I don't blog often and when I do it is because I really want to express myself. I just found out a few minutes ago that I didn't make the cut for the Creative Workforce Fellowship. For those who don't know the program awards 20 artists with fellowships worth $20,000 and a bunch of other benefits. It runs in two yer cycles between visual and performing arts. The process is easy and anyone who have been a resident of Cuyahoga county for 3 years can enter. In the end only 310 entries were submitted. While I know the selection process isn't random, I still felt my odds were pretty good. I was submitted my interactive multimedia installations which are community works and quite popular. You could submit either 15 photos or 3 minutes of video. My work is hard to understand without actually experiencing it so I created 4 short video clips to walk them through the work. I posted them to YouTube and they can be seen here: I knew in the judging that they would only look at the first minute which I put forward as the Hands-Across video. I have to tell you it is hard NOT to get excited. You try to stay humble but then you have confidence in your work and the odds and you just start feeling good :) Even dream about what you might do with $20,000. The judging is public and they bring in a panel from outside of the area that watches for one minute, discusses for 2, and then votes. If you get less than 4 votes you are out, 4 votes you go on to round two, and 5 to 7 votes you go right to round three. I attended yesterday and part of today to see the process. The judges were fair but very tough. They had harsh comments and only once or twice did you hear them argue with each other (a sign I took as someone getting only a few votes). They would then announce later in the day who got what votes but after an embarrassing round of announcing the 0 and 1 votes they instead just announced the scores for those who got 4 or higher. In the end it was very few. From each batch of 30 there were between 3 to 5 who made it through. This morning was my turn. They played the Hands-Across video and you could tell they didn't like it. First, they said so. They hated the voice-over explanation, they wanted to experience the work, not be told about it. They also said is sounded like a science video. This I will cop to because that is indeed my style but the other comment I take issue with. I knew they could never experience the work - at best I could take them through it. Perhaps I should have docented them through it from a first person perspective instead. To be honest I am very bad at documenting my installations and didn't have the footage to do that. In fact even now I look at my most recent installation and realize I have no video of it in action. They spoke kindly of the innovative idea, which after watching them for a day I realized was them just being dismissive. One reviewer said it appeared the project was never ending - which while correct in concept they didn't get and I think took as a negative. They didn't like my backdrop. Neither did I! But alas in the field I had little choices and in my mind getting a fellowship was about taking my work to the next level. I realize now they wanted me one level up already and to take it to the NEXT next level. That is acceptable. One last note was a third reviewer chimed in that they didn't show the Kaleidoscope video and that he loved seeing the fingers drawing on the screen (but still hated my voice-over) and wanted to see more of that (which of course is something I am doing MORE of). I felt I got one vote but I knew then that I wasn't going to go further - which was verified just a few minutes ago. The installation after mine had no voice over but used entirely too much text which they commented on and I thought was funny that with installation there may be no winning. Next year is the performance art one and there is a way I could package this for that one as hybrid community engagement - who knows. For now its time to lick my wounds. It is hard not to get your hopes up and its hard not to have your hopes dashed. I will get over this and I will keep working but it would have been nice :) Jared PS In no way do I want this to come out as negative against the organization or the judges. I think the process was smooth and fair and their opinions valid. I just wanted a chance to reply even if just to the Internet.

So its been an interesting week. "KaleidoDoodle" by the Lemming Labs (the creative team of Jared Bendis and Larry Hatch) is a Kaleidoscopic Drawing program for the iPad that allowed participants at the 2010 Ingenuity Festival to paint and design their own Kaleidoscopic Mandalas using a variety of symmetrical patterns and a wide color palette. These Kaleidoscopic Mandalas form part of a larger collected work entitled "The Digital Kaleidoscopic Mandala Project" that is displayed on a large screen and also available online. "The Digital Kaleidoscopic Mandala Project" is about community, creation, transformation, and participation. People enjoy expressing themselves artistically and this project gives everyone the opportunity to not only try -- but to succeed in their own creation while being part of a larger community as a whole. All 1262 images were assembled into this video: Today the Library had a big event and I was asked to create a short video and here it is:

