Configuring MythTV

So, I finally have MythTv in a mostly working state under Fedore Core 5 (Linux). I haven't tried to get it to display on a TV yet, mostly because that requires moving either the TV or the computer. But I do I have my ATI HDTV Wonder card recording HDTV, I can watch live TV most of the time (if the signal is good, if the signal is bad I get segfaults), I can watch DVDs, and I can rip DVDs (ones of my family of course).

Setup (just the relevant parts):
Motherboard: MSI K8NGM2
Capture Card: ATI HDTV Wonder
Remote: ATI Remote Wonder
Video: NVidia GForce (integrated)
Audio: NVidia NForce (integrated)
OS: Fedora Core 5 x64
Media Center: MythTv

MSI K8NGM2 - seems to work OK. I've had some weird problems with sound. For some reason Fedora detects the capture card as the audio chip sometimes. I haven't quite figured out why. I recommend flashing the bios (do so at your own risk) before installing Fedora since apparently this might fix the problem. I did flash my bios and after going into the bios settings twice, it seemed to work. But then I haven't really rebooted since I got the sound working again. (Linux is nice that way). (Updated 8//20/06 - bios flash did not solve the problem.) (Updated 9/3/2006: installing the newest version of alsa seems to have helped)

ATI HDTV Wonder - works fine under mythtv. Picture is great (assuming decent signal strength). I've seen some complaints about the enclosed antenna. It works fine for me if I point it the right way, but my house gets UHF channels pretty well anyway. Worked "out of the box" with the Fedora drivers. In mythTV, set it up as a DVB device. The analogue tuner apparently doesn't work under Linux. (As a note, ATSC is the digital standard in the US.)

ATI Remote Wonder (5000023600)- worked right away with LIRC. It's a RF remote, so I can sit in the couch in the basement and change channels with the computer in the next room. Finding the right lircd.conf and lircrc files was a bit of a pain since I didn't want to sit there and push every single button. I finally found one and hacked together a few lines for Xine.

Video - My husband was nice enough to install the NVidia linux drivers for me.

MythTv - Getting MythTv to work was a bit of a pain, mostly because I had my capture card set up as the wrong type of card. Once I set it up as a DVB, everything worked great. On the MythTV page, gives a bunch of stuff to compile into the kernel. I didn't do anything like that, it just worked. I followed Jared's guide to setting up MythTv on Fedora Core 4. It's mostly the same for fedora core 5. One note: when you set up your zap2it account, make sure you only check channels you want. Deleting unwanted channels out of mythtv is a pain and I have yet to attempt it. Instead I have a nice paper list of what channels do and do not work. Of course, I couldn't do that when I set it up since none of my other TVs can pick up HDTV, so I had no idea what channels I could get. Today I got my first reward from having mythTv set up since I could let my daughter watch her favorite PBS show when she wanted to without her complaining it was blurry and me having to go adjust the rabbit ears.

Xine - (media player) I don't remember this being hard to set up at all, other than getting the correct codes for my remote. I use this instead of mplayer since it can handle dvd menus.

Wine - got wine (acts like windows) working pretty quickly. Actually a lot easier than I expected. One of my windows programs wouldn't work with it, but not a big deal. I've heard some directX programs have issues with wine and this apparently was on of those programs.

FireFox - I installed the 32-bit version of Firefox so I could run Flash. Here's how or here

So basically, it's taken me about a week and a half to get this point (including time to build the system and install Fedora Core 5). I really didn't know much about linux when I started either although now I know more than I ever wanted to :)

A Forgotten Myth

So I haven't fallen off the earth, I've just been really busy and not posting. Anyway I've been working on two projects, a software program to track food storage and a mythtv box. Since the mythtv box will probably be finished first, I'll talk about that.

