Thursday, May 29, 2008
Fragments Are Cool
New episode of GG/NG is out. Finally.
Am going on Friday to Greenville to spend the weekend helping film stuff for a documentary. W00t.
Work going well. Need to find a part-time job. Make some money.
Am going on Friday to Greenville to spend the weekend helping film stuff for a documentary. W00t.
Work going well. Need to find a part-time job. Make some money.
# posted by Andrew Johnson : 5/29/2008 12:52:00 AM 
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
First Ledger, Now This
Sydney Pollack is dead. I didn't even realize he had cancer.
I stood inches away from this guy at Full Frame three years ago.
He was a talented actor and director. I am sad.
I stood inches away from this guy at Full Frame three years ago.
He was a talented actor and director. I am sad.
# posted by Andrew Johnson : 5/27/2008 12:19:00 AM
Friday, May 23, 2008
Keeping Busy
So, for those of you who don't know, I got the job in Chapel Hill. I'm working for Barbara Trent and David Kasper over at the Empowerment Project. They both won Oscars for directing and producing the 1992 documentary The Panama Deception, and are super cool.
The first week of work has gone pretty well. I've mainly been transcribing footage from Kasper's latest project - basically, I'm watching interviews he filmed and typing up everything that is said. It's slow-going, but I can see how it would be handy when it comes time to edit, so you can easily pick out what clips you want in the film and approximately where they occur on the tape. I don't know how much I'm allowed to reveal about it, but if I could sum it up in one word, it would be: impeachment. We're also doing stuff like capturing footage from a young woman's documentary that she filmed in Mexico, looking for relevant news headlines and clips that might be useful, stuff like that. I'm already learning a lot about the whole documentary filmmaking process, and this is only the tip of the iceberg of the things I'll be doing, so I'm super excited.
Today I held David Kasper's Oscar. It's actually really heavy. Now I know why lots of people have to use two hands to carry it when they receive it.
I've been crashing with Rob Decker, a friend of the family I had heard a lot about but never met, while I'm in Chapel Hill this week. He's a super cool guy. It looks like I'll be replacing Mason (how dare you transfer!) as Jim's roommate, so I'll be moving some of my stuff into the Raleigh apartment soon. Still trying to see if there is a cheap place in Chapel Hill I can crash at for 2-3 days a week just because the cost of gas is so high. Hopefully something will turn up. The internship is unpaid, so I'll probably get a part-time job somewhere. I'm hoping I can get one at Blockbuster or something... I really don't want to work in fast food and I'm always up for movie-related jobs (free rentals, baby!) so that might actually be pretty cool. If it's good enough for Tarantino, it's good enough for me!
Last weekend, my mom and I went to a Christian conference called Renovare. Basically it's an organization formerly run by Richard Foster (author of the book The Celebration of Discipline), who is handing the reins over to the new guy, Chris Webb. All I know about Webb is he came to Christianity after studying Zen Buddhism and meditating on the riddles of Jesus. Sounds cool to me! Anyways, the conference was kinda meh. I was expecting more in-depth info on the different strands of discipline... this just seemed like a primer that was designed to promote interest. Chris Webb is a great speaker, though.
I think part of the reason I got turned off is the overall vibe... it was way too "churchy" for me, I guess. The building architecture is pretty much exactly the same as the super conservative church my grandparents used to go to... high ceilings and big, white walls. A stage with a grand piano on it. Stuff like that might work for some people, but not for me. I went to church in Central America for eight years. I'm used to dim lighting, folding chairs, people clapping and singing and hugging and kissing... a lot of conservative American churches just seem too "polished" to me. Like most things in America, they're all about presentation and appearance. It just seems sorta superficial to me. I'd rather have a building that was falling apart with dirt floors and no electricity but with people who really get into worship and Scripture. Different strokes for different folks, I guess.
