Through a Mother's Eyes

The one thing I love about the way God created us are the vast and definite differences between men and women. I've read studies that have shown that mothers teach children how to act within a home and fathers teach children how to act outside of the home. That's why, if fathers do not go to church regularly, the children will usually follow suit, no matter how devout the mother may be.

Mothers are also greatly protective of there children. Nothing amuses me more than to see "Mama Bear Claws" come out when someone criticizes a mother's child. Mothers usually assume the best of their children, building them up, holding them in the highest regard. Fathers usually try to push the children forward, to make them face challenges, to test their ability to overcome obstacles, even if that includes failure.

This difference in approach could not be more visible than this past weekends baseball tournament. My son was pitching a good game, but gave up a home run. My wife, in her ever protective Mama Bear mode, offers "Well, they couldn't hit a home run if Gabe didn't throw such a beautiful pitch!"

Only a mother can turn a child's failure into a moment of success.

I love that about mothers. They are the safety net we all need. When all else fails, we know our mothers will be there, no matter what we've done or what we've failed to do and will look at us through their loving eyes, seeing us at our best, even when we are at our worst.

Mothers are very lucky... their uncompromising love of their children is a gift from God, an insight into how our Creator looks at us... through loving eyes, focusing on what we are capable of doing instead of what we have not done well.

SoulWow!

Very funny take off of the ShamWow commercials, this one is called SoulWow! and was done by a parish in Brooklyn to get people to come to confession.

Very well done. Take a look...

Gabe Hits Another Dinger

I gotta tell ya, Gabe's faith journey through baseball has been a great learning experience for me too.

After hitting his first home run, Gabe's on field performance began to slip in a BIG way. Since the tourney Gabe had only a few weak hits and, defensively, had committed eight errors in two games! Brutal!

On the drive home following the second bad game in a row he and I had a little talk. I asked him what he thought was his problem? Through gritted teeth he angrily responded "I don't know!"

I asked him, "What's your goal now?"

"What?" he questioned.

I replied, "Well, now that you've hit a home run, something you've been wanting since t-ball, what's your new goal?"

"I... I don't have one" he chimed.

"That's the problem" I said.

So, we talked about how he needed to set new goals. Just because God gave him a gift of a home run doesn't mean He is done with him. You have to seek out the next goal.

With that in mind, we mapped out a few important things to focus on the remaining regular games... no errors, solid hits, better focus, push to be better... all with a single goal in mind, to give Safety Harbor it's first District 12 Championship.

Gabe's next game he played well. Nothing extraordinary, but a solid game. Our team came back to win in extra innings, 9-7.

Last night Gabe finally put it all together. Facing one of the best pitchers in the league, Gabe went 4-4 with a home run, a double and two singles. He hit in three runs and played exceptional defense, helping lead the team to a 9-6 win.

More important than what is happening on the field is what Gabe, and I, am learning off the field. We're learning about God's grace, about His expectations, about how He dreams bigger than we do and how we need to continually re-evaluate what God wants from us next.

This entire journey so far has had me thinking a lot about my goals, my faith and my role in God's plan.

Astronomical Budget

I heard today that there are 400 billion stars in the Milky Way.

Our national budget is over $3.5 trillion.

If you took a star for every dollar the U.S. Budget Galaxy would be almost four times as large as the Milky Way.

That's not soothing.

Life, Liberty and the... I'm sorry, what was the first part?

My daughter and I were discussing our country and the idea of Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness.

It's no fluke that Life is the first on the list... the most important, the most fundamental to our existence. Granted, when the country was founded there was some question as to the Liberty part... women could not vote, slavery was common place. But Life... well, that was a given right to all.

Or is it?

Fortunately, over the centuries our country has dealt with the unfulfilled aspects of national Liberty. Women were given the right to vote and work. Minorities were allowed to have equal civil rights and slavery was abolished. These growing pains of our nation were not easy, but necessary.

And, as it turns out, the growth in Liberty appears to have destroyed the first and third parts of the equation for others. When you look at the overall evolution of this country, only one segment of society has lost their three rights.

The unborn.

It seems odd that by rightfully expanded the role of ALL people in our society that it has, in turn, taken away the most first fundamental right to us all, Life, from the most vulnerable within our society.

Must our society be so?

Is that the cost of Life and Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness? Does that mean I am allowed to dismiss those three rights from others in order to achieve them myself?

If my Life and my Liberty and my Pursuit of Happiness means I kill a child in the womb and destroy their Life, their Liberty and their Pursuit of Happiness... is that okay?

Is that what the founders intended? I'm sure it's not.

It seems that Liberty is a two-edged sword, with the sharp blade held at the throats in the womb of the most innocent and helpless of our society. How did a country that so obviously recognized the evil of slavery embrace what is so obviously a more horrendous evil in abortion?

When did the second part of the equation erase the first and negate the third?

SLP Padres

Here are some pics of the Padres uniform we sponsored at Sonlight Pictures. We picked Padres because it means Priests.

Go Padres!

Happy God Children Day!

About four years ago, I think, I started my own tradition of starting a Novena for my God Children on the Feast of St. Joseph for what I call God Children Day.

If Hallmark can manufacture Boss Appreciation Day and Administrative Assistant Day, I can create God Children Day.

So, my God Children (Matthew, Jonathan, Aislinn, Laura, Sarah, Chaz, Mark), I have started a Novena, praying for you!

Happy God Children Day!

DC Gets Into College

Dorothea has qualified and been accepted into SPC starting next year in a unique program where high-school sophomores with high grades can by-pass their junior and senior years in high-school and, instead, complete their 1st and 2nd year in college.

In two years she will receive a high-school diploma AND an AA degree. This is not dual enrollment, it's straight-up college. And it's free.

WooHoo!

We're very proud of our girl. She's extremely excited to get a jump start on her college career.

We'll have more info on it later.

