Our digital camera of almost 4 years has been giving us problems, mostly it’s been taking more and more blurry or out of focus photos. Very frustrating… Especially when you are ready to take that perfect photo, only to find out later it didn’t come out. Oh well, I’m sure has nothing to do with it having been dropped one too many times (with the dents and missing screws to show for it.) And because of my growing frustration, I’ve wanted a new camera for a while now.
That’s why I was so shocked that Beth surprised me with a Nikon 4600 digital camera for Christmas. However, being the ungrateful husband that I am… I exchanged the camera that she got me for a different one. It’s not that I didn’t love the sentiment that she put into picking out that camera. I did. But after reading more and more reviews on the 4600 I knew I wouldn’t be happy with it. So, with Beth’s blessing, I started doing my research… And after a couple of trips to Best Buy and a couple of very indecisive days I finally decided on the Canon PowerShot A610. Judging from some good reviews I read, it looked like the best choice for the price range I was working with.
The A610 is a 5.0 megapixel camera with a 4X optical zoom. It features a 2 inch LCD screen that flips out for better viewing at odd angles. It also features a movie mode, which is a surprisingly good, giving resolutions up to 640×480.
Granted, I‘ve only had my A610 for a couple of days now but I love it. It’s a vast improvement over our old Canon S30. The pictures are wonderfully clear and crisp. And even though I’m not a professional photographer, I do like that the camera has manual features for the moments that I want to control everything.
The camera is slightly on the large size and a little heavy since it uses 4 AA batteries, but it does seems to run forever, a lot longer than the S30 did at least. The extra space needed for the batteries does give the camera a nice grip since the front protrudes out. It allows you to hold the camera very still with one hand. Also, the A610’s 2” LCD screen, versus my old camera’s 1.8” may not sound like much of a difference but is quite noticeable when you look at the screens side-by-side. I will say, I thought the fold-out screen was silly at first, but then I realized that the fold-out screen could be pretty useful. I can rotate it out and down, and get better shots in crowds by holding the camera over your head and looking up at the LCD.
All in all, I’m very satisfied with it.
Last night, I saw Yours, Mine & Ours at Cinemark with Beth and my sister, Katie. This film is not oscar worthy, but it fulfilled its purpose; Entertainment. This is a ‘family’ movie, one that you can get some popcorn and watch a movie that will either make you thankful for your family or wish you had one just like it. Overall, ‘Yours, Mine & Ours’ is just OK, if you liked Cheaper by the Dozen, most likely you’ll enjoy this movie. I’d give the movie a B-.
Why is it that even a four day work week sounds like four days too long?
After having Monday off for the Christmas holiday, getting up and going to work is even more difficult today than it would be if I just had Saturday and Sunday off. I think it’s because Monday gave me that sweet taste of week day freedom and Tuesday brought it all back to reality. Now, it’s back to being one of the mindless masses working for the man.
To Whom It May Concern:
This is to inform you that you are wished a merry period of time up to and including December 25th and a happy period of time after, but not including, December 31st. The dates, December 26th to December 31st inclusive, can also, for purpose of this wish, be considered a time of merriment and/or happiness, at your discretion. Please be advise that wishes for peace, goodwill, comfort, and joy are also in effect as of this correspondence and with no obligation, implied or implicit, on behalf of the wisher or wishee — my best wishes for an environmentally-conscious, socially-responsible, low-stress, non-addictive, gender-neutral celebration of the winter solstice, practiced within the traditions and/or religious or secular belief(s) of your choice and with respect for the traditions and/or religious or secular beliefs of others or for their choice to not practice traditions and/or religious or secular beliefs at all; and for a fiscally-successful, personally-fulfilling, medically-uncomplicated recognition of the onset of what is generally accepted as the new Gregorian calendar year, but with due respect for calendars of other cultures whose contributions to society have helped make America great (which is not to imply that America is necessarily greater than any other country, nor that it is the only ‘Britain’ in the Northern hemisphere), and without regard to the race, creed, color, age, physical ability, sexual orientation, political affiliation, or choice of computer operating system of the wisher.
DISCLAIMER
By accepting this greeting you are accepting the terms of the greeting and all responsibility associated with it. This greeting is subject to clarification and/or revocation at any time at the discretion of the wisher. This greeting is non-transferable without the express written consent of the wisher. It implies no promise by the wisher to actually implement any of the wishes for him/herself or for others. This greeting is warranted to perform as expected within the usual application of good tidings for a period of one Gregorian calendar year or until the issuance of a subsequent holiday greeting, whichever comes first. Warranty is limited to replacement of this greeting or issuance of a new greeting at the sole discretion of the wisher, who assumes no responsibility for any unintended emotional stress this greeting may bring to those not caught up in the holiday spirit.
Thank you for your cooperation.
Here’s another MP3 LINK with a definite Christmas theme from Some Assembly Required. Take a listen!
I found this MP3 LiNK at Boing Boing. It’s a 1947 Lux Radio Broadcast of It’s a Wonderful Life with original cast (Jimmy Stewart, etc). It runs just over an hour and is only about a 10MB file. Pretty cool.
Before I head out into the cold, I’d like to wish everyone in the Northern Hemisphere a happy winter solstice. Today is the first official day of winter and the shortest day of year.
Check out this Lego Star Wars Rebel Attack Cruiser on eBay. This is quite possibly the coolest Star Wars Lego ship, ever built. Yes, cooler even than the Lego Death Star.
I remember when the networks used to hype their Saturday-morning cartoon lineup. Hell, I remember when the networks used to Saturday-morning cartoon lineup period. The Smurfs, The Snorks, Spiderman, The Flintstones, The Littles… These were some great kids shows back in the day, and they weren’t all written just to sell stuff, either. Well… Ok, maybe half of them were. This site has a cool collection of full-page newspaper ads for Classic Saturday Morning cartoons. You can buy the ad of your choice if you feel like framing it. I think 1983 is my favorite.
What if A Christmas Story was a horror film? This is what the trailer would look like… A Christmas Gory.