Josh's Blog

Month: June 2020

Remembering Jeff

In Loving Memory of Jeffery Leon Hurst

1974-2018

This post is to preserve and celebrate the memory of a great man, and one of my best friends, Jeffery Hurst. 

I will always remember your infectious laugh, sense of humor, natural curiosity, musical passion, your big heart, and all the great times we had together.

*This page will function as a living document with picture, story, video, and music updates.   

Memorial video for Jeff, as shown at this funeral service in Odessa Tx.  You can right click on the video to save to your device.

Jeff’s Obituary as seen in the Denton Record Chronical and the Odessa American newspapers.

ACFE Exam Update

Boom! #Made it! Special thanks to Dr. Nugent – my capstone professor – who put the idea of becoming ACFE certified into my brain five years ago. Also my first supervisor with the Federal government, J. Polledo. Both of these Gentlemen said the same thing, “if you study everyday for a month, you will pass the exam”. I took a little longer, but still reached the desired outcome. 

Additionally I must thank Texas Woman’s University and the ACFE itself for a scholarship I received during my tenure in Graduate school. This enabled me to take the exam at no cost. I am grateful.

Now its time to put this thing to good use.  

Examity Blues

1,000,000 views

Almost eight years ago, I decided to bring a newly purchased camera along with me as I made my landscaping run. Little did I know that the resulting  video it would one day reach 1 million views…

I remember a long time ago my friend Jason R. told me that I would look back at my landscaping days as some of the best days of my life. While I am not ready to attest to the accuracy of that statement just yet, I am able to say that I look back at them with a growing amount of fondness and a bit of longing each and every year. It was a good chapter in my life. A simple read, but it had almost everything I needed in it.

I am super happy that I made and have this video to archive these special times. 

A few little facts about this video:
– I made it to test out a new video camera I had purchased. Canon HF500 I think it was… great camera.
– I did not tell the lawn client I was going to be filming
– I received a lot of strange looks from both client and neighbors while making it – particularly when I stood a 6 foot tripod on the cab of my truck to get an overhead shot.
– I did not storyboard the video. I just tried to shoot as many angles as possible.
– The intro music was an early variant of “Mirror and the Man”, which was later recorded by Copper Root.
– The end music was an incomplete diddly I had written a couple years prior.
– The Metallica song is Leper Messiah
The voiceover was added a week or two later while putting the footage together,
– The insect video playing on the computer monitor during the introduction was inspired by Jeffery Hurst, from an earlier video called, “Jeff likes Insects”. (Rest in Peace Jeff).
– The watercooler was used daily in my home all the way up to my move to London.
– I sent the finished video to the lawn client, who was a professor at UNT. She liked it so much she forwarded it to several of her fellow staff members.
– The first year after the vid was uploaded, it was barely noticed. However the following Spring – during lawn season – it started to get hits.
– The Chevy truck was totaled a few years later.
– The suzuki 2 stroke mower lasted several years after filming. When it finally went kaput, I took the piston out as a keepsake.
– A part 2 was partly filmed and never finished.
– Video earned $3770 in YouTube revenue
– The video typically spikes in views every Spring.