
<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-01-28-blond-miles-davis/5394873673_b252a16793_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image post-thumb" title="Miles Davis Impersonator">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-01-28-blond-miles-davis/5394873673_602ca51166_t.jpg" alt="Miles Davis Impersonator"/>
</a>

Nora has been with her grandparents all week, and I may have spent some of my glorious childless free time looking at pictures of her on my computer. What can I say? I miss the kid. In my browsing, I found some photos from last September, when Nora was 18 months old and freshly bipedal, of her playing an "instrument" that my mother refers to, onomatopoeically, as a "doo doo tube". Apparently this term is not widespread, as a Google search turns up a range of unpleasant things. Anyway, the photos are pretty cute, so I thought I'd share them.  <a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-01-28-blond-miles-davis/5394871649_c8e698edc6_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Doo doo doooo!!!">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-01-28-blond-miles-davis/5394871649_53d06e127c.jpg" alt="Doo doo doooo!!!"/>
</a>

Doo doo doooooooo doo dooo!

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-01-28-blond-miles-davis/5394872655_4c146b7400_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Doo doo dooo doo">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-01-28-blond-miles-davis/5394872655_1c85ff1eef.jpg" alt="Doo doo dooo doo"/>
</a>

Doo dooooo doooo doo doo dooooooo!

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-01-28-blond-miles-davis/5394873673_b252a16793_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Miles Davis Impersonator">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-01-28-blond-miles-davis/5394873673_602ca51166.jpg" alt="Miles Davis Impersonator"/>
</a>

She's really feeling the jazz!

[![miles davis/50 years of kind of blue](https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-01-28-blond-miles-davis/3278412637_32a6bf2e9d.jpg)](http://www.flickr.com/photos/view-finder/3278412637/ "miles davis/50 years of kind of blue by david haggard, on Flickr")


Blond Miles Davis


[![oscar statue - hollywood,california](https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-01-28-movie-reviews-the-academy-award-best-picture-nominees-for-2010/2689062953_c30c9094d7_t.jpg)](http://www.flickr.com/photos/naturalbornhikers/2689062953/ "oscar statue - hollywood,california by natural born hikers, on Flickr")Taking advantage of a surplus of free time this week, I endeavored to watch all of the films nominated for the Best Picture Academy Award for 2010. Previously, I think I've never gone into the Oscars having watched more than two nominees, so this is something of a feat for me. They were all good films in their own ways. Some, like the nerdy one about a college hacker appealed to me more than the western or the one about boxing. I made no effort to be objective in my evaluations, valuing honesty over impartiality. Take away from my reviews what you will. You can't really go wrong spending two hours on any or all of them. 

## The Social Network

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I enjoyed this film a lot, partly because it's about an entrepreneur software nerd like myself, and partly because it's just a really well told story. The "flashback from deposition" format worked really well. More movies should be made in that format.

The best special effects are those that you don't even notice are special effects, and I think most viewers probably finished the film with no clue that the role of the Winklevoss twins was played by one actor. [Arnie Hammer](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm2309517/) (named after a baking soda?) looks as if he was designed specifically for some future role as Prince William.

Am I the only one that confuses [Jesse Eisenberg](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0251986/) with [Michael Cera](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0148418/)? The whole movie I thought, "Man, this guy I hate from [_Juno_](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0467406/) and [_Scott Pilgrim vs. The World_](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0446029/), which I turned off after 15 minutes, can really act!"

I really hate discovering that people as talented at singing and dancing and with as much charisma as Justin Timberlake can actually act well, too. I'm still not watching the Yogi Bear movie.

I also must confess that I paused the movie to check a notification on Facebook.

## Inception

<iframe title="YouTube video player" class="youtube-player" type="text/html" width="505" height="314" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/66TuSJo4dZM" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

This has to be the most visually stunning and creative of the Best Picture nominees. It was recommended to me by my single-serving German friend on [this infamous voyage](/2010/11/22/airline-security-and-underpants-bombs/) with the warning, "You have to pay close attention or else you won't understand it." Never have truer words been spoken about a film. _Inception_ is quite complicated, and if you don't understand the rules governing the dream universes in the film, it won't make any sense whatsoever. I can appreciate the liberty of the dream setting for a filmmaker, since any flaws in continuity can't really be criticized. I do recall having several "WTF?" moments, despite my close attention. I think _Inception_ was definitely the most innovative and groundbreaking film of the year, and I would not be at all surprised if it won Best Picture, despite none of its actors being nominated.

