Matchbook Films

Splash Battle

2011-08-27T17:53:00.000-07:00

Length: 0:55

At sea (aka LegoLand) with Grampy Bill. Caught by surprise.

Freeway Chase

2011-03-22T07:13:00.000-07:00

Length: 1:09

The family that makes preposterous action sequences together, stays together.

Edited down from one shot, one take, almost no rehearsal. Also directed by the boy.

Boulder Chase

2011-02-22T07:07:00.000-08:00

Length: 0:13

This one was directed by the boy. And by directed I mean he was out the front door barking orders before I even had my camera.

[YouTube link]

Swim Toy Torpedo

2010-09-04T08:40:00.001-07:00

Length: 1:55

A bit of fun with the boy at a busy neighborhood pool. Shot with my Father’s Day present. Music “Perpetuum Mobile” by Penguin Cafe Orchestra, as suggested by Anna Rascouët-Paz.

Flashless? (Click here.)

Balloon II

2010-08-26T07:34:00.000-07:00

Length: 0:25

Looks like fun. Less convinced it sounds like fun.

Flashless? (Click here.)

Grapefruit

2010-08-21T10:44:00.000-07:00

Length: 0:48

Nana’s neighbors have a grapefruit tree. Ripe fruit that falls onto the ground often ends up in the curbside yardwaste pile.

Meaning it ends up in Nana’s kitchen.

Flashless? (Click here.)

Pour

2010-08-17T20:25:00.000-07:00

Length: 1:21

Washing the boy’s hair before he took swimming lessons felt nearly impossible. These days: NOT A PROBLEM.

Flashless? (Click here.)

Stairs

2010-08-14T08:57:00.001-07:00

Length: 0:32

At a family Christmas gathering (2008), the kids make the most of Uncle John’s condo.

Flashless? (Click here.)

Water Balloon II

2010-08-05T20:34:00.000-07:00

Length: 0:48

Here my nephew wants to make it pop.

Flashless? (Click here.)

Water Balloon

2010-08-01T23:14:00.001-07:00

Length: 0:46

For a boy on the spectrum predisposed to tantrums and anxiety attacks, a filled water balloon is akin to Chekhov’s proverbial gun-in-the-first-act.

Flashless? (Click here.)

Bouncy Seat

2010-07-30T07:32:00.000-07:00

Length: 2:10

Music video from 2004 not previously posted to the intermawebs.

A thick-limbed boy jumps in a doorframe harness. Cut to Elvis vs. JXL.

Flashless? (Click here.)

Story Time #15: A New Hope

2010-07-23T22:01:00.000-07:00

Length: 0:42

In which the boy helps a friend get up to speed.

Flashless? (Click here.)

Teacups II

2010-07-16T20:51:00.001-07:00

A year and some later. Six Flags Discovery Kingdom.

The boy still enjoys a good spin.

(Note: a new endtitle to reflect the evolving URL.)

Length: 0:27

(Flashless? Click here.)

Boys & Uglydolls (2004)

2010-05-25T10:46:00.001-07:00

Length: 1:44

An attempt to pose three babies, three plush toys, and a 4-year-old for a photograph. Results were mixed, then set to a 90s pop track. My boy is the confused one in the back with the enormous arms and legs.

(Flashless? Click here.)

Teacups

2010-05-18T00:48:00.001-07:00

So. Here we are.

What is a prodigal videoblogger to do.

This here's from a year ago. The Magic G*ddamned Kingdom.

Length: 1:17

(Flashless? Click here.)

Note: My feedburner account's busted, so it'll take some time before this is a podcast again.

Nana

2008-08-11T23:50:00.001-07:00

Flashless? (Click here.)

Length: 1:15

A bit of summer backyard fun with one of the boy's favorite playmates, my mom. Moments like this help us set aside our vexations over his rigidity and anxiety attacks. It's this kind of interaction the specialists tasked with assessing his social skills never get a chance to see.

Open Mic

2008-07-08T23:07:00.001-07:00

Flashless? (Click to view.)

Length: 2:56

In the kids' area at the county fair this year there stood a small stage in front of a couple of benches. There was no schedule of performers or showcases, just a live gooseneck microphone at a kid-friendly height.

When we first walked past, a couple of girls were using it to sing "Happy Birthday" together. The boy appeared not to take notice. A few minutes later, however, when there was no one on stage and no one in the audience, he wandered up the ramp, muttered a few words into the microphone, and stepped back down again. After a few more tentative experiments, he marched back up and launched into a complete song, an En Vogue number from Sesame Street (complete with the requisite melisma).

