Cheesy Videos XX - Summertime Kids

It ain't all military pomp and circumstance and male bonding on this trip... there are the grandkids, too.  Earlier this evening:

SN2 has a great lot with a verdant grass-covered hill that's just perfect for rolling down.  I have it on good authority that this same hill also does double-duty as an excellent sledding hill in winter.  But there are some things we'll accept on faith and do not have to witness in person.  I don't DO "winter" anymore.

Actors appearing in this edition of "Cheesy Videos:"  Grandson Sean, Granddaughter Ava (in the pink top) and brief cameos by Granddaughter Angelina (with the kite) and Great-granddaughter Aria... in the white dress.

Cheesy Videos XVI

We haven't done any video for a good long while, so why don't you join me for a two-minute walk around El Casa Móvil De Pennington?  It's actually pleasant outdoors at the moment but not pleasant enough to... um... stay out there for any length of time.

You'll note this is the 16th installment of Cheesy Videos, which is an irregular feature at EIP.  Previous editions are here, conveniently located in one place for your viewing pleasure.  As if you care.  Heh.

Update, 1242 hrs:  Apropos of not much... we've warmed up to 34 degrees as I type and the racket of falling ice on my roof is MOST annoying.  Alas, we are trapped within the walls of El Casa Móvil De Pennington until the roads (and my driveway) are clear so there's nothing to do other than grin and bear it.  And why are we trapped, you may ask?  Because The Green Hornet HATES snow and reacts in the most vicious of ways should I attempt to force her into dealing with it.  We know when not to push things, Gentle Reader.

Cheesy Videos XXIV

It's been over a year since we posted a Cheesy Video, so dontcha think it's time for another one, Gentle Reader?  This one is about one of the Usual Subjects, which is to say wind and dust.  Herewith:



Well, there ya have it.  It'll prolly be another year before we post a Cheesy Video.  You're welcome.

Cheesy Videos XXIII

It's been a while since we got the Mino HD out and recorded a Cheesy Video for your entertainment and/or enlightenment, Gentle Reader.  But!  Wait no more!  Here it is... new and mebbe improved!

Or mebbe not so improved.  We're still All Cheesy, all the time.  Watch in HD if'n ya have the bandwidth.

So now it'll be football until around 1700 hrs (with the teevee's volume turned up an extra six clicks to overcome the wind noise), at which time we'll turn to Center Ice to see if the Woeful Wings can snap their SIX GAME LOSING STREAK.  Aiiieee.

Cheesy Videos XXII - After Dinner Whiskey Hour 06-27-2011

It's been nearly a year since we've posted a Cheesy Video and we find ourselves out of practice and the Cheesy Video Camera out of juice.  But neither of those circumstances will stop us, of course.  Herewith this evening's After Dinner Whiskey Hour, aka "watching a storm blow in."

It wasn't much of a storm... there bein' only enough rain to make The Green Hornet resemble a Green Leopard (spots, yanno?).  But we takes what moisture we gets, even when it comes in the smallest of doses.  And the dose most certainly WAS small, Gentle Reader.

Cheesy Videos XXVIII

I was gonna post this as an update to the post below and then I thought "Wait.  We have a category for this!"  And so it is...



Cheesy.  No doubt.

Cheesy Videos IX: Before the Storm

This evening's entertainment:



As you can see... we're easily amused, Gentle Reader. This video was shot around 1915 hrs this evening (as always: best viewed in HD). We're being inundated by that long-approaching and finally arrived storm as of this writing (2030 hrs).

Editorial note: For those you keeping score (heh... as if): I didn't assign a "Cheesy Video" title to my last lil bit of amateur videography. That storm video was Number Eight in a mercifully short series of offenses against your sensibilities.

Cheesy Videos XVIII

Happy Hour earlier today...

I said cheesy video, didn't I?

Cheesy Videos XXVII: A Sop to St. Paddy's Day

Alternate title: "Scrapin' the bottom o' the blogging barrel, yet again."



Never let it be said we don't celebrate the holidays.

Update, 1810 hrs:  I remembered I had a photo of the band on this cigar.  Here it is:

A picture is worth 1,000 words, or one cheesy video.  Or sumthin' like that.

Cheesy Videos XIII - In Which We Ride Off Into the Sunset

My first experiment with the MinoHD mounted on the mo'sickle... earlier this evening, in two parts.  The usual guidance applies:  BEST viewed in HD!