## Toy Story 3

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It's been months since I saw _Toy Story 3_, but I recall it being one of the most entertaining and moving animated movies I'd ever seen (although _Up_ might be tied for first). How rare is it for the third of a trilogy to be better than its predecessors? The story was so good that I forgot that I was watching a computer animation of toys for a good portion of the film. It's nice of the Academy to nominated it for Best Picture, but I don't think we're ready for an animated film to take that top title quite yet...but the day will come, for sure, probably from Pixar.

## The Kids Are Alright

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Wow, what a non-stop stream of intensely uncomfortable situations! My friend, [Simon](http://simonlitton.wordpress.com/), warned me that it contained "frank scenes of a sexual nature and unapologetic depictions of 'alternative' sexuality and lifestyles." That's a pretty apt description. It's very nice to see homosexuality treated in a serious manner, and not as a source of comedy. Bening's character reminded me an awful lot of her nagging, perfectionist wife character from _American Beauty_, but she played it well. It's pretty clear to me that [Mia Wasikowska](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1985859/) has a bright career ahead of her. Ruffalo was excellent. He's a familiar face, but I couldn't directly recall any of his previous roles. If you can bear nailbitingly uncomfortable adult "dramedy", _The Kids Are Alright_ is pretty good.

## 127 Hours

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This movie details a worst nightmare, one that I'm certain I share with many other people. If you can watch this movie without flinching, you are not human. I'm a big fan of single-actor sanity-stretching isolation films like [_Cast Away_](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0162222/) and [_Moon_](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1182345/); I think it gives an actor an ideal platform to demonstrate acting abilities, and [James Franco](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0290556/) doesn't let anyone down in [_127 Hours_](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1542344/). He was a guest on _The Daily Show_ the day after getting the Best Actor Oscar nomination, and he told the story of how he got news of the nomination, did a quick satellite interview with _The Today Show_, and then immediately attended his poetry class at Yale, turning down an offer to go to New York City for more interviews. [_127 Hours_](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1542344/) is a fascinating true story about one man's survival skills in the Utah desert. I actually remember the media attention about [Aron Ralston](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aron_Ralston) back when it happened in 2003, but I pictured it entirely differently from the actual setting. It's a great film, but it's seriously hard to watch.

## True Grit

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I've never been a fan of westerns. _True Grit_ wouldn't have been worth much at all if it weren't for Jeff Bridges' character, who was quite a hoot. I don't know if anyone has won an Oscar for Best Actor two years in a row, but I'd bet against him in 2010 simply because he won in 2009. Matt Damon was not bad, but nothing special. [Hailee Steinfeld](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm2794962/) is a name to watch in the coming years. Good grief...she was born when I was a freshman in college!

The dialog was a bit strange. Maybe it was appropriate for the period represented, but the lack of contractions made everything a little "off". By the way, a trick to sounding foriegn is not using contractions, as no modern day native English speaker ever says "I am going to" in five syllables. The storyline was okay, but I couldn't connect with any of the characters; a pretty mediocre film in my opinion.

## Black Swan

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I'm not a big fan of ballet, but Tchaikovsky is one of my favorite composers, and I _am_ a fan of stories where the protagonist slowly goes insane. I'm not sure what to make of the ever increasing trend of Hollywood actors to radically change their appearance for roles, and Natalie Portman is definitely more attractive with a few more kilos than she had in this role, but the acting was flawless. It's one thing for Jesse Eisenberg to spout some hacker slang, click some keys, and show some PHP code, but Portman really did an awful lot of actual ballet dancing. It also must be mentioned that the camera work for the dance sequences, while dizzying at times, was truly amazing, and it must have been at least as choreographed as the dancing itself. I was wholly prepared to not like this film, but by the end, it was quite moving and beautiful.

## Winter's Bone

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I remember watching this trailer when I first got my Apple TV and was browsing through trailers, and it didn't look like a movie I'd enjoy. I'm not a big fan of the whole "life sucks for poor people" extreme realism genre that is so popular with The Academy. Perhaps in the novel things made more sense, but the story seemed shallow to me. I felt no emotional connections to any of the characters. Jennifer Lawrence may be nominated for Best Actress, but her character seemed fairly emotionless to me...but then I couldn't stand _The English Patient_, so what do I know about Academy Award predictions?

## The Fighter

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Has it really been six years since _Million Dollar Baby_ swept the Oscars? I guess we're ready for another boxing film. [_The Fighter_](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0964517/) was good, and I'm a fan of Bale, Wahlberg and Adams. I think Bale's got a good shot at the Best Supporting Actor award, and if Hailee Steinfeld hadn't been so awesome as the protagonist of _True Grit_, I think Amy Adams might have a shot at Best Supporting Actress, but I think that's all Hailee's. _The Fighter_ was entertaining and I did start to care about the primary characters, but it's certainly not the best of the year. I liked [_Cinderella Man_](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0352248/) better.

