Blankbaby

Talking to people about golf in 3D

For ye olde day job I'm often tasked with mixing and mingling with a crowd, and interviewing folks about the topic of whatever event I'm at. I'm also in charge (most of the time) of editing the resulting video (though generally I don't have to shoot the video, which is fantastic).

The other day we had a 3D viewing party, and I grabbed a microphone, a camera guy, and worked the crowd. I enjoyed how the video came out, so I thought I would share it.

Man on the Street: Oscar edition

My job at Comcast has me doing some interesting things. The other day I, along with a camera man, venturing into Rittenhouse Square to ask folks some Oscar related trivia.

This video (it is on YouTube if you can't see it in this post) is the result of a couple hours of me yelling to strangers, "Do you have a couple of minutes to talk to me about the Oscars!" The vast majority, it turns out, did not have the time nor the interest to talk to a stranger about an awards show. Who knew?

Anyway, I'm happy with the way it came out, so I thought I should share!

The last video of the week

I hope you have enjoyed watching all these silly little videos. This last one is a little bit of a cop out, but man the gym kicked my butt.

Here are the other videos in the series (in reverse chronological order, of course):

1. Things I don't like
2. My day
3. A tour of my desk
4. 4th of July
5. A Pound of Dice
6. A week of videos

A brief list of things I don't like

The sixth video in my week long series of video posts. Check it out on Flickr.

My day

The fifth in the series (I didn't think I would keep this up, did you?). If you can't see it in this entry check out the video here. It is a typical work day compressed into just under 2 minutes.

A Tour of my desk

A quick tour of my desk for my fourth video of the week!

4th of July

Happy 4th of July all!

Video 2: A Pound of Dice

I ordered a Chessex Pound-o-Dice and then I made a video.

Here's the post explaining why I am doing this.

Lunch and the Italian Market

Lunch and the Italian Market from Fork You on Vimeo.

Another video for your viewing pleasure. This time took the Flip MinoHD along to lunch at Ants Pants with Marisa and Shay. Then Marisa and I headed to the Italian Market for some wondering around (and to buy the cookies that were featured in my Flip vs. Zi6 video).

Watch. Laugh. Enjoy.

Oh, and if you're in Philly you should check out Ants Pants Cafe. It was very good.

The Flip Mino HD vs. the Kodak Zi6

Flip Mino HD vs Kodak Zi6 from Fork You on Vimeo.

Yesterday I posted by first video shot with the Flip Mino HD, which was cool and all but what people REALLY want to see some video from the Flip as compared to the Kodak Zi6. Being the cool guy that I am I whipped up this video shot around the apartment. I used a rubberband to attach the Flip to the Zi6 and went to town.

Marisa thought it was ridiculous, but I am just performing an important public service here.

You can see this in HD by checking out the video at Vimeo.

Yet another video camera: the Flip Mino HD

I have a weakness for gadgets, this is not something new. I seem to have a particular weakness for tiny, handheld HD cameras. That's why I have another one in my arsenal of today: the Flip Mino HD. Here is the first video I cobbled together with it (it is embedded above if you're actually visiting my blog).

My thoughts so far: * The small screen isn't really as annoying as I thought it would be. * The touch sensative buttons are far more annoying than I thought they would be. * The video looks great (about the same as the Zi6 I think) and the audio is good (slightly better than the Zi6 in my opinion).

I'll post more thoughts once I've fiddled with it a little longer.

Blankbaby TV: Let the good times roll

Blankbaby TV: Let the good times roll from Fork You on Vimeo.

Once again I break out the Kodak Zi6 and shoot some video. This time I take some video of my recent trip to Las Vegas.

You can download the original here (though it would appear you have to be a member of Vimeo to download the original. Lame!).

I was on Attack of the Show for some reason

Above is the video from my appearance on last night's Attack of the Show. They had me on the Loop to talk Apple rumors before Apple's WWDC event that starts on Monday.

Luckily for me my segment was only a couple of minutes long since I seemed to have lost the ability to form coherent thoughts. I even called OS X 'the OS X,' like some sort of crazy old man ('Isn't your Apple MAC running the OS X or something? Where's my soup?').

