Friday, April 30, 2010

A Happy Post Today

I've blogged about this man before. He literally is an angel. I've ran his project over and over in my head for months now and I just don't have the capability of putting together this kind of operation.

Yesterday's post had a very spirited debate that followed it on Facebook. Everyone had their say. So evil conservative that I am, knowing I'm greedy, self centered, and loathsome I choose to write about this man again.

Today is about Jorge Munoz. He is one great guy. If you want someone's example to follow, make it this man. If you want to donate to a cause, make it his. He doesn't care who you are or what you do or don't do, he'll feed you.

He makes seven hundred dollars a week driving a bus during the day. He comes home, takes a ten minute break and then starts cooking to make meals until nine thirty. Then he delivers the food to hungry people. According to the video he spends roughly half of his weekly income on food and packaging.



He is not a man of means. He is a man of passion and desires to help his fellow man. He is an incredible example of man's humanity to man. Jorge Munoz, God Bless You Sir.

Thursday, April 29, 2010

No Kidding

First and foremost I want to offer my deep affection to my Northern Brother who has turned forty today, it's not bad, not as bad as I was thinking it was going to be after I turned twenty. Miss you and thank you so much for last Summer! You'll never know how much it meant to me at that time.

Now onto our regularly scheduled rant against the Obama regime, as it turns out HHS Secretary and former Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius hid this report from the Medicare Actuary about Obamacare raising costs instead of the promised decreasing costs.

No kidding, really? Obamacare is actually going to raise insurance costs?!?! I had no clue that was going to happen

"The reason we were given was that they did not want to influence the vote," says an HHS source. HHhmmmm, didn't want to influence the vote against this terrible Obamagenda of gobbling up or taking over private industry. I read this last night and I really felt physically ill that this was crucial information that would have swayed many votes against this horrible bill.

Want to know what's in the report without clicking over to it to read a lot of legaleze? Here is the link to an article and summary.

Here is the summary of the report that Kathleen Sebelius HID from everyone! I want to make that clear, she HID an important report that would have stopped Obamacare.

Grace-Marie Turner of National Review Online summarizes the report that Sebelius buried until after the Obamacare vote:

1. People losing coverage: About 14 million people will lose their employer coverage by 2019, as smaller employers terminate their plans and workers who currently have employer coverage enroll in Medicaid. Half of all seniors on Medicare Advantage could lose their coverage and the extra benefits the plans offer.

2. Huge fines for companies: Businesses will pay $87 billion in penalties in the first five years after the fines trigger in 2014, partly because they can’t afford to offer expensive, government-mandated coverage and partly because some of their employees will apply for taxpayer-subsidized insurance.

3. Higher costs for consumers: Tens of billions of dollars in new fees and excise taxes will be “passed through to health consumers in the form of higher drug and devices prices and higher premiums,” according to Foster. A separate report shows small businesses will be hit hardest.

4. A program created to fail: The new “CLASS Act” long-term-care insurance program will face “a significant risk of failure,” according to Foster. Indeed, he finds, “there is a very serious risk that the problem of adverse selection will make the CLASS program unsustainable.”

5. Spending increases: Under the new law, national health spending will increase by $311 billion over the coming decade. And instead of bending the federal spending curve down, it will move it upward “by a net total of $251 billion” over the next decade.

6. “Free-riders”: An estimated 23 million people will remain uninsured in 2019, roughly 5 million of whom would be undocumented aliens; the remainder would be the 18 million who decline to get coverage and who will pay the penalty.

7. Spending reductions are fiction: Estimated reductions in the growth rate of health spending “may not be fully achievable” because “Medicare productivity adjustments could become unsustainable even within the next ten years, and over time the reductions in the scope of employer-sponsored health insurance could also become an issue.”

8. You can’t keep your doctor: Fifteen percent of all hospitals, nursing homes, and other providers treating Medicare patients could be operating at a loss by 2019, which will “possibly jeopardize access to care for beneficiaries.” Doctors are threatening to drop out of Medicare because cuts in Medicare reimbursement rates mean they can’t even cover their costs.

9. Coverage but no care: A significant portion of those newly eligible for Medicaid will have trouble finding physicians who will see them, and the increased demand for Medicaid services could be difficult to meet.

This is an objective report by administration actuaries that shows this sweeping legislation has serious, serious problems.

And there’s more: Joint Economic Committee Republicans explain in a new report the impact of a rarely mentioned $14.3 billion per year tax on health insurance, effective in 2014. They find this tax will be mostly passed through to consumers in the form of higher premiums for private coverage. It will cost the typical family of four with job-based coverage an additional $1,000 a year in higher premiums and will fall largely, and inequitably, on small businesses and their employees.

Ok, now that you are awake and hopefully riled up this morning I want to hit you upside the head with this revelation. Obamacare will RATION your health care, this is plainly admitted by Peter Orszag. Google him to find out who he is.