I've been wanting a Tivo or something similar for some time now. While I don't watch much tv, the few shows I do want to watch seem to be on when I need to put my kids to bed. A VCR would work, but I wanted to be able to say "record all of antiques roadshow" without knowing exactly when it would be on. (Utah has 2 PBS channels) So I decided to build a computer that could record TV. Unfortunately the VHF reception my house is bad, so I decided to opt for DTV (digital TV) because it tends to run in the UHF frequency which I can get pretty well. (Did you know all broadcast signals are supposed to be digital by 2009? Did you know most tvs for sale today can't handle it?) I decided to run Fedora Core 5 (Linux) with mythTv to handle the media center side of things. MythTv is supposed to be really great, but it takes forever to set up.

Anyway for under $500 I'll have my computerized home entertainment center and a great PC.

CleanFlix ruling

How could I not comment...

So the big news is that so far CleanFlix has lost it's case. (I'm sure they'll appeal.) As a quick recap , CleanFlix sells edited versions of various movies. They were sued by various directors.

"Their objective ... is to stop the infringement because of its irreparable injury to the creative artistic expression in the copyrighted movies," the judge wrote. "There is a public interest in providing such protection."

Having read various debates at slashdot (warning: slashdot is slashdot) and millenial star there's a couple of different issues at play.

1. Copyright law - copyright law allows the creator control over derivative works, so yes CleanFlix et al was in violation. Of course, since the length of copyrights has been extended pretty much indefinitely, there will be no derivative works (without permission). Yes, TV and airplanes have edited versions, but those are done with permission (and the payment of lots of money). An interesting question is whether most directors actually hold the copyright to the movies they direct. I'd be surprised if they did, it is much more likely the studios hold them. I suppose it looks better to have the directors bring the suit. There's an article at slate that makes this point.
   
2. Should I really be watching this movie even if it is edited - as members of the LDS church, we've been counseled to avoid 'R' rated and many PG-13 movies since the content is less than desirable. So should you buy a copy of the 'R' rated version to satisfy moral and monetary obligation to the artist then have it edited or not buy it at all (as in don't watch the movie). Even cute movies, like "While You Were Sleeping" have a scenes my family always fastforwarded through. I'd love to have a version that did that for me. I'm still undecided on this issue.
   
3. Artistic Integrity (quoting out of context) - the copyright holders feel they have a right to make sure the film is viewed how they want it viewed. I could see a scenario where someone made an edited copy of a film that changed the film's message. (The scenario I could see for this is maybe a racist group changing some film to portray a minority group as evil.) Perhaps cutting out a redemption scene leaving the viewer feeling that the hero deserved to die. This is similar to quoting out of context. By wanting the viewer to see the whole movie, they want the whole message to be seen.
   
4. Artistic Integrity is secondary to money - unless the movie was an indie film or made by a very famous director, the studio had a lot of say in the film. The studio's goal is making money. Thus things are added or taken away based on how the studio thinks the public will react to them. Thus, if someone changes a movie in a way that will make it appeal to a wider demographic, I don't see why they care all that much as long as they get paid. If the studio was planning "clean" releases, I could see them being upset because this is destroying their market. But I don't think they are.
   
5. Movies are a two way street - no copyright holder can guarantee that his movie will affect any one person a specific way. Take the movie "Napoleon Dynamite". Some people love it, some people think it is the dumbest movie ever. Or say Al Gore's movie An inconvenient Truth (haven't seen it, but I can sure mention it) , some people feel it is a life changing movie and other people feel it is a load of bad science. The fact is, I have control over what I watch. I go the bathroom during the scary parts of movie. Different people see different themes in the same movie. Most people, after having seen it once, will edit the movie anyway to support those themes. For example, I watched "The two towers" and I always skip through Frodo and Sam (LOTR lovers, please don't flame me) and most of the battle scenes. (It's great, I can take a 4 hour movie and watch it in an hour and a half). Then it becomes a great story of a king coming to his own and the friendships that support it. The director, unless he or she is also the screenwriter, has already adapted someone else's work by deciding how the characters should look and what parts should be changed. Why are they so offended when someone else disagrees with their views?
   
