It's week 3, third week, tres. School is goin goin gone, it's basically finals week.
As you would expect, life's nuts. Always is. We have named our house: THE BAKERY. There's 4 reasons:
1. This place is always the temperature of an oven. The other night, I walked through the hallway, I thought to myself "Wow! It actually feels pretty cool in here!" I looked at the temperature. It was 85 in the hallway. If that feels "cool" I don't want to know how warm it is when it feels "HOT."
2. Bethlehem means "house of bread" because the area was a grain-producing area in Old Testament times. Bethelehem is where Jesus was born. That's pretty cool.
3. Our oven is broken. The irony.
4. "We have the hottest buns in town." My housemates... no explanation.
So that's the name! We're pretty excited about it. There might be a logo or a lil somethin somethin comin out real soon.
SO.
I made a crazy, unbelievable realization this week. I have this bizarre sense of the 365. This has happened a number of times: I do something, think of something, dress a certain way and, upon investigation, I did the same thing, thought the same thing, dressed a certain way almost EXACTLY a year before, 365. I have two examples for you.
This following picture was taken the first Wednesday of last school year. I lived in Trop. Wore a light blue shirt, bolo tie, white shorts, white converse high tops. Take a look.
This year. Taken on the first Wednesday of this school year. I live in a house. Wore a light blue shirt, bolo tie, white shorts, white converse high tops. Take a look.
Basically the same outfit, added some new stylez with the pocket square and the long white left sock. What in the world. 365. Same thought process.
So, now, last night (today because it was after midnight), I randomly remembered this one event that happened last year. It was Ms. Laura Cook's birthday and a big ol' group of us went out to Elephant Bar for a fantastic birthday dinner. It was a great time, I remembered it for really no reason so I went to the facebook to track down the group picture. That picture is right here:
And then I noticed something. TODAY IS MS. LAURA COOK'S BIRTHDAY! So this event happened almost EXACTLY a year ago and I really had NO REASON to remember this event, there were no triggers, I hadn't even thought thought event in months. Super weird. 365.
Here is something fun. Mr. Kyle Spence's house party. It wasn't his birthday. Surprisingly good time.
And here's Mawwiage Films latest Moment! INTRODUCING Matt & Danielle Cull!
And that's the post! Little writing, but a nice amount of visuals. I'm sitting here with Ms. Katie McCusker and her and now my friend Ms. Kelly Last-Name-Never-Said. They wanted to be included in this blog post so I told them I would include them.
Merry Wednesday.
I could really go for a smoothie right now. If you like smoothies, you should make one up for yourself.
It's raining and rain is the worst (to put it heavily), I dislike it (to put it lightly). A lot of people disagree with me, they LOVE the rain. I cannot fathom why. Here's my argument. I say to them "Yes, I LOVE the rain too. It's important to water the earth. It's necessary. I LOVE it when I have NOTHING to do and I'm sitting with a cup of hot chocolate in front of the warmth of a fire. In that situation or anything other situation that involves sitting around, rain is the greatest. But when you have to do ANYTHING else, rain is the absolute pits. It makes everything more difficult, it's hard to travel, people drive like 5 year olds, there are accidents, mudslides, your clothes get wet, you can't see because water is getting in your eyeballs, it's cold, it's uncomfortable. How can you say you LOVE that?!" I'm seriously baffled. It makes everything so hard, everything a chore. Going to class is no easy task, it involves protecting your stuff from getting wet, trying to get there without getting soaked, and then sitting through class where everybody is damp in some sense and the musty scent of wet clothes hangs in the air.
I've got one word: yuck.
Just a word: in the end, this is just a rant. Obviously, the rain replenishes our earth, gives an opportunity to harvest, provides clean water, and ultimately is a gift from God. For that, I am grateful.
Well, it's another week. Another week. Another week. Time's flying. Another week. I've been training myself not to blink because I just know that the next time I blink, I'm going to be hanging out in a senior citizens home, recollecting memories from my 83 years of life. Just like *snap*.
