DV Cam Deconstruct

Growing up, my brother Paul was always the wiz kid, the smart one, the one who liked to learn about things by taking them apart. I always thought that was cool, to take something apart to see how it was put together.

So, when my nephew Stephen apparently pulled my DV Camera onto the kitchen floor and making it unable to function correctly, instead of bemoaning the replacement cost, I instead remembered my brother Paul's childhood excursions into taking things apart.

DC and I start the surgery.

Plus, there was a video tape in there from Gabe's All-Stars that I couldn't get out, since the camera would not eject the tape any longer.

DC went out to the garage and pulled out the smallest set of screw drivers she could find, handed down to us from my father-in-law, and started unscrewing the Sony DVCam one itty-bitty screw at a time.

The eventual goal of our dissection.

Do you know how many screws hold together a Sony DVCam? A billion.

Okay, a little under a billion. But, it's about a billion. If you don't believe me, take your own camera apart.

So close, yet so far.

After about 90 minutes of finding, dissecting, unscrewing, pulling apart and bending things that weren't meant to be bent, we finally dislodged the tape from it's once comfortable home.

All Star memories, safe at last.

DC and I learned a lot from the experience, about how the camera is put together, how many small computer components make up a video camera... oh, and how to count to a billion.

The smoldering remains.

Plus, using the leftovers from the flip-out LCD screen, DC made her own, unique, compact mirror using the reflective backside to the original screen.

DC's homemade compact mirror. For a movie
buff, it seems quiet appropriate.

She's so inventive.

Just like my brother Paul.

Our Day in the National Spotlight (Updated)

So, sleep didn't come easy last night. We were all kinda freaked about being on national television on Fox News. We knew our actual time would be short, but instead of comforting us, that made things a little more intense because you have no time to elaborate or to fix it if you misspoke.

Pressure.

So, we got up early and were expected to be picked up around 11:15 a.m. It was funny, because when Dea was on the phone talking with the Fox News producer, Michael, he asked if we wanted a car to pick us up. Dea's response, "Gas at $4 a gallon? You bet!"

We got a call around ten a.m. from Michael telling us that we were being pushed back to 2:40 p.m. and that the driver would pick us up around 1:00 p.m. He would drive us to WEDU in Tampa where we would do our interview remotely.

We also found out, at that time, that they wanted the kids on the show too. So, we prepped them about what to expect and to keep their answers short and positive.

On our way to WEDU.

The driver arrived, a very nice man who also plays the bass for the Florida Symphony, and we headed over to WEDU. After arriving we all had our turn in the make-up chair and we were told we were moving up from 2:40 to 2:20.

Dea looking pretty.

The room got really quiet. We all silently entered freaked out mode. All moisture from my mouth evaporated in an instant and all coherent thoughts dissipated into the ether.

DC getting some make-up applied.

We were rushed into the studio and put into our seats. We were given an ear plug to hear the hosts from Fox and lav mics attached to our shirts. And we waited.

The time was 2:10 and were to be on in ten minutes. We all said a quick prayer, asking the Lord to keep us calm and that we would make Him proud. And we waited.

Gabe and I await our turn
to get made all pretty.

Over our head phones we could hear the broadcast up in New York. The show, Live Desk, is a "breaking news" show, very informal and as action packed as a news show can get. So, while we're waiting there, praying that we weren't going to spontaneously combust on national television and become a you tube viral video, in our ears we kept hearing...

"Breaking news! Parts of LAX have been evacuated! A man claiming to be a terrorist and having a bomb has been arrested!"

"Breaking news! An affidavit has been disclosed showing that it appears a young teen actually assisted the Uncle in luring missing 12 year old Brooke Bennett to set up a rendezvous with Uncle with the intent of having sex."

"Breaking news! Video is now coming in of a Palestinian man who used an earth mover to create havoc and terror in Israel!"

"Breaking news! The divorce of Christie Brinkley is heating up with claims about her husband, a mistress and internet porn!"

And this went on and on and on. The entire time I kept thinking about that poor Bennett family having to deal with the horrendous events unfolding in regards to their missing daughter. How horrid. And how unnecessary our little interview had suddenly become.

We continued to wait, ready to speak, expecting our three minute interview to begin at any moment. We got pushed back to 2:40. Then to 2:50. The show ends at 3:00 p.m., so we thought we may even get bumped. Finally the producer came over the headset and said that we were coming up next and that they didn't have a lot of time left.

We said we understood and promised to keep our answers short.

The funniest thing is that, during the commercial breaks, the audio from Fox goes silent. So, after all of these 'breaking news' events and the promise that we were up next, the next thing we heard was silence.

And it was unnerving. I said "I never thought silence could be so fear inducing!" Everyone laughed and then we heard the promo with our family start.

We all propped up and the interview began. The hostess, Martha MacCallum, began the interview asking Dea (pronouncing her name Day-ah, not Dee-ah... but that's okay) about homeschooling. She then asked me about something about keeping kids positive and I said the first thing that came to my mind. Then she asked DC about home schooling and performing arts high school. DC did her best, trying very hard not to say anything that would offend the home schoolers or the public schoolers.

On the WEDU set. Just before we
were supposed to get on the air.

Martha said a joke about Mom (Dea) apparently not being able to teach performing arts because DC was in school for that and we all had a good laugh.

And then it was over.

Gabe didn't get a question, as was intended, because they just ran out of time.

And that was it. Our moment on national television was over.

We had it on DVR at home. We got a copy from WEDU. And we all got into the car feeling we just made complete arses of ourselves.

As we were driven home, the adrenaline rush finally collapsed and we all sunk into our seats, suddenly exhausted. Cell phones began to ring. Text messages were flooding in. Everyone was excited. We were cautious. We didn't know if people thought we really did well or they just said that because we were their family and friends.

DC gets her name all by herself!

When we got home we plopped the DVD into the player and watched with half-closed eyes, sure we had made complete fools of ourselves.

Fortunately, it turned out we did pretty well, all things considered. It was intimidating and completely surreal, but we all took it as a big adventure.

Who would have thought that a simple vacation to NY would evolve into this promo and this interview. Now, we find ourselves on numerous Fox News promos.

It's all pretty cool. And it will end this weekend, as the entire Real American Stories promo is focused on the fourth of July.

The interview ended on a good note.

So, the entire event has been memorable and exciting. And we're glad and blessed to have been able to speak highly of home schooling on national television. What a great time!

It just goes to show you that you never, ever REALLY know which path your life will take. We enjoyed this little excursion off the main road on the rarely used path of national exposure.

It is something we'll never forget, that's for certain!

We're On National Television... Seriously

As most of you remember, when on vacation in NY we were interviewed by Fox News about America.

The end result is that we are part of their Real American Stories initiative. We're in the intro video on the Introduction page. If you click the My Story link and scroll down a bit, you can watch our entire piece.

It's really pretty cool. You'll also see us in promos on Fox News leading up to July 4th.

What's even cooler is they want to interview us on Fox News live tomorrow afternoon sometime between 1 - 3 p.m.! National television. If I can keep from soiling myself from fear, it should be a pretty cool experience.

I'll either be brilliant or in a fetal position under my chair. Turn in tomorrow to find out which one!