Tuesday, January 29, 2013

Editing Video at Starbucks

Since leaving film school, I've been working with Peter Adkison on some of his video projects. I'm editing one of those at Starbucks this morning. I'm using Premiere Pro CS6 to do a multi-camera edit of a game that will go up on Peter's "How We Role" web site. I've been using Final Cut Pro 7 but we're moving to the Adobe suite for a variety of reasons (FCPX, PC and Mac interoperability, integration with Photoshop and After Effectsj.

Then it's off to lunch with Cal and his parent-teacher conference.

This blogger app is pretty cool.

Here's what's happened in the last year and a half from Facebook

Wow! I just downloaded everything I've ever done on Facebook. You go to the gear icon in the upper right of the screen and then to "Account Settings." At the bottom of the list of activities is a link for "Download a copy of your Facebook data." You get an option for a normal download or the "expanded archive." The normal download is small and has very little in it. But the expanded archive has everything; it is a complete backup of your Facebook activity. It had everything from August 2007 -- when I joined Facebook.

Here are some excerpts from the last year and a half when I wasn't posting on my blog:

There are the "Happy Birthday" messages.

Mike Hodge Happy Birthday, Clarity!
January 28, 2013 at 11:26 pm
Mike Hodge Happy Birthday, Kristin!
January 28, 2013 at 11:25 pm
Mike Hodge Happy Birthday, Joe!
January 28, 2013 at 11:25 pm
Mike Hodge Happy Birthday, Steve!
January 28, 2013 at 11:25 pm

And the Status Updates (there are actually more links than original updates but I'm lumping them all together):

Mike Hodge At Portage Bay Cafe with Kim and her Dad. One of the best breakfast places in Seattle. http://www.portagebaycafe.com/
March 19, 2011 at 12:01 pm

Mike Hodge Something tells me this was the tree Alan Greenspan was sitting under when he gained enlightenment (for his own sole personal benefit, of course - you can get your own dang enlightenment you socialist slacker).
Highly Recommended Thing Of The Moment: The Objectivist Tree
April 14, 2011 at 11:43 pm

Mike Hodge At SakuraCon with Kim and all of the kids (and some friends). Yesterday Jaxon and Luka did well against much older opponents in the Pokemon DS tourney. Today Calvin has made it to the 2nd round of the Halo Reach event. Later is Yugioh and Black Ops.
April 23, 2011 at 12:39 pm
     Mike HodgeThe teen girls are hitting the more traditional anime events (for an anime convention).
     April 23, 2011 at 12:43 pm

Mike Hodge Upbeat day at SIFF Press Screenings; first a doc on Alzheimers and now one on assisted suicide in Oregon. I may need a "feel good" movie after this - maybe 28 Days Later.
May 11, 2011 at 11:01 am

Mike Hodge So enjoy yourself, do the things that matter; Cause there isn't time and space to do it all
May 11, 2011 at 8:20 am

Leon J. VA "Well, I'd have to draw the line on sawing someone into small pieces with a chainsaw. I don't currently own a chainsaw." -Mike Hodge
May 18, 2011 at 8:49 pm

Mike Hodge www.filmthreat.com
Film Threat - Rewired Geek: Rapture Day 2011 With Disaster And Post-apocalyptic Films
Celebrating 25 Years of Truth in Entertainment! Conversations about independent movies, top movies reviews and film festivals.
May 21, 2011 at 9:58 am

Mike Hodge Happy Towel Day! Celebrate the work of Douglas Adams and remember, "Don't Panic."
May 25, 2011 at 11:32 am
     Mike Hodge: It's also Geek Pride Day to mark the occasion in 1977 when the first Star Wars
     movie opened. But most Star Wars fans celebrate on May the fourth (because the pun lends
     more meaning to the day than any actual event).
    May 25, 2011 at 11:43 am

Mike Hodge Finished with the bike ride with Calvin. 7 miles total and no heart attack for me.
June 25, 2011 at 3:09 pm

