Comments on: who was that guy, the one with the plane...?

who was that guy, the one with the plane...?

jessamyn — Sat, 30 Jun 2007 13:58:33 -0800

UpdateFilter: while I was waiting in line for an iPhone with my friend yesterday (for him not for me) I was catching up on a little work. I was showing my friend the MeFi admin interface and someone looked over my shoulder and said "is that MetaFilter?" I said yes, was he a member? He said no but a video that he had made got linked on MeFi last February and had catapulted him to mini-stardom for a few weeks. He gave me some backstory on the movie....

By: jessamyn

jessamyn — Sat, 30 Jun 2007 13:58:44 -0800

This is fly4fun (#14 in line) and this is his Flickr profile and his website. He shot the movie to show his daughter what his day was like as a pilot, a few days after that U2 song came out. It was hosted on his site, but then people started watching it and enjoying it so he moved it to YouTube where it was fairly quickly removed for terms of use violations because of the U2 song. However, many people had already downloaded it and it was reuploaded by a bunch of people pretty quickly.

We watched the video in line (free wifi outside the Apple store) and he talked about how he hadn't really intended the movie to get out as much as it had. He hadn't asked his employers at American Airlines what they thought of the movie. Turns out that they pretty much liked it and were actually really supportive. He was a little sheepish when the parts of the movie featuring him in his underwear came up but I assured him we'd all seen much worse. That's my report from Dorkville, hope you enjoyed it.

By: SeizeTheDay

SeizeTheDay — Sat, 30 Jun 2007 14:10:41 -0800

That was really a lot of fun to watch. Really fun. I just hope that too much publicity doesn't get this guy into hot water with his overlords. He showed a lot of footage that A/A may not want to be shown.

By: acro

acro — Sat, 30 Jun 2007 14:23:44 -0800

I remember that... it was and remains awesome. ps. Youtube 'terms of use violation. removed.'

By: acro

acro — Sat, 30 Jun 2007 14:24:58 -0800

I will be punished?

By: jessamyn

jessamyn — Sat, 30 Jun 2007 14:26:43 -0800

acro, I don't understand what you're talking about. Can people not read my first comment?

By: vito90

vito90 — Sat, 30 Jun 2007 14:30:29 -0800

I really enjoyed the video, which I missed the first time around, thanks Jess.

By: acro

acro — Sat, 30 Jun 2007 14:32:19 -0800

Sorry jessamyn, I hadn't read your comment when I posted.

By: ericb

ericb — Sat, 30 Jun 2007 14:42:09 -0800

And I apologize for doubting the veracity of the video in the original February 2006 thread.

How cool for jessamyn and fly4fun to connect in the iPhone line!

Life works in mysterious and wonderful ways!

By: anthill

anthill — Sat, 30 Jun 2007 14:49:13 -0800

Anyone have a downloadable version they could post? I'd like a copy of that, just for the fun cockpit views...

By: The Deej

The Deej — Sat, 30 Jun 2007 15:19:19 -0800

Awesome! Thanks Jessamyn! Small world.

Well, I guess it gets whittled down to the residents of Dorktown once in a while.

I hadn't seen the post before. Great job but... WHO WAS FLYING THE PLANE!!!!! (Insert dramtic chipmunk.)

By: Staggering Jack

Staggering Jack — Sat, 30 Jun 2007 15:30:46 -0800

Wow - thanks for the update. I really enjoyed that video when it was first posted and it's fun to learn more about the guy behind them. His trip reports give some nice insight into being a pilot.

By: dhammond

dhammond — Sat, 30 Jun 2007 15:33:06 -0800

I hadn't seen the video but will watch it now. Thanks for the nice story, Jessamyn.

By: shelleycat

shelleycat — Sat, 30 Jun 2007 15:41:05 -0800

hope you enjoyed it.

Besides the part where I scared everyone in the room because I forgot this damn thing has built in speakers, I did enjoy it. Story, video and all.

By: cortex

cortex — Sat, 30 Jun 2007 15:50:26 -0800

Awesome.

By: spikeleemajortomdickandharryconnickjrmints

spikeleemajortomdickandharryconnickjrmints — Sat, 30 Jun 2007 15:50:57 -0800

Yay! I love stuff like this, and I loved that video.

By: Rhomboid

Rhomboid — Sat, 30 Jun 2007 15:54:13 -0800

Strangely, he left out the parts where the lavatory sewage seeped out and ran down the aisle. I guess they don't get that in the cockpit.

