Cocktail Confessions

Here is the Earthbox video that was originally going to be included in Part III, but for some unknown reason had numerous issues no matter what video conversion package I tried.  So instead of wasting any more time on it than I already had up to that point, I just decided to go with the raw Kodak .MOV format.  If this portion and Part III were combined as planned, the video would have been closer to 7 minutes long, but instead, bother are closer to their 3 minute and change lengths.

In its raw form, it looks and plays just fine, although the very simplistic editing software that comes with the Playsport doesn’t allow you to do too much in regards to effects or titles.  That being said, the title background is black, the font white and no other altercations have been made. 

Anyway, please enjoy this next installement.  I can tell you that we are using both the jalepeno and anaheim peppers quite regularly now from salads and sandwiches to additional ingredients in side dishes and entrees.  As a matter of fact I’ve been slicing up the peppers and sweating them along with some white onions in a pan of butter over low-medium heat with a little garlic salt, and then using this combination with fresh grilled beer brats on toasted rolls and a little provolone cheese.  Delicious!!

This is part 3 of my continuing series of planting and replanting an Earthbox with my good friend Albert.  This video is a little short (just over 3 minutes) as I was having some technical hiccups with the second portion of this video which would have brought it closer to 7 minutes.  The audio track on the second half is really good, but it appears the video portion is randomly skipping and thus either freezes the video playback, or the lip-syncing is way off track.

I’m also using a new video converter here as well called Prism that I downloaded the trial version over at Cnet.com.  The good news is that that it eliminates the watermark that was in the previous videos, however, I notice it’s slightly more pixelated overall.  It’s always something it seems.  I’m surprised how expensive these downloadable video converters are.  I’ve got about 3 of them now to test, but once the trial version expires, they want anywhere from $29 to about $46 to purchase.  It’s a real shame that both Kodak and Sony don’t have a good converter for their hand cams right out the box, seeing that 80% of the those that are buying them are pretty much using a Microsoft base PC and thus need to convert them to .WMV files.

Anyway, enjoy the 3rd video in the Earthbox series, and I’ll try to get the others up sooner than later.

My Earthbox after just 1 month

About two months back I posted Podcast Episode 17 - Earthbox’s with my buddy Al. If you listened to that episode, you’ll also remember that I shot some accompanying video using a Kodak Playsport flash camcorder and I said I’d eventually get around to posting some videos once I figured out how to convert the raw footage and edit them.

Well, wait no further. This past weekend I was able to download a free shareware version of ‘Total Video Converter’ from Cnet.com to see how hard the process was to covert from native .MOV to .WMV formats.

To my pleasant surprise it was actually quite easy. However, because this is freeware, the videos I converted also have a small watermark which is present in the upper left hand corner of the finished video. If I go ahead and decide to buy the full registered version once I decide on getting my own flash camcorder, then the watermark will disappear.  Once in .WMV format, I used Microsoft Movie Maker to edit them further, adding the credits, transitions, text call outs, and finally splicing and trimming them together.  Now I know this is all nerdy, geeky, tech stuff, but now that I have explained it this first time, I won’t tell you about my future endeavors behind the scenes.

To get to the meat, or in this case, vegetable of the matter at hand, I have included two finished video here’s both totaling an approximate 13 minutes if viewed together introducing and showing off an Earthbox and replanting one.  I think it’s very educational, and in the end I hope to have some really good jalapeno and Anaheim peppers along with some very fragrant cilantro.  You can plant just about anything you want given the right soil, weather, and seasonal conditions.  Albert has planted squash, tomatoes, bell peppers, eggplant, various lettuce, and much more just to name a few.  But you can easily plant flowers, other herbs, or whatever.

In the above picture that starts off this post you will see a top down picture of my actual Earthbox that Albert and I planted together and is the subject of this video.  After only about a month, I can say we use the cilantro quite a bit and the pepper plants have almost tripled in size and have just begun growing their fruit. (i.e. jalapenos).  In a few more weeks I should be able to harvest my first home grown peppers and enjoy them on the BBQ, homemade salsas, and much more.

Video #1: Approx. 5 minutes.  Shows an empty box side by side with one that has finished it’s growing season. 

Video #2: Approx. 7 minutes in length and we look at the plants I am about to use, the individual parts and construction of an empty Earthbox, and the concept on how it works.

Future videos in this series will appear shortly as I need to go through the process of converting and editing them.  Look for parts 3 and 4 in the coming weeks.