So, I had the chance to shoot a hometown video recently for chance to win $500. Why not give it a shot, right? I had originally intended to focus on what has changed over the years when I was a blissfully unaware child and the cynical adult that I am today, however I couldn’t find enough photos of the town of old to do it justice. So I nixed the original idea and instead had fun poking fun of my hometown.

Things to keep an eye out for in the video:

• Drivers ignoring the purpose of stop signs.
• People driving on the wrong side of the road resulting in an impromptu game of chicken.
• Graffiti, graffiti, graffiti.
• Any signs you see, try to read what they say and hear the lyrics that are playing at the same time. Usually has a double irony.
• And of course, the irony of the timing of some of the lyrics and footage.

Song: “Hotel California” – Eagles
Subject: La Mesa, NM
Located On: Viddler – YouTube

You might be a bit confused as to why, towards the end there, I focused on a sign that said (in Spanish) “Welcome to La Mesa Elementary school” and then focused on the building sign that proclaimed the building was something else entirely? The reason is simple, about six or so years after I graduated from the elementary, meaning about my first or second year in college, my old elementary school was shut down. It is sadly no longer an elementary school today. I think they offer classes there for kindergarten and preschoolers still, and it is the polling site as well, but that’s it.

I originally finished this video early this afternoon, then spent, oh five hours, trying to upload it to Viddler on a dial-up connection. That whole time I couldn’t do anything online as it waited to upload. About forty minutes ago I was still at home uploading it and it was only at 62%. Needless to say, I gave up and came into Las Cruces to snag a faster connection. I’ve uploaded videos before and it’s never taken that long, but then again, those are usually short little things. 1 to 2 minutes tops. I should have realized that such a large video (size and length) would need a faster connection.