aperturequiet

Red Tails: Victory On Two Fronts

2012-01-13T20:31:00.005-05:00

Red Tails comes out in theaters on January 20, just one week from today. It tells the story (in an action-drama format) of the Tuskegee Airmen, the first African American pilots to serve the United States. Executive Producer George Lucas brings the story of these heroic fighter (and later bomber) pilots to the bring screen. These men went to war for our country and fought against a terrible evil in Europe despite the discrimination they faced in their own home towns. As dramatic and full of special effects as the movie is you have to remember that these were real men and what they did was incredibly brave in a number of ways.

Coincidentally to the movie coming out, Dover Publications has just republished a book called Red Tails: An Oral History of the Tuskegee Airmen by John B. Holway. The book is based on interviews with these courageous men.

Disney Magic vs Disney Dream

2012-01-04T19:20:00.009-05:00

I'm not sure if I got the size comparison right, but deviantart user lupin3ITA created some nice profiles of the Disney Dream and Disney Magic cruise ships. You can see the difference between the first two ships (Magic and Wonder) and the two new ships (Dream and Fantasy).

The most obvious visual difference between the Magic/Wonder and the Dream/Fantasy is the number of decks visible. In the top, white painted portion of the ships the Magic and Wonder have three decks of portholes visible, the newer ships have five. If you can see the aquaduck on top of the ship, you're looking at the Dream (the Fantasy will have it too).

The bow of the Magic has Sorcerer Mickey on it. The stern has Goofy hanging off it and the name of the ship. The bow of the Wonder has Steamboat Willy on it and the stern has Donald hanging from it. The bow of the Dream has Captain Mickey on it and the stern has Sorcerer Mickey hanging from it. The bow of the Fantasy will also have Sorcerer Mickey on it, going by artist renderings. The stern will have Dumbo hanging from it.

The Dream:

The Magic:

The Wonder:

Magic and Dream together, don't let the forced perspective fool you, the Dream in back is larger:

UPDATE:

The fourth ship, Disney Fantasy just floated out of the dock at Meyer Werft shipyard in Germany! As you can see in the photo there is still construction going on.

Stop Facebook from disclosing your location in timestamps on posts.

2011-12-26T16:18:00.000-05:00

Keep The Han In Hanukkah

2011-12-20T21:04:00.000-05:00

Han Solo Hanukkah Chanukah Star Wars

Snapes On A Plane!

2011-12-19T22:49:00.001-05:00

Parody Poster: Dirty Harry Potter

2011-12-14T11:03:00.000-05:00

The Adventurers Club Lives!

2011-12-12T10:17:00.002-05:00

The Adventurers Club at Downtown Disney at Disney World may have closed in September 2008, but doesn't mean its dead and buried. Here is a video for an event for long serving Disney Castmembers when the Adventurers Club players performed many of their old bits.

Charles Kraft World War One Draft Registration Card

2011-09-27T23:19:00.001-04:00

Charles Kraft World War One Draft Registration Card, originally uploaded by sakraft1.

Translation of map of Turov

2011-08-08T22:05:00.004-04:00

I used Google translate to translate the map. There is nothing on the map that indicates the Jewish shtetl area as far as I was able to translate. I do not speak read or write Belorussian and I don't even know the alphabet but thanks to technology you can get an idea of what things mean.

Byelorussian to English

плян m. турава - plan (?) Turov
умоўныя знакі - symbols

дарога - road
будынк - building
царква - church
спады узгоркаў - downs of the hills

умоўная рыска, вышэй якой распаложана навейшая частка турава - conditional risk, above which there are more than a new part of Turov

абалон - flood-plain
абалоньне - abbalone ? probably something to do with flood-plain probably

p. - рака - river
p. прыпяць - River Pripyat
p. струмень - River Flow (translation), strumień (transliteration)
p. язда - River Driving (translation), jazda (transliteration)

канава - ditch
крэпасьць - fortress
крэ пасьць - fast crack

балота - swamp
барысаглебскі магільнік - burial Sts
могілках - cemetary

чырвоная пл. - Red Square
вул. - street
вул. леніна - Lennin Street
кастрычніцкая - october
плошча - area
кастрычніцкая плошча - October Square

да р. у в. хольчыцы - to the village holchytsy

вул. камсамольская - Komsomol street
" луначарскага - Lunacharskogo street
" калініна - Kalinin street

поле - field

дарога - road
дарога у в. дварэц - road to the village palace
да р. у в. азараны - Azarian

"купа" - "pile"

map source: shtetl links

Chaim & Raisel Murofchick, with two of their children

2011-08-06T00:30:00.004-04:00

My great-great grandparents, killed during WWII, with two of their children. Chaim owned a livery service in Turov, Russia (now part of Belarus). Chaim also appears on a list of registered voters and must have therefore owned some land. Chaim's father's name was Yudel and Yudel's father was Avrum.

Yahoo Small business webhosting is down

2011-08-01T11:01:00.004-04:00

at the moment. What is interesting is that some of my sakraft.com blogs seem to be showing content, just not background images. I guess its good to not put all of your eggs in one basket (I ♥ blogger, except when it craps out too). When I try to go through the admin site to contact them it just leads me to a site-wide message:

Open System Status Messages

System Status Message
08/01/11

06:27 AM PST: Unable to view web sites

Some Yahoo! Small Business customers may have difficulties accessing their web sites.

