This looks like a great book, looking at the article now.
Out this month, the slick coffee-table tome The Making of Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back chronicles the complete tale—from pre-release to blockbuster success—of what’s become the fan favorite of the Star Wars series. Released in 1980, George Lucas’s Episode V pushed the boundaries of special effects and left audiences with one of cinema’s most epic cliffhangers.
One thing is true for Saturday mornings in October in Lexington when you have children, have a lawn chair. October Saturdays mean soccer games. Which means usually no sleeping in. Now that we have two kids playing in different teams it makes the mornings even more hectic. They are having a great time, they don’t keep track of which teams win and just encourage fun. Different than when I was a kid.
Arden’s team was invited to play on the Washington and Lee soccer field during the halftime of a game. So I guess she was part of the halftime show for the crowd. Another father recorded it with his iPhone. Look for Arden as #7 and her friend Braden who is #22.
Today is my birthday, and of course in many ways it feels like just another day. Which of course it is. But of course it has the job of marking your time in increments. And when you are younger it is a very momentous occasion. McKelvey in particular loves having her birthday be a holiday that ranks with Easter and christmas. You get so much attention, presents, cake and you get to choose what we have for dinner, it’s pretty awesome. And getting older was important when you’re a kid. You always want to be older when you’re younger and younger when you’re older. McKelvey is looking forward to turning ten and being in double digits. But that is not that big of a deal when you get older. Especially once you get past those important years, like turning 18 or 21.
And as for marking the passage of time, I don’t really think about birthdays as what marks the year. I don’t even think of January 1st either. For me it is about summers, meaning summer theater gigs and not being in school (whether as a student or teacher). Or marking the years by august and school starting again. That is the rhythm of the year, not birthdays.
As far noticing the passage of time, I have noticed some more grey hairs today, mostly in my beard. My hair on the top of my head is a little thinner I guess. And I did notice a new wrinkle on my face, but it only shows up when I’m smiling. But I don’t actually pay attention to the passage of time that much. This was the first time in a while that I actually looked at the face in the mirror, mostly it is a quick check of hair or appearance to make sure I am not a complete slob.
In case you were wondering, I did have a great birthday. My family rocks, I got some touching thoughtful gifts, and Ann made an amazing dinner. The birthday cake is so chocolatey you will have to brush your teeth after just looking at it, it is so decadent. I said ‘is’ because there is still more than half left. It was so rich that no one could finish their piece. That of course means cake for breakfast with a big glass of milk…
All in all a great day, a good year that had it’s ups and downs. And I am Avery lucky man to have the family I have and a job that I find meaningful and enjoyable, even if I don’t get to be as creative as I would like.
Tilt shift photography is:
the use of tilt for selective focus, often for simulating a miniature scene. Sometimes the term is used when the shallow depth of field is simulated with digital postprocessing; the name may derive from the tilt-shift lens normally required when the effect is produced optically.
It is a neat way of making an image. Someone applied it to a bunch of Vincent Van Gogh paintings:Tilt-Shift Van Gogh. Fun.
This to me is a scary set of videos edited together. A series of near misses involving traffic. But I couldn’t stop watching.
I found this amazing INfo-graphic on a blog I read. Scroll down and be amazed.
I recently saw this article on the internet. It is about a recent re-creation of Shakespeare’s Face by a team of scientists.
“The results from this forensic examination . . . show strong evidence, both forensically and historically, that this 3-D model may be, in fact, the way Shakespeare looked in life,” documentary director Stuart Clarke told The Daily Mail newspaper of London.
This is based partially on a death mask found in Darmstadt in the 1840’s. It was created through some secret mixture of scanning the death mask and comparisons to paintings and sculptures of the Bard of Avon. There has been a lot of speculation about how he looked since the earliest known image of him appeared in 1623, which is seven years after he died. Some people spend too much time on this.
and a memorial bust of the playwright and poet in Stratford-upon-Avon suggests he may even have had a little suntan, according to one British expert.
What a suntan? how do you get that from a bust, which is a statue right? So someone painted this statue at some point. Who knows if the skin tone matched his. It was done after his death, and has been “repaired, refurbished and repainted many times.”
These people are grasping at straws and missing the point at the same time. While it is a fun way to spend time thinking about what he looked like, it just doesn’t matter. He was a creative genius that created some the most beautiful poetry in the english language. At the end of the day that is what has stood the test of time is his work. Take one last look at the picture up there, and then forget about it and read one of his plays.
Lately I have been thinking about work ethic. This has come up because I want to instill a good work ethic in my children. I think that my brothers and I have great work ethics. Matt is an artist living in Italy. He has spent years honing and refining his craft. As you can see by his work, he is an amazing artist. And he is incredibly knowledgable about the art architecture and culture of his preferred field. Go check out his blog and you can read and see for yourself. Same with my brother Jon,
writer, actor, produced his own movie (with his husband Tom) which is awesome. There are people that say they want to be actors, and there are people that really want to be an actor. Jon is one of the latter. If you really want to be an actor you don’t wait to be discovered you make yourself discovered. That means working hard to hone your craft, and audition, audition, audition. A lot of wannabe actors don’t do this, there are people (with or without talent) that don’t want to apply themselves to the task at hand. Even if it something that they profess to be interested in.
Not to toot my own horn, but I have accomplished a bit myself. I got a good teaching job at a great school, and have a great family. I am not a person that is afraid of working. In fact I enjoy the feeling of accomplishing tasks.
My question is: How did we, my brothers and I, get this way and how do I do the same for my children?
I have lots of memories of doing chores, or helping my dad with projects. Helping to wash the dog (a huge Irish Wolfhound) or Mow the lawn or pour concrete. Was it that we were always asked to help that work was ingrained into our childhood? I also remember my dad always sitting at night with us while we were all watching TV, and he would be writing reports. Was it the example of my hardworking parents that influenced us?
What are your experiences?
