My daughter and her family went on a cruise in the Caribbean just before Christmas. She called me up from Port-a-Rico,she was at the airport leaving to come back home to Iowa. The weather was so bad in Iowa that they had the airport closed. She could get to Chicago where I am but that was as far as she could go."Do you want me to drive you home?" I asked. "That would be great,"she said. Since it was two weeks before Christmas anyway and I had planned on being at her house for Christmas, I decided so stay there and leave the day after Christmas. Actually she talked me into staying that long. Here is a video of all the pictures I took on my trip.
Saturday, January 15, 2011
Sunday, December 5, 2010
White Christmas
It snowed last night and when I woke up this morning the snow had stuck to all the trees. So I went out to a nature preserve and took some pictures. It was really beautiful out there.
When I got back home, I made this video
When I got back home, I made this video
Monday, November 29, 2010
Friday, November 5, 2010
"Nature Walk"
I didn't go to the casino today. After going to my exercise class this morning and then shooting another video and editing it, I was pooped out. I just woke up and it's dark outside now. Where did the day go? Maybe some casino play sometime this weekend. I'll just wait and see how things go.
In the mean time have a look at my new video called "Nature Walk "
In the mean time have a look at my new video called "Nature Walk "
Saturday, October 30, 2010
A Little Craps and Doing Videos
I didn't get a chance to take a walk in the woods this week. I've been making a couple of videos. In the first one, I wanted to capture some of the beautiful memories of my Mom and growing up. It really got to me after I was done with it. I loved making this video.
Today I drove over to the house I was born in and I did a video for "My Own TV" on Oprah's web site. It's about how I went about doing the story of my childhood. It turned out fine except that 3/4 of the way through it a jet plane flew over while I was talking. Now I know why I like it were I'm living now. I'm not under the flight path.
One the way back home I stopped at the new Des Plaines Casino that they are building. I wanted to see how far they got since I was there 3 weeks ago. I noticed that they have started on the parking garage.
Well, tomorrow is Halloween, the last day of the month. I have done well at the casino this month. I don't know if I should stay at home and listen to kids knocking at my door or go to the casino and play a little. I'll see how I fell about that tomorrow. I have a lot of ideas for more videos, maybe I'll work on them.
Friday, October 22, 2010
About That Video I Was Thinking About
I've been thinking about doing that video all week long. Today I didn't have anything to do after I had finished my Cardiac Rehab class this morning. I almost chickened out but the only other thing left was going to the casino. I have been doing so good there this month and I just didn't want to risk losing today. Besides the sun was out and it was a beautiful fall day. So I grabbed my camera and went to the forest to make that video. This time I brought my tri-pod with me. Does that ever make a difference when I use that.
When I got there the whole forest seemed like it was crawling with people. I thought it would be quiet in the forest. I set up my tri-pod but the people kept passing me by on the trail. So I took my camera way back on a lonely trail to do my video.
This was the first time I had ever done a video. So if it looks kind of grainy it's because I had it on the wrong setting for the video. I remember when I did my life story on a tape recorder going from one of my old homes to the other, it was so great. I just started talking like I would talk to my best friend. But talking into this video is a whole different story. My mind goes blank in the middle of a sentence and I forget what I wanted to say. I think it's the fact that I'm trying to do it on the first take. I'll have to go buy some video editing software so I can edit out the parts that I don't want in the video. It will be a lot more fun doing my videos then.
I had to do 7 takes before I was somewhat satisfied with it. I would have done a couple of more takes but this man came out of the woods and I decided not to go any further.
On the way out of the woods I stopped and took some still photos.
When I got home I started working on uploading my video to Oprah's Web site. She has a new thing called "OWN" There you can create your Own Channel and post your videos. It's really kind of cool. I'll just have to get better at editing those videos though.
When I got there the whole forest seemed like it was crawling with people. I thought it would be quiet in the forest. I set up my tri-pod but the people kept passing me by on the trail. So I took my camera way back on a lonely trail to do my video.
This was the first time I had ever done a video. So if it looks kind of grainy it's because I had it on the wrong setting for the video. I remember when I did my life story on a tape recorder going from one of my old homes to the other, it was so great. I just started talking like I would talk to my best friend. But talking into this video is a whole different story. My mind goes blank in the middle of a sentence and I forget what I wanted to say. I think it's the fact that I'm trying to do it on the first take. I'll have to go buy some video editing software so I can edit out the parts that I don't want in the video. It will be a lot more fun doing my videos then.
I had to do 7 takes before I was somewhat satisfied with it. I would have done a couple of more takes but this man came out of the woods and I decided not to go any further.
On the way out of the woods I stopped and took some still photos.
When I got home I started working on uploading my video to Oprah's Web site. She has a new thing called "OWN" There you can create your Own Channel and post your videos. It's really kind of cool. I'll just have to get better at editing those videos though.
Saturday, October 16, 2010
What About Making A Video?
