“And that is Wubie dressed as an angel.”
— the kid explains a Christmas drawing

It’s that time of the year, so I’m cranking out some home movies. Here’s a video of yesterday’s our Christmas get-together at my mom’s place. Every year we say “Wow, look how grown up the kids are!” For some reason it seemed especially apparent this year.

Sorry you couldn’t make it!: Sam & Mirjana & family (OR), Tisa & Jim (HI), Nina & Larry (TX), Michelle & Michael (CT!)

Music Used:

• “Deck the Halls”, “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas,” “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing”, “Silent Night”, “Christmas Tree (O Tannenbaum)”, from Christmas Album by Charlie Byrd

“It’s the best vacuum cleaner in the world! It’s not going like a loser at all!”
— the kid comments on the recently fixed vacuum cleaner

This one’s pretty neat. I found an audio interview I did with my Mom and Dad back in 2004. Dad was wary about the camcorder, so I remember slapping a lens cover on it and using it solely as a microphone.

They talk mostly about their first few years in the US after coming here from the Philippines following WWII.

Because this was audio only, I used Google to locate imagery. I was amazed at some of the stuff I was able to find, including pictures of the actual ship they used to get to America. Yep, pretty neat.

Music: “Opus One” by Tommy Dorsey

“I’m eating chocolate that doesn’t stain my clothes or give me a mustache!”
— The Kid

Here’s another video culled from an interview Jill did w/ Gma Vita last weekend. The other two videos we’ve knocked out so far:

• Family History Project: Gma Vita Interview
• Family History Project, Part 2

Music:

“Country Gentleman” and “Guitar Blues” from Galloping Guitar: The Early Years by Chet Atkins

“Wanna see my butterfly playing an xylophone?”
— the kid introduces her latest drawing

Back in 2003 I brought a camcorder to a family get-together and shot some video. I later discovered I’d shot the whole thing with the mic input on zero. That meant no sound at all. Disappointed, I tossed the tape in a box and forgot about it.

While searching around in a closet today I found that old tape. It’s funny how time changes things. When I first shot the video I considered it worthless. Now, eight years later, I feel as if I’ve unearthed a little forgotten treasure. It was a very nice surprise indeed.

Music: “Like Someone in Love” from The Swinging Guitar of Tal Farlow by Tal Farlow.

“Hurry! Before the car breaks!”
— The kid tries to get her parents up and out of the house

Before we visited my mom on Sunday Jill said, “You should make another family history video!” I was feeling slightly less than energetic, but since it’d been a while since my last video, I hurriedly packed some cameras in a bag and we set off.

Once there, my mom gave me a drumstick (yay!) and I parked myself in front of her TV to watch some HGTV (I can watch stuff ‘Professional Grade’ and ‘American Handyman’ for hours!)

“Hey, aren’t you going to video your mom?” my bothersome lovely wife asked.

I gave a low Wubie grumble as I unglued myself from the comfy confines of the La-Z-Boy, muttered a cheerless goodbye to Mike Holmes, and went outside.

Once mom agreed to the interview, I grabbed my ultra-cool Canon 60D…and discovered I’d left its battery in its charging cradle at home. Awesome.

“Oh well,” I thought, “that’s why you bring backups!”

So I pulled out my trusty Flip camera and handed it to Jill. She was taking on the dual role of both interviewer and camera person for the video. I grabbed my other backup, (yes, I brought along three cameras!) wrestled with a tripod for a bit, and we shot an impromptu interview.

And it was a lot of fun.

Some notes:

• Next time I shoot a video with two cameras I need to make sure they’re both recording at the same rate. I had lots of audio sync issues while editing this video
• Because of the audio issues, I ended up cutting the interview into two parts. I hope to post the second part later this week
• Boy, am I glad Jill shot video w/ the Flip during the interview. I started the edit thinking I wouldn’t use much of her Flip footage; I ended up using most of it. I like its saturated look
• Jill was the all-star here. She’s the one that prodded both me and my mom for the shoot. It was her questions that kept the interview going
• Less than halfway through the shoot I had to leave my camera as the kid ‘volunteered’ me for a game of ‘Chase Me’
• I made the beginning of this video (the pan over all of the photos) a few years ago as a test. I never used it for anything (except for a post), so I thought I’d make it the intro for this video. The music is “Mr. Blue Sky” from the Amelie soundtrack

“You shall not ever escape. I will catch you. I’m the best!”
— The Kid, as she chases a fly with a babywipe

Yesterday we all gathered at Gma Vita’s place…

…to celebrate her birthday. (View more pics.)

The kid is a little too young to play horeshoes right now, so she enjoyed the first few rounds as a spectator and cheerleader…

…until deciding she’d be of better use as a scorekeeper. She hurriedly grabbed crayon and paper and retired to her “scorekeeper booth” where she could better observe and record each game.

At irregular intervals throughout the games, the little scorekeeper would flash her score to the participants…

…using drawings of our dearly departed wubie and x’s as her “scores”. I think a wubie drawing represented a ‘hit’ while an x signified a ‘miss’ (or vice versa).

“I’m too excited about the princess party to sleep, Mommy!”
— The Kid

Here are some pics from yesterday’s gathering at Gma Vita’s place.

“Going to a party in the bathroom!”
— Lucy singing in the bathtub

Lately, I’ve been scanning lots of old family photos at my mom’s place. Here are a few from Oklahoma in the mid 1950s when dad was stationed at Fort Sill.

Mom’s own father actually drove her from CA to OK in mom’s first car, a Studebaker. He then took a bus back home once he had dropped his daughter off in OK.

Above Left: my mom and a neighbor. Above Right: My dad and a neighbor’s kid (at this time my parents didn’t have any children.)

We saw a rare and endangered monk seal resting, fenced off of course to allow him his privacy;

Mike, Jim and Tisa snorkeled and tried out a new underwater camera head strap thingy;

Grandma Vita started a new book (The Other Boleyn Girl)

Lucy splashed around, kicked sand into the waves, watched her daddy snorkel, counted chickens and roosters and baby chicks, played with the faucet at the rinsing station, and snuck in a climb and a slide on the beach playground. Phew!

None of us got sunburned (hopefully) and we all managed to pile into one car (though trooper Tisa was boxed in by chairs and boogie boards and had to wait patiently in a hot car to climb out of the back after all the gear was taken out.)

Later on we checked out a local farmer’s market, had an ice cream, bought some veg and snacks, and wandered through shops.

The weather has been absolutely perfect, not too hot, no rain, we have been very lucky so far. What a wonderful day!

p.s. Our gracious hosts have prepared gourmet dinners for us each night, this is surely the best restaurant on the island. Must remember to photograph the food!

The menu so far chez Tisa & Jim:

• teriyaki steak on a bed of coconut rice, haupia cake

• peruvian grilled chicken with zucchini, cassoulet and baguette

Lucy was so enamored of the coconut rice we got the recipe and will make it for her at home.

Recipe: Cook rice (in rice cooker of course) with homemade chicken stock and coconut milk, liquid to rice ratio is 2 to 1.

Next post: tour of the magnificent abode and the dramatic rain forest back yard.

“You can put your finger in it. There’s no living creature in there.”
— Lucy, after teaching Wubie and me about limpets and showing us a snail shell

2010.11 Thanksgiving3 from Mike C on Vimeo.

Here’s a video shot by Jill during a Thanksgiving get-together at my mom’s place. It adds a nice glimpse of Lucy just being a kid with her cousins. I’m always thankful when I see how friendly and patient Lucy’s cousins are with her.

They make sure to include her when they can and Lucy gets a kick out of hanging out with “the big kids.”