It's obvious I need to do a lil adjusting, in that there's way too much sky and not enough road.  But I'm pleased with this first attempt.  The camera was mounted to the bike's top triple clamp and the view through Miss Zukiko's windscreen isn't distorted at all... miracles never cease.  This is just a quick five or six mile blast westbound (south, actually, if'n you look at a map) down US 70 and back... shortly before sunset.   

At the end of Part One we make use of a turn-around and head back to P-Ville, taking the opportunity to wind Miss Z out to redline in the lower three gears.  I'm somewhat surprised that one doesn't get much... if any... sense of speed in these vids. When we accelerated after the turn-out we hit 90 mph before we throttled her back to more reasonable speeds, i.e., a velocity that wouldn't get us hauled off to the pokey.  The average open road speed in these two videos is 80 mph, but like I said... you don't get a sense for how fast we're traveling.  And by the way: 80 mph is usual, customary and quite reasonable in these parts.  Living in the sticks has its bennies, yanno?

Cheesy Videos XXXI, Wherein We Take Two Minutes Just To Say It's a Beautiful Day and We're Taking Happy Hour On the Verandah

But you should watch even though I've given away the plot.  It's a matter o' duty and obligation, Gentle Reader, and you haz it.



Let's do today's Happy Hour soundtrack while we're here.  Here are the Stones coverin' Dylan...

Watch the river flow
Watchin’ the river flow
Watchin’ the river flow
But I’ll sit down on this bank of sand
And watch the river flow

Well... watching the 17th Street Canal and Intra-City Waterway flow.  Same ol', same ol'.

Saturday: The Magic Man!

Final score, Game One: Datsyuk 1, Boston 0.

That's the way to start, Boys.  Don't let up and keep on as you've begun coz Boston ain't gonna roll over and die.

LGRW!

Updated, somewhat later:  Are ya confused about the post title?  Well, there's an app for that:

Friday, November 08, 2013

Cheesy Videos XXX (That Would Be 30, Not Some Kinda Pr0n Clip)

Wherein we ask Siri a question...



Who'd a thunk it?

Heh. 

Cheesy Videos X: Birds

So... herewith a half-assed attempt at catching the daily Flocking of the Birds that occurs every evening here at Beautiful La Hacienda Trailer Park (and the ever-present reminder: best viewed in HD):



I say "half-assed" because my attempt at capturing this daily event was less than successful. While the birds don't quite "darken the sky" each evening with their presence, it's pretty danged close. One of the better aspects of this daily avian congregation is the cacophony of birdsong one hears. It's quite the experience, and very much something that falls into the "ya hadda be there" category. Nonetheless... it's somewhat apparent in the video above.

If you watch the video you'll note I said I was gonna go back into the house and pour my second whiskey of the evening... and that's exactly what I did. I can't think of a better way to kill the requisite half-hour (or so) it takes to upload a video to YouTube.

Besides that... sunset and its immediate aftermath is quite possibly my favorite time of day. Once the sun goes down the birds go to bed (and thus cease their incessant chirping until the morning... quite another story, that) and the night is given over to the quiet hum of air conditioners and the not-so-quiet hum of traffic on US 70, which is only about 400 yards from the verandah of El Casa Móvil De Pennington. But... commerce being what it is... the traffic noises die down to a great extent as night overtakes us. It's a great time for quiet contemplation, and evenings here on The High Plains of New Mexico are oh-so-warm. Perfect, in other words. Once again: ya hadda be there (here).

Cheesy Videos VI

I'll be staying in today. Happy Hour will probably be canceled, as well.

Cheesy Videos XXX (That Would Be 30, Not Some Kinda Pr0n Clip)

Wherein we ask Siri a question...



Who'd a thunk it?

Cheesy Videos XXIX

Four minutes o' drivin' the Blue Ridge Parkway, shot with the mePhone.

Spring Is Springing

And said Springing always involves wind... fierce wind, as it were... here on The High Plains of New Mexico.  Rogers and Hammerstein made Oklahoma famous for its "wind rushing down the plains" but believe me:  all you Okies ain't got nuthin' on New Mexico when it comes to straight-line winds.  Tornadoes, yes... you win, and you can keep all of those, thank you very much.  I'd prefer El Casa Móvil De Pennington remain in Roosevelt County unless I choose to move it elsewhere under its own motive power.  We need no relocation assistance from the Weather Gods.

So. You'll note we're having a minor wind event from the illustration on the left. Which means we shall take Happy Hour indoors today, all while rockin' and rollin' in both the figurative and literal senses. I tried to illustrate what it's like inside El Casa Móvil De Pennington during a wind event about a year ago when we first began playing around with our tiny and oh-so-cool Mino HD.  So... just for grins and giggles, here's that effort.