It's been made apparent to me lately that I enjoy stories, all sorts of stories, telling stories, listening to stories. There is something about a story that just makes the world go round, and it's wonderful. We've all had the experience of sitting in a dull history class, listening to a lecture, when all of a sudden Mr. Boredom himself begins the story of his sophomore year in college when he snuck into the Natural History Museum in order to complete a class project. It is at this point when we start listening. Why do we start listening? Because Mr. Boredom is passionate about his illegal venture. Mr. Boredom is NOT passionate about history. History is FULL of stories, but if the person telling them is not passionate, well, why would we listen intently? Passion seems to be a pretty important part of storytelling. Every once in a while, I take a look through the records of this blog. I enjoy using the "Random Post of the Refresh" button in the upper right corner to re-discover the stories of past. In doing this, I've realized a couple of things. 1st: our memories are INCREDIBLE. Yes, we cannot recall any life experience at anytime. But, with a trigger, you can recall any situation like it happened yesterday. I've learned that this blog serves as an EXCELLENT trigger. At the time of writing, the stories don't seem that significant, because they just happened. But let me tell you, there's nothing better than returning to a story from 2 years back, getting drilled with details, and reliving the situation. And then you share. You remind others of this situation, regardless if they were there with you or not. You tell the story.
I have some stories for you.
I revisited this story from May the 9th: http://emliv.blogspot.com/2011/05/high-five-for-first-kiss-birth-of-viral.html. This story just makes me laugh, I still can't believe it happened this way and I got a front row seat to the power of the viral internet. A GREAT learning experience, a TON of bewilderment, and a FANTASTIC story. Enjoy!
And now some wedding stories, fresh off the press!
These are good stories. So is this one: I saw this video the other day. I was intrigued to say the least. If this were at all legal, this is how I would travel. Just imagine a road trip with a group of musicians. Can you say "not-only-would-this-be-awesome-to-see-while-on-the-freeway-but-I-would-have-a-BALL-on-a-road-trip-like-that?" I can.
Makes me laugh, each and every time. JAM ON.
Well, that's the post. Hoop, there it is.
Go tell someone a story. Tell them a funny story. Then a sad story. Then a surprising story. Then, listen to their funny story. Listen to their sad story. Listen to their surprising story.
The tie means something. It's got blue flowers all over it. Does it match with the rest? No. (Unless you get all artsy/philosophical). The point? Things don't have to match. Who said they have to? Things that happen in life don't have to match what you think your life is going to be like. Things aren't going to match. But hey, smile about it.
Folks. Unfortunately, today's post is going to be kinda skimpy. I'll tell you why in a second.
First of all, the tour guide is sick today. I know I told you last week you'd get a tour of my apartment, which you most definitely will, BUT...not today. There's a few reasons for this, most notably the fact that the apartment is still not set up the way we envision it, at least to a point of leading a guided tour of 100 people through. So, keep your eyes peeled in the coming weeks, you'll get your tour, don't you worry.
Second, I've been working on something BIG that is being released and started tomorrow, Thursday. I'll tell you this much: I am going to be performing an action everyday for 100 days straight and you will be able to follow the progress each and every day of the hundred. I'm am beyond excited for this project and I'll explain why after it has begun.
I've got two video releases for you though.
So here they are:
First, I had the privilege of going down to Long Beach to experience and document an incredible ministry that seeks to love the homeless as Christ would. These are people who haven't been missionaries over seas, these are people who don't preach to 10,000 people at a time, these are just normal people in Long Beach who want to share the love of God to others. This project was for Hume Lake Christian Camps to share with the high schoolers every week. While I was counselor during Week 6, it was incredible seeing this short film, not because I made it, but because of the influence it had on the campers, seeing the idea that you don't have to be an "All-Star Christian" to love people like Christ did dawn on countless teenagers was incredible. I was beyond blessed to be able to work on this project.
Next is the most recent Mawwiage Films teaser. I personally really like this one, I had a lot of fun with it. People have been asking about the music, so I'll just let it loose right here, right now! "Cyanide Sisters" by Com Truise.
Side note, Mr. Michael Warnecke and I are JAMMING to P.O.D.'s "The Fundamental Elements of Southtown." Such a great record. 1999. Old school. Take a trip back to grade school.
That's the post, folks. Sorry it's a little lacking, next week will (hopefully) make up for it.
Have an excellent day, have an excellent night, and have an excellent tomorrow.
Friends, oh friends. It's been a long time. The summer has in the past, has currently, and most likely will continue to eat up most time that is provided us in a day. This blog has been given the back seat, which I initially felt kind of bad about, but based on previous years, this blog has made a home of the back seat over the summer 3 years in a row.
This summer has been off the chain. It started, now it's ending. I'm going to try to barrel through the majority of the summer for y'all. It'll get interesting, can't promise much detail, we'll see how the words spill.
