~ Flag Day and Flag Week... ~
~ My BLOG Page ~ Number Twenty-Eight ~
~To Add a Comment Click Here~
~ To My Parkville Home Page ~
~ Monday ~ June 14, 2010 ~
~ Flag Day Today! ~
~ Not a Federal Holiday and Few Observe the Day ~
~ But My Flag is Out in Front ~
In the United States, Flag Day is celebrated on June 14
It commemorates the adoption of the flag of the United States
Which happened that day by resolution of the Second Continental Congress in 1777
In 1916, President Woodrow Wilson issued a proclamation that officially established June 14 as Flag Day
In August 1949, National Flag Day was established by an Act of Congress
The week of June 14 is designated as "National Flag Week"
During National Flag Week, the president will issue a proclamation
Urging U.S. citizens to fly the American flag for the duration of that week
The flag should also be displayed on all Government buildings
Some organizations hold parades and events in celebration of America's national flag and everything it represents.
~ Another Look at the Cukes on Sunday ~
Look at them climb! Halfway up the trellis already... Wanna bet they reach the top?
And look real close at the middle pic... Is that a baby cucumber... or what?
How long now?
~ As Someone Once Said ~ Onward and Upward! ~
~ Sunday ~ June 13, 2010 ~
~ Third BD-R Blu-ray Disk a No-Go! ~
~ Loud buzz on the Soundtrack ~
~ Well I Still Have this on DVD+R Disks ~
And... Another disappointment with trying BD-R Blu-ray Disk blank Media
The first try was a success, copying an HD Trail Walk video in the Sanctuary from DVD+R VCHD
But the next two tries... No-Go
I have been burning AVCHD High Def video from my Video camera for almost two years with great success
They look and sound great... And the only downside is they can't hold as much video
Also another new one is, so far they won't play on my new Panasonic Blu-ray player
But as most of my videos are less than 20 minutes and the DVDs are Inexpensive now, they work great
But I found a way around the Panasonic by playing them on my Sony and the Sound through the Panasonic Surround Sound
Also the first video I copied to a true BD-R Blu-ray disk works great on the Panasonic
I have several videos too large for a DVD+R and had to use two disks, Part One and Two
So I wanted to combine them on one BD-R Blu-ray disk ... Doing this with a copy program didn't work
So then I copied the AVCHD from the two DVD+R disks as I had lost the original AVCHD from the camera
Then I tried Vegas Movie Version 9 to combine the two files... Version 9 would not accept the files
I wrote to Sony about my Panasonic problem... And they said that Version 9 would not support Windows 7 that I was using
So then, buy the Upgrade to Version 10 to try that... And VOILA! It accepted the AVCHD files
So I combined the two files on the editor and then burned it to to BD-R Blu-ray disk
Then hopefully and expectantly, I played it on both the Sony and Panasonic players
And OK, they both played the video GREAT! ... BUT.. that BUT again... a loud buzz on the Soundtrack, that will NOT DO!
So why is that? That the video was copied from a DVD+R disk... or a defect in the Version 10 Editor program?
To find out I will have to burn another BD-R assembled from virgin AVCHD straight from the Camera
~ But ~ Ever Onward and Upward ~ We Shall Overcome! ~
~ Saturday ~ June 12, 2010 ~
~ Video Editing Program - KAPUT!
~ Sony Vegas Studio 9 ~ Not Supported by Windows 7 ~
~ "Upgrade to Version 10 ~ $64.00! ~
Now What? Always something with High Tech... Emailed a question to Sony
It says "We see you are using Vegas Version 9 with Windows 7"
"Sony Vegas Platinum Studio 9 is not supported for Windows 7"
Well I guess I hadn't edited any video since I installed Windows 7
And when I opened Version 9 it looked like it was working
So maybe that is why the last disc I experimented with... Did not work
So now what? The Upgrade to Version 10 is $64.00... Last year I paid $84.95 for Version 9!
So I groaned a bit... but got online and downloaded Version 10
And so far I like it, has a few new goodies and a new look
So here I am trying to combine two previous videos and then burn to Blu-ray
The video was too long for one Standard DVD so I have it on two disks now
I want to try to get them both on a BD-R Blu-ray disk...
