Back in the late 90's I was always the guy to take a stills camera on a shoot, or to various travel destinations. The result was usually a few snapshots, such as of our exhibit booth setup or a group shot after we wrapped.
As the 21st century took hold I continued the tradition with a range of semi-pocket sized digital still cameras. Our first one was a Kodak 1 megapixel unit - for video resolution it was actually pretty good. I got the camera suggested by a colleague who did a doc about the Shroud of Turin.
While the resolution and size of digital cameras has increased, the ease of taking snapshots in everyday situations has not.
Enter the camera phone. Now it is commonplace to grab your phone and take a pic of anything and everything. Since the phone is always with me, I find myself taking pictures of the mundane to the interesting to the merely useful. A phone that takes stills is certainly more useful than a DV camcorder that takes stills. Although a still camera that takes video is another story for another blog. Although the videos from the phone, while low res, are high on convenience and add to the magic of easy access image collection.
Thus, over the past few years, my phone cam has become an extension of my own short term memory. Indeed, I find myself snapping pictures of things that seem interesting at the time, but which I will A not remember and B not have time or inclination to take with a better more obvious camera. And sometimes C you get something just by happenstance that becomes an unexpected treasure.
So take my hand, walk with me, down the road of days gone by.
The places I know, the dates I don't, the phone it does not lie.
I barely knew 2006 the time it really flies.
2007 was the year we had to say goodbyes.
But through it all my trusty phone,
Recorded calls and friends I've known.
And always will I cherish what my brain has not remembered.
Chicago - 2006. Our big medical convention of the year. Love the architecture.
One last visit to Boca Raton - where we spent 20 years of school vacations.
Happy times spent with those we now miss.
Childhood memories embraced by adults!
I always send my wife an action pose before my next trip.
Who could possibly remember a parking garage location a week later?
Making good use of time away.
Landmarks...
Unknown, but worthy of admiration...
Good meals (this is fondue before the fondue)
Not so good meals.
No explanation needed - but seriously folks, who wouldn't want a hot Kosher snack at any time of the day?
One of my old 2 megapixel images wound up on this book cover!
Conventions
Circa 1997
Circa 2008
________________
More Action Shots
Office Renovations
So long VPR-80 - I hardly knew ya!
The Unexpected
This would have been nice at higher quality, but I just don't carry a camera everywhere I go, such as to the Costco parking lot where this was taken!
And of course, everyone takes lots of pictures of their pets. Right? Anyone? Oh well.
Now with the memory clear (on the phone and in my cerebral cortex) I can head off into the sunset knowing that my future memories will be captured for safekeeping.
Thanks for sharing.
Mike Cohen
Posted by: Mike Cohen on Sep 1, 2009 at 4:33:08 pm
Lately, for some unknown reason (caffeine) I have been staying up late. Too late. Oddly, after stumbling to bed around 1am I manage to wake at 6am, hit the snooze bar exactly 4 times, allowing my body to wake up on its own schedule, and still get to work at a reasonable time. A cup of extra bold from the K-Cup machine, a bowl of bran flakes (watch enough colon cancer videos and you'll tolerate the woody texture), and hit the road to the office.
Usually the last thing I do before bed, after my continuing search for the "end of the internet" is to check my work e-mail. This way I offload any of the unknown unknown worries until morning. Sometimes this check-in shows someone else's pending emergency, so I can be ready in the AM, or even fire off a quick note saying "no worries, we'll get it done" or whatever.
This particular evening, there were no such emergencies. Rather, just the knowledge that Friday was an easy few hours in the office then out on the road for a quick narration session.
Friday - The Wee Hours
Rusty, the Abyssinian, does laps around the pillows. Occasionally he puts his nose to mine, and gently taps my cheek with his paw. Cute. Meanwhile my dreams progress in the usual fashion. Namely, totally bizarro. I'm in high school, no wait, that's college...now I'm at the hospital for a shoot...but it's the wrong hospital, I was given the wrong address...I go into the OR and it is my wife having surgery...but she's not sick...I turn the corner and there is my beloved Grandma Hilda...she doesn't seem to know that she is not alive, but that's okay, it is always good to run into her in my dreams...we chat often, it brings me peace and restful sleep.
And then, just past the lucky charms tree...BEEEP BEEEP BEEEP...THWACK! as I hit the snooze bar.
Friday - Wakey Time
I drift back to sleep, sometimes dreaming about whatever random thought was in my head, sometimes just tossing and turning...my body knows when it is ready to move into a non-prone position, and that time is not here yet....BEEEP BEEEP BEEEP - damn, another 9 minutes has gone by...KERTHUNK, take that snooze bar. Amazingly the GE clock radio I got for high school graduation is still ticking. That alarm has helped me get to dozens of classes, lectures, exams, shoots, weddings and funerals on time....more pseudo-sleep passes. BEEEP, you get the idea...Was that 3 snooze cycles or only two. To tell you the truth in all the tossing and turning I've lost track myself. It's either 6:18 or 6:27.
"All I ever wanted, all I ever needed, is here..in my arms. Words are very, unnecessary, they can only do harm..." My wife's ring tone circa 1985 tells me it is 6:30, followed by "Mike, it's 6:30, you have...wait...menu, calendar, view week...a shoot in the Bronx. Oh and when you get a chance, can you make me a coffee, and toast me a muffin, and feed the cats, and slice me an apple and mail that package by the door."
Yes, of course. Amazingly, I do all of these tasks, and get out of the house by 8am - no coffee today for me.
Usually, the first thing I do when I go downstairs to feed the boys (cats - you take what you can get) I grab the Blackberry and check for messages. This is a slippery slope, because like this particular day, things can get complicated. Before bed, I was content to know that the next morning I had only to do some quick edits to a video then get on the road. After the cursory message check, "not so" became the order of the day.
Emergency 1 - we need a location contract for a shoot in a few weeks. No worries, I will simply modify the last such document we had to create, get it approved by legal and off it goes - hopefully. But that is an additional task to complete before 10:30.
Emergency 2 - the CD-ROM interface sent out for approval is no right. Again, no worries, that's why you send out mockups before moving to programming.
Emergency 3 - help our intern finish a draft of a DVD, to hopefully send out. This is not really an emergency, but just something else to do. Give him a template for DVD case slipart, a label and show him how to troubleshoot the Encore DVD project and then burn an ISO.
With these things done, I still had to do those edits. Well, I know the material pretty well, and I can easily differentiate a gastrojejunostomy from a jejunojejunostomy, so all is good in the world again.
10:35 - 5 minutes behind schedule - damn.
Hit the camera room, make a quick mental checklist, then grab each item and place on the floor outside the door:
PD-170
Shotgun mic
camera case
power supply
Sony Lav mic
2 25'XLR cables
microphone stand
small tripod with camera plate
orange extension cord and power strip (you never know what kind of room you are going to be in)
Laptop, mouse, power supply mousepad
Pen and paper
hmm, that seems like everythi....TAPES!
Ok, grab a small luggage cart, carry everything to the ION and get on the road. No time for gas, coffee or lunch, gotta be in NYC at 12:45.
Stopped in Danbury for gas, gas station coffee (I love that whipped hot chocolate/capuccino machine) and a couple of donuts form the drive-through donut kiosk, then back on the road.
84 to 684 to the Saw Mill. Windy road, hairpin turns, and the lady in front of me was either on the phone, doing her makeup or drinking coffee, because she kept hitting the curb and very nearly drove into the Saw Mill River in Chappaqua.
Got to my destination just in the nick of time. Get the gear, leave the keys with a man who claims to work in the garage, get the elevator and head inside.
Went to the conference room, setup my makeshift recording studio/editing suite (a laptop and microphone - but that sounds so lame!).
Shotgun mic gets the best sound in a noise room (uncontrollable HVAC, shut off plasma screen and any fans I can locate), plus a lav for backup. My job is to monitor what is being spoken, and make suggestions for re-reads, knowing what material I will need for the edit. Sorry I can't get into more detail on the content.
Once setup, got the material I needed, packed up, and reversed the process.
Only problem is, Friday + 5pm + Greater NY = Gridlock. After the split to the Hutch it cleared up a bit, but then the 684 interchange was busy. Smoother sailing until Brewster, then the Danbury gridlock from the NY border up to Newtown was a nightmare. I stopped at Trader Joe's(good food cheap) and Stew Leonard's(animatronic animals + groceries) for some quality food, and to get out of the car for an hour.
Home finally around 7pm. Cook dinner (spicy orange chicken with stir fry veg and rice noodles), then sit down at the computer, not to relax yet, but to do two more tasks that didn't so much creep up earlier in the day, but that would never have fit into the schedule. Download 7 videos edited by a colleague, review them before sending the client a download link. Then download another video from another project, review that and send to the client.
Finally at 10:05 I can relax. Watch some HD videos on Vimeo (check out Philip Bloom's videos) then remember that I wanted to write a blog post before bed. And now it is 1:34am and I was wondering what I could possibly have to do late at night on the internet. Maybe I'll search for a video about fitting a round peg into a square hole. In other words, fitting more into a short period of time than there is actually time to do. Or at least trying.
Seems there are 217 results. None very interesting or relevant.
So now I will brush the pearly whites, hit the hay, and close my eyes, touch noses with Rusty, then see where my dreams take me, as this strange journey continues.
Thanks for reading.
Mike Cohen
Posted by: Mike Cohen on Jun 19, 2009 at 10:00:33 pm
When preparing for a shoot, a trip or a trip to a shoot, one must visualize the known knows and anticipate the known unknowns. A little bit of planning plus confidence in your abilities and you are off to a good start.
