Lost and gone for what seems like forever

We watched the season finale of Lost in our favorite independent movie theater last night. Truth be told, I think the show looks better on our TV at home. The color was dull and the refresh rate a bit slow. I guess this is why film, rather than broadcast TV, is usually shown in theaters. (There I go complaining again... I'm becoming an A/V snob.)

It was fun to make an event out of watching the episode. We didn't dress up as castaways or anything, but R did win first prize in the trivia contest. I'm so proud of her :) All of those hours glued to the TV since the very first episode are finally paying off. Her prize was a piece of Lost-inspired jewelry designed by a woman from around here who was flown out to Hawaii by ABC to visit the set and give her work to the cast... or something like that. I didn't get the whole scoop.

The episode itself was action-packed and intriguing, everything I could want from a finale. It didn't completely pull the rug out from under us like last year's did, but that would have been impossible to pull off again. I'm impressed that this show can continue to surprise me as much as it does. I keep asking, where is it going to go from here? And it keeps answering... not all at once, like so many fans seem to want, but rather episode by episode. I prefer the mystery and think answers are ultimately less satisfying than questions. I have faith that they will tie up the loose ends eventually. With so many intertwining story lines, it seems like it would be easy for the show to spin out of control or lose the audience completely, but the produces have held it together extremely well. Let the long wait for season five begin.

Bad Baby

Above is our much-anticipated entry into the Summit Brewery short film contest. The only requirements were to keep it under five minutes in length and to include a Summit product placement. We decided to make ours an actual commercial for the beer, but that was only because it seemed to fit. Overall, I'm pleased with the way this one turned out. Aside from a few minor continuity problems and amateur lighting, the only major defect is my own acting. I regret not calling in another actor for this one. But let's focus on the positive for once. What we have here is a sharp, quirky little film that I believe defies viewers' expectations with its offbeat tone and cute baby antics (yes, we went there). Thanks to everybody who helped get this made!

White knuckles

I confronted one of my fears over the weekend: driving a car in midtown Manhattan. R, C, The Fonz, and I drove up to a friend's place in Queens and the route took us through the Lincoln and Queens tunnels with a stretch of dense city in between. The directions looked pretty straightforward on a map, but when we came above ground on the island there were roads going in every direction and swarms of cars and pedestrians abound. We got off course a bit and had major difficulty getting onto the needed 42nd St. No matter where we zigzagged across it, there were no turns allowed onto that street. Some aggressive driving and cutting in front of fleets of cabs later, we made it across the island and placed the car in park for the rest of the weekend. Whew. We took an alternate route home, this time going through the less busy SoHo district aiming for the Holland tunnel. It went off without a hitch.

Our two-night stay was pretty low-key. Having a baby around is a handy excuse for not staying out late. Who would have thought we'd go to NYC for the weekend and actually get caught up on our sleep? My main purpose there was just to soak up the city one last time before we leave the east coast. We walked around a lot, ate some authentic New York style pizza, and visited with some friends. R and I split off of the group on Sunday for a look through the MOMA. There was a lot of cool stuff there. I'm a sucker for seeing the famous/iconic works by Van Gogh, Picasso, Monet, etc. And R likes to ponder upon the occasional black square.

The baby did surprisingly well on the streets of New York, as long as somebody other than me was holding him. It's true -- I'm not yet comfortable with holding babies (and they know it). I'm counting on my paternal instincts kicking in before we have one of our own. Anyway, The Fonz is a trooper. It took me 20-some years to get to NYC; he's doing it within his first 3 months.

Speaking of the little guy... his acting debut will be posted here tomorrow night. Be sure to check back then!

Post-production update

Tuesday night's shoot went great. That nephew of mine clearly has a future in this business. His mom acted circles around me too. I spent the last two nights editing our footage, and the pieces, complete with a score from EmptyGym and a voice over from Alec Mendez, fit together pretty well. We're heading up to New York for the long weekend, but I will take a fresh look at the video when we get back on Monday and make any final adjustments then. The contest deadline was pushed back to June 3rd, so some of the extra pressure is off. We haven't decided for sure if I can post it on YouTube before the judging takes place, but I hope so. Otherwise, assuming we make the cut, it will be available on Summit's website after June 9th. The name of the video is "Bad Baby," and I think it will find its place beside "Drunken Laundry" and "PC vs. Me" in the Moon Lake Multimedia canon. If you're not expecting more than that, I don't think you'll be disappointed.