Customers may see a "Page Cannot Be Displayed" or "The connection has timed out" error message while trying to view their web sites.

We are aware of this issue and are working to resolve this issue as quickly as possible.

I just hope my database info is intact. I'm kind of afraid to attempt making a backup while the front end of my site(s) are still down...

Gabe's New Ride

2011-07-31T21:17:00.001-04:00

Gabe's New Ride, originally uploaded by sakraft1.

Dumbledore vs. Technology

2011-07-01T16:38:00.002-04:00

The Daily Prophet: Old Man Confounded By Technology

Dumbledore attempts to examine Colin Creevey's Camera, not understanding the light sensitive nature of film. I laugh at this scene every time.

Dora Miller

2011-06-26T20:48:00.002-04:00

Dora Miller, originally uploaded by sakraft1.

My father's mother's mother. My grandmother says my great-grandmother never wore a dress like that in the U.S. and thinks the photo may have been taken in Russia.

The Rocketeer 20th anniversary

2011-06-24T19:45:00.000-04:00

The Rocketeer 20th anniversary from John Banana on Vimeo.

Test

2011-06-23T13:30:00.005-04:00

Test

Google Webfonts API

google font is linked in the body of this post, not recommended but ok for a test. Normally the link would be in the head tag.

Apple announces brainCloud

2011-06-06T18:45:00.002-04:00

Apple announced brainCloud today, a new service that convinces you that you have a terminal disease and gets you to unwittingly agree to jump into a volcano.

iCloud Parody

Join The Fist

2011-05-20T17:01:00.000-04:00

Passovers Past

2011-04-17T19:46:00.001-04:00

Great Moments In Sweaty Cinema: The Good, The Bad And The Ugly

2011-04-12T21:28:00.000-04:00

Dr. Lemuel Pickering III

2011-04-09T19:35:00.001-04:00

Dr. Lemuel Pickering III, originally uploaded by sakraft1.

Rinse the Blood Off My Toga

2011-03-30T22:25:00.001-04:00

Wayne and Shuster, 1958, Canada

Hilarious Annoying Music

2011-03-30T21:11:00.002-04:00

I have been listening to WBEZ (NPR in Chicago) 's Jim Nader and the Annoying Music Podcast. Some of it really is too annoying, but here is some that is too funny not to share:

The only way to listen to Eminem:

I do like tacos:

And tonight's grande finale, Piranha Man:

Click here for more annoying music.

Snoopy On The African Queen

2011-03-30T19:16:00.001-04:00

Kind of like Jungle Cruise, but the Boat is more accurate to The African Queen.

Did You Know: Rag Paper vs Wood Pulp Paper

2011-03-25T14:31:00.001-04:00

Excerpted from http://www.cycleback.com/printsexamination/sixteen.html

Rag versus wood pulp.In the early history paper was made from rags.Starting about the mid 1800s, rag pulp began to be replaced by wood pulp.Wood became a popular choice due to the scarcity of rags and because wood pulp paper was cheaper to manufacture.The first successfully made American wood pulp paper was manufactured in Buffalo, New York, in 1855. By 1860, a large percentage of the total paper produced in the U.S. was still rag paper. Most of the newspapers printed in the U.S. during the Civil War period survived because they were essentially acid-free 100% rag paper, but the newspapers printed in the late 1880s turn brown because of the high acid content of the wood pulp paper. In 1882, the sulfite wood pulp process, that is still in use today, was developed on a commercial scale and most of the high acid content paper was used thereafter in newspapers, magazines and books.

Counterintuitively, modern paper, especially in books, letters and newspapers, is much more likely to turn brown and brittle than paper from before the American Civil War. For the beginning collector, the paper on an early 1800s print can be surprisingly fresh and white.

Consering and Preserving Documents and Artifacts at the Imperial War Museum

2011-03-17T22:17:00.002-04:00

All of these images are from the conservation lab at the Imperial War Museum

Cleaning a photo
To clean the surface of the photo, Tina carefully rolls (never rubs) a swab across it to pick up any dirt or dust.

Repairing a photo
Any small rips or tears in the photographs are repaired using wheat starch paste

Repairing a photo step 2
The paste is applied to the card mount, not the underside of the photo surface, so that the card can absorb the excess moisture in the paste.

Photo consevation in action
Conservator Tina Kelly working on a photo album that will appear in the exhibition. The cushion is used to support the cover of the album when condition reporting. Without the cushion, which is actually more like a bean bag that can be squished the required shape, the spine could break.

Get yer gloves on!
Gloves must be worn when handling photographs as fingerprints can damage the gelatine that forms the surface of the photo.

Wheat starch paste
Don't eat this in class...

------------

Sword cleaning
Conservator Heidrun Gassner cleans a British cavalry sword, dating from around 1908, with a solvent (acetone) to remove any grease.

Sponge bath
However, acetone should not be used on painted surfaces. Instead, a sponge is used to clean off any surface dirt.

