Getting Lazy

I guess I'm lazy this week. I haven't made any videos, other than Concetta's birthday. Actually, the tape on that one had a glitch on it, so I need to buy a new tape and that is partly the reason why I haven't spent any time on videos.

Thing is, I have a couple of ideas of things I'd like to do, so first chance I get, I'll have to get out and get some more tape and try making a video again.

It's not that I have the most interesting videos on the internet, but I at least have consistent, regular, expectable contributions and if I start posting irregularly, I will lose too many of my 7 viewers.

Concetta turns 65

Concetta65
Video sent by basykes

Our friend Concetta is turning 65 and today we had a birthday party for her. This is part of our college group and, among all of us couples, we had 22 children, some of whom were there today with their own children.

Surprise!

I have no video for today. I looked at the two that I have waiting in the wings and decided that they were crap and would be posted only to keep the "one-a-day" record going, so I've decided to take a day off.

I'm sure the world will go into mourning, but...well...that's life.

Happy Birthday, Paul

Happy Birthday, Paul
Video sent by basykes

My son would have been 37 years old today (not 35, as I put on the slide show--pretend I made the slide show 2 years ago), so I put together this slide show. It's hard to believe he's been gone 6 years already.

Pine Ridge Winery

PineRidge
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We took a tasting tour of the Pine Ridge Winery on the Silverado Trail in Napa. It included instructions on pruning vines and information about the barrels stored in the winery's caves (which we visited), an in-cave wine tasting, as well as tasting in the usual tasting area. Really an interesting tour.

Up and Down the Silverado Trail

Up and Down the Silverado Trail
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We spent a day and a half in the Napa Valley, tasting wine at a few of the smaller wineries. This is just a "flavor" of what it was like.

Old Film

Old Film
Video sent by basykes

I really kind of liked the way I chopped up Thanksgiving into three different little movies--but I never got this one posted, so I'm posting it today. In this video you see how my mother imported a non-family member to stand up for her against her disrespectful grandchildren.

BucaDiBeppo

BucaDiBeppo
Video sent by basykes

Dining at Buca di Beppo is a unique experience.

English lessons

English lessons
Video sent by basykes

We hosted people from around the world for ten years, sometimes through groups; sometimes just friends of friends. Victor came from Zaire, cousin to Ndangi, who had been with us a year before. Victor was escaping the deporable conditions in Zaire and hoping to find a way to bring his family here as well. But he spoke not one word of English.

David and his friend Jeff took it upon themselves to teach Victor English. Every day after school they would get together and try to teach him to speak English, and not only did he begin to learn, but a close friendship developed.

We lost track of Victor, but years later he got word of David's death and showed up at our door on the day of his memorial service, tears streaming down his face. We haven't seen him since that day.

Take a Turkey...

Turkeysoup
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I finally used up the last of the turkey. Here I make a weak attempt to explain how I make soup. Martha Stewart I ain't.

Kimba

Kimba
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I found an old video of young kimba, about 16 years ago. I'd forgotten she was so thin and so cute!

Piano Lessons

Piano Lessons
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My father having a jam session with my kids. This was the night that my father finally realized that his grandchildren shared his love of music. Unfortunately, he died shortly after this...this was the last time my kids saw him alive.

Living through History

Living through History
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What do you do when you are the guardian of a history that nobody is interested in?

The Jagged Tree

The Jagged Tree
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This commemorates the death of a beloved city tree. I wrote a journal article about it, but then took a very brief video on my way to the dentist today, when I got to see the dead tree myself.

CircusTrain

CircusTrain
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In 1967, we took the kids to the train tracks to watch Ringling Bros. unload the animals for the circus.

In the Still of the Night

In the Still of the Night
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...when out on the lawn there arose such a clatter, I sprang from my recliner to see what was the matter....

MyDay

MyDay
Video sent by basykes

Walt tells me that when I post links from YouTube, they don't show up for him, but that these DailyMotion links do, so I'll go back to DailyMotion.

I made this video for two reasons. One was because Walt asks me every night "what did you do all day?" and I thought I should let him know, and also because Susan of KityKity.com posts a video each day called "My life in 5 second increments" and I thought it would be fun to parody her.

