Want to Ruin a Building? Paint it Blue!
As I walked around Long Island City this afternoon, I noticed that the building housing the former Jackson Avenue Steakhouse has made a little change to its exterior. The first story of the building, including the new sports bar and even newer Caribbean restaurant, is now blue. I guess they chose that scheme to clash, as much as possible, with the red awning. Or figuring that since so many flags use the red-white-and-blue combination and are pretty successful, it should work just as well for a sports bar.
I haven’t been to this spot since the old Steakhouse was temporarily closed for health violations, then abandoned its $8 “burger and brew” special, and then changed its name to Al’s Steakhouse. I noticed that it had reopened as a sports bar some months ago, but I never felt compelled to go in. Take a guess if I’ll be going there anytime soon.
Most of the Apple-branded Mac OS X applications, such as Mail, GarageBand, iMovie, Pages, and Keynote, have a Media Browser that you can use to place photos into your messages, projects, or documents. It can sometimes be a handy way to include an image or audio file without opening another application, exporting the file and importing into your new document. The Media Library will show images from iPhoto and Aperture. I would recommend that Apple add the Photo Stream to this list of photo sources.
This morning, I took a photo with my iPhone and wanted to include one of those photos in a lengthy message I had composed on my Mac. I opened the Photo Browser, pictured above, hoping that Apple had perhaps made the Photo Stream as one of the sources. Sadly, that was not there. I had two options. The first is to open Aperture to synchronize the new Photo Stream additions. The Photo Browser will then show a Photo Stream from my Aperture library and I can add the photo from there. The second is to save the message on my Mac as a draft. On my iPhone, I would go to the Camera Roll and copy the photo. Then I would open Mail and retrieve the draft. I would then paste the image in the message composer and send it. The first is a much easier process than the second, but I think including the Photo Stream in the Media Browser would make this process a lot easier.
To implement this, Apple would have to move the access point of the Photo Stream from the desktop apps, specifically iPhoto and Aperture, to the OS, presumably through the iCloud System Preference pane. This way any application can use the Photo Stream, perhaps even non-Apple applications. Personally, I would really like it if MarsEdit could tap into the Photo Stream so I could add Photo Stream images to a blog post.
In my over three years at Queens College at CUNY, Room 105 in King Hall has to be one of the most miserable classrooms I’ve ever used. The classroom is in a basement level below ground level, which makes it a sad place to teach and learn, but I can get over that. At least, we get a little sunlight through our windows during the day and we can see people’s feet as they walk. However, when the fall comes around, the heating system makes the room almost inhabitable, and my overheated students are almost passing out from the excessive heat. The heat is bad. Today, I brought a thermometer to class, and the reading at the podium was 83°, a temperature more suited for the beach in August than a classroom in December.
There are two ways to cool off, neither of which is really effective. The first option is to turn on a window-mounted air conditioning unit. The major problem is that when the unit is running, no one can hear me over the noise. I don’t keep it on for long because it is rather ineffective at actually cooling off the room. The second option is to open the windows, which does cool off the room because the windows are above directly the radiator, allowing the heat to escape. However, this option makes it hard to be heard because our classroom is along the flight path at LaGuardia Airport, and the intermettant aircraft noise is too loud for my students to hear me.
The reason for the excessive heat is the overpowering radiator. It runs way too hot for a classroom of our size. Our room is small, probably about 150 square feet, and the radiator runs along the length of the entire room. When I checked the temperature today with an infrared thermometer, it was almost 140°. I believe that’s hot enough to smoke pork.
I received a call about this problem from the labor union, and they were going to publish a story about it in hopes of fixing the problem. That was two years ago, and, except for the college installing the air conditioning unit, nothing has changed. At any rate, I don’t consider this a labor issue. It affects the students as much as it affect my working conditions. It is truly detrimental to student learning, and I hope the college addresses it soon. After all, wouldn’t turning off the heat save money?