Gabe Hits His First Home Run! - Updated

After offering up his baseball performance to God, Gabe has done very well this season, batting over .500. This weekend in a District 12 tournament, our team went 3-0 in the opening weekend, including coming back from two runs in extra innings to win our final game.

Our 3-0 recorded gave us the fourth seed out of 20 or so teams and the opportunity to go head-to-head against the Palm Harbor Rays in the Quarter Finals. We ended up losing to the Rays 5-3, but the overall weekend was a great success.

The greatest part about our tourney was that everyone of the players came up big over the course of the weekend, either at bat or in the field. It was a nice time.

On a personal level, in our second game I was thrilled to see Gabe hit his first home-run over the center field fence. We were up 8-4 and Gabe had a 3-0 count. Usually I would give him the "take" sign, but I let him hit away. He hadn't had enough at-bats from the left side of the plate, so I figured the more pitches he faces, the better. Fortunately he lifted the next pitch, a high strike, out of the park. As he trotted around the bases, his face beamed with a combination of ecstasy and disbelief.

Below is a video compilation of Gabe's hits and pitches on the travel team (in light blue shirts and orange uniforms) and our Little League Team (in the dark blue shirts and also gold jerseys).

I saved the home run as the last highlight. If you watch closely, our player running home before Gabe never touches the base. Caught up in the excitement, he drops his helmet, turns around and greets Gabe.

Ahhh, Little League.

Enjoy.

Updated PS - I've been playing around with some editing SW and came up with a high-def output. I shortened it A LOT (only just over 1 minute now) and you can see it in HIGH DEF HERE or Standard Def below.




Gabe's HR Reel - Short Version on Vimeo.


For the original extended SD version, click here.

Club God Gets Festive

We’re happy to announce that Club God has been accepted into the Faith Film Festival in New York. The films will be aired on cable television in the New York area and showcased on the festival’s website.

Congrats to the Club God cast and crew for their success.

Praise God!

The $tate of the Union - Uncle Scam

I cannot find ANYONE who thinks this "Stimulus Package" is the right thing to do. Not ONE PERSON, Republican or Democrat.

Politicians... they're all crooks!


They all seem to have forgotten that they work FOR US! Lets vote EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM OUT OF OFFICE and start over!

If there was ever a time for a third party, this would be it.

Baseball Busy

I know I haven't blogged much lately. I've been swamped with Little League baseball. Fortunately our season has started off really well. We are currently 3-0. You can see our stats and progress on our team website located here:

Safety Harbor Padres

Since I've been managing I haven't been able to shoot video, but Dea has agreed to come to all of the games and video tape for me. I'll add some video highlights soon.

Sonlight Pictures - Little League

In an effort to support our Little League during these tough economic times, we've decided to have Sonlight Pictures sponsor Gabe's Little League team. Along with a name on the back of the jersey, we also get a large banner that gets hung on one of the fields.

Below is the pic of the Sonlight Pictures banner. We hope to use the banner after the season is over at whatever public events in which we participate.


We picked the Padres as our team, but it appears no one picks them, so the uniforms are late. We hope to have our jerseys soon.

We'll add pics of Gabe in full jersey as soon as they come in.

Go Padres!

Fireproof (2008)

The leaders of Sherwood Baptist Church in Albany, Georgia continue to lead the way for independent Christian films. Starting small with the wonderful, yet ultra-low budget flick called Flywheel and then following that up with the popular Facing the Giants, Alex and Stephen Kendrick have made another sweet, effective movie in Fireproof.

The Sherwood formula is this... pray, write, get volunteers and do the best you can with what the Lord has provided you. Every film for them is a testament to their faith.

In Fireproof, Kirk Cameron volunteered his efforts as the lead character, fire chief Caleb Holt, who finds himself in a disintegrating marriage with his wife, Catherine, played by Erin Bethea. With prayers and support from his father, Caleb engages in the 40 day Love Dare to try to repair his damaged relationship and save his marriage.

The pros and cons of Fireproof are the same as all of the other Sherwood Baptist efforts. The message is wonderful, the production earnest and the effect, overwhelmingly positive in spite of inconsistent acting performances.

The most frustrating aspect of watching new talent on screen is the inconsistency of their performances. Like in The Genius Club, the new actors can hit an emotional moment one scene and not hit a similar pinnacle the next. Unfortunately, each one of these misses pulls you from the total impact the film could have on you.

Thankfully, Cameron is able to nail his performance as Holt. This is the first Sherwood Pictures film that writer/director Alex Kendrick has not also donned the role of lead actor. Kendrick, who is so wonderfully sincere in his performances in Flywheel and Facing the Giants, stays behind the camera and gives the lead reigns to the capable Cameron.

The challenge going forward for Sherwood is that, with each success, the expectations rise. I think it would be wise for them to look to pay for quality actors in lead roles in the future as this would greatly improve the overall delivery of their divine messages.

But, who am I to criticize? Sherwood Pictures has proven nothing is impossible with the Lord. Their $25,000 Flywheel, intended to be a film for church members only, has become a critical and financial success. Facing the Giants, made for $100,000 has already taken in over $10 million and Fireproof, costing $500,000 has almost $35 million in box office revenue.

Their formula works.

My personal preference is that they would remake Flywheel. The script is magical and, with a little bit of funding, could be their best, most complete film yet. The current low-budget version works in spite of serious production issues that come with such a small budget. I'd love to see $500,000 thrown at that script.

In any event, if you liked Sherwood Pictures previous efforts, you'll get more of the same with Fireproof. And that's a good thing!

These guys have tapped into something special and uniquely their own. The ripple effect of their work with audiences and fellow filmmakers will be felt for decades to come.

Very Funny Christian Mockumentary

Over at Christianity Today I came across an article about an upcoming release of a mockumentary called Jesus People. It's made by evangelical Christians working in Hollywood making fun of themselves. You'll recognize a lot of the people. The story is about four people who start a kids dance Christian band. A Christian Spinal Tap so to speak.