Recently I have discovered Live Maps - a more detailed online mapping service - excellent when planning a driving route in unfamiliar territory. Normally Google maps with and without the satellite view is adequate. But sometimes it is hard to tell where highway exit and entrance ramps are - fairly important to have nailed down before getting in your rental car in a strange town. See the following examples of the same location to see the difference:
This week was a quick 24 hour trip to Toronto - just as much traffic as New York but more spread out. I flew out of LaGuardia in NY - a trip I can do with my eyes closed. No sign of any geese so that's a good start. An Air Canada mini jet makes for a quick 1 hour jaunt across Lake Ontario - wait for the tripod tube, and hit Canadian customs. When carrying commercial goods, even if they are not for sale, you need to declare your items to customs. There are two ways to do this: 1. Purchase and properly use a ATA Carnet, or 2. Get an invitation letter from your client and hope that is enough. I went with option 2 since all I had with me was my operating room tripod - I rented the rest of my gear locally. If carrying my own camera I would go to customs in the US before departing, get the Carnet stamped or whatever, and do the same in my destination country, then reverse the process for the return trip. Next time you have an international trip here you go: http://www.atacarnet.com/
Speaking of customs, I get a bit paranoid about losing my passport, so a trip like this calls for my travel pants. The Zippered pocket is roomy enough for wallet, passport, phone, pen and plane ticket.
Now for the exciting part. 1 hour of flying + 3 hours of driving = not much fun.
First stop, downtown Toronto to Vistek, the Bexel equivalent of Canada. Picked up a HVR-V1U and a JVC 9" monitor.
Next stop hotel about 15 miles North of downtown. The maps made it look pretty easy. The maps did not however depict the wall-to-wall traffic in all directions. Oh well, good thing I left plenty of time in the schedule. One advantage of traffic congestion is the opportunity to drive around neighborhoods and check out the local architecture. Toronto as it turns out has some pretty classy areas, with lots of brick.
As usual, I choose a hotel with free coffee in the lobby, and within walking or short driving distance of shopping/dining. Since it was only 6pm, I had some time to kill and no laptop. I found a bookstore and then a wine bar/restaurant. Drumroll please...and here as expected, is one the famous Mike Cohen camera phone food pictures:
Now to the hospital for the shoot. 6:30am - a late start! Three patients on the schedule, huge operating room, helpful nurses - we like nurses! - life is good.
This I can do with my eyes closed - the "known knowns." Change into scrubs, setup the camera and monitor, get the right angle, ask questions, follow the action, drink coffee. This particular institution offered complimentary coffee, snacks and lunch for not only the staff but for the patients. Nice!
I reversed course - gear in car, drive back to Vistek, return the gear, browse the 3-levels of photography heaven...Turns out the EX1 and EX3 are a lot bigger in person, and very poorly balanced for hand held use.
I don't get too much time to visit B+H in NY, so any time I can browse such a showroom I'm a happy camper.
...then gas up the rental car, find the rental facility, van to the airport, and check-in. I generally book late flights home, not knowing the actual schedule until a few days before the shoot - too late to book tickets a reasonable rate. No worries. Air Canada has a pretty fair pricing system - $50 to change to an earlier flight to the same destination.
You actually go through US Customs at the Toronto airport - presumably there is such a volume of US bound passengers the NY airports would be overwhelmed. Thanks Canada, always thinking of us!
With an hour to wait I spent my remaining Monopoly money on food, got on my plane - this time an Airbus - read a little, slept a little - landed 3 hours earlier than originally planned - luggage, car, yadda, yadda yadda...
Home by 9:10pm as opposed to 12:30am. Very nice indeed.
Having had a shoot on Friday before Memorial Day Weekend, I shall now return to the office after a week to capture and edit and then continue planning the next shoots wherever that may be - one thing's for sure, it won't be anywhere near home!
In summary, adequate planning combined with actual feet on the ground experience makes the knowns confirmed and the unknowns into known knowns. You know what I'm saying?
Thanks for reading.
Mike Cohen
Posted by: Mike Cohen on May 27, 2009 at 8:24:47 pm
Mother's Day weekend 2009 - sorry Mom, I will see you soon! Duty calls.
Two weeks ago, or whenever my last blog post was, er, posted, I did a site survey and client meeting in advance of this past weekend's trip. After months of editing on a new crop of videos, we made a detailed list of pickup shots needed to complete these videos, and shots to cover some new scripts recently green-lit for production.
As usual, the locations for our projects are far from home. But thanks to modern air travel, it is mostly easy. i say mostly because modern air travel has a few problems:
Airplanes. Faster than driving, probably safer. But I like to know what I am flying before I book my ticket. Airbus A320 or 737 - good. MD80 or Turboprop commuter plane - not so good. Mini-Jet such as the Dash 8 or Embraer 90 are good choices for short flights. Preferentially I pick an aisle seat behind the trailing edge of the wing on the right side - supposed to be the safest spot on the plane.
I listen to the safety lecture and reach under my seat to see if there really is a life vest. You never know.
Lost luggage. Lost luggage is ok if all you are missing is your electric razor and iPod charger. Lost luggage is a big problem when it includes tripods and DVCPRO tapes. Last time I checked, my neighborhood big box store was out of stock on DVCPRO tapes. Thus, it is a good idea to arrive early enough in the day to give your airline time to locate and deliver your luggage.
Luckily on this trip, we all got all of our bags.
Carry On Luggage. A shoot like this has a lot of luggage. There have been debates on the Business and Marketing forum about Shipping vs Checking gear. We always check our gear, but sometimes I think otherwise. Checked bags cost a lot each way, meanwhile carry-on restrictions are getting...restrictive.
Hotels. While I have stayed in many spectacular hotels over the years (Fontainebleau Miami, Ritz Carlton New Orleans, Sir Francis Drake San Francisco, and of course the grandiose Washington Hospital Center Guesthouse) the more you pay, the less you get. Let me explain. Luxury hotels give you plush bedding and nice toiletries, but you also get the privilege of buying a cup of coffee whenever you feel like it and the $19.95 breakfast buffet in the morning. Oddly, table service at fancy hotels is especially slow.
On the flip side, budget hotels designed around business travelers, such as Hampton Inns and Holiday Inn Express, the less you pay the more you get.
Free coffee and tea 'round the clock in the lobby and in many cases a free breakfast buffet for all guests.
Free in-room and in-lobby wi-fi is a rarity in a fancy hotel(wired/expensive), but at the previously mentioned variety of hotel, it is expected. A nice business center featuring comfy chairs, computers and free printing is another bonus of the budget hotel. Certainly there are super-budget hotels like La Quinta or Super 8, but I have seen free buffets and wi-fi and pretty low prices.
Dining Options. When booking a hotel, with or without a car, it is important to scope out restaurant choices ahead of time. In an effort to save costs, finding decent dining within walking distance of your hotel is a good idea. A nice meal plus round trip cab fare is less nice. On this particular trip, we picked a Hampton Inn on the edge of downtown Denver, just a few blocks from the 16th St Promenade, similar to the 3rd St Promenade in Santa Monica.
In other words, closed to traffic, decent selection of restaurants, and a smattering of street performers and homeless guys begging for coin. We actually saw a robbery in progress at a 7-Eleven with police in hot pursuit. Better than Southland, that's for sure. Only problem with walking to dinner, after a 12 hour shooting day on your feet, is walking BACK from dinner. Well, the beer helps you fall asleep in advance of the next day's 6:30am call time!
On the flip side, some downtown areas are pretty scant when it comes to restaurants. A recent trip to Phoenix for a convention produced limited options for dining without a cab ride. In all fairness to Phoenix, I have had some very good meals east and west of downtown - no offense. Sometimes after a day standing up at a convention center, the last thing you want to do is travel far to get some grub. Room service, hotel dining, or a local dive is sometimes a better choice.
People make fun of me, but if I get a good looking meal (hopefully good tasting) I snap a photo on my handy phone cam.
The Shoot Itself. We have a unique location - a hospital.
Depending upon the shotlist, we may be in the OR, patient holding areas or central supply. A helpful crew of volunteers, use of supplies and the ability to start and stop with the exception of surgery (I have occasionally asked a surgeon to pause what he is doing for a tape change) are all important elements. Also important is of course knowledge of your capabilities. Look at a setup, know where to park the cameras, and know if when you stop tape you have what you need.
Another part of being prepared is being prepared for anything. It is a long walk back to the office for a missing piece of kit, so on these trips we take everything. Thus the trusty blue Porta Brace bag is packed to the gills with extra mics, XLR cables, AC cords, camera power supplies, blank tapes, a portable mixer and the trusty wireless kit. Just make sure you keep track of the wireless transmitter before someone goes to the bathroom or worse - home.
Safety is also important when you have smooth tile floors, lots of cables and lots of people wearing floppy shoe covers and face shields.
Monitoring what you get and occasionally checking playback is good peace of mind.
With the shoot complete, a celebratory meal, and a brief night of sleep, it is time to wake up early for the flight home. I am well past the age of taking a red-eye home. Although LAX at midnight is a nice trip back to 1960. Sometimes my eyes play tricks on me.
Return the rental car, check luggage and stock up on pre-packaged sandwiches and bottled water for the flight home.
Call the valet parking hotline, take the shuttle bus, pack my gear in the car and drive home.
Next day return to the office, fire up the Falcon and check voicemail.
After a shoot like this, we have a lot of tapes to digitize.
But before that, just like looking at your double prints after a pre-digital vacation, you check the tapes and see if you actually got anything on tape.
Good stuff. The AJ-D700 is still a great camera after all these years. And the V1U speaks for itself.
In summary, as discussed ad infinitum on this blog, travel is wrought with details and potential problems. But with careful planning, teamwork and a little bit of luck - and a good night's sleep, free coffee and good meals - you can look back and smile. Thanks for looking back with me on this one. It was fun.
Mike Cohen
Posted by: Mike Cohen on May 13, 2009 at 5:57:57 pm
The usual edit bay (we used to call them edit bays back when an online editing suite resembled the bridge of the Enterprise. Today an edit bay resembles a computer desk - results may vary - consult your pharmacist)…The usual edit bay may or may not have a window. Very often the only light is dimmable track lighting, perhaps a lava lamp and the soothing red glow of the mouse.
My particular office is just that - an office - in which we happen to do editing.
