Musings from TwOpOiNt

i can’t believe i had never seen it.

it was M. Night Shamylan’s “Unbreakable”. 

let me say that i’m a sucker for cinematography.  i love, love, love a well shot film.  and from the moment Bruce Willis gets on the train, i was hooked.  the camera movement between the train seats is great.

their use of color is amazing as well.  very much like the use of panels in comic books.  Samuel L. Jackson’s character has very colorful flashy clothes and environments, whereas Willis’ character lives on the edge of drab.  even the faded “security” written on the back of his clothes is a symbol.

the score is amazing mixing great symphonic elements with urban beat.  it really adds to the story.  my favorite scene is in the train station which is an amazing sequence in itself, but there is one shot where they pan up from the floor to Bruce Willis and he puts his hands out.  his windbreaker looks like a superhero’s cape.  i rewound it three times just to watch that again.

i love the scene where he is on a date with his wife and they discuss favorite colors…his is rust, her’s is brown.

then there is the part where he does what he is supposed to do…

which raises this question.  in the movie there is an exchange between Elijah and David that happens between a span of scenes, but is a continuing conversation, and it goes like this.

David: This morning was the first morning I can remember, that I didn’t open my eyes and feel that sadness…I thought the person who wrote that note had an answer for me…

Elijah: That little bit of sadness in the mornings you spoke of?  I think I know what that is.  Perhaps you’re not doing what you’re supposed to be doing.

the question it begs is…do we wake with that sadness because we are not doing what God has created us to do.

have a great day

this post is part of Watercooler Wednesdays over at Randy Elrod’s Ethos

but i couldn’t get it to work the way i wanted.  i often have a hard time putting my thoughts down in a cohesive unit.  i know what i want to say, or write or draw, but i can’t get the information from my head to my hand or mouth.  i guess that is better than speaking, writing, or drawing without thinking.

so my question is this.  what do you do to stimulate the creative process?  how do you get out of writer’s block?  what do you paint or draw when you know it may not come out how you want it to?  how do you exhibit patience in waiting for the right moment to strike?  when you want so badly to create and the juices just aren’t flowing, what do you do? 

also, once you have something down, how often do you revisit, rewrite, rework, your art?

have a good one

i’ll try to reformulate what i really wanted to say next week.  maybe i need to write it down before i sit down at the computer.

chuck

this post is part of Watercooler Wednesdays.  Randy Elrod is my hero!!

so my posts may be short if there are that many.  as much as i have to admit that i really don’t get jazzed about Lifeway’s curriculum and music stuff, i enjoy VBS.  i enjoy getting to work with kids.  i like that opportunity to get up and sing and be silly with children.  i pray that God will touch many children this week.

have a good one

chuck

i took them with my iphone and it was either get people’s heads or the lights.  i opted for the lights, and a larger picture of the corps.

i don’t really like the lights in the pics, but not bad for my iphone.  i had a blast.  Jerry and i are making plans to go to the Regional in San Antonio next year.

have a good one

chuck

Drum Corps International comes to Dallas.  They moved it back to Lake Highlands.  i like the stadium, but i so enjoyed it last year in Mesquite from the higher vantage.  the good thing about LHHS is that you are close to the action, so it should be mind numbingly loud.

i saw my first drum corps show in 1982 at what was then Memorial Stadium on the campus of the University of Oklahoma.  I was blown away by what these people could do.  it was always a dream of mine to march in a corps.  i wanted to be in the Blue Devils, but unfortunately the finances were never there.  i had an opportunity to finish out a tour with SkyRiders the summer before my Senior year in college, but my parents thought it best that i stay in summer school and get the 3 hours i was working on.  i do regret not going.  oh well.  i’ll live vicariously through the students and friends of mine who did their summer tours.  i’ll post some pics on here from the event.  it’s going to rock!!!  Thanks to my good friend Jerry who gets us tickets every year.

have a good one

chuck

from Audioslave and Rage Against the Machine.  I found one of the questions and his answer very interesting.

Q:  I am interested to hear what you would say about the person who has heard the name Jesus Christ.  What do you think will happen if he does believe?