The project first started out as a web series and apparently will be turned into a feature film. The web series is so very funny.

Please check it out. It's funny, funny stuff.

Below is Episode 1.

God Dreams Big

One of the things I think we most struggle with is trusting in God with those areas of our life that matter the most. A job interview, a relationship or our personal aspirations are just a few examples. We just can't seem to let go of our Free Will when it comes to the most important things in our lives. We think we have the perfect answer, the best solution, the most prepared outcome.

And we are wrong. For example...

My son has been involved in baseball since he was under two years of age. He's a gifted kid. He's an exceptional baseball player.

He would sit in my lap as a toddler and watch a three hour baseball game without fidgeting. He would ask questions about the rules and about the players. When teams scored runs I used that to help him learn how to add and we used the names of the teams to help him learn how to read.

He taught himself the basics of throwing and taught himself how to switch hit. He's turned into quite the ball player. He's been blessed to have had a great amount of success on the baseball diamond. Last year he once struck out 15 of 18 batters as a pitcher. He's been on three all-star teams and almost won a championship.

This year, between Little League Fall Ball and Spring Ball, a couple of coaches got together and formed a travel team which would play in tournaments against other advanced players. This is not Little League. This is much more difficult. The fields are bigger, all of the rules in baseball are in play (lead offs, steals, pitching from the stretch, etc.) and the competition is much harder.

My son, like the rest of the team, struggled in the beginning. The pitchers threw harder and threw curve balls. The bases were farther apart and the throws harder to make. As a pitcher there was so much more to think about... it was real baseball and it was tough.

After a few months my son's pitching adapted, but he struggled a lot at the plate.

My son's biggest problem is fear. When hitting he has always struggled with remaining relaxed and focused. He puts the pressure of the current situation and his past failings on his shoulders before ever stepping into the batters box. A recipe for failure.

But why does he struggle? Because in the batters box he's reacting, not dictating. He's having to adjust quickly instead of following his plan.

He's not in control.

Over the course of the season he's moved lower and lower in the batting order as his performance at the plate continued to slide. During a double-header last Saturday he continued to struggle, going only 1 - 4 on a misplayed fly ball. None of his hits were solid.

He had no confidence and we were running out of ways to approach correcting it.

After the second game was over we headed over to the Little League fields for our Little League team practice. For this last weekend, our travel team and our Little League schedules overlapped. Yes, my son was completely exhausted, but I told him he needed to be a leader on our team and show the new Little League players about commitment. He showed up and worked as hard as he could.

As we approached the end of practice each of the kids took some swings at the plate. A tired Gabe surprised us all by smacking the ball around the field from both sides of the plate with amazing consistency and power. At one point he almost hit a home run.

On the drive home I asked him what the difference was between our morning double-header and our Little League practice. He said at practice he was so tired he couldn't think. He just hit.

That inspired me. And we came up with a new plan.

I told him that he needs to offer his at-bats up to God. He has to let the Lord's will be done instead of trying to succeed on his own. He needed to let the Lord guide him. I told him to rely on the gifts God had given him and let his faith replace his fear.

Sunday morning the travel team started playing in the finals of the tourney. Two wins and our team would win the championship for our level.

The first at-bat, my son hit the ball really hard, but directly to the third baseman and was thrown out at first base. I was happy, though. It was the best contact he had made in months. Afterwards he smiled from the dugout and gave me a thumbs up.

His second at-bat he stepped into the batters box with men on second and third. The pressure was on.

In one of Saturday's games he had stepped up to the plate with bases loaded and struck out. I was afraid he would take the pressure of that and previous other failures and allow it to overwhelm him again.

Fortunately, God had bigger plans.

Before entering the batters box I could see him close his eyes and take a deep breath. He relaxed and focused on the pitcher. A few moments later the pitcher threw an inside fastball and my son quickly swung. The ball exploded off the bat. All of the parents in the stands reacted with immediate hoops and hollers. The left fielder quickly turned and chased after the ball as it hit the ground and bounced against the fence. Two runs scored and Gabe raced into third base for a triple.

The third base coach patted him on the helmet and my son's face beamed with a smile that spread from ear-to-ear. In between innings he motioned for me to come over to the dugout. He said "I was so relaxed! I just asked the Lord to let his Will be done and just focused on the ball!"

And focus he did.

In those two games on Sunday my son batted 4 - 6 with two triples, a double and a single with three RBIs. And, best of all, his travel team won the championship.

In God's usual sense of humor, I didn't get a chance to video tape any of the hits. I had to keep the scorebook instead. After video taping four months of failures I couldn't capture his success on video. God can be funny that way.

After the game the team headed up to a local restaurant to celebrate. We were all so proud of our players for their efforts and improvements. The manager of the team thought that my son, for his age and weight, could not have hit that ball to left field any farther.

I knew that we were playing on very large fields... fields substantially larger than our Little League fields. I asked them how far they thought he hit the ball. They guessed at somewhere between 250 - 275 feet. To put that in perspective, our Little League fields are 200 ft.

He had hit a monster shot.

On the drive home my son and I discussed the day. He talked about praying, relying on the Lord's Will and trusting in him.

I asked my son, "what did you hope would have been the best thing you could have done today in the batters box?" He thought about it for a minute and replied, "One really good hit. That's all. A single. Just not striking out." "Me too," I agreed.

I smiled and realized that if we had relied on the narrow focus of our Will, the most we had hoped for was a single. When we put our goals in God's hands, with his Will, my son was able to achieve things far greater than we could have imagined.

It was a good lesson for my son. A reaffirmation of his faith.

God's dreams for us will take us places far more gratifying and rewarding than anything we could ever imagine on our own.

And that's a good lesson for us all.