While his diction is... imprecise, his rhythm is surprisingly good. He even attempts to sing much of the song while inhaling, in his attempt to keep the beat. I have included the song in its entirety, so nota bene.

The general shakiness of the video is due to the effect of Christa's foot tapping on the bench on which we were seated.

City Chase Bowling Challenge

2008-06-29T23:19:00.001-07:00

Flashless? (Click to view.)

Length: 0:48

Saturday I participated in City Chase San Francisco, an "urban adventure" in the mold of The Amazing Race. Our final challenge was to bowl a strike or a spare. With one small catch.

Recitation

2008-06-23T21:06:00.001-07:00

Flashless? (Click to view.)

Length: 0:27

A spontaneous adaptation of a poem entitled "I Like Peanut Butter" from an out-of-print children's book the boy has at one of his two schools (he won't say which).

Raspberries

2008-06-16T23:20:00.001-07:00

Flashless? (Click to view.)

Length: 0:44

Creakily climbing back up on the horse after a jarring dismount. Aided by my Father's Day present, a Flip mino.

Up to this point I've typically avoided footage of the boy playing to the camera, but with the Flip he's had a bit of a conceptual breakthrough. He's not just performing for my benefit--he's performing for his own.

Photo (cc) by Marko Kivelä.

Alcohol

2008-05-01T23:54:00.001-07:00

Flashless? (Click to view.)

Length: 1:42

Just smile and nod and pretend that it's still Videoblogging Week 2008. It'll all soon be over. 6 of 7.

Dessert

2008-04-30T21:24:00.001-07:00

Flashless? (Click to view.)

Length: 1:11

Every day is Videoblogging Week 2008 if you just believe it in your heart. Number 5 of 7.

Box Lunch

2008-04-25T00:21:00.001-07:00

Flashless? (Click to view.)

Length: 1:17

Missed a day due to a self-inflicted eyeglass injury and utter exhaustion. So for me this is Day 4 of 7 of Videoblogging Week 2008.

Sandwiches

2008-04-23T01:27:00.001-07:00

Flashless? (Click to view.)

Length: 1:57

Day 3 of 7 of Videoblogging Week 2008.

Salad

2008-04-22T01:47:00.001-07:00

Flashless? (Click to view.)

Length: 1:45

My testy relationship with food continues.

You may note the clock in the background. The one whose batteries I should have removed before shooting. You may also note it was late in the evening when I made this. Turns out my wireless RF mic messes with the satellite TV reception downstairs where my in-laws are staying, so unless I can figure out an alternate plan I'll have to wait each night until they're asleep.

Day 2 of 7 of Videoblogging Week 2008.

Green Bell Pepper

2008-04-20T12:45:00.001-07:00

Flashless? (Click to view.)

Length: 1:39

Yeah... I don't like 'em.

Day 1 of 7 of Videoblogging Week 2008.

Slide V

2008-04-15T16:15:00.001-07:00

Flashless? (Click to view.)

Length: 0:24

New Year's Day 2008. The boy's slide-ascension skills continue to improve.

Maze

2008-04-10T15:27:00.001-07:00

Flashless? (Click to view.)

Length: 1:25

A bit of hay bale fun from October 2007.

Dark-Eyed Susanna

2008-03-31T20:10:00.001-07:00

Flashless? (Click to view.)

Length: 3:42

Been tweaking this thing for hours in the attempt to disquise my occasionally off key singing and the fact that I recorded it with terrible microphones (the Xacti HD and PowerBook G4 internals, to be precise).

Decided to call it quits, went back and (mostly) de-effected it. The vocal and banjo overdubs remain, but the instrumental break is sans solo.

I used to perform music live, but I'm desperately out of practice.

I'll stand by the song, though. Poor white steamboat worker from the wrong side of the river falls for middle-class mulatto city girl, circa 1861. (Historical language in effect.)

Feel free to drop me a line if you'd like to know why a Gen X California Hapa would be writing a song like this in the first place.

Dance Party

2008-03-29T00:27:00.001-07:00

Flashless? (Click to view.)

Length: 1:41

"100 Years in Cinema" is the title card slogan for the collaborative movie clip party I host each year with friends. Back in August 2005 I posted the opening montage from the 8th Edition to the videoblog.

Lately it's become a favorite of the boy's when we watch old Matchbook Films videos in the kitchen via Front Row. The fast-paced onscreen action and the Chemical Brothers beats make a compelling argument for a dance party of one.

Location 3

2008-03-28T23:32:00.001-07:00

(Click to view.)

