If you like and buy quality leather shoes (over $100 or more), and if after you’ve worn them for some time, they need repairs (sole or heel repairs or restitching) don’t throw them away. Find and use the services of a good cobbler (a shoe repairman) to breathe new life into them.
A cobbler repairs shoes. A great cobbler can make old shoes look new again and can even repair a shoe’s sole so well that you’d never know it was replaced. Good cobblers are few and far between, but they’re the only ones that can help you, so it’s worth it to find them.
In this video, I talk about how I repaired three pairs of shoes.
There’s also a great video from Put This On, a web series about dressing well, where shoes and shoe repairs are discussed (found it thanks to Sheldon Schwartz). It’s a great video that teaches you how quality leather shoes are made and how they can be repaired. It will also show you how to shop for good shoes.
Have a look at a screenshot from my YouTube account, listing the various copyright claims made on a single video of mine.
That’s eight copyright claims, one of which still remains to be released if the music publisher in question, Believe, will do the right thing.
How can a simple video like this, where I went to the beach and filmed various simple scenes, cause YouTube’s copyright ID engine to flag it so many times?
I’m not upset (anymore). I used to get upset. (You can read those posts here and here.) For one thing, it’s not worth getting upset about. For another, YouTube has already taken steps to remedy the process, for which I thank them. Their copyright claim process, which I wrote about almost two years ago, is much improved these days, which makes it easier to file a dispute and to explain my position.
But it is mind-boggling that a simple, average video like this could trigger so many copyright flags. As I explained in past posts, all I did here was to minimally supplement the natural sound of the surf, which got muffled by wind noise in some portions of the video, with an iLife track called “Ocean Surf”. The track is royalty-free, approved by Apple for commercial and/or personal use, and the terms are clearly spelled out in the iLife Service Level Agreement.
I think there are two lessons to be learned here:
YouTube’s copyright ID engine is still trigger-happy. It should be tweaked, and I suggest that this particular video of mine be used as a case study by YouTube engineers. If someone from YouTube/Google is interested, I’m willing to do a Screen Sharing session with them and show them exactly how I edited the video and where the “Ocean Surf” sound loop was used.
Perhaps all these music publishers ought to stop copyrighting beach sounds? Let’s face it, nature sounds, especially ones that are as easy to record as beach sounds, are as public domain as sounds can get. Now if it’s the sound of the rare Brazilian polka-dotted bazooka bird, or some other rara avis, then I can understand the need to copyright it, but going to the beach, turning on the recorder, then calling it a copyrighted sound, is an exaggeration. Are you listening, publishers?
This video explains why I chose to fix my wheelbarrow instead of throwing it away. (It has to do with conserving resources and reducing waste.)
Its inner chamber couldn’t be patched after too many punctures, and when I went to Home Depot and Lowe’s, I discovered I couldn’t buy a new inner chamber, because they’re no longer stocked. I’d have had to buy an entire new wheel and tire assembly, for almost the same price as a new wheelbarrow. What I did instead was to buy a new tubeless tire, which is made of solid rubber and never needs replacing, thus saving my wheelbarrow from the scrap heap and eliminating the need for new wheels in the future.
On chilly spring nights, few things top a nice, warm fire in the open air. Join me for one such occasion, won’t you? Set this video to play in full screen, tilt your chair back, grab a glass of your favorite drink and relax with me.
Ever wondered what it’s like to fly in a propeller plane over the Nevada and Arizona deserts and over the mountains in Grand Canyon National Park? This is what it’s like.
Here’s a video clip of Felix playing with (and scratching) my hand while on my office chair. He was just a little kitten then and he didn’t know how to guard his claws yet. My hands were perennially scratched as he grew up but we adored him just the same.
By the way, if you love my kitty posts, I’ve started a new blog called Medieval Cats, to which you’re invited to subscribe. It’s 100% about cats, featuring our cats alongside other medieval cats (or cats from medieval cities, if you prefer). We currently have four cats: Sasha, Bubu, Tira and Zuzu (three females, one male). They’re all adorable, all photogenic and they love to go on their little adventures.
Why call it Medieval Cats? Because we live in the medieval city of Medias, in Romania. What’s more, we live in a house that’s (on paper) over 200 years old, although parts of it are even older. Let’s just say we “qualify” to use the term.
It was the summer of 2009 and during a walk in the hills outside Medias, I recorded this video with a Canon G10. It was peaceful and quiet and a soft summer breeze helped take away the heat that rose from the valley below. I hope you’ll enjoy it!
The music is Rondo No. 3 in A Minor (K511) by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, performed by David H. Porter. It’s public domain, available from MusOpen.org.
And here’s a photo gallery from the same outing, including some panoramic shots.
