After a little more than a year, I figured it was time to make some steps toward actually creating “a program” or a segment of a program. My first stab--which required some interesting editing lessons--is this clip that provides a commentary on the advertising buzz around Super Bowl XL.
This give me more impetus to 1) Buy a tripod 2) Set up a studio in my garage and 3) Be first in line for that new Sanyo HD1 camera which not only shoots in high definitions but also has an external microphone.
Here’s a look at The Power Paws Assistance Dogs fund-raiser. You can see those who participated in the “Walk ‘n’ Roll Dog Walk” returning from their short course. There’s the usual intermingling of dogs, dog owners and those who just plain love dogs. And if you have never seen dogs bob for apples, you are in for a treat.
The Podsafe music is “Glass of Wine” by The New Autonomous Folksingers. Sounds like something from the movie, “A Mighty Wind.”
Yes, this is (according to the Chinese New Year) “The Year of the Dog.” The commemorate the celebration, we went to The Power Paws Assistance Dogs fund-raiser at Tempe Town Lake. The highlight--I mean the real highlight--had to be the Arizona Great Dane Drill Team. No need to imagine what it’s like to see the giant, regal animals move in unison (a form of obedience training), just take a look. In fact, this is one of two clips.
In today's installment, Allen and Mike 'cast about the evolving online video market -- a subject we'll be returning to regularly. For today, we'll focus on Apple's iTunes vs. Google's online video offering. Will consumer-created content be a deciding factor in who owns the online video market?
At the Town & Country Farmers Market, I was able to spend a minute talking with Ronny Lepore of “My Niche Gifts” who talked about how he makes the beautiful melted bottles for sale at his stand.
One of the interesting vendors I spoke to at the Town & Country Farmers Market was “Judy,” inventor of the pet hair picker-upper. Not only does it pick up pet hair, it takes lint and “pills” off of garments.
After visiting the Farmers Markets in Carefree, DC Ranch and Downtown Phoenix, we landed on the best one, that being the Wednesday “chef’s market” at the Town & Country Shopping Center at 16th and Camelback along the “Camelback Corridor.”
Here’s a quick tour of the market; there will be a separate video of a few of the cooler vendors.
One of our favorite Phoenix haunts, Luby’s, is out of our life. The Luby’s, located in Paradise Valley Mall, closed, leaving the area with one cafeteria, that being WAY OUT on Bell Avenue on the way to Surprise Stadium. Some folks think Luby’s is a restaurant for seniors, but it has great, fresh food with a wide selection. I think, as I said in the clip, it makes me doubly sad as it’s a place we used to go with my father when he lived in the area. Guess, it’s one more reason to visit Texas--Luby’s stronghold (as well as corporate headquarters).
I have traveled eight of the first 18 days of 2006, and it can wear you down. I wanted to share a glimpse of what a four-day trip looks like. It’s group meals, generic hotel rooms with paper-thin walls, lots of discussions (sometimes poignant), airports, waiting in line, taxi cabs and more waiting in line.
The Podsafe music is from Phillip Flathead, and it’s “The Ballad of Timothy Leary.”
Sunday the 15th of January is the annual P.F. Change Rock’N’Roll Marathon here in Phoenix. We went down to the pre-race event, a health & fitness expo at the Phoenix City Plaza to nose around, see runners pick up their packets and patrol the booths.
As you might expect, there were lots of freebies, lots of freeloaders (admission was free). Of note, we spoke to “Gina,” who is an on-air spokesperson for Channel 45, the local UPN station. Gina also is a Phoenix Suns cheerleader. Also, we met Dave Newman who created the official race poster (we entered a raffle to win the original).
It seemed like I was in Las Vegas for 10 days, not three. Aside from a few pens and a set of earbuds from the Sirius booth, I brought home a case of the crud (cough, cough). Anyway, here’s a look back at my week.
The music is “Talk, Talk, Talk” by Cheryl B Engelhard (podsafe)
Euphemistically, they are called “booth babes,” but they are attractive women who are hired to lure customers (men) to the various booths at trade shows such as CES. Here are three young women who patrolled CES spreading the word about mobile TV service, GoTV.
Live, from the Texas Instruments booth, it’s a famous Texan—Troy Aikman. Actually, Troy is not a native Texan; born in California, he moved to Oklahoma at the age of 12 and then went on to be a top QB at UCLA. Nonetheless, because of his heroics as a Dallas Cowboy, he’s just as good as a purebred LoneStarState native son
Long, tiring, overblown, mental overload…all things that describe the first day of exhibits at CES. Here’s a series of shots from the floor of the show. I think you need to go into training a month in advance to get ready for the rigors of this annual rite of technology.
How do you attract journalists, analysts and other media sorts? Offer free food (it doesn’t need to be very good), free drinks, give-aways (pens, scratch pads, candy, etc..) and you’ll gather all sorts of folks in search of a story or a look at what’s hot. Here’s a shot of “The Digital Experience” at CES.
Oh, did I say that I saw the new Sanyo HD videocamera? The new version of my Xacti? Heart be still… it is AMAZING!
The highlight for my first full day of CES was over at the Sands Expo—a look at the IPTV pavilion. Mike and I spoke with the folks at DAVE TV and poked around some other booths as they set up.
Mike and I had a good laugh when we spotted a dirigible-type craft bearing the Sanyo ® name flying over our head. Since it’s my Sanyo Xacti camera that got me started shooting video (although this one is shot with my very cool JVC) it’s appropriate it is the brand in tonight’s pre-CES sky.
The crowd begins to arrive in Las Vegas for the Consumer Electronics Show, so Mike and I head over to the LVCC to get our speaker badges before tomorrow’s mad rush. Here are a few set up shots and some discussion as to what might be hot at this year’s big show.
As is the custom, Arizona kicks off the New Year with the Jan. 2nd Fiesta Bowl. It’s a pretty big deal in the Phoenix area as it brings in lots of money and tourists to the area, specially given that it’s about 50 degrees warmer here than it is elsewhere in the continental U.S.
This year, it’s Ohio State vs. Notre Dame, and we went to both school’s local hotel headquarters in search of…well, I am not sure what we were in search of. We didn’t see any famous alums (Regis, Jack Nicklaus, Bobby Knight, etc…) but saw some of the Notre Dame players (my wife says she saw Brady Quinn) and lots of fans escaping the cold.
This is the last year the Fiesta Bowl will be held at ASU’s Sun Devil Stadium; beginning next season, the game moves out to Glendale at the Cardinals new facility.