(Speaking of words spilling, I started up a new Tumblr blog, dedicated to photography and other media. I'll speak more on it later, but here's the link: http://morganlott.tumblr.com)
We'll start with my twin brothers 8th grade culmination. Unbelievable. These little dudes have survived middle school and are going to high school. They just graduated Kindergarden, like...yesterday. They're growing too. In a year, they'll each be 6 feet. They were just 3 feet, like...well, it's been a while. It was a celebration though and watching my bros graduate from my alma matter was, like...incredible.
The next experience was when the last blog post was written. Here it is:
Here's the interesting thing: the events described in the link above seem like EONS ago, but the yet the summer in itself seems like the blink of an eye. Strange times among us. If you read the post above, you know that Mr. and Mrs. Funk were married, Mr. Isaac Svensson and I headed up to Hume Lake, stopped to see and take pictures of a mountain fire, and then very much enjoyed a visit to Hume. Read the post though, it's good; good stories.
Speaking of weddings, Mawwiage Films has been busy busy busy this summer!
And speaking of busy, during our annual week-at-Hume-Lake-with-extended-family, my father and I set up a little "studio" and worked a whole bunch. Sounds like a bum deal, working on work rather than chillin' and hangin' at Hume Lake, but let me tell ya, I would way rather work at an outrageously beautiful place like Hume Lake than in my normal habitat. All in all, productive week.
A couple weeks later, I headed North. I had the distinct honor of being a groomsman in my cousins wedding, Mr. Micah Hiett was set to wed Ms. Leanne Schellenberg. I went up early to be a part of the bachelor party, a legit houseboating trip on the lake. You can just imagine the shenigans that went down, including perhaps a jacked up ACL on yours truly while wakeboarding. All in all, A BLAST! Those Kansas boys really know how to have a good time. I kept telling people: the Kansas boys know how to turn absolutely nothing into an absolute blast, us Cali boys sometimes have a hard time turning absolutely everything into a little more than bored stiff. Good time, to say the least.
You may ask, "you went to a wedding, just to be there?!" Well, not quite, there's a catch. Mawwiage Films also had the distinct honor film the wedding! So we pulled a fast one (with permission of course) and I carried a small camera with me as a groomsman, a behind-the-scenes-groomsman-cam if you will, and got some footage you'd never be able to get otherwise. That said, the video's going to be GREAT, very different from anything MF has done in the past. I'm very much excited.
Then, and this is going to blow your mind, I went up to Hume Lake again (All in all, I was at Hume Lake almost a complete month). This time though, I had another distinct honor to be a counselor with my home church, Simi Valley Community Church. This was QUITE the experience. It was very very interesting, definitely not a camper (although I had a blast being in "camper" mode the whole week), definitely not staff, somewhere in between; the determining factor? Responsibility.
I was treated to a small group, 5 guys in the tiny, but homey, cabin Aspen 2. We enjoyed our cabin talks, our cabin chats. We enjoyed our rec team EL PANCHOS. Here's an aside: Recreation was one of the most interesting parts of the Hume experience and here's why: while on media staff last summer, rec was immensely important, time-consuming, and fun. We spent a whole lot of time on that rec field, documenting the ridiculous and incredible recreational abilities of 1000 high schoolers every week. We got sweaty, we got dirty, we got hit, we got tired, we got an incredible amount of experience by the end of year. I will never be able to verbalize how much the Hume Media workforce influenced my current skill set. All that said, being on the OTHER side of rec was SURREAL. Participating in the games, cheering on EL PANCHOS ("They may take our lives, but they will never take...our panchos!" BEAST of a cheer), watching kajabe can-can from the sidelines, being super spirited on super spirit day, and perhaps the most insane part, running the gauntlet. All in all, recreation was a BLAST. Now for what really matters.
We had a great great week. Mr. Steve Solomon shared his thoughts as we worked through David's life experiences in 1 Samuel. David, the man after God's own heart, made a ridiculous amount of mistakes, but he continually sought the Lord's guidance and was able to pinpoint his downfalls, seeking change, only possibly with God's help. I really enjoyed was Steve had to say, he steered away from the emotional response that we have all become accustomed to at church camp, but instead presented the facts with a multitude of biblical evidence, making sure we truly understand the beliefs we say we follow. I really appreciated that aspect of his teaching.
I could go deep into every single thing that happened at Hume, but I don't think I'm going to. Commitments, dedication, baptisms; lives were changed.
