Problems viewing the videos?

This post has been heavily edited by me on 3/17/06 on 4/1/06. Please read, thanks.

I think I know what prevented you from accessing the ROTFLMBO video. You are all going to have to switch your web browser to Firefox. Just kidding. Sort of.

When I access the Internet the program I use is Firefox (FF), but most of you probably use Internet Explorer (IE). I use FF because I like tabbed browsing and because IE is among the least secure Web browsers available. For whatever (and various reasons), sometimes there are compatibility issues that arise between IE and alternative browsers. I suspect it is a compatibility issue that is preventing you from accessing the videos. I tested the ROTFLMBO video with IE and had the same difficulties others told me about.

(Well, another, smaller issue could be that OurMedia –which acts as my server– is just too small of an organization to handle the size of my files or it experiences so much traffic that there is a jam. I respect what OurMedia is trying to do & I appreciate that it is hosting my videos for free, but I may have to look for alternatives. In the meantime…)

So this is what I’m going to do: I’m going to upload the videos with IE instead of FF. It may be (hopefully) that simple. We’ll see. (As soon as I’m done with the video for my cousin Rylee’s 1st birthday. It isn’t easy cutting a video in which I overused the zoom feature to The Beatles “Happy Birthday.”)

When this entry was originally posted, I wondered if the difficulties were due to problems some of you may have with adware, spyware and other computer maintenance. This was my suspicion because it has been my experience that many problems were due to not keeping up with one’s maintenance or not having up-to-date software. Although that may not be the case in this situation, I do strongly urge everyone to keep up with the maintenance of your computer.

Adware: Click HERE for a program that can help you remove adware from your computer.

Spyware: You probably have a program like Norton or MacAfee that protects your computer from different kinds of attacks. This program should include protection from spyware. If you have a computer running Microsoft, you can get additional protection HERE. For a program that works for Microsoft and other platforms (eg, Mac OS X), click HERE.

You should also check your temporary internet files and delete them (for those whouse IE: go up to the top where it says Tools, then select Internet Options. A new window pops up. Now, where it says Temporary Internet files, DO NOT click "delete cookies", click the one next to that that says "delete files") (Nothing real bad will happen if you select “delete cookies” you just may loose some info that helps your favorite websites recognize you the next time you go to those sites).

Ensure that your Norton/MacAfee/whatever program, anti-adware, and anti-spyware each run at least once a week. If you spend a lot of time online and visit a lot of websites, you should run an anti-spyware check before you shut down every day or every other day.

You should also run a disk clean-up, disk check/scan, and defragmentation on a regular basis. If you don’t use your computer a lot, you can probably put this off for 2-3 months. People like me should run the disk clean-up every 1-2 weeks and run a disk scan and defragment once a month. If you don’t know what I’m talking about at this point, you can contact me via e-mail or telephone & I’ll go over it with you. Oh, another thing you should do about the same time you run the disk scan & defragmentation is back-up your files (save all your important info to CDs or an external harddrive – that’s the cheapest & fastest way, but not the most efficient if you have a lot of files or even a few large files [music, videos, pictures] so I’d recommend doing some research on software programs that can help you create back-ups).

Ok, so what’s next? Well, I’m going to finish the previously mentioned Rylee’s 1^st birthday video and attempt to upload it to OurMedia and link it to this vlog using IE. At that time, I’m also going to try to re-upload and re-link the ROTFLMBO video with IE. I’ll probably do the same with my logo (have you all had trouble with that one, too?). Then I’ll see what the results are and go from there.

ROTFLMBO

Babies are so cute. Except when they're pooping. Fortunately for you, Briella is not pooping right now. She's laughing. And she's laughing so hard that she falls right over. It's too cute. There were going to be two versions here. One that would be several minutes long, basically all of the footage Briella's mommy (Kimi) gave me. The other one I cut for you impatient types. It's only about 1 minute long. I would really have liked for the longer one to be here because I suspect that listening to babies laugh is good for your soul. Much better than chicken soup. Not that I have anything against a good bowl of chicken soup. It's just that sometimes it's too salty. Briella is pure sweetness. Anyway, for some reason I can not upload the longer version. It may be too big. I'll work on it & hopefully it will be available later. In the mean time, please enjoy the short version.

Not much to the editing for this one. All I had to do was adjust the brightness (please leave a comment if you think the brightness needs further adjustment, it looks fine on my monitor but I don't exactly have the best monitor). This was a very short exercise. I did remember a few keyboard shortcuts for using certain tools when I cut the original footage to make the shorter version. Ok. You can see the short version by clicking the picture with the S or by clicking HERE. This is where I would have put the info for the longer version, in fact, I did. But I had to delete it. And now you are reading this boring stuff. Why aren't you watching the video? I'm telling you, Briella is really cute.