6. Hollywood is Evil - separate from the copyright debate, but just under the surface is this interesting question: If a movie can be edited for swearing and sex (I'm leaving violence out because that's a different issue) and still be a good movie, why are they in there in the first place? I think directors and studios want to argue that they are vital or that they reflect society. I'm not so sure. I wonder if they worry that people won't go to see a movie because there is no swearing in it. Of reasons that people won't go to see movies, that usually isn't one of them, a poor plot is much more common. I wonder if they fear a PG rating that adults somehow associate a G or PG movie with kids movies. I think people get locked into this view that since I'm an adult, I can watch swearing, sex and violence and not be affected.

I don't have any real conclusions to offer, but that case did make for a nice long blog entry.

My Favorite Cleaning Supplies

This is random (surprise), but currently my two favorite cleaning supplies are Cascade Complete Dishwasher detergent and Mr. Clean Magic Erasers.

The Cascade Complete just gets my dishes cleaner. (I know, I sound like an add, but it's true.) I am lazy (um, efficient) , so I don't like to pre-rinse my dishes execpt when they are really bad. The Cascade lets me get away with that.

I also love the Magic Erasers. I have gotten so many crayon and marker stains off my kitchen table due to it's ability to get weird stuff off surfaces.

Early Morning Ant-ics

This morning, as I was getting dressed, I felt strongly I should wear my sandals. I did, and it was a good thing.

After a hectic morning of getting my children ready for the day, I was delighted to send them outside in the backyard to play and pick raspberries while I finished my breakfast. I was just finishing my bowl of cereal when I heard my daughter yelling. Since it was early in the morning and I didn't want to wake the neighbors, I went running out. I saw my son near her as if he had been hitting her, so I thought they were fighting. When I got closer, she started complaining about ouchies. I looked at her more closely and saw she was covered in angry ants. I tried to brush them off, but soon gave up and took her clothes off and shook them out. Her socks were especially full of ants. (I eventually had to change her clothes completely.)

I went back inside and came out with a can of ant spray and had my daughter show me where she had been. I looked, but didn't see any ants. So I decided to pick some raspberries for my children. I started picking a few, then looked down and found my feet covered in biting ants. Fortunately, since I was in sandals, I could just take them off and easily brush them off my feet. Since I had found the ant hill, I went ahead and sprayed it.

But I'm glad God is willing to look after us by helping us with the small things.

Favorite Quote of the Day

The day is still young, but I think I found my favorite quote of the day from a NYTimes article here. It talks about a lawsuit against myspace, then goes on to talk about a suit against KFC:

I recognize that there's a certain part of the population who don't know a steady fried chicken diet is bad for them. I feel bad for these people," Mr. Chan wrote. "However, these are probably the same people who don't put on their seatbelts and who suck down endless coffee during the day and Coors at night. So let's be honest with ourselves here. You're not going to save these people. You're just screwing up the chicken for the rest of us.[empahsis added]

I guess that can be my new comeback: Yeah, you're just screwing up the chicken for the rest of us.

Restaurant Review: Carrabbas

Name: Carrabbas
Address:683 E. University Parkway, Orem, UT 84097
Phone: (801) 765-1222
Type: Expensive Italian
Cost: $12-15 a plate, kids meal for $5, meals are large enough to split
What we had: Chicken Parmesan, chicken fingers, Chicken Rosa Maria
Rating: 4 stars (out of 5) Would probably be 5 stars if it wasn't so dang expensive
Kid friendly: moderate, provided crayons and could color on menu

Review: After discovering the wait was an hour at PF Changs, we went to this restaurant with my sisters. It has a gluten free, vegetarian menu, a rarity in Orem. Anyway my husband and I split the Chicken Parmesan. I thought it was OK, although the garlic potato sides were very good. The Chicken Rosa Maria was amazing. (My sister was kind of enough to share.) If you go, order that. My sister also shared the fried zuccini which was excellent in the dipping sauce they provided.

The waitress was polite. The restaurant was clean and the restrooms passable.

Initial Review: Durabrand 7" Portable DVD Player (DUR-7)

Background: I bought the 7" Durabrand Portable DVD Player from Wal-mart at the end of May 2006 since I was planning on going on a trip with my children and wanted to have a little peace and quiet occasionally. I bought this unit from the store since I wanted to have time to return it for another one if I needed to. (Note: I don't know what the reliability of these units is, I just know many cheap portable dvd players have quality issues.) I will add more to this review after I've used it more.

