APE 4

It's APRIL 4th. What on this planet?! Not only is time flying, but time is flying. I came to a realization the other day, April Fools Day to be exact. Exactly one year ago this week, Mr. Isaac Svensson and I, or as we're professionally known: Mawwiage Films, flew to Scotland for a weekend to film the wedding of Mr. and Mrs. Jonathan Ichikawa. This was the trip of a lifetime, a trip I will NEVER forget. And you know what's cool? Modern technology allowed us to film our experience. Modern technology allowed us to capture the ABSOLUTE ABSURDITY that was our weekend trip to Scotland. This video is a doozy and it never gets old. Very highly recommended. The emotions in this video are REAL, it's almost eerie (especially near the end when we have absolutely no idea what we're doing in a foreign country by ourselves).

MF in Scotland: The Documentary from Mawwiage Films on Vimeo.





On March 31, something absolutely wonderful happened. My favorite band as a kid, Relient K, came to Biola University to play a show. I was stoked beyond words. Here was my facebook status following the concert:

If you know me well, you know that I don't hear lyrics. It's a weird phenomenon, hard to explain. But for some reason, there's one band, and one band only, that I know a whole lot of lyrics to. That band is Relient K. Relient K played at Biola University tonight and ABSOLUTELY KILLED IT. And it will be the first and probably last time I will have the privilege to SING and SCREAM lyrics with the band and fans, all while going APE in the PIT. An absolute BLAST of a show. I can honestly say, my childhood dreams have come true. Thank you, gentlemen.

Everything stated here is a fact. Relient K rocked Biola, absolutely rocked it. I must admit, I was a little worried. You see, Relient K has evolved quite a bit since their self-title album came out in 2000. Their sound has evolved throughout their career, and when Mmhmm dropped in 2004, I heard an inkling of what was to come, an inkling I wasn't particularly digging. Sure enough, the Apathetic EP came out in 2005 and I disappointed for the simple reason that the "fun, immature, punk" Relient K was old news and the "serious, mature, indie" Relient K was here to stay. Their music changed, for the better in a lot of ways, but the new stuff was simply not the Relient K I knew and loved.

So this same Relient K was scheduled to play at Biola and we were all wondering what their set list was going to be. Were they going to play old stuff? All new stuff? Combo meal? I wanted wanted wanted the old stuff, but was ever so nervous they weren't going to pull out the fun stuff. BUT, sure enough, the dudes pulled off a BRILLIANT set. Here's a picture of it for you:

PERFECT mix of old and new, super pumped. We went ape, got a gnarly pit going, getting our mosh on. SO FUN screaming those lyrics, never experienced anything like it and will never again. Once in a lifetime experience.

Two crazy things happened.

1. I have a good friend named Mr. Scott Weir that also goes to Biola. His father, Dr. Paul Weir, and my father, Mr. Ned Lott, were roommates at Biola back when they were students. From what Scott and I have heard, there was this band Toto that was popular when our dad's were in college, repping a song called "Africa" that topped the charts when our dad's were in college.  Now, Relient K has produced two cover albums, and on one of these cover albums, they cover Toto's "Africa." Do you know what this means? This means that Mr. Scott Weir and I are jamming to "Africa" while we were in college, just like our dad's jammed to "Africa" while they were in college. You know what's even crazier? Scott and I are going to be living under the same roof next semester. If that's not unbelievable, I don't know what is.

2. After the first two songs of the encore, the lead singer of Relient K, Matthew Thiessen (who is a BEAST of a lyricist) told us that his grandfather passed away this week and he would have given anything to be there with his family, but was commited to this show at Biola. Not only is this incredible dedication, but RK closed the night with Deathbed, an incredible 11 minute song that delves deep into the concept of death and our eternal meaning. Matt Thiessen performed this song BEAUTIFULLY, with emotion that can't be put into words. Straight from the heart. Take a listen, it's unreal.





And here are two pictures from the night, straight from the camera of Mr. Job Ang.

Excellent.

So that closes out the week. Next week is spring break. Which is wild. Animal Fiction has my name written all over it. 

Animal Fiction is a film I'm editing. Here's the trailer. It's going to be incredible. I'm pumped.

Animal Fiction - Official Trailer from Morgan Lott on Vimeo.

Enjoy your day. All of it. It's been beautiful here. I've gotten a little sunburned. 

Drink something with two ice cubes. Just two.

Repeat- al

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:

http://emliv.blogspot.com/2011/03/color-est.html


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's Dark In Here" by Shel Silverstein from Morgan Lott on Vimeo.



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:

http://mawwiagefilms.com/maddela


Enjoy!


Katrina Maddela's Debut from Mawwiage Films on Vimeo.




Now for some video from around the web:

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.


Enjoy.