Last night I posted a photo of many of my items charging: http://tweetphoto.com/31804001 And I feel this photo (as well as my packing) warrants an explanation. I try not to overpack. While I am going away for one month I will have laundry and really only need to pack as if I am going on a single 8 day trip (the last 8 days in Istanbul). In fact its a light packing trip: golf shirts, jeans, toiletries, socks and undies and some pajama pants which all should fit nicely in one small suitcase. However…. I am also documenting at the survey and exploring new media which means I need to pack the following technology kits. 1) Digital Camera Kit: This is my Pentax K20D 14.7 MP camera. I have the battery grip so that means 2 batteries (and 2 8GB SDHC Memory Cards - Class 6). Which also means 2 chargers. I am bringing 3 lenses, 10-20mm, 18-200mm, and a 50mm Prime lens (which came with my K1000 and I use for studio work). Since there will be some studio work I will also bring the AC adapter for the camera and the USB cable (which is not a generic cable). 2) 3D Camera Kit: This is my Fuji digital 3D camera with an 8GB Memory card, battery and another charger. I also will bring a stereo slider bar for use with my Pentax (above) for studio work. 3) Panorama Camera Kit: This is a Nikon CoolPix 8700 with a huge spot fisheye lens, for which I have 2 batteries and another 2 chargers. It takes CF cards, and I am bringing several 2GB ones. The entire thing is mounted on a big metal bracket, on a rotator, and on a tripod leveler and head. Its bulky but it works well. 4) Video Camera Kit: I am bringing 2 Sony HDV tape cameras. Each camera has a wide angle lens, a 6 hour battery (yes 6 hours!) and that of course means 2 more chargers. Oh and i am bringing 55 hours of Sony HDV Tape. Since I will not be encoding in Turkey I am also bringing a Flip HD tapeless camera with an add on wide angle lens (and a charger). 5) Audio Kit: For the video I am bringing one nice camera mounted shotgun microphone with a really nice deadcat windscreen. For this I must also bring extra 9volt batteries and shock mounting rubber bands. I am also bringing a Zoom H2 audio recorder for higher quality in field recording for which I also have a memory card, another deadcat, and some AA batteries. For all this I am using Sony studio headphones. 6) Color Kit: For color correction I am using an Expodisc which allows me to color calibrate the video and still camera with a manual white balance. And for the studio work I am also bringing a color card for calibration. No power here - thankfully! 7) Lighting: For the video camera I have an LED Camera array (and battery and charger) and I am also bringing a reflector disc to possibly use in field work. 8) Mounts: I am bringing a set of light but sturdy tripod legs and also a small video head. I have a shoulder mount for the video camera as well as a hand mount that makes everything bulkier but easier to hold - the mic, the light, and the camera at the same time. Everything uses the same quick releases for ease interactions. 9) Backup: For my data I have several cards and a hardshell carrier but I also have a Colorspace drive (and charger) for backup as well as a 1.5 TB Hard Drive for backup with a computer and a memory card reader. 10) Computers: I am going all Apple this trip bringing with me my Macbook, iPad, and iPhone (whose SIM card I will remove in Chicago) and of course their chargers. I also am bringing a video cable and mouse for the Macbook and a spare battery pack (and charger) for the iPhone. 11) Scanner: I am bringing with me a PlanOn pen scanner as an experiment to see how useful it might be in the field. More on that as it gets used. It has a 2GB MicroSD card and charges via USB on the computer. 12) VR Turntable: Since we will be doing some museum field work I am also bringing my 10 degree increment manual turntable. No power on that or my angle measurer but my laser measurer takes AAA batteries. 13) Cleaning Stuff: Can't forget cleaning supplies, lens clothes, lens pens, lens wipes, and air duster, a brush, and a sensor cleaning kit and head cleaning tapes (forgot that one last year). I also bring white gloves. 14) GPS Units: Probably giving me the most amount of frustration are the 5 GPS Geologgers (and chargers) that I am trying to get configured for field work. Only 2 of them are happy right now (and I can't figure out why) so we will see how this works. I only need one for my primary work but others would be ideal for an experiment I have in mind. 25) Power: Don't laugh - I already own 2 European power strips and a ton of outlet adapters but I always need more and the first thing I will do when I get there is hit a store for another strip. So…. All of this has to fit in one carry on. Well not all but most. The cameras and at least every unique charger has to go in my one carry on and the rest (the less valuable and less temptable items - ie the mass of wires and the metal tubes) in one of my suitcases. It is going to happen it is just a challenge. I don't THINK I forgot anything. And, by the way, this is the cut list. There was a lot more that didn't make it, I am only packing what I know I can responsibly use. I will be wearing hiking boots, a 2 liter water backpack, a photographers vest, backpack, and a wide brimmed hat. Wait till you see the pictures. PS I have a research visa in my passport so it should be ok that I have all this equipment (not like in Peru where they did NOT like how many camera I had - though the French have never asked me about the quantity of equipment I have brought before).

