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The Papillon is supposed to be one of the smartest breeds, but you'd not know it from this video! This is Savina, our adult female. The usually does this when she sees us playing with Ambrose her pup, but sometimes she does it just to get our attention.

Ambrose is almost 6 weeks old. He's helping my wife wait while a bed is ready for her to be admitted to the hospital for migraines- this is puppy love and pet therapy at its finest!

Ambrose is really starting to show his personality. He has a typical puppy's playfulness, and a typical Papillon's affection for people.

So he's not so newborn, and wow is he healthy! Almost 3 and a half pounds! We named him "Ambrose"- my wife chose the name because of the early church father, I chose it because A. Bierce is my favorite American author.

Several clips stitched together using the editing capabilities and 7x optical zoom of my new Optio Z10. Birds on our window sills, birds at our feeders, and some peeks at how we're making our yard a more friendly and beautiful place for my disabled wife.

I've often talked about how I carry rugs everywhere and work on them as I'm walking, but never had a video to show of it because... durr... I'm walking to the store, etc. But thousands of people in Chicago and Indianapolis have seen it. So today I set up my camera on a tripod, put my adorable 3.5 week old papillon puppy Ambrose Bernard in my rug bag, and here you go... walking forwards and backwards, talking, petting the puppy...

This is the first video I've uploaded from my new still camera- a Pentax Optio Z10- which also records movies and has a 7x optical zoom. I took advantage of that to shoot this video without spooking the critter. While my family calls squirrels "tree rats" and we don't want them eating all the bird seed, I have to admit this fellow was cute, and he didn't get much- the feeder ESSENTIALLY worked as promised.

I'm taking lots of pictures and video of Chloe's growth, but I've yet to figure out the easiest way for me to share them with the world. I still have other videos to upload (of rugs, Chicago, nature, etc.) and things to do in life (take care of my disabled wife, etc.), and now I have one more very precious thing to do. I'm still stunned that Savina chose to bear this little dear in my arms.

Cute little girl, our first successful breeding of Savina and Killian, both purebred papillon.

See previous

More of little Chloe's second morning. I've given up trying to combine clips with Windows Media Maker.

Savina (the mother) needed to go eat etc, and left the puppy where I could get some good video of her (we're pretty sure.) This was an experiment combining two clips with Windows Movie Player. I doubt I'll do it again, given how much time and effort it took.

I was surprised last night as I cuddled our female Papillon Savina to feel wriggling... then I saw this dear little creature making its way to its food source. She chose to give birth in my arms... how amazing is that! No name given yet. This video was shot about 5 hours after birth, when "Mommy Savi" had gone off to get some food and water.

In this video I show how to give a good firm finish to a toothbrush rug. This is the same rug as the previously uploaded video on the basic stitch. For more on this craft see my blog: toothbrushrugs.blogspot.com FINALLY, good lighting and quiet surroundings. In this video I show the basic stitch used in toothbrush rug making. This rug is now finished at 26" / 66cm, and will be a gift to some friends who have been relentlessly loving and supportive of us. I've called it the "gentle pastel rug" which works descriptively, but for reasons my own I've now named it the "brisk rent riot" rug. The folk to whom I'm giving can call it what they wish.

FINALLY, good lighting and quiet surroundings. In this video I show the basic stitch used in toothbrush rug making. For more on this craft see my blog: toothbrushrugs.blogspot.com This rug is now finished at 26" / 66cm, and will be a gift to some friends who have been relentlessly loving and supportive of us. I've called it the "gentle pastel rug" which works descriptively, but for reasons my own I've now named it the "brisk rent riot" rug. The folk to whom I'm giving can call it what they wish.

