Still doing photoshop

Haven't posted a photoshop picture in a while because I have been learning some basic stuff with a book I bought. Trying to learn what all the tools mean and do rather than just putting my head on different people all the time. Here are two things I did today with the color replacement tool. They may not be as exciting or funny as my other ones, but they took just as much time and I am actually learning.

I started with this picture of a building. Quite an eyesore for neighbors I am sure.










With a simple tool, I gave the building a more acceptable color. Now the neighbors won't be so upset.











Here is a picture of some people outside. Nothing special.








Thrown in a different skyline and suddenly, the picture looks slightly more interesting!





If you missed yesterday's post, be sure to check it out!

The Challenge

This is me at about 14 years old. Good lookin' kid I think. I know a lot of you are looking at this and saying, "Wow, he used to be somewhat skinny." It's true. At one point in my life, I was. I actually stayed pretty close to this weight until I was about 16 or so. Didn't help me get any girls or anything, but hey, that is a different story altogether. My point is that I wasn't always the big hefty man size that I am now. And you know what, I am tired of it. I'd like to lose weight. I'd like to lose a lot of it. Slowly of course, because too much at once is a bad thing. I'd like to document my weight loss here on this blog. I tried this once when I first started the blog, but because there was only like one reader at the time, I felt no pressure to keep it up. Now I have a good number of readers and I feel like this will help me with my goal.

My goal is to lose an average of one pound a week. If I gain a little one week, I can still check to make sure I am still at my pound a week average. I.E. - by the end of week 4, I hope to have lost 4 pounds. If I lose 4 pounds by week 3, and then in week 4, I stay even, it's still okay because I am still at the one pound of week average. I know that some weeks, shit happens. But I always have that average to fall back on.

So, what I plan to do is weigh in every Friday morning and then post my total weight loss. Ex. Week 1, 1.5 pounds lost. I won't be putting my total weight because it isn't important right now. All that matters is if I lost.

I am asking if any bloggers or even fellow readers who don't have a blog if they would like to join me in this challenge. On Fridays, you will weigh yourself and then see how you are meeting the average goal. YOU DON"T HAVE TO PUT YOUR WEIGHT. Just what you have lost. My posts will be called "Fat Free Fridays." I am not saying any of you need it by any means, but hey, I am going to be doing it, and I thought I would extend the offer to all of you. Hey, if nobody else decides to do it, no biggie. But the invitation is out. If you do decide to do it, remember to weigh yourself on Friday morning. At the least, all I ask for is your support!

BTW: This is not a competition. More of a support group. Nobody is competing to see who loses the most weight. Just try to meet your goal.

Damn, I suck

Sorry readers for I have sinned. It has been one week since my last post. Yeah, sorry. It has been awhile. I really have no excuse. I have had things to write about, I have been just too lazy. I never feel a mental block or something similar as some of my fellow bloggers have written. I never feel uninspired. If I am not blogging, it is due to one thing and one thing only - I am just too damn lazy to wite something down. Or maybe I am just too preoccupied with other nonimportant things. Who knows...

Friday night I played in a 16 player tournament at my friend's house. Only a few people that I normally play with in my regular, every other week game at my house. I have to say that on this particular night, I played some of the best poker I have ever played in my life. Did I win? Heavens no! How did I play some of the best poker if my life if I didn't even win? Don't I win enough to say THOSE games were the best I have played? Of course. Hell, I only got 7th place out of 16 players. But on this night, I was dealt the stinkiest piles of crap cards that I have ever seen on a consistent basis. I mean, I barely saw anything that was even remotely playable. But I am a pretty patient guy. After a while though, playing no hands and watching your chips dwindle away from the blinds gets frustrating. I had to take a stand and what followed was some of the best betting, raising, and talking I have ever done in a poker game. I was winning hands with crap. I had to convince them that after waiting this long to play a hand, I now had the goods. Now, this isn't supposed to be a ringing endorsement for bluffing. I think that players who bluff too much or think they are so clever for showing you a bluff are idiots. People love showing their bluffs to show how smart they are. I don't show the others anything. Why? I just kept them guessing. I would rather them think I had good cards than embaress them by showing I bluffed them. I knew I would be bluffing again on that night. I didn't want them thinking they should be calling me the next time I made a big bet. When it was down to 7 players I lost a big race that would have put me near the chip leaders. Alas, it was not to be and my game ended. I won't say my luck ran out because there was no luck for me on that particular night. Nothing went my way and I still did ok. So, even in defeat, you can play some of your best.

