The BSG Countdown is on…

Go ahead. Make fun of me if you want to, but I am so frakking excited for the Battlestar Galactica Season 4 premiere this Friday night! This is seriously the best show currently (ever?) on television and, believe me, I do not say that lightly. Don’t just write it off as science fiction. It’s so much more than that. It’s full of action, adventure, romance, drama, comedy, and spiritual truths. I’ll be sad to see it go at the end of this season, but I’m looking forward to seeing how it all turns out. If you haven’t been watching, maybe this will help get you motivated.

“The Story So Far”

And what’s to come…

Peace. Out.

Things I Discovered While Driving to Nashville Alone…

1. I wore the wrong clothes for a roadtrip. You’d think all jeans and sweatshirts-over-tee-shirts are equal, but they’re not. Wrong jeans. Wrong tee shirt. The sweatshirt would probably have been okay in another combo. Seven hours in uncomfortable clothes gets really…uncomfortable.

2. I quite enjoy being alone, but not so much the feeling of being alone. I can do total silence only if I have something really brain-stretching to think about. I didn’t really have anything of that magnitude to consider today, so I played through my new music, then realized I had forgotten to upload my back-episodes of the Relevant podcast (which you should all be listening to…especially the Gator Paw Story from the 8/31/07 episode…trust me!). I was kind of done with music, so I decided to listen to a little comedy. Which brings me to…

3. There is such a thing as too much Dane Cook. I’ll be honest, I quite enjoy the occasional Dane Cook bit. Yes, the language can be a bit profane, but the humor is generally right up my alley. I’ve often thought I would like to see Dane live (that’s live, with a long “i” sound), but now, I’m not so sure. I listened through an entire album and, though many tracks still made me laugh out loud, I was really ready for it to be over waaaaay before it was over. I think I’ll skip listening straight through from now on and just be delighted when a Dane Cook track pops up in my Shuffle.

4. The sun setting behind mountains just doesn’t get old.

Peace. Out.

Christians in Hollywood (and in general)…

I always find it interesting to read about people who are outspoken about their faith. Truth be told, it doesn’t even matter what the details of that faith are…I’m fascinated by the fact that there is a drive within (most) people to search for – as Bret Michaels so eloquently put it – something to believe in. As a Christian who’s probably a little more fascinated with the goings-on of celebrities that she should be, however, it’s particularly interesting to me to read about how famous people balance their relationship with Jesus with the rest of their life.

An old article from Relevant Magazine was making the rounds a while back about Zachary Levi (Chuck on Chuck). The article is interesting, but what’s even more interesting to me are the comments listed below the article. Apparently, people have pretty strong opinions about Christians… huh. Who knew?

Seriously, it saddens me to think of how many people have had horrible, traumatic encounters with “Christians.” I just finished Rob Bell’s Velvet Elvis (read it!) a few weeks ago and he said something in there that really rocked me. He said that if Sally lives on a street with a bunch of neighbors from various cultural backgrounds who all have radically different religious beliefs, and Sally becomes a Christian, every person on Sally’s street should benefit from Sally’s conversion. Sally should be more compassionate, more kind, more generous, more loving…who wouldn’t want a neighbor like that? It’s the kind of neighbor, friend, family member I want to be. Not the kind that turns people off to “religion,” but the kind who is a genuinely better human being because of my relationship with God.

Peace. Out.

Defining sin…

[Sin] means self-centeredness, the acorn from which it all grows. Individually, that means ‘I live for myself, for my own glory and happiness, and I’ll work for your happiness if it helps me.’ Communally, self-centeredness is destroying peace and justice in the world, tearing the net of interwovenness, the fabric of humanity. ~ Tim Keller

There’s a great article in today’s issue of USA Today asking if the notion of sin has been lost. The article quotes some people I really admire like Tim Keller and David Kinnaman. In light of the upcoming Easter weekend, several notable pastors and leaders in the Christian community chime in on whether most people believe sin exists and what exactly the word refers to.

The article is a little long, but I encourage you to read it. I’d love to hear what you think.

Peace. Out.

The Magic of Television…

I’ve been around television production for so long that I joke about how I learned to count backwards from five before counting forward. I wouldn’t say I know everything about how TV works, but I know plenty tricks of the trade, so to speak. I’m always really excited, therefore, when something surprises me. I love those “Wow!” moments when I’m amazed, once again, at how cool this industry I love really is.

I had one of these moments this week while watching the Project Runway reunion special. I love how this show is edited anyway, and I’ve always particularly liked the interview set ups. If you’ve never seen the show (shame on you!), it’s your basic competitive reality show, but with a lot more emphasis on the competition and less on the drama. They do regular individual interviews with each contestant for explanation and narration of the events on the show. The person is sitting in front of a white background with two dress forms silhouetted in the background. It looks exactly like they’re sitting in a huge white room – I’ve envisioned this room for four years now – with the dress forms waaaay in the back. It’s beautiful, simple, elegant, and captures the spirit of the show perfectly.

On the reunion special this week, they were showing themed montages, and at the end of one of them, they showed a wide shot of one of the contestants sitting in the interview position. They were sitting on a tiny stool, in a classroom at Parsons Design School, with a white backdrop – maybe 12 feet across – behind them. The dress forms are there, but they’re just behind them – not way behind them. If I can find a clip I will, because in that moment, I was once again awed by the magic of television.

Peace. Out.