Thank Fulls

Time for turkey and turning our thoughts to what we are thankful for.

Top of everyone’s list: that I am not a turkey.

Of course, the naturals: family and friends. And friends who are, quite frankly, family. And family who are, despite shared history, friends.

And a few things I’m thankful for that aren’t necessarily in the “of course” category:

- Engineers. Not only a great source of humor (Big Bang Theory and Dilbert) but also they designed boxes. I’m talking those office file boxes that come to me flat, and I can fold out into sturdy script carriers without the use of tape or glue. A marvel! (I take my office joys where I can!)

- Chocolate. Not all chocolate, mind you. Just the good kind, like the type that goes on donuts or with ice cream or in little foil wrappers. Not the kind that goes on chicken, or in twizzlers, or in coffee. Whose idea was that?

- Peanuts. Not the kind that causes kids to break out (although that kind is quite forgivable for being deadly if you cover them with chocolate) but the round headed boy and the kid with the funny nose kind. Wisdom that never goes out of date – “All you need is love. But a little chocolate now and then doesn’t hurt,” and “Sometimes I lie awake at night, and ask, 'Where have I gone wrong?' Then a voice says to me, 'This is going to take more than one night.'”

- He from whom all good things flow. Hey, while on the subject, check out this new video from BADD. You will recognize Cath and I as “Rich Couple.” Hee hee. Oh, the post-its say: “From Jesus.”

Just my thoughts,

Sean

Fraggle Hope

Given my push lately for THE WATCHMEN, which is a cynical pleasure at best, I enjoyed seeing Cory's call for a little optimism.

Check out Cory's blog for a comparison of Fraggles and Star Trek.

I also have to say that my optimism gland got a little artificial push by Vicki foisting a little bit of the truly fun/awful THE PIRATE MOVIE on her "friends" this weekend.

"Give me a happy ending, every time!" And now, sadly, I know the hand movements that go with that.

Please understand, Vicki knows this is a bad movie, but still loves it. I suppose we all need a little bit o' that "yeah, I know, but still..." in our lives.

Buckaroo Banzai, anyone?

Just my thoughts,

Sean

With Spotted Owl Stuffing, Please

Ben Franklin thought that our national bird should be the turkey.

If he got his way, I suppose that next week we would be having the traditional Thanksgiving meal of bald eagle and mashed potatoes.

Just doesn't seem right.

In unrelated news, Jennifer reminded me of this video, which I don't recall if I shared with y'all yet.

Using the music of John Williams to immortalize STAR WARS. Synergy at its best.

Just my thoughts,

Sean

Who Watches? I Will.

As you are aware, I like my genre movies to have a little something-something.

Maybe richer than normal themes (3:10 to Yuma).

Or a little character depth (Dr. Who).

Or a bit of societal mirroring (Battlestar Galactica).

Or something to make you think because it turns its own genre on its head (Unforgiven).

If I’m lucky, a bit of it all (Dark Knight).

That’s why I’m looking forward to Watchmen.

That trailer gave me chills. Seems as if not only will the action be done right; but the characters, relationships and themes (body, heart and soul) will survive intact.

The complex richness of the graphic novel still gets into my gut when re-reading, even after a couple of decades.

And the thematic discussions (no easy answers, just to warn you) haven’t lost any relevance.

In fact, the novel is an ethical quiz book for our day – especially on the nature of power, and the use of such power (even in the name of good).

Oh – for existing fans of the novel, check this out for a giggle: what if Charles Schulz drew The Watchmen?

Just my thoughts,

Sean

Let's Cuddle and Talk About Our Feelings

This made me giggle. Multiple times.

Doritos is having a competition for its Superbowl commercial. My friend Michael stars in one entry called Mr. Sensitive.

Enjoy.

-Sean

How Scenery Becomes Real

In our pre-work walk this morning, Cath was telling me about the tech for ALICE IN WONDERLAND (see previous post).

She included a comment about Shon’s (the director) idea for flying in a sheet of duvateen fabric to create the rabbit hole.

“You have a duvateen rabbit hole?” I asked.

“Yeah,” she replied.

I couldn’t resist.

“Does Shon love it? Is it real?”

