Roaming the fake streets of NYC
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Green Screen (NYC street scenes)
My friend Wendy came through with some NYC street video for my green screen hijinx. I’ve been sitting on it for a week or two, desperate to come up with something imaginative to do with it. I did not. But I will.
Zombie Jobs
“Real creative urges, those we are meant to express, don’t go away. If ignored, they bother us, affect our health, fester and eventually turn us into the living dead.”
— from Pamela Slim’s piece in NYT
Radio needs to escape radio
“Society needs the comfort of our favorite songs. We need the real-time connection to our community (however we define “community”). We need to know what to wear today and whether or not school is canceled. We need to stay up to date or to revel in our past. We need to be outraged and informed and soothed and amused. We need to be told what to do in a crisis. We need to know what’s on sale and where. And we need these things wherever we are – at home, at work, in the car, and on our hip. As an industry, radio needs to recognize that its social currency is in what it provides, not in the manner it provides it.”
— Mark Ramsey
Happiness Grid
Are you happy? That’s a reasonable question and I suspect most folks answer in the affirmative. It’s kind of not cool to be unhappy. If pressed for The Meaning of Life, being happy works pretty well for me. I bring this up because I think of myself as a happy person. And getting happier, it seems.
I don’t remember much about the early years but I think I was a happy baby and child. The high school years were good because it came at a good time (1962-1966). Same for college. My 20’s and early 30’s were The Radio Years and good times for sure. The next big uptrend came in the mid-90’s when the Internet blossomed and it’s just gotten better from there.
A superstitious person might warn it’s not a good idea to talk about such good fortune. But if something happened tomorrow, I’d like to have this on the record.
When listening was enough
“I am terribly tired of broadcasters ranting about how many folks listen to the radio. I get it. Everybody listens to the radio. That’s not the issue. The issue is why – or if – that matters to your clients. The issue is how that usage translates directly into ROI.”
— Mark Ramsey
Concrete Man (Director’s Cut)
Clarence Lee Sherrill and Crista Meyer sell concrete lawn ornaments. Their business is called Concrete Castings and they’re located on I-55 just north of Cape Girardeau, MO. I have a strange fascination with “yard art” and decided to scratch the itch on a recent trip down south.
Clarence and Crista work in a small, cluttered room heated by a big wood stove and covered in cement dust. Gazing in a large window was a magnificent peacock. I didn’t see Miss C, the camel that’s usually in a pen out front, and Clarence explained she was “visiting her boyfriend” but would return in a few days. Gotta be tough to breed camels in this country.
On a technical note, I shot the video with the Casio Exilim FC100, but the battery went dead on me. So I recorded a few minutes of audio on the iPhone and dropped in some stills. You’ll notice the change in audio quality.
5 questions for Sheryl Crow
Regular readers know that Barb and I are from the same small town in southern Missouri as Sheryl Crow. A small Brush with Near Greatness. On a recent road trip I came up with five questions I'd ask Ms. Crow, if I had the opportunity. In the off chance her publicist or agent (or daddy) finds their way to this post…
- What group or artist do you have on your iPod that would be most surprising to your fans?
- Do you have a favorite book you've read more than twice?
- If you could pass along just one life lesson or bit of wisdom to young Wyatt, what would it be?
- What do you miss most (if anything) about being a civilian? (Sorry, but answer cannot be: "Running in to QuikTrip for a quart of milk, wearing Roy Rogers pajama bottoms & torn sweat shirt.")
- Do you have any skill or trick that would win a bar bet?
Do I have a card? Why, yes I do. (Hugh MacLeod)
Hugh MacLeod is a blogger who draws cartoons on business cards. And/or you can have cards made that feature one of his cartoons. Mine came in today. I can’t tell you how much more fun these are to give out than the official Learfield card.
Casio Exilim EX FC100
I’ve only had this camera for a few days and really haven’t played with it enough to offer much of an opinion. The review at InfoSyncWorld says it’s “good” but not “great.” So why did I buy it?
My current Casio is fine and I’ll keep it. But I’ve had such good luck with the Exilim line from Casio, I buy a new one every year or two, just to get my hands on the new features.
I think the FC100 would be a good choice (review above not withstanding) for a parent with youngsters involved in sports. The “High Speed Burst Mode” should let you capture that frozen frame as the soccer ball is kicked or the bat is swung.
The “High Speed Movie” mode claims 1000fps which should make for some fun slow-mo video. I’ll look for opportunities to try out both of those features and post what I get (good or bad) here.
Camera costs between $300 and $350 but that will come down pretty quickly.