Claire Chews Gum

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This video was taken on the way to the chiropractor yesterday with Nate and Penny. Claire never chews gum, and rarely permits me to chew it in her presence. That fact makes this video no small triumph.

Video: Calloway Gardens

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14.8 MB (4:01)

We went to Calloway Gardens last month for Penny's birthday. It was nice. We had fun. I got sick on the way home. I edited that out (yes, Claire taped it).

Video: Our Red Sox Adventure

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We had a huge amount of fun at the Red Sox game last night. Oh- it was a Braves game too. But the Red Sox won- bottom line. I felt a little bad for the Braves - since this was the seventh game in a row that they have lost. But I didn't feel TOO bad. Speaking of too bad- we didn't get on TV...but you will see our signs - and us...at the game...in this lovely video clip.

We were amazed at the amount of Red Sox fans there. The guy in front of us said, " This is Fenway South!" Of course, it helped that we were sitting with some St. A's alumni...but there were many more Sox fans that weren't from my alma mater. It was a great feeling to see all the Red Sox hats, shirts, signs, etc. I imagine that it must be kind of like when travelers overseas meet fellow Americans. Ah, a common bond.

Would you believe we met Ty Law's, Brett Favre's and Jerome Bettis' mothers!!? On our way to a baseball game! And what's more: they are all the same woman! Watch and see...and be swept away by the delusions of grandeur. There was so much more to be seen (she talked literally NON STOP from the Marta station to Turner Field and Brad taped the entire thing) but the kind editor is sparing you. Unbelieeeevable.

On a side note, I had no idea that the Red Sox used to be called the Dirt Dogs- a nickname?- but such is the (wicked) awesome scope of Nate's Amazing Knowledge of Trivia.

Video: Carpetbaggers

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More foolishness.

This is in the Quicktime MOV format. Let me know if you have any problems.

Claire's birthday starts in a few minutes . Happy birthday, Claire. You're my favorite.

Video: Ronald Reagan Never Smelled So Good

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31.1 MB (sorry)

We hung out with Nate and Penny on Saturday. Trees. Caterpillars. Roses. Ice Cream. Hurray.

Video: Errands

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This is just some random footage of us the other day doing errands. We had a picture of the yacht Coronet framed, and we were hoping our choice of frame and matting would turn out well. Good times.

In case you can't tell, I am fascinated by the concept of video blogging. There are quite a few interesting video blogs out there, and I think the idea has great potential. Certainly it is fun to read about other people's lives, but there is something very compelling about viewing video of them sharing real moments of their every day lives. I hope more and more people will start doing it. It really doesn't take expensive technology - one of the more interesting vlogs I have seen recently is made by a guy making videos using just the low quality video mode on his digital still camera (and he is on dial-up, too!). Personally I don't find writing to be relaxing (unlike Claire), but I enjoy making and editing video, so I am much more likely to do that.

I have contemplated making a new blog just for our videos, but for now I think I will just continue to post here.

Video: Charli-Doll's from Start to Finish

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Here is a video I made last Friday of the whole Charli-Doll process. Let me preface this by saying that Charli-Dolls don't really make sense to me. I have never really understood the Life-Savers in the middle - the only way to get at them is to destroy the doll. What is the point of that? I do know that little kids really like the dolls, but I have never seen the point once the Jelly-Belly's are harvested from the head (rather gruesome - what does THAT teach children?). I can't argue with the fact that the dolls never fail to delight their recipients. Maybe this is my way of justifying the fact that I am posting video of myself making DOLLS.

I resurrected the assembly of the Charli-Doll mainly as a means to entertain Grandpa, and it has worked. He will sit for hours and talk about when he used to make them (he has made thousands) and all the different people who received them. He hasn't made any for several years, mostly because the effects of his stroke make it difficult. He constantly tells me about when he used to sell them to the "Nut Tree", which was some sort of store in California. I only have vague memories of it. There is something humorous about the way Grandpa says "The Nut Tree."

Anyhow, this video was originally about 2 -1/2 hours long (careful observers will notice the break in the middle for dinner), but I sped it up to make it watchable. It fairly accurately shows the whole process, from face drawing to final tie offs. I am not really a craft-type person, but Grandpa is tickled with the results. He has already given away about 20 of them to kids around the neighborhood and at church.

Now I need to take up some manly hobby like spelunking or chainsaw carving. That would make good video.

Video: " Ode to a Missing Cat: Little Jerry"

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Being the rabid Josh Leo groupies that we are, Brad and I were watching his recent Vlogging week posts and especially enjoyed the song he wrote on Day 6. We came up with the brilliant idea that I should "cover" this song and post it on our blog, so I started practicing. But as I did, something jumped out at me. I noticed that in one of the verses, he alludes to his cat- or rather, his former roomate's cat- Little Jerry Seinfeld- and mentions that he has been missing for ten days. This sad fact inspired me to go down a different musical road. And so, this song was born: "Ode to a Missing Cat: Little Jerry." Brad helped me write it.

So-- if you don't have a fast internet connection, please, please, please don't go through the agonies of waiting an hour for this thing to download...unless you really feel a deep need to join me in sending out good wishes to Little Jerry Seinfeld.

...Come home safely, Little Jerry. It would be a sad thing if the world lost you.

Video: Georgia Aquarium

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I edited together some of the video that Claire took at the Georgia Aquarium. Keep an eye out for amazing footage of the Leafy Sea Dragon!

Video: Christmas Morning

Hey folks, Brad here. With apologies to all of you on dial-up internet, here is a video. If you don't have broadband, don't bother - it isn't that exciting. I just wanted to see if I could figure out how to do it. I assembled some footage from our festive Christmas morning, including some tater tot chucking.