Prognostication Alert: Amy Adams wins Best Actress in 2012 for her role as [Janis Joplin](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1670250/).

## The King's Speech

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Oh bloody hell! I wrote all of the above immediately after watching each film, and I had all the winners chosen, and then the one I least wanted to watch _blew me away_!

In college, I wrote a paper for my film appreciation class on _Good Will Hunting_, which I saw in the cinema four times in preparation to write the paper. For the rather lame thesis of my paper, I chose one film technique we'd learned about in class and rambled on and on – until the paper looked long enough – about how _GWH_ used it to such effect. The technique I wrote about was that of using the extreme closeup to make the audience feel more intimate and connected with a character. When you see _The King's Speech_, you'll understand just how well it works and why I was reminded of my college paper.

As a sufferer of a speech impediment myself, which I have almost entirely outgrown finally, this movie resonated strongly with me. King George VI surely experienced the worst possible scenario for a stutterer, that of speaking live to millions of listeners who all expected him to be great and strong and profound. What utter hell!

I was previously quite certain that my vote for Best Actor belonged to James Franco of _127 Hours_, but I think Colin Firth deserves it more. He totally nails what it's like to not be able to get a word out of your mouth. And Geoffrey Rush takes first place by a wide margin for Best Supporting Actor. I cared more about the characters in this film than about those of any of the others. What a fantastic film to end on!

## Conclusion

Here is how I would rank the nominees for Best Picture of 2010:

1. The King's Speech
2. The Social Network
3. Inception
4. 127 Hours
5. Black Swan
6. Toy Story 3
7. The Kids Are Alright
8. The Fighter
9. True Grit
10. Winter's Bone

If I were in charge, the winners of the other top Oscars for 2010 would be:

Best Actress In A Leading Role: Natalie Portman Best Actor In A Leading Role: Colin Firth Best Actress In A Supporting Role: Hailee Steinfeld Best Actor In A Supporting Role: Geoffrey Rush Cinematography: Black Swan Directing: Tom Hooper, The King's Speech Music (Original Score): Inception Sound Editing: Inception


Movie Reviews: The Academy Award Best Picture Nominees for 2010


<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-01-25-scooter-accident-caught-on-film/5386862487_2f7194da51_o_d.png" target="_blank" class="flickr-image post-thumb" title="Scooter Accident Thumbnail">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-01-25-scooter-accident-caught-on-film/5386862487_98a8a758d8_t.jpg" alt="Scooter Accident Thumbnail"/>
</a>

One of Nora's first words was "scoot", taught to her by her American grandmother. Whenever she sits on her chair at the coffee table every morning to have her morning bottle of formula, she says "Scoot! Scoot!" and expects me to help push the chair up to the table for her.

Only just lately she's taken to scooting her chair along the floor around the house as if it were some sort of primitive vehicle in a pre-wheel civilization. It's fairly cute, but not good for the floor, and the practice is rather prone to mishaps. 

<iframe title="YouTube video player" class="youtube-player" type="text/html" width="505" height="314" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/hSrSyMlJdk4" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>


Scooter Accident Caught On Film!


<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-01-22-fischer-3d/5375859041_0e56b7399b_o_d.gif" target="_blank" class="flickr-image post-thumb" title="Bobby Fischer 3D">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-01-22-fischer-3d/5375859041_c5de86d868_t.jpg" alt="Bobby Fischer 3D"/>
</a>

For a while now, I've had a photoshop project in mind to take historical photographs and add a three dimensional effect to them by providing camera movement. I've [hinted](/2010/11/04/fun-with-cousin-chloe/) at the idea [before](/2010/12/31/cards-by-joyce/). Using historical photos of, say, dead people, is just a gimmick to show that there was no intention of the effect at the time the photo was taken. So far, I've only been able to find the time to make one attempt, but I'd like to do more. After googling "iconic photograph", and searching for one with a clear foreground and background, I settled on this famous photograph of Bobby Fischer.  <a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-01-22-fischer-3d/5375859041_0e56b7399b_o_d.gif" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Bobby Fischer 3D">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-01-22-fischer-3d/5375859041_0e56b7399b_o.gif" alt="Bobby Fischer 3D"/>
</a>

The fact that the content behind the king is obscured in shadow made the work very easy. It was a good one to start with, I think.


