Old loons and newspapers
Kim Larsen – Papirsklip (Paper Cut)
I don’t post YouTube videos for the sake of it, but this one I found strangely addictive after several viewings.
It’s in Danish, from the 1984 movie Midt Om Natten. You must read the subtitles and watch the video to appreciate it:
According to Wikipedia, Kim Larsen has had a number of successful album releases throughout the 80s, 90s and 00s and is possibly the most successful artist in Danish popular music history. (more…)
Kodak Zi8 pocket video camera
I recently bought a Kodak Zi8 pocket video camera and used it seriously for the first time today.
It’s small and light, about the size of a mobile phone, but slightly thicker.
Compared with other cameras I’ve used, the integrated image stabilisation is an excellent feature, making the image quality much sharper.
There are different video quality settings: 720p HD at 60 fps or 1080p HD at 30 fps.
It comes with 128MB internal memory, which is nothing really, so I inserted a 16GB SD card. The camera records about 20 minutes per 1 GB at 720p HD at 30 fps.
Features include an external microphone jack and built-in USB arm.
The price was about A$250, which along with the compact size makes it very attractive for web video in particular.
I found the setup and usage very intuitive, especially for someone like me who has limited experience with video cameras.
I’m experimenting with this for its multimedia news reporting potential.
Today I recorded part of the fire services parade in Mount Gambier and uploaded the clip to YouTube.
I then embedded the clip into The Border Watch website.
Here’s how it looks and sounds on YouTube, including commentary by James, aged 5:
Phone video of the Blue Lake
I haven’t used the JasJam to take video before today.
The quality isn’t great, but the capability could be useful when you’re not prepared with a proper camera, like when a chainsaw-wielding murderer is charging towards you and you want evidence for the trial.
While Maggie was dancing I went for a short walk at the lake. The wind was nearly gale force and drowned out the second part of my commentary, which was simply to give the date. You can see the wind create waves on the lake surface.
Mount Gambier tennis final
I watched the final today of the Mount Gambier Blue Lake Women’s International tennis tournament between Natalie Grandin of South Africa and Melanie South from England.
Grandin won 7-6, 6-4.
I felt like gadget man, wired with a mini laptop, mobile phone, camera and video camera. I twittered live scores to http://twitter.com/borderwatch and these were picked up by at least one website in the United Kingdom.
My photos are online here. I think they’re pretty good for a small $450 camera.
It was a great contest to watch, plenty of rallies and not too many unforced errors. The match lasted just under two hours.
Here’s a video of the last two points:
First video
This is a short video I made with the Xacti camera just before we left Kalgoorlie. It’s Jim and Maggie performing a very disjointed version of Ba Ba Blacksheep.
I tried to film Princess the pup tonight, but it came out pretty dark and there was a lot of background noise.
I’ve got a lot to learn about using this camera. it should be fun though, if I can find the time.
New video camera
I bought a Sanyo Xacti nine-megapixel video camera through eBay from Hong Kong before it was readily available in Australia.
The gadget has only just arrived and I haven’t had much time to experiment with it yet, but first impressions are very positive.
It’s small and shoots high quality. There are recording options for television standard or web.
I plan to use it on our drive across the country to hopefully film a scene of the Great Australian Bight and the houses we previously lived in at Ceduna and Port Pirie. If they work I’ll post the clips here in a couple of weeks.
More importantly, I hope Dad will be well enough and willing to speak on camera. That was a great suggestion from a friend of mine to capture a special memory.
Down the track I hope to use the camera for recording some web news at Mount Gambier.
