Monday, May 30, 2016

It's your 2016 #HatofSummer!



Thanks to everyone for voting this year. I hope you had fun.

BTW, I'm wearing my AFC Wimbledon jersey this morning, as they are in the League 2 playoff finals in Wembly Stadium right now, trying to win and get promoted up a level.

#ComeOnYouDons!

Saturday, May 28, 2016

Going and Coming: Back and Forth



Don't let this incredible derp face deter you from voting for this year's #OfficialHat2016.

There are only a few hours left for you to decide what will be my #HatofSummer.

Leave a comment in this video to vote.

Don't know what hats to choose from? You can see them all here:

Friday, May 27, 2016

I need new ideas!



Sure, I've turned to you for advice and suggestions before. But I'm going to do it again.

I hope everyone has a relaxing and fun Memorial Day weekend. I'm sure that the highlight for all of us is going to be the exciting reveal of the #HatofSummer.

You have a few more hours to case your #OfficialHat2016 vote. And you can vote for the third, fifth, twenty-fifth, or one hundredth time if you so desire.

Thursday, May 26, 2016

#HatofSummer Update--Only a few days left



There are only a few days left to vote for this year's #OfficialHat2016 campaign.

Thanks to Hannah for helping make today's video. Welcome to summer.

Now . . . back to work.

Saturday, May 21, 2016

#OfficialHat2016 update

I haven't posted a new video in several days because I've been working on a new video that is taking some time. Who knows if it will be worth the effort when I'm done with it, but it's an experiment in multiple clips and an attempt at an overall voiceover.

So, I'm going to be learning some things whether I fail or not.

But here is the video that I made this afternoon updating the status of the #HatofSummer contest.


Tuesday, May 17, 2016

Thoughts from the Basement



FYI--I don't know how many of you watch my videos (at all, perhaps?) on your mobiles, but the annotations don't appear on YouTube mobile videos?

This is a significant drawback on this video in particular, which only has text or dialogue delivered via annotations. 
So, please watch this on your desktop.

Sunday, May 15, 2016

Sunday, May 15, 2016



The most interesting/challenging part of doing today's video was trying to figure out how to set up my dinky camera phone without a tripod to capture the time lapse bit of me sanding the bench beams.

My first thought was to prop the camera up on a shelf, but that put the lens too high and didn't give any view of the beams themselves. And so I next tied a pretty precarious perch on a propped wheelbarrow strut, where the camera was raised up slightly by a upturned bucket. But it was much too wobbly and the camera surely would have fallen over.

So, I moved over to the small tower of cinderblocks that I've been gluing together and found that to be a good height to work from. And then I found an unused box--with a slight indentation that fit well enough to cradle the sideways phone just enough to hold it securely in place.

All very jerry-rigged, to be sure.

But it worked anyway.

Saturday, May 14, 2016

Saturday, May 14, 2016



I have started using an old iPhone that the kids don't use anymore for my video shooting. The reason for this? My actual iPhone doesn't have lots of memory available, so shooting extended clips is almost impossible. But this old phone has no songs, no emails, no data to clog it up.

Sadly, because it is an iPhone 4S, I think the aspect ratio of the camera phone is narrower than my usual phone--hence the bothersome black bars on the sides of this video. And that my likely remain until I can think of some other easy solution.

Thursday, May 12, 2016

Thursday, May 12, 2016--My best video yet



Every time I am getting slightly better at this. (Thought I do apologize if the intro screen music is a bit too loud. I'll try to remember to adjust the volume on that before my next installment.)

Still, I'm figuring out one additional thing after another. I'm trying a solution and creating efficiencies for later videos.

This is, without doubt, the best video I've yet tried to make.

And, yeah, I realize that it isn't anything amazing at all. But for me, it represents a lot of little things clicking together and working. And that makes me pretty happy.

So, I hope you can enjoy it. And I hope you will come back for more next time, because I hope I can keep making improvements and eventually start doing something really worth watching.

Wednesday, May 11, 2016

Mid-week update



I like the more stable feel of this tripod-supported video. (Now I've just got to find a way to get more time on my memory--or a better video camera--so that I'm not limited to two and a half minute bursts.)