I have some fun and interesting stuff coming up this week in blogland. It is my goal to post every day this week to make up for my laziness. I even have a challenge to my fellow bloggers and readers tomorrow. Stay tuned....

It doesn't matter.

It was a catchy phrase a pro wrestler use to say frequently a few years ago.

"It doesn't matter."

He even turned it into a music video with Wyclef Jean, but that is not the purpose of this poetic rambling. What follows is something very simple.

A list.
It will contains things that you, the reader, probably never even thought of on this very day. Maybe in the future you will. Perhaps in the past you did. Not today though. Today this did not cross your mind. Guess what?

It doesn't matter!

1. Today a friend of yours was up all night puking from a mysterious illness. The sound of said puking was so vile, that it made those around him wanna puke.

It doesn't matter!

2. Somewhere right now a criminal is breaking into a house and destroying the hard work that someone put into said house. The TV is being stolen and the drawers in every desk are being emptied. The kitchen is being raided and left a mess. The doors are left open so that the family dog can run out and never come back.

It doesn't matter!

3. A movie is being made right now that you will eventually see in the year 2008. It will be the best movie you see that year. It will star some famous actor that you love. You will tell everyone that you saw it and you will probably blog about it somewhere just to spread the news.

It doesn't matter!

4. There is a 8-year old dribbling a basketball. It was a Christmas present and he has been carrying that thing around with him everywhere since he got it. he will be the next one cause there is always a next one. He will have a shoe named after him and everyone will know his name. And he will inspire the next 8-year old to dribble his heart away and be the next.

It doesn't matter!

5. There is a woman right now that is your age. She is stuck in a loveless marriage cause of the son that connects the two parents. She is surrounded by negativity and a family that has done nothing but suck the life out of her. If she wasn't around her husband and her family would just find some other helpless soul to leech off of. Her only source of hope is being able to give her son a good life. Her only friend through all this has just left her to go through all of this drama alone cause he could no longer help.

It doesn't matter!

6. Your neighbor just bought a new car. It is the exact color, make and model that you have been wanting to buy for the past two years, but you can't afford it. Now you have to wake up every morning and see your dream car right next to you. So close, yet so far.

It doesn't matter!

7. A new born baby just died. A innocent college girl was just raped. An elderly man just passed away in his sleep. A close friend just insulted you behind your back. A story went unwritten. A voice was left unheard. Someone just asked you for help and you didn't give it.

It doesn't matter!

The list could go on and on in full detail or in vague generalizations. Point being that no matter who you are there is something that you are not thinking about right now. Cause you are busy with work or taking care of your children or yourself. You are off doing whatever it is you do with your day and none of what I just listed is even remotely in your thoughts. Guess what?

IT'S OK

Millions of events will take place today that have nothing to do with you. You will not read about them or hear about them. You may never experience these things ever in your life. And you will still be OK. Point being that there isn't anything out there that is so horrible that you can't overcome it. There isn't anything out there so grand that you can't achieve it. There is a whole lot of grey area going on. My philosophy for the week is make the big things small and make the small things big. Flipping the script helps every now and then. Oh and guess what?

Somewhere out there there is someone that isn't reading this blog posting. They aren't getting the knowledge of an insane man passed to them via the Internet. They aren't getting a laugh out of the end of this very posting. Cause it doesn't matter. And I am fine with that.

The final paragraph is just for Cassie alone cause this is the only way I talk to her and I thought she would find this thought I had the other day interesting. So, feel free to tune out everyone else cause SEE ABOVE........If I am remembering this right you are the artistic type so maybe you will appreciate this. Of course, it has to do with Christina Aguilera. I was listening to her latest album and for some reason hearing one song popped a video idea in my head. The track, "Save Me From Myself," has basically just her and a guitar playing throughout the song. So, this is where you come in Cassie cause I only have the idea and no way to actually make the idea come to life. We can become rich kiddo. Not that she would take an idea from us to make her own video, but it's just something to pass my day so here it goes. You ever see the movie "Desperado?" There is a scene in the movie wherein the characters Antonio Banderas and Salma Hayek are playing are in bed together. Banderas is sleeping I believe and Hayek is sitting at the foot of the bed singing a song to him with a guitar in her hand as well. If I recall she is playing along and singing a Spanish language song to him. You see where I am going with this? The whole video for this particular Christina Aguilera song would be shot from the POV of Banderas laying in bed looking at the Hayek character playing this song. Christina sits there with the guitar in her lap and sings the song to her man. Clothing optional. Last part was just for me, but anyways. What do ya think? Maybe you already had the idea. If she does come out with this video and it is exactly like I just describe it then you will all know who came up with it first. ME! hehe These are the types of ideas that got me accepted to Chaminade University. What could have been.

