DisneyVentures

Our website is picking up popularity! Nothing like Dude Perfect but you know, we're trying. We are getting more people everyday tweeting us and letting us use their trip reports. Even Cali Lewis plugged us in one of her latest Geek Briefs. So all in all, Laura and I are pretty pumped about all of it! Also I can't forget all the good people at Be Our Guest Podcast cause they are all great people! Keep reading the posts, and let us know what you think on our guestbook. See ya real soon!

Editing

Working on a little video for my friend Mike Faltin, the timecode is all whack and I can't make sense of it, so I'm venting on my blog. Deal wit it! No, j/k. I'm going to bed now....I feel better.

DisneyVentures, A place for happy endings.

If you're a fan of Disney, then you'll love the website Laura and I are building. We are calling it DisneyVentures. We are going to make it a Trip Report depot for anyone that has written a trip report and posted it to one of the popular forums only to have it lost in the mishmash of comments and quotes that follow almost every post. Our site aims to stop that and cut out all the clutter so the reader can follow the trip report as one conscience thought.

We are very excited because over the last few days we have had a number of people contact us and ask for us to post their trip report. We have also been in contact with Mike Rahlmann, the owner of the podcast show Be Our Guest. He has two shows weekly, the first show of the week he brings on a guest and interviews him/her about their recent WDW trip, so it's a audio trip report, and that's a perfect match for what our site is attempting to do!

So if you get some time head on over to our new site, and drop me a line here on the blog or @VinceTM on twitter and let me know what you think! Would love to hear from you!

The Times, They Are A Changin'

Lately I've been worried that organizations like this one are slowly moving towards taking over the very systems that make our country work. I have to ask questions I don't want to ask of my reps. Luckily, I live in an area of the country where my rep. believes and acts the same way I do. But, is that enough to save the country from turning into the Banana Republic (or worse?) I fear we are turning into? If that question is a new one to you, consider this. We now have an FCC Diversity Czar. A czar is, if you don't know, is a special advisor to the President. These are people with a lot of power, and they didn't get it through the traditional method of going before the Senate to be granted a seat in the Presidential Cabinet. No, they were appointed by the President ,and him alone. So, anyway, this FCC Czar in place now is currently setting in motion a heavily crafted assault on AM radio. His plan is to charge broadcasters 100% of their operations budget to renew their license. To put that into perspective, imagine you're a small business owner and it's time to pay your rent, the owner says ok, I'l give it to you, but only if you pay me equal to 100% of your profit for the year. That would put you out of business in one fail swoop! So, the FCC says ok cough up the money for your license or else not only will you not get it, but it will go to an upstart Public radio station that will only give the point of view of the Progressive side, period. Very soon, unless we do something we lose our Freedom of Speech. This is what they want to do to our country. If you don't believe me, look up the guy, his name is Mark Lloyd. Also, check out this video before it's taken down: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ysqsa_TeLys

As always, pray for our great Republic and our leaders, stay vigilant, and don't be afraid.

Have Yard, Will Work.

For a little while there our house looked like no one was living in it. The yard was soooo terrible looking. So, today I resolved that problem. I cut the grass in both the front and back yard, pulled up a Sago Palm tree, and took the weed eater to all the edges of my house and trees.

It gave me time to think about life. How, when something is not looked after it just gets wild and crazy. People are like that, you know? When you're not keeping a sharp eye on the maintenance of your own soul, it can get a little hairy. And, let's face it, no one likes a hairy soul. Like I was saying, cutting my grass I re-learned that lesson. Plus having my iPod playing Mighty to Save helped too, I love that song. So, ok, now what to do with that lesson? I am going to make a better effort to read my Bible, and ask question about it. I am going to pray more often and listen even more often. I need to find books about subjects I want to know more about. On that note: we recently dropped our Netflix account so we could get an account over at ChristianAudio.com. It's a great website. You get credits, like 8 a month (they have other packages too) but you can download audio books, podcast, adventures in odyssey, and all sorts of other things. I am really looking forward to it.

Anyway, I am off till my next post.

Ciao!