Link: http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=4938631

First Impressions: It looks like a dvd player. It seems cheaply made. It is wide screen. The speaker volume at max is LOUD (at least to me), I turned it down to about half way. The screen seems bright and clear to me. My husband said the screen quality is passable, but I don't really notice things like that. To put a DVD in, you lift the cover and snap the DVD in place.

Features:

• Plays DVD+R, DVD-R, DVD-RW, CDs (both regular and mp3), and picture disks (jpg). (It might do more, this is what I tested)
• It has component video out (no video in). It also has a switch to switch between widescreen and normal format.
• The buttons on the player are: volume (up/down), play, pause, stop, skip (forward/back). There is also a brightness knob.
• I can do everything with this portable player that I can with my full-sized dvd player, skip, repeat, memory.
• Hacks (haven't tried them personally): Region free and also one to let you play VCDs
• Car adaptor
  

Quirks:

• You can't control the volume or brightness from the remote.
• This is more related to the case I bought to hook it up in my car, but the remote sensor is hidden under the edge of case so I can't use the remote. Putting a cd case under the player so that it sat higher seemed to fix the problem
• You can't select from a DVD's menu with the buttons on the player, so don't loose the remote. You can hit play and most DVDs will play.
  
• Battery won't charge unless player is turned off.
  
• Max of 254 pictures/songs in a folder on a cd.
  

Still to Test

• Battery life
• Playing a full length movie
• Screen brightness in a car
• Longevity
  

Rating so Far
This player is exactly what I expected. It's a good price and seems to do everything I want it to. Assuming it holds up, I would recommend it.

Transparent screen attempt

Transparent screen attempt
Originally uploaded by jpstanley.

My husband took this picture. I love transparent screen shots.

Re: Why are Some Mormons Afraid of an LDS Presidential Candidate?

I occasionally read the blog Reach Upward , since I enjoy the political commentary. Today he asked "Why are some Mormons Afraid of an LDS President?" (Note: below I'm speaking hypothetically, I'm not implying anything about Mitt Romney.)

I'm not worried about what the news outlets might say about the LDS church during the campaign. The church is in the spotlight a lot and I don't think this will do any lasting harm. I'm just a little worried that after a campaign where religion ends up playing a big part, the candidate will be accused of something illegal (bribery, improper use of funds....) or obviously against the teaching of the church (has an affair with an aide...) and that this will reflect poorly on the church. Or that people might confuse the candidate's political stances with the stances of the church.

I'm all for good, honest people running for office and hope that if a member of the church runs, he or she falls into that category.

Review: Alpine Roofing Specialists

Company: Alpine Roofing Specialists
Phone: (801) 361-2301
Job: Reroof my house
Rating: Good (provisionally since I haven't had my roof very long)

We recently got our roof replaced. At first we considered doing it ourselves, but since we have a second story, being near the edge of the roof there held no appeal for either of us.


After the events described here, we finally found a roofer. We just wanted to go over the existing layer of shingles since they were still in good condition. I got estimates from a few companies I found in the phone book and also Home Depot. (Home Depot, by the way, was $2000 more than any other bid.) Then I called a roofing supply company that advertised that they did referrals and they referred Alpine Roofing Specialists. Jared gave me a bid that included redoing the flashing on the roof, installing flashing around the swamp cooler, installing vents, and moving the swamp cooler to roof around it (and installing the shingles of course). I also got a release of lien and saw the proof of insurance.

I found out they had done my neighbor's roof, so I called and she said she hadn't had any leaks.

Now I can't give a full review since I've only had my roof for a week, but I can say they did a good job. They arrived when they said they would. They worked quickly and cleaned up after themselves. The roof looks really good. The city inspector found no problems with what they were doing. They also worked longer than I expected since rain was expected the next day and they wanted the roof covered. My swamp cooler was hard to move, but they worked on it until it was done.

