Wes Speaks

Homemade Get Well Card

2010-03-15T19:40:00.000-04:00

I figured this would be a good way to save the precious memory of a lovely card from my sweet daughter (and not feel bad about throwing it out). It was from several weeks back from when I had my wisdom teeth removed.

Follow up, Follow-up, or Followup - Which is Correct?

2010-02-06T09:30:00.000-05:00

I've been wanting to follow up on the follow-up I've been intending to do to figure out which of these three ways of writing this word/words is correct. (Hint: I used them correctly in the preceding sentence.)
- follow up
- follow-up
- followup

I searched and found the following link that explains it all quite simply:
Follow Up, Follow-Up, or Followup

The short of it is that "follow up" is a verb and "follow-up" is a noun or an adjective, and "followup" is not a proper or valid way to write it.

A simple rule for knowing which to use, is if you can use the word the in front of it, then it should be follow-up (with a dash). Otherwise, without the in front of it, it should be follow up (with a space).

My Wish List

2009-12-07T21:15:00.003-05:00

I found that you can easily make your own wish list on Amazon.com, and I went ahead and made a quick one for myself.

Our project bulb seems to have gone bad, so it's probably just time for a new projector, since the bulbs themselves are very expensive. However, at this point, I'm not planning buying another one. And, I didn't do any research on which one I would want if I were to buy one. The one I added to my wish list is just one I added for the sake of showing my interest in projector.

I am planning on getting a new digital camera at some point, probably a little later on, but I'll want to research my choice at that time.

I'm NOT asking anyone to buy me anything, and I'm not really interested in that. But, I thought the Amazonwish list was pretty cool and easy, and I wanted to share it. Maybe you should make your own wish list to share with others.

Fall Photos - kids and leaves

2009-12-06T19:31:00.002-05:00

Before we get too far into Winter, and since it's been quite a while since I've posted anything here, I thought I would share some fun pictures of the kids that I took one (rather warm) sunny Fall day.

These next couple are of the kids jumping off of the swing into a small pile of leaves. I love the mid-air shots.

"What does constipation mean?"

2009-07-31T20:01:00.005-04:00

Sitting around the table eating dinner, talking about our experiences earlier in the day of taking a new friend from Switzerland around town, Amy told another friend about a squirrel we saw on the campus of Notre Dame. We had stopped to watch it and take pictures. Amy noted how it walked kind of funny, "like it had constipation". "What does constipation mean?", Haley asked. Conversation continued, the adults ignoring the question. "What does constipation mean?", Haley repeated. Our friend from Switzerland spoke up, saying that "it's when you can't do something you want to do". The rest of the adults found this clever answer to be quite funny, causing us to laugh, and continue laughing for some time. (Yeah, maybe you had to be there.) After laughter subsided, Amy felt compelled to explain to Haley more fully what she had meant by that word. Upon hearing her explaination, our Swiss friend began laughing with embarrasment as he realized that he had not fully comprehended the meaning of the word, himself, until that moment, and realized why his comment had been so funny to the rest of us. We all had another good laugh.

Rock the Space

2009-05-28T22:26:00.001-04:00

Send a real Mother's Day card without leaving home!

2009-05-01T12:12:00.004-04:00

I recently came across Cardstore.com,
where you can select and personalize a card and have it sent for you through the U.S. Mail.

Of course, they have more than just Mother's Day cards. There's birthday cards and other holiday cards, too.

I checked it out and found that:
- the cards are attractive, and there are many to choose from
- it is simple and quick
- the cards can be personalized with your own photos
- it is very reasonably priced

I think this is a great idea. Being able to select and send a card quickly and easily like this sure beats the old way (going to the store to get a card, preparing the envelope, and affixing the stamp - at least we don't have to lick them anymore) in my mind...

...not that I really send cards, anyways. But, now I have that much less of an excuse. What could be simpler?!

I wonder how many people currently use this service or would be interested in it. Or, which of you usually send Mother's Day cards, birthday cards, etc? And, what motivates card giving? I just added a couple related polls on the right side of my blog, so check them out. I'd be interested in the feedback. Or, leave a comment telling me what you think.

And, if you're thinking of sending a Mother's Day card, you'd better do it now before it's too late...

Cardstore.com - We print and mail for you!

Making the IslandReefJob video - Part 2 (of 2)

2009-03-27T21:05:00.004-04:00

OK, I'll try to make this brief... because I'm really quite over this video, but I did want to document (for my own or for others future reference) some of the things I did to make the video.