He clearly states that there will be an Independent Payment Advisory Board established to push efficiency over quantity. I was going to add in the world quality as Mr. Orszag uses but everyone knows that that just doesn't exist in a government run program. This will place a panel of bureaucrats between you and your doctor's decision to treat you.

The IPAB will have more power than literally Congress over health care matters and can ONLY be held accountable by a vote of sixty seven votes in the Senate. That's more than a super majority, it is a super super majority. It is difficult enough to reach the sixty vote magic number (well hopefully until November comes around) but sixty seven is improbable in the least.

This bill was evil, it is evil, it must be repealed before it does more damage that can't be undone. The way the Obama regime has railroaded this debate was of Maoist proportions.

If I wasn't loud enough before and got your attention maybe this will wake you up out of your liberal induced Kool-Aid Obamacoma. There is the plan that Congress has set aside for itself and then the plan for you, me, and everyone else: Republican, Democrat, Independent, Green, or Libertarian. We are all in one boat of the non-elite together, remember that. There is the ruling elite and then everyone else and you and I, your neighbor, your friend, your mom and dad are everyone else.

If you were wanting a free ride, Medicare for all, and free health care provided by Obama and his taxes on successful people, think again. Nothing like that exists despite his promises and assurances. Health care costs can be brought down by market forces and be made competitive like any other product if a different path is followed.

The path Obama has set us upon is a path towards financial ruin and the dissolution of our nation if not sovereignty. This man cannot be voted out of office soon enough, we are currently witnessing Jimmy Carter: The Sequel.

Our country is now set upon dangerous ground, ground we have never tread before. It will take the next President eight years to undo the damage that was started in 1913 but escalated to new proportions in the last year. Obama has fulfilled the progressive's dream of Woodrow Wilson, FDR, and LBJ all rolled into one in less than two years.

Wake up America and vote this regime into retirement at every turn.

Wednesday, April 28, 2010

Half Way

After today we are on the downhill slide of things. Auditions went well last night, the cast list will be up this morning for people to see what parts they get in Julius Caesar.

Thing 2 enjoyed herself and will be at the theatre tonight to go through the script with a resident Shakespeare expert to cut some parts out of the script. That'll take it from a three hour show to a more pleasant two hour show.

There will be mosquitoes at the park in late June, there always are. It's always better to have a shorter show for the comfort of the actors and audience, especially when its outside.

I just read that the Thunder lost to LA last night. I watched the first quarter and saw they went 0-some amazing number from the floor for the first shots of the game. They couldn't get anything to fall and I remember their first point coming from a Durant free throw. The Lakers were on and the Thunder wasn't. They'll get better though as they are the youngest team in the NBA. Durant will develop into the best player with more experience.

They had a world of improvement just over last year by making the playoffs. They'll get a stellar free agent or a solid draft pick and be better next year.

Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Auditions Last Night

Thing 2 is the intern director for Julius Caesar this year for Shakespeare in the Park. After coming off a teen Shakespeare show as well so it's back to back shows for her!

The show isn't until the end of June so she has lots of time to rehearse as it's my job to take her to and from rehearsal. Shakespeare in the Park is an enjoyable production, its very different from the other shows that I'm involved in.

The show is rehearsed at the theatre then on the show dates, which there are only two or three, the set is loaded up in a truck and hauled to the park and assembled. Then after the show it is torn down and brought back that night. Then repeated the next day until the show run is over.

It is like a traveling troupe of actors for a brief time.

I go back for the second round of auditions tonight, I was mainly hanging out with Teehee, Hollywood Actor, and Red. Teehee isn't auditioning but he should, he has a great feel for Shakespeare and can emote the message of his character very well. The Date even wants a non speaking extra part which would be great and make it more of a family affair this season.

Monday, April 26, 2010

One Client

With the potential for maybe six more! I'd say it was a successful showing at the home show even though I was shooting for two clients (I also lined up two PSA's for non-profits) and here is why.

The client we did get wants more than one commercial. In fact they want a demo video shot for a tornado shelter and its installation but also a safe room and its installation! The commercial itself will play in four states!

We are scheduled to start shooting late this week as the owner has to get permission from one of the installation sites first before we shoot. She was very excited about the prospect of having new promotional material shot for the site and for TV and thought the prices were more than reasonable.

That is why I consider the show a success after three days. It would have been a total failure if it weren't for the efforts of Beersnob though. I pretty much stayed at the booth all day while he took flyers, cards, and his personality and walked around to all of the booths and talked to people. That's something I'm just not comfortable with doing. He loved it though and because of his efforts we have as much interest as we do.

We had a celebratory cigar and drink after the show closed and I'd say it was earned.

Sunday, April 25, 2010

Now That Was A Day!

