Purgatory, USA - Episode 3 Screen Shots

Many thanks to St. Patrick's Catholic Church for allowing us to shoot there the last two days. We were able to finish up Episode 3 today, which deals with trust.

Karen and Brian join the cast.

Babs and Nikki have a plan.

An odd location for redemption.

If all goes as planned, we'll complete Episode 2 tomorrow.

Purgatory, USA - More Episode 4 Screen Shots

We wrapped Episode 4 today. Here are a few pics. A few more are over at Sonlight Pics blog.




Tomorrow we finish Episode 3.

Purgatory, USA - Episode 4 Screen Shots

Here are some screen shots from today's long shoot day... of course, more at Sonlight Pictures Blog.

Nikki and Babs share a surprise.

Father John (yup, me) and Jean (Cathy Ross)

Nikki listens to Babs

More tomorrow...

Purgatory, USA Screen Shots - Ep 2 & 3

I've posted over at the Sonlight Pictures Blog a whole bunch of screen shots from what we've shot so far for Episode 2, which deals with Idol Worship, and Episode 3, which deals with Trust.

Tiffany and DC have fun on the set.

Don and Gabe play actors waiting to audition.

DC as Nikki.

Tiffany as Babs.

Check 'em out and let me know what you think!

I'm Tired...

I'm plum tuckered out. Shooting Purgatory, USA is very exhausting. We shot 12 hours Saturday and another seven hours Sunday.

Ep 1 - 100% shooting complete
Ep 2 - 30% shooting complete (3 locations left)
Ep 3 - 60% complete (2 locations left)
Ep 4 - 0% complete (2 locations left)

It takes about four days to shoot each 10 minute episode. We'll be done with the home location by the end of this upcoming weekend. If I can find some important locations, we could be completed within two weeks.

And then I can sleep. Oh, and edit. And clean the audio. And add music. And edit the opening sequence. And shoot interviews. And add soundtracks. And post them on the web.

And then sleep.

Purgatory, USA - Shooting Continues

I just finished the rough cut edit for the first episode of Purgatory, USA. It's a really nice intro and I'm glad it is out of the way. The real comedy will come from future episodes where, now that the characters are established, they can just have fun and find themselves in humorous situations.

We've shot part of the second episode last week. This weekend we'll shoot a small section of episode two and the majority of episode three.

I'm so proud of DC and Tiffany. They are doing such a tremendous job. I can't wait to see what they are going to bring to the next shoot day.

Wish us luck! And keep us in your prayers. We need it!

More Poetry Wives Really Want to Hear...

Here's more poetry wives really want to hear...

Now I Know Better
By Pete Bauer

I used to be able to think
But now I know better

I used to be able to fold laundry
But now I know better

I used to have valid opinions about things
But now I know better

I used to be able to dress myself
But now I know better

I used to think "we should do this" meant more than just me
But now I know better

I used to know what looked good on my wife
But now I know better

I used to think I wasn't supposed to be psychic
But now I know better

I used to think my wife was occasionally wrong
But now I know better

I used to have goals and dreams and aspirations
But now I know better

I used to enjoy the little things in life
But now I know better

I used to avoid the sweet release of death
But now I know better

My wife tells me I've never been happier
Because now I know better

Poetry Wives Really Want to Hear...

A co-worker and I were discussing dating history and such and the idea of poetry came up. After some joking back and forth we thought how funny it would be to create poetry real wives would rather hear than mushy crap that doesn't get anything done around the house.

In that spirit, here's the first poem lovingly titled:

My Underwear, Your Love
By Pete Bauer

You found me crumpled and damp and stuffed behind the bathroom door
You washed me, you folded me
And you put me back home.

You found me next to the couch, by the empty bowl of chips, on top of the TV remote
You washed me, you folded me
And you put me back home.

You found me on the tree limb in the front yard after a vomit-inducing bachelor party
You washed me, you folded me
And you put me back home.

Despite the many indignities you have suffered on my behalf
You have always found me, and loved me
And you put me back home.

That is, until my elastic band got washed too much and you threw me into a pile in the garage
Where you sprayed me and crumpled me
And I dusted your home.