And speaking of worship... for whatever reason contemporary worship songs just don't do anything for me anymore. I'm not sure why. Even while I was on the mission field, whenever there were missionary gatherings and the youth groups sang songs like that, I could usually get into it. But now, I don't know... maybe it just goes back to the building and lighting stuff. Maybe it's a side effect of being immersed in Hispanic worship, or from going to a church that writes their own music when they're not singing U2 or REM songs or setting old hymns to an electric guitar. Maybe it's a subconscious psychological side effect of having my heart broken by a girl that loved those sort of songs. Or maybe it's just the style again - I'm not into pretty-sounding piano and choir music. Again, it sounds too polished. I'm more into the guitars and bass and drums and tambourines and sounds that seem a bit... rawer, I guess would be the word. When I worship God I like it to be to music that sounds like it's coming from some deep, dark place inside, from what makes you human. Not light little melodies with lyrics a four year-old can memorize. Going back to Central America - I remember for the first few years, when I didn't even understand the songs I was singing, it didn't matter. People were singing with all their might, it didn't matter if they were off-key or if the instruments were out of tune. When they sang "Alabare, alabare" (I will praise, I will praise), you could tell they meant it and that this experience was moving them.
Oh, and when it comes to lyrics, very few popular contemporary Christian songs nowadays do much for me in that department. On some occasions, if the music sucks I can still get into what the song is saying, but this is rare. I think part of it is due to the fact that the song structure and lyrics are so incredibly simple and repetitive - then again, songs in Latin America are pretty repetitive too, so maybe that's not the issue. Another major issue I have is that so many songs don't even sound like worship songs... they sound like self-help motivational showtunes. They're not about God, they're about us. They're about how we're so great because we're praising God, we're preaching His name, and proclaiming His glory, etc. That's a good thing and all, but should that really be in the songs of worship we're directing to the Great God of the Universe? Isn't singing songs that focus on "us" instead of "You" slightly selfish and egotistical? Maybe I'm just paranoid and too sensitive, but it bugs me a little, especially when the vast majority of songs sung are like that.
***
On the podcast front, because of this week's crazy schedule, it looks like Episode 2 of Good God/No God is going to be a bit late. I'm hoping we can get it recorded and posted online by Sunday... we'll see. It's our first "real" show, and it's going to focus on the topic of separation of church and state, so hopefully it will go well.
In the meantime, I've started subscribing to a number of both Christian and atheist podcasts. Some of them are pretty interesting. At times some of the big atheist ones seem a bit too anti-religion, to the point of persecution, and a lot of them tend to automatically characterize all Christians as mega-fundamentalists and Pat Robertson-types. Now, I'm not saying there aren't a lot of super conservative fundamentalists, but from what I've seen even most Southern Baptists aren't that hypocritical and anti-everything-that-doesn't-agree-entirely-with-me. It's an unfortunate stereotype. Hopefully through GG/NG we might be a small voice that promotes and dialogue and respect between people and overcome atheist and Christian stereotypes.
As a side note: one of the atheist podcasts I've been listening to has frequent guest appearances by Robert M. Price, aka The Bible Geek. He's, uh, interesting... to say the least. From what I've read, it sounds like he still considers himself a Christian (or rather, he's a "religious skeptic" but attends an Episcopal church), he's just super super super liberal. As in, questioning the historicity of Jesus and the majority of the Bible is influenced by pagan mythology-type liberal. He's also a member of the controversial (and many would deem heretical) Jesus Seminar. I definitely don't agree with him on a lot of stuff, but it's still interesting to hear someone who knows a lot (I think he's even publishing his own biblical commentary and maybe even translation) about the historical aspects of Scripture... when it was written, what was going on at the time, cultural trends, what a lot of the original Hebrew actually (and supposedly) implied. Those are areas I really wish I knew more about.
In one podcast he talked some about the concept of Satan and the devil and how Christian culture has read way more into that idea than is actually in the Bible. That's actually something I had wondered a bit about. For example, he argues that in the Bible (especially the Old Testament like in Job and Zechariah), the figure of the devil is only presented as "the adversary" or "the accuser" - namely, a heavenly being whose main job it is to test the faith of individuals. For example, the idea of forcing Job to suffer as a means of testing the strength of his faith, as well as the temptation of Christ in the wilderness (like a test to see if He really is or "deserves" to be the Son of God, I guess). It was only much later in history and in response to things like the gnostic gospels that people started thinking, "We need a devil-like figure like these other religions have, since it's a pretty effective way to explain sin and suffering." So Price argues that that is where our modern-day conception of Satan comes from - the fallen angel who rebelled against God (though I don't recall this ever being mentioned in the Bible) and who rules in hell (again, not in the Bible as far as I know) and is God's main enemy. Basically, he throws the traditional ideas of Satan and hell out the window.