Zany... this is probably the first zany video I've uploaded. My videos are usually profound, peaceful, pedagogical... but there's something about snow... and this was the biggest snow Indy's had in 30 years. Back then an older brother built a sled run for me, this time I did one for my nephews, but I had the most fun with it. And yes, I know, I do look like Uncle Fester crossed with Steven Tyler in this... I wasn't going for a look, I was going for functionality: Keeping the snow out! Lovers of Chicago, nature, rugs... I have hours more to upload, but this was too much fun to keep under wraps! *grin*

This series of videos was shot on a frozen creek in Indianapolis. The biggest challenge was getting enough recording time without "city sounds" interfering. It was quite cold too... this was the artistic equivalent of ice fishing! The best use of these is to set them to loop and just relax to the sight and sound. Indeed, such was my intent when I shot them. My disabled wife just loads them up on her computer and has WMP play them over and over. I shot them just a few yards from her sick bed, but she's not stable enough on her feet to negotiate the ice, rocks, and snow to get there, so I brought the creek to her to soothe her. I hope you find them soothing as well! The camera was a simple Aiptek camcorder set to macro. For the night shots, I used the built in LED light. I mounted the camera on a tripod, and myself on a rug on the ice to keep from freezing (it didn't help much.)

This series of vidoes was shot on a frozen creek in Indianapolis. The biggest challenge was getting enough recording time without "city sounds" interfering. It was quite cold too... this was the artistic equivalent of ice fishing! The best use of these is to set them to loop and just relax to the sight and sound. Indeed, such was my intent when I shot them. My disabled wife just loads them up on her computer and has WMP play them over and over. I shot them just a few yards from her sick bed, but she's not stable enough on her feet to negotiate the ice, rocks, and snow to get there, so I brought the creek to her to soothe her. I hope you find them soothing as well! Same place as the night vids but at noon. The camera was a simple Aiptek camcorder set to macro. For the night shots, I used the built in LED light. I mounted the camera on a tripod, and myself on a rug on the ice to keep from freezing (it didn't help much.)

This series of vidoes was shot on a frozen creek in Indianapolis. The biggest challenge was getting enough recording time without "city sounds" interfering. It was quite cold too... this was the artistic equivalent of ice fishing! The best use of these is to set them to loop and just relax to the sight and sound. Indeed, such was my intent when I shot them. My disabled wife just loads them up on her computer and has WMP play them over and over. I shot them just a few yards from her sick bed, but she's not stable enough on her feet to negotiate the ice, rocks, and snow to get there, so I brought the creek to her to soothe her. I hope you find them soothing as well! The camera was a simple Aiptek camcorder set to macro. For the night shots, I used the built in LED light. I mounted the camera on a tripod, and myself on a rug on the ice to keep from freezing (it didn't help much.)

Since my wife is disabled, she's not able to make it out for Advent. We sing this together every morning instead. The video was shot in "night mode" which means fewer frames per second. I intentionally framed it so we really weren't in the shot much, but our precocious papillon didn't always oblige, *grin* About what we're signing, from the Wiki: O come, O come, Emmanuel is a translation of the Christian Latin text ("Veni, veni, Emmanuel") by John Mason Neale in the mid-19th century. It is a metrical version of a collation of various Advent Antiphons (the acrostic O Antiphons), which now serves as a popular Advent and Christmas hymn [ca 8th - 12 centuries] the text is based on ... Isaiah 7:14 that states that God will give Israel a sign that will be called Immanuel (Lit.: God with us). Matthew 1:23 states fulfillment of this prophecy in the birth of Jesus of Nazareth.

Yes, we've made the move, and as you can see from this video, the dogs love it here. They're running around in the fenced in garden since that's the only place safe to let them off lead out doors in our yard. Still doing much unpacking, have "farewell Chicago" and rug videos to upload when things slow down, but wanted to get a little something up and out there.

While my wife was in the hospital, I took a rug with me back and forth to work on while on the CTA. One day I made the mistake of leaving it in "Savi land" and she decided the needle was a chew toy. I got it back, but forgot to put it with the rug. BIG MISTAKE. We show up for her follow up apt. after discharge and... no needle. Initially I tried using a key, but the head of the key was just too fat to fit through. Then frustration and ingenuity came together, and I cut up one of my discount key fobs, and it worked. It wasn't ideal- it was a bit shorter than I'm used to, and I was always worried about giving myself a hellacious papercut, but it worked! I love the "make do with what you have on hand" aspect of this craft!

