Siliconchef by Brian Richardson
It was a good weekend … but I still have dozens of things to do. Sadly, few of them are related.
People arrived Friday … old friends in the form of Amy & Jeff, new friends in the form of Shannon, James & Ruth (new Dragon*ConTV staffers who make great videos). We got a chance to talk & socialize Saturday morning, even though my sudden onset of severe sinus headache put me out for a few hours.
(add to my to-do list: buy more Tylenol Sinus medication, pick up around back porch, wash towels)
This weekend was the last staff meeting before Dragon*Con. Unlike the three ‘official’ staff meetings, this TechOps meeting was very unofficial. We gathered at Bill’s house, ate grilled foods, talked tech, and otherwise had fun.
(add to my to-do list: look at programming grid, create a camera operator schedule, remind friends I need payment for Dragon*Con hotel room in advance since hotels.com already charged my AMEX card)
We also got the chance to preview our Dragon*ConTV work, the pre-show entertainment we’ve been crafting over the past few months. It went over much better than expected (it all looked good in my head, but it’s nice to know other people like it). We’ve only shown a little of what we have, with several segments still in the works (bumpers, commercials, and some very-long & very-unedited ‘newscast’ segments).
(add to my to-do list: put credits on our finished commercials, re-render the QuickTime files using Pat’s suggested settings, figure out how to make an AT-ST walk down Peachtree Street, finish editing the newscast, setup account on web host so Amy & Geof can help design new website)
Of course, I had to take the camera with me to tape more segments. Thomas once again volunteered on short notice to play newscaster, while others lended voice talent to some unfinished Stormtrooper bits.
(add to my to-do list: edit Thomas’ ‘headline news’ spoof, buy an ‘Attack of the Clones’ style stormtrooper action figure for green-screen taping)
Sunday was a day of departure, all except for Amy who stuck around to help Suzan with her Dragon*Con costume. Some yardwork got done, along with a few good meals & fabric shopping for the good of Suzan’s tunic … but the afternoon nap was a definite plus.
(add to my to-do list: find time to visit chiropractor & fix the back spasms that probably came from shoveling out goat stalls, figure out how my wife talked me into owning animals that are not litter box trained)
Monday brings me back to work … Suzan is home with a cold & I still need sinus tabs to keep my head from exploding. Assuming I stay healthy this week, I might be really productive.
(add to my to-do list: annoy engineers about their slipping schedules, send conference hotel info to marketing, check cost of plane tickets to Taiwan in October, continue writing documentation)