Fischer 3D


<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-01-21-bilingual-social-networking/2611151123_2f6c6865cc_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image post-thumb" title="Spain and USA Flags Merged">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-01-21-bilingual-social-networking/2611151123_d13f6b8e00_t.jpg" alt="Spain and USA Flags Merged"/>
</a>

As Facebook slowly catches on here in Spain, I've been faced with a dilemma: my Spanish friends want to be friends with me on Facebook, but they don't understand anything I post. And I understand them perfectly. I have some friends that post things in Polish, Italian, Russian, Portuguese, Hungarian, and Greek, and it is a little annoying to be excluded from their communication by my ignorance. Possible solutions to my problem that I see are: 

1. Ignore the Spaniards
2. Post everything twice, once in Spanish and once in English.
3. Create two separate accounts: one for Spanish and one for English.

I'd rather not take option #1, because I see the value of social networking and of communicating my wise(ass) thoughts to a broader audience. If you are a friend of mine on Facebook, then you know that I'm a little too prolific and would agree that option #2 would be misery for all. So I'm going to try option #3. It might turn out to be too much work, or generally a terrible idea for other reasons, but we'll see. I have created Spanish alter-egos on [Twitter](http://twitter.com/erikespanol) and [Facebook](http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100001929077974). If you choose to follow me on both, be prepared for some redundancy.

¡Vámonos!

Update, May 12, 2011: This project has been cancelled due to reasons explained my post [Using Facebook Properly](/2011/05/12/using-facebook-properly/).


Bilingual Social Networking


<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-01-20-horquilla/5372231731_2ef85802b6_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image post-thumb" title="Nora's Overcoat with Hair Clip - Version 2">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-01-20-horquilla/5372231731_f8d409471b_t.jpg" alt="Nora's Overcoat with Hair Clip - Version 2"/>
</a>

_Horquilla_, pronounced "or-KEY-ya" is one of those Spanish words that, if I hadn't had a daughter, I could've lived my entire life in Spain without needing. A Google search brings up the [Spanish Wikipedia page](http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horquilla) for the part of a bicycle known in English as "the fork". One of the related articles refers you to another meaning, in the realm of automobiles: "hairpin turn"...which eventually leads to to the primary usage of the word: a hairpin or bobby pin.  Nora has traditionally been a really bad sport about letting anyone touch her hair, but the checkout lady at the grocery store, Ana, who sees her for five minutes every day, has slowly but surely built up a confidence with Nora. Yesterday, Ana asked me to bring in a hairpin the next day to see if she could put it on Nora. Already a mother of two, Ana knows a few tricks of her own and made sure to have a bobby pin to put on herself first, both to show it doesn't hurt and looks good, and to generate some envy. When asked if she wanted one too, Nora enthusiastically said "_Sí­!_" Although she tensed up for the final _\[snap!\]_, Nora allowed her hair to be pinned.

Ana then carried Nora to a mirror to admire her hairdo. When asked, "Where are you pretty?", Nora would point to her hairpin. It was pretty cute. At home, she eventually took it off, and then demanded I put it back, which I didn't do to her liking, so we gave up. In the end, I had to hide it from her, which resulted in her walking around saying, "_Tortilla_, where are you?"

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-01-20-horquilla/5372231113_6bec1021da_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Nora's Overcoat with Hair Clip">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-01-20-horquilla/5372231113_87698b1a82_z.jpg" alt="Nora's Overcoat with Hair Clip"/>
</a>


Horquilla


<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-01-19-scenes-from-this-morning/5369493491_c817e8602a_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image post-thumb" title="Happy homeowner">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-01-19-scenes-from-this-morning/5369493491_1e7edb94be_t.jpg" alt="Happy homeowner"/>
</a>

Nora was looking particularly cute in her red dress this morning, and it's been a little while since I took some photos of her playing at home, so I thought I'd take some. Also in the photos below is her Christmas present from us, a playhouse. She has a gay old time opening the door, entering, closing the door, opening the door, exiting, and closing the door. She crosses that molded plastic threshold dozens of times a day.  <a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-01-19-scenes-from-this-morning/5369491583_4ff9d5e4aa_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="In a hurry">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-01-19-scenes-from-this-morning/5369491583_d4721c1bf7.jpg" alt="In a hurry"/>
</a>

Running around in a hurry.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-01-19-scenes-from-this-morning/5369493491_c817e8602a_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Happy homeowner">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-01-19-scenes-from-this-morning/5369493491_1e7edb94be.jpg" alt="Happy homeowner"/>
</a>

Happy homeowner. This might be the best natural smile I've ever captured from her. She could be on the cover of _Better Homes and Gardens_.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-01-19-scenes-from-this-morning/5370098802_62b79ccc8c_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Ooh! An iPhone 4!">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-01-19-scenes-from-this-morning/5370098802_d6fecd700d.jpg" alt="Ooh! An iPhone 4!"/>
</a>

Oooh! An iPhone 4!

