{"id":24963,"date":"2023-07-28T05:00:26","date_gmt":"2023-07-28T09:00:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/?p=24963"},"modified":"2023-07-27T22:41:54","modified_gmt":"2023-07-28T02:41:54","slug":"whiling-away-the-summer-days","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/index.php\/2023\/07\/28\/whiling-away-the-summer-days\/","title":{"rendered":"Whiling Away the Summer Days"},"content":{"rendered":"

As July draws to a close, I\u2019ve been indulging in inconsequential trifles.\u00a0 Yesterday I watched the remake of \u201cTotal Recall\u201d with Colin Farrell and Jessica Biel.\u00a0 The original with Arnold Schwarzenegger was a silly movie.\u00a0 So was this.\u00a0 But I think I liked the recent one better.\u00a0 Not that it was any more sensible or was a masterpiece of cinematic brilliance but it was entertaining.<\/p>\n

Then tonight we watched the first episode of the spy series \u201cThe Old Man\u201d with Jeff Bridges.\u00a0 And once again it wasn\u2019t deathless theater but it was very entertaining.\u00a0 We\u2019re also watching the \u201cJustified\u201d sequel I guess you could call it.\u00a0 Now, I really liked the original series a lot.\u00a0 I don\u2019t know that I\u2019ll like this as much but it\u2019s well done and definitely in the same vein as the earlier series.\u00a0 So lately I\u2019m not hating tv.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

And since it stopped raining every minute, I\u2019ve had a chance to get outside and do some macrophotography of bugs and flowers.\u00a0 And that\u2019s a lot of fun.\u00a0 I\u2019ve been testing out the advantages and disadvantages of using continuous autofocus with fast moving insects.\u00a0 The primary disadvantage is that for the Sony A7IV camera magnified view is unavailable in continuous autofocus mode.\u00a0 So, for instance, if you\u2019re trying to get the eyes of a bee or butterfly perfectly focused you have to guess if the autofocus is precisely on the eye.\u00a0 In single-shot autofocus I can engage a 5.5X magnified view that will let me see whether the eye or whatever else I\u2019m trying to nail is perfect.\u00a0 But often when these critters are crawling around, they can move out of focus almost immediately.\u00a0 Plus, the magnified view ends as soon as the shutter is engaged and so it\u2019s necessary to reactivate it after every photo.<\/p>\n

Based on what I\u2019ve seen in the last couple of days I\u2019m starting to think that continuous autofocus is the way to go.\u00a0 Especially if I use high speed multiple exposures (spray and pray mode).\u00a0 This ends up filling up my memory card (and hard drive!) but the chance of getting the perfect shot is much more likely than with the single shot autofocus and single exposure mode.\u00a0 Plus, it\u2019s easier and as I\u2019ve always admitted I\u2019m an extremely lazy man.<\/p>\n

And I\u2019ve continued on my program of getting together with the grandsons one by one.\u00a0 Last Saturday I had the twelve-year-old fellow over and he wanted a Star Wars marathon.\u00a0 Luckily this was the \u201cThe Empire Strikes Back\u201d and \u201cReturn of the Jedi.\u201d\u00a0 I had forgotten just how bad the Ewoks were.\u00a0 I also forgot just how goofy the scripts were.\u00a0 Harrison Ford spends most of his time hammering away at some control components of the Millenium Falcon while whining about how it wasn\u2019t his fault.\u00a0 But we bonded over our shared belief that Imperial Stormtroopers were all pathetic losers without any detectable skills as warriors.\u00a0 And finally, I rediscovered my disdain for Yoda.\u00a0 As far as I could determine he was always wrong and of no value as a teacher or anything else.<\/p>\n

On the upcoming Saturday, the sixteen-year-old is coming over and I believe it will be a \u201cLord of the Rings\u201d film festival.\u00a0 That should be fun.\u00a0 For dessert he\u2019s requested original Klondike Bars, of which I wholly approve.\u00a0 It should be epic.<\/p>\n

So, all of these things provide a welcome distraction from the slow-motion train wreck that is our national government.\u00a0 I sometimes wondered what it must have been like to live through the more terrible chapters of the Roman Empire.\u00a0 I think I now have a better idea.\u00a0 Joe Biden is Tiberius and I guess Hunter is Caligula.\u00a0 The FBI is the Praetorian Guard and we\u2019re the rabble existing on bread and circuses.\u00a0 But even if Tiberius was as sexually depraved as Joe, at least he was an able military leader.\u00a0 Watching what Joe is doing to our foreign policy, or allowing others to do to our foreign policy, is frightening.<\/p>\n

But enough doom and gloom.\u00a0 Though we are perched on the slopes of Vesuvius we will eat, drink and be merry.\u00a0 July is almost consumed but it will be relished to the dregs.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As July draws to a close, I\u2019ve been indulging in inconsequential trifles.\u00a0 Yesterday I watched the remake of \u201cTotal Recall\u201d with Colin Farrell and Jessica<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,239,3,659,4,243,240],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-24963","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-current-events","category-movie-reviews","category-photography","category-photography-reviews","category-sff","category-sff-movie-reviews","category-tv-reviews"],"yoast_head":"\nWhiling Away the Summer Days - Orion's Cold Fire<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/orionscoldfire.com\/index.php\/2023\/07\/28\/whiling-away-the-summer-days\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Whiling Away the Summer Days - 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