Day 216

I ought to start a company called Obsolete, Inc. If you needed a photo, I'd make you a nice one using a Nikon F2 and Kodachrome film. If you needed a video, I'd shoot one for you using a very nice analog Sony DXC-637. If you needed a website, I'd build you a well designed static site using nothing but HTML. Sure, I'm aware that there are newer and better ways of doing things. I just don't like them. So, why do I bring this up? The National Geographic Channel folks called me today. They really liked the video footage I sent them. In fact, they were interested in having me shoot the entire episode about the dog and the goat. There was only one little snag. They kept asking me all these questions about HD-video. Could I shoot the episode on HD? How much experience did I have shooting HD-video? What kind of HD equipment did I own?  Could I send them some examples of shows that I'd produced on HD?  Well, I lost that job I guess.

I'll go ahead and send them DVD's of some shows that I've done. I doubt that it will make a difference though. Virtually everything I've done is 4x3 analog video. What they want is 16x9 digital video. The world has moved on without me.

There was some sort of Dr. Who marathon on the BBC Channel today. I left the TV on all day and watched the shows while I was doing my other work. My feeble attempt at multi-tasking I guess. Truthfully, the only reason I could still work while I was watching Dr. Who was that I'd seen all these shows before.

If you're a guy like me who has a lifestyle that consists of nothing but walking Dalmatians and spending long hours in front of a computer building websites, you need a certain amount of science fiction to keep you from going stark raving mad. When I started my company, I watched all five seasons of Babylon 5. Then there was Lexx and Farscape. Now I mostly watch Dr. Who. I never liked Star Trek at all. By the time Dr. Who had finished saving the planet today, I had finished most of my website work as well. It was a reasonably enjoyable day.

I need to figure out how to snag this National Geographic job. Sure, I could go out and rent the HD equipment they're looking for. I don't know if that will do the trick though. I think they want someone who lives and breathes digital video. That certainly wouldn't be me. National Geographic Channel: meet Mr. Analog.

Dalmatian of the Day

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