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-01-19-scenes-from-this-morning/5369494619_683f6bee3a_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Howdy, neighbor!">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-01-19-scenes-from-this-morning/5369494619_069ecc337b.jpg" alt="Howdy, neighbor!"/>
</a>

Howdy, neighbor!

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-01-19-scenes-from-this-morning/5369499739_d7632a4707_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Closing the window">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-01-19-scenes-from-this-morning/5369499739_0796714b28.jpg" alt="Closing the window"/>
</a>

Closing the shutters.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-01-19-scenes-from-this-morning/5370104844_364388192e_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="No photographs, please!">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-01-19-scenes-from-this-morning/5370104844_3a1f13ef9c.jpg" alt="No photographs, please!"/>
</a>

No more photographs, please.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-01-19-scenes-from-this-morning/5369500893_df7192136d_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Portrait of a yogurt eater">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-01-19-scenes-from-this-morning/5369500893_d2ef8d98b4.jpg" alt="Portrait of a yogurt eater"/>
</a>

Pensive yogurt eater.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-01-19-scenes-from-this-morning/5369503537_b712df47e6_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Surprised Yogurt Eater">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-01-19-scenes-from-this-morning/5369503537_9ffc32484a.jpg" alt="Surprised Yogurt Eater"/>
</a>

Yogurt surprise.


Scenes From This Morning


![thumb](https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-01-18-bluetooth-wireless-desktop/11RzmFI0e3L._SL500_SS75_.jpg)I have recently converted my office desktop (the actual desk top, not the computer) to all bluetooth. Over Thanksgiving, I bought the [Apple Wireless Keyboard](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002TMRZOQ?ie=UTF8&tag=eriksblog07-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B002TMRZOQ) and [Apple Magic Trackpad](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003XIJ3MW?ie=UTF8&tag=eriksblog07-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B003XIJ3MW). My previous keyboard, the [Apple Aluminum Wired Keyboard](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000V07N9U?ie=UTF8&tag=eriksblog07-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B000V07N9U), was Spanish, and thus had the keys labeled the way Spain labels their keyboards. I use the US key mapping, and my touch typing is good enough for just about everything so that it never mattered what letters were on the keys, but I do sometimes look at the keyboard when performing shift+number operations, and the fact that Spaniards have the open parenthesis on the seven and the close parenthesis on the eight (shifted one to the left of the US keyboard) caused me ceaseless annoyance and confusion. It's nice to have an American keyboard again.  I've been using the [Apple Magic Trackpad](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003XIJ3MW?ie=UTF8&tag=eriksblog07-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B003XIJ3MW) for over a month now, based solely on the recommendation of a trusted colleague, and I'm quite happy with it. The only pointer input action that is more difficult with the trackpad is dragging, but to be honest, I don't drag all that much. Scrolling, clicking, and motion are all simpler. The only time I switch back to a mouse is for Photoshop, which requires quite a bit of dragging, and even then, it feels ridiculous to be lugging a big object around the desktop instead of just moving my hand. I like the trackpad a lot.

Where I most notice my lack of wires is with replacing my [Plantronics DSP400 Headset](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000VEMNRS?ie=UTF8&tag=eriksblog07-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B000VEMNRS) with a [Sennheiser MM100 Bluetooth Headset](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0019UX796?ie=UTF8&tag=eriksblog07-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B0019UX796). The Sennheiser headset works flawlessly with my iPhone, too. At first it was a little uncomfortable, since I'm not used to the "wrap around the back of the head" headphone design, but once I got used to the minuscule weight of the headphones resting on my ears, I really love it. It's nice to walk down the street with music flowing from my pocket to my ears with no wires. They're also very comfortable for long hours at my desk at night when I can't use my [Bose speakers](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000IE8Z4Q?ie=UTF8&tag=eriksblog07-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B000IE8Z4Q).

I did run into one unexpected problem, which was that my internet connection (over wifi) got really slow whenever I was listening to music with my bluetooth headphones. Eventually I figured out that the wireless signals were interfering. My wifi card in my computer was unable to use my [Linksys E3000](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003B48UQ8?ie=UTF8&tag=eriksblog07-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B003B48UQ8) dual-band wifi router to its fullest extent, so I decided to purchase a [Linksys Dual-Band Wireless-N USB Network Adapter](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0011E324K?ie=UTF8&tag=eriksblog07-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B0011E324K), which did enable me to use the higher 5 GHz band that the 802.11N specification provides. Since switching to only 5 GHz, I've had no problems whatsoever with radio interference between bluetooth and wifi.

