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Since this is the first entry, I'll go back and grab some items of interest that have happened in the recent past. A little background on who I am, where I'm from, and where I'm headed. Future updates will stick to things that happened since the last entry. I'll try to keep the topics to Work, Home, and Hobbies.
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Here we go. I was born in Virginia. Moved to West Virginia. Then Ohio. Then Washington State. I grew up in Washington. Washington, for those who haven't been been there, is a natural paradise. God's beautiful green country. One of the prettiest places on the planet. You just can't imagine the beauty unless you've been there.
I joined the Navy and traveled to many countries. Australia, Hong Kong, Singapore, Guam, Japan, Pakistan, Philippines, Oman, Seychelles, Thailand, and many others.
After the Navy I went to work in Houston, Texas at the NASA Johnson Space Center. That was fun! It was busy, stressful, and hard also. Then the Space Shuttle Challeger exploded. It got very, very depressing working there.
I got transfereed to the Naval Weapons Center at China Lake, California. I worked there designing Video Systems for tracking the bombs, missiles, and various weapons. I was there during the Gulf War. That was interesting. I worked there for about 14 years.
Finally I went to work for NASA at Dryden Flight Research Center. This is where all the X-Planes are tested. Working here is a blast! I designed a new video system for Mission Control. I designed a whole HDTV System also. We have the world's first HDTV Tracking Mount. I am the head of the NASA HDTV Standards Committee. I get to do testing on HDTV equipment and recommend Standards for all of NASA. They actually pay me to do this! I should be paying them!
Last year I took a trip on my Motorcycle around the Olympic Loop in Washington. It was the motorcycle trip of a lifetime. I highly recommend it to anyone that rides road bikes. Breath-taking views, trees, lakes, canals, ocean beaches, waterfalls, and farms. It is about a 350 mile loop. I have pictures from the trip on my Photo Album Page. Take a look!
I almost forgot! I write reviews for Computerist Magazine. Check them out at the Link at the bottom of this page.
26 May 2001 - Back on October 13, 2000 Paramount pictures filmed several scenes from their new movie "Rat Race" in my house. They paid me very well for it. It was interesting, to say the least. The star at our house was Dean Kane, who played Superman on the TV Series. They flew a helicopter so low over my house the rotor blades almost touched the roof peak. They installed Astroturf in my backyard and a pool. They left the Astroturf, but they busted the pool as part of the movie. The movie Premieres sometime around Memorial Day, 2001.
18 August 2001 - "Rat Race" debuted yesterday, 17 August. I saw it and it was actually pretty good. It was very funny. I admit it was a lot better than I expected it to be. The helicopter scenes above my house looked scary on the big screen. They are 100% real, no special effects. The huge wall of water smashing into my house was real also. I had about an inch of water on the kitchen floor that came through the sliding glass doors. I recommend you see the movie. It will make you laugh.
The only other news worthy item that has happened to me lately is my trip to Washington DC. I was invited by the National Science Foundation to participate in a Motion Imagery Work Group. About a dozen people from various Governemnt Agencies (NASA, DOJ, DOD, FBI, NSA, CIA, NIMA, etc) are heading a Group to share research and information on High Definition Video. We will set Governemnt-wide policies and procedures for working with "Motion Imagery", as they want to call it now. I am so excited that they picked me to work on this. It is a real honor. This will be Fun!
3 February 2002 - It has been a long time since I updated this log. The tragic events of 9/11/2001 made a Web Log (or Blog) seem silly and unimportant. Life has returned to normal enough to continue now. I met with the new NASA Administartor, Sean O'Keefe, when he toured Dryden Flight Research Center January 31, 2002. I gave him a Demo of our HDTV capabilities. I encourage anyone considering buying an HDTV to go for it. There are many choices available now for $1,500 to $3,000 that will make TV Viewing seem real, just like being there. By the way "Rat Race" is now for sale on DVD. I did not get a free copy, but I am buying one just to see the scenes with my house in it. That's all for now. Later!
9 March 2002- Our HDTV Tracker is really getting some Press. There are articles about it in 8 different Publications now! There is even a lesson plan for school about it! I will post more pictures from them and all the Links soon. I think we started something. I've upgraded my PC to Windows XP Pro. It was not quick and easy. It took 3 installations and about a week to get it right. I finally formated my hard drive and installed it fresh. I DO NOT recommend installing it over your old Windows! You may get lucky and everything work, but if just 1 program disagrees with XP you will have a buggy mess. Good luck if you decide to upgrade. You may need it :-)
1 June 2002 - Star Wars Episode II, Attack of the Clones was an excellent movie. I have watched it several times. If you like light saber duels, you will love it. At work, our HDTV System is expanding again. More customers want this capability. We are also putting out our Flight Test video on DVD instead of VHS now. Summer is here in the desert. Temperatures are at 100 and getting hotter. I am planning a vacation in Washington this summer, and I will take my motorcycle on the Olympic Loop ride again. If anyone wants to tag along, get your bike tuned and ready. I can't wait!
