If you live in the United States don't forget to vote today.
Vote early as it looks to be a huge turnout.
"The ultimate rulers of our democracy are not presidents, senators and congressmen and government officials, but the voters of this country" -Franklin D. Roosevelt
If you need to walk and film at the same time and don't have access to a truck or any kind of stabilizer. Walk like Groucho Marx. The exaggerated walk helps steady the shot.
I looked for an example of this on the web for you folks who are too young to remember a Marx Brothers film. No luck. I did find a few references to this style of walking for people in law enforcement or the military who are shooting a gun. It does the same thing....keeps your upper body stable.
Essentially, keep your knees bent and your torso a little lower to the ground. Then walk. It looks weird but it works. I've included another tutorial from Videomaker today describing some other techniques for keeping your camera steady.
While searching for the Groucho Walk, I did spend a lot of time reading about Groucho Marx and watching some clips of his movies. It was a fun search. I'll leave you with a few quotes:
“One morning I shot an elephant in my pajamas. How he got into my pajamas I'll never know.”
“If you've heard this story before, don't stop me, because I'd like to hear it again.”
“I was going to thrash them within an inch of their lives, but I didn't have a tape measure”
“If I held you any closer I would be on the other side of you.”
“I find television very educating. Every time somebody turns on the set, I go into the other room and read a book.”
[Image captured at http://www.fredonia.edu/department/english/shokoff/Filmhome.htm] [Quotes gathered from ThinkExist.com: http://thinkexist.com/quotes/Groucho_Marx/]
"In the Britannica, length is a symbol of importance. In Wikipedia, length is a manifestation of interest and passion, even if the interest and passion of only a single person. And while the length of any single topic at Wikipedia may not tell us much, Wikipedia overall does tell us that the world is more interesting than the Britannica lets on."
I'm a secret lover of quotations. OK, not so secret now but anyway I found this page of bad predictions. Here are a few of my favorite technology predictions.
"Everything that can be invented has been invented." Charles H. Duell, an official at the US patent office, 1899.
"Remote shopping, while entirely feasible, will flop - because women like to get out of the house, like to handle merchandise, like to be able to change their minds." TIME, 1966, in one sentence writing off e-commerce long before anyone had ever heard of it.
"I am tired of all this sort of thing called science here... We have spent millions in that sort of thing for the last few years, and it is time it should be stopped." Simon Cameron, U.S. Senator, on the Smithsonian Institute, 1901.
"The ordinary "horseless carriage" is at present a luxury for the wealthy; and although its price will probably fall in the future, it will never, of course, come into as common use as the bicycle." Literary Digest, 1899.
"Heavier-than-air flying machines are impossible." Lord Kelvin, British mathematician and physicist, president of the British Royal Society, 1895.
"There is no reason anyone would want a computer in their home." Ken Olson, president, chairman and founder of Digital Equipment Corp. (DEC), maker of big business mainframe computers, arguing against the PC in 1977.
"But what... is it good for?" IBM executive Robert Lloyd, speaking in 1968 microprocessor, the heart of today's computers.
"Who the hell wants to hear actors talk?" H. M. Warner, co-founder of Warner Brothers, 1927.
"This 'telephone' has too many shortcomings to be seriously considered as a means of communication. The device is inherently of no value to us." A memo at Western Union, 1878 (or 1876).