It's Saturday and the Sun is shinning. When I woke up, I looked at the forecast. It said that it was going to be 72 degrees outside. It also showed that after today the temperatures were going to go down hill from here. I just couldn't waste one of the last warm days by staying inside. I thought about going to the casino but I got a call from my two girl friends saying that they wanted to know if I would like to meet up with them for lunch tomorrow. "Yeah," I said. We always have a good time together, I like them. So now that we were going to a restaurant, I couldn't take the risk of losing all my money at the casino. That would really suck if I blew that.
After the girls called, I was browsing around on the internet and saw Oprah's web site. I saw where you can create your Own Channel, telling your stories and express your passions through video.
I thought about it and wondered if I could take these stories that I have been writing with all the photos and do it in a video format. So I decided to go over to the nature preserve and see if I could do something like that.
When I got to the forest, I started thinking about the video as I walked down the tail.
When I got to the farm
I saw Duke and Prince over in their corral so I went over to say hi to them. I found out that they both like to get scratched behind their ears. Prince started poking his nose in the pockets of my leather jacket. I think he was trying to see if I had anything for him to eat. Those two horse are so nice and friendly.
Over by the barn I saw that the cows were out. They aren't very friendly and they smell bad. I like them better on my dinner plate. "I'll order the fillet waiter." Of course the cows do give milk and they make Ice Cream out of that, so maybe I"ll have the ice cream first and then the fillet later.
After watching the cows, I headed into the woods. I stopped at this fence. My mind was still on the video and how I would make them. I put my camera on the fence post and set it to video. I got into the picture and started talking. Well after a couple of minutes I reviewed what I had done. It turned out that I had chopped my head out in the shooting. There was no where I could set the camera up. Next time I'll have to bring a tri-pod with me. But by then there will be snow on the ground.
I walked thru the trails still trying to find a place to set the camera up.
Along the way, I found a couple of more memorial benches.
I continued down this one trail that I had never seen before. I came across this little old shack. I have no idea what they used this for. We used to build our own forts but this would have been great to have as a kid.
I found some poison Ivy. At the time I didn't know what it was. I just thought is was a pretty red leaf. Then I saw a sign a little later with a picture of it. I also went on the internet to check it out and sure enough, that's what is was. I'm sure glad I didn't touch it.
I saw another bench and sat down on it.
I relaxed and stared at all the beauty in the forest around me. My mind went back to the videos again. Besides the tri-pod, I'm going to need some video editing software. Oprah's web site has an editing page where you can put the video together but I'll still have to get one of my own. This sounds like it's getting too complicated. Maybe I'll just stick with my blog and the photos. I'm having a lot of fun doing this anyway.
I headed back to the farm and back to my car.
I was glad that I didn't go to the casino today. I had a nice walk and enjoyed the forest.
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After the girls called, I was browsing around on the internet and saw Oprah's web site. I saw where you can create your Own Channel, telling your stories and express your passions through video.
I thought about it and wondered if I could take these stories that I have been writing with all the photos and do it in a video format. So I decided to go over to the nature preserve and see if I could do something like that.
When I got to the forest, I started thinking about the video as I walked down the tail.
When I got to the farm
I saw Duke and Prince over in their corral so I went over to say hi to them. I found out that they both like to get scratched behind their ears. Prince started poking his nose in the pockets of my leather jacket. I think he was trying to see if I had anything for him to eat. Those two horse are so nice and friendly.
Over by the barn I saw that the cows were out. They aren't very friendly and they smell bad. I like them better on my dinner plate. "I'll order the fillet waiter." Of course the cows do give milk and they make Ice Cream out of that, so maybe I"ll have the ice cream first and then the fillet later.
After watching the cows, I headed into the woods. I stopped at this fence. My mind was still on the video and how I would make them. I put my camera on the fence post and set it to video. I got into the picture and started talking. Well after a couple of minutes I reviewed what I had done. It turned out that I had chopped my head out in the shooting. There was no where I could set the camera up. Next time I'll have to bring a tri-pod with me. But by then there will be snow on the ground.
I walked thru the trails still trying to find a place to set the camera up.
Along the way, I found a couple of more memorial benches.
I continued down this one trail that I had never seen before. I came across this little old shack. I have no idea what they used this for. We used to build our own forts but this would have been great to have as a kid.
I found some poison Ivy. At the time I didn't know what it was. I just thought is was a pretty red leaf. Then I saw a sign a little later with a picture of it. I also went on the internet to check it out and sure enough, that's what is was. I'm sure glad I didn't touch it.
I saw another bench and sat down on it.
I relaxed and stared at all the beauty in the forest around me. My mind went back to the videos again. Besides the tri-pod, I'm going to need some video editing software. Oprah's web site has an editing page where you can put the video together but I'll still have to get one of my own. This sounds like it's getting too complicated. Maybe I'll just stick with my blog and the photos. I'm having a lot of fun doing this anyway.
I headed back to the farm and back to my car.
I was glad that I didn't go to the casino today. I had a nice walk and enjoyed the forest.
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