One Month in Turkey! As some of you know, today I leave for one month in Turkey. One month is a very long time to be away and it is going to be very exciting indeed. For the first three weeks I am going to be participating in and documenting the Isparta Archeological Survey that is taking place in Isparta, Turkey. The survey is a collaboration which includes members of the Department of Archaeology at Süleyman Demirel Üniversitesi (Isparta, Turkey), members of the Department of Classics at Case Western Reserve University (Cleveland, Ohio), and members of the Hochschule für Technik und Wirtschaft, (Berlin, Germany). http://www.case.edu/artsci/clsc/ias/isparta.html Some students from Case Western Reserve University have already been onsite for one week but my scheduling didn't allow for it so I fly out today. That's Cleveland - Chicago - Istanbul - Isparta. It's going to be a long day. The Chicago - Istanbul flight is almost 11 hours. During my 3 weeks onsite I will be filming a documentary as well as documenting and exploring other ways that New Media can be used to augment their work both in the field and in the museum they are establishing. It is a very exciting project. Please note that this is a "surgery" as apposed to a "dig" so we collect what is on the ground only. I am very excited because I am told there is an ancient ruin of a Greek fortress on the site. After the 3 weeks in Isparta I fly to Istanbul where Jenny will be meeting me for 8 days of vacation. Of course vacation means photographing as many of the castles as I can in Istanbul (there are tons). I will be posting updates to my University Blog page and linking them via Twitter, Facebook, and my Facebook group From Castle to Castle Productions (please Join). I will try and post some video clips if I have permission to and if I can tunnel through the University network as Turkey is currently blocking YouTube (and maybe DailyMotion). http://blog.case.edu/jaredjared/ http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=58637524382&ref=ts More to come soon. Jared (from Cleveland)

So I have been experimenting with VR Objects. I have been experimenting with a motorized object turntable that auto auto triggers the camera. I am using a DSLR with a 50mm macro lens. I have set the focus and the exposure to manual. I have a couple of examples - they are 5MB each and take a bit to load. In the first I am cropping the image at the time I shoot and I am flashing each time. The flickering you see is due to variations in the power of the flash. In the second I didn't crop and I used long exposures without a flash. I didn't manually adjust the white balance so the colors are off but the lighting is much more even. More experiments coming soon.

This is a tough one. A couple of years ago I worked with Rita Montlack on an installation called Found in a Crowd. The work was in two parts. First we captured people in various emotional states and then we projected their faces animating on a large display. When the event was over I put just the happy faces in a modified version of the installation online at: http://foundinacrowd.com/ This begs the question - what exactly IS the installation. At the event the display was a large projector and a window covered in wax paper. That wax paper held no meaning or value and it was easy to throw away. The box on the other hand - the capture booth - that was different. In addition to being filled with technology (most of it borrowed) the box itself was aesthetically pleasing. Rita covered it with these pop art colored photos and even the buttons had some character. It was easy to dismantle the box. Well - not dismantle. We gutted the box - the technology got returned and the box remained. It still was very pretty and Rita took it back to her studio where it sits empty but pretty. Neither one of us ever thought about putting that installation on again and to be honest it was more of an event - the event is passed and an echo of it or a reminder can be found at the website. The record that we did something and that people took part in it. Now jump forward a year (or back two) - I designed a new installation called Hands-Across. The installation is big - its a box and a platform - this entire stage where a person can capture their entire body. It takes a truck to move it around and several computers to run it and project it all. I ran it an Ingenuity 2008 and then at Research Showcase 2009 and then again and Ingenuity 2009. In all I collected 3542 bodies which are forever holding hands at: http://hands-across.com/ I keep going back to which part of the project IS the project. With both projects the website was different than the display at the event. They were based on the same data just portrayed differently. In fact the number one difference was that the display at the event catered to the need for the people to find themselves in the installation. The Hands-Across booth was more functional than pretty. Not to say it wasn't well designed. I felt good about using arcade buttons and a large screen placed behind a frame in a portrait orientation. I like that nothing about my installations screamed "THIS IS A COMPUTER". But Hands-Across was built to work - to get people up the ramp and over - to give them their ticket and to leave. The black and white linoleum floor was only used because at the last minute I thought it might hold up better than floor paint. The reason I am writing this post though is because I need to put Hands-Across to rest. I have run it three times and though tempted as I am to take it on the road - I really don't want to run it a fourth. At the last event it was clear that I would need to reinforce the structure - and instead of doing that - I want to dismantle it altogether! Not to say it already hasn't been apart for sometime. The large display and the computer are in my bedroom - its a monster fast quad core beast that I use for video editing. The empty core of Hands-Across: the capture booth, the columns, and the capture stage are sitting in my garage taking up a lot of space. This weekend I plan on removing the hardware - the wheels, hinges, handles, buttons, and lights. All that will remain is wood. Painted wood. I have plans for some of the wood - some is just garbage. My friend Tom thinks I am crazy - he thinks that this is just inviting me to create Hands-Across 2.0 (and since he helped me build the first one he is a right to moan) and he might be right - but that isn't the next project on my mind and I want my workshop back. RIP Hands-Across Capture Booth 2008-2009 You live on in our memory and on the website. Too bad the wood is painted - its gonna be a nice weekend for a bonfire.