I got up at six AM, got all showered, blogged, and ready for breakfast. The Date got up followed by Thing 2. We headed out to meet Beersnob, we were naturally early because the girls were hungry and yet we waited anyway as I knew Beersnob would be about five to ten minutes later than the agreed upon time.

We ate and I came home to take the girls back and get my vendor pass. I arrived back at the booth and Beersnob has already set everything up and is ready for the day. About ten minutes there he gets a call from Mrs. Beersnob about their hot water tank leaking out of the garage and into the driveway. Ironic as that happened to us a very short time ago. So he heads home to take care of that for a short while.

The home show went well. I stayed mostly at the booth as people ignored me in droves. The ShamWow guy is next to me (not Vince Offer but an associate) the other booth is a nonprofit for senior citizens. The ShamWow guy has a long haired chihuahua in the booth with him, very friendly dog who just sits there and adores all of the attention it garners from the passers by.

Just around the corner and a couple of booths down is the county democratic women's association and I kept thinking about how cool it would be to be located next to them. Alas that didn't happen though. Beersnob had a great time walking around and talking to local vendors, he was truly in his element and loved doing it!

He can talk to anyone and have a grand conversation which is one of the many reasons I like him so well. Around one thirty I leave to go to the charity show that Thing 2 has been intern directing for. It went very very well. The cast was on, the crowd was lively and had fun, it was just a great event and hopefully raised a lot of money for the underprivileged youth.

I returned to the show and Beersnob reported how many people he had talked to and laid out the best prospects he had thus far. It was an exciting list of people who might call us and request our services!

We are a niche business and I really wasn't expecting business contacts to stream to the booth. We talked before hand that our business would come from the fact that we'd be walking around and talking to people who could use us.

After the show closed I took The Date a hot fudge sundae for a treat because she had a rough day. Then I came home and fired up the Egg and put on a pork shoulder for lunch today at the show.

We don't have to go in until eleven today so we'll be good and ready for some lunch when we get there. I put it on around seven thirty and pulled it off around midnight while The Date watched McLintock! The Date said it tasted Heavenly and while I do hope I can continue to cook in Heaven I doubt if I can get anything to taste that good:)

Today should be another good day but shorter as the show ends at five. That'll leave me plenty of time to decompress before going to bed and returning to the grind of weekly work tomorrow.

Saturday, April 24, 2010

Busy Day Behind And Ahead

Yesterday was busier than I expected and I watched as much of one channel as possible to see my commercial and yet it did not happen. I learned that every single show on that channel during the day is a Judge X show.

Daytime TV sucks. There is nothing on worth watching and if it had not been for the large amount of work, including an unexpected trip to the dump, I would have gone to DVR'd shows.

Alas I watched and watched Judge So and So met out TV justice to people with disagreements. I kept mental notes on the commercials though and I feel that I can do any daytime TV commercial there with the exception of a couple of the more wealthy car dealerships who had some CGI happening. Everything else was simple stills, some stock footage, and an announcer. I feel I have a massive leg up on those announcers though as I have Skate on retainer, his booming voice will be gracing area commercials for a long time to come!

Today will start off with a breakfast before hopping one block over to the expo center for the rest of the day. I'll have Beersnob with me all day for conversation and sales while I'm not much of a talker in person. Now if I were able to type out a sales pitch in real time, that's a different story.

The Date will be there to help us with the customer side of things for a while before heading to a charity event that Thing 2 has been working on for the past two weeks. Thing 2 has been an AD (assistant director in theatre lingo) for the first time for the teem program. Today they will do their well done and well rehearsed show for an event to benefit underprivileged youth.

I'll be getting out of the home show this evening. It'll be a long long day ahead. If I get bored I might blog about weird things I've seen at the show:)

Friday, April 23, 2010

Busy Day On Tap!

I've got to get a DVD of the commercial burned so I can set it on a loop for the home show.
The Date has made some killer flyers for the show so we can pass them out.
I've got to get my brothers truck serviced and then take it to the theatre so we can load up a set and take it to a retirement community for a one off teen show.
I'll have to buy some blank DVDs.
Today is payday so I have to pay my bills online.
Beersnob and I have to get the booth together at three so we'll be set up and ready to go, tomorrow is the big day.
Yeah, a busy day! I'm ready for it though because I took off and I'm prepared to get it all handled!

Thursday, April 22, 2010

Earth Day?

Um, who cares?

Look I'm all for conservation, clean water, big trees, and all of that. No one would be against all of that. However in today's day and age the environmental nutcases have taken Earth day too far, especially when they start pushing their agenda to regulate your freedoms with such things as Cap and Trade taxes.

CO2 is good for plants, it is not a pollutant. You exhale CO2, plants convert that to O2 which you breath. The volcano in Iceland has expelled up to 300,000 tonnes per day of CO2, that's a lot and it's natural. It's the Earth expelling that kind of CO2 not man, not you, not me. Just search for it, you'll find lots about how much CO2 it is producing.

