I've slept on the wedding video idea, and will continue to persue a second income with this line of work. I'll probably give away 2-3 more videos to make sure I'm comfortable with the technique, and so I can experiment a little without fear of having to take and/or refund someones money. I still haven't looked at the footage I shot yesterday, but am less worried about the end result, as I'll just make the best of whatever I got. It's a learning experience, nothing more. Vince managed to take some wonderful shots(300 of them in fact, with Toivo shooting another 300), which I'll try to incorporate into the final video.

At the very least, I got out and tried something different. Now I have no regrets about never trying it at least once, and I'm going to keep plugging until I get better. Hurray for optimism.

Well, the wedding has been shot, and I'm not terribly optimistic about the results. Vince and Toivo were moving about liek graceful swans, gathering the people and getting the shots. I felt like the ugly duckling, grappling about for audio, trying to manipulate two cameras at the same time, and generally not getting the shots I wanted due to being a few seconds too late for each one. I haven't actually looked at the footage yet, as I'm busy learning how to use Final Cut Express for the non-linear editing, but I'm not currently hopeful. Today, I feel like simply dropping out of the wedding video business altogether, but perhaps I'll sleep on it a bit more. . .

In other news, the new dual 1.8 Ghz G5 Powermac is working beautifully. I've since rendered 2 Good Eats DVD's, editted a bit of Michael video, and played my game Star Wars Galactic Battlegrounds. It's wonderfully zippy, even with working on largish (for me) DVD's. Hurray for Apple.

Wedding is tomorrow. I've got my camera ready, batteries charged, a list of things to watch and capture on tape, talked to the bride, and am attending the rehersal practice later this afternoon. In short, I am nowhere near ready to actually shoot my first professional wedding video. However, if you know anybody in the market for a young, energetic, and inexpensive wedding videographer and his friend who is a wedding photographer, please drop me an email.

Update : Lookie lookie, an business card.

Goodbye NY. It was fun while it lasted, but it's time to go. I can't take Denise anymore. Even she is seeing how bad she has turned out, and is glad to leave. I don't know what's worse, that she turned so bad, or that she turned so much that she recognized the difference. Both are pretty bad.

We've survived the trip to the airport, returned the car, passed through security, and are sitting in the lobby waiting to leave. We have a long wait. Fortunately, JetBlue offers free wireless access, so I can perform another triage of my mailbox, and submit my recent postings. Hurray for JetBlue and far away flight times. All I need now is a power outlet...

Update : Home sweet home. My grass is dead, my bed is soft. Now I sleep to get ready for work tomorrow. Vince was kind enough to arrange for a lunch meeting with my first wedding client, to discuss her expectations of the ceremony, and what special events she is planning. Yea Vince for good planning.

Update : As referenced on Slashdot, it turns out that DDR is healthy for you. Awesome.

Our last full day in NY, and how do we spend it, by watching Shrek 2. Further proof that unplanned sequels should not be allowed to be made and allowed on the big screen. Boring cliches, predictable dialogue, cheesy plays against popular culture, characters that don't change or grow during the hour plus we watched, this movie would only be entertaining if you haven't watched movies in the last 10 years, and hadn't seen these movie tricks a dozen times before. I found the movie had nothing to offer but a few gags. There were plenty of gags, most being tired movie cliches. The one that got me most was the cat, Puss in Boots, sitting in the bar, while the other characters were bemoaning their troubles, he quietly spat out how he hated Mondays. References to Garfield, a movie coming out later which has no hope of being anything other than trash, were appreciated. Oh well, I did see Big Fish as well, and it was different. Well written, well acted, and just plain different. It's easy for this movie to not be liked, because it is different, something Shrek 2 cannot claim to be. A shame.

Otherwise, I broke out the video camera, and took some footage of Mike with his cousins Jen, and her folks Ben and Sess, and some other extended family. Jen has a mouth on her, which is outrageously funny so long as it's not turned against you. Fortunately for us, her primary focus is her dad. Sorry for him, but funny for us. I only feel marginally guilty for having laughed so hard at his expense. If anyone asks, I did capture some of her dialogue on film, so we have proof that she is the fireball we claim she is.

Now back at home with Diana, we settle in for our last night on the air mattress. Our little bed never looked so good sitting only 24 hours away. Mike has been a champ this entire trip. No fussing, eating whatever we were eating, and liking it too. Big smiles for everyone he met. Sleeping through the night, almost every night. He was wonderful. He even sat through Shrek 2, despite how humorless it turned out to be.