Month: February 2020

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The Prophets

~ michaelhvs ~ Leave a comment
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In 2019 this lovely lady came into my studio and asked for my help in putting together a tribute video for her late husband’s memorial service. Her name is Glory Anne Prophet. Her husband was Ronnie Prophet, Canadian hall-of-fame country singer and entertainer who passed away the previous year. In assembling this video I came to greatly admire his talent, his humor and his generosity of spirit. Hopefully, some of that was captured in the work that we did.

Glory Anne is an impressive performer in her own right. As Glory Anne Carriere, she started out as a soloist on the Canadian country music scene and won the Juno award as Most Promising Female vocalist in 1978. In 1980 she was chosen as Best Country Music Female vocalist.

She joined Ronnie as his singing partner and together they were named CCMA’s Duo of the Year in 1984. They married two years later.

At the Home Video Studio annual awards event in 2019, Ronnie’s video was nominated for a Hanley Award which it won. In my acceptance speech I said that “Ronnie Prophet had an illustrious career; gold records, Juno awards, Entertainer of the Year, Hall of Fame inductee… it is therefore fitting that now, even after he has left us, he’s still raking in the awards.”

Thank you Glory Anne for giving us the honor of commemorating your husband’s life and legacy.

Michael Ondrasik and Home Video Studio specialize in the preservation of family memories through the digitalization of film, videotapes, audio recordings, photos, negatives and slides. For more information, call 352-735-8550 or visit our website.

Bombs Away!

~ michaelhvs ~ Leave a comment
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I enjoy where I live. It’s a modest but inviting home situated atop an elevated plain overlooking the rolling hills of a conservation area (unusual to find in the normally flat landscape of Florida). The rolling hills are to my east which give me some spectacular sunrises. There’s a wooded area to the north so it gives the illusion of solitude within the confines of a middle class community. It could be darn near perfect… if it wasn’t for the howitzers and machine gun fire.

I should explain. On the other side of that wooded area is a large plot of land owned by an antique center. On their property, along with the antiques and flea markets they operate, they feature various events of interest to a select crowd. This weekend it was the WWII arms and ammunition show. At eight this morning we were greeting by a barrage of incoming fire that would put Patton to shame.

And that isn’t the only event that features assault weapons. They hold an annual Civil War reenactment of the fictitious battle of Townsend’s Plantation. And I learned something… 19th century cannon fire is every bit as loud as the 20th century guns of WWII.

But just when I have gotten used to the firepower, from those rolling hills comes the unmistakable war chants of an Indian tribe. That would mean it’s time for the Thundering Spirit Family Pow Wow. Those chants last all day for three days. Or so it would seem.

Most of the other events that are scattered throughout the years aren’t as audibly invasive – The Steampunk Show, the Cars and Guitars Swap meet, the RV and Antique Cars Show. There’s a certain charm to these events and it is nice to see people share their interests. I only wish they could do it a few dozen decibels lower.

Michael Ondrasik and Home Video Studio specialize in the preservation of family memories through the digitalization of films, videotapes, audio recordings, photos, negatives, and slides. For more information, call 352-735-8550, visit our website, or stop by our studio now located at 930 N Donnelly St Mount Dora FL 32757.

Cracking up

~ michaelhvs ~ Leave a comment
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There are pros and cons to every digital format. DVDs and CDs, although they are digital, they do have their drawbacks. First, there are clear signs that the industry is moving on and it will only be a matter of time that the disk technology will go the way of the 8-track and VHS tape. That may not happen for a few more years but it sure looks like it is an eventuality.

The other problem with disks is pictured above. They are not indestructible.  They can crack if handled improperly and once cracked, they are pretty much unplayable and the data may not be able to be recovered.

We are happy to provide DVDs and CDs to our customers. We still have that capability and a lot of our customers prefer them to any other option. But we always recommend that they also consider getting their memories stored on a computer file or open a DVA streaming account with us so when the DVDs stop working, the memories that were preserved don’t have to be converted for a second (or sometimes third) time. Food for thought. Whichever format you choose, having your memories digitally preserved is infinitely better that keeping them locked away on inaccessible analog media that will eventually corrode.

Michael Ondrasik and Home Video Studio specialize in the preservation of family memories through the digitalization of film, videotape, audio recordings, photos, negatives, and slides. For more information, call 352-735-8550 or visit our website.