Greetings from Atlanta!

This week I'll be posting video interviews, blogs, photos, and general updates from the EMS expo in Atlanta. A friend and fellow filmmaker, Thaddeus 'Ted' Setla, a paramedic for Alameda County AMR, tapped me to help him out with the content production for EMSexpo.net, which is the official social media and web video coverage for the event.
After some confusion over rooms (both at the hotel and at the convention hall itself!) which was eventually handled brilliantly, we found ourselves a home base.
For the past few hours we've been setting up the site, which I must say, is looking great. there's even a way for Flickr users to add their photos to the page via a tag ('EMSExpo2009'). Pretty cool.
This event, and the challenge of covering it, will be a great experience for us, and I think that it will open up many doors for future gigs, similar to this.
I- and we- hope that we can add to the experience of the expo for the attendees.
Stay tuned!

Today is my birthday, and I'm 28. I thought that things would be a lot simpler and more straightforward in life at this point, when I was growing up. But I realize that as a kid I had two concepts of people: children, and not children. I figured that the not-children would have it all figured out. I was wrong. I also realize that many of the people I expect to be not-children actually fall into the children category. we all know these people.
boy, that was vague. sorry.
The real reason I wanted to post was to show this vertical aspect video that I put on vimeo. I attached my camera to my bike handlebars to test out the shakiness of it. I have to say, I was kind of impressed at how stable the image was:

vertical aspect ratio test from Dridge on Vimeo.

I hope to put more vertical aspect videos up, because I think that certain content will really benefit from it. Mostly short-form, and mostly on the web. I think that it is totally underutilized though.

Course Management

I learned an important lesson today. A lesson that was learned on the (disc) golf course. It's something that many players call 'course management'. The basic idea is that, when faced with a competitive or high-pressure situation (such as a game of golf or a business negotiation), one is better off being realistic about available moves, choices, and the probable outcome of those choices, based upon how well you know yourself. The key thing is to resist the temptation to attempt an improbable shot, even though you've hit it a few times before. Take the shot that you have practiced, don't overshoot beyond your ability. most of the time the result will only be finding yourself behind an even bigger obstacle than when you started. If you can develop a solid game and really hone certain fundamentals until they are second nature, then the improvements, and the distance between you and those 'long shots' will narrow considerably.

It's all about knowing that the only thing you can truly control is yourself (and some people would take issue with that statement I know), and recognize the variables over which you can exercise no control. There will be gusts of wind, and there will be trees, bushes, rocks, and water between you and the target. All you can do is use the skills which you have practiced to put yourself in a position to see that target, and minimize those barriers. Sometimes that might mean that your drive is not going to wrap a perfect S-curve around the hill and give you a birdie look. You've done it before? congratulations, but chances are it's not going to happen most of the times that you try to do that. By taking that risk, you might come out of it with a nice spot 1/5 of the time, but the other 4 times you'll be out of bounds.

The best golfers I've seen understand what their game can do for them. They are usually not the ones who can throw a disc 600 feet. Their drives land (consistently) in good to average spots, but they always nail their second shot. These players, too, are usually deadly when putting within 30 feet.

So, the next time I go onto the course, I'll remember the time I hit that epic drive, or got through those bushes on my upshot, but I'm going to try a lot more course management, reel it in, and get some solid fundamentals going. I'm going to focus on positioning myself in the best place that I can, without having to cross my fingers that I get just the right amount of headwind, or that I hit that tiny hole between those tree trunks.

I'll let you know how it goes.

In the meantime, check this out:

Parque de La Raza Disc Golf 10/9/2009 from Dridge on Vimeo.

Day 2

After a good night's sleep we got up and hit one of the city's hottest spots (for people with cameras strapped around their necks and looking blankly at giant maps, ie tourists): Sagrada Familia, or, Holy Family. This church by Gaudi is one of the most epic projects I have ever seen, and is constantly under construction, and won't likely be finished in my own lifetime. Do a quick search for it on the engine of your choice. It is incredible. The interior, and a lot of the facade, was undergoing heavy construction and we couldn't see much of the inner space. Still well worth it.
By the time we circled back to the front where we had entered, the number of people clammoring to take a picture and waiting to go inside was ridiculous. The sun had risen so that the park trees across the street no longer offered any shade, and so I was doubly thankful that Kristen had gotten us up and out of bed at an early enough time to beat those crowds. Unfortunately, we weren't so lucky at Parc Guell.
Don't get me wrong- I loved the place, but so did about ten thousand other people, who had each told 2-3 friends, and told all of them, and they all decided to to when we had. I got some great photos tho and heard some talented musicians playing there on the plaza.

Amsterdam stop-off

Sitting in a corner kaffe in Amsterdam. Street market in front of me, westerstraat centrum and tweede boomdwars straat.

-Chris

Test

Test

Testing my email blog posting. Hoping to use this service while in Barcelona!