Plenty of room but I haven't tried combining two finished videos before
And maybe... maybe... I can burn AVCHD video to a regular DVD and play it on my Panasonic?
Well... we shall see... Shall we not?
~ Now What's the Next High Tech Problem? ~
~ Friday ~ June 11, 2010 ~
~ Dill Day? ~
~ No... That was Yesterday ~
~ Planted May 21... A Small Harvest June 10 ~
No cucmbers yet, can't make pickles so I dried some dill...
Checking the tomatoes I saw some tall stems bending over and one looked like a bloom on top
So I snipped off a few of the taller stems and brought them in...
Snipped off the feathery looking leaves, into a slow oven and dried them
Then I crumbled them up real fine and into the dill jar I just emptied
So far I harvested some Oregano, Basil and now the Dill... Sage next?
~ Dish of the Day ~ Roast Beef Hash ~
Hah, good old Gringo soul food... Nothing better than some impromptu hash
Well yeah, that steak yesterday was pretty good too
But I had just enough roast beef in the freezer for a nice double batch
Dice up some potato, Vidalia sweet onion and green pepper, toss that into my cast iron skillet
Braise a bit in some peanut oil, cube up that beef and toss in
Stir up... Heat up... and Serve up with a couple hunks of buttered Italian bread
Yeah that will do it.. every time...
~ Now it Works ~ Not Quite What I Wanted ~
OK I have my Surround System Working... Got my new HDMI Cable yesterday
I needed that for the video output from the Panasonic system
Sound from either player plays through the Panasonic Surround Speakers
Video from the TV through HDMI 1, from the Sony HDMI 2, and the Panasonic HDMI 3
And I can input the TV sound though the Sound System also
For non-movie type TV I just use the TV Speakers
But... I have to play the Blu-ray DVDs I burned to regular DVDS on the Sony but I get the Surround Sound
And the Panasonic will play my vidoes that I burn to BD-R media
So in effect I do have what I wanted... Almost...
~ Now Where is That New Graphics Card? ~
~ Thursday ~ June 10, 2010 ~
~ Another Look at the Tomatoes ~
~ Doing Quite Well ~
~ Lotsa Blooms ~ Where are the Tomatoes? ~
Not a big day but I kept moving around... Took the photos of the gully and wrote my BLOG
Checked on the little birdies... Empty nest... Where did they go?
I heard some peeping way up high in the tree... Did Momma bird move them?
I don't know if birds do that... Cats do...They were not old enough to fly
So then around the side of the building to check the tomatoes
Did a couple more tie-ups, Looks like they are coming along nicely
Then a peek at the cucunbers... Still on their upward climb...
Some blooms dropping off... Maybe cucumbers on the way now...
~ Another Steak and Tater ~
Still waiting for my HDMI cable to hook up the Panasonic Blu-ray player... Maybe today?
And 15 Blu-ray blank disks ordered and on the way... No hurry for that
But I gave up on updating the driver to my graphics card and ordered a new better one
Power DVD will not play since I installed Windows 7 and needs the driver update... So...
So then... Had that other KC Strip Steak thawed out... Put that in marinade with Worcestershire sauce
Then put a huge russet white potato in the oven to bake
About an hour later started the charcoal, mixed a cocktail and waited for the coals...
On with the steak and sat in that bee-yoo-tee-full weather as it grilled...
Earlier had made a salad of lettuce, green pepper, Vidalia onion and tomato
The steak done to perfection, added ranch dressing to that salad... Buttered that big baked potato
Poured a glass of vino tinto and then... Wasn't that a dandy dish... to set before the King!
Yeah a pretty good day... How Sweet it Can Be!
