Well hello there, blog.

Summer is when my never-ending battle with time management takes a three month holiday. Surprisingly this has worked out quite well for me this season. Although things like posting to my blog were shunted aside, I’ve managed to keep up the forward momentum and get what needed to be done, done.

But these last two weeks before school starts are crazy. It’s the good kind of crazy that keeps me from wasting time away clicking around the interwebs or paging through catalogs of items I’ll never buy. Instead I’m methodically going down my to do list, checking things off, adding new items to the bottom, not letting them distract me from my mission. Obviously I’ve reached the item “post something, anything, to the blog!”

sunrise | Duck, NC

sunrise | Duck, NC

The past year has been one of exploration, testing the waters, seeing what works and what doesn’t. That’s the early adopter in me. But I’ve found that there’s a big drawback to spreading myself so thin- it takes away time I could spend using social media to socialize! It’s also stolen focus that I should be using to move forward.

Beginning in September I plan to have a more regular schedule of content here, plus a sprinkling of the random stuff. I’m trying to narrow my focus and gather my scattered internet presence into one basket. Maybe two. But I’ll be setting things up so most of the content I push out elsewhere ends up here. (Eventually. Because client work comes first, and I’m happy to say I have a bushel-load of clients for the moment.)

Meanwhile, here’s a blatantly symbolic photo of a sunrise taken with my iPhone :).

Banana Peel on a Pipe

This just drifted by in my Twitter stream, couldn’t resist posting it here!

Uploaded by stevegarfield on 5 Aug 08

Uploaded by stevegarfield on 5 Aug 08

What to watch: the NYC web video scene

This past weekend the NY Times did a story on the active web video scene in New York City (as a part of the geek nightlife world.) Follow the links for the story and a slide show to better understand what I’m talking about, but here’s a bit from the feature:

A debate about what to call the Web video business quickly broke out.

“I look at the term ‘Internet TV’ as the same thing as ‘vegetarian chicken,’ ” said Mr. Smooth, explaining that Web video is a new art form that should not be compared to the stale stuff flowing from television sets.

Someone else suggested “video blogs” or “Web shows.”

“Webcasting!” said another panelist. Standing near the bar during the discussion was Dina Kaplan, a founder of blip.tv, a distributor of Web shows and the organizer of yet another regular gathering, the Founders Club.

“There are different scenes within the scene,” Ms. Kaplan said. “This is the video geek content scene, the crowd that used to be text bloggers.”

I know or at least have met quite a number of the people in the story and slide show. I won’t bother dropping names because most of my readers either know who I’m talking about or won’t recognize them at all.

Bill Cammack, NYC video guy, and me

Bill Cammack, NYC video guy, and me

The NYC web video world is an active and vital one, and the vast majority of the players are friendly, welcoming, and super intelligent people, who are finding a way to combine success with fun.

When I graduated from college a generation ago, communications degree in hand, video editing my skill, the options were limited, and I went in another direction. I thought maybe at some point in the future I’d have the $25,000 to buy my own rig and setup. Who knew it would someday cost under $1000 to produce professional quality video and distribute it over some interweb tube thingies?

Video will probably always be just a hobby for me, but it is such fun to see the vitality and freedom these creators have, out from under corporate control! We’re starting to see the entertainment industry become something completely new, and these are the people making that happen. This is the future of mainstream entertainment.

FedEx truck stuck on a steep drive



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Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band 07-28-2008

Bruce Flag

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View from our seats

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Tunnel of Love (audio)

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Born to Run



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