Quiet, but not idle.

Fond greetings from the deep South, USA.

We all know it's been a helluva time, so I won't dwell on that.

Suffice it to say, I've had some projects going on. I try to shoot photos and a little video when I can.

Let's begin with my return from 18 holes of disc golf recently. As I drove up my street, I saw a water main broken and there was considerable water coming out of the ground, running down the street gutter.

"Hmmmmmm... How can I exploit this to suit my twisted toy passion?"

I'll show you:



That was fun. Took longer to edit the video than anything else...

Secondly, In the continuing attempt to keep my young grandkids occupied, I set up a sixth scale zip line in our back yard. Of course, the guys from the yard were on hand to help, but mostly bitched the whole time. Not unexpected.

Still, the kids had fun and so did I.

Proof that it DID happen:




And, you probably noticed the pond the guys zipped over. That's a saga unto itself and one for another day.

Miss you folks, but you're not forgotten.

'Till next time.

That looks like tons of fun!! Great videos!

Great video of white water paddling. He lost the technique a bit in the last part.
Did you build the paddling equipment yourself, or is it something you can buy?

The second video is also great, but I have a special connection to paddling.

The kayak video is totally awesome! Suddenly I feel nine years old again thinking that is the coolest thing ever!

Which was the whole point, right?

dadrab wrote:Fond greetings from the deep South, USA.

We all know it's been a helluva time, so I won't dwell on that.

Suffice it to say, I've had some projects going on. I try to shoot photos and a little video when I can.

Let's begin with my return from 18 holes of disc golf recently. As I drove up my street, I saw a water main broken and there was considerable water coming out of the ground, running down the street gutter.

"Hmmmmmm... How can I exploit this to suit my twisted toy passion?"

I'll show you:

That was fun. Took longer to edit the video than anything else...

Secondly, In the continuing attempt to keep my young grandkids occupied, I set up a sixth scale zip line in our back yard. Of course, the guys from the yard were on hand to help, but mostly bitched the whole time. Not unexpected.

Still, the kids had fun and so did I.

Proof that it DID happen:


And, you probably noticed the pond the guys zipped over. That's a saga unto itself and one for another day.

Miss you folks, but you're not forgotten.

'Till next time.

Nice vids!! I actually hadn’t thought of shooting these types of videos before. The first thought that comes to mind is stop-motion animation, which can be both very time consuming and labor intensive!

That zip-line one was fun!! Did you use a GoPro Hero or Action for the POV angles?

Btw, you have a nice, serene backyard!! I’m also in the Deep South! South Mississippi to be exact.

Cool videos. I remember doing much the same with running water like that as a kid. Very fun.

davidd wrote:Suddenly I feel nine years old again

Deep inside, aren't we all?

Hey Dadrab ! Great to hear from You ! That are wild rides, both The camera ride is a fantastic idea. Thanks for the entertainment ! What a idyllic river and i see a comrade sitting around and watch the ride

Fun videos with your figures. The only thing that could've made the paddling one better was running alongside it with the camera, or rolling next to it on some wheels like the big Hollywood directors do to capture moving action scenes like that. lol

The momentum and speed of the zipline is great, though! I still want to try that in real life sometime!

Those videos were a lot of fun. Impressive that all this kayaking down the drain did not result in tipping over despite all the turning around. And I wish you had put up a pillow at the zip line stopping point. The pond looks great, hope you use it as a setting for some of your photos. Glad to see you back, don't be a stranger.

Nice to hear from you again and bringing the hobby closer to the young.

That yard looks like a paradise!

That is so cool!

Diana wrote:That looks like tons of fun!! Great videos!

It certainly was fun. Glad you enjoyed it, too and thank you.

Gizems nice Kittens wrote:Great video of white water paddling. He lost the technique a bit in the last part.
Did you build the paddling equipment yourself, or is it something you can buy?
The second video is also great, but I have a special connection to paddling.

Thanks for the view and reply, GnK. Yep, technique kind of lacking the whole way down, really.  
The kayak and paddle was part of a set one of my kid got years ago. Once they outgrew them, they were appropriated by yours truly.
...purely for posterity, you know...

davidd wrote:The kayak video is totally awesome! Suddenly I feel nine years old again thinking that is the coolest thing ever!

Which was the whole point, right?

Many thanks, davidd.
Really happy the vids could take you back. Of course you're right...if it ain't fun, what's the point?

collectorofmany wrote:

Nice vids!! I actually hadn’t thought of shooting these types of videos before. The first thought that comes to mind is stop-motion animation, which can be both very time consuming and labor intensive!

That zip-line one was fun!! Did you use a GoPro Hero or Action for the POV angles?

