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.

PUSA - Ep 4 Online

The last Episode of PUSA is now online and you can watch it here.

Enjoy.

Crossing the Goal

I'm going to say something I NEVER thought I'd say.

There's a really good, interesting and fast paced show on EWTN. You heard that right!

I love EWTN's content, but the execution is what I call "talk radio for the elderly." This wouldn't be so bad if the media the information was being presented in weren't television. So, when I stumbled across a new half-hour show called Crossing the Goal, I was very impressed.

The show is moderated by Brian Patrick (host of the Son Rise Morning Show on Cincinnati’s Sacred Heart Catholic Radio) and is co-hosted by Peter Herbeck (Vice President and Director of Missions for Renewal Ministries), Curtis Martin (President and Founder of FOCUS - Fellowship of Catholic University Students) and former Saints coach and pro-player Danny Abramowicz.

The first thing that caught my eye was the intent. The show is good for everyone, but is primarily geared toward men, which I found refreshing.

In that vein, the second thing that caught me was the concept. They designed the show to look like a cross between a sports broadcast and an informative, quick and sharp panel discussion. They take the half-hour format and split it into three quick sections.

The first part looks like a sports broadcast, like when the ESPN football analysts talk about their thoughts on the weeks games. However, on Crossing the Goal, they're not talking about sports, they begin the show as a panel discussion about the theological topic at hand.

The heart of the show is really found in Herbeck and Martin's excellent and timely analysis of the content and their ability to communicate it in ways that effects us today.

The second part of the show, called Game Plan, is where Herbeck and Martin really shine as they talk about how to incorporate the subject into our daily lives.

The third part of the show, called Red Zone, is a more informal discussion about the content with everyone involved.

The show is professionally produced, very well conceived and executed, full of great information and has lively, interesting discussion.

If you get a chance, watch or DVR Crossing the Goal. Or you can watch previous episodes online at their website www.crossingthegoal.com. We need to get the word out about this show so that its influence and success will continue to grow.

Really good stuff.

You're a Patient Lot

As I scan the first volume of Surviving in Safety Harbor, I am finding so many mistakes. Not spelling errors (I spell check before I print them), but errors where sentences have an extra "to" or "s" at the end of the word that shouldn't be there. I know I write like I talk and that's just my style, but I don't talk as badly as I type.

So help me out.

If you see spelling and/or grammatical errors, don't be afraid to drop me a note so I can correct it. I know my Mom is already salivating at the chance to correct me even more... she's been doing it my whole life! Thanks Ma :)

The last thing I want is my grandchildren to look at these blog entries and say "Wow, Grampa was an idiot!"

Okay, they'll probably say that anyway, but I'd rather it be because I earned it, not because I typed it.

2005 in Book Form

When I planned on retiring this blog, I thought it would be nice to capture all of the entries (the good, bad and ugly) by putting them into a book form as keepsakes for me and the kids.

Using Cafe Press, which I used to create the Goin' Out to Cally books, I created the first volume of the hard copy of Surviving in Safety Harbor which covers the entries in 2005. Since each book is limited to under 500 pages, I've had to break them into numerous volumes. Volume 1 will include 2005. Volume 2 will be half of 2006. Volume 3 will be the second half of 2006. Volume 4 should be able to fit 2007. And Volume 5 should be able to fit all of 2008.

Below I'm holding a test copy of Volume 1.

(Click for Bigger Pic)

Since, in 20 years, my kids and grand kids won't have any idea what a blog is, I designed the front cover as a blog entry.

The back cover is a mock-up of a web page that is used to enter blog entries.

Not the greatest designs from a mass selling perspective, but since they're for personal use only, I liked this design better.

If you're a masochist, like my brother Paul, you can order a copy online at the Sonlight Pictures store. I can only sell one book at a time, so as soon as my Volume 1 copies arrive I'll be removing it from the storefront and uploading Volume 2... and so on.

Okay.

Okay, I've succumbed to the will of the people and I'll keep the blog alive. I'll update it as much as I can.

I'm still amazed people read it so much. Nice, but odd. :)

Blog Entry 949b

I've been very surprised by the response to the end of this blog. Surprised and touched.

The reality is I am just burned out. Completely. Sonlight Pics is another full time job and I have no creative juice left in the tank most days.

• I will still be waxing poetic over at the Sonlight Pic blogs about film and faith.
• The pics I used to post here will be on Facebook.
• Only my rants about life and politics may be lost in the shuffle.

For keepsakes for my children, I'll be creating books for each year of the blog. I already received my first test copy for Surviving in Safety Harbor, - Volume 1 (2005), the year it all started. 304 pages of quality rambling... bad grammar, misspellings and all. The test copy looks good so I'm going to order a few more copies, a few for the kids and a few extra for me in case anything happens to one of the other copies.

Paul, you mentioned being interesting in buying one (why, I have no idea)... you can get one at the Cafe Press Sonlight Pictures store. But you'll have to order soon. I can only upload one book at a time and I'll be replacing the 2005 with the 2006 in the next week or so.

