I tried to put together a movie using the still frames I shot during the fireworks show on July 4th… but I’m not so good at using iMovie and apparently, iMovie is not that great at being used. (If anybody knows how to get 1/20 of a second or faster duration per slide, please let me know because I’ve been trying for hours to get it to set the duration that fast. Recommendations to more useful video editting programs would be good too, although I’m sort of on a strict budget for non-work essential tools.)

Anyway, it is what it is. Hope y’all enjoy the “video”. (I’ve decided that it’s almost equally as interesting to watch the cars on the freeway as it is to watch the fireworks.)

[Music: "Faint" by Linkin Park.]

I was browsing BoingBoing today, and I came across this posted video. There’s more information if you follow the BoingBoing link above, but here’s a a quick quote regarding the background of this video:

Matthew Harding spent 14 months visiting 42 countries in order to produce “Where the Hell is Matt?”, a four-and-a-half minute video featuring Harding (and anyone else he could rope into it) doing an incredibly silly, high-energy dance in some of the most breathtaking scenery around the world.

I’m sharing this video because it made me deeply happy - happy in a way that makes me appreciate the mysteries of life and marvel at the connectedness between us all. Some of the footage is breathtaking, and some of it just silly. I find so much comfort in the simplicity of the world portrayed in this 4+ minute video.

edit: I’m also adding his second video (the one above is his third)… he just goes to so many cool places. If you do a search on YouTube, you can also find a series of him talking about the making of these videos. The cool thing about this second video is that he’s using vocals recorded by this guy who went around trying to document dying languages.

Link to Matt:
www.wherethehellismatt.com

The American conceit has taught me that everything worth learning was discovered or invented in America by Western Civilization (white folks mainly, be them European or American). I am slowly unlearning that. I somehow always forget that many European avant-garde artists over the centuries drew heavily on the influence of Asian art. It’s very strange to me that so few, if any, of those influences ever get their own space in the art history books.

I am not Korean, and I don’t understand more than maybe two phrases in the entire song, but it’s a beautiful visual concept paired with a pretty song.

If you love the outdoors, try to check out one of their tour stops. Here’s the trailer for the entire show.

So, I can’t say exactly why I wanted to see this film, but I’ve wanted it to see it for awhile. Keep in mind, this is not the Hollywood “based-on-a-true-story” movie Lords Of Dogtown. This is the documentary make by the people involved with the movement. I don’t skate, and I don’t surf, but I love watching it. And maybe it’s the culture of how skateboarding as we know it started, or the renegade rebellion against pop-culture from which it grew out, but I’m really drawn this documentary. It documents the beginnings, but also makes commentary about (counter)culture, infectious passion and personal style - style is everything.

One last thing - I love that the guy who started the entire thing is an Asian guy - Jeff Ho.