Monthly Archives: December 2007

Even Steve gets snubbed

I pride myself on being very accessible to people of all ages, particularly children. I love kids, and I’d like to believe that they sense that. But my mojo can sometimes go missing, as it did in this moment with my most precious little niece Anna. She just plain did not want to be bothered with Uncle Shutterbug. Her less-than-welcoming mood may have had something to do with the little bracelet that you can see in this photograph from a few weeks ago: she had just “welcomed” home her brand new baby brother Benjamin a few days before.

View full post »

High-Def Hooliganism

I took Max and Sam to see Van Halen last night. A special shout out to Uncle Gary for making this possible!

And I also just bought a new High Definition camcorder. It’s a tiny little thing (that was part of the objective!) and I thought I’d try and sneak it into the concert last night. After one abortive attempt to breach security, I made it through the second time. But while I was able to capture some really nice clips, the camera kept shutting off after a minute or two. I finally figured out that the errors were being caused by the motion detector in the camera (which guards its internal hard drive against shocks) was probably being triggered by the extraordinarily high sound pressure levels in the Arena.

Anyway, I put away the camera after the first few songs and just decided to enjoy the show. But then I thought I’d take it out one last time. And that was when the security guys surrounded me. They assured me as they whisked me out of the Arena that my children would be OK. They were civil, but demanded that I give them my tape from the camera. This is how it went…

Click to continue reading “High-Def Hooliganism”

View full post »

High Definition

I have been watching the steady progress in High Definition video over the past few years. We were very early adopters of the HDTV systems from DirecTV and Comcast, and we have enjoyed lots of HD video over the air for a long time now.

But until very recently, HD video creation was the domain of TV stations with two-comma budgets. Now that has all changed. The emergence of the Blu-Ray and HD DVD formats (good grief…why two?) and sub-$1,000 HD cameras has made it possible for mere mortals with single-comma budgets to produce videos in true High Definition.

So, after sitting patiently and watching the progress, I decided that it was time to experiment and sink one of my hard-earned commas into HD.

Click to continue reading “High Definition”

View full post »

Max & Sam

They share a love of music, a history, a bloodline, an area code, a zip code, a cellphone plan, a lot of genetic material, a bedroom, and a set of parents.

They are our children, and they are the very best things in our life.

View full post »

Sam the hoop star

Sam’s approaching six feet tall at a frightening speed, and it’s no more apparent than on the basketball court. He has always loved the game, and is really coming into his own this year.

Click to continue reading “Sam the hoop star”

View full post »