Five Years Ago... The Box Premieres

Five years ago this week we held the premiere of our DV feature The Box at the Clearwater Cinema Cafe. The place was packed and my nerves were frayed. From shooting to editing and re-editing I had seen the end product over 100 times... but this was the first time so many people, important people in my life, were going to partake of our little cinematic experiment.

I could scarcely watch.

It was a big event for me. I had finally completed a feature film... something I had set as a goal a decade earlier. The film definitely has the scars of being an ultra low-budget flick, but it was competent and entertaining, within its own limitations. It got very positive reviews, festival play and allowed me to feel like I was finally achieving dreams I had imagined as a child.

It took a lot of people to make The Box a reality. First, I was very fortunate to have Kyme help out as Producer and single-handedly will the project to completion. She had more contacts in more places than anyone I've ever known. She was indispensable.

One of the best parts of the experience was getting to work with a the very talented cast. Samantha Grahn (Lou), John Hill (JJ), Mike Rembis (Steve) and Dan Doyle (Dante). Plus, I got to work with Brian Shea and John Snell for the first time, both of whom ended up in Club God.

I also believe it was this film that sparked the acting bug in my daughter, who has since starred in Purgatory, USA and is attending a performing arts high school. She will be far more talented than I could ever conceive being. She is a natural. I am so proud of her work.

The premiere was also the event that started the Tompkin brothers quoting lines from the film back to me every time I see them. Over and over and over again. Even to this day they greet me with the line "every drop." Funny how something conjured up in my head over a year before the premiere would make such an impact and last to this day.

I can hardly believe five years has passed already. Part of me thinks that I should have accomplished more by now and the other part of me is amazed we've been able to create Sonlight Pictures and complete Club God and Purgatory, USA within the first year of existence.

The premiere night of The Box was a special night for so many professional and personal reasons. The best of which is that I got to spend that night with my family... brothers, sisters, wife, children and my parents. There is nothing more important to me than my family.

So many things have changed since then. All for the better.

I can't imagine what the next five years will bring.

Does Obama Realize He's President?

Obama knows he won the Presidential Election. He even said so last week. "I won."

He knows he took the oath of office... twice (because they misspoke the first time).

He knows he's moved into a nice, spiffy new house painted white.

But, does he realize that he's no longer on the campaign trail and that he's actually President of the United States?

I don't think so.

Obama's reaction to the aversion of his vision of a stimulus/socialist package is a prime example of someone who doesn't know what it means to be President.

A President does not consider inviting opposing party members to a meeting equates to bipartisan support. As one Fox News analyst put it, since all of the House Republicans and 11 Democrats voted in opposition to the proposal, the only thing bipartisan is a vote AGAINST the stimulus package.

A President does not publicly call out a citizen of the country (Rush Limbaugh) and vocal critic and tell all Republicans to stop listening to him. He should be above that. He's actually intimidated by Rush Limbaugh? The President is intimidated by a talk show host? Really??? Apparently so, because now the Dems want to push the Fairness Doctrine... I'll get into that in a later entry.

A President isn't supposed to tell the American people that if you don't do what he wants it may cause us to fall into a hole we can never pull ourselves out from. How egocentric!

Look man, you're supposed to first voice your vision, then engage in a little politics, gather support from the people and then make your case.We elected you, Hussein, you should know we're willing to listen to your ideas.

But if they stink, we'll tell you it reeks. That's called Freedom of Speech. You can look it up!

Obama's reaction since ascending to the pinnacle of his very short-lived political career smacks of one thing... arrogance.

Let me give you a word of advice from one of these citizens of which you are to represent... humble yourself. You're not the smartest man on the planet. Or the country. Or in my own circle of friends.

You have a VERY important job that takes many great ideas, not just the ones you sketched out on a cafe napkin while on the campaign trail. There are a LOT of great ideas in this country that are founded on the basic freedoms of this country, including the free market.

Obama's arrogance assumes that we will do what he says and that he has the right to control what we do.

Here's a bulletin for you, Mr. President... YOU WORK FOR ME!

I, along with 300 million average citizens out here, have some ideas about your mighty government. Most of us think it's bloated, self-important, vacuous of truly new ideas and NOT representing the people of this nation. Making that pile of stench in Washington, DC even larger is not a solution!

The fact that you said that the government is the only way we can get out of this scares me a bit. When has the government (other than nation defense and infrastructure) actually solved ANYthing????

Look, Mr. O, I hope you succeed. I really do! You're my President!

But for God's sake, can you start acting like one? It's embarrassing.

America the Lost

There was a time in our country, about two generations ago, where there was a universal understanding that it was our responsibility to sacrifice, if necessary, so that the next generation would have a better life than our own.

For years I've been bemoaning on this blog about the increasing lack of understanding for the need of sacrifice. We've lost that. We've moved from "short term pain for long term gain" to a sense of entitlement.

We have lost our soul as a country. We have lost our identity.

Once, we were the hardest workers. The smartest minds. The land of great and real opportunity. The place where we were promised life, liberty and the PURSUIT of happiness.

We have now turned into the land of outsources workers, imported minds and a land of growing and expected entitlement. We have twisted the pursuit of happiness into a guaranteed, albeit lower, quality of life.

Worst of all, we, for the first time, have turned into a country where we are willing to sacrifice the quality of the future generations for the comforts of our own.

Case and point, the ominous "stimulus package."

First, you could easily argue that it's 1% stimulus and 99% other government spending, but be that as it may, the reality is this. To spend $900 billion, we have to do two things... we need to print more money and we need people to loan us the money.

Problem 1: The primary countries providing our loans are China and Russia.

Read that again. China and Russia.

China, the communist country which has mandated a family has one child and has one of the worst human rights records in the world. Russia, which is quickly returning to its Stalinist past with fewer freedoms and growing governmental control over their people. They are not democracies. They do not share our values. For the past century they have been our enemies.

Now, however, thanks to our own selfishness, these two countries, figuratively and literally, OWN US!

