Thursday, September 22, 2005

Call of the Loon


This is a Loon on an Adirondack Lake taken by Dr. Nina Schoch. Isn't it amazing?

This is fun fun fun. I really love having my machine at home. i'm enjoying editing on FCP. I even have brand new keys for my keyboard with the shortcuts on them. Man I feel cool:) Loons are spectacular creatures I feel really lucky to have this opportunity to tell a story about a creature that has so much history. I have never heard a sound as beautiful as the call of a Loon piercing through a still dark night on an Adirondack Lake. I wrote R a long email yesterday describing the film and the bird, explaining it so a child would understand was really fun to do. It reenergised me and showed me how fun it can be to write with a specific audience in mind, especially a child.

Right now I'm reading an incredible book, Life of Pi by Yann Martel. I still have a hundred pages left. From all reports I've heard the end is brilliant so I'll refrain from commenting on it yet. I am also reading The Common Loon-Spirit of Northen Lakes by Judith McIntyre, the WCS Working Paper No. 20 by Nina Schoch which is lucid, beautiful and brilliant. Nina writes so well, knowledge becomes a pleasure, I never feel like I'm plodding through something esoteric. Her writing is informative and precise. She is also an excellent photographer, the photo on this post is hers. I'm also enjoying Loon Magic by Tom Klein, he is a true Loon lover, you can feel it every sentence. The Loon inspires these people to do good work, I hope some of the Loon's magic will rub off on me too.

'On boreal lakes, spring's announcement and summer's promise are heralded by loon music. As newly thawed lakes sparkle under an April sun, the loons fly in, drop down, and land abruptly on their summer homes. They look quickly beneath the water's surface, then raise their heads and tell the world that the spirit of northern lakes is in residence' - from Dr. McIntyre's book.

Saturday, September 10, 2005

Good times



Finally ma and pa are here. its wonderful to have them at our home sharing our lives. they are real karmayogis from day 1 their mission has been to help out in every way possible. they understand we do all housework ourselves and try to follow the loose regimen of cleanliness we have going. if u're wondering what cleanliness..we cleaned this ship from bough to stern like there is no tomorrow, it looks pretty orderly, surprise surprise! i was worried about being distracted too much from the edit but they are quite the slavedrivers, they literaly ignore me during the day so that i can get my work done, they expect nothing and instead have taken on the responsibility of cooking:) reminds of my icse days..hey i'm not complaining. my g5 arrived in all its spanking silver glory towering over my head on the work desk, it has fcp installed and i am digitising loons on bogs hooting their tails off as they incubate their eggs. i love these birds, they are so beautiful and fun to watch. i'm going to have a very tough time tryign to get this film into good enough shape before the VO artiste's arrival on 10/12...its really not enough time at all. anyway, i aim to finish a cut with all the segments atleast by the week of the 3rd of oct so that i can show it to carol before heading off to dc. she can then give me very specific feedback on what is needed from those folks...i have like 3 weeks to do this. it is very difficult but not impossible. sigh same ol' story.