Saturday, December 22

Howdy


Howdy Keep Movin' On Blog readers!
Christmas and the new year are fast approaching. It always seems a little strange in 80 degree weather and you would think after several years that we would get used to it. I never seem to though. When I get a hankerin' to see the white stuff I click on the link to the right and view the Snow Mountain Ranch webcam. That has been a nice addition and I look in frequently in hopes of seeing some wildlife. Today I saw what I think are deer tracks. Not sure though.
We have had a good year with many adventures and if you are a frequent reader you are all caught up. I like doing the annual letter as we go along and in the blog. Sure saves me much extra work. Unfortunately those who are not connected get left behind although there are very few anymore not part of the tech set.

There have been some folks with new computers in the park and some I know who are getting new ones and I have been busy setting them up for streamlined use. I take off all the "free" stuff they load on as most of the freebies are for 30 days only. They want to get you hooked on their programs so you will pay for the full version. The truth is most of it you do not want anyway. Microsoft Office is one of the big offenders. Check out www.openoffice.org and you can have all the features of MS Office for free. Some folks are suspicious of things that are free but I do not recommend anything that hasn't been checked out upside down and sideways.
Still learning about Windows Vista and without the operating system on my computer it is slow going. Right now I am not overly impressed but the jury is still out.

Butch has been busy keeping electrical issues to a minimum and his brother Bill takes care of plumbing. They make a good team. They play golf in between times.
We haven't done much out of the ordinary but I imagine things will liven up after the first of the year.
We wish all of you

Monday, December 17

Iowa!!

This young fella did a youtube video doing a jig in front of many Iowa landmarks. It is 7 minutes and 9 seconds long but it is worth it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KsWBD3UPfg4

Sunday, December 16

Snow Mountain Ranch Web Cam

They now have a web cam at Snow mountain Ranch. Hope it works for you.
http://ymcarockiesmuseum.org/images/ftpimages/smr.jpg

Bernie's Fruitcake Recipe

Recipe: Bernie's Fruitcake 12/16/2007
Category: Holiday
Author: Bernie Craig

2 C Flour
1 1/2 C Sugar
1 tsp Baking Powder
1/2 tsp Salt
4 eggs
3 T butter-room temp.
4 Jars Whole Maraschino Cherries (Drain 3 jars)
2 C Pecan halves or pieces
2 C Walnut halves or pieces
1 LB. Raisins

Sift together flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Stir in eggs, one at a time. Add
remaining ingredients one at a time in the order listed, mix gently.
Pour in ungreased tube pan. Bake at 300 degrees for 1 hour and 45 minutes.
Increase heat to 325 degrees and bake an additional 15 minutes. Let cool in pan
then remove. Wrap in foil or plastic and store in refrigerator. Allow 1 to 2 days for
flavors to mingle before serving.

I never liked fruitcake until I tasted Bernies. :-)

Art online

Art online: Iowa institutions go high-tech to display, discuss works in new ways
Art on YouTube;

Try to imagine life before television, before we looked at images and expected them to move. Imagine what it was like to spend hours looking deep into one image, instead of 24 images per second. . . .

The voice on YouTube's online video continues:

Today our brains are instructed by the code of cinema. And because that code requires us to watch passively in a sort of trance, we've gotten into this habit of relying more on the images and maybe a little bit less on ourselves. This is why when we go to museums, we end up disappointed, alienated - because something is missing. We know how to watch, but it's like we've forgotten how to see.
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To help us out, staffers at the University of Iowa Museum of Art challenged students last year to create short videos about various works in the collection. In the YouTube series quoted above, Eula Biss and John Bresland riff on an ivory figurine from the Congo, a blurry red Mark Rothko, a pudgy statue swiped from a Big Boy burger joint, and more. With a few simple tricks from "the code of cinema," the videos bring the artwork to life more than a standard printed explanation ever could.