~ Ever Onward and Upward! ~
~ Wednesday ~ June 09, 2010 ~
~ Windscape Nature Sanctuary ~
~ Well... Sort of ~
~ The View from My Place ~ I Call this 'The Gully' ~
~ A Shortcut Trail to Hamilton Street ~ North into the Woods ~
~ The View to the Creek ~ Looking Back to My Place ~
Well yeah... If you want a walk in the woods, just go across the street and down into the gully
This area extends from Hamilton Street all the way up the creek to Parkville Commons Shopping Center
There is a large pond there to catch the run-off from the Center and then into the Creek across the street
There is seldom much water in there, just a trickle usually
I have always wanted to follow the creek as far as I could but never have
Some go in there to search for morel mushrooms
Others walk down our street to take the path out to Hamilton
As that way cuts off two hilly blocks to the same place
I have taken that way a few times when walking downtown
Anyway, we have a nice little unofficial Nature Sanctuary... Just across the street
Oh yeah, and I sawed off the lower branch on my pear tree that was blocking my view... Looks better now
~ On to Bigger and Better Things ~
~ Tuesday ~ June 08, 2010 ~
~ Now What? ~ Everything Working ~ Almost ~
~ Can Still Play My Blu-ray DVDs! ~
~ More than One Way to Hook up a System ~
So, the Blu-ray disks I burn play fine on the Sony player... But no surround sound
The Sony plays audio and video through an HDMI cable to the TV
The Panasonic plays video to the TV through HDMI and Audio through 6 speakers also
But my home burned Blu-ray disks will not play on the Panasonic
So... I hooked up the digital audio from the Sony with a digital optical cable
Into the digital audio input on the Panasonic...
So I can play one of my home grown Blu-ray videos on the Sony... the video goes to the TV
And the audio goes to the Panasonic and out through the Surround Speakers.... VOILA!
Now I ordered another HDMI cable so I can play the True Blu-ray diska on the panasonic
And I found some Blu-ray blanks online at a better price so I'll burn Blu-rays to play on the Panasonic now
I thought I could play MY Regular DVD Blu-rays on the new one and have that Sony for a spare.. But Oh No...
Always Something!
~ Now On to the Next High Tech Problem ~
~ Monday ~ June 07, 2010 ~
~ Another Look at the Cucumbers
~ They Want to Climb!! ~
~ The Cukes are Blooming! ~ 4 Possible Cukes in There
Reaching Out for Something to Grab on
Took a closer look at the cucumbers... Aha! I forgot that they do that... Put out tendrils to grab something to climb on...
See, They don't like to lie on the ground and get soft and moldy...
I did tie a string around the trellis to keep them from leaning outside
Now they are grabbing the Trellis to tie themselves on
Two big blooms there and two smaller ones... Be looking for some cukes soon
~ Then Back to the Casino ~
First up to the Chopper to trade in a $5 and $1 winner on a Bingo and Crossword and got another Sho Me Cash
Then back to work a $6 Bingo Win... Then Take a look at the Cukes.. Take a couple pics
Then Bored already and all day to go... Let's hit the Casino
Went in about 11:30... Stuck in Two Twenties for 160 credits... Hit some small goodies right off
Then back down, finally getting below 80 credits, half my stash...
Then a few good ones and back up over 200 credits... My rule is hit a $20 win... 240 credits.. Then cash out
That is.. When I observe my rule.. If I don't it is usually down and out
So then up and down, getting close but not getting that magic 240
Finally a pretty good one and I had 241 credits... OUT NOW! Cashed out for $60.25
BUT... I had two ones in my pocket... What the Heck! Stuck those in for 8 credits...
Right off hit a 5 win for 12 credits.. then a nicer one for 25 credits...
Time to run again, cashed that out for $6.75 and away we go
Total win for the day... $25... and a pretty good time at that
Then back by the RiversideRED-X for a Bingo and Crossword and a gallon of Vino Tinto on sale
Worked the Crossword for a $3 win, the Bingo a Dud...
Time to mix an afternoon libation, thaw out a couple Smoked ribs and start thinking dinner time
~ Overall a Pretty Goood Sunday ~ Oh Yeah! ~
~ Sunday ~ June 06, 2010 ~
~ Success! ~ Sort Of ~
~ Will Play My Blu-ray DVDs on Blu-ray Media ~
~ Entrance to Parkville Nature Sanctuary in Blu-ray HD ~
You can't really tell from this photo but this Video really looks great in Blu-ray HD!