I can't promise any videos for next week because I'll either be paying taxes (it's weird, I usually have them done by now) or celebrating my birthday (hopefully at Creole Cafe or Ludwig's). Anyway, I'm pretty sure the next video will be a "First Dance" thing. It will also be too cute.

Oh yeah. One more thing–about the title. ROTFLMBO? What the heck does that mean? Those of you who use instant messanger or excessive abbreviations in e-mail probably recognize it. It stands for Rolling On The Floor Laughing My Butt Off. (You may have noticed several of my titles refer to something odd–free cookies for whoever can name the relevance of each previous title).

LOGO: Pinwheel Pinwheel Where Have You Been?

While I'm trying to take care of that technical difficulty, I decided to work on a smaller project just so I can finally publish a video.
I tried to recreate the title logo from my Final Cut Pro course—the very one that inspired the name of this blog, er, I mean vlog. It was good practice for me to relearn using keyframes. Using keyframes in this instance allowed me to give motion to a still image. Watch it spinnnnnn!!!!!!!!
As my skills improve, and as I remember some tricks taught in class that were not part of the regular curriculum, I may make alterations to the logo.

It took me way longer than I thought to complete this. Part of the problem is the pain in my neck, back and shoulder (please avoid jokes about Elle). I'm still not sure of the exact event that caused all this pain but certain activities, even just moving a mouse on a computer, definitely aggravate it. This limits my range of motion and my ability to concentrate. That's not the technical difficulty, however. That would be a potentially defective tape. I am getting professional help–for the tape and my neck/back/shoulder pain. The main point of this paragraph is that due to my physical condition, I won't be able to get 2 videos on this vlog today as I planned earlier this week. I'm going to set a goal to have something up on Wednesday. Possibly something to do with the 2 new babies in my family. Or a post-Valentine's Day montage.

Enough about that stuff. Just check out my logo. It's only 5 seconds long. If you don't hear audio then you did something wrong. Just kidding. There is no audio. Maybe in logo_v1.1.

Ok. So you can click HERE to view the video or you can click the picture. In the future, you'll always be able to click the picture to view the video.

Yeah, hold on...I forgot to put in the crystals. GOSH!

Yes, I know in my first entry that I indicated it could be just a week, only 7 days, until a video was finally done and ready to be viewed. Unfortunately, I'm having a tiny technical problem. I am working on it. There will be something soon.

Who said that every wish would be heard and answered

On February 2nd, something pretty cool happened. My boss, Peter Slack, became the new owner of Pitman's Broadway Theater. Like Peter, the first movie I ever saw in a movie theater was at The Broadway.

I was very young, but I vaguely remember the experience. My Aunt Jacque and Uncle Mark took me to see The Muppet Movie. (My mom says my sister Lauren went, too, but I don't remember that part). What I remember is thinking how big the theater was. And the balconies. My child's brain probably expected, or wished, to see Waldorf and Statler there–the original grumpy old men.

Over the last 5 years, I have rediscovered this theater. To be honest, it is musty and even a little moldy. The old seats are a bit uncomfortable. It is too cold in the winter and too hot in the summer. There were also other problems–and Peter will be very busy with restoration efforts. But none of that really seemed to bother me. Most of the time.

I've been sitting here for a few minutes trying to put down in words why the problems listed above didn't bother me. The history of the theater? It is kinda cool to think that decades ago some one was sitting in my seat watching a vaudeville show and then, decades later, I'm watching Johnny Depp impersonate Keith Richards in Pirates of the Caribbean. Maybe that's not something a lot of other people think about, but I've always found those sort of odd connections interesting. Before showtime, I'd often think about the people who had met there, the people who had been inspired by some event at the theater, and other ways Pitman's Broadway affected human lives.

I am also impressed by the architecture. It's just really beautiful. I appreciate the big, (usually clean) screens and high-quality surround sound systems at today's multiplexes, but they can sometimes feel "cold." They aren't particularly unique. There are a lot of reasons for that. Some understandable and some just lame. Theaters from the era The Broadway was built just have more character. Filmmaking is an art form—even shows we see for pure entertainment, such as Pirates of the Caribbean, involve some kind of artistic expression (consider when Will confronts Jack at the jail. Although it is Jack who is imprisoned, it is Will we always see with the bars in front of his face, not Jack. That's an artist's touch.) When I'm at The Broadway Theater, I like that I'm sitting in a work of art while watching another kind of art displayed before me.

