Reid Peryam

My Name In Print

TheFastCat@hotmail.com (Reid) — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 15:49:00 GMT

“The new phone book’s here! The new phone book’s here! This is the kind of spontaneous publicity I need. My name in print. That really makes somebody. Things are going to start happening to me now..”

—Navin R. Johnson
(1979-); The Jerk

Self Discovery

TheFastCat@hotmail.com (Reid) — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 15:43:00 GMT

“After all these years, I am still involved in the process of self-discovery. It's better to explore life and make mistakes than to play it safe. Mistakes are part of the dues one pays for a full life.”

—Sophia Loren
(1934-); actress

Trials, Temptations, Disappointments

TheFastCat@hotmail.com (Reid) — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 16:00:00 GMT

“Trials, temptations, disappointments -- all these are helps instead of hindrances, if one uses them rightly. They not only test the fiber of character but strengthen it...Every trial endured and weathered in the right spirit makes a soul nobler and stronger than it was before.”

—James Buckham
(-); writer, author

Nice Definition

TheFastCat@hotmail.com (Reid) — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 16:03:00 GMT

“Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgment that something else is more important than fear.”

—James Neil Hollingworth (pseudonym Ambrose Redmoon)
(1933-1996); writer, former manager of the folk rock band Quicksilver Messenger Service

WWI Poster

TheFastCat@hotmail.com (Reid) — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 03:58:00 GMT

I designed this poster at the National World War I Museum in Kansas City, Mo over the Thanksgiving holiday.A really great museum; I spent over four hours there and could have stayed longer.

Java Monster Lo-Ball

TheFastCat@hotmail.com (Reid) — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 16:06:00 GMT

Java Monster Lo-Ball is a low sugar (8 grams per 15 ounces - which is less than milk) energy drink that I use as a breakfast replacement. It has 100 calories per can and kills my appetite. I'm not really into breakfast so it serves as a nice little stepping stone to lunch. The downside is that it costs like $2.50 at the grocery store. I need to see if I can get it at Costco.

Turkey Day 2009

TheFastCat@hotmail.com (Reid) — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 07:42:00 GMT

The Next Adventure

TheFastCat@hotmail.com (Reid) — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 15:44:00 GMT

I am in the process of selecting my next adventure destination. Current nominations include

Aegean coast of Turkey
The Azores
Bali
Cook islands
Dordogne region and Point de Saint-Hernot in Bretagne in France
Falkland Islands
Greenland
Iceland
Mauritius
Marianas Islands
New Caledonia
Norway

I don't expect it to happen until late winter or Spring. Need to plan ahead though!

Morning Thunder

TheFastCat@hotmail.com (Reid) — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 14:17:58 GMT

My favorite tea is Celestial Seasoning's Morning Thunder. It is a black tea mixed with maté (I first was introduced to maté in Tierra del Fuego). It smells like spicy pumpkin pie and doesn't need any cream or sugar. Beyond the practical uses as a tasty tea I thoroughly enjoy the box art (like a kid's breakfast cereal!). A giant bison with a sunrise behind him, and clouds comprised of the spirits of his (assumedly dead) bison friends. It's like a story on a box! Whenever I drink it I stare at the box and say "so cool." I change between thinking "the bison is free and happy" and "he wants to kill some white men."

Responsibility

TheFastCat@hotmail.com (Reid) — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 13:23:00 GMT

“Let me not hurt, by any selfish deed Or thoughtless word, the heart of foe or friend; Nor would I pass, unseeing, worthy need, Or sin by silence when I should defend... 'The world is better that I lived to-day.'”

—Ella Wheeler Wilcox (1850–1919); author and poet

Poop and Tinkle

TheFastCat@hotmail.com (Reid) — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 05:09:00 GMT

My nephew William sent me a birthday greeting!

http://reidperyam.com/2009/07/07/poop-and-tinkle.aspx

Plato said

TheFastCat@hotmail.com (Reid) — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 15:44:00 GMT

Wise men talk because they have something to say; fools, because they have to say something.

Financial Downturn

TheFastCat@hotmail.com (Reid) — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 14:40:00 GMT

This man dropped his french fries on the ground at Coors Field. And then he picked them right back up again! Thrifty or filthy? How about hilarious!

Mondrian's Composition II Misinterpreted

TheFastCat@hotmail.com (Reid) — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 13:24:00 GMT

This is a Googled MS paint redux of Composition II in Red, Blue, and Yellow by Piet Mondrian (1930).

However this is the real Composition II. Multiple web sources actually attribute the first image as Piet's original; is this done ignorantly or apathetically?

The differences between the digital redux and Mondrian's original are not subtle. The first hightens contrast and colors; the rectangles are more pleasing (more "golden" -- following the golden ratio). The fat, outlining border does not exist in the original and the internal lines in both are are only uniform in the redux. There is a mistake inhereant in taking for granted the differences as meaningless for the sake of retaining the perceived whole.