Especially from a Home Camera ~ Better than Broadcast 1080i HD!
A lot of broadcast HD TV is still in 720p... They Cheat
So, what to do about that no go on my own videos on the new player?
Tried to call Panasonic.... Gave up after holding too long
Well I had a Max Perks online coupon from Office Max for $18
I trotted on up there fo find some real Blu-ray Media... But that is stil high priced
They had a 3 pack of Verbatim Blu-ray blanks for $19.99... That's about $7 eash
Last regular DVDs I bought there were 20 cents each and I have made about 50 of them in HD
That would have cost $350 in Blu-ray disks! No way Jose!
But those three only cost me $3.00 with the coupon...
So back to the ranch to check them out... I burned a copy of my Regular HD onto the Blu-ray disk
VOILA! Now that one worked on my new player and with great surround sound!
BUT, they would sound as good on a player that would play my regular DVDS...Like My Sony
Well, I need another HDMI cable (I have ordered) to hook the Sony back up
Then that plays back my Regular DVDs through the TV... then from the TV sound output into the Panasonic player
And hopefully as good a surround output as from the Panisonic Player?
~ Onward and Hopefully... Upward! ~
~ Saturday ~ June 05, 2010 ~
~ Surround Sound System ~ Now What?
~ Will Not Play My Blu-ray DVDs! ~
~ "This Disc is Incompatible!" ~
Now What? Always something with High Tech... Won't play the HD DVDs I burned
It does play my SD DVDs just fine, I don't have a true Blu-ray disc to try
And the manual says it WILL play ACVHD on a DVD so what's with MY box?
I guess I will have to call Panasonic and ask
My Sony Blu-ray player plays the Blu-rays I burned on regular DVDs just fine
I'll just hook that back up for now... I just wanted the new system for surround sound
And I can play my Sony back through the Panasonic sound system
And the TV sound will play back that way also
So not a total loss but I am sort of back where I started with the old Sound system I gave away
~ On to the Next High Tech Problem ~
~ Friday ~ June 04, 2010 ~
~ New Surround Sound System ~
~ Who Needs All Those Speakers Anyway? ~
~ Where Do We Put All This Stuff? ~
Kind of a 'not much going on' Thursday...
Went by the Computer shop to ask about my back-up program not doing what they said it would do...
The Guy said he wasn't familiar with that program, best to contact the maker
Well, I checked tha suggestions they made with no success
Actually is seems to work OK except it will not boot from the external drive... Oh Well
Then what? Well, let's wash those front windows
Boss Bob hired a guy to power wash the deck above the front and splashed them
Maybe he should wash the windows too? Oh Well.. They are clean now
So far this year, he painted the shutters and doors and restained the deck... Looks nice
Then bored again, decided to gamble and went to buy $20 worth or scratchers...
None of the $2 were winners, then a $6 Bingo, a $9 Bingo and a $10 Crossword
HAH.. $5 profit... Traded those in for a $20 bill and another Bingo and Crossword
And got another $6 win, broke even on that deal...
Then an afternoon cocktail and TV, then dinner and off to dreamland... Ho Hum
So, up to the Price Chopper to buy some vanilla pudding to use up my last banana
And get a $3 winner Crossword... and a dud Bingo... And make and eat some niller/banana pudding
Then the UPS man showed up at 10:30... Unpacked and got a pic of the new System
Added that to this BLOG and now to go wire it all up... Stay Tuned...
~ Tomorrow ~ Saturday Again Already? ~
~ Thursday ~ June 03, 2010 ~
~ Better Boys Tomatoes ~
~ Lookin Good ~
~ Lotsa Blooms !~ No Tomatoes Yet ~
Another look at the Better Boys tomatoes around the side... Watching them everyday
Something took a nibble of a few branches so I gave them a good spray last week
Haven't seen more damage since But I'm checking... Those tomato hornworms can strip a plant overnight
I had deer damage and worm damage last year but got a good crop of tomatoes
Went to the Casino yesterday and lost
Did Ok on scratchers so yesterday... Won a $3, a $3, a $9 and a $10 so far... Still have that $10 one
Got A Show Me Cash and a MO Lotto for last night and no good on those
The Rutgers tomato in the pot doesn't look as good now as the Better Boys do
It looked better at first and then all that rain and something nibbled a couple branches
So I gave that a good spray too... Never had a problem with a bug in the pot before
And... the peppers don't look all that good in the pots either, maybe with more sun...
