Scott R. Sullivan

August 29th, 2008 by Scott

Presidential nominee, John McCain, has chosen Gov. Sarah Palin to be his running mate. I’ve got to be honest. I, like many, didn’t see this one coming!

However, as I find out more about Gov. Palin, the more I like her. She brings a conservative background to the ticket, which is what McCain needed to do.

Also, she’s a Governor. That’s key, as I’ve mentioned many times. While I was for supporting Gov. Jindal or Gov. Romney, I’m perfectly happy having Gov. Palin on the ticket.

She’s for drilling in ANWR, lowering taxes, cutting government spending (she nixed the ‘bridge to nowhere’), and goes hunting at midnight sometimes! Love it!

August 28th, 2008 by Scott

Several quick items to note. First, GDP for Q2 was released and has exceeded economists’ expectations, again.

The economy grew at 3.3% during the second quarter of this year. Far from the ‘recession’ the Democrats have been predicting and wanting for the past year.

Next, Obama’s “Zeus” complex was in full force as he spoke during his speech tonight. Sigh. Is he that egotistical?

Also ironic is that he blasted McCain for comparing Obama to Britney Spears in a commercial not too long ago. Well, turns out the man who designed Obama’s Mount Olympus stage for the acceptance speech tonight also designed Britney Spears’ stage sets. Ironic.

He also sounded very much like a Republican during his bullet points. It’s funny that Democrats talk about smaller government and tax cuts in order to get elected. Ironic.

Finally, McCain has chosen his running mate and will announce it within the next twelve hours. I’ve got a feeling it might get leaked beforehand, but either way, at noon on Friday, we’ll know.

I’m hoping for Romney. I’ve written many times about his winning attributes and still believe he or Jindal (if chosen as a running mate) will run for President in four years because I really doubt McCain will decide to run for a second term.

Plus, Romney and Jindal are the two conservatives that best display the true Reagan conservative values that will continue to make this country great.

P.S.
Gas continues to fall. Drove by a station today and it was $3.35! I know this is a temporary reaction to Bush’s action about drilling for more oil. But I predicted that gas prices would go WAY down before going back up again. Now we need to just drill and build a few nuclear and wind stations to help.

August 23rd, 2008 by Scott

Well, Day 2 and Day 3 were a blur! Angie and I stayed with our friends Sandra and Rich in Palo Alto. The Bay Area has pretty good train system, so we took the CalTrain into San Francisco on Wednesday and Thursday.

We did the typical ‘tourist’ thing: seeing Alcatraz, the Golden Gate Bridge, ride a cable car. We also visited the Pixel Corps main office. The Pixel Corps is a Visual Effects guild that I’ve been a member of for a few years.

Finally, coffee and a bit of sunburn, we wait at the airport to go home.

August 20th, 2008 by Scott

Well, we got up around 2 a.m. Tuesday morning to get finish packing and head over to the Philadelphia Airport. Our plane left at 6 am for California. After landing in San Jose, we checked into our hotel and grabbed a bit of lunch/breakfast (timezone changes are always fun!).

Then we got ready for the gig and grabbed a ride over to the Google campus for a gig that lasted until 11 pm. What a beautiful campus. I snapped a few pics, some of Angie, some of the campus.

We’re heading out for breakfast this morning (Wednesday) so I’m only uploading two of the pictures, but more will follow.

UPDATE:
I’ve uploaded more pictures from Day 1. Also updated the Flickr Set of our trip.

Here are two shots from the flight out. Not sure which canyons these are. Perhaps a small portion of the Grand Canyon? Anyone know?

August 17th, 2008 by Scott

I have just finished watching Dr. Horrible’s Sing Along Blog…. again! If you are looking for an intelligent, funny, and evil musical, this is it!

Dr. Horrible is an evil superhero who is trying to get into the Evil League of Evils in this three part show. The main character (Neil Patrick Harris) is an evil superhero you are rooting for, despite his problems with Captain Hammer.