I’m telling you this because all I got from Cath was a withering look.

Someone out there must find this as giggle-worthy as I did…

Just my thoughts,

Sean

Wonderland

Random things about “Alice In Wonderland” and me:

-As a kid, I never quite understood why Alice would eat something just because it said “Eat Me” on it. Although, a part of me would understand if it said, “I double-dog dare you to eat me” on it…

-I found the Rabbit a bit irritating, running around talking about being late. He wouldn’t be so late if he took the time to figure out the most direct path from here to there, right?

-I always thought that going through a looking glass was more sensible than climbing down a rabbit hole.

-I’d like to see Batman’s villain, The Mad Hatter, move to Sid and Marty Krofft’s Lidsville. I think he would be happy there, and maybe not so crime oriented all the time.

-The Chesire Cat is creepy. Creepy cool, that is.

Releve Studios is putting up a production of the musical ALICE IN WONDERLAND this Saturday – short (an hour), sweet (kids dressed as playing cards – doesn’t get much cuter than that) and sure to be a trip.

Check it out if you are in town.

Just my thoughts,

Sean

Relevé Studios proudly presents

Disney's Alice In Wonderland Jr

A Musical Theatre Workshop Showcase Performance

Two Shows Only!

Saturday, November 15th at 2:00pm and 7:00pm

Scherr Forum Theatre

Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza

2100 E. Thousand Oaks Blvd.

Thousand Oaks, CA 91362

Do You Like Books? I Think They're Super

In what is among the screwiest of clauses any client has made me sign, the legal department of a certain company says that they will sue me if I mention or cause to be mentioned that I work for them or for their project.

On what I am sure is a completely unrelated topic, my friend John Schafer has posted a video about a project that he is working on.

To be clear, I am not claiming that I am or am not involved in John’s project; but I can say that I am featured in the video, and you are free to draw your own conclusions.

I’m pretty excited about John’s project. John and the team he has assembled – Sean Roche, Tom and Rob – are professionals at the top of their craft.

They each in their areas are constantly pushing for better storytelling, stronger art and a general “what’s the very best that we can do with this?” attitude.

I’ve seen enough projects in this arena that are content with whatever will sell, or talking down to their audience, to know how special it is to have a team like this working together.

I wish John the greatest of continued blessings for his project.

Just my thoughts,

Sean

Today and Every Day

Keith Bowden, United States Air Force

Kitty Bucholtz, United States Marine Corps

Ryan Elliot, United States Air Force

Kevin Gaffney, United States Air Force

Luke Gaffney, United States Marine Corps, Active

Richard Gaffney, United States Navy

Wayne Gaffney, United States Army

Jack Gilbert, United States Air Force

Andrew Metroka, United States Navy

Isaac Metroka, United States Air Force (active)

Nicholas Metroka, United States Navy (active)

John Schaeffer, United States Air Force


Lady and gentlemen: Thank you.

Just my thoughts,

Sean

ps Feel free to add those that didn't come to mind.

The Candidate in the Clouds

If you haven't voted yet, I suggest you take one last look at the season's political ads.

I think, once you see both the pro-ads and the attack ads, you will agree with me and vote for the black community organizer who wants to bring all sides together -- even Jabba the Hut.

Although I do question his choice of running mate -- sure, who wouldn't want to have a beer with Chewie -- but is he ready to lead?

Just my thoughts,

Sean

Nothing to Fear but Fear Itself

Apropos to my Halloween discussion on what we fear, I found this in the middle of Don Miller's blog:

"Last year I vowed I wouldn’t make decisions out of fear. And because of that I’ve had one of the greatest years of my life. I went to Uganda and got to meet with the man who helped write their constitution. I wrapped up an evangelism project I believe will introduce more than a million people to the gospel. I rode my bike across America. All of this stuff took some degree of risk. But when calculating those risks, I realized the only reason not to try was fear. What if I was wrong, what if I couldn’t make it, what if the project didn’t work? But none of my heroes are controlled by fear. The commandment most often repeated in scripture, in fact, is “do not fear.” Fear is often something unrighteous trying to keep you from doing something good."

Donald's blog entry isn't about Halloween, but rather politics, so if you're sick of politics, well, you've been warned.