Anyone have a downloadable version they could post? I'd like a copy of that, just for the fun cockpit views...

Uh, there are like a million various ways to download videos from youtube. Try keepvid.com for a start.

By: JohnnyGunn

JohnnyGunn — Sat, 30 Jun 2007 15:54:22 -0800

Niiiice!

By: CitrusFreak12

CitrusFreak12 — Sat, 30 Jun 2007 16:21:07 -0800

Aw, internet.

By: Tuwa

Tuwa — Sat, 30 Jun 2007 16:25:54 -0800

I missed that the first time around; thanks.

By: Brittanie

Brittanie — Sat, 30 Jun 2007 16:33:03 -0800

I hadn't seen the video first time around. I'm surprised by how much thought he put into syncing the song with the film. Cool.

By: Samuel Farrow

Samuel Farrow — Sat, 30 Jun 2007 17:07:38 -0800

This video has been removed due to terms of use violation.

Pity.

By: MarvinTheCat

MarvinTheCat — Sat, 30 Jun 2007 17:09:00 -0800

Well, when he's forced into mandatory retirement at whatever age American proscribes he can become a video editor. That was fantastic.

Viral

By: trip and a half

trip and a half — Sat, 30 Jun 2007 17:09:36 -0800

I missed it first time 'round, as well. Very cool video and very cool coincidence.

By: MarvinTheCat

MarvinTheCat — Sat, 30 Jun 2007 17:10:00 -0800

Oh rats, my tinfoil tags around Viral didn't show up. I lose. At the internets.

By: grouse

grouse — Sat, 30 Jun 2007 17:21:49 -0800

He showed a lot of footage that A/A may not want to be shown.

Like what? I thought mdevore debunked that pretty well in the original thread. OK, I think someone entered a door access code near the beginning, but it's probably changed by now. The biggest worry would be that he would be disciplined for screwing around when he was supposed to be flying the plane.

By: quin

quin — Sat, 30 Jun 2007 17:28:26 -0800

So, didja convince him to drop a $5er and become a member?

By: OmieWise

OmieWise — Sat, 30 Jun 2007 17:54:47 -0800

This only confirms that ~~Metafilter~~ jessamyn is the center of ~~the~~ my world.

By: jessamyn

jessamyn — Sat, 30 Jun 2007 18:43:43 -0800

Just to hone in on the charmedness of this day, I actually somehow left my wallet in the mall someplace -- perhaps when I was making an iphone call to mathowie from the store while my friend bought his iphone -- and when I got home today and called the security guys they were like "oh yeah, you're from Vermont right? We have it right here, looks like all your stuff is in it."

By: jbickers

jbickers — Sat, 30 Jun 2007 18:55:26 -0800

Jess, this brings something to the front-of-mind - I've been curious about what the MeFi admin interface looks like for as long as I've been coming here. Any chance you'd do a screencast?

By: boo_radley

boo_radley — Sat, 30 Jun 2007 18:56:43 -0800

Very cool. Thanks for sharing this, jessamyn.

By: allkindsoftime

allkindsoftime — Sat, 30 Jun 2007 19:11:34 -0800

Cool.

Now we need a MeTa sidebar for accidental meetups (historical).

By: mathowie

mathowie — Sat, 30 Jun 2007 19:23:27 -0800

Awesome story!

By: Arturus

Arturus — Sat, 30 Jun 2007 19:43:56 -0800

This is really cool.

By: Arturus

Arturus — Sat, 30 Jun 2007 19:44:27 -0800

Just, you know, in case it hadn't been said enough already.

By: Devils Rancher

Devils Rancher — Sat, 30 Jun 2007 20:09:53 -0800

I love it when real life meets the internet.

By: rfbjames

rfbjames — Sat, 30 Jun 2007 21:05:53 -0800

I missed this the first time too, spiffy!

By: The Deej

The Deej — Sat, 30 Jun 2007 21:11:19 -0800

Jess, this brings something to the front-of-mind - I've been curious about what the MeFi admin interface looks like for as long as I've been coming here. Any chance you'd do a screencast?
posted by jbickers

This recent MeTa addressed your very request. Prepare to be disappointed.

By: Rock Steady

Rock Steady — Sat, 30 Jun 2007 21:17:31 -0800

jbickers, Cortex let a screenie slip recently, too. Noob.

