2011
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Wildlife through a Loupe – Micro goes Macro
For my latest video, I noticed I had gradually been collecting random footage of “micro-wildlife” I have come across while working in my new garden here in Windhoek. One of the creatures I had been continually running across is the millipede. These guys are everywhere, coiled up under the soil, perhaps waiting for cool weather
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Spot the Dassies
Can you spot the “dassies” in the photo below? The “dassie” or rock hyrax, lives everywhere here in Windhoek. Driving down my street after work, I’ll see them sitting in groups of 2 or 3 at every sewer opening along the road. They disappear with a splash when I get closer – but apparently feel
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Moon over Windhoek
This morning when I woke up, the moon appeared full and orange in the sky just above the horizon. Here are a couple of shots of it.
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Seen in Windhoek
The security industry is booming in Windhoek, Namibia. Also, in our neighborhood, it’s a rare home that does not have a dog on the premises (although there is also the occasional waddling overweight dachshund who is clearly not there for security). Some folks, however, take a different approach to security. Fortunately, WE have a mongoose
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iPad 2 Stop-Motion: Windhoek Sunset
Here’s another attempt at using the iPad 2 and the TimeLapse HD app to create a timelapse video. This one consists of stills taken every 5 seconds from a rooftop in Windhoek, Namibia. There is a bit of flicker toward the end as the ipad adjusts to the changing lighting. I’ll have to see whether
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Review: iPad App Timelapse Camera HD
As I continue to look for ways to make my iPad useful beyond being a lightweight web browser / game console, I came across a handy app for creating timelapse videos: the aptly named Timelapse Camera HD. This elegant and simple app lets you set an interval between photos, the frame rate, choose front or
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TAZM Pictures is moving to Africa!
The countdown is on. Three weeks until I’m cruising down the runway, bound for Namibia for a couple of years. What I’m hoping to experience: Okaukuejo [in Etosha National Park] has become world-famous. it is conveniently situated on the edge of the rest camp, separated only by a stone wall and overlooked by a paved
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Rolling Thunder rolls into Washington DC
Memorial Day weekend, Washington, D. C., an overcast sky that doesn’t quite suggest the scorchingly hot day ahead. Standing on the DC side of the Memorial Bridge at noon with an expectant crowd along the barriers and covering the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, and a faint rumble can be heard from the direction of
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Tracks in the Dust: Songs from Afghanistan
It’s said that combat duty consists of long periods of boredom interspersed by brief moments of terror. In Kabul, Afghanistan, it tends to be long, tedious work hours, interspersed with sleep. In this environment, maintaining one’s sanity often leads to skimping a bit on sleep in order to have some “personal time” – whether it’s
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Rebecca Black’s Friday – in Mandarin!
Just when you thought that inane “Friday” song by Rebecca Black had finally made the rounds, here it is again – in Chinese! And I have to admit, when you hear it like this, it’s not half bad. Watch thru to the end for the bloopers. I’m told this version has a thick Taiwanese accent,
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Rob Morsberger – show review
The Boston Herald describes his latest release as the “album is the kind of hyperliterate pop-inflected singer-songwriter outing that went out of style when Warren Zevon died. He can write a hook that could make angels weep.” The Boston Globe: “Think ‘storyteller’ with a literary, cinematic, intellectual bent.” I had never heard of Rob Morsberger
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Mmm mmm mmm…Jammin with the Crash Test Dummies
I had the opportunity to catch the Crash Test Dummies the other night at Jammin’ Java – a cool little coffee house/restaurant/bar. Best known for Brad Roberts’ distinctive bass baritone voice, they had a few pretty big hits including “Mmm mmm mmm mmm” and hauled in 14 Grammy nominations in the 90’s. Then a number
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Charlie Hunter rocks Jammin’ Java
Never heard of Charlie Hunter? Well, I hadn’t either – but he has recorded 17 albums, so the joke is on me, I guess. Last Sunday I was talked into checking out “an evening with Charlie Hunter” at Jammin’ Java, a coffee house in Vienna, Virginia – and was quite impressed. I especially like these
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Washington Celebrates the End of OBL: My Take
I had the opportunity to witness the Washington, DC celebrations of Osama bin Laden’s demise at the hands of US military forces. Watching the news on television, I felt it important to experience first-hand what was going on outside the White House. Here is a video I put together from the scenes there: Strangely, despite
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Video: One Day at a Time…
I like checking out Vimeo because it’s chock full of creative ideas and videos in a way that other sites are not. But then again it’s “so many ideas, so little time”. But this video, called “Today” is well worth watching and thinking about. The description reads: “On August 27th, 2009 Jonathan Harris turned 30
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Cherry Blossoms in our Nation’s Capital
A couple of weeks ago, the cherry blossoms in Washington, DC were in full bloom. The National Cherry Blossom Festival in the capital is in its 99th iteration and marks the coming of spring in a visual celebration of pink and white blossoms surrounding some of our nations most stunning and recognizable landmarks. It presents
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Afghan Choppers and Polish Gamers
I experienced an interesting example of how the internet can bring together folks with similar needs in strange ways. A year or so ago, in Afghanistan, I had the opportunity to observe one of the first live-fires by an Afghan pilot in a US-refurbished (Soviet-made) Mi-35 attack helicopter. For fun, I brought along my camcorder
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Music mashup using video editing software
So while it may appear obvious to others, it turns out you can use video editing software to create music mashups. I had noticed the similarity between certain tunes and wanted to give this a try, but couldn’t bring myself to navigate the learning curve required to learn music editing software. So I took some
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Sony Bluetooth Mic Tested
Some time ago, I stumbled across this interesting piece of equipment for sale: a Sony ECM HW2 wireless (bluetooth) microphone. Wireless mics are commonplace, you say? Well, this one is a little different than most: it uses bluetooth technology to achieve a 100 meter range, and it allows two-way communication with the wearer – for
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The PUPS Act
This is my dog, Keiler. He’s almost 9 years old – which is pretty old for a large breed like his. He’s a hovawart – an old breed of German guard dog that comes in blond, black, or what I call “Rottweiler” (black and brown). Keiler is a remarkable dog. He’s got an artificial hip
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Autotuning Everything
A recent phenomenon (and an unfortunate one, in my opinion) to hit the music industry is the use of Auto-Tuning software to correct pitch. For just a few hundred bucks, you can get a plug-in for your audio editing software that will insure every slightly off-pitch note is automatically brought into perfect tune (corrected to
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Fisheye Lens
My cat is forever trying to figure out how to break into the fishtank. I always wondered if it somehow terrorizes the fish. One day, remembering we have a waterproof case for the Flip Camera, I thought it might be fun to drop it in the tank and film the situation from the perspective of
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Planning to replace your iPod screen yourself? Think Again!
OK I admit, I probably should have known better. But just in case there are folks out there getting ready to make the same mistake, you may want to read on. Call it an effort of video vigilantism if you want – I just want to get this out there to help keep down the
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Two Video Contests
When you love animals as much as we do in our family, it’s hard to get upset with folks sponsoring a video contest to support the ASPCA. And I didn’t really need the half of the prize that would have gone to me – an iPad (the other half was a $500 donation to our