I wanted to share this really cute 8 minute rap at the Silver Hill Rottweiler website, produced by rottweiler lovers, in favor of No Breed Specific Legislation (BSL).
Goes to website:
http://www.silverhillrottweilers.com/news/2008/04/rottweiler_bls_video.html

I have a rottweiler, and I got him at Safe Harbor Humane Society, in Kenosha and I do agree with the No BSL video, as they can be very well trained and very sweet.

You can get a rottweiler at Safe Harbor, too (at least on Nov. 18, 2008 she was there), named Sasha.

Or check out some of their other dogs and cats at the Safe Harbor Cyberkennel.  Or there are more potential pets at hopesafehouse.org in Racine or at countrysidehumanesociety.org, also in Racine. 

Today we’re taking a look at a book titled “Not So Funny When It Happened - The Best Of Travel Humor And Misadventure”, edited by Tim Cahill.

I was in the mood for some travel adventure, but for a number of reasons I wasn’t able to actually go anywhere.  So I decided to read this compilation of short travel stories by writers including Bill Bryson, Randy Wayne White, Dave Barry, Adair Lara and many others.  I was not disappointed. 

The editor, Tim Cahill, is himself the author of some of my favorite works including “Road Fever”, “Pecked To Death By Ducks”, “Pass The Butterworms”, “A Wolverine Is Eating My Leg”, and “Jaguars Ripped My Flesh”.  I felt I could trust his taste in humorous writing.

The stories involve travels to all corners of the world.  There are numerous one or two sentence sidebars and one or two paragraph afterthoughts interspersed throughout the book. 

I found myself shaking my head, snickering and laughing at times, so, based upon that criterion, I recommend this book highly.

I found many favorite quotes to share with you from this book, but I couldn’t bring myself to rob you of the pleasure of stumbling upon them yourself.  Sorry.

I read with dismay that Kenosha's online news source, The Daily Kenoshan, is for sale and could close down by the end of the month if no buyer comes forward.   I've enjoyed reading the Daily Kenoshan and hope I can continue to read it.   I think the future of journalism is online and that the Daily Kenoshan regularly has outdone that other news source/daily paper here in town.   Thank you to John Nordquist, owner/publisher of the Daily Kenoshan, Lisa Loring, editor, and all of the other contributors to it. 

How about it, Kenosha, will a viable new owner of this news source please come forward?  Click on the Daily Kenoshan logo for information.  You will be directed to DK's Web site.

 

I don’t know about you, but personally I would rather read everything on the computer screen than on printed paper. One of my reasons is that I don’t have to discard of anything after I’m done reading and also I’m a big supporter of a paperless environment and the idea of going green.

So, I questioned myself how I can promote this idea. Well, it just came to me in an email the other day, just like an answered prayer, at the very bottom it said:

Is it necessary to print this email?

 

Well, is it?

                                           KCM launched a co-op program earlier this year entitled Visions of Kenosha.   It airs weekdays from 5:00 a.m. to 7:00 a.m. and features quiet images of Kenosha's natural and man-made surroundings.   This program belongs to everyone: that is, anyone who's able to contribute video to it may be considered to join its pool of producers.  

Its purpose is to help ease TV viewers into their day in a quiet, serene way.  Contributors are asked to videotape Kenosha's parks and attractions sans on-air talent or voice-overs.  If human beings are in the video, they should be in the background and not the focus of the shot.  If music is used, it should also be of a serene nature.   Think tinkling piano keys, soft flute music, or perhaps a solo oboe.   Use of ambient sounds--birds chirping, frogs croaking, crickets chirping--is highly encouraged.

Cameras used for this program should be either mounted on a tripod or otherwise stationery.   Pans, tilts, and zooms should be kept to an absolute minimum.   Think of these actions as salt-and-pepper.   A little bit seasons the meal.  Too much destroys it.   

Each shot can be thirty seconds or more in length.   We're not making MTV videos here.  

Ray Forgianni of Harbor Market of Kenosha recently called this programming, "visual perfume".   I like his description.

With autumn wearing its finest colors these days, now is a great time to become a visionary for Kenosha TV by becoming a producer for the co-op program, Visions of Kenosha.   

 Two years ago, local historian (and former Kenosha TV Committee member) John J. Hosmanek published a collection of Kenosha postcards through Arcadia Publishing.  This book proves that postcards are not only a form of communication, they're a window to our past, a reflection of our community, and pieces of art. 