Now here is one of my favorite articles about one of the founders of Earth Day, Ira Einhorn. It would seem Mr. Einhorn wasn't a nice, tree hugging guy after all as he killed his girlfriend, Holly Maddux in a jealous rage.

I wanted to link to this article though to give my liberal friends easier access to this article about the Unicorn Killer.

While a lot of people see Earth day as some celebration I see it as a stepping stone by agenda driven politicians to curtail your freedoms. If Cap and Trade were implemented it would be on top of the ending of the Bush tax cuts (which EVERYONE who paid taxes got a big break in their taxes and many on the lower end of the pay scale were taken off of the tax rolls) and on top of the possible VAT which would tax everyone again on products they purchase.

So how many taxes are enough? There will be a definitive answer to that question in November when the people speak up and lend their voice to the discussion. It can't come soon enough for me.

Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Half Way Through The Week!

It is supposed to be all rainy and thundery the rest of the week now. I mowed the majority of the lawn last night since we likely won't be able to until Sunday.

We are getting ready for the weekend and the home show expo. I traded a booth there for the commercial I shot for them. We will very likely make lots of business contacts there and gain lots of work from being there, well that's the hope anyway.

It has been nice not to have anything to shoot this week, been a super busy run since February and a break is welcome at this point. I'd like to get to the point where I shoot two projects a week though, I can safely handle that and get that amount easily edited.

Once that is rolling I can increase the schedule to what I'm comfortable with until Beersnob gets back home in December. This weekend will be huge for the business and if we get a good response from it then I can better gauge how large of a client base we have to draw from.

I'm excited about the opportunities this business presents!

Tuesday, April 20, 2010

The New IPhone!

Here it is iPhone lovers! Yeah there is a long story about how this prototype fell into the possession of these guys but they believe it looks, feels, and is legit!

I hope so too! This thing would rock!!!!

Take a look at the video and review about what this baby has on it and I think you'll be as amazed as I am! This will be my next iPhone purchase for sure in a few months when it is officially released!

Monday, April 19, 2010

Busy!

I edited ten interviews and four versions of a commercial spot for the marketing company this past weekend. The interviews were for the Diva show that'll be streaming clips on a site, likely this week.

The marketing company spot will be shown at the local ball park for the duration of baseball season. It was a lot of work, more than I thought actually but I did it! Now I officially have no jobs to do except get materials ready for a booth this coming weekend.

Beersnob will be manning the booth for the most part but I'll be there lots as there will be filming done for next year's commercial. Hopefully we can pick up some jobs and get this business rolling!

I do think since we are the only game in town that will cater to the small company and the needs of the small business that we have a giant advantage over the other company. They have gotten very big and very successful over the years and have the ability to turn away clients now if they don't have the time to do a job. We aren't big, we have experienced a modicum of success, and we do want the small business to come to us so we can sit down and tailor a spot for your business.

I'm excited about the possibilities that lie ahead!

Sunday, April 18, 2010

Productive Saturday!

At first I thought we were sunk when it came to the footage I shot on Friday. Turns out it was just the playback head in the camera but the record head is fine! Whew...! Close one!

Here's the story, I borrowed Beersnob's camera and mic set up for the Diva shoot on Friday afternoon/evening. The mic set up is far superior to mine on my camera as it is cabled and not the cam mic. My subjects can walk around with the mic and talk into it and all of the area noise will not bleed onto the tape. Perfect!

We were walking around, they were doing interviews and I was keeping the frame and a rough time schedule to keep within the two minute clip window my clients wanted for this project. Afterward I went home and took Thing 2 to rehearsal for the special teen show.

Long story short there I just didn't get the footage digitized Friday night but as I had until Monday I wasn't sweating it too much. I knew that I'd have the house to myself on Saturday night and that'd be the perfect time to get this job finished.

Saturday night rolls around and I'm alone in the house so it's working time now. I hook up Beersnob's cam to the pc to digitize the footage and the footage was strewn with pixelated artifacts, making it unwatchable. I panicked almost immediately as a very sick feeling overcame me and my stomach. I want to do the best job I can on projects like this and if something isn't right I do take it personally, it affects me physically, literally.

So I call my client and talk to him a couple of minutes, he reassures me that technical problems happen and if nothing worked right we still had a great practice run for next time.

Instead of just giving up right then and there though I decided if the footage is ruined I'll still edit it for practice anyway. I hook up my camera to the pc and put the tape in. The footage is intact and pristine! As I said earlier the problem isn't with the very important recording head and only the playback portion! I'm thrilled but I'm going to look into getting the head repaired anyway.

I digitized the footage and have six good interviews now and I've got two more to go to finish this project!

Saturday, April 17, 2010

Successful Shoot!