Just my thoughts,

Sean

Hannah Dabba Doo

Three posts in one day -- but this was too rich to pass up, and too timely to wait.

My friend Jennifer sums up her son's school Halloween dress-up. Worth the visit.

Just my thoughts,

Sean

Halloween Sacred

With this being All Hallow’s Eve and all, the old debate for good ol’ Christians is back: is it appropriate to celebrate this American past time?

Is dressing up our kiddies in Frankenstein costumes a show of “mocking the devil,” and thus pro-faith? Or is it just asking for Faustian size trouble?

Are Fall Festivals a solution, or just a lame way to assuage guilt of depriving kids from the fun of Halloween, while avoiding the guilt of allowing kids the fun of Halloween?

More importantly, can we watch Charlie Brown collect his rocks with a clear conscience?

I am put in mind of my favorite Christian response to the holiday, from the too-good-to-stay-on-television series, NOTHING SACRED.

The show revolved around the life of a struggling inner-city church. Their Halloween episode, like most of their episodes, made one wonder where the heck (and was it to heck?) they were going with their story lines.

The C plot involved the atheist accountant for the church renting the sanctuary to a movie company to film a horror movie. The B plot was about Sister Mo dealing with a parishioner who stopped attending mass after being assaulted on the way home from church a year prior.

And the main plot: Father Ray leading the church through an all day traditional celebration of Halloween.

Reading ghost stories. Dressing as demons and monsters. If memory serves, they even had a haunted house.

All inside the church.

At this point, you may be wondering (as I was) – are these Hollywood writers clueless about what is sacred?

Turns out they were clue-full.

The C story line has the atheist accountant realizing that some things are sacred, and he foregoes the rent money and kicks out the movie company (a moment of incredible character growth).

The B story finished with a Davidian rant to G-d, of the “Why hast thou forsaken me?” variety, marking the start (just the start) of healing for the victim.

And the main story?

The annual tradition includes a day of conventional Halloweening; and ends in the parking lot for a bon fire.

Where Father Ray tells the congregants why this is his mentor’s favorite tradition:

We spent the day showing you everything that the devil has to throw against us, he says. Now let’s compare that to the power of G-d.

And such a comparison shows: the prince of this world has nothing on the Prince of Peace.

Those gathered then throw into the fire a symbol of whatever they fear, giving it up to the Lord, as the pastor recites a variant of St. Patrick’s Breastplate:

“Christ with me,
Christ before me,
Christ behind me,
Christ within me,
Christ beneath me,
Christ above me,
Christ at my right,
Christ at my left.”

Take that, Halloween.

Just my thoughts,

Sean

It's Not the End of The World As We Know It

A view from up north (thanks, Dave).

Favorite line is his wrap up: "Set aside the stereotypes and labels that guide our thinking and it becomes obvious that while important changes are coming, the foundations -- liberal democracy and regulated markets -- are unchallenged. That's good news for everyone but excitable ideologues."

Just my thoughts,

Sean

Be in a BADD video - TONIGHT!

Greetings friends from Bel Air and around...
Not doing anything yet tonight????
BADD is shooting a big fun music video tonight and needs a partially full sanctuary for it.
Can you help us out? All ages, all types needed. A great way to see how crazy BADD really is!!
Sean & I will be there in the audience too. Come play alongside us.
See below for details.
Thanks!
--cath

PS: Feel free to spread the word.



--------------------------------

You know their faces. You see their video magic week after week on the Presbytron. Now is your chance to join in on the fun!

BADD needs as many extras as they can get for a video shoot THIS Saturday (TONIGHT!). Bring your family, bring your friends, bring your neighbors! We challenge you to fill the sanctuary! Details are as follows:

When: This Saturday, October 25th

Call Time: 6:30PM (expect to shoot for 2 hours, but once you've wrapped you're more than welcome to stick around and watch us work!)

Where: Bel Air Presbyterian Sanctuary

What to Wear: What you would normally wear to church on Sunday morning!

Hope to see you there!

I'm Ga-Ga for this Guy

Scoot on over to John Medina's blog for this cool experiment.

I have to admit, I da-da'd, then changed my mind. Ears.