Rabble Rock people.

And The Nominees Are...

Manuel and I woke up at 530 this morning to watch the Academy Award nominations. The Academy Awards are a HUGE deal for us. For those of you who don't know, every year we see all 5 movies nominated for Best Picture. Manuel and I have been doing this for 10 years, and before he was in the picture, my step-mom and I were doing it for a few years before that. I really like that we do this - it gives us intimate knowledge of the nominees and we are better able to enjoy the awards show, especially the end when they announce the big winner.

So, without further ado, I give you the Best Picture nominations for 2006, a little information about each movie (thanks to www.imdb.com) and our status and opinions...

Summary: Two men from opposite sides of the law are undercover within the Massachusetts State Police and the Irish mafia, but violence and bloodshed boil when discoveries are made, and the moles are dispatched to find out their enemy's identities.

Status: Saw it

Opinion: LOVED LOVED LOVED LOVED LOVED it!

Summary: A family determined to get their young daughter into the finals of a beauty pageant take a cross-country trip in their VW bus.

Status: Has been on Netflix since before it was nominated.

Opinion: We look forward to seeing this. We've heard it is really cute.

Summary: Tragedy strikes a married couple on vacation in the Moroccan desert, touching off an interlocking story involving six different families.

Status: Have to see it.

Opinion: We're ok with this one too. We think it sounds a lot like 2005's winner, Crash. But Brad Pitt is in it!

Summary: The story of the battle of Iwo Jima between the United States and Imperial Japan during World War II, as told from the perspective of the Japanese who fought it.
Status: Have to see it.

Opinion: I'm not a big war movie fan - Thin Red Line, Saving Private Ryan. I'm ok if I never ever see those movies again. Manuel is ok with having to see this.

Summary: After the untimely death of Lady Diana Spencer, Queen Elizabeth's restrained reaction causes a public relations debacle that Prime Minister Tony Blair must defuse.

Status: Have to see it.

Opinion: Neither of us is really interested in seeing this movie. We are SO over the whole Princess Di thing... Of all the nominated movies, we are least thrilled about this one.

But SUPER thrilled we don't have to see Dreamgirls!!

We'll update you as we see the movies and the opinions roll in. So excited for February 25th!

Enough with the cold....

I don't remember ever being this cold for this many days straight. It's been freezing. What makes it worse is I have always been someone who starts to cough when it is really cold outside. Especially in the morning. I don't have to be sick. I can be perfectly healthy and I will cough if it is cold outside. I played basketball yesterday morning with my friends because I needed to get out and get some exercise. I paid for it when I left the house and when I was done playing as well. At least I don't cough while I am playing. What amazes me is that there are still some places that are not cold. In fact it is bikini weather:


This is Jessica Biel RECENTLY. Bikini weather in January? Where do I sign up? Not that I want to wear a bikini peronally, but at least the weather would be nice. I don't want heat, just no more cold, bordering on below freezing weather. And while I am showing Jessica Biel, let me talk about her. Beautiful. On my top five list if not at number one. But here is what I dig about her and you should too. As you know, Hollywood has a problem right now with skinny actresses. They look sickly. It's not sexy when you can see almost every bone in the girl's body poking out. It's gross and does nothing for me. Now, Jessica Biel is sknny too, but a different kind. She's in shape. Hell, with those muscles, she might be able to beat me up. So please, Hollywood actresses, let's have more of this. In shape = sexy. Anorexic = not.

Here are a couple more of her, just because...

No More Spanking in California

I ran across a very interesting article on the front page of the paper today that you Sacramento folk may have read already. There is legislation being discussed that could BAN spanking of anykids over the age of 4 in California. Here are the highlights from Sacbee.com:

"Spank your child, go to jail?

California would become the first state to explicitly ban spanking for children younger than 4 under legislation to be introduced next week.

Slapping, smacking, whacking or kicking also would be outlawed.

Assemblywoman Sally Lieber, a Mountain View Democrat who is crafting the measure, said corporal punishment victimizes helpless children and contributes to a society "addicted to violence."

"The only thing a child learns by being beaten is that it's OK to beat or dominate children or animals that are smaller," she said.

"To my mind, there's no amount of physical force that's appropriate on a child 3 years old or younger," Lieber said.

Critics blasted Lieber's proposal Thursday as silly and excessive, or "nanny government" that would step on parents' toes and force judges to decide whether a swat was a spank, a nudge, a push or a "love tap."

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has taken no position on the measure, press secretary Aaron McLear said.

