Blast with da Booz: February 2009

Saturday, February 28, 2009

posters : blasphemy (funny)

1,227 words until the 1,000,000th Word

Global Language Monitor (GLM) documents, analyzes and tracks trends in language the world over, with a particular emphasis upon Global English." The top of GLM's web site, http://www.languagemonitor.com/ , displays "The Million Word March" which shows an enumeration of the "words" they recognize as "Global English;" the count as of Dec. 30, 2008 was 998,762 words. When will this count reach one million?

clipped from www.languagemonitor.com

The English Language WordClock: 998,773

clipped from www.hubdub.com

When will the English language include more than 1M words?

When will the English language include more than 1M words?
    before Feb. 28, 2009
    after 2/28/09 and before 3/30/09
    after 3/30/09 and before 4/30/09
    after 4/30/09 and before 5/30/09
    after 5/30/09

Zoom out

Forecast history %

before Feb. 28, 2009
5%

after 2/28/09 and before 3/30/09
11%

after 3/30/09 and before 4/30/09
41%

after 4/30/09 and before 5/30/09
32%

after 5/30/09
11%

Question suspends in 6 weeks

Friday, February 27, 2009

US economy sucks - Mexicans going home

given up on the American dream

clipped from www.huffingtonpost.com

Every Saturday for nearly four years, Elena Trujillo has gone to the local department store in Morelia, Michoacán, to pick up money wired home by her 34-year-old son, Ángel. This 59-year-old mother of three is one of the between 16 and 35 million Mexicans who depend on remittances from relatives in the United States to boost their incomes. But in late September -- for Trujillo and for countless others -- the wire transfers stopped coming. Confused at first, Trujillo was reassured by Ángel on the phone: Everything is OK; I have a surprise for you. The next week, Trujillo received another transfer, this one much larger than normal. She was ecstatic. Ángel's construction work must finally be paying dividends, she thought. Then, just a few days later, Ángel came back to Michoacán. "I couldn't believe it. He had given up and come home," Trujillo said. "He had given up on the American Dream."

The Sanctuary of Our Lady of Las Lajas-spectacular church

was built on a bridge which spans a spectacular gorge of the Guáitara River, is this gothic church. Legend has it that an image of the Virgin Mary appeared in the mid-18th century on an enormous rock above the river. Interestingly, the church has been constructed in such a way that the rock (and image) is its high altar. Pilgrims from all over Colombia and Ecuador journey here and, unsurprisingly, reports of miracles at the site are not uncommon.

Back in the eighteenth century a lady and her daughter discovered a cave with picture of Our Lady on the wall of the grotto... devotion to the image grew, a good road replaced the old trail. In the early 20th century a tasteful gothic church was built over the cave.

clipped from thingstobeseen.blogspot.com

clipped from portable-parents-photos.com

clipped from www.travelpod.com

clipped from www.ipitimes.com

picture of Our
Lady on the wall of the grotto was discovered

The child
Jesus is in Our Lady’s arms. On one side of Our Lady is Saint
Francis; on the other is Saint Dominic.

Replacing World Landmarks With Souvenirs

clipped from www.mymodernmet.com

When choosing a photograph for the tilt-shift effect, bear in mind that you want to give the impression of a miniature model. Miniature models are usually viewed from above so try and choose a photo with an elevated viewpoint. Buildings, roads, traffic and railways are excellent choices but make sure there is a reasonable wide angle of view.

Open the image in Photoshop and enter Quick Mask Mode by pressing Q on the keyboard, or select the Quick Mask icon as shown in the Tool Palette below:

Choose the Gradient Tool by pressing G on the keyboard, or select the Gradient Tool icon. Be sure to choose the Reflected Gradient option (the fourth icon along before the Mode drop-down).