Delay

Sorry for the delay in posts but I am trying to finsh up King Spencer and it is taking time to write. Till then,
Cheers.

R.C.E. # 285

True Story. I'm not even going to exaggerate.

I needed a theater for a scene I was filming for a student project. The film was about church community, so naturally I figured, 'I should find a church that meets in a theater.' I was exited at my brilliant idea and began a Dallas-wide search for churches meeting in theaters.

In my search I found a church that had bought an abandoned theater up on George Bush Tollway. I searched the internet for a phone number for the place but couldn't find it. So I drove by one day, saw a bunch of cars in the parking lot, and stopped to check it out.

When I got inside I was met by several ladies who asked me what I needed. I explained that I was a film student working on a Christian project and needed a theater. They said that they were new to the church but I should look for the man in orange.

The man in orange.

I looked around the room and they told me he wouldn't be there for another hour. So I waited. Patiently I might add. Finally after an hour, a young guy in an orange shirt walked into the building. I approached him, and he had no idea what I was talking about and knew nothing about the building, owners, leaders, or any other helpful information.

Then one of those same ladies saw me and grabbed my arm. 'I told you to look for the guy in orange.'

I pointed at the kids shirt.

She said, 'No. Not him. Another guy in orange. You can't miss him.'

But apparently I had already, but I didn't say this to her. After another thirty minutes a guy pulled up in a Tacoma, stepped out, and he was dressed in orange pants and a tye-dye orange shirt. I decided to gamble that this was him.

I went to approach him as he entered the building and he walked right by me. I'm Mr. Cellophane. Not knowing what to do, I followed him. Seeing that I wasn't going away he said 'What's up?'

And then walked down a hallway away from me. I followed along chattering about my project, how it was about Christian community, and how I was hoping to use the theater. He never even looked at me. Just pointed down a hall and said 'Go ask Tom.'

Turns out the man in orange was the youth pastor.

So I went down this hall and found the guy named Tom sitting in a meeting. I waited for him. He came out, I stopped him, told him about my project and he listened politely. He led me down a hall to a small theater and showed it to me. I said that it would work. He asked me the details and I said I needed it for about an hour and was hoping to put something up on the screen during the process.

He said that only a few people in the church knew how to do that and that I would have to pay them to come open the building for me and turn on the projectors. I asked how much and he said 'Probably two or three hundred for the hour - plus time for the kid to run everything.'
I told him that was sorta over my budget but I would think about it.

I left very frustrated, having spent over three hours in total there for that.

In my frustration, I did something very random, even for me.



I pulled into the Cinemark TinselTown Theater at Parker and the Tollway, went inside, found the manager in less than two minutes, told him about my project and he gave me the phone number to a corporate executive.



I called her on the phone on my way home. She was excited to help me, emailed me some forms that I got by the time I arrived home. I filled them out, sent them in, and then - a month later, I got to film inside one of the largest theaters in the building, the corridors, the candy counter, pretty much anywhere I wanted to go for a full hour.

And they didn't charge me a dime. They just love helping future film-makers out.

Wow.

Rosebud

Today, I finally watched 'Citizen Kane.' I have heard about this movie for years. I have read about it countless times in film books, but I figured all the hype was like the Godfather.



By the time I got around to seeing the Godfather, it had been so hyped up, that after I watched I thought - 'Well, it's good but what was all the hype about?'

But Citizen Kane actually lived up to my satisfaction. The movie is remarkably good with impressive cinematography for its time (1941). The Premise to the movie, which I wont tell you here in case you should go see it, was very well done. The acting was good, not really up to the par I would say exists today, but easily getting closer. For a black & white piece, it thoroughly impressed me.

Plus, I got so tired of hearing about 'Rosebud' - I am glad I can put the mystery to rest.

Two Thumbs up.

Cheers

A Glance at our Candidates

I do not typically talk about my political views. But I was asked what I thought about this group of candidates and I thought I would post my thoughts here.

1. We have Monica Lewinsky's exboyfriend's wife who loves power above all else.
2. We have Obama, and if he wins it wil be 'Obama Vs. Osama.' He hasn't really impressed me at all except for his constant whining and arguing with Billary.
3. We have Edwards who loves his wife so much that he is out campaigning while she struggles with cancer. My wife would shoot me if I ever tried such a stunt. And then, if Mrs. Edwards dies while he is in office (I do not want her to die, I am stating a true question) we will have a president struggling with one of the hardest situations and losses of his life. Probably not the most stable we cold want.
4. We have McCain who, on the one hand is was an honorable POW. On the other hand, he wants to invite the whole world to my country for free. Open the gates! Let them stream in! Amnesty for All. Har har.

