Our Personal Blog

I’m slowly working on a way to begin embedding video into the blog so I can easily share some of the video projects I’ve complted at work, plus a bunch of other videos I’m hoping to post over the next several months. I just need to be more disciplined with my time. Right now, Sarah’s watching “So You Think You Can Dance”, and I’ve got my head buried in my headphones, so it’s as good a time as any to work on this.

Here’s a my Ingenium Productions video gallery:

Now… If I can only get it to go to a specific video. Tomorrow’s challenge.

Last week, by way of a client video we did at VVI, I had the privilege of “meeting” Mr. Newt Gingrich. I use the term “meet” very loosely since we never got to exchange pleasantries. He came into our interview room, we mic’d him up and immediately was in place answering his questions. Once his interview was done and we had the footage we needed, out the door he went for his next meeting. Total time: 7 minutes.

While our time together was brief and will no doubt be remembered by him for all time, I must say that he was very well spoken and made for an excellent interviewee.

Now, for those of you (like me) who don’t really know who Newt Gingrich is, he was elected has the Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives for 4 years (‘95-‘99). I learned in my citizenship test that he would have become President if the President and VP were to die (or otherwise be removed from office - [wiki]).

But, since I’m being totally honest with you, all I really could think of was this snippet from the British TV show: Ali G:

As I was setting up the room for the next interview, Nate calls me and asks me to run a mic downstairs for Newt’s next meeting. Knowing there was only a small window before he spoke, I quickly raced downstairs to deliver the equipment. I flew down the last set of stairs and opened the door. There stood Newt just as I heard him declare “These guys don’t have a clue what they’re doing!”.  My heart nearly skipped a beat until I realized he wasn’t talking about us, but was arguing with someone on the phone, no doubt over some huge global matter. Phew! The video guys were off the hook.

And so ends my favorite (and only) memory of meeting Mr. Newt Gingrich.

7:29pm: I’ve finished my cup of ice cream and have fired up my laptop. Now I’m sitting with friends in the Weber’s basement struggling to watch the season finale of The Bachelor. Some gal (Molly?) is playing with the dude’s kid. This kid’s going to be spoiled.

Molly asks the kid his age. He’s 3. She’s not that much older than her it seems.

Another commercial break. I think this is the 3 one in 30 minutes.

7:36pm: Still more commercials. It’s almost as boring as the show itself.

7:37pm: Blah blah blah. Talking with the parents. This gal’s not going to win. The Family’s Just Not that into You.  The family’s asking her questions as if it’s an interview. Your son is on a reality show…. AGAIN! No matter which way you slice it, it’s an empty relationship.

7:44pm: Jason’s crying. (cry baby!) Mom is basically explaining to her son how this stupid game works for extra drama.

7:46pm: Some crap from Jason about falling in love with 2 women at once.

7:53pm: During the commercial break, I did a quick Google Image search and found out how much of a “man-whore” this Jason guy is. I made a collage.

7:55pm: Swimming in the ocean… in the rain… in the cold water. Any excuse to have swimsuits and half naked bodies. Oh… some lame “shower scene”. My friends and I have a saying that “every good movie has a shower scene.” This doesn’t count. Period.

Ugh. 2 hours and 5 minutes to go. Thank you laptop and internet. Thank you for keeping me company during this trying time.

8:00pm: Sarah asked if the blog had video. She said I should create a video of all of Jason’s kisses. No need! YouTube’s already got one:

8:03pm: Wha? Huh? For the small percentage of the American population that are male AND are forced by their ladies to watch this ridiculous show, a Watchmen trailer was shown.

8:05pm: Come on ABC! It’s been 10 minutes since bikinis and topless Jason. Oh…. never mind. Obvious spa date. No professional massage therapists… No point. Babies aren’t made that way.

8:09pm: Gag reflexes in full force. Some sort of love story book was hand made. More kissing. More reading… followed by more kissing. This book is going to be burned when hearts are eventually broken.

8:19pm: Surprise! The chica from the last season arrived. She’s giving her script she no doubt talked about with the producers. The offer for a third woman to make out with is now on the table. Take it, Jason! Go to a spa or something… Quick.

