I've Been Wondering...

Today I got the webcam I ordered, a Logitech Webcam Pro 9000. It's the first webcam I've ever had, and I'm already having lots of fun with it. It comes with software that lets you easily create silly videos like the one below:

Another Winter Moving In...

I noticed the exceptional light outside yesterday afternoon, so I grabbed my camera and stepped out into the cold and wet. Most of the leaves have already fallen from the trees on my street.

Looking up, I saw there were strange and wonderful storm clouds forming in the sky above me.





The hills behind the houses were already dusted with snow. They became more and more beautiful as the sun went down.

"Look, He's So Happy!"

The rare parrot featurned in this video, a kakapo, is a very friendly fellow. While normally an interspecies sex video would not be my cup of tea, I quite enjoyed watching this one! And as Stephen Fry says, while watching the amorous parrot in action, "Look, he's so happy!". Yes, indeed he is. Have a look for yourself:

I was an 'extra' again

I got to go down to Albquerque and be an extra for another episode on season 2 of the TV show Crash. Once again I really enjoyed the experience. This time they thought they might use my car in the scene as well. Since the show is supposed to be taking place in Los Angeles, they put a fake California license plate on my car, as shown below:

I drove through part of Albuquerque, from the staging area to the set where the scene was being filmed, with the fake license plate on my car. Ooops! That must have been illegal, I suppose! And then, while my car was parked where I was told to park it, it was given a parking ticket. Uh-oh... but, no worries, because the ticket was written out for the fake California plate, and I turned it over to the production company for them to take care of anyway. It was sort of fun to get a ticket and not care about it at all.

In the end they didn't even use my car. Instead I was used as a pedestrian, walking across the street, way in the background of the scene that was being shot, and then again walking right by one of the main characters as she was standing by her car waiting for someone. Part of what was being filmed that day involved a scene with a group of 'drug addicts' in a room in the second story of a building. The camera, mounted on a crane, was filming through the window. I was fascinated watching how the camera was expertly maneuvered, going up to the second story window, filming the 'drug addicts', then swooping away from the building and down, as it shifted angles to film a character exiting from the building and getting into a car on the street. There were many takes done to get it just right. I hope Crash goes into a third season so I'll have the opportunity to be an extra on the show again next year. Shooting for Season 2 is just about over now.