My old Sony DSC-F707 on EBay yesterday. I've needed to do that for some time. So now it's gone. Today I purchased a Canon EFS 17-85 F4-5.6 lens. So far I really like it. It has USM focusing (it auto-focuses in milliseconds) and an Image Stabilizer. The stabalizer in the Canon lenses works different than other cameras. It stabalizes in hardware rather than software. It actually has one of the glass elements connected to a gyro. Very cool stuff. I'll probably take some pictures and post them on-line in the next day or so. This lens is at least three times better than what I was using before in the kit lens.

I also purchased the Speedlite 580ex flash (picture). This thing is a monster with remote RF triggering, integrated laser diodes to assist in focusing as well as back panel LCD screen that shows what it is doing. Canon really has it together with their pro gear. The quality of pictures I get out of my 20D are incredible.

The 2006 Sundance Film Festival is currently under way in Park City, UT. Check it out. You'll need Flash Player 8 to watch the shorts. Once again I am amazed at what amateur film makers can do these days. NowI do have to admit, some of them are less than enjoyable. Some of them have terrible plots or boring dialog. Many of them however, are better thanprimetime TV too. I really like the one called Gopher Broke. It'sa computer animated cartoon about a gopher trying to get some food and all the farm animals, birds and other critters keep stealing his. Its a goodlaugh. The other one I like is called Momma's Boy. It is hilarious.I will warn you though, its full of cursing. Its about a guy and his brother who just can not get along. In their thirties they still fight and bickerlike children. The high point of the short is when the older brother tells the younger he was adopted. I won't spoil it for you, but thats when all hell breaks loose.

Watching all of these films really makes me want to break out my PD-150 and start shooting. I should stop watching these. :)

This weekend we received our first rain in months. It was great! I felt sensations I had not felt in quite sometime. It actually felt strange.What I didn't expect was our power to go out. At about 12:15am our power went out. There was plenty of lightning so I assume it was related. However, power was not restored until almost 8:30am the next morning. I can only guess that a major transformer was blown and had to be replaced.

On a side note, I also got to see our new flagstone trough in our ditch it action. It works great! The water was never even close to spilling over the sides (although I am surewith more rain it would). This is really going to make my yard easier to maintain by keeping the groud dry and controlling the weeds. This will turnout to be money well spent!

For those of you who know me, you know I like dabbling with Digital Video and Digital Photography. I own several Cameras including a Sony PD-150 and a Canon EOS-20D. I have a lot of ideas for short films and even more ideas for cool photographs to make. However, I don't seem to ever have the time to go do any of it. I purchased a really cool book last week at Amazon: Digital Video Production Cookbook This is a book that looks like it was written by some college kids who are majoring in film. A lot of the effects and tips in the book are a little on the cheesy side, but it is useful information regardless. Keep in mind, the book is aimed at amateur film makers, not Hollywood film makers. The thing I like about the book more than anything is that it is inspiring. It is very interesting to see ideas for film making on a budget that the average Joe can afford and actually accomplish. I think I am going to have to try some of them just for fun.

It is amazing what amateur film makers are capable of accomplishing with the power of today's home computers and affordable prosumer cameras. Here is a great example. This is a Star Wars Fan Film called R2: The Extra Special Astromech. Watch it. You'll be amazed that it was made by just a few people with a home PC and a camera. They even manufactured their own R2D2 droid for the film. I recommend your right click the link and choose Save As...

View Film: R2: Extra Special Astromech 11:28 / 90MB Visit The Force.net Fan Film Page

DirecTV used to be my favorite Satellite provider. When they launched TiVo service I got even more excited. However, it looks as if DirecTV has gotten "too big for their britches". In my opinion their parent company Murdoch's News Corp. is a bunch rich bastards who couldn't care less about their customers. News Corp. also owns NDS which is a competing DVR company. Naturally, not caring about the wants or needs of their customers they are trying to force NDS down our throats and drop TiVo as an offering. In order to make it "seem" like they are making things better for us they have stopped all software updates for the DirecTV versions of the TiVo that add new features. That way, they can make their offering look better. In reality, their product is weak at best and they have purposely made our TiVo machines limited in functionality. I find this tactic to be monopolistic at least and in my opinion it is fraudulent. Unfortunately for me, I just bought a DirecTV HD-TiVo and signed a year long contract. I can assure you that if they don't get their act together, I will no longer be a customer the day my contract expires. New smaller companies who care about their customers and who are willing to offer the customer the services they want will soon be nipping at the heels of DirecTV. I'll be looking for that company and they will get my money. I am also encouraging all of my friends and family to drop DirecTV and move to someone else when their contracts are up. I feel like on-line petitions are worthless, but if you haven't already signed it, please sign the following petition: DirecTV TiVo Petition. While signing this might help, the only effective way to get companies like this to wake up is to hit them in their pocket books. It's sad, because DirecTV used to be small and care what customers wanted.