Also...because [my bluetooth adapter](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001E96INY?ie=UTF8&tag=eriksblog07-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B001E96INY) has a range of 100 meters, I don't even have to pause the music to walk to the bathroom. It doesn't get much more wireless than that!


Bluetooth Wireless Desktop


<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-01-17-shopping-with-carla/5364178863_026361770b_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image post-thumb" title="Nora and Carla">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-01-17-shopping-with-carla/5364178863_f732428372_t.jpg" alt="Nora and Carla"/>
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On Saturday, we went into Santander for some shopping. Top on the list were some boots for Marga. She found some that she really liked the week before, but when we got home, it turned out that the left boot and the right boot weren't exactly the same color. Doh! So I had to return them later that week. On Saturday she found a boot she really loved, but the store said that they only had the right boot and not the left. WTF? Pretty terrible luck, really.

After a quick stop for a beer, we headed to a children's clothing store we like. Upon arrival, we were greeted by some friends, Maite, Miguel, and Carla. Marga met Maite in an aerobics class a few years ago, and they both happened to get pregnant about the same time. Their daughter, Carla, was born three months after Nora. Recently, Marga and Nora have been getting together with Maite and Carla for coffee and playground activities a few times a week, and Nora's demeanor around both Carla and Maite is evidence of the time they've spent together. Nora likes them both very much. We stood and talked outside the shop for some time, and then the Mommies decided to go into the store and leave the Daddies and daughters outside to play. I took some photographs. Note that this Carla is not to be confused with Nora's [_other_ best friend, Carla](/2010/08/18/kisses-from-carla/).

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-01-17-shopping-with-carla/5364171279_89a78d38b0_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Nora and Carla">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-01-17-shopping-with-carla/5364171279_8d3fa63af3.jpg" alt="Nora and Carla"/>
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Like the other Carla, this one is very fond of kissing.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-01-17-shopping-with-carla/5364172737_9af7450e22_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Nora and Carla">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-01-17-shopping-with-carla/5364172737_fcbd962435.jpg" alt="Nora and Carla"/>
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<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-01-17-shopping-with-carla/5364786874_9d4dd92264_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Nora and Carla">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-01-17-shopping-with-carla/5364786874_852623cc86.jpg" alt="Nora and Carla"/>
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<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-01-17-shopping-with-carla/5364176077_a9eb6ccca4_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Nora and Carla">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-01-17-shopping-with-carla/5364176077_d89d177e58.jpg" alt="Nora and Carla"/>
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<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-01-17-shopping-with-carla/5364793790_667ee6ca70_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Nora and Carla">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-01-17-shopping-with-carla/5364793790_11c96fe0e0.jpg" alt="Nora and Carla"/>
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<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-01-17-shopping-with-carla/5364795746_236343c620_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Nora and Carla">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-01-17-shopping-with-carla/5364795746_ce30e56c32.jpg" alt="Nora and Carla"/>
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Eying the Mommies in the store.

Carla is also a cookie aficionado.


Shopping With Carla


<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-01-13-lopsided-language-development/2611151123_2f6c6865cc_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image post-thumb" title="Spain and USA Flags Merged">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-01-13-lopsided-language-development/2611151123_d13f6b8e00_t.jpg" alt="Spain and USA Flags Merged"/>
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Nora's Spanish has taken some leaps and bounds in the past couple weeks, yet her spoken English is lagging behind, and I can't help but blame myself for it. In the mornings, when I care for her for 3-5 hours depending on when she gets up, I speak only English to her, except when we are around Spaniards in the grocery store. She, however, chooses to speak Spanish to me. There are some exceptions. When she asks for a cookie, she says "[_Doh-chi!_](/2010/09/24/cookie-monster-the-insatiable-snacker/)", and when she wants to get down off of something (e.g. chair, sofa, stroller), she typically says, "Down!", although she has recently taken to saying "_Al suelo!_" (to the floor).  Part of the problem, I think, is that I understand her Spanish and, although I try to force her to say it in English, sometimes obey her commands by accident. When I repeat what she's asked for in English, I often get back a "_Sí­!_", as in, "Duh, that's what I just said!" Getting her to say "Yes" instead of "_Sí­_" is yet another battle.

Over the Christmas holidays, she has spent a lot of time with her Spanish grandparents. Her grandmother has the habit of talking to Nora _constantly_, even if she's not in the same room, and often narrating whatever Nora is doing. This is incredibly annoying to all the adults around, but is _exactly_ what Nora needs for language acquisition. That level of interaction and constant talking is just not something I'm capable of. I had a hard time forcing myself to talk to her when she was an infant because, while she wouldn't understand, she needed to hear my voice.

