Monthly Archives: October 2012

Power In A Box: Cannon Power Shot SX160

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CANNON POWER SHOT SX 160 — WHENEVER I’M BUYING NEW TECHNOLOGY, I ALWAYS WONDER: “DOES EVERYTHING I NEED COME IN THE BOX?” IN THIS CASE ‘YES,’ ALTHOUGH A PROTECTIVE CARRYING CASE WOULD BE A NICE ADDITION.

You want to know what an obsolete bachelor’s degree  feels like? Long time ago, as part of my journalism major at University of Maryland, I took a class on news photography. Although 135 mm film and Single Lens Reflex (SLR) cameras were state of the art in the 1960s, the journalism class provided us with older Yashika Mat cameras.

Today, I unboxed the very latest Canon digital camera. It can make an amateur photographer like me feel like a pro! Photography has come a long, long, way since I took that class.

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Washington Nationals and Baltimore Orioles — Maybe Next Year

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Unbelievable!

Wouldn’t you know it, my Friday-afternoon  post speculating on an I-95 World Series was the kiss of death for the Baltimore Orioles and Washington Nationals. Before the night was over, BOTH teams were eliminated from the 2012 pennant chase, the O’s in the American League and the Nats in the National League.

A short post on my humble blog has the same power to jinx as a Sports Illustrated cover story? Who’d ‘a thunk it?

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Baseball History Made In Washington (More Photos from Nationals Park)

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Welcome to the latest chapter in the long history of baseball in the Nation’s Capital.

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Baseball History in Washington — I-95 World Series Possible

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I-95 World Series Possible! — The Baltimore Orioles play the New York Yankees today (Friday) at 5 p.m. in the Bronx. And the Washington Nationals play the St. Louis Cardinals tonight, starting at 8:37 p.m. at the new Nationals Park in Southeast Washington. Both contests are the fifth and deciding games in their playoff series.

If both the Orioles and Nationals win, it would set the stage for a possible first-ever World Series between the neighboring cities of Baltimore and Washington.

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Baseball History Made in Washington (National League Playoffs 2012)

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It only happens about once a century: A Washington baseball team representing the Nation’s Capital playing in the postseason! Last time was in 1933, when each league had eight teams, and the Washington Senators played in the World Series. Now baseball has expanded to many more cities, and two rounds of postseason playoffs lead up to the World Series.

The Washington Nationals in the field, the St. Louis Cardinals at bat, view of the field from the nosebleed seats on the third-base side of Nationals Park, one of America’s great new ballparks.

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Joe Biden and Paul Ryan — After the Vice Presidential Debate

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Here are my impressions from listening to, but not watching, tonight’s debate.

Congressman Paul Ryan is a well-informed, fact-filled young man, an expert on the Budget of the U.S.  His depth of experience is in the House of Representatives, with special expertise in budgeting. Mr. Ryan feels passionately about economics, debt, and numbers.

Vice President Joe Biden is an older man with a depth of experience in life, and nearly unparalleled experience in American politics and world affairs. Mr. Biden is passionate about people, particularly workers and soldiers.

Joe Biden may have appeared condescending to his younger challenger; Paul Ryan may have appeared to have a bit of a wise-guy attitude toward his more mature adversary. The two men — both Catholics — gave sincere and differing points of view on the abortion question.

Martha Raddatz is an outstanding debate moderator.

Which man, Paul Ryan or Joe Biden, or both, do you believe is prepared, if necessary, to assume the responsibility of commander-in-chief and president.

— John Hayden

J.K. Rowling’s “Casual Vacancy” Zooms to Top of Lists

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The book was published the last week of September, and already “The Casual Vacancy” has hit No. 1 on bestseller lists.

J.K. Rowling’s first novel for adults is No. 1 on the New York Times lists for hardback fiction, combined fiction and nonfiction, and eBook fiction. The three “Fifty Shades of Grey” books have been pushed down to second, third and fourth places  on the lists.

Casual Vacancy also is listed first for in-store hardback sales at Barnes & Knoble. Surprisingly, the book is only No. 8 on B&N’s list for Nook eBooks.

On Amazon, Casual Vacancy is listed No. 3, behind something called “The Mark of Athena” by Rick Riordan, and “Killing Kennedy: The End of Camelot,” by Bill O’Reilly.

On USA Today’s bestseller list, Casual Vacancy is No. 1. The book is also at the top of fiction bestseller lists in the United Kingdom.

— John Hayden

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“All is a miracle”

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The close-up photo of a child’s face and sparkling eyes — the perfect illustration for “All is a miracle.” — John

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Live & Learn's avatarLive & Learn

curious eyes of a child

People usually consider walking on water or in thin air a miracle. But I think the real miracle is not to walk either on water or in thin air, but to walk on earth. Every day we are engaged in a miracle which we don’t even recognize: a blue sky, white clouds, green leaves, the black, curious eyes of a child — our own two eyes. All is a miracle.

~Thich Nhat Hanh

Source: Thank you artemisdreaming

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Universal Health Care

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UNIVERSAL HEALTH CARE — Possible or impossible? It’s already happening, to a limited extent. Where I live, in a remote corner of Maryland, the hospital has been providing free flu-shot clinics on multiple dates and locations throughout the county, every fall for several years. Highly efficient, low-cost, preventive health care. Are you for it or against it?

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J.K. Rowling’s “Casual Vacancy,” Book Review, Take 1

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“The Casual Vacancy”  is instantly notorious because it’s J.K. Rowling’s first novel for adults. It comes with a prominent black “X” on the cover, fair warning that between these covers you’ll find a subject that’s TABOO in America.

The subject is class warfare and classism. Ms. Rowling’s story takes place in England, and you have to remember that the British and Europeans are not as squeamish about class issues as we Americans. Until recently, we’ve been in full denial.

(If you’d like to read my preview of Casual Vacancy before you start the review, see J.K. Rowling’s “The Casual Vacancy — Prices Slashed.)

Ms. Rowling takes the micro approach to class warfare, focusing on the lives, relationships, and foibles of the individual men, women and children of one small town in England. The macro alternative would be a “God’s-eye view,” examining society from a distance. Rowling understands that you need to get up close and personal to understand classism and class warfare.

In the first 100 pages of Casual Vacancy, Rowling introduces an average of one new character every two pages.

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