OK

Maybe there is some hope after all. With Obama basically falling flat last night, and the congress saying today that they are going ahead with their August recess, maybe, MAYBE there is still a little hope left. My hopes are that when the congress men and woman go home and meet with WE THE PEOPLE that they will listen to them and stop this madness in it's tracks.

Simply put, we cannot afford this HC plan Obama, the Democrats, AND some Republicans are trying jam through our law making process. By the way, who cares about reading anymore (is it any surprise our education system stinks when even our Representatives do not read!?) This HC plan will not just cripple us as a nation, but very well could destroy our culture as we see it today. Let me put it this way, under this plan you will have the RIGHT as recognized by the US Government to DIE. That means at a certain age you will not be allowed anymore healthcare because you are to old for the system to spend money on you. Pretty sweet deal, huh? I mean where else can you have the RIGHT to die? Oh, right, just about every country with socialized healthcare, but just ignore that fact for now. Back to my original statement that we cannot afford this mess. I foresee that we will go bankrupt just like Hawaii did, and Massachusetts is on the verge of. Accept that when the country goes bankrupt, there goes the nation as a super power and place of refuge for the people that flee here to get away from their own countries crappy healthcare, oh and not to mention WE THE PEOPLE. America will die, but only because it has a right too....right?

I am just in awe of this mess cause it gets better. Obamacare will take away your current healthcare. No matter what Obama tells you about your current healthcare, he is lying through his teeth when he says you will get to keep it. OK, maybe not totally wrong, you'll get to keep it till your employer ditches it for the socialized healthcare because the private healthcare is too expensive due to it being taxed out the yin-yang to PAY for socialized healthcare. Then there is the fact that when you're fired, laid-off, or quit you loose your healthcare plan and are forced to go to the single-payer public option.

It's bad people, you don't want it, it's not a right to have healthcare, it's something that you should be responsible enough to take care of yourself. Stand up and do something!

New & Exciting!

So I got to play guitar in the Stonebridge Band last weekend! Way cool and fun! They guys in the band made me feel so welcomed and invited, and these guys have been playing together for something like 10 years or better, so it great to feel a part of that.

The stuff at work is picking up. We started a new series this past weekend called Fish Camp and I have big ideas for the upcoming bumpers. I'll try and post em as I make em.

Also, my father-in-law is working on some pretty cool stuff that Laura and I are a big part of, I wont go into any details, but I will say it's a a lot of cool stuff.

Well g2g, soups on!

Motion Graphics Work

I've been thinking of starting a side job of creating Motion Graphics for people. More specifically local photographers. I have some ideas on what I want to do, but implementation is always hard for me, I need to be more motivated. Don't get me wrong I love what I do for a living, but I feel like I am always going going going and it's hard to be creative constantly. On the other hand thought at least I could do what I wanted to do instead of creating another person idea and bringing it to life, so thats some good incentive I suppose. I just need to focus more on being a provider the only way I know how, so I need to stop complaining and get to work!

Big Ole Jet Airliner.

Well tomorrow I am boarding one of those and heading into the wild blue yonder for a much need vacation. Laura and I and the in-laws are going to Florida to do a cruise. Not just any cruise, it's a Disney cruise! The best there is! This will be Laura and I's first time to do a cruise, so we are pumped! Then, when the cruise is done we are off to the parks for about 4 days or so. I am really looking forward to the rest and relaxation this trip will bring. When I get back I will have videos and photos a plenty. So until then, ciao!

Kinetic Typography

I about killed all my creative brain cells on the last bumper (or now I am calling them Series Roll Ins), it's the little video that plays before Pastor Steve delivers the message each Sunday. Some of you might have seen my tweets or facebook status updates that I was working on something called Kinetic Typography. I though I'd tell you a little about the process. First off you have to record the voice over, it's just easier this way. Then, once the VO is done you can start the syncing process, which is the tedious part. Basically you have to type out each word so that each word is its own layer. Once you have a sentence, or sometimes even just one word done, you make that block of text its own layer. Then one you have done this to the entire VO you can start the creative process. This is the part that can really get hard because lets face it, there is only so much you can do with text. But I figure that once I am more confident with this technique I'll be more creative. It was a lot of fun and a great challenge for me. Here is the Roll In I created for the new series titled 'How Faith Grows.'

