Storms' a Comin'

Once again I got to the editing bay and thought, "How do I begin?"  Then I thought, "What about all those other projects that are shorter that I could finish before I start editing "Voices?"  So once again I went to the WAV concert and grabbed another tune.  Then I uploaded it to my YouTube channel.  Then I wondered just how many years this is going to take.  The WAV concert was shot with 3 cameras so editing it will take forever too.

Anyway, here is a tune I wrote called, "Storms' a Comin."  It features Scheila Gonzalez Santiago, who played flute, soprano and tenor saxophone on the "Voices" project and plays flute and soprano sax on this tune.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KUD9PP6r1gY&feature=youtu.be

Thanks for watching.

"Ventura"

So, once again, instead of editing "Voices of the Homeless," I got sidetracked . . . again.  I started looking at music video I had shot of my gigs and got sucked into one of them.  I realized, once again, that I'm not ready to focus on editing "Voices" yet.  Hell, I'm still shooting footage for it.  But I'm editing every weekend so I'm getting the hang of this editing thing.

That said, here is my YouTube video of a tune I wrote for the City of Ventura.  It is called, (duh), "Ventura."

http://youtu.be/SIyiDOLZGEU

Thanks for reading and for watching.

Sad News

You know, I've been waking up the last few mornings wondering who I'm becoming.  I used to be a jazz vocalist with a day job that gigged and taught voice and labored through the day at a law firm with people that make no sense to me all in an effort to pay the rent and, well, keep on keeping on.

But now I wake up and wonder where I'm headed.  I'm making a documentary with no money and no experience.  I'm not gigging because most of my attention goes into making the documentary, not hunting for gigs.  I have new goals but it feels like they have placed me in a new Universe and I don't know this place.

And then I get a call from a friend whose cancer may have returned.  Suddenly I am bolted back into place.

So tonight I must blog again how lucky I am.  No, I don't know where I'm headed, and I don't know if "Voices of the Homeless" is going to be as special as I believe it should be, and I'm plagued with doubt and confusion.  But I am HEALTHY.  I have a HOME.  I have a bed every night and because I show up for that odd job every day, there is no issue that I might lose that bed or that home. 

My friend might not be so lucky if her cancer takes her private practice away and she can't pay her rent.  Today on the phone she even used the word, "homeless."

Sometimes I guess the most we can do is just keep showing up, you know?

A Little Scat

So, I'm in the editing booth learning all these new things and I see some old scat material taped the day I was shooting Danny Young for the documentary.  When we were done with his interview he said, "Scat with me."  So I did, and we did, and we put his wife, artist Denise Green Young, on the camera and out came some stuff that doesn't seem quite as horrible as I thought it would be the day we shot it.  If nothing else, check this out for Danny.  He's a wonderful improviser, so you can imagine how great and sensitive he was during the Voices of the Homeless performance.  Here it is:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z5tkeKws9UI&feature=youtu.be

And for any jazz buffs out there, Danny's dad is the famous jazz trumpeter, Snooky Young, who had just passed away about a month before we shot Danny's interview and this music.

Thanks again for watching.

First Video

I filmed and edited this video for practice so I wouldn't sit down to edit "Voices of the Homeless" and ruin it.  I guess I also needed to prove to myself that I could edit, period.  This video is far from perfect but it gives me hope.  I'm so thrilled that I did it.  I'm still scared to start editing "Voices" but now I believe that once I start, the project will be guided and I won't blow it.

For now, please allow me to introduce you to my Tai Chi instructor, Judy Scott.  The running time here is 5.27.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1wBrUfhqf8U&feature=youtu.be

Thanks for watching.

Saturday the 18th

Today is the day.  I finished my first video!  I mean, I've completed the editing.  OK, it's not on "Voices of the Homeless."  I am still too nervous to start "Voices."  This was the first editing assignment I gave myself to prepare for the Big Project.  It is of my Tai Chi instructor, Judy Scott.  It's running time is 5.27.  I even have titles.  :-)  I still can't believe I put it together.  Guess what I named it?  "Judy Scott Tai Chi Chuan."  Catchy, uh?

I am almost sure now that I won't ruin "Voices of the Homeless" in editing.  It deserves good and sensitive editing for the good and courageous people who participated in it.  I'm thinking that I won't let them down.

