• Christmas Decorations - Nov 29, 2011 (Large Version)
  Date: November 29, 2011 - 2106 Hours ET
  Location: NW Gainesville, FL
  Camera Used: Canon HV-20 HD vidcam
  Camera Mode: Portrait, Snow, Fireworks, Nighttime
  Lens Used: Canon WD-h43 wide-angle lens
  02:41 [ 67 MB ] [ widescreen format, M4V ]

  Kathy loves to decorate for all the holidays. There has to be some sort of "cheer" going on in and around the house, even if outdoors it's only a simple seasonal "Welcome!" flag outside the front door. Normally, each season - be it Winter, Spring, Summer, or Fall; or Easter, Thanksgiving, or Christmas - MUST have something relatedly decorative accordingly upon the mantletop of the fireplace, and in various places around the house. This is Kathy's "Rule-uh Num-ber ONE". :O) It's part of the reason why I fell in love with her. She's always looking to create a bright, cheery atmosphere. She always "gets" it. She thinks just like me.

  This isn't the most dazzling display in Gainesville, mind you. Not by a longshot. Not exactly what we were trying to do, here. The hard part about decorating your house for Christmas is in making it all nice and pretty and bright, of course, but being careful not to have SO much that it looks gaudy, or overly done. We keep adding a little of this and that every year, and I think we're starting to get to the point where we can stop adding, and just "rearrange" every year. :O) We don't want this to be anything really special; not even worthy of any contest entries, really. Just enough to show some spirit and to make people stop as they walk or drive by and think "That's kinda pretty, too." :) If I had to wish for anything in making these I guess I'd have to say...a "steadicam". Would have made for some much steadier shots - especially with the closeups of the trees. One of these days I'll break down and make one of my own. There are plenty of "How To's" on the Internet within reasonable budget.

• Wild Cranes Gather Overhead - Feb 18, 2011 (Small Version)
  Date: February 18, 2011 - 1009 Hours ET
  Location: NW Gainesville, FL
  Camera Used: Canon HV-20 HD vidcam
  Camera Mode: Portrait
  Lens Used: (no addl lenses)
  05:26 [ 36 MB ] [ widescreen format, M4V ]

  On February 18th, as I was getting ready for a trip to Bradenton to video a performance of a string band group for them to use in fundraising, While packing the car, I noted the sounds of a great many "geese" all around me. It was VERY loud and seemed to came from everywhere. When I looked up, I saw nothing but flock after flock of formation V's and W's coming from the south and heading northwards. Wave after wave crested the trees on the horizon south of my home, like bomber aircraft making their way to some target destination. As the birds passed overhead, they began to gather in a huge swirling circle just to the northwest - likely over the vicinity of the TV-20 station - in a "holding pattern", waiting for the rest of the flock to catch up. There could easily have been a couple thousand or so, here. Though this is a five minute video, the entire event actually began some five to ten minutes before, when I first noticed the sounds of the geese slowly getting louder and louder. After a while it began to hit me that the flock was SO large, at just the right altitude, and hanging around for SO long - that it could have easilly become a navigational hazard in fact for any aircraft attempting to take off or land from the Gainesville Regional Airport. You see, those jets fly in eastwards on a descent path to the airport right ABOUT where those birds were circling around. Just as I began to mention that thought out loud, the flock began to circle slightly higher, and then dispersed northwards. I've seen this happen before. It happens every year in right about the exact same place every time, now that I think about it. (Odd.) ...But I;ve never up til now had a video camera ready with me to record it. If NWS-JAX still has some archive RADAR data for that day, maybe if saved, if can be used with this video for training by NWS and airport personnel to demonstrate migratory behavior and an example of navigational hazard. Maybe it can be used during a SKYWARN training video to demonstrate other non-weather hazards which a spotter might do well to also report - to the NWS, and perhaps to local EM and/or to the local airport.

  NOTE: Andi Christman, Park Services Specialist, Paynes Prairie Preserve State Park, confirms for us that these are probably sandhill cranes... "...I'm fairly certain they would have been Sandhill cranes. Over the past few days, the cranes have been amassing in large numbers and beginning to migrate back north after a winter spent at Paynes prairie and other nearby areas. Each morning at La Chua trail we've seen several hundred take off and 'kettle up' in typical migratory patterns." The cranes have been repeating this "gathering" over the past week, in fact, if but to a lesser degree than seen on Friday.

  Someday I may take this video and add some more comedic type scenes to it - the sound of masses of B-52 bombers approaching; people scrambling for cover, screaming; the sound of whistling bombs falling through the air; people falling to the ground after some gooey stuff which looks suspiciously akin to cookies & cream ice cream splotches lands on the backs of their heads; maybe add a feigned TV EAS marquee trailer and a mock news report "interruption" advising of an "invasion" thrown in there somewhere. Oh, and of course we'd HAVE to throw in the sounds effects of air raid sirens going off all around town; Etc.

• Wild Cranes Gather Overhead - Feb 18, 2011 (HD Version)
  Date: February 18, 2011 - 1009 Hours ET
  Location: NW Gainesville, FL
  Camera Used: Canon HV-20 HD vidcam
  Camera Mode: Portrait
  Lens Used: (no addl lenses)
  05:26 [ 397 MB ] [ widescreen format, QuickTime MOV ]

  (Same as above - Higher definition version.)

• Intruder Cat - Sep 09, 2009 (YouTube Version)
  Date: September 9, 2009 - 1123 Hours ET
  Location: Gainesville, FL
  Camera Used: Canon HV-20 HD vidcam
  Camera Mode: Portrait
  Lens Used: (no addl lenses)
  02:55 [ 20 MB ] [ widescreen format ]

  A neighborhood cat jumped our fence and set up camp right in the middle of all our cats' food bowls and he was loudly threatening them and preventing them from being able to eat. I set up a little surprise and the cat left quite humiliated.

• Gainesville Gas Thefts - Penske-North Security Monitor - 07/13/2010 Date: July 13, 2010, 0000 Hours EDT
  Location: North Gainesville Penske, Gainesville, FL
  Camera Used: (outdoor security camera)
  36:22 [ 449 MB ] [ standard format / MPEG-4 ]

  For a few months Gainesville businesses were hit hard by a couple of gas thieves who would siphon gas from rental trucks and cars. Incredibly, they kept coming back to the same businesses repeatedly. Eventually they were caught stealing gas from the U-Haul business on Main Street. This video shows what Penske saw of them on their video camera. The video shows their actual method of operation, and the whole event lasted a good 35 minutes. These guys must have been pretty desperate to keep coming back and risking getting caught.

• Sunrise & Birds - Whitney MHP
  Date: April 28, 2008 - 0639 EDT
  Location: Whitney MHP, Gainesville, FL
  Camera Used: Canon HV-20 HD vidcam
  Camera Mode: Portrait
  02:38 [ 78 MB ] [ widescreen format ]

  More of the same - this time with a really pretty morning sunrise.

• Backyard Morning Sounds - Whitney MHP
  Date: February 17, 2008 - 0649 Hours EST
  Location: Whitney MHP, Gainesville, FL
  Camera Used: Canon HV-20 HD vidcam
  Camera Mode: Portrait
  01:20 [ 40 MB ] [ widescreen format ]

  I loved the sights and the sounds associated with living in Whitney MHP. I was living in a mobile park that is only a land zone description away from a real Park. It included all SORTS of wildlife - deer, large owls, eagles, hawks, egrets, ducks, wild turkeys, raccoons, foxes, a rare bear on occasion, the ponds even had a few alligators. And the sounds of the birds in the morning was just beautiful.

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