I still have my final Bud Light video to edit before the end of the month as well, and for some reason those have a way of taking longer than anything else. It has something to do with them being more open ended and scriptless; it's like putting together a puzzle without having a picture on the box. "Bad Baby" had a script (albeit one that was scribbled out late one night), so there were fewer decisions to make while editing. The Bud Light videos and, even more so, my upcoming "Fake Empire" video are fluid and less clearly defined up front. Sometimes the strategy is to throw an hour of footage against the wall and see what sticks. The cleaning up of the mess is what's so time-consuming.

R's birthday weekend

My wife turned another year beautifuler on Friday. She joined me for a Bud Light shoot downtown from 6:30-8:30, and then we met up with a few friends at the Ale House for some beer and dessert. It was a fun night. I have a feeling it could be one of our last nights out in Wilmington, as the big move is coming up in only a month (gulp).

On Saturday we rode our bikes down to the Wilmington Grand Prix to watch part of the races and to participate in an failed attempt at breaking the world's record for largest bike parade. I don't think we were even close. After that we got spiffed up and went out for a birthday dinner in Philly. We had some fresh, tasty seafood at a place called Tangerine. The restaurant was packed with graduation parties, but it still had a nice ambience and I can't get that salmon out of my head.

I spent Sunday afternoon indulging in some much-needed computer time while R went to pick up her sister and our new nephew from the airport. They also drove up to the art museum to check out the Frida Kahlo exhibit currently on display. Later on, I had the chance to meet this young gentleman, who shall hereby be referred to in this blog as The Fonz. He is a cutie. You can expect some photos and video to be popping up on here soon.

So we have some company for two and a half weeks. One of our plans is to make a short film that we will be submitting to a contest being held by Summit Brewing Company in Minnesota. It's going to be tight, however, because the DVD needs to be received by the judges by May 27th. We're going to keep it simple, but I think we have a real shot at winning one of the prizes. C has a killer idea, R is helping flesh it out, I'm constructing the sequence of shots, and The Fonz is perfecting his acting chops. This is happening tomorrow night. Wish us luck!

First look: "Fake Empire" music video

With R as my assistant, I shot an unofficial music video for "Fake Empire," a wonderful song by The National, a little over a week ago. Our photogenic friends, S&Q, were kind enough to give up a Friday night to let me barge into their place and boss them around for a few hours. I recorded them drinking some wine, dancing in the living room, walking around the neighborhood at night, etc. It's supposed to be an atmospheric, three-minute piece that sort of dwells in a state between awake and asleep. I'm a little concerned I screwed up some of the shots, as a result of keeping the camera in manual mode the whole night, a very dangerous move on my part considering my lack of experience and the rushed conditions of an ambitious shoot. Balancing between under- and over-exposure is always a point of concern; I'm afraid some of my footage may have turned out a bit dark. I should have been more prepared because I've been envisioning the video in my head for long time, but for some reason when I got there, I no longer knew what I wanted. Typical. Oh well, I think we got some really decent stuff. There are a few screen shots in my Recent Video Grabs gallery, in case you want to see more. I still need to get some supplemental cut-aways (e.g. the moon in the sky, branches in the wind), but I believe my work with the actors is complete. Now that I mention it, I wouldn't mind getting everybody together again to perfect the outdoor scenes, but with the timeline the way it is that is looking unlikely.

For sale

Our townhouse has been on the market since Wednesday. In Mobile, it only took four days to sell our house. We haven't even had anyone look at this place yet. It goes to show how much the market has changed. If anybody's interested in an investment in real estate, send me an email.

Hey -- every little bit of advertising helps.

Professional notes (more big news)

Here's a list of events that occurred at my job during the last week:

• I made an agreement to work remotely from southern California.