Office Half of my Office
Edit Bay Half of my Edit Bay
Lately my colleagues have been using my editing station for their HDV projects, since I seem to be caught up in non-editing work and the computer seems pretty stable. To clarify, much of my non-editing work is planning for future projects in which I may or may not do the editing, as well as all the other stuff that goes into a multimedia project besides the actual production work - this is called Project Management and is in fact my primary job function. Thus an office with a window, task lighting, an overhead fluorescent that is never used, a potted plant or two and a generous drawer full of snack products makes for a more productive work environment.
As also described in almost every post, one thing my job does include is not being in my office very much! While my days away, excluding excessive amounts of travel time, are scheduled pretty tightly, the travel time itself, hotel time and time spent in a fuel tank with wings suspended seemingly by magic 7 miles up afford the opportunity to actually be productive…maybe.
The ability to use a laptop for anything more than watching a movie depends upon several factors:
1. Leg room - this may sound trivial, but the ability to extend one’s legs fully makes the experience much more comfortable.
2. Seat reclinability - along the same lines as leg room, the more you can recline your seat, the better. Even an extra inch or two frees up your elbow joints so that your hands rest in the proper position on the keyboard. This is where keyboard shortcuts in your editing app are really important.
3. Tray table extendability - some seatback tray tables extend away from the seat on rails, some don’t. Although your elbows need to be crammed into your neaghbor’s kidney, the extending tray allow you to extend the laptop screen to a viewable angle. Given the high reflectivity of my Dell’s screen, viewability is key.
4. Timing with cabin service. You must be skilled in handling a hot drink with one hand while protecting your electronics with the other. A good strategy is to boot up the computer as soon as the bell dings, then when you see the drink lady(or guy) coming, close the laptop and place it, get this, on our lap, then lower the tray table to protect the computer. When your drink arrives, grab the cup not with your hand in the usual cup-holding position. Rather, place your pinky and ring finger under the cup, your middle finger and thumb on the sides of the cup, and your index finger on the rim of the cup. This affords the most stability against spillage for a cup filled to an unknown level with any beverage.
Once you have the drink in hand, drink it as fast as possible then stash the empty cup in the seat pocket, and retrieve your computer from its protective zone.
5. Extra battery - if it is a long flight, or if it is a short flight and you are doing something that is battery intensive, such as editing or rendering, extra juice is important. My Dell Vostro came with a small battery. I added a 2nd larger battery and try to keep both topped off at all times. Make sure you set your battery alarm so you know when you have about 10% left, giving you time to shut down and change bricks.
Once you are situated, hydrated and ready to work, aside from the T-Rex arm syndrome, you can go about your business. While I usually choose an aisle seat for easy access to the snack counter (what, you don’t fly Emirates Air?) a window seat lets you occasionally have a look out at the heavens above and the clouds below. You can indeed be both productive and relaxed in your edit suite with a view.
Thanks for reading. It is time to turn off my portable electronic device. Good thing I fully charged my
Posted by: Mike Cohen on Apr 20, 2009 at 7:10:47 pm
"Don't they do these surgeries in Connecticut," my wife used to ask me. Well now she and I have accepted the fact that video shoots and conventions tend to happen everywhere but Connecticut.
Inevitably, this travel has everything to do with airports, airlines, middle seats, tray tables, lighted signs and placards and free cups of ice with a splash of soda! Here are some anecdotes that might help you should your job take you to the friendly skies:
Security
Back in the pre-9/11 days, you would check-in at the counter and be asked two security questions: Did you pack your bags yourself? Have your bags been in your control the whole time?
These were kind of silly questions. Yes I packed my bags. No I did not maintain control of my bags while they were in the valet parking bus cargo hold. As it turned out on that fateful day, packing your own bags could in fact be a bad thing, depending upon what you put in them.
Today of course we are not asked who packed our bags. Rather, we take off our shoes and donate untold tons of multi-tools and nail clippers to the government. Hey, better to be safe that sorry. Anyway, depending upon the airport, this process can take anywhere from 10 minutes to half an hour. They should have a line for people who have never been to an airport, and a line for folks who do it all the time. I actually take off my belt and deposit my phone and wallet in my laptop bag while I am still at the check-in counter. It is actually amusing to see other male and female travelers getting their kit back on just past the security checkpoint.
If you travel with video cameras, laptops or other difficult to identify electronic goods, prepare to easily place them into the plastic bins and wait while they are x-rayed multiple times. "Nice video camera" I hear almost every time. How shall I respond? "It does the job" usually...er..does the job. While the posted signs only tell you to remove video cameras an laptops, I tend to remove video decks, portable hard drives, and anything that looks like a radio frequency transmitter, such as a wireless mic radio frequency transmitter. Again, better to put everything out in the open than to raise suspicion and delay the line. Courtesy for your fellow travelers is a priority of frequent fliers. I have been known to advise elderly patrons to remove their metal wallet chains and oxygen tanks before entering the magnet!
Excess Baggage Fees
If you travel with more than a carry on, a personal item (another word for a 2nd carry on) and 1 checked wheely bag, you should be prepared to pay for it. Here is a typical conversation on most non-Southwest airlines:
Debbie: How many bags will you be checking sir?
Me: 8
Debbie: Just you traveling?
Me: Yep
Debbie: I am going to have to charge you $175 extra. Is that ok?
Me: What choice do I have? It's cheaper than taking another person.
Debbie: How would you like to pay for that?
Me: Nickels and dimes.
Debbie: Is that a joke?
Me: Yes. Here's my credit card.
Debbie: Thank you. Now sign here, here, here, here, here and here.
Me: Here?
Debbie: Yes.
Me: Here also?
Debbie: Yes.
Me: Here as well?
Debbie: Yes.
Me: Where else?
Debbie: Here.
Me: Oh, I see. Here?
Debbie: Yes.
Me: Ok, thanks for your help. Have a pleasant day.
Back in the day airlines sometimes offered a media discount. The conversation would continue:
Me: Do you have a media discount?
Debbie: Are you in the media?
Me: Sure.
Debbie: Who do you work for? Fox News?
Me: No, a private company.
Debbie: Oh, do you have a business card?
Me: Here you go.
Debbie: Hmm, let me get my supervisor. David, can you come here please?
David: Media discount eh? Do you work for the news?
Me: No.
David: Well then I can't do this.
Me: I got the discount yesterday in Hartford.
David: Is that so? Well maybe you'd like to come back here and do my job for me.
Me: Great idea. I haven't earned minimum wage since high school.
David: Why you!
Seriously, there was some obscure secret code only accessible on green CRT mainframe computers. I had about a 50-50 chance of getting the discount, and usually only in one direction, which made my expense report look even less organized.
More Security
"What's in this heavy case?"
"Camera equipment," I reply.
"Ooh, do you film the Hills?"
"Yep, I'm going drinking with Spencer and Brody later. You wanna come?"
"OMG - I love those guys!"
"How about this large metal tube? What's in there?"
"Rocket launcher?!"
I am not making this up - before 9/11 I actually had pilots make that joke about my heavy stainless steel operating room tripod.
It's all business these days. Be nice, be honest and be patient.
Emmanuel Lewis and Scott Baio in unison: "Now that's what I call flying the friendly skies!"
Smiles all around, cue theme music.
We know that you have many choices for internet blogs. Thank you for choosing Creative COW. Enjoy your stay wherever your final destination may be.
Mike Cohen
Posted by: Mike Cohen on Apr 14, 2009 at 7:57:11 pm
This old adage is often repeated by the likes of Norm Abrahm and my dear departed Uncle Ted (you know they named a school after him - no joke). It is wise advice indeed. Just as relevant to production as it is to carpentry and limb amputation.
Planning for a video shoot can range from client meetings, detailed SOW's or as simple as basic preparations the night before - usually a combination of long-term and short-term tasks.
The night before a shoot, whether in a hotel room or my living room, follows a typical ritual for me:
1. Eat a healthy, hearty, bland meal. The last thing I want to be doing mid-shoot is wanting to leave the room. Pasta with a little butter and grated cheese often fits the bill for me. Fish or poultry sans a rich sauce is another good choice. Carbs and protein is a good combination in advance of hours of standing in one place.
2. Top off the camera batteries. Thankfully, Sony Lithium Ion batteries last for many hours and have little memory effect. Thus I use every available plug in my living room and kitchen to top off both cameras, the clam shell deck and the still camera battery.
3. Lately I have gotten into the habit of pre-labeling blank tapes. You never know when you are going to be rushed in the morning. The worst thing you can do is stick an unmarked tape into a camera and start rolling. Inevitably you will quickly change tapes and forget to label the first load - not good. I take more than enough tapes on a typical shoot. You never know, aliens could invade and wouldn't you know it, we would have yet another UFO landing shot with a cell phone camera. Well that will never happen to me.
For the typical surgery shoot, knowing the type of surgery I can anticipate how many tapes I will need, and then pre-label a few extra as well.
Another reason to pre-label tapes is the mini-DV tapes we use have two inserts in the tape case - a label sheet and a "precautions for use" sheet, both of which tend to be stuck to the back of the tape via static cling - most inconvenient when changing tapes in an austere environment such as the OR. Thus, these annoyances are safely left behind along with the cellophane wrappers.
I lay out the blanks in symmetrical pattern, remove the tapes and label them with the date, camera name and tape number. There is a 99.9% chance that this will be the only shoot on this particular date, so no further naming convention is needed:
4/13/09
V1U_1
Location, Location, Location
If I am driving to my location, chances are I have been there before. However believe it or not, there are a few hospitals that even I have not been to - yet. Back in the day, circa 1997, I would print out directions from Mapquest or Yahoo Maps. The only problem with these services, and to some degree with Google, is the preponderance for silly directions, just to save distance, not taking into account logic or actual driving experience. For example:
Take Left on Main St. South for 1.5 miles.
Take Right onto I-84 West for 18.5 miles.
Exit right onto Mill Plain Rd. for .02 miles.
Enter I-84 West and continue 100 feet to Exit 23a, NY City.