Like my Goin' Out to Cally book I created from the blog entries about that trip, I'll also be creating one called Surviving in Safety Harbor: Tales of Woe about my entries relating to Crohns and Dad's passing, among other things. Those stories won't be included in the yearly books.

So, is this blog really dead? Maybe not dead. In a coma... perhaps. Away on vacation, probably. Dead... we'll see.

Blog Entry 949

Well, after a lot of thought and consideration, this entry, #949, will be the last one for Surviving in Safety Harbor.

Traffic and participation on the blog has been decreasing over the past six months. Most people now communicate, email, share pictures and stories on sites like Facebook. Maintaining this site while keeping up with Facebook and the other Sonlight Pictures websites has become too burdensome for me.

So, I want to thank all of you who have been visitors to this site, especially my Mother who has been the most consistent participant since the beginning. To all of you, your support, love and participation the past three years has been truly wonderful. It's been great to reconnect with old friends as I've documented the changes in my family and the growth of my faith.

This blog started out as a way to become a disciplined writer. It has succeeded. And through the process I have been able to share stories like my trip to California, my humorous struggles with Crohns and the amazing, last week of my father's life.

It has been a privilege to share these experiences with you and I hope you have received as much enjoyment reading them as I did writing them.

I hope you have a blessed Christmas and a fulfilling, faith-filled life.

May God bless you all.

What Do You Think?

Would anyone care if I stopped doing this blog at the end of the year? With Facebook and Sonlight Pictures and the Sonlight Pictures blog, most of the info here seems redundant.

What do you think?

Busy

Not a lot of posts lately. Sorry. Just really busy with DC's school, Gabe's baseball, church and holiday stuff.

DC was in a wonderful one-act at school last Friday. It was very funny and she was exceptionally good. We were so proud of her. Amazing to see my little girl all grown up. :)

Gabe's baseball has been going well. He joined a local travel team where they play on larger fields and all of the baseball rules are in play (leading off, stealing, etc.). It's been a wonderful learning experience for him and he continues to improve.

Dea decorated this past weekend and the house looks great, both inside and out. She's such a workhorse and really attentive to detail. When you walk in the house you can't help but be fully immersed in the Christmas spirit. She's awesome.

Tim and his girls came over to watch the Gators trounce the Tide for a shot at the National Championship. Yes "It's Great... To Be... A Florida Gator!"

Finally, my Mom stayed with us a few days. I just love having her over. We always have so much fun... so many laughs. Her laugh is contagious. Plus, she's my mom! I love just spending time with her. That probably makes me a mama's boy, but I'm okay with that.

Now that I'm finally over two consecutive colds, I'm hoping with some more quality sleep and a little more focus, I can get a lot more accomplished, especially on the Sonlight Pictures front. I'll let you know if we do anything of note.

BTW - Bucs vs. Panthers tonight. Hope its a good game.

Have a great week, everyone.

Post Thanksgiving Blows

I'm a night person. It's the way God made me.

When given more than two days in a row off from work, my body immediately leaps back into my late-night mode. Thanksgiving weekend was no different. I reveled in post-midnight movie watching and pre-brunch sleeping patterns.

I am feeling the pain today, however. This morning I was forced to pry myself out of bed at 5:15 a.m. in order to get my daughter to school on time. Having gone to bed at midnight didn't help. Having acquired my wife's new cold didn't help. Having awakened numerous times during the night didn't help.

How bad is it? I just bought a Mountain Dew. Before 8 a.m.

That's a bad sign. That's always a bad sign.

What I Am Thankful For...

Things will get busy over the next few days, so I thought I'd take a moment now to offer up what I am thankful for this year.

I am thankful for...

• My faith - It has grown and evolved to depths I never knew could exist within me. I still have such a long way to go, but the journey has been wonderful.
• The Sacraments - The more I understand my faith the more I appreciate the divine made available to us via the Sacraments. They are God's never-ending gifts that inspire us to greater lives.
• My family - My wife and children are the center of my earthly universe and they, along with my extended family, show me God's love every single day. What a blessing to have so much love from so many people.
• My mother - She is so strong, so independent, so funny and so spiritual. She is an inspiration to me.
• My faith community - We are so blessed at our church to have close friendships with a very large number of faithful, learning, humble Catholics who do their best to understand and live their faith everyday. We are all on our own faith journeys and together, we give each other strength and guidance during trying times.
• My job - I have always worked hard not to take my employment for granted. Every morning I thank God for allowing me to have an income and health insurance. Even when there were times where it was hard or difficult or unfulfilling... it is and always will be a gift and I do my best to treat it as such.
• Making movies - I am so thankful the Lord has allowed me to use the gifts he has given me to praise his name in such little ways like Club God and Purgatory, USA. I feel like I am finally fulfilling my responsibilities as part of the greater Body of Christ.
  