Mike Hodge Standing in front of the Majestic Bay in Ballard waiting to see X-Men: First Class. Also wondering what X-Men: Coach would be like.
June 25, 2011 at 8:33 pm

Mike Hodge At Seattle Pride parade with Kim and a bunch of Unitarians: Standing on the side of Love.
June 26, 2011 at 10:29 am

Mike Hodge Saw The new Harry Potter movie and liked it. Now I'm waiting for "Hogwarts: The Next Generation." They should get Patrick Stewart to be the headmaster.
July 15, 2011 at 3:15 am

Mike Hodge Seeing Trollhunter with Kim Voynar.
July 27, 2011 at 8:16 pm

Mike Hodge This is the weirdest super happy four minutes you'll see all day.
きゃりーぱみゅぱみゅ - PONPONPON
中田ヤスタカ(capsule)プロデュースにより 8月17日(水)ミニアルバム「もしもし原宿」でデビュー!!
July 27, 2011 at 10:28 am
     Mike HodgeHere's a description of what this is with lyrics in English and Japanese.
     http://superhappyawesome.wordpress.com/2011/07/21/hengao-pon-pon-pon-lyrics-and-a-chance-to-meet-kyary-pamyu-pamyu/
     July 27, 2011 at 10:31 am

Mike Hodge Seeing Captain America in Redmond.
July 24, 2011 at 6:25 pm

Mike Hodge Please copy & paste this to your status if you are constantly being asked to copy & paste something to your status by friends who copy & paste things to their status. Many people won't copy & paste this but my true sarcastic friends will copy & paste it because they know this was copied & pasted from a dear friend in need of more stuff to copy & paste...thank you! And don't forget the heart... ♥
Definitely the heart!!!
September 15, 2011 at 6:45 am

Mike Hodge Nearing the end of the first week of film school. It's pretty awesome. I'm totally freaked out by what to do with 3 minutes of super 8 film
September 22, 2011 at 7:21 pm

Mike Hodge Oh, I see a man at the back
As a matter of fact, his eyes are as red as a sun... It's a BALLROOM BLITZ here at the Safeway.
September 26, 2011 at 3:55 pm

Kim Voynar Aki-Con this weekend! Neve has her Sif cosplay ready to go. To do list: Jaxon = Pokemon trainer, still need to hand-paint his ball cap. Veda = Kiki from Kiki's Delivery Service. We bought a Jiji plush and Donna Nolan is custom making her dress, still need to buy her red bow, red ballet flats, and a broom. Cal = Ben 10, just need to pull that one out of the cosplay tub. Luka = Flapjack. Pants and sailor cap in a bag, red-and-white striped shirt in progress. Duncan = gamer teenager, no cosplay needed. Mike Hodge and I will likely go as worn out parents ... but I am wearing my purple wig regardless. The family that Cons together, bonds together.
October 6, 2011 at 10:34 pm

Mike Hodge Someone sent me the book "Writing movies for Fun and Profit" (with Fun and crossed out). There was no sign on the box from Amazon telling me who granted me this boon. Thanks.
September 30, 2011 at 6:21 am
3 people like this

Mike Hodge Just saw Captain America singing White Wedding. I think I even saw a sneer on his lips.
October 8, 2011 at 9:39 pm
1 person likes this
      Mike Hodge: Now Mario and Luigi are rockin' "Carry On My Wayward Son."
      October 8, 2011 at 9:43 pm
      Mike Hodge: Tristie, I was at a Japanese Animation convention in Bellevue over the weekend. A man in a Captain America costume was playing the game "Rock Band" and singing "White Wedding."
October 13, 2011 at 8:48 pm

Mike Hodge Now Neve, Kendra, Veda and Calvin know how to do the Cupid Shuffle.
October 8, 2011 at 10:02 pm

Mike Hodge Finished filming my second short film as part of my course load at the Seattle Film Institute. I'm currently only shooting 8mm silent B&W films but should soon graduate to color and sound.
October 30, 2011 at 11:25 pm

Mike Hodge My hands are green. They were purple earlier. Paining is fine; staining sucks.
November 5, 2011 at 5:59 pm