Then I was forgotten and eaten by bugs and got holes and stained and was called a rag
And you examined me and folded me
And threw me from your home.

Even though I now sit under twelve metric tons of waste in the town landfill on the other side of town
I'll remember how you found me and loved me
When I called his dresser home

Purgatory, USA - Episode 1 Shoot Complete

We spent 12 straight hours Saturday finishing up Episode 1 of Purgatory, USA. It was a long, long day. We got a lot of good work done and the lead actors, DC and Tiffany, did a great job. Really professional attitude and approach.

DC and me on the set in between takes.

Tiffany listening to me right before a take.

DC as Nikki, looking cute.

Sunday we shot for six hours and completed three scenes from Episode 2. We have a lot more to shoot this upcoming weekend.

Here are a few pics and screenshots. You can see more at Sonlight Pictures Blog.

Real American Stories... Continues

I got an email from Brad, the producer at Fox News who spearheaded the entire Real American Stories promotion. He had sent Dea and I a DVD of our promos as a thank you. In his letter he was very funny, thanking me for "almost single-handedly getting me a promotion."

Ah, when America speaks, people listen :)

In subsequent communication he informed me that the Real American Stories promo was just being kicked off on the Fourth of July week, but it will continue on for many more months to come. Fox wants it to be a positive place for America to voice how proud they are to be an American. They want to keep it going as long as they can.

Brad wanted me to ask all of you to visit the site and submit your story to them via the Your Story link on the page. They really want feedback from everyone. So, stop by and check it out.

He also mentioned there was some talk about expanding the promotion into some sort of show and joked that perhaps he would bring a crew down to the Tampa Bay area and talk to us again.

Now wouldn't THAT be a trip.

Anyway, stop by the Real American Stories website and participate in the promotion. Who knows, maybe one day you too can speak for all America.

If so, my wife would be very grateful.

Fun at the Beach

I haven't taken my shirt off in public since 1995... the year I had my first intestinal surgery.

1) No one wants to see a foot long scar down my stomach. Ask my wife.
2) To quote my brother Paul, my German/Irish skin is now so white it reflects pure light.

I always tell people that, being both Irish and German means I like to get drunk and then try to take over the world. Okay, that's not true, I don't get drunk... the taking over the world part... well, I'm working on it.

So, to spare the world and especially my extended family the retinal damage that would be inflicted by appearing shirtless in any form of natural light, I stayed away from the beach when my wife and kids went out there to visit her sister's family. To be honest, I had to go to the office so it worked out best for everyone.

Gabe body surfing.

Little Noah at the beach.

Rachel, Sarah Jo and Gabe.

Kelsey and DC

I think the next time I get a tan will be when I own a private island and there are no satellites or air craft directly overhead that could be impacted from my ultra-bright skin tone reflection. Until then, you'll be stuck seeing pics of my family.

And you'll be grateful. Trust me.

Genetics - God's Sense of Humor

Why do I look more and more like my father every day? Because God has a sense of humor.

Why do my brothers and I laugh alike? Because God thinks its funny.

Being the last of eight kids, why do I always remind people of an older sibling and, thereby, have no identity of my own?

Because God knows gene pools do not have a deep ends.

And so it is. Besides marriage, I believe genetics give God a more consistent form of entertainment than anything else.

Case and point... the Koehlers.

If it weren't mean to be funny, why does my niece Kelsey look more like wife's daughter than our own daughter?

Three generations... Poppy,
Kelsey (Dawn's daughter) and Dea.

And why does my daughter look more like my sister-in-law Dawn's daughter than my daughter?

Dawn and our daughter, Dorothea.

And why does Dawn's three children look like they come from vastly different roots in the same family tree? Cause God's a kidder.

Dawn's husband, Patrick, and his
look-a-like daughter, Rachel.

Dawn's daughter Sarah Jo and
her look-a-like Grammie.

So the next time your belly looks like your parent's or your skin spots look like your grandparent's or you smile looks like the mailman, remember, it's genetics...

God's non-stop punchline.

Purgatory, USA Starts Shooting

We started shooting the first episode of Purgatory, USA this evening. Here are some screen captures from the opening scene.

