Make images into a movie

Boy2 has been making stop-motion videos using Lego mini-figures.  I found a slick little Linux utility to convert a series of images into an AVI.  VERY useful if you then want to use `kdenlive` to add audio to said video, or edit it otherwise. 

mencoder "mf://*.jpg" -o movie.avi -ovc lavc -lavcopts vcodec=mjpeg

At some point, I'll post some of his videos.

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Remembering 9/11

I remember almost everything about 9/11. I was in Aurora, CO, at the Hampton Inn. I was in Denver for advanced training on the Cisco PIX. I was in the hotel lobby getting breakfast for my wife. I remember walking in to the area where breakfast was being served and was taken by the herd of people standing, silently, watching the television. I saw the first tower burning. I asked someone next to me, "what the hell happened?" He said, "a plane hit one of the Trade Center towers." As I stood there, I watched a second plane fly in to the second tower. I was stunned. I brought some breakfast up to Amanda and told her to turn on the television. I spent the next several hours at the training center with my classmates, trolling the web for information.

That night, Amanda and I took John with us to the 16th St. Mall to walk around and find some food. There were cops in riot gear. Cops in fatigues with machine-guns. Cop cars. Armored personnel carriers. It was surreal.

Now, eight years later, I watched some of the footage that's since become part of our cultural awareness, and had my kids watch it too. I think its important that we all remember that the preservation, and advancement, of Western Civilization is essential not only to ensuring we maintain our current place in the world, but also to ensure that we hand our children a bright future.

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Strawberries, shrimp and beans, these are just a few of my favorite things...

Strawberries. I like strawberries. I also like shrimp. Beans are most tastey, even the frozen variety. In addition to being things that I like, these disparate foods have something else in common... they found themselves floating in my toilet tonight. How? Let me tell you.

This strange stew of frozen goods, along with pop cicles, bratwurst, porkchops, bread, frozen peas, and a variety of other things was discovered, by me, while making dinner. The Queen had asked for frozen corn to be the vegetable for dinner tonight, and my search for said corn lead me to the chest freezer on our landing, which in turn lead to the discovery that our freezer had been off for several day.

There is nothing in life -- not even children -- that can prepare you to handle a discovery such as this. The combination of smells, sights, and sounds is enough to make even Chuck Norris sick to his stomach. Suffice to say, I did not relish the job of removing the contents, but I knew my wife wouldn't/couldn't, so I did the right thing and cleaned it out.

I pray that none of you ever experience such a thing as this.

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Requiescat en pacem, Maria Louise Meyer

I remember the first day I met Louise: it was the fall of '02 and I was walking home from the grocery store, alone. I suspect most people remember the first day they met Louise. On Friday, February 27th, Louise was killed in a car accident.

I found out about the accident Friday afternoon, while driving home from a client site in Iowa -- Amanda, called and told me. I was stunned. The more I think about it, the more tragic her passing is. The thing that hits me the hardest is her two boys: August and
Leonard. I can't help but think about them even now.

Jerome, Louise's husband, is understandably devastated. I can't even fathom what he's going through. As selfish as it may sound, I think trying to empathize with Jerome is what really tore me up: the thought of losing my wife, my Queen, coupled with the thought of having to
raise the kids without her love and support is just incomprehensible to me.

I went over to see Jerome this morning, and to express my condolences and found myself surrounded by Louise's friends and family -- I was staggered to see so many people from so many different places and ways of life, all bound by their kinship or friendship with Louise, were
there.

I've never lost a friend like this, and though I know she won't be the last, I'll always remember her and how her passing affected me on a personal level.

Requiescat en pacem, Maria Louise Meyer.

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A trip to the library...

Amanda (The Queen) shared with me an interesting statistic she had read: that homeschoolers are responsible for approximately 40% of the books checked-out from libraries. HOLY CRAP! 40% I didn't believe her...until today, when we went to the library.

The boys are studying medieval times in school along with the military lessons I've been working with them on (to my shame, I've been doing a poor job of that!) SO, Amanda located the correct section at the library and, as near as I can tell, checked-out every book on the subject.

I kid you not, we must've checked out just shy of 50 books today. Its staggering. Those kids will know about the medieval times! If not through simple osmoses...

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Kids Rock!

Amanda (my wife) and I have four kids: we were blessed (so saith the Psalmist in Psalm 126) with three sons first and recently a daughter. Four out of five people that I introduce my family to seem to think in incredibly shallow terms because invariably they say say something to the effect of, "Oh, you finally got your girl!" Like its some sort of "congratulations", or like we had son number three hoping he'd be a girl and that we were disappointed that James is anything but who he is? No.

I realize that some people may find this difficult to believe, but there are those of us out there who view children -- regardless of sex, color or developmental disposition -- to be a precious gift from God. Those of us who do view children in such a light are not so shallow as to be hung-up on having one girl and one boy. We're grateful for any blessing God bestows on us.

SO, the next time you meet someone with lots of kids, don't think you'll be cute and say something ignorant like, "you know what causes that, don't you?" Such comments are not polite, original or funny -- making such comments only proves you to be an idiot and a stooge for the Culture of Death.

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Minnesota Catholic Home Education Conference

Last weekend, Amanda and I attended the Minnesota Catholic Home Education Conference. Amanda had attended last year, but this was my first year. Generally, I found the conference useful. One thing, in particular, that struck me was the absolutely overwhelming volume of curriculum available! Its truly staggering. We'll be homeschooling our kids for the third year starting this Fall; our oldest will be in second grade, with our only other "school-age" child being in first grade.

Homeschooling has been an interesting experience for "us". Certainly by "us" I mean mostly my wife, who is primary care-giver, educator, nurse, and friend to all of our children, however as the kids get older I am trying to get somewhat involved. Its not easy, especially since I have no patience on a good day. :-\

If you're thinking about homeschooling, and live in the upper-plains, consider attending the conference next year.

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