--------------

Tearing
Old paper is fragile and easily damaged, so any tears must be repaired before an item is handed over to the Exhibitions team for installation in a showcase.

Repairing
Tina Kelly is using wheat starch paste to attach Japanese Tengujo tissue to repair a small rip at the edge of this pamphlet. The tissue acts like sticky tape, preventing the tear from ripping further into the page.

Cleaning
When bringing the boiler out of storage, the Conservation team found that someone had covered the entire surface in sticky grease and wrapped it in greaseproof paper. Joanna Cook, above, has been hard at work with a bottle of acetone and a cotton swab, removing the grease and getting the boiler ready for display.

Museum Vac in action!
Looking after fabrics requires careful work. The scarf has to be carefully vacuumed using a special low suction ‘Museum Vac’ to remove dust and any remnants of old pest damage. Dust is particularly harmful to fabric - it can attract pests, can cause staining and can damage delicate fibres.

Support The Asylum Street Spankers Farewell DVD!

2011-03-14T21:54:00.002-04:00

http://www.asylumstreetspankers.com/

Lyrics: Steven Lutvak - The Dinner Party

2011-03-14T21:54:00.000-04:00

I was at a dinner party just a couple of weeks ago
All the guests were chic and/or high powered
The repartee was brisk
Throughout the lobster bisque
And the salad course completely Noël Coward
But then the conversation took an unexpected turn
And headed frankly where, I thought, it needn't
As one by one each guest
Did his very level best
To talk about his favorite antecedent

As their relatives had been where mine had never been
This was a topic to which I could find no entry
They spoke of duchesses and lords
Barons by the hoards
Favorites of several kings who'd reaped their sweet rewards
Several from the Mayflower
Several who'd owned fjords
And we hadn't even hit the eighteenth century

But with a startling pâté
Which was lovely by the way
A most alarming hush fell on the table
My hostess smiled, "And you,
what did your family do?"
I gave the best reply which I was able
And which I swore was absolutely true

We were bagel makers to the Czar
The lineage goes back very very very far
I think Ivan was the one
Who when fed up with the bun
Sent his men in search of something starchy and bizarre
Who came upon my uncle who had recently solved the riddle
Of how to make a roll with a hole in the middle
He served them fresh to Ivan's commissar
And was thus named bagel maker to the Czar

We were bagel makers to the czar
In the land of sour cream and caviar
Later Olga it is said
Never even tasted bread
And her mother, the Tsarina
Would not get out of bed
Without a toasted onion with some unexpected spread
Which added to her middle
But did wonders for her head
Oh, the things you learn about which must remain unsaid
When you bagel maker to the czar

I realized in a flash that since I'd begun to speak
all earlier camaraderie was gone
There every jaw was slack
They were taken so aback
I really had no choice but to go on

We were bagel makers to the czar
Who would give us every year another samovar
And it was Catherine the Great
That over-zealous head of state
Who fed some to her horse
But that of course
For her was par
And little Anastasia could never get her fill
See there are those who say
That yet today
She's snacking on them still
But then that's taking things a little bit too far
For even bagel makers to the czar

Before the hammer and the sickle
We were there with pumpernickel
The things we did with poppy
Everyone unsuccessfully tried to copy

[Everybody]

We were bagel makers to the czar

[Oh, thank you, that was wonderful]

No one ever learned the secret of our scrumptious repertoire
But of course it couldn't last
For, like all empires of the past
Who reach their inevitable finales
For when the revolution came
We very slightly changed our name
Traveled North
And made a fortune in bialys

Sara and Hyman Miller

2011-03-06T19:11:00.001-05:00

Sara and Hyman Miller, originally uploaded by sakraft1.

Large Beechcraft Beech 18 Photo from Castaway Cay

2011-02-27T11:31:00.002-05:00

This is NOT my photo:

found here

Inside The Magic Castle

2011-02-25T19:59:00.003-05:00

A private club for magicians and friends of magicians with a strict dress code. There is even a secret entrance. Seems like my kind of place. I remember seeing a documentary about it when I was a kid and my brother was very interested in magic. It was mentioned on the Judge John Hodgman podcast this week.

The secret concealed door opens at around the 2 minute mark in the video.

Think Outside The Circle

2011-02-24T18:24:00.001-05:00

Excerpt from Steven Lutvak's The Dinner Party

2011-02-24T14:03:00.002-05:00

We were bagel makers to the Czar
The lineage goes back very very very far
I think Ivan was the one
Who when fed up with the bun
Sent his men in search of something starchy and bizarre
Who came upon my uncle who had recently solved the riddle
Of how to make a roll with a hole in the middle
He served them fresh to Ivan's commissar
And was thus named bagel maker to the Czar

Fish, Atlantis Resort

2011-02-21T15:21:00.001-05:00

Fish, Atlantis Resort, originally uploaded by sakraft1.

My old Kodak DX 6440 took some great pictures in its day.

Close and Medium Reconnaissance

2011-02-20T21:12:00.002-05:00

Mark from The Winter Of '79 answers my question about the designation of reconnaissance units in the British Army; What is the difference between close reconnaissance and medium reconnaissance.

