Please, PLEASE, oh Pretty Please Let This Be True

From Big Government:

Alexandra Pelosi, daughter of House Minority Leader and former Speaker Nancy Pelosi, told Big Government this week that her mother wants to leave Congress–and that she remains in Washington only at the behest of her campaign donors.

The day we don't all have to look at Nancy Pelosi or worry about her hand in our pockets anymore is going to be a great day for the nation!

I May Need Some Assisdents

Almost forgot to post this. Thanks to Kristi for pointing it out to me last week.

More awesomeness from Lowes.  Thanks, Lowes.  Every visit is a treat.

..and We're Done.

A couple of days ago, we took a load of books and CDs to Half Price Books to sell as we get ready to "big kidify" the kids' room.  Among the things Kayci put in the bag to get rid of were her Miley Cyrus and Hannah Montana CDs.

She thought I'd be upset, but I've actually never been so proud.  Personally, I've been done with Miley for quite awhile now.  I tried to warn her.  I begged an pleaded.  But Miley just wouldn't listen.

Then today I found out that over Thanksgiving, while no one was really paying attention (including me, apparently,) Miley came out in support of the Occupy Wall Street crowd and even dedicated her song "Liberty Walk" to them.  That makes me even more happy that our house is now Miley Cyrus -free.

I've threatened it before, but now it's official.  We're officially done with (that trashy ignorant train wreck) Miley Cyrus.  It's too bad, really.  There was a time when she had so much potential, too...

It was a good run.  We sent a lot  - and I mean a whole friggin' lot - of money her way over the years when Kayci was into Hannah Montana.  But all mediocre things must come to an end, I suppose.  Just like the impending doom of her career.  It says a lot when a little girl who spent years watching and listening to an *cough* actress and *cough, cough* singer is willing to trade in her entire collection for $12.

Let this be a lesson, kids.  When you don't appreciate what you have and choose to throw it all away, don't wonder why people don't want anything to do with you anymore.  At least, not the real 99%.

Last Day to Order

Don't forget, Bearkats...  today is the last day I'm taking orders for the panoramic I shot of the Bearkat fans rushing the field following the Bearkats' historic victory over Montana a couple of weeks ago.

Orders will be accepted through Tuesday, December 27.

$25.00 plus shipping, paid via PayPal.  Photos will be mailed the first week in January.  If you happen to be in the Brenham area, let me know and there will be no shipping costs.

To order, e-mail your shipping address to photos@jamespharaon.com, and I will send you an invoice to pay from on PayPal.

Thanks, and Eat 'Em Up Kats!

But the Mayans Didn't Say That At All!

We're not all going to die.  Okay, actually, that's not true.  We are all going to die... eventually. Just probably not on December 21, 2012.  That's the date - a year from now - that some people are claiming that the Mayans predicted the end of the world.  That's what we've all heard, right?

Funny thing is.... the Mayans didn't say that at all.

From AP News:

Many archeologists argue that the 2012 reference on a 1,300-year-old stone tablet only marks the end of a cycle in the Mayan calendar. 

"The world will not end. It is an era," said Yeanet Zaldo, a tourism spokeswoman for the Caribbean state of Quintana Roo, home to Cancun.
The Mayan civilization, which reached its height from 300 A.D. to 900 A.D., had a talent for astronomy. 

Its Long Count calendar begins in 3,114 B.C., marking time in roughly 394-year periods known as Baktuns. Thirteen was a significant, sacred number for the Mayas, and they wrote that the 13th Baktun ends on Dec. 21, 2012. 

The doomsday theories stem from a stone tablet discovered in the 1960s at the archaeological site of Tortuguero in the Gulf of Mexico state of Tabasco that describes the return of a Mayan god at the end of a 13th period. 

"The Maya are viewed by many westerners as exotic folks that were supposed to have had some special, secret knowledge," said Mayan scholar Sven Gronemeyer. "What happens is that our expectations and fears get projected on the Maya calendar." 

Gronemeyer of La Trobe University in Australia compares the supposed Mayan prophecies to the "Y2K" hype, when people feared all computer systems would crash when the new millennium began on Jan. 1, 2000. 

For some reason, Gronemeyer says, people have ignored evidence that dates beyond 2012 were recorded.

2012 will, indeed, be a watershed year - just not for the reasons people are freaking about about at the moment.  But never let the truth get in the way of a good freak out, I suppose...

"Bearkat Fans Take the Field"

"Bearkat Fans Take the Field"

Following the SHSU vs. Montana game last week I shot this panoramic shot of the entire field as Bearkat fans stormed onto it.  I've had several requests for prints of the shot, so I'm posting this here in case any other Kat fans would like one, as well.  

Order your 32"x9" panoramic photo print of the crowd taking the field following the Bearkats' historic victory over Montana!  This will be a one-run only print, so don't wait and miss out!  This will be a high resolution professional photographic print, suitable for framing.

Orders will be accepted through Tuesday, December 27.

$25.00 plus shipping, paid via PayPal.  Photos will be mailed the first week in January.  If you happen to be in the Brenham area, let me know and there will be no shipping costs.

To order, e-mail your shipping address to photos@jamespharaon.com, and I will send you an invoice to pay from on PayPal.

Thanks, and Eat 'Em Up Kats!

SHSU Battle Message

Mad crazy Kat props to Michael F. for putting this together.

Respect the Bull

Pinc Gator does it again.  Nice work.

Eat 'Em, Up Kats!

The Continuing Case for Optical Drives

This morning I ran across this post from a year ago regarding the need for optical drives and making the case that the time to kill optical hasn't come yet.

Since that time, Apple has shipped new models of the MacBook Air and the Mac Mini without an optical drive.  Lion shipped without optical (they opted, instead, to make the OS available on a flash drive after user outcry).  And Netflix attempted to shift its business away from DVDs by breaking its streaming and DVD businesses into two separate companies (only to cancel that move shortly afterward).  The Mac App store launched, offering software for download instead of on DVD for install.  But some titles, such as OS X Lion weigh in at 3.5 GB, which would take hours to download.

Several times in the past year I've attempted to deliver some portraits I took digitally, instead of on DVD (but in every case, the client called back and requested a disc so they didn't have to download all their photos).

Also this year, I was able to burn and produce DVDs as freelance projects.  I was able to install some games that I hadn't played in several years from the discs, which I still have.  I was able to deliver press files to print quickly (and cheaply) by burning them to DVD.  I never got these discs back, nor did I expect to because DVDs are so cheap.

So the optical drive landscape has changed somewhat in the last year, but I still agree with every word of what I wrote last year.  We still need optical drives.  Period.

On Android

People who claim they are happy with their Android phones are the same people who were happy they got Gobots instead of Transformers because they could pop off the arms and interchange them between robots.

Sure, the results were ugly and didn't work properly afterward, but you could do it.