Like I said, I'm not sure how much I agree with the guy, especially since I don't know a lot of other theories and facts about the history of Scripture and whatnot, but it's certainly interesting stuff to think about.
The first week of work has gone pretty well. I've mainly been transcribing footage from Kasper's latest project - basically, I'm watching interviews he filmed and typing up everything that is said. It's slow-going, but I can see how it would be handy when it comes time to edit, so you can easily pick out what clips you want in the film and approximately where they occur on the tape. I don't know how much I'm allowed to reveal about it, but if I could sum it up in one word, it would be: impeachment. We're also doing stuff like capturing footage from a young woman's documentary that she filmed in Mexico, looking for relevant news headlines and clips that might be useful, stuff like that. I'm already learning a lot about the whole documentary filmmaking process, and this is only the tip of the iceberg of the things I'll be doing, so I'm super excited.
Today I held David Kasper's Oscar. It's actually really heavy. Now I know why lots of people have to use two hands to carry it when they receive it.
I've been crashing with Rob Decker, a friend of the family I had heard a lot about but never met, while I'm in Chapel Hill this week. He's a super cool guy. It looks like I'll be replacing Mason (how dare you transfer!) as Jim's roommate, so I'll be moving some of my stuff into the Raleigh apartment soon. Still trying to see if there is a cheap place in Chapel Hill I can crash at for 2-3 days a week just because the cost of gas is so high. Hopefully something will turn up. The internship is unpaid, so I'll probably get a part-time job somewhere. I'm hoping I can get one at Blockbuster or something... I really don't want to work in fast food and I'm always up for movie-related jobs (free rentals, baby!) so that might actually be pretty cool. If it's good enough for Tarantino, it's good enough for me!
Last weekend, my mom and I went to a Christian conference called Renovare. Basically it's an organization formerly run by Richard Foster (author of the book The Celebration of Discipline), who is handing the reins over to the new guy, Chris Webb. All I know about Webb is he came to Christianity after studying Zen Buddhism and meditating on the riddles of Jesus. Sounds cool to me! Anyways, the conference was kinda meh. I was expecting more in-depth info on the different strands of discipline... this just seemed like a primer that was designed to promote interest. Chris Webb is a great speaker, though.
I think part of the reason I got turned off is the overall vibe... it was way too "churchy" for me, I guess. The building architecture is pretty much exactly the same as the super conservative church my grandparents used to go to... high ceilings and big, white walls. A stage with a grand piano on it. Stuff like that might work for some people, but not for me. I went to church in Central America for eight years. I'm used to dim lighting, folding chairs, people clapping and singing and hugging and kissing... a lot of conservative American churches just seem too "polished" to me. Like most things in America, they're all about presentation and appearance. It just seems sorta superficial to me. I'd rather have a building that was falling apart with dirt floors and no electricity but with people who really get into worship and Scripture. Different strokes for different folks, I guess.
And speaking of worship... for whatever reason contemporary worship songs just don't do anything for me anymore. I'm not sure why. Even while I was on the mission field, whenever there were missionary gatherings and the youth groups sang songs like that, I could usually get into it. But now, I don't know... maybe it just goes back to the building and lighting stuff. Maybe it's a side effect of being immersed in Hispanic worship, or from going to a church that writes their own music when they're not singing U2 or REM songs or setting old hymns to an electric guitar. Maybe it's a subconscious psychological side effect of having my heart broken by a girl that loved those sort of songs. Or maybe it's just the style again - I'm not into pretty-sounding piano and choir music. Again, it sounds too polished. I'm more into the guitars and bass and drums and tambourines and sounds that seem a bit... rawer, I guess would be the word. When I worship God I like it to be to music that sounds like it's coming from some deep, dark place inside, from what makes you human. Not light little melodies with lyrics a four year-old can memorize. Going back to Central America - I remember for the first few years, when I didn't even understand the songs I was singing, it didn't matter. People were singing with all their might, it didn't matter if they were off-key or if the instruments were out of tune. When they sang "Alabare, alabare" (I will praise, I will praise), you could tell they meant it and that this experience was moving them.
