Matt LaBonte

Hey guys, been a couple days since I last updated my blog and I have a couple things to share with you guys.  The first thing is about the Collaboration Contest 2008.  My last post was about registering your team and such and how to get a team.  I have found a teammate and his name is AsandeR127, aka Alex.  Alex and I have known each other for quite some time.  I think that Alex is innovative and is creative in his flourishes.  He being from Sweden and I from New Hampshire, USA, means we aren’t able to meet-up which can take away from the overall video, but I think we can still manage a really nice video.

I recently started to take some footage for a small editing project just so I could see how background would look an such.  I had about 45 minutes of shooting, which added up to something like 13 minutes of footage or something.  I put my cam in its docking station and started extracting the video into my Sony Vegas editor.  I started to notice that half way in the clips, the video started to become scrambled and become distorted.  Then lines with color began to cross through my video, ruining every clip I had.  I threw out the tape thinking that may be the root of my problem.  I haven’t tried a tape that was new, so I won’t know until I try.  I better find out before the competition though.  I was talking to Kevin Ho and he said I should probably get a miniDV Head Cleaner.  I’ll look into that more and see if that solves the problem.  If not, back to the factory for a new one.  I hope it’s still under warranty.

This past week I was out of school Monday due to a bad cold.  I was then bombed with work the next day trying to get on top of everything that happened Monday, and boy was it difficult.  I have so much work to do, and on top of that, I have a Math test on Monday.  It was post-poned from Friday to Monday due to our low comprehention of the subject, Solving Linear equations and inequalities.  I really need to do some studying.  Along with that, my quarter 3 grades closed on Friday.  In English I am reading the book Farenheit-451.  It is a book about the future and how people aren’t suppose to think or feel.  Books being the main cause of thinking and feeling are burned along with its owners.  A really good book.  It is broken up into 3 parts.  The first part we read in about a week and a half.  On Monday, the day I was absent, they reviewed Part 1.  Lucky me, I had no idea what the key parts were about.  That Wednesday, I had a test on all of Part 1, which I struggled through due to not knowing the key parts.  My total of the test was 10 paragraphs.  I also was close to failing a French test.  I managed a 66.  I thought I did so well, but I still am struggling in the grammar aspect of it.  I have a great accent and I can speak and structure complex sentences with little trouble.  When I write it, that’s where I get into big trouble.

Magic and flourishing is getting along horribly with my schoolwork.  Schoolwork is my main focus as of right now and magic and cards want to get in the way, but I keep them from doing so.  I have been practcing a few flourishes for the Collab and I have been working on a bunch of sleights taught in Aaron Fishers book “The Paper Engine”.  Amazing book, and you should pick it up while you still can at www.leeasher.com.

As of cards, I will be getting some Vodkas in soon and I will hopefully be selling some.  I have 5 right now, so if you’re interested, let me know.  Shoot me an email at mattlabonte@hotmail.com, or add me as a contact at the same address.  Shipping internationally is 14 and domestic shipping is 8.  The decks cost 6 dollars each flat rate.  I can put as many as 14 decks into one package.  My shipment should be 18-24 decks of Vodka playing cards.  They are rare, out of print cards and quite hard to find.  Get your hands on them while you still can!

The last thing I want to share is I am selling a bunch of DVD’s.  Some you may not like the others you may want to get your hands on.  They are Ring Thing by Garrett Thomas($20), Revolution Coin Vanish ($10), Crash Course 1($10), Box Monster without Gimmick($15).  I may have a couple more up in a week or so, so keep yours eyes peeled.  Contact me if you would like them. 

I think that’s it guys, so until next time, thanks for reading.