Problem 2: In these rough economic times, if China and Russia stop buying our money, then we'll have to borrow against ourselves. Which will raise inflation and/or interest rates. Which means, in very quick order a $900 billion debt turns into a $2 trillion debt.

We are basically taking out a massive national loan with a variable interest rate. That's the SAME approach that got us in the economic mess IN THE FIRST PLACE!

Sadly, these two problems are not the biggest issue at hand. No, the worst of it is this... we have become so selfish, so adverse to sacrifice, that we are willing to borrow our children, grand children and great-grand children's future. We are willing take out of their mouths, their wallets, and their quality of life to prop up our own padded lifestyle.

America the Great is quickly turning into America the Lost.

What will America look like when Russia and China demand we pay them back? What influence will that afford them in our policies, in our trade agreements, in our ability to defend ourselves?

What will America look like when our government is unable to provide quality anything to our great grandchildren because they're still paying down the debt we gave them so we could keep our two cars, our large homes, our 400 channels of cable, our broadband internet, our meals out, etc.?

Fortunately, I will not be around to see it.

When America falls or is morphed into something unrecognizable, it will not be by some great military attack. Instead, like the Grand Canyon, it will be because of the slow and steady erosion of morals and principles to the bedrock of this nation.

America will die from within because our generation, soon to be known as the Selfish Generation, was the first to think of themselves before their children.

PUSA - Ep 5 Almost Done

After a break recovering from burnout, we're back into finishing up PUSA Episode 5. We've added some screenshots over at the Sonlight Pictures Blog.

Old Pics

Thanks to Lise Staley, one of my many relatives, she posted some pics from my grandparents 50th Wedding Anniversary from back in 1971.

You can see all of the pics here, but here are some of the highlights...


It's nice to have a few more pics of me from my childhood... there are so few.

Thanks Lise!

An Inconvenient Debt

This is a little disturbing.

The Commercial NBC Doesn't Want You To See

NBC would not allow this following pro-life commercial made by CatholicVote.com to be seen during the Superbowl. It's not offensive, it's uplifting.

Oh, wait, it's pro-life.

What has this country come to when something promoting life becomes a bad thing? The world is officially upside down.

Here's the commercial. Check it out.

SISS Vol 3 Available

For those collectors of all books rare, pick up your limited copy of Surviving in Safety Harbor, Volume 3 which covers from June to December of 2006.

Mom, I'll have your copy when you return on Monday.

I Thought We Were Passed This...

No matter what your political affiliation, the election of Barack Obama was a massively historic event. It showed the racial maturity of our nation.

A nation that had once enslaved blacks and denied them their constitutional rights for 100 years has, within just over 40 years of Martin Luther King, Jr., elected a black man as President of the United States.

And it's about time.

Perhaps such an event would allow the long term racial healing process to come to a conclusion. Perhaps we could now move beyond race as a divider and, instead, look at it as secondary to our role as common citizens of this wonderful country.

Such a wonderful opportunity for healing, for unity, for growth as a country.

Then why o' why would Obama's economic adviser Robert Reich state that funds of the government should exclude "white construction workers?"

Why make such a statement? Why bring race back into the conversation?

Why????

Aren't white construction workers taxpayers? Aren't they ponying up their portion of the Democratic socialist "stimulus" package?

Are you saying, Mr. Reich, that some American taxpayers are unworthy of government assistance purely because of their race?

Really?

And you work for who?

Reverse discrimination is still discrimination. Reverse disenfranchismentment is still disenfranchisement. Reverse bigotry is still bigotry. Reverse racism is still racism.

Perhaps our nation hasn't matured, but simply changed the direction of its ignorance.

The Power of Editing

A recent scientific study has proven that artful film editing can have a potent effect on your brain. In a study by NYU neuroscientists, they studied the effect of different editing styles on your brain through MRI, fMRI and ISC analysis.

The subjects were shown various editing styles (Hitchcock Presents Bang! You're Dead, The Good The Bad and the Ugly, Curb Your Enthusiasm and unstructured reality footage).

It turns out Hitchcock's cinematic editing style had, by far, the most impact on the brain, effecting 65% of the neocortex.

It just goes to show you that good editing really does work.

In reaction to the study, a filmmaker recut Toy Story 2 to match the Dark Knight editing style and made a brilliant alternate version of the Toy Story 2 film.

Check it out. Regular def below. High def here.

Faith as Culture

American Christians have gotten lazy. Lazy about their faith.

This country was founded on Judeo-Christian beliefs and generations of Christians have followed suit. The problem now is that we've allowed our faith to become our culture.

Why is this a problem?

Cultures change. Faith should not.

An American bishop recently said Catholics should stop treating their faith as a family tradition and, instead, treat it as a belief system. The same could be said for all of the other Christian denominations.

The cultural revolution in the 60's is a prime example of how quickly our societal beliefs can change. The sexual revolution has led to a dramatic increase in unwanted pregnancies, divorce, single parenthood, broken homes, birth control, sexually transmitted diseases and a massive influx of fatherless prisoners in our penal system.

Our faith's beliefs should remain solid, etched in hard stone, immovable, at the core of our very being.

When we allow Christianity to become our culture, it is up for grabs, to be pulled and pushed and swayed and redefined by whoever is in power.

Our faith should remain founded on eternal truths defined by the Creator that never change, no matter the political party, the economic situation or whatever perverse cravings whet the appetites of the day.

We need to reclaim Christianity as our faith and leave the cultural changes where they belong, in the public square and out of our churches.

I'm tired...

I'm tired of arrogance fueled by ignorance.

I'm tired of self-righteousness stoked by insecurity.

I'm tired of the self-serving masquerading as the self-less.

I'm tired of the ill-informed demanding changes from the well-informed.

I'm tired of hypocrisy and stupidity and lunacy.

I'm tired... of being tired.

