Videos, Music, Sports, & Saplings

Do not adjust your monitors. ;o) Or in other words, yes, I changed the background color. I was getting tired of acid green. Time for a soothing pale blue! I've also adjusted a few other little things in the setup of this blog. For instance, there's now a Vimeo widget in the sidebar, so that you can see at a glance if I've put up any new videos (on Vimeo, at least).

And as a matter of fact. . .

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I've put a few more new videos on Vimeo. (g)

One is a short clip Donald filmed at the frozen lake at Glaskogen (Sweden). I realized I hadn't included any close-ups of how that ice looked, and I thought it was pretty enough that it required sharing.

One is just a (probably boring) experiment with saturation-- nothing but pine trees and a sky full of windy clouds.

Then there's another quick one of Trixie. (Yes, I know. I'm now undeniably one of those people who inflict upon others their endless videos of vacations and pets. It can't be helped. At least you don't have to watch them, since I'll never know if you did or not. (g))

This is an older piece of film-- before Donald's trip, I think, and definitely before the rubber chicken toy lost its head:


Slo-Mo Trixie from Michael Johansson on Vimeo.

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I mentioned, an entry or two ago, being disappointed by the unavailability of certain soundtracks. Well, this isn't quite as good as a soundtrack on CD (mainly because the conversations and sound effects are still present and can be distracting), but if you're desperate to have the music from North & South to listen to, try this site. A word of warning to those who haven't seen the program (or read the book)-- listening to these tracks (or, indeed, even reading their titles) might give away some of the storyline. (I used tiny, dialogue-free snippets from the soundtrack in the two non-Trixie videos I linked to above.)

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An entry on a blog I read linked back to some previous blog entries and a number of heated comments-- all related to the fact that a Swedish wrestler threw down his bronze medal during an Olympic award ceremony. (Actually, from what I recall, he went and set it down rather carefully on the floor. I don't remember any violent hurling. (g)) Some people feel it was a display of righteous indignation after an obviously unfair call by a corrupt system of judging. Others think that he should have respected the dignity of the occasion and saved his protests for later. Then there are those, like myself, who are amazed that enough people care about wrestling for there to be a corrupt system of judges. (Admittedly, I'm not a particularly sporty gal-- Don't fall out of your seat in shock, now! ;o)-- but of all sports, wrestling seems just about the least appealing to watch or participate in. Yuck.) More proof that no matter what hobby or interest you take up, if you're there long enough-- if you look deeply enough-- you'll find people who take things way too far. Passion, you say? Passion schmassion! In all things, moderation! ;o)

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This morning, Mom and I went to a local Arbor Day event and picked up a variety of free saplings. Now to decide where ours should go. . .