With all the craziness in today’s world I strongly demand things like this get noticed!
Sometimes when I’m having a not so great day, I watch this and it makes me smile. Trust me, It’s worth your time:
Told you it was worth it.
Did you smile?
Eye opening campaign in Brazil that geofences your location, then plasters your hurtful Facebook comment on a billboard where you live.
“We omit names and faces of the authors because we have no intention of exposing anyone. We just want to educate people so that in future they think about the consequences before posting racist comments,” the project says.
In my opinion, this is fantastic. The internet isn’t a fake place with fake people where your words don’t matter. If you didn’t know already, your words do matter to people you hurt online or off.Maybe this will help people understand that more…
With Christmas around the corner and black Friday just in our rearview mirrors, I decided to do some research on financials and numbers on the holiday season.
This started last week while at work. The news was on and all they were speaking of was gift ideas and black friday this and Christmas lay away that. I got thinking; how much money is really spent in the holidays season? What I found was kind of staggering. The statistics are really quite unbelievable.
The average American home has nearly tripled in size over the last 50 years yet, over 50% of us with two-car garages have room for only one vehicle inside. Our homes contain more televisions than people. (crazy)
We spend more on shoes, jewelry, and watches ($100 billion in my findings) than on higher education. And the average American woman owns 30 outfits, one for every day of the month—in 1930, that figure was 9, yes 9. Home organization, the service that’s trying to find places for all our clutter, is now an $8 billion industry, growing at a rate of 10 percent each year. Decluttering is today’s dieting industry and gym membership paradigm. Good intentions, poor follow through.
Our living spaces have become filled with possessions of every kind: our countertops are crowded, our closets are stuffed, our bedrooms are filled, and our drawers are overflowing. And yet, this Black Friday weekend, we have accumulated more stuff. It is estimated 140 million Americans went shopping last weekend.
We spent $50 billion last weekend. And over the course of the entire holiday season, we will spend $600 billion adding more and more things to our already crowded homes.
Let’s start here: Before buying a whole bunch of stuff for your loved ones this holiday season, maybe you should ask if they even want a whole bunch of stuff. You might be surprised by their response.
This money we are spending actually holds within it enormous potential. Consider this: Nearly half the world’s population, 2.8 billion people, survive on less than $2 a day. To put that into perspective, Americans will spend, on average, roughly $400 per person this weekend… in just three days, we will spend more than half the annual income of 2.8 billion individuals.
Which is fine, I think, if we were buying things that actually improved our lives. But, in reality, most of the stuff we buy these days doesn’t.
If you know me personally, you know the thought of excess and extras really bother me. I try and try harder to live simple and efficient. But the pull is strong. As the young ones say, the struggle is real.
This isn’t a “trying to change the world” post. But just food for thought. I think numbers are really interesting. And the numbers and statistics I’ve found on American spending during the holiday season is somewhat crazy and excessive.
Time is really moving fast now. Liam is in his 2nd year of school, he’s got a little brother now and is having complete conversations (with him usually finishing the conversation).
The last year has brought some significant experiences as well as events, but none bigger then Liam becoming a big brother. Sure our family has been blessed with our own home and while its great to see Liam have his very own room, Its 10 times better to play spectator to him with his younger brother. It really has solidified a lot for me. Liam is an unselfish, always wanting good for people person. I knew that. But seeing him with Luca, all of that was confirmed.
I’m not sure what Age 5 brings in Liam’s case, but if I could make some requests; more of the same. Through all the ups and down, I would change anything about Liam. Me, yes. Liam, no. As Liam grows older I’m learning more and more that he deserves a parent, not a big kid who gets aggravated when he doesn’t act right. A parent who is calm and collected but can still can teach and discipline.
Liam is a one of a kind boy, and Im pretty sure I could speak for Lindsey in saying we wouldn’t have it any other way. Eye opening, inspiring, loving and enjoying; thus was age 4 with Little Liam. Or, not so little Liam anymore.
Happy Birthday buddy
The truth is, the Mets’ run towards the playoffs and World Series was magical. It was full of moments that I’ll never forget, from Wilmer’s walk-off on that fateful Friday night to Murph’s homer off Zack Greinke in Game 5 of the NLDS. Everything came together at the perfect time to form what I genuinely thought was the “team of destiny.”
