I’m back!
I have been on what seems like a very long hiatus (last post was back in August..I would say that’s been a while). During this long absence I have been doing what I seem to do best lately…school work. Something about this semester has just been absolutely crazy! It’s been hard so sit an think let alone come up with something to write. I have considered trying to start back up the blog again but I just didn’t know what to write about. I feel like things are calming down and I might have a bit more to say. I might play around with the blog visually just for the fun of it and see if it will help me get some inspiration to write.
Okay…confession…there is another reason why I return and write this posts. I have lately fallen in love with a new band called The Civil Wars (made up of Joy Williams and John Paul White). I find their music very elegant and powerful and their new song & video “Poison & Wine” is absolutely beautiful (some might recognize it from the background of the latest Grey’s Anatomy episode). I hope you enjoy the video and get to check them out! (You could at least get their live album for however much you wish to pay or maybe even FREE!!! Visit their website from the link above to learn more)
Okay, it’s been long enough. I can go ahead and let out all the wonderful excitement!
If you don’t know I am a big fan of Imogen Heap and her music. I loved her song from The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe and have been hooked ever since. She has a new album coming out next month (August 25th). Well, if you happen to buy that album (which you surely must!) you will find some of my art in it 
!!!
The picture above (Glimmer from my Genesis Series) was one of eleven chosen in a flickr contest and will be a part of the album artwork for the new album called Ellipse!! I was absolutely, excruciatingly estatic the morning I got the email saying I won!
The Album Front
Here is how the artwork is going down. For images in the album sleeve, Imogen and Jeremy Cowart (one of my favorite photographers) took parts of the winning images and projected them on the wall of Imogen’s house and her to create some cool art. Now don’t ask me how because even I won’t know how they used it until the album comes out.
I got the official announcement close to a month ago and have been wanting to scream it to the world but I wanted to allow her to make the big announcement first. After-all, it was her contest and album. But the finally announce all the winners on here website here a week or so ago and so now I can finally shout it out.
Each winning image correlates with one of her songs off of the new album. She took a line from each song and you could submit one image per song that you thought represented the verse. The verse I submitted Glimmer for was from the song Canvas and the line is the the title of this post (if you were curious about it). I have heard the song and it sounds amazing. Wanna know how I heard it, because she has made an amazing video for it and you can get it for free here. The video is beautiful and I strongly urge you to check it out.
Remember, the new album Ellipse come out in the states August 25th. If you want to, check out her youtube channel here to watch her video blogs (she’s been doing video blogs ever since the beginning stages of the album so you can watch over them all and learn more about it & hear some early musings of most of the songs), a trailer for the new album, and her first single First Train Home.
Filed under: Art, I'm thinking, Summer Missions, faith, movies, music, readings, the word, traveling
Hello, world! I am sorry to have been laking in blogging on this blog over the past month or two. Between starting up another blog for my summer missions work and the work itself things have been absolutely crazy and out of control. I can honestly say that I have missed writing with this blog.
Speaking of summer missions blog, if you have been by here before you might have seen links to my summer blog. Well, if you are looking for it then you will be out of luck, because it is no longer there. I just deleted it. It just got to the point where I started to feel like I really didn’t need that blog and I have a perfectly wonderful blog already here. That and I felt like at that blog I should only talk about my summer missions work and there really isn’t that much to talk about on it so I have my little free-for-all blog here to turn back to.
So far the summer has been good. I’ve been at work for a month now and have come up with some really cool things. I will go ahead and be truthful and say this hasn’t been an easy adventure for me. I’m basically alone working here. I come to work from around 9-5 each day and then the rest of the night is just trying to figure out stuff to do. I am also living alone in a town house that is 20 minutes away that belongs to a family who is working away this summer and have to take care of a cat (it came with the house; my boss didn’t even know about the cat) and I have never taken care of cats before so that has been challenging. It’s just been a lot of loneliness and trying to find purpose in what it is I’m doing here. But thankfully Christ has been with me all the way and things are much better.
I have definitely had some fun trying to find stuff to do in my spare time. I’ve seen a bunch of movies. I basically work beside a cinema that shows independent films and I have just been enjoying it tremendously. I’ve always loved indy films but living in a small town we never got to see them until they came out for cheap-sale at the Hollywood Video. I’ve got to see The Brother’s Bloom & Away We Go, both of which I highly recommend. Last week I went to the bigger, more blockbuster theatre and saw Up…again, and, yes, I did go see Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince last night at midnight and it was amazing! Apparently I’ve had high school friends living close by that I didn’t know about and I met up with them and some more who came up from home and we got to hang out and go see the movie.
I’ve also enjoyed going through miles of stores. I grow up in small town, US of A, so the biggest store I’ve ever lived beside is a Wal-Mart (standard, not supercenter). I work in an area that has a bunch of different shops I like. There’s a Best Buy (I’m a tech geek. I also have stranger than mainstream music taste and so BB is good for having some of that. So much better than Wal-Mart and their mainstream Pop/Country stuff that is about to get on my last freakin’ nerve **disclaimer: I truly apologize if this last statement offends anybody. That just not my taste in music and if you enjoy it and it makes you happy, then by all means ignore my rants and call me a fool.**) as well as the biggest Barnes & Noble I’ve ever seen (It’s like heaven).