Length: 0:51

Earlier this month I hosted a photo scavenger hunt in downtown San Francisco. One of the items on the list steered teams to this video on YouTube. The style is old-school vlog with a pretty basic GarageBand underlay, but since I've not made one like this before I thought I'd share it here.

There are a couple of other videos I've made this year in other contexts that I should maybe post for Semanal 08. Since I'm so far behind....

Bubble Gun

2008-03-14T21:53:00.001-07:00

Flashless? (Click to view.)

Length: 0:42

A pantsless summer moment in MN.

Stack

2008-03-01T14:26:00.001-08:00

Flashless? (Click to view.)

Length: 0:38

This week the boy discovered the falling baker from the early years of Sesame Street. He's learning well.

Train

2008-02-24T22:52:00.001-08:00

Flashless? (Click to view.)

Length: 0:35

Subtle but significant change of pace for me. For the casual viewer: not much to see, feel free to move along.

Rotation

2008-02-17T22:37:00.001-08:00

Flashless? (Click to view.)

Length: 0:34

August 2007. In which the boy goes for a spin.

Brick Wall (Run IX)

2008-02-16T09:16:00.001-08:00

Flashless? (Click to view.)

Length: 0:46

October 2007. In which the boy takes matters into his own hands.

Slippery (Slide IV)

2008-02-02T21:10:00.001-08:00

Flashless? (Click to view.)

Length: 0:20

Going to the park after a summer rain helps clarify the relationship between a waterslide and a standard playground slide.

Slide III

2008-01-23T11:04:00.001-08:00

Flashless? (Click to view.)

Length: 0:08

Spring

2008-01-18T23:29:00.001-08:00

Flashless? (Click to view.)

Length: 0:17

A quick Christmas moment.

Story Time #14: Owl Moon

2008-01-06T18:37:00.001-08:00

Flashless? (Click to view.)

Length: 7:55

In casual conversation it is often difficult to explain life with a hyperlexic boy.

My wife's brilliant new blog has begun to open the eyes of more people to some of the particulars of our family's life together. And I have more than a hundred individual video posts that fill in even more detail.

But I've generally edited my "Story Time" series pretty tightly, to capture just the highlights of the boy's recitations. This time I'm inviting you to experience this family pastime in near-real time.

We tell people that he memorizes and recites stories, but those who haven't had (or taken) the time to really listen to him may not understand that this is not merely passive brain activity. Storytelling for him is PLAY.

The story, in this case, is one of the most beautifully written and illustrated picture books in our collection, OWL MOON, the 1988 Caldecott Medal winner by Jane Yolen. The boy knows it from a Scholastic video adaptation, and from the hardcover book. The audio from the DVD--read by the author--is also available as a download from iTunes.

It's the story told in the voice of a young girl walking in the snowy woods, the first time she's been allowed to accompany her father on a late night search for owls. The book makes for excellent bedtime reading, and makes an outstanding gift for fathers of young children (especially girls).

The boy and I have taken this walk many times after dark. On one beautiful evening back in August 2007, I brought my camera along.

Trike

2008-01-03T11:39:00.001-08:00

Flashless? (Click to view.)

Length: 0:39

The big present from Santa this year was a 45-pound trike. just like the ones at his preschool Took the boy to the elementary school blacktop to give it a spin (our street is too hilly). He prefers to scoot, rather than pedal, and can move a lot faster than I expected. Didn't want to be one of those parents who puts a helmet on their kid on a tricycle, but um...

Week 1 of Semanal, a 52-week videoblogging adventure.

Backseat Karaoke

2007-12-31T21:12:00.001-08:00

Flashless? (Click to view.)

Length: 1:11

Those old enough to remember the Electric Company (or hip enough to have bought the DVD box set) will likely remember the "Sign Song", written by Clark Gesner, and unmistakably arranged by Joe Raposo. The boy's current affinity for the song is due in part to its second half, in which the vocals are omitted (so that viewers can read the signs and sing along at home).

Here he demonstrates his mastery of the song (including an unintentional endnote on the mp3 I hijacked from the DVD), and a camera awareness I've not revealed in the past.

Couldn't resist, though. Cuteness prevailed.

Night Bubbles

2007-12-29T22:22:00.001-08:00

Flashless? (Click to view.)

Length: 1:15

This one's dark, gotta admit it. Not, like, heavy or serious. Just: almost impossible to see.

Comedian (Mirror IX)

2007-12-22T11:16:00.001-08:00

Flashless? (Click to view.)

Length: 1:59

Practicing a few comedy fundamentals in the mirror before heading off to bed.

