AE Love... MG PROMO 1

I had a spare hour or so, and wanted to practice some AE stuff. Here is a promo for missiongathering.com.

Let me know what you think.

Adobe After Effects

I know Im probably behind the curve... but I started using After Effects yesterday to put together a promo / intro video for our upcoming "Heroes" series. I am really excited about what this program can do, and what it will bring to the table at Mission.

Any experienced AE users out there? I could definitely use some tutelage.

Here is what I put together for this Sunday:



Let me know what you think...

bside design

Im thinking about starting a small creative design company to help non-profit organizations improve their design and graphic presentation. Really this stemmed from working with a few non-profits on some smaller projects that really helped propel the message and branding of their central message. I will elaborate later, but Im starting the initial design / business plan of the company, and wanted some creative insight. So here is a logo in different colors.

The company will be called "Bside Design" based on my kind of motto: "life's better on the bside." When 45s were released (thats vinyl for all you digital folk) the single was on the "A" side while the more creative (and often better) song was on the bside.


1) What do you think about it? 2) Which color do you like the best? 3) Are you interested in being involved in any way?

Welcome Fellow Deviants

Welcome all of you fellow deviants. I just did a mad update on my deviantart.com website. You can check it out at suipoc.deviantart.com/gallery. Please give me some deviant love and maybe even purchase a print of your favorite piece. Last time I posted, I was a featured artist. That was really cool and unexpected.

imagine grace (political)

Here is some art I just posted on deviantart.com. How do you feel when you see this?

iphone Fun

So I got a new toy... and I love it... and I made some cool wallpapers for it. Enjoy.

Rooted In Christ... Branching Out In Love

Some graphics I did for the upcoming message at Missiongathering.

FortyOneTwenty.com

This is a new resource I found for cool videos to incorporate into your gathering. Check it out here. Some great videos and I especially like their stills. Enjoy.

Preview: Beauty Is Hope

This is a preview of a vid for Missiongathering this upcoming Sunday... be there... or be... um... ummm... not there.

Now Listening #5

Radiohead's new album "In Rainbows." This band continues to amaze my musical brain. Honestly, they nailed this album musically with a perfect blend of programming and great guitar work. I haven't had too much time to interact with the lyrics, but I am loving this stuff. Once again, Radiohead proves why they are my favorite band and the best live concert I have ever been to.

Intensity: In Four Parts

The last week of my life has been an extremely intense time. God is definitely speaking to me and opening my eyes through four very specific experiences in the last 6 days: Seattle, David Crowder, Brian McLaren, and the movie "For The Bible Tells Me So." So in an attempt to really document this, Im going to break these down. If you don't like long posts, or tire easily from reading long things... read one at a time... haha.

Seattle
What a wonderful city and what a wonderful experience. I can truly say I fell in love with the city of Seattle and with the people of Seattle. Throughout my four days there, I was overwhelmed by the sense of community and collective responsibility that seemed to spill out of every conversation and street corner I engaged. From my conversation with Frankie, a street kid in the Capitol District, to my time with an ecumenical gathering of Pastors and leaders from around the U-District... there was a thread of hope and collective love for one another that came through louder and clearer than anything else I heard. It seemed that there was a spirit of authentic compassion and desire to be connected to neighbors and people living in proximity to one another.

On top of all that, I got the chance to hear from leaders of the church that has come before my time. I saw the compassion and desire to live out the gospel in love and truth that refreshed my young soul in a different way. it let me know that I was not alone in my pursuit of love and hope. it let me know that I was connected to a heritage and tradition of love... and that the church truly has a message that is not necessarily new... but is taking on new life and new relationship to the world at large.

I have immense hope for a new kind of church in Seattle. One that contextually communicates the message of love and hope for those that so desperately need to hear it. I pray that I get to be a part of that. That Missiongathering gets to be a part of that new narrative that will be told. God taught me that my story is not new... but the way that I tell it will be new. God showed me that I am so connected and supported by those that have been there... and God refreshed me by giving me hope for a new future... not disconnected from our past...

David Crowder
What struck me most about my time at the DCB concert was the honest truth that I heard. This sums it all up for me:

"When all the love in the world
Is right here among us
And hatred too
And so we must choose
What our hands will do

Where there is pain
Let there be grace
Where there is suffering
Bring serenity
For those afraid
Help them be brave
Where there is misery
Bring expectancy
And surely we can change
Surely we can change
Something"

God pushed me to write. God told me that its okay to write this album in the truth that he is showing me. God released me to write.

Brian McLaren
One phrase: "an epistemology of love." It was great to have Brian join us this morning at Missiongathering. I felt honored to share the stage with such an influential and honest man that is trying to help us understand what it means to have faith today. Once again, I found myself soaking in what God was surrounding me with. Letting me know that It is alright to go forward in my thoughts and convictions... and to live out my epistemology of love. That my view of the world, and my view of others is rooted in the way in which I love.

As we chatted after the gathering, Brian took me aside and said, "Thank you for the music this morning. The music was just wonderful. The songs were right. And its not often that you get really good music... and a really good mix together." (Holla Erik, soundman extrodinare). Which lead me to think... that just like good music and a good mix... there can be good music written through the epistemology of love.

Again, I feel released to write. Released to communicate in my way the love that is deepening in me.