The shoot went very well last night! We worked out a couple of bugs and I know that this would be a difficult shoot as it was moving from booth to booth and interviewing people in a big crowd.

Noise wasn't as big of a factor as I had dreaded, the pace was lively, and interviewees had fun! It was a success!

I'll break down the footage into two minutes apiece today and get them formatted into a package for the newspaper to use. This will be a time consuming job but decently easy as well. There just isn't room for a lot of graphics or special effects.

It was a fun shoot and my job will be to have that part come out in the editing!
I'll be starting soon after I rustle up some breakfast.

Friday, April 16, 2010

Finally Friday!

I worked for nearly five hours last night on the local marketing company spot. I got two versions done, there are differences between them but they are minor.

This afternoon I'll embark upon another foray into paid film work as I will be at the local BBQ contest and filming the "Diamond Divas" for a couple of hours. The weather today is supposed to be rainy and as I look at the radar it is basically here already!

We'll be filming inside as I'll have Beersnob's camera and mic this afternoon and I don't want anything in the world to happen to it! So Dry is the word of the day!

I'm going to start around three thirty when I arrive there and then it'll be up to the on screen talent to put on the show that I film. I'm basically just the camera guy and responsible for keeping the frame and editing the piece. I'm kind of glad that I don't have a creative responsibility for this piece right now. We'll see how it evolves over the next few months.

Thursday, April 15, 2010

It's Airing!

On local cable channels the commercial is airing! I feel like a massive weight has been lifted from me now that I know I have taken a commercial from nothing but notes to a completed project that airs on TV.

It's really a pretty nice feeling and I know that my skills will get better over time as more clients come to have commercials made for them. Tonight will be full of working on the Marketing company spot in Premiere Pro as I just don't have the skill yet to accomplish their vision as they laid out to me in After Effects.

I tried everything I knew how to do to find a mentor to ask questions to but no one seems to have any kind of professional level skill with the program sadly. I went through the Lynda tutorials and while it was excellent and helped me get a great grasp on the program what was required in this spot wasn't anything they covered.

In a few months I'll be able to pull it off but now, well I'm not there yet. I need more practice to make it work well.

Alright if you are tired of this type of stuff, scroll down a little bit more and read about the squirrel adventure at work yesterday! It was a double post day and in case you missed it, it was fun!

Wednesday, April 14, 2010

The Great Squirrel Hunt

So there I was in my shop working away when Bub, ling time readers will recall him from a previous story, opened the door and called me, my coworker, and our supervisor to his office to search for a squirrel that was allegedly under Bub's desk.

After a thorough search of the area we concluded that Bub had been hallucinating as no squirrel had been located.

The teasing commenced.

While we all knew that it was possible for a squirrel to find it's way into the building and possible that said squirrel could find it's way to Bub's office and hide under his desk it was simply more fun to tease Bub.

I mean where is the fun in upholding a search for a possible squirrel and be serious about it?

Lunch time came and still no squirrel. I cane to my area to find Bub in our office and again talk of the squirrel came up as the teasing started again. Good natured and Bub was laughing as well:)

I decided to fill up my water bottle from the drinking fountain in the hall when what do I see? A squirrel dashing back and forth down the long hallway searching for a way out!

I yelled for all of my colleagues to join me in the hall to witness the found and not imaginary squirrel. The task quickly dawned on us, "how do we safely remove the squirrel from the building without injuring us or it?"

I ran down the hallway shutting doors to cut off escape from the furry invader and by the time I got the big door open it had changed course to the opposite end of the hall. Squirrels being simple minded can't see a massive opening behind them and three coworkers in front of it trying their best to get it to run back to the huge open door.

Instead it runs right by them as they all leap out of the way like little girls of the ferocious beast, a baby squirrel. Yes dear readers, it was a baby squirrel.

The chase commenced to head into another shop with a small crack under the door. This surprised everyone in the shop as they quickly joined in containing the baby squirrel.

The baby squirrel darted behind some cabinets and we gently moved them out and a fearless squirrel hunter with a cardboard box stood at one end while I stood at the other to direct the squirreling into the box.

I made noise, the squirrel went as planned into the box and we closed the top slowly as not to startle the ferocious beast.

We then returned it safely to the outside world as a very smug Bub enjoyed not being crazy.


-- Post From My iPhone

My Flirtation With Baseball

I'm not a fan, used to be before the 1993 strike/lockout. It's hard to choose a sympathetic side when everyone is a millionaire and they are arguing over being paid more at the expense of the fans who actually buy the tickets.

Over the years I've caught the occasional game now and then, mostly post season or if there was a compelling storyline like rooting against Barry Bonds or the Cubs. Bonds I didn't like because he clearly wasn't living in denial so much as he was living on another planet apart from the truth, the Cubs because my co-worker loves them and it's my natural contrary attitude to root against something he wants out of good humor.

