It's not that I don't like film editing. On the contrary. I like it quite a bit. It's only that I'm reluctant to do it in the same way that I'm reluctant to sit down and read a book. I know that I will be captivated for the next 8 hours. I will zone out. I'll glance at the clock at 10am. Then, 6pm rolls around.

The film isn't quite finished yet. What if we try this? What if we try that? N'ah. I feel like it should be 2 minutes shorter. Well, then it's only a 3 minute piece. You shot 40 minutes of footage. What the hell are you thinking? This should be longer. Well, the story's still being told. The other parts were extraneous. I didn't have B-roll to cover them. This new version is better. It's tighter. It's snappier. It's not done yet. Need to put in another 8 hours tomorrow.

Things, they take up too much time. In an effort not to waste time, as a general policy, I never like to begin them.

I just got a digital camera. Interestingly, I've never owned one before. I've always been a fan of them, and I've always wanted one. I just could never justify the purchase. Since I'm going to Japan, I couldn't think of a better reason.

I was looking for a camera that would give me full control of the options with a healthy zoom lens that wasn't going to require me to take out another student loan. I found it in the Canon SX100 IS. It's a surprisingly cheap camera that is really the last step between point/shoot and full SLR. It set me back $250, has a 10x optical zoom, 8 MP, and all the fun little options a modern digital camera affords you; like face detection.

The camera is a perfect 85% solution. A professional photographer would scoff at the optics, the depth of field, the color, or the bokeh of the lens. However, a lay person is going to look at my images and think they are professional quality. Since I'm catering my work toward lay people, convincing them is all that matters. This camera gets me enough of the way along the professional spectrum. In fact, it gets me way further than $250 should.

Here's an image I took after only minor fiddling and acclamation. It is exactly what I was looking for out of this camera.

Isn't depth of field cool?

It is my prediction that the switchover to over-the-air digital television will be a huge non-issue. Most people commenting on this do not seem to understand that this only affects people getting their television programming from an antenna. It does not affect cable or satellite in any way, unlike what Comcast would have you believe. Sure, the public knowledge of the switchover is currently low, but that doesn't mean anything. The majority of people aren't going to be affected by it in the first place. Why should they have to know about it?

The expectations of that poll are bogus. The number we should be looking for is a percentage that matches the estimated number of people still on antennas. Any more than that is a bonus. Of course, those numbers matching doesn't necessarily mean that the entirety of people on antennas know of the switchover. However, that is a reasonable expectation for the poll. The current expectation that everyone, whether affected or not, should have a deep understanding of the digital rapture is absurd.

The government is spending a lot of time and money trying to educate people when they should be putting the onus on the television stations. Per FCC licensing, roughly, stations are required to meet the needs of the public. This means that the FCC can require them to run public service announcements. How about, instead of using my tax dollars to run an ad campaign, they just force television stations to run a very small number of PSA's concerning the switch to digital over a very long period of time?

In fact, they may already be doing this. It is in their best interest to do so. None of those over-the-air stations would want to be left out in the cold. By the time the switch rolls around, the market dictates that we will be inundated with notices that we should buy a digital converter box to continue receiving television from our antennas. Don't worry. Your grandma is going to know about the conversion. Even if she doesn't, you will. You can help her.

Yes, this most certainly will be another Y2K. It will be exactly like that. There will be no disaster.

I have finished the ADR sessions for my project. I just need to finish up the last bit of foley this weekend, and then I can get down to mixing and dialing everything in. I only need one or two effects from CD. I'll see about that this week.

The ADR session with Michael Bloxham went well. He was very nice and professional. We were done within 40 minutes.