Tuesday, March 4th, 2008
Laura and I decided to get in the car and visit Washington, CT yesterday. What was the destination? Well, no less than the Mayflower Inn & Spa in Washington, CT.
As I mentioned in one of my previous blog posts, my mother purchased a gift certificate for us a few years ago for the Mayflower Inn. If memory serves me correctly, we used it for a Valentine’s Day dinner, but I may be wrong. It was either that or New Year’s Eve. Anyway, we drove there at night and (even at night) really liked the area. We decided that it needed to be visited during the day.
Now, please let me explain…I am sure we have all heard of New England. Sure, we have heard of it, but have we ever really seen it? What we learned yesterday was that be merely driving through Connecticut and Massachusetts really doesn’t count for visiting New England. There is a little corner of Connecticut that, if visited, you can easily imagine some English dude sitting on a log with one of those white wigs on. That is what Washington, CT is like. You can also throw in Bridgewater too. They are both like that. There are more white houses that are over 100 years old than you know what to do with. Needless to say, they are really cool towns. Pricey towns, I’m sure. What really struck us both yesterday, was the fact that we weren’t able to locate one messy property or piece of junk. The whole entire area was extremely clean, which made us feel very nice inside.
One of the things that really aggravates me is the lack of pictures and videos on the internet. Even on Google Earth, people would rather post videos of their kid’s first birthday party, instead of videos of main st. in the town the video is attached to. When I visit town websites, I expect to see some sort of photo gallery or even a walking tour. You would be amazed at how few websites actually offer these features.
Since we visited the Inn yesterday and I happen to own a regular digital camera and a video camera, we decided to use them. I took all the photos and Laura took half the video. These are all just of the Inn and not the town. We’ll get to that. Enjoy!!!
It may look cold, but it was actually the first time this year that I actually felt a warm breeze. It was about 50 degrees outside. This is a photo of the path up to the bush maze, going towards the spa.
These are both of one of the places you can stay if you decide to check in.
This is a photo of the main building that we ate lunch in.
Here is a photo of the outdoor pool and the pool house. We decided against going for a dip.
These are all photos of the spa building.
This is my favorite part of the whole place. I just love the Rhododendrons and huge trees.
Ok, time for some video…
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Sunday, December 30th, 2007
Well, I did it. I took the plunge. I ordered my video camera.
Since I am trying to get into doing some video for this blog, Laura decided to give me a very generous Circuit City gift card for Christmas. She didn’t know exactly which camera I wanted, so she let me pick it out. Fortunately, I did know which one I wanted, so I picked it out and ordered it yesterday. I received a shipping notification today, so I should get it soon.
Here are the specs:
Hard disk drive camcorder: Capture powerful sound and sharp images direct to a 30GB hard disk drive with the DCR-SR42 Handycam® camcorder.
1/6″ Advanced HAD™ CCD: This 680k pixel (gross) imaging device provides stunning detail and clarity with exceptional video (up to 500 lines of horizontal resolution) and sharp still images.
Carl Zeiss® Vario-Tessar® lens: Carl Zeiss lenses have an advanced optical multi-layer coating for increased contrast. This results in vivid image brilliance, true-to-life color saturation and perfect renditions of subtle tones.
2.5″ touch-panel SwivelScreen™: The high-resolution LCD screen rotates up to 270 degrees for multiple viewing angles that provide sharp, detailed images for monitoring or playback.
Zoom: The 40x optical zoom brings the action close with minimized distortion, while the digital zoom can be increased up to an amazing 2000x before or after shooting.
Digital still memory mode: Capture still images up to 640 x 480 resolution directly onto the internal 30GB hard disk drive or Memory Stick Duo™ Media for easy transfer to PCs for emailing, printing or sharing with other compatible Memory Stick® media compatible devices.
Handycam station: Simply place the camcorder on the supplied Handycam Station cradle to provide quick connections to a TV for viewing or a PC for editing and sharing. Placing the camcorder on this station also charges the battery, so your camcorder is always ready to go.
On-screen zoom and record buttons: The DCR-SR42 features zoom and record buttons on the frame of the LCD screen, which offers more flexibility when holding the camcorder in overhead or low-angle shots.
DVDirect compatibility: The DVDirect system allows you to easily transfer to a stand-alone DVD burner via USB 2.0.
Low-light mode: The Super NightShot Infrared System allows you to capture natural-looking video, even when shooting in low light.
Image stabilization: Super SteadyShot® uses motion sensors to ensure a smooth and steady picture.
Smart Protection: A unique shock absorber protects the hard disk drive from physical damage if the unit is dropped. When the 3G Sensor detects a drop (loss of gravity) the power to the hard disk drive is turned off in order to prevent damage. During this time the DCR-SR42 remains powered on and recording video to the built-in buffer. Once the unit has recovered from the drop the buffer is then recorded to the Hard Disk Drive.
USB 2.0 interface: Connect your Handycam and transfer images to your PC fast, or use it as a convenient storage device for storing and transporting your videos and pictures.
How cool is that? This camera is probably $500 less expensive than the ones just five years ago, but much better. I am going to attempt to take some nice video and edit them to post on YouTube. Then you are going to get some wild tree planting videos come Spring.
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Saturday, November 17th, 2007
I have been going back and forth for some time on this issue…whether or not to go video. I know I take a lot of photos for this blog and that seems to be working out well. I just think that people would enjoy video a whole lot more.
The benefit is that people can see much more through video. They can hear me talk and hear the birds chirp. They can get a real feel for things. Image watching TV as a slide show. Not so much fun. I think video is where it’s at.
I was thinking that I can get a little Sony hard drive video camera and upload the videos to YouTube.com. Depending on the software I get with the camera, I can add my URL in the bottom corner of each video to promote whatever website the video is going to be posted on. Then, I can simply pull the code for the video in from YouTube to my website. Sound good?
Ok, since I really know nothing about video cameras, I am going to have to do a little research. I saw one at Circuit City for decent price. Maybe one of these days I will go grab it. I am sure my family would like to watch these videos, or maybe I am just being a little narcissistic. Nah, I think they will like it.
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