Category: Video

That’s How We Roll-A Flipbook Video of the Last Dive of FnF 2012

The First Video of the “Friend. Not Fish. 2012” Dive Trip

It’s about time.  Back in ‘06, a group of my friends started the “Friend Not Fish Dive Trip” aided by the hard work of the original organizers, Aaron and Maquel Crist (of Crist Spears fame). We did it three years straight, and then unfortunately took 3 years off (the flailing economy didn’t help).  This year Todd (one of the original members of the group with us, and a die-hard in his own right) took it over from the Crists, and put the band back together.  He was on a mission to revive it.  This time we chartered a different boat from the same operator, and as usual, we had a great time.

I’ve become notorious among the group for taking great video on these trips, and then never showing anyone (sorry, everyone).  This time, to provide a good faith offering to everyone involved, I wanted to get something up within days of the trip, so I chose a really cool series of photos put into a video flipbook of sorts.  This was the dive deck of the Truth boat for an hour or so at the last dive site of the day (don’t worry…it’s time-lapsed, so it only takes 5 minutes or so).FNF2012Logo

The commotion near the end happened when Aaron, free diving and hunting with one of his spears, shot right through a fish and got a 3+ foot moray eel behind the target fish accidentally.  After having another moray steel the fish while he was figuring out how to deal with the razor sharp teeth of a squirming eel, he decided to bring it back to the boat on the pole spear and deal with it on our terms.  Aaron has video of this incident, so hopefully I’ll post a follow up soon with that clip (I haven’t seen it yet).

This video was shot on Santa Cruz Island, California, with a GoPro HD Hero.

I will get some more commentary and video up shortly. Honest. I will.  For now, enjoy the comings and goings of the divers, the hard work of the great Truth crew, and a beautiful day on the Pacific Ocean.

Amazing Video of Our Local B-17 and B-25

As you know, I love aviation.  One of the gems that we have in the Phoenix Valley is the Arizona Wing of the Commemorative Air Force.  This amazing group spends huge amounts of money and time making sure that the legacies of our fighting men and women of the past whose battlefield was in the sky are preserved.  They don’t just take airplane carcasses and put them in a museum; they get them flying again.

It’s one thing to look at static displays of airplanes, and it doesn’t suck to do this.  But there is no way to really feel the soul of an airplane, especially a beast from so long ago, unless you can feel the vibration of two or even four giant piston engines vibrating in your chest, see it lumber down the runway, and take off.  Even better, be in it.  The work that the CAF does in keeping this living history going is to be applauded.

As for this video, the Arizona Wing had this done to highlight their two prized birds; Sentimental Journey, a beautifully restored B-17 that has been the anchor of the wing for some time, and Maid in the Shade, a recently completed restoration of a B-25N “Mitchell”, the newest stable mate of the B-17.  It is beautifully done and shows off not only the airplanes but also the amazing Arizona desert terrain east of Phoenix.  The takeoff is from our local airport, Falcon Field (KFFZ), where the Arizona Wing has their home and their museum here in Mesa.  Also, if you’re interested, I did an interview with the chief pilot and the chief mechanic of Maid in the Shade recently for the Pilotcast, and we talk a bit about this near the end of episode 84, and even included some of that interview at the very end.  For the uninitiated, you can easily tell the difference between the two airplanes in this video because the B-17 has four engines, the B-25 has only two.  The only thing wrong with this video that I can see is that it isn’t long enough.

There’s not much else to say before you watch.  Except, perhaps, that if this doesn’t invoke some sort of emotion as you watch, then, I’m sorry, we just can’t be friends.  Enjoy.

A little nostalgia for Todd T–Famous New York Pizza

Another Quick Take.  I know…the joke is a little inside, but I will point out that TT and I did it originally before Michael Scott did.  Now, if I could just find that old video.

In the meantime, here’s the homage from TC.  Notice the cat calls for the Manhattan hotties against the wall in the background.

Quick Take #7-A Day at the Phx Zoo.

On Saturday we took the kids to the Phx Zoo to see a Zoo Member Preview of the new Komodo Dragon exhibit.  Merek is a reptile freak, so we knew he would love it.  I put together a Quick Take (my seventh) on the visit.

 

I’ve included some pictures in an album here as well.  Click on the "View Full Album" link and hit "Slide show"  Enjoy.

Some Grand Cayman Diving

Last month my wife, Crystal, and I took a whirlwind vacation with some of our extended family to several great diving destinations including Cayman, Roatan, Belize, Cozumel and Ft. Lauderdale.  I’ve got a lot of video footage and some still photos from the trip, so I put together a little sample from Grand Cayman.  More to follow.

We dove with Casey from Neptune Divers and it was fabulous.  No big animals on our two dives this time, but the terrain on the wall was amazing, and the life around the wreck and reef we did on the second dive was fantastic.  My sister, Brenda, shown here in this video a few times, was on her first dive as a certified scuba diver (see her using her arms? :)). Her husband, David, is featured here too, along with Crystal and I.

I’ll also have a review/recap of our trip shortly.  For now, here is a quick view into the underwater world of Grand Cayman, featuring their world class wall that dives into the abyss just off shore.  Enjoy.