Try not to get too worked up over this.

This isn't mine...thank goodness...

...but I just felt the world needed to see it.

Mail Call

I ordered a new shirt today from here. It's such a nice shirt, I ordered a second one.

(Incidentally, the background music for this is "I Love Robert DeNiro" by the band Lawsuit)

Ballet -- Test

I'm testing embedding a You-Tube video




--oh that's MUCH better!!!!

Vitamin C

Cold
Originally uploaded by basykes

Does it work?

Masks

Masks
Originally uploaded by basykes

I was just playing around with some old photos today. I kind of like this one, but it's just kind of strange.

Superman3

Superman3
Originally uploaded by basykes

The kids made "Superman," they tell me, 3 times. They are getting older and trying more sophisticated things in this version (but not THAT much more sophisticated!)

Lord help us if I ever figure out how to transfer VHS tape to my computer. There are YEARS worth of home movies.

Family Treasures

Family Treasures
Originally uploaded by basykes

Every family has its hidden treasures. Here I display mine.

(P.S. -- LATTE HAS A HOME!!!!!)

The Last of Latte

The Last of Latte
Originally uploaded by basykes

Latte hasn't found a home yet, but having her here caused problems between our own two dogs, so she finally had to go (see http://www.funnytheworld.com/2006/Jan/04.htm for details). So anyway, Latte is no longer here, but I had to post the last video I made of her. Sheila really misses her.

Nannie and the Piano

Nannie and the Piano
Originally uploaded by basykes

My mother talks about my father's mother and why she stopped playing the piano. So many unanswered questions: how far did she go in school? Where did she learn to dance? What made her go into Vaudeville?

We'll never know.

When you care enough to send the very best

I started this three years ago. We get so many photo cards at Christmas. Just like all of you, we watch our friends' kids grow up in our mailbox each year.

I never know what to do with them. You can't keep them all (can you?) but I did the next best thing...I started scanning them and arranging into a slide show.

This is our 2005 edition.

Flash version is here.

JimminyGrasshopper

JimminyGrasshopper
Originally uploaded by basykes

Things have been kind of crazy around this house, so I haven't had time to think about making new videos. This is another home movies, one of my favorite snippets, of Ned, age 2 (he's now nearly 39) and his encounter with a grasshopper. Just "cute kid" stuff.

Too bad the "Daily Motion" snap that they chose for the thumbnail happened to come in the middle of a dissolve so it looks more like abstract art than a real photo.

Indy and the Goose

Indy and the Goose
Originally uploaded by basykes

Indy was a 6 month old puppy we met in Australia. Indy was the first thing Peggy saw when we got out of the car and she fell in love instantly. She was an adorable, lively puppy (now an adult dog) and her antics made us laugh a lot over the week we wpent on the farm.

Here Indy, a herding dog, tries to herd a goose, who isn't having any of it.

The Bird Tree

The Bird Tree
Originally uploaded by basykes

This is "the bird tree," where we ended our bush walk each morning, checking out which birds were there this day. Usually pink and grey gallahs and Rosellas (also called "28s" for the number of colors in their feathers). Sometimes we saw black or white cockatoos. I loved standing under it each morning. Peggy narrates this video.

Did you know that if a black cockatoo sings, it's going to rain?

Bush Walk

Bush Walk
Originally uploaded by basykes

One of my very favorite things to do when I was in Australia in 2003 was to take the dogs (German Shorthair Pointers, Keno and Chippa) to the bush in the morning to go for their run (for Chippa) and walk (for Keno). Peggy and I would be out at 6 a.m., occasionally earlier, just when the sun was coming up. We drove to a park and then to the back of the park, which opened onto the bush land that was part of Pinaroo Cemetery. The place was filled with birds and rabbits and kangaroos. I only saw roos in the place where we walked twice, but we could look down onto the cemetery land and see them lounging on the graves, and sometimes we walked down to the graves area to let the dogs run (not on the graves, but on the grassy area along the sides).

No roos in this movie, but the thing I loved most about those times was watching Chippa running through, around, and over the bushes and there is a lot of that here.