Stonemasonry Video

About as clever and inventive as it's title, Stonemasonry Video features stonemason Bill Child standing in his backyard for about an hour and a half sincerely talking to the camera and occasionally demonstrating how to build retaining walls and stone steps with simple household tools. Mr. Child shares "trade secrets" of the stonemasonry business including "never try to lift a rock bigger or heavier than you are." He then points out some of the safety equipment needed to build stone walls, including steel lined boots (for those of you who might ignore his advice and try to lift rocks bigger than you are) and shares insider tips. In addition, he tells us where to get rocks, how to hit them with a hammer, what 3 to 1 means when mixing cement and how to fit rocks together. It isn't rocket science. With each shot running from 8 to 15 minutes in length, this video is occasionally about as exciting as watching cement dry. At one point it actually includes watching cement dry. But for home improvement enthusiasts with no ambition to be Incas or Pharaohs who after all didn't have butter knives, paintbrushes or "insider tips" and therefore tried to move stones bigger than themselves, this low-budget production could be useful. Optional. Aud: P. (R. Ray)