My main problem is that in baseball they have swept so many problems under the rug for attendance numbers...which they wouldn't have had problems with if they didn't stop the game in '93.

Yes the game is hard to watch as there isn't a lot happening at the time. We as a country are more accustomed to watching faster moving sports. Our country has been so successful over the decades of manufacturing entertainment that we have more options to have our free time filled than anyone ever in the history of the planet.

Baseball was once the national past time, now due to the dominance of the NFL it is going the way of a relic in the wake of the years of the steroid scandal. It'll still be relevant, not saying that it belongs in a museum of sports we used to play, I'm only talking about the once high position of relevance it held as our national sport and how the baton was handed to the NFL without the MLB noticing it had lost ground.

While in the NFL practically any team has a chance any year to be a contender if they make the right off season moves and has a good draft. In the MLB a lot of teams are eliminated from post season play by the first of June.

Regardless I decided to give a former flame another look. I purchased the MLB iPhone app so I can listen to games. Yesterday I listened to the Dodger's home opener, mainly because I like listening to Vin Scully call a game. The guy is a legend and can paint a picture of what's happening in the game like no other. This is possibly his last season so I am going to try to catch more games he calls this season.

I'm not a Dodger's fan, not a fan of any team really but I do favor the AL over the NL, yes I know that the Dodger's are a NL team but the AL doesn't have a Vin Scully.

This might last a week or it might last all season, reigniting a former love, time will tell.

Tuesday, April 13, 2010

It Returns Tonight!

The best reality show of all time is back starting tonight!
The Deadliest Catch!

I've been a fan of this show since Discovery did a documentary episode on it called The Deadliest Season, it served as a spring board for the current show.

Deadliest Catch documents the lives and struggles of crab fishermen on the Bering Sea in Winter. Frequently ships become disabled due to the horrible conditions around them. Men stay up for thirty hours at a time or longer to finish a string, nerves are shot, and the weather is always below freezing.

They start with king crab season and then when that ends it is time for snow or opilio crab season which is worse weather wise as the pack ice comes south into the crab grounds.

My dad loved this show. After a new episode aired we would discuss it the next day. You long time readers will recall the time I almost called his number a few days after he had passed last year after the night's new episode. I caught myself before it rang though.

This season will have a more melancholy tone as Captain Phil Harris of the Cornelia Marie died a few months after my dad did. The fleet will continue to go out with the Hansen brothers with the Northwestern, the Hillstrand Brothers and the Time Bandit, Harris's sons with the Cornelia Marie, and Keith and Mouse with the Wizard.

Yes, this is one of the only shows I watch as it airs instead of a season at a time like most others.

If you haven't seen it, watch it.

Monday, April 12, 2010

Good Weekend!

Yesterday I got a lot of Lynda watched, I've still got three chapters left in After Effects Essentials. After that I move onto their advanced course which is about four hours long after the six hour long Essentials course.

I'm getting there and I feel more confident now than I was before about this program. Yesterday I made lasagna and for supper I grilled hamburgers and corn on the cob. The Date and I enjoyed them:) Thing 2 thought I said corn dogs and didn't want to pick corn out of her braces.

The Date did a spectacular job of cleaning up the patio ala spring cleaning and our neighbor brought over his bobcat and a ton of dirt and leveled out the low parts of our back yard.

Well my restful weekend is over with and now it's time to earn the rent for another week. Day one is up to bat and day two is on deck.

Sunday, April 11, 2010

Surprised!

So there I was, about to go have a quiet drink with The Date and a couple of friends at The Blue Note after a somewhat busy day of dad stuff.

I did notice Filmmaker friend Chris's car in the parking lot but I've seen others like it so I thought, eh, not him since he doesn't drink. I knew that J and T were going to be there and I saw T's car. I walked in and a lot of my closest and dearest friends yelled, "Surprise!"

I was genuinely taken aback and it did scare me a bit! They did their jobs perfectly! Jamal was the lookout who was giving, Red, Hollywood Actor, J, T, and Filmmaker friend Chris the signal. After a few minutes Skate and The Invader showed up followed by Teehee, and later still by Beersnob, and Mrs. Beersnob.

I got hugs all around, wonderful birthday wishes, and had a wonderful time! I honestly thought my 40th was done and over with after the water heater incident. I was good with that as I don't particularly like attention much less the center of attention.

We all hung out until midnight at least so this lasted a good four hours!

In other news Prom Night happened successfully. Thing 1 actually got home before curfew. Thing 2 had a school function to attend in another town so I dropped her off and picked her up for that.

And that was my day!

Saturday, April 10, 2010

Prom Night

I don't think I'll survive today. It is prom night for Thing 1. I've got some dad things to do, I think. If not then I'll have to support The Date in her efforts to make this Thing 1's best prom ever.

