Word Alive Live Back

This is the back design for the now canceled Word Alive Live CD that I posted the designs to a couple of weeks ago. This was going to be the back featuring the song titles, UPC and everything, but the project got canned. Could've been a really nice album, but life goes on. Perhaps I'll use these designs elsewhere in THE FUTUUUUUURE!

The Muddles by Dr Spoof

Another creative element for the Crown Financial series at Word Alive this Dr. Seuss spoof was written, colored, and animated by Yours Truly, illustrated by Andrew Willmore, and performed live by Bill Byrd. I didn't post the live performance on YouTube, as fantastic as it was, because to time the animations with a live storyteller required reading the story much slower than intended. So I threw all the animations together and read it myself in the style that I see it read in. Because the animations were designed for a live reading, they seem a little choppy, but the get the point across!

Head Check: Work

During the Crown Financial Series, we had various creative elements to highlight each subject. For the week on "work" we decided to do a Man on the Street (MOTS) style video, as they are unpredictable and usually quite enlightening. Since MOTS is usually a bunch of talking heads, we decided to go with the highly reusable "Head Check" design. It never ceases to amaze me that God gives us the grace and favor to put these things together in a coherent manner, because with MOTS, you never know what you are going to get. As always, let me know if you like the video, and rate 'em on YouTube.

Church Without Walls Video

This video was done for Word Alive's 6 year Anniversary on December 17, 2006. This is currently one of my favorite projects, even though there are things I would have changed had I the time. Perhaps I will re-edit this for another use and make the changes I would have done given more time. This features one of my new favorite songs "He Loves Us" by John Mark McMillan. Gorgeous song and the video accompanies it well. I hope you enjoy it, and please rate it on YouTube if you do! Let me know what you think!

Church Without Walls

Well, Word Alive celebrated its 6th anniversary this past Sunday and we had a celebration service commemorating the occasion, which means that I needed to supply a "look" for the services. I designed this bulletin cover, which ended up being a great basis for our video. I'm uploading the video to YouTube as I am typing this, so when that gets finished, you will be able to see a low res version of that file as well. What do ya think?

Word Alive Live!

Here's my latest design for the home team. Word Alive will be releasing a live worship CD this month and this was my first design for the cover. I really enjoyed the look of this design, with the symbolic guitarist and blood. Our color this year has been blue, hence the hue. This first design wasn't approved as the focus was a little on the guitar. I had intended it to infer a live concert/ worship, but that didn't work. The final approved design is the one with the crowd. Which do you prefer?

Jesus Banquet Interior

Here's the interior art for the Jesus Banquet Card. This design has not yet been approved, but I think it will. I don't normally post the interiors, but I'm kinda using this as a link to get it approved. Enjoy, for what it's worth!

Jesus Banquet

Here's the latest! Instead of doing the normal Christmas fare this year (musicals, concerts, dramas, et al.) Word Alive will be hosting the first ever Jesus Banquet. This event will be for those around the Calhoun Community who might be in need of a friendly atmosphere, a good hot holiday meal, and gifts! It will be an awesome outreach to the community and I am getting really Jazzed about it. Our Isaiah 58 program assists feeding an average of 500+ families a week with groceries, etc. so we are expecting a great turn out. This design will become a holiday card as well as the branding for the event, so I really enjoyed giving it an elegant feel. A big thanks goes out to Kevin Gagnon and John Crutchfield for helping me put the finishing touches on it. Whatcha think??

Financial Outlook with Nigel Thomastonsonton

This was a great project! This debuted at WAIO last weekend and was an enormous success. We have been in the Crown Financial Series for a couple of weeks now and Debt was the most recently covered subject. My initial approach for a video was a horror movie trailer entitled "Night of the Living Debt", but that was scrapped for a number of reasons. This was my backup plan (YES, Sometimes I have contingency plans, so sue me). Everyone loved the outcome and I was quite pleased as well. We have a gem of an actor in Jay Wilson and he'll be making more appearances soon. If you like it, Rate it!

