My take on the Jason Russell situation...

I haven't felt compelled to blog in a while. Tweeting has replaced long form writing as the creative outlet for my menial nothingness. However, the situation with Jason Russell has been breaking my heart. I will start by saying this: I have never given money to Invisible Children and I am aware of the organization's flaws, misguided ventures, and critical scorn. Having said that, I'm surprised and sickened in some ways by the response to the Kony video and Russell's recent meltdown. I remember seeing the first Invisible Children video almost 10 years ago. I saw it at a time in my life (I  had recently graduated high school) when I did not have a whole lot of ambition. That first film was one of the initial reason's I decided to pursue videography. I saw 3 guys, a few years older than me, who were using video (a medium I loved) to attempt to make a difference in the world. I was inspired. Fast forward 10 years and their work in Central Uganda continues, as has their movement. For various reasons I haven't continued to track with their work, but I have appreciated their continued pursuit of justice in Africa. I understand the response of the media. These white, metro/hipster, 30 somethings in designer clothing think they can change the world. It is easy fodder for scrutiny. They made a video to galvanize young people to put posters up around their neighborhoods. Misguided? Maybe. Naive? To a degree. However, they are doing something. Google (or Bing!) Toms Shoes, TWLOHA and any other number of trendy social justice movements and you will find pages upon pages of critics. Are they an underground Christian movement? Are they hoarding money? The problem is that people are flawed; we are broken. Flawed people create flawed organizations. It's math (kinda?). I firmly believe that Russell and his cohorts genuinely strive to create a difference in the lives of children; a cause I firmly support. When I first read of Russell's meltdown on Twitter, it did not surprise me. The guy has been under an insane amount of pressure the past couple weeks. I tried to picture myself in his position-a young dad and filmmaker who is attempting to find hope and justice in an otherwise hopeless world. I am not condoning what he did, but I also am not sure how I would react if I created something positive only to have it obliterated by cowardly bloggers and tweeters. The only thing that people like more than praising those who strive to make a difference, is tearing people down when they fall. Kony 2012 is not a perfect movement and I even agree with many of its staunchest critics. However, I am sickened by the aptness of people to tear down that which is intended for good.


Is Kony the only problem? No. Is he still in Uganda? Probably not. Will someone step in to take his place once he's eliminated? Definitely. However, unless we are living perfect lives, or have better ideas, we should probably not say a whole lot.


Take off your Toms. Stop wearing sweat shop clothes. Don't buy coffee from Starbucks. Throw away your smart phone. Dump your iPad. Don't eat chocolate. Bigotry and hypocrisy are closer than you think. Jason Russell is flawed. So are you. So am I. Jesus once said that we should first take the plank out of {our} own eye, and then {we} will see clearly to remove the speck from {our} brother's eye. I have a lot of issues. I can look at what Russell did and think it is despicable, but I will also choose to show him empathy because I have a lot of ___ (insert synonym for feces) in my eye as well.

Top Movies/New Movie Blog

I started a new movie review blog with some friends and my top 10 films of the year can be found on it. Check out the link here.

Top Music of the Year

I listen to a lot of music and it often guides my moods and vice versa. This doesn't make me unique, I know. If you threatened to hit my hand hand with a hammer if I didn't tell you my favorite music this year, this is what I would say:


Top 5 Records of the Year


5. Ghosts Upon the Earth by Gungor

I got to see Gungor with John Mark McMillan and David Crowder*Band at Regency Ballroom in San Francisco last month and they blew my mind. I had heard "Beautiful Things" a bunch of times in the past and I enjoyed the song, but I never really paid much attention to them until their newest record. It has an ethereal feel to it and they use a ton of instruments and funky arrangements without sounding forced. The singer, Michael Gungor, has a great blog too. I love this record!


Standout song: "When Death Dies"


4. Young Love by Mat Kearney

I have listened to Mat for a long time and have seen him live several times. His last record, City of Black and White, disappointed quite a bit in my opinion. Luckily, he went back to his roots with this record. The songs are catchy and have a hip-hop feel to them like the stuff off his first record, Bullet. I love how raw it is and am happy to see him return to form.

Standout songs: "Ships in the Night," "Down," and "You Can Count On Me"




3. Simple Math by Manchester Orchestra

This record is about everything from infidelity and drinking to love and God. It's a concept record where the singer, Andy Hull, has a conversation with God and his wife...sort of. The songs flow really well together and there are some epic moments. The title track is among my favorite songs of the year and I love how much this band has progressed. Manchester is among my favorite bands so I am a bit biased, but I would have loved this record even if it was the first thing I heard from them.

Standout songs: "Simple Math" and "Pensacola"




2. Vice Verses by Switchfoot

Trendy, cool me would love to include obscure bands on this list that only I have heard of like Goateater and The Way I Type (I made those up). However, the bands I love and have loved for a long time keep putting out great stuff. Vice Verses is an amazing Switchfoot record. Jon Foreman is my favorite song writer and I love the way this record moves lyrically. Songs about justice, hope, pain and sorrow fill the songs with a sense of authenticity. I got to see them in November and they were amazing.

