Signed, sealed, delivered

© Joselito Briones

So I finally finished my home-video DVD project. I went to the post office to send them to Carmona in the Philippines and to San Lorenzo and to Mountainhouse in California. I wonder how long it's gonna take to reach them.

On something unrelated, I received my first birthday greetings today, two days in advance, from the ever-reliable friend Cyntch. She was craving all sorts of sour things when I last saw her, she's probably very, very pregnant by now.

In the afternoon I packed suitcases to go to Mannheim, and from there, to Frankfurt Airport, to fly tomorrow early afternoon to New York. So yes, Jimmy, I'll see you soon.


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Final Cut Express

© Joselito Briones

I've been working a lot on video editing lately, doing the video for the family christmas party. I've been using iMovie, but I've finally reached the point when it's not enough anymore. I needed more than the single track for video that iMovie provides.

Yesterday, the Final Cut Express software that we bought online arrived finally. It took sometime to install it, and last night I tried to learn the basics - for a 1-hour video that I want to finish by today. Which I did. After not getting up from my chair for the whole day. I'm burning DVD's as I'm writing this.


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Confessions Revisited

© Joselito Briones

Right after confessing to me that he has designed a lighting set up in in the living room, which he proudly refers to as "beer garden look" (pertaining to the seedy places in the Philippines where people get drunk and gawk at strippers, not the European establishments dedicated to their beloved refreshment - photo above is of one of the decorations), and showing it to me, Wil and I watched the DVD of the confessions tour, which we saw live in Amsterdam late last year. Everything was enhanced tenfolds: the good parts looked so much better, the choreography, the movement of the dancers, facial expressions lost on the stage from where we sat. Even at the concert it was obvious she had a great videographer, and it showed even more so in the videos.

Unfortunately, the failures also became more visible. And interestingly enough the details of the manipulation of the audience are also now very much visible. Where she succeeded, it's amazing how much she can solicit from the audience, when she failed, it made me want to just click the fast forward button. One of the most interesting things in the extras is finding out that the awesome freerunner from the James Bond movie, Sebastien Foucan, was involved in the choreography, and Wil's favorite back-up dancer, Daniel "Cloud" Campos, whom he told me was part-Filipino, was also highlighted.


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