Statistics

Hmm. For a Blog which is very inactive and has only a few viewers who are polite people who are friends in spite of myself, I am puzzled why the month of October 2010 shows an all time high traffic mark of 286 hits. Nothing new has been posted for almost an entire year. Maybe I have accidently included some phrase or image that is a hit magnet for search engines. Who knows.

QR c o d e

This is a QR code which stands for "quick recognition". Functions like a bar code only with more information content. You commonly see it in the United States on United Parcel Service package labels for tracking purposes. Each box has its unique number and shipping information stored in this graphic device which is cheaply and quickly generated by an ink-jet label printer.
Apparently, these symbols are becoming quite common in Europe and are finding new applications every day. One application might be electronic coupons on packaging or billboards. Snap a picture with your cellphone which has a QR app, of course, and route the credit to your Pay Pal account for your next on-line purchase. Or, forget the note pad and paper; electronically capture a URL, phone number etc that you want to remember by using your phone to snap a picture, decode and store the info. You can easily create you own codes for labeling property or advertising.

Here a few internet QR code generators to play with:

QR code.nu

Kaywa

(Thanks to blog Rene Plein Air for the links)

What is this?

Mercer House, Savannah, Georgia

The Mercer House is a beautiful, antebellum home in Savannah which was painstakingly restored by owner Jim Williams, a locally renowned restorer, antique dealer, and raconteur who is the central character in the book , Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil. This house was made famous by the movie rendition of the book which was filmed on location in Savannah. Tours are available of the ground floor which still contains most of the furniture and art seen in the movie. Jim Williams has passed on but the house is still owned and occupied by his family. They must live on the second floor, or at least go off to work each day while the tours are happening. All tourists are gone when occupants return home at five o'clock, I guess. It takes a lot of money to maintain such a property, but still, I am not sure I would want strangers treading on my carpets on a daily basis. Of course, tourists are not allowed to sit down on the furniture or snoop in the 'fridge so I guess the impact is minimal.

God bless you, Mr. Cronkite.

It is aliiiiiive!

Hey, after a rather longish respite from this posting business I think it is time to add a little note or something. 27.66& decline in readership over the last 30 days, average time on site of 8 seconds. Not too spiffy. I don't think I will get the Pulitzer this year. But I do have loyal readers, I do! Thanks to both of you.

You would think that someone would actually comment on the Blog itself instead of the content as happens sometimes. No one has ever said, "Gee, John, what a dweebish Blog you got there", or "Your blog gave me the strength to return to school and become a Forest Ranger, Thank you for all your inspirational words." Oh well.

Here is a quick drawing made using a water soluable graphite pencil received from an art supply dealer as a free sample. I sent them an e-mail and they sent me a free pencil. Wow.
This is a defunct mexican restaurant in my town in the back part of the Hardware store. Had pretty good food; apparently authentic stuff, not your chain restaurant Tex-Mex fare. Nice green paint job.

6 x 8 in., watercolor on paper.

Reef

Reef, 3 x 5 in, Watercolor and Litho gum on glazed white cardboard.

The gum solution is used in lithography to coat aluminum printing plates in order to prevent oxidation after development. The gum is traditionally Gum Arabic but is now only about 5% real gum with the balance being synthetic starches and mysterious chemicals. Mixed with watercolors; the gum makes the paint more viscous and changes the way it blends and scoots around on the cardboard.