Castle Hunting People often ask why I call what I do Castle Hunting. While exploring Ireland in 2003 I happened upon many unmarked ruins. Quite often the GPS would report the street as “unnamed country roadâ€, I would have no idea of what town I was in and even worse it was not uncommon for the locals to just refer to it as the local ruin without having any idea of its name or history. In order to avoid this type or frustration I try to keep very good notes to help me on the trip and allow me to further investigate when I return home. Of the 95 castles I visited during my 2004 trip to France I was able to record the names of 94 of them. The one that eluded me was a ruin on a hillside somewhere on the D14 (the only information that I have). I promised myself that one day I would try and identify it and moreover that I did not want that to happen again. Both before and during my 2009 expedition to France I conducted an extensive amount of research and I brought with me binders of information and maps and along the way took notes and of course photos. Especially challenging are the mountaintop castles because they look very different from the air (which are the photos usually seen in books) than from the base of the mountain than from directly in front of or from inside. In fact on the entire drive to the Chateau de Peyrepertuse in the Pyrenees I was not 100% sure about whether the castle I was seeing in the distance was in fact Peyrepertuse or another of the many Cathar castles. The question of Peyrepertuse was quickly resolved as I drove up the mountain and was able to verify its identity in person. From the peak of the Chateau de Peyrepertuse you can see another chateau in the distance this is the Chateau Queribus. It is well documented as being visible from Peyrepertuse and also very identifiable. The next day as I was driving out of the Pyrenees towards the Mediterranean Sea and I spotted a small tower on a mountain peak. I pulled over to the side of the road and too this photo: At the time I thought it was the Chateau Queribus from the other side and only later did I realize that I was nowhere near Queribus so now I had an unidentified chateau. For this trip I used a geotagger. A geotagger is a GPS device that records in regular intervals exactly where I am located and saves this information as a time-coded data stream. By cross referencing this data with the time-stamp in my digital photos it can tell me exactly where I was when I took each photograph. From this I can see that the unidentified chateau photograph was taken from the side of the road in Cases de Pène. My research could find no castles related to Cases de Pène which is not surprising considering how far away the castle looks from my location in the picture. This is the bad part about geotagging photos – it only tells me where I was standing – not in which direction I was looking or how far away the subject was. Looking back at the photograph it is clear that the castle is situated on the peak of a hill so to find my unidentified chateau I need to look at a terrain map of the area. Most of the elevations appear to the northeast where I see three possible peaks. Returning to the satellite imagery, it is still very hard to see anything that looks like a structure. However, when I zoomed in on the first location I can clearly see the circles of a structure that looks like a base and a tower. While not definitive proof, nothing rules this out as my unidentified chateau and I mark it on the map as the most likely item to research. Returning to a wider view of the area it is becomes clear that the closest city to the unidentified chateau is not Cases de Pène but instead Tautuval. The city of Tautuval has a very nice website (in French of course) and it mentions in the region that there is a local castle and a tower farther off. http://www.tautavel.com/ The Château de Tautavel is located inside the city, on a much flatter area, and is made up of several ruined structures so it can’t be the one I am looking for. The tower “la Torre del Far†however looks close. Described as being situated on a peak between the villages of Tautavel and Cases de Pène, could this really be the same place as the photo I took but from a different angle? A quick search about the tower took me to a website about the history of the region. http://histoireduroussillon.free.fr/Thematiques/Batiments/Histoire/TorreDelFar.php The page includes an engraving of the southern elevation of the tower. This exactly matches a close-up of unidentified chateau which is logical as I was in Cases de Pène and facing north. There can be no question that the unidentified chateau is “la Torre del Far†- the Fire Tower also known as The Sentinel of Roussillon. While no records exist of its construction it is mentioned in an order to provide supplies for it in 1341. Voila! I love research!