Nielsens grove park

Yesterday we took our kids to Nielsen's grove park. It is on Sandhill Road out past the Wal-mart in Orem. It is one really cool park. There is a huge field area perfect for flying kites or launching rockets (that's what the boy scouts were doing.) They have a pond and a fountain. Plus a really nice garden of tulips.

The coolest thing is a merry-go-round-style set of swings. The swings go around in a big circle (I've seen similar things at amusement parks), but it is human powered. I wanted to swing on it so bad, but there were too many children wanting a turn. But sometime soon I'm going there in the morning so I can have fun.

There is also a playground, but it is small and for ages 5-12. I hope they are planning on adding a play area for smaller children because the smaller children play on that playset and get pushed over by older children.

Raising the Roof

We are looking to redo our roof. It is driving me up the wall. Do we do it ourselves or hire someone? (I'm leaning towards hiring someone since I don't want to be up on the second story nailing shingles.) But who to hire? At first I called some people in the yellow pages. I got quotes.

(In case you're interested our roof will take 18 squares of shingles and the estimates are in the $3500 range for a full tear off.)

Then I called Home Depot since they will install a roof for you (for $2,000 more than any other contractor.) They had a very nice salesman. I love listening to salesmen spin the truth. The problem with the salesman is that he isn't the installer, so really I know no more about how Home Depot will do than I did before. I was leaning towards them even with the higher price tag since it'd have the Home Depot name and a 10 year warranty and inspection, but then I read on line some bad experiences people have had with them (not here in Utah though). Basically, although Home Depot can't disappear with my money like a smaller contractor can, they can give me the run around for months since no one seems to be ultimately responsible.

My main problem was I knew nothing about these people. So I finally found 2 more contractors that people in the neighborhood had used and liked or at least their roofs hadn't leaked. I got one bid today.

The City of Orem requires an over-the-counter permit for putting on a roof. They told me it would cost about $50 and an inspector would come out and look at the roof as it's being put on to make sure it was OK.

Anyway, that's where things stand now.

Children's story: Sir Duck and his Noble Companions

Once upon a time, a duck was flying over a forest when he was shot by a hunter. The duck managed to fly to a castle where the princess nursed him back to health.
"I wish there was something I could do to help you," said the duck.
"There is," said the princess, "A magic spell prevents me from leaving the castle. The only way to break the spell is for someone to plant the magic flower outside the castle gate."
"I'll do it," said the duck.
"It will be very dangerous and you cannot yet fly."
"I can walk and swim," said the duck.
"Then take this map, it will show you the way to the magic flower. You will know it because it smells like lemons."

The next morning, the duck swam across the moat with the map tucked under his wing and some rope around his neck. He followed the map and soon found himself following a path in a dark, enchanted wood. After he had gone a few miles, he heard a strange sound, "Awooo, Awoo" and the sound was coming closer. At first, the duck wanted to run away, but then stopped himself. "Help comes from unlikely places," he said to himself, "I'll wait and see what is making that noise." The duck quickly climbed up a tree and waited. He looked down and saw a large dog howling in the most pitiful manner. "The princess has always been so good to me. I'll never find the magic flower to save her. What ever can I do?" The duck, thinking quickly, jumped down from his branch.
"Ahh!" shrieked the dog, "Who are you?"
"I, too, am seeking the magic flower. But I have a map to show the way. Would you like to join me?"
The dog agreed and two continued down the path.

After they had gone a few miles, they heard a strange sound, "Meow, Meow" and the sound was coming closer. "It's a monster," said the dog. "Perhaps," said the duck, "but let us wait and see what it is. Help comes from unlikely sources." The duck and dog quickly climbed up a tree to see what it was. They looked down and saw a cat howling in the most pitiful manner. "I want rescue the princess and now I am lost. I'll never find the magic flower. What ever can I do?" The duck, thinking quickly, jumped down from his branch.
"Ahh!" shrieked the cat, "Who are you?"
"I, too, am seeking the magic flower. But I have a map to show the way. Would you like to join us?" The cat agreed and three set off.

