Penguin July 31st, 2008
Hoop Dreams is now available for free streaming on Hulu.
Hoop Dreams is a documentary about two African-american boys with aspirations of the NBA. It starts with them in high school, follows them into college, with their hopes of going pro. It’s a fantastic film which is both inspiring and sobering at the same time.
Slot 3 hours and watch it.
-Penguin
Related postsPenguin July 31st, 2008
Woke up a little before 6 today. I had a dream with Marcia in it. Don’t really remember what it was about though.
I did my devos and went down for breakfast of fried eggs.
Afterwards, I read my Bible as I waited for Marcia. She came by around 8:00 and we took a taxi to the orthodox church.
When we got to the church, we saw another camera crew there. They looked pretty pro. A woman came up to us and told me that my shorts weren’t really appropriate. I should’ve worn long pants. We started talking to her and found that she was the producer of the camera crew, here to shoot a documentary on orthodox churches in Kyrgyzstan for Kyrgyzstan TV. Obviously, she was a great candidate to be interviewed.
Continue Reading »
Penguin July 30th, 2008
For the first time all trip, there were a bunch of mosquitos. I woke up with a few bites on my legs. I had told Charles multiple times to wake me up at 6, but he didn’t. Luckily, I woke up on my own at 6:40. Not that it really mattered in the end, because we ended up not going to the orphanage.
For breakfast, I had french fries and a side of tomato. They were salty and oily, but good.
Marcia showed up around 8:30 wearing this pretty dress. She said that we would probably go to the Mountain Camp to get an idea of the place and then come back. Marcia didn’t want to go in her dress, so she went home to change. In the meantime, I worked on questions and notes for the interview in the afternoon.
We were supposed to leave for the Mountain Camp at 10, but the guys woke up late and dragged their feet. We didn’t actually get going until close to 10:30. I rode with Esther, Marcia, Renata, Anita, Vicky, and Nadia.
Continue Reading »
Penguin July 29th, 2008
Woke up a little before 6 and did my devos.
For breakfast, we had something kind of like oatmeal in milk with some nuts or raisins. It was a little salty, so I added some salt.
After breakfast, I waited for Marcia, gave her my iPod to listen to, and then we went to the Professional Institute.
We waited for Valentina to finish up some of her work before interviewing her. In the meantime, Marcia prepared some of the questions she wanted to ask.
After shooting B-roll with Valentina, we went out on the street and talked to some people. The first guy we saw had a cane. When we talked to him, we discovered that he was an ex-con. He had stabbed a guy and was imprisoned. But now he’s got a family and a good life.
Continue Reading »
Penguin July 28th, 2008
Woke up at 6:20, journaled and did devos.
Breakfast consisted of a style of square egg I hadn’t had before. One was kind of like a pudding, but slightly hard. The other was harder. It was different, not bad, just different. We also had these gingerbread cookies that were really good.
Before going to the Professional Institute, we went to the Bazaar to buy some fruit. We got oranges, bananas, grapes, and peaches. We also saw a gypsy burning some stuff. What they do is wave the smoke around you then they ask you to pay to get a good fortune. If you don’t, then you’ll get a bad fortune.
Continue Reading »
Penguin July 27th, 2008
Didn’t really have a restful sleep, even though I went to bed at like 8. I woke up once at 2 to go pee, and then woke up for good at 6.
Breakfast was good. We had crepes. Some were filled with this cottage cheese/cream cheese like stuff. Others were plain. We also got some of that fantastic raspberry jam.
As I was reading my Bible on the front steps, Nariza invited me into to their morning devos. Pastor David was starting a new lesson on following Jesus.
Then we went to the Professional Institute to do the interviews. We went around a bit looking for a place with some decent sound, but every where we tried had both an echo or you could hear the construction.
Continue Reading »
Penguin July 26th, 2008
Woke up at 12, then back to sleep until 6.
Breakfast was rice porridge made in milk with a bit of sugar.
After breakfast, we joined the staff for morning devotions.
Then I had a quick meeting with Nazira to talk about the schedule and the rest of the week. We decided we wanted to spend the morning visiting the various projects in Tokmok and then spend the afternoon going over the rest of the logistics. This would also give her a chance to review the prepared document.
Continue Reading »
Penguin July 25th, 2008
Arrived at church at 4:45pm. Loaded up the van, prayed, didn’t leave until 5:30pm.
At Newark Airport, went to Charlie’s Cheese steak for dinner. It was expensive, like 5$ for a small cheesesteak.
We played Taboo while we waited to board the plane.
British Airways is nice. The seats recline a good amount. They also have these things that you can pull down next to your head to keep it from falling over. It was a pleasant flight and slept most of the way there.
Continue Reading »
Penguin July 4th, 2008
This week, I finished my preparations for my trip to Kyrgyzstan. I’m leaving with a bit of apprehension and uncertainty.
Last week, I sent my project document to my point of contact in Kyrgyzstan. Unfortunately, she’s returning to the states to get surgery for breast cancer. Initially, the project was supposed to be a documentary on local culture, but after I sent the project plan, they told me they wanted to shift to making a promotional video.
I wrote up a piece about documentaries versus promotional videos. Instead of continuing the discussion, I received a fluff email. As I prepare to leave, I have no idea what I’ll be doing once I hit land fall. I also don’t know who my new point of contact is going to be.
There’s a lot of challenges with this project. It’s my first documentary. It’s in a language I don’t know. When I come back, editing will be extremely difficult. But we’ll see.
With that said, I’ll be gone until the 22nd. Ninja will be gone until the 20th. Until then, have fun with our archives. 
-Penguin
Penguin June 30th, 2008
Rating: 4/4 stars
When We Left Earth documents 50 years of NASA’s manned missions. It starts with Mercury and ends with the International Space Station.
It’s an amazing story that we take for granted. The images that they returned, specifically of Earth Rise are tremendous and life changing. The human will and ingenuity to achieve such an enormously difficult task is awe inspiring.
What makes the series so good is that even though we know the ending, they still manage to weave a tail full of tension and suspense. This is achieved through masterful narration by Gary Sinise, a terrific soundtrack, and fantastic editing of archival footage with new interviews with the astronauts.
The images are beautiful in HD and gave me that sense of wonder of space all over again.
Watch it.
-Penguin
Related postsLimited edition lithograph prints. Signed + numbered.