Everything is going well right now. Tomorrow I'll be working on a spot for the marketing company. It'll be playing at the ball park in town for all of the baseball games.

To start the day out right we are heading to a breakfast restaurant, not IHOP, and going to have a nice breakfast:)

Friday, April 09, 2010

Friday!

Payday Friday in fact! I'm glad, it's been a long week. I need a weekend to recharge a bit.

Work has been weird, it's goes from busy to slow to busy again. Hopefully it'll smooth out to a steady pace again soon. I can handle a steady pace, I know what to expect and can plan it out. It's when you don't know what's going to happen is when things get off track.

Regardless it's Friday now and no work for two days. That's what I'm excited about!
I am guessing my commercials are going to work as I've uploaded one of them to the channel's FTP site according to their guidelines and I don't know about the other one. They didn't have a FTP site, so I gave my client a DVD. I don't have the means to distribute it another way.

I asked the ad-reps at the channel to contact me if there was a problem and that was two days ago and they haven't so it must be great:)

Thursday, April 08, 2010

It's All Good

Last night I finally got to play my evening of celebratory WoW!
In the midst of my glorious fun I knocked over my cup of water, spilling it onto my iPhone.

I dried it off and turned it on. It worked fine but after a while I noticed that I couldn't hear the text message sounds. I tried the iPod feature and it wouldn't play unless I had the headphones on in which it played great.

So I got a bag of dry Minute Rice, stuck the iPhone in there and left it over night. I Anxiously turned it on this morning only to find...IT WORKED PERFECTLY AGAIN!

Yay iPhone! Yay Minute Rice!

Just after ten o'clock I hit level sixty two with my warrior. I'm happy about that as I have eighteen levels to go until level eighty which is the cap until the expansion comes out later this year.

Wednesday, April 07, 2010

One Busy Day

Yes I'll get this out of the way first, it was my bday. Yes I'm another year older. The Date tried as hard as she could to make the day special and it was! She made a great cake for me, all chocolate, all the way through!

I went to work but I was going to take off at noon so that I could drop off the new DVD proof of the commercial I've been working on. You can see it here. Skate does a great job of narrating this spot!

The second part of the plan was to play WoW in celebration of my first commercial that was going to air very soon on TV.

Alas it was not to be. The Date texted that the carbon monoxide detector had been going off in the morning. I was sure that it was the high gusting winds catching the hot water tank's flu system from the right direction and forcing it back down. We are talking about forty mile per hour gusts too.

I got home but she had gone to class already so I check the hot water tank out and found that it needed replaced badly. So my new project for the day was to replace it. I called my brother and he got me a good deal at a warehouse supply store on a new tank. He is a licensed plumber so he gets discounted prices on his supplies. The general public can't walk in and buy things but he can, it's that kind of place.

So I'm off to get his truck to pick up the new tank. I switch vehicles, pick up the tank and head home. My brother's best friend and someone who has helped me out more times than I can count, Fat Plummer (his X-Box 360 ID) comes over after he gets off of work and for the next four hours we change the tank out.

We size up the old tank, and get it drained which took the longest. Then we head to get the supplies to replace the tank with. The actual tank changing didn't take long, maybe an hour at most. By the time we were done it was nine thirty and I just wanted to do nothing but rest.

So that was my day:) Thank you again to my love, The Date for her valiant efforts to make the day special for me:) It was, we are safe from deadly carbon monoxide now and the tank will last us for another six to ten years:)

Tuesday, April 06, 2010

Now I Think I'm Finished!

I took the DVD proof over to my client yesterday at lunch. I was going to wait until after work but it was killing me whether she was going to like it or hate it. Turns out she liked it and after a couple of tweaks that she wanted I'll be bringing her another DVD proof today.

That should finish this project once she looks at the new proof and approves it.

If the most difficult project is the first one then it should be smooth sailing from here. This has been a nightmare project. Last night I even had to get a new DVD burner as mine quit working. I don't know why, it just wouldn't read anything anymore.

Nevertheless that problem was overcome and now I shall spend the evening playing WoW before starting to work on the new project tomorrow evening.

Everything is working out, sometimes the road can be a bit bumpy but it's working anyway!

Monday, April 05, 2010

Finished!

I'll take the proofs over to her after work and she can tear into them. She forgot to send me a sponsor's logo so she emailed it to me while I was there picking up the tropical music she picked out. I gave her a frame by frame breakdown of what this commercial looks like and why I did what I did. She wanted a ton of information in thirty seconds, I mean a ton.

The commercial from last year used a steady background and placed the information all around it, they used small pictures, I'm using individual backgrounds and the pictures are full screen. There isn't as much information being thrown at you at a time but you can turn the volume off and get the full message. The sponsor's logos are much bigger than last year's commercial and the main thing she wanted highlighted has three individual title cards.