Hi Scott

The Medium Recce finds the enemy. Close Recce defines the extent of the enemy or nature of obstacles at any given site by getting up close and personal.

Cheers
Mark

A Familiar Face in a Familiar Role

2011-02-17T23:52:00.000-05:00

"Blondie" from the Adventurers Club reprises his role as Graves the Butler, but under a different name for the Florida Lottery Millionaire's Club Scratchoff game.

Originally posted to The Adventurers Corner

My name appears in the New York Times

2011-02-14T21:14:00.002-05:00

And not under the headline 'Long Island Man Gets Lost In Penn Station'. No, I have a photo credit from my photos of Cabaret at the John Engeman Theater. Click to see the photo and credit (and read the review):

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/13/nyregion/13artsli.htm

Hand Drawn Fan Made Superman Animation

2011-02-09T22:37:00.000-05:00

Don't Forget The Dodo

2011-02-08T21:42:00.001-05:00

The Audi A8 commercial that aired during the Super Bowl. Scandal! Scandal!

Animal Kingdom Lodge Sign

2011-01-23T13:14:00.001-05:00

Animal Kingdom Lodge Sign, originally uploaded by sakraft1.

Justice, With a Side Order Of Spaghetti

2011-01-22T15:45:00.002-05:00

Vehicle 10

2011-01-10T22:22:00.001-05:00

Vehicle 10, originally uploaded by sakraft1.

Intuit Dog Commercial!

2011-01-10T18:38:00.001-05:00

Statue in the Temple

2011-01-03T10:54:00.001-05:00

Statue in the Temple, originally uploaded by sakraft1.

Morocco Goods Cart

2010-12-31T12:54:00.001-05:00

Morocco Goods Cart, originally uploaded by sakraft1.

Eskelito

2010-12-30T20:39:00.001-05:00

Eskelito, originally uploaded by sakraft1.

Got a new camera back in october. Over 14 megapixels, we're gonna need a bigger boat. And by boat I mean hard drive.

Chicken Satay, with Toast?

2010-11-29T16:44:00.001-05:00

Chicken Satay, with Toast?, originally uploaded by sakraft1.

Washington Monument Seen Through The Colonade Of The Lincoln Memorial

2010-11-25T12:09:00.001-05:00

Washington Monument Seen Through The Colonade Of The Lincoln Memorial, originally uploaded by sakraft1.

Muuuaaaahhh the French...

2010-11-02T19:41:00.001-04:00

Orson Welles has some trouble delivering his lines.

Baseline Hobbies Lives!

2010-10-30T15:29:00.002-04:00

Hobby shops have been in decline for a while. Not only can you buy many (but not all) things online, the internet itself takes up much of the time that used to go towards hobbies. But good news; one of the hobby shops that I thought was closed actually moved.

Baseline hobbies used to be on Main Street in Mineola. I never really understood the name, they focussed primarily on military model kits (and still do). And, unlike the other, more well known Mineola hobby shop (Willis Hobbies, still going strong) they also sold many old and out of print kits (I assume they bought people collections of unbuilt stuff, something you don't see at Willis).

Baseline is a good place to find 1/35 and 1/72 scale armored vehicles (tanks, afvs and the like) as well as aircraft, paint, glue, books and anything else you might need. The fellow in the shop told me that the previous guy that ran it retired recently (or is retiring soon, I forget which). Amazingly, they are still using a calculator and notebook to keep track of sales (and they do charge tax, as they should). Its good to see they are still in business.

There address is:
250 Little East Neck Rd, West Babylon, NY
(631) 376-0060

Little East Neck Rd is in fact part of Route 109.

Human Beinz - Nobody But Me

2010-09-24T17:39:00.000-04:00

The song heard in The Office season 7 premiere, "Nepotism".

Comb the desert!

2010-09-09T16:16:00.002-04:00

IMG_5954e, originally uploaded by neko_4343.

Photo of a Dark Helmet costume by flickr user neko_4343

Hurricane Earl Preparations: Cherry Picker and Auger Trucks

2010-09-02T19:55:00.001-04:00

Hurricane Earl Preparations: Cherry Picker and Auger Trucks, originally uploaded by sakraft1.

Lining up on Searingtown Road waiting to turn in to Christopher Morley Park, evidently a staging area. There were a lot of auger trucks, the kind you might need to drill a hole in the ground for a new utility pole. Lots of cherry pickers too. The south parking lot was full of these trucks and there was a solid line of them going all the way down the road to the LIE (495), possibly wrapping onto the LIE service road. Maybe over a hundred trucks in all, quite a spectacle. There were also porta-potties set up in the parking lot visible from the road, I guess these guys are going to be camped out there.

Funny story, I actually camped out at Christopher Morley Park once in the scouts. In the woods, not the parking lot. It was shortly after thanks giving and we had lots of leftovers with us. It was the first time I ever had cheese cake, ate it off the blade of a pocket knife. For no apparent reason our scoutmaster disappeared in the darkness and came back with boxes of pizza. In the morning it started to get a bit windy and rainy. Then more so. Then more so to the point that some park employee drove up in a truck and told us to evacuate. I remember not even taking my tent apart properly but just shoving it in my dads car. Everything was soaking wet, us included.