By: amyms

amyms — Sat, 30 Jun 2007 22:06:53 -0800

What a great story!

By: trip and a half

trip and a half — Sat, 30 Jun 2007 23:15:48 -0800

You should totally interview that guy on the next MeFi podcast. I'll boot the five bucks to make him a member. He lives in Vermont? I love Vermont.

By: taosbat

taosbat — Sat, 30 Jun 2007 23:22:40 -0800

Very fun small world...

By: Wilder

Wilder — Sun, 01 Jul 2007 13:12:53 -0800

Loved that vid first time round and I echo the comment. It's cool when internet transects meatspace.

By: brundlefly

brundlefly — Sun, 01 Jul 2007 13:18:31 -0800

Whoa. The guy's a good editor!

By: Joey Michaels

Joey Michaels — Sun, 01 Jul 2007 14:37:02 -0800

I missed this the first time around. My dad flew for American before he retired our of LAX and JFK. When I was little (before security was made insane), he used to take me to check his mail, so I got to see the areas that usually only the pilots see. It was great fun and I have many memories of walking through the back passages at those airports. This really made my day!

By: plaidrabbit

plaidrabbit — Sun, 01 Jul 2007 15:12:57 -0800

Yea, I missed this one too. That guy really should look at doing video production if he ever decides to not do the pilot thing in the future...

If only YouTube had this quality of stuff all the time, instead of dumbasses farting into their cameras or watching their 14 yo buddies try to recreate Jackass stunts, I'd be more inclined to check it out more often.

By: LeeJay

LeeJay — Sun, 01 Jul 2007 15:53:55 -0800

1. I missed this the first time around so thank you for the heads up on the terrific video.
2. Awesome followup.
3. That little girl has a kick-ass pop.
4. Now I want to be a pilot.

By: fly4fun

fly4fun — Mon, 02 Jul 2007 20:24:43 -0800

I'm here! I've seen the light and I've finally joined MeFi. Of course, meeting jessamyn and Casey sealed the deal for me. Oh, that and reading this nice thread about my video.

Thanks for the very nice comments both here and last year about the video. As jessamyn said, I really just made it for my 3 year old (at the time) and my family in 2004. But it sure made the rounds during the 1 week that it was up on YouTube. It only resurfaced a few months ago. Three people had a lower resolution version of it that they've posted. I don't know what to think about that. Should I have asked them to take it down or should I have said, "Here, use this higher quality version instead!"

I had a Paris trip on the day after that Vertigo song came out. I couldn't get it out of my head and I figured it would sync up well with a 'daddy goes to work' video. The crew I was flying with was fantastic and so I was inspired to give it a go. The cockpit shots were done by the relief pilot (we have 3 pilots on flights over 8 hours) and he did a great job.

I love my job (so did my dad and so did his dad-all pilots) and there really isn't a job with a better view. So it's fun to share that view through my site.

So if I can ever break away from this slick iPhone, maybe I'll make an updated video sometime. And yes, if I couldn't fly, I would love to do video editing, but I have a LOT to learn.

Well, thanks for the nice welcome to the site and I hope I'll be able to contribute in the future.

It sure was great to meet you J and C!

Kent

Oh, and since it always gets brought up, the keypad in the video rearranges the numbers everytime you approach it. So no security problems there. And I'm really sorry for the underwear scene. I would have reshot that if I had known so many people would see it.

By: The Deej

The Deej — Mon, 02 Jul 2007 20:28:12 -0800

Welcome Kent!!!!

OK, who wants to break it to him that even though we liked his video, he will get his ass kicked with snarkiness if he makes one wrong move?

By: Lucie

Lucie — Mon, 02 Jul 2007 20:29:59 -0800

*melts*

By: fly4fun

fly4fun — Mon, 02 Jul 2007 20:42:18 -0800

I'll be really careful Deej. I promise!

By: The Deej

The Deej — Mon, 02 Jul 2007 20:46:44 -0800

Fly straight, sir. *salutes*

By: jessamyn

jessamyn — Mon, 02 Jul 2007 20:56:10 -0800

Yay, hi Kent, it was good to meet you too. Hope this isn't too metaweird. Welcome to town!

By: taosbat

taosbat — Mon, 02 Jul 2007 21:04:08 -0800

Kick the tires...

By: cortex

cortex — Mon, 02 Jul 2007 22:23:03 -0800

Neat. Hi, Kent!