DC starts off the series
by talking to the camera

Dea as Mickey

DC as Nicole

We'll post more over at the Sonlight Pictures Blog as the shooting continues.

My Son's Concerns

Since it's summer my son has been asking to stay up late each night. We've kinda settled at 12:30 a.m. as a good summer bed time.

The other night his best friend was spending the night. Gabe comes into the room and asks me what time he has to go to bed. I respond "Let's stick with the 12:30 mode." I thought for a moment and said "You know what? It's a sleep over. Let's make it 1:00 a.m."

Gabe looks at me with completely serious 11 year old eyes and says "But what about my increased risk of heart disease?"

WHAT????

I burst into laughter... so hard I was crying. Through my tears I asked, "what are you talking about?"

He said "I saw a news program and they said if you don't get enough sleep it can increase your risk of heart disease."

I said, "Gabe, you're eleven! Don't worry about it!"

We had a great, hearty laugh and he went on to enjoy his sleepover.

The funny things kids say!

How To Annoy Your Wife - Part 1

So, the whole Fox thing has been pretty interesting, weird and cool. And, in typical male fashion I have been able to parlay that experience into an opportunity to annoy my wife.

A little background first... whenever my birthday comes around my wife is very kind and offers me just about anything I want. She'll cook or get me a gift or whatever. She's very selfless.

It occurred to me a few years ago that such kindness should be extended... so I decided to lengthen my "special day" from a single birth day to what I liberally call "my birthday weekend." Depending on what day my birthday falls this "weekend" could be anywhere from three to five days! Going forward, whenever I would ask for something I would use my excessively humble-sounding voice and state my request as part of "my birthday weekend."

"Honey, can you hand me the remote on my birthday weekend?"

"Honey, can you play with my hair on my birthday weekend?

"Honey, I think you should vacuum my car on my birthday weekend."

This annoyed my wife to no end.

And that annoyance made me happy.

I don't know why. It must be genetic. For example, a few years ago my mother and father were at my brother Charles' house. As my parents were about to leave it started to rain slightly. My mother sprinted... okay, she was 80 kabillion years old then, so it wasn't so much a sprint as it was an effective "dash!" Anyway, she dashed to the car. My dad, cane in hand, looks to me under the dry porch roof and smiles saying "Watch this. I'm gonna drive your mother nuts."

And, in what was slow even for him, which was as close to being motionless and yet, scientifically, actually still include motion, my father walked toward the car in the rain. Step by slow, excruciating step.

After a minute, my Mom popped her dampening head out of the car and said "Chizzle! Hurry up!" My father responded with innocent tones with "Oh, I'm coming!" He turned back to me and winked.

At that moment I realized the sick, sad enjoyment I get from frustrating my wife was going to last until I too was 80 kabillion years old. It was inevitable.

Flash forward to this week. The whole Fox News Real American thing has been a trip and, funny enough, it turned out that I was on almost every single one of their promos! All but one, I think. So, realizing this was another annoyance opportunity I came into the living room to my wife and said "Seeing as I'm in almost every promo for Fox, representing real Americans, I think it's fair to say that I speak for all Americans."

She looked at me with a knowing, great suspicion.

"So..." I continued "America wants to know what's for dinner?"

She couldn't help but laugh... however she also knew that was only the first of 80 kabillion times she was going to hear from "America."

Last night, after three solid days of America wanting things, she was really, really annoyed. I said "America is not happy with your attitude. America thinks you should give your husband a kiss."

My wife responded "I wanna punch America in the face!"

And, like my father before me, I felt a small sense of glee inside.

Sick, probably. Sad, absolutely. Yes, it may be many things, but I can tell you this...

America thinks it's funny.

DV Cam Deconstruct

Growing up, my brother Paul was always the wiz kid, the smart one, the one who liked to learn about things by taking them apart. I always thought that was cool, to take something apart to see how it was put together.

So, when my nephew Stephen apparently pulled my DV Camera onto the kitchen floor and making it unable to function correctly, instead of bemoaning the replacement cost, I instead remembered my brother Paul's childhood excursions into taking things apart.

