LIGHTS, CAMERA, PONDS!

When I was a kid we had 7 channels of television to choose from; 3 of which I watched. This was not because of strict parents, it was because we literally only had 7 channels to watch; but I still managed to get in my fair share of tv viewing. It is almost unimaginable today to even consider the idea of such a sparse selection of programming to watch. Not to mention the fact that I had to get up and walk all the way to the TV to change the channel. It was torture.
Later, cable came along and we had many more viewing options available to us. Then the advent of the internet and we now have unlimited viewing possibilities with television programming, movies, and video options at our beckoning 24/7/365; we are completely and overwhelmingly inundated with documentary, comedy, romance, sports, action, and dramatic viewing choices; and it seems like there is still nothing to watch!
But in today’s world we do not have to succumb to what the programming executives want to cram into our heads, we can actually choose what we want to watch, when we want to watch it, with programming that appeals to our specific interests and the internet is to thank for that. You want to see a car chase with an explosion? You got it. How about a dinosaur chasing a girl in a bikini? Done. Want to watch a guy eat a huge sandwich? Well, you can have that too. It’s all there now.
But maybe your kind of geeky like myself and you want to check out some nice rockwork, fish, aquatic plants, some cool waterfalls and water features? Yes, you can even have that, with more choices than you may have thought. I love a good comedy or a great sporting event, but watching pond videos is a big viewing interest of mine as well, and I want to recommend some of what I have been watching to you, because my guess is you are just as geeky as me. Am I wrong? Hmm? Still reading this? GEEK!!
I probably watch more pond videos than I should admit, but with that time put in I have come across some real interesting viewing.
First up is the great Mark Gardner broadcasting from Niigata Japan. This is some real kichi viewing that Mark provides for his audience. Mark’s videos focus on the koi industry with video that features koi shows like the All Japan Show, other koi events, koi harvesting with some of the major koi breeders in Niigata, and the people in the industry who are making all this happen over in Japan. Mark’s videos are well produced and even feature some inspirational video of sunsets, storms, natural wonders of Japan, and no shortage of the amazing living jewels we all love; the nishikigoi. One particularly poignant video was shot right after the tragic tsunami event in Japan and documents some of the relief effort that was happening over there. And if you look hard enough you can even find a quick video of Mark singing his heart out at karaoke, look deep for that one! Mark’s videos can be found on his website www.niigata-nishikigoi.com as well as on his video channel on Vimeo.
Next are the videos created by Sumi Promod. Sumi runs the website www.koi.tv which features lots of great koi related videos in an interview style format. Sumi broadcasts from many koi shows of the Northwest US and around the world. Sumi’s videos feature not only the koi but some great interviews with the koi owners, show judges, and show winners. Sumi’s videos give great insight into the world of showing koi and the people who show them. Other videos present visits to various pond owners who talk about their ponds and fish, and conversations with professionals within the industry. Sumi’s videos can be seen on www.koi.tv.
Another favorite is The Pond Digger! “Touching Peoples Lives With Water”. Eric Triplett, an A-Lister in the pond industry, has produced some great quality nicely produced pond videos. Eric works out of southern California and his work has been featured on HGTV as well. The Pond Digger videos focus mainly on pond construction featuring some amazing projects for his viewers to enjoy. Eric provides a lot of “how to” in his videos that appeal to the professional pond builder and the DIY pond builder. He has some fun video projects that feature a turtle pond, kids building ponds, and some insightful pond design videos that can be enjoyed by any pond enthusiast and improve any professional installers pond building. The Pond Digger videos can be found on Youtube at www.youtube.com/theponddigger and The Pond Digger is on Facebook too at www.facebook.com/theponddigger.
Of course everyone has to check out The Pond Hunter video series too! The Pond Hunter videos bring you the viewer on site to numerous pond projects featuring koi ponds, water gardens, pondless waterfalls, rainwater harvesting, inspirational pond video, koi shows, and even some aquarium video too! Whether it is a visit to the Governor of New Jersey’s pond, transforming a swimming pool into a koi pond, or building a pond indoors; the viewer comes on site for numerous construction and renovation projects, no second takes in these videos, you see ponds and waterfalls being built as it happened. Mike Gannon from Full Service Aquatics, a pond and water feature installation company in New Jersey, hosts the videos and offers plenty of “how to tips” to the viewers as well. Take a ride with The Pond Hunter “In The Pursuit Of all Things Aquatic”, visit The Pond Hunter video channel on Youtube at www.youtube.com/thepondhunter and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/thepondhunter.
Finally, the prolific Aquascape Inc. The Aquascape videos just keep coming! Every Friday a new pond related video. The Aquascape video library is geared toward pond contractors and retailers with instructional and informative videos featuring products, equipment, and supplies. The Aquascape videos are professionally produced and can even be watched by the pond hobbyist to learn more about the lifestyle, pleasures and even challenges of pond keeping. The Aquascape video library is full of funny sometimes quirky pond videos with beautiful pond images laced throughout most of their videos. For the professional these videos are a great database to refer to for those who want to sharpen their depth of pond knowledge. The Aquascape video library can be found at www.youtube.com/aquascape4.
These are just a few choices of what can be found out there in the endless viewing possibilities we all now have. If you don’t know where to start, just go to Google or Youtube and search “pond video”. No more is there “57 channels and nothing on”, now there are thousands of channels with always something on. So when you get tired of high schoolers singing show tunes, housewives sinking into new levels of desperation, or the same news about the same traffic jam that you sat in on the same way home; remember this, you can watch that guy eat another sandwich at another diner, or you can take control, sit back, and enjoy some lights, camera, and PONDS!
All copyrights to this material belong to Mike Gannon.