Stupid Bookmark Tricks

2010-08-19T21:30:00.002-04:00

Bookmarklets to change styles...

These work in Firefox, at least:

Turn all paragraph tags to red
javascript:(function%20(){var cssNode = document.createElement('style');cssNode.type = 'text/css';cssNode.rel = 'stylesheet';cssNode.innerHTML = 'p{color:red;}';document.getElementsByTagName("head")[0].appendChild(cssNode);})();

Set all image tags to display:none
javascript:(function%20(){var cssNode = document.createElement('style');cssNode.type = 'text/css';cssNode.rel = 'stylesheet';cssNode.innerHTML = 'img{display:none;}';document.getElementsByTagName("head")[0].appendChild(cssNode);})();

When clicked, these each use javascript to dynamically create a new style tag inside the head tag and also create a style within it.

Bristling Flower

2010-07-08T07:43:00.001-04:00

Bristling Flower, originally uploaded by sakraft1.

sweet bamboo screens

2010-07-05T13:11:00.002-04:00

Found here

A Tribute To Fletcher's Skirt Costume

2010-06-30T23:05:00.002-04:00

Costumes at Disney's Adventurers Club changed over the years. For a while, Fletcher Hodges had a skirt. This video montage does a good job capturing some of the zaniness of the club on visuals alone...

The Adventurers Club (Virtually)

2010-06-26T15:28:00.000-04:00

Kungaloosh!

NEW Futurama

2010-06-22T10:06:00.005-04:00

One Hour Season Premiere
Thursday
June 24
10 PM

Comedy Central

Be there or don't!

Ellen on the bridge

2010-06-05T07:35:00.001-04:00

Ellen on the bridge, originally uploaded by sakraft1.

More Behind-The-Scenes at Jungle Cruise

2010-04-06T14:57:00.001-04:00

Bonus, more behind the scenes video from The Orange County Register:

Also, click here to read the OC County Register article. Via The World Famous Jungle Cruise blog.

Behind the scenes at Jungle Cruise (in Disneyland)

2010-04-05T17:31:00.002-04:00

Blogger FTP "migration"

2010-03-13T19:23:00.003-05:00

I host this blog on blogger and always have, but some of my other blogs like my Pirate Shackand wedding blog are hosted on my own server. Blogger announced they were shutting down FTP recently and they kept promising a tool. But the tool they delivered is not great. Its probably best for people who don't mind switching to a blogspot.com address. But I wanted to keep my same subdomains.

To do this you have to do a couple of things. You have to go to your webhost and set up a CNAME entry in your DNS settings. This redirects the url of your old blog to look at blogger instead of your server (as a side effect, everying under the CNAME subdomain that you are redirecting is no longer accessible to your blog). So, because of that thing in parens in the last sentence you actually need to set up another subdomain as a missing files host and put all the files in there (pictures, mp3s, layout items you were hosting locally). This new subdomain is a missing files host. Your stuff under the original subdomain is still there but you can't point any links or references to them because that CNAME thing is telling all requests for that subdomain to look at blogger's servers, not your servers (so anything actually stored in your server space can't actually be accessed from the web. But its still there if you go looking around in FTP).

You have to go into the blogger dashboard and set it up for a custom domain. You have to specify a missing files host, and this can't be the same as your original subdomain, cause like I said, that CNAME thing in your DNS setting will always tell the browser to look for stuff on bloggers servers, not yours. So for wedding.sakraft.com I set up wedding2.sakraft.com as a missing files host and copied everything from the original subdomain folder into the "wedding2" folder. I set wedding2.sakraft.com as my missing files host in the blogger dashboard for my wedding blog.

This stuff is not explained very well in the migration documentation. It is also not a perfect solution, in my opinion. Anyone that bookmarked my gallery page and not the wedding blog itself is out of luck, unless they go back to my blog and find what is basically a new url for it (or just add a "2" after wedding in the url), but who wants to do that?

I was going to write more of a how to but I got frustrated and went to go and shave. Hopefully there is something here that helps someone. Hopefully it will help me when I go to migrate The Pirate Shack. My wedding blog is already migrated. So thats the difference.

Disney Cruise Line: Shipboard Announcement

2010-03-09T22:12:00.001-05:00

Having Disney cruise withdrawal? Or do you need to make some shipboard announcements on your very own Disney Cruise ship? Make sure you play this sound before your announcements!

BBC: WW2 People's War is an amazing collection of stories

2010-03-04T21:44:00.004-05:00

The BBC has a really amazing collection of stories from people that lived through the second world war. They are first hand accounts and they are great reads. They are not just from soldiers but from all kinds of folks. The stories offer incredible insights into the lives of ordinary people in wartime. I just finished reading one that was written by a Churchill tank driver/mechanic named Frank Meredith. He spent much of his time in the 9th Battalion of the Royal Tank Regiment, often driving a Churchill tank named IMMUNE II.

"I didn't find the name very encouraging. What had happened to IMMUNE I?"

CLICK HERE to read Frank Meredith's whole story.

