On Sunday, the local Bassett club unleashed 25 hounds on campus, which is an annual tradition. Well, 25 hounds and this little guy. He kept losing the . . . ahem . . . scent.

Before the hunt

On the scent

A gaggle of bassets

Also this weekend, met with the film editor before he left for Puerto Vallarta. The long touted media project is almost done, as Steve is putting the final audio tweaks–and a few visual ones–in place. Hard to believe the collaboration stretches back to August. His wife is about three seconds from killing me because of the amount of his weekends and evenings I have monopolized these past few months, but I think in part she believes his efforts are for a greater good; thus I might live another day to celebrate his toil. Hopefully that’s her logic.

So perhaps the horse head outside my office was left by a student.

Well, by the time Steve returns Stateside, three of the four pieces of the marketing strategy will be complete. I’m dedicating January to the final leg. On Wednesday February 13, 2009, everything will make sense.

And I’ll be a year older.

Untreated and unused still from the media project. Would have used it, but there’s a bag of gear in the background. Ack. Due to interlacing the exported picture appears far more pixelated than the same shot in the film. Oh well. Steve has some nice footage regardless. Or so he assures.

Filming Sunday went very well; despite the 27 degree temperatures and wind chill, we got some good stuff in the can. In addition to recreating the basic sequence from seven different angles–replacing prior footage discarded due to underexposure–the director set concerns for his safety aside and perched himself inside the fury. It took some adjustments but was worth the extra consideration for his positioning; he captured some truly unique shots.

After nailing the shots, we did some unplanned runs in the midst of a Project Adventure type rope climbing course. The spontaneous bits may or may not be in the final version. Regardless, they were fun filming.

The director plans a December 2 drop date. Near perfect timing, because the artist finished up the graphic yesterday morning. Now the graphic can be integrated into the multimedia piece, where it will provide additional context. Initially I had planned the graphic would serve another purpose, but there’s value in “recycling”. Chalk it to a happy accident.

Slowly the legs of the marketing plan are gelling into a more coherent package. There’s still two big pieces left, but I have complete control over the first deliverable, and a lot of influence over the second. Which means after next week, pending tweaks to the film, effectively I am the bottleneck to the project. Obstacles that arise are solely mine to resolve.

Even the ones I create.

The following entry was supposed to be on November 20, but life and head congestion had other intentions.

In honor of World Toilet Day, please direct your attention to the swooshing sound in the background. No, it’s not the inner workings of a commode fashioned by one Sir Thomas Crapper in the dark days following the Civil War. Rather it’s the sound of the economy–and what’s left of my 403B, Roth and IRA, whatever else account once had a bigger balance last year–down the drain.

Ah, cheers!

On a more sanguine front, the oft-mentioned graphic is almost ready. Also, this Sunday marks the last day of shooting. A mixed blessing really, because everyone involved–read, everyone’s spouses and girlfriends–is happy about the heavy lifting nearing completion. Unfortunately one spouse in particular must deal with a few nights of her husband editing footage. My condolences to Leslie in advance. But the drop dead date for the multimedia piece is December 3, so there is a definitive end to her suffering.

And she will not toil wholly alone.

According to weather forecasts, the high temperature for Sunday is 37 degrees and a 15 mph wind; that makes for some frosty outdoor filming. Secretly, I think the video guy finds this prospect hysterical, since he’ll be in a thick coat holding the camera, whilst I and my cohorts pretend it’s comfortable in long sleeve shirts and jeans. Often I have suspected he rather fashions himself a more comical Rob Zombie–a man notorious for filming in the freezing climes at the consternation of his actors.

Unfortunately all this fun(!) comes at a price. Between being sick still and the fact there is only one day to get everything in the can and rest up, I had to opt out of visiting an old friend. He has a two-year old son I have never met, a new house I have never seen, and the perfect wife I have not spoken to since their wedding.

Yeah, I’m feeling neglectful now. And old.