13Jan, 2010

An E-Mail From Haiti

My friend Randy Williams circulated an e-mail last night that he received from his friend Mark Stuart who is the lead singer of Audio Adrenaline. Mark and his parents started an organization called Hands and Feet working with the people in Haiti. Mark was there when the earthquake hit. If you’re a person who prays, do bow in for them and the people they love. Humbling. Hi everyone…. Our internet is working finally. So I’m sending this to a few of you…. Everyone here is ok, but we are all very scared. The buildings held up great, but there are several houses right around us that have collapsed. Also, Hotel Cyvadier had major damage, while the brand new three story “peace of mind” hotel was demolished. Francine, one of our teenage nannies was in afternoon school and escaped while the building was collapsing around her because she was sitting by the door…however many of her classmates died yesterday. Many houses and and buildings have collapsed in Jacmel including the hospital. I know most of the news there is coming from PAP, but there is substantial loss of life here on the south coast. We need prayer for wisdom and strength. [...]

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09Jan, 2010

Lets get 2011 off to a good start with something more rock-oriented than my usual singer/songwriter sensibilities provide. Here are my friends The Daylights. Good Sunday morning, America! Rogue Machine (Don’t Say That You Want Me) from The Daylights on Vimeo.

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New Years Resolutions – All Things Converge Podcast preview from All Things Converge Podcast on Vimeo. Next week I’ll be launching a video podcast called All Things Converge in which I interview scholars and entertainers on various subjects. I’ll give you more information soon about where you can sign up for the podcast, but for now I wanted to share with you a bit of an interview I did with Dr. Henry Cloud in which he talks about New Years Resolutions. Henry Cloud is one of my favorite writers. In this interview he reminds us that people don’t change quickly. Maturity and change take time, and in order to change we have to put ourselves into a context where change can take place. I’ll let Dr. Cloud say it better. Enjoy. *All Things Converge is a podcast based on a DVD series called Convergence. Convergence is a DVD designed to stimulate conversations for small groups. The Podcast, however, will be free, and cover topics not covered on the DVD. New Year’s Resolutions from All Things Converge Podcast on Vimeo.

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As you set out to live a great story in 2010, remember to create memorable scenes. In movies and in novels alike, you’ll notice writers tend to place characters in visually (or imaginatively) stunning scenes. When we were working on the screenplay for Blue Like Jazz, I’d often recommend our characters talk about something over coffee or in a dorm room, and Steve and Ben (the other two principle writers) would shake their heads to say no. Scenes in coffee shops are boring. Movies should be memorable, visual, exciting and different. Now I see it in movies all the time. Writers place characters on top of buildings, in beautiful parks, on busses that bend like an accordions in the middle and so on. Anything to make the scene more memorable, and thus the dialogue more meaningful. The same principle is true in life. Many of the scenes in your life you remember best were the times you jumped off bridges or smoked a pipe on the roof. Once when some friends and I were embarking on a long paddle in British Columbia, some friends at the camp we were leaving put on giant animal costumes (think mascott size) and jumped [...]

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I have several friends who love the show It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia. I think it’s funny and creative too, if not shocking and appalling because it’s a show about twenty and thirty somethings who seem to do everything wrong and by the end are made to pay for their mistakes, meanwhile they hardly realize they are paying for them. It’s formula for media, to be honest. Movies like The Pineapple Express or Superbad and to some degree shows like Entourage carry the same formula…Loser looks great and has a great life not working, smoking pot and living like a rock star. Anyway, I have younger friends who love these shows and try to emulate the lifestyle a bit. They drink and don’t go to work and dress like they don’t care, and all that is fine if you live in Portland because you don’t have to grow up in this town (unless you want kids, which, when you realize that’s what you want, most women find you to be a loser because you didn’t cultivate a craft in your twenties and while they are attracted to your hipster image their eggs are screaming inside them no Mommy, don’t marry [...]

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