Between June 2003 and January 2006 the BBC collected 47,000 stories and 15,000 images. CLICK HERE to go to the project's homepage.

I quite wonder if any organization in the US collected stories on this scale.

Rare meeting between Disney Wonder and Disney Magic

2010-03-01T15:15:00.002-05:00

The Disney Wonder and Disney Magic have a rare meeting in Port Canaveral (due to the Magic being delayed in the Bahamas because of a storm), and the two ships celebrate their encounter with euphoric horn honking. Kind of like a cross between whale song and close encounters of the third kind.

My Grandfather's Home Workbench

2010-02-24T09:46:00.001-05:00

My Grandfather's Home Workbench, originally uploaded by sakraft1.

Jeremy on NBC Philadelphia

2010-02-18T11:41:00.004-05:00

NOTE: The video player may take a few moments to pop up - Scott

Jeremy Kraft of Hunt Auctions.

Star Trek IV, starring Eddie Murphy?

2010-02-11T21:31:00.001-05:00

According to wikipedia (compiled from several different articles):

Murphy was also offered a part in 1986's Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, a role that, after being heavily re-written from comic relief to love interest, ultimately went to future 7th Heaven star Catherine Hicks. By this point[14] Murphy's near-exclusive contract with Paramount Pictures rivaled Star Trek as Paramount's most lucrative franchise.

When his million-dollar contract with Paramount Pictures arrived to be signed by Murphy, he delayed signing it for nearly an hour because he was so engrossed with an episode of the original series.

Nimoy approached Beverly Hills Cop writer Daniel Petrie, Jr. to write the script when a concept that executive producer Jeffrey Katzenberg described as "either the best or worst idea in the world" arose—Star Trek fan Eddie Murphy wanted a starring role. Both Nimoy and Murphy acknowledged his part would attract non-Star Trek fans to the franchise following the rising popularity of Murphy, but it also meant the film might be panned. Steve Meerson and Peter Krikes (The Long Way Home) were hired to write a script with Murphy as a college professor who believes in aliens and who likes to play whale songs. Murphy disliked the part, explaining he wanted to play an alien or a Starfleet officer (Nimoy was unaware of this)[11] and chose to make The Golden Child (a decision Murphy later said was a mistake). Murphy's character was combined with a marine biologist and a female reporter to become Gillian Taylor.[12]

I like angular vehicles

2010-02-03T17:51:00.002-05:00

Iveco Massif:

Iveco Massif Pickup, originally uploaded by FWnetz.

Iveco Massif, originally uploaded by FWnetz.

VW Thing:

????:

Safari Truck, originally uploaded by Kevin H..

Landrover Defender:

'Camel' Land Rover, originally uploaded by kenjonbro.

Land Rover Defender Experience 2006, originally uploaded by KlausNahr.

Land Rover Defender County 90, originally uploaded by kenjonbro.

Tony Time

2010-01-30T11:38:00.001-05:00

You know those guitars that are like, double guitars?

2010-01-22T16:10:00.002-05:00

This isn't one of them: Cecilia Siqueira (Uruguay) And Fernando Lima (Brasil)perform Tico Tico

Well, if I had a bulldozer

2010-01-07T15:26:00.001-05:00

Witch doctor?

2010-01-04T13:54:00.003-05:00

At the Adventurers Club, Fletcher Hodges shares some advice he received and performs some ritual scalp massage.

2009-12-30T20:41:00.002-05:00

The Speck Products website does not work on the iPod touch. The company sells cases for the touch and the iphone. The folly of flash websites.

Fozzy Bear

2009-12-30T13:29:00.003-05:00

Golden Doodle

When a Bleehall goes a courtin'

2009-12-30T13:13:00.002-05:00

Karl Anthony performs at the [now closed] Adventurers Club, located on Pleasure Island, Downtown Disney, Walt Disney World.

My Corrugated PVC Window Well Cover

2009-12-01T21:48:00.006-05:00

My new emergency egress window well needed a a window well cover to keep out rain, leaves, drifting snow, neighbor kids and whatnot. I built it out of corrugated PVC and pressure-treated lumber. In retrospect, it could have been a bit simpler with a fixed PVC panel, but I made a hinge-like connection with eye bolts.

Probably based on something I saw watching lots of M*A*S*H episodes.

This bit is somewhat more complicated than need be. Actually the whole frame for the plastic is a bit more complicated than need be. It was originally built with the idea that it should open, and it probably would very easily in an emergency. But in an emergency you could also just push the whole unit away and escape, so a fixed cover would have been easier to make.

Inside of a side brace showing spacer cleat.

Rings

2009-11-29T10:28:00.001-05:00

Rings, originally uploaded by sakraft1.

Schoolmaster Snapper

2009-11-26T12:00:00.001-05:00

Schoolmaster Snapper, originally uploaded by sakraft1.

Schoolmaster Snapper, Serenity Beach, Castaway Cay, Bahamas

flickr slideshow test

2009-11-23T21:01:00.000-05:00

Extra Large Not-So-Hidden Mickey

2009-11-20T21:41:00.001-05:00

Extra Large Not-So-Hidden Mickey, originally uploaded by sakraft1.