Cocktail: Unoaked Rye Julep
It’s been a few months since I picked up a bottle of unoaked rye whiskey in Portland, and yet the bottle is almost full. Unoaked whiskey is just a fancy name for bottled moonshine and as such, it is much harsher on our palettes, which are accustomed to the mellow finish of aged whiskey. We tried substituting the unoaked rye for other ryes in our favorite beverages, but the taste of rye overpowers just about any mixer we tried. For example, ginger beer usually can tame any spirit, and usually goes well with any whiskey, but this rye was way too much for the ginger beer to handle. We tried making citrus cocktails, but it tasted like putting lemon or lime on a piece of rye bread, and it was not a good flavor.
Today, after some experimenting, I think I found a way to sip this “rye lightning.” Basically, you have to make it into a julep, but instead of adding mint, use basil!
- 6 sprigs of basil
- 1 ounce of simple syrup
- 3 ounces of unbaked rye whiskey
In a cocktail shaker, muddle together the basil and the simple syrup. Add whiskey and shake gently. Pour through your cocktail shaker’s strainer into an old-fashioned glass filled with crushed ice. Enjoy.
The first thing that is readily apparent is the color. It almost looks like chartreuse. As you’ll find out, the rye is almost completely neutralized although the combination between the basil and the rye yields a very curious mixed flavor. Mint might work a little better, but I only had the basil on hand so that’s what I used.
Earlier this week, iTunes on my Mac encountered an issue that wouldn’t allow it to sync normally. The error message read “This computer has been previously synched with an iPhone or another iOS device” and asked whether I wanted to either “Setup as a new iPhone” or to “Restore from a backup.” I didn’t want to select the second option because I backup my iPhone to iCloud, and the backup on my Mac was several weeks old and useless.
This is the same problem that Michael Williams encountered and blogged about in August with iOS 5 beta. He suggested a tricky workaround: initiating a restoration and then yanking the USB cable from Mac when that process starts. That causes the sync to fail and, after iTunes chides you for disrupting the restoration, it reestablishes the normal synchronization process.
When I tried to follow this process, I got a different but equally effective result. First, I backed up to iCloud to ensure that if iTunes wiped my phone in order to restore it, I would have a very recent backup. Second, when I initiated the restoration, iTunes did not actually try to restore the phone. Instead, it performed a normal sync, and all seemed well. The only issue was that it restored all of the apps I had once downloaded but since removed from my iPhone. (I had done so because I was trying to stop the infamous iPhone’s battery drain that many users encountered after upgrading to iOS 5.)
Based on the commentary on other blog posts, it looks like this might be a side effect of WiFi sync. However, I have also been doing that with my iPad since the release of iOS 5, and nothing like this has happened with that device.
Airline Miles for Rail Points
Today, I transferred some of my United Mileage Plus airline miles to Amtrak Guest Rewards points, even if the two carriers are not partners. However, United’s merger mate, Continental, has been a partner with Amtrak for many years, and beginning this past spring, you can freely transfer miles between your United and Continental accounts.
I converted the air miles to rail points since I find that earning airline miles is far easier than earning train points. For example, almost everyone can earn 5,000 miles by, say, flying on a transcontinental flight between New York and California. Since my elite status with United gives me a 100% mileage bonus on flight, I only need to fly 2,500 miles or a one-way flight between New York and Los Angeles (2,475 miles) or San Francisco (2,585 miles). If you buy a one-way ticket for $175, that’s about 7¢ per mile, or 3.5¢ per mile for me since I have the 100% mileage bonus. (Don’t hate me.)
Comparatively, Amtrak offers a less generous earning rate. You earn points based on the amount of money you spend on travel, not on how far you travel. To earn 5,000 points on Amtrak, you have to spend $2,500, as they will give you two points for every dollar spent. However, Amtrak will also give you a minimum of 100 points for every trip you take. I have exploited this rule a few times in California because you get 100 points for every segment, and that includes short-haul trips on the Pacific Surfliner, which cost as little as $20. At that rate, you can earn 5,000 points in fifty one-way trips. And at $20 per trip, which is a minimum price, that would require at least $1000 to earn the same number of points as $375 on an airline. That’s why I decided to convert my “bling” from air to rail.