Melanie Lynn Addington Mike Hodge built this! Crazy. Follow along with Bunker as we update our progress on set and then in post..and then find out where you can see it in 2012!
(no photos transferred over but it's a wooden entertainment center needed for Kim's film shoot).
Timeline Photos
November 11, 2011 at 8:45 am

Mike Hodge Seeing "The Frog Prince" at BellevueYouth Theatre with Calvin and Jaxon.
November 18, 2011 at 6:55 pm

Mike Hodge I'm at The Posies concert with Calvin at The Neptune theater near the University of Washington. The opening acts will start soon.
November 19, 2011 at 8:40 pm

Mike Hodge Just saw "Curtains for You" and "Star Anna." The posies are just starting up.
November 19, 2011 at 11:02 pm

Mike Hodge The Posies are over. Calvin made it almost all the way through the concert before getting too tired. He had fun and asked when we were going back to Bumbershoot.
November 20, 2011 at 1:45 a

Mike Hodge Here's how I spent my first anniversary with Kim Voynar and many other friends.
Bunker_a short film by Kim Voynar
November 22, 2011 at 8:35 pm

Mike Hodge I'm out for Thanksgiving break. Now I only have to finish editing and designing the sound for my second short film and come up with an idea for my third. I think there's supposed to be Turkey in there somewhere.
November 22, 2011 at 8:38 pm

Mike Hodge The factors of economic fairness outlined as the demands of OWS (blunt Citizens United, reinstate Glass-Steagall Act, and reform corporate lawmaking) form a coherent populist message. Combined with economic fairness (raise taxes on the top 1%) and you've got a revolutionary idea for fixing America that has almost no chance to getting passed.

The shocking truth about the crackdown on Occupy
Naomi Wolf: The violent police assaults across the US are no coincidence. Occupy has touched the third rail of our political class's venality
November 26, 2011 at 11:53 am

Mike Hodge I've begun my quest to avoid the 520 bridge and its outrageous toll charges.
December 30, 2011 at 12:50 pm

(I didn't write this but it says so many nice things about me, I had to include it)
Kim Voynar Today is Mike Hodge's 48th birthday, and I'd like to tell you a little bit about why I love this man. He is a terrific dad to his sons, Cal and Duncan, doing whatever he has to do in order to have them with us half time. He gently but firmly keeps Duncan on track with his online schooling, cuddles Cal whenever he needs it, negotiates sibling disagreements with fairness and a steady calm, and tries his best to make sure everyone's needs are being met.

He's also the best stepdad, tirelessly there to "fix" the internet when it's not working, or to run to the store, or tuck sick kids in bed, or help with dinner, or schlep them to play practice or school. When I asked him how he felt about taking in a friend's daughters for a while until things settled down at their own home, he didn't so much as hesitate before saying, "Of course we'll help them, it's important to you. We'll make room." Because that's the kind of man he is.

When Mike lost his tech job nearly two years ago, the easy thing to do would have been to just find another boring tech job right away, so he could make the same amount of money and keep everyone happy. Everyone but himself. Instead, when I encouraged him to consider whether keeping everyone else but himself happy was really the life path he wanted to keep taking at 46, he carefully considered it, and then took a great leap of faith in himself and went to film school instead, to make a new life path that would also make HIM happy. It takes a great deal of courage to change your life course in your mid-40s, but not only did he finish film school as one of the top students in his class, he met Peter Adkison at film school, which in turn led to both me and Mike working now for Peter's fledgling production company, Hostile Work Environment.

So nearly two years post-layoff, Mike is finally in a job doing what he wants to be doing, working on creative projects, fearlessly leading our tech team and writing screenplays and getting paid to do it. It's not an easy thing, when you are the kind of man who has gotten so used to just doing what has to be done to keep everyone else happy, to take a chance as he did, and do something you really want to do for yourself. It takes courage to make that kind of change. Mike's faith in himself that he could do this has paid off for him, and I couldn't be prouder of him for being brave enough to step off that cliff of uncertainty and fear and even disapproval, spread his wings, and fly.