I used VirtualDub for much of the video editing. To join multiple video clips, I ended up using MediaJoin (that I found somewhere out there). It took me some time and trial and error to find decent and free software for my purposes.

My main concern was to be able to reverse video. After some searching and testing, I found I could do this using VirtualDub and AviSynth. The AviSynth script (that you just drag and drop onto VirtualDub) to reverse a video is like this:
Reverse(DirectShowSource("C:\Video\video1.AVI", 29.97))

I also wanted to have some slow motion clips, which I found that I could do with a script like this, which would make it half speed:
Reverse(DirectShowSource("C:\video\video2.avi", 29.97))
AssumeSampleRate(22050)
AssumeFPS(12.5)

I also really wanted to make it widescreen/letterbox, which I was able to accomplish in VirtualDub. Here's a link explaining that:
http://www.kyleprohaska.com/brickfilms/widelet_virt/widelet_virt.html

I found myself somewhat frustrated and saddened that my walking clips were pretty shaky/bouncy, due to Amy simply filming me while she was walking backwards with the camera. I found one very cool piece of software that can be used with VirtualDub to de-shake video. I was skeptical at first, and it took some learning and tinkering (and it does have it's own pros and cons), but it ended up helping improve some of the shakiness quite significantly. Here's some info on it:
http://www.sundancemediagroup.com/articles/deshaker_guide.htm

Here's a couple other related links I reviewed and found somewhat helpful at the time:
http://www.divxland.org/video_edition.php
http://home.comcast.net/~plutarch/VirtualDub.html

One thing that I thought would be pretty simple ended up not being as easy as I thought. I had wanted the words on the screen to show up in the black letterbox bars at the top and bottom of the video, so that it didn't show up over the actual video. But, I had such a hard time trying to find free software that would let me easily place the text in that specific of a place. I eventually ended up using Windows Movie Maker to add the text and just had to deal with it covering up the video since I couldn't place it on the screen where I wanted it.

So, that's really it. It was fun, and I enjoyed the process. And, I'm glad it's done.

Here's a couple takes from the filming process, just for fun.

FYI, at this point the voting over at http://www.islandreefjob.com/ is done. The top vote getter, along with 10 others of Queensland Tourism's choosing (who will be announced April 2), will be flown to Australia for an interview process.

This guy didn't win. I think he came in second in the voting, but I personally liked his video/application better than the one who came in first. I like it in part because it's a music video like mine, just more interesting and well done.

So much for keeping things brief...

Big Guys Gotta Look Good Too

2009-03-26T19:25:00.006-04:00

Make sure you check out the picture at the end of this post!

This falls under the category of "friends of WesSpeaks". It's all about a store in Elkhart, Indiana called Big & Tall Outlet (formerly Value Center Big & Tall Outlet). It is owned and operated by none other than my own parents.

Now, I'm not big or tall, myself, so I don't go shopping there for myself. But, I'm rather fond of the place and the people who work there, some of whom I've gotten to know a little bit. The place did help put me through college, after all.

But, I don't want to give you a commercial for the place, just the basics. You can check out their site at www.bigandtalloutlet.com (where you can currently watch one of their TV commercials featuring local celebrity Charlie Adams). The site has a pretty decent assortment and variety of merchandise available (and is growing all the time), but a visit to the store, and it's 9,000-square foot showroom, will provide the full range of options for anyone looking for sizes starting at Large Tall (LT) or 1X up to 8X or occasionally even 10X, I think. (Pant waist sizes they carry go from 36 to 72, at least, I believe.) They also have a blog at bigandtalloutlet.blogspot.com.

Contact info:
info@bigandtalloutlet.com
1-866-BIG-MENS or 574-293-0111

This is pretty interesting. I just found some other guy who blogged about Big & Tall Outlet, who just seems to be a regular customer that's pretty excited about the nice clothes and good prices. You can check out what he has to say at:
www.nosweatpants.com/2008/12/05/big-guys-gotta-look-good-too/

Now, one last thing. Here's a picture of a guy who came in recently and found some clothes to fit him. He's Igor Vovkovinskiy, and is supposedly one of the ten tallest people alive. You can find out more about him (how tall he is, his shoe size, etc.) at bigandtalloutlet.blogspot.com/2009/03/igor-vovkovinskiy.html or do a search on his name. (That's his mother on the left and my dad on the right.)

Making the IslandReefJob video - Part 1

2009-02-28T21:48:00.014-05:00

If you didn't catch me singing my heart out in a cleverly reworded parody of Coldplay's "The Scientist", here you go...