And the marigolds look pathetic, just not my year for the pots... yet...anyway<
But.. there will be a brighter day tomorrow... won't there?
~ Tomorrow ~ New Sound System? ~
~ Wednesday ~ June 02, 2010 ~
~ A New Surround Sound System ~
~ UPS Says it's On the Way! ~
~ Panasonic BT-230 Blu-ray Player Surround Sound System ~
So, I had a regular DVD surround system before... and it was OK, if not outstanding... Nice thumpy bass
But the TV never sounded all that good through it...
And when I bought my Blu-ray DVD player, the full surround sound did not come through
So recently I gave that one away to a friend and started looking for a replacement
I saw a reasonably priced one at B&H Photo online at the lowest price I found
I Ordered that one and 'Bill Me Later' said OK, it's yours... I had just paid them off for the Camera Flash
Now UPS says it's on the way, on time, should be here Friday
AND NOW ALL THOSE WIRES AGAIN... NO NO NO!
~ What's Next? ~ That New Computer? ~
~ Tuesday ~ June 01, 2010 ~
~ A New Month ~ A New Page! ~
~ Checking Out the Cucumbers ~
~ April 18, First Popped Up ~ April 25. Looking Good ~ May 05, Too Much Rain ~ May 27, On The Way ~
Planted the cucumbers for something different on April 12, they started popping up on April 18...
Were looking good on April 25... By May 05, after too much cool and too much rain and a couple gave up
Then on May 27, looking good and on the way again
Now today, June 01... Getting a little tie up started to keep them climbing instead of spreading
Keeps them off the ground to prevent rot and mold... And makes them hang straight
IF... Everything goes right...
~ Memorial Day done ~ What's Next? ~
~ September 30 to October 23, 2008 ~ Page Number One ~
~ October 23 to October 31, 2008 ~ Page Number Two ~
~ November 04 to December 19, 2008 ~ Page Number Three ~
~ December 24 to March 23, 2009 ~ Page Number Four ~
~ April 01 to May 26, 2009 ~ Page Number Five ~
~ May 30, 2009 ~ Page Number Six - Click Here ~
~ May 31 to July 02, 2009 ~ Page Number Seven ~
~ July 02 to July 18, 2009 ~ Page Number Eight ~
~ July 20 to August 16, 2009 ~ Page Number Nine ~
~ August 16 to August 26, 2009 ~ Page Number Ten ~
~ August 27 to September 11, 2009 ~ Page Number Eleven ~
~ September 12 to September 30, 2009 ~ Page Number Twelve ~
~ October 02 to October 28, 2009 ~ Page Number Thirteen ~
~ October 29 to November 09, 2009 ~ Page Number Fourteen ~
~ November 09 to November 24, 2009 ~ Page Number Fifteen ~
~ November 24 to December 10, 2009 ~ Page Number Sixteen ~
~ December 10 to December 25, 2009 ~ Page Number Seventeen ~
~ January 01 to February 01, 2010 ~ Page Number Nineteen ~
~ February 02 to February 16, 2010 ~ Page Number Twenty ~
~ February 17 to March 02, 2010 ~ Page Number Twenty-One ~
~ March 03 to March 17, 2010 ~ Page Number Twenty-Two ~
~ March 18 to April 01, 2010 ~ Page Number Twenty-Three ~
~ April 01 to April 12, 2010 ~ Page Number Twenty-Four ~
~ April 13 to April 30, 2010 ~ Page Number Twenty-Five ~
~ May 01 to May 14, 2010 ~ Page Number Twenty-Six ~
~ May 15 to June 01, 2010 ~ Page Number Twenty-Seven ~
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