2009 North Carolina (14:39)
Andy, Martha, Sarah and I took a trip to North Carolina; mainly to scratch Martha's periodic itch to see the Biltmore Estate in Ashville. One of the Vanderbilt's sons, (George I think -- you have to ask Martha) built this private residence designed by Richard Morris Hunt. It is the largest residence in the US. The grounds were designed by Frederick Law Olmsted (of Central Park fame) and the basic notion of forrestry was founded here. Anyway, pretty nice digs -- beats the hell out of our "big-ass-patio" or the "award-winning-landscaping" that Andy and Martha just bought. We had a great time on the trip -- rented a big RV, got rained on, and saw just why they call it the Smoky Mountains. Hope you enjoy it!
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2009 Year In Review
What a great year we had!! And NO overseas trips! We discovered Las Vegas (that was a little wierd!) built a new patio that revolutionized our life around the house, celebrated birthdays with Steve Sosland, Vance, Ruth (Sarah's brother and mother) and got to meet Urvi's parents. All in all it was guilty pleasure in the Fontenot household in the midst of a recession.
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October 2009
New Patio (3:35)
From February to May we created a new living space in our back yard with the help of Jon Pankratz (architect), Zip Zimmerman (contractor) and others. It came out great and this month we christened it with a patio party. This movie is a brief document of the transformation.
Music is by hammer dulcimer player Ken Kolodner and friends off a CD entitled "Walking Stones-A Celtic Sojourn."
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June 2009
South Llano River (7:25)
We had a great trip kayaking the South Llano River with Steve and Kelly Sosland, Leo and Liz Tynan, and Gary and Cheryl Hill. The occasion was Steve's 50th birthday. We stayed at a FANTASTIC B&B called the South Llano River Lodge. Great food, great accomodations, and the owners (Walter and Susan) treat you like family. By the way, if you notice that the link to the movie is not active, that's because I haven't had a chance to do the world premier with the Soslands, so check back in a week or so!
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February 28, 2009
Year In Review 2007
I'm going to start putting together these short video reviews. They have always been one of my favorite forms. Plus I can keep track of "what happened when" a little better. Don't ask me why I decided to start with 2007!
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February 24, 2009
THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST
In 2007 we took a trip to the Seattle region with Sarah's sisters and spouses. After that week, Sarah and I drove down the coast from Seattle to San Francisco. I just completed a DVD of these adventures and you can view the highlights below. Each film is about 5 minutes. Click the link.
Cape Disappointment
The Oregon Coast
Redwood National Park
The California Coast
Sonoma Valley
San Francisco
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January 12, 2007
Last November, Sarah's Parents (Ruth and Jeff) went to Israel and Jordan for vacation. They traveled for a month, first on the Queen Mary II, then visiting Jerusalem, other sites in Israel and finally (to fulfill one of Jeff's life long travel dreams, they went into Jordan to see Petra. On her birthday, Ruth got this camel ride out of the Siq. When they visited us this past Christmas, we all sat down and preparen a DVD slide show. The individual clips are available below.
QUEEN MARY II
JERUSALEM
ISRAEL
JORDAN
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August 20, 2007
ROMA MMV
In 2005, Sarah and I went to Italy. The first part of the trip was spent in Rome; then we went up to Tuscany to hang out with her sisters (Amanda and Martha) and their husbands (Joel and Andy, respectively.) You may have seen my Tuscany films on www.michaelmusic.net. Anyway, these films are the prequel to Tuscany and darn well worth the wait. Each film is about 4 minutes long. Enjoy!
THE STREETS
THE FORUM
SHORT STOPS
THE VATICAN
PIAZZA NAVONA
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June 29, 2007
TONY & MIKE
So, for the past couple of years, I have thought about doing a video of my daily commute from my work in Kerrville back home to Fredericksburg, Texas. I contemplated all sorts of themes -- it is a beautiful drive. Then, recently I became hooked on The Sopranos and I realized that the opening credit scene is Tony traveling from New York back to Jersey. Then, BAM, all the similarities between my life and Tony Soprano's rushed into my head, and the rest is artistic history (in fact, this video may represent KILLING art itself!!!)
Well, for those of you who have not had the pleasure of seeing The Sopranos, I have included the opening credit scene -- just click on Tony's face. Then my video will make more sense. (Click on my picture for my video.) Believe me, it's alot better than that lame version Hilary Clinton did!
Let me know what you think.
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June 2, 2007
Andrew came by and played a new song he'd written . He explained that after he had written it someone mentioned that it sounded like it could have been a country/western song. So, he played it both ways! It was such a great song, fine lyrics and a funny alternative arrangement that I had to share it.
THE FIRST THING (real version)
THE FIRST THANG (country)
THE FIRST THING (lyrics)