Busy times ahead

This post is almost an apology for some extended inaction over the coming weeks... but I've got a lot to do!

Firstly, having filmed the Project Management Wales conference for UGCS earlier in the year, I'm back at the Celtic Manor on Wednesday to film Supply Chain Wales. Hopefully you will be able to see the result on the UGCS website once it's finished.

The day after supply chain Wales it's off to London for a job interview on Friday, can't actually say who it's with though. Then a couple of days out in London as a small holiday, then back home to do the edit on the supply chain Wales conference, couple of weeks off, then off to Goodwood for the Festival of Speed, followed by a course in Lampeter for a couple of weeks...

So I may be going a little quiet, but I will be back. Just like Arnie

Oh yeah, whilst I remember - what was 4-10 motorsport [and is now Paul Gardner Race Tech] had a bit of a torrid time at Anglesey on the weekend with the car being destroyed in a nasty accident. Paul got out ok, but for some reason I'm glad that my camera was not fitted to the car at the time!

Mobile Phone Wars, part the second.

With apologies to Asp for nicking his idea of [noun] wars.

A few weeks back I mentioned the vultures out after my mobile phone, as the contract is due up. Well. I've pretty much made up my mind with what to do with it, but I need to know an exact date for the contract to end with my current, very pink, phone company who shall remain nameless. But very pink.

So I asked them via a webform...

[From .CO.UK]
message:How can I find out when my contract is due to end? I would like to know the date when I can cancel the direct debits and make new arrangements.

Many thanks

I got a reply which read...

Hi  Kevin,

Thanks for you recent email, I  have checked  your details and can see that we can offer you some excellent offers.

I am working monday to friday 11am till 7.30pm so if you want to email back  a convenient time to call you to discuss further.

Look forward to hearing from you.

Kind regards

Ivan Iqueo'six
LoyaltyTeam
Pinky Mobile

Where exactly did I mention I was interested in any of their offers? Which I'm not. I want a phone with skype on and Pinky mobile don't sell one. There isn't a date on the contract, but if I'm right, then it runs out either this Friday, or next month, which means I'm either about to be cut off, or I've got another month to put up with this bunch of clowns.

Joy.

I want... Information.

Driving between Treforest and Bridgend gave me a good glimpse of the new "Valleywood" - or Dragon International film and TV studios, near Pencoed. A whole 5 or so miles away. Drive past the site today and you'll see 4 TV studios all there, with their shiny offices attached, apparently all fitted out [but not necessarily kitted out] and just waiting for someone to move in.

Which by the looks of things, no one has.

So... why not? I can't find a website for the studios, I can't find a phone number, and I sure as heck can't find any information as to who actually owns the studios, who is running them, or if they are going to be let out to any production companies any time soon.

You can probably understand my fustration. Here's 4 brand new facilities and no one is using them - when by now there could be at least 4 potential employers practically on my doorstep!

Does anyone actually know who owns the place? Has there been problems financially? When is something going to happen!?

Similarly, every time I go down to Llandow I see two great big aircraft hangers, apparently sitting dormant. It occurs to me that with a bit of work you could have a studio/exhibition facility, half an hours drive from Cardiff... Think of what you could do with them.

Welsh international Motor and Motorsport show anyone? One hall full of the latest road cars and bikes, the other full of race, rally, and competition machines, the circuit buzzing to the tune of demonstrations... and the rest of the week the hangers become studio space for films and TV shows. I could personally do RST in there, and move outside onto the track for the track test segment.

There's huge potential around here, and it's not being realised. No wonder I can't find a job... no one is taking the chances that are clearly on offer!

Anyone got a spare £2m? I want to buy two aircraft hangers (!) 

Vultures!

Right now, I'm just a bit on the wrong side of stressed. I have a documentary to finish [it is finished bar putting Ulrich's wonderful music to it] write several essays, and then the small business of actually finding a job. At least one which gives me money, anyway.

It is therefore not a good time to be a telesales marketer selling mobile phone contract. There are about 8 companies out there all of whom are trying to sell me another new mobile contract as mine is running out soon. Like I said - Vultures. Circling my contract waiting for it to die.

If you're one of them, take a hint. Don't bother ringing me because I simply won't answer you. If I do want to deal with your company then I will phone you - not the other way around. For the record I'm well aware of my contract's limited life expectancy, and I've already chosen it's replacement. Now does anyone know how soon I can get rid of the one I have now.

Also it'll have Skype on it [guess the network then], which will make life much cheaper!

I hate phones. I really do.

