Open Media Project

I am excited about the Open Media Project. I had a few ideas for it, but finally decided on doing a video clip. I was inspired by the numerous pet videos on YouTube, so I think making one of my own would be an interesting experience.

To make a video, of course I would need a video camera. In case anyone needs one, College Library can loan one to you for 3 days at a time. If you intend to keep the physical copy of the MiniDV tape, you would need to buy a tape to replace College library's.

Then I need a pet to videotape. Getting a cat to cooperate for a video is near to impossible. He stops whatever he's doing to stare at me whenever I turn the videocam on. So now, I have a large deal of footage featuring a cat staring at the camera and not moving.

However, I think the hardest part is editing the footage to piece together a video. I haven't exactly started on that yet. I tried using iMovie, but it's challenging for someone who doesn't know her way around a mac. Does anyone know of any easy-to-use video editing program that can be used on a PC?

Procrastination

How many people cannot work without the pressure of a deadline?

There are some people who are so motivated they get everything done before the deadline. E.g. My friend who has to present at the Undergraduate Symposium this coming April already had her poster done and are putting on the finishing touches.

And then, there are some people who are so un-motivated everything is done at the last minute. E.g. Me, who frolicked the whole spring break away without churning out a piece of work. I have to present at the symposium too, but I haven't started on the poster; I haven't even finished my experiments.

It's not like I didn't try to start doing things earlier, but somehow I still ended pushing them to the last minute. Say, I tried doing a piece of homework several days before the deadline, I couldn't concentrate and was distracted easily. But when it's the last min/hour before the deadline, my productivity and motivation shoots up, I get it done and the grade I get isn't all that bad too.

As much as I hate rushing deadlines at the last minute, that seems to be the only way I can get things done. Does anyone else have a problem like that? Does anyone have suggestions/solutions or should I just accept that this is the way I function?

Spring Break

Spring break is ending soon, and I haven't really done anything interesting. My friend's cat Murphy came over to stay at my place. Yay. I love that cat. The bad part is I have to clean out the kitty litter, his puke and his fur. He wakes me up every morning by licking my face and patting my eyelids...his signals for food. I've been trying to videotape him, but I think anyone who has tried doing this knows how exasperating it is trying to get a cat to cooperate for a video. Whenever the camera's on him, he refuses to move an inch. As soon as I turn the cam off, he starts prancing around. He's a good kitty, but I just wish he would stop waking at 4am to meow for food.

I can't live without the internet

I didn't have much to do this weekend, so I decided to run an experiment on myself. I wanted to see how long I can last without an internet connection. I switched off my computer on saturday night and managed to last 16 hours. The breakdown of the 16 hours:

Sleep ~12 hours
Cook/eat ~ 1 hour
Reading a novel ~1 hour
Afternoon Nap ~ 2 hours

So, I spent 14 hours sleeping. After waking up from my nap, I could resist the internet no more, so now I am connected to the rest of the world again. I felt secluded when I wasn't connected to internet, so I had to nap to pass the time. I am such an internet addict.

Brokeback Mountain

Today is a warm day. I was determined to enjoy the weather outside, despite being down with the flu. Bad decision, since now my mind feels so fuzzy, my throat is burning and my head feels like it's going to split into two. Now I wished I had stayed at home and slept the afternoon away.

Anyway, the most interesting thing I did this weekend was to watch Brokeback Mountain. I finally got my hands on the DVD. It was quite unlike the usual movies I watch, but I have to say it's a thought-provoking film to me. I felt that Ennis Del Mar would have led a quite different and more successful life if he hadn't met the other protagonist. The film met with mixed reactions when it first came out since it portrays the love between 2 men over 20 years, but I thought the film has portrayed complex relationships within bisexuality very well. However, the ending was kinda anticlimatic. I would give it 3 out of 5. Anyone who has watched the film, I would like to hear your comments on it :)