NCIS - Why am I so late to the party?

Having burned out on Law and Order, Law and Order: Special Victims Unit and Law and Order: Criminal Intent, I was looking for another quality show to watch during our family Prime Time... which is after dinner, but before any serious movie watching would occur or computer editing would start up.

When USA Network started showing NCIS, I decided to take a gander. Now, I'm totally hooked. I'm a NCIS groupie.

Donald P. Bellisario, the creator of Magnum PI, Quantum Leap and JAG, has made another excellent series in NCIS.

NCIS, now in its sixth season, follows a team of investigators from the Naval Criminal Investigation Service. They are led by the hard nosed Gibbs (Mark Harmon), an ex-marine who pushes his team hard. The members of his team include an ex-mossad agent, Ziva (Cote de Pablo), a charming womanizer (Michael Weatherly) and a computer geek (Sean Murray). Assisting them is the a forensics expert Abby (Pauley Perrette) and a coroner Ducky (David McCullum).

The show has really come into its own with a quick pace, interweaving plot lines, is exceptionally written and well performed. One of the things that they do so well in the show is to take a few moments in each episode to expand the personalities of the characters, giving them dimension and realism.

I've realized with NCIS, and also Firefly, that a sure fire sign that you're watching excellent writing is when you would love to spend time with the characters in real life. Both Firefly and NCIS create a wonderful sense of team using such divergent, yet complimenting characters that, after spending some time with them as a viewer, you feel like you are also part of the team.

I once read that 80% of directing is casting the right people and the NCIS cast is right on the money. Each of the actors is truly wonderful as their respective personalities in the team dynamic. I don't know how they really work on the set, but it looks like the cast and crew are having a lot of fun.

Now, I've added all of the previous NCIS episodes on my Netflix queue so we can start from the beginning and catch up.

If you're looking for a can't miss show, check out NCIS. After a few episodes, you'll be hooked too!

A Visit with an Angel

One of the things I loved most about acting was the feeling that I was tangibly using my faith to touch people. Before every performance I would pray that my work would somehow enlighten the Holy Spirit in each audience member and, through that light, they would see the path they need to take to spend eternity in God's presence.

That was my standard, heartfelt prayer before every performance.

When I moved from on stage to behind the camera in television, I felt a sense of loss from not saying that prayer, of slowly losing the ability to put God in my work. However, the creative aspects of the industry kept me distracted.

Only after I left television and was stuck doing monotonous office work in the "real" world did the loss of converting my faith into daily action become substantial... almost painful. I missed living that daily prayer through my performances.

I felt lost.

I was struggling on how to take managing second level technical support on the phone and converting that into something as real as my acting performances.

This loss made me question how the Lord could take me from the passion of acting... a passion that he had instilled in my very bones... and place me into a mind-numbing office job?

How can helping people connect to the internet equate to the satisfaction that comes from giving an audience your best performance? How can assisting the same people who consistently mess up their internet connection compete with the energy you get from an audience during a performance?

But, most importantly, how can helping people troubleshoot their computers be an expression of faith? The arts, by their very nature, are intended to touch people, reach them in areas of their hearts and psyche that they rarely explore. How can punching a time clock even come close to that?

This loss, this realization was quite depressing.

At the time I was working the second shift (4 p.m. - 1 a.m.). The team covering second shift was small and scattered through the large and mostly empty building. The phone calls were intermittent and I had a lot of time to think... to wonder and to bemoan my current existence.

My indulgence in self pity was distracted every night by one of the two janitors that would come by and empty the garbage. I always made a point to say "hi" and to thank them for doing their job. Their work, I figured, was just as valuable as mine in the grand scheme of things... more so, actually.

One night the struggle of not knowing how to convert my faith into a tangible display through my work was weighing heavily upon me.

I felt rudderless, adrift.

I felt like I was being punished or, worse, spiritually forgotten.

Suddenly, my trance was broken by the enthusiastic humming of a janitor as he approached my cube. I had never seen this janitor before. He was a small, thick black man, constantly bent over as if suffering from back problems. He had what appeared to be a worn appearance that comes from a long life of manual labor. He had wide spaces in his uneven teeth, but they did not impede his infectious smile. He had a simple inner joy, vibrant almost, that seemed to radiate from him as he hummed and bobbed his head to his own internal rhythm while moving from one cube to the next. As he approached my cube I held out my garbage can, as I always did, and handed it to him.

I offered a sincere "thank you."

He stopped his humming, looked up to me with his joy filled eyes and said "I'm just praising the Lord with my work!" He smiled, handed me the garbage can and continued down the aisle.

The answer seemed odd at the time, but stuck with me all night. A call came in and, while on the phone, his humming faded. When I was done with the call I looked around, but he was gone. The next day I was looked for him again, but he didn't show. When one of the regular janitors made the rounds I asked if the humming janitor was working that night.

They didn't know who I was talking about.

As a matter of fact, no one knew who I was talking about. No one else remembered seeing him.

On the drive home that following night I realized that, if a simple janitor can find joy in the Lord by emptying garbage, then I too can use my job, any job, as an expression of my faith.

It was a lesson that has remained with me ever since.

It wasn't until a few years later, upon recalling this event to someone at church, that it occurred to me that my humming visitor that night was probably an angel brought to me to help me through a difficult spiritual time.

It was a visit I will never forget.

FOCA - Florida Senator Contact Info

Here's Mel Martinez's contact webpage:

http://martinez.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=ContactInformation.ContactForm

And Bill Nelson:

http://billnelson.senate.gov/contact/email.cfm

You can look up your House Representative by district with a little Googling.

Don't sit idle... be active, take action!

FOCA - My Letter to My Senators

Here's a letter I sent to my Senators regarding the Freedom of Choice Act (FOCA). Feel free to use any or all of it in your communications with your Senators and other Representatives.

