It is summer at the moment, and if you work at a university, you know that summer is a fairly quiet time. So, I decided to have some fun at work. My favorite poem has for years been Jabberwocky, by Lewis Carroll. What I did was divide the poem up into small sections and I went around campus with a video camera and recorded staff, faculty and students saying the parts, then put them all together.
As you may know from the post I did a while ago, I like Minecraft, mostly because it’s a open, creative outlet that is also a lot of fun. Unfortunately, it’s also highly addictive. For the last few months (since before Christmas), I’ve been building a cathedral, based loosely on Notre Dame in Paris.
The reason it took so long is that I built it on Survival mode. For those of you who don’t play Minecraft, that means I have to go mine every single block before I use it to build with. In the case of the stone for the walls, I mine cobblestone, heat it in a furnace to turn it back into stone, then make stone bricks out of it and use them. For the stain-glass windows (over 3000 panes), I gather sand, heat it into glass blocks, mix it with various dyes, then make those into glass panes. The chandeliers were the hardest, since I had to go to another realm called the Nether and find glowstone, which is found high up over oceans of lava. Anyway, here is the fruits of my labors, or at least as much of it as you can see in a 3-minute video walkthrough.
copyright Sandra Crook
The World is my Stage
“1 billion hits by midnight or New York City is gone!” screamed the title of the live Internet feed. Seven hours left: 540,000,000 hits needed. The CIA considered them a credible threat and now the whole world watched, breath held.
Jason sat in front of the nuclear weapon mock-up, webcam capturing everything except his own screen. Members were reporting from all over the country. Everything was almost ready, and then the real strike, the hammer blow of vengeance, would fall.
The first rule of sleight of hand, Jason thought. Keep the audience focused anywhere but where the real action is.
Back in March, I announced that I was starting a Youtube channel that would be connected with this blog. I did a poll to find a good name and most people liked the name Tales from the Tower (actually, the suggestion was Stories from the Tower, but I changed it a bit.) My idea was that I would film myself telling various of my stories in appropriate locations.
A lot of problems arose, specifically with finding a good video camera. In the meantime, I have decided to expand the concept. Yesterday, I posted about visiting an abandoned farmhouse near Seoul. So, here is the video I shot of it: the start of a series I call Creepy Korea. I like creepy things and now, with my wife, I am going to go out and find more haunted or spooky places to look around in.
As well, now that I think I have all the technical issues worked out, I will try to film some of my stories and post those as well, like my original idea. Stayed tuned.
Okay, I guess the title said it all.
I’m always looking for new and creative ways to tell interesting stories and now I’m thinking of expanding my storytelling to video form. Not as movies really, but…well, you’ll see. Don’t worry; I will still be posting stories here as always.
This new project of mine might take a little time to get going, but what I’m curious about now is what to call my channel. I have a few ideas for you to vote on, or you can think up a totally awesome new name and tell me in the comments too. If I pick your super cool awesome name, I’ll dedicate a video to you.
The Green-Walled Youtube? It’s an idea.
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