Oh, and when it comes to lyrics, very few popular contemporary Christian songs nowadays do much for me in that department. On some occasions, if the music sucks I can still get into what the song is saying, but this is rare. I think part of it is due to the fact that the song structure and lyrics are so incredibly simple and repetitive - then again, songs in Latin America are pretty repetitive too, so maybe that's not the issue. Another major issue I have is that so many songs don't even sound like worship songs... they sound like self-help motivational showtunes. They're not about God, they're about us. They're about how we're so great because we're praising God, we're preaching His name, and proclaiming His glory, etc. That's a good thing and all, but should that really be in the songs of worship we're directing to the Great God of the Universe? Isn't singing songs that focus on "us" instead of "You" slightly selfish and egotistical? Maybe I'm just paranoid and too sensitive, but it bugs me a little, especially when the vast majority of songs sung are like that.
***
On the podcast front, because of this week's crazy schedule, it looks like Episode 2 of Good God/No God is going to be a bit late. I'm hoping we can get it recorded and posted online by Sunday... we'll see. It's our first "real" show, and it's going to focus on the topic of separation of church and state, so hopefully it will go well.
In the meantime, I've started subscribing to a number of both Christian and atheist podcasts. Some of them are pretty interesting. At times some of the big atheist ones seem a bit too anti-religion, to the point of persecution, and a lot of them tend to automatically characterize all Christians as mega-fundamentalists and Pat Robertson-types. Now, I'm not saying there aren't a lot of super conservative fundamentalists, but from what I've seen even most Southern Baptists aren't that hypocritical and anti-everything-that-doesn't-agree-entirely-with-me. It's an unfortunate stereotype. Hopefully through GG/NG we might be a small voice that promotes and dialogue and respect between people and overcome atheist and Christian stereotypes.
As a side note: one of the atheist podcasts I've been listening to has frequent guest appearances by Robert M. Price, aka The Bible Geek. He's, uh, interesting... to say the least. From what I've read, it sounds like he still considers himself a Christian (or rather, he's a "religious skeptic" but attends an Episcopal church), he's just super super super liberal. As in, questioning the historicity of Jesus and the majority of the Bible is influenced by pagan mythology-type liberal. He's also a member of the controversial (and many would deem heretical) Jesus Seminar. I definitely don't agree with him on a lot of stuff, but it's still interesting to hear someone who knows a lot (I think he's even publishing his own biblical commentary and maybe even translation) about the historical aspects of Scripture... when it was written, what was going on at the time, cultural trends, what a lot of the original Hebrew actually (and supposedly) implied. Those are areas I really wish I knew more about.
In one podcast he talked some about the concept of Satan and the devil and how Christian culture has read way more into that idea than is actually in the Bible. That's actually something I had wondered a bit about. For example, he argues that in the Bible (especially the Old Testament like in Job and Zechariah), the figure of the devil is only presented as "the adversary" or "the accuser" - namely, a heavenly being whose main job it is to test the faith of individuals. For example, the idea of forcing Job to suffer as a means of testing the strength of his faith, as well as the temptation of Christ in the wilderness (like a test to see if He really is or "deserves" to be the Son of God, I guess). It was only much later in history and in response to things like the gnostic gospels that people started thinking, "We need a devil-like figure like these other religions have, since it's a pretty effective way to explain sin and suffering." So Price argues that that is where our modern-day conception of Satan comes from - the fallen angel who rebelled against God (though I don't recall this ever being mentioned in the Bible) and who rules in hell (again, not in the Bible as far as I know) and is God's main enemy. Basically, he throws the traditional ideas of Satan and hell out the window.
