Memorial Day Picnic

Barry & Shannon Visit

Palms At Twilight

Hello Jim & Kim fanatics...and welcome to JimmyPowell.com!
A fun & entertaining site where you can get a glimpse into our little world!

We headed up to El Segundo today to enjoy a picnic in the park with Tuti, Casie, Mike, Janice, Katie, Dan, Jen and the rest of the Lopez clan. We cooked out on the grill and enjoy being outside on a sunny day even though it got a little chilly once the wind picked up. We took our cameras but we honestly didn't take many pics but we'll have more from tonight's get together so check back on Monday.

(Janice...I emailed your picture to you...that'll be $19.95...ha-ha!)

This was a good week for me in photography as we were back to creative shots versus technical shots. I'll describe in more detail later but for now, here are the shots I took last week.

1. Landscape image under harsh sunlight, 12-3 pm	2. Portrait Under Soft Light
3. Scenic Backlit Landscape	4. Opaque subject with side/top lighting

I think this is the second time this has happened this year. I was going thru my massive backlog of email and noticed that I had 666 emails sitting in my Inbox. [ insert creepy music here ] And yes, I really do have that much email to go thru so sometimes it really does feel like Satan took over my Inbox. I think I need to hire someone just to handle my email.

Here's the new trailer for Superman Returns...the best part of this movie is going to be Kevin Spacey as Lex Luther. His politics suck but he's one hell of an actor!

• Superman Returns Movie Trailer

The Senate is moving closer and closer towards passing an amnesty bill with a vote taking place as early as Wednesday or as late as Friday. The House on the other hand has passed an enforcement only bill with no provision for amnesty and at some point the two bills will have to be reconciled.

Let's hope the House wins or we'll be seeing more and more Mexican flags!

This speaks for itself...

• http://www.apple.com/trailers/paramount/wtc/large.html

Release date: August 9th,  2006

Just a little something to let you know I didn't completely forget about you.  Hope you had a fan-ta-bu-lous day!  Wish we coulda been there to help you celebrate.

Miss ya, Deddy B !
LHKs !

(You too sis!!)

We got to see my brother and his wife (Barry & Shannon) earlier today at LAX (Los Angeles Airport). They had a layover on their way to Hawaii so we ran up to LAX to hang out with them for a few hours. I joked that in the five years we've been out here in LA they've been our first (and probably our only) visitors even if it was only at the airport. We sat around and joked with them and their friends until they had to go back to their gate. It was good to actually see some of our "east coast peeps" on our side of the country for a change. :-)

After they left for their gates, we decided to browse around the "airport mall" downstairs. Being in the airport is a much different experience when you're not traveling and rushing from one gate to another. Everyone else looked like they were in hell and we were walking around carefree.

We saw the Da Vinci Code last night and it was really good in my opinion and for the most part, it lived up the expectations of the book. There's a lot of dialogue in the movie but that was necessary in order to convey the intricate storyline. If you liked the book, you'll like the movie. There are a few little things that were altered or left out but not enough to warrant any bad reviews. A lot of critics panned the movie but that's usually a good sign. Seems that whenever critics pan a movie, it typically does very well at the box office and judging from the crowds last night, it's going to be a blockbuster.

We arrived at the theatre at 5:30 and all showings were sold out thru 10:00 so got tickets and went shopping for a few hours before returning to stand in line. There were a lot of young people there to see the movie and even religious protestors with picket signs and everything. I wonder when people will figure out that protesting just draws more attention to the matter and makes people want to see it more. Granted, the movie does shed light on a lot of the evil deeds done by the Catholic church over the centuries...but I for one like that.

So dark the con of man indeed!

Last week's photography assignment was all about spot metering and learning how to properly expose a picture manually...in other words, without letting the camera do it for us. Although it wasn't my favorite assignment, I definitely learned a lot about how to take better pictures using spot metering! This week we had to shoot a dark subject (1) a light subject (2) and then shots of the same subject using different exposure levels (3,4). I nailed the assignment and got a good laugh by using Darth Vader as my "dark subject" but my light bulb shot as the only one I was really happy with. 

1. Dark subject using spot metering for proper exposure of dark tones	2. Light subject using spot metering for proper exposure of light tones
3. Spot metered light	4. Spot metered dark

This story will blow your mind. A guy in Ogden, Utah drank 24 beers a day for 8 years and kept all the empty beer cans in his townhouse. He even had his water cut off because he drank nothing but Coors Light although that doesn't explain where he bathed or defecated and I don't wanna know. The cans covered practically everything in the house and even blocked the front door so that you had to go in thru the back. I mean, imagine drinking 24 beers a day, every day, for 8 years. This guy has literally been under the influence for 8 solid years! The story doesn't tell where or if he worked or how he afforded his drinking habit but his landlord said he was a model tenant and paid his rent on time every month. Unbelievable!

• http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=268346

Courtesy of Dave Snowden

Kim and I are sitting on pins and needles waiting for this Friday and the release of the Da Vinci Code movie. We both read the book over a year ago and been waiting for the movie ever since. Unlike the lackluster showing Mission Impossible III had, everyone is expecting the DVC to kick off the summer movie season with bang! We'll definitely be there!

(Sorry Tuti, we just can't wait until Sunday!)

George Bush has finally pulled his head out of the sand (Iraq) and decided to do something about the insanity of illegal immigration. In a televised speech earlier tonite the President said he plans to put the National Guard on the border and increase Border Control. The number of troops he plans to put on the border is only about a third of what we should be putting there but at least it's a start. The sad thing is that everything he's calling for was outlined by Bill O'Reilly...six years ago!! Still, it's a start.

Friday - It was another long week and we were really glad when Friday arrived. I met up with Kim after work and we went out to dinner at El Torito Grill in Torrance which was great! We headed to Best Buy after that to pick up a few DVD's that were on sale before returning home to wind down with a few cold ones on the sofa.

Saturday - It was actually warm and sunny on Saturday so I spent most of the day working outdoors cleaning my grill, killing some weeds, and taking all the recycling to the recycling center. I took Kim to get a massage while I was working around outdoors since her shoulder was bothering her. We went to In & Out Burger for dinner then to Home Depot to pick up some spring supplies.

Sunday - It was warm and sunny again on Sunday so went out for some Sunday brunch and a little shopping before heading home to wish our moms a Happy Mother's Day since we would couldn't be there in person. I went out to do some of my photography homework that evening and when I got back we crashed on the sofa to watch a movie together.

So that was our weekend! :-)

I can't believe it! I simply cannot believe! Chris Daughtry got booted off Idol last night despite the fact that he has been the best and most consistent singer throughout the competition. Even he was surprised. He's been the hands down favorite to make it to the final two throughout the series and now...*sigh*...I still can't believe it. I hope he puts together a rockin band, gets a record deal and out sales whoever wins cause this is just f'd up.

This was definitely my week in photography class...creative week. We had to take a picture following the rule of thirds (1), an abstract involving lines (2), a portrait following the rule of thirds (3), and finally a leading line picture that has that "step into it" feel (4). I know I'm there to learn but it also felt good to hear the "eeewwws" and "aahhhs" my photos elicited from the class and unlike last week's photos, most of these can and will be going on the wall.

1. Landscape photo following the rule of thirds in the composition	2. Abstract of my guitar featuring lines as the central subject
3. Portrait of Kim following the rule of thirds and reduced background	4. Leading line composition that has that "step into it" feel

Next week I get knocked off my pedestal again since it's another technical assignment involving spot metering. I prefer creative weeks.