Traveling the Dreamscapes

At the gym last night I noticed that a personal trainer was showing a weight-training program on his laptop to his client in the free weights area. Cool! Why couldn't I produce training videos like that?

On TV last night I watched The Power of Harmony about the Turtle Creek Chorale, a Dallas-based gay men's chorus. It was awesome. Immediately following this was the monthly In Your Life feature that I seldom watch on public TV. It is usually shown late at night when I am no longer watching TV. The show featured two documentaries about gay men and AIDS. I have no stomach for AIDS anymore but documentaries continue to fascinate me.

Later last night, I retired to bed with Christopher Nolan's much-hyped Dark Knight that people are saying could win Heath Ledger a posthumous Oscar for his performance as the Joker. The movie has been touted the "best superhero movie ever." I must say it lives up to the hype. For two and a half hours I was glued to the set. The Redbox movie was in plain DVD format but both the video and audio were phenomenal! The sound in particular was riveting. It thundered through my bedroom speakers without sounding too loud. Amazing. Once again I was reminded how powerful the sound track is when viewing a video. The resolution might be hazy but if the sound is phenomenal the overall effect is lifted by the sound. Last night both video and audio were stunning.

This morning I read from Rob Pope's The English Studies Book about the academic study usually lumped in the university's English Department. The book reminded me of my interest in academic nonfiction books like this. I love learning about culture, art, history, and the individual lives of people especially in media that challenges me to think and rethink my ideas.

This afternoon, I ordered what I called my "last business purchases" of the year from B&H. Aptly enough I ordered their collapsible chroma background set that would not only allow me to shoot video as well as still images and replace the background with a background of my choosing. The included stand would also support reflectors and although it may not be as adjustable as the Denny version it is considerable cheaper. 

After reading Dan Cummins' comments about the photo of his best friend's son I was interested in the equipment he said he used. He shoots with Nikon and for this shoot used a Sigma EF-500 DG Super flash triggered by a Pocket Wizard Plus II. I would love to own  a wireless trigger and camera-triggered lights but the cost is prohibitive at this point. I had bought a cheap flash to use with my Canon D5 but the amount of light cannot be controlled. I was trying to save money and bought a cheap alternative that is not working quite as well. Perhaps I should have sprung for a more expensive Canon speedlite that can be a master but I could always use the one I ordered as a slave if down the road I opted to get off-the-camera flash lighting.

2008 is fast going. I have all kinds of noble resolutions but have not done much real work this year. Maybe 2009 shall be more productive. On the other hand, I am settling down to a new lifestyle. When I got up late this morning I did yoga and meditated for an hour. It felt good to be able to have the time to do this. I can worry about my professional goals but so far I am getting by without much additional income. As my friend, Tony, says, he himself is not "driven" as I am. Perhaps the main challenge for me in 2008 is adjusting my lifestyle to prepare for the rest of my life. Then not having been as productive as I wanted to be becomes less important. In the larger scheme, there are far more important issues.