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3:08 PM Tuesday, April 15th, 2024:   PTSD will make this a very RESERVED entry... in fact Talya learned that after I called her. It really sucks watching your loved ones go through this. I'm sure the kids will be happy as they are comPLETELY in the moment, but me and Talya could barely process this information. So let me tell you the information...   Once again, everyone loved the reel, immediately understood the implications and the only difference THIS time? ...the OK from up top to let us pursue this. Also once again, most of the time was spent talking about how cool every single moment surrounding sports would be in VR180. I love how FAST that happens in these meetings. They always watch it - take off the headset and there's a moment of processing the return to the real world... and then they start riffin'. Then they get excited. "Just standing in the truck!" "Between the benches in hockey!" "The tunnel to batting practice!" And finally they get to feel for a few moments what I've been dealling with for years: the OBVIOUSNESS of this. That urge, (once you've seen it) to just FILM EVERYTHING. Everything is magic again. The grounds crew is magic, the raw SOUND is magic... everything old is new again. And now? We start...   And we start FAST. Because the NHL and NBA seasons are ending, we've gotta get something shot so we have future reels over the summer to pitch and have something in place for the fall. We can get tons of content throughoutt the summer baseball season - but we need to show what's possible in each sport, to put together a fully rounded package. The idea is to do this in every region. From clips day of (yup, they want day of turnarounds - lol), to packages later surrounding the game - we can do anything. It's like programming a new TV channel... there's just no limit - ONCE we get access. And that starts with the LA Kings in 48 hours.   <blink>   Yup. Kings on Thursday and the LA Clippers on Sunday. A playoff game there to boot. And the craziest part? I'm gonna be there with my camera AND my headset to have even more meetings with the people surrounding the team while shooting. That's what people don't realize... even with the NFL. It's a constant stream of people that we just don't want to piss off. You want the team on-board, you want the players on-board. It's why I put that big-ass VR on the camera: commuincation. I wanted the players to immediately understand what I was doing without having to talk to them. It worked WONDERS in the NFL and now we get to see how it works in EVERY OTHER MAJOR LEAGUE SPORT. Holy shit. It's actually hitting me now.   That lasted about 4 seconds before my gut said: "This could all disappear, you're not there yet." I should have my email open while I write this...   HA! They just wrote me (3:32) to say my press pass is ready and we're good to go for Thursday. Man - that feels like 30 years ago. Shit... I can LINK you to that ENTRY from Meeting Michael:     Oh my unprofessionalism...   6:44 PM - Wednesday, November 8th, 1995: So, guess what's on the corner of Huron and Ontario? My fuckin PRESS PASS!! Oh my dear god. I've done it. I'm finally gonna have good seats at a Bulls game. Ha, ha, good seats...I'm on the fuckin' court! AAAHHHH! And in the locker room, before AND after the game. Aw shit, I can't even think about getting sleep tonight. So what do I do? Do I bring my cards? Do I bring a video, or a still camera? Do I wear my Jordan Jersey under my clothes, and get him to sign it? Do I take a sedative beforehand! That's it, I'm buying a video camera tomorrow and then I am off for the dayof my life. So is it great?   My goodness what a moment. That's how I bought my first camera. And the first thing I filmed became a freaking MOVIE. My life is a fairy tale. My anonymity keeps me humble however. LMFAO. Oh and for those wondering, I almost always kept a journal... after I started The Journey I went back and put all of those entries into an online format back to June of 1995. I could actually take it all the way back to August of 1990, but it's really (and I do mean really) embarrassing. High school is ROUGH. Still considering it though...   So yeah, 30 years later this is a LOT more business focused (duh) and the excitement now isn't hanging with my favorite atheletes: it's getting to do something that hasn't been done. The ability to create these experiences for people that can't see 'em? That's everything. It's just everything. And the part I really love is just how better suited the arena sports are for this camera. NHL and NBA are SO CLOSE. So much more intimate. I mean, baseball if you're standing IN the dugout, sure... but I don't see that happening again. That was a minor league THAAAAANG. But NHL and NBA by its very nature (with the NBA absolutely #1 here) is intimate and CLOSE. I can't wait to shoot this...   ...which brings us to the video, which I wrote and recorded IMMEDIATELY once I got home because I need to put this to rest for good. I have been struggling with what happened to me in August for far too long, the Superbowl hit just exascerbated it (as well as being ghosted) and this win was finally the time. With this song I get to move onto the next chapter with new people, new partners, and to be honest - a far more talented and experienced base to build this company off of. I do miss my old friends, but I'm pretty sure they don't miss us. You can only beg so many times before you let go. The kids still ask. That hurts.     The sad part is? The person who this is about will never see it, has never cared about me or The Journey, has never seen me as anything but a stepping stone. Years of opportunities to actually talk to me about working together never occurred. He just took my shit, inserted himself without asking and, well, now finds himself on the outside. It sucks 'cause I like him. It sucks 'cause our families got along great. It just SUCKS. I even forgave him for all that, offered him a percentage and he vanished.   <blink>   But the hand-wringing over that period is now behind me and Thursday starts the next chapter.   So I guess the next entry is from CRYPTO!   <exhale>   Adam