But that’s what will make this loss so hard to swallow. The fact is the Royals aren’t some unbeatable super team that matched up perfectly with the Mets. They were more than beatable. The Mets led in every single game of this series, including three leads in the eighth inning or later. They blew all but one.
There is no one specific person or unit to blame. For whatever reason, almost everything that could have gone wrong did. Throughout the series, the offense was as potent as it was in June with John Mayberry Jr. hitting cleanup. It felt like Daniel Murphy was playing every position on defense. Terry Collins‘ job essentially devolved into “how can I avoid using almost my entire bullpen?” That’s not a formula for winning a series, let alone one against an offense that will make you pay for every mistake.
It’s a shame. The brand of baseball the Mets played to get themselves to the World Series was seen only briefly over the last week, through Matt Harvey‘s eight scoreless innings last night. In what was going to be his final outing of the season, Harvey gave the Mets everything he had. He lives for these moments. He gained every ounce of respect back from me last night. He had to be fatigued after being pushed well past the brink, but he didn’t show it one bit. I don’t care how much money or how many years it takes to get him to stay: He needs to be a Met for a long, long time.
Harvey’s outing really embodied what the 2015 Mets were as a team, and not just in the sense that he provided great starting pitching. Even when the Mets were floundering, with their offense looking absolutely pathetic, they were still able to grind out wins. When the offense couldn’t score, the starters stepped up their game. Somehow, despite all the injuries and disappointing performances from Mets hitters early on, they were able to hold on in the NL East race.
This held true even after the Mets acquired Yoenis Cespedes, Kelly Johnson, and Juan Uribe. While they certainly got lucky by finding the hottest hitter on the planet for just one top 100 prospect, the Mets continued to play with heart and passion.
Sandy Alderson will have a lot of work to do this offseason. Daniel Murphy is gone. Yoenis Cespedes is probably gone as well. Juan Lagares clearly needs Tommy John surgery. The bullpen needs to be completely rebuilt. And all of this needs to be done under whatever payroll cap the cheapskate Wilpons set.
That being said, the foundation for a winning team is there. The Mets still have one of the most incredible collections of young pitchers baseball has ever seen, and that’s only going to get better next year with the addition of Zack Wheeler. Michael Conforto looks like he is not only a major league regular, but a budding All-Star. David Wright, while maybe not the David Wright of old, is not going away any time soon. This team should be good for a long, long time. It’s just a matter of plugging in the correct complimentary players.
But the 2015 Mets should not simply be a team with great young pitching, or one that made smart deadline transactions. This year’s team was much more than that.
This year’s team awoke a fan base which had been dormant and frustrated for almost a decade. It united a city behind the Mets for the first time in 30 years. They had charisma. They had a captain who had given his blood, sweat, and tears for this franchise. They had great starting pitchers who didn’t care who they were facing or how many innings they were up to.
I’ve never had as much fun as I’ve had rooting for the 2015 New York Mets. They had every reason to quit. Badly timed injuries, suspensions, or heartbreaking losses could have been used as excuses to just give up. But they didn’t. They loved each other and their fans too much to just roll over. I am so proud to be a Mets fan and to see what 2016 brings.
The project is trucking along. In many ways I have been kind of surprised by how smooth some tasks have been. In more ways, frustrated by fixing some of my shortcomings as a filmmaker. Nonetheless, the project is in fairly healthy shape and still tracking a possible January completion.
Recently, I have finished my audio narrative. Basically that means the audio narration from Bro. Edward is in place and it seems completed. As of now, I am satisfied in how the dialogue flows. I think it tells the right story, at the right pace, in the right tone of delivery. I guess time will be the judge of all the elements at play. But at this point. That audio is a pretty firm lock, and thats good thing .
Moving on but staying with audio. I always knew finding the right music was going to be difficult. Exactly like my “Family Videos”, the tone of the music I know, but finding the actual track that will be placed is always a complicated feat. For me, the music is a huge element in a video like this. If we are going to try and recreate how the church feels accurately – which is the goal – then the music needs to feel the most spot on in my opinion. Especially because in a church like CBC, music plays such a big role as the general “feel”.
