Life, Technology

iPad Adventures Part 1

This feels familiar. Unnervingly familiar. I am checking the tracking status on a particular order I just purchased. What could this be? A new iPhone? A new book? A new movie? Any of those would be fine I suppose. What wouldn’t be fine? A new iPad…

Let me give you clue, it rhymes with iFad. Yup thats it. In the mail somewhere in Indiana is an iPad Pro 9.7 inch with my name on it. I know what your thinking at this point. Why. Why. Why. I have a few answers and not surprisingly, many questions myself.

Many of you are very familiar with my history with Mr. iPad. We have had a interesting relationship to say the least. From iPad 2 all the way up to this shiny new guy. My past is marred with battle scars of trying to fit the iPad into my life. Truth be told, it never quite has.

So why now? Why again? I have 2 ( I think) very good answers. Numeral uno: PRICE. I can hear your eyes rolling but give me a chance to explain myself here. So black friday, ya. That happened. I happened to find a very expensive iPad Pro model for a fraction of its normal price. So that alone was hard to pass up.

But the real reason. Ah yes. The real reason. Simple put, Apple. Yes, Apple. You see I’ve been watching diligently as Apple sways in and out of keynotes making grandiose statements for certain products and utterly avoids others. You see one thing you have to know about me (if you haven’t already) is I’m a Mac guy. I always have been. I edited my first short film on a Macintosh. I wrote all my screenplays on a Mac. The Mac is near and dear to my heart. Unfortunately, I can’t say the same about Apple anymore.

Of course Apple doesn’t want anyone to think they are abandoning Macintosh. That would be foolish. Unavoidably, their actions hint at such motives though. So to make a long drawn out story not too long, ill just say this: I see the writing on the wall. iPad is Apple’s future. And its hard to completely blame them for it.

So back to me… I had to make a decision. I had to decide if I was going to keep fighting the good fight and continue on in my Mac ways, or try something different. I don’t want to miss something if Apple has big plans for the iPad next year. More accurately, I want to be prepared. As it stands now. All of my heavy work gets done on my MacBook Pro. I love this machine. But I’ve also had this laptop for 4 years now.

I think its also important to not just be doing something because A.) your comfy with it and B.) its what you’ve always done. I would never subscribe to that in life. At least I try hard not to. So I have no clue why I do such things in my tech products.

Many of you will ask the specifics. What model, what accessories. My plan is to try and document what Im doing, how I’m doing it and with what I’m doing it with. So all the details will be on here shortly.

Its funny, I already sense that familiar feeling. And the voices, of Dear heaven; the voices: “Too many products, not enough focus. Waste of money. Waste of space. Not efficient.” All voices running through my head right now. All old voices mind you. I need to try and beat those. Or at least figure why they are so loud.

Who knows if this experiment will work. Im ready to give it another go though. I will try and document my experiences with new iPad and report back. Maybe I bring it back. Maybe history repeats itself. Or maybe it finds a nice spot in my life… Who knows? Will find out soon.

Movies

Arrival (2016)

I’m not going to waste anyone’s time. Arrival is one of the best movies i’ve ever seen. I was getting increasingly nervous I was going to miss the film’s theatrical run so I spontaneously drove to a 10:15 showing tonight to ensure a viewing. It was like a perfect painting. The theater was empty. Just me and the screen.

I need to tread carefully here.. Usually I have a strict rule of no posting impressions the night of watching a film. Ordinarily, I like to take some time and digest. Not tonight. Not Arrival.

Minutes into Arrival you could feel something special. You could feel depth, you could feel heart. But most important, you could just…. feel. I feel so many things right now I’m having a hard time pulling this together.

I am at a loss for words on how good Arrival actually is. So ill do something else I usually don’t do. Ill post my spoken words after the movie. Driving home I took my phone, launched the voice memos app and said the following words:

“People continue to have children knowing full well that child will feel or experience pain. To me, thats why Arrival is so beautiful and simultaneously heartbreaking. It asks the question; Is life worth living if you know the pain, shortcomings and tragedies accompanying it? It then then answers that question with an resounding yes. You see, we all make this decision. Why? Because experiencing love and joy is greater then any sadness life can deliver.”

(I understand if you haven’t seen the film that won’t make much sense. But please go watch it)

Personally, I would take painful living over painful nothingness 10 times out of times. This movie left me an emotional wreck. When I got home I hugged my sons tighter than I ever have before. Not because I missed them, because Arrival points out the most important thing we have on Earth is time. Time to make the best of situations with our loved ones. At the end of the day time can be a prison or liberating. Arrival displays time as a liberator. I felt the need to ask myself, how do I look at time?

This is the power of great Cinema, using the art form not just to entertain, but to cause a person to reflect on their own existence and give them an experience the audience will hold with them. Maybe forever.

Its better to have love and lost then loved not at all. Thats Arrival in a nutshell. Please go this movie.

