Archive for the ‘Christmas’ tag

Winter

George Hildreth had a full funeral. Standing room only and very nice until the power went out. After people had a chance to talk, after a few songs and the pastor had said a few things the lights went out and didn’t come back until just about everyone was ready to leave.
It was sorta fun actually, we had a recording of my Grandpa singing a song and right when it was time to play it, everything went dark. I guess Grandpa figured that if you weren’t around to hear him in person, then you missed your chance. It was nice to see some extended family and we got a good family picture out of the day, so there were some perks.

My vacation has been great so far, I’ve got some work to do but, for the most part I get to just relax for the next few days.
Last week and the one before were not good weeks, not good in a lot of ways. So I’m doing all I can to enjoy this time at home.

Our Advent video series finished up last Sunday, here are the last two videos:

Reaping the rewards of giving – Advent from Praxis Church on Vimeo.

Giving for the sake of community – Advent from Praxis Church on Vimeo.

Every now and then I’ll let a video get the best of me. Most of the time cutting something together is rather utilitarian, it’s just putting things in order, or getting a few points across. Somehow that last Advent video became complicated though, I think I started on it too early. My naming system allows for me to keep major changes in my edits and early last week I was already on major revision number four. I like the way it turned out, but it could have been better.

We started production this week on the latest series. I’ve handed off editing duties to another guy on our team. I had been doing basically all the post, so it’s time to spread the work around. I’ll still have some animation and color to do… and will probably do the online edit as well. We have a lot of talent on our creative team, it’s nice to be able to assume another role for a project or two.

Whether you spend it with friends or family enjoy your holiday.

December?

I hope you had a nice Thanksgiving, mine was a good time.
I’ve been busy, not just on side projects but I’ve actually been busy at work. Crazy right? My main project is still on hold but I’ve found some other things to work on, so it’s been fun to be in the office again.

This Sunday starts Advent and we’ve been working on a series of videos for service that sheds some light on some people who have really exemplified giving. This is the first of four videos.

Sacrificial giving – Advent from Praxis Church on Vimeo.

I’ve been listening to Sufjan Steven’s Songs for Christmas non stop lately. I’m usually not into Christmas music at all, but I just can’t resist his music. He recorded five small albums of traditional and new Christmas songs and now you can get them all in a little box set for $20. I high recommend it, there is even a great version of Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing. Sufjan’s Episcopalian, it’s easy to hear the biblical references in any of his albums. I honestly don’t listen to much ‘christian’ music these days, so it’s especially nice to hear a good hymn.

Looks like I’ll be in Boise from December 23rd until the 3rd of January. For a few days I thought I might be in New York for New Years on some business, but it all fell through. I’ve never been to NY and there are few things better than traveling on the company dime… but it would have cut into my time back home. It’ll be nice to have more than a week in the city of trees. Hopefully I’ll see you there. :)

Thank God for Walkmans

This time of year is great for many reasons, but I especially love it because there are so many good movies… and since it’s awards season there are great copies of them available on the internet. I do pay for movies, don’t think I’m biting the hand that feeds, but I feel the need to see just about every movie that will be up for an oscar, and lord knows I’m not paying $9 for each of them.

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is a must see, it’s like Forest Gump 2.0 but really enjoyable and unique. Some of the visual effects were done at a studio that employs some friends, so that doesn’t hurt either. It’s the sort of movie that you could take your parents to, they’ll enjoy it just as much as you.
Valkyrie was alright, for a Hollywood movie it’s pretty accurate and Tom Cruise does a good job. Who ever casted Eddie Izzard as a Nazi is out of their mind though, I spent half the movie just wondering how the hell anyone could have thought he was a good fit. If you didn’t pay attention to any history class ever you’ll be held in suspense… OMG you mean Tom Cruise and an Executive Transvestite killed Hitler?!? But then again if you’re really leaning over to the person next to you to ask if they really did kill Hitler there are a few other movies in theaters that would entertain you.
Revolutionary Road was fantastic, it might just be my favorite movie of the year, although The Visitor is a tough movie to beat. DiCaprio is good but Kate Winslet definitely deserves an oscar for her performance. It’s directed by Sam Mendes, so you know it’s good, he’s the director of Road to Perdition and American Beauty among others.
Frost/Nixon was good, I can’t say that everyone will like it, you do have to be into history. The performances are good, and the Nixon impression looked dead on to me. Although I am twenty four years old and only remember the man’s funeral, so I’m probably not one to ask about that. The actual interviews were released on DVD a few months ago, I’ll have to buy (download) those too.
Gran Torino was a dissapointment. Eastwood is great, but the authentic (inexperienced) actors really brought it down. The plot is only ok, but Eastwood comes though with a great performance as a terrible racist and all around jerk… so it has that going for it. Eastwood’s character does drink a lot of PBR though, and there is some genuinely funny scenes between him and the young male supporting character.
The Wrestler was alright, the performances are the best part. It looks like balls, I don’t understand why directors settle for the look of video. You can shoot on video (which really isn’t much cheaper, that’s a myth) and still have a cinematic feel, there is no reason to just abandon all depth.
Defiance was just a normal movie, I’m not sure why I even downloaded it. Don’t waste your money… netflix it if you’re bored but it’s not really worth the price of admission at most theatres. Not Edward Zwick‘s best work.
Slumdog Millionaire I’ve talked about, it was a good time.
The Visitor I’ve also talked about, it’s still my favorite of the year.
Doubt is the last movie I have yet to see that is getting Oscar buzz, there are no screeners so I’ve been trying to get to a theatre to see it, hopefully that’l happen this weekend. From what I’ve read the performances carry it, I’m not expecting to be blown away by the plot.
Go see some movies in the next few weeks, it’s not that expensive and there are some really great films out there.

All in all 2008 was a good year for me. I read an interesting article last week about how for just about anyone under the age of 70, this last year was probably the worst they had ever seen. The writer argued that all of the economic problems of the last twelve months added up to the worst year since 1938. Coupled with social unrest and the amount of violence in the world I might have to agree. I have no idea how most people can even begin to quantify that, but it does bring up and interesting point. I know so many people who are looking for work, those who had far less then the average American are now in an even worse situation and the world isn’t as peaceful as it’s been even in my short lifetime. I am however optimistic about the future, the economy will come back in time, new and more efficient ways can be implemented to help the world’s hungry and ending America’s own conflicts can only help to end others. There was a lot to be thankful for in 2008. I learned a lot at school, and am now in someways comfortable calling myself an artist. I can now support myself with my chosen profession. I no longer fear living alone or being without friends. I found something in a friendship that I never had seen before… I learned a lot about myself and how to deal with heartbreak. I learned that I miss my family more then I thought. I was able to begin to deepen my faith for the first time in a while. I’ve become a stronger, better person in the last year, I’m proud of that.

One of my roommates admitted yesterday that he has no idea what is going on with Isreal and the Palestinians. I shamed him but he didn’t care, I really don’t understand that mentality. We live in a democracy, that means that as a citizen you have to educate yourself to be able to participate in our own government. What’s happening now is the result of a terrible situation but I would really like to see our country take a firm stance against the sort of violence that is taking place. Raining down rockets indiscriminately is wrong, but so is destroying an entire neighborhood to kill one adversary. I’m not linking articles because you should know what I’m talking about. Honestly, if you don’t at least know there has been a rise in violence in the last couple of weeks you really need to shift your priorities, it only takes a few minutes to swing by cnn.com once and a while.

David Hildreth

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