Having seen Attack of the Show before I figured I was going to be one person on a panel during the Loop, which they often do. Imagine my surprise when I was on air, live mind you, and I figured out that it was just little old me and Kevin Pereira chatting about Apple rumors. Kevin did say he was a big fan of TUAW, which is always good to hear.

Thanks to the wonders of technology I didn't have to board a transcontinental jet to appear on AotS, but I did have to walk 5 blocks from my apartment to VideoLink, which has a satellite uplink thingie. I then sat in a green room for a few minutes (there was free candy, but I didn't have any) while I waited for my close up. One of the VideoLink dudes let me know I was ready to go, and I walked into another room with some bright lights, a camera, a table and chair, and a screen on which they would magically show Philadelphia's skyline. I even got to wear one of those in ear mics things, so I that the people on the west coast to talk to me.

A few minutes later and my second television appearance was over. (Note to John Gruber: I was wearing a Daring Fireball T-shirt under my 'ready for TV' shirt.)

When I was all done I walked into the green room to retrieve my umbrella and I was greeted by an older gentleman who was wearing a suit, though his coat was off. He was very busy looking into a mirror and applying makeup to himself. Looking up at me, with a sponge full of makeup in his hand, he said, 'How'd it go? You didn't shoot a booger out your noise or scream fuck, did you?' I acknowledged that I had not, in fact, yelled any profanities and anything that was in my nose at the start of my segment remained solidly in place until the end. He explained that he was a lawyer in Philly and he often appears on CNN to talk about legal stuff. I asked about the makeup and he said, 'I learned long ago if you don't do this you end up looking like a vampire on TV.' Since I hadn't applied any makeup to myself before my appearance I can only imagine I looked like a vampire (though vampires don't have reflections, so they can't be caught on film, right? Take that, Mr. Lawyerman!).

All in all, I had fun and I don't think I came off too badly. Here's to being on TV more often!

Fork You: Brine! Fire! Turkey!

Another Fork You is available for your viewing pleasure. The good folk at Orion were kind enough to send us one of their cookers and produced the best damn turkey I have every had. Seriously, if you have an outdoor space you need one of these cookers.

This episode is the first in a 3 part series about Thanksgiving, so stay tuned for the second installment on Tuesday.

No Fork You today, but check out the latest Slashfood in the Kitchen

Today's Fork You has been delayed because I didn't feel like editing it last night, and I am working late tonight, however, that doesn't mean you can't get a hit of Scott and Marisa today. Check out our latest episode of Slashfood in the Kitchen. We pick some apples and then make apple sauce and an apple crisp.

Oh, and as a special treat for Blankbaby readers here is the episode in glorious QuickTime (it looks much better than it does on the AOL player).

And can I just say that Slashfood commenters are much nicer than TUAW commenters (though neither can hold a candle to you, Dear Blankbaby readers).

Thanksgiving in October

Another day, another Fork You filming. Marisa, myself, and our intrepid crew gathered today in a small house located somewhere in South Philly to film not one, but three episodes of Fork You. That's right, we had Thanksgiving in October to prepare for 3 weeks of Thanksgiving madness over at Fork You (and we'll be filming one more episode this week dealing with leftovers to round out the month of November).

Thad manned my camera and took a bunch of pictures which are viewable in this set at Flickr. We have so much fun filming Fork You, it is no wonder we keep doing it despite the fact that it takes lots of time, and a good bit of money, to put together.

We made a ton of food, and so the call went out over Twitter for hungry people. Roz, Bart, Bart's sister, Ruth, and Annie heeded the call. Lots of food, and lots of laughs later, the Fork You filming was done.

New Fork You, and announcing In the Kitchen with Slashfood

I've been a busy, cranky man of late. I've been staying up way past my bedtime for the last few days cranking out video podcast after video podcast.

Last week we posted not one new episode of Fork You, but two (meatloaf, and the one that proves I have better taste than Marisa). Today comes two more new episodes of foodie goodness, but only one of them is a Fork You.