• I received the project bonus I've been waiting on for some time.


• My company announced that it is being acquired by Oracle.

On a comparatively minor note, I'm in Madison again this week, eating way too much as usual. This is my first time being the most senior member of the company out here, so I get to do the driving. Actually, it's just me and a QA guy named Giri representing the company this week. We're enjoying the perks of business travel. Tonight we drank some scotch and Smithwicks at an Irish Pub. It's been interesting chatting with him about our different perspectives of the world. He wants R and I to come stay with his family in Dubai for a visit. He told me to just book the plane tickets and he'll take care of the rest, and I believe him. Nice guy, that Giri.

It's an exciting time to be with the company. This news about them selling to "the world's largest enterprise software company" is pretty major. We are becoming a global business unit for Oracle. Our CEO, a guy who sits about 20 feet from me, will be reporting directly to the president of a company of 80,000 people. One thing is for sure: we are not a small company anymore. Our software will be the lead product or, as they put it, the "nucleus," for Oracle's entrance into the insurance industry. I'm not sure what this all means for me yet, but I'm curious to see how it all goes down. I don't personally have a lot riding on it, but it will be fun to see some of my coworkers get filthy rich.

Goin' out west (the big news)

A little over two years ago, when I announced our plans to relocate from Mobile to Wilmington in my old blog, I used the following song lyric from one of my favorite bands, Spoon:

In traffic we become on the way back home
Part of something bigger than just on our own.

I'm including it again now because it has become sort of a personal motto for the years-long journey around the country that R and I are making. I use the present tense in that sentence because the circle (actually, cross is more accurate) is not complete. As much as I love the city of Wilmington and the surplus of opportunity we've found here, it was never meant to be a final destination. It's a stop along the way, albeit a stop that lasted long enough for us to explore much of the upper east coast and to dive into the local culture, make some good friends, and possibly even leave a small but noticeable imprint. In some ways I think I grew more attached to this place than I did to even the Twin Cities. There is something more manageable about Wilmington. It lives up to its slogan, "A Place to be Somebody," in that it's small enough to almost be conquerable, yet large enough to feel like that would be an accomplishment. For those reasons, it will be difficult to say good-bye.

We are moving to Santa Barbara, California in June.

R is being transferred within her company, and as usual I'm along for the ride. But I am by no means dragging my feet. The biggest downside to moving around the country for R's job is that I would typically need to sacrifice my own in the process. That is not so this time. I've decided to retain my current job -- my employer is allowing me to work remotely. I will admit part of me was hoping to have to quit so I could have a few months off to enjoy the beach after the move and explore different career options, but the income will be nice to have considering the increased cost of living in Santa Barbara, and plus, there are still a few things I want to see through at this company. If I'm going to quit, I want it to be on my own terms.

R's new job sounds exciting. She's going to be helping develop organic light emitting diodes, a technology that is comparable but superior to liquid crystal displays. I'll let her tell you more about it sometime, rather than misrepresent it myself. She'll be working the afternoon shift out there, from 3pm until midnight, so there will be a schedule adjustment for us. It's a good thing I will be working out of our home, otherwise I'd never get to see her. Maybe we can eat lunch together this way anyhow.

California... I never would have guessed I'd live there one day. It's such a mythical place for me, a place from movies and Mason Jennings songs. My parents took me and my brothers out there on a vacation one summer during my high school years. We drove from San Francisco to Los Angeles along the coast. My memories are bits and pieces, but I remember being enthralled by the chance of running into stars and being inspired by the energy of the people and the beauty of the ocean.

When the possibility of moving to California first presented itself to R and me, there was no way we could resist going for it. Right now it seems like an absolutely necessary part of our life experience.

Bread Man's mom

Happy Mother's Day, mom! Wish I could be there.

Quintessential Delaware

We attended a couple of Wilmington's signature events over the weekend. Saturday was the annual dine-around, during which we had a superb meal divided into three -- appetizer, entree, and dessert each served at a different restaurant around town (maybe you caught the video advertisement). This was one of the first events R and I partook in right after we moved into town two years ago. We met some people that night who really helped shape the time between then and now. Saturday's meal was memorable as well: great food and, without fail, interesting people.