No, mind.

Right.

Just my thoughts (I think),

Sean

Heart Surgery

I recently read up on St. Teresa of Avila, so the word of the day is: transverberation.

For some reason, my spell check doesn’t know that word. Okay, I admit that I didn’t either.

Transverberation is described as, “a mystical grace wherein the Saint’s heart was pierced by a dart of love by an angel.” (Click here for more)

It caught my attention not only because of the supercalifragilisticexpialidocious nature of the word (by the way, my spell check does recognize Mary Poppins’ word), but also because my small group had been discussing heart piercings recently.

As in Acts, when the hearers of Peter’s Pentecost sermon were “cut to the heart.” Our group was mostly focused on the language – which did better justice to the sentiment?

King James: “pricked in the heart” – sounds like a junior high prank.

Contemporary English: “they were upset” -- don’t get me started.

New American Standard: “pierced to the heart” – very poetic, but we still preferred the NIV:

“Cut to the heart.”

Many ways to be cut to the heart – by reason, by conscience, by compassion.

The shock and awe of coming face to face with the “moreness” of the universe.

The look in a friend’s eye, as we both realized I betrayed him.

Watching a child try to comfort a mourning adult.

They are big moments, those heart exposers, when perspective comes in clarity. Always painful – but sometimes that is a good thing. Not in the “hurt so good” way of the song, where the pain itself is looked to for pleasure.

But rather in the stripping away of that which would prevent the positive – prevent the reason, or the compassion, or the growth.

Or for Teresa, the love. The direct infusion of love straight into the core of her being.

I imagine that kind of love would be painful enough to leave a scar. (It did, by the way.)

Don’t feel bad if you’ve never experienced transverberation – very few individuals in the history of mankind have. I haven’t come close.

But hold dear to any cuts to the heart that you have had – they are rare gifts. Even in the pain.

And to keep from being maudlin, I leave you with a song that always cuts to the heart – the beautiful, haunting and mournful, Danny Boy.

Oh boy, oh boy.

Just my thoughts,

Sean

If Only John & Barack Shared a Drink Tonight...

In honor of the last presidential debate, I bring you a little perspective from our friends to the North.

David posted this in response to an earlier journal entry:

The American founding fathers sure said a lot of profound things. Compare that to our first Canadian PM, Sir John A Macdonald.

His most quoted one-liner?

At an outdoor debate he was waiting for his opponent to end his speech. The guy went on and on, so Sir John started sipping from his water glass, which was actually stocked with gin.

The combination of strong sun and strong gin made poor Sir John rather green in the gills. When he finally stepped to the podium for his rebuttal, he threw up. He calmly wiped his mouth and stared seriously at the shocked crowd.

"Ladies and gentlemen, the speech given by my opponent has made me sick!"

Thunderous applause.

Rewrite

For anyone wondering what it is like to be in rewrite mode on a script -- or any other writing for that matter -- I think Cory says it best here.

Just my thoughts,

Sean

Cyn City

I have a bone to pick with Jeffrey Overstreet.

Sure, you all know him as a nice guy, and the author of AURALIA'S COLORS.

You may also know that the next chapter in the Auralia Thread series is out, CYNDERE'S MIDNIGHT. And that's where Jeff and I have a problem.

You see, my wife and I just went to Vegas for a weekend getaway. Just me, her and...

Well, they say a picture is worth a thousand words, so here's our travelogue.


That's the Flamingo, our hotel.



Here we are playing the slots.



And we got some time in at the blackjack table. The dealer got distracted.



We went down the strip for a bit. Uh, Cath, our stop is coming up.



Here we are at KA, the Cirque d' Soleil show. The show was so exciting, Cath even looked up from her book to see some of it.

Once.


Cath got to share some culture with a cast member.



This is from the Luxor hotel. Notice all the beautiful things around you, Cath?



Even the polar bears can't put the book down.

And at the end of the day, the conversation was all about how unfair life is that book three hasn't been finished yet.

Thanks, Jeff. Only Rowling has given me this much trouble.

Friends, let me warn you -- Overstreet's books are addictive. Apparently even more so than Vegas.

Just my thoughts,

Sean