Movies

Unreleased Fountain Commentary Track

In addition to the 10 year post earlier for The Fountain, I forgot to post the actual audio commentary from Director Darren Aronofsky.

Aronofsky really was pushing for this commentary to make the DVD release but from what I’ve heard, Warner Bros. wasn’t having it. Kudos to Darren Aronofsky for creating one himself and posting it on the internet for free. I highly recommend your 2nd viewing of The Fountain to include this commentary.

Commentary could be found here

Life, Movies

10 Years Later: The Fountain

First off, if you haven’t seen The Fountain, please do.

My own experience in seeing The Fountain for the first time was in a near-empty theater, just before it left wide release during its disappointing U.S. run, making $15 million globally on a reported $35 million budget. That isolation—the dark theater with scarcely anyone sharing it with me—allowed the film to really affect me emotionally and psychologically.

Ten years on, The Fountain has been compared favorably to 2001: A Space Odyssey for its similar meditation on human existence, transcendence and acceptance of death. It has garnered a growing cult following among the spiritual, the philosophical, sci-fi fans and cinephiles alike. That it also remains a divisive film, currently sitting at 51% on both Rotten Tomatoes and Metacritic, only speaks to the singular perspective of Aronofsky himself, who spent years getting the film into production. Its distinct special effects were actually produced as a cost-cutting effort. The film’s production had been delayed several times and was considered over-budget before filming began.

Its divided reception, according to Aronofsky, was due largely to Western audiences’ reluctance to confront and accept the passing of loved ones and ultimately ourselves. He used Eastern themes and imagery to relay his message, which surely turned off many American movie-goers; the color white most obviously standing in for the purity of death.

I’ve turned The Fountain over in my mind so many times since seeing it—questioning whether the three characters played by Jackman are reincarnations of the same person, slowly arriving to the final conclusion Tommy comes to; or if Tomás is just a character in a book Izzi leaves for Tom, whose work allows him to extend his life well beyond the constraints of humanity and Earth.

The genius of that structure also works thematically, in that while everyone may take different paths to understanding, those paths all eventually lead to the same place. That’s The Fountain itself, really: the passage of time that brings us to an understanding we may accept with peace, or reject with further obstacles until we do.

Long story short, 10 years ago today one of most mentally challenging, yet beautiful films was released. If you haven’t been able to check it out, I strongly recommend it.

Movies

Midnight Special

“Dad?”
“Yeah?”
“Are you scared?”
“… Yes.”
“You don’t have to worry about me.”
“I like worrying about you.”
“You don’t have to anymore.”
“I’ll always worry about you, Alton. That’s the deal.”

Midnight Special wears its influences on its sleeves. It pays tribute Close Encounters of the Third Kind & other films of that Amblin era. It also reminded me of a mix of Starman & Firestarter. Starman in terms in being about a “special being” trying to get to a specific location while being hunted by the powers that be & Firestarter due to the father/child dynamic.

Director Jeff Nichols is definitely making something of a tradition, but it’s his version, his take on what this kind of story means. On the surface, Midnight Special is a science fiction story that drops us in the middle of the action right off the bat, & the awe & mystery of what’s going on is pivotal with the strong character work going on in every scene. Midnight Special not only contains sci-fi elements, but it’s also a family drama, with a father/son story at the heart of things.

Michael Shannon is a marvel of an actor as Roy, the strong father desperate to protect his kid. Joel Edgerton is outstanding as Lucas, Roy’s loyal friend that’s willing to put his life & freedom on the line to help. Jaeden Lieberher is perfect at playing Alton, the intelligent child with super powers which are indescribable, mostly because something different seems to happen every time they manifest. Adam Driver is really good as Agent Sevier, one of the many searching for Alton. Sevier has a distinct French name that gives me no choice but to assume that this eager, friendly, & knowledgeable character is, in some part, based on Francois Truffaut’s character in Close Encounters of the Third Kind.

Gorgeously shot by Adam Stone, the use of shadows & light is very important, especially after Nichols reveals the secrets Roy, Lucas, & Alton are trying to understand. Considering much of the film takes place at night or in darkness, there is a particularly haunting quality throughout visually speaking. The score is also pumping, but not really in a thematic John Williams way. Composer David Wingo echoes John Carpenter’s work slightly, with a similar build to the classic score to The Fog. All of this works to create an undeniably compelling experience. Midnight Special is a terrific father/son adventure story that warms us to the idea that any parent would do the same for their kid, even if he might be an alien, a superhero, or something else entirely.

Even though Take Shelter is still my favorite Jeff Nichols film, I think Midnight Special is a great movie. Nichols delivers fully on the particular story he sets out to tell & he does it with a fascinating visual aesthetic.

 

Family, Life, Videos

Liam – Age 5

Liam has grown so much in the past year… from playing video games and initiating super long question sessions to growing into a great big brother. It has certainly been a momentous year.