Standout songs: "Vice Verses," "Restless," and "Where I Belong"




1. The Reckoning by NEEDTOBREATHE

This was a pretty easy choice for me as I have been listening to this band non-stop this year. I started listening to them shortly before this record game out. Their previous record, The Outsiders, has quickly become one of my favorites ever. Although this one doesn't quite match its predecessor, The Reckoning is still incredible. I listen to it while I run and while I drive. The songs touch on topics such as revenge and God's grace. It's a Southern rock record complete with banjo and electric guitar. I seriously love it. I get to see them in March at The Fillmore with Mel-Bo and I cannot wait.

Standout songs: "Able," "The Reckoning," "White Fences," "Slumber"


Top 10 Songs of the Year
10. "We Were Made For You" - Aaron Gillespie
9. "Restless" - Switchfoot
8. "Hope Still Flies" - Five Iron Frenzy
7. "Ships in the Night" - Mat Kearney
6. "Shadows" - David Crowder Band (feat. Lecrae)
5. "Perth" - Bon Iver
4. "Slumber" - NEEDTOBREATHE
3. "Let Me Feel You Shine" - David Crowder*Band
2. "Simple Math" - Manchester Orchestra
1. "The Reckoning" - NEEDTOBREATHE


Artist of the Year

NEEDTOBREATHE
As previously stated, I cannot get enough of this band. Check out their new record and their last record. So stinkin' good.

I realized that almost everything on my lists have a "Christiany" feel this year. As Michael Gungor stated in the blog post I linked, talented and creative musicians should exist regardless of genre. I feel like a lot of the bands I chose love God, but are also dedicated to making amazing music. They use their God-given talents to produce creative art.




Most Anticipate Music of 2012 (in no particular order)

• Relient K - I love Forget and Not Slow Down.
• fun. - Seeing them in March. Yay.
• House of Heroes - I hope it's more The End is Not the End than Suburba.
• David Crowder*Band - Their final record is out January 10. It is with bittersweet anticipation that I look forward to this one.

New life!

Hello blog.
I have neglected you and I am sorry. It's just that you sort of got boring and became one of those digital picture frames. You no longer were an avenue of creativity for me. You simply became a place to post baby pictures and now you have been replaced. Facebook now serves that purpose. However, I am here to tell you that I plan on revisiting you from time to time. My primary animus will be to post movie reviews. I see a lot of movies and, like a nerd, keep track of each movie I see in a Google doc. I am here today to let you know that I will soon be posting my top movies and music from 2011 and will continue to post movies as I see them. Excited? I thought so. I saw The Artist today. Did it crack my top 10? You will have to wait and see! Talk to you soon.

Matter

I started a video business a couple months ago. Most of my time has been spent getting stuff going with that. Check it out at www.mattervideo.com or on Facebook.

Best of 2010

2010 was a year that found me spending more time with family, filming and school, and less time blogging. In what I like to call the "real world," I think this trade off has been healthy. Tate is transitioning from a little boy to a kid, which is fun, hilarious, surreal and bittersweet. It's actually a whole lot more than that, but I didn't want to keep adding adjectives. Lyla is starting to show glimpses of the young lady she will become and it would appear as though we are in for a future of exciting highs and dramatic lows. She is an adorable young lady who demands attention. Though the blog has been all but neglected this year, in keeping with tradition, I have decided to make my annual list of best-ofs and favorites (so original, huh?). Here it goes. Actually, here are some cute recent pictures of the kids first.

Movies of the year.

I decided not to number them or place them in any specific order because my love for them varies by the day.

Inception
The King's Speech
127 Hours
Toy Story 3
True Grit
The Fighter

(Movies I have yet to see and therefore cannot rate: The Town, The Social Network, Never Let Me Go, Winter's Book)

Worst movie of the year
Remember Me (If only I could forget how awful this overly sappy, poor attempt at indie/artsy film, this thing was).

TV show(s) of the year.

Contrary to popular belief, I actually do not watch a ton of TV because time doesn't really allow it. However, there were a few shows that we made time for this year.

Lost

I can honestly say I was satisfied with the finale, especially the more I thought about it after I watched it. I started with the show from the beginning and although all of the questions weren't answered, I am content with the holes they did plug.

Friday Night Lights

Although Battlestar Galactica claims the top spot in my all-time favorite shows, FNL is not far behind. The show combines stellar acting, excellent editing, music and cinematography is a way that few shows come close to matching. I love Peter Berg's style and am not looking forward to saying goodbye to the lovely people of Dillon after this season.

The Sing Off

I suppose I could file this under my guilty pleasure category, but this show had Mel and me (yes it's me, not I) hooked for 3 weeks this winter. The people were/are freakishly talented and we were highly entertained. Looking forward to next December's installment.

