A Refurbished Classic

Five years ago I uploaded onto YouTube a vlog-style narrated walk-through video that I shot during one of my many visits to Islands of Adventure. Back then, using a crappy version of Windows Movie Maker, the video and audio quality was rather poor even in those days of standard 360p resolutions. My camera was actually better than average for the time having the ability to shoot in 1080p HD but the output was in .MOV format and back then Movie Maker punished users who utilized Apple technology (which .MOV (ie. Quicktime format) is, of course) forcing you to convert the video into a Windows accepted format before editing. This, along with YouTube's then-default downgrading submitted video resolutions to, I guess, compress the data to save on upload time and storage space, made for a very ugly video with scratchy, tinny sound.

Well now, YouTube has enabled users to edit videos and enhance them with features like light and shading controls, color corrections, re-cropping, and stabilization. The stabilization feature is most appreciated by me since my camera has no such feature embedded in it so walk-along vlog style clips are always shaky and hard to look at. Yay,YouTube! These features are about the only thing in recent years that I think they've done right.

So here's the newly-enhanced version of that video. I miss doing narrated park tours and think I'll start them up again soon. I was thinking of getting an annual pass next month which should last right up to Fall 2014 when the new Daigon Alley add-ons will be complete. Plus, I still have to take advantage of my now smaller size and get back on the coasters I became to fat to ride as well as experience for the first time rides like Rip Rocket Coaster and Forbidden Journey which were installed after my, er, enlargement.

Ah the perks of being more fit...being able to scream with sheer delight as I hold on for dear life. Getting healthy to increase life expectancy only to risk it for a few minutes of thrill seeking? Well that's really what living is all about, right? :)