First Things First

This month is going to have a small update.  Vista Drive has four new pictures, two in the Color, and two in the Black and White section.  Check out the new look American Bliss too.

Afterthoughts : Bike Lessons

Learning to ride a bike isn't easy.  Back when I was around 11 years old all my friends rode their bikes everywhere around the neighborhood.  It really wasn't fun to stand in my front yard and see all my friends fly by my face, having all the fun in the world.  I begged my mother to buy me a bike so I could learn how to ride it, and have as much fun as my friends.  She didn't think it was such a great idea.  She thought I would crack my head open, which nearly happened a few times mind you.  But, she agreed to get me a bike.  I don't know where I got this bike, but it was basically a little yellow bike that looked like a miniature 10 speed.  All my friends had BMX bikes, so my bike really was strange next to theirs.  Still, it was a bike.  Now my only problem was learning how to actually ride the thing.  I tried, and tried, but I just couldn't get the hang of it.  It was really frustrating me.  Finally, I remember going outside one night, and getting up on the bike, that I still couldn't ride, trying to get the hang of it.  I cried as I tried to make that old bike move.  The tires had gone flat, the seat moved around, and it was cold out.  Not the proper environment for learning.  Needless to say, I didn't learn how to ride my bike that night.  A couple of days later I asked one of my friends if he could teach me to ride a bike.  He lent me his bike, which had nice wide tires, and I rode that thing in my front yard until I got the hang of it.  It took me all day, but by day's end I was riding my bike like a pro.
Learning to ride a bike freed me.  Suddenly the world got a lot closer because I was able to ride from place to place.  I hated taking the bus, but now my bicycle became my horse of freedom.  With it I grew up, and I learned to do things on my own.

Editorial : AMC TV sucks

I was a big fan of the cable channel American Movie Classics.  However, over the past few months I've noticed a change in the philosophy of the channel.  The changes that have been made have not been for the better.  On the contrary, the changes have taken a once pleasurable channel and made it a skip over channel, like C-Span.

The biggest change to AMC has been the insertion of commercials during the movies.  In the past movies where shown without commercial interruptions.  Now, every five minutes there seems to be a movie.

Another change is the selection of movies.  Where AMC used to air movies from the 1930 to about the late 1950s, now the majority of the movies are from the 60s on.  Not to say that the movies that AMC air aren't good, they are.  However, they do fall into a list of movies that are shown on a lot of other channels.

Editing of movies has happen too.  AMC used to air movies in their original aspect ratio.  Many of the movies made from the 30s to the 50s where made on the standard 4:3 ratio.  However, now that they show more contemporary movies that aren't all made in the 4:3 ration, they still don't letterbox the screen.  Cuss words, that we have all heard a million times, are edited out as well.  What are we, children?

Last but not least, I hate the news crawl at the bottom of the page.  You know what I'm talking about, that little black line that gives you 'needed' information.  Putting the name of the movie is one thing, but sometimes AMC has put poll results, poll questions, and other unnecessary information on the screen while the movie is on.

All in all AMC has suffered from the many changes over the last few months.  It's gone from a place where I could find some of my favorite movies, to a channel that I don't feel the need to see.  I'm glad there's still Turner Classic Movies to watch.  It's what AMC used to be.

Etcetera : Cute

Rachael Ray is the host of a couple of FoodTV shows, 30 minute meals, and $40 a day.  I happen to think she's way cute.  Not only because I have a thing for Italian girls, but also because I love the way she cooks.  I've come to appreciate cooking a lot more thanks to her show.  And, I've learned a few things that I've applied in my own cooking.  All that because I think she's cute. Back to her looks for a minute.  Rachael's look is the typical look that I like.  Black hair, and a cute face will always get me.