Wednesday 25 November 2009

compress pdf files mac

the nice osX tiger function allowing you to compress pdfs in the print menu is no longer available in leopard. here is how to restore it:
http://skycoast.us/pscott/software/mac/

for snow leopard, visit this page:
http://www.apple.com/downloads/macosx/automator/compresspdfworkflow.html

concatenate pdf files mac/ combine pdf files mac / merge pdf files mac

for everyone looking for a free way to merge pdf files (on OS X leopard) :
open the individual documents in preview and display the sidebar. then simply drag the pages you want to combine from one document to the other.

who would have thought it is as simple as this?

Wednesday 18 November 2009

seven of nine costume




this party i just mentioned also had a theme... star trek!

being almost the only trekkie amongst my friends, i was worried that this theme would not work out so well, but i was wrong. lots of people showed up in great costumes, and i can only recommend it. the party was attended by counselor deanna troi, commander chekoteh, commander william t riker, many many vulcans (including an admiral), ensign kim, scotty, a trill, keiko o'brien, voyager's medical hologram, captain picard, a horta and lots of other aliens. it was great.

being the hostess i had to come up with a good costume too and i decided to be seven of nine.
looking around on the web for ideas, i found a great link with instructions on how to make this costume (here). however, i found the making of this costume using liquid latex rather involved, so i came up with my own version tricks. the final product might not look 100% movie-authentic, but it definitely looks pretty good.

(by the way, for the real seven of nine, take a look here)

what you need and what you need to do:

1. seven's hairdo:
that's easy, here's is a link on how you do the hair.

2. seven's clothes:
for seven's rather tight onesie, i just bought a dance leotard. they are not very expensive and available in all colours.

3. seven's hand (her borg exoskeleton and assimilation machinery):
to make seven's hand implants, i took a rubber glove from the lab. i put it onto my right hand (i'm a lefthander) and drew the outlines of seven of nine's implants onto the glove using a black markerpen. then i used silver acrylic paint to make it silver, and dried it with a hair drier so i could take the glove off. with the glove off, i cut out the bits that i did not need. (doing this, you just need to be careful that you leave enough connective elements in-between the lines that the whole thing still resembles a glove that you can take on and off)

4. seven's occular implant:
to make the occular implant, i drew a lifesize copy of seven's implant onto a rubber glove. then i cut out smaller bits of glove material and aluminum foil to add detail to the implant. whatever wasn't silver, i painted with the acrylic paint i mentioned above. for the corner bit (see picture), i used silver thread that i glued on. finally i glued on two halves of pushbuttons for the final detail and re-drew the contours using a black markerpen.
in order to stick this to my face, i glued plaster onto the back of the implant using the non-sticky side, so that i could then simply stick the plaster onto my eyebrow to attach the implant. it lasted all night.

5. seven's other facial implant (does anyone know what that's for?):
i cut that one out from aluminum foil and stuck a pushbutton onto it. then i glued plaster onto it like it did with the occular implant.

6. the star trek voyage communicator:
using silver and gold colour, i painted pieces of cardboard and cut out the shapes of the communicator, and stuck that onto my costume.

partysongs / party lieder / shake the leg

i recently had a party for which i downloaded lots of music. i compiled a list of songs that everybody knows, so that a crowd of people aged 25 to 55 would get up and dance (it worked!!!).
i don't have song title and interpreter for everything on the list, but it's a start and might be useful to others who are looking for songs.