One large looming question remains. What do I get with 5,000 Amtrak points?
If you’re going to do the same thing, hurry. The partnership between Continental and Amtrak ends on December 31.
Jaws and the New Hollywood Industry
While scholars debate when the auteurist New Hollywood movement ended—it was either Apocalypse Now or Heaven’s Gate—Hollywood began to abandon the auteur centered film for the big blockbuster in the mid 1970s. No film represents that shift more than Jaws.
The film’s theatrical trailer sets the tone using the conventions of the horror film. The trailer also mentions the best-selling novel by Peter Benchley, which was the basis for the feature film. It was also curious that the film was released during the summer months, which was rare for a high profile motion picture in the 1970s. The fact that the film was about a shark attacking beach-goers undoubtedly resonated with audiences looking forward to summer recreation.
Jaws is also the first major Hollywood film to use television advertising. You can see the television spot below.
The television spot is not only a full minute in length, but it also warns the audience that the film might be “too intense for children,” taking advantage of the eight year-old MPAA ratings. Television ads such as this one ran on national television for a three-day period on an all three broadcast networks, when there were only three channels to watch on television, and bombarded audiences with such advertising. This blockbuster marketing helped to “front-load” attendance in the first weeks of the film’s release.
Real Fake Dymo Stamps
Recently, I bought a Dymo LabelWriter 400 Turbo
Dymo partners with Endicia to power the postage printing functions of the printer, and both appear to subscribe the Gillette model for doing business. While the price of printing the postage is the same as retail prices, the generator of revenue appears to come from the labels necessary to print the stamps. If you go to an office supply store, you’ll find that 200 stamp/labels cost about $20. That’s a terrible deal.
If you search on eBay, you can find stamps/labels for as little as 2 cents each, if you buy multiple packs of them. I don’t know how long it will take me to buy use, say, 800 labels, but I imagine that it should last a few holiday seasons. With so many stamps, I might even start mailing in checks to pay my bills again.
Earlier this week, I ordered a four-pack of these cut-rate labels from an enterprising seller on eBay, for about two cents per label, and the labels arrived today. At first sight, it’s obvious that these labels are not the genuine article.
There are two differences that are apparent right away. First, there’s the color. The pink border is slightly different in color than the genuine labels. It’s not major, but it is apparent upon first opening the package. The second difference is the size of the labels. The bargain labels are somewhat bigger than the original ones, but it seems to allow for the print area to register the postage properly.
The other difference is that the genuine labels contain a branding on the side. This might cause problems when shipping, since it is not technically an Endicia label, but I suspect that the postal service won’t care too much.
Printing on the bargain labels appears to be fine. It registers with good quality on both the genuine and the bargain labels. The only problem is that when you print a single label, the printer feeds two stamps: one printed and one blank. I imagine that it has something to do with the little hole in the label that guides the label into the printer.
I dispatched a letter to Sarah at her work to see if the postage printed on the bargain labels would clear the postal service. I’ll report those results to see if I did get a bargain after all.
I Shot Skeet
Sure, it was Fake Thanksgiving, and I finally had a chance to shoot skeet. But being a city-slicking Yankee, I felt more comfortable shooting photos.
Maybe next year there will be more guns and less photography.
In my American Film Industry class, we voted on what film we would screen for our discussion of New Hollywood, or what I call “The American New Wave.” The class voted, among a list of six films, for Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore (Martin Scorcese, 1974).
Aside from talking about the cinematography in the film, I mentioned that the use of sound in the film is quite innovative, especially how the film blurred the boundary between diegetic and non-diegetic sound. You can see the mixing of the two in the clip below.
Alice’s cry functions as a sound bridge between her on the telephone and the scene of the accident. This is not something you saw in Classical Hollywood films, certainly not the back and forth between two spaces, but it was an innovative stylistic device in this film.