I saw a commercial that a California firm had done for her recently and she explained how she didn't like it. I thought it was pretty good, the graphics were clean and sharp, the backgrounds were bright, it was a nice commercial other than a gaff that had the same picture on the screen twice.

I came home, nearly ready for a heart attack when The Date told me that it wouldn't matter what I'd do for any commercial she wanted she wouldn't like it and would find something bad about it. Oddly enough that made me feel better.

This will be a commercial that after a year of doing this, I'll look back on and see how crude it is. My skills will grow and I'll get better so I know I've got a lot of room for improvement.

Thank you Skate for doing the voice over. It was golden! Your tones shall grace many future commercials in this area:)

Sunday, April 04, 2010

Almost Completed

The commercial that has given me some restless night, inspired my normally calm stomach to start aerobics, and tap danced on my last good nerve is 95% finished.

I need to call Skate later to do the voice over track and the client is looking for ukulele music for the final seconds. I felt like the world had been lifted off of my shoulders as I put the final clip into place. I felt so good that Beersnob and I went outside and enjoyed a victory cigar. If I hadn't completed it then it would have been a nerve calming cigar but nonetheless it was a victory cigar.

I plan on having another victory cigar when she accepts the commercial sometime this week.

Happy Easter! The most important holiday of the year for any believing Christian and the close of Holy Week. Death itself was conquered and as believers we were given real hope. That life is meaningful and just the beginning. That there is a structure to the universe and not chaos. We are not left in the hands of random chance but in those of a kind and loving God.

He is Risen!:)

Saturday, April 03, 2010

My Day With Lynda

Yes Lynda.com is on my slate today.
I subscribed to Lynda after work yesterday. I went through nine chapters of Essential After Effects tutorials before bed. I've got another thirteen chapters to get through today before moving onto the advanced tutorials.

Lynda is a software learning site. They teach you complex software titles in a relatively short amount of time for twenty five dollars per month. A bargain compared to the slower progress in a classroom.

However fast this may be and yes it will get me through the current commercials I'm doing I still would prefer a mentor I can learn from and ask questions to. There are lots of projects out there that I might have to do that just aren't covered here.

I want to get better at this program, upgrade it and master the next version as well. I'm going to be a great editor and I'm going to make this business work. Beersnob is back in town as he safely arrived home Thursday. He will be assisting soon and I want to be able to get him up to speed on what and how to edit.

That will be the biggest help to me, to have two people who are capable of taking a client's request, shooting it, editing it, and giving back a finished, polished product that they will love.

So no World of Warcraft today unless I finish the Expo commercial. I'm using that as a reward system for myself. Business before pleasure. After I deliver a solid commercial to my client then I'll treat myself with a few quests with the guild, Skate, Teehee, Bobo, and the others.

Friday, April 02, 2010

A Strong Possibility

Starting on the sixteenth my little business could wind up with a full time gig every two weeks.

This is a show that will be going around to area businesses and will be around a half hour of shooting time plus editing and time to set up and strike the equipment. It will be labor intensive for the first couple of shows and then the bugs will be worked out and we'll have a good produced show on my end.

I'll have a filmed intro and everything. It's really pretty cool because it'll probably be the job that pays for the next upgrade I need to get and that's Adobe software.

After that it'll be camera and then a new powerhouse PC.

The Expo commercial should be finished this weekend and I'll have that off of my plate. That's the most nerve wracking commercial I've ever done because they requested a ton of information and themes to go into a thirty second spot and it's going to be publicly viewed. I'll get used to it but for right now it is killing my last good nerve.

Thursday, April 01, 2010

A Quarter Done

Amazingly 2010 is now officially one quarter finished. How has that happened?
I'm still getting used to writing the date starting with a "1" instead of a "0", I know I've got an entire decade to get it right before I change the "1" to a "2" though.

I guess the decade is now officially one fortieth finished, that sounds a little bit better.

Yesterday really felt more like Summer than Spring. It was quite possibly ninety, I know the last time I looked at a thermometer it was eighty eight. Two weeks ago it was snowing and now it's Summer. One thing is for sure, we will soon be having some massive thunder storms soon. Tornado season is upon us!

I shot the final footage I needed last night for the first real commercial I've ever done last night. I'm very nervous about this but promised the client that it would not be a clone of last year's commercial which she has grown to love. I explained I had watched the old commercial literally and without exaggeration a hundred times by now and there is way too much information being thrown at the viewer to comprehend in thirty seconds.

This one will be slower paced, a little information at a time, and if the viewer turns the volume down the point will still get across. That's the kind of commercials I want to make. I hate watching them and that's one of the main reasons I like watching a season of a show at a time either on DVD or DVR when you can skip the commercials.

Ironic huh? I'm now trying to make the same thing I don't like to watch. It's alright though I think I've got a handle on them for the most part and will get my skills in the software up to par in a very short amount of time!