Pastor Steve wrote the script.

Beeboppin back in...

Jamming to some older stuff..Jamiroquai. Yes sir! Good stuff, wish I had listened to it when I was younger, but what did I know then.

Anyway I am rambling. Lately I have been advocating almost ad nauseam Twitter at Stonebridge. I am sure my coworkers are tired of me spouting off even the mere mention of the word Twitter. However, the reason I have is because of how revolutionary Twitter is. I mean think about it, you send a text message from your computer to someone's cell phone! In the same way that you can tweet on your phone and a person at their computer will see it. And, better yet, you don't really even need a computer, you can tweet phone to phone, it's all simultaneous! Can you see why I am so excited about this thing called Twitter? So, what I've been doing to is setting up Twitter accounts people in our congregation can follow, so far there are four: SBChurch, Married2040, TheBridgeSB, and Gap56. We even produced a Twitter Tutorial in hopes it will clear up the confusion as to what twitter is. So, join the the revolution and sign up for Twitter.

Also, I want to invite everyone to come out to StoneBridge on April 25th, we are having our annual Spring Fling and it should be a ton of fun: games, food, and live music. Put it on you calendar!

Til next time,

You stay classy Blogspot.

Weekend, Video Stuff, and Music

This weekend I actually got to go to church and not work! I really rarely get a weekend like this so it was wonderful to just go and visit like, dare I say, a normal person? I mean, don't get me wrong I love my job and what I do, but sometimes it's just nice to relax and enjoy going to church and being able to sit next to my wife and just be there.

Anyway, there have been some new developments the world of video producing I am just itching to try. Some cool new gear, methods of editing workflows, motion graphic design, all the stuff that I just love to do. I frequent a web site that is a great resource for motion graphics and visual effects called videocopilot.net. It is the brain child of Andrew Kramer, the man is simply brilliant. He uses his years of experience to train and mold others into strong and confident makers of all things cool. In the two years I've visited the site I feel more and more confident in my abilities thanks to him. Also, I have noticed more and more people wanting to get involved and help out in the video production area of the church, and this excites me to no end! God can use anyone anywhere and this is proof of that. I am so blessed to have the opportunity to work where I do, and I am always thanking God for allowing me the chance to serve Him this way.

A few months ago I was part of a band and we played at the Softball Banquet up at the church, it was a ton of fun, and I was sad when it was all over. However, it spawned a yearning in us and we all wanted to get together again and play some more so I am happy to say in May we get to again!! Stonebridge is throwing a crawfish boil in Montgomery as an outreach to attract new people to the church, and the Softball Band is playing again. Keep an eye out for a Stonebridge Tweet on when and where. We are doing a lot more songs this time round and should have a lot more rehearsals before then. I am really excited about this!

Well, till next Monday, Peace!

Fencing

Not the swashbuckling stuff, but the boards and nails stuff. When we moved in our fence in the backyard was on it's last leg, and then Hurricane Ike finished the job. So it's been belly up ever since September. Laura and I are fed up with having no fence to speak of, so today I went out in the backyard to try and do something about it, but I think I only made it worse. Now the entire back fence has fallen over, and I have no where to put it until May 9th (I just found out)! Why of all times then!! I'll be sailing the seas on our first cruise then with no way to get rid of this garbage! Uhgg. Oh well, I digress. It'll just have to remain in a pile of eye soredness till the next time I can get rid of it all. Back into the fray I go.

Sorry

I did not post on Monday like I said I would. We had death in the family. The dog I grew up with and helped my sister and I through our parents divorce went to the big dog bone in the sky. She was a great dog. Her name was Annie, and she lived 17 happy years here with us. I will miss her a lot. That's all for today.

Blogging

OK, if there is anyone that stops by to read this, or is subscribed to my blog I apologize for never blogging.  But I am wanting to start on a weekly basis.  So I have decided that every Monday I will set aside some time to blog.  I can't say about what, but mostly just stuff on my mind.  So, be ready!