One of the reasons the boy's extended family and friends initially had trouble understanding his autism assessment was his impish sense of humor. It's not something that's seen in the forms of autism typically shown on talk shows and news programs (what I like to call "TV autism"), but the spectrum is both broad and mysterious. Christa's doing a fantastic job chronicling the particulars of the boy's special spot on the spectrum in her new blog.

He has always loved making us laugh, especially during the evening bathroom ritual. (See here and here for relevant examples.) Of course, he still needs to work on that whole making himself laugh while he's doing it. Not everyone can get away with what they got away with on the Carol Burnett show.

Insomnia III

2007-12-19T22:28:00.001-08:00

Flashless? (Click to view.)

Length: 0:33

Would you believe Christmas morning, 2006?

Ball Pit

2007-12-17T00:56:00.001-08:00

Flashless? (Click to view.)

Length: 0:43

Taking a break from the trip down memory lane, with a moment from earlier today. Can you spot the boy?

Insomnia II

2007-12-16T00:34:00.001-08:00

Flashless? (Click to view.)

Length: 0:46

Past bedtime. October 2006.

Story Time #13: Time of Wonder

2007-12-08T08:08:00.001-08:00

Flashless? (Click to view.)

Length: 1:24

From late March, when the boy was beginning to feed us lines. Tricky, as he was still working on his own diction (for example, here where he can't quite say "begins"), but remaining insistent that we get it right.

Story Time #12: The Mitten

2007-12-06T08:29:00.001-08:00

Flashless? (Click to view.)

Length: 0:53

From the morning of his third birthday back in January, upon receiving the full-size version of a book he already owned in boardbook form.

Story Time #11: Apt. 3

2007-12-04T13:45:00.001-08:00

Flashless? (Click to view.)

Length: 0:17

A quick driveby.

Story Time #4.5: Big Time Olie

2007-12-02T22:27:00.001-08:00

Flashless? (Click to view.)

Length: 1:04

Here again in August 2006. The boy's diction is limited, but definitely expressive, as he reads to his grandparents two thousand miles away.

Floor

2007-12-01T21:46:00.001-08:00

Flashless? (Click to view.)

Length: 1:02

A moment of "outsider" modern dance from August 2006.

Sigue (Run VIII)

2007-12-01T00:00:00.001-08:00

Flashless? (Click to view.)

Length: 1:21

At this time a year ago (when I captured this), the boy was running the loop at a serious clip. It was a pace not unlike this (running this same track in the house) that triggered the heart/anxiety incident that landed me in the ER this summer.

The word, of course (Spanish for "go on!"), was learned from Dora. Or Diego. Who don't teach children the Spanish language so much as they teach them random words to shout at the top of their lungs.

Recorded the same night as Bowling.

Puddle

2007-11-29T23:49:00.001-08:00

Flashless? (Click to view.)

Length: 0:56

Our old front walk collected water every time it rained. Or whenever the boy asked to bring out the hose. August 2006.

Run VII

2007-11-28T22:32:00.001-08:00

Flashless? (Click to view.)

Length: 1:22

Two reasons I post so infrequently are, I'm realizing, just one reason. First, the single unedited shots that make up the majority of my posts (about the boy, anyhow) are tough to capture. They require patience, and a lot of wasted footage waiting to see if something is going to happen. Second, I am acutely aware that these kinds of videos ask for a certain level of patience from the viewer, to wait and continue watching to see if this is the kind of single-take video that ends with a narrative payoff, or one of those that's all about the journey. My concern for the viewer makes editing take longer than one might imagine, as I nudge the starting and ending points by a few frames to get the feel of the transitions just right.

As time has gone on, however, and I browse back through the history of Matchbook Films on my iPhone, I realize that the videos I return to again and again are the ones that are less about storytelling and more about momentshowing. And I remain convinced that within these videos there is something revealed that is about more than how much I adore my own kid.

Perhaps I'm deluding myself. But until my audience drops down to one, I intend to keep sharing these favorite moments, like this one I'd forgotten about from August 2006. Lake Calhoun, Minnesota. The boy has gotten out of the water and into a dry diaper, when he suddenly decides to run off down the path.

Story Time #3.5: Oh, The Thinks You Can Think

2007-11-27T23:07:00.001-08:00

Flashless? (Click to view.)

Length: 1:01

A reading moment in the middle of the kitchen floor. From back in July of 2006, when the boy's diction was a lot less clear.

The Gingerbread Man II (Mirror VIII)

2007-11-26T22:59:00.001-08:00

Flashless? Click to view.)