If you haven't seen the Coldplay video for "The Scientist", it's worth checking out...

I wanted to provide a little info on the process of making the video...

First, came the idea. I think it came to me one night while lying in bed. I had seen the Coldplay video some time back, and I wondered if I would be able to reproduce a similar concept. It kept me awake for way too long just thinking about it. Subsequent nights I had trouble falling asleep, as well, while the idea was still ruminating, thinking of the possibilities and trying to come up with lyrics.

I was able to find a MIDI version of "The Scientist" (which is basically a text file telling a computer what instruments to simulate, along with the notes and durations). In the file I found, there was a guitar playing the vocal melody part which I didn't want, since I was adding the vocal part myself, as well as a drum track I didn't like. I was able to find MIDI editing software with which I was able remove the tracks I didn't want. If I recall correctly, I believe I also used some other software to speed up the tempo of the song, in order to be able to fit in all the lyrics that I wanted within the one minute maximum for the video.

--- Download the instrumental MIDI file for my version of the song. ---

Once I got the background music worked out to my liking, I then worked on recording the vocal track. For this step, I played the music to myself through earphones while recording myself singing to it through the microphone hooked up to my laptop. I used Windows Sound Recorder for recording. It took me many takes, along with some eventual lyric enhancements, to get a version I was relatively happy with. Listening to the results, I'm very aware that I'm not a singer. Even the final take had some pitch problems, but I was happy with it (and worked in a related comment into the official version of the video via the onscreen text).

I used Audacity, a pretty decent multi-track audio editor I found (after some searching), to remove background scratches and pops, as well as audible breath-taking, from non-singing parts of the audio track. I also used it to combine the background and vocal tracks into a single music file that I later imported into the video editing software I used.

--- Download the vocals without background/instruments. ---

--- Download the final version with music and vocals. ---

Since I had to sing the words of the song backwards for the video, in order for the words to appear to be sung normally when the video was reversed, I reversed the music using Windows Sound Recorder and saved a copy of the song in reverse for me to practice with. I also recorded short portions of the song, first forwards and then three times each in reverse, onto a portable tape recorder, so that I could both practice using it and sing along to it while recording the video.

--- Download the full song, vocals only, in reverse. ---

--- Download the practice version, vocals only, with song clips played both forwards and reverse. ---

If you really like Coldplay's "The Scientist", you can download it (or a couple other versions of it) via Amazon or iTunes, below.

By the way, the top 50 applications for the job have been shortlisted. No, I was not selected. I haven't viewed all of the top 50 videos, but there looks to be some pretty impressive applicants/videos. Voting for the wild card applicant continues at IslandReefJob.com for the next 14 days.

Out with the old, in with the new

2009-02-28T21:20:00.006-05:00

Due to transmission problems, it was time for our 1995 Mazda Protege to go. I bought it in December 1998, right before we got married. It was a pretty good car for us, and I'm sorry to see it go.

But, I'm excited to now have a 2004 Honda Civic that's pretty sharp, and that I hope will last us quite some time.

I got the Best Job In the World

2009-02-18T22:32:00.005-05:00

"I got the Best Job In The World", I proclaim in my music video application on IslandReefJob.com.

If you haven't heard by now, Tourism Queensleend launched a promotion for a 6 month island caretaker position, paying approximately $100,000 (in US currency), and is accepting applications via video submissions to their site. The job essentially consists of living on one of the islands in the Great Barrier Reef (in a sweet home with a beautiful view), having a blast exploring the area, and writing a weekly video & photo blog to share with the world the wonders of the islands.

They've received over 19,000 applications to date. They'll eventually narrow them down to their top 50, at which point they will open up internet voting for a favorite. That favorite, along with 10 others of their choosing, will be flown to Australia for an interview. Video applications are supposed to explain why that applicant is the best person for the job.

My application was just posted to their site this evening. I spent a lot of time thinking about it and working on it, and despite some parts being tedious, I really had a great time making it.

The video is a music video, and is basically a parody of Coldplay's "The Scientist" (which can currently be seen at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tNwQeedQfZE). In the video for "The Scientist", all the video is played in reverse. This means that Chris Martin, the lead singer of Coldplay, had to sing the words of the song backwards so that when the video was reversed, it appears as if he is singing the lyrics of the song normally. The effect is enhanced by footage where it is obvious that the video is being played in reverse. This was the idea behind my application video. I used the same tune, using my own words, and all clips in my video have been reversed. It was an interesting and fun project (and technically challenging at times).