DC and I start the surgery.

Plus, there was a video tape in there from Gabe's All-Stars that I couldn't get out, since the camera would not eject the tape any longer.

DC went out to the garage and pulled out the smallest set of screw drivers she could find, handed down to us from my father-in-law, and started unscrewing the Sony DVCam one itty-bitty screw at a time.

The eventual goal of our dissection.

Do you know how many screws hold together a Sony DVCam? A billion.

Okay, a little under a billion. But, it's about a billion. If you don't believe me, take your own camera apart.

So close, yet so far.

After about 90 minutes of finding, dissecting, unscrewing, pulling apart and bending things that weren't meant to be bent, we finally dislodged the tape from it's once comfortable home.

All Star memories, safe at last.

DC and I learned a lot from the experience, about how the camera is put together, how many small computer components make up a video camera... oh, and how to count to a billion.

The smoldering remains.

Plus, using the leftovers from the flip-out LCD screen, DC made her own, unique, compact mirror using the reflective backside to the original screen.

DC's homemade compact mirror. For a movie
buff, it seems quiet appropriate.

She's so inventive.

Just like my brother Paul.

Our Day in the National Spotlight (Updated)

So, sleep didn't come easy last night. We were all kinda freaked about being on national television on Fox News. We knew our actual time would be short, but instead of comforting us, that made things a little more intense because you have no time to elaborate or to fix it if you misspoke.

Pressure.

So, we got up early and were expected to be picked up around 11:15 a.m. It was funny, because when Dea was on the phone talking with the Fox News producer, Michael, he asked if we wanted a car to pick us up. Dea's response, "Gas at $4 a gallon? You bet!"

We got a call around ten a.m. from Michael telling us that we were being pushed back to 2:40 p.m. and that the driver would pick us up around 1:00 p.m. He would drive us to WEDU in Tampa where we would do our interview remotely.

We also found out, at that time, that they wanted the kids on the show too. So, we prepped them about what to expect and to keep their answers short and positive.

On our way to WEDU.

The driver arrived, a very nice man who also plays the bass for the Florida Symphony, and we headed over to WEDU. After arriving we all had our turn in the make-up chair and we were told we were moving up from 2:40 to 2:20.

Dea looking pretty.

The room got really quiet. We all silently entered freaked out mode. All moisture from my mouth evaporated in an instant and all coherent thoughts dissipated into the ether.

DC getting some make-up applied.

We were rushed into the studio and put into our seats. We were given an ear plug to hear the hosts from Fox and lav mics attached to our shirts. And we waited.

The time was 2:10 and were to be on in ten minutes. We all said a quick prayer, asking the Lord to keep us calm and that we would make Him proud. And we waited.

Gabe and I await our turn
to get made all pretty.

Over our head phones we could hear the broadcast up in New York. The show, Live Desk, is a "breaking news" show, very informal and as action packed as a news show can get. So, while we're waiting there, praying that we weren't going to spontaneously combust on national television and become a you tube viral video, in our ears we kept hearing...

"Breaking news! Parts of LAX have been evacuated! A man claiming to be a terrorist and having a bomb has been arrested!"

"Breaking news! An affidavit has been disclosed showing that it appears a young teen actually assisted the Uncle in luring missing 12 year old Brooke Bennett to set up a rendezvous with Uncle with the intent of having sex."

"Breaking news! Video is now coming in of a Palestinian man who used an earth mover to create havoc and terror in Israel!"

"Breaking news! The divorce of Christie Brinkley is heating up with claims about her husband, a mistress and internet porn!"

And this went on and on and on. The entire time I kept thinking about that poor Bennett family having to deal with the horrendous events unfolding in regards to their missing daughter. How horrid. And how unnecessary our little interview had suddenly become.

We continued to wait, ready to speak, expecting our three minute interview to begin at any moment. We got pushed back to 2:40. Then to 2:50. The show ends at 3:00 p.m., so we thought we may even get bumped. Finally the producer came over the headset and said that we were coming up next and that they didn't have a lot of time left.

We said we understood and promised to keep our answers short.

