Sunday, March 26, 2006

Thank You, Warren!

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My friend Warren of Long Range has done me the unsolicited favor of designing a unique avatar for me. For weeks, I've been yearning for a "fun" avatar, and now I have one! Mr. Beamish seems to have had the idea that Rosie would represent me, and Warren and I went from there. Thanks to Mr. Beamish as well!

49 Comments:

At 3/26/2006 10:20 AM, Blogger City Troll said...

great avatar I look forward to seeing it everywhere

 
At 3/26/2006 11:38 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

This has always been one of my favorite posters, and you've done an excellent job applying it to today. Keep socking them in the eye, AOW.

Semper Fi

 
At 3/26/2006 11:46 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Yep, that's a good one. I've always liked that. There are some really great 'vintage' posters that could be updated to fit today's situations. I may have to change mine.

 
At 3/26/2006 12:45 PM, Blogger Always On Watch said...

I used to be the discipline officer for a private school, so this avatar fits in more ways than one. LOL.

It's silly, I know, but I'm as excited as a little child over this avatar. So, really, I am easy to please--sometimes.

 
At 3/26/2006 1:14 PM, Blogger kevin said...

It looks like you've got everyong else wanting to upgrade as well. Me included.

 
At 3/26/2006 1:39 PM, Blogger Always On Watch said...

Upgrading is time-consuming, but I just wasn't satisfied with my blog's appearance. Now I am!

I still don't have the hang of uploading images directly into Blogger, thereby bypassing PhotoBucket. I have a kind offer from Crusader and may take him up on that--after I grade the papers which have piled up.

 
At 3/26/2006 1:40 PM, Blogger Always On Watch said...

Oh, I forgot to mention that I finally upgraded my connection-speed last week. That upgrade has enabled me to do more with my blog. I was grading entire essays while waiting for certain sites to load!

 
At 3/26/2006 1:53 PM, Blogger Always On Watch said...

Mustang,
Rosie is definitely the perfect avatar for me, but I'd never have thought of using the image. I'm just not very good with right-brained thinking nor with visual material. Such is the result of lots of music and language-lab training, topped off by eye surgery in 1984. But there is a good side because my auditory memory is nearly infallible.

 
At 3/26/2006 4:24 PM, Blogger Dan Zaremba said...

Lookin' good AOW!!

 
At 3/26/2006 4:40 PM, Blogger J.M. Seals said...

Nice, I just hope you don't hit me with a club, Miss muscely arm.

 
At 3/26/2006 6:18 PM, Blogger beakerkin said...

A good Avatar should be unique and fun. The best is still the classic Mr Beamish avatar that lends itself to all kinds of comedy. Warren's Axeman is Drummaster's favorite.

This is a great avatar and much more suitable.

 
At 3/26/2006 6:51 PM, Blogger WomanHonorThyself said...

This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

 
At 3/26/2006 6:52 PM, Blogger (((Thought Criminal))) said...

I still say Rosie should be holding a .50 caliber Desert Eagle.

Or Maybe Norman Rockwell's version of Rosie the Riveter, eating a sandwich with a M61 Vulcan auto-cannon across her lap.

AOW needs to set a positive image as my Secretary of Homeland Education.

 
At 3/26/2006 6:55 PM, Blogger WomanHonorThyself said...

Hey girl..I wouldnt wanna mess with her!...good one !

 
At 3/26/2006 8:02 PM, Blogger Always On Watch said...

Beamish,
AOW needs to set a positive image as my Secretary of Homeland Education.

You're considering me for a position in your Cabinet??? This is indeed a great day! First, a unique avatar, and now consideration for a position in the Beamish Administration.

With her rifle, my grandmother, who originated from the hills of east Tennessee, held off the power company here in 1947 or so, when the company wanted to put high-power wires over the cow barn. Uh, the cow barn was right here, on the property where I live right now. Hard to believe that such a place existed so close to D.C., but it did; we tore down the structure a few years ago. Anyway...she held 'em off at gunpoint, and they put the power lines a block south of here, over the railroad track. True story.