OK so here is the deal. Doritos is having a "Crash The Superbowl" contest and looking for the best commercials. They choose the best 6 (who each get $25,000 and a week long trip to Florida) and then the public votes the 6 down to 3. The 3 selected then get shown DURING the superbowl. If the USA today poll picks the commercial as first place the entrant gets $1,000,000, second $600,000, third, $400,000. If all three top spots are Doritos commercials then each gets an additional $1,000,000! OK - so Tom and I put together 2 commercials (a third involving Tom and some outtakes just kind of emerged). Here they are: "The Wish" "The Fall" "2 Flavors, 3 Takes"

Building on the success of my 2007 Found In A Crowd (with Rita Montlack) and my 2008/2009 Hands-Across projects I am proud to announce my newest community contributed art project entitled "Tell Me A Joke" which premiered at the 2009 Bridge Project on the Trolley Level of the Detroit-Superior Bridge. The premise is simple, I told everyone: "You tell me a joke and I'll give you a nickel." 282 people signed a release form and allowed me to videotape their performances! The collection of jokes are integrated into my website and I am currently producing a DVD of the complete (dirty jokes and all) 282 jokes - this is 2.5 hours of jokes! Check it out at my SillyServices.com website!

So as many of you know I went to France earlier in the summer. Final tally - 21 days - 21 hours of video - 3415 photos - 45 Castles - 38 Other Cultural Sites. What I am presenting here is not the finished movie just a teaser of what happened on the trip. Oh and I also included the bloopers! Be sure to click the HD button (and then full screen) to really get the full quality of these videos. Enjoy! Thanks again to the Maison Française de Cleveland for their generosity in support of the project. Also don't forget to watch my 10 minute "My Cameroon Experience" which I recently re-cut:

Hi all. Typing this from iPhone In Paris Visited museums Saw medeival chateau de Louvre and remains of the Bastille Ate good food Visited Jim Morrison and Oscar Wilde's graves Went shopping for antiques, souveniers, and ritzy stuff Head out in the am - see you in the USA Jared

Day 16 (31) Chateau de Malmaison (16a) Tour Eiffel Day 17 (32) Chateau de Versailles (and everything that goes along with it) Day 18 (17a) Notre Dame de Paris (18a) Sacre Cour ... Internet Cafe OK So the hotel is fantastic! Great location great price - No Internet. This is a quick update from an Internet Cafe. We returned the car after a quick trip to Chateau Malmaison and then went to the Eiffel tower where I had a great time hustling the salesmen for cheap trinkets. We spent the next day at Versailles. Wow it was so tiring! After we hunted down a movie theater and I got to see the new Tom Hanks film. It was OK but very welcome to have some media in my life (and some popcorn). Today we went to Notre Dame which closed early to have a service for the victims of that flight from Rio. We will go back so we can climb the tower. Next we went to Sacre Cour. I have been there before but never have I climbed as high. I mean I climbed the tower but not to the very very top of the dome - wow that was intense. I mean the staircase was OVER the dome. OK that's enough for now. PS I am still clean shaven and wearing a blue shirt! Jared

Quick Summary Day 12-15 and a look ahead. Day 12 (26) Fort de Salses (9a) Arena in Nimes (10a) Maison Carree (11a) Pont du Gard Day 13 (27) Palace of the Popes (12a) Pont d’Avignon (13a) Arena in Arles (14a) Theater in Arles Day 14 (28) Chateau d’If (29) Chateau de Savilly Day 15 (15a) Cathedral in Autun (30) Vaux-le-Vicomte Ok summary aside. Let’s review. Car was broken into and I spent many hours in a police station getting a police report. Other than Tim’s stuff and our general inconvenience of having a car that couldn’t be secured everything is fine. I skip ahead. We arrived at the Chateau de Savilly very late which was disappointing though I did get my pictures of it in the morning. We left our bags there and visited Autun and then got the bags. We then drove to the hotel to put our bags in the room before Vaux-le-Vicomte but the hotel was closed until 5pm so I cancelled that reservation and moved to another hotel. Our plan goes on from here: We leave this morning and drive (yes DRIVE) into Paris to drop our stuff off at the Hotel. Then we drive to Chateau de Malmaison and then from there the Airport to drop of the car and deal with them. At that point two things happen: (1) we are on foot – which is good because I can leave a lot of stuff in the room and it makes me more mobile (even though we are less mobile) (2) The hotel doesn’t have Internet so at best I will post from Internet Café as we find them. I have more pictures and stories to share about the trip and that will unravel over the next few weeks as I will continue to post but I wanted to give a quick tidy up message to everyone who has been following. I also want to once again thank the Maison Française de Cleveland Fund for their generosity and support of the expedition. Our plan for the week is to do some typical Paris stuff. Don’t laugh it is important and part of it all. Thursday is the long day at the Musée d'Orsay and Friday at the Louvre. And yes we will sneak off and do a full day at Versailles either Tuesday or Wednesday. Next time from an Internet Café! Jared