Like I said, I'm not sure how much I agree with the guy, especially since I don't know a lot of other theories and facts about the history of Scripture and whatnot, but it's certainly interesting stuff to think about.
# posted by Andrew Johnson : 5/23/2008 01:18:00 AM
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
This Should Be Interesting
The first episode of Good God/No God has been released. It's just an introduction to the show and what it is all about. Hopefully a real episode will be out next Friday.
So yeah. You should all subscribe to the show through iTunes and listen. All the cool kids are doing it.
So yeah. You should all subscribe to the show through iTunes and listen. All the cool kids are doing it.
# posted by Andrew Johnson : 5/14/2008 03:04:00 AM
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
Wish Me Luck
I have a job interview tomorrow in Chapel Hill. I'm really hoping I get the position.
Haven't been doing much except eat, sleep, watch movies and work on getting this study abroad promotion video edited.
Also, this is rather random and out of nowhere, but a guy I know online and I are starting a religious-themed podcast. Hopefully we'll be able to stay consistent with it and it will be an interesting show for both Christians and non-Christians. There should be an introductory episode up soon, but until then, check out our rather bland and plain-looking website.
Haven't been doing much except eat, sleep, watch movies and work on getting this study abroad promotion video edited.
Also, this is rather random and out of nowhere, but a guy I know online and I are starting a religious-themed podcast. Hopefully we'll be able to stay consistent with it and it will be an interesting show for both Christians and non-Christians. There should be an introductory episode up soon, but until then, check out our rather bland and plain-looking website.
# posted by Andrew Johnson : 5/13/2008 12:04:00 AM
Monday, May 05, 2008
May the Fourth Be With You!
Happy Star Wars Day, everyone!
I've finished with exams. I've got a ten-page paper to write and email to a professor by Tuesday night, and after that I am officially done with my junior year. Yay.
Also, for those of you who haven't heard, please tune in to the podcast I am co-hosting, MovieChatter. I also make occasional guest appearances on its parent show, RandomChatter. As of now, there are episodes of me reviewing:
Street Kings (a discussion)
Juno
Baby Mama
Harold and Kumar Escape From Guantanamo Bay
Forgetting Sarah Marshall
The Forbidden Kingdom (followed by a list of my Top 5 Movie Kung Fu Fights)
Coming soon: my interview with Sean Astin, a review of Southland Tales, and a discussion of Iron Man. Also, on RC, a discussion of how digital copies of movies sold through places like iTunes are changing things, and our thoughts on what 80s movies Hollywood should (and shouldn't) give the remake/sequel treatment to.
You can find both shows (as well as their other "Lost"-themed show, LostChatter), by clicking this link right here. Click "Subscribe through iTunes" to automatically be directed to the iTunes score, where you can click "Subscribe" and automatically download each new episode as they are released. Ah, the wonders of technology.
I've finished with exams. I've got a ten-page paper to write and email to a professor by Tuesday night, and after that I am officially done with my junior year. Yay.
Also, for those of you who haven't heard, please tune in to the podcast I am co-hosting, MovieChatter. I also make occasional guest appearances on its parent show, RandomChatter. As of now, there are episodes of me reviewing:
Street Kings (a discussion)
Juno
Baby Mama
Harold and Kumar Escape From Guantanamo Bay
Forgetting Sarah Marshall
The Forbidden Kingdom (followed by a list of my Top 5 Movie Kung Fu Fights)
Coming soon: my interview with Sean Astin, a review of Southland Tales, and a discussion of Iron Man. Also, on RC, a discussion of how digital copies of movies sold through places like iTunes are changing things, and our thoughts on what 80s movies Hollywood should (and shouldn't) give the remake/sequel treatment to.
You can find both shows (as well as their other "Lost"-themed show, LostChatter), by clicking this link right here. Click "Subscribe through iTunes" to automatically be directed to the iTunes score, where you can click "Subscribe" and automatically download each new episode as they are released. Ah, the wonders of technology.
# posted by Andrew Johnson : 5/05/2008 12:18:00 AM
