The Shining...but not really

I just found this today and thought I would share. Someone has created a trailer for Stanley Kubrick's The Shining(1980). See how the same clips re-arranged and added to “Solsbury Hill” by Peter Gabriel tell an entirely different story. Pretty funny...

Children's Photography

"Oh, I'm just a bullshitter!"

This week I had the privilege to go and visit my wife's family in Mt. Pleasant, a wonderful little town just south of Nashville. My brother-in-law just got married and I got photograph this special occasion. It was great, a little cold, but a great experience!

During our visit we went to the Phosphate Museum, a small museum in downtown Mt Pleasant. A group of sweet southern belles run the place and give you a marvelous tour for just a buck. We got the best of the bunch, Wilma Odom, or as she says some people say Wilma 'Oh Damn!'.

She took us around the place showing us all the pieces of history that she has been a part of. There isn't much better than having someone show you history as they have experienced it. We got to see photos of her in the Class of '51. I loved it! We were able to hold parts of history that in most museums you could only look at behind a red rope through a glass case. More than once she would say things like, "Oh dont worry about those silly ropes!" or "Sorry Im not so good about this, I just tell it like I saw" or "Thats just me, I'm a bullshitter."

We had such a good time. After our visit I asked Wilma if she would take a picture with me before we left. She just smiled and looked up at me, "Only if I can doll up first." After she visited 'the powder room' she snuggled up against me and this is what we ended up with. After that she laughed and said "I expect an 8x10 glossy!" So...I printed her one and put it in a frame. We will stop by on our way out of town.

It's experiences and people like this that make me hope that little towns like this will be around forever. So if you're in the Nashville area stop by the Phosphate Museum and be ready for a tale or two.

Be Your Own Hero

Last night Lauren and I rented a couple of movies. Among those was Whip It. We both were a little hesitant in renting this movie because we hadn't heard much about it. Also it didn't stay in theaters very long. But we were both really glad that we checked it out.

Whip It, Drew Barrymore's directorial debut, is a typical story of a young girl trying to break free of the high-school-football/beauty-pageant-small-town life. She doesn't seem to fit in with anyone or feel a sense of belonging, until she hears about the local Austin Texas Roller Derby league. After auditioning, joining, and becoming the rising young star of the Hurl Scouts she bonds with her new family of roller derby girls. Of course after she feels like she has found all the answers, the shit hits the fan.

I felt that it was how it all turns out after everything came crashing down that makes this such a great film and separates it from your typical teen-struggling-for-a-sense-of-identity flick. Oh and it's soundtrack is pretty fantastic too. I don't want to spoil the rest of the movie for you so I will wrap it up here.

"We're number two! We're number two!"

"You guys came in second out of two teams! Yeah, let's celebrate mediocrity! That's fantastic!"

A SHORT LOVE STORY IN STOP MOTION

I have a project I am working on in my Typography class. I have to create a typographic image of an oxymoron. I was not feeling very inspired....until I found this oxymoron: Stop Motion. So I started throwing around some ideas, nothing that really spoke to me. To get the creative juices flowing I started watching some stop motion videos. Here is one that I found that I had to share. This video is to a song by Sigur Ros. Enjoy...

Some more great stop motion videos....here.

Beautiful (in a Tim Burton sort of way) short film from Pixar's Rodrigo Blaas

Alma from Rodrigo Blaas on Vimeo.

The Curtis Band

Tonight I attended a free concert at ETSU. This is myfirst. I think my reasoning in avoiding them in the past would be my lack of desire to be with the people at the concert. I don't really feel much connection with the student body. I'm sure that's because the gap in age and general priorities in life. But I realized that I have been missing out on some great opportunities.

As I was listening to Curtis, a christian/ambient/rock band, I realized how much I miss live local music. There is something special about being a part of that experience. There is a level of humility with local bands and a real connection because of that. It feels like hanging out with your buddies in the garage while they rock out.

I personally don't listen to much christian rock music, but these guys are really good. I definitely would suggest you give them a listen.