I assure you, Mr. Beamish, that I well know my way around firearms. I can set the good example you require.

eating a sandwich with a M61 Vulcan auto-cannon across her lap

A HAM sandwich, of course! LOL.

PS: Again, a serious thank-you for the idea of Rosie. I've already heard from one of my students, and he approves. In fact, he had thought some time back of Rosie but with all the work I assign, he didn't have time to work up the details.

 
At 3/26/2006 8:07 PM, Blogger Always On Watch said...

Beak,
You are the one who got this avatar obsession started. I can't tell you how envious I was when Beamish designed yours.

Warren's Axeman has glowing eyes and a blade which shimmers. Outstanding!

All this originally inspired by the Beamish gas mask, of course.

Jason has a serious avatar, but he is quite a serious person, so his avatar fits him.

My homework-blog avatar is that of the famous painting called Young Girl Reading and works well for a Language Arts teacher.

 
At 3/26/2006 8:16 PM, Blogger Always On Watch said...

F.B.,
I just hope you don't hit me with a club

An unloaded or out-of-ammo rifle can serve as a club as a last resort, but an unloaded pistol doesn't make a good club. The reach is too short.

My philosophy: an unloaded weapon is a nearly useless thing. (See above for use as a club) In our household, all handguns are kept loaded and within easy reach. Note: There are no children in this household; when relatives with children visit, all weapons are secured.

As for you, F.B., I don't think I'll need to discipline you. You follow the Lord.

 
At 3/26/2006 8:17 PM, Blogger Always On Watch said...

Eyes & Missing Link,
Thanks! Of course, Warren gets all the credit for the design and Beamish for the concept.

 
At 3/26/2006 8:42 PM, Blogger Dag said...

Rivetting!

I'm just past the middle of a book I read six years ago, one in which my great-grandmother is not mentioned but in which she is as a generic "missionary" and woman I think highly of as someone who went to China as a missionary, survuved the Boxer rebellion, made possible my grandmother who worked in factories during WWII, and who allowed my own mother to produce me. Gotta admit, I like strong women.

 
At 3/26/2006 11:46 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

I love the new look! My kind of woman!It conjures up so much ... and only people who belong to "the tribe" will ever know what those things are! Glad to be on your side.

 
At 3/27/2006 12:28 AM, Blogger (((Thought Criminal))) said...

AOW,

Remember that part of my platform is to fold the Department of Education into the Defense Department.

It's a damned shame that most American junior high graduates can't field strip an M-16 or spot down accurate artillery and mortar fire.

 
At 3/27/2006 12:36 AM, Blogger (((Thought Criminal))) said...

And yes AOW, Norman Rockwell's Rosie actually is eating a ham sandwich, and she's got her penny loafers stepping on a trampled copy of Hitler's Mein Kampf. See here. Of course, we could Beamishify the piece and change the book to the Arabic language holy text of your choice.

 
At 3/27/2006 6:49 AM, Blogger Always On Watch said...

Beamish,
I must have that image you just mentioned archived in my visual image. Hence, my mention of the ham sandwich. But I had forgotten about her foot resting on Mein Kampf.

Mandatory training in firearms. That's the ticket!

My husband says that we should go back to the original name for the Department of Defense--the Department of War (1789-1949).

 
At 3/27/2006 7:11 AM, Blogger Always On Watch said...

Dag,
I come from a long line of strong women. They had to be--survival. Many were widowed at a young age. For example, my grandfather died when my grandmother was only 27.