First, the Fork You crew paid a visit to The Spring Gardens a few months back, and we have finally had time in our production schedule to get the episode up. This one really showcases our great new camera. Doesn't that footage just make you long for a garden of your own? Thanks to Stephan for taking time out of his schedule to talk to us:

The other video Marisa and I posted today was over at Slashfood, Weblogs' food blog. Some of you might know that I'm the head honcho over at TUAW, a Weblogs Inc blog that covers all things Apple, and Marisa is a Slashfoodie. It would seem that Brad Hill, the big Man at WIN (that's what the cool kids call Weblogs, Inc) had caught wind of Fork You (mostly from my Tweeting I would imagine) and he liked what he saw. Thus began a very long discussion about Marisa and I making Fork You for Slashfood with a couple of key differences:

• It wouldn't be called Fork You


• We would get paid for it (instead of it costing us money

We were hesitant for a few reasons, but it mostly boiled down to the fact that we like having complete creative control over Fork You. We can say or do whatever the hell we want, and we don't have to ask anyone (as long as we both agree, that is). Brad suggested we do 2 episodes of Slashfood in the Kitchen (that's the name of the podcast) and we figured what the heck. And so I give you the first episode of Slashfood in the Kitchen:

At the moment it is only available via AOL's video sharing site, Uncut. I hope to get the QuickTime file up soon so that it will be an actual podcast.

Oh, and the picture up above has nothing to do with either of these episodes, but I think it is a good picture of me.

Fork You Season 2, Episode 1

Looky here, another episode of Fork You, and this time we're talking coffee. Peet's was kind enough to send Erica Hess to talk with us about the ins and outs of making a good cup of coffee.

This episode also marks the debut of our fancy new camera, and our second season! If you do watch this episode, bigger is better... so instead of watching it here watch it over here (or click this link for the QuickTime version).

Fork You 13: Bart's Bag of Mystery

Another Fork You is online for your enjoyment! This one took a while for me to finally get finished, but we're hoping to post an episode a week for the next two months (which might kill me, though it was my idea so I shouldn't complain).

Oh, and we're working on some other things to keep the ball rolling.

Fork You 12: P'unk Ave P'anini

Lookie here, a new episode of the world's best cooking podcast that I am involved with: Fork You! The good folk at P'unk Ave invited the Fork You crew to their space to film an episode, and we couldn't say no!

If you would like Fork You to film an episode at your home, workplace, place of worship, or Villa please let us know!

Fork You 11: Krazy Kebabs

I am a little late in posting this to Blankbaby, but better late than never! We have posted the latest episode of Fork You which you can either watch here, or download it over at Fork You.

This wasn't the episode we set out to make that day, but it came together nicely (if I do say so myself!).

Fork You 10: Sassy Salsa, Groovy Guac

Another Fork You! is available for your viewing. This time we made salsa and guacamole on Jen's deck (thanks again, Jen!). Watch it, you know you want to! Oh, and if you want to sponsor Fork You, or know someone who might, email me (my email address is really easy to find).

Quick Fork 11: Summer Spirits

Click To Play

Another day, another episode of Fork You! This time around Marisa and I (and the Fork You crew) gathered on Jenn's roofdeck (thanks, Jenn!) to make 3 different summery drinks. If you have ever wondered what is in a Pimm's Cup, this Fork You is for you!

You can watch it above, or download the QuickTime version.

Fork on the Spot 1: Presto Pesto

Click To Play

Summer is here, and you know what that means: summer foods! It also means that the brave Fork You team has ventured outside to do some filming (and unlike our previous attempts, you can understand what we're saying!). This time around we (and by 'we' I mean Marisa) make pesto pasta and a summer salad full of tomatoes and basil.

This Fork You wasn't planned (shocking, I know, to find out that most of them are planned) and so we invited a new category for 'em 'Fork on the Spot.' This episode also marks the debut of our newest Fork You team member, stellargirl. She doesn't appear in the episode (it is all about ME) but she was the one that inspired us to make it, and she served as a culinary expert. Now she has been assimilated into the team.

It is an exciting time in Fork You's history (short though it may be), and we're working on some very cool stuff. Stay tuned.

Fork You 9: Rub Your Breasts

That's right, another episode of Fork You has been unleashed. This time Marisa and I make some chicken.

The show's title has garnered a little criticism for being, perhaps, too racy. I think it is brilliant, but I also thought of it, so that should come as no surprise. I mean, I was talking about chicken breasts... and we do rub them in the show. Makes sense to me.