Please watch this little wrap-up by my good friends Mr. Nico Hernandez and Ms. Simón Weber:
The fun's not over! I then headed up with my fam bam to Washington for a family reunion with the entire Neufeld family! After the forever long drive through the country, we arrived in Washington at this ridiculously massive lodge. I felt like a little kid in a humungous house; kinda hard to explain, you've just got to believe me. We had an incredible time, enjoying Leavenworth, horses, water, games, stars, hot tubs, the list goes on and on and on. 43 people who see each other all at the same time once every two years, 43 people who get along remarkably well, 43 people who have a blast together, 43 people who can't wait until the next reunion. We are honestly so so blessed to have such a solid family that cares about integrity, family, and most of all, Jesus Christ. INCREDIBLE.
After Washington, we figured "Well, we're SO CLOSE to Canada, we've got to stop in." Thus, a day trip to Vancouver was a must. A must say, I thoroughly enjoyed Canada, the big city. We walked around a bunch, saw the ocean (which was strange), witnessed the largest public swimming pool I've ever seen, enjoyed our time there. 'Twas a good time.
I snapped a good 2,000 pictures over the course of the trip. Here's a few:
Here's one for the road:
"Time flies like the wind, fruit flies like bananas."
Oh boy howdy, do times roll. Day's are crazy, weeks are crazy, months are crazy, years are crazy. You may ask "What are you talking about?" and I may answer "I don't really have a clue, I'm just kind of blabbering." Let's just put it this way, life is flying at 1,000,001 miles an hour, it's wild. Just recently, the Fall 2011 class list was released so naturally we all began sorting out our schedule for next semester. Didn't this semester just start? Yes. So fast, so fast. Next semester is bound to be an interesting one, I'm looking forward to it. I'm also going to learn how to cook, like, well. We're going to have a kitchen in our apartment, so we, the 4 of us, are going to become culinary chefs and make some foods. Now we just have to see if we'll actually do it. Top Ramen may replace us top chefs. Perserverance.
So today I am spending most of the day sitting behind the computer. It's okay. That is what happens when you major in film and minor in graphic design. I'm wearing sweats today for the comfortability factor.
As a segway, Mawwiage Films has been busy! You know we went to Scotland two weeks ago and then last week we had the privilege of capturing the now Mr. and Mrs. Matt Mongeon wedding in beautiful La Jolla. Great experience? I'd say so. Plus we had the pleasure of working with Nate Goins, a good friend from the Hume days. Want a few teasers? Well here you go, here's a few teasers:
There you have it. Expect another one next week! It's really been a blasting working with these couples, they are all so unique!
I've got a few videos for you know, hope you like music, music drives. This first video is just simply incredible. Don't know how long it took, don't know how they did it, the end result? Beautiful.
That was beautiful. Know what else is beautiful? This video. This is Eric Whitacre's "Sleep" performed by 2052 separate people throughout the world, performing via their webcams on youtube. This video/song is INCREDIBLE. I've listened to it 10 times at least in the last few days. YESSS:
And here's Eric Whitacre himself talking about the project. Incredible. Simply incredible.
And that's it. Sorry if the content was kind of lacking today, video video video! Nothing wrong with that, yeah?
I hope you have a marvelous day. Enjoy the sun, enjoy the wind, enjoy life, drink some water, hydrate.
Holy Mackerelity. It's been a crazy week. It's been a crazy two weeks. Last week I didn't give you a proper blog post because I was heading to Scotland. Now I'm back from Scotland and I have so much to talk about, I don't know where to start. That's a problem. We'll see how this goes, I'm not sure what's going to come about.
First of all, last week Mawwiage Films and our website, http://mawwiagefilms.com, was entered into a website contest. The last week of the contest turned into quite the blood battle between "websites" on campus, as contestants were ploying with students to support their websites by "liking" them on facebook, visiting their webpage, etc. We had to give them an answer, here was our viral marketing campaign:
There you have it, two videos that were not made by Mawwiage Films endorsing Mawwiage Films. I can dig that. Mr. Kenny Becker and Mr. Drew Eccleston, I can dig that.