And all the other republicans haven't impressed me enough to even mention them.

I told my friend, 'Is this the best this country has to offer? This is it? If this is the cream of the crop - then we have a lot bigger things to worry about than this election.

Seriously, listening to these people reminds me of Junior High. Is there no class? Is there no decency?

I may not even vote - because no one has proved to me yet that they're worth it.

Maybe more later. Probably not.

Cheers.

Horizon

After meeting with several key people in the film, writing, and acting community; I finally, after months and months of praying for direction, sorta know where I am going now. It consists of three parts:

1. I have a novel I am trying to get published. Its not finished yet but I will be sending out queries over the next several months and hopefully it will get picked up. It should, God willing, be finished by May.

2. I am working on a indie short film to enter in film festivals in the fall. While still in pre-production, I am very excited about doing this film. It will probably be around a $20,000 budget. I am working with several other writers on getting a shooting script finished by March, filmed over the summer, and entered into festivals starting December.

3. I just finished my first full length screenplay. This one is the farthest away from getting produced, since it will be several hundred thousand dollars to produce, but hopefully we may find producers if our short does well at the festivals.

So all that said - I feel I have gone from not having a clue what the next step was - to knowing I have way to much to do. But one foot in front of the other....step by step.

Did I mention I am in two acting classes? huh.

Cheers.

Lost Season Three

I just finished the 3rd Season of Lost. While I enjoyed the season, its very weird twists and turns, I am concerned for the next season.

On the one hand, the managed to tie a whole lot of plot points together from the previous seasons. There were several times when I thought 'Hey, that was from season one. How did they plan that out?'

This years break-out character - Desmond. Him and Sawyer carry the season for me.

On the other hand, the Island has become so weird that I don't know what they can do with it to make Season 4 a success. I guess we will find out over the next couple of months. That is, of course, that the Writers Strike ends or our poor little lost Island people may be lost forever.

Cheers.

Para -Church Problem

Thoughts on the parachurch movement.

For those of you who don't have a proper definition - parachurch comes from the Greek word 'para' meaning 'beside, or alongside of' and 'church'.

Parachurch ministries generally are not actual churches, at least not in function. There are two basic types of parachurch ministries.
1. Those that exist to do specific sorts of ministry.
2. Those that exist to provide the church the means in which to do ministry.

Parachurch ministries began to really sprout up around the 1950's and grew more and more popular since then. You have probably heard a good deal about some of them:

Campus Crusade
The Navigators
Youth for Christ
Habitat for Humanity
Focus on the Family
Promise Keepers
Samaritan's Purse
Many crisis pregnancy centers and homeless shelters could also be considered parachurch.

When I work with churches making videos and resources, that could also be considered parachurch.

The reason parachurch organizations became so popular was because there were holes in in the church, needs that weren't being filled. For example, college kids were disappearing to school and when they came home after four years, were no longer considering themselves Christian or even going to church. So Campus Crusade came into existence specifically to reach kids during college. Habitat for Humanity helps families that need homes. Promise Keepers is a highly organized men's ministry to promote family loyalty and values. Focus on the Family creates a wide sort of resources for the church. Each Parachurch ministry exist to minister to a specific area.

Now I wouldn't point my finger at any parachurch ministry as bad. Most are doing really well and good ministry is being done.

But as I consider the parachurch movement; it does have it's problems.

1. The parachurch ministry that is doing specific ministry is basically doing the churches job. Example: College students weren't attending church. Most colleges are less than a miles from a church. Why weren't those churches going after the students? Is that not the purpose of the church? To go and make disciples? But we were failing at it so badly that Campus Crusade was formed - who does that one specific ministry very well.

2. Since the parachurch is not an actual church, it doesn't have to comply with doctrine, or even adhere to the same doctrine. One Campus Crusade leader may have one doctrine and teach his students thus. But then those students could go home and go to a church where a pastor teaches them a different doctrine. This does not necessarily mean that they are teaching false doctrines or that the disagreements may be severe enough to mention or to take action upon. It's just to say that when it comes to doctrine, there exists a risk at having multiple - which isn't good.


At this point, it has become a two-way street. On the one hand, in truthfulness, the parachurch ministries seem to do most of the heavy-lifting when it comes to the churches responsibility at serving and ministering in the community. On the other hand, parachurch ministries often provide great resources for the church to use.

