Playing with Photographs

I've been playing with photography this morning, because I just found a link to this Japanese website that makes your new photos look like old ones.

Photo Antiquing

This was also partly inspired by my purchase of a khaki colored pith helmet, that was delivered yesterday and sparked a fun session of DH and I playing dress-up and taking pictures of each other.

DH's picture turned out particularly well.





I wasn't happy with the lighting in the original color copy of this picture (taken in the apartment, but without flash), but it looks good as an antiqued picture.





I've also discovered that light colors work best with this process. Light colored clothes show details better and light colored backgrounds show off the subject better.

Everything was too dark in color in this picture and there was too much going on visually.



I was much happier with the results in this simple face shot.

Simple Machines

We have started a new science unit, learning about simple machines. A simple machine is defined as anything used to make work easier, that has one working part or no working parts. We started the unit by reading a couple books just on the general subject of simple machines, so Blaze could have a basic understanding of what the term means.






Then we watched this episode of Bill Nye the Science Guy, which was split into 3 parts on YouTube, which explains simple machines.









Thinking about simple machines, made me think of some complicated machines that are made from a series of simple machines. I guess this can be counted as an art history lesson of sorts, I introduced Blaze to the work of cartoonist Rube Goldberg, who drew very detailed, ridiculously complex machines, that preformed very simple tasks.




I found this great little film from 1940 that not only shows cartoonist Rube Goldberg drawing some of his marvelously complex machines, but also shows how power comes from gasoline ( back in the days when gas supplies were described as being "almost limitless" ).




Classic Sesame Street Rube Goldberg Alphabet


When I explained what Rube Goldberg machines were to one of the 7th graders at school, he told me about this on-line game with Tom and Jerry. It's an animated version of the classic board game Mouse Trap.

Tom's Trap-O-Matic

Soda Bottle Hanging Planters

I didn't make this garden project, one of the other people at the student gardens made it, but I thought it was pure genius and thought that other people might want to try it.



Each upside-down soda bottle has the bottom cut off and the lid removed. Each is filled with potting soil and a plant is planted in it. This way, when you water the top plant, any extra water run-off will drain into the next plant down.

Corner View: Contrast

It was getting down to the wire. Five O'clock on Tuesday and I still had no ideas for this week's corner view theme, "contrasts", so I took my camera with as my son and I went for a walk on the short nature trail behind the Magnolia Parke shopping and office plaza.

It turned out to be the perfect settling for finding contrasts.

To start with, it is a little pocket of nature in very urban surroundings.

This is the busy 4 lane street that runs past Magnolia Parke:


This is the path behind the building where Blaze has his physical therapy, occupational therapy, and speech (the reason we were at Magnolia Parke):


To the left of the path is swamp with trees growing out of the slimy green water.


To the right of the path is a pond with a family of ducks swimming on the clear water.


Along the path we saw both flowers and brightly colored Autumn leaves, although there were more flowers than changing leaves.




The trail ends at a large group of fairly new condos. Looking over the weathered old wooden fence next to the trail, blaze and I saw this family of deer eating the nicely manicured lawn behind one of the condos.



To read more corner view posts about contrasts, click on any of the links posted on the side bar of our host's wonderful blog, Spain Daily

The Lady of Shalott

Recently, I called my husband away from whatever he was doing in another room, to listen to a song I had just discovered. The song was "Shalott" by Emilie Autumn, which is a beautiful retelling of the story of "The Lady of Shalott", by Lord Alfred Tennyson. The poem had been a favorite of mine after we read it in English Literature class in High School, so a lot of my enthusiasm for the song came from knowing how closely it followed the original poem, without simply being the poem put to music. DH didn't "get it". It turns out that he had never taken English Lit. in High School, because it wasn't a required course, and he had never been exposed to the poem outside the classroom. This post is my response to that conversation.