Devil Vs. Grouper

Here's another one of my favorite projects. We were promoting small groups (Life groups) at WAIO and the creative team went with the campaign "Be A Grouper" with a Fish Mascot (Hilarity should ensue, right?). One element we produced to push the Grouper Sign up was this little gem. This was a fun project, starring Daniel Starr, Jeffrey Freeman, Jonathan Tompkins and myself. Yes, it is intended to be cheesy, so I hope you like that kind of thing. The art for our Grouper Mascot and the Beginning Devil Vs. Grouper Slate is from Andrew Willmore. Check his site out by clicking the link above! If you enjoy this, please rate it at YouTube. Thanks!

Post number 100 - My generic generations tree design

Here's my latest design for Word Alive. We were in need of a filler design for use during non-themed services and this is one of such designs. We've been in a "Generation" mindset for the majority of the past year, and every time I try to design a "Generation" design, it involves a tree. Inevitably. This design could've use a little more TLC, but I was running out of time. Perhaps I'll revamp it down the road... We'll see. Enjoy!

Talladega RC Club

These are some pictures of the RC club that I want to join when I get good enough to fly a "real" RC plane. The guys here love what they do and are extremely nice... Check out some of their stuff!What a set up!
Check out that Tri plane! Awesome!This Edge 540 was equipped with smoke. It was cool to see it in action. Below is a shot of it on the ground next to the pilot to get an idea of the size of the plane.

More pictures from Charles

Here are a few more pictures of the same day flying with Charles...Here's a good shot of the low flying Blade CX. Note that the horses really dig RC too.Here's "The Thing" going up to drop some streamer bombs. Huzzah!
There was a real Cessna (or somesuch) plane way up in the sky and we took a series of "Close Encounter" Pics. Heh.

My Aerobird and My Blade CX

My buddy Charles took some pics of me with my Challenger and my blade last week and he e-mailed them to me today. Here are the ones with my ugly mug in them.









































































Of course, you'll notice that My Aerobird Challenger has no decals on it. That's because I've replaced every part on the thing so far, and I'm not so crazy about the design anyway. I've named it "The Thing" in honor the thing from the Fantastic Four. Hopefully I'll be able to make my own designs for this beaut (lol) soon which will mirror it's namesake. I was flying my CX with the training gear on in these pics (the little ping pong ball things), but I have since removed them. I'm getting better! My little heli also now looks more like the blue chopper in my previous post, but this is the original design. Hopefully there will be more to come!

BTW, yes, I look like a goofy idiot in the third picture, but if you know me, then you know that all too well...

Whilst I was away...

While I was away from my Blog for a bit, I became re-obsessed with something that has intrigued me since childhood - Flight. I meandered into a hobby shop in Birmingham and remembered just how badly I wanted an RC airplane when I was a kid. So, after a weekend of fighting myself over it, I purchased a beginner RC airplane from HobbyZone called the Aerobird Challenger. In the three (4?) weeks I've had it, I've crashed it multiple times (due to my insecurities) and I've basically had to replace the entire plane...BUT, this is probably the most exhilarating hobby I've had! I'm realizing a childhood dream by just going outside to fly this baby... AND on top of all that, I've got an E-Flite Blade CX RC Helicopter that I've customized a bit and it has been exicting as well. Hopefully I'll post some real pictures of me with my toys soon. Here're some to chew on until then!

OK, so who DIDN'T already know I'm a liar?

So... This is awkward... I know it's been a month since I wrote or even contacted you... its just... I've been busy. But I think of you all the time. I think of the way we used to frolic in the springtime flowers together and picnic by the stream, and the way your nose wrinkles up when you laugh. I know I said that it wouldn't get... weird between us, but i also know that I needed some space to do some things for me. Maybe we can get together soon, and catch up on old times... I really would like that. Just remember... I stll love you, Blog.

Apparently I Lied

Last week I said that I wanted to start blogging a little more, and apparently I lied. We've been very busy at the Mothership over the last two weeks, but some exciting developments have taken place, including a newly redesigned sanctuary and the media department getting off the ground a bit. Of course we have a long way to go before we "arrive", but we have taken some HUGE steps, and hopefully you'll see more changes taking place as we roll along. You can check out our new look, beginner's flubs and all at www.WordAlive.org. Just click the link that reads Word Alive Live. As an end note, I am extremely embarrassed at the first 30 or so seconds. I had a couple of technical difficulties which led to a few missed shots then. And yes, I am aware that the lighting is off, we are working on that. Among other things. Until later!