I searched high and low for literally weeks on end and nothing came. To be honest, I was getting scared imagining a future where the music would fall short. Then at church 2 weeks ago something hit me. Bro Edward does so much of his talking with piano playing in the background. And what is this video? It’s him mostly speaking. So soft piano music would work. And it would be a precise representation of what church is actually like there. So my idea of “big production feel” music was left at sea and my search began of old gospel hymns, softly played. Nothing big, just subtle. Blending in instead of demanding attention. I found a keeper and pleasantly am surprised how well it is working in the current cut. Check and moving on.
Like I mentioned earlier, all of the audio nearly is finished, so my focus now is on shots. I need a bunch of them. Mostly every service I attend in the month of November I will be shooting. Thats the level of shots needed in a video like this. Sure the final cut will end up around 5 minutes, but I’ve discovered by doing this, you need shots and shots and more shots and back ups and fill shots. So shots it is.
So, It seems all of November will be big on picking up shots of various things. Bus route, Sunday School classes, Super church, in service shots, Nursery etc. Anything really Bro. Edward speaks on in the video, I need ample coverage.
More words on shots and cinematography: I’m shooting everything with the idea that when I go back to Final Cut, I have the option to play with these. I am shooting a tiny bit wider and zoomed out then normal. The main reason for this is to play with the notion of a Ken Burns or dolly effect to be added to everything. Im not sure if that idea will pan out in the final cut, but I like the idea of leaving that option open. So there’s that. Of course I don’t have to do that, but I want to make this video as good as possible. So I’m willing to put in the extra work and try it. if it doesn’t work, I’ll revert to my originals.
Then comes December. If all goes well and according to some sort of plan, December will be my magic month. This is common phrase in the filmmaking world. Basically by then, you hope that you have all the footage you need and all feels right to where you can really maneuver the video and tweak elements to really make it a strong project.
Anyhow, I’m moving forward and all is going decently right now. Like I mentioned, November is going to be a shooting month and December will hopefully be a Magic Month with the hopes of release on the website sometime in January!
Thanks for following along and I will certainly update this video diary some point in November. Any questions as usual you could use the contact tab on the site.
Happy Shooting!
Sandwich Video makes great short commercials for tech companies. This time around they decided to do their own production. As some what of a filmmaker, its easy to admire the quality and attention to detail shown here. From the music to presentation. This series is fantastic. (2 episodes currently)
If you have interests in computers and experienced the 80’s in any capacity please stop reading this watch this in full:
Growing up I was the kid that fell in love with movies. I was the kid carrying a camera everywhere. Movies to me, were larger than life. The intimacy and connection entangled me. They say, when you find your right “art” these two elements will co exist, Intimacy and Connection. For me I guess that was film. Some people love music, some people love books, some people love painting and some people even love cooking as an art. But for me, it was popping in a VHS and seeing familiar faces. That medium has really never been challenged before. Until now.
I discovered Podcasts while working 3rd shift at Home Depot. It was lonely job and I didn’t mind it one bit. I stayed to myself and did my work. But after awhile, it became routine. I started searching for Audiobooks. Some form of education that I could learn and be entertained at the same time while working. The medium held my interest just fine, but I really was yearning for the 2 elements that hooked my love of Film, Intimacy and Connection. Once I found the existence of Podcasts, it all just sort of clicked.
Podcasts are amazingly personal, yet open for discussion. They don’t apologize for their existence but are extremely gentle upon introduction. They are to the point, narrative dialogues that can pair perfectly with your personal interests or unlearned territory that are ready for your consumption. If you haven’t gotten it yet, Podcasts can be whatever you want them to be. A major medium in your life, or just a thing you turn on once in awhile. But most importantly, a medium that you can build a relationship with.
When I first found Podcasts a few things stuck out at me immediately: Podcasts were updated weekly in most scenarios and most importantly you could tailor your listening content to your own interests. The 7 year old me would have loved the option to listen to an in depth film review minutes after watching a movie for the first time. Now that was possible. Another aspect I loved about podcasts is the hosts. They were always the same and not working for a huge company. Usually, they were just normal people working day jobs and coming home and talking about what they loved, whether that be film, tech, politics, stories. Whatever. There was a real grass roots movement feeling to the medium that I loved.
