>True Grit – Classic

>I’m all excited about the new version of True Grit coming this Christmas movie season but it’s only fair I give you the trailer to the original version:

>Hey Ya, Peanuts Style

>While waiting for MC Hammer to perform last week at the State Fair, Rachel and I got into a disagreement about one of the songs that was playing on the loudspeakers. She thought it was a Black Eyed Peas song; I thought it was Hey Ya, by Outkast.

I, of course, was right.

But it got me to remembering this video that had made the Internet rounds some time ago and so I found it and now I’ve posted it for your enjoyment:

It made me smile. I’m sure it did you, too.

>Dad High-larity

>Via Jonah Goldberg:

Runners in the Storm

With a nod to The Doors, we were actually walkers in the storm. We became runners when it started hailing:

Not two seconds after I turned the camera off, the sky was split by a sizzling lightning bolt. It’s all about timing, I guess.

No damage to body or property, though. Just a pleasant surprise.

Car Lust: Minivan Madness Week

See? It’s not just me. Mini-vans rule!

The truth is, the 21st-century minivan is a remarkable instrument. Insanely practical, with a utility envelope that can hold a whole youth-league soccer team or enough plywood to build a pretty serious model train layout, the modern minivan also has shockingly good driving dynamics. In one now-famous test conducted by Grassroots Motorsports magazine, a box-stock, straight-outta-Lincoln-Alabama base-model Honda Odyssey ran dead even with the legendary Porsche 356 on an autocross course–and flat-out blew the doors off an E-type Jaguar! And that was on cheap all-season radials.

Time to re-post this awesome mini-van video, baby!

Busy Planet

Jonah Goldberg’s right. this is cool:

Emily and Her Band Clinic

Emily’s in the middle of band competition season and the other night she and the band had a full-dress rehearsal band clinic. Here they are, hard at work. That’s Emily on the end playing flute with the oh-so-serious face:

I managed to catch a little of it on the video of our little Canon camera:

Just for fun, I grabbed a snippet of it with iPhone video, just for comparison:

(Equally shaky and the quality of video and sound are about the same but the iPhone has no zoom. A disappointment. Still, it’ll do in a pinch I guess.)

The band has come light years from a little over a year and a half ago when they gave their first performance. Remember? Great students, sure, but their teacher, Mr. Ortega is the very definition of awesome.

Anyway, Emily’s been practicing hard. She’ll do well.

Hitler Finds Out Scott Brown Won

Once again, I’m late to the game but here’s the Hitler Finds Out Scott Brown won video. Blogging skillz? I lack ‘em.

As if you haven’t seen it yet:

Rachel’s Christmas Choir Performance

Thanks to my genius nephew, Michael, I’ve been able to convert my Sony DVD recording of Rachel’s choir performance and isolate her solo intro to Santa Baby and the choir’s performance and upload it to YouTube. Prepare to be dazzled:

I’m just sorry I wasn’t able to capture Emily’s flute performance; I couldn’t work the still camera and iPhone at the same time because, well, I’m a doofus. Well, we’ll work out something next time.

(Thanks, Michael! You’re awesome, just like your dear, sweet mother is constantly reminding me!)

Video?

Anyone know how to get video recorded on a Sony video uploaded to YouTube? The Sony files appear proprietary and unreadable by YouTube and any, ahem, free video editing software I can find. I’ve got some great stuff of Emily and Rachel’s Christmas music and choir programs from earlier this week but can’t get it posted.

Stalking Lucky

Lucky’d been bustin’ loose from the backyard and I was having a hard time finding out how she was doing – all of the gaps that I thought she could possibly be using seemed too narrow. Still, she was getting out and keeping track of her was an endless hassle.

Not to be outsmarted by a 5 pound yorkie poo, I came up with the idea to shadow her every move. How about a riveting one minute plus of my attempt to do so? Thought you’d never ask. Added bonus: it’s from my iPhone!

Wow, the quality of that video is not good, is it? It looked a whole lot better on the iPhone. I tried uploading it directly from the iPhone to YouTube but that seems to be an empty promise for now. I had to connect to my laptop and then upload it. Editing? Ha! Windows Moviemaker didn’t recognize the file and I haven’t been able to find a free video editor just yet.

For now, long, uninterrupted takes will have to do. Still, I’m quite pleased to have this capability. Thanks, iPhone!

(Need another story of the iPhone’s miraculous capability? While tracking Lucky at night, I couldn’t find a flashlight with batteries that worked. What to do? Why, download a flashlight app to my iPhone! Perfect! Sort of. No, the light’s hardly flashlight quality but it put out a bright enough glow that I could see where I was going in the dark. Cool!)

Rachel Sings the National Anthem

Rachel auditioned for and snagged the task of singing the National Anthem at the girls’ volleyball South/West Showdown at school last night. Have I got blurry video of the occasion that picks up several seconds into the song? I do!

I was shooting with my Sony camcorder in one hand but since the video format isn’t compatible with any known video editing software I had to use the video feature of the still camera. That accounts for the blurriness and late start and – what that? Just get on with the video?

Okie doke. Here it is:

Look, I warned you about the video quality. The audio, well, hey, that’s not so bad.

She did a bang up job and we’re of the completely unbiased opinion that she should sing the Anthem at every occasion.

Good morning, Oliver!

Vicki’s been good enough to start her last few mornings on Facebook with a song about the day. This morning’s was Oliver’s Starshine and I haven’t been able to get it out of my head all day. I posted a link over there to the Rhapsody copy of the song and found this clip. Enjoy! Then just try to get pry the song out of your head when you’re through. Impossible.

82 good morning starshine (Oliver)

[via FoxyTunes / Oliver]