I predict that this is going to turn into a Rocky Horror cult classic. I’ve got it permanently living on my iPhone right now and I think it’s going to be there for awhile. Like I said, I’ve already watched it several times and it gets funnier each time.

Enjoy! Here’s the iTunes link:

Dr. Horrible’s Sing Along Blog on iTunes.

August 15th, 2008 by Scott

I finished a video editing gig in Harrisburg then headed over to Lancaster to meet Angie and my mom (I grew up in Lancaster) for dinner before Angie’s gig at the baseball stadium.

After helping her setup her caricature equipment, I spent a little time relaxing taking photos at the park.

Since we got in before the stadium opened, I was able to get a few pictures of empty seats. The one picture of the empty seats I really like because the colors from the setting sun was just amazing.

Then as the stadium began to fill, there was that moment of scattered spectators getting ready for the game. That same setting sun is reflected in the window just moments before it dipped before the horizon.

August 15th, 2008 by Scott

A good friend (Pepka) and I drove down to Atlantic City to catch a show at the Trump Marina. While there, we swung down to The Pier at Caesar’s to enjoy the beach.

I’ve worked at Caesar’s many times doing magic, but this was nice just getting a chance to enjoy the sights and snap a few pictures.

Three seconds after I took this picture, that wave just about soaked my camera back and all my lenses! I saved the bag and lenses but my Sketchers, which I set down next to the bag, took the fall instead.

This was another 50mm lens shot. I just love that lens! Settings were f/4.8 at 1/3000 shutter and ISO 200. I also over exposed it ever so slightly and warm balanced to a bluish card to give it that super warm, summer beach feel. It reminds me a lot of an old film camera I used to have.

August 10th, 2008 by Scott

Germany’s economy isn’t too hot right now. Britian and Japan are both slowing. (Source)

In news to be released this week, we’ll see just how the US Dollar is doing.

Early reports I indicate that the value of the dollar is rising and is set to rise even faster ad foreign economies face recession.

The British, German, and Japanese central banks were much slower to respond to the worldwide economic sluggishness and look like they are about to pay the price.

In related news, as the value of the dollar continues to climb, news of off-shore drilling coninues, and speculation has ebbed, gas prices continue to fall.

Yes, for SIX straight weeks (that’s almost two months) gas has plummetted.

Told you so.

More as if develops this week.

August 5th, 2008 by Scott

My wife and I were put up overnight at a hotel in Center City for a gig Monday morning. So while looking out our window Sunday night, I snapped this quick picture.

I took it with my D70 set at ISO500, f/2.8 and exposure set to 2 seconds using my 50mm lens.

August 2nd, 2008 by Scott

Once upon a time (back in May), when he was still fighting Clinton and before be became Lord Obama with the media, the Democratic presidential hopeful was asked about debating in town hall meetings across the country with John McCain.

In fact, he said, “That’s a great idea.” And later in May, he said:

“If I have the opportunity to debate substantive issues before the voters with John McCain, that’s something that I am going to welcome.”

But now he has flip-flopped and has reversed his position on this, avoiding debating McCain at all except for the three official network debates in the fall.

So much for welcoming a healthy debate. Is he scared? I think so. He is so used to the media treating him like the Messiah that he has become a brand. He reads these rock star speeches from a teleprompter and wouldn’t be able to debate a real issue if placed into the situation.

Which is why he’s avoiding a town hall style debate. He knows he wouldn’t stand a chance.

I think Obama’s campaign manager, David Plouffe, had the best idea back in June:

In June, Plouffe had suggested Obama-McCain meetings more along the lines of the historic Lincoln-Douglas debates. In 1858, during Abraham Lincoln’s Senate campaign against Stephen Douglas, the candidates met seven times across Illinois. One spoke for an hour, the other for an hour and a half, and the first was allowed a half-hour rebuttal. (Source)

So much for Obama’s promise.