My paternal great-grandmother survived General Sheridan's rampage through the Shenandoah Valley. She was far along in a pregnancy at the time and hid the livestock so that the family could start up the farm again. My maternal great-grandmother, in Tennessee, freed her husband from a Yankee jail by hitching up the mule to the jail's walls and pulling them down (She had hidden the mule in a large limestone cave and, as a result) had the only mule in the vicinity); while her husband was in the Confederate Army, she hid the cow the chickens, and the fattest hog in the same cave so that her children would have fresh milk, eggs, and meat; that small farm resumed operation when the war was over.

As I think about it, all of my ancestors were tenacious and stubborn people. I guess that I am, too.

 
At 3/27/2006 7:21 AM, Blogger Always On Watch said...

Beamish,
Here in Fairfax County, some years ago, school students could enroll in gun and archery clubs. Funny thing--we didn't have problems with their killing others and with having accidents with deadly weapons. In fact, I don't recall one single incident in this area.

 
At 3/27/2006 7:23 AM, Blogger Always On Watch said...

Gravelrash,
Rosie has several levels of symbolism--most of them related to patriotism.

 
At 3/27/2006 8:14 AM, Blogger Warren said...

AOW, You are most welcome.

Avatar construction is different than regular graphics creation. Most images that look terrific in full size are simply too detailed and as a result, appear blurred or indecipherable when shrunk down to avatar size.

The Axeman is actually a dedicated Avatar composed of many separate pictures that change in a fashion similar to a motion picture projector. Its size is only 60 X 60 pixels.

I created the Axeman several years ago when there was no broadband and download speed was less than 56K for everyone. Nothing remains of the full sized images I worked with but the Axeman has stood up well to time.

Beamish, cuz, if I stepped on your toes, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to.

 
At 3/27/2006 8:41 AM, Blogger Mark said...

Always, That avatar is so YOU! I can just see you rolling up that sleeve to do some 'business' with the Muslims! :-)

I particularly like it because it is redolent of the 1940's. That makes it so apt for these difficult times.

 
At 3/27/2006 11:02 AM, Blogger Jason Pappas said...

I love it! It was worth the wait. I, too, like the 1940s feel, when the culture was much healthier.

 
At 3/27/2006 11:10 AM, Blogger Brooke said...

Love the new av! Its suits you well, I think!

Mr. Beamish, I second your notion of folding the DOE into the DOD! A little discipline never hurt anyone, and Lord knows our kids could use some more of it!

 
At 3/27/2006 1:24 PM, Blogger elmers brother said...

AOW,

I ABSOLUTELY LOVE IT! From what I know of you it's a perfect fit.

 
At 3/27/2006 2:53 PM, Blogger Dag said...

When I was a young guy I walked from Baltimore to Atlanta one summer. I remember the Valley very well. I remember America from the isalnds off the Carolinas to the mountains of Arkansas in the Fall; I remember sheet lightning across Nebraska in the summer nights....

I remember 43 states like I was there in each of them yesterday. Sometimes I want to go home very badly.

In the meantime, I read about home and the daily reports from ours still there. I want to sit in the alameda in the evening in El Paso and walk past the old brick houses in Lexington. I want to walk through the garden city of Santa Rosa, Cal. and see the folks there tending the flowers and the grape vines. Oh, I want to go home sometimes. I want to go trout fishing in the mountains back in Idaho.

Looks like I'm taking the high road back.

If anyone has a job offer for me in France, please let me know at:

dag.walker@gmail.com

Thank you.

 
At 3/27/2006 3:19 PM, Blogger (((Thought Criminal))) said...

Warren,

No toes stepped on here. I'm just glad AOW loves Rosie the Riveter as much as I do. I just was thinking about Norman Rockwell's Saturday Evening Post version rather than the War Bonds poster version. Both kick ass.

Maybe when I get time I'll do up a Rosie with ham sandwich and Vulcan cannon portrait for AOW's sidebar, kinda like the President Beamish portrait on my blog.

 
At 3/27/2006 6:40 PM, Blogger Warren said...

Cuz, that's a great idea!

The Rockwell versions' elements are spread too far apart to make a suitable avatar. That Vulcan will make a good fit in place of the rivet gun.