She is capable of forming full sentences with subjects, verbs and objects in Spanish, but can't yet string more than one or two words together in English. Today she said, "_Bebe tíº vino, Poppy_," telling me to take a sip of wine. Normally that's a command you don't have to tell me twice, but I made her get out a grunting approximation of "drink", which is seriously more complex than "_bebe_", before I complied.

I suppose this goes on the long list of trivialities of childhood development that parents fret about [needlessly](/2010/08/24/clean-bill-of-health/) that mean nothing in the long term, but I'd be curious to hear comments from other bilingual parents.


Lopsided Language Development


<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-01-11-german-cars-make-people-speed/4156967011_d77b149b55_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image post-thumb" title="Autumn Benz">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-01-11-german-cars-make-people-speed/4156967011_e9d02d90ed_t.jpg" alt="Autumn Benz"/>
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In the countries I've lived and driven in, I've noticed some differences between how people drive on the motorway (that's like the "interstate" for you yanks). In England, people tend to drive with an unparalleled politeness. They will happily move over to let you pass, make room for you to merge in, or brake so you can change lanes ahead of them. Spaniards, on the other hand, are just as selfish as the Brits are selfless. In Spain, everyone assumes that you will also behave selfishly, so when you try to be polite to other drivers, they get confused or don't trust that you're really letting them merge. The Americans are somewhere in between.  One difference I've noticed between driving on the motorway in Spain and the US is the speed at which the drivers in the fast lane pass me. It's quite common in Spain for a car to pass by going more than 15 kph faster, whereas that isn't very common at all in the US. I think this is partly due to the ubiquitousness of cruise control in American cars. Cruise control, like automatic transmission, is a fairly high end option on cars in Spain still, whereas they are the defaults in the States. When you're driving on the motorway without cruise control, it's very easy to let your mind wander and end up either 20 kph above or below the speed limit.

From my casual observations, which are probably riddled with confirmation bias, the cars that whiz past me in the fast lane are almost always, say nine times out of ten, either an _Audi_, a _Mercedes_, or a _BMW_. My theory on why this might be so goes something like this...

> Car manufactured in Germany are designed with the speed limitless [_autobahn_](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autobahn) in mind and are thus more comfortable to drive at very high speeds than cars manufactured outside of Germany.

Not only is it that the ride is smoother at high speeds, but that the speedometer is designed to go higher. I recall my grandmother reporting some years back that after changing cars, she noticed that she drove faster on the motorway. Eventually she figured out that she had become used to keeping the speedometer needle exactly vertical, which was 100 kph in the old car and 120 kph in the new one. I think there's definitely something to that.


German Cars Make People Speed


![thumb](https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-01-06-why-christmas-is-no-longer-special/grinch_santa.jpg)Today is Kings Day, the traditional gift giving day in Catholic Spain. For people who prefer Christmas to be more about Baby Jesus than the North Pole, it makes more sense to give gifts on [Epiphany](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epiphany_(holiday)), when tradition says that the Wise Men allegedly gave gifts to Jesus.

This morning, my mother-in-law articulated a concern I've been feeling but had yet to put into words:

> Christmas isn't special anymore. It used to be more special.

When someone says something like this, my immediate reaction is to attribute it to the _Golden Age Fallacy_, the fallacious idea that life was generally better in the past. Normally this is because we forget just how creative and free and exciting it is to be a child, so, looking back, we see our childhood as a time of simplistic ideals and, gosh, is life complicated now as an adult! That and the fact that the media has built up Christmas as being _so incredibly special_ that the reality can never live up to our expectations.

But I think there's more.

What happened to Christmas is that the general level of wealth and consumerism has increased. I am a really difficult person to buy a gift for. Why? Because whenever I want something in a reasonable gifting price range, I just buy it for myself. When people have less disposable income, then gift giving is more meaningful.

Whenever my daughter sees her Spanish grandparents, which is about every 2-3 weeks, they always have a new toy and a bunch of candy for her. No wonder Christmas (or Kings Day) morning isn't special! This is due partly to Nora being an only granddaughter, partly to an increase in availability of [cheap Chinese plastic crap](/2010/10/21/chinese-capitalism-in-spain/), and partly to an increase in disposable income across the Western world. I don't blame them for seeing a toy in a shopwindow for only 5€, 10€ or 20€ and saying, "Ooh, Nora would like this!" The fact that we all have an extra 20€ to spend on unnecessary luxuries is wonderful, and I wouldn't change it for anything, but it's definitely making special gift giving holidays less special.