I think that’s about it for now. There is still plenty more I want to say (I’ve got a couple months of stuff stored up) but I don’t to weigh down this post. I’ll save it for some other time. I hope to get back into the swing of things here.
I hope you have a truly wonderful day,
randall
Filed under: I'm thinking, Summer Missions, faith, the word, traveling, writing
I posted recently that I am one of many who are part of summer missions work with the North Carolina Baptist State Convention. I have found some friends blogs for the summer work. I have posted those I have found in the left. I found this really complex list of summer missions (Gwen would make a list). I wanted to share it on my blog for those of you who visit could keep us all in your prayers…
Appalachian State University
Lauren Allen – Boone, NC
Bruce Bentley – Los Angeles, CA
Andrew Blakeley – InVision (North Carolina and Toronto, Canada)
Nathan Bost – Malaysia
Rachel Brown – Johannesburg, South Africa
Thomas Chavez – Los Angeles, CA
Randall (that’s me!) – Cary, NC
Mandy Henderson – Kenya
Lyndsey Herring – All over Alaska
Maria Jarrell – Miami, FL
Kristen Johnson – InVision (North Carolina and Toronto, Canada)
Megan Keith – Sanford, NC
Josh Littlejohn – Los Angeles, CA
Amanda Mitchell – InVision (North Carolina and Toronto, Canada)
Kelsey Morris – Los Angeles, CA
Rebecca Steele – Thomasville, NC
Storm Stewart – Los Angeles, CA
Luke Summey – Los Angeles, CA
Laura Turner – High Point, NC
Katherine Wiggins – Johannesburg, South Africa
UNC – Asheville
Hunter Allen – Fayetteville, NC
Joe Lallier – Sanford, NC
Sam Riddle – Washington, DC
Sarah Sanders – Reidsville, NC
Jessica Walton – Beaufort, SC
Jonathan Wells – Rhiwbina, Cardiff (Wales)
Gardner-Webb University
Blair Early – Deep Impact
Tara Evans – Waco, TX
Stephanie Richey – Metro, NY
Claire Saunders – Deep Impact
Joey Waters – Deep Impact
Wingate University
Jennifer Grassmann – Siler City, NC
Krista Harbinson – Charlotte, NC
Sabra Hart – Thomasville, NC
David Little – Bear Creek, NC
Claire McCoy – Weaverville, NC
Campbell University
Nathan Brunson – Deep Impact
Courtney Chase – Asheville, NC
Elizabeth Godfrey – Yellowstone, MT
Michael Tyndall – InVision (North Carolina and Toronto, Canada)
UNC – Pembroke
Allisonjoy Fiello – East St. Louis, IL
Aaron Hollifield – All over Alaska
John O’Neill – Goldsboro, NC
Michael Smith – Mount Pearl, Newfoundland (Canada)
Mars Hill College
Britany Acosta – InVision (North Carolina and Toronto, Canada)
Kaitlyn Allen – Waco, TX
Kelli Elliott – Girdley, CA
Western Carolina University
Tosha Johnson – Kinston, NC
Ian Youmans – Ocean City, Maryland
Chowan University
Helen Anninos – Charlotte, NC
Liberty University
Kyle Daughtry – Beaufort, SC
Berry College
Katie Mitchell – Kenya
High Point University
Katelyn Rhodes – High Point, NC
UNC – Charlotte
Caleb Thurman – Asheville, NC
Pfeiffer University
Kaitlyn Mullins – Midland, NC
**disclaimer** I am a twenty year old college student. There is nothing official or grand about this review. I am a really big Disney/Pixar fan and I really like talking about art, especially art that I like. So take this review with a grain of salt. The Oscars will never listen to me anyway…
I was relieved when I left the theatre today. Watching the first trailers for Up, I was excited but at the same time fearful. Wall-E had just been released and, squirrel!…Wall-E had been released and, to me, that felt like the pentacle of Pixar (my personal favorite of their library thus far). In the trailers for Up, I couldn’t help but feel like the characters felt flat. Especially with Russell, his lines felt cold and not very emotional. I kept that in the back of my mind and just said “It’s Pixar! They can do no wrong!” Thankfully as I was watching the movie I was really pleased. Personally, I don’t think it’s their best, but it’s still a beautiful movie and I think everyone should see it.
As I mentioned, after Wall-E, I couldn’t figure out how they were going to top it. When I first saw Up my reaction was “Okay, they aren’t gonna try and top it. That’s good, right?” To me, Up pays homage to the classic Pixar movies (Toy Story/Monsters, Inc.); very clean, simple, and super child friendly. I will admit, I was taken aback at how dramatic Up really is. Especially at the dramatic parts, some of the kids in the room were crying because something bad happened (storytellers, that is the equivalent of two thumbs up’ the kids are in the movie). The movie had life & heart to it still and it’s those two characteristics (as well as marvelous storytelling and artistry) that make Pixar movies stand out above the rest.
At times the story seemed variant and there were parts that I really felt weren’t quite resolved (they probably did and I just haven’t come to terms with it), and yes the characters did have their moments of being flat, but overall it was a really pleasing experience and I can’t wait to see it again.
Oh, and if you are able to, see it in 3D. I got to watch it in 3D and, oh my gosh, it was absolutely breathtaking. Most of the times you forget you have the glasses on and you’re just lost in the movie! It’s amazing!