• My home town - I love living in Safety Harbor. It's like a small town in the middle of a big city. The people are nice, everything is in walking distance and the families we've met through Little League are top notch.
• And most of all... God's mercy - I am such a broken man... I am the definition of imperfection in light of God's true perfection. I have so many flaws, so many repeatable moments of weakness and lack of holiness. I don't nor will I ever deserve God's mercy, yet He continues to provide it. This humbles me to no end.

These are some of the things for which I am most thankful.

I hope everyone has a wonderful, safe and blessed Thanksgiving weekend.

PUSA - The Danger of Tiffany's Eyes

As we head into the Thanksgiving week, we've posted a very funny short behind-the-scenes interview with yours truly on the danger of Tiffany's eyes.

Take a look and have a wonderful and blessed Thanksgiving.

Birthing a Script

There's a fun article over at the Sonlight Pictures Blog about the process of giving birth to a screenplay.

Check it out, if you'd like.

Purgatory, USA - Episode 3 Now Online!

The third episode of Purgatory, USA is NOW ONLINE!

Watch it HERE!

And don’t forget to sign-up to be one of our prayer partners as a Sonlight Pictures Angel and get inside info, behind-the-scenes scoop and pre-release viewings of all of our future content.

Family Movie Night

About once a month we try to settle into the movie room for a night and enjoy a film that is intended for the whole family.

Last night we took in the feature remake of the Get Smart series. I remember watching Get Smart on re-runs as a kid. It was funny in a silly 60's sort of way, as a spoof on the James Bond/I Spy type stories. The original actors, starring Don Adams and Barbara Feldon, have been replaced by Steve Carrell and Anne Hathaway.

The movie, also starring Dwayne Johnson and Alan Arkin, does a good job of updating a 60's series while still maintaining its overt silliness. The story, though completely unbelievable, is still entertaining with the goofy world of the film.

Carrell and Hathaway are really wonderful as Maxwell Smart and Agent 99, respectively. They have a believable chemistry that brings much needed heart to a purposeful piece of fluff.

The family and I laughed throughout and had a wonderful time.


It's rare that you can find a movie that is both entertaining for the children as well as adults. When you find one, like Get Smart, you appreciate not only the film, but the time you get with your family that watching the film has provided.

Watch PUSA Episode 3 RIGHT NOW!

Even though the third episode of Purgatory, USA will not be released until this Sunday (11/16/08), our Sonlight Pictures Angels are watching this episode right now!

So, sign-up to be one of our prayer partners and get inside info, behind-the-scenes scoop and pre-release viewings of all of our future content.

You won't regret it.

Purgatory, USA - Episode 5 Shooting Completed

This past weekend we spent a LOT of hours in a very short period of time to complete the shoot of the fifth episode for Purgatory, USA. This episode deals with the concept of envy as Babs and Nikki try to land the same intern position at a local Christian radio station.

God was good and we were able to complete shooting a little ahead of schedule. Below are some screen shots.

Tiffany as Babs.

Dorothea as Nikki.

Catherine as Ariel.

Tim as the Station Manager.

Therese as the Station Manager's daughter.

Tiffany and Brianna.

They both vie for the same position.

Things don't go as planned.

In the next week or so we'll be posting some special behind-the-scenes footage specifically for our Sonlight Picture Angels, so sign-up today.

Dear Anonymous

I realized something this weekend.

I've been blogging here for over three years now, putting my thoughts down, my feelings and my theories covering subjects from illness to faith to the various stupid things I do.

Recently, when I've stated some thoughts I had about Obama or the election or faith and politics, I've received some very interesting feedback in the comments section... good feedback, thought-provoking feedback, usually in opposition of my stance, but worthy of discussion, none-the-less.

However, almost all of these differing views are inputted by the vague and faceless person called Anonymous. Either the person(s) didn't want to sign up for a blogspot login or didn't want to put their real name at the bottom of the comment or they simply forgot to sign their name... whatever the reason, their viewpoint is "personless." And, in my mind, valueless.

So, from now on I'm going to ignore any comment(s) left by Anonymous based simply on the fact that my ideas have a name and a face and yours do not. As a matter of fact, I'm going to delete all future Anonymous comments left on my blog.

Hey, if you want to disagree with me, awesome! I love a good debate. That's the way my father raised me. But, if you're not willing to attach your real name to your comment, then I can only surmise that you don't really feel that strongly about it and it's not worth reading.

So, Anonymous, where ever you are, feel free to stop by and read all you want. But, if you want to participate, at least have the courage to put your real name to it.

Otherwise, don't let the virtual door hit you on your way back out to the internet.

Funny PUSA Interview

In this funny interview, the cast talks about the strangest thing they've had to do so far while shooting Purgatory, USA.

Please check it out.

PUSA - Episode 5 This Weekend

I had hoped, but never thought we'd get to shoot another PUSA, but we are. This weekend. So, pray for us. We have to shoot four days worth of footage in 2 1/2 days.

I'll have pics and more later.