So, my very first podcast I listened to was “Filmspotting”. A weekly show keeping you up to date with the world a film and sprinkling in a review or 2. To me, this was a miracle. Here were people talking exactly about things I was interested in. It was like finding new friends. Friends with the same interests. I didn’t have to get lucky and catch a review on the radio or google search for my interests. These people were actively talking about it, weekly.
Then I thought, if I could find a podcast on Film, why not Technology? And so Macbreak Weekly was discovered. I can’t stress enough that the discovery of these shows were equivalent to walking into a new room of all familiar faces. It was a great time, this podcasting discovery time. I searched for every interest I had: Writing, Filming, Preaching, History, Basketball, Storytelling. They were all there. It truly was like opening a door I never knew existed.
How I listened changed dramatically in my first couple of months. At the beginning, I was listening on my phone through the internet browser, which was not ideal. My cell phone bill was climbing because I was streaming everything. As my show volume got larger I searched for an app that could handle all the podcasts. I was pleasantly surprised to find Instacast. Instacast was the first “paid” app I ever purchased on a mobile platform, but boy was it worth it.
Instacast also had some great features. Most impressively to me, I didn’t have to go searching for new episodes anymore. When a Podcast released a new episode, Instacast would just alert my phone. This was truly magical! Also, Instacast organized my Podcasts by date of episodes and allowed an area for “show notes” to be easily accessible.
I wanted to write about Podcasts a year or so ago but I figured not many readers would be interested. So I scratched the idea. Then something interesting happened. Something no one could have predicted
A podcast titled “Serial” was released. This was significant to the world of Podcasting mainly because the general public took notice. Big notice. Serial climbed to the top of Podcasting charts overnight and mentioned on nearly every “real” news station. Sure, Serial was a fresh take because it involved a true story; but i’d like to think it took off maybe because the general mass of people fell in love with how personal podcasting is.
Either way, Podcasting benefitted from Serial greatly and now more people than ever are listening. If you’ve never listened to a podcast, I would highly recommend them. Whatever your interests are. You can find a show and start connected with people. Not in a artificial, invisible Facebook way. But in a real, insightful, eye opening way.
Nowadays I am subscribed to about 30 podcasts and I don’t listen to all them weekly. But that’s the great thing about it. Theres no pressure to keep up. If you miss an episode, just catch the new one next week. No big deal.
As of today my Podcast app of choice in Overcast. Not only is it simple in design. Also, it comes equipped with a featured titled “Smart Speed”. Which intelligently cuts out gaps in-between talking without the listener ever noticing. As of today, Overcast has saved 62 hours of my life by intelligently speeding up podcasts.
Nothing will ever replace Movies in my life. But for me it was important to be open to new mediums. Since my Podcast listening has started, I’ve learned countless things about countless subjects. I’ve even learned about myself more and more as I am exposed to a vast variety of topics.
Below I have made a starter kit, if you will. Maybe you’ve never listened to Podcasts or are interested but don’t know how. That perfectly reasonable. Below is a great place to start!
I would really love to hear any feedback if you already listen to Podcasts or this helped you discover some! Happy Podcasting and enjoy!
PODCAST STARTER KIT
Click to view my Podcast App of choice:
Some of my Favorite Podcasts:
Some really great thoughts here on M. Night Shyamalan’s characters by Alexander Huls at Movie Mezzanine:
Before the collapse of his career, the continual repetition of narratives about men falling from on high to struggle with failure seemed no more than one of Shyamalan’s many thematic preoccupations. Now one can’t help but see something prophetic, or at least unconscious, being expressed.
At the end of Unbreakable, Elijah rhetorically asks, “Do you know what the scariest thing is?” Then he answers, “To not know your place in the world.” Ever since his career collapsed with Lady in the Water, M. Night Shyamalan lost his place in the cinematic world. Maybe with time he, like his heroes, will find it again.
*ddileo 