Actually the video was an experiment in perception.

I removed it from TE when I realized I didn't have a model release from "Black Shirt." I have model releases in my camera bag but it started raining while I was filming and I forgot about them.

I will be going back to the barber shop to get a signed released, and now that the video is done, to show it to Black Shirt. Hopefully by then I'll know his first name and to confirm as I thought that he is not a teenager. I will also very much enjoy the conversation I will have with him about the video and life in general.

I also want to tell him how very charming I thought him to be and how much he reminded me of the young men of my youth.

Editorial comment added to a video is covered by the first amendment as long as it does not reveal private information about a subject. (unless of course they are public figures and then all bets are off.)

The video showed young men in one particular moment of their life to be more interested in a hot car than a preetty girl walking by. Stop the presses! Now there's some information we never knew.

The video also played on the preconceived notions of the viewpoint character, a 62 year old woman past her prime observing these things and trying to formulate concepts about the differences in the sexes. In her cases, she opted out for the standard patter of "boys will be boys and girls will be girls."

As the videographer, that was my aim... to demonstrate how easy it is to gloss over the reality of a situation, to dismiss something as merely amusing and to not examine the characters as individuals.

One of the few people who viewed the video made the same mistake and assumed it was gay-bashing, insulting to males and females, and downright offensive.

Others who didn't see the video agreed that it must be a terrible violation on several areas. Hearsay rules.

I'm fairly astonished by this. There seems to be a lot more energy in the claims about and against the video than are warranted by the video or the number of people who saw it.

It never occured to me in a million years that the sweet Black Shirt or his friend White Shirt were gay. Why would anyone assume they were? Because one of them was a hairdresser? Because, during one 3 minute time period in their life they weren't particularly interested in eyeing girls and were more interested in talking to one another and ooohhh and ahhhhing over a friend's new car? Now who is making broad sweeping assumptions without the facts being in evidence?

Whether or not the video should be considered editorial, creative, artistic, or just a bad piece of video is a personal matter between videographer and viewer.

I am extremely curious about the world and the people populating it. I am fascinated with untested views and opinions I've held in my life and wish to examine them for validity. I do this with writing, photography, personal observation, contemplation, and talking to everyone I meet.

I only have a few decades left to accomplish this. It's an grand aventure and experiment.

It's an experiment that will be full of failures as well as successes.

The video, the story behind the video, the visit to Black Shirt will be posted on my blog....unless of course, in the meantime soemthing more interesting captures my attention.