****

Dear Senator,

I am writing you to urge you to vote AGAINST the Freedom of Choice Act (FOCA). For me FOCA has three important problems.

1) Our founding fathers stated clearly that we are guaranteed Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness. Notice that Life comes first and to make the destroying of Life a right is in direct conflict with the founding principles of this country.

2) FOCA strips away the state’s ability to govern itself. It silences and disenfranchises the unique democratic voices of the people in each state to determine how they want their local and state governments to approach such a sensitive issue.

3) Most importantly, enacting the FOCA will leave the Catholic Church with no choice but to close ALL of its Hospitals nationwide, as providing abortions is in direct conflict with its moral teachings.

Besides the catastrophic economic impact such closures would obviously create, there is a more important concern you should consider.

In a time where health care of your constituents is so problematic, are you willing to vote for FOCA at the expense of the health and well-being of your own people? Could a vote for FOCA be in the best interest of your people knowing that such a vote would eliminate multiple, critical non-abortion health care options made available at Catholic hospitals in your state?

Polls show your people, the people who put you into office, do not subscribe to the wide reaching and relatively unfettered abortion that FOCA would federally mandate.

Voting for FOCA is not only in direct opposition to the will of your constituents, but in direct opposition to their well being and critical health care options.

Please reply to my request with the statement that you will vote AGAINST FOCA.

Thank you for your service and for your time on this matter.

Sincerely,

Pete Bauer

****

Don't know if it will make a difference, but I have to try.

Overcome (2007)

Part of the role as owner of Sonlight Pictures is to watch the competition and gauge the current state of production in Christian films. This means I watch a LOT of Christian movies... as many as I can get my hands on. Unfortunately, most of the films have been lacking in some key areas. Even though I look forward to watching Christian films, it is often prefaced with a tangible sense of apprehension.

My daughter, who considers herself the unofficial co-owner of Sonlight Pictures, watches these films with me. When I told her we were going to watch a film called Overcome about Christian teenagers, her initial, unsolicited response was a worried groan.

Having watched so many bad films with her, I knew where she was coming from. However, it's part of the job.

As with any film, the first 10 minutes are critical and at 30 minutes, something interesting should propel me into watching the rest of the story. With this in mind, we give each film at least 1/2 hour before we decide whether or not we will continue.

So, we plopped in a film called Overcome which is directed by B. J. Alexander and created by a production company called WisenQuest. The story based loosely on the conversion of Paul.

In Overcome, Aaron U. Brown plays the rebellious Colton... one of the popular, yet mean kids at the local high school. He often crosses paths with an up and coming school tennis star named Sara, played by Jaycee Lynn. After a near tragic car accident, Colton is left re-evaluating his life and begins an uphill battle for forgiveness and redemption.

The film is well done. The acting from the leads is very solid, especially Jaycee Lynn. Some of the secondary characters are weak, but not enough to distract from the overall charm of the film.

The film crew had access to a lot of great locations, including a high school, a hospital, tennis courts, ambulances and numerous other locations. This really added to the realism and scope of the project.

As far as Christian films go, this is definitely a notch above. Overcome is worthy checking out.

I look forward to future films by these talented filmmakers.

The First Annual Charlie Bauer Memorial New Years Day Sag Nads Competition

Last year, after my father passed away, Brian and Katie pulled out their Georgia Bulldog version of lawn golf, also affectionately known as Sag Nads. Our game last year in North Carolina was a welcomed diversion from the sadness and stress we had been dealing with up to that point.

We laughed quite a bit as we came up with terms for various Sag Nad scores, such as the Young Lad, the Old Man, the Louganis, the Eunuch, the Monastery, the Turkish Prison, the Bath House and the Woody Woodpecker.


About a week before this year's Christmas we were surprised to find in the mail the delivery of our very own Sag Nad game set, courtesy of Brian and Katie.

After Christmas they came down for a visit and we decided to institute an Annual Sag Nads competition to be held on New Years Day in honor of my father... trust me, if you knew my father, he'd love the gesture.


The competition was hot and heavy for a while. Gabe started out strong, but Brian, overcoming the distraction of the Georgia Bulldog bowl game, made it close.


However, the official winner of the first annual event was Gabe Bauer, with a 4-1 record.

The Winner!

Congrats Gabe! May your Nads be forever wrapped around a bar for the winning score!

SISS Vol 2 Available

For those of you who are gluttons for the ultimate punishment, Surviving in Safety Harbor Volume 2 which covers Jan - May 2006 is now available at Cafe Press.


Check it out if you're completely insane.

Siblings and Spouses and Mom

As you get older you really learn to appreciate the value of time. It is so precious... probably the most valuable thing you have.

Over the years the Bauer clan has exploded exponentially. My brothers and sisters all had children and now their children are having children... the family dynamic went from being large, but manageable to outright genetic mayhem in a few short years.

Because of our increasing and deepening gene pool, the time with the immediate family has become more rare with each passing year. So, this holiday we decided to do something a little different. Dea and I invited all of the available Bauer siblings and their spouses to the house just to sit around and enjoy each others company. No kids, nieces, nephews, grand kids... just immediate family and spouses... oh, and Mom.

One of the greatest blessings bestowed on our family is the true joy we feel when we are together. I believe this stems directly from the infusion of the Holy Spirit into our family through the faith of my parents. There have been numerous times in my life where people, upon spending some quality time with my family, have commented to me just how special our relationships are with each other.

Before I just thought it was my family being my family. Now I realize it is a gift.

So, one by one, siblings and spouses (and Mom) arrived at the house, all bringing a few dishes to share. Unfortunately, Mary and Paul were not in town for Christmas, so they were unable to attend.

After everyone arrived, snacked a bit and indulged with some Johnston family wine, we all sat in an oval in our living room and just started chatting. Before long the laughter was loud and intense. I hadn't laughed that hard in a very long time. We talked about funny family stories, observations about life, the problems in the world, the challenges to our faith and how those challenges are reflected in our daily lives.