Quick Summary Day 12-15 and a look ahead. Day 12 (26) Fort de Salses (9a) Arena in Nimes (10a) Maison Carree (11a) Pont du Gard Day 13 (27) Palace of the Popes (12a) Pont d’Avignon (13a) Arena in Arles (14a) Theater in Arles Day 14 (28) Chateau d’If (29) Chateau de Savilly Day 15 (15a) Cathedral in Autun (30) Vaux-le-Vicomte Ok summary aside. Let’s review. Car was broken into and I spent many hours in a police station getting a police report. Other than Tim’s stuff and our general inconvenience of having a car that couldn’t be secured everything is fine. I skip ahead. We arrived at the Chateau de Savilly very late which was disappointing though I did get my pictures of it in the morning. We left our bags there and visited Autun and then got the bags. We then drove to the hotel to put our bags in the room before Vaux-le-Vicomte but the hotel was closed until 5pm so I cancelled that reservation and moved to another hotel. Our plan goes on from here: We leave this morning and drive (yes DRIVE) into Paris to drop our stuff off at the Hotel. Then we drive to Chateau de Malmaison and then from there the Airport to drop of the car and deal with them. At that point two things happen: (1) we are on foot – which is good because I can leave a lot of stuff in the room and it makes me more mobile (even though we are less mobile) (2) The hotel doesn’t have Internet so at best I will post from Internet Café as we find them. I have more pictures and stories to share about the trip and that will unravel over the next few weeks as I will continue to post but I wanted to give a quick tidy up message to everyone who has been following. I also want to once again thank the Maison Française de Cleveland Fund for their generosity and support of the expedition. Our plan for the week is to do some typical Paris stuff. Don’t laugh it is important and part of it all. Thursday is the long day at the Musée d'Orsay and Friday at the Louvre. And yes we will sneak off and do a full day at Versailles either Tuesday or Wednesday. Next time from an Internet Café! Jared

So we came back to the car after visiting the Chateau d'If in Marseilles and some asshole broke the drivers side little window (which I now know is called the deflector) got into the car - open the glove box, broke open the armrest - and got into the trunk. Funnily enough other than the damage they didn't steal anything... of mine. Tim on the other hand lost two bags (one of them was very important and everything was valuable but useless to a thief). So after three hours in a police station getting a police report we finally made out next stop VERY late. Now we can't secure the car and have two more days in it. Man Plans God Laughs Jared Adapts More as it happens....

Day 9 (18) Chateau d’Angers (19) Chateau du Roi Rene in Ponts de Ce Day 10 (20) Chateau du Rocamadour (7a) Church in Rocamadour (whose name eludes me right now) (21) City of Carcasonne Day 11 (22) Chateau Comtal (inside Carcasonne) (8a) Church in Carcasonne (whose name eludes me right now) (23) Chateau Peyrepertuse (24) Chateau Queribus (seen from Peyrepertuse) (25) Chateau des Ducs de Joyeuse OK so here goes with a quick update. Angers is a big fun castle and we did it quickly and outside of town saw a castle by a bridge which I quickly photographed. The road to Rocamadour was long and rough and it started to storm. So bad they wouldn’t let us pump or gasoline! We finally made it to a small hotel near the train station and after we got settled we saw a lightning blast so bright and heard a pop and the power went out for a bit. The next day was overcast and slightly rainy but we were able to walk the ramparts in Rocamadour and visit the Church. We then drove to Carcasonne. The GPS must have been mad at me because it started to give me bad directions because it thought that 2 roads merged that didn’t and then started to put us in an endless loop! (I am not kidding). We figured it out and forced it to take us back on the right road. The bed and breakfast was fabulous! Like a villa – the rooms so nicely decorated and our hosts so polite and helpful. She didn’t want to be interviewed for the film but one of her neighbors is a scholar on the city and agreed to be in the film instead! She translated the questions and he answered in French – I understood about what he was saying but I will need to get it translated when I get back. At some point I think he was disparaging tourists buying snow-globes so I videotaped some of that just in case. I had an amazing meal of a local white bean stew that I am sure I will blog about more later. The next morning we visited Carcasonne again but only quickly so we could get on the road to the Pyrenees. Mountain driving is tough but the day was glorious and we hiked up to the top of the mountain and not only visited one castle but I was able to see another via my telephoto lens! Our last stop for the day is a 16th century Chateau Hotel that so far has been my favorite (in terms of me owning a castle) and I ‘might’ have an interview in the morning. Wish me luck. Some random unlabeled and uncorrected (hence slightly blue) pictures follow. Jared