Vader- Paper Dolls (Free Download)

2009-11-20T14:43:00.002-05:00

Vader- Paper Dolls (Free Download), originally uploaded by Goobeetsa.

Brian Gubicza has made this Darth Vader paper doll available for free download. Click the image above and go to the flickr page where you can get a PDF. I like the lady-viking costume.

Manhasset Train Station

2009-11-20T11:36:00.001-05:00

Manhasset Train Station, originally uploaded by sakraft1.

I did this in 2006

Morocco

2009-11-15T10:40:00.001-05:00

Morocco, originally uploaded by sakraft1.

Name that car part

2009-11-13T10:23:00.004-05:00

Click to view larger image

What are these little blue and grey caps called? What do they do? Are they part of the cooling system? What happens if they are not there?

Ellen's 2001 Eclipse is overheating now and then. Her coolant reservoir is empty, we filled it. The radiator seemed to still be full of coolant. Near the coolant reservoir there is a metal pipe/line that looks like it has one of these little caps missing. There is also a short hose coming out of the reservoir that is not attached to anything but we assume this is an overflow hose, are we right?

The picture above is not Ellen's car, it is a later model Eclipse.

UPDATE: It may have just been a radiator hose that was loose. Which makes me happy because that's about 1000% less expensive than if the coolant was mixing in with the engine oil (which would point to a blown head gasket). Thanks for everyone's responses and descriptions of cooling system pitfalls. As for the little blue and/or grey caps, they're probably just covers that keep dirt out of fittings and aren't much to worry about.

The Dirty Dozen... ...On Ice

2009-11-11T18:12:00.000-05:00

I heard Andre Agassi on the radio today. He was telling a story about how when he was 9 his father put him in a tennis match for money against football great Jim Brown. Agassi beat Brown and won the bet for his father. That got me started thinking about The Dirty Dozen, which is how I know Jim Brown (I don't follow football). Then I found this funny commercial parodying the movie including Jim Brown's gratuitous football scene (in which he has to run through an open area throwing grenades down vent shafts). Did I mention I was driving through Manhasset when I heard the Agassi story? That's where Jim Brown went to High School...

Camcorder Buying Guide

2009-11-11T13:40:00.006-05:00

Entry Level
With any camcorder in the $350 and below range, there will always be some trade off in terms of features or image quality. There are also some smaller camcorders like the flip and those made by xacti (sanyo) and aiptek. I have never used one of these, so you might have to look into it yourself. I have heard these are good for video podcasting. But, maybe they're not the greatest for recording Jr's first words. Again, you'd have to look into those yourself, maybe they're perfect. Almost all of those record on flash media.

High Def vs. Standard Def
High Def camcorders are coming down in price, but keep in mind that it is still much more economical to make standard definition DVDs than it is to make HD DVDs. High Definition footage also takes up a lot more room on recording media (and computer hard disc space if you want to edit it).

Low Light Recording
This is probably the most important property to look for but its not really a specification that manufacturers will list specs for. Here is where professional and consumer reviews come in handy. Just remember that there really aren't any entry level camcorders that record particularly well in low light, but still, some may be better than others. Good places for reviews:

http://reviews.cnet.com/camcorders/
http://www.camcorderinfo.com/

Recording Medium
First things first: no recording medium is permanent. At some point or another (be it 20 years or 100 years), data on a storage medium will degrade or the equipment used to read and write it will fail. The best thing you can do is hedge your bets by using multiple mediums (like copying footage from a tape to a DVD and then keeping both) and/or making multiple copies of a recording (blank DVDs are quite affordable these days). Oh, and if you use tape, never store it laid down flat, always standing up on end.

  My favorite recording medium, tape, is becoming less popular as flash memory starts to come out in higher capacity. The digital MiniDV tape that I use is also cheap enough that I can use it for storage (I leave stuff on my tapes, even after I transfer to DVD, just in case). The two downsides of tape are that 1) It can deteriorate over time more quickly than flash (at least VHS used to, I have not yet had any noticible detoriation in digital tapes) but possibly more importantly 2) It is less popular than flash memory these days, so your camera selection is a bit more limited. Still you may be able to find the right digital tape camcorder if you scour the internet hard enough (just be sure to buy from someplace reputable, I have heard horror stories).

  Having said all that, flash memory is probably the most stable and long lasting (but expensive) storage medium. Flash memory cards are also pretty small and I tend to loose things, so I you go this route, you might want to keep a box for these cards in your media storage cabinets (next to your VHS tapes of the Star Wars Christmas Special and your birthday in 1983). Because they are a bit more expensive than tape, you might be inclined to not use flash cards for long term storage. In that case you can transfer the footage to your computer and burn a DVD or get a stand-alone burner. I've never used one but as far as I can tell you hook your camera up to it (or pop the memory card in), put in a blank DVD, press a button(s) and the footage will transfer. The main downside of flash memory (other than being a bit more expensive) is capacity. You might need a few or more cards if your going on vacation, for instance. Of course, tapes only typically hold 60 or 90 minutes, so you would need a few of them too if you went with tape.

