Steele Singing?

I am a Pierce Brosnan fan.
I fell in love with Pierce when I was in high school. I was sick one day from school when I happened upon a rerun of a mystery series called Remington Steele. Pierce played the suave, debonair, mysterious Remington who always solved the mystery by using classic movie plots to figure out the murder. What is not to like? A tall, dark and handsome man who likes old movies? I was hooked.

When he became James Bond, just a modern version of Remington, I had a huge poster of him in the back of my closet. I suppose that is as close as I have come to being giddy over a celebrity.

His movies are on the lousy side, I must admit. Although there are a few gems here and there. (Evelyn is notable as well as Laws of Attraction.)

In his newest endeavor, Mamma Mia (a musical), he is one of the three love interests of Meryl Streep. I am not a fan of the plot, but I am a fan of the music. I love Pierce and I love ABBA. So I was eager to see the movie. Sadly, I report that according to the audience on opening night, the two do not belong together. People laughed and then groaned at Pierce's singing or straining. It was not the best singing I have heard, but all I can say is Lay Off!!! It won't be the worst singing I will have heard in my lifetime either.

I am still a Pierce Brosnan fan.

Wha?

Yes, it is true. The phrase "Ah-oh SpaghettiOs" did come out of my mouth today. And I was at work when it happened.

PROtography

One of the awesome things we did on the trip to DC was go on a "Photo Safari" in Georgetown. The second day we were in DC we met our tour guide and a group of photography enthusiasts at "The Old Stone House". Bryonny, Kristi and I, with our cameras in hand, set out to learn how to be a PROtographer. That's right we are now practically pros at photography.

Here are some tips and examples...

This is an example of a picture I took before the Photo Safari: Note that it is 2-dimensional and dull. (No offense to my subjects.)(Bry and Kristi on the 4th of July with the Washington Monument in the background.)

To give your photo dimension, have the subject face sideways and then turn their face towards the camera - giving a third dimension to an otherwise flat looking photo.

(Bryonny outside the old stone house in Georgetown.)

Get close to the subject. Fill the frame with the desired object.

(Kristi at Washington Harbor in the shade of her umbrella.)

Frame your photos with tree branches, archways, bushes and flowers.

(The Arlington Cemetery comes alive (muah hahahahaha) with the tree framing it.)

Get down low and look up at your subject.

(This is my friend Nathan taking some shots of us at Mount Vernon. Although you can't see the resulting pictures, they were superb. We taught him all he knows about photography, or maybe we taught him all we know about photography. )

Keep your verticals as straight as possible.

(This is Bry outside the gardens at the Smithsonian Castle.)

For more photography tips, you should take a class or pay me money. That is all the free advise I can afford right now.

Touchy-touchy

A week or so ago my sister and I went to the San Diego County Fair and encountered numerous signs that stunt or hinder freedom, expression, and even personality. "Do not use the hot tubs." "Do not pet the cute and fuzzy bunnies." "Keep your hands in the ride at all times." And the following sign really got me. Where on earth can I go where I can freely hit, kick, and lick things at will?


Well...I had to travel east to our Nation's Capitol, Washington, D.C.!!! Thank You Founding Fathers for the Freedoms I do enjoy! I went to numerous museums where I touched things at my heart's desire! I touched real moon rock and a chunk of Mars, a space suit, and marble statues up the wahzoo. I thoroughly relished the experience.

Inside the Museum of Natural History I thought I had died and gone to heaven when I saw the sign: "Please Touch". Seriously!

I even tried on the Hope Diamond. Everyone said it matched my eyes (blue) and that I should wear it home. Instead I only wore it to a hoity-toity dinner at Palette one night. The thing is heavy, so I returned it in the morning. (Yeah, for reals.)

More on my trip to D.C. to come, if you are lucky.