In the same way the duck was joined by a sheep, an ox, and a pig.

The duck looked at his map. "The map says to be careful because a band of thieves roams in this area."
"Ah," said the dog, "Thieves are nothing. Leave them to me."
They traveled on. Suddenly, the dog began to bark and growl ferociously. The animals heard sounds of running as the robbers ran away. "That takes care of that," said the dog.

It grew dark, and the animals were tired and hungry. The duck looked at his map. "Ahead there is a barn full of food for any traveler who needs it." They entered the barn ready to eat, but it was full of rats and mice selfishly feasting on all the food that hissed at them as they approached. "Ah", said the cat,"Leave them to me." With a loud meow, the cat jumped among the rats. The rodents fled, leaving plenty of food for the other animals.

Well fed, they laid down to sleep. As the night drew on, it became colder and colder. The animals began to shiver. "There are no blankets here," said the duck. "Ah, " said the sheep, "Leave this to me. I am made of wool. If you will all cuddle close to me, I can keep you warm." Warm and content, the animals slept.

The next morning they continued their journey. The path ended at a swift river. Duck knew he could swim across, but the water was too swift for the other animals. "Ah," said the duck, "Leave this to me." He swam across the river and tied his rope around a tall tree. Then he swam back. "Now hold onto the rope and we can cross." But even with the rope, the river was still too swift.

"Ah," said the ox, "Leave this to me." He began to pull and strain on the rope. With a loud crack, the tree fell over making a fine bridge. The animals all crossed and found themselves in a field full of magic flowers.

There were thousands of flowers and they all looked the same. "Ah," said the pig, "leave this to me." She began to sniff the air. "This way," she called as she ran. The other animals followed her lead. Suddenly, she stopped. "Here is the flower." They all smelled it and agreed it was the one. The dog carefully dug it up, and they began their trip home.

Soon they were at the castle. They planted the flower and the spell was broken. The grateful princess came out of the castle. "In return for you bravery," she said, "I dub all of you knights and grant you one wish."

"We wish to have a farm where we can all live together and help each other."

So the princess put them in charge of the royal farm and everyone lived happily ever after.

(c) 2006

Restaurant Review: Tucanos

restaurant Name: Tucanos
Location: 4801 North University Ave Provo, Utah (Riverwoods shopping)
Website: http://www.tucanos.com/
Type: Brazilian with lots of meat
Average Meal: $11 lunch ($17 dinner)
What we ate: churrasco, Brazilian lemonade
Rating: 5 stars (out of 5)
Kid friendly: Mostly, children eat free
Review: I love Tucanos, but due to its cost, we only eat lunch there. It is a Brazilian style resturant. There is a central salad bar with lots of different types of salad. Then you sit at your table and the waiters bring skewers of grilled meat, vegatables and fruit to your table. If you want some, you get some. You can eat as much as you want. My favorites are the garlic sirloin, the grilled pineapple, and the grilled pineapple. My husband really likes the brisket. The lemonade is pretty good, but I wouldn't buy it (I had a coupon). This restaurant gets busy so come early. (On a random note, they play Brazilian music in the bathroom. It's great.)

Restaurant Review: Shoots

restaurant Name: Shoots
Location: 4801 North University Ave #820 Provo, Utah (Riverwoods shopping)
Phone: 801.225.0445
Website: http://www.shootsutah.com/
Type: Chinese
Average Meal: $8-10 per person (Sat. lunch)
What we ate: pot stickers, broccoli with spicy garlic sauce and beef, kung pao chicken (meals also included egg drop soup and egg rolls)
Rating: 4 (out of 5) stars
Kid friendly: Mostly, no children's menu, but willing to accommodate (let us use plastic cups and a take out box for our 19 mo. old that likes to throw things)
Review: This is a great restaurant. We'll be coming back. The service was excellent and waitress very willing to help us. We enjoyed almost all the food. The egg drop soup was really good. The egg rolls were also good. The only thing we didn't like were the pot stickers we had gotten for our kids. The pot stickers were very heavy on ginger. No one in our family liked them. But the kung pao chicken was great. The first bite wasn't quite what I expected, but was still good. The broccoli with spicy garlic sauce and beef was excellent. It was a little spicy, on the spicy end of mild. The beef was excellent, very tender and the sauce delicious.