Water Color book illustration by Walter Crane ( done between 1858-1859)


The Lady Of Shalott

by Lord Alfred Tennyson


Part I

On either side the river lie
Long fields of barley and of rye,
That clothe the wold and meet the sky;
And thro' the field the road runs by
To many-tower'd Camelot;
And up and down the people go,
Gazing where the lilies blow
Round an island there below,
The island of Shalott.


Willows whiten, aspens quiver,
Little breezes dusk and shiver
Thro' the wave that runs for ever
By the island in the river
Flowing down to Camelot.
Four gray walls, and four gray towers,
Overlook a space of flowers,
And the silent isle imbowers
The Lady of Shalott.

By the margin, willow veil'd,
Slide the heavy barges trail'd
By slow horses; and unhail'd
The shallop flitteth silken-sail'd
Skimming down to Camelot:
But who hath seen her wave her hand?
Or at the casement seen her stand?
Or is she known in all the land,
The Lady of Shalott?

Only reapers, reaping early
In among the bearded barley,
Hear a song that echoes cheerly
From the river winding clearly,
Down to tower'd Camelot:
And by the moon the reaper weary,
Piling sheaves in uplands airy,
Listening, whispers " 'Tis the fairy
Lady of Shalott."

Part II

There she weaves by night and day
A magic web with colours gay.
She has heard a whisper say,
A curse is on her if she stay
To look down to Camelot.
She knows not what the curse may be,
And so she weaveth steadily,
And little other care hath she,
The Lady of Shalott.

And moving thro' a mirror clear
That hangs before her all the year,
Shadows of the world appear.
There she sees the highway near
Winding down to Camelot:
There the river eddy whirls,
And there the surly village-churls,
And the red cloaks of market girls,
Pass onward from Shalott.

Sometimes a troop of damsels glad,
An abbot on an ambling pad,
Sometimes a curly shepherd-lad,
Or long-hair'd page in crimson clad,
Goes by to tower'd Camelot;
And sometimes thro' the mirror blue
The knights come riding two and two:
She hath no loyal knight and true,
The Lady of Shalott.

But in her web she still delights
To weave the mirror's magic sights,
For often thro' the silent nights
A funeral, with plumes and lights
And music, went to Camelot:
Or when the moon was overhead,
Came two young lovers lately wed:
"I am half sick of shadows," said
The Lady of Shalott.

Part III

A bow-shot from her bower-eaves,
He rode between the barley-sheaves,
The sun came dazzling thro' the leaves,
And flamed upon the brazen greaves
Of bold Sir Lancelot.
A red-cross knight for ever kneel'd
To a lady in his shield,
That sparkled on the yellow field,
Beside remote Shalott.

The gemmy bridle glitter'd free,
Like to some branch of stars we see
Hung in the golden Galaxy.
The bridle bells rang merrily
As he rode down to Camelot:
And from his blazon'd baldric slung
A mighty silver bugle hung,
And as he rode his armour rung,
Beside remote Shalott.

All in the blue unclouded weather
Thick-jewell'd shone the saddle-leather,
The helmet and the helmet-feather
Burn'd like one burning flame together,
As he rode down to Camelot.
As often thro' the purple night,
Below the starry clusters bright,
Some bearded meteor, trailing light,
Moves over still Shalott.

His broad clear brow in sunlight glow'd;
On burnish'd hooves his war-horse trode;
From underneath his helmet flow'd
His coal-black curls as on he rode,
As he rode down to Camelot.
From the bank and from the river
He flash'd into the crystal mirror,
"Tirra lirra," by the river
Sang Sir Lancelot.

She left the web, she left the loom,
She made three paces thro' the room,
She saw the water-lily bloom,
She saw the helmet and the plume,
She look'd down to Camelot.
Out flew the web and floated wide;
The mirror crack'd from side to side;
"The curse is come upon me," cried
The Lady of Shalott.

Part IV

In the stormy east-wind straining,
The pale yellow woods were waning,
The broad stream in his banks complaining,
Heavily the low sky raining
Over tower'd Camelot;
Down she came and found a boat
Beneath a willow left afloat,
And round about the prow she wrote
The Lady of Shalott.

