I finally decided to take the plunge and bought a RED camera in December, 2007. I found out the serial number this week (#2972). I’m still going to have to wait until around June to get my hands on it, but having a number somehow makes it feel more real.
Here are a few of the resources that I’ve found helpful:
Digital Cinema Society
RED User
RED Relay
HD For Indies
Wonder How To - RED Tutorials
RED One Camera Network
(Cross-posted from AdventistFilmmaker.com)
I first saw this documentary at a midnight screening at the Sundance Film Festival this year with a group of students from Pacific Union College. I had read about it in the Sundance program and knew it was a film that I wanted to see, but I had no idea how much it would impact me. Luckily, I was the last one allowed into the theater and although we were sitting in the front row, looking straight up at the screen, it somehow felt providential that I was there. The next hour and a half was one of the most important in my life.
I struggled for many years with the issue of how to reconcile homosexuality and what I believed the Bible said about it. I grew up hearing that homosexuality was wrong. I was told that I should love the homosexual, but not their sin and that homosexuals could and should choose to abstain from homosexual acts. The idea that “God created Adam and Eve and not Adam and Steve” was the popular view in my circle of influence and I did not purposefully interact or made friends with anyone who I knew to be homosexual. I wasn’t a hater, but I didn’t try and understand the issue from another point-of-view either and instead chose to generally ignore it.
Things have changed for me these past three years living in San Francisco. The issue of homosexuality is no longer a nebulous concept, but something that I can personally relate to because of the friends I’ve made in the city. I’ve heard first hand the struggles that my friends have gone through and seen the terrible impact of being ostrisized from their families, churches, and communities. Somehow being able to put a face to the issue, made it real for me.
While watching “For The Bible Tells Me So” again this last week with the PUC Film Club in Santa Rosa, I realized that what the Bible says about homosexuality is not as clear cut as I thought it was growing up, and that in the end it comes down to an issue of love and acceptance. I believe now that people who desire a committed and loving relationship should not be denied it, no matter their sexual orientation. I feel strongly that to fully love another human being is to know God and that is our greatest calling. I credit this movie with helping me understand this and with changing the way I thought about this issue. I would encourage anyone with questions about it to go see the film and dialogue about it with friends, family, and other church members.
For more discussions check out these other blogs postings and sites:
Progressive Adventism’s conversation about this documentary
Leslie Foster’s discussion of the film at Reinventing the SDA Wheel
Spectrum discussion of the film with a Bible study
Official film website with screening schedule
I’ve been wanting a new Macbook Pro for a while now. It seems that a new laptop lasts me about two or three years (max) and then I start to get an urge for the next best thing. Of course, I tend to justify the expense and ease my conscience by thinking that it will run faster, allow me to be more productive, and might even make me more creative. Probably all lies, but their fun to tell myself. (If you haven’t seen the film “Memento” then you should, because it will help explain how this works - the lying part, not the laptop part.) The truth is that creativity comes from within, not without. And while I might look more creative with a sexy new silver laptop, there are times when I might be better off with a napkin and pen as this clip from 5min explains…
I’m currently in the middle of a life coaching process with Greg Nelson and Fly Again Coaching to help clarify some of my goals and discover my strengths. One of the assignments this week was to take the StrengthFinder test that comes with the book, “Now, Discover Your Strengths” by Marcus Buckingham & Donald O. Clifton, Ph. D.
The idea of the test is that “to excel in your chosen field and to find lasting satisfaction in doing so, you will need to understand your unique patterns.” Most of the time when we look at those patterns, we’re looking at our weaknesses and trying to figure out how to improve them. This test and the book that it’s based on, turns that idea on it’s head and instead says that “most organizations are built on two flawed assumptions about people:
1. Each person can learn to be competent in almost anything.
2. Each person’s greatest room for growth is in his or her areas of greatest weakness.”
The problems with these assumptions is that they take for granted the fact that many people have strengths that are unknown and underutilized. Instead of looking at an employee’s weaknesses, a company should discover their employees’ strengths and capitalize on their natural talents.
The test, created by the The Gallup Organization, asks you a number of paired questions and you choose to agree with one side or the other or remain neutral in the middle. It took me about 35 minutes to take the test. After the test, I was given 5 themes or patterns that summarize my strengths. Here are the results:
Futuristic
Strategic
Focus
Intellection
Responsibility
Now I just have to figure out what they mean and how to utilize them.
So, it’s time for something new. I’ve been wanting to update my site for so long that I’ve lost track of when I first decided to do it. After stumbling upon Johnny A. Ramirez’s very sweet site today, I finally decided it was time to make it happen (Thanks Johnny!).
I’m a bit of a late comer to the whole blogging, Web 2.0 world, but I’ve decided to jump in with both feet. The plan is to try and find a balance to this site between personal and business interests and use it as a place to share ideas, stories, and Web 2.0+ discoveries. I hope in the process to be honest, authentic, and real (values that I appreciate). Fair enough?
Okay, let’s get wet.