Songs of the year.
I bought less music this year than in year's past, but these are the songs that were stuck in my head for a while.

"Crossfire" - Brandon Flowers
"Skeleton Bones" - John Mark McMillan

"Ten Thousand" - John Mark McMillan
"Bamboo Bones" - Against Me!
"Birds" - Deas Vail
"Boots" - The Killers
"Beautiful Things" - Gungor

"You Wouldn't Have to Ask" - Bad Books
"Carousel" - Paper Route

"Kings and Queens" - 30 Seconds to Mars (I really wish I was lying. -5 indie cool points)
"So Far Away" - House of Heroes
"I Want to be Well" - Sufjan Stevens

and my #1 song of the year...

"Far Away" - Lecrae

This songs was released as a benefit track for Haiti relief. I liked the song prior to going to Haiti in March, but it really became an anthem for me upon my arrival there. I let several Haitian people I met listen to my iPod and they all wanted to hear the song. Each time I hear it, I am brought back to Port au Prince and am reminded of the people there and the hardships they are still enduring.

Album(s) of the year.

"The Medicine" - John Mark McMillan

I know this was a re-release but I heard it for the first time in 2010 and fell in love with it. "Ten Thousand" and "Skeleton Bones" are incredible songs.

"White Crosses" - Against Me!

"My Dinosaur Life" - Motion City Soundtrack

Concert/Show of the year.
I didn't get to go to as many shows this year, but there were a couple that stood out. Mae was nostalgic. Rocky Votolato was a nice reunion, but I preferred the previous year's outdoor ranch show. Brandon Flowers was pompous and he only played for 35 minutes, but sounded good nonetheless. The runner-up for show of the year was the "Where's the Band Tour" featuring lead singers from various bands I love (Thrice, Saves the Day, Bayside, The Get Up Kids). I went to the show on January 10 with Charlie and it was incredible. Dustin Kensrue covered a Tom Waits song called "Down There By the Train" and it was probably one of the best songs I have ever heard performed live. I may have even teared up a bit. The number one show of the year had to be Sufjan Stevens though. Mel and I saw him in Oakland and it was whimsical, bizarre and wonderful.

* Dustin Kensrue, Chris Conley, Anthony Raneri, and Matt Pryor @ Slims (1.10.10)

* Rocky Votolato House Show 2 @ the Ranch (7.27.10)
* Brandon Flowers @ Slim's (8.19.10)
* Sufjan Stevens @ Paramount Theater (10.25.10)
* Mae Farewell Tour @ Bottom of the Hill (11.10.10)

Family experience of the year.

This a tie between our family Hawaii trip and Disneyland.

It was quite wonderful going to Hawaii with the family and I look forward to heading back there this year. Check out this video if you have not already.

It was almost magical taking the kids to Disneyland for the first time. They absolutely loved it and the video ended up being one of my favorite things I have edited.

Personal Experience(s) of the year.

Another tie. I did the Wildflower Triathlon in May and that was a great personal achievement after 6 long months of training. I plan to run it again this May. However, I think traveling to Haiti had the greatest lasting impact on me. I went there to film with Barley, Matt Pine, Jake and Steve Foster and I still am struck by the memories and images I captured there. The devastation was overwhelming and it has been awful to see the ongoing difficulties facing the country since the quake (poverty, cholera, violence, etc). This video is probably my favorite thing I have ever edited:

My Word Is My Bond

The recent pictures I promised...

Hi Blog

This has been the longest blogging hiatus I have taken since I started this thing over 4 years ago. Facebook has replaced it in a lot of ways but I do miss the writing aspect of it and FB is getting a bit old for me. I have been doing a lot more video work lately, which has taken a lot of time. Not to mention the fact that the kiddies are blossoming into adorable, time consuming young people. Here is a video from Katie and Tyler's wedding and I will post some pics soon. I can't guarantee I will post everyday, but I will tend to this baby a bit more often.

Kids

Here are some videos. They have kids in them. Some of the kids are mine. Some are not. Some are cute. Some are also cute.

Last Day of School

Blogging has been on the backburner lately. However, today is the last day of school and I thought I would post some of my video student's final projects. I am proud of them. It has been a fun year and I will write more about it later. For now, enjoy the videos.

Dance-Off Outtakes

Here are the outtakes from the Dance-Off Promo videos.

Haiti Video (full version)

Here is the full version of the Haiti video. This is the video that was shown at the Haiti Project Benefit at VBC tonight. Enjoy.

DANCE-OFF PROMO VIDEO #4

Travis and I were in the latest (and final) Dance Off Promo video. All the students saw it today. It is pretty funny if I do say so myself. The Dance Off was after school today and Mel and the kiddies came to check it out. It was a lot of fun. Our students are way talented. You should come next year. Seriously. You should.