In an interview with the San Jose Mercury News, Schwarzenegger, who said that he and his wife "never" spank their four children, hinted that he has concerns about how the bill could be enforced. "Is it that when you see someone spank a kid, you go and say, 'Can I see the birth certificate of the kid?' "

But Schwarzenegger also said that he understands the desire to "get rid of the physical, the brutal behavior that some parents have."

Lieber said her measure would make spanking a misdemeanor, subject to a maximum one-year jail term and $1,000 fine.

But Thomas Nazario, a University of San Francisco Law School professor who has helped develop the bill, said the goal is to change behavior -- not incarcerate parents or remove children from homes.

"My guess is that people would get a citation," Nazario said. "They might go to court and, as a result of that citation, have to take a parenting class."

Lieber said passage of her bill could prompt a supermarket shopper, for example, to approach a fellow shopper who is spanking a child and warn, "That's against the law in California."

But Sacramento County Sheriff John McGinness said such confrontations can be risky.

"I don't think that would necessarily be in the best interest of any of the parties," he said.

McGinness said that an anti-spanking law, if passed as a misdemeanor, could be enforced only by citizen's arrest or by a peace officer who witnessed the corporal punishment.

Critics said a spanking prohibition could spark a torrent of calls to overloaded law-enforcement and child protective agencies, but Lieber disagreed, saying problems didn't occur when corporal punishment was banned in schools.

For many years, the conventional wisdom in the early-childhood education community was that child spanking is unacceptable in all circumstances, said Kimberly Gordon Biddle, an associate professor of child development at California State University, Sacramento.

But during the past 10 years, research has indicated that a "light tap," accompanied by an explanation, can be effective in cases where toddlers are endangering themselves or others, she said."

I do agree with that Sheriff. Could you walk up to some random stranger and tell them to stop spanking a kid - even if it was a light tap? The adult could be crazy and it could start a fight right there in the market. Would this really stop abuse in the home, where nobody is looking. Child abuse is of course a horrible thing, but most abuse has to happen in the home and I believe that this will continue. I just think that the government is getting way to involved here. Do I condone spanking? No. But do I think they should pass this bill? Absolutely not. Stay away Big Brother. Thoughts???

SCORE!!!

I just scored a cool deal with Directv! As many of you know, I have NBA league pass and I have had it for many years. I gt to watch basically ever single NBA game. I am big fan, but it isn't my favorite sport. Soccer is my favorite. There are a couple of soccer channels, but you have to pay the $12 a month for the complete sports package to get the 3 soccer channels plus all the regional sport networks. I wanted to do it, but I just couldn't pull the trigger. However, thsi year, I am barely watching any NBA games outside of the Kings. They are all at night and Jess and I usually have something better to watch. Even if there is a good game, Jess really doesn't want to watch and we end up watching something else.

I decided to call Directv and see if I could get half of my money back since the season is not even half done yet. They said there were no refunds and they apologized. I told them I would get the sports package so they would still be gettin my money. (Well, a little less as the sports package is $12/mo x 12 momths for $144 while the league pass is $169/yr.) The read me the contract that says no refunds and again apologized, but told me, if I wanted the sports package still, they would give it to me for TWO DOLLARS a month! Right away, I said, "SOLD!"

So, I still have league pass. I'll watch some games when I can. But now I am getting my sports package which most importantly has the soccer channels for $2/mo instead of $12/mo for the first 6 months. Not too bad a deal. And with my high definition box coming next month, my tv life is good....

That show is back

American Idol is back on tv tonight. We despise this show. You know, it was kind of fun at first, but the amount of time it is on is just overkill. For two seasons, I watched it because competitions are fun. Singing is fun. But the reasons I hate the show just got too much. Too many cheesy skits hawking various products. Too much time wasting. It just drags to no end. Too much Ryan Seacrest. Too much ass kissing. Then the topper came when a good friend and her brother tried out for the show. They are awesome singers. Amazing. But when they decided to try out two years ago, they each got about 20 seconds with some random judge before they said no thanks. They couldn't get a decent tryout, but we get bombarded the first few weeks with horrible singers just trying to be stupid to get on tv. That's bullshit. It was then that I decided I wasn't watching anymore. I know that the show will continue to get good ratings as people love this stuff, but hey, it's just not for me.