New Audio Bio Posted

There's finally a new audio bio post! Crazy, I know! Check it. Here's the trix rabbit for fun.

It's been a while, again.

Well, things have been busy on the White front. I haven't had the time to post a lot in the last few weeks, and the posts I have made have been designs or somesuch. I'm hoping to start posting reviews and everything again, as several people have approached me saying they've been reading my blog. How embarrassing with me not posting - and more so that the posts I've made are full of sweet sweet grammatic errors. Please accept my apologies. Maybe I'll have another video to post next week... until then...

Vision

Okay! Here's the newest deisgn I've done for the mothership, Word Alive for the next series coming up in August. The series is on vision, and I must admit, I originally started designing this around an eyechart and glasses, which would have worked fairly well, until I starting thinking about the vision of Christianity as a whole be missions. This design uses a good deal of negative space, and is *mostly* approved for our theme in August. I'm still waiting to hear back about the Kingdom Life Cycle design. I fear that one will be... DENIED! I do, however think that this one will fly! What do you think?

Kingdom Life Cycle

Here's a design I did for a booklet by Bill Byrd called Kingdom Life Cycle. This book explains the fundamental process behind Kingdom growth: 1. Kingdom Birth, 2. Kingdom Life, 3. Kingdom Ministry. This green thumb cover symbolizes these three areas in the growth cycle of the tree. The smaller tree obviously symbolizes the Kingdom birth phase, proceeding respectively clockwise from there. The cycle element in the center is a favorite of mine, as the Kingdom birth arrow is red, symbolizing Christ's blood. I really enjoyed doing this cover, as it is a slight departure from my normal designs. This design has not been approved yet, but I give it the Richard White stamp of approval for my blog, so let me know what you think!

Kidz Alive Manual

Here's this quickie design I did for the manual for Kidz Alive Teachers. The cover as it was needed a little shot in the arm. We decided not to go too "kiddie" with it, because the manual is obviously for adults. This design was perhaps the most simple of my recent designs.

Generation Central/ Minister's Summit Design

I did this design for a blog/newsletter that goes out to our Generation Leaders at Word Alive. I like the simple design mixed with a bit of symbolism in there. Sometime the less complex designs come through fairly clear. I enjoyed doing this one, it was relatively easy on the creative side...

Extravaganza 2006 Design

Here's the design for the 2006 Extravaganza at Word Alive coming up this Sunday. I went a bit retro with this one, and oddly it ended up completely different than it started. I am pleased, however, with the way this one turned out. It reminds a lot of folks of the "I Love The ..." series from VH1. Well here it is. Let me know what you think....

Time to post a few more designs! City JamFest

As I'm gearing down for the church's Sabbath month in July, I thought I would begin sharing a few other designs I've done for the church. I recently designed a logo for the first annual City JamFest, a brainchild of a local guy who wanted to have a battle of the bands and some big name Christian artists come in and play. I wanted to design a more rock 'n' roll look, so I went with the city and grunged out look a little. What do ya think?

Superman Returns

While in Chi-town, was able to view an advance screening of Superman Returns! 9 others from our church and myself watched the film 2 weeks before it opens and it was phenomenal! Best. Super. Hero. Movie. Ever. Without a doubt. Everyone should go see it. Here's a trailer!

Click Here to put this Superman Returns clip in your profile!

Back from Chicago

I've been away at a conference in Chicago, IL for a few days, but I am back now. I learned a lot of stuff and saw an almost perfect environment for my work at Willow Creek Community Church in South Barrington. Check them out at their website. I can't wait to begin using some of the valuable info i learned. Woo-Hooo!

Uh-Oh... Marriage!

Here's the infamous Uh-Oh... Marriage video from my friend Brian's Bachelor Party. This satirical look at marriage stems from Brian's comments to me. Whenever Jess and I would disagree about something, Brian would blurt out "Uh-Oