This is our 16-year-old geriatric cat Milo. I named him after the cat in “Milo and Otis,” and he’s been through more Christmases than my sister. More important, he was the only member of my family amiable (or voiceless) enough to be the subject of a video for my blog.

A video!

I got a Flip Mino for Christmas, and all you elitists can say what you will. Add that to my low-end audio recorder, dumbed-down SLR, unreliable cell phone, tattered notebook and waterproof bag to carry all of it, and I’m consistently the best-equipped journalist in the bunch for less than $1,000 total. Of course I’m a proponent of quality, but when it’s a choice between being adequate all the time or stellar every once in a while when you plan to lug around bulky equipment, I’ll go with prepared. Besides, if your equipment is too good it can’t share the blame for crummy work.

So far I’m having a lot of fun with it. The video quality is fine for the internet (once I figure out how to export properly) and the automatic lighting is pretty good, so audio and stabilization are the weakest parts. No external audio capability, so that’s an expected bummer. They have these adorable tiny tripods and I’m totally going to get one. I also wonder whether one of those arm straps for iPods could be adapted to make an arm-pod. For now I’m stuck editing with iMovie, which is why I didn’t really bother editing at this point.