Day 1045

I enjoyed going to the video production seminar today. They didn't have barbecue after all, but the catered tex/mex lunch was quite tasty. I can't say that I learned anything that would benefit me personally, but I continue to be fascinated by how much the industry has changed. Production equipment that used to be reserved for Hollywood directors and million dollar edit suites is now affordable and readily available to all. If you have your heart set on making a feature film, access to professional equipment is no longer a limiting factor. All you really need now is a great idea and the discipline to put a film together.

I'd love to have one of those new Canon EOS C500 Cinema cameras. I can't say that I need one though. The only video I shoot these days could easily be captured with a cell phone. All my clients want is something quick and easy that they can slap up on YouTube. Low resolution and out of focus seems just fine to them. I'm sure people are still doing high end video somewhere, but it's definitely a different group of people. I see folks who work for professional sports teams and houses of worship at these seminar events, but very few of my old buddies who used to churn out corporate videos. The corporate world has moved on and left the old video guys behind.

Maybe Winter is on its way. A cold front blew through from the North late today and the temperature dropped more than twenty degrees in just a few hours. I have a feeling that I'll finally get to use the new furnace this weekend. The dogs always seem to enjoy the cooler weather. The cool air gives them extra energy. I had someplace to go this evening, so I was trying to hurry them along on their evening walk. Dot and Dash had other plans. They were both determined to have a walk that was long enough to make me late. They succeeded.

If it gets colder tonight, I might have to put a little more thought into where I have breakfast tomorrow. There's nothing better than a good hot breakfast on a cold morning.

Patch is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 947

Have you ever noticed that if you took away all the cute cat and dog pictures on Facebook, all you would be left with is an endless stream of politically correct and occasionally incorrect opinions from people you actually know? I don't know about the rest of you, but I don't want to know this much about the beliefs of people I actually know. Please guys, just let me live in blissful ignorance. All this being said, I still think my Facebook stream is better than my Google+ stream, where everyone seems to think that a dash of science and a giant group hug will cure all the world's problems.

Coming face-to-face with all these opinions everyday is a bit discouraging for me. It has made me realize that as a society, we have reached a point where we will never come to a consensus on anything. Instead of uniting behind a common goal, like going to the moon or winning WWII, we have  become a bunch of ineffectual competing tribes, with no loyalties beyond our own tribe. Maybe it won't even matter. I have a feeling that in thirty years or so our world will start to resemble that Mad Max - Beyond Thunderdome movie.

Since there's a good chance I won't be around in thirty years, I concentrate on more pleasant things. I really enjoyed going to the Panasonic seminar this afternoon. I couldn't begin to afford most of the video equipment that the manufacturers demonstrated today, but it's nice to know that it's out there. So, who goes to these types of seminars? Increasingly, it is the cameramen and editors who are employed by professional sports teams. I routinely see folks who work for the Cowboys, the Mavericks, and the Rangers at these events. I guess it makes sense. Professional sports organizations still have the money to buy boatloads of this expensive high-tech equipment. The rest of us don't. The rest of us are faced with the prospect of making cheap YouTube videos on our iPhones.

I think I'll go back to the empty restaurant with good food tomorrow. It's really peaceful there. I'll listen to a piano concerto and watch birds splashing in the bird bath right outside the front window while I eat my whole grain pancakes and a pulled pork breakfast taco. It's only Thursday evening, but TGIF anyway.

Jade is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 861

Dash had his annual exam today. This exam is pretty much the same as my own annual physical, except that I don't get a rabies shot. Dash actually seems to be getting healthier as he gets older. His heart murmur has almost disappeared. His eye infection has cleared up. His coat is thick and healthy looking, which is amazing considering how bad his skin allergies were just several years ago. I was really pleased today that I got the vet to agree to trying to wean him off the phenobarbital he's been taking for almost four years now. He has never had another seizure, so I'd really like to see how he does without the barbiturates. Phenobarbital is very effective at controlling seizures, but it can have its own bad side effects if taken for a lifetime. I wish I could get my own doctor to reduce the amount of drugs I'm taking as well, but that's going to be a much tougher sell. Pharmaceuticals rule these days.

I had the best of intentions to return to the storage warehouse and continue moving things today, but I never managed to complete all my work assignments. I'm still trying to get all the animals updated on the rescue site I'm behind on. Now that Facebook and Twitter are so popular, people seem to think that the website modifications I make are just as easy as posting a status update on Facebook. Unfortunately, that's not the case. Designing nice looking rollover buttons and writing Javascript code takes me just as much time as it did ten years ago. I'll get caught up eventually though. I always do.

I signed up for an Adobe seminar a few weeks ago that sounded interesting. Unfortunately, when the time arrived for me to drive downtown to the appointed location this afternoon, I just couldn't bring myself to get in the car. This was one of those seminars disguised as a cocktail party and it began about the same time as rush hour traffic usually starts in Dallas. I guess this thing was designed for downtown ad agency people to attend on their way home from work. It wasn't for me though. Maybe I would have learned something new about Photoshop, but the knowledge wasn't worth fighting the drive time traffic. I much prefer seminars that start at 2 PM. Learning something when people are off the roads is much more enjoyable.

It got up to over 80 degrees this afternoon. It's almost time to start wearing shorts and sandals again. I don't really like the way I look in shorts, but once the temperature reaches a certain level, it's hard to care about appearances anymore. Dallas Summers are about comfort, any way you can achieve it.

Sadie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day