Once a year (usually in September) we shoot a “film” as a family. Usually with me as the videographer/director, Kathleen as producer/writer, and the kids as the principle actors. These are produced under SwingSlide Productions and are released straight-to-DVD and the internet. Not for money, not for fame, just for fun. And they’ve been a lot of fun.

We’ve made four of these so far, from 2003 to 2006. But nothing’s been shot yet for 2007′s release. Obviously, since its 2008 we’re running a bit behind. The thing is, last year’s effort was so time-consuming, and I’ve been so ultra-busy, that I’m finding that I really don’t have the “fire” this year.

If I was willing to pursue a straightforward artistic goal, I’d probably go for our first animated feature. But to be honest, in my current frame of mind I’m looking for something easy, short, and mildly amusing.

If you have any ideas, feel free to let me know! If you’re interested in reviewing our past efforts, they can be viewed here:

http://swingslide.org/?page_id=2

However, I do have a legitimate dilemma on my hands. I’ve been in limbo over whether to switch to a free blog or to keep this self-administered but paid webspace. I enjoy tailoring my blog to my own preferences but I also enjoy not paying for stuff. I also enjoy not having to spend time “administering.” It’s a tough call.

I opened a free account (still with WordPress) and have posted a few entries on it. But I kind of feel like I’m cheating. I know, I’m weird. But I think I’ve come to a conclusion. I want to get into podcasting. To do that you need webspace to post your episodes to – so it looks like I’ll be sticking around here for a while longer. Huzzah!

So now I need to figure out how to import those posts from my “other” blog back to here. What fun!

This takes slideshows to a new level. I love the music/image interaction, and it seems to play a lot smoother than jumpcut. I’m definitely going to test this out some more. (And I’m curious to see how much a full video costs.)

Try it out!

Yet another example of amazing stop-motion and people with too much time on their hands.

Amen to this. I’m constantly asking myself, “Why do I have to work at the office?” 99% of my work collaboration is via email or phone. And I work in a satellite office so I don’t even have any supervisors there. The only saving grace about the office is that my coworkers are there and I enjoy working around them. But I could just as easily work from home – and would probably be more productive.

There is one point the “twentysomething” author of this post fails to mention – kids. If you have kids at home there is a separate set of issues that need to be resolved before attempting to work at home (soundproof doors, needy spouses, etc.). I had a friend that worked at home and his wife used him as “on call” help to run errands, etc. while he was working! That would be a nightmare.