Friday, December 29, 2006

Josh & Joanna's Wedding

Hey all! Here is a little post to hold you for a while... I did some editing of Josh & Joanna's wedding, as well as organizing the cameras and stuff... and below is the video for your enjoyment! Let's see... some production info...

It was a four camera shoot. 2 Panasonic AG-DVC80's, 1 Sony PD150, and 1 JVC palmcorder (Josh's little one chip...). The Sony was the rear centerline, the 2 Panasonics were cross shooting the stage from right and left and the JVC was behind the minister with Josh & Joanna facing it. It turned out pretty well, especially with only one person to run camera! My friend Jonathan ran back and forth between the Panasonics to change framing. Thanks again Jonathan and be sure to check out his site!




Tuesday, December 26, 2006

Feature Item Of The Week - Episode 1




- Sorry about the video quality... it was shot on my digital camera! Also, the graphics aren't my best... I just wanted to get the video out there... it's late!

Monday, December 25, 2006

of driving and Christmas miracles...

I hope everyone out there had a very merry Christmas! I know I did! Thank you to everyone who helped make it possible, you know who you are!

Anyway, I have some new things I want to try... well, just one thing really. It's called "featured item of the week." It will pretty much just last until I run out of my showcasing my Christmas presents. I will get more into that later.

Do you ever just love driving? I mean, you are just driving along and the music seems to go perfect with the drive... the wipers move to the beat of the song... I get those moments sometimes. I had one tonight. It was awesome! I just love to drive! It's as if there is some connection between you and the car that just clicks... Ok, a little too "zen" like for ya? Let's move on...

Oh! I never gave you an update on my jury duty (thanks big S)! Well, I showed up bright and early, a good little citizen of the great and mighty U, S, and A, to do my very proud work and obligated civic duty of being jury #__. After sitting through a nice little informative session by Cheryl (I think that's her name... she was hilarious!), and watching a video on jury duty that seemed to be some high school kids senior project in 1986, I found myself sitting in a room with 59 other people waiting to hear if we were even needed.

So I grab a magazine... thumb through that... read a little of my book I brought... jot some notes regarding things to do... grab a soda... and a few hours later, our friend Cheryl comes in and says that "she has heard from the Messiah, and he said, let My people go" and out we went! Dang! Jury duty is a piece of cake! A piece of crumb cake!

I was just thinking tonight of where I will be in one year... If everything goes as planned in my head right this moment... I'll be in Tulsa, OK, with my wife Jenni, living in a 2 bedroom across the lot from my friends Josh & Joanna and Adam & Nancy, and Maggie & Dannielle. I'll be doing video editing somewhere (most likely), and Jenni and I will be nuzzling on the couch watching the yule log channel (the channel that you watch if you don't have a fireplace).

Is that really where I'll be in a year? Who knows?! I like to think that... I guess mainly because I like to plan out big stuff as far in advance as possible!

Ok! Onto the Featured Item of The Week!

This week is the Sigg bottle from the Sigg company in Switzerland. It is amazing! I have had my eye on this for a long time, but never was able to purchase one, but it must have been a Christmas miracle! Anyway, it is pure aluminum, it features a super light construction, virtually indestructible, and unleakable (is that a word?).

What I love about it the most is that it has a baked on crack resistant liner that is resistant to energy drinks, fruit acids, and soda. This way, it never tastes nasty and it's easy to clean!

Anyway, watch the video (coming soon) for a more animated description. Thanks!

Sunday, December 24, 2006

Just thinkin...

Ok, I have a bunch of unrelated stuff coming up, so be warned...

When I was is in NYC just a few days ago, I saw a sticker on the back of a car, that said "Zipcar." I didn't know what it meant, so I wrote it on my hand... That's what I do when I need to remember something... just write it on top of my hand... anyway... Zipcar...


When I got home, I looked up Zipcar online, just Googled it and I found it's site (insert hyperlink here). I'm still a little fuzzy on the whole thing... but this is what I found out.

You have to be 21+ yrs. old. You apply online... you get your Zipcard... You reserve one of their hundreds of cars, for either a couple hours or the entire day (online or on the phone). You walk up to the car, hold your Zipcard to the
windshield, the doors will unlock and you get in. Then you drive away, doing whatever you needed to do. Just return to the reserved parking spot you picked it up at and the gas, insurance and XM radio are included.