  There are some camcorders that record directly to DVD. I have never used one of these. Again you model selection will be somewhat limited. Your video is also compressed more than it would be on tape. Its my opinion/theory that if your footage is compressed that much from the outset, there is a chance it could become unwatchable or corrupted faster.

  There are also some (probably not many entry level models) camcorders that record to hard discs built into the camera. I have never used one and I don't think I would. They are probably fine, but in my head, a hard drive has more moving parts, and that means it could break faster. These are probably being replaced in the market by flash models anyway.

  As far as DVDs go (be they ones your record to directly or make later from tape or flash memory), the ones you can record on are dye-based and will not last as long as commercial DVDs of movies that you buy. So make extra copies and keep your original footage on its tapes or flash if you can. Also, make extra DVD copies and send them to your friends and family. That way you know you will also have a backup somewhere else.

Where to buy
As I mentioned, if you buy online, chose a reputable seller. Even if they have a slick website, I would stay away from anyone offering a deal too good to be true. They will give you a hassle and you probably will spend a lot more than their advertised price. I have heard some horror stories from well-meaning and intelligent people I know about buying photo equipment online. If you call up to order and they insist you need certain accessories, that is also a sign of a no-goodnik. Even if you order from their website, they may call you to try to sell you accessories. You have to stand your ground with salespeople. Some no-name places will even go so far as to take your money and never send you anything OR even send you a different model than what you ordered. Getting a refund from them could be equally nightmarish. There also can be differences in the the same model from the same manufacturer. Always buy the model made for the US market. This may seem more expensive but if you need to utilize your manufacturers warranty, it will be worth it. Just google 'Grey Market Camera' and you will understand what I'm talking about. In addition to no warranty, they are often also missing accessories normally included with the camera. As far as sellers go, I definitely have a recommendation: B&H Photo. No, they don't pay me to say that. But they have been around a long time and they even have a huge store in the middle of Manhattan. If their prices seem higher than A1 Cameras or Swarmy Bill's Electronics, its because B&H is the real deal. And if you like drooling over catalogs, theirs are not the mere fliers that other electronics stores send out, theirs are hefty reads with glossy covers, detailed specs and big juicy pictures of cameras. Their website is also great: http://www.bhphotovideo.com/ I get pretty much all of my cameras and photo gear from B&H. You can also check out a model on their website to see reviews, features and included accessories. Of course, you will probably do fine at Target/Kmart/Walmart if they have the model you want.

Amazing!

2009-11-10T12:09:00.000-05:00

Al Gore on The Colbert Report. Twice.

2009-11-05T15:31:00.001-05:00

The Colbert Report

Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c

Formidable Opponent - Global Warming With Al Gore

www.colbertnation.com

Colbert Report Full Episodes

Political Humor

U.S. Speedskating

Rusted Submarine Themed Home Theater

2009-11-05T12:04:00.004-05:00

I always wanted to theme part of my house as a submarine* (the basement seems the logical choice due to the lack of windows). This NZ businessman and his friend (special effects guy Dean Johnstone) have built this awesome home theater themed as a submarine that has run aground on a tropical island.

Read more (the original article)

via Make

Here is a video:

* "always" and "my house" meaning my parents house before I had my own.

Eastern Star Railway Logo

2009-11-01T05:57:00.001-05:00

Eastern Star Railway Logo, originally uploaded by sakraft1.

Happy Halloween!

2009-10-31T13:37:00.000-04:00

Some Nautical Terminology

2009-10-26T11:28:00.003-04:00

Aye: I understand

Aye Aye: I understand and I will comply

Ay, ay, ay, ay, Canta y no llores: I have had too many margaritas to understand or comply, so I will sing Cielito Lindo

Raise a glass to the Adventurers Club

2009-09-25T17:04:00.002-04:00

Tower, originally uploaded by sakraft1.

Tonight could very well be the last night any guest sets foot in the Adventurers Club as we know it. The club closed officially on Sept. 27th, 2008, but there have been privately book functions going on in the club since then. Tonight is the Congaloosh 2009 VIP Hoopla, the last (as far as I know) event that has been booked. Right now the rumor needle is about in the middle as far as I'm concerned. The internet claims information from both sides, both good news and bad news. Whatever happens, I just hope those folks at Congaloosh tonight have a great time and take lots of pictures (and share them)!

Kungaloosh! Here are some places where Adventurers Club rumors are concentrated:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Adventurers_Club/

http://forums.wdwmagic.com/showthread.php?t=325622&page=99

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=17614776169&ref=ts

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=17614776169&ref=ts#/group.php?gid=48800157708&ref=ts

UPDATE:
Video of a twitterer wiating outside for tonight's Hoopla:

2009-09-05T11:42:00.001-04:00

see more Lolcats and funny pictures

Stand aside, I take large steps...

2009-09-01T22:23:00.001-04:00

Reading Rainbow goes behind the scenes on Star Trek: The Next Generation

The Future Soon

2009-08-20T21:02:00.002-04:00

Emil Bleehall has a vision of the future at the Adventurers Club.

silent cool running(s)

2009-07-20T19:09:00.002-04:00

silent cool running(s), originally uploaded by sakraft1.