Take Slight right onto 684 South for 1 mile.
Exit right onto Middle Road Turnpike for 1.2 miles.
Enter 684 South for 152.5 miles to Philadelphia.
Etc.
See what I mean.
Enter the 21st Century and Google Maps(or GPS). Now it is ever so easy to find your own directions, print out your own maps in as much detail as you like, and of course you can not only see satellite images that would make Jake Ryan jealous:
But you can in many cases get a street-level view of your exact destination.
Amazingly this exact hot dog cart was right where it was supposed to be. I was disappointed to see that the price of a pretzel has gone up $1.50. Must be the economy!
With my batteries charged, my maps printed and my ghrelin levels satisfied(look it up), it is off to bed for a few restful hours dreaming about what I always dream about the night before a shoot - going to the wrong location!
It's only a dream. I planned ahead!
Thanks for reading.
Mike Cohen
Posted by: Mike Cohen on Apr 13, 2009 at 7:25:18 pm
Stress is a natural part of life. Even happy events like a wedding cause a lot of stress. As discussed at length in this blog, air travel and travel in general causes plenty of stress. Planning a video shoot and dealing with clients of different levels of detail-orientedness are more ways to lose one's hair. Luckily, I haven't got much hair left to lose. This means I need to find other ways to decompress. Here are some ways:
1. After an especially stressful phone call with an angry mob, get up, walk outside and walk around. Even in the dead of winter I have bundled up in my ski jacket, hat, scarf and gloves just to get some air. If it is warm, go for a longer walk. In the Spring and Summer I try to walk half a mile every day during my lunch break, or whenever I need a break.
2. Get a massage. We have the advantage of having a great massage and acupuncture studio right next door, so at least every couple of months a deep tissue massage really gets me relaxed. Sitting in a poor position at the computer for days on end is not good for the neck, the back, the eyes or the hands.
3. Keep healthy snacks at work. You are what you eat - it is an overused expression, but true. If you keep your desk drawer stocked with candy bars and soda cans, you will feel even worse after your 5 minute sugar high. I need to work on this area of my own life, however i recently switched from high carb granola bars to flavored rice cakes. They take some getting used to, but are filling but low in calories. This Summer I plan to keep some fresh fruit at work as well.
4. Drink. I'm not talking about what you do after work - I mean hydration during the day. A narrator once told me that every time he takes a sip from a bottle of water he tries to drink at least 1/4 of the bottle. That's a lot of bottles of water, but we have a well and the water is pretty good. Do you need 8 8oz glasses per day? Who cares about specific quantities. Drink so you don't feel thirsty. I can tell you at the end of a well hydrated day I am a lot more relaxed when I get home. Alternately, when I get home and snap at my wife, she instantly knows I haven't had enough to drink that day. Know thyself, because your spouse surely does.
Keep a nice selection of teas at hand also. I especially like green tea, but flavored teas can be a nice breath of fresh air too. If you can find tea in a silk bag you know it's going to be good.
5. Exercise. For a while I was going to the gym before work. It took discipline to wake up early, make lunch, make a protein shake for after the workout, grab clothes and a clean towel and get out of the house by 6:30am. I did it for a couple of months last year. This year I think I'll do my workouts at home to save some coin, but still need to get disciplined. A good workout before work, for me anyway, does wonders for my energy and concentration. Last Summer I kept my bike in the car but did not use it enough. Lots of resolutions this year. I'm not getting any younger!
In hotels where I am staying for more than one night, I try to take a swimsuit and a t-shirt. Last October in San Fran I actually went for a swim after a long travel day - it really helps. In airports, you can pay for a bad airport massage, but the best thing to do is just walk around. After sitting in steerage for hours, why sit down in the boarding area if you have some time to kill. Walking around a big terminal like DFW or BWI with a camera bag over your shoulder is a pretty good workout. Again, stay hydrated. Don't rely upon the free cup of ice they give you on a plane. Buy the biggest bottle of water you can find, once through security of course, and drink it. And get the free cup of ice.
6. Stay healthy. This is always a challenge. Stress makes you more likely to get sick. Airplanes, hotels and gyms are full of germs. Despite your best intentions, you will eventually get sick. As I write this I am recovering from a nasty virus, no doubt picked up somewhere between FLL and BDL.
Not much to do except let it run its course and eat lots of chicken soup. Here's my recipe:
1 Pre-cooked rotisserie chicken (I like Costco) - you're sick, this is much easier than cooking a chicken.
Let the bird cool in the fridge a bit, then tear off all the meat.
Take the bones (not the body, just the wings, legs, thighs) and sear them in an empty pot.
After a few minutes, scrape the bottom of the pan and add enough water to cover the bones. Let this simmer for an hour. Skim off any flotsam that comes to the surface.
Meanwhile, in a larger soup pot, add finely diced celery, onion and carrots. I use a lot of all three. Over medium heat, sautee with some butter or butter substitute and some olive oil. Cover and let it go until soft. Then I add some sliced mushrooms and all the chicken meat, give it a good stir, then add a little water, and stir it again.
By now the broth should be ready. Place a fine strainer over the large pot of veg and meat, and pour the broth through the strainer so you just get the broth. You can either pull any remaining meat off the bones or throw them away - they have done their job.
Now you can add some salt and pepper, parsley and thyme if you like, and simmer for half an hour. Then dig in.
My wife likes dumplings - they are dead easy.
1 cup flour sifted. 2tsp double acting baking powder. Enough dry parsley so when you mix it all together you can see the parsley.
Make a well in the bowl of dry ingredients, crack an egg and beat it gently with a fork. Now fold in the dry stuff and then add just enough milk so the mixture is combined but as dry as you can keep it. You're not making bread here.
Get your soup up to a simmer then with wet fingers, drop dollops of dumpling mix into the soup. About the size of the OK sign you make with your fingers. Once all the dumplings are in, cover the pot and simmer for 11 minutes and 11 seconds. It's the steam the cooks them, not the boiling liquid (it should not be boiling anyway).
When the time is up, dinner is ready. Enjoy, and shake that cold.
Thanks for reading. I'm gonna get me a bowl of that soup.
Mike Cohen
Posted by: Mike Cohen on Apr 5, 2009 at 3:02:00 pm
I have blogged before about the fun and not so fun parts of travel for business. Over the past few weeks I have combined business travel with some mini-vacations.
Standup comics like to make fun of the airplane safety lectures and airplane food (airplane food, what is this 1973?). I won't try to match the clever punchlines of Ray Romano or Jerry Seinfeld, but last week in Ft Lauderdale I had my own Seinfeld moment. My wife and I were visiting Miami for a conference at the historic Fontainebleau resort, to be followed by a few days with my parents in Del Boca Vista. We got our luggage at the airport (2 rolling suitcases, Lowel lighting kit, blue Porta-Brace gear bag, tripod tube and the trusty Rock-n-Roller hand truck, not to mention carry on bag containing two Sony cameras, digital still cameras and laptop. Went to the rental counter. I made a reservation weeks in advance to rent the car at the airport and return it in Miami. Sounds simple enough.
Apparently a reservation need not mean "reserved car." There were no cars available, and no idea given as to when there might be cars available. "It's Spring Break, sir, and people do not return cars on time." Mmm, hmm.
After about 35 minutes of waiting, along with about 20 other disgruntled renters, I approached a local non-national-chain counter. Royal Rent-a-car had cars available. Lots of them. Weird. I took one, a Dodge Charger, and we were off.
Later in the week I thought about writing an e-mail to the rental company, but many times, these customer service e-mails are dead letters. The company's website had no phone numbers listed aside from the reservation line, and no mailing address. I found it hard to believe that this international rental agency could not be contacted. Fear not, we now have a service, freely available, for finding the kind of information that does not want to be found – the internet! Too bad Tommy Lee Jones didn't have access to the internet back in 1993 – he would have found Harrison Ford in a heartbeat!
A quick search on my favorite search engine revealed the phone number for the executive offices of the elusive rental company. I called, left a message, and within 24 hours received a call. I explained my situation, and rather than a heartless apology, I received a $75 credit towards a future rental and a number to call before I rent a car with them in the future, to ensure there are cars available. This is great customer service. Or perhaps the executive office understands that customers need to be treated with respect. You never know when one of your customers might blog about a bad experience on the so-called internet!
The conference went great and my wife and I had some time to get to know each other again. We then proceeded to Del Boca Vista, slept not on an old sofa bed but on a new pillow-top mattress, enjoyed some early bird specials and had some good conversations with my folks.
When reservations work well, life is good. When things go in another direction, you need to have a backup plan, and don't let bad experiences deter you from future travel. Indeed, inefficiencies seem to be part and parcel with air travel. Things are getting better, as you will read in a future post entitled "Welcome to St. Louis Spaceport. Please maintain control of your gravity boots."
Stay tuned.
Mike Cohen
Posted by: Mike Cohen on Mar 29, 2009 at 3:07:36 pm
Many of my blog posts include mentions of food. Alas, a good hearty meal before and after a shoot is a good idea, especially since you are on your feet for 8-14 hours a day. If you are one of the 5 people who have read my blog from the beginning, you may see some repetition, but in the great tradition of "the man who made lists", I shall make a list.
Boston
I have had a few conferences and numerous shoots in Bean Town. There are enough hospitals in Boston to care for millions of people. One of my favorite restaurants is in the North End and is called Limoncello. Rumor has it the owner won Powerball and opened this restaurant with his winnings. Good move. The butternut squash ravioli are worth the trip. Next time I'm in town my gluten-aversion will be placed in my hotel room safe and I'm there. The owner treats every guest like family. A trip to the North End would not be complete without a trip to Mike's bakery for the best Italian pastries this side of the Atlantic.
Connecticut
Although I have lived in CT since 1990, I rarely eat out. My wife and I prefer to cook at home. When we do go out, it is usually a special occasion. For fancy schmancy eating, we have a few great steakhouses. However steakhouses tend to be pricey, so these are not frequent destinations. Carmen Anthony's Steakhouse in my hometown of Waterbury, CT is supposed to be pretty good. Don't tell Carmen, but we like the Outback!
