The Sky is the Limit!

I recently had the most AMAZING adventure I've EVER had in my whole life. I was sky high...literally!! I finally went skydiving! I have wanted to do this for years, but never found anyone who would do it with me. Who would have thought it would be my crazy hair stylist that finally got the opportunity to push me out of a plane? "A perfectly good plane," my husband keeps reminding me.

My friend came to pick me up bright and early on what seems to be the only day of this summer that it hasn't rained. It was a clear and sunny day, so it was definitely meant to be. Fortunately he was the one who was driving or it may have been the more dangerous travel method of the day. We arrived at the Niagara Skydive Centre in good time where I proceeded to attempt to read a consent form, signed on the dotted line, watched a video (don't really remember that either) and was then led into the hangar where I was to show the instructor, who soon proved to be my videographer, how I could arch and get myself out of an airplane...did I mention my husband reminding me that it was a perfectly good plane?

A flight suit was chosen for me and I, of course, chose meaningful and colour-matching head gear and goggles to go with it.

I was introduced to Tandem Tim, a great person: very experienced (10 years and over 4000 jumps worth), calm, and much to my delight somewhat crazy!! I guess we kind of have to be...also something my husband tends to remind me of frequently. And the fun began! I don't know what else to write at this point, as you just have to watch the video to see how much fun I really had. Please note the open mouth, as I will be the first one to admit that I'm a screamer:) I was told that I could be heard back at the airport - good grief. Anyway, enjoy the flick:

It was the most amazing experience I've ever had in my life. I know I've already said this, but I just don't know how else to describe it while staying somewhat professional if you know what I mean:)

The view was spectacular and meant so much to me, having boated on Lake Erie for pretty much all of my life. To my east, I could see the mouth of the Niagara River and the States side of the lake for what seemed as far as my favourite home away from home: Erie, PA. To my west I could see the "stacks" in Nanticoke and just make out Long Point...fantastic! When the pilot reached over and opened the door to the plane, the rush of air and the rush in my mind and body were equal in power. There was no turning back then! And out we flew, head first with that familiar feeling of amusement park rides, but that is the only second that felt of the carnival sort. Once we leveled out, it was the most surreal feeling - not of falling, for there was nothing with which to gauge descent. The land forms seemed to stay the same size for quite some time. It was just an influx of air, that probably would have helped me breath if I hadn't been screaming right back at it! Then BOOM and we had stopped abruptly, right in midair, as the shoot opened. You really need to pay attention to the video to see what actually happened. I'm not going to write about it, but let's just say that it was a very spiritual experience for me - it was definitely not my day to go to the greater beyond - I was high enough. From then on it was the most calming silence I've ever had the privilege of hearing. I took my goggles off and tried to decide how I was feeling. There was a lump of emotion in my throat and a smile that never faded from my face as I floated, for what seemed like ages, back to reality. This is truly an experience that can't be understood unless it's undertaken by the individual. I'm so glad I did it and thank those who made it what it was. Thanks to Kevin, Tim, Sven, Shane and the pilot with the smile that would make anyone happy:)

Technology:
For those of you who aren't real interested in the Technology PD I've chosen to build into this blog site, feel free to stop reading now:) For those of you who would like to know about DVD conversion read on:

I had no idea how difficult it would be to convert an "already-made" DVD to video files that could be uploaded to my blog. Blogspot allows many forms of video, such as AVI, MPEG, QuickTime, Real, and Windows Media and has a restriction of 100 MB maximum in size. But this obviously doesn't include the DVD format with which I was provided. Once I did some research I saw that my DVD was divided up into three files that represented the different parts it takes to run the video:

• .IFO files, which contains menus and other information about the video and audio.


• .BUP files, which are backup copies of the .IFO file.


• and .VOB files (for DVD-Video) and .AOB file (for DVD-Audio) are MPEG-2 program streams with additional packets containing navigation and search information. Since a .VOB file is just a specialized MPEG-2 file, most MPEG-2 decoders and players can play them. You may need to change the extension from .VOB to .MPG. However, any special features such as angles or branching will cause strange effects. The best way to play a .VOB file is to use a DVD player application to play the entire volume (or to open the VIDEO_TS.IFO file), since this will make sure all the DVD-Video features are used properly.


• **this information was found at http://allformp3.com/dvd-faqs/410.htm

I haven't had much luck via internet searches...of course I want something free. I did find a few freeware apps, but the quality wasn't the greatest (I was reminded of those old Japanese movies where the mouths certainly didn't match the voices) or there was a logo stamped in the middle of the video because I was using a trial version.
These sites offer "free downloads" but in the end they are just a trial version and you need to buy the full software for them to work properly:

• http://www.avs4you.com/ I swear I got a virus from this one - grrrrr...


• http://allformp3.com/isofter-dvd-ripper-platinum.htm

Here is a forum that offers all sorts of advice regarding video conversion software:

• http://forums.digitalpoint.com/showthread.php?t=23341

Adobe Premiere Elements proclaims to have video conversion built in and it is the newest OESS software to Grand Erie and other Ontario boards (therefore free), but it is not the most intuitive and also burns up HUGE amounts of RAM and therefore often crashes your computer.

As you may well guess, I was getting more frustrated as time went on and...well time was moving on! I wanted this video uploaded NOW!! I was excited to share. So I resorted to going to my hubby who has some pillaging qualities to him if you know what I mean...Aaaargh Matey! He had some software on his Mac that he claims is called "Video Converter" and is for Macs only. If you have watched the clip, you will see that, it too, is the not the best of quality. But it will have to do for now.

I have a fuzzy recollection of going through this same kind of troubleshooting when I was involved with Virtual GrandE. If memory serves correctly it is all in the initial upload from the camera that makes things easier to manage in the end...Mr. P what do you think?
If anyone has any knowledge, thoughts or other comments for this DVD video editing conundrum please feel free to add them to this blog.