Sorry for the light postings. It is a lot of work and between shooting and driving I am really tired. I am including some technical details at the end of this posting on how things are going from a techie standpoint. And of course some photos (remember they are blueish because I can't edit or color correct on here!) Day 7 (12) Chateau de Chenonceau (13) Chateau de Villandry (14) Chateau de Azay-le-Rideau (15) Chateau de Rochecotte (We stayed there!) Day 8 (16) Chateau de Langeais (6a) Dolmen de Bagneux (17) Chateau de Saumur The Loire is amazing and the weather has been great – just a light mist one morning. A couple of highlights for you: We ran to Langeais to be there first thing in the am and at 9:30 they did indeed drop the drawbridge (and I got it on film). Because it was a Sunday they also had a market which was a lot of fun. Backing up a little bit our stay at the Chateau Rochecotte couldn’t have been better. Not only is it an amazing castle but one of the owners agreed to let me interview her. She was nervous and some of the questions she answered in French (which I said was fine – I will have it subtitled when we get home). Some questions she answered in English though (so I knew what she said) and then she took us on a tour of the grounds and into the woods and we spent over an hour together and it really was magical. Afterward we ate dinner at the Chateau and WOW it was a real event – even nicer than the night before – I think tomorrow (or the next time I have Internet) I will devote some of the blog to a discussion of food. She gave me a bottle of wine which we now have to figure out how to get home. As a surprise to Jenny and Tim I drove on a little side trip (all of 10 min) to the Café Dolmen in Saumur which houses the largest Dolmen in France – it was pretty kewl. Not a castle but a very large and very old stone structure nonetheless. The Bed and Breakfast in Angers is lovely – we are starting to hit regions where the bathroom and toilet are separate. This is GREAT if you are traveling with other people. The proprietor really doesn’t speak any English so I am not going to even try and interview him. It is strange how the film part of this is going. I have been able to film everywhere but almost all handheld. I have recorded very little audio and I have also gotten a ton of photos. As the trip progresses the post production of the film keeps changing and I can safely tell you I have no idea what the final product will be like yet. Some technical stuff: So far I have taken: 12 Hours of Tape 1390 Photos I have used the tripod twice: once during the interview and the other time to watch the drawbridge drop. Generally it is hard to carry and no one lets you use it. I am using this $50 pro-cam sports mount handle thing I bought before the trip and it works better then expected. The bean bag mounting thing was a waste of time. So was the whiteboard it just isn’t convenient (however the superclamp I bough to hold it as well as the car window mount did prove useful for the microphone). From a microphone perspective I am only use the Rode shotgun mic – it has good wind and ok noise elimination and I am able to sneak it in most place. Often we only pull it out when I want the ambience or will speak myself. The base of it broke but I was able to attach a tripod mount to it and it mount to the underside of the pro-cam mount it is pretty funny looking and quick to disassemble. The rainslicker I got for the video camera I have used a couple of times and works well. For the most part I do not use the good handheld wireless microphone. The white balance card for the video camera I have only used a few times because I move to various lighting situations too quickly. I have lost two lens caps. The video camera one just vanished and the zoom lens cap is floating in front of Azay-le-Rideau. The GPS logger is working great s a live GPS feed into the NetBook computer I brought with me and have sitting on the dashboard for turn by turn directions. All of this goes into a backpack that never leaves my touch! OK so there are some technical details for my geeky friends. And some more photos for your enjoyment. Jared

Day 5 -6 So the Internet was ‘broken’ at Mont Saint Michel so I wasn’t able to post. I am very short on time again because there is so much to do behind the scenes so I will be very brief today (longer tomorrow) and instead will post some pictures. Be warned I cannot edit on this computer so the JPG versions of the RAW pictures from the camera and are just as is without resizing or white balance correction. Hence the blueish tint. (9) Chateau Ducal in Caen (10) Mont Sain Michel (I count it as a castle it is a fortified fortress!) Day 6 (5a) Cathedral in Chartres (11) Chateau de Chissay (Where we slept!) I will write more narrative when I have time – the Loire awaits and we have 3 castles to visit and one more to sleep in! PS This last one is where we slept! More soon! Jared

