended them in groups as designated by their file names and according to content that I saw so they'd be in order. If you've worked with VirtualDub, you know how picky it is that all streams you append be all the same - same resolution, same frame rate, same video bit rate, same audio sample rate, same audio channels, and same audio bit rate. Maybe a few other things I don't know about. But if everything agrees, VirtualDub appends it and works with AVIs only. Very handy in its Direct Stream Copy mode. It even fixes AVIs with bad index tables.
And after looking at the converted pieces, I found 1 extra piece that I didn't need. The DVD took almost 4 hours to generate. It doesn't look or sound all that bad on the TV considering the small 320x240 resolution, nor does it sound bad considering the 22050 hz sample rate of the audio.
Wednesday, November 30, 2011
Sharing musings from my posting on Facebook
I imagine people have noticed I don't post as much as I used to. It's too easy to get on Facebook and put stuff up there. I will try to gather a few bits at a time and post on my blog so it's around for more than a week, not as ephemeral as Facebook is. I just have to remember to paste in Notepad, edit, then copy and paste here, otherwise I'll post a lot more than I want to.
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Received Lands End catalog in the mail. I didn't request one. I have never ordered from them. My mom did, even when she had no business doing so. Got on their website and stated the same facts.
I've decided to treat hangup phone calls as those from my mom. Some days she tries a lot, some days she doesn't try at all. At least she's trying even if there's no message.
So how does this work? I called an accountant on info I need for permits or licenses I need to start my tiny business, and I get a call back this morning saying they're not taking any new clients. That's not what I called about, but not taking new clients? I don't get it.
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Received Lands End catalog in the mail. I didn't request one. I have never ordered from them. My mom did, even when she had no business doing so. Got on their website and stated the same facts.
I've decided to treat hangup phone calls as those from my mom. Some days she tries a lot, some days she doesn't try at all. At least she's trying even if there's no message.
So how does this work? I called an accountant on info I need for permits or licenses I need to start my tiny business, and I get a call back this morning saying they're not taking any new clients. That's not what I called about, but not taking new clients? I don't get it.
Sunday, November 20, 2011
I had to look it up
Somewhere I remember writing down what Mom and I usually had on Thanksgiving for the big meal. For some reason, I had to look up to remind myself what all I wanted to get. As it turns out, I had most of it covered or at least got it in order. The last part was the corn casserole. I totally forgot what it was, and online I found people mentioning a Scalloped Creamed Corn Casserole. I looked at one of the recipes and decided that it was the one I made some time ago.
I should have been taking notes all those years at my grandparents' house. My mom's mom made really good food, and lots of it. Somewhere I have her recipe cards and I should do something with them. They were tucked away in a kitchen drawer when I found them. The one thing I won't have is her right there telling me what she didn't write down on those cards.
It's still pretty hard having Thanksgiving and not having much to be thankful for.
I should have been taking notes all those years at my grandparents' house. My mom's mom made really good food, and lots of it. Somewhere I have her recipe cards and I should do something with them. They were tucked away in a kitchen drawer when I found them. The one thing I won't have is her right there telling me what she didn't write down on those cards.
It's still pretty hard having Thanksgiving and not having much to be thankful for.