Mondrian did not accidentally paint the brightness, slightly off-ratio rectangles, slightly incongrous lines of Composition II. Perhaps many people internalize Composition II in Red, Blue, and Yellow as defined by contrast, exacted uniformed linearity and most pleasing composition, but why so?

As I see it that's really not what Composition II is nor what Mondrian was aiming for. The goal was not a manually created clean, contrasted, uniform and "golden" composition. If he meant to he would have -- and he didn't! The goal was a composition nearly there but not. It is amusing that someone "corrected" his perceived mistakes in creating the redux. I wonder if Mondrian would take offense? Why do I?

At somepoint the inspiration of Mondrian's work realized in other forms transcends the original and becomes valid by itself. It is interesting that the conceptualization of a thing can be very different than its actual existence.

Watchmen

TheFastCat@hotmail.com (Reid) — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 13:20:00 GMT

My brother lent to me his copy of the comic book (aka "graphic novel") Watchmen. The plot follows the background and intertwining storylines of a band of super heroes in an alternate 1985 Amercia amidst the context of imminent, nuclear war. Deep character back stories, multiple sub plots and the ambiguous moralities of both the protagonist anti-heroes and anti-villains all drive the story telling.

I have never been interested in comics myself. Spiderman, Superman have the same appeal Saturday morning cartoons. Though admittedly actively ignorant of both Spiderman and Superman for my comparison I'll treat them as examples of event-driven, traditional "comics." Watchmen is a different flavor than these and I'll risk cliche when I call it "a thinking person's" comic.

Like all comics, Watchmen's story telling is enhanced by its graphic format. Four paragraphs describing a character are replaced by three comic frames or the artful font chosen to display a narrative. Forshadowing is achieved visually in a few cases which turns out to be more fun than the traditionally explicit, glossed-over references instituted in novels for the same effect. As a comic the storyline is free form and non-linear; plot devices that would otherwise be unwieldy or heavy-handed in a novel are free flowing here.

For example there is a very enjoyable parallel story-within-a-story (actually comic-within-a-comic) inside Watchmen entitled The Black Freighter serving as allegory to the major plot's progression. I'm unsure if this device would be successful (or even possible?) if Watchmen was anything but a comic. The movie excised The Black Freighter in its adaptation along with other events that apparently did not work when converted to the film's linearized story line.

As comic-disinterested as I am I really enjoyed Watchmen. I highly recommend it to anyone who has never read a graphic novel or is simply open to reading an excellent specimen of one. I think I may try my hand at other comics now (but I'm still not interested in Superman or Spiderman!).

Diamond Butt Peryam

TheFastCat@hotmail.com (Reid) — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 18:25:00 GMT

Rodeo has a diamond-shaped ridge of hair on his bottom that pops up when he is nervous or anxious. Usually when other dogs bark at him or he thinks people walking behind us are following him purposefully. Normally this diamond-shaped, second ridge is absent

William

TheFastCat@hotmail.com (Reid) — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 18:32:00 GMT

Here's a picture of my nephew at his third birthday party hurling a ball at his poor, indentured-to-photography uncle Reid. I get no respect!

Spinosaurus aegyptiacus & Tyrannosaurus rex

TheFastCat@hotmail.com (Reid) — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 15:45:00 GMT

I have undergone serious changes to my Cretaceous world view since learning that Spinosaurus aegyptiacus was larger than Tyrannosaurus rex. Much larger! Frankly though it's amazing that Tyrannosaurus rex has lasted over 100 years as the world's ultimate land predator even if only to casual perceptions. Like many others I don't subscribe to the Jack Horner hypothesis that T Rex was primarily a scavenger (especially if it was any sort of varient of warm blooded!). The discoveries of Carcharodontosaurus, Giganotosaurus and more recently the re-discovery of Spinosaurus still haven't toppled the idea that T Rex was a beast.

Though politically uncorrect an analogy to dogs bred for fighting may be apt when comparing the advantages of the different predators in regards to their size specifically. Jack London's White Fang demonstrates the advantages a strong, short bulldog can have over the larger wolf; stemming from those imageries I have convinced myself that a Spinosaurus would not be winning a no-holds-barred cage match with a Tyrannosaurus rex. So let Apollo Creed be the new fan favorite, I've still got my money on Rocky "T Rex" Balboa.

Bachlor Stew Recipe

TheFastCat@hotmail.com (Reid) — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 14:42:00 GMT

A great post-workout, protein recovery meal. Takes all of 1 minute to prepare. Super tasters will detest, mouth breathing brutes like myself enjoy.

2 cans lean tuna, drained
1/2 medium white onion
1/2 teaspoon habanero green pepper sauce
1 teaspoon pure horsradish
Sage to taste
Chili pepper to taste
Worcester sauce

Dice onion and add to tuna. Add spices and Worcester sauce, turn to mix.

Fall is Fun With a Dog

TheFastCat@hotmail.com (Reid) — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 15:52:00 GMT