So I guess it's like this: The church has a problem. It is not doing all the things it should in the community. It's like the churches leg got broken. Now, rather than fixing it, the church relies on the parachurch to do the ministry for them. Like a crutch in many ways. Rather than healing the leg, the church has continued using the crutch - for fifty years. And now the church has forgotten what it felt like to walk without the crutch.

But I can't leave it at that. We have to look at the situation now and figure out what to do. We can't just go and cut all the parachurch ministries because we need them and they are doing great work. I think the best step-forward now is for churches to incorporate the parachurches - absorb them as best as possible until the church is doing it's job going and discipling again.

This is by no means a clear-cut-dry conversation and solution. But it is a good beginning I think and we can go from here.

Cheers

WGA Strike

Some of you may not understand what's going on with the big Writers strike in Hollywood, but it is an important issue - especially for people working in creative fields. While the video below isn't exhaustive, it is fairly straightforward.

Hopefully the studios will chip in the extra cash so we can get some decent television again. If I see another stupid reality show.....

Why So Serious?

I must say, when I heard the news of the Death of Heath Ledger, I was surprisingly sad. I didn't really know why at first. He was good in The Patriot, I never got into Ten Things I Hate About You, appalled at Brokeback Mountain, couldn't watch Monsters Ball - so why was I feeling sad?

Two reasons I think.

1. For the last year I have been working on a screenplay involving Charles Finney, the evangelist, and for a mental personification of him - I chose Heath Ledger. Why? I'm not totally sure, but I just thought he could play my character the way I wanted to see him. Whenever I invent a character, I try to find an actor that I think could play the role, so I can better picture in my head what he or she would do in any given situation. I guess I had grown attached to him.

2. He is The Joker in the new upcoming Batman movie. Accept for the original Batman with Michael Keaton, all the other Batman movies have been horrible. Awful. Couldn't watch they were so stupid. So when Batman Begins came out I was thrilled. I was a big fan of Batman growing up and the Batman in the comics was one scary messed-up dude. That's what I have been craving in a Batman movie. Batman wanted to scare the villains out of their wits.

And that is why the villains had to be scary too. Jim Carrey was an idiot as the Riddler. sigh.

In interviews with Heath Ledger on the Joker, he said it was the most fun role he had ever played. That it took a tremendous amount of energy to play the role. Whereas all the Joker characters before have been insane - this version of the Joker was a totally sane, homicidal maniac. Now I haven't confirmed it yet but I will try to find the article that I read it in (I think I read it)-

Heath Ledger had had problems sleeping after becoming the Joker all day - so he had sleeping pills given to him. Prescribed for him. I understand that actors have to give themselves over into the roles they play. I just hope that this role wasn't the behind the scenes downfall of Heath Ledger.

Heath Ledger, dead at 28. Truly a sad event. I pray that somewhere along the way he met the Lord.

What's in a Name

I must take a moment before publishing the next article and talk about the current highlight of my life. In case you don't know, Cassie (my wife) is 5 months pregnant now. Last week we had an ultrasound and confirmed (by seeing a little turtle-like image) that the baby is a BOY!

So I am super excited although I gotta tell you, I never doubted it was a boy from day one. The Chason-gene is just too strong on my side of the family. (My brother is a mini-version of me although slightly more quirky.)

So what to name the kid...

As you know I am an avid student of Hebrew and I simply love the language. Easily the most poetic language I have ever examined to any extent. (I've looked at around 6- but only know three well enough to save my life.) Throughout the Bible, Hebrew names carry great significance to the characters. The name a child is given often has overtones throughout that characters life. Because of this, the Israelites chose their children's names very carefully.

I think that tradition is fantastic and my boy has gotta have a Hebrew name.

My middle name comes from a combination of Greek words meaning 'Defender of Men.' I have always appreciated my middle name as having strength to it. So I want to pass it on.

Another tradition of the Israelites is to give their first-borns back to god. Along with this is the Hebrew word for 'Priest' that is used hundreds of times throughout the Old Testament. A priest was one who went before God on behalf of the people. There was also a priestly blessing called the 'Birkat Kohenim' found in Numbers 6:23-27 which says-

Thus you shall bless the people of Israel: you shall say to them, The LORD bless you and keep you; the LORD make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; the LORD lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.
So shall they put my name upon the people of Israel, and I will bless them."

This is our prayer for our son.

So Cassie and I thought-

We want our child to be a Priestly Defender of Men.

So ladies and gentlemen - allow me to introduce my son

Kohen Alexander Laing.

Note: just for you people who are curious, the picture at top is the Hebrew word 'the Kohen'. The hands are in the shape of a Hebrew letter 'Shin'. It's part of the blessing and not a Star Trek thing.