Now I've just got to figure out how to upload "Judy Scott Tai Chi Chuan" to my Facebook page and to my YouTube page so I can Share this momentous occasion.  As soon as I master that one, I will blog again.

But for now I am thrilled that I don't have to turn back the clock and become a 10-year-old in order to accomplish the task of editing video (though having a 10-year-old on hand wouldn't be a bad idea).  I will figure this out myself.  I'm a Big Girl.

Couldn't Wait

Seems I can't wait until the weekend to finish up on my first editing project.  I'll be using my lunch hour tomorrow to run to the station with my hard drive, edit for all of a half hour, and the run back to my day job desk.  I can't get the shots off my mind.  I can't get the flow off my mind.  I never thought it would be this rewarding.

Don't get me wrong, I'm still scared to start editing Voices of the Homeless.  But I'm getting closer and closer and closer to the reason I joined CAPS-TV in the first place and the reason I started learning how to use a camera and an editing program.  And that was to make a documentary about brave homeless people who shared their stores themselves and the sensitive jazz artists who improvised music behind them.  I love this project and I love these people.

Excited

Now I am REALLY excited.  I can't believe I am getting the hang of this editing thing.

Yesterday I spent another afternoon at CAPS-TV and came very close to finishing my practice video editing project of a 5-minute promo for my Tai Chi instructor, Judy.  I am loving the way it is turning out.  Needless to say, it is FAR from perfect, but it looks pretty nice just the same.

I also noticed that the more mistakes I made, and the more help I needed from Evan at the station, the more I was learning about the editing program.  AND I noticed how completely anal I was about getting everything Just Right.  I was literally shocked at how easy things were going but OMG I am so picky . . . at everything I do!  LOL

And then I forced myself to hit two potential jazz venues to look for gigs.  I guess you might say the gig search was my reward for working hard because both venues are wineries, both were in the beautiful Malibu mountains, and both required wine tasting.  Not a bad deal if you have to look for work.

I believe my first editing (practice) project will be finished by next Saturday when I have the editing bay booked next.

I'm starting to believe I'm confident enough to begin editing Voices of the Homeless.  I'm even starting to believe it might not suck.

Sick or Not

I suppose guilt is good for something.  Even feelings of failure have their place from time to time.  I suppose anything that gets us off our duff to do something good . . . is good.  So with that in mind, runny nose or not, I'll be putting press kits together after work tonight.  Tomorrow I'll be editing and, hopefully, finishing my first practice video project before I begin editing Voices of the Homeless in earnest.  And then afterward, I'll be driving down to Malibu to a winery with jazz-singer-press-kit in hand promoting myself for a gig.  If they aren't interested, at least there will be wine to taste.

Sometimes you just have to keep going, you know?

Sick of Being Sick

First came the termites, then came the paint fumes from my office at my day job.  And then came The Flu.  Got that under control and now it's a head cold.  Grrrr.  I'm sick of being sick.  I'm guilty as hell for not gigging.  I'm suffering through those feelings of failure for not having the energy to shoot myself out of a canon and get everything done at once.  I feel like I have no accomplishments.  Whine, whine, whine.  I'll be back at the editing bay this weekend.  Free editing time with free equipment and free help.  You can't get much luckier than me.  And yet today, I'm convinced I'm a failure.

I'll be so glad when I get my mojo back.

Editing

I can NOT believe it.  I did some editing today.  I really did.  I sucked it up, sat my fanny down, and plugged my hard drive into the editing bay at CAPS-TV Ventura.  And then I started.  I only had to cry out for help 4-5 times but luckily "Evan" did not get sick of me and my questions.  By the time the place was closing I had found my swing.

I'm really excited now.  Yesterday I was wondering what I could sell so I could find a Real Editor.  Today I think this might just come together.  Sure, it will take months.  But it could happen.  Now I really believe it could happen.

Procrastination

I found a way to procrastinate.  I have asked three more people for interviews.  They are audience members who were all there for the performance, August 21, 2010.  Two of them are in social services and one of the social service people is also a guitar player!

I've got editing time this Saturday, too.  Focus, focus. focus.

Of course, what I really wish I had was MONEY so I could hire a Real Editor and not spend the next several months fumbling around with a mouse and a keyboard and software I'm not familiar with.

Guess it's time to shut up and just keep learning.