Drama in everyday life
02/11/13 05:20
I am not a fan of group e-mails. I prefer to use e-mail to communicate directly with an individual. Still, the technology is useful. We use group e-mail lists to let people know what is going on in the church and to distribute our monthly newsletter. I send group e-mails to members of the church staff and to the Pennington County Sheriff’s Chaplains.
What I don’t do much is forward e-mails that I have received from others. I have a couple of friends who send e-mails that they have received out to everyone on their e-mail list. The e-mails may occasionally be interesting or cute, but it really isn’t the best way to communicate.
My blog probably isn’t the best way to send out a YouTube Video. But there is a video that I think is amazing. Before you watch it, you should know that it is an advertisement for a Sony television. I don’t own a Sony television and have no intention of purchasing one. I have no reason to promote Sony’s products. But I have watched this video several times and recommend it.
Now, here’s some interesting information about the video:
There are no computer generated effects in the video. It was actually shot live. Those who are familiar with the territory might recognize Costa Rica in the pictures. That’s how I discovered the video in the first place. I like to read the news of Costa Rica and the Tico Times had an article mentioning the video.
You may have seen a video shot by Sony in which they released 300,000 bouncy balls in San Francisco. For this shot, they placed 8 million flower pedals in Costa Rica’s Irazú Volcano National Park. Then they used a series of ultra high definition cameras to capture images of the pedals being blown from the volcano and raining down on the surrounding community.
The cost of shooting the video in Costa Rica was apparently small for the Sony corporation. They paid $300, the standard fee for using the National Park and later donated a washing machine to park officials.
OK, so the pedals weren’t really erupted from the volcano. They would have been immediately vaporized by molten lava. Instead a crew created special effects. The pedals were not placed in the active part of the volcano. Instead 3.5 tons of flower pedals were distributed on a 35 x 35 meter cloth to simulate the effect of a volcanic crater lake. Then giant fans, air cannons and other special effects equipment were used to blow the pedals down the mountain and through the city streets.
All of the pedals used were biodegradable. Park officials reported that the Sony production team “left the park exactly like it was before. They picked up everything.”
There is also a behind-the-scenes video that shows a bit of how they produced the effects.
I enjoyed watching the videos and know that some of my readers have come to have a special place for Costa Rica in their hearts.
Instead of flower pedals, there were more branches blowing about our town yesterday. Wind gusts of 55 mph blew through town and there were several branches that had been broken in the October blizzard that finally came down and blew around. In addition, not all of the branches from the blizzard have been picked up, so some of the piles were rearranged by the wind.
We had a brief moment of excitement at the church yesterday. One of our janitors came in and reported that one of our trailers was out in the street. I went out to check and sure enough a trailer had blown from its usual parking place out into the street. I wouldn’t have thought that the trailer would go anywhere as the lot is relatively flat the the trailer was parked with the tongue on the ground. Instead of digging in, however, the tongue just slid across the parking lot as the trailer pushed it.
Fortunately, the path taken by the trailer avoided all of the cars parked in the lot, which was fortunate, as the lot was full with parents picking up children from preschool. The trailer came to rest with one wheel in the street and the other on the lot, so it wasn’t blocking the street or even access to the parking lot. It was easily returned to the lot and this time we placed bricks under the tires to keep it from traveling on its own.
By the time I left the church in the afternoon the winds had died down and the trailer was still parked where we wanted it. It wasn’t all that dramatic, but provided a few interesting moments and a spot of exercise as I pushed it by hand back into its parking place.
They weren’t so lucky at the Colonial House, a popular restaurant in our town. A driver lost control of her car in the parking lot and ran into the building causing thousands of dollars of damage. Fortunately no one was close to the wall that was hit and there were no injuries. Still, the sound of the breaking windows and crumpling wall must have been rather dramatic for those who were in the restaurant at the time.
The 82-year-old driver was a regular customer of the restaurant. Accidents happen and this one was pretty fortunate as no one was injured. Damage to the restaurant can be repaired and they will be able to remain open while the remodeling is completed. Still, both the driver and the people who were in the restaurant will have a story to tell for years to come.
All in all, we had an interesting day in our town yesterday. But it wasn’t the same as 3.5 tons of flower pedals. It kind of makes you wonder what Sony will think of next. After bouncy balls and flower pedals, there are lots of possibilities.
