stirring kids film ...

hey everyone ... we're thinking about producing a short kids film for Christmas ... we'd like to film on Saturday afternoon, December 5th around 2 pm ... we're looking for 12 children, anywhere between the ages of 2 and 8 ... we'll be interviewing some of our Stirring kids ... also, if you want to be involved in costume or production, please let me know ... we need costumes and props and flannel graph Jesus figures ... you'll see ...

anyways, please let me know if you have children who might be interested and available on Saturday, December 5th ... we'll be showing this bit at the Stirring and at the Christmas Eve gathering at the Cascade ... sweet ...

vampires and hot tubs ...

it's 11:14 pm ... I'm finishing up a paper for my theology class ... yep, Karl Barth ...

my wife just called me from Movies 8 ... she's been waiting in line all night for that new vampire film 'twilight' ... high school flick with sharp teeth and creepy goth vampire girls ... she bought me a ticket and she's sitting in the theater right now ... the theater is already packed for the midnight showing ... 496 women and 3 men ... punch me in the face ...

my wife asked me if I wanted to sit with my brother Jeremy or with her ... I laughed out loud ... of course, I want to sit with her ... how embarrassing to watch a girl vampire movie with my brother ... no question, I'm sitting with my wife ... if people laugh at me, I'll just point to my wife and tell them she dragged me to watch it with her ... now who's laughing? ...

anyways, my brother Jeremy just called and asked me if I would sit with him (Meghan didn't save him a seat with her) ... I laughed out loud again ... "there's no way I'm sitting with you" ... so he's stuck sitting by himself in the back of the theater ... he's that guy ... sitting alone in the goth chick vampire flick ...

anyways, this whole vampire thing is out of control ... I'd rather be hot tubbing ... more to come ...

we love. we make disciples.

it's 12:47 a.m.

I just finished a short film I've been working on this week for Sunday night ... I can't wait to show it ... seriously, there's nothing I enjoy more than creating and producing films ... and spending time with my kids ... and eating my wife's enchiladas (just in case my wife is reading this blog) ...

when I was 10 years old, my father bought me a video camera ... one of those heavy old school video cameras ... and for 10 years, I shot over 50 short films with my brothers ... crazy films ... Indiana Edwardson ... Rollerman ... the Paperboy ... music videos ... school projects ... I lived behind that camera ...

over the next few years, I want to carve out more and more time to create short films ... in fact, Drew Maw and I are talking about producing a short film for Erase the Dark, our film festival this coming February ...

anyways, this Sunday night, we begin a new 5 week series ... we love, we make disciples ... we believe this is why God has placed the Stirring community in Redding ... we want to spend the next 5 years living these 5 words ...

I can't wait to spend the next few weeks calling our church to give their lives to what matters most ...

read the book of Acts ... for the next few weeks, we're going to live in the book of Acts ...

filming, dancing and drunk ...

I just spent the last 2 hours filming a short video at downtown Marketfest ... it's a short bit for our new series this fall ... I took my daughter Ava ... we had such an amazing time ...

the downtown night life is fantastic ... snow cones ... belly dancers ... drum circles ... face painting ... balloon clowns ... and of course, drunk dancing shirtless people ... welcome to Redding ...

tonight, I remembered my love for film making ... the lighting and angles and colors and movement ... shaping and framing each and every shot ... children laughing and smiling at the camera ... old people hugging ...

and I love being around so many different people ... especially half naked hippie dancing people ... it reminds me of my years at Simpson ... we used to throw the greatest dance parties ever ... back before they outlawed dancing ... and half nudity ...

anyways, thanks everyone who helped out with the film ... you make the world a better place ... keep dancing and stay away from clowns ... (speaking of clowns, in the near future, I will blog about clowns) ... stay tuned ...

bella

last night, we had a great night at the Stirring ... Dan Lance spoke on Ephesians 3 ... Dan talked about experiencing the love of God ... it's so easy to live in our heads ... I love it when Dan gets passionate ... I can see the vein pulsing in his head ... he's like a cage fighter ... seriously, we are so blessed to have Dan and Alyssa back in our lives ...

And my brother Jeremy led worship ... amazing ... Jeremy has always had such a pure heart after God ... I enjoy seeing him grow as a man of God ...

after the Stirring, my wife and usually throw in a movie to unwind ... last night, we watched that movie 'Bella' ... we loved it ... mainly because I played soccer for a year in high school ... and because my wife is hispanic ... actually, I probably speak more Spanish than my wife ... I took 6 years of Spanish ... perhaps God was preparing me for a church plant in Guatemala ...

anyways, we loved 'Bella' ... I fell asleep for about 20 minutes, and then woke up during some crazy scene where this guy's crying and hugging his mom ... I need to watch it again ...

as for now, it's up there with the greatest 'hispanic' movies of all time ... along with 'Fools Rush In' and 'Bottle Rocket' and 'Nacho Libre' and 'Evita' ...

man in the water ...

enjoy this short film we produced for our music, art and film festival, Erase the Dark ...

the greatest films

some of the greatest 'acting' films ever ...

Godfather ... my wife and I could watch the Godfather series all night long ... you broke my heart ...

the Usual Suspects ... Kevin Spacey blows me away ... probably the greatest film ever ... if you haven't seen it, we can't be friends ... and just like that, he's gone ...

Tombstone ... the greatest western film of the century ... two words, Val Kilmer ... I'll be your huckleberry ...

There will be Blood ... Daniel Day Lewis ... best acting since Godfather ... best film of the decade ... I can't wait to watch this film with my wife ... she'll love it ... I want the blood, Lord ...

Snatch ... I watch this film at least once a month ... I can't get enough Brad Pitt ... Fight club ... Meet Joe Black ... Twelve Monkeys ... these are your last words, so make them a prayer ...

more to come ...

man in the water

I just finished the screenplay for a short film I've been writing for Erase the Dark ... 'man in the water' ... you know, like 'lady in the water,' except it's a man ...

We're shooting it over the next couple of weeks ... starring Kristina Hayes, Aaron Holmes, Dan Lance, Derrick Fleck, Billy Brown and others ... Drew Maw is filming it ... he's the man ... I can't wait ...

And I can't wait to see M. Night's new film, the Happening ...