I thought I put this up earlier, but I guess not:
This was when we were in Traverse City and at the Cherry Festival. BTW, you can see other fine and similar video products at http://youtube.com/stevendkrause
Did you know Ursack means bullet-proof bear bags?
I actually wrote about this in more detail on my official blog here if you’re curious, but I kind of think that for the unofficial space, the video is probably enough:
Brady Bunch 2.0
Via boingboing, here’s this wacky little site that recreates the Brady Bunch opening with YouTube videos. It’s kinda cute, but it keeps repeating over and over so watch it once and then close up the window. Believe me.
The Ypsilanti July 4 Parade: The Movie
Here’s a video version of how the Ypsi July 4 parade went this year. A good time was had by one and all, though this wasn’t actually the best of Ypsi parades, as Annette’s “eh, it was all right” reaction at the end might suggest. Anyway, enjoy the movie, shot entirely with my Flip Video camera, edited with iMovie on the Mac and with a march from an album I copied from the Ypsi public library called “Hail, Sousa!”
A month of potty-talk!
The Independent Film Channel web site had a celebration of the best dirty words in the movies last month– how could I have missed it originally? Here’s a link to the cleanest of the lot, the famous “frankly my dear, I don’t give a damn” bit from Gone With the Wind, but from here, you can scroll down to get all of the rest. Many of them are, um, bad words.
Highlights for me include scenes from Bad Santa, Clerks, Pulp Fiction, and The Big Lebowski, which was actually featured in this blog just over a year ago here.
Sophie the stupid dog on my Flip video camera
Annette was out of town most of last week, and because of that (and both of us are just swamped with school and work stuff, really), she overlooked an organized Father’s Day gift for me. So I bought my own: a Flip video camera.
Basically, it’s a small (like the size of a digital camera or a big cell phone) and cheap video camera that can store up to 30 minutes of digital video, which can then be watched on the camera itself, on a TV, or downloaded to a computer. It took some finagling with the format and converters and stuff, but I did ultimately get it to work on my iMac, so I can use it with things like iMovie, too.
Here’s a sample of Sophie the stupid dog chasing a ball. Actually, it’s not so much that Sophie is dumb; she just didn’t say no to me filming her for my blog(s):
No, it’s not professional quality. But basically, these people are looking for the YouTube et al crowd. As far as “family fun” and “movies” goes around here: I can easily see pairing this with my other digital camera for a cool vacation movie in the near future. I can also see this as a pretty handy teaching tool too– but that’s going to be on the official blog later.
Pretty amazing etch-a-sketch drawing
I’d recommend turning the sound down a bit– the Cleveland Cavs rap song isn’t the best I’ve heard. But do check out this dude drawing LeBron James with an etch-a-sketch:
Dang, if I can barely make a smiley face with one of those things.
Possible drive-in field trips?
Whatever happened to drive-ins? I recall them as a source of grand fun and “partying” as a high school young person in Iowa, and I’m pretty sure that my generation was among the last to experience this on a regular basis. They’re not around anymore, certainly not in my town where those big screens and lots were paved and/or built over a long time ago.
Or so I thought….
There was a blurb in the Ann Arbor paper today about a summer only drive-in theater thing at the Compuware Sports Arena, which is just down/up the road in Plymouth. Basically, this is a hockey rink, and they’re using the parking lot in the summer for drive-ins. No movies have been announced yet, but it could be a fun deal.
And then I did a google search and came across Drive-Ins.com, which has a database of drive-ins. And from there, I discovered that right in our own backyard (well, Dearborn), we’ve got the Ford-Wyoming Drive-In, which boasts itself as the largest in the world! Who knew?!
So, maybe a family-friendly movie show?
Seafood Risotto, the Food (W)hole, Sorrel, and beyond
This evening’s dinner was the result of a couple of convergences.
We’re sharing a “share” this year from a local organic farm with Steve and Michelle. One of the advantages and disadvantages of this sort of thing is you have to kind of take what you get from the farm based on what was harvested that week, and this past week, that included the semi-mystery green, sorrel. Meanwhile, in an effort to find a healthy meal that was a little bit different, I came across a recipe for seafood risotto, which actually included (of all things!) sorrel.
So, I went off to the Food (W)Hole and bought the seafood fixings: shrimp, calamari, and clams. I think the fish monger was not used to selling these ingredients to the “I’ll take a pound of salmon” crowd (which includes me, btw) because he kept asking me what I was going to be cooking, suggesting I add some saffron, etc. I’ll have to mention how this all came out the next time I see him.
How did it all turn out? As they say on Southpark, I learned a few things today. First off, sorrel when cooked is pretty good, thugh probably not as good as it is when it is raw. Or perhaps not as good as it might be when it is just slightly cooked. Second though (and unfortunately), when sorrel is cooked (or, perhaps more accurately, overcooked), it turns everything a somewhat unpleasant-looking olive green. Imagine Army-issue colored rice with some seafood mixed in. Like I said, it tasted great but looked, um, ikcy.
Perhaps the next time I cook this up, I’ll mix the sorrel in last, maybe after shocking it in some cold water or something. Live and learn.
As much as anything, this one goes out to Andre
I’ll change my list of links soon, I promise. Do check out Andre’s new blog, Visions of Ypsilanti in the meantime.
As penance for being late in changing that link, I present to you pictures from The Vader Project and this large group of Princess Leia as slavegirls with an Elvis storm trooper. These come via boing-boing and are on the flickr photo collection of bonniegirl. Check that out for even more Star Wars themed picts.