Texas
Speaking of steak, what better place to sink your teeth into some dead cow than Texas (sorry Bessie). I have been to Dallas the most number of times. There are some great restaurants there. Most recently I was there for a conference, so that meant 4 nights of fine dining. Ok, so I didn't have a big steak dinner on this trip, but bear with me. Il Sole, arestaurant and wine bar had a prix fixe chef's menu featuring 3 mini entree items, including braised short ribs and a dessert, each accompanied by a glass of wine. The food was astoundingly good. As for my ability to walk straight, luckily I had taken a cab from the hotel! Another great place is Uncle Julio, a Mexican restaurant serving a combination of classic dishes and dishes you would never expect to see at a Mexican joint. As for the classic steak place, there are a few good choices in the West End, just a stone's throw from the grassy knoll. Oddly, I usually find myself having Cajun at Pappadeaux at least every other visit. Overall, there is no shortage of good eats in Dallas.
Now if you want a great steak, travel downriver to San Antonio. The famous Riverwalk, as depicted in film classics like Cloak and Dagger with Dabney Coleman, is a mecca for tourists, and mediocre restaurants. Here's a tip - ask a local for a good restaurant. And by "local" I mean someone who does not work at your hotel. Kids working at the hotel desk making $8 an hour don't go out to eat. I asked my local colorectal surgeon for a recommendation, and he led me to Little Rhein Steakhouse. Housed in the first two-story structure in San Antonio, it was here that I had the reigning Mike Cohen Best Steak of All Time World Champion. I can't explain it, but this tenderloin remains the tastiest hunk of cattle I've ever eaten. I recently experienced #2 (see San Francisco below).
We can skip Houston since that was another wannabe steakhouse, and move on to greener pastures.
LA
In LA, and any other city with a PF Chang's, I choose a meal there if I have the time and the choice. Other good meals have included Gladstone's right on the beach in Malibu, where you can see the odd movie star knocking back raw seafood if you keep your eyes peeled, but a nice sourdough bread filled with clam chowder makes a nice early dinner, if you happen to be catching a red-eye and have the afternoon to kill. On my most recent trip, pre-red-eye, I had a bowl of hearty Guiness Stew and a pint of the main ingredient at you guessed it, an Irish Pub. Could have been Finn McCool's. I have enjoyed this same hearty meal at pubs in San Diego (The Field in the Gaslamp area) and Toronto (Irish Embassy on Yongue St).
San Francisco
You can throw a dart at a map and likely find a good restaurant. There are too many to name them all. My dad always asks if I am going to Scoma's down around Fisherman's Wharf. I have been there once, but the wait was not worth it in my opinion, although I was by myself. More recently I have discovered the E and O Trading Company, a trendy fusion restaurant and Ideale, a simple wholesome intimate Italian eatery in North Beach. The list goes on...
Seattle deserves a quick mention for the odd 13 Coins - again, if you have time for dinner before hitting the airport, this place is in fact, across from the airport. The decor is unique and the menu is roughly the size of the Yellow Pages.
Other unique eating experiences have included:
Phoenix - Haus Murphy's in Glendale. Glendale is a little village with lots of "antique shops" if you take "antique" to mean "tag sale." Hey the place was packed.
St. Louis - The trendy Central West End has a few good restaurants, an historic old art deco hotel and a surprisingly gourmet supermarket called Straub's. From the outside it looks like Big Bob's Beer and Groceries. On the inside it is Zabar's. Look it up.
Omaha - Aside from the great zoo (Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom ring any bells?) the town has a "warehouse district" filled with shops and restaurants. If you are ever stuck there with no earlier flights home available, you won't go hungry.
Philadelphia - Another town with an abundance of great dining options. You have to try Geno's or Pat's for cheese steaks. If you are looking for a nice dinner, head over to Rittenhouse Square and you will find a number of cool places.
Ok this is getting old, let me finish up. Hey, can I please get another soda. Thanks
Cities one might not equate with fine dining
This is a misleading statement, because most cities large or small have a few local eateries that are both well-known and good, even to a non-local.
Tampa
Bern's Steakhouse. Here I go with the steakhouses again. Oh well. I saw this one on the Food Network. You walk in and the 1960's velvet wallpaper hits you and you wonder when the scantily clad ladies will begin to parade into the room. But I was with a female co-worker, so I knew there would be no shenanigans. The main dining room is low-key, dimly lit but the real magic happens after the meal. The food was typical steak house - a bit pricey, but good. I had the filet mignon and the onion soup. When you order your dinner, you need to make reservations for dessert and the tour. Let me explain. Betwixt dinner and dessert, you get a guided tour of the kitchen, the salad station, the indoor live fish tanks and the wine cellar featuring a $10,000 bottle of something dusty and old. Apparently there are more fish tanks on the roof. Perhaps the proximity to Busch Gardens and Sea World got the better of the owners, but no worries. After dinner you are taken upstairs to the dessert dining room. The seating consists of cozy booths made out of disused wine barrels. In each booth is a Jetson's control panel that lets you pick your mood music, select the live piano music or even use an intercom to send requests to the pianist. I don't know if this is still the case as it has been a while since I was there. Definitely a memorable meal. On a more recent trip to Tampa I discovered the Fly Bar in the up and coming yet not quite there yet downtown area. They have a nice selection of small plates, including Boneless Kobe Beef Shortribs. Youch!
Orlando
Ok, so Orlando is known for a lot of restaurants, however many of them involve costumed characters. That being said, if I happen to be in town for a few nights, I cannot help but visit my favorite Disney Resort, the Polynesian, and have dinner at O'Hana. The grilled meats on skewers may be similar to Brazilian restaurants, but the view of the Magic Kingdom fireworks show makes it extra special. No admission required. Plus you can take a free monorail ride after dinner.
I could continue with a list of cities and restaurants, but these are the memorable ones. Then there are the cities I never see in the daylight - arrive, get a car rental, find the hotel, find a meal (Olive Garden (blech), Macaroni Grill (glauch), Bertucci's (hmm, sometimes ok) don't get me wrong, chain restaurants can be ok but we have those at home. What we don't have at home is a Duo of Elk Filets or Buffalo Prime Rib. Nice.), go to bed, wake up at 5am, go to work, get out get to airport fly home, get home at 1am, eat beans on toast.
In the end, we need to eat. A hearty, healthy alcohol free meal the night before a shoot is a great idea. A hearty meal with a celebratory drink after a successful shoot is a nice reward.
May I interest you in one of our locally made desserts or a cup of coffee? Perhaps you'd like to try the cheese plate? No, ok then let me get your check. Please tip generously, waiters often make minimum wage.
Thanks for reading.
Mike Cohen
Posted by: Mike Cohen on Dec 28, 2008 at 6:09:56 pm
Attention ladies and gentlemen. Thank you for choosing Creative Cow Airlines. We have a few important safety reminders for you. Please stow your belongings in the overhead compartments and keep the aisles clear. Please observe the lighted signs and placards to the left and right of this blog...
Last week I had to go to New Orleans for some pickup interviews and b-roll. I booked a reasonably priced ticket to fly out on Sunday, got to the airport early, paid my $140 for luggage. Let me stop there. In an effort to keep ticket prices down, US Air now charges $15 for the first bag checked, and it goes up from there. Excess baggage fees have always been a staple of travel. Back in the 90's when I was flying with my herniacam and sciaticapod, 3 to 5 checked bags was the norm. These days with DV and HDV cameras, we check a golf club case (tripod, cables etc) and in this case a light kit and small luggage cart. I stuffed my change of clothes and toothbruch in the tripod tube. But $15 for the first bag? This will only dissuade people from flying.
Next to security. Place laptop and DV camera in a bin, place shoes on belt, place belt in shoe, place laptop bag on belt, place camera bag on belt, walk through magnet, wait for items from belt, carry all to seating area, get recombobulated. No worries. I had to chuckle that the old lady in a wheelchair was made to take off her shoes and walk under her own power through the magnet. I feel safer already!
Next to board the plane. You would think 50% of the passengers had never been on a plane before. Certainly there are some first time flyers, but the guy who took my camera bag from its spot in the compartment over my seat and shoved it forcibly into a smaller spot elsewhere so he could shove his own bag into my original spot had clearly done this before. In a highway driving situation, this is like cutting someone off or passing on the right. Oh bother.
Next comes the drinks. Coffee is now $1, soda is $2. Still cheaper than the prices in the terminal, and possibly incredibly profitable for the airline. I got the coffee, and was actually offered a refill for free.
My connection was in Charlotte, America's Front Porch. I don't know if that is the actual slogan, but this airport has weary travelers in mind with its free wi-fi and abundance of rocking chairs. I had a 2.5 hour layover, so this was a nice benefit.
As you can see, I used my time wisely:
Arrival in NOLA was uneventful, albeit muggy. Rental car pickup no problems and the ride to the dreaded French Quarter an easy drive. I say dreaded not to be mean, just because first impressions go a long way. Even before Katrina, the approach into downtown New Orleans has been a bit rough. These days with the abundance of boarded-up buildings and dilapidation, Canal Street has looked better.
That night I ventured up Bourbon Street, and remembered why I hate Bourbon Street.
Good dinner at the Redfish Grill then back to the suite. Next morning after a $27 room service breakfast I tried to follow the directions to the hospital, but got a tad lost. I did get to see some of the Garden District, including some nice homes, some smaller homes and a few piles of debris that were once homes.
The shoot itself went as planned, although it was Monday morning in a busy medical office, so there was a fair amount of waiting. I simply setup in a doctor's office and waited for him or her to become available.
After a full day at the hospital, and some giggles with the residents, we headed to the Park across from Tulane to get some shots of the doctors hanging out with their kids.
Next back to the hotel, dinner at Bayonna - an excellent restaurant away from the madness, and then back to the hotel once more. This was something called hanger steak - I'll have to look that up. It was goood.