This trip was out-of-control ridiculous. It is somewhat unexplainable. Let's just say we (Mr. Isaac Svensson and myself) took a trip to Europe, to a foreign country, without a guide, without anybody telling us how to do it. Because of this, trial-and-error was the name of the game. We made mistakes right and left, dealing with public transportation, Scottish currency, simply trying to get around. We have story after story, I'll give you one:
In St. Andrews, the village of the wedding, the birthplace of golf, you can get onto a bus with a 5 pound note and the bus driver will provide change, naturally. This is how we got around in St. Andrews. The night of the wedding, at 2 am, we began planning our trip from St. Andrews to Edinburgh, the village 40 miles away where our hotel was located. We had to figure out how to get there on our own. We were two Americans in a house in St. Andrews, Scotland alone without the help of anyone who knew what they were doing. We had no telephone and limited internet. After 3 hours of researching, we discovered that our itinerary was one of such: walk a half mile to the bus station, ride the bus 5 miles to the train station. Ride the train 35 miles to Edinburgh. Ride the bus 8 miles to our hotel. The problem? We didn't have times for any of these lovely events. So we picked a time: 9:55 am. At 9:30, we would set out to the bus station, hoping our bus would come sometime soon afterwards. We began walking with our massive luggage up the scenic hills and arrived at the bus stop where two Scottish people were waiting. We asked them what to do, we got a "I have no idea" and "10:00," which was a great thing to hear. We made our way to the stop where we were supposed to be and waited...alone. We trusted the Scottish folk, but still, were they right? Luckily, 10:00 was on the money and we got on the wonderful bus. Long story short, we made it to the train station, waited a while, ran into the bride and groom going off to their honeymoon, boarded the train and arrived in Edinburgh.
This is where things got interesting. We had no idea what to do here, BIG city, TONS of people, no idea where to go. We just started walking, found a few bus stops, confused, found tourist central and headed in. It was awesome. We had our massive luggage walking towards the tourist information center, all we needed was neon visors. We found out what bus line to board and headed out to find the bus stop. We find it and wait a half hour. A half hour passes and the bus comes amidst 8 other buses. This place was poppin'. We wait in line and finally get onto the bus. I ask the driver if this was the right bus to the hotel, he didn't know what I was talking about, so I had to repeat it, he finally understood, said yes, and I handed him a five pound note. He said "I can't take that, exact change only." Great. So we got off bus 31 with our massive luggage, ventured backwards through the queue of people and figured out what to do, pretty frustrated at this point. Long story short, we finally made it to the hotel.
That's just one story of a decent amount of what-in-the-world-are-we-doing moments. Had it not been for the hot tub, sauna, and steam room at the hotel, we would have popped. It's a beautiful thing.
All in all, Scotland was an incredible experience, definitely worth it. Albeit stressful, busy, freezing, and a number of others, it was AWESOME. It was definitely a trial-and-error run, we made mistakes, we learned from them, next time we go back, we will be prepared maybe turn it into somewhat of a relaxing vacation.
DISCLAIMER: if you want to hear more about Scotland, ask me in person, or watch the video that will be posted probably next week.
That's it. I guess. Maybe. It's alright I guess. Maybe. I'm just kind of tired of writing.
Pretty fun, huh. Color's a good time. I talked about this gear last week. The beauty of color, the complexity of color, the color of color. Color. Here's the link if you're interested:
Today's a good day. Started off by surprising my pal Mr. Scott Weir, a dude who has shared many memories (including the party-crash of the century: http://emliv.blogspot.com/2008/12/be-ready.html), on his birthday with probably 20 of his friends in the wonderful food place on campus we call the cafeteria. It was a good time. Straight up.
So for this reason, I do not have much time to write. So here's the deal, there's going to be some legit embeds.
Fun.
Moving on, some video's, yeah?
I released a new video this week. A short film if you will. I personally enjoy this one very much, it's very different than many of my videos as of late. This is a dramatic interpretation of Shel Silverstein's "It's Dark In Here." Enjoy.
Oh, and make sure you have your volume up, the audio is incredibly important.
It doesn't get funny until you think about whats going on. Then it's hilarious. If you don't get it, watch it again.
Oh!, Mawwiage Films has pushed a new circle, we took our first legitimate photograph as a collective:
Similarly, Mawwiage Films released a video this week: 3 weeks ago, Mawwiage Films had the privilege of sharing the 18th birthday/DEBUT of Ms. Katrina Maddela. It was a blast, a real treat. So here, for your enjoyment, is the Mawwiage Films Moment. Also, if you're interested, get the full gist of the event by heading to:
First, I had the pleasure of playing percussion with Mr. Jayme Lewis, a short stint a few years back. I rediscovered this video earlier this week, and Mr. Jayme Lewis' rendition of the class America the Beautiful is just that, beautiful. The last section sends chills up, down, up, and back down my spine, the tuning peg move is INCREDIBLE. Enjoy.
