WHITEMARSH POLICE DEPARTMENT COP CAMP 2009 - The Movie

FRIDAY is probably the biggest day for cop camp... the kids spend time on Germantown Pike with a RADAR GUN, then a PENNSTAR HELICOPTER lands at the high school and a victim is pried out of a wrecked car with the jaws of life. Following this is graduation with parents and friends in attendance, and a picnic.

For me, it's crunch time because the movie is one of the central pieces of the graduation. It is always a real test to stay focused, overcome technical snafus*, meet expectations and make the deadline.

Here in a condensed format is this year's video. I hope you enjoy it.

A brief note about the stars of the movie: At 10-11 years old, the kids in Cop Camp make for great subjects. They are old enough to have significant personality and range of real-life action, but still young enough to be cool about being in front of a camera and playing out their roles. A big thanks to them and to the police department staff for their help and support.

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* And now, a little venting about the challenges of technology... I use a Macintosh G5 to create my movies and it has been a workhorse since I bought it in December, 2005. Superior in every way to my older G3 and compared to every WINTEL machine I've been on, brought up, installed, fixed, supported on my network or watched go to the blue screen of death (thousands), it is a Ferrari to all those Yugos. But recently, my G5 has developed a case of NARCOLEPSY. That's right. Narcolepsy. Without provocation, it will go to sleep! And unfortunately, it happened more than once at various critical times during the final edits and transfers of this year's movie - as itdid on Thursday night, 16 hours before show time.

A review of the system log showed an "emergency shutdown" triggered by overheating. A little additional searching on the net found that other people have had this problem and most seem to think it is a faulty temperature sensor. So is it really overheating or is it a bad sensor? Or something else? Incredibly, some people have even removed their sensors through crude back alley type operations. I've seen the pictures. They are not pretty.

GROW HOT CHILES

To be honest, I don't know what kind of chiles these are, but they look dangerous, don't they?

In late April, I bought 11 plants at the Norristown State Hospital plant sale. I feel like I'm supporting something when I buy from them; who knows. Most were labeled but from past experience, I know that most are actually mislabeled. The mystery of what finally comes from each plant is part of the fun. Jalapenos, Thais, Habaneros, Sweet Red Bells, California Wonders, something called "Big Chile". It doesn't matter. They are all good.

Some bad news on the ranch, though. Something attacked my crop shortly after planting - at a microbial level, I believe. Fungus? Root rot nematodes ? I don't know. Some died. Some didn't. This is one of the survivors and it looks pretty exciting !

HAIKU FOR A COPPER PIPE

dead hot water pipe

castrated from daily flow

and reborn as art

SUNRISE SUNSET

Did you see this picture on NBC 10 this morning?

I was upstairs when Sue screamed, "Get down here !! Quick !!! You're on TV ! From Phoenix".

"Phoenix" was the keyword. I flew and got there just in time to see the tail end of my picture. But unfortunately, I missed the fun part - hearing Terry's, Aditi's and Bill's comments.