Mike is an excellent partner, and we make a great team, whether at home cleaning up the house for a party, or coordinating kid schedules, or working on projects together for work. When I'm being prickly and need space, he backs off and gives me space. When I need to snuggle, he's there for that, too. He is kind, and generous, and loving, he tries very hard to avoid conflict even when others are antagonistic. And he strives, with me, to make our home a peaceful and happy one where the young people feel supported and loved, but the adults also make time to take care of each other -- because one day our children will all be out on their own, and there will be just me and Mike here, and we want the connection between us to be more than just the day-to-day work of keeping things together for the kids.

My Mike is not a perfect man, no. He snores like a pair of frigging rhinos mating until I elbow him enough times that he rolls over. He's not always on time, usually because he's doing other things up until the very last minute. He gets wrapped up in his work and forgets housework -- but he's also always willing to stop and help with whatever needs doing, whether folding a load of laundry or chopping up a salad to have with dinner, or running to the store for that one thing I forgot to put on the list. I am not perfect either, I am a challenge at times to live with, I know this. As he accepts me with my many, many flaws (not least of which are the bad temper I have to constantly keep in check, and the manic energy that keeps me moving, moving, moving until everyone around me is exhausted), so I accept him with his, and am enormously grateful to have him in my life.

Happiest of birthdays, Mike. I love you greatly and deeply, and hope we have many more of your birthdays to celebrate together. XOXO
December 31, 2012 at 1:32 pm

Mike Hodge Wow, I found "The Hobbit" on youtube. Not the Peter Jackson one but this one is well worth the watch. If only it were subtitled.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6m0l3Yr1B50

Хоббит / The Hobbit (СССР / USSR, 1985 г.)
Subtitles in progress: http://www.universalsubtitles.org/ru/videos/YpJbaasMOKiN/info/khobbit-the-hobbit-sssr-ussr-1985-g/ Scenes: 1. Dwaves 0:18 2. Orcs 0:27...
January 4, 2013 at 8:26 pm

Mike Hodge This is a very interesting experimental video. I think it could be the start of a new artistic movement.
Chocolate Bunny
January 10, 2013 at 11:32 pm

Mike Hodge My dog, Max, is laying on the bed behind me snoring loudly (I think he's also farting too while asleep). The joys of pet ownership know no bounds.
January 11, 2013 at 3:13 pm

Mike Hodge Jonathan Coulton gets ripped off by GLEE. This is outrageous that they would lift his arrangement and be under no obligation to even give him credit. Fox has apparently done this to other artists too. So much for Glee being for the underdog. If you're a fan of Glee and JoCo then contact Fox. Public relations shaming is the only thing large corporations respond to.

http://www.wired.com/underwire/2013/01/jonathan-coulton-glee-song/
Jonathan Coulton Explains How Glee Ripped Off His Cover Song -- And Why He's Not Alone | Underwire |
Jonathan Coulton, photographed by Dale May. Fans of indie musician Jonathan Coulton were incensed last week when an alleged Glee version of "Baby Got B
January 25, 2013 at 1:33 pm

Monday, January 28, 2013

My love - hate relationship to this blog

I seem to have a love, hate relationship to this blog. I've been writing off and on since the year 2000. I've not written anything in over a year and that puts a burden of guilt that can, in and of itself, make it harder to post. But I have been posting on Facebook. I'm going to see if I can pull my status updates and post a backup of most of them here. With that update I think I'll feel more comfortable about putting new stuff here.

I realize a value to myself in having some sort of chronicle but I also know that most stuff on the internet is somewhat eternal and uncontrolled in a way that can come back and bite you in some unknown future.

I continue my lifelong struggle with writing. I like having written and I like it when I'm writing and the words are coming easily. But I'm also pretty distractable with both important and mundane activities. Since I'm on my phone right now (on the Blogger iPhone app) I'll have to wait to see if any of the plans for extracting my status updates from Facebook will actually work.