And down the river's dim expanse
Like some bold seer in a trance,
Seeing all his own mischance--
With a glassy countenance
Did she look to Camelot.
And at the closing of the day
She loosed the chain, and down she lay;
The broad stream bore her far away,
The Lady of Shalott.

Lying, robed in snowy white
That loosely flew to left and right--
The leaves upon her falling light--
Thro' the noises of the night
She floated down to Camelot:
And as the boat-head wound along
The willowy hills and fields among,
They heard her singing her last song,
The Lady of Shalott.

Heard a carol, mournful, holy,
Chanted loudly, chanted lowly,
Till her blood was frozen slowly,
And her eyes were darken'd wholly,
Turn'd to tower'd Camelot.
For ere she reach'd upon the tide
The first house by the water-side,
Singing in her song she died,
The Lady of Shalott.

Under tower and balcony,
By garden-wall and gallery,
A gleaming shape she floated by,
Dead-pale between the houses high,
Silent into Camelot.
Out upon the wharfs they came,
Knight and burgher, lord and dame,
And round the prow they read her name,
The Lady of Shalott.

Who is this? and what is here?
And in the lighted palace near
Died the sound of royal cheer;
And they cross'd themselves for fear,
All the knights at Camelot:
But Lancelot mused a little space;
He said, "She has a lovely face;
God in his mercy lend her grace,
The Lady of Shalott."


The Lady of Shalott, oil painting by John William Waterhouse, 1888



Here is an animated reading of the poem, made in 1976



I think this poem can be viewed in more than one way. It is sad that the Lady dies before she can see her dreams fulfilled, but I also think it's a story of empowerment. She has never truly lived until the moment she falls in love with Lancelot and chooses to face the curse in order to follow him. She dies singing.

Boo at the Zoo

We did not do any door-to-door trick-or-treating this year, but we did go to Boo at the Zoo at the Santa Fe Community College Teaching Zoo.



Everybody else in town seemed to be there too.




The path through the zoo was decorated from beginning to end, with various themed areas. The first area, once inside the zoo, was based on the Brothers Grimm.

































One of the things that I saw throughout the zoo, that I thought was very clever, were these lanterns, which are simply made by painting black paint on Gatorade bottles.





This should last awhile:

With so many Halloween activities this past week, we didn't need to do neighborhood trick-or-treating for Blaze to end up with a mountain of sweets. He's been very generous with his candy, though, letting DH and I choose a piece, every time he gets to have one.

Spaghetti and Eyeballs

I honor of the fact that we went to see the movie Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs last night (which I highly recommend), our pre-trick-or-treating meal today is Spaghetti and Eyeballs.





Eyeballs


Meatballs:

1 pound of ground beef

1/2 cup of Italian seasoned breadcrumbs

1/4 cup milk

1 small onion finely chopped

1 egg

1 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper

Combine all of the ingredients in a mixing bowl, first using a spoon to stir and then kneeing by hand until everything is well mixed. Roll the meat mixture into balls and pan fry in 2 or 3 Tablespoons of vegetable oil until they are uniformly brown.


Cheese Sauce for the "whites of the eyes"

2 Tablespoons of butter

3 Tablespoons of unbleached all-purpose flour

1 Cup milk

1 Cup grated Mozzarella cheese

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

1/2 teaspoon salt


In a small sauce pan, melt the butter. Add the flour and stir until a paste is formed. Add milk and stir over medium heat until it thickens. Stir in cheese, garlic powder, and salt. Stir until cheese is completely melted. Remove from heat



Place the cooked meatballs on a plate and pour cheese sauce over each one (do not dip the meatballs into the cheese sauce because it will "dirty"the white sauce). Use an olive slice for the pupil of each eye. A tooth pick dipped into the spaghetti sauce can be used to make the eyes look bloodshot.

Let the meatballs rest on the plate while you prepare the spaghetti.
Use a pancake-turner to move the finished meatballs.