The spotlighting is in the Video FX section of iMovie HD.

I’ve been to Shimoda over obon the past three summers.

I can totally see how you’d miss a train there as sometimes it takes 45 minutes to go 2km (like it did on this particular trip). I wonder how locals deal with that kind of gridlock?

Take some more underwater shots!

Didn’t know it was Shimoda you were going to. Last year around the 10th of August I was there to visit a small research lab. That particular spot was not too crowded, and somewhat peaceful in the evening. It’s kind of away from the main beach I suppose – but I don’t know the whole area well. When I tried to leave, it was chaos getting to the train station, and I missed my reserved seat train. that was the official national Obon time, IIRC.

I took my Canon with UW housing there, and took some underwater photos, but they were not so great. I wasn’t used to using the housing. But one shot I got was pretty good – just above the water. The outer lens still had some water on it, so the margins of the image are smeared. The overall effect was nice though, and I use it as a background banner on my teaching site:

http://sensei.ad.umuc.edu/cfiedler/

Anyway, happy Birthday!

Gas? Hmmm, there are always easter eggs in my videos usually.

Yeah, hopefully like Japanese, all others immediately stop going to the beach after August 31st too.

Was that gas in the car?

Nice little video, but not sure how I feel about that opening music. When the Pixies took over I was relieved.