New Blog Post!: The Dash, http://tinyurl.com/at93zv

I attended funeral services for a friend’s father yesterday. The minister read a wonderful poem that I took to heart at the service. I want to share it with you all!

The Dash

by

Linda Ellis

I read of a man who stood to speak

At the funeral of a friend.

He referred to the dates on her tombstone

From the beginning to the end.

He noted that first came the date of her birth

And spoke of the following date with tears,

But he said what mattered most of all

Was the dash between those years.

For that dash represents all the time

That she spent alive on earth

And now only those who loved her

Know what that little line is worth.

For it matters not, how much we own,

The cars, the house, the cash,

What matters is how we live and love

And how we spend our dash.

So think about this long and hard;

Are there things you’d like to change?

For you never know how much time is left

That can still be rearranged.

If we could just slow down enough

To consider what’s true and real

And always try to understand

The way other people feel.

And be less quick to anger

And show appreciation more

And love the people in our lives

Like we’ve never loved before.

If we treat each other with respect

And more often wear a smile,

Remembering that this special dash

Might only last a little while.

So when your eulogy is being read

With your life’s actions to rehash

Would you be proud of the things they say

About how you spent your dash?

Kudos: Linda Ellis

watching Backlash of the Hunter, Part 1 on Boxee. check it out at http://www.hulu.com/watch/12887

watching Speedracer: The Movie on Boxee. check it out at http://www.hulu.com/watch/27815

listening to Eartha Kitt on lastfm on Boxee. tune in at http://tinyurl.com/cex6zz

likes Annette: A Musical Reunion with America’s Girl Next Door by Annette Funicello on Boxee. listen on last.fm, http://tinyurl.com/au4c48

listening to Eartha Kitt on lastfm on Boxee. tune in at http://tinyurl.com/cex6zz

I am on break at my first day back to nursing school. My head is spinning already!

New Blog Post!: It’s A New Day!, http://tinyurl.com/9kyrxv

Yay! The reign of George W. Bush is finally over! I don’t often get moved by anything political, but I had a perfectly shaped tear trickle down my face during the inauguration. Barack Obama has a lot or weight on his shoulders, but he is our best chance for change in this crazy time. Now if we can only go after Cheney and Bush for war crimes! I know it will probably not ever happen, but that would be the icing on the cake!

Kudos: Los Angeles Times

New Blog Post!: Bob May AKA “The Robot” Dies, http://tinyurl.com/76pxoq

I just learned that the actor Bob May, who was inside The Robot on Lost in Space has passed away at 69. I had the pleasure of meeting him in Los Angeles at the Lost in Space, Return to Earth celebration in April of 1998. He was a nice man and my heart goes out to his friends and family. Who can ever forget the way he moved the robot’s arms during the lines “Danger, Danger, Will Robinson”!

Monday, January 19th 2009, 2:42 AM

LOS ANGELES — Bob May, who donned The Robot’s suit in the hit 1960s television show “Lost in Space,” has died. He was 69.

May died Sunday of congestive heart failure at a hospital in Lancaster, said his daughter, Deborah May

He was a veteran actor and stuntman who had appeared in movies, TV shows and on the vaudeville stage when he was tapped by “Lost in Space” creator Irwin Allen to play the Robinson family’s loyal metal sidekick in the series that debuted in 1965.

“He always said he got the job because he fit in the robot suit,” said June Lockhart, who played family matriarch Maureen Robinson. “It was one of those wonderful Hollywood stories. He just happened to be on the studio lot when someone saw him and sent him to see Irwin Allen about the part. Allen said, ’If you can fit in the suit, you’ve got the job.”

Although May didn’t provide the robot’s distinctive voice (that was done by announcer Dick Tufeld), he developed a following of fans who sought him out at memorabilia shows.

“Lost in Space” was a space-age retelling of “The Swiss Family Robinson” story in which professor John Robinson, his wife and their children were on a space mission when their craft was knocked hopelessly off course by the evil Dr. Zachary Smith, who became trapped in space with the

May’s robot was the Robinson family’s loyal sidekick, warning them of approaching disaster at every turn. His line to one of the children, “Danger, Will Robinson,” became a national catch phrase.

The grandson of famed vaudeville comedian Chic Johnson, May was introduced to show business at age 2 when he began appearing in the “Hellzapoppin” comedy revue with Johnson and his partner, Ole Olsen.

He went on to appear in numerous films with Jerry Lewis and in such TV shows as “The Time Tunnel,” “McHale’s Navy and “The Red Skelton Show.” He was also a stuntman in such 1950s and ’60s TV shows as “Cheyenne,” “Surfside 6,” “Hawaiian Eye,” “The Roaring 20s” and “Stagecoach.”

He was particularly fond of his Robot role, once saying he came to consider the suit a “home away from home

Lockhart said May wore the suit for hours at a time and learned the lines of every actor in the show so he would know when to respond to their cues. Because it wasn’t easy to get in and out of the suit, he kept it on during breaks

“He was a smoker,” Lockhart remembered. “From time to time (when he was on a break), we’d see smoke coming out of the robot. That always amused us.”

May and his wife lost their house in November when a wildfire destroyed their upscale mobile home park in the San Fernando Valley.

Survivors include his wife Judith; his daughter; his son, Martin; and four grandchildren.

Funeral services are pending.

Kudos: The Associated Press

New Blog Post: http://tinyurl.com/7u4zlo

I am an avid photographer and I love my Nikon digital D80 SLR camera. What am I to do with all my pre-digital photographs? Recently my mother-in-law began scanning her family photographs into her computer… this reminded me that I had started the same project months ago and just stopped. (Like so many projects!) I have started scanning again and now I know why I stopped! Firstly, I found that my Epson Perfection 2450 scanner was making a blurry mess of the project. I noticed this when I compared the output scans made with it to scans made with my HP Photosmart C5180 All in One Printer. In comparison after comparison, The HP did a better job. I would have continued with the HP, but it is just too slow for the amount of scanning that I need to do, so it was off to BestBuy. I ended up with the CanoScan 5600F and so far it has been great! It uses LED technology..so no more waiting for the scanner to warm up! My only problem I find is that it will only scan 35mm and Slides. I have some old negatives in 120 format that I need to get in digital format and I may have to make an attempt with the Epson for them. Perhaps they will be OK since I didn’t try the Epson in negative mode. I was up till 4 AM last night when I found about 4 more shoeboxes of photos to go through, not to mention the 3 or 4 my mother has for me to scan. I may be looking for a place to farm out some of the work. If anyone has a company that does inexpensive but quality work, I would love to learn more about it!

I look so butch in this photograph!

listening to Love Hurts by Cher on Boxee. listen on last.fm, http://www.last.fm/listen/artist/Cher/similarartists