Push through the Volley

Well people, sometimes you gotta let it out. It's like venting; you store it all up and then one day explode. So better to get a hand-grenade explosion out before a bomb goes off in your head I think.

That being said, it's time to move forward. Hence forth, no looking back.

Six months ago I was reading about soldiers during the American Revolution. Their methods of war back then were insane for sure, and yet somehow they didn't notice. Who's idea was it to line up a a bunch of men shoulder to shoulder and then have bullets shot at them? And this was a Gentleman's war?

Most of the front lines went down after the first volley. After several volleys on both sides, the lines would converge upon one another with closer hand-to-hand combat. So basically, it didn't matter how good at war you were if you were on the front lines because the percentage of you catching a bullet with your forehead was pretty high. No amount of skill or training can stop a bullet like that.

So your best chance for survival was to push through the volleys as they came and get as close to your enemy as quickly as possible. Then, all your skills and talent as a fighter paid off.

Some of the soldiers I read about survived dozens of volleys. Battle after battle. Anyway, it really impressed me. Those soldiers had to be amazingly brave to stand up to the line, risking their lives every time, friends falling to the ground all around them.

So that's where I came up with the idea for this blog.

And I was really ashamed I considered throwing it out so easy a few days ago. I can't just throw it away after the first volley right? How stupidly ironic would that be?

So I am pushing on with resolve. Push through the volley and get close.

All right. Time to dip into the hat and see what the next issues going to be.....

Barney the Purple Dinosaur

Today I found myself in a place I never thought I would be in my life.

I was on the Set of Barney the Purple Dinosaur.

I remember watching Barney growing up (my younger brother enjoyed the show but it began a little after my time). For most of you, you may have thought Barney concluded several years ago. But I assure you, Barney is still going strong – a money making machine.

It is currently being shown in over 20 countries.

I was there to talk to one of the writer / directors of the show. He was extremely helpful answering questions about how they shoot barney, write, direct, all that good stuff.

I sorta met Barney – if that is actually possible. He couldn’t really speak.

To my surprise, Barney is only around 6’ tall. And the other dinosaurs on the show (Baby Bop is the only other name I can remember) are all around 4’ tall. This surprised me. To run the show, they had about 40 people or so on the set doing all the various tasks.

There are three large sets, all very impressive to walk through. I actually watched the filming of one of the sequences.

All in all – I was very impressed. And that should say something.

Cheers.

King Spencer Enters Thotwell

The first thing Spencer noticed about Thotwell was its immense size. The city was HUGE. The castle walls were easily five times the size of the walls protecting Eklo. They jutted up into the sky enormous. Guard towers bigger than homes stood every thirty yards overlooking the walls down upon the citizens below.

The castle doors were immense as well, three stories high, requiring several horses to push and pull them open and close. The doors were a foot and half inches thick, made from solid oak trees fastened with iron bolts.

King Spencer and Lionna the Griffin stood gaping up at the city when a Rhinoceros greeted them. 'Hello! Welcome to Thotwell, the greatest city in the land! Come on in, come on in! It must be your first time! I can tell from your awkward expressions! I'm Taurus the Rhino, I am your chauffeur.'

Spencer asked, 'Chauffeur?'

Taurus gave them a toothy grin and said, 'Yup. Hop on if you would be so kind and we will be off.'

After receiving a worried glance from Lionna, Spencer climbed up onto Taurus' back and reached down to help pull Lionna up behind him. With that, Taurus plodded through the gates and into the city.

Immediately Spencer noticed two things. First, everyone in the city was dressed in the same colors, white, light blue, and gold. Secondly, everyone walking around had their hands clasped in front of them, as if holding onto a bug that might fly away if they allowed any space between their fingers.

'Excuse me, Taurus. Why is everyone walking around like that?' asked Lionna.

'Like what?' said Taurus. 'Oh. You mean the non-stance?'

'What's non-stance?' asked Spencer.

Taurus replied, 'Non-stance is how we maneuver through the city. By clasping our hands tightly in front of us, we not only prevent ourselves from bumping into other people and thereby offending their sensibilities - but it also looks good, like friars I like to think. The last thing we would want here at Thotwell is to present ourselves at any time in such a way as you might want to leave. Non-stance keeps everyone on the happy side.'

Not quite satisfied with that answer but not knowing what else to say, Spencer didn't ask anymore questions and they shortly arrived at a little hut and were ushered off of Taurus' back and into the hut by two nice-looking Ents.

