Comments

Spot|DSE wrote on 8/21/2009, 2:12 PM
Nice find, brilliant correlation.
thanks for sharing.
Grazie wrote on 8/21/2009, 9:56 PM
"In the wrong hands, it (here meant PowerPoint) can turn a good speaker into a bad one, and a bad one into a dreadful one." - seen that with "editors" using Vegas. Often a good idea will out-class the type of "look-at-me-editing" type editing I see slopping around the Internet.

Grazie
johnmeyer wrote on 8/21/2009, 10:34 PM
Thanks for thinking of me, although when I read the subject heading, I thought I'd died.

The one you really should have thought of was Spot. I've seen him on stage, and he has total command. Absolutely awesome.
Grazie wrote on 8/21/2009, 10:39 PM
I had that "Mark Twain" thought too . . .
Spot|DSE wrote on 8/21/2009, 11:55 PM
Not to start a butt-kissing love-fest here John, but coming from you, that is exceptionally high praise.
I don't know that I'll ever command a stage again, but I'm surely trying. After this accident, I don't know that I'll ever be able to walk a straight line without looking, let alone look audience members in the eye while pacing a podium.
For those that don't know your background, it would be nice to see you do a bio page, John. Not only are you a significant contributor to the growth of Vegas over the years, you've been an influence on the entire media industry for longer than half this community has been alive.
Jim H wrote on 8/22/2009, 1:30 AM
Spot, I must not have read the post where you discussed your accident. What happened? You didn't burn in did you? I hope you're OK?

I have not heard either one of you guys speak though I have seen Spot speak in videos. But since we're in butt kissing mode, I can say that both John and Spot have helped me on more than one occasion and make this forum what it is.

Thanks and Take care!
Spot|DSE wrote on 8/22/2009, 1:48 AM
Jim, I barely survived a bad landing on June 8th. I've been mostly in hospitals up until very recently; I go in again on Wednesday for my (hopefully) final surgery rebuilding my ACL/MCL, and then it's just a matter of time before I can fly. I will however, be at WEVA. At this point, I'm mostly grateful to be breathing (and I believe part of the reason I still am is due to this community, prayers, positive energy, kind words, postcards, letters, small gifts, and genuinely caring about me and my family.

Story (part one) of my accident found at: http://www.skydivernetwork.org/profiles/blogs/live-life-with-no-regrets-part
gpsmikey wrote on 8/22/2009, 8:44 AM
"bad landing" Spot ?!?!? That's like saying the Titanic encountered a minor problem on the voyage !!

Both you and John (and others here) have been very helpful. Any successful forum has a small number of people that just make it work. Both Spot and John are examples of those people that just "make it work". Keep up the good work and keep getting better !!

mikey
fldave wrote on 8/22/2009, 9:49 AM
Yes, John and Spot are among the backbone of this community.

Many, many thanks for the help over the years.
PeterWright wrote on 8/22/2009, 10:11 AM
> I don't know that I'll ever command a stage again, but I'm surely trying

Spot, you are still commanding a stage, at this very moment
mark-woollard wrote on 8/24/2009, 6:02 AM
Spot, in my view, commanding a stage has nothing to do with moving about. It has to do with knowing your audience, wanting to really connect with your audience, having interesting or useful information to share and having a real passion for your topic. I saw you score highly in all of these areas while you delivered an all-day Vegas training session in Toronto a few years back. I think you were seated most, if not all, of the time.

You've still got lots to give this community and I'm looking forward to reading your posts, watching your training videos and hopefully hearing you again live. No pressure here. Just a reminder that you're really appeciated... perhaps more than you know.

Mark
Jim H wrote on 8/24/2009, 9:10 AM
Spot you sound like me when ever I've been in the hospital. At 6AM after one surgery, I received a pain shot and a script for pain killers. After the nurse left the room I got dressed, left the hospital and got into my truck and drove to the nearest pharmacy where I fell asleep in the parking lot waiting for them to open. I filled my script and drove home. No one from the hospital ever even called to see where I was. I never heard from them again. I'm guessing that couldn't happen today, but even so, that was crazy.

Best wishes for continued recover Spot.
Coursedesign wrote on 8/24/2009, 9:18 AM
Nowadays hospitals (in L.A. anyway) won't even admit for surgery without having confirmed who will drive you home afterwards, even if it is 15-20 hours post-op.

They won't let the patient drive, nor will they allow the patient to take a bus or a taxi.

I was curious about the latter, but came to understand how it made sense. It really does take a while for everything to fall into place after general anesthesia.

Wishing you all the best, Spot!
Rory Cooper wrote on 8/24/2009, 10:18 AM
to John Meyer

thanks for the Private e-mails and help aside from the forum

much appreciated

Rory
Dan Sherman wrote on 8/24/2009, 1:06 PM
Thought we'd lost John, and I was linking to a memorial!
Way too early for that methinks.

Good to hear from Douglas too.
Hoping, praying, all goes well with the surgery and that you will have maximum mobility at the end of this ordeal.
See Spot run!
Soniclight wrote on 8/24/2009, 3:41 PM
Ditto here on reaction to the thread title -- "What, he died?" and I was relieved it was not so. But since I'm at it, I can also ditto on the contributions by said not-dead fellow member:

--- While you go over my head sometimes with your erudite knowledge of some aspects of editing, John, I've definitely learned from you. As I have coined it here before, this forum is like an informal "Vegas University" campus.

And you're one of our core-curriculum tenured professors :)
apit34356 wrote on 8/24/2009, 6:28 PM
"What, he died?" Yea, that was first thought, VEGAS 9 finally cause the lost of a good guy. ;-) but reading the thread, made me smile. John always seems to be working on some restoration project, working out better / smoother workflow which he freely shares to those who ask. It will be a sad when he loses interest in editing video. ;-( And since he sailed on the great lakes in his younger years, Traverse Bay, Mackinac Island, etc, when friends and I were racing sailing boats in the Mackinac races,...... I THINK of him as one of the old gang ;-)
johnmeyer wrote on 8/24/2009, 8:30 PM
First, I really appreciate all the kind things ya'll have said. The Mark Twain comment really does apply: I didn't think I'd hear these things except at my funeral.

While I appreciate the attention, I think it is probably time to get onto other things. Want to see my latest recipe for doing motion-compensated, interlace separated, denoising for interlaced video? It is the slowest thing I've ever created, but it sure does make bad video look good.

As to the Great Lakes experience, by odd coincidence, I corresponded just a week ago with a guy who has a very large site dedicated to great lakes shipping. I uploaded a whole bunch of my photos:

Historic Inland Steel - John Meyer

I also sent him some 16mm film my father took in 1935 when he was on exactly the same ship, but I don't think he has posted that.

I also have a bunch of other photos, which I didn't share, when I was a crew member on a 66-foot ketch on a short trip up Traverse Bay to the mouth of the St. Marys River and back. I also have pics from the start of the Chicago to Mackinac race from 1970.

Everyone should be lucky enough to sail those waters. Truly beautiful.