David Buchholz

Ed, you mentioned this about the photo software:  "David Buchholz:  I still wonder what your "translator" might do with a fractal image under your make-it-look-like-an-oil-painting rules."

Frankly, I was bewildered about what to do with the image.  Here's why.  There are virtually an infinite number of possibilities in "translating" or altering an image, and rather than simply plug one in and see what it looks like, I take an image of my own, then alter it in ways that I think will bring out the vision that I had when I pushed the shutter.  In the cases of those images that I took from the forum I performed elementary tasks—increasing saturation, clarity, and contrast, then lightening areas that would be improved by being lighter and darkening areas that I thought would benefit from being darkened.  

Here's an image that I took yesterday morning.  With little color in the scene I thought of it as a black and white, then simply tried to gain a sense of separation between the light and dark areas in the scene.  I took dozens of images, simply trying to anticipate where the waves hitting the rocks would look best.  Since the sea was relatively calm, I have a lot of throwaway images.  I don't think of this one as a throwaway.

Jonathan Marks

What a thrill it is to revisit the Chatterbox, to see ourselves becoming who we are, to get back in touch with who we were.

I notice in this issue that the class behind us proclaimed that theirs was to be the best Peanuts ever.  Of course, every class did that.  It was in deference to this tradition that, in one of our live reunions, I mentioned that ours just might have been the best; and I was so pleased and gratified with what felt like a roaring instant response, objecting to my use of the conditional.  My reading: our class has no doubt that ours actually was the best Peanuts ever. 

Underneath this, I think, is a belief that was growing even then that our class represented a sort of apogee.  We were at the crest.  

Yes, dear classmates, I am proposing that we recognize that ours might well have been the best class ever.

Ann Shepard (Rueve)

No arguement, we had The BEST Peanuts EVER as well as the BEST CLASS ever!!

I still give credit to that core group lead by "Ricky", that has brought us together throughout the years, tracking us down in days prior to the Internet, from our 20th reunion with the boatride "redux"  to our virtual gathering thirty years later.

I have an app on my iPhone called Face Goo, that my grandkids liked to play with. You could snap a picture of a face then distort the faces like silly putty. The novely of the app soon wore off for the kids, but I played with it for a while.  In stead of faces, I just took any picture and played with the image until I got something different.

Here's on of my best.  It was the back of my red convertible that had a black and white bumper sticker that looked like the CBS eye, but was a stylized capital O with the word Obama in small print.

Here's another.  I don't know what it was. :)

Dale Gieringer

   Our class definitely had the best Walnuts.  I was told that it still enjoyed that reputation years after we graduated among underclassmates who had seen it as e-flats or effies.

Stephen (Steve) Dixon

A newscaster in India was fired, last week, for referring, during a news broadcast, to visiting Chinese President Xi Jinping as "Eleven Jinping."

Gotta love it! You never know when that Classic education is going to flash back on you.

Jerry Ochs

When I turned 50 there wasn't room on the birthday cake for that many candles, so my brother used about a dozen candles to form an "L".

Jerry Ochs

Ann,

Your FaceGoo creations are fantastic.  Like the bottom one, love the top one.

David Buchholz

Ann, I downloaded FaceGoo and tried to use it, but when I photographed my own face my lens broke.  That's why I'm not in any photographs myself.

It's October 1, and that can only mean one thing—the real fun of baseball.  As a Bay Area resident, I was saddened to see the A's lose yesterday, and by the time you read this, AT & T Park may be closed for the winter.  Still, we Giants fans have hopes for the future.

This was the Rockies bullpen some years ago at AT & T Park. It says all you need to know about the grand old game.

Larry Klein

Our Boys Varsity Golf didn't make it out of the Sectionals today, finishing 9th (of 15) and concluding a season of mixed results.  They played, of course, without our frosh phenom Katie H.  She played Monday in the Girls Sectional and finished first in the individual qualifier (3rd overall) with a 74 and moves on to the districts next week, then hopefully to state on 10/17-18.  Here's a nice article on Katie in yesterday's Community Press -

http://www.cincinnati.com/story/sports/high-school/ohio-high-school/2014/09/30/katie-hallinan-boys-golf-team/16489675/

Here's also an interesting data spread on the boys team the last four years in the sectional tournament:

Year        Team total    Place    Team Medalist

2014        353                8th        85
2013        390                12th        88
2012        387                13th        92
2011        444                13th        101

We're on the right track.

Henry Cohen

Trend is in the right direction, are you going to do another year?

David Buchholz

Since it's fall I thought it appropos to post a spring photograph—the dogwood in our front yard.

Barbara Kahn (Tepper)

I don't get tired of the photos - you're an artist Dave!

Jerry Ochs

And here's a UFO (unidentified flowering object).

Jeff Daum

Continuing the beauty in nature theme, here is one from Maccu Picchu

Ann Shepard (Rueve)

A weed in my back yard.

And for Jerry, another Face Goo.

Jerry Ochs

Ann,

This forum is not the place for posting sexy selfies.

David Buchholz

Since we're doing "beauty in nature" (Thank you, Jeff), and weeds in the garden, (Thank you, Ann), I feel obligated to add my "Beauty in Nature" Composition to the forum...this being the local corner organic market, where you can buy bouquets of freshly picked flowers, wonderful fresh vegetables, exotic spices, and if you're lucky, a tranny for your Mustang.  God, I love California.This was mainly for Barbara, who thinks I'm an artist, but after seeing this will think differently.  Or "different" to quote an early Apple ad.

David Buchholz

OK, enough.  Back to Beauty in Nature.  Death Valley.

Stephen (Steve) Dixon

The Machu Picchu shot quite a photo, Jeff. That's a noble little flower springing up, there. Do you have more from that trip?

Ann Shepard (Rueve)

Jerry, I just can't resist just one more.....

Larry Klein

Cruised the southern Carribean in 2006.  On this stop in Belize, we visited a Mayan ruins.  Can't remember why I took the shot at an angle, but it does make it interesting.

Larry Klein

Here's the update on the new South Athletic Complex.  If you're in town, please come out and join me representing WHHS'64 for this historic event for WHHS.

David Buchholz

Larry, would love to be there...have to wait until 2016.  Back to B & W

Larry Klein

Golf update.. Katie and I are going to STATE! She fired a 2-over 74 for 2nd overall at Districts. Next Fri and Sat are state finals. GO EAGLES!

Larry Klein

Dave, those clouds are so spectacular I almost missed the bridge.  Nice shot.