Btw, you have a nice, serene backyard!! I’m also in the Deep South! South Mississippi to be exact.

Thank you, collector. Good to hear from a neighbor.
My brain works funny, so I come up with some strange stuff. Hopefully, when the idea comes to me, I also come up with a way to shoot it.
Used a GoPro Hero for the zip line and edited the whole schmear with Wondershare Filmora. It's a pretty nice, capable suite of tools.

Stryker2011 wrote:Cool videos. I remember doing much the same with running water like that as a kid. Very fun.

Howdy, Stryker. Good to hear from you. Hope you've been well and thanks very much.
I wish I'd had a good kayak when I played with toys the first time around. No such thing then (I'm frikken old). Fortunately, I had kids.

I trust someone's manning the bar while I'm away.

A Man wrote:

davidd wrote:Suddenly I feel nine years old again

Deep inside, aren't we all?

If we aren't, might want to keep opportunities open for other hobbies.  

Ephiane wrote:Hey Dadrab ! Great to hear from You ! That are wild rides, both The camera ride is a fantastic idea. Thanks for the entertainment ! What a idyllic river and i see a comrade sitting around and watch the ride

My friend, Ephiane. Thank you for stopping by. Always good to hear from you, too.

Yep, there are a couple of old friends (guys from the yard) sitting around the pond. The one on the right is behind a big rock. He is visible, but barely.

Glad you like the pond. Worked on that damn thing for a solid month in the blazing Augusta summer heat.

AlKelAstra91 wrote:Fun videos with your figures. The only thing that could've made the paddling one better was running alongside it with the camera, or rolling next to it on some wheels like the big Hollywood directors do to capture moving action scenes like that. lol

The momentum and speed of the zipline is great, though! I still want to try that in real life sometime!

Thank you, AlKelAstra. Glad you enjoyed them.

I ain't much director and I won't deny it. Rolling along side of the kayaker would have been a mighty fine idea...wish I'd had it.

I have done ziplines. It's a hoot. Give it a whirl.

GubernatorFan wrote:Those videos were a lot of fun. Impressive that all this kayaking down the drain did not result in tipping over despite all the turning around. And I wish you had put up a pillow at the zip line stopping point. The pond looks great, hope you use it as a setting for some of your photos. Glad to see you back, don't be a stranger.

How are you, GF? Thanks much for looking and commenting.
The site looks great. You all are doing damn fine work. Thanks very much for that, too.

Ovy wrote:Nice to hear from you again and bringing the hobby closer to the young.

That yard looks like a paradise!

Greetings, Ovy. I appreciate you looking.
I figure, if we don't take the toys to the kids, who will? Got to get them while they're young
I thank you, too, for the comment on the yard. I've worked really steadily on it the last couple of years. When our kids were younger, we spent waaaaaaay too many weekends sitting around a pool (son #1 was a swimmer) or a baseball diamond (son #2). Years of neglect meant I had a ton of work to do just to get back to "even," so to speak. It's getting there.

BAMComix wrote:That is so cool!

Much appreciated, BAM. I'll do more when I get inspired and have some time.

Oh How I wish I could have had my joes go down gutter, but the ones in my street had storm drains and I feared they would be lost. The izp line reminds me of one too many special missions in the terrace, truly brings back the good memories, thanks for sharing.

They didn’t have the fancy kayaks when I was a kid, either. I used to make really crappy “rafts” — which were more like “sinks”, as they ultimately fell apart — out of sticks and whatever I could find to bind them together. But it was fun to try. Ultimately, I gave up trying to send Joe down the “river”, and just opted for sending loose sticks and pretended they were “boats” going down the rapids.

Theboo-bomb wrote:Oh How I wish I could have had my joes go down gutter, but the ones in my street had storm drains and I feared they would be lost.  The izp line reminds me of one too many special missions in the terrace, truly brings back the good memories, thanks for sharing.

I know the feeling, boo-bomb. I was apprehensive at first, too. Then I remembered how many of my neighborhood's storm drain covers I've removed in years past to rescue this toy or that ball or whatever, and my courage grew.

Thank you for stopping by and commenting.

Stryker2011 wrote:They didn’t have the fancy kayaks when I was a kid, either. I used to make really crappy “rafts” — which were more like “sinks”, as they ultimately fell apart — out of sticks and whatever I could find to bind them together. But it was fun to try. Ultimately, I gave up trying to send Joe down the “river”, and just opted for sending loose sticks and pretended they were “boats” going down the rapids.

I like a man who ain't scared to recall childhood. It's unfortunate that most men won't...God knows why.

Wish I'd have thought about rafts for them when I was a kid. I never did. Of course, there was no moving water around my neighborhood, either. I did try to float a shoebox or two, but soon realized the errors of that plan.