Oh. No. “I found two girls I’m completely falling for.” She’s giving him some Hallmark wisdom. Blah blah blah. I think she threw out every cliché in the book.

8:32pm: “Being in love with two women sucks.” The eternal struggle of men all over the world. Possibly the worst quote ever. Sheesh.

8:40pm: We’re back from the umpteenth commercial break. It looks like he’s dumping someone. What I really want to see if the scene where he cries over a balcony. That would be awesome.

Molly’s here. She’s getting the big dumper, I’m sure of it. And this is coming from a guy who could care less about this show.

He’s lavishing compliments on her. Atta boy. Build her up before droppin’ her!

BOOM! The hammer drops. Awkward moments. He’s getting teary. She’s so mad right now. Cry more, Jason. That’ll help. He’s going to get a junk punch.

Why would they walk hand in hand together? More drama.

8:46pm: I think this is where Jason cries like a little baby. Yep. Cry yourself to sleep tonight on your HUGE pillah!

8:58pm: Here we go. After 1 hour and 58 minutes we’ve FINALLY gotten to the end of the show. Wow. She’s an oddball. Well… maybe not an oddball. She did JUST become an adult on her last birthday after all.

9:00pm: Come on… let’s get to the reunion stuff so that we can all realize how disappointing this show is.

9:03pm: “…out of respect for the parties involved, we chose to keep the taping as intimate as possible.” Bleh. Whatever. Without an audience, there’s an awkward silence in the room. More crying.

He just admited that they’re not right for each other. How can that be? They spent 16 days sort of together with a film crew and a bunch of other women. How could this not work? This is THE BACEHLOR for crying out loud. The formula works! To find true love! This Jason guy just isn’t playing by the rules. And now he wants to be with the other women.

The rash that this show induces in my body is at full strength right now.

Here’s my guess: the producers told Jason that after every question, to count to 5 in his head first before answering. Better TV that way.

9:15pm: Blah blah blah. He’s dragging out the big dump! She knows. You can see it in her body language. She’s fake crying and NOT wearing the ring. Fake drama.

“I can’t control my head.” Another brilliant quote from Jason.

“You’re such a b@st@rd.” Truer words have never been spoken. This show’s going the way of the Jerry Springer show.

9:25pm: More man-tears.

9:44pm: Ugh. It’s still going on. Now the second gal is on and they’re talking empty-talk.

Hugh (who’s sitting next to me) says Jason is a lying liar. I agree. Could this show just end, please?

RAWR!!!! The dialog is just a continuous stream of bad love clichés. I’m done. This blog post is over. Normally I apologize for the waste of time you encountered reading this dribble, but I’m not because I spent 3 hours watching exponentially more dribble.

Good night!

Well. It’s now official. Last week (Feb 6th) I became a citizen of the United States of America. I figured I should share how the day went.

The ceremony this morning took place at 9am. I was joined by Sarah, her brother Stephen (who happened to be in town) and our friend Adam (who is also the pastor at Embrace Church).

I knew very little of what to expect. The notice I got in the mail basically said “Please arrive promptly at 9am.” That was it. No indication of what was to come, or whether or not anyone could join us.

Although we live only 4 minutes from the building, by way of a malfunctioning parking garage gate, we almost arrived past 9am. However, when we got to the second floor of the Federal Building, there was a line up both those becoming citizens and their friends/family.

After a somewhat lengthy process of checking all 31 applicants in to the ceremony, we simply say and waited until the 10am start time. To keep us occupied, and to remind us why we were there, a DVD played in a seemingly endless loop of “Proud to be an American”. I could have done with only hearing that song once – if that

Once the ceremony began things went really well. The judge shared a few words, we said our oath and he announced us citizens. Then, representatives from various local organizations came up and talked about how their club.  They all encouraged us to participate in our cities. My favorite part was when one women highlighted the fact that many of us came from countries where they were oppressed, could have been killed for what they believed and now were living in a new country where they didn’t speak the language and needed to live in an entirely new culture. “Unlike those from Canada…” she said. She certainly didn’t mean anything negative by it, but it made me laugh none-the-less. Also, considering I was the only one from Canada in the room, I felt very special and unique

There ceremony concluded less than an hour later. We each had our picture taken with the judge and mayor and were sent on our way, now with absolute certainty that our immigration travels were over.

