Ivan Kowalenko's Thoughts

Included below are dates, locations and roles I fulfilled while volunteering on Town Square Television shoots for its local high school sports show, Game of the Week:

Winter 2011/2012:

• January 24, 2012: Cameara operator, South Saint Paul at Simley, girls and boys basketball.
• January 19, 2012: Camera operator, Mahtomedi at South Saint Paul, boys hockey.
• January 13, 2012: Camera operator, North St. Paul at Henry Sibley, boys basketball.
• January 12, 2012: Camera operator, Henry Sibley at Simley, boys basketball.
• January 10, 2012: Camera operator, Simley at Henry Sibley, girls basketball.
• January 3, 2012: Camera operator, Richfield at St. Thomas Academy, boys basketball.
• December 22, 2011: Camera operator, St. Paul United at Simley High School, girls hockey.
• December 20, 2011: Camera operator, Hill-Murray at South Saint Paul, girls hockey.
• December 15, 2011: Camera operator, Cannon Falls at Simley, girls basketball.
• December 13, 2011: Camera operator, Humboldt at St. Croix Lutheran, boys basketball.

Fall 2011:

• November 10, 2011: Character Generator, Visitation vs. Wadena-Deer Creek
  at the Xcel Energy Center (streaming video unavailable, due to MSHSL rules), girls volleyball state quarter finals.
• November 1, 2011: Character Generator, Minnehaha Academy at St. Croix Lutheran, girls volleyball section semi-finals.
• October 25, 2011: Camera operator, St. Louis Park at Simley, boys football (partnership with ParkTV)
• October 20, 2011: Camera operator, Humboldt at South Saint Paul, boys soccer section finals, and New Life Academy at South Saint Paul, girls soccer section finals.
• October 18, 2011: Camera operator, St. Croix Lutheran at South Saint Paul, boys soccer section semi-finals and girls soccer section semi-finals.
• October 14, 2011: Camera operator: South Saint Paul at Mahtomedi, boys football.
• October 12, 2011: Character Generator, Visitation at St. Croix Lutheran, girls volleyball.
• September 29, 2011: Character Generator, Richfield at South Saint Paul, girls volleyball.
• September 27, 2011: Camera operator, Sibley and Simley, girls and boys soccer.
• September 20, 2011: Camera operator, Simley at Sibley, girls volleyball.
• September 15, 2011: Camera operator, South Saint Paul at Simley, boys and girls soccer double header.
• September 3, 2011: Camera operator, St. Croix Lutheran at Visitation, girls soccer.
• September 1, 2011: Character Generator, Henry Sibley at South Saint Paul, boys football.

For you, from ActavaTV (only $69.95!)

I found this in my mail. I’m not entirely sure why ActavaTV in New York has sent me this, but it certainly piqued my interest. As far as I can tell, ActavaTV is a Russian-language MSO, that provides, and this is where my rusty Russian skills come in, over two hundred channels from Russia, the Ukraine, Israel, and the rest of the CIS (basically, Russia’s southern-bordering neighbors). It purports to offer content in HD, and a variety of films. From the website, I’ve also managed to determine they offer karaoke and radio in addition to these services.

All these features (I can barely understand)!

So the box they’re advertising is only $69.95, and I knew that there were some Russian satellite television providers around, but this made no mention of satellite or anything else of that nature. Some quick Googling of the set-top box pictured in the flier revealed it to be an IPTV box. I was intrigued when I thought they were a satellite MSO (I’ve always wanted to get into Free-To-Air satellite DXing, a good, cheap package just might be the right incentive), but now that they’re an IPTV MSO, I’m really quite interested. The website was rather scant on service costs, but eventually I dug up some information in their feedback page. Turns out their premium package is $29.99 and their basic package is a mere $9.99.

If I should come across some extra cash somewhere, I might actually invest in this, if only to examine it more closely. Of course, I probably ought to brush up on my Russian before then (good thing I kept my dictionary and work books from high school).

While volunteering with Town Square Television, I was invited to be a part of a show called Backstage, where, much in the vein of Amp It Up, a musical group performs music, but focusing more on refined and orchestrated performances, rather than as more of a live performance show. Listed below are shoots I participated in, roles I fulfilled, and links to streaming videos (when available):

• December 12, 2011: Camera Operator