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Quick Flip 6 – California Trip #1

Today’s daily flip is some clips from our first day in California this summer.  We started by renting a quaint little house in Hollywood and spending our days at Universal Studios.  This is our first afternoon there after travelling.  The intro, done by my kids, was in our rented house.  After a couple of days here, we’re off to La Jolla to our favorite family vacation spot.

Scary, But In a Good Way-Project Natal

Okay, I’m blown away.  When I first heard about Project Natal from Microsoft, I thought, “C’mon, how good can this be?”  Then I kept getting more info about it, and I saw the concept video (below).  Then I though, “C’mon, how real can that be?”  Then I started getting reports from press members out of E3 where it was announced about how real this really was.  Then my thoughts turned to, “When can I get it?  Can I beta test?”

If you haven’t heard, Project Natal is a development project in Microsoft’s gaming division (with research support, I’m sure, from Microsoft Research) that looks like it should be something coming out of academia and 10 years or more from the marketplace.  It’s the interface that machines have always needed, or rather, that we have always needed to interact with them, but have dismissed as impossible, or too far out there, or too sci-fi, or just too scary.  I’m talking about the next big leap in user experience (the term used to describe the experience that humans have interacting with machines).  Not just with gaming, either.

Think about Tom Cruise’s interaction with the machines in the movie Minority Report…then take it further.  It’s here, and it’s real.  We just can’t quite get it yet.

Project Natal was introduced to the world at E3 which is just finishing up.  It is not ready for market yet, and there is no release date announced, but it is unlikely to be in 2009.  2010 is a possibility, though…and I’m telling you, the waiting is going to be hard.  After the reports from the press who got to actually use the system, it seems to be working quite well already.

What is it?: Project Natal a gaming and social interface that doesn’t have a physical controller.  You become the controller.  Using a system of a couple of cameras+microphone array and some software/hardware magic, it can recognize individuals and even small movements from fists, arms, legs, faces, etc.  It recognizes depth, and voice input, and gestures that allow you to interact with the system with no wires, no controllers, no buttons…just you.  You can control media, social interactions with other gamers and friends, gaming input itself, and the possibilities go on and on.  I know…I’m a skeptic by nature, and this sounds too good to be true…but I’m hoping, and first reports are very, very promising.

Here are some of the reports: 

“Believe the Hype”—Stuff.tv

 “Microsoft’s Project Natal for the Xbox 360 has changed gaming for ever.”—T3

“The hands-on demos worked great”—Wired Magazine

Here is the official video to demonstrate the vision of the product that apparently really works today.

Xbox 360 – Project Natal

Here is another video from a Microsoft Game Studios subsidiary, Lionhead Studios, who have created a concept that will really get your mind racing.

This is not just for gaming, folks, but it’s probably appropriate that that is where it’s starting.  Think.  Within 18 months, I believe we’ll be tasting the future of machine interaction.  Scary?  A little. Amazing? Unquestionably.  “Open the pod bay doors, HAL”, Natal is coming.

Flying Over Hana

For today’s video, I’m just referencing an episode that I released yesterday for my podcast, The Student Pilot Cast.  This is a flight that Crystal and I took (separately, since it only has two seats) in Hana, Hawaii on Maui back in the summer of 2007.  It was one of the best vacations that we have ever taken, and this, at least for me, was one of the highlights of that trip.

I hope you enjoy SPC Video #4, Flying Over Hana.  Let me know what you think.

I’m including the video here, but for the original post on the podcast site, you can go here.

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Daily Flip 5 – SGTRI

Well, I did another triathlon last weekend, the SGTRI.  Actually, while a different race, it was the same venue from my first full tri which got cancelled due to weather after the swim.  This time wind and waves got the swim start delayed, and then cancelled as well.  I’m not having good luck at this venue.  So, the race organizers turned it into a run-bike-run event.  It turns out this was a really hard course, both the bike an the run.  They were much harder than I had expected.  I bombed on the last run, but finished, so I guess that’s something.

I did the tri with my friend, Matt, and my brother, Cory.  Matt lives here in Mesa and Cory lives in Park City, UT.  Matt and I had planned on having me fly us up to St. George, UT, where the event was.  That would turn an 8 or so hour drive into a 2 hour flight.  Then my brother asked if I could come pick him up near Park City…so of course, I agreed.  After dropping Matt and our gear off at St. George Airport (KSGU), I got back in the plane and flew up to Provo, UT (KPVU) and picked up my brother.  Then we both flew back to Hurricane, UT (1L8) where our rental home was as well as the actual triathlon (Hurricane is about a 20 minute drive from St. George).  Matt and I got to fly over the western edge of the Grand Canyon both ways.  Here are a couple of pics from that.

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We stayed in a great house that was only a couple of miles from the start of the race, so we were able to ride our bikes in on the morning of the tri…no parking or waiting in long car lines necessary.  It was great!  My friend, Jen, from high school and her husband, Marcello, drove up from their home in Las Vegas to cheer us on and take some great photos.

We had a great time.  I wasn’t happy with my performance, but that just gives me some additional motivations in my training…I’ll improve for next time.  Even so, I got to hang out with a lot of great people, got to race in a triathlon, and got to do a lot of flying!  A great weekend, indeed, despite Sandy Hill.

I dedicated a daily flip video to the experience.  It’s a little long for a daily flip, but I hope you enjoy it.