Tuesday AM I got to the airport, got on an earlier flight for only $50 (the US Air telephone system wanted to charge $150 plus an unknown fare difference). A visit to Starbucks for an overpriced coffee I can make at home for 30 cents and back home in CT by 6:30pm.
The drive back through Hartford reaches its apex with the view of a skyline I have called home (not really home per se, but more figurative as representing my home region) since 1990.
Impressive, isn't it!
Overall, no hassles and some good food along the way is always a plus. Indeed, regardless of the destination, and with appropriate expectations, business travel can be the big easy.
Thanks for reading, and happy flying, wherever your final destination may be.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Cohen on Sep 28, 2008 at 1:33:06 pm
Not all travel is by aeroplane. No sometimes we need to drive. If you do mostly local production, you are always driving. If you are like me, your gigs are anywhere and everywhere, although we do have a lot of shoots in Boston, NY and Philadelphia.
A big concern at the moment of course is the high price of fuel. I can't take a long car trip without adequate fuel in my tank, and one must make this a priority, or you might not get to your destination. I am of course talking about coffee and the very best gas station sandwiches money can buy.
A decent (or at least luke warm) cup of coffee, an iPod full of the latest podcasts and the occasional highway rest stop make for a tolerable journey. Given adequate fuel for the body, of course fuel for the vehicle is essential, and regardless of the price at the pump, you have to transport yourself to the job.
I have to laugh when politicians and the media announce "gas has hit $4 a gallon." Obviously these folks have not visited Connecticut.
I was behind another car from out of state and noticed a kid lean out the window to take a picture of this gas station's prices. They thought it was a novelty, I took a picture because I needed one for this article!
Given the increased price of everything, I am amazed that tolls on the Mass Pike have been the same since I started driving. Another disparity exists in hospital parking lots. I realize that everyone needs to pay their lease and property taxes, but prices range from free to $40 per 8 hours. At least most hospitals take credit cards, but a few demand cash, and have an ATM located elsewhere in the hospital for your convenience.
All of this is the cost of doing business, although I'm not sure the egg salad sandwiches were part of my budget!
As the sun sets ahead of me, I approach Hartford and the lovely traffic jams ahead of me. Another journey at its end, and another pile of tapes to digitize.
Thanks for reading.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Cohen on Jun 28, 2008 at 12:06:10 pm
Memorial Day weekend arrived in the US, indicating my 4th annual trip to Cape Cod for a much needed vacation. The weather was pleasant, the roads were relatively empty and my brain appreciated the chance to recharge.
I set out this year to take fewer pictures than usual, but make them more interesting as a result, and I left my video camera at home, forcing myself to relax a bit more. I also rented a bike and took some nice rides along the Cape Cod National Seashore.
The lobsters were sweet, and I tried some new recipes in the kitchen, watched some DVDs (Gone Baby Gone - thankfully Ben Affleck is a better director than actor; Revolver - Guy Ritchie has lost his mind, although kudos to the editors) and one theatrical movie (Indy IV - Speilberg did the best he could do with the story and George Lucas' proclivity for over use of green screens - the New Haven scenes were fun).
Although I took my laptop, to keep up with e-mails regarding the next few weeks' shoots, the cottage's wi-fi failed after two days. I did ride my bike to the town library to check e-mail on two occasions. This is what I enjoy most about vacations in Wellfleet, MA - I can ride a bike or walk into town.
No highways.
Cool ocean breezes.
Sand.
Seashells.
Apollo 11 had the right idea: Tranquility base here, the Eagle has landed.
Next post, back to work...
Thanks for reading.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Cohen on Jun 3, 2008 at 4:28:40 pm
Over the past two weeks I attended several medical conventions as an exhibitor.
First was a meeting for laparoscopic surgeons. Last week was a combined meeting of surgical program directors and coordinators, held in Toronto. The unique aspect of the exhibits at this meeting were the uses of multimedia technology aimed at surgical education.
First, of course, the Cine-Med display featured our latest books and our online video libraries, and a demo of our forthcoming Multimedia Atlas of Surgery. At this meeting, the most popular items were the books. Particularly a book about improving communication techniques for surgeons. The ACGME has mandated that surgical education serve one or more of six core competencies, including communication and professionalism. This book covers these two competencies. Click here if you want to see more:
http://cine-med.com/index.php?nav=books&id=COM100
Other interesting displays included virtual reality for surgical skills training. Cine-Med incidentally was one of the pioneers in medical VR, back in the early to mid 1990s. Our simulations required SGI computers costing more than your average family SUV of today. One memorable experience had me at a pay phone at the Atlanta Convention Center talking to our engineer, writing UNIX commands on the back of a cocktail napkin, then running back to our booth, climbing inside the wooden enclosure, typing the commands into the UNIX shell, jiggling some wires and then repeating until things were working. Cell phones in 1995 were not quite something your average person carried around, so payphones and running shoes fit the bill.
Today obviously the simulations run off laptops or similarly equipped desktop computers, sometimes cleverly hidden inside streamlined plastic enclosures. Input devices take the shape of actual or simulated surgical instruments, attached to any number of sensors, force feedback mechanisms or simply viewed with a video camera, as in actual surgery
Perhaps the most impressive use of multimedia and computers is the virtual patient simulator, known as Stan, seen in the lower left. This 200 pound android, developed for the military, has all the vital signs of a real person. You can listen to his breathing and heartbeat with a stethoscope, listen to bowel sounds, feel for a pulse in the neck and wrist, intubate his airway and even administer drugs and fluids. Wirelessly controlled by a Mac, and attached to a DVR with 5000 hours of recording time, the setup is used to train medical students in dealing with a variety of medical scenarios, and then review the exercises in real time. Very cool.
As usual, I spent my off hours exploring the city and seeking out new dining experiences. Unfortuantely I was also dealing with either Spring allergies, a head cold, or both. The first night I went to the Pickle Barrel, an odd restaurant serving deli food, Asian dishes, steaks and everything in between. The next night, exhausted from 8+ hours of standing and sneezing and coughing, I ate at the supposedly well regarded Chinese Dim Sum restaurant at my hotel, Lai Wah Heen. The Duck soup was very good, the roasted walnut beef dish was ok except for the walnuts and the beef, and the service was extremely slow. However watching the parade of roasted ducks (beaks included) and other unique presentations passed the time. The final night I went to the Irish Embassy Pub for a much deserved Irish Stew and a pint of Guiness. You can't go wrong with this combination. Finally Friday's events included a complimentary sit-down lunch at the hotel, then a quick break down and load out, cab to the airport, US customs while still in Canada (?) and an earlier flight back to New York for a drive home.
Thanks for reading.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Cohen on Apr 21, 2008 at 2:14:36 pm
No, that's not the name of a new company - but it sounds good actually.
I actually was thinking of the term "go fast boats" as used in the Miami Vice movie(it has been on HBO in a loop). Basically fast racing boats used for smuggling.
This week was a go fast production week.
Monday - Pack my gear, print Google maps of two hospitals and a client's offices in Massachusetts. Fuel up the Wagon Queen Family Truckster (Saturn ION) for a mere $30, and hit the road. I also hit the library to stock up on books for my wife and hit the supermarket to get her some provisions.
Lately my best friend has been a thermos bottle. I brew some coffee using a French Press, add a few spoonfulls of hot cocoa powder and little milk to the thermos bottle, then fill it up with the brew. This stays hot and comforting all day long. I pull over at every rest stop, or about every half hour, and have a small cup using the screw on lid from the bottle. By doing so, I guarantee that I need to stop at every rest stop for obvious reasons.
First stop Brockton Hospital to visit my dear Grandpa Izzy. After an hour or so of visiting, I hit the road for Burlington, MA. Checked into my hotel, a Candlewood Suites. I specifically chose this hotel because it offers a microwave, fridge, stove and even a dishwasher. Although only staying for two days, it is much more enjoyable to me to have breakfast in my room. The hotel has a little food pantry with non-hotel prices for cold cereal, milk, muffins, cookies, cans of soup, juices and the like.
Tuesday - Meet client at a local hospital at 7:30am, get changed into scrubs, get to the OR, setup my gear, plug my DV recorder into the video laparoscope, test the recording, then go to the cafeteria for some toast and mediocre coffee, then back to the OR for the case. Lately I have been shooting surgery with 2 cameras - one overhead, one on sticks.
After the case, I packed up my gear and went back to my hotel to check e-mail, make some phone calls and grab a sandwich. Then I headed back to Brockton to see Izzy for a few more hours and help move him to a nursing home for a (hopefully) temporary stay.
Next day was up to the client's offices for some tabletop product shots, lunch, and some more shooting and brainstorming.
Wed evening I drove back to CT, with a few stops for bad gas station coffee (I may need to start traveling with my French Press and a 12 volt water kettle for the car) and a stop at Trader Joe's for some raspberry jam and gluten free pasta. Got home, not really hungry, I watched this week's episode of New Amsterdam and part 3 of the fantastic John Adams miniseries. Check it out.
Thursday AM - Fire up the trusty laptop, plug in a USB hard drive with 300 gigs free, and capture all my raw footage from this week. While the tapes were loading, I did some more e-mails and did the dishes. Got to the office around 12:45pm and spent the rest of the day on correspondence for other projects, and started chopping up my video from this week. Oh, I also had a conference call at 7:30am!
Thursday evening at home, with the rough narration and script in hand, i cut the first edit of the promo, finishing around 11pm. I rendered an AVI out of Premiere, then used Squeeze to make a WMV file(scaled down slightly from native size - this project is 16:9 SD), uploaded that to our web server for the client to download and shut off the computer around 12:45am.
Friday AM - got to office around 10:30am - more correspondence and followup on other projects, reviewed some DVDs from a colleague, checked the progress on a 2500 DVD in-house duplication project (slow going) and then started preparing some digital stills and graphics for the next edit of the promo. Got home at 5:30pm, watched 2 episodes of Gene Simmon's Family Jewels then fired up the computer for hopefully the final edit of the promo. Final narration from the narrator arrived, new music requested, and some new graphics. Finished at midnight, plus the WMV render got me to bed around 1am.