classics:
james brown - sex machine
the twist - chubby checker
the rolling stones - i can't get no satisfaction
the rolling stones - start me up
queen - i want to break free
queen - crazy little thing called love
queen - don't stop me now
elvis - jail house rock blue suede shoes
b52 - love shack
pretty woman - roy orbison
bee gees - night fever
wild thing - tone loc
the doors - the other side
wild cherry - play that funky music
marvin gaye - get it on
Rock Around The Clock - Bill Haley and His Comets
Soul Man - Sam and Dave / Blues Brothers
Do You Love Me - Contours
Surfin' USA - Beach Boys
You're The One That I Want - John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John
I Got You ( I Feel Good) - James Brown
respect - aretha franklin
sweet home alabama

cheese:
the one and only : chesney hawkes
girls just want to have fun : cindy lauper
madona : like a virgin
madonna : like a prayer
shaggy : mr boombastic
love is in the air
wham : wake me up before you go
wham: club tropicana
gipsy kings volare
dirty dancing : time of my life Bill Medley and Jennifer Warnes
simply the best :tina turner
is this the way to amarillo (hermes house band)
tarkan
ricky martin : maria
culture club : karma chameleon
cher: shoop shoop song
sonny and cher: i got you babe
vanilla : ice ice ice baby
barcadi feeling : kate yanai
la bamba : los lobos
tequila : the champs
pulp fiction theme song : miserlou
you never can tell : chuck berry
a-ha : take on me
britney spears: hit me one more time, toxic
celebration : cool and the gang
ub40 : red red wine
bangles : walk like an egyptian
right said fred : i'm too sexy
david hasselhoff, looking for freedom
vaya con dios: nah neh nah
kaoma lambada
kylie minogue : locomotion
footloose
la boom: dreams are my reality

disco:
michael jackson: don't till you get enough, billy jean, rock with you, bad, wanna be starting somethign
jackson five: blame it on the boogie,
bee gees : stayin alive
village people: ymca
gloria gaynor: i will survive
it's raining men the weather girls
le freak - chic
sister sledge : we are family
prince 1999
lionel richie, dancing on the ceiling
funky town : lipps inc
donna summer: love to love you baby, bad girls, hot stuff
chaka khan: aint no body
flashdance: what a feeling, maniac
fame: wanna live forever

dance:
one more time
when love takes over : david guetta
snap : rhythm is a dancer
technotronic : pump up the jam
scooter:
deee lite : groove is in the heart
push me
cascada what do you want from me
put your hands up for detroit : fedde le grand
black eyed peas: my humps

hip hop:
fugees : killing me softly,
will smith men in black, getting jiggy with it, miami
mc hammer: u can't touch this
puff daddy : every step you take, come with me
arrested development
california love : 2pac
lauryl hill : that thing
coolio gangster's paradise
no diggity
en vogue: free your mind
warren g ; regulate
en vogue : my loving you're never gonna get it
salt n pepa : shoop
tone loc : funky cold medina
arrested development: mr wendal, everyday people
outkast: hey ya:
snoop dog
timbaland the way i are
skee lo: i wish i was a little bit taller
house of pain: jump around

rock:
alice cooper: poison
u2 : where the streets have no name, sunday bloody sunday
aerosmith : walk this way
bruce springsteen: dancing in the dark, born in the usa
billy idol: cradle of love, rebel yell, hot in the city
addicted to love: robert palmer
eye of the tiger: survivor
i kissed a girl and i liked it : katie perry
lenny kravitz: are you gonna go my way
pink : don't leave me, so what
amy winehouse: rehab
duffy: mercy
lady gaga: love game,
kiss: i was made for loving you
ac/dc: thunderstruck, highway to hell
van halen: jump
fire water burn: bloodhound gang
the clash: should i stay or should i go
guns n roses : paradise city

other:
gwen stefani : i'm just a girl
eros ramazotti
red hot chilli peppers : give it away
outKast : hey ya
shakira : hips don't lie
tainted love : soft cell
pet shop boys : se a vida e
erasure: sometimes


neue deutsche welle:
spider murphy gang : skandal im sperrbezirk
ich will spass : markus
marmor stein und eisen bricht : drafi deutscher
juergen marcus : eine neue liebe ist wie ein neues leben
life is live : opus
trio : da da da
er gehoert zu mir : marianne rosenberg
codo :
muenchner freiheit
modern talking
viva colonia : die hoehner
udo juergens
scorpions

finally

it's been a long time since my roofholiday, so it's about time i finally make my first entry in my new blog.

welcome to kanaland!!!