'Welcome' said one Ent while the other Ent pulled out a tape measure and began frantically measuring both Spencer and Lionna. Their chests, stomachs, arms, height, and circumference of head.

'Umm. What are you doing?' asked Spencer to the first Ent.

'Well, we must get your clothes prepared mustn't we? You must have clothes mustn't you? said the Ent.

'What's wrong with these clothes?' asked Lionna.

'Your clothes must be changed. Stick out far too much. Don't match at all. Must match here mustn't you?' The Ent rattled out.

Spencer stood confused, continuing to be prodded by the second Ent who poked him one last time and then left the room in a hurry. 'Why must we match?' asked Spencer to the remaining Ent.

'Here at Thotwell, we all must look the same mustn't we? Because we all are the same aren't we. Wouldn't want to convince people you were something else would you?' asked the Ent.

'What? No. Yes. What?' Spencer asked confused. The Ent didn't respond because the other Ent had returned with clothes and before Spencer could return to his questions he found himself outside the Hut, back on Taurus' back with Lionna dressed in white, light blue, and gold like everyone else.

'Ok.' muttered Spencer to himself.

(to be continued)

King Spencer and the Orchard

(continued from the earlier King Spencer articles)

King Spencer and Lionna continued down the road to the city of Thotwell. Finally, after many days of weary travel they crested a hill and saw the walls of the city of Thotwell looming in the distance.

'Almost there,' said Spencer.

'I sure hope we will find some answers there' said Lionna.

As the continued walking, just outside the main city gate, they heard something rather odd. On the east side of the road was what appeared to be an orchard of fruit trees. As they grew closer, they heard the sound of someone or something grunting somewhere in the orchard.

'What do you think that sound is?' asked Lionna.

'I don't know. But it may be someone in trouble. I'm going to go check it out.' answered Spencer. 'You stay here in case it's not safe.'

'OK,' said Lionna. 'Be careful though.'

Spencer ducked his head and began traversing his way through the many trees. The smell was fantastic, citrus and sweet. Most of the trees were heavy with fruit needing to be picked. After climbing through a particularly dense section of fruit trees Spencer almost fell into a clearing. For hundreds of yards in every direction lay fields of tree stumps. Hundreds of stumps cut inches above the ground. A tree graveyard. And out in the middle of the field, hunkered down at the base of a lone standing tree, a bear was struggling with a saw cutting the tree down.

Spencer walked over to the bear who was startled by his presence. 'Woah. You ally took me off ah me guard dit ya,' the bear grunted. 'Name's Olivar. What can I do it for ya?'

'Hi. I'm Spencer. What are you doing out here?' Spencer asked.

'Well, as ya can see, cuttin dees trees down. I do the cuttin and Farly down yonder carries dem down to the creek over thata way and burns dem.'

Spencer looked off in the direction Olivar was pointing and saw smoke billowing up by the creek about a half a mile away.

'Oh.' said Spencer. 'Well, why are you cutting all these good trees down? This looks like it was a great orchard.'

Olivar grunted again and returned to his saw. 'Gotta make space for da city. It's growin ya see. The King has a plan for growin the city outside of its walls. So we need space and this orchad is in da way. Gotta go ya see.'

'But these trees are fantastic! I have never seen trees with this much good fruit before. I can't believe you're cutting them down.' Spencer said admiring what was left of the good trees.

Following Spencer's gaze Olivar said, 'Yeah. Dem trees goin too. Sure they are good trees. Sad to lose em. But ya gotta make way for progress dont ya know. Don't matter if they the best trees in the land; if they in the way they gotta go.' Oliver grunted with the saw. The tree creaked, groaned, and fell over with a WHUMP.

'Yup,' Olivar said. 'I try not to think bout it. Pointless to care I say. Pretty soon the city will expand all over this field and no one will care if a bunch of trees are gone. A couple months from now, who will even remember these trees were even here?' Olivar walked around to the front of the tree and began sawing off one of the bigger branches.

'But what happens to the fruit? Where are you going to get Apples and Oranges if you cut down all the fruit trees?' Spencer asked.

'We wont need um anymore. Don't need real fruit anymore, what with the new additives the King invented.' Olivar answered.

'What are additives?' asked Spencer. Olivar turned to him with a smile. 'What? You don't know bout the additivies? you must not a been in da city yit have ya? Well then, you oughta go check it out yourself rather than me tellin ya.'

Oliver pointed in the direction of the city gate. 'The gates that a way.'

Spencer nodded and headed back to get Lionna. He had to see what Olivar had been talking about.


(to be continued)