Now it is Saturday at 9:50am, and I write this blog post while awaiting final edits, so I can make a DVD loop and get to FedEx by 4pm. It is about a 20 minute drive based upon prevailing traffic conditions and weather, so I need to burn the DVD no later than 2:30pm. Presumably i could take the laptop to go and finish burning as I drive, but that's pushing it.
Tonight, as mentioned in my previous post, is the 15 year reunion for my college tv station. Then the rest of this week I get to not drive anywhere besides the office. Joy!
Thanks for reading.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Cohen on Mar 29, 2008 at 7:10:14 am
Twice a year we face "Convention Season." I doubt this would make an interesting documentary, such as Bee Season, but it defines work schedules, deadlines and Yahoo Travel's bottom line.
Every October I attend the American College of Surgeons Clinical Congress, as an exhibitor, along with my boss and other colleagues. Our goal at this NAB of Surgery, if you will, is to exhibit our medical education products, to network with clients, future clients and to support the AV needs of still other clients.
Every 3 years this meeting is in either San Francisco, Chicago or New Orleans.
I have a favorite activity in each of these three cities:
San Francisco - discover new restaurants.
Chicago - Discover new restaurants
New Orleans - Discover new restaurants
In San Fran, I usually head to the North Beach section, which has some great Italian restaurants. However right around the Sir Francis Drake Hotel on Union Square there are a few good restaurants as well.
In Chicago, I try to go to McCormick and Schmick's for seafood. Granted there are branches elsewhere. Nearly any place in town is good. The last time there we tried brazilian and Greek food.
In New Orleans we usually head for the French Quarter, however even before Katrina as well as now, there are some seedy streets just off the main drag. One must be cautious. The last time there, we discovered a decent seafood place right near our Loew's hotel, and we also visited Emeril's restaurant, which was a fantastic meal. At this restaurant, regardless of how many people are in your party, they have enough servers come to your table so everyone is served at the same moment. Nice touch.
One year, 1998, the convention was in Orlando. The Orlando Convention Center, on I-Drive, is much like all convention centers - sprawling and isolated from civilization. This one is especially so - you have to take the chartered convention bus to get there. The hotels booked for the attendees were all on the Disney property. While the hotels are nice, they too are isolated. For example, if one is staying at the Caribbean Beach Resort, and one has a shoot at the Dolphin hotel convention center, and there are no cabs around, one has to take the Disney bus to MGM studios, then take a water taxi to the Boardwalk hotel, then walk to the Dolphin. I could be mistaken, but it was a hassle. i took a taxi back.
This year is San Fran, so good times to come.
As of this writing we are approaching the Spring Conference season. First up is the SAGES (society of american gastrointestinal and endoscopic surgeons) in Philadelphia. I know there are some good eateries surrounding Rittenhous Square. The next week I'm off to Toronto for the Association of Program Directors in Surgery. I have only spent 2 nights in Toronto previously so this will be like the first time there.
All of these trips except Philly guarantee hours sitting in airports, airplanes and hotels. I have blogged about the enjoyment of all three experiences, and I try to ignore these aspects of travel. My sweet Dell Vostro laptop allows me to work or watch movies in any or all of these situations.
Philadelphia will be my first foray into train travel. I have taken the choo choo into New York a few times, but usually I drive to Philadelphia. During the week in question, I need to go on a Monday, have a day of meetings on Tuesday, come home, then return on Thursday until Saturday evening. I'll let you know how it goes.
The final mode of transport is of course the car. Much of my work is in New York, Boston and of course Connecticut. The best thing that ever happened as far as car travel is the iPod. Any MP3 player will do, and I have previously used the MiniDisc and a USB memory stick music player. but the iPod in my case makes a 2-4 hour solo car trip so much more enjoyable. Note to Apple's developers - please invent some sort of thought controlled iPod navigation - trying to use the thumb wheel while driving is actually more dangerous than using a phone. I know modern cars now have voice activated iPod navigation, but most people do not have new cars.
Well, I have to go burn 26 CDs to mail out Monday, so I can drive up to Burlington, MA for a few fun filled days of production.
Mike
PS - if you spend a lot of time listening to your music player, either in the car, plane, jogging track or at work, here are some of my favorite podcasts you may find interesting:
Hardcore History - the host, Dan Carlin, while slightly annoying to listen to for long periods of time, speaks with a passion about historical events.
Common Sense - also with Dan Carlin. In this show the gloves come off and he espouses his centrist political views. I can take about 10 minutes at a time.
Creative Screenwriting Magazine - the editor Jeff Goldsmith interviews the writers of the latest independent and mainstream films. Makes me want to dust off my half-written screenplay and get writing again.
Harvard Business Review podcasts - The title sounds synonymous with the Watching Paint Dry podcast, but there are some interesting topics, especially those featuring interviews with or lectures by entrepreneurs in the technology industries.
Physics for Future Presidents - basically an entire semester of lectures by UC Berkeley professor Richard A Muller - the professor puts complex concepts into terms even a President could understand (pick a President if you like). I have sampled many recorded lectures from Berkeley, MIT and Stanford. Many are poorly recorded and not edited for content, so you get lots of silence as the professor is trying to get his PowerPoint slides to work. but this one is fantastic.
Ok, now I'm done. Thanks for reading.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Cohen on Mar 21, 2008 at 4:26:39 pm
My job entails the following types of trips. I will describe each one in brief and include some memorable experiences.
Overnight Trips
These are generally trips somewhere to shoot one or more surgical procedures. I leave Hartford or LGA mid-morning, or at the crack of dawn if it is a cross country flight. We used to travel later in the day, possibly doing some work on the ground before leaving. However,lately the airlines seem to have improved their baggage losing capabilities, probably due to some new bar code software, so I like to allow extra time should a bag become lost.
Feet on the ground, rent a car, find hotel (thankfully Google Maps have made it much easier to not get lost. Back in the Mapquest or Yahoo Maps days, I found myself getting off the highway for .2 miles then back on the highway, then a slight left onto the same highway, then exit onto Main St for .2 miles, left on Spitbrook, right on Daniel Webster (someone in the Boston area will get that one). Now I just print out several Google map views especially in downtown areas with lots of one-way streets (Seattle, for example).
The rental car maps are usually useless, and way too small to read while driving.
Find the hotel, check in, immediately plug in camera batteries, laptop, iPod, cell phone. Most hotel rooms do not have enough plugs. Short of carrying a powerstrip, I sometimes unplug the TV, a lamp or plug something in in the bathroom.
If I am lucky enough to be in a major city, finding a decent restaurant for dinner is not a problem. If in a secondary city, the mall is sometimes the best bet. Olive Garden is better than nothing...and those breadsticks!
Inevitably I cannot sleep in hotel rooms. I avoid hotels advertising Sleep Number beds - I find those the most uncomfortable beds ever. A trend lately has been pillow top beds, lots of different pillows and high threadcount sheets.
On a recent trip, the hotel was doing construction, and the hotel smelled a bit odd. I complained, but the clerk did not offer any consolation. One night my room really stank. I do not like the smell of aerosol air freshener, so I made a pot of coffee using the free in-room apparatus and coffe grounds. I let this simmer for an hour then shut it off. The smell of freshly brewed coffee was a big improvement.
The next morning is usually up at 4:30 or 5am, get to the hospital by 6 or 6:30, then wait until the first case starts. Assuming the city is east of the Mississippi, I schedule a flight home around 8pm, and land in Hartford around midnight. Feet on ground, get bags, shuttle to valet parking, 45 minute drive home, sleep.
LGA at midnight is not so fun, so first coffee, then 2 hour drive home.
Multi-day Trip
Multiple days on a shoot is usually something besides surgery, such as interviews, documenting a meeting or on-site editing. All of the same principles apply, however it is less rushed, and there is more time to discover multiple restaurants.
Convention
Conventions mean we have a booth at a trade show, such as the American College of Surgeons convention, held in San Francisco, New Orleans or Chicago, repeating each city every three years. Convenient, as I know the dates I will next be in each city years in advance.
The travel day usually gets us there on booth setup day. We take a taxi straight to the convention center and proceed to our empty booth. 50% of the time, the freight shipper is either late or held up in the off-site labor yard, or some such thing. If this is the case, and we do not have our crates, we can grab lunch or see if the hotel rooms are ready.
Assuming the crates have arrived, and there is carpeting and electric service installed, we setup the booth. This takes about an hour to setup the folding displays and signs, and another hour to set out our products, catalogs, brochures and setup our video kiosks.
Once the booth is ready we can check into hotel. However at some meetings I also provide AV support to various clients, deliver DVD loops to other booths, or attend educational committee meetings to discuss ongoing projects and new work.
Conventions usually have one or more hotels associated with special room rates. These tend to be nice hotels, such as the Paris in Vegas, the Sir Francis Drake in San Fran and the Hyatt in Chicago. At the Paris, for whatever reason, I got a free upgrade to a nice room.
On this same trip, I also stayed at the Flamingo for a few nights, as the Paris was sold-out. Here, for whatever reason, the only room they had for me was a suite. It was a shame I had to switch to the Paris, although the rest of the Flamingo was kind of dated.
An advantage of arriving in Vegas a day early was the ability to attend NAB.
Pretty...model!
Cool lights too.
As described above, finding a good restaurant is a key component of preparing for the next day, which is spent standing in dress shoes wearing a tie. Luckily, convention cities are teeming with restaurants.
Obviously, many people who visit the COW visit Vegas for NAB frequently. If you want a unique dining experience, check out Sensi at the Bellagio. It is a bit hidden, but worth the walk. The kitchen is encased in glass and stuck in the middle of the restaurant. If eating by yourself, or with others, you can sit at the counter, and make googly-eyes at the sous chef throughout your meal, and possibly see your own food being prepared.
In his book Heat, Bill Buford advises:
If Short Ribs are on the menu, get them. Short Ribs cook for hours ahead of time and are usually well worth it.