While you can buy a postcard from your neighborhood malt shop, the truest treasures are homemade.  Artlink Contemporary Art Gallery in Fort Wayne, IN also appreciates handmade pieces as it invites artists from around the world, including Kenosha, WI, to submit postcards, created in any medium, for display in their gallery from December 12th to January 14th.  There's no jury for the art and no fees.  There is also no designated theme, so draw that giant halibut, if you wish, or paint a postcard-sized picture of a streetcar.

Postcards will not be returned.  Artlink will sell these cards with proceeds benefitting Artlink's exhibitions.

All participating artists' names will be posted on Artlink's website.  To download a postcard mail art prospectus from Artlink, click here.

                           While driving around the bottom edge of Lake Michigan a few years ago, headed for Michigan, my radio drifted from station signal to station signal until it settled on the voice a preacher (of unknown denomination) who had a simple message to his sermon: "To make friends, you need to be friendly."    His edict was simple, but too often unheeded.  How often do we wait for someone else to share a good word or perform a good deed, before we're compelled to react and do the same?  

Kenosha Community Media has its hand extended to the Kenosha area, welcoming everyone to become a part of the community conversation.  KCM exists to provide a public service.   This service includes the training and tools that allow citizens to express themselves through the magic and medium of community television.   Our staff and many citizen/producers have also worked to create video programming for local organizations, including programming to raise awareness of our area animal shelters and children's programs at the Kenosha Public Library.  Several local talk shows--Kenosha Today with Scott Barter; Shakin' Up Kenosha with Dennis Shook; and Just Talkin' with Jason Rimkus--welcome local guests from our business, organizational, and political communities.  KCM has worked to become good friends with the community it serves and will continue to develop new ways to broaden and enrich community conversation on issues that are important to Kenosha and to showcase our community's talent, activities, and events.

As a part of this effort, in 2009, KCM will launch its KCM Friends campaign, inviting citizens to become Friends of KCM not only as producers of video/TV programming, but as PBS-style sponsors of local programming, and also as volunteers to help KCM provide better outreach to local organizations (and to the general population) and to assist KCM in its day-to-day operations.   More details on this effort will be available in November/December and at KCM's upcoming annual meeting on November 14th.   

   Some of us that have been using iMovie for a while may be looking to move on to more complex editing (?) Here are some websites I have discovered where you can learn a little about Final Cut Pro for FREE on your home computer. There are others, I am sure, if you just google for "Final Cut Pro Training Free", like I did. The editing computers in the Channel 14 studio have Final Cut Pro 5.1.4 on them. (There isn't any training available yet for Final Cut Pro at Kenosha Community Media, but some people already know the program and have been using it.)

Some sites work on Macs and some work on PC/Windows, maybe some work on both (you know how that goes)....

http://www.softwaretrainingtutorials.com/final-cut-pro-5.php - this has video & works for Macs (I didn't get it to work on PC/windows, but you might)

http://www.computer-training-software.com/final-cut-pro5.htm - this has video & works for Macs (scroll down and see the "demos" to click on at left of screen)

http://www.hyperteach.com/products/finalcutpro5-video-cd.htm - this works on macs, (scroll down and click on titles of the free samples)

http://www.geniusdv.com/weblog/archives/final_cut_pro_interface_windows.php#more - no video, this works for PC/windows computers (I didn't try it on a Mac).

I'll try and add more to this list in coming months, so check back if you are interested in free Final Cut Pro training sites on the web. Or if YOU (anyone reading this) discover some more, you could leave a comment with the website address. I know "comments" won't actually accept websites, but if you type everything before the .com or .org and then just type "and then you type a dot and com/org"  it seems to work.

  <<< This is Carole & Hans. We should make a 100 second video together for the 100 Second Video Festival!!

Here is a list of videos from previous 100 Second Film Festivals  - you can click on the titles at the left of the screen at that site, and watch most of them on your computer.

Here is one with some African Festivals , one called Arrival or Spring, and another called Dane's Song, and one called dancing - Maybe these samples will inspire some producers to submit their work!

The current deadline is Dec. 15 to enter the 100 Second film Festival, and here is the official entryform.

 

   For those who like to search out some interesting video that you can watch for FREE on the web, there is lots of it on the research channel at researchchannel.org

There is a good one with with Arthur Frommer, the guy who writes/publishes a lot of travel books.

There is one with Walter Cronkite talking to the communications students at the University of Southern California Annenburg.

And one with  Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (former basketball MVP) talking about forgotten heroes of WWII.

and there are many more to explore!