Today Felt Fast Forward & I Filmed

Up early pounding the keyboard, cleared next week’s column (About hiring a car during the holidays), and made a collage for this week’s (The 6 levels of Features).

Then I filmed a video, “A Quick Tour of my Car”… but with a cameraman (my editing guy).

I have cameraman anxiety, like, sure I have 300+ videos online… that I filmed all alone.

Having other people around throws me off my system, I tanked it a couple times over the fall with Motoring TV.

So to ease into it, I made the video topic something I’ve done hundreds of times.. get in my Jetta and drive to Cherry Beach.

Same old car, same old route I’ve taken to make 15+ videos there.

Yup I know, jogging pants and ponytail, but, deadlines trump hair & makeup.

Then off the footage went, and next time I see it, it will have taken the shape of a rough edit, without me ever opening Final Cut. I guess the happy feeling that creates, is the trade off for the cameraman anxiety.

Today flew by fast eh. Then I cooked dinner, but forgot to take photo proof (macaroni & cheese).

And donated to Wikipedia.  Never been a fan of free #KeepItFree

Tomorrow, I have a lot of auto writing due, plus a meeting that’ll eat the afternoon, and it’s Car Swap Day (Ford Fiesta), and taxes UGH (I don’t mind paying the taxes, it’s the doing them I don’t like, so boring).

See you online.

 

 

Driving Elation

Filmed in Napa CA, while testing the new VW 1.8L Turbo.

Ridiculous changes in elevation, not one straight line,
through beautiful terrain, on a clear blue sky day…
alone on total video game roads.

Manual all day long, too.

One of my best driving experiences to date.

Here’s the post about that trip. And another video, and about the car.

 

Went to California for 48 Hours

Aaand home.

That was maybe my best driving experience yet.

Ridiculous changes in elevation, not one straight line,
through beautiful terrain, on a clear blue sky day…
total video game roads.

Manual all day long, too.

Made a video.

And I was testing a Jetta! What I own! (here it is)

Short review – loved it.

(it’s tough to beat VW and Audi, I think. I love minimal though, remember (as I type this on my white desk, in my white living room, with nothing on the walls)).

NO SCREEN YESSSS

OH NO.

As I was cropping this photo, I see I forgot to remove the un-sightly key-fob, before taking the photos for the paper ughhhhh sound, hangs head.

Specifically, I was in Napa Vally.

The grapes really do look like the ones in those paintings,
in cheap Italian restaurants.

These trips sound glamorous, but it’s bit tough to be honest. NOT complaining, I love it, but it’s an intense, fast-paced, all-consuming 48hrs, with a 3hr time change, my stomach is weird, and it’s hard on your skin, and cel phone bill.

I just need to keep refining my system, is all. I keep coming back to: if I trained myself to sleep in shifts, could I do more that way…

Over the ‘ole Golden Gate.

Unpacked; laundry in; next week’s column done, talking about the badges on cars.

Now my jogging-pants-greasy-plane self is off for a beer, and to catch up on the internet.

Here’s to a good start to your last weekend of summer!

 

This is My Car Stereo

The radio’s been locked for years since a battery failure, and the screen broke so I can’t see to enter the codes.

I have the codes because I blogged them, see:

Security is relative.

For a while I played, “get the code before it kicks me out after 2 failed attempts”, but it got old. So I just listened to silence, then in February found that egg in the States. It’s  ‘As Seen on TV’, love that stuff.

The car is a ’99 Jetta.

The song is composer Philip Glass, titled La Belle & la Bête, played by Angele Dubeau & La Pieta.