video 10 Comments

RCC Commercial, August 2001

I bought a new toy this weekend: a Mini DV camera. Why Mini DV instead of some other format? For the express purpose of getting the above video out to the masses.

This was filmed and edited by Yours Truly during late July and early August of 2001. This video was to be aired on the closed-circuit campus cable channel during and shortly after move-in weekend, for the purpose of educating the on-campus student body Residence Life Staff about the purpose of Residential Computing Connection (RCC).

When I was done editing and distributing the finished product, I did two things. First, I created an “outtake reel” of all the funnies that happened during filming. Second, I output the final commercial onto the end of the source tape, and snagged said Mini DV tape for my own. I’ve carried that tape around with me for the past six and a half years, waiting to get my hands on a Mini DV camera (or deck).

The first thing I did when I got my new camera home this weekend was hook it up to the HDTV and watch ye olde RCC commercial. I’d forgotten most of the details of the filming, and it was great to see some of my old RCC friends as I remember them. It was also heartwarming to see the late Tim King again, and hear his voice.

I was disappointed to find that I had not, as I had thought, output the outtake reel to tape. Apparently, I only had it on the server, which has (hopefully) long since been replaced and put to pasture. I guess it’s a good thing I still have the source material… 😉

RCC folk, both old and new, are encouraged to comment here or on the Google Video page. I’d love to hear people’s reactions almost seven years later.

college, weight loss 3 Comments

My Weight History

I got to thinking about the home videos I digitized from back in 1999, and how the first thing that pops into my mind when I see that image of myself is how fat I was. I was 23 years old, in a stable relationship, living with a roommate who had become my best friend, spending the holidays with my family, generally happy overall — and all I can see now, looking back, is my weight.

That’s sad on so many levels…
Continue reading →

memories 3 Comments

Caught On Tape

After digitizing the VHS tape of my high school choir concert, I got the bug to digitize some of the home movies I made back when I first got my “Pro 8” (not even Hi8) RCA video camera. Specifically: Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s of 1999. That was eight years ago, for those of you who are math-challenged like myself.

Eight years is a seriously long time… but, then again, it really isn’t. Depends on how you look at it. Now, after thinking about it and seeing it again, it does seem like a long time ago. My step-brother Philip wasn’t even in high school yet. I was fucking obese and a half. Both of my cats were still alive. I still had two years until I would graduate college. Aaron and I weren’t engaged yet.

It’s going to take another several minutes for the video clips to transfer from Aaron’s computer (where the capture card lives) to my computer, and it’ll probably be several days before I get it all edited together the way I want it. So, in the meantime, here’s a few amusing screenshots of me and mine in 1999:

Diana, 1999

Yes, that’s seriously me. I know that the camera puts on a few pounds and everything, but damn. I sure got sloppy. By the way, it would be nearly four years from this date before I decided to do something about my weight.

Fries, 1999

Fries hosting his Y2K New Year’s Eve party. Here, he’s about to launch into a description of all the yummy food there was to be had: pumpkin dip (which I honestly don’t remember), wings, shrimp, fudge, carrots and ranch dip, all kinds of yummies. I remember the wings and the shrimp cocktail sauce being especially good.

Kris and his ex, 1999

This was one of the weirder things about watching this video: seeing everyone happily hanging out with their now ex-girlfriends. Fries and Kathy, Mikolajczyk and his Heather, and above, Kris and Erica. (Erika? I forget. Doesn’t matter.) I almost have to wonder if people seeing themselves on my blog with their exes is OK. You know? It’s like the Twin Towers: you can’t have them in any pictures or films or video games because it’s insensitive.

Once I have my home movies edited, I do intend to post them on my blog via Google Video. The Millennium New Year’s Eve Bash is only ten minutes long total, so it’s nothing that’ll be too painful or embarrassing for anyone, I don’t think. Now, Christmas Day at the Smoke household… that could be long and weird and strangely insightful to those who haven’t met my step-Gary.

house

IKEA Upgrade #1

One of Saturday’s IKEA purchases was a Billy bookcase. I had previously measured the ceiling height in our finished basement, and determined that a Billy bookcase would reach to within an inch or two of our low ceiling. I had also determined that the white plastic shelving unit currently living in our basement was just plain ugly, and needed to go.

The white plastic shelving unit was a throwback to Aaron’s bachelor days, when an $8 shelving unit worked perfectly fine either as a bookshelf or for general storage. (I had one, too, I admit, but mine was black.) The shelving unit was thrown up in the basement as a stopgap measure — in my mind, anyway — until we could get some nicer-looking furniture in the basement.

So, I came home Saturday night with a couple pieces of nicer-looking furniture for the basement, including the Billy bookcase. Sunday afternoon was spent assembling the bookcase, then unloading and removing the shelving unit and replacing it with said bookcase. The assembly really wasn’t any worse than putting together a Sauder bookcase — it may have been easier, in fact, thanks to slightly different procedures with locking screws and whatnot. I did miss with one of the nails while attaching the back, and messed up the middle shelf a little. It’s not very noticeable in the grand scheme of things, though, as Aaron kept assuring me right after I did it.

Unfortunately, nicer-looking storage doesn’t magically turn the stored items into books and knick-knacks and cuteness; I still have super-8 equipment, camera equipment, sewing and craft supplies, photo storage, and other randomness on the bookcase. At least it looks a little classier, though:

The white plastic shelving unit is now in the garage, where plastic shelving units belong. 🙂