I was instructed on the fine art of Break Dancing at the Fair today. Did the live noon update with the ever-perfect Vineeta, who is my favorite person to work with on air; the shooter was peerless Shari, my favorite person to run the camera, and it was at the Fair, my favorite place to be. So. Here.

When I leaped into the frame to start dancing I was trying to do the hideous and mortifying David Brent dance from “The Office.” Just so you know.

After that we left, and I went home, filed a column - heeelllllo, sweet Morpheus. Face down for a nap with the dog, then up and back to the Fair. I had a handstamp - it was Pig today - and was waved through the gate. Did a quick video on the Fine Arts exhibit, then headed to the Midway to shoot the neon and the lights at twilight.

As I walked past a knot of people wearing Apple Genius Bar T-shirts, I heard one say “That dude is totally doing a hyper lapse,” and I went back to tell them that indeed the dude was totally doing it. A few weeks ago I was talking to the video department about getting the gear and software for doing these things - high-speed stabilized video - and now there’s an app that does it, and you will be sick to death of these things shortly. But I learned on the spot what to do, and what doesn’t work, how to set up the shot in the app while it’s running, how it reacts when you switch light environments, and so on.

It is hideously addictive and makes normal video seem maddeningly slow; it ruins you. I shot a lot, and will edit the best for the end-of-Fair video. A snippet:

Then I went home, edited the video, narrated it, and wrote the State Fair column for Friday.

So.

DONE.

Except there's Fargo, and Tumblr. Eight videos in the can. Two to go. I'd say I can't wait for normalcy, but this is all too much fun. This Fair year ranks with '84, '94 and '07 - and one of these days I'll explain why.

Tomorrow? You're on.