peaces

Is it sad that I want all my blogging friends to start vlogging?  Don’t you guys-n-gals know how much fun we’re having?  I can hardly stand it!  C’mon, pleeeeeez.

Donna’s doing it! Right Donna?  I’m linking to her blog.  From there, you can check out her YouTube channel.  She’s already done two vlogs and getting warmed up.  I’m LOVING IT!

PBX is even vlogging!  She started a blog ages ago and updates it regularly - every four months or so. (ahem)  But so far, this vlogging thing is a hit with her.  And she’s good at it.  Not to mention, her daughter, who already has over 30 subscribers on her new channel.  She’s really good at this stuff.  Go vanillawave4peace!

Come on … who’s next?  Heather? Becky? Shelli? Gigi?  OK, the last one was a long-shot, I know. But hey, a girl can dream can’t she?

Coming up: Live video shows!  Oh yeahhhh!!  A place where you don’t have to be on camera but you can interact with the host and guests in the room, via text chat.  We’re having so much fun, it’s exhilarating and exhausting! I’ll keep you posted.

Ahhhh … What a great weekend.  No reason.  Just was.

I struggled yesterday, trying to get my thoughts together for a simple video blog.  I recorded about four different segments.  Just trying to “check in” because it had been a couple of weeks and some friends from the YouTube community were wondering where I’ve been.

It’s just not as easy to record, upload and edit video as it is to post a quick blog entry.  Especially with my older computer and free editing software.  I’m grateful for what I have.  I just can’t do exactly what I want it to do.  Perfectionist.

So I just kept giving up hope of posting a video this weekend.

Then PBX and I hooked up the webcam to send PBX-Jr. a video message and it inspired me to record a quick vlog.  I’ve been inspired to be “quick” before but this was truly a quick vlog.  No editing, no makeup, no notes, very low quality. Total old skool vlogging.  I uploaded it to YouTube and headed out the door to join the Piper-play.  When we came in, it was loaded and live.  Easy-peasy.  The way vlogging, true vlogging, should be.

Now, interestingly, I feel more free.

I can work on my sketch comedy spoofs (I wrote a great one Friday night) and music videos without pressure.  And I can post a new Freeepeace Features — featuring 3 channels I think deserve attention.  So far it’s been a hit with my subscribers.  Because I haven’t posted in a while, they’ve been asking about new features. Slacker.

I really like the pockets of communities I’ve crossed into.  I don’t solely identify with just one YouTube community which is great for the weekly features.  I’m meeting some really interesting people of all ages and videoing styles.  I like that we share our experiences and bounce ideas off each other.  I love love LOVE the collaborative effort.  Some of my future videos will include other YouTubers. Kinda cool.

I’ve also spent a lot of time learning a few cover songs.  Having fun experimenting with styles, tempo and such.  Nothing fancy. Nothing extravagant. Everything creative. Life’s blood.

Went to the beach today with PBX and the dogs.  She biked.  I skated.  The dogs were pulled in a baby trailer behind her bike.  Piper went psycho, wanting to be out running.  Sounded like a seagull … or, a tortured, suffering, dying, screaming child.  We did capture a bit on video but O.M.G. people were scared.  PBX kept telling folks we captured a seagull.  No joke about the similarities in sound.

It cut our bikepath stroll in half.  Hunny did okay in the trailer, for her first time.  She wasn’t happy with it, but she suffers silently, unlike drama queen PiperBoy!  oy.

I haven’t checked the video so I don’t know what was actually captured.  We shall see.

Still it was nice to be out in shorts and a tank top for the first time this year.  Talk about pasty white skin. Ugh.  Can anyone recommend a GOOD no-sun tanning creme?  I’m not a dog walker anymore.  It shows, in more ways than one.

Whoa. Much longer blog post than anticipated.  This is probably why I should update daily.

It’s that time! Okay, so apparently it’s not so much of a reveal as it is a review.

Earlier, I posted a video of five statements. It was up to you to guess which were truth and which were fiction. Most of you were right - but only one of you guessed correctly first. About six of you played here. (yay!) I even had a couple of stragglers play on YouTube. One who actually did research and narrowed his guesses by process of elimination.

No one posted a video of their own five statements. (boo!) I haven’t given up on that hope yet. Come on people!

Anyway, a few notes about this video.

I tried recording this at night on the Panasonic. Twice. Both takes were so bad - dark and dull - I couldn’t use the footage (cutting room floor). Though the Panasonic creates a much better and higher quality video, it’s also a much longer process involving a tripod, cables, cassette tapes, a remote control and lighting (at night).

I finally opted for the Canon SD Digital Elph. It’s a still-photo camera but has video capabilities. However, it’s four years old so it can only record about 30 seconds at a time. So that is why I practically FLY through each segment of this video.

I called “cut” at least four times during the recording but only one made it into the final edit — just because it made me laugh so much. Maybe I’ll put a “cut” edition together. (bloopers or outtakes) Yes Heather, I’m a goober…and proud of it.

Because I flew through the segments and we only have a small amount of SD memory, a few details were left out. If anything is unclear, let me know. I’ll try to explain. Or, you can just ask the winner, Becky, since she seems to remember everything we’ve been through in the blogosphere. Congratulations Becky! You beat Gigi by a comment. Thankfully. phew. Her comment scared the music outta me - on so many levels.

I am having way too much fun Vlogging.

Music - Where it all started. Hearing my dad sing and play guitar all my life. Trying to answer questions I’ve received over the years. This would’ve been a mini-guitar tutorial but because I’m still working out the kinks of video and audio, the tutorial will come later. Audio/video issues are completely my fault. I accidentally recorded over other something and it caused glitches. Ah well. Live and learn. Shot on a Panasonic DV cam. Edited in Windows Movie Maker.

Hey, thanks for the fun comments and emails about my first Vlog.  It’s too bad the video quality is so crappy.  It’s even worse after uploading online.  But hey, it’s a start.

I set up the really expensive video camera and started Vlog #2 but after hours of trying to get lighting right and figuring out how to download it to the computer, I was messed up.

So today I started early and now it’s almost dark.  It’s not the recording that takes so long.  It’s the pre and post “production” (go figure).

The tape went a little wacky on me.

Anyway, I’m now working on three different video things.  One is the vlog itself.  Another is a pseudo-guitar-tutorial (which would’ve been great if the tape didn’t jumble most of what I was saying).  And lastly is a montage with music (like the opening credits to a tv show).

And now I’m old skooling it by blogging.

Funny.

I just think “old skool” and “blogging” should never be used in the same sentence.

To top things off, I’m still feeling sick.   I should be in bed resting.  Instead, I’m fighting with a three-year-old computer and video editing software, wishing things would move as fast as my brain.

Ah well.

Back to the editing bay…