For The Bible Tells Me So
If you have not heard about this movie or have not seen it... Head to your local indie film house and sit your butt in the seat. What a great piece on what it means to love. I am still processing everything that I saw and heard tonight, but ultimately it isnt a film that is arguing for the "rightness" of homosexuality nor the "wrongness" of it. Instead, it is saying that there are marginalized people that have been segregated by a book that was never meant to segregate. That the message of Jesus... and the message that we as christ followers should be so fixated on... is a message of inclusion. And not just inclusion... but love. I am sure tomorrow I will have more thoughts on the movie...

Wrap Up
God is showing me that the purpose in my life... the purpose of my music and my creative craziness is to communicate a love for all and a love for the marginalized and outcast. That God is screaming that message through many different mediums and is asking me to join in collective voice that the world needs to hear. I know that I haven't really been able to summarize in these few paragraphs the true swelling of my heart and soul over the last few days... but its there. Pray with me.. pray for me.. journey with me as we find out what it means to love.

Sneak Peak...

Ray @ Night is on October 13. Our "Artist In Residence," Sarah Cusey, has been putting together some great things for this event working with her team of local artists. I got a sneak peak of some of the stuff that will be displayed. We are asking the question: What is beautiful? Check out these sneak peak photos I stole:

Attack Of The Hand

What a terrible way to have your tea interrupted...

Now Listening #3

I hooked up my vintage Scott speakers to my vintage Scott tube amplifier (all courtesy of TubieClaus) and spun my first vinyl in over two weeks. It took a good 30 minutes to fine tune the sound but... Oh the sounds of the B-side of U2's Joshua Tree. Amazing sound. Amazing clarity. Amazing... amazing... amazing. I will post some pics of the new set up tomorrow.

Great Discussion

Sir Ken Robinson shares his thoughts about creativity and our culture. Really good video.

Great Art

This is the latest piece from my good friend Jeremiah Miller. Amazing artwork. If you would like to see more of his stuff and support him by buying some of his art, click here.

Worship Cabaret

I just got done with my meeting at Cream (still a great place, come check it out). What an exciting time for the Creative Arts at Missiongathering. Jenn and I talked for about an hour about the possibility of doing kind of a worship collective some sunday where we incorporate musicians, poets, artists, digital artists, dancers, choirs, etc. from our community into kind of a worship collective time where we can respond to what God is doing in our own lives and in the life of our community. Great idea. I am excited about where it could go.

invasive art

recently i've been kinda thinking a lot about music and art and the creative arts in general. basically, i've been trying to figure out the meaning behind what i do.

so here is where im at:

there are so many stories that are so much more appealing than the story that we seem to live in our day to day lives. in my observations of the world around me (at least a significant portion of western culture), people constantly seem to be longing to join a story that is not their own.

hollywoodism helps us jump into the midst of a story that is being presented to us and to, maybe just for an hour or two or a magazine or two, become a character/star that has a scripted and typically good story. the phenomenon of sporting events. how people who have never even probably touched a football find connectedness with their local team. "WE lost that one...or WE won that one, etc." sports, in a way, allow us to connect to another world. consumerism helps us put on or own things that give others an outward appearance of the world we want to live in. no matter how much we have consumed, we are constantly looking for the next level in order to project a message of a world we want to live in. soccer moms in hummers... need i say more? the list goes on, and on, and on...

now i know these examples are broad, and there are numerous exceptions to the general rule. but the basic premise for most things western culture is obsessed with is that it helps us to step outside of our "world" and enter into a better/different "world." drugs, alcohol, unhealthy relationships, hollywood, reality tv, sports, religion, politics, etc, etc, etc, all kind of function as escapes from our world. we are medicating ourselves by numbing our story through engaging a world not our own. The more we live into the stories of others, the more we can feel less, hear less, hurt less about the world we are living. and eventually... the less connected we become with the very story we are living.

in enters art. i believe art, especially in visual or audible form, truly enters our story. that art, by its very nature, doesn't allow you to enter into another world, but instead invades the world of the person participating in the art. as we look deeply into a painting and colors strike our senses... images tug at our mind's eye... we start to breathe in the painting... and filter it through our story. and as we take it in, its starts to interact with our story and with our experience and begins to explore deep caverns of who we are... where we've been... what we've heard.

as we listen to a song... everything about that song begins to invade us. the harmony of notes, the syncopations of rhythm, the passion of lyrics. everything about the music wraps itself around us, and then slowly starts to invade our story. as it bounces through our ears and into our brain we start to associate the rhythm with an emotion... as it visits our emotions, memories that were long forgotten begin to reappear in images that seem as real as if they were happening right then... as it passes into our soul, it begins to resonate with our story. the lyrics explore deep caverns of who we are... where we've been... what we've heard.

art won't allow you to participate without bringing your story into the participation. it won't allow you to just passively medicate away from your world... in fact, it forces you to interact with your story. and the beautiful thing about it is, as we start to interact with our own story, we start to regain feeling again. each note awakens a little bit more feeling... each brush stroke illuminates another piece of our senses... and soon, the more we allow it, the more we become less numb... and the more we can embrace who we are.

thats... at least for now... where i am at with the concept of art. i hope that people begin to embrace who they are through my art. i hope my art helps people awaken a new sense of feeling in their souls. i hope... that my art... can truly help people live into the beauty of their story. because each of us has a beautiful story. each of us... no matter how dark it has been... has a story that is uniquely ours... and is uniquely beautiful.