Cheesy Videos V: "It's Just the Normal Noises In Here"

We’re having a bit of a wind event here on The High Plains of New Mexico tonight (33 mph, gusting to 48). I thought it would be interesting (if only to me) to check out the MinoHD’s low-light capabilities and give all y’all a taste of what it’s like to rock ‘n’ roll inside an RV during high winds. The results are a little short of spectacular… or even acceptable… in that the Mino’s mic didn’t quite pick up the sounds of the wind like I hoped it would. But that obviously isn’t stopping me from posting the results… as I have no shame and very little taste. (Watch in HD if'n you have the connection speed to do so.)

The title of the vid (and one part of my lame commentary therein) is a hat-tip to Tom Petty. “Damn the Torpedoes” was in heavy rotation back in Former Happy Days... specifically those in Oregon and Ol’ Blighty... which is where I happened to be when the album hit Number One on the charts (Oregon in '79, England in '80). I spent more than a few minutes listening to selected cuts off this album while waiting… oh-so-patiently… for YouTube to finish processing this vid. Entertaining, that was.

The video wasn't (and still isn't) all that good as far as illustrating the wind noise goes, as the Mino has some pretty good built-in noise cancellation. But as I noted:  I have very little taste and NO shame.

Cheesy Videos XVII - Sunday Happy Hour

So... there we were, enjoying Happy Hour under the awning on the verandah on a lazy Sunday afternoon...

I got it only slightly wrong, coz the cottonwood blossoms (or whatever they're called) are quite visible... at least in full-screen HD.  It only got better as the afternoon progressed... in that the sun caught the cottonwood detritus better and better as the sun sank ever closer to the horizon, increasing the angle of my view and bringing those blossoms into their full glory.  Which, I suppose, is a classic case of "ya hadda be there."

So... about that hockey game:

Phoenix, which won 50 games during the regular season and finished fourth in the West with 107 points, has not reached the second round of the playoffs since the Winnipeg Jets accomplished the feat in 1987. The Coyotes can change that when they face the Wings in Game 7 at Jobing.com Arena on Tuesday night. The Red Wings have not won a Game 7 on the road since 1964.

[...]

Brad Stuart and Darren Helm scored for Detroit, which was 20-4 on home ice the past two postseasons. The Wings have won only once in three home games this series. Detroit was given three power plays in the first 4:42 of the contest, but failed to convert and didn't receive another man advantage all day. Phoenix, meanwhile, went 3-for-5.

"That's probably the game right there," Wings forward Henrik Zetterberg said of his team's inability to score on the power play early. "If we would have scored one or two, the outcome would be a little different. Their power play was better than ours tonight, their PK was better than ours. I think that's the game."

Heh.  Z is the master of understatement there.  The power play was non-existent, the PK, in a word, sucked.  Howard gave up one soft goal (the shortie) early but the rest of the goals were  the result of defensive breakdowns that were, in the end, inexcusable.  All in all a miserable game for my Wings and one that would be completely forgettable if not for the implications it holds in this series.  Game Seven is Tuesday night in Phoenix and it will be a corker, no doubt about that.  I hesitate to predict the outcome but you KNOW where my heart is, Gentle Reader.  We remain hopeful.

Cheesy Videos XIV - Drainage, or Lack of Same

Just a lil trip out and about in P-Ville on a rainy day, the purpose of which is to illustrate the fact Portales has no storm sewers or a drainage system of any sort... other than our streets.



Sorry about the shakiness of the video. The roads in these parts are rough, the video camera is small, and I was mostly preoccupied with my driving. But... this should give you a flavor of the high entertainment value that comes from driving around town on a rainy day... but not on a mo'sickle.

Cheesy Videos, Part Trois

And here it be, Gentle Reader... Your very own personally guided tour around a limited portion of Beautiful La Hacienda Trailer Park during one of our prototypical Spring maelstroms (see the post immediately below). Best viewed in HD... if the option appears and your connection speed supports that sort of thing. Even better: full screen.



So... it took six minutes and 18 seconds to shoot the video, about three minutes to transfer it to the computer, and just slightly over TWO AND A HALF freakin' hours to upload and "process" at YouTube. But I'm being hypercritical, nu? The simple fact we're ABLE do this sort of thing is amazing in and of itself, regardless of the time it takes.

I (heart) technology... even if it makes me look somewhat inept and wholly vacuous at times.

Update, 1745 hrs: Just noticed this at YouTube: "This video is still being processed. Video quality may improve once processing is complete." I was wondering why there wasn't an HD viewing option. Now I know...