Please. Call me Norm.

As I was saying...

Got this from Amira just yesterday!  I'd asked her about QR codes (at the time, she knew nothing about them, living in her Parisien bubble, eating her fresh baguettes from the corner patisserie, sipping her Mariage Freres tea, savoring her rectangles of 64 % cacao Palmira chocolate from Valrhona, and scarfing down macaroons from Macarons Laduree by the handsful, well, you can easily fall out of the loop), BUT amazingly, she wrote this...

   "...so a couple days ago i received an envelope in the mail from a friend in nyc (sarah) who is starting her own streetwear collection. the envelope was filled with stickers which i assume she wants me to put all over paris as a marketing campaign.  check out the pic attched!!!! the code takes you to her blog. (attached pic)"

Here is that photo:

Wait!  There's more...

Great article on QR codes, if you want more info...click HERE.

The Hackfester QR Code...

Yes.  I am cutting edge.  Sort of.  The problem is, you probably

 aren't.  Yet. Which means that you can't scan the above image with

your QR code reader on your smart phone, assuming you even have

a smart phone, not one of those dumb ones that starts ringing

exactly when you're taking your first bite at dinner or the moment

 you sit down the on the toilet. Which means that you're missing out

 on all the fun.  (IF scanning a code like the one above with a cell

 phone can be considered fun.) 

 Keep your eyes open...this code is popping up everywhere.

  Here are a couple of examples...

So what exactly IS a QR code??  The best definition I've seen
so far is that it is a '...paper-based hyperlink.'  Not bad.
For more information, simply google:  What

the hell is a QR code?  (A lot faster than me

trying to explain it to you further....)

Oh, by the way, if you did scan the top code,

if would take you to the old hackfester site (maybe,

if I created it properly).  But I can't say for sure because

I have one of those dumb phones, and so far, haven't been

able to find a QR code reader app for it. 

Time to upgrade.

PS (Just found this):

Japanese cemetery headstone

"By simply snapping a shot of the code with their cellphones,

 visitors  will be able to view photos, videos and other information

 about the deceased. The device would also keep a log of each time the

 code was scanned so family members can keep up to date with

 when other relatives last visited the site."

And these...

Three Halloween Treats...

This girl can RIDE!

A Bony Bit Of Amusement.

 

And finally, click here:

And one more for the road...

**thanks to jp for videos 1&2

Who are these women?

Came across this long-lost photo beneath a loose floorboard at the

very bottom of the HF vault.  Must have slipped through a crack and

ended up there.  Anyway, for genealogical purposes, I'm trying to

identify these three subjects, so that future generations of the family

won't have to try and do it.  Anyone have an idea?

They've only just begun...

Ricardo passed this along:  Wedding Day, October 23, 1976 - Fr. Alex, Rose, Bill

Rose was 52,  and WJM was 61 (he would turn 62 three weeks later).

(And we thought they were so old.)

On this date in 1976...

Bill and Rose were married 35 years ago today.  Hard to fathom.  Dug this card out of the vault in honor of the day.  It dates awaaaayyyy back to '88...

Newton, NJ, 10/2/11 - Ellie, Joe jr.'s mutt (seen here hovering

 at Joe's knee), joined us for our annual and very festive pre-Cox

 Classic dinner at the Commissioner's home.  It was another

 splendiferous supper, prepared by the stellar mother-daughter

 team of Donna and Michelle, featuring a battle of the

 chilis -- meatatarian (Donna's) versus vegetarian

 (Michelle's) -- that ended in a virtual tie (because

what ingrate imbecile, having downed a heaping bowl of

 each, would deign to choose one over the other?).  

In any case, Ellie surely enjoyed them both, having been

 fed directly from her owner's plate throughout the meal,

a faux pas in most social circles, but what's a little

impropiety among friends and family? 

Joe jr., about to serve Ellie her wine which, I observed,

the dog properly sniffed and considered prior to lapping

up the glass' contents down to the last drop.

As I was saying about the insidious nature of texting...

Thank JP for this:  CLICK HERE.  (Major HEE HAW moment.)

This texting fad is getting out of control...

July 2011 - Maybe it was the margaritas.  It could just be that

 some habits are hard to break.  Or, perhaps, we're getting

a glimpse of the future.  Who really knows, but what you're

 seeing here is Amira and Linda, standing side by side, texting

each other.  Through scientific methodology (aided by 3.25

 ounces each of Cuervo Gold), they have determined that

 by using predictive text, they can say what they have to

 say to each other faster with their fingers than with

their mouths.  Believe it or not.

Note:  They later grabbed their laptops, went into

 separate rooms, and began skyping to each other! Is

technology taking over our lives??!!  WTF!

The long and winding road...

WOM and MJM, Christmas 1977, walking to Santa Catarina Palopo
 from Panajachel in the Western Highlands of Guatemala.  If you look
 closely,  you can see that trendsetter MJ has red bandanas tied smartly
 (or is it ridiculously?) around his knees, presumably to collect sweat
 (either that or to impress the indigenous ladies).

Alas, time moves on...the road has since been paved.  And these
 days, MJ wears Cox Classic caps to collect sweat -- on his head. 
(His knee sweat, while ever-annoying, he has learned to live with,
and that now goes uncollected....)

It'snot funny...NOT.

JP snapped this shot of a "kindercare" van in Athens

(Greece, not Georgia) a couple of weeks ago. 

Lots of snot in that.

Music to Read By.

 The ever-vigilant Michael J passed this along...

 

Click HERE, then on the QUICK TOUR beneath the

featured kindle, and listen closely.

The Letter of a Lifetime...

October 2011

Mavourneen D. Marion
Chicago, IL 60614

Dear Ms. Marion,
We are pleased to advise that you have passed the July 2011 Illinois bar examination.

Our records reflect that you have satisfied all of the requirements for admission to the bar of Illinois pursuant to Supreme Court Rule 704 and will be certified to the Illinois Supreme Court as eligible to take the oath of admission.

For information regarding the transfer of your Multistate Bar Examination (MBE) score to another jurisdiction, please visit the website of the National Conference of Bar Examiners at www.ncbex.org. For information and to download the transfer form, click the MBE Scores link under the homepage heading labeled Multistate Test Services.

Pursuant to Supreme Court Rule 704f, a passing score on the Illinois bar examination is valid for 4 years from the last date of the examination passed. An applicant for admission on examination who is not admitted to practice within 4 years must repeat and pass the examination after filing the requisite character and fitness registration and bar examination applications and paying the fees in accordance with Rule 706.

The Supreme Court has fixed Thursday, November 10, 2011, as the date of the admission ceremonies. All certified candidates for admission to the bar must appear in open court to take the attorney's oath and receive their licenses. November 10 is the earliest date on which certified candidates may do so. Notices and instructions that include the location and time of your assigned ceremony will be mailed by the Office of the Clerk of the Supreme Court.

Very truly yours,
Illinois Board of Admissions to the Bar

Best Reason to Smile Ever -- Bar None...

Ann Arbor, 9/10/11 - morning of first night game in The Big House history

 (clockwise from top) Luke, Mav, Jackie, Ethan, Jeannie, Lauren, Holly

Being a Michigan fan these days (at least so far) is making lots

 of people happy, but there's an even better reason for joy and

 jubilation around here:  Word has burst out of Chicago that

 Mavourneen and Luke have both passed the Illinois Bar Exam

  (results released 10/1).  The trumpets - and relief - continue

 to resound.

Major kudos to you both, and may your fingernails (and ours)

 grow back stronger and straighter than ever....