Plea for video editing software tips

As much as I like our new Sony VAIO laptop, Sony’s PMB video editing software is driving me crazy.

All I want to do is put three simple digital video scenes together to make a short 45-second movie in MPEG-2 format to upload to YouRube to show brother Gordon all the ice clogging the Elbe.  I mentioned it to him on the blower the other night and told him I’d post it.

After two hours of trying to decipher Sony’s cryptic instructions IN GERMAN and scouring various audio-visual forums, I’ve given up.  Out of time, I am left with posting just one short clip because I can’t figure out how to jam them all together to one file.

Oh wait, yes, I figured that out, but it saves the individual .mpg files to some useless Sony-only format that Youtube doesn’t recognise.  And trying to convert that file back to .mpg didn’t work.

I rarely go cap in hand to readers, but  I ask you now: Do you know of any simple video editing software that is easy to use and readily downloadable?   Links to good sites where I might do some more research?  Thanks very much. And in the meantime, here’s that clip.  It was taken from a ferry two days ago.

We plan to be completely cut off from the rest of the world over the next four days, so if I you do have a tip and I don’t respond right away, that’s why.

How do you tell your wife you’ve been unfaithful?

I wasn’t going to write this.  Maybe I thought that by making absolutely sure there were no traces of it left anywhere, that she would never notice it happened.  But it happened, there’s no denying that fact.

So now I’m left with the question: how to tell her?  And maybe more importantly – when to tell her?  You can’t say the timing right now is the greatest.  Here I am about to ride off west to spend the weekend with a bunch of bloggers in Bremen, and I leave her behind with this?   But then again, when is it ever a good time?

Maybe I could just post-date the timing this post is to be published.  That’s an idea.  I’ll be a 60 miles away in another city when it’s posted.  Seems like a cowardly thing to do, though.  I should be able to tell it to her face.

Than again, what of the repercussions?  Will things ever work as smoothly again?  Will there always be a sticking point?   I could say yeah, I’ll never do it again.  I learned my lesson.  It was stupid, I was stupid, the whole thing was stupid, stupid, stupid!

Too late for that.

You know, it all started innocently enough.  An email here, a chat there.  Then a blog post or two.  Pretty soon I was going back for more – thirsty for more.

It lifted me up – what can I say?

I feel bad about it, but it’s done and there’s nothing to change that fact.  Nothing to do but own up to it.

Own up to the fact that I was unfaithful to the vow we made to each other.

The vow we made when we first bought it to honour and cherish our Sony Vaio laptop and to never drink coffee or anything else while anywhere near it.

Fuck what a mess.

Stepping onto the balcony carrying my second cup of joe I somehow stumble over the sill.  Trying to steady the cup on the saucer I lunge forward, sending a jet of coffee Splat! Right onto the keyboard.  Couldn’t have hit it better if I’d stood right over the thing and poured.

I yank the plug out right away and flip the thing over as coffee drips from the keyboard all over the placemat.  While it’s upside-down I have the presence of mind to stop swearing and hit the off button, then rush back inside to grab a roll of toilet paper and get to work drying it off and then trying to clean the recesses between the keys.

Lucky it’s a beautiful morning and the sun dries it out pretty well.  Must have, because it’s been plugged in while writing this and it hasn’t fried out yet.