Length: 2:03

For a few of you, this may seem excessive. (In the comments for the last video like this I posted, my brother made a wisecrack about New German Cinema.) Believe me, I watched this multiple times, looking for ways to cut it down.

In the end I decided to go with the cumulative effect of the boy checking to see if the book that the boy in the mirror is holding is, in fact, the same one that he is holding himself. One page at a time.

The Gingerbread Man

2007-11-25T22:13:00.001-08:00

Flashless? (Click to view.)

Length: 1:46

Back in April we flew down to San Diego, to celebrate my dad's mom's 90th birthday. On two previous trips to my Aunt Julie's house, the boy had read (and subsequently remembered) a small picture book adaptation of The Gingerbread Man. This time, however, the book became not just a vehicle for reading and memorization, but a toy. And one that created an opportunity for him to play with my aunt, who is positively brilliant at engaging with kids.

I often wish he had more adults like her in his life.

Also: this video features a forgotten method for descending carpeted stairs that I wish I wasn't too oversized to employ myself.

Dent Numa Numa

2007-11-24T23:06:00.001-08:00

Flashless? (Click to view)

Length: 1:06

The boy and his cousins sing a spontaneous version of "Dragostea Din Tei" (the "Numa Numa" song) while goofing off with Photo Booth effects. We may have a YouTube minihit on our hands.

Carousel

2007-11-23T22:27:00.001-08:00

Flashless? (Click to view.)

Length: 0:24

Digging back into the vaults for moments I'd missed in the crush of work. This one's from a trip to the zoo from almost exactly a year ago.

Mirror VII

2007-11-23T08:15:00.001-08:00

Flashless? (Click to view.)

Length: 0:36

Photo Booth in Leopard now records video. Here the boy plays with the "Mirror" effect.

Two Man Band

2007-11-22T10:22:00.001-08:00

Flashless? (Click to view.)

Length: 0:59

A bit of free jazz from the boy and his friend Oliver.

Hole 14

2007-08-29T17:13:00.001-07:00

Flashless? (Click to view.)

Length: 1:09

The boy and I play golf together. Of course when I say golf, I don't mean golf so much as: running around on a miniature golf course holding a club and a ball.

Still, he has a good time.

A strange, but good time.

Just Plain Big: Minnesota State Fair 1988

2007-08-16T08:17:00.001-07:00

Flashless? (Click to view.)

Length: 12:51

Nineteen years ago, Christa Dahlstrom--a college sophomore and Minnesota native--rented a VHS camcorder and brought it and two friends (Ted Johnson and Brian Glenn) to the Minnesota State Fair. Back at school she spent weeks learning the dorm's linear video editing system, with the help of her film-major boyfriend (i.e. me), and cutting together this irreverent and loving overview.

Food-on-a-stick, Ye Old Mill, beauty queen butter sculptures, tractors, and bull semen.

We're now married, Christa and I, and we're about to head back to MN to visit the family. This year with luck I'll get to attend a day of the fair (after all this time I've still never been). In anticipation I finally digitized this classic from our younger days. The tape has degraded quite a bit, so I have done a tiny bit of cleanup, and removed a couple of minutes entirely (not that would be missed).

But looking back at this now, I am reminded that she has always been funnier than me, and a better filmmaker. Secretly I'm hoping this will encourage her to make movies again.

Oh, and this one's © all rights reserved.

Don't Speak

2007-07-29T21:35:00.001-07:00

Flashless? (Click to view.)

Length: 1:55

Potty training. Going exactly nowhere.

Pool

2007-07-19T22:34:00.001-07:00

Flashless? (Click to view.)

Length: 0:25

Titled this before I'd remembered this video, a prequel from nearly three years ago, featuring the same two boys in a wading pool (although at the time they couldn't even sit upright, let alone jump into the water).

(And hoo boy were they a lot chunkier back then.)

Chris' Home Movies at College: John

2007-07-16T22:46:00.001-07:00

Long post, short video.

Length: 1:02

Flashless? (Click to view.)

A high school friend moved into the same residential college as me, but as the story so often goes we drifted apart fairly quickly. He sought the newness of college life, and I did what I could to withdraw from it. In visits to his dorm room, however, I struck up a friendship with his roommate, John Byrne, a Medill (journalism) student from Elgin, IL. He was smart, bookish almost. He almost always wore a button down shirt and sweater. And he made me laugh a lot with his dry wit. Again there's little here of a video record of our friendship (beyond the standard ribbing), but after Laura he was my next best new friend. He and I would hang out late into the night, and wind up joining dormmates Dave and Ted for their graveyard freeform radio show on friday nights (glimpsed here, more video to come). Looking back on it now, he wasn't the kind of fellow I picture at a college radio station at four o'clock in the morning.

