Blogger Buffet - Sept 11th, Aging, Sports and more

Good morning everyone! I hope you all had a great weekend. I spent most of mine swearing at the NDP. Enough chit-chat, let's get into it!

Sept 11th - It's been 5 years since that horrific day and I still can't believe what happened. I think it's good that the media devotes so much coverage to this event to this day but I find it to be pretty overwhelming, especially when you factor in all the movies lately also. One story that I find intriguing is how little the rescue workers from ground zero are being supported in terms of health care. Did you know that each worker suffered a deterioration in lung capacity? Some have been told that their lungs aged 12 years as a result of exposure to contaminants and dust. The Bush administration offered 175 million dollars to provide support for those workers but then clawed back over 100 million as it wasn't being used quickly enough. Some Firefighters have been told they are not eligible for any health benefits from that period even though in one case 11 doctors deemed a Firefighter was disabled from the events. Sad

NDP - I am going crazy, obsessing about the NDP and their disgusting left-wing rhetoric. I have written to my Member of Parliament (Who unfortunately is NDP, though I didn't vote for her) and several letters to the editor of various papers. I called in to a radio program after they interviewed Jack 'pulling out early' Layton to counter his ridiculous statements and I even emailed the Jack himself to take him to task...You may be shocked to find out he hasn't replied. I need counselling...

Aging - I am in my mid 30's and getting depressed as I see the guy looking back at me in the mirror. I am a handsome devil but the reflection has crow's feet and a couple of grey hairs (though I am in denial about them) and I am also getting hair in wierd places too. I found one wiry black hair growing out of my shoulder blade and suddenly my nose and ears look like I have a troll doll hiding inside. My knees and back ache and I dream about reclining. Every day I am 1 day further past my prime and I don't even remember when my prime was! Where is Dr Kevorkian when you need him. I guess the bright side is that I'm not in my mid 40's yet.

NFL and NHL - Woo Hoo! The NFL kicked off last week and I am so excited! I love football of any kind and now that the NFL is in full swing I couldn't be happier...Oh wait, yes I can because Hockey starts in about a month too! YES! Oh Hockey Night in Canada, Monday Night Football, Grey Cup Parties and fantasy pools! I am overloading! Time to change the subject before I hyperventilate.

Winnipeg Goldeyes - Up 2-0...lose 3 straight, season's over...that sucks.

Rockstar and BB7 - Two of my favourite all-time reality shows are coming to an end and I am as depressed as I am excited. It seems that Rockstar will be won by a non-American again which I dig. Magni is Icelandic, Toby is an Aussie, Lukas is from Canada and the only 'American' left is Dilana who was actually born in South Africa! Cool.
As for BB7, I was sad to see WIll leave but I am hoping that Chilltown will still win when the votes are counted. Erika is a loser and my boy Boogie deserves it more. There are a lot of haters for Boogie though so who knows.

Photography in movies and on television - As a photographer I always bust a gut laughing when I see these scenes where someone enlarges then enhances a photograph or video to see things better. Let me tell you finally and with authority that it is impossible. The principle is the same either with film or digital but to keep it simple I will stick to digital. A digital photo is made up of pixels, essentially dots that are arranged to make your photo. When you see the term DPI that means dots per inch so 150 dpi is 150 dots per square inch. Let's simplify. If I have a photo with 3 dpi, then if I 'blow it up' it just makes the 3 dots bigger, it doesn't increase detail. So imagine I take a drive in movie screen and make a picture using 150 dots per foot instead of per inch. It will look great from the concession stand but when you get up close it will just be a bunch of dots. So next time you watch CSI and they 'blow up' a security camera image to see a reflection in someone's eyes please laugh as loud as you can since it is quite impossible.

Well that's it for now and as I leave you I am trying to compare the NDP to various things in life and today I have chosen a car. If the NDP were a car it would be a used, propane-powered Taurus with a new paint job. From afar it would seem an environmentally friendly car that looked fresh. Upon closer inspection you would see that it really is useless and beat up and not nearly as cool as you had hoped.

Until next time remember, no Payne, no gain!