This cute video is also a bit bitter sweet- its the last one I'll shoot of this scene in Chicago. We'll be relocating soon... my friends know the story. Would that it were the last time we had to have my wife in the hospital, but that hardly seems likely. She was in 12 days this time. As you can see, Savina is growing up to look like an adult papillon, but she's still all puppy in behavior... especially CHEWING! Both dogs are doing well after the mouse bait scare, as you can see. My uploads of videos will probably slack off until after the move. I have a lot of old ones of Chicago I've just not processed, and I'll be shooting new much better rug tutorials... the place to which we're moving has better "studio space."

These our are pups after one of them- Puppy Savina- decided my MiL's wrapping paper was a chew toy. She didn't oblige me by chewing on it while I shot the video, but I still had a bit of affectionate fun with them... and Martin Luther

Savi found this toy sitting up somewhere high and pulled it down to play with. We decided to let her because we're not keeping it. Its been a while since I've posted a cute puppy video, lots going on in life, including the poor dears needing an emergency trip to the vet three days ago. As you can see in this video though, they're doing fine, just fine. Savina turned 6 months old a week ago! She and Killian have been most attentive to me while my wife's been in the hospital for migraines (today is her 8th day there)... they're convinced that since she's gone, I have nothing else to do when sitting or lying down than pet them... and you know, while I do have plenty of other things to do, I have nothing BETTER to do...

This is a slideshow of pictures of our new Papillon pup Savina. We got her at 3.6 pounds, 10 weeks old. She's now 10 pounds at 25 weeks. Created with Windows Movie Maker, photo enhancing by Paint.NET and PhotoFiltre. Backing music from the Canadian podsafe music download site http://www.publicbroadcasting.ca- see slideshow credits for more details, and do check out the group myspace.com/thechoirpractic

I shot this in slow frame rate to make the falling snow and flirting birds more dramatic, and the video smaller. It was shot in Indpls IN, Dec 07

It had been too painful for me to upload pix and vid from our June trip home, since Hilde got run over by a car there and died, but now enough time has passed, and this is a fun video, and a fitting tribute to her indefatigable spirit.

In this video you see my original rug made from sheets we call the "monarch" rug, and the rug I made from its leftovers and another animal print sheet. Toothbrush rug making is a folk craft version of naalbinding which produces beautiful artistic results which you not only CAN walk on, but which are made for that explicit purpose. They're also a great way to recycle, as the raw materials are usually scraps of clothing / linens, old plastic bags or hosiery, etc. For more, see my blog toothbrushrugs.blogspot.com

I set my camera on a tripod and low FPS and recorded my mother's wind chimes blowing about in the morning breeze.

This is an all blue jean rug I made for a dear friend's wedding. Beyond the center I alternate darker and lighter denim, but at five rows from the final, I start fading to black. First I do four blue strips + one black, then three + black, and so forth. Good example of "sequencing"- the use of colors or patterns in sequence in rug making, and shows off the rug nicely, in spite of how exhausted I was when I shot the video (I'd just been on my mother's roof cleaning out gutters, and was about to get cleaned up to go to the wedding)

I narrate a stroll around the yard in Indianapolis where I grew up. Hard to believe these were shot INSIDE the 465 beltway, in one of the nation's largest cities. Towards the end, the remnants of Ike first came through, and took out a large branch near where I was shooting.

These two videos were shot on the north east side of Indianapolis, a hilly wooded area, as the remnants of Ike moved through. Power was out, we were under high wind warnings, and had tropical force gusts. One has me being sardonic and having some fun ("Sardonic Narration") the other has me being abnormally subdued ("Straight Narration.")

These two videos were shot on the north east side of Indianapolis, a hilly wooded area, as the remnants of Ike moved through. Power was out, we were under high wind warnings, and had tropical force gusts. One has me being sardonic and having some fun ("Sardonic Narration") the other has me being abnormally subdued ("Straight Narration.")

In this video I describe the creative process by which I decided which clothes to use for my next rug, which ones to put off for future projects, and how I'll sequence the dockers and blouses together into the rug. For more on this wonderful ancient craft (naalbinding or toothbrush rug making) which recycles wasted clothes, plastic bags, hosiery, and time into beautiful durable rugs, see my dedicated rug blog, toothbrushrugs.blogspot.com

My beloved wife came down with me to the lake this morning. I shot these on a tripod in night mode, so the frame rate is slower. I also under-exposed by two stops. There's no talking, no dogs, just nature. I intended these videos to be suitable for zen-like contemplation and relaxation. You can download them from Veoh or Google video.