After freshman year we spent less time together, and by the time we were seniors, John was co-Editor-in-Chief at the Daily Northwestern. I have no idea where he is now. There are a lot of John Byrnes in the world.

Run VI

2007-05-06T22:45:00.000-07:00

Flashless? (Click to view.)

My first version of this was about half this length. I chopped it down to create a non-stop barrage of boys running and shouting. Total mayhem.

But the boy complained. He had seen the unedited assembly and loved it. When I presented him the finished piece he was mad that I had wrecked it. To humor him, I reassembled the four original shots and let him watch that a few more times.

Then I looked back at my "official" edit, and my heart sank.

The boy's edit was better.

Sure in the raw footage there are moments of dead space, and some awkward transitional framings, but in attempting to remove the rougher bits I had taken out all sense of context, of pacing, of beginning, middle, and end. It was just a bunch of random shots stitched together. Maybe I could have slapped on a pop song and turned it into a music video. (Maybe I'll still do that.)

For now, however, consider this the boy's first project as editor. I can't wait to see what he's making when he's five.

Length: 2:50

Rocks

2007-05-01T23:31:00.001-07:00

Cousins throwing rocks into the water.

Length: 1:25

Flashless? (Click to view.)

Stomp Rocket

2007-04-22T21:52:00.001-07:00

From back in January, a moment of play with a favorite Christmas present. In this one you can catch a look at the old front yard.

Length: 0:53

Flashless? (Click to view.)

Bird Feeder

2007-04-18T22:12:00.001-07:00

Thinking we might want to move this.

Length: 0:35

Flashless? (Click to view.)

Chris' Home Movies at College: Laura

2007-04-15T10:46:00.001-07:00

Long post, short video.

Length: 1:02

Flashless? (Click to view.)

When I arrived at Northwestern University in the fall of 1986, I was in a place of intense grief. I had left behind a community of close high school friends (and a girlfriend) back in California, and was more invested in maintaining those relationships than in creating new ones. And of course I was entering a place (college) where all my freshman peers were bouncing off the walls with excitement at their new found independence from their families, their towns, their high schools, everything associated with home.

All except one.

Just a few doors down the hall from me was a girl named Laura Allen, from Oak Park, Illinois. She was also having trouble detaching from her close-knit circle of friends back home. Some were still in Oak Park, and several had headed to school up in Madison, so they were occasionally accessible on weekends. But in the rhythm of day-to-day life it was still too far away.

Laura and I found each other pretty quickly, and we would stay up late together swapping stories of our crazy friends, and showing each other photo albums of high school memories. We also hung out, shared meals, and spent time exploring the campus and town together. Our intimacy was intense, but it wasn't romantic, or sexual (Laura was starting to date, and I was still preposterously attached to my girlfriend back home). We clung to each other I think because when we were around each other we could be homesick. In other social settings you had to put on a good face, pretend you wouldn't rather be someplace else (and with somebody else). Other people asked you to live in the present.Together Laura and I let each other live in our separate pasts.

As I was editing this segment together late that fall, I was struck at how I had failed to record any hint of our actual relationship (I didn't realize at the time that its hidden-ness was part of its function). As I showed these brief video moments to my family and friends back home, I had to work to explain how important Laura had been to me, to THEM. Because in the footage there's no evidence.

Looking back, I can still identify my friendship with Laura as one of the most significant of my time in college, and yet after that first quarter we drifted quickly apart. When we got back to school after Christmas break, something unspoken had changed between us. Of course what had happened is that over the break each of us had experienced collisions both large and small between our expectations of home and the realities of it. So that as we returned, our shared homesickness habit was less able to deliver the fix it had the quarter before. And in clinging to each other a little less, we were each free to find a few more things about the new place that could help get us interested in the present (and ultimately the future). In a way I needed to let go of Laura like I needed to let go of home.

Red Light

2007-04-11T23:03:00.001-07:00

Because who wants to come to a stop?

Length: 0:44

Flashless? (Click to view.)

Story Time #10: Hyperlexia

2007-04-07T00:52:00.001-07:00

I hadn't originally intended to do seven videos about the boy this week. But on day two, Josh left a comment asking me to explain where such a little guy was going on a school bus. This video attempts to answer that question. But for those of you (like Josh) who've only ever met the boy through this videoblog, this may leave you with more questions than answers.