And, if anyone can tell me how to insert music partway through the video--using YouTube's video editor (which is all the editing software I can justify using right now), that would be great. I'm suspecting that you can't do what I want with the simple tools that YouTube provides. But if you have suggestions, tips, or recommendations for free editing options, I'd be glad to hear them.

Monday, May 09, 2016

An artist's life

Art installation on the Fort Hayes campus; Photo credit: me

Sarah and I attended her art portfolio class orientation on Thursday evening. Her class meets in the Shot Tower, on the Ft. Hayes campus--one of the oldest spots in the Columbus area. (Click on the link in the photo caption to learn more.) Plus, its across the street from the Kroger bakery--so the air always smells great.

She met with her other classmates to listen to Mrs. Akers explain the expectations of this two-year course and get perspective on what will happen through her remaining high school experience. Next year is going to be about a lot of basics and I thought it sounded kind of like how boot camp breaks you down and builds you back up the way they want you to be. Sarah says that she is cool with that, but I hope you will stay positive when they are spending two months on how to properly draw a line . . .

Still, these basic techniques are very important. And Mrs. Akers emphasized that strongly--that no matter what you may end up doing some day and whether or not you work with charcoal or a mouse later in your career, you have to know basic techniques that apply to all matter of media.

We also heard much about the upcoming summer project--a sketchbook preparation task in which Sarah fills up one or more sketchbooks with her artistic impressions, completes research on art schools, museums and artists, art festivals, art career opportunities, and her own spur-of-the-moment thoughts. It sounds like a fun way to get Sarah to keep her eyes open and her mind engaged this summer--plus it gives Mrs. Akers a window into the minds of her new class of students. Sarah herself seems excited by the prospect and whenever you can get a teenager excited about summer homework, well . . .

I personally hope this assignment creates chances for us to visit museums, festivals, and to break out of our routine this summer. There are definitely museums within driving distance that I want to visit.And I hope Sarah fills that book up with sketches, notes, thoughts, ticket stubs, museum brochures, and more.

I am happy with Sarah's attitude about this class and I really hope it pushes, stretches, and challenges her over the next two years. If she sinks herself into this work, I really do believe that it can help her get into an art school like she wants and that it will help us find a way to pay for it.

Saturday, May 07, 2016

#HatofSummer Update Four



There is still time to vote for your favorite!
What hat does your mother think looks best on me?

Your own personal motivations for voting are entirely your own. I simply appreciate your participation.

Thursday, May 05, 2016

#HatofSummer Update Three



I'm irrationally proud of this video.
Just by clicking on a few extra buttons and experimenting, I finally achieves some simply stylistic elements that have really excited me. Now it's going to be very difficult to avoid going down a rabbit hole of fiddling: intro screens, outro screens, logos, what-have-yous.

But . . . the possibilities exist, for the first time ever.

And it's all using the basic tools of the YouTube video editor. (Now, if I could find a way to fade the music in and out, THAT would really be getting me somewhere.)

Onward and upward!

Oh, yeah. Keep voting for your favorite #HatofSummer. The #OfficialHat2016 contest will end on Memorial Day.

Wednesday, May 04, 2016

#HatofSummer Update Two



YouTube's stabilization protocol provided some trippy background fluctuation.
But I like it.

Turning Bugs into Features is what I'm doing these days.

And I'm posting lots about the #HatofSummer, which is what this new video is about.

Keep those votes coming!

If, for some reason, you don't know what this is all about . . . enjoy the playlist below:

Tuesday, May 03, 2016

#HatofSummer Update

The beginning of the #OfficialHat2016 voting season began a few weeks ago, so it is time for an update.



It is also (clearly) time for me to begin experimenting with other limited features on my YouTube channel, such as adding unnecessary techno music to the otherwise unremarkable start of this video. So, I hope you enjoyed that--or were at least a bit startled and perhaps puzzled by its presence.

I figure that if I add a new enhancement to a video every 8 months or so, I should have this social networks stuff all figured out by 2045.

Anyway, blah, blah . . . vote for the hat you want.

Click here to watch the original video and make sure to leave a comment somewhere to indicate your hat preference.