On April 21 our general meeting was held at the Peter and Mary Muth Interpretive Center in the Upper Newport Bay Nature Preserve in Newport Beach.  The facility is a beautiful place, which is designed to present visitors a history of the area.  It has wonderful displays about the plant and wildlife that live in the bay, and is worth a trip to see it.

President BEVERLY TURNER opened the meeting and introduced TERI TIEMAN who put the program together.  We were then treated to a presentation by Senior Park Ranger JOANETTE WILLBERT.  She gave us a brief history of the bay and the Interpretive Center.  Then she showed us a beautiful video presentation about the birds and animals that live in the bay.  The video was made by Jack Couffer, a local citizen, who has worked on such films as The Living Dessert, Jonathan Livingston Seagull and Out of Africa as either the DP or the second unit director.  The 7 minute presentation used 5 video monitors built into a curved wall, with each displaying a separate synchronized DVD feed.  For more info go to www.ocparks.com/unbic/

Next, STEPHANIE BARGER of The Earth Resource Foundation presented some startling facts about pollution and some helpful hints for preserving our planet's resources.  I wasn't aware until tonight that things exists such as "plastic" bags and spoons made from corn, which are totally biodegradable, or that carpets can be made from old plastic water bottles.  There are such carpets in the Interpretive Center and they felt like normal carpets to me.  The website for Earth Resource is www.earthresource.org.

Many specific tips pertaining to the film and video production business can be found at www.eidc.com.

TERI TIEMAN passed out a sheet (printed on both sides of course) of a long list of websites and some "Quick Environmental Tips."  You may contact Teri at Magicword@aol.com for more information.

Recycling does take a little extra time and effort, but if people everywhere did it, it would make a significant difference to the health of our world.  I recently finished posting a little video training series about recycling for Travis Air Force Base, where recycling is mandatory.  It would be great if the same rules could apply to every community.

John Primm

www.dvpostvideo.com