Review of Cross

I finished reading Cross the the other day so I figured I better follow it up with a review. Cross is the newest book written by James Patterson and the latest in the Alex Cross series. I'm a big fan of the books in the series including Kiss the Girls and Big Bad Wolf. It doesn't bug me like Jessica that Alex Cross always seems to single handly save the day at the end of each book. Anyways, this was a really good book. Loved it in fact. If you know anything about the Alex Cross character, you know that he has always lived with the fact that his wife was murdered and that the case was never solved. Well, in this book, new developments give clues as to who may have murdered his wife so many years ago. I'll leave it at that as I don't want to give too much away. Needless to say, with what is at stake, Cross takes a deep interest in the case at hand. If you have read any books in the Alex Cross series, definitely check this one out. Easily, one of my favorites in the series.

As an added bonus, here is my sister playing Guitar Hero. Always trying to spread the gospel....

















My wife and sis are now a band!!!

Civil War update

As I mentioned previously - http://manuelsview.blogspot.com/2006/09/civil-war.html - I am reading a series called Civil War in the Marvel Universe. It would help to reread that post, but here is a very brief recap. The death of hundreds of civilians during a battle between heroes and villains causes the government to pass a law stating that all costumed people with powers must register with them. Some heroes led by Iron Man support it. Others led by Captain America disagree and go into hiding. This lead to the now famous unmasking by Spiderman to support the law. Things go bad when an anti-registration hero is killed in a battle. Everyone is split into two sides except the X-Men who have chosen to remain neutral. Spiderman soon realizes the law is wrong and had just decided to switch sides at my last update.


Well, many months later, 2 more huge issues have been released(there has been some delays). Spiderman did in fact leave the registration side, but is hunted down by villains now working for the heroes on the registration side. He is near death, but is finally saved by the Punisher, seen for the first time in the series. This led to the Punisher bringing Spiderman to the other side for help in this memorable picture. I LOVE this picture!!! Click on them to see them bigger and more clearly.








Before it got even more carried away, Iron Man and Captain America met in private to try to talk it out one last time in an issue separate of the Civil War main title. In what may be one of the best single issues I have ever read, the two talk it out and discuss their history together. In the end, they realize they can't agree and briefly fight before going their sepearate ways, maybe for the last time. A spectacular issue. Both sides know the final battle is coming. With the help of the Punisher, the anti registration heroes find a way into the other side's base for one final battle. Both sides have their forces gathered and meet like two boxers in the center of the ring. These are the last two pages of issue 6. I had to scan one of the pages in two sections as it was across two pages. That is why they may not match up perfectly. The final battle comes next month. I'm so excited.

Testing it out...

So my sister wants me to make a video collage for her wedding in September so I have to learn this new program called PhotoStory. It was actually fairly simple. There are a few tweaks I want to learn, but this is what I accomplished this morning. Since I had to use images, I used most of my photoshop pics that you have already seen since I didn't want to waste time scanning pics right now. Here ya go. Let me know what you think of the program.
Edit: I am not sure why the youtube screen isn't centered and there is white on the right. If it bugs you, double click on the video to be taken to the youtube site where the video is centered. The video isn't like that there. Just some html problm I can't figure out.

Mistaken Iden-titty

So I was sitting here reading my new comics when my phone beebed that I had a message. I checked out my phone and it said I had a picture message. I don't subscribe to text or picture messages(although I do occasionally text MrVideoGuy telling him to come over and get his but kicked on my PS3). They cost money, but I decided to check out what the picture was even though I didn't recognize the number the message was from. I opened it up and to my shock, it was a picture of two people having sex from a camera phone. I figured I better get to the bottom of who was sending this to me so I called the number:

Guy: You like the picture?!?!?!
Me: Umm, who is this?
Guy: Isn't this Brian?
Me: Umm...nope, sorry.
Guy: Oh, my friend Brian told me to send him the picture and he gave me this number. Maybe I misheard him.
Me: Sorry, wrong number man.
Guy: Well then, YOU enjoy the picture my friend! HAHAHA!

Talk about a wrong number!


Sorry I haven't been posting this week. Truth be told, I have been too busy with work and even more, playing my PS3. I finally got my PS3 to work online on a consistent basis and since then, I have been playing Resistance:Fall of Man nonstop. I go online and then compete against other people. Well, compete isn't really the word, we run around trying to blow each other up. It's so addicting. So far, I suck, but I'm getting better! Have a good weekend.

He's back too!

Well, it has been rumored FOREVER, but it was finally confirmed this weekend. Indiana Jones is BACK! First Rocky. Then John McClane. Now the best of all of them is back. Lucas and Spielberg finally got a script they are happy with and shooting is confirmed to be shooting in June. Harrison Ford chimed in with:"I'm delighted to be back in business with my old friends. I don't know if the pants still fit, but I know the hat will."

How can you not get excited by that quote?!?

Hope everyone had a fun and safe new year.