I’m thinking Mt. Rushmore would be a neat place for them to make a video.
What I don’t do much is forward e-mails that I have received from others. I have a couple of friends who send e-mails that they have received out to everyone on their e-mail list. The e-mails may occasionally be interesting or cute, but it really isn’t the best way to communicate.
My blog probably isn’t the best way to send out a YouTube Video. But there is a video that I think is amazing. Before you watch it, you should know that it is an advertisement for a Sony television. I don’t own a Sony television and have no intention of purchasing one. I have no reason to promote Sony’s products. But I have watched this video several times and recommend it.
Now, here’s some interesting information about the video:
There are no computer generated effects in the video. It was actually shot live. Those who are familiar with the territory might recognize Costa Rica in the pictures. That’s how I discovered the video in the first place. I like to read the news of Costa Rica and the Tico Times had an article mentioning the video.
You may have seen a video shot by Sony in which they released 300,000 bouncy balls in San Francisco. For this shot, they placed 8 million flower pedals in Costa Rica’s Irazú Volcano National Park. Then they used a series of ultra high definition cameras to capture images of the pedals being blown from the volcano and raining down on the surrounding community.
The cost of shooting the video in Costa Rica was apparently small for the Sony corporation. They paid $300, the standard fee for using the National Park and later donated a washing machine to park officials.
OK, so the pedals weren’t really erupted from the volcano. They would have been immediately vaporized by molten lava. Instead a crew created special effects. The pedals were not placed in the active part of the volcano. Instead 3.5 tons of flower pedals were distributed on a 35 x 35 meter cloth to simulate the effect of a volcanic crater lake. Then giant fans, air cannons and other special effects equipment were used to blow the pedals down the mountain and through the city streets.
All of the pedals used were biodegradable. Park officials reported that the Sony production team “left the park exactly like it was before. They picked up everything.”
There is also a behind-the-scenes video that shows a bit of how they produced the effects.
I enjoyed watching the videos and know that some of my readers have come to have a special place for Costa Rica in their hearts.
Instead of flower pedals, there were more branches blowing about our town yesterday. Wind gusts of 55 mph blew through town and there were several branches that had been broken in the October blizzard that finally came down and blew around. In addition, not all of the branches from the blizzard have been picked up, so some of the piles were rearranged by the wind.
We had a brief moment of excitement at the church yesterday. One of our janitors came in and reported that one of our trailers was out in the street. I went out to check and sure enough a trailer had blown from its usual parking place out into the street. I wouldn’t have thought that the trailer would go anywhere as the lot is relatively flat the the trailer was parked with the tongue on the ground. Instead of digging in, however, the tongue just slid across the parking lot as the trailer pushed it.
Fortunately, the path taken by the trailer avoided all of the cars parked in the lot, which was fortunate, as the lot was full with parents picking up children from preschool. The trailer came to rest with one wheel in the street and the other on the lot, so it wasn’t blocking the street or even access to the parking lot. It was easily returned to the lot and this time we placed bricks under the tires to keep it from traveling on its own.
By the time I left the church in the afternoon the winds had died down and the trailer was still parked where we wanted it. It wasn’t all that dramatic, but provided a few interesting moments and a spot of exercise as I pushed it by hand back into its parking place.
They weren’t so lucky at the Colonial House, a popular restaurant in our town. A driver lost control of her car in the parking lot and ran into the building causing thousands of dollars of damage. Fortunately no one was close to the wall that was hit and there were no injuries. Still, the sound of the breaking windows and crumpling wall must have been rather dramatic for those who were in the restaurant at the time.
The 82-year-old driver was a regular customer of the restaurant. Accidents happen and this one was pretty fortunate as no one was injured. Damage to the restaurant can be repaired and they will be able to remain open while the remodeling is completed. Still, both the driver and the people who were in the restaurant will have a story to tell for years to come.
All in all, we had an interesting day in our town yesterday. But it wasn’t the same as 3.5 tons of flower pedals. It kind of makes you wonder what Sony will think of next. After bouncy balls and flower pedals, there are lots of possibilities.
I’m thinking Mt. Rushmore would be a neat place for them to make a video.