Another memorable convention was the year New Orleans was secretly replaced with Orlando. The Orlando Convention center on International Drive is actually quite a long bus ride from the Caribbean Beach Resort on the Disney property. Walking back to the hotel mid-day to pick up a package is out of the question, unlike in New Orleans or San Francisco. So that aspect was not so good.
However I did discover Ohana, a unique restaurant at the Polynesian Resort. Check it out, especially if you are there with your kids or significant other.
A final memory was a small meeting we held in Jackson Hole, WY. This was a continuing education course for vascular surgeons, consisting of 2 full days of lectures and panel discussion. My job was to videotape the proceedings and to provide AV support to the speakers.
Held at the Teton Mountain Lodge, this was quite a nice venue. My room, as it turned out was in the Best Western next door, luckily on the ground floor of this elevator-free hotel. The room was your basic hotel room. Luckily it included a free sample of an adhesive blister bandage, which I required after taking a hike in inappropriate shoes!
Dinner (here I go again) the first night was at the hotel with the faculty, and was a buffet of various cuts of Elk and other four and two legged creatures. The next night we were guests of the course's chairman, who lived on a ranch nearby. If this is how the other half lives, sign me up! The final night we ate in downtown Jackson, and once again Elk was on the menu. Not quite as tasty as buffalo but still a treat.
In summary, travel can be a hassle, especially with airline procedures, long security lines and delayed flights, not to mention sleeping in imperfect beds. Once on the ground, a carefully planned shoot or meeting can proceed with success.
However there are also opportunities to make the most of your personal time while away. Exploring new cities, taking in local attractions if time permits and enjoying new and familiar cuisines can make the time away enjoyable.
Thanks for reading.
Mike
PS - If you ever have the chance, check out the Omaha Zoo, the Des Moines Botanical Garden, Bern's Steakhouse in Tampa and the Little Rhine Steakhouse in San Antonio - the best steak ever!
Posted by: Mike Cohen on Feb 9, 2008 at 5:30:08 pm
While I have never traveled as much as I did in 2000, my job continues to send me on a few different kinds of trips.
Recently I received a new laptop, with the hope that time spent locked in a metal tube 5 miles up could be a bit more productive than reading the latest Harry Potter book. Oh yeah, we are out of new Harry Potter books, which is a good thing because those things are heavy.
We selected the Dell Vostro. For the price it is a good value. Core 2 Duo, 2gigs ram, 160gig 7200rpm hard drive and thankfully, Windows XP Pro. Loaded up with Premiere 2.0, Photoshop CS3, Encore 1.5 and other useful software, this thing has paid for itself already.
Here are a few other useful programs I have installed.
Audacity - this is an open source sound editor. Very useful for recording temporary narration (scratch tracks).
Bulk Rename Utility - just google that to find it. A handy little app which does just what it says. I primarily use this when dealing with PowerPoint files. Inevitably we are sent long Powerpoint presentations to integrate into a video. Time permitting I redo the slides in Photoshop or Premiere, however sometimes with some tweaking the slides can be used straight out of Powerpoint. Powerpoint exports slides as slide1.bmp, slide2.bmp etc. So open the handy program, set it to change "slide" to "projectname" and in one keystroke it is all set. Then you can import the files into your project.
Another useful application is for digital camera stills, which always seem to be named DSC10034.jpg. Same thing, change "DSC100" to "projectname_" and you suddenly are much more organized.
Video Inspector - this little program will open just about any video file and attempt to tell you what it is. For example, the extension .MPG can be any number of formats. If you just open a MPG file in Windows Media Player, it may play but you get no useful information about it. Video Inspector (there surely are other useful similar programs, probably 100's) tells you the dimensions, the bit rate, the audio format and the codec, if known.
Filezilla - If I am on the road, or just in my living room, I need access to various servers. While Firefox has a FTP plugin, I like using FileZilla. Self explanatory. It tends to time out on the display, even while a transfer continues.
Pidgin - If you must use IM, this is a much less obtrusive app than AIM, which tries to install un-needed stuff and makes noises from embedded ads.
The best feature of this computer is its long battery life. Two batteries gets me cross country, or very nearly.
Most important software is of course Premiere Pro. My first trip with this computer, back in early December '07, was in the midst of editing a job for a client, who was anxious to see the results of the shoot we did a few days earlier. On the flight down to Tampa I managed to get most of the first edit cut, with some further tweaking at the hotel, and then each day for the next few days. I render a medium res WMV file out of Premiere and post it to our password protected client website for easy download.
Given the generous internal hard drive, I was able to use Premiere's Project Manager to create a manageable version of a long-form project and shove it on the laptop also. On my Tampa to Phoenix flight (5.5 hrs) I worked on this video. Granted, my arms are normal length and American Airlines' seats are designed for tiny people, so doing anything besides simple cuts and static titles gets a bit carpal tunnelly. However the 10 minutes of edited content allowed me to make up some lost time on this project.
Finally, while it is sweet to be able to cut video on a plane, or in my hotel room, the laptop also allows me to take work home when necessary. Prior to the new machine, I would take a portable hard drive home and work on my home computer. However, when you move a Premiere Project from one machine to another, it has a hard time finding files.
So here I am, sitting on my sofa, finishing up a project. Much better than sitting in the office on a Saturday evening!
Yes, it's Saturday evening. We're having lamb chops. Stop by if you're in the neighborhood.
Thanks for reading.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Cohen on Feb 9, 2008 at 4:25:57 pm
Hi. My name is Mike. It has been 3 months since my last blog post.
All: Hi Mike.
I have missed all aspects of the COW. I receive my Business and Marketing forum e-mails, but frankly have had little time to read these, or browse the forums or the blogs.
Well, dammit, I pledge to find the time. Here is a little review of what has happened these past 3 months, and why I have strayed from the COW's fertile pastures.
Ooh, that last sentence may have come from a Mike Huckabee speech!
LOL
Early October 2007
With the looming medical convention in New Orleans I have these key projects to finish:
1. Planning for live surgery event Oct 25. Drive to NY to check out the Florence Henderson Theater. Actually it is the Florence Gould Hall, although sometimes it is referred to as the Elliot Gould Theater. Contract with a prominent video conferencing service for lots of clams as Fred Flintstone would say.
2. Wrap up DVD on colon surgery. A hand drawn flowchart saves the day. Encore 2.0 lets you view the project like a flowchart, however I have never gotten Encore 2.0 to successfully build a project without an error, and in some cases the project file becomes corrupt altogether. So using Encore 1.5, a roadmap is the key to avoiding confusion.
It is at this point that I start wearing a hat to work every day, due to the incongrous patches of baldness thanks to the above project.
Oh well, it was a learning experience.
2. Next project is, get this, a DVD on colon surgery. This one is a bit more complicated, as each of 25 surgeons has his or her own chapter, including a Flash interface, video, narration, illustrations and a companion printed book.
Mid-October - Medical Convention, New Orleans
I had not been to NOLA since 2004. The convention center and tourist district are largely unchanged. During the taxi ride form the airport we see a lot of homes with tarps on the roof, and the French Quarter has many many abandoned homes and businesses.
The Loew's hotel however is quite nice, with one of the nicest indoor pools I have seen in a hotel.
A Few Representative Pics from this trip:
My last day there while walking around the French quarter, I called to check on my grandma Hilda. News is, she isn't going to make it. Her first words upon learning this, "Mike is going to miss talking to me." 36 hours later she was gone.
Over the New Year's holiday I started going through my home video collection, cataloguing all my videos of my Grandma Hilda. I feel so lucky that she permitted me to interview her on camera several times over the past 10 years. I recommend doing this with anyone you care about and will miss when they are gone.
Late October, 2007
Time for our big live surgery event. Four hospitals in NY transmitting live cases to the Florence Griffiths Joyner-Kersee Gould Henderson Hall. I find this funny. Two hospitals had full iSDN connections, two had only marginal IP bandwidth available. The ISDN feeds looked good, the IP not so good. We filled the time with some pre-recorded HD surgery. We rented a Panasonic PT-DW10000U HD projector and some XDCAM decks. Of course playing HD surgery after IP surgery is like viewing the Mona Lisa in person compared to using a ViewMaster. Actually, ViewMasters usually look pretty good, so make up your own metaphor.
The next day we rented out the historic Hudson Theater adjacent to the Millenium Broadway hotel. This day consisted of about 40 PowerPoint lectures, panel discussion and a presentation over ISDN from London (cha-ching$).
I couldn't resist taking this shot:
With this big event over with one could focus on the coming tasks for the rest of the year.
Early December, 2007
Fly to Tampa, FL. I have not been here since 2000. Little has changed, although I never actually visited downtown. While the Courtyard is a nice hotel, it is centrally located in a ghost town. Walking at night just a few blocks to a great cafe was like a Twilight Zone episode. You know, the one where a salesman finds himself alone in a strange town...like every episode! Next day I was to shoot 3 surgeries, however the patients were put to sleep before consenting, so I was stuck with the 3rd case of the day, which turned out to be a bad case to videotape.
Next day fly to Phoenix to shoot 4 new videos. This shoot went great. Word of caution, if someone recommends going to a little town with lots of cute antique shops, run the other way and don't look back. Aside from the dozens of what I would call junk shops, Glendale, AZ actually has a great German beergarden and restaurant called Haus Murphy's which made the trip worthwhile. It was also the winter festival, which was a lot like a New England winter festival without the snow.
Well, here we are in 2008 and looking forward to wrapping up some lingering projects and starting some new ones. Now if I could just shake this cold...ACHOO!
Posted by: Mike Cohen on Feb 1, 2008 at 10:00:40 pm
I have a passion for my job, which entails training for medical professionals such as surgeons, nurses and administrators, not to mention various industries.
Technology is great, but know how is what pays the bills.
Years ago I canceled my Media 100 support contract upon discovering what a treasure trove of helpful advice can be found on the Creative COW website. I am proud to be a part of this fantastic community.
Follow me on Twitter: videoeditormike
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