So, please check out my video. I hope you like it.
(Edited 6/9/09, providing permanent links. The old one on islandreefjob.com is no longer valid.)
Original application video.
Preferred version without on-screen text.

I don't expect to get the job or to be shortlisted in their top 50, but I really enjoyed making this video, which I hope you enjoy and even smile or laugh at. Among the thousands of other applicant videos, there are some very good ones, both in professionalism and entertainment value of the videos and quality and experience of the applicants.

I plan on sharing in future posts to this blog some additional information about my video, including how I made it and sharing some of the original video clips (with me singing backwards), so check back soon.

Applications are being accepted until sometime on February 22, so if you're reading this before then and you're really quick, you still have a chance, yourself.

Please share your comments. I'd love to hear them - good, bad, or whatever. Also, if you or anyone else has applied, please let me know and share the link to the video for all to see.

Flower Art

2008-12-19T20:41:00.001-05:00

Just looking through some photos from this summer, and found this, which Haley put together.

Guitar Small Group

2008-11-05T23:04:00.003-05:00

Kit Kittredge - An American Girl

2008-11-01T22:21:00.003-04:00

So, I've now seen Kit Kittredge - An American Girl. Haley has been wanting to see it, so we rented it tonight. It was actually quite good. While I often look forward to other genres of movies, a good kid-flick with my family often ends up being most enjoyable.

And, in fact, I've seen all of the other American Girl movies, too. Yes, Felicity - An American Girl Adventure, Molly - An American Girl on the Home Front, and Samantha - An American Girl Holiday were all quite good, as well. The latter, especially, was a very good story and very touching. Haley is already looking forward to the next AG movie. I'm sure I'll get to watch and enjoy it with her.

Andrew Peterson music

2008-10-22T22:37:00.003-04:00

This evening we attended a free concert of Andrew Peterson at Southgate Church (formerly called Calvary Temple). We enjoyed his music and personal thoughts and stories. I found a way to play some short clips of some of his songs. Some of the ones I especially like are the following, though the short clips don't do them justice:
Don't Give Up On Me - a love song to his wife
I've Got News
The Good Confession
Just As I Am

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

2008-10-21T19:33:00.009-04:00

I finally saw Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. (As is usual and customary for me, I waited for it to come out on DVD to watch it.)

I had heard some negative reviews of the movie from some friends prior to seeing it myself. A main point of contention with some was the story line itself, with the the current movie's focus on an ancient legend mixed in with aliens not quite living up to the standard set by such previous pursuits as the ark of the covenant and the holy grail. Granted, this installment does require us to suspend belief more so than the previous films, and, I guess I wish the story itself would have been more believable. But, I didn't go into the movie expecting reality, and knowing the general idea of the story in advance, I was able to just sit back and enjoy the ride. Another friend, also watching at home, chose to turn off the movie part way through. After seeing the movie, myself, I find this hard to imagine, and wonder at what point in the movie he gave up on it. It kept my apt attention the whole way through.

Based on the previews I had seen, I was also a little wary, as several scenes seemed too obviously computer animated and "cartoony" to evoke the expected realism. However, upon viewing the movie, I'd say that this is not really a concern. Perhaps they touched things up further after the previews and prior to the final release, or perhaps I am just too forgiving. I did still notice a couple scenes in particular (where we first see the expanse of boxes in the warehouse and the chase/fight in and with the military vehicles along the edge of a steep cliff) where this was somewhat obvious, but I did not feel that it was too overt or took anything away from the experience.

Given that several personal reviews that I had heard were fairly negative and my own personal expectations were mixed, I wasn't sure how much I would enjoy this fourth installment to the Indiana Jones series. Notwithstanding (I'm not sure if I've ever actually used that word before), I maintained fairly high expectations and hopes for it. And, I'm glad to report, I was not disappointed.

Yes, I enjoyed this new edition to the Indiana Jones adventures! I feel that it brings back the original look, feel, and excitement of the previous films quite faithfully. And the action and adventure fit right in with what we've come to expect from Indiana Jones. I personally enjoyed the movie quite a lot.

That said, I would probably have some difficulty putting it in the same category with Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. However, I would contribute that more to my nostalgic feelings towards the originals than the failure of the newest to live up to its predecessors.

As Roger Ebert said in one of the few reviews of this movie that I have actually read, "I can say that if you liked the other Indiana Jones movies, you will like this one...". I would have to agree. (Whether you feel the same or not, feel free to post your own comments and opinions.)