By the way, apologies in advance if you're not a mobile phone company and you are trying to call me. I'm afraid that if I don't recognise your number I'm more likely to deny the call - if this happens wait, and leave a message...

Yes, I'm still alive.

I know I've been quiet recently, but here's why.

Firstly I've been hard at work filming and editing the Project Management Wales Conference for UGCS. I won't be putting the results on the site though, so you'll have to keep an eye on the above link for more info. There will be more projects like that coming up.

Secondly, I've been out and about a bit with racing. Celebrating one's birthday with the traditional BARC meeting at Pembrey. Great fun it was too. There won't be any new motorsport videos for a while yet though.

Thirdly, and most importantly, I've been working on "Finding David", which is slowly driving me up the wall.

The good news is that tomorrow I get my hands on a brand new Sony Z5 camera for the weekend - Can't wait to try it out!

In other news, Mogulus refuses to upload RST-UK again. And this is after I've built a special website for the program. It'll have to wait now untill I've wrapped on Finding David though.

Oh and the small matter of this year's showreel to sort out.

busy busy busy

This is a bad sign

When I do have to get on my bike and cycle to the station in Bridgend, I do find that I come across some interesting things. In this case [due to brake failure on the car] I come across this useful piece of advice at the end of a cycle path. Cycle Path Closed? How about - Cycle path would be closed if it was ever built and opened?

Just thought you'd like that.

Ahh... drat!

If you've already watched RST, then you'll know that the Autotest film is missing it's voice over. To counter this, I re-processed it and got it ready to put up onto a new dedicated RST channel on Mogulus. Trouble is that I did it in high quality, and the result is that I have a 4 gigabyte file instead of a 600 megabyte file... and the former won't fit.

In short, watch this space, and also look out for a dedicated website coming soon. 

Also, someone pointed out that if you're not a blogspot member, you couldn't post a comment here on the blog. I'm sorry if that's stopped you before now, I have now set it so that anyone can comment and give their opinions.

Race Sport Track now on-line

Latest video to hit the web is now online - you can watch it via the Mogulus player on the front page. Be warned though, it's a biggy at just over 20 minutes long. It also marks the first studio based video on this site.

I'd be lying if I said everything went smoothly. Trying to operate the studio with only 4 people and a presenter was hard, and the end result is still a little rough around the edges, but with a bit of work [and more people/time/money] I think something great can be achieved with it. Big thanks to Ulrich, who has composed the music in double quick time, Tim for turning up and generally keeping everyone stay focused, Dave for becoming a floor manager in a hurry, and Matthew for making his presenting debut with what I admit is not the easiest script!

Now, anyone want to buy a 4 part pilot motorsport magazine series?

Testing a new concept

Mogulus is a new system for me - it's a live streaming set up, effectively gives you your own TV channel on the net.

So I uploaded my showreel and a few other videos to it to see if I can get them to load quicker... I'd appreciate your feed back on it too.

So either visit www.mogulus.com/kmshowreel or with any luck, use the player below.

Bizzare!

Having filmed all day at Llandow Yesterday, it came as something of a nasty surprise when I got to the interviews which I'd recorded - having set the shot up nicely, got the exposures right, Ulrich had perfected the sound, and the subject spoke brilliantly and gave great answers to our question, with lots of enthusiasm for the car we were talking about.

Which one? I'm not telling you yet!

Anyway, the nasty surprise. Dropouts. Lots of them, getting steadily worse. Starting at about 40 minutes in. The problem was with the recording, due to dirt on the heads, we think, and is totally unrecoverable. I can't even understand the interview to transcribe it. It's a crying shame.

And the cause of this? Wierdly it's the brand of tape that I use. I have been using TDK tapes in the Z1s, and only since then have I had problems. Strangely enough the little JVC palmcorder runs the TDKs with no problems at all. It's all down to the lubrication the tape manufactuers use, or more accurately, the mixing of different lubricants from different manufactuers resulting in a sticky gunk all over the record heads. Apparently Uni have been aware of this for about a year - not that anyone thought to make a notice to us about it - and with a certain electronics supplier selling 10 packs of TDK on offer recently, the problem is now more frequent than before.

In the meantime, I now have to find a way of getting a 6 minute feature from what I've got left.

p.s. If anyone knows anyone who can lend me a motorcycle/motor racing driver's crash helmet for a couple of days to do a film shoot, please send them my way. It's not essential but it would be nice! Thanks in advance.

Update : I went to see my lecturer in Uni, and about half an hour after I told him of the problem, there was a notice up on Blackboard [a system my uni uses] warning other people of the problem! Amazing how quickly things get done if you talk to the right person isn't it?