My daughter is not yet two, so she doesn't really understand what it is to anticipate future events and possessions, a mental skill upon which much the excitement of Christmas is based. I very much look forward to experiencing the magic of Christmas through her eyes in the coming years.

I still think, however, that for those of us that are lucky enough to not live from paycheck to paycheck, the best gift, for adults, is [a goat](/2006/12/28/the-best-christmas-gift/).


Why Christmas Is No Longer Special


<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-01-04-elephants-and-vocabulary/5324663423_74e16188f0_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image post-thumb" title="Nora With Elephants">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-01-04-elephants-and-vocabulary/5324663423_ca97f1f89b_t.jpg" alt="Nora With Elephants"/>
</a>

Nora's vocabulary continues to advance. She's big into repeating whatever you say, particularly the last part, so if you say, "Do you want some yogurt?", and she says, "Yogurt!", that doesn't necessarily qualify as an affirmative response. The problem is, however, that she's not very good about open ended questions. "What do you want?" still isn't likely to result in any meaningful communication, although if she's been asking for something, she will repeat what she wants (hint: it's usually [a cookie](/2010/09/24/cookie-monster-the-insatiable-snacker/)).  Where she really excels and proves her vocabulary and understanding abilities is with identification tasks, particularly questions beginning with "Where is...". Just after Thanksgiving, when we introduced her to my friend, Jacob, she was able, fairly quickly, to answer "Where is Jacob?" by directing her eyes at him. With more exposure to him, she would have been pointing and eventually walking over to him to touch him.

Also through this "Where is?" method, she exhibits an understanding that I have many names: Daddy, _Papá_, _Aita_ (Basque), Poppy, and Erik. The same goes for her mother.

Her humanoid anatomy vocabulary is quite good too. She can identify at least a dozen body parts both on herself and on other people and stuffed animals. She doesn't yet comprehend possessive pronouns, so I have to ask where "Daddy's nose" is, as opposed to "my nose".

A slightly more impressive feat is her ability to answer the question "Who is this?" when the interrogator points at someone, either in person or a photograph. In this manner, she can properly identify, by relational name (e.g. Mommy, Grandpa, etc.), her parents, all four grandparents, both living great-grandparents, her Spanish aunts and uncles, and a half dozen stuffed animals.

Probably the skill that impresses me the most is her ability to properly generalize her internal animal archetypes. She learned what a penguin is from a stuffed animal she has. From that, she can identify penguins on television, photos in books, and stylized drawings on her clothing. Although she understandably gives a false positive with [puffins](http://www.google.com/images?q=puffin).

Her ability to spot one of her favorite animals – which currently rank thusly 1) elephant, 2) penguin, 3) Minnie Mouse – in a scene is rather staggering. Many times we'll be walking down the street, and she'll say, "_¡Pingí¼ino!_", and then it will take me a good minute to figure out where she's just seen a picture of a penguin, but every single time she's right; there _is_ a penguin. Both Mickey and Minnie are identified as "Minnie".

![GOP](https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-01-04-elephants-and-vocabulary/200px-Republicanlogo.svg.png)Just today I was watching a news segment about the American politics, and there was a tiny emblem of the Republican party in the corner of the television screen. Nora shouted with glee, "_Fante!_" (rhymes with [_Dante_](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dante_Alighieri), short for _elefante_). Once again, it took me a minute to figure out she was referring to the symbol of the [Grand Old Party](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republican_Party_(United_States)). That's pretty abstract.

In honor of her obsession with pachyderms, I have done some creative photoshopping.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-01-04-elephants-and-vocabulary/5324663011_ff2058a296_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Nora With Elephants">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-01-04-elephants-and-vocabulary/5324663011_7651e9248e.jpg" alt="Nora With Elephants"/>
</a>

_¡Fantes!_ [View large](http://www.flickr.com/photos/erikrasmussen/5324663011/lightbox/). It was quite tough getting her to look down for the photograph.

<a href="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-01-04-elephants-and-vocabulary/5324663423_74e16188f0_o_d.jpg" target="_blank" class="flickr-image" title="Nora With Elephants">
  <img src="https://d1js6qm6cshi0v.cloudfront.net/oldblog/2011-01-04-elephants-and-vocabulary/5324663423_ca97f1f89b.jpg" alt="Nora With Elephants"/>
</a>

I like the first one better. It was a lot easier, particularly because the light in the initial environment was so diffuse. Reflection and clipping are pretty simple. The second one, with the setting sun providing a horizontal yellow light, was much more difficult. Adding lighting to the foreground subject was a challenge. To my brain, in the second image, she pretty clearly stands out as not having been there in the original photograph, whereas the first one looks like she might've wandered into a museum diorama or something.


13 posts from January, 2011