Amy's Yearbook Photos

2008-10-21T18:36:00.002-04:00

Here's some of my favorite yearbook photos of Amy (from YearbookYourself.com). There's a couple of them that I kinda dig.

My Yearbook Photos

2008-10-19T21:28:00.002-04:00

Here's some of my favorite yearbook photos (from yearbookyourself.com).

Landscaping Changes

2008-09-21T14:35:00.008-04:00

Yesterday we spent basically all day working on our front door walkway landscaping. We took out all of our strawberry plants, rearranged some existing plants (mainly hostas), added some new ones (asters and crocus bulbs), removed/replaced warped wood edging, and finished with some mulch. We did some minor work in other areas in the yard, but focused on the front entryway. It was dark by the time we were adding the finishing touches and watering the plants. Here's a few before and after photos:

Before...

After...

And we are glad today is a day of rest.

Last Physical Therapy

2008-09-13T09:36:00.001-04:00

A couple weeks back, on 8/29, Amy had her last physical therapy appointment. She met with the doctor, and he said she did not need to continue physical therapy, though she still should continue doing arm exercises and stretches at home for further progress.

Amy has made additional progress in the last two weeks, we have seen. She can now stretch her arm out almost fully straight. It's just slightly not yet fully extended. She's making progress at bending her arm up toward her body, too, but has more room for improvement in that direction.

When Amy met with the doctor, he was quite surprised by the progress she had made in gaining movement back. He indicated that, based on the severity of the injury and the surgery he had done, the improvement Amy has seen is very significant. He actually said the word "miracle", and he's not one we would have ever expected to suggest divine involvement.

To what degree Amy's improvement can be attributed to a miracle of God, as opposed to just physical therapy, genetics, etc., I can't say. But, I know we were praying for God's help in healing and improvement in range of motion. And, I know that God is the giver of life and of breath and is the sustainer of all things. Thus, I believe that God was involved in the healing and improvement of Amy's arm, even in and through physical therapy and through her genetic makeup (which He gave her). I don't think we need to choose between natural and supernatural reasons, but believe that God is at work in it all.

Though it hasn't been easy, and though there's still more to go, I thank God for the impressive improvement that we have already seen, which has far exceeded the doctor's expectations. Praise God! And we will continue to hope and believe for eventual full range of motion... complete healing.

Weekend Update

2008-08-17T23:24:00.002-04:00

After listening to Toby Mac at the World Pulse Festival...

At our church's Sunday evening Tour De Grille...

The mosquito bite song...

sorry excuse for a...

2008-07-27T22:42:00.003-04:00

...post

I don't have anything interesting or clever to share at the moment, but I just added a header image to my blog that I spent some time working on. (I used Paint.NET for the image editing, which is basically a free Photoshop alternative that I found recently.)

The Chocolate Cupcake Dress

2008-07-12T08:41:00.004-04:00

Short version... Amy got a dress. Her mom said she looked like a chocolate cupcake. We're pretty sure this meant she didn't like it. Amy returned the dress. This got me thinking...

Dog watching, Free Chicken, and Free Slurpees

2008-07-11T21:35:00.005-04:00

Today our family was charged with taking care of Nifty, our neighors' dog. This was, of course, fun and exciting, especially for the kids, who ask almost weekly, or so it seems, for their own dog. Around 5pm, Amy and the kids went over to let Nifty out for the second time today, and to feed him. Somehow, after getting in the neighbors' house and letting the dog outside, the sliding door locked behind them, and most unfortunately the key had been left inside on the table. They were locked out of the house! I received a call at work, just as I was about to leave, with the news. Since they hadn't fed him yet, and the food was locked inside, I stopped at Meijer on my way home to buy some dog food. After verifying that the neighbors' house was very secure (...we tried every way we could think of to get in...), we settled on bringing Nifty home with us. We gated him in our kitchen while we went out for dinner.

We went to Chick-Fil-A for dinner, for Cow Appreciation Day. Because we dressed like cows, complete with the "Eat Mor Chikin" slogan, we all got free combo meals. I guess this is a yearly event every July 11, so get your costumes ready for next year.

We then went to 7-Eleven to get some free 7.11 ounce Slurpees for 7-Eleven day, August 11 or 7/11. (Supposedly the same promotion is done on November 7 in many other countries where the date is notated in DAY/MONTH format.)

We decided to head home after that, since it was already getting late, instead of stopping to redeem a free movie at Family Video for the kids' report card A's. We came home and had fun playing with Nifty.