 
Outside the courtroom doors, there was a group of ladies who were present to get us to register to vote. I diligently took my form and filled all the required questions out except for one. When I handed it in, the lady told me I needed to fill out the question that asked what political party I wanted to join. I told her I was undecided. She said “so, independent?”. No… I was undecided. Apparently, that’s not an option. I can see why American politics are so divisive. You have no choice but to firmly place yourself in some camp. I got a kick out of that.

Later in the day, after I returned to work, the gang at the office held a small celebration for me. It was really a lot of fun and I certainly appreciated it.

But the party didn’t stop there. In the evening, Sarah and I had an open house for people to come by. A handful of our new church friends, a couple of co-workers, as well as a few others, came by and hung out. It was a great time. I was really thankful that after only being here for 6 months we’ve been fortunate enough to find such a great group of friends.

The most common question I receive is whether I’m a dual citizen or not. While some countries will recognize someone holding multiple citizenships, the US does not. In the ceremony you are asked to verbally denounce any other citizenships you may hold. From that point on, you are seen as only an American. However, they do know that you still maintain other citizenships in your home country unless you physically choose to denounce it with your original government. In my case, I will continue to hang on to my Canadian citizenship, with no intention of giving it up (unless the Canadian government makes hockey illegal).

So, there you have it. My exciting day becoming a US Citizen. It’s true what they say: the moment you become an American, you’re immediately overly-patriotic.

Here are some other photos from the day (web album link):

Ok. This is the last part… Promise.

During our event on Monday, a local news station covered it and ran a story in the evening news. We posted it on YouTube so we could share it.

So that’s it for the Superb Bowl coverage…until next year, that is

I’m 45 minutes away from my US Citizenship ceremony, so I better go. More to come!

Well, today’s task at work was to edit together the video footage from yesterday’s event. So, without furter ado:

Today at work we hosted our first ever Superb Bowl. Basically, it was an opportunity to bring in clients and discuss some of the Super Bowl ads in a light-hearted, goofy way. We loosely re-created the Super Bowl and split the crowd into two teams. Nate and I were coaches and our job was to get reactions, insights and thoughts from our teams regarding the ads we watched.

Sarah was there helping out by taking some excellent photographs, which really captured the spirit of the event. We spent a couple of weeks planning and preparing for this and just like that it was over.

But it went extremely well. Our guests seemed to have had a great time and we had a blast hosting. Below are photos from the event. Hopefully tomorrow night I’ll be posting some video, too.

For the rest of the photos, visit the web album here: http://picasaweb.google.com/visionvideoinc/VviSuperbBowl2009#

I just got a jury duty summons for the month of April. Does it usually last an entire MONTH?  Yikes.

I’ve actually always thought it would be interesting.  I’m just a little unsure how this is going to fit in with scheduling interviews and hopefully starting a new job.  Kind of awkward timing, but I’m excited to have the inside scoop on the crime life here in Sioux Falls.  Who knows what adventures jury duty may bring…

It makes me a little uneasy to see the South Dakota jury website has a whole section about coping with juror stress.  I also see we are not allowed to talk, which is going to be especially hard for an ENFP from the loud and zany Grimsby family.  Not talking may be the most stressful part of it all. 

In other legal / courthouse-related news, Michael will be sworn in as a US citizen next Friday. Woot! It will finally bring closure to 5 intense years of forms, tests, fees and interviews for both of us. While we were going through the process I was pulled aside by attorneys and judges to ask if he was marrying me because he loved me, rather than just to get into the country. And all this to move here from a couple hours over the border in Canada. We are looking forward to putting that long chapter behind us.  The US and our 4th of July celebrations will never be the same.

 
4th of July weekend 2008 with Sarah’s family
USA!  USA!