Next? A rather inspiring video about...I'll just let them tell you:
"This film is based on a true story. In 1986 a football team that lived on a little island in the south of Thailand called "Koh Panyee". It's a floating village in the middle of the sea that has not an inch of soil. The kids here loved to watch football but had nowhere to play or practice. But they didn't let that stop them. They challenged the norm and have become a great inspiration for new generations on the island."
Enjoy.
Next? Ever play domino's? Here's some dominoes:
Enjoy.
And that's the post ladies and gentleman. I hope you have a splendid day, maybe put some of that artificial sweetener Splenda in your drink (that is artificial sweetener, right?) on this splendid day. Splenda is splendid.
Good morning sunny California. The sun's out and we're loving it. Mr. Michael Warnecke said I worked at the surf shack. I can take that.
Hey, so this week has been intense, super intense. So intense, I'm not really going to get into it. But here's the moral of the story: life is intense, it's going to be intense, might as well buckle up and enjoy the ride! Sometimes there's bumps, you might get a bruise or two, but that's not going to stop this ride from flying around the next corner. I guess you could call that a word of encouragement, maybe a few words of encouragement; it actually encouraged me, in fact.
So, I've got some exciting news: Mawwiage Films has officially entered the Crexendo website competition hosted by Biola. They are looking at a whole lot of different factors, but, as a shameless plug, if you wouldn't mind spreading this guy around, that'd be awesome, especially to people who are looking at getting married.
So, the topic of Biola University the last few days to few weeks has been Mr. Justin Bieber. A phatty rumor was started: Mr. Justin Bieber has applied to Biola University for the Fall 2011 semester. All of a sudden, Mr. Justin Bieber was the talk to the campus; was it true, was it false, was it cool, was it incredible? People tweeted, people facebooked, in one particular instance, a fake facebook profile was created for the singer in order for Biola people to become "friends" with the legend. As I watched the internet meme form, I really wondered what could come of this. If Mr. Justin Bieber actually did come to Biola, how would people react? I would hope that people would treat him like a normal person, not flip out when they walk past him in the caf, say "What Up Justin" in passing. This is what I would hope. However, what I watched form on the internet was a ridiculous fanfare of posts, a surefire way to hestitate Mr. Bieber. It got to the point where Mr. Bieber was said to be replacing the Eagle as the Biola mascot. Now, if you were Mr. Justin Bieber and you saw someone post that about you and your potential future school, would you really deep down want to go there? I can't say I would. Maybe Mr. Bieber is different. Either way, people around Biola bascially flipped and went NUTTY over this rumor. It was the talk, it was the life. I got asked 3,231 times by people who knew I worked in Admissions if I knew the real answer. I told them I did, but I wasn't going to tell them the real answer, got to keep the rumor a rumor. Earlier this week, the Chimes, the Biola newspaper, broke the story, Mr. Justin Bieber was in fact NOT coming to Biola, at least for next semester. People reacted, but the rumor did not fizzle. The next day, Mr. Andre Stephens, the head of Biola Admissions (my boss in a sense), received this:
Think what you want.
Biola caught Bieber Fever. Mr. Justin Bieber, we would love to have you study here, just be warned, you're going to have an audience. I have a theory though, once you step on to campus, everything will change. I guess we'll just have to wait and see.
I've got a video for you, it's a good time, a little drumming, took me straight back to winter drumline. Sometimes I miss it.
That's the post. Got a little Bieber, got a little drumming, can't go wrong. Fun stuff 101.
Have a great week, drink a strawberry-banana smoothie.
Just a warning, this post has the potential to be one of the least exciting posts of all time. That's just coming from the "right now." That may be different 3 sentences from now, who knows. Just right now, I don't have much planned, so we'll see where it goes. Just a disclaimer, just a warning.
This weeks' been good. Busy busy busy. Saturday? Mawwiage Films (http://mawwiagefilms.com) went to Aneheim to capture the debut of Ms. Katrina Maddela. If you don't know, a debut is defined as the presentation of a debutante in society. Similarly, if you don't know, a debutante is a young woman making her debut into society. And there you have it. Want a tease? Enjoy:
Moving on, hey, so I am in a couple art classes, two design classes, Integrated Design 1 and Letters & Symbols, that are blowing my mind clear out of the water. I've never had instruction like this, so it's been quite the trip. It's been a ton of work, so I figured I show the internet world a small sample of this ton of work. It's kind of hard to explain what these assignments are, but I'll try.
The first set is pretty self explanatory, we had to take certain words and effectively communicate them solely through the use of a typeface.
The second set is real hard to explain. This is Part 4 of a 5 part series, in which we build upon what we ended with in the last exercise. This part was focusing on color and relationships different values and saturations have with each other. Good stuff.