21 July 2002 - The Space Shuttle landed at Dryden again on June 19, 2002. It was fun again. This time it was very hot, about 115 Degrees on the Runway. It was hard work due to the heat. I will post pictures on my Photo Album page 3 or 4. Just follow the links at the bottom of any page on my Site. July is almost over and still no vacation. I've been busy at work trying to combine more equipment and people under my shop. The TV Vans will be part of the Video Control Center now. I am integrating a 2nd HD Camera into the System, and making preparations for a 3rd. I love HDTV!
02 September 2002 - I just had the most relaxing Zen-Like vacation in Washington state. The weather was even better this year. I rode my motorcycle on the Olympic Loop (Highway 101) again and it was even better this time. The weather was blue skies and 70 - 80 degrees all day. I took more pictures this year, and they are all even better. I will be posting them soon on my Photo Album pages. It was gorgeous. I highly recommend this ride to everyone. They even have bikes for rent in Seattle, if you don't want to truck or ride your bike all the way to Washington. I checked the rates and they were reasonable. A Honda VTX (1800cc twin) goes for $169 per 24 hour day total. I was tempted to try out that bike, since it was on my wish list. I stuck with my reliable Honda Magna 750. It is very smooth. I'll post the pictures in the next day or so. I'm also going to embed the MS Word document of the HDTV Test Results in the next couple days. I saw a lot of Deer and Elk in Washington. There were 4 Fawns (baby deer with spots) eating apples from a tree in my Dad's yard. I saw an Elk that had the biggest set of antlers I've ever seen. Even including all the "hunting" shows on the Outdoor Channels. If you ever want to vacation in Washington, let me know and I will tell you all the best places to go. I am feeling so good after my vacation. I still don't go back to work for 2 more weeks!
I almost forgot, I was on the live TV computer show "The Screensavers" on Tech TV. It was Wednesday, August 21. The show is produced in San Francisco. It was fun! I was part of the 18 person live studio audience. I met the cast and crew. This was quite an honor for a Geek.
16 November 2002- I just got back from 1 week of travel to Hawaii. I was absolutely fabulous! I stayed at the Sheraton Resort on Poipu Beach, on the island of Kauai. I attended the 109th RCC OSG meeting all week, but still had time to enjoy the beach and the island. I took over 300 pictures with my digital camera. I posted 6 of them on the page "Tony's Hawaii Pix". It was gorgeous, relaxing, invigorating, and just tons of fun! I'm lucky the Government had the meetings there, because I could never afford it on my own. I took a helicopter ride all over the island. I went to the location where they filmed the opening sequence for "Fantasy Island". Remember the twin waterfalls at the start of every show? I took pictures of them. It was such a soul-replenishing trip that I am still euphoric from it a week later. I highly recommend you go there.
09 January 2003- I was appointed Vice-Chair of the ITAC (Imaging Technology Advisary Committee) for DOD. I will be helping DOD convert to HDTV! Very Cool! This will be fun. It has been raining a lot lately. At least it isn't cold. At Dryden we got a bunch of GEM Carts. The little electric cars that can go 35 mph. They are fun to drive. Very quiet and smooth. Chrysler gave them to NASA. All American Auto companies have to sell a certain number of "green" vehicles to be allowed to sell their big SUV and other gas-guzzlers. Chrysler was behind, so gave these to the Government. They made more money than they lost by giving the carts to us.
15 March 2003 - It is raining in the Desert again. It doesn't rain much here, but when it does it is dreary. I feel a great sadness for the Space Shuttle Columbia tragedy. Everyone at NASA was affected. NASA, and the Nation, needs a clear definition soon as to what caused this tragedy so the wound can begin to heal. We must keep exploring, keep pushing the edges of technology. We must not quit or backoff. A clear answer is needed before we can forge ahead again. I was working at Mission Control in Houston when the Challenger tragedy occured. Having been through this before doesn't help make it any easier. I pray the Public does not give up, or become disillusioned with the Space Program. It is part of the definition of what America is.
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If you have any comments, feel free to E-Mail me. Be sure to check my Home Page and Photo Album Pages for changes and updates also. Thanks for stopping by.
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