I knew it was going to take me all week to put together this one, so I filled the remainder of the days with unpublished videos from the past. I think it does create a bit of an arc to the week, and it's perhaps fitting that with this video I cross over the 100 video milestone.

Length: 4:16

Flashless? (Click to view.)

Those of you following a link about hyperlexia can click in the right column on the video category "story time" to see videos of the boy reading/reciting.

That'll just about do it for Videoblogging Week 2007.

Pillow Fort

2007-04-06T07:37:00.001-07:00

Cuteness in low light conditions. (Some people on older monitors or on PCs won't hardly be able to see a thing, here. It's all in the audio, anyhow.)

Length: 0:41

Flashless? (Click to view.)

Made it to Day Six of Videoblogging Week. Tomorrow's a traveling day; I may need to post #7 early.

Tag: videobloggingweek2007

Scary

2007-04-05T07:11:00.001-07:00

"Is it scary?" is what we've asked him in the past, so it's what he says himself when he's feeling scared. Especially when he's having fun.

Length: 0:31

Flashless? (Click to view.)

Day Five, still alive. It's Videoblogging Week.

One Shoe On

2007-04-04T23:25:00.001-07:00

A frequent morning stalling tactic, in which the boy demonstrates some small amount of rhythm. Until, that is, he attempts to talk and walk at the same time.

Length: 1:19

Flashless? (Click to view.)

Barely made it in under the wire for Day Four of Videoblogging Week. The first two posts were same-day videos, but these last two have been dug up from the archives. I may need to keep doing that for the next couple of days...

Story Time #9: In the Night Kitchen

2007-04-03T20:39:00.000-07:00

Another bathtime recitation, this one from the Maurice Sendak classic.

Length: 1:26

Flashless? (Click to view.)

This is day three of Videoblogging Week.

Bus

2007-04-02T13:57:00.000-07:00

Today we put our three year old onto a school bus.

Maybe you should read that last sentence again.

Length: 0:50

Flashless? (Click to view.)

It's Videoblogging Week. We're two for two.

Gym Tumbler

2007-04-01T15:51:00.000-07:00

From the boy's weekly gymnastic class.

Which at this age pretty much involves: jumping.

And being hurled.

Length: 1:05

Flashless? (Click to view.)

Well, it's Videoblogging Week again. We'll see if I can post seven videos in seven days. Without just digging into my unused video archives.

Story Time #8: Trashy Town

2007-03-13T21:57:00.001-07:00

Sometimes when reading a story, it's difficult to stand still.

A super cute book we discovered via one of the boy's many Scholastic DVDs.

Length: 0:53

Flashless? (Click to view.)

Story Time #7: Dr. Seuss' ABC

2007-02-27T23:23:00.000-08:00

Last week this was the answer to the question: "What's your favorite book?"

Length: 1:10

Flashless? (Click to view.)

Story Time #6: Chrysanthemum

2007-02-18T20:54:00.000-08:00

This continues a run of "Story Time" episodes you'll see in the coming weeks, as the boy's been on a bit of an oral interpretation tear of late.

Here the Master Thespian "reads" from Chrysanthemum, by Kevin Henkes. The Scholastic video adaptation features a brilliant voice performance by Meryl Streep, but here the boy riffs on his mother's vocal inflections. I make no money if you buy the book or DVD from Amazon.

The fact that his back is turned (and that a conversation is going on in the background) reinforces our sense that he is performing this entirely for his own enjoyment.

Length: 1:18

Flashless? (Click to view.)

Story Time #5: Oh Say Can You Say?

2007-02-09T13:56:00.000-08:00

The boy's diction has taken a giant leap forward, as evidenced by his handling of this tongue twister from Dr. Seuss.

Length: 1:00

Flashless? (Click to view.)

Naked: The Remake

2006-12-30T00:38:00.000-08:00

All this summer, the boy would take time before his bath to re-enact beats from his earlier video "Naked". This version, shot in late July, is the most comprehensive version I captured with my camera.

These days my main problem with recording the boy is that he interrupts the proceedings and asks to watch the instant replay, so that he can already start to re-enact his last few behaviors.

I do so fear I am scrambling his brain.

Length: 1:01

Flashless? (Click to view.)

Christmas Carousel

2006-12-24T21:48:00.000-08:00

A trip to the Tilden Park Carousel on a night in late December.

Length: 1:02

Flashless? (Click to view.)

Yellow Frogs

2006-11-29T14:56:00.000-08:00

The boy and his cousin check out the Panamanian golden frogs in the Valley Children's Zoo section of the Oakland Zoo.

From the exhibit's information sheet (seen briefly):

The female is larger than the male. The male climbs on her back to "claim" her for his own.

