Xmas 2010

Christmas 2010 is a couple of days away, and the granddaughters Marina and Lauren have been busy with school and recital Christmas activities. Here are some pictures: http://www.flickr.com/photos/mimiandpapa/sets/72157625619202316/, http://www.flickr.com/photos/mimiandpapa/sets/72157625654178184/,

Also today, they continued their tradition of baking some "Pullaa"(Christmas bread) with grandma Mimi.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mimiandpapa/sets/72157625654207184/.

Perhaps these occasions will be something they'll remember fondly when they've grown up and have their own families - long after we're gone.

Long-distance practice

(click on picture for larger view)

Our granddaughter Marina has taken up the baritone horn for the school band, and is very diligent about practicing for the school Christmas play. She has a friend in the neighborhood who lives half a block away, and who plays the flute for the band. Both of them have been practicing together. Yesterday they played their instruments far apart, Marina from our front steps, and her friend from the balcony at her home. They could see and hear each other, but communicated mainly by cell phone. Who but the new generation would have thought of doing it this way? I'm really proud of the imaginative ways these two think. There is hope for the future.

Along these lines, another comment: we have a party room in our house, and Marina and her sister Lauren play there quite often. Their play is always original and inventive, and it does not involve video games, but often they select music on the juke box and integrate that music into their play. We are lucky to have Derek, Airdrie, and the two granddaughters (by now young ladies) next door. It keeps us young.

Parents' nightmare

As parents, you don't expect your child to die before you. Unfortunately, that is the reality for us. Derek has stopped chemo treatments, because they do not work any longer. See his blog:http://www.penmachine.com/2010/11/endgame. Our only consolation is that he'll live on for us in his daughters Marina and Lauren and our daughter-in-law Airdrie. Still, it's devastating.

More info on solar scope

Some additional information: I took some trial shots on the last clear sunny day, but found that it was nearly impossible to focus the image accurately. This is due mainly to the small screen on the Canon XT DSLR. When downloaded onto the computer and displayed on the screen, the images were somewhat out of focus.

The camera can be connected to a computer so that at the time of taking the pictures, the image is captured to the computer and displayed on the screen after a few seconds delay. The software for this is on the CD that came with the camera, and I downloaded a program from Canon which allows remote control of the camera from the computer. This way, the shutter can be released from the computer. Now I'm waiting for a clear day to experiment with that. A clear day may be a long time coming here. We're more than half way through fall; rain is the norm at this time of year. Below is an example of the "tuning" referred to in my previous post:

surface details (unsharp mask in Photoshop used to sharpen the image)

prominences (lower edge - no enhancement)

These are a first try - refinement is necessary.

Sun view

Today we had a sunny day. I took the chance to set up my new solar telescope  (Derek wrote a blog about it - see http://www.penmachine.com/2010/10/grainy-red-sun). This time, I found enough time to experiment with using an additional etalon filter. The "double stack" of filters certainly enhances the H-alpha details on the sun. The bandwidth of this double filter is around 0.5 Angstrom. By tuning the filters it is possible accentuate various details (faculae, flares, prominences, etc.). I also got an impression of looking at the H-alpha sun in 3D. That's an illusion, but it makes the view really interesting. Below is a picture which approximates the view in the telescope.

                                                     Picture by Michael Karrer (flickr.com)

I've also come up with a system to mount a camera - when there is another chance, I'll start taking pictures.

A micro holiday

 We went for an extended walk again today. This time, took the skytrain to Waterfront, walked along the Coal Harbour shoreline (with a pause on the bench dedicated to my mother), walked past Lost Lagoon, along English Bay to the little ferry to Granville Island, had dinner at the Cat Social House restaurant (we call it the Cathouse), walked to the Canada line on Cambie, went downtown, back onto the skytrain, walked home from Metrotown.  A Great Day - totally clear and sunny, if somewhat cooler than a summer day. This was almost the reverse of a walk we took in June, see http://penmachinedad.blogspot.com/2010/06/see-town.html
We have all this for free; tourists pay a lot of money to come here and enjoy this scenery. Let's keep it "green".

Eventful times.

We've had some visitors from Europe during the last month (daughters of good friends and their partners), and have done our "tourist guide" obligations. It's always interesting to view our area through their eyes - we take so many things for granted.

The guests have left, and it's back to regular life. One of the unpleasant situations right now is that, just after going through the latest 3-day chemo session, Derek is back in the hospital with a blood clot in his left leg. This is apparently a not unexpected occurrence with colon cancer. He's on blood thinners and is scheduled to stay in there for two or three days. It has spoiled his and Airdrie's planned weekend at the Ti-Na-Mara resort on Vancouver Island; this really "sucks" - both had very much looked forward to this.

An update: the hospital doctors have determined that Derek is fit to go home, and he arrived here this evening, feeling much better. We're all happy to have him back. He'll be on blood thinners for an indeterminate time, but of all the medical problems, that's a small inconvenience. Perhaps there is a small consolation in Derek and Airdrie's missed trip to Vancouver Island: there is a big storm brewing in the area of their destination.

Parents' concern

Derek is blogging and facebooking again. This means that he is feeling better after the latest 3-day chemo session (Monday to Wednesday). That makes us feel better, too.

Parental concern does not cease when your adult child has his or her own family. It includes them all.

Spider

Spider is back - a new net and more wasps caught. I used my trusted Canon XT and uploaded the pictures here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mimiandpapa/sets/72157624814683502/

Spider - a set on Flickr

www.flickr.com










Two of these pictures were taken about a month ago. If it is the same spider it sure has grown since then. Judging from the latest two images he (or she - I can't tell) has been successful enough securing meals in that time.

Cancer month

September is cancer month: In memory of every cancer patient, family member and friend who has lost their battle with cancer and in honour of those who continue to conquer it! Put this up for 1 hour if you love someone who has or had cancer. Many won't copy and paste, I did. Will you? (Barbra Goldman)

Playing with a new computer

A couple of days ago, just as the latest weather front was approaching our area, my wife noticed an unusual cloud formation almost overhead.  I quickly grabbed her little digital camera and took a picture.

Since I just purchased a new iMac a couple of weeks ago, and am still "getting the hang of it", I decided to play around with a third-party, inexpensive graphics program I bought on-line (Pixelmator, recommended by Derek) to play around with the cloud picture.









This is the original image, including a flaw in the camera which appears when the zoom is set to higher than 1.5 ( I'm getting the camera looked after under warranty).












This is a negative image, after painting out the flaw, and rotating the original. To me, it looks like a number of jet fighter planes flying in formation. Maybe aliens?

Part of the family?

Today, I decided to give my comfortable old slippers an honourable "burial".  As the oldest "member", they joined our slipper family at Sechelt, on the Sunshine Coast, and served me well for over ten years. They were "born" at a shop that specializes in sheepskin products; the shop is still in business, so far as I know. Over the years, the left slipper has had a couple of duct tape repairs, but now it's time to say goodbye. Perhaps we'll get a replacement - I do occasionally go to the sunshine coast on business.

A happy occasion

Yesterday, our family and friends took part in one of the happy events which are part of a family's history: Our niece Tarya married the love of her life, Taylor James (T.J. to all of us). We are proud of both, and wish them a long, happy, and healthy life together.

Many pictures were taken; the ones we took are on flickr at:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mimiandpapa/sets/72157624842227574

This morning, we had more happy news: Tarya's uncle became a grandfather. Congratulations to his family, too.