The funniest thing is that, during the commercial breaks, the audio from Fox goes silent. So, after all of these 'breaking news' events and the promise that we were up next, the next thing we heard was silence.

And it was unnerving. I said "I never thought silence could be so fear inducing!" Everyone laughed and then we heard the promo with our family start.

We all propped up and the interview began. The hostess, Martha MacCallum, began the interview asking Dea (pronouncing her name Day-ah, not Dee-ah... but that's okay) about homeschooling. She then asked me about something about keeping kids positive and I said the first thing that came to my mind. Then she asked DC about home schooling and performing arts high school. DC did her best, trying very hard not to say anything that would offend the home schoolers or the public schoolers.

On the WEDU set. Just before we
were supposed to get on the air.

Martha said a joke about Mom (Dea) apparently not being able to teach performing arts because DC was in school for that and we all had a good laugh.

And then it was over.

Gabe didn't get a question, as was intended, because they just ran out of time.

And that was it. Our moment on national television was over.

We had it on DVR at home. We got a copy from WEDU. And we all got into the car feeling we just made complete arses of ourselves.

As we were driven home, the adrenaline rush finally collapsed and we all sunk into our seats, suddenly exhausted. Cell phones began to ring. Text messages were flooding in. Everyone was excited. We were cautious. We didn't know if people thought we really did well or they just said that because we were their family and friends.

DC gets her name all by herself!

When we got home we plopped the DVD into the player and watched with half-closed eyes, sure we had made complete fools of ourselves.

Fortunately, it turned out we did pretty well, all things considered. It was intimidating and completely surreal, but we all took it as a big adventure.

Who would have thought that a simple vacation to NY would evolve into this promo and this interview. Now, we find ourselves on numerous Fox News promos.

It's all pretty cool. And it will end this weekend, as the entire Real American Stories promo is focused on the fourth of July.

The interview ended on a good note.

So, the entire event has been memorable and exciting. And we're glad and blessed to have been able to speak highly of home schooling on national television. What a great time!

It just goes to show you that you never, ever REALLY know which path your life will take. We enjoyed this little excursion off the main road on the rarely used path of national exposure.

It is something we'll never forget, that's for certain!

We're On National Television... Seriously

As most of you remember, when on vacation in NY we were interviewed by Fox News about America.

The end result is that we are part of their Real American Stories initiative. We're in the intro video on the Introduction page. If you click the My Story link and scroll down a bit, you can watch our entire piece.

It's really pretty cool. You'll also see us in promos on Fox News leading up to July 4th.

What's even cooler is they want to interview us on Fox News live tomorrow afternoon sometime between 1 - 3 p.m.! National television. If I can keep from soiling myself from fear, it should be a pretty cool experience.

I'll either be brilliant or in a fetal position under my chair. Turn in tomorrow to find out which one!

The Bats Take a Holiday as Safety Harbor Loses 4-1

Gabe pitched a complete game and the Safety Harbor defense continued its solid play, but the bats struggled as the team ended their all-star season with a 4-1 loss to Holiday.

The entire Safety Harbor team had little success putting the bat on the ball in all three games this year, including today. The team had multiple opportunities today early in the game with walks to gain an early lead, but failed to get a hit to drive in the potential runs.

Gabe managed to keep the opposition scoreless until the fourth inning when Holiday put all of their runs on the scoreboard by hitting solid drives to the outfield.

Gabe had four at bats, walked twice and got out twice, one on a pop up and another on a solid grounder up the middle played well by the Holiday second baseman. This left Gabe 0-8 and three walks in the entire all star tourney. If you would have told me Gabe would go hitless during the 10-11 all stars, I'd say your were completely insane.

So, I guess that makes you nuts.

Gabe did pitch very well in the two games and played nice defense. It was a good learning experience for him. We worked on the mental approach to the game and Gabe learned a lot about dealing with pressure he puts on himself.

Below are some pics (click to see larger image) from the weekend.

Gabe at the plate..




Gabe on the mound...




Now we're heading into the off season to relax and take some time away from the game for a while.

A special thanks to coaches Bob and Eric for all of their great work with the kids.