 
At 3/27/2006 6:44 PM, Blogger nanc said...

that is some avatar you have there, aow. woooo-oooooh - now, she stands out in a crowd. applause to warren and beamish!

 
At 3/27/2006 7:27 PM, Blogger Always On Watch said...

Dag,
And notice all the blue color in my avatar.

 
At 3/27/2006 7:32 PM, Blogger Always On Watch said...

Beamish & Warren,
I'll leave it up to you to come up with designs. I'm graphically challenged.

My husband's aunt tells me that this Rosie image is a symbol for the Republican Women's Group in her county in California. Quite the coincidence. But, of course, their image doesn't scream "Wake up!"

 
At 3/27/2006 7:37 PM, Blogger Always On Watch said...

Duck,
An avatar can be both unique and fun. Open-ended? Anyone who knows much about me wouldn't say so.

You have Krazy Kat, and I have Rosie. To each, his own.

 
At 3/27/2006 8:32 PM, Blogger Cubed © said...

Oh Always, do you happen to know the meaning of an arm placed across a bent elbow? I don't believe for a minute that I'm the only one who does.

Between the surfeit of blue, the steely-eyed expression, and the reminder of the forties, which was a time when we had the guts and integrity not only to declare war officially, but also acted with the intent to win, the meaning of that bent elbow with the arm across it completes the message beautifully!

 
At 3/27/2006 8:42 PM, Blogger Always On Watch said...

Cubed,
I doubt that the meaning to which you refer was considered in the Forties. But I could be wrong. LOL.

Seriously, though, the Forties was indeed a time when we had the guts and integrity not only to declare war officially, but also acted with the intent to win

 
At 3/27/2006 11:14 PM, Blogger (((Thought Criminal))) said...

Wake Up! and figure out we are becoming a nation of fascists? Kind of an open ended avatar.

Wouldn't the left-wing have to win an election to even give a fascist power in America? That's how the leftist exemplar Adolf Hitler did it.

Don't bother answering, Ducky. As a leftist, we already know you're vehememtly opposed to stringing words together in a fashion someone might construe as being borne of intellect.

 
At 3/29/2006 2:32 AM, Blogger Dag said...

My Blue Heaven.

 
At 3/29/2006 5:34 AM, Blogger Always On Watch said...

Dag,
Blue was definitely a factor in my decision. I had Warren add the lavender background because any shade of purple is my favorite color. If you look closely, there is also a rainbow, which has some symbolism for Christians.

I have my blue scarf for the symposium. I'll be watching for other blue scarves.

 
At 3/29/2006 3:17 PM, Blogger Jason Pappas said...

I noticed your avatar on Cafe Express:

http://tinyurl.com/jx3uw

with a few other good ones. I like the eagle with the flags. I think it suits Mustang.

 
At 3/29/2006 4:54 PM, Blogger Always On Watch said...

Jason,
I had no idea that Rosie was at Cafe Express. Of course, the motto is different, and I didn't even think of the "up yours" connotation.

I do post on and comment about subjects other than Islam. Therefore, "Wake up!" was my personal choice for motto.

Rosie is flexing her muscles, and so am I.

 
At 3/31/2006 5:58 PM, Blogger Kiddo said...

I really like it Rosie! Very nice. And we need this attitude back. I'll keep trying to rally the troops. But I did forget to register for the Symposium. I hope that there's still time.

 
At 3/31/2006 7:44 PM, Blogger Always On Watch said...

Pim's Ghost,
The new deadline for registration is April 15.

 
At 4/10/2006 12:24 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

I am in the middle of presenting WW II to my students. I, of course, talk much about Rosie the Riveter....and LOTS of other stuff.

 
At 4/10/2006 8:02 AM, Blogger Always On Watch said...

My history class will be studying a bit about World War II in a few weeks. My students love my avatar and say that it suits me in lots of ways.

 

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