Friday, September 28, 2007

The Week is 80% Done...

Coffee in the Atlanta skyline mug, "Blue Sky" by the Allman Brothers Band on iTunes. Blue sky, baby. I continue to surf the week from the top of the wave. With luck and a bit of focus, I won't crash and burn today and then it will be Over! I shamefully admit to being unable to put a video up on the blog. I blithely assumed the existence of the necessary tech. I was... wrong. I have a seven year old Palmcorder VHS C. It replaced the 12 year old camera that my father gave us for a wedding present that used full-size VHS tapes. There are cables... somewhere for the Palmcorder. But I think even if I found them I wouldn't be able to do what I want to with them. That's the problem with me and technology: I always see a seamless interface where none exists. What does exist is the opportunity to buy my camcorder for $9.99 on eBay--that's the information I got from googling the model number... Looks like a tech upgrade in my future. Any recommendations? I want to be able to point, shoot, put on the computer, write to dvd, post to the web... how hard can it be?

However I am capable of the occasional digital snap, and I provide three today as a peace offering for the lack of video. The in-kiln shot is of the fountain pieces for today's article and the wall pieces are the installed location. I will have a better shot of both together from the Grovewood (I was late for getting home in time to pick up J and didn't have time to futz around with better photography after the install.

One last note on the new studio before I go write-up how to make a fountain: When I went over yesterday afternoon after closing I found that someone had four-wheeled around the backyard and torn it up the night before. There are several spots where they spun their tires and sprayed dirt everywhere. But they got theirs. In the back of the yard, camouflaged by the summer's kudzu , is a pile of concrete rubble and cinder blocks. They must have thought it was just vines and hit it square on. Heh. Looks like they hung up on the concrete pile (deep spin-out pits from the tires seeking purchase to get off) and one of the cinder blocks was knocked ten feet. I hope they ripped the heck out of the undercarriage of their car/truck. Can't get that fence up soon enough.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

In re: the video recorder: how hard can it be? Well, not so much hard as it is expensive. You'd have to buy a digital video recorder. Wheeee! Pricy. But you make thousands of dollars a year, you have nothing to fear!

Brenda Griffith said...

"But you make thousands of dollars a year, you have nothing to fear!"

I fall out of my chair laughing so hard my stomach hurts! Yes, I make thousands of dollars a year--and then I spend thousands of dollars a year in the process of making thousands of dollars a year. And at the end of the year when my income is 1/3 the poverty level of the US I scratch my head and think, what the heck? I could make more working at the deli counter of my local supermarket!

I continue because I love what I do and I have hope that the income will improve...

Anonymous said...

A list of camcorders that work with Apple's iMovie software is at http://www.apple.com/macosx/upgrade/camcorders.html. You can also get an analog-to-DV adapter/converter that you could connect your old VHS camcorder to.

-JYK

Smasty said...

Oh goodness...you use FCP but have a VHS camcorder? Tsk tsk! I have 4 digital camcorders and love each one---including the $89 Flip from Costco that you just plug into your computer via the pop-out USB connector (so small I just keep it in my car/briefcase for unexpected opportunities, and the quality is excellent!)....up to the new HDV (hi def) Canon that I love too.

Anonymous said...

brenda, i can bring my digital camcorder and all the required cables thurs ;)
D