And then there is the pipe organ. The 3/8 Kimball is the theater's original organ. The Broadway theater is one of the few to still have it's original organ–and it works. The South Jersey Theater Organ Society fully restored the organ and helps with the maintenance. It sounds awesome. On Halloween 2003 and 2004 I saw an original print of The Phantom of the Opera (the silent version) with Lon Chaney at the theater. Volunteers from the SJTOS played during the show. Those were two of the best Halloween experiences of my life! I was so sad that I didn't get to see The Phantom again this past Halloween. I hope Peter restarts this tradition. The sound of that organ during the show was just so incredible. OK. Being in an old, dusty and moldy building, and sitting up in the balcony all by my self added to the experience. But, truly, the pipe organ was the best part.

I love movies. I love the technology that makes, distributes and displays them. I love the stories they tell. I love that they can entertain and educate. I love the art and the craft. I am fascinated by the new worlds each movie creates. I am fascinated by the chemical process that can put the image of a man on a piece of material. A great actor, Jimmy Stewart, died nearly 10 years ago at the age of 79 years. But I just saw him as a young man in Mr. Smith Goes to Washington.

A good movie can hold "all of us under its spell...its probably magic." And some other schmaltzy stuff where I was going to incorporated more lyrics from The Rainbow Connection. Sorry. It just wasn't working.

Anyway, all this love for the art and craft and enjoyment of movies started for me at Pitman's Broadway Theater with Jim Henson's The Muppet Movie. For that, the theater (and the Muppets) will always be very special to me.

When I heard that the theater had closed, I was worried about the future of the theater. I wished that some one who respects the theater and is concerned about the future of the community surronding the theater would buy it. Despite working for him for 3 years, I don't know a lot about Peter Slack. However, based on what I do know, I'm pretty sure that my wish has come true.
So, pay attention to this web site. As soon as Peter is able to get the theater open again, I'll post about it and encourage everyone to go see a show there.

(Alright. So I had a little fun again with the weblinks. In my defense, some of them are pretty informative.)

Well, hello!

Welcome to throwthegoatproductions, my new blog. The purpose of this blog is to designate a space to share my videos with my family and friends. After all, you are the stars of my little movies!
Why the name throwthegoatproductions? It comes from an exercise in one of my film classes at NYU's School of Continuing & Professional Studies. I had to create a title sequence for an editing project. I was inspired by something I saw on Wil Wheaton's blog (this symbol: \m/ for throwing the goat ~ which has several meanings, for me it means "cool" or "that's so awesome it ROCKS!").
Since purchasing my video camera a few years back, I've built quite a video library. I intend to make some DVDs of certain things for myself and others. But I just won't be able to make DVDs of everything for everyone. So, what I'm going to do is this: edit some short videos (coming soon: Egg & David's wedding vows! Amy & Ryan's "1st dance" . . .and more), and link them to this blog as QuickTime movies. You'll then be able to view these short features anytime you'd like.
I will also write a little bit about the filming & editing of each video. And you will be able to leave comments about the events in each video–were you there, what do you remember from behind the scenes–and even criticize my cinematography & editing skills (I prefer criticisms like: Jen, you are totally awesome! but if you are inspired to write Jen, you stink! please refrain and instead leave me constructive criticism). When you leave posts, just remember, keep it clean! There will be underage children viewing these videos (shout out to Andrew, Jessie, Zane, Zoe, Rylee, & Briella!).
I may also write about some other things related to film & video. There could be a few reviews about really good or really bad (but mostly really good) movies. Information about an interesting film festival. Or exciting (to me, anyway) news about some new fandangled technology (if you are a luddite you may find those posts boring. But if you are true luddite, you're not even reading this so why should I care if you are bored or not?)
As time goes by, you may notice other changes to this website. I plan to add some interesting web links over to the side. There are some cool people and groups who will be helping me get my videos uploaded and they deserve recognition. Especially since they enable me to do this all for free. I like free things. Except freedom fries. That's just dumb.
I'm not sure when the first video will be ready. I'm working on a few things now. Hopefully next Saturday or Sunday you will be able to see something. But you will need QuickTime. If you don't have QT, see the link above to download it for free.
So, I guess that just about covers everything for now. Thanks for stopping by. Oh, ah, there are a lot of web links in this post. It's more than you should expect in future posts. But, please visit each one. I'm especially fond of the last one (thanks to Cory for introducing it to me).