As time begins to go by fast now, I try to slow down things and realize how Liam was in the past, and how he is now. I try and be in the moment when I talk to him and really listen. I feel like everything formulating in his brain or coming out of his mouth at this point is original, wholehearted and sincere. He is curious about everything and has no boundaries imagination-wise.

Happy Birthday buddy. You may not remember every moment of being 4, 5, or 6 years old. But your mom and I will do our best to make the years fun, teach you new things and experience great places.

We love you.

Life

Hurting Others & Toxic Political Conversations

People lose their heads when it comes to politics. Let’s do the dirty work and dissect a normal political conversation nowadays. First, you have the aggressive (usually uneducated) partaker who “of course” feels strongly about something or someone. Then you have the voice of reason who gets sifted up because he/she is making “too” much sense. Then you have the overly wise scholar who joins in the last minutes and advises an overcomplicated reason of why people should or should not do or think, to solidify his wise stance.

This sounds like a nightmare because it is. Especially when you hold such talks on a medium like Facebook. As i’ve told Lindsey so many times , you just cannot have a “productive” connection between two or more people on that site. For the most part, Facebook is built on an ego centric foundation and permeates on personal, subconscious  reachings for attention and whats more, the concept of you sticking your flag in the ground and proudly standing by it with no room for thought. Sure there are things in life you should feel strong over. I’ll even give you the political subject being 1 of them. But when you crossover from an already toxic conversation to hurting people for your own gain, please stop.

I’ve long said and lived by a simple saying: “It’s not what you like, but what you’re like.” I’m not saying I’m even right in aligning with that concept. But it makes sense to me. I won’t force you to live by it and certainly won’t make you feel bad if you disagree with it. But maybe, just maybe you’ll actually read it. Even a more preposterous possibility, maybe you’ll think upon it.

I get it, its election season. People are on edge. People care deeply about this. I do it too. As noted on this site, I am a Libertarian. I am passionate about that. No doubt you’re certainly passionate about who you stand with. But its sad when we can’t have normal, logical conversations with other humans. Even more tragic when we hide behind pixels and deliver hurtful blows.

Please stop hurting other people and condemning them for who they are voting for. Everyone is different and from some of the awful stories I’ve heard coming out of Facebook recently, I thank God for it.

Life

The Storm has Passed 

It’s not that I’m unafraid of storms, but the overreaction to them is confusing at times. Maybe being a firefighter has helped me deal with really bad situations. Seeing people at the worst moment of their life, seeing things my brain just can’t understand, or just simply preparing for the worst but knowing we could handle it because it’s our job. Anyways Hurricane Matthew came and left, not as serious as advertised but still many, many affected negatively. My prayers go out to them. Thank God, our home was largely unaffected.

In other news yesterday night my well-documented iPhone 6 was showing some wear. The battery started really flaking out. The big problem was my battery would always read 100% and then just die so either the indicator was wrong or the battery is going. This is comical to me considering I really was trying to make it a third year with my 6 and hold off buying the iPhone 7. I tried a bunch of different stuff, I googled and troubleshooted, but in the end I went to bed thinking about what model of the iPhone 7 I was going to buy before our trip to Connecticut in a few days. Luckily, I woke up this morning and while driving to work I saw my battery starts to drain down! I’ve never been so happy to see battery loss. Phone is temporarily fixed and lives on to see another day!!

Starting this week to get prepared for Connecticut I’m excited and looking forward to the long drive with family and seeing everyone up in Connecticut.

Fall weather hot chocolate and maybe foliage. What more could you ask for?

Life, Technology

5 Years Without Steve Jobs

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Being the richest man in the cemetery doesn’t matter to me. Going to bed at night saying we’ve done something wonderful, that’s what matters to me.– Steve Jobs

I’ve never met Steve Jobs. I never will. But the impact his products have made in my life is undeniable. Today marks the 5 year anniversary of his death. I often wonder about many things; what he would think of current Apple products? The direction Apple has gone? Decisions they have made? Obviously no one knows these answers. But I still wonder…

I owe Steve Jobs my love to video production. I’m not great at it, and really don’t do it as much as i’d like anymore. But the truth is, his passion for getting complicated, expensive tools in ordinary people’s hands in a reworked, simple product is the direct reason for my filmmaking an editing projects.

Steve’s Stanford Commencement Speech was a huge influence of me filming a screenplay on a whim. His reluctancy until achievement of excellence still inspires me and truthfully, could be used at Apple currently. His drive for perfection is largely unmatched not only today, but in an all time spectrum.

In a world where iPhone is king, I think it’s important to remember SJ and Apple at their roots. At their simplest form: The Mac. Steve was passionate about the Mac. To a fault really. But the result is someone like me. I didn’t have to go to college to learn video editing, or filmmaking, or sound sampling, or color correcting, or graphic designing. I just had to buy my first Macintosh.

Thanks Steve.