My beloved wife came down with me to the lake this morning. I shot these on a tripod in night mode, so the frame rate is slower. I also under-exposed by two stops. There's no talking, no dogs, just nature. I intended these videos to be suitable for zen-like contemplation and relaxation. You can download them from Veoh or Google video.

I usually head down to the Lake for a sunrise when the weather is unsettled, but this morning I thought I'd give it a try on a nice morning... and it was spectacular. The clouds were so majestic... This video series was shot on Thursday August 8, 2008 in Edgewater on Chicago's far north side, approximately 6200 north, off the Red Line's Granville station. The park is Berger Park, a hidden gem in the shadow of Loyola University.

I usually head down to the Lake for a sunrise when the weather is unsettled, but this morning I thought I'd give it a try on a nice morning... and it was spectacular. The clouds were so majestic... This video series was shot on Thursday August 8, 2008 in Edgewater on Chicago's far north side, approximately 6200 north, off the Red Line's Granville station. The park is Berger Park, a hidden gem in the shadow of Loyola University.

I usually head down to the Lake for a sunrise when the weather is unsettled, but this morning I thought I'd give it a try on a nice morning... and it was spectacular. The clouds were so majestic... This video series was shot on Thursday August 8, 2008 in Edgewater on Chicago's far north side, approximately 6200 north, off the Red Line's Granville station. The park is Berger Park, a hidden gem in the shadow of Loyola University.

I usually head down to the Lake for a sunrise when the weather is unsettled, but this morning I thought I'd give it a try on a nice morning... and it was spectacular. The clouds were so majestic... This video series was shot on Thursday August 8, 2008 in Edgewater on Chicago's far north side, approximately 6200 north, off the Red Line's Granville station. The park is Berger Park, a hidden gem in the shadow of Loyola University.

I usually head down to the Lake for a sunrise when the weather is unsettled, but this morning I thought I'd give it a try on a nice morning... and it was spectacular. The clouds were so majestic... This video series was shot on Thursday August 8, 2008 in Edgewater on Chicago's far north side, approximately 6200 north, off the Red Line's Granville station. The park is Berger Park, a hidden gem in the shadow of Loyola University.

There was a line of storms just south of us, the sky was alive, and thunder echoed in the distance. I got down to Berger Park on Chicago's far northside (Granville & Sheridan in Edgewater, just south of Loyola U's Lakeshore campus) just as the sun peeked over the horizon.

It was a big day for this fine fellow's mother, so we told her we'd take him the afternoon (despite Tess' bad head knee) and got a surprise party for her ready while she was away. I got some good time with him too, singing and romping and playing with the pups, but none got on video this time.

We were babysitting a dear lad who loves our dogs, and like any 4 year old, asked lots of questions... as witness his questions to my wife about her tattoos.

Puppy Savina has done this with Killian almost from the first day we got her, but usually she does it outside, and usually I am walking them alone, so I don't get the chance to shoot video from a good vantage point. The flashes of light are my wife taking stills. The other person's voice in the video is my wife's dear mother Barb who is the dogs' "Grandma."

We're a dry house, so just have non-alc beer, so don't worry, neither puppies nor people were harmed in these videos. My wife was drinking an O'Doul's Amber one day when Savina came over, started sniffing, licking the rim of it, then trying to get it from her. In the second video we see she also likes the more plebeian but still quite potable Sharp's.

We're a dry house, so just have non-alc beer, so don't worry, neither puppies nor people were harmed in these videos. My wife was drinking an O'Doul's Amber one day when Savina came over, started sniffing, licking the rim of it, then trying to get it from her. In the second video we see she also likes the more plebeian but still quite potable Sharp;s.

Savina finds the fun in everything!

Savina loves to play in the bathtub, especially to lick the water leaking from the faucet. She's able to jump in and out with one leap these days.