Growing Up Guide Pup - Week 52 - Las Vegas

So we just got back from Las Vegas, and had a great time. We acquired so much material that we decided to break it down into two weeks and two episodes. This is the second time we have done this. We also did this last year when we took Ricki to Los Angeles. I know that it makes our weekly progress a little jaded, but we think it's a good sacrifice when there is a lot to show. Las Vegas was probably Ricki's best trip to date. She did really, really awesome. In fact, since we have gotten back she has been pacing around the couch as if to say "hey, why can't we be busy doing all kinds of stuff like when we were in Vegas?". She seems to have that work drive that working dogs have. So here is to another great trip for Ricki, and Amie and I really like using our series as a great excuse for traveling all over the place. We could get used to this.

Thanks for everyones support. We think it will only get better from here. There is a lot of exciting stuff coming in the near future.

EZ Mount Test Bench

This episode is all about testing the EZ mount. I really like this thing, and it is really effective. It could cost anywhere from like $20 to $200 to buy a special cardellini clamp, or mafer clamp to do the same job. Seriously, check it out yourself. Everything I show in this episode is real footage shot with a flip cam mounted on the EZ mount in different situations. I think this is a great tool for a any filmmakers bag of tricks.

Growing Up Guide Pup - Week 51 - Rain

It rained a lot when we filmed this episode. If we can't beat em, join em was our motto. Plus, we thought it would be cool to focus on an episode where the weather was a big factor, and we could give our audience some things we have to think about during a storm. Ricki handled it all so well. She was soaking wet when we got back to the car, but looked like she could have filmed in the rain for another hour. She is really impressing me lately. Nothing seems to phase her, and she handles new things very well. Keep it up Ricki, we are rooting for ya!

Make a Cam EZ Mount

After the launch of this video I feel like I am officially back. I have been so busy with Growing Up Guide Pup and other projects. But that is a good thing I suppose. This mount really does work and I am excited to put it out there to help other video creators. Next week I'm going to show how I have used it myself.... so be sure to check in on wednesday.

Growing Up Guide Pup - Week 50 - One Year Anniversary

Well it's official. Our first year of the series has been completed. We did it. It's been a big challenge banging out a episode every week, but very fun. Although there are 52 weeks in a year, we have 50 episodes. But I guess if you count the two birthday special episodes we are right on track.

Our series has premiered at the New Media Festival, and was recently accepted into the LAWEBFEST. We did our first radio interview for Working Like Dogs on Petliferadio, and recently were told Nylabone is going to sponsor us, and give us a bunch of products for free. We are going to do a Youtube contest with some of the products, and also give a bunch of toys to our fellow puppy raisers in our group. So it seems we are doing pretty good, and the future looks good.

Ricki is well on her way to becoming a guide dog. She is our tenth dog, and one of the best prospects we have had so far. We think she has a really good chance of making it so stay tuned to see how it all goes.

Thanks for watching, subscribing on youtube, becoming a fan on facebook, telling your friends and family about our series, and your continual support.

Matt

Fire by my house

There was a fire by my house yesterday. The first thing I did was call 911. Then I grabbed the garden hose and tried to put out the fire with no luck. So i decided to grab the flip cam and document what happened. Everything was spontaneous and real. I experimented with the Les Stroud approach of creating video because i thought it was the most appropriate way of making the video.

Filmmaking builds, tips, and tricks.

I'm sure many of you know I make videos showing low cost alternative filmmaking solutions. Well, I decided to take it to the next level and start putting out a new video once a week. I enjoy helping people save money and empowering the average video creator. Some of the ideas I show are things I have used myself in video production, while others are completely fresh, and never tested other than for making the videos.

If you like these type of videos, I am asking for your support. Watch my videos, rate and comment them on youtube. It helps me stay motivated to continue, and puts a few pennies in my pocket at the same time.

Cheers,
Chappy

Growing Up Guide Pup - Week 49 - Giants Fan Fest

Amie and I are big Giants fans. Since they won the world series, it only made sense to attend fan fest for this weeks episode. We decided to take the train to the park so we could add some training for Ricki into the mix. She has been on the train a few times, but never with this many people. The ride there was really packed, and almost completely full with fellow Giants fans. Ricki did a great job this week on the train, and she did an even better job at the ball park. We were very impressed with her ability to stay calm despite her being surrounded by wall to wall people. The attendance was crazy. The doors for general admission opened at 11:00am, and by 11:10am they were already telling people on KNBR to stay home because it filled up so quickly. I heard that more than 50,000 people attended which is funny because the park doesn't even sit that many people. Another job well done by Ricki and I can't wait to see where are adventures take us next.

Growing Up guide Pup - Week 48 - Seth and Bamboo

This week was very difficult for us. We battled back and forth on what we should do. Would talking about this publicly be a good idea? We contacted Seth's parents as well as got advice from my family about if doing a video tribute for Seth would be a tasteful thing to do. We got overwhelming support that we should move forward with the idea. We thought it would be appropriate to do a hike at Mt Tam. Seth had expressed on a few occasions, and even left a comment on our youtube page about how awesome it would be. We really enjoyed celebrating his life in our own special way and it really helped us feel better doing the walk.

We were shocked when we found out Seth had passed away last week. Seth was so supportive of what we were doing and really helped validate our series. His opinion meant a lot to us, and he always chimed in. He participated on all of our videos on youtube leaving funny, and quirky comments. He also was a regular participant on our facebook fan page. He was known to help with great info, and even answered questions from time to time. We had big plans for the future, and his continual involvement in the show was something we had discussed a lot. We were deeply affected by his untimely passing, and will forever be inspired to continue raising awareness about guide dogs in his honor.

Seth was a super star in our guide dog world. It will be difficult without him, but we must push on. We know this is what he would have wanted for us.