TM:  I do not know.  Maybe I would have a more positive view of religion if I was impressed by the behavior or those who preach it, not meaning preachers, but anyone, from the heads of government to the people I know in the school who confessed to be Christians.  Some of those Christians were the biggest (expletive) who mistreated their fellow man in the worst ways.  Religion is so tied up with political manipulation that it is hard to see if there could be a nugget of spirituality in there, that can genuinely influence your life.  It’s hard to find…

do you think Tom is a little bitter?  i think he is accurate.  i wonder how many other people feel this way?

on a lighter note go out and pick up the new Willie Nelson and Wynton Marsalis album.  it is amazing!!

this post is for Watercooler Wednesday.  Run Randy Run!!!!

called the Feedback Conference!  i’m really excited because i’ll get to meet Charlie Peacock and some other people i’ve always wanted to meet.  my problem.  i don’t have a “CD”!  i don’t have a “Press Pack”!  i’m sending some of my mBox recordings to a buddy of mine in Houston to mix, but pretty much it’s just me and a guitar.  i don’t have any fancy pics of myself other than some i took a few years back.  i just don’t know what to do.  anybody have any suggestions as to how to create a press packet, etc.  i want to go and at least be prepared for this.  i don’t even have a website past myspace.  i’ve never considered myself an artist.  i write songs and i sing at church and at a cafe on Friday nights.  people are always asking me if i have a cd when i play places.  i’ve just never had the funding to go in and make one.

so any helpful comments would be greatly appreciated.

have a good one

chuck

is the name of the book i’m currently reading. it’s by Ron Martoia and it is raising many questions for me about how i approach biblical ideas and the context in which they were written. i like books that make me ask questions. i haven’t finished the book, so we’ll see if my questions get answered, but there are definitely some things that resonate within me. you see it’s really hard for me to read a book that i relate to and then go and search out more answers. when something agrees with my heart, i sometimes just take it, but quite often, i think the authors of books want us to question and then dig deeper, so i’m glad that this book makes me a little “uneasy”? i don’t know if that’s the right word, but it is a great read, and is very challenging. i want to read “morph” now.

have a good one

chuck

There is something about the Fourth of July.  for one thing it’s my birthday, so i’ve always known about fireworks.  there are always some breathtaking, marvelous displays.  pyrotechnics have come along way from the old “basketball”artillery shells that got launched up when i was a kid.  even what you can buy and shoot off illegally in your city at the roadside stand has gotten substantially better than the roman candles and blackcats we used to buy.

so after watching several massive fireworks displays from our back balcony (we watched 4 different cities from that perspective) it got me thinking…

how much do americans spend on fireworks every year?  i mean from the kids playing with sparklers in the driveway to the big extravaganzas.  i found information from one organization here.

according to this chart. the companies made $350 million on fireworks in 1997.  ten years later they made almost 3 times that much.  is that because fireworks are more expensive, or did americans spend that much more? and better yet, those are revenue.  what did we actually “spend” on fireworks?

this is a conundrum for me because i know that many charity organizations sell fireworks to help fund their cause.  but i see such a huge waste.  i mean how much money do people pay for basically a 1 second explosion?  the total firework consumption for 2007 both consumer and display was 265.5 million pounds.  is that excess?

Phantom Fireworks lists their Aerial shell kit with 12 shells at $49.99.  that’s roughly $4 a shell.  is that one second explosion really as valuable as a “gallon of gas”(even though gas is overpriced).

how many Compassion Orphan’s could be fed with what America spends on fireworks?  or lattes? or clothes? i guess the real question here is…what am i going to do about it?  i’m sure there are some churches who sell fireworks to further ministry.  our education pastor mentioned how could we use people’s love of fireworks to have community?  i guess it just raises questions for me.  what can chuck do to change his consumption?

this post is part of Water Cooler Wednesdays over at Randy Elrod’s Ethos

i get Acoustic Guitar every month!! i like the lessons, and the articles on artists.  i also get Relevant, Worship Leader and Collide.  Those come every other month.  i got the new Collide yesterday and the cover story was “Is Christian Music Dying?”  the article is in reference to Charlie Peacock’s essay in the final print issue of CCM magazine (i subscribed to that too, until they just made it a webzine).  you can read the whole essay here.

Collide pointed out the 5 most important ideas that Charlie put forward were…

1. The Major Labels aren’t in danger of going under anytime soon, but they’ll be forced to depend on dwindling revenue from their song catalogs

2.  The term CCM, or Christian Contemporary Music, will go away.

3. Christian music that matters won’t have any affiliation with the Christian music industry but instead will be written, recorded, and released in the mainstream.

4. Worship music serves a purpose within the Church, which guarantees its survival.

5.  The big names from CCM’s glory days will survive, but many artists from the last decade will be left looking for a reason, roaming through the night to find their place in this world.

i agree with Charlie.  and i think i have for a while.

what do you think?

oh, and my new favorite song of the week is here.

have a good one

chuck