LaurenandLloyd.com

where our wasted time becomes your wasted time

Videos

Prepare to be underwhelmed.

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It’s incredibly cold here now, and it reminded me that last winter I started a movie and never finished it. It has sat on my computer until tonight, when I drew up the last cartoons for it and just got it over with. “Good enough for who it’s for” and all that.

In reality, I had to just get it out there because it’s irrelevant now. It’s a gripping documentary about how cold I keep our house in winter, except now that the new windows are in, I am allowing degrees and degrees more heat to be BTU’d around here. (Like – two of them!) Also, now you know about the nose warmer.

Here is a list of things that are wrong with this movie:
1. It does not star Julia Roberts and Adrian Grenier, who are our preferred stand-ins.
2. Lloyd doesn’t like how he’s singing.
3. I don’t like how I’m singing.
4. I think Lloyd doesn’t like how I’m singing.
5. The drawings are terrible.
6. There are no transitions and the timing is off.
7. I have some typos because I forgot how the song went.
8. There is a LOT of white-out on those drawings, but not enough.

All that being said, here it is: Baby, It’s Cold Inside.

Mood lighting

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I’m pretty sure that the only members of my family who still look at our website on a regular basis are my mom & my sister (Hi guys). So I’m going to post a little video that is really meant for the Sommerer Family Website (sorry about stealing your family motto, Hofmans).

My Aunt Naomi sent me a bunch of her old home movies, and I edited them down to some clips that would be of interest to our extended family (though I actually think that more than what I included would be interesting to them). Since I’m doing these home movie edits quickly, I wait until I’m done before I add the music (otherwise I obsess over matching the beat and such). This time I decided that the clips could be a little more dramatic.

I think Brad said something about doing this, but I can’t remember exactly what he said. I’ll change the soundtrack before I share it with the family. Anyone have a suggestion?

Take Me Out to the Ball Game

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This was a big experiment. I (1)wanted to see if the video on my phone was good enough that I could reliably use it when things needed to be taped. I (2)needed to learn to use the latest version of iMovie.

About 4 years ago Apple completely rewrote their video editing program that comes with every Macintosh. They rewrote it and cut out about 50% of the features. Everyone was upset about it, and so they made the old version available as a download.

I’ve been using that old version at school for Multimedia Application and Video Editing, two of the classes that I teach. Every year they add back some of the features from the old program, and this last semester some of my students wanted to use their own laptops for their video projects. Nothing wrong with that, except that Apple no longer allows downloads of the old software, so they had to use the new software.

And they liked it. They told me I should try it. The annual Sommerer family ball game seemed like my chance:

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WJVOepguyvY

My verdict? It’s good enough to use now, but I don’t really like it. Lots of features are hidden and the layout does not seem as intuitive to me. But it is easy to make a nice video.

P.S. If you are related to me, you should post comments on the Sommerer Family Website.

Spring Concert

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Lloyd’s choir, the City of Lincoln Lutheran Choir, had their concert on Sunday night and it was wonderful. They sang Vivaldi’s Gloria and Bach’s Magnificat, and though I didn’t understand a word of the Latin – it was great.

The best part was that the place was packed. I arrived at the church fifteen minutes before showtime, as is my custom, and there wasn’t a place to park. I squeezed the Honda in an illegal space, walked in, and saw this:

It was dim, and I couldn't use a flash.

I got there the same time as Curt, so we sat in the very, very last pew. Crazy. It was a good crowd, but I couldn’t see Lloyd at all during the concert. In fact, I pretty much only saw the head of the lady in front of me. She had nice hair.

Besides the lovely singing, they had a professional orchestra accompany them, and the bassist was seated and playing a strange bass. The scroll was under the fretboard, so he would occasionally be playing notes by reaching over and behind his head. I can’t find any information about that. Any help?

Bread balloon

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I haven’t baked much 5-minute bread this winter, even though it’s so handy and I love bread so very, very much. (Our new oven takes a stupidly long time to warm up, but that’s another story for another day.) However, the few times I’ve made some, we’ve found the easiest, fastest way is a pita bread balloon.

You make up your dough to keep in the fridge, rip off a chunk, smoosh & spin into a circle (yes, I like to throw it in the air, and don’t drop it too often), then bake! No rising time necessary – by the time the oven is hot (450), throw it in for about 5 – 7 minutes. Done. Let cool, split, and fill with butter and cheese. Mmmmmmm.

I made a video a while back, and while the first minute is admittedly boring as heck, the last 30 seconds are totally worth it.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rtiqvdoH48Y

Number 10 – Check

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Happy Birthday to my sister-in-law, Rachel! (Matthew’s mom)

Well, I can cross #10 off the life list. There’s a place here in Branson that rents Segways – 20 dollars for 20 life-changing minutes.

It’s a pretty sweet setup. They check you in, take your money, then give you a little training session. (Feet apart, keep your legs straight. Lean your body to turn/ go forward / go backward/ stop.) Then, it’s helmets on, a tiny practice session, then away you go! Lloyd, Scarlett and I went, and it was really fun.

Scarlett and I think that our handlebars were set too high because we couldn’t really lean forward and go fast. Apparently, the first time you go you are a beginner, and can only go 5 mph. The second time you go – and yes, I will go – you can go 12 mph. I wonder what the third time will be?

Lloyd’s in his blue Hawaiian shirt, and Scarlett’s in the yellow tank top. I was a bit worried about dropping my camera while filming, but more worried about damaging the expensive piece of science I was riding.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oJxVn4m3kbc