It's less like a car rental, more of a car sharing... I can see it as like a bunch of friends buying a car that you all reserve at various times. Now, this isn't
everywhere, it seems to be just in the larger cities, like San Francisco, Minneapolis, Chicago, Toronto, Chapel Hill, Ann Arbor, Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey, Washington DC, Virginia, and Maryland.

An idea on price would be $35 per month for 4 one hour reservations, and $301 per month for 10 two hour trips, 2 three hour trips, and 2 daily/24 hour reservations.


I like this idea a lot! I mean, I don't think I would ever need it, unless I lived in New York City. This would be nice... just when you want to drive around in a car, to get away, you can, and you still don't have to own a car!

If anyone has tried this or has heard more about it, please leave me a comment.

Let's see... next topic... oh! I doesn't feel like
Christmas to me! Does it feel like Christmas to anyone else? The weather is just so mild here... not cold at all. I mean, it's Christas Eve! To me though, it feels just like a regular Sunday. I don't really know why, I just don't have a Christmas "feel." Oh well, maybe it will come.

Oh, this is also my last Christmas at home! That's weird to think about. I mean, just earlier today, I was running around the house with my toy gun, and I'll be getting married in 145 days! Do I have to stop playing "cops & robbers?" I think not! This way I'll always have someone to play guns with!

I think it's really interesting to see traditions kind of change. That's pretty vague... but I have recently been thinking of how different I do things than my parents have or are doing now. The first thing that comes to mind is mine and Jenni's wedding rings. They aren't really the normal, I also paid a little extra. But see, my parents are about bargain, and I usually am, but this is something really important to the both of us and when you find something so perfect, you can't help yourself!
















Jenni's ring is just so... her! It's perfect! And my band... I love it! I thought that I would want just a plain gold band, that's what I've always wanted, but when I was trying some on, a different kind caught my eye. It's tungsten carbide. It's a dark, kind of gun metal looking, polished on the sides and brushed in the middle, a heavy weight and buttery smooth to put on (with that comfort fit rounding
thing).

I just think that it's interesting that I like that ring. I really thought that I would want yellow gold. That's what I've always wanted, but I just totally fe
ll in love with this other ring. Same thing with Jenni, she thought she wanted a plain band solitaire, but I showed her this new ring and she flipped out! I mean, she really loved it! Now, it looks way better in person than in the picture, so please ask her to show it to you.











To move on though, a lot of my friends are getting titanium rings. I like them, but they feel too light for me. But I guess my generation is pulling away from the traditional... at least in that respect.

But also, this pull from the traditional can relate to other things, such a
s cars, apartments, places to live... whatever!

Things at home have been going really fast, but really slow at the same time. Each day, even though I usually wake up a little on the late side, seems to be full of things to do. I'm so busy trying to edit and put a DVD together for Josh's family, and work on a video for my Dad, go to jury duty, spend a day in New York, do some crazy last minute Christmas shopping... it's just a lot! I'm also trying to read some books, organize my computer and learn a little bit more of Adobe Illustrator. At least I have my computer so I can do all of this stuff!

Saturday, December 23, 2006

A day in the city.

I just got back home after spending a day in New York City with Jenni and her family (and Maggie & Danielle). I had a good time. It wasn't the usual NYC trip for me though. I'm used to taking the ferry in and riding the subway around. They like to drive into the city, drop the girls off so they can shop, then Jenni's Dad plays taxi driver. If he can do it, then great! But I know that I would much rather just walk around. Although, being in a car today was nice because I took like a million naps, it was warm, and it was dry. It was like a moving base camp! But it was nice, I don't usually do shopping trips, I like more of a sight seeing thing.

I guess I like to walk around instead of driving because it makes me feel more like a local. I don't know how I would do, living right in the city, but I like to think I would enjoy it. Today, i walked around by myself, just looking at stuff, trying to blend in, grab a meatball hero like a pro, and I think I did pretty well!

If I did live in the city, I don't think I would own a car though, I would probably just leave it at my parents house and take the subway, the bus, walk, or ride my bike when in the city.

Oh, also I love watching the bike messengers do their thing. One of them was just sitting there waiting for traffic to go by doing a perfect track stand! I mean perfect. He wasn't even moving back and forth, he had perfect balance! But if you just look at them, they seem to have their own style. I don't think I could do that though, they just know the city like the back of their hand, and they are really good at squeezing through impossible places.

Well, I guess I better get going. It is getting late... or early if you look at it the other way...

Wednesday, December 20, 2006

Neat info.