Thumbnail photo by Bradford deCaussin, whose stunning images of reptiles and amphibians are a lot more detailed (and in focus) than what I was able to capture here.

Length: 1:04

Flashless? (Click to view.)

Chris' Home Movies at College: Rod

2006-11-25T13:30:00.000-08:00

The phases of my life become accentuated as I look back at this snapshot of my freshman year roommate, Rod Gingrich. I wasn't really playing music then, and we didn't have a whole lot else in common. After the first quarter we retreated to our separate spheres (as much as you can living in the same room) and didn't interact much, not until we met up as seniors to collaborate on a video rock opera.

Now, of course, I'd be wanting to make music with him. (Although I can't claim to be as proficient on any of my instruments as he was on guitar at the age of nineteen.)

I believe the pieces performed here are © Rod, so no Creative Commons license on this one.

Visual note: this was shot mostly at nighttime in ambient light on an aging tube camera, so much of it may appear dark and visually indistinct. Especially with a standard Windows monitor. It's more about the audio anyhow.

Length: 5:06

Flashless? (Click to view.)

Run V

2006-11-23T00:00:00.000-08:00

Running. Shirtless. And with a balloon.

And still in command of mommy and daddy.

Length: 1:16

Flashless? (Click to view.)

Chris' Home Movies at College: Equipment

2006-11-20T10:47:00.000-08:00

I forgot that I'd first started videoblogging in the fall of 1986, during my first quarter away at school.

Only then I was using an over-the-shoulder VTR with the camera attached by a cable. Editing was linear deck-to-deck with insert capability. And distribution meant dubbing to VHS and putting a tape in the mail (I abandoned that quickly and just brought the tape home at Christmas to show my friends and family.)

I'll be putting up several of these two decade-old videoblog posts in the coming weeks. I've added titles, and cleaned them up a bit in iMovie, because I can.

This first bit is from my only surviving copy on VHS, and it comes at the head of the tape, so the dropouts are pretty rough. I'd considered leaving it out, but I believe it's important to start off with a full disclosure of what. a dork. I was.

Length: 0:47

Flashless? (Click to view.)

Bowling

2006-11-19T11:17:00.000-08:00

In which the boy learns a new activity.

Length: 0:39

Flashless? (Click to view.)

Run IV

2006-11-12T22:24:00.000-08:00

It's only funny until someone gets hurt.

Length: 0:38

Flashless? (Click to view.)

Wedding

2006-11-05T22:54:00.000-08:00

Congrats to Matt & Elise.

Even if the boy isn't paying much mind.

And thanks to the guests for the world class ad hoc string bandaging. (Seen/heard here: Stephanie Prausnitz, Barbara Hansen, Evie Ladin, Dan Kluger, Ed Rudolph, and Martha Hawthorne, with calling by Amy Hofer.)

Length: 1:10

Flashless? (Click to view.)

Cookie

2006-10-25T23:14:00.000-07:00

When presented with his first home-baked chocolate chip cookie, the boy is unsure quite how to proceed.

Length: 1:33

Flashless? (Click to view.)

Mirror VI

2006-09-27T23:08:00.000-07:00

In which the boy encounters a dance studio mirror.

Length: 1:29

Flashless? (Click to view.)

Run III

2006-09-26T06:41:00.000-07:00

Daddy steps in to help demonstrate the difference between "stop" and "go."

And the boy gives a shout out to Magic Monkey Bob.

Length: 1:08

Flashless? (Click to view.)

Run II

2006-09-10T15:55:00.000-07:00

Here the boy runs through the house with his good buddy J,
back in their salad days when they could walk (or run) about
in broad daylight with pacifiers in their mouths.

Both have been in detox for a few weeks now, and both are taking it one day at a time.

Length: 1:09

Flashless? (Click to view.)

Story Time #4: Dreams

2006-08-20T21:35:00.000-07:00

A recitation in motion.

A passage from "Dreams" by Ezra Jack Keats.

Length: 0:41

Flashless? (Click to view.)

Bock Church Photo, Part IV

2006-07-28T16:36:00.000-07:00

Memories of Bock, MN from back when it was a "going" town.

Complete series:

Part I
Part II
Part III
Part IV

Length: 1:21

Flashless? (Click to view.)

Bock Church Photo, Part III

2006-07-27T15:22:00.000-07:00

How a small town like Bock adapts when there are too many Johnsons and Larsons to keep track of.

Complete series:

Part I
Part II
Part III
Part IV

Length: 1:45

Flashless? (Click to view.)