Sunday was the ever-so-popular Point-to-Point event. We picnic'd with some friends and made the rounds to some other friends' tailgating spots. There were horse races, antique carriage pagents, an old car show, and a lot of wine to go around. The weather was perfect for sitting out on the grass and acting like the sophisticated upper-class we aren't. As R likes to point out, it's the kind of place you can see a prim and proper young lady hitting a beer bong. The gas powered blender is another favorite image. I didn't take nearly enough photos of the event, but see what I do have here.

Bud Light Film Crew #17

Check out the May video: www.BudLightFilmCrew.com

This one looks a little different from the others. I didn't shoot anything new for it but rather used footage from the last two months as well as some bicycling stock from last year's Grand Prix. The editing was really quite simple, which has been the trend lately. These things don't take me as long as they used to, and that's a good thing because I'm trying to find time to spend on other projects.

All of the money I've made with my video work has now officially surpassed everything I have purchased for my hobby in the last two years. This either means I'm going to start turning a profit from this business or start buying more things. I can tell you already it will probably be the latter. In fact I started already with a new shoulder mount and UV lens filter. I'm also in the market for a shotgun microphone that I can attach to the camera or a boom.

I like having this extra little bit of income to play with. I can spend it without feeling guilty for subtracting from the family savings, plus, it's easier to spend money when you enjoy the work it came from.

Anniversary #3

Happy anniversary to us (on Wednesday). Three years in, and we're going strong. It's great having such a lovable, loving, intelligent, goofy wife. I can be myself around her more so than when I'm by myself. We get to be constants for each other; it makes facing change and new situations so much easier to always have my best friend near by -- somebody to bounce ideas off of, somebody who understands me, somebody to share inside jokes with. She's a real fish... I mean a catch. (Have you noticed that fish seem to be recurring motif on this blog?)

To mark our special occasion, we spent last weekend hiding away at a bed & breakfast in New Hope, PA, a small town north of Philly. The town is on the Delaware River, near where George Washington crossed one fateful December 26th morning. We crossed in the same spot, only higher in the air (see here).

We biked quite a bit. In order to make a loop we even faced some closed trails. I literally said, "closed schmosed" when we saw the first sign posted. Soon after, the trails degraded into a washed out mess of rocks and trees. The activity became what we like to call "hiking with bikes" for a stretch or two. Oh well, we weren't in a rush, which was nice for a change.

We had a tasty dinner out on Saturday night. It was at a BYOB, so we brought our own bottle of Cloudy Bay. This is a well-known New Zealand wine that we were too cheap to try in New Zealand. It was actually pretty good, as far as whites go. The food was good too, although the portions were almost too big. We're used to places like this serving just the right amount, leaving us satisfied but not so weighed down. I have this problem of needing to eat every last bit of whatever is in front of me, especially when bringing leftovers home isn't an option. I had a steak; R had the fish (there it is again!).

Sunday we got up, visited a small museum in town, toured some country roads and bridges, checked out the view from a tower, and returned home in time to edit some video. It was only two nights, but it was a relaxing get-away, a chance for some quality time together minus the usual stress of day-to-day life.

Just because I have them online, here are a few more shots from the weekend: [1] [2] [3]

Oh, and if you are wondering if any of this is the "big news" I alluded to last week... keep waiting.

Partners for Progress

Remember the Wilmington Renaissance Corporation video that I mentioned on here a while ago? This is the "most important video I've ever made" because the mayor of Wilmington is in it, and it played for 250 goverment officials and local business people and at the State of Downtown event in March. Well, it's online now if you want to check it out.

http://www.downtownwilmington.com/Partners-for-Progress

There are plenty of mistakes in it and more keep appearing (seriously, there's a black line at the top of the 7th still that I swear was not in the earlier incarnations), but this was the best I could do in the span of the week I had from start to finish, a week that happened to coincide with a huge project implementation at work. I'm glad that's all in the past. I think I bit off more than I could chew that week.

The video starts off slow but picks up in pace as it goes on. Try to hang in there!