I came across some neat info from my friends at Gizmodo, Engadget, and Lifehacker.

Do you know how you can chill a can of coke in 2 minutes (Lifehacker)? I do! Read on!

"That would be about 20-25 minutes in a freezer. If you put [the can] in a bucket of ice, that would halve that time. If you put water in that ice, it'd be cold (+- 5c) enough to drink in about 4-6 minutes, if you put salt in that water, you'd reduce the chill time to just over 2 minutes. Agitating the can in the water, rolling it around, reduces the chill time even more.

The fastest possible way is to grab a CO2 fire extinguisher and unload that sucker on the can."

Pretty cool huh?!

Anyway, let's move on. I think you should check out this new "interactive web radio" called Musicovery. It's really interactive and you can play different music based on mood. You just figure out what mood you are in and it will just start playing music relating to that mood. Try it out!

Today so far was a good day. I woke up at around noon, started to get dressed, check my email, then my mom calls my cell phone from the house phone to tell me she needs me to drive her to get her hair done. It was just funny she called me! Maybe I should get her started on IM'ing!

Then, after I came back, I made myself some chicken nuggets and a lean cuisine mac & cheese. Now, I'm on my computer in my room, doing a little blogging while watching CSI: NY streaming from the CBS website. Not a bad way to spend an afternoon.

Well, I better get going. See ya!

Tuesday, December 19, 2006

If I had a million dollars...

I came across this really cool "gamers" cabinet online and thought I would share it with you. If I had enough money for a PS3, XBOX 360, Wii, old XBOX




















It's Peanut Butter Christmas Break Time!

I know I haven't posted in a while, but I have just been so busy! I was studying for finals, finishing my senior project, and getting ready for Josh's wedding. Oh, for those of you that don't know, my roommate Freshman and Sophomore year, Josh, got married last Friday and I was his best man. I was also coordinating the video crew and camera setup. I had to round up a couple of cameras and thanks to those who let me borrow your camera.

So, last week was a long week. Fun though. It was a week of staying up till 3:30 or 4 every night, then getting up around 9 or 10 am. Oh, I also had an interview at an ad agency in town (Tulsa) for an internship that maybe could lead up to a real job out of school! I'll keep you posted.


Anyway, so I'm back at home now. It's really nice to have a real break. Christmas break is always great because there is no homework at all, being in between semesters and all. Some things on the menu for the break are: edit a rough cut of Josh's wedding video, do some pre-wedding counseling, jury duty, and I think that's all I can think of for now...

Oh, I also want to learn some more about Adobe Illustrator, and read some small books that I never got around to reading. It should be a good break to catch up on rest and relaxation. So far I haven't done much. I've imported the footage, some of it at least, into my computer from Josh's wedding, did a little reading, and I'm getting ready for a little paintball action tomorrow.


I have really gotten hooked on paintball again. I pulled out my markers to make sure they still work, yep, they work ok. I had to shoot at a tree because there were no birds or squirells to shoot at, but my Tippmann seems to shoot on target. Also, I need one of those CR2032 watch batteries for my laser scope to work. It's alright without it though. Also, there is this site called, Special Ops Paintball. They have the coolest stuff on there! I really want to get some add ons to my marker, but I don't want to get THAT into paintball. I can just as much fun with my stock marker and equipment... I don't really need a new barrell and stuff, but it would be nice. I mean, there is a ton of stuff I want for my paintball fix, but I don't really see myself getting much of it if anything at all.

The one thing that I really do want, would be a barrel, they are also pretty cheap I guess. I got really hooked on paintball when I made a new friend, a friend of Josh's. Him and another guy are into paintball, then we found out that another of Josh's groosmen was into paintball. Over break, all of us are going to collect our paintball equipment and bring it back to school to play a few times. Should be fun. I haven't played woodsball in a long time.


Christmas shopping... It's really hard to shop when you don't have any money. I need to start selling plasma again... That is always good steady income. Nothing like being hooked up to a machine messing with your blood for an hour in a shady part of Tulsa with cold hard cash in your pocket. It's a blast. I guess Christmas is going to have to be creative this year...

Oh, just because I can't get you something nice for Christmas doesn't mean you can't get me something nice! Be sure to check out my wishlist to the right. It's the first link on my sidebar, called "My Wishlist."

I feel as if I'm forgetting something... I'll just post again if I remember it. Take care and Happy Holidays! Er... Merry Christmas! That's better! Don't get me started on that crap...