This third set: we had to use typefaces and their characters to create compelling compositions within a square frame. Do these look like letters to you? Doesn't really matter, cause they are.
So that's it, folks. I know, kind of skimpy. At least you probably had a good time scrolling. I'll talk to you soon, perhaps when I have more time. Time, I could just go on and on about time.
Another Wednesday, another experience, another opportunity. It's February, the month that is difficult to pronounce because of that sneaky "r" chillin' after the "b." January was a breeze, a little spark that set the fire of 2011 ablaze. January was an inkling of thought, just a wee little bit of a start of something, but didn't pick up and moved on after January didn't pull it off. What am I talking about? You have just about as much a clue as I do.
We started the 2011 Spring Semester this week, let me tell you, it's going to be a DOOZY. Classes are intense and the work load is going to be nutty, but guess what? It's time to learn, that's what college is all about, and if that means cramming as much material into this little head of mine and learning how to manage time well, let's do this thing. It's going to be a challenge, no doubt, but it's going to be one swell set of 16 weeks.
So last week, Mawwiage Films released our second wedding Moment for Chad and Rachel Glazener. This wedding was a great experience, the ceremony and reception were absolutely beautiful and everybody involved were just top notch. It was a good time and the video turned out really well, and now, for your enjoyment, it sits below, waiting for you to return January 8, 2011 and enjoy this moment.
Other than that, I don't have a whole lot to talk about. I feel like something has changed with this blog. It used to be that I would come up with topics to discuss, even if it is as amateur as watching paint dry (which is a brilliant experience by the way); either way, I used to discuss topics on this here blog, that hasn't really happened recently. It's too bad, maybe I'm just not inspired. Strange. Maybe that will change soon.
I have some video for you though, maybe that will serve as the inspiration.
Scratch that, I have something to talk about albeit short. Last Saturday, the final Saturday of the massive 6 week winter break, a group of guys and I headed down to San Deigo to hit up Soma to experience a concert. The lineup? Underoath, Thursday, A Skylit Drive, and Animals As Leaders. We had been looking forward to this jam of a time for quite a while and now it was here and we were ready to ROCK. I'm not going to get super detailed, I'll just touch on a few things. First, Animals As Leaders absolutely RIPPED. 3 dudes: a drummer and two guitarists, no vocalist, no bassist. However, the 2 guitarists both jammed on 8 string guitars and the drummer was out of this world. The guitarist's fingers could have beat a cheetah in a footrace and the drummer's polyrhymic power was overpowering. These guys had talent flowing out of the ears and they rocked the place! Soma just sat and watched in awe of these fellas and the music they were producing. ASD and Thursday proceeded to play, which were good, but I just don't have time to write about them. Sorry. Underoath came on next. Underoath is one of the bands that I jam to that I've never seen live for whatever reason, don't know why, doesn't make sense. So, that being said, I had been waiting years for this moment. Let me tell you, UO does not disappoint, they put on a killer show, played old and new, had way legit video projections behind them (I think they were made by Daniel Davison, the drummer, and his production company Isthmus Studio. I may be wrong. Either way, the video was straight up krill). I still can't believe it happened, I had the time of my life.
Concerts in general are fun. You get to get sweaty and run into people and listen to super loud music and go nuts and other things. Concerts are rad. I dig 'em.
So, NOW, there's some video for you. Fun fun.
This first guy just get's me pumped. It takes you back to childhood and then slams into adulthood for the ride of your life. The ultimate slip 'n' slide, no preparation necessary. Looks like a blast. That'll serve for some inspiration.
This next one is set here for sole enjoyment. I've never seen anything like this, it's nothing that special, but it when it comes down to it, you kinda just sit in curiosity to what is really going on. Inspirational.
I quite possibly think I maxed out the amount of work possible to do in a week. As I say that, I know I nowhere near maxed it out. The human body is incredible in that way, you honestly have no idea about how much, if you really put your mind to it, you are capable of doing in a week. Here's what I'm talking about: not only do I have a 4 hour Spanish class every day of the week, I also work a part time job 3 hours a day. It's not too bad. Here's the thing, this last week, Mr. Isaac Svensson and I launched a new wedding videography company. You may have seen something about it, you may not have. This past week was absolutely INSANE, trying to get our first video finished, trying to get a suitable website in action, trying to get all the logistics in place so we could officially launch on Saturday. That's what we did and we did it. I'm just telling you all of this for a bit of perspective on the week. Want to check it out? This is our website: http://mawwiagefilms.com. Yes, MAWWIAGE FILMS is the name. I posted on this blog a little blurb about it, so here is the link to that. Lastly, here is the Mawwiage's first wedding video, made for Mr. Randy and Mrs. Megan Marshman.
