I’ve often thought of this blog as my own school newspaper or ‘zine, with the editor and writer in one. And now it’s about to become my own local access cable television show in a way.
Even though I know some video and audio editing software — thanks to excellent training by friend/colleague Lisa Dush — and even though I’ve had a Mac forever, I hadn’t yet learned iMovie. That changed today. I took some video I’ve been shooting over the last couple of weeks on my adventures (read: follies) in mouse proofing, and I used the iMovie platform to make a little home improvement show, starring me.
In this 12-minute movie, I
- laugh at myself,
- praise plumbers,
- use one French word and two expletives,
- mention whipped cream with delight,
- deploy “so” and “okay” as pause fillers,
- have weird intermittent eye contact with the camera (which disqualifies me from any real work as a tv announcer or host),
- lie on the floor for a few seconds to think,
- express love for my new LED head lamp,
- show what a basin wrench can do, and
- thank my parents for one cool thing.
I’m not sure if, in the video, I succeed at teaching or explaining much about mouse proofing that an amateur wouldn’t already know. The Jane Show below, therefore, might be of most interest to friends I don’t see often. Video is the next best thing, or perhaps even better because edited.
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Thanks to Jimmy Guterman for shooting the outdoor video and Eli Guterman for having a really nice tripod.
leaf stitch word 
I love this video even though it makes me realize how unhandy I am around the house and that the cabinet under our sink is a wreck. And BTW you’re a natural in front of the camera.
I did take the stuff out from under the kitchen sink before I turned the camera on…
Thanks for the compliment. There may be another video or two in the near future.
Your video is beautifully made; it’s hard to believe it’s your first. It’s informative and entertaining. We also had a mouse problem this winter–there were turds all over the kitchen counters and dining nook every morning–and I’m afraid we gave up on kindness after a while. It turned out the culprit was one mouse, may s/he rest in peace.
If I thought it were just one mouse, I might go that route (extermination). I suspect, though, that there is a fleet of them and that, if I set traps, it would become a death march: a continuous stream of mice coming into the house with the occasional dead one taken out by me. This would never end.
I’m glad you liked my video. Even though I whittled the total footage down to just a fraction, I indulged myself and made this longer than it had to be as a document. For me, the story is about trying to figure out this persistent problem and still not having totally figured it out. Perhaps in the future I can make shorter and more straightforward how-tos.
Oh, and of course, this was also an opportunity to showcase the head lamp.
It’s funny how a video immediately makes you super conscious about your tics. I shot one of myself last year and apparently I have a bad habit of “tsk-ing” before starting a sentence. Now I’m paranoid about it and trying to stop that habit.
Good luck getting Shady and his girl out of the house once and for all.