Not long ago, I mentioned that we’re currently binging Six Feet Under. We’re 43 episodes in with 20 left to go. Totally enjoying it, by the way. This is a very different version of Michael C. Hall than I am used to, but he still chats up his dead father, so there are some parallels to his most famous character, Dexter Morgan.
One of the trickiest things about watching a series that aired over 20 years ago is avoiding spoilers. (AND IF YOU HAVEN’T SEEN THIS SHOW AND ARE PLANNING ON WATCHING IT SOMEDAY, PLEASE SKIP TO THE NEXT SECTION TO AVOID YOUR OWN SPOILER.)
We were doing pretty well until a recent episode of Jeopardy, of all things. The answer?
“What is Six Feet Under?” the contestant answered correctly.
Great song. Harmless question and answer (though “saddest” threw me for a loop). And then, Ken Jennings spoiled the whole series by uttering two words:
“Everybody dies.”
Nooooo!!! At that point, I hurled a whole bunch of expletives at the screen. It’s a miracle the remote control didn’t follow. Ken is a great host, love the guy, but dammit, did he have to add his own commentary?
Naturally, I started pondering exactly how all the main characters were going to meet their fates. Tara and I bandied about a few theories. Fire? Earthquake? Plague? Rogue meteor?
Alas, I have some idea now (another accidental discovery, sigh), but at least it makes a helluva lot more sense than a plague of locusts or Armageddon.
Ken’s words haven’t ruined the show for me. We’ll keep watching, of course. See the whole thing through. It’s just mildly annoying, but that’s what happens when you wait a couple of decades to catch up on one of the most acclaimed TV series of all times.
I also knew how The Sopranos ended long before ever watching it, and that turned out okay.
No spoilers here! No garbage bins either.
“Ooh, there’s some nice color in the sky,” Tara announced this morning, a few minutes before 7:00. I glanced out the window and saw she was right, so I grabbed my phone, dashed outside, and snapped a pic. I didn’t even throw on a coat or shoes despite the 23-degree chill (which is actually a helluva lot warmer than it has been).
The sky was brilliant, but also, it was garbage day. In my haste to get a good pic before the colors faded, I didn’t even notice the bin in the photo.
Luckily, my phone has a “Magic Eraser” editing tool. One touch, and voila! No more garbage can.
What a wonderful time it is to be alive, guys.
How do we feel about this? With all the uproar over AI-generated images, is it wrong to “fix” a photo in this manner? Is it any different than boosting the saturation or adjusting the contrast? I personally have no problem at all with removing a trash can, which wouldn’t be there any other day of the week besides Thursday anyway. It’s not like I deleted the neighbor’s house or car or took out any of the trees.
At least this great sunrise didn’t happen next Thursday, ‘cuz there’d be a recycling bin out there, too.
It’s not even new technology. Fifteen years ago, on the first evening of my solo road trip to Ohio, I stayed in Spokane. Wandered down to Riverfront Park and took a photo of the clock tower. It was pretty picturesque, except for the row of porta-potties that had been set up for a festival that weekend.
After posting to my blog, I had a photographer friend reach out, offering to fix it. “Go ahead and work your magic!” I said.
He did.
I think we can all agree the second photo, without the porta-potties, is much more appealing. It helped that he adjusted the lighting, too.
When it comes to photography, I think subtraction is better than addition.
Unless I added a UFO next to the clock tower. That’d be pretty slick…
Cat spats
Thanks for the feedback and advice re: Laverne-vs.-Shirley. Still no improvement on that front, but this too shall pass.
Maybe.
If not, well, I’m thinking of adopting a turtle instead. Or is that just me being shellfish?
Mark My Words 
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