Friday, February 18, 2011

Day 430

I discovered something cool today. Have any of you ever heard of Kickstarter? I never heard of this website until I bought a LunaTik watch kit a few weeks ago and discovered that the entire project had been funded by Kickstarter. This unique site makes it possible for virtually anyone to fund or find backers for their latest project or dream. It's kind of like Kiva or MicroPlace, except that instead of making small loans to businesses in third world countries, it lets people like you and me become venture capitalists and fund new projects that we think deserve to see the light of day. I was amazed to discover that quite a few films and even gallery shows are being financed this way. I wish they had something like this when I was making documentary films. The hardest part of making a documentary is finding the financing. Kickstarter is the first thing I've ever seen that really levels the playing field. After spending about half an hour browsing though an interesting selection of current projects, I began to think that if I ever make another film again, this might be a very viable way to finance it. It's just amazing how the Internet has changed everything. Just about every week I see something that forces me to totally rethink the way I've been doing things. I haven't received the LunaTik I ordered yet, but I assume I will one of these days. They're probably still being made in China.

I wish I could totally rethink the way I'm dealing with my roof problems. I was up on the roof this afternoon and think I found where the water is coming in. The solution is not very high tech though. I still just take a tube of Henry 209 sealant and spread it liberally around all the suspect areas. The next time it rains I get to see whether I was successful.

At least I was successful at getting rid of the rotting pumpkins on the front porch. As pumpkins age, the outer skin gets thinner and thinner. These particular pumpkins were so fragile that if you even touched them, they disintegrated into a wet puddle of pumpkin mush. The three large pumpkins were still as heavy as fresh pumpkins though. Removing the pumpkins proved to be just as messy as patching the roof. At least the pumpkin mush was easy to wash off my hands and clothing. Unfortunately, I can't say the same for the tube of Henry 209.

I'm glad we've got a three day weekend coming up. I doubt that we'll spend much time celebrating past presidents, but it's always nice to have an extra day off.

Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day