The entire event last about four hours and time just sped right by. It was so much fun! Words can scarcely express how wonderful that day was for me, together with my family.

We're all getting older... times like this will grow fewer and far between. The passing of my father last year is the first of an inevitable process of family decline. The more likely scenario is that such gatherings in the future will revolve around funerals.

However, for a single afternoon in Safety Harbor, we were able to fill our hearts with laughter and express our love through familial bonds. We were simply our family being a family.

It was a very special day to me... one that I will cherish for a very long time.

Conquering Fears

God sure has a lot of faith in my wife.

After the New Years haze of 2008 was over, my wife said to me and my daughter "I feel like the Lord is going to test me this year."

Boy was she right!

2008 was a tough one on the Mrs. Over the past 12 months the Lord has been doing some heavy work on my wife, forcing her to face fears, overcome lifelong challenges, accept things she doesn't want to accept and improve upon things she doesn't want to improve.

Case and point #1

Sonlight Pictures.

My wife is great with money. Great with it. She can convince a penny to live the life of a quarter. She's amazing.

When I felt called to start Sonlight Pictures, my wife was not really a happy camper. She knew that would put a financial strain on us. But, she faced her fears, put her stock in faith and by May of 08 we officially created Sonlight Pictures, LLC. With Club God and Purgatory, USA in the can, we can look back and see the leap of faith was worth the jump. But, it was not an easy decision to make.

Case and point #2.

Lifeteen Angst.

My wife had been struggling with her responsibilities with the Lifeteen Band. She had faced a few challenges that had effected her confidence within herself and, when performing, confidence is one of the most important tools in your toolbox. Without it, things can get rough in a hurry.

My wife was so upset about it all that she had even considered leaving the band. After an important and Holy Spirit inspired conversation with the band leader, Dea decided to stay with the band, but hoped to overcome these challeges slowly, over time.

The Lord, however, had different plans.

The Sunday after Christmas, about half the band was going to be unavailable. The band leader was going to be in Georgia with her family. Another singer, an avid Oakland Raider fan, was going to be at the Bucs/Oakland game. A few musicians were unavailable too.

The end result was that a 10 person band with five singers was supposed to be a six member band with three singers.

Then Dea found out the drummer/singer was in a minor motorcycle accident and wouldn't be able to go... so the remaining singer was going to have to play the drums. That left Dea all by herself, singing alone.

Yeah, when the Lord wants you to overcome something, He really makes you face it whether you like it or not.

So, we prayed and, as it turned out, things went very well. An ex-bandmate who was in town from college offered to sing with her and the replacement drummer was able to sing and play drums at the same time.

Still, Dea was forced to face her confidence issues head on and she did so with flying colors.

This is just one example of how the Lord has pushed Dea toward self evaluation and self improvement. It has not been a subtle experience, nor a pleasant one at times, but I'm certain it is necessary.

As I've said to my wife, this process is actually very exciting because the Lord must be demanding these changes because He has something very special in store for her.

I can't wait to see what the Big Guy has planned for my beloved.

Keep her in your prayers. The Lord may have even greater challenges in store for 2009.

Holiday Updates Soon...

Now that the busy holiday season is over, in the upcoming days I'll be posting some of my favorite times that occurred during the past few weeks.

So, keep checking back.

Merry Christmas!

I just wanted to wish everyone a wonderful and blessed Christmas.

A year ago today I was with my mother hours before my father was to pass on his favorite holiday. Tonight we will honor his memory by following his Christmas Eve traditions at our house within our small family.

I love you Dad! I hope you, Joe, Leo, Father Paul and Father Jerry are on the fairway between clouds eight and nine. I hope you look down with an occasional smile at the family you have lead with the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Merry Christmas to my entire family, both here and in Heaven!

The Genius Club (2006)

Seven geniuses must solve the world's problems in one night or Washington, DC goes up in a nuclear plume.

That's a great premise and is the basis for the film The Genius Club. The execution of that premise, however, does not reach the potential of the idea.

One thing I've noticed lately, especially in low-budget flicks, is that if you're going to shoot police procedures, you'd better get it right. With such great shows like Law & Order and NCIS and various other movies, efficient and believable police procedural processes have been drilled into out collective consciousness over the years.

There are a couple of times where The Genius Club ran into believability issues on how the police and/or secret service handled the task at hand. Sometimes it wasn't the writing, but the acting or the budget limitations that undermined the action. Either way, it showed me just how important accurate and believable police work is in a film, especially since it's become second nature to all of us.

The cast includes a lot of talented actors (Stephen Baldwin, Jack Scalia, Tom Sizemore and Tricia Helfer) who did quite well with their roles, especially Helfer. Helfer, better known as the main, sexy cylon on Battlestar Galactica, is exceptional as a genius dying from cancer. Her performance is real and heartfelt.

The lesser known performers in the story, however, are hit and miss, often missing at critical emotional times.

The biggest issue with The Genius Club is that the answers given to the questions are not very enlightening. I could have come up with most of them and, as my family can attest, I am no genius! With such a premise, I really expected to be blown away.

The film, distributed by Cloud Ten Pictures (which made the Left Behind films), is being marketed as a Christian film, but in reality it barely touches on the existence of God or Jesus. It does some very nice work on the value of forgiveness, but this film is barely a true Christian film... at least in my interpretation of what a Christian film should be (and I'll be the first to admit that it is a completely subjective interpretation).

Finally, I didn't feel that the production value matched its budget. It was obviously shot on video, which isn't the issue, but the lighting was dark and muddy. The audio, at times, was distorted, especially when characters were yelling. So, there were some basic production issues that I think would not normally arise on a film with a reported two million dollar budget.

The film kept my attention and, in many ways, worked. But for the Christian film fan, you may not find this Christian enough. And for the secular film fan, there may be too many production issues to keep you from enjoying the film.