Day 3 – 4 The adventure continues… I was informed in the morning by the proprietor of our Bed and Breakfast that what we say wasn’t a riot or a demonstration but actually a ‘manifestation’ and that they have them quite frequently. In fact on the way out of town we saw another group blocking traffic in a similar (though less flaming manure) sort of way. The Bed and Breakfast we found out as we left was a restored 18th building and very nicely done. The cathedral in Amiens is massive – as massive as I remember and it just goes on and on. I won’t. It was interesting to see things through a more art historical eye. There was one chapel that was being worked on my some conservationists and it gave you a real behind the scenes sort of look at it all. Also they have the head of John the Baptist which I somehow missed the first time around. We spent a lot of time there – it is so serene. The gift shop had (in English) the book that explains in great details European cathedral architecture that I had stolen on my list trip here (and that we couldn’t even find on the Internet) so buying that made me very happy. Our next destination was Giverny. It was as lovely as ever – the sun shining and a wonderful breeze – just a magical place. There is a museum of American art in Giverny but they were running an exhibition of … Monet! Normally you can’t see any Monet in Giverny but they had 28 paintings from all over. They also had a lot of photographs and even some color photographs that were originally taken for a stereoscopic display (though they were only showing one image). A real surprise! The house and gardens were fun. No photo or video in the house so I just walked around with the video camera on and held it from the top handle to see if anything might come out. The gardens were nice though not fully in bloom. I did get a little video of me on the bridge in the Japanese garden. Jenny is turning into a real cinematographer – positioning me for the best effect. To make life easier I am shooting everything without any sound and then we will add voiceover in post. This way I only need to add the microphone when I know I am going to talk. The compromise is that we are using the shotgun mic now (and Jenny even insists that she monitors the audio to get it just right). The base broke off of the shotgun mic (that attaches it to the camera) but we were able to jury rig a quick release mount to the microphone and the underside of my hand mount for the video camera. It works really well. And even with only shooting short ‘bumpers’ of 15-30 seconds each there will be a lot of them (30+castles as well as other places!). The B&B in Giverny was almost too good to be true. An entire split level apartment dating back to Monet’s time. Full kitchen - 2 bedrooms (in a loft style second floor) – I can imagine spending a week there. After we settled in we went to the cemetery and visited Monet’s grave and to give our respects. It was a nice bit of closure to the whole space. Jenny needed some aspirin so we drove to the next town over and I found a castle! Well the ruin of some little towers. I will have to fill in the name later – I think it in Vernon. Tim opted not to go shopping so he missed it! OK I lied – the closure to the day was dinner. Lamb and pate and crème caramel – yum yum. Plus live music from a French band – it was really fun. It did get cold though and the service here is not one to push you from a table or get you your check quickly. Summary of Day 3 (1a) – Amiens Cathedral (2a) – Monet’s House and Garndens (and Grave) (3a) – The American Museum in Giverny (5) – Ruined Tower in Vernon The (a) indicates that the site is not a castle. Day 4 Our first stop was the Chateau in Gisors. It is a nice ruin. A little castle on an artificial hill surrounded by a curtain wall. I can’t remember going up to the top because the last time I was there I didn’t! We went in and looked around but to get up to the top is an hour long tour – in French – on the hour. We walked around for a bit but skipped the tour. I needed some lip balm and Tim wandered over to the cathedral (which we went to as well). It was a nice place and a bit of a surprise. Those walkie talkies really come in handy for when Tim wanders off! We then headed over to La Roche Guyon. This is a big place. It has troglodyte caves in the basement, a 12th century castles on the rocky hilltop, an 18th century castle with gardens by the river, Romel’s WWII bunker, and it is all connected by tunnels and mountain. Jenny tried her EMF ghostmeter but alas she didn’t find any ghosts. There was also an art exhibition of a surrealist who only paints imagery of Mont Saint Michel. Very strange but very good. The castle is quite a hike up and down and through and it took hours. It is a good thing we stopped for Crepes before! Oh yes my first Crepe of the trip. Salmon and fresh cream and caviar (the last was a surprise). Oh so good. Our last stop of the day was the ruin of Chateau-Gaillard. Richard the Lionheart’s stronghold. It is a very nice ruin of what probably was a very unique looking castle. Lots more hiking and very peaceful atmosphere as we climbed along the ruins. After Chateau-Gaillard we drove to Caen (not Cannes were the film festival is or Kahn ie Wrath of). We stayed at an IBIS (chain hotel) and had Italian for dinner. Today we visit the Chateau Ducal (of William the Conqueror) and then head over to Mont Saint Michel. On a technical note, I am loving the new camera. The primary adjustment I use is not aperture or shutter speed but ISO. I leave it on 100 and only adjust as needed. I find the shots tend to darker then I like so I am bracketing often and shooting between 150-200 shots a day. Still having trouble getting the data off the GPS into something useable so that will happen soon (I hope) and later tonight I will post some more maps and another teaser picture or two. On a continuity note – I am wearing the same shirt every day (a clean version of course). Shaving every day has been too rough on my face so I am shaving every other day. The joke is I am getting redder and redder. Perhaps I will show you later tonight! Summary of Day 4 (6) Chateau in Gisors (4a) Cathedral in Gisors (7) Chateau La Roche-Guyon (8) Chateau-Gaillard Thank for reading. Look later for pictures and maps. Tell your friends! Jared

OK so I still can't post my good maps but this is a start of what we have done so far. Paris to Compiegne Compiegne to Pierrefonds Pierrefonds to Chantilly Chantilly to Amiens OK more when I can - later!!