Where Do The Hippies Go?

Ballard's Chai House closing up shop and going on "hiatus" is old news. As a past patron myself, a tear comes to my eye when I think of all the hippies and passionate poets and musicians who are now sent packing for another place to hang out. As a poet and musician myself, I will miss Mr. Spots scratching post.

While many bloggers are crying out why? I want to take this opportunity to show you a valuable resource for answering all property related questions.

Such as, consider the parcel of land upon which Mr. Spots built The Chai House. If you want to know why the landlord doubled the rent, check out this website. Enter the address of Chai House: 5463 Leary Ave

You will see in 2009, IRS appraised the land value at $376,200. Coming into 2010, the IRS raised the appraised value to $486,800.

Conclusion: the landlord raised Mr. Spot's rent because the cost of owning the land increased. In other words, property taxes went up.

There are many reasons why the IRS might appraise land at a higher value than the year before. Some reasons may include a fluctuating housing market and I discuss them in this blog article. But what circumstances might cause a jump in $100 is curious to me. Is this a real estate trend happening in many neighborhoods or just Ballard?

random and the ode to handy randy the ritter critter

this video clip is imperfect. it is raw. no b-roll no nothing. just a clip.



this was my first time out and about with the cannon xh-a1 hdv camera and i wanted to try it out in a documentary style. i have to say, it is quite the inconspicuous camera and it doesn't allow me the same sort of freedom of innocence that the vixia models have provided me. when you pull a professional or solid state camera out, your client knows you mean business. your subject will also know you mean business and they might get a little camera shy.

there is quite a dreamlike feel to the movement here and i think that must be a slow shutter speed. i don't remember what i had it set to but it must have been low.

in the editing room, i wanted to try out the steady camera filter and i am mostly happy with the results. i could have improved the framing if i had provided a little extra room. perhaps if i kept my subject within the 'tv safe' area, i could have avoided chopping his head off from time to time. but in a way, i kind of like the look of it. it as though the viewer is not really listening to the performance and more interested in the movement of the street and life of the city. does it add to the piece? perhaps.

i went back to ballard later to get some b-roll but i ran into random again and i shot some more footage. i am still up in the air about doing a video about random. i don't really want to head out there again until i get a clear idea of what i want to do.