All that to say, it's been a crazy week! BUT, it gets better. Last Monday, Mr. Dustin Laemmlen called me up and asked if I'd be down to play drums for a winter camp at Hartland Christian Camp. Yeah, that weekend was going to be my only relaxation for the entirety of the 3 weeks of interterm, but how could I pass that up? 10 hours of driving, and 4 sets later, I returned to Biola, glad to have the opportunity to play drums again. I really enjoy it, I really do. Hartland was a good time + we jammed Aaron Gillespie's new worship single "We Were Made For You" which turned out to be a hit for both the campers and for all the members of our band. This song touched lives this weekend, as I'm sure it's touching lives all around the world. All in all, great weekend.
Oh, I forgot one thing. Saturday night, the only full day we were there, I spoke in my sleep. Mr. Cameron Toews heard me, and in the morning told me "Dude, you were speaking a different language or something!" I have no reason to believe it was not the Spanish language. I've been living and breathing Spanish for the last two weeks. If I really was really speaking Spanish in my sleep, I am absolutely, positively, 100% PUMPED. Incéible.
I've got something for you,,,pretty exciting.
I just discovered this new publication called C A R S O N; when I saw the image above, my heart leapt a little. "Could this be by David Carson, one of the most influential graphic designers of all time, not to mention perhaps my favorite graphic design?" Indeed, C A R S O N is a new magazine that shares graphic design, fine art, photography, the list goes on and on.
Here's why I'm pumped: David Carson is known for his extremely experimental approach to magazine design, reinventing the way the magazine should be read. C A R S O N is taking David Carson's inspiration, collaborating it with multitudes of other artists and writers and compiling the collection of ideas to form a new type of journalism that strays away from normal tabloid-journalism. Here's a quote: "C A R S O N is a way of seeing our world in an exciting way, which in these times can often seem confusing, overwhelming, and/or soulless."
I am extremely pumped for this, it looks like it's going to be steady, revolutionary, look into what print is today and what it is going to become. Print fascinates me and I want to learn more and more and more about it....this is definitely a start.
If you're interested, check out the C A R S O N website at "http://www.carsonmag.net." Perhaps a subscription?
Dig it.
Quite the aside, huh?
I guess you could call this the art-fied blog post, because the video I'm going to show you next is from a video installation in a Best Buy. What? Check it out:
This is crazy. Number 1, the artist sought out Best Buy because no art gallery (or anywhere else for that matter) can supply enough HD televisions to properly display Borna Sammak's work. Number 2, the way they convinced Best Buy to let them have an art show in their store was by telling them the show will generate foot traffic from potential buyers that wouldn't normally step into Best Buy. Number 3, take a look at what is on the screens, can you get any nuttier than that? Chopped up video, going CRAZY, all saturated a such. Pretty cool. I dig I dig.
Well, I think that concludes this post. I hope you enjoyed yourself, I know I have. In the mood of art, I'm going to search "random art" on google and find a truly random piece of art. Then I will post this random piece of art right below this paragraph. In the meantime, I hope you have a brilliantly artistic day. Take the next writing utensil you hold and take the next suitable writing surface, such as a piece of paper, a napkin, or even your hand, and doodle. Maybe write something, like something inspirational or something. Or doodle a little dude holding a shovel. I don't know, you do what you do, you artist, you.
Yeah, it's not Wednesday, but this is not a Wednesday-ing matter. Last Saturday, the 15th of January, Mr. Isaac Svensson and myself launched a new, organic wedding videography company, we call it MAWWIAGE FILMS. Website?
Here's the deal: our aim is to take you to the wedding; while watching, you need to feel like you are there, you need to feel like you are part of the experience. We're going for an up-close and personal view into the wedding ceremony, rather than a birds-eye, disjointed perspective. Take Randy and Megan as an example. Yes, if you've been been following "It's Wednesday" for a while, this is THE STORY.
I'm really excited for Randy and Megan, and I'm really excited to see to where Mawwiage is going. I'm honestly just excited to be a part of a very important moment in a couple's life. Marriage is a big deal.
And hey, while you're at it, if you're interested of course, peruse the website, there's a lot of good reading material and other goodies for you: http://mawwiagefilms.com