By: goshling

goshling — Tue, 03 Jul 2007 09:01:41 -0800

Absolutely awesome! I feel all warm & squishy inside - serendipitous mefi meeting and a spectacular video. Perfect! Great to see you decided to join, Kent!

By: MythMaker

MythMaker — Tue, 03 Jul 2007 10:23:29 -0800

As an editor myself, I have to say kudos! That's a really well put together video. I missed it the first time around, but color me impressed.

By: dhartung

dhartung — Tue, 03 Jul 2007 14:25:02 -0800

fly4fun, if you ever feel any nervousness about posting here, just visualize yourself in your underwear.

Well, just visualize any of us in our underwear. It's the internet. Somebody is.

By: The Deej

The Deej — Tue, 03 Jul 2007 15:58:52 -0800

*removes underwear*

By: fly4fun

fly4fun — Tue, 03 Jul 2007 18:57:30 -0800

dhartung,

I'm sure it will be easy for you to visualize ME in my underwear, I mean, I was dumb enough to post a video of it!

But thanks for the advice!

By: taosbat

taosbat — Tue, 03 Jul 2007 19:19:59 -0800

Hey! It's hot here!

By: taosbat

taosbat — Tue, 03 Jul 2007 19:24:53 -0800

Pleez delete! Pleez delete! Pleez delete!

By: your mildly obsessive average geek

your mildly obsessive average geek — Wed, 04 Jul 2007 02:38:38 -0800

Okay so first he on MeFi via FPP, then there was the IRL meetup.. then back again as a MeTa.. and now he's actually inside the system posting on a thread about himself, which links back to the IRL meetup.. and .. and...

The recursions in this thread will make my head explode!

By: your mildly obsessive average geek

your mildly obsessive average geek — Wed, 04 Jul 2007 02:39:38 -0800

that should have read "he was on MeFi" of course.. gah

By: triv

triv — Wed, 04 Jul 2007 07:53:00 -0800

fly4fun - I loved the post the first time around, really excellent video and a great gift for your offspring. Well done you.

This kind of thing is what makes mefi great.

By: matty

matty — Wed, 04 Jul 2007 08:14:18 -0800

Great video! I still get a little teary-eyed when I watch it.
Thanks for sharing Jessamyn (and fly4fun)!

By: Samizdata

Samizdata — Wed, 04 Jul 2007 15:30:25 -0800

Welcome, Fly. Now you'll never get anything done...

By: The Deej

The Deej — Wed, 04 Jul 2007 16:21:51 -0800

The recursions in this thread will make my head explode!
posted by your mildly obsessive average geek

It's like being in a Charlie Kaufman script.

By: jennaratrix

jennaratrix — Thu, 05 Jul 2007 13:27:18 -0800

Wow.

WOW. This was so cool; I missed it the first time, so I got to come on board to see the follow-up AND the joining of Kent - welcome!

This is why I still love MeFi, many years and many near-flameouts after first lurking.

And, I forwarded the video on to my dad (who is a pilot for fun).

Just, wow.

By: junesix

junesix — Fri, 06 Jul 2007 01:20:09 -0800

Wow, that's my post! *jumps up and down and waves arms*

My one and only post in the Blue with a follow-up in the Gray. Sweet!

Kent, welcome to Mefi! I'm glad I was able to introduce your almost nakedness to the community.

By: vhsiv

vhsiv — Fri, 06 Jul 2007 14:48:07 -0800

Wow, that was hella cool! Welcome to Metafilter and thanks for sharing both your video and your comments, even if there was an effective 3 year delay between your making it and it getting to an audience.

I hope U2 eventually pays you for all your hard work.

By: harkin banks

harkin banks — Sun, 08 Jul 2007 18:02:51 -0800

Oh that video IS awesome. I also missed it the first time around. Jessamyn, thanks for giving it a new audience!

By: _squid_

_squid_ — Sun, 15 Jul 2007 14:50:13 -0800

re pilot thinking ... a few days after that U2 song came out ...

I thought Gary Powers is on YouTube ?
http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoID=1873108497

The AA/Vertigo mixup was great, thanks for sharing.

By: Zonker

Zonker — Sat, 21 Jul 2007 07:11:55 -0800

What a wonderful gift to make for your daughter -- I hope she liked it as much as we did! Welcome aboard, Kent, it's good to have you with us.