One word of caution, if you are using Riverwoods gift certificates there, they will give you your change in a gift certificate for Shoots. That annoyed my husband and I since now we have to go back, but other than that, we loved it.

Diamond in the Rough

The other day at Wal-mart, I saw some SkyDiamond kites for $1. I bought some on impulse. It was one of the best decisions I've made recently.

These kites are the traditional diamond shape, but they really fly. It was trivial to get them up in the air (unlike many of the other kites I've tried.) My almost-four-year-old daughter could get and keep hers up with a little help.

In the interest of full disclosure, these kites have two quirks. First, their tail is really long, like ten feet. Second, when you put the kite together, their is a black piece that can flip around and be backwards, so if your kite isn't wants to fly upside down, flip that piece around.

We went back to Wal-mart yesterday and got some more :)


Here's the kite.

Review: Bride and Prejudice

About 2 weeks ago, I saw the movie "Bride and Prejudice", a musical set in India based on the plot of Jane Austen's "Pride and Prejudice". I liked the movie, but I recommend watching it late at night with friends after eating lots of sugar. I enjoyed the songs, especially "No Life Without Wife". It was fun to watch, very colorful. If you are a Pride and Prejudice fan, definately see this one. I don't think I'll buy it, but I'd definately be willing to watch it again.

As an aside, I didn't realize the movie was a musical until I saw a bunch of men in turbans and beards break into song and dance.

My making new purse

I've been wanting a new purse. As the mother of two small children I needed to stuff in more stuff than my current purse of about 6 years could handle. I found a back pack style purse at Wal-mart for $5, too good to pass up. The problem was I couldn't organize all my stuff. So I decided to make my own purse. It turned out to be a good experience (mostly because of the kind intervention of my mother-in-law. She fixed all my sewing mistakes.)

The purse measures about 8 1/2 X 11 inches. I based my design on this free pattern I found on the web, but I have a dreadful sewing secret: I cannot sew a straight line. I'm getting better at it, but the pattern I had found had a bunch of curves. I wasn't quite ready to tackle that yet, so I decided to stick with squares. I also wanted a purse bigger than the one in the pattern.

I found a denim remnant and a cute cotton pattern remnant at Wal-mart to use for the purse. (Note: using denim is a pain because you have to zigzag stitch around all the seams to keep it from unraveling, but I was used to it since I had recently done a jean quilt.)

I learned how to install a zipper, why it is important to be careful with a seam ripper, and how to sew a corner. I also learned that having pockets go to the edge of the panels isn't the greatest idea since it meant I was trying to sew through five layers of fabric.

Anyway, my purse has a small outside pocket for cell phone, keys, and chapstick. On the back of the purse is a large pocket for holding papers.



Inside is the main pocket, great for diapers and stuff. There are two inside pockets. The one is for little items I don't want floating around in the purse proper. The other pocket I sewed to make a pen holder, checkbook holder, and PDA holder.

Here's the inside of the purse before it was sewn:

I attached the strap with two D-rings.



I am happy with how my purse turned out, but for a while it did bear a striking resemblance to a scripture case. I also hope the cloth will hold up.

I always knew the weatherman was a democrat

I was reading this article on Slate (http://www.slate.com/id/2139172/), where it was talking about bias in the news. Then came this great quote:

The authors predict more bias in stories where the outcomes aren't realized for some time (foreign war reporting, for example) and less bias where the outcomes are immediately apparent (a weather forecast or a sports score). Indeed, almost nobody accuses the New York Times or Fox News Channel of slanting their weather reports.

I'm sorry, I just couldn't stop laughing at the idea of accusing a newspaper of slanting the weather report.

Hmm... I wonder if news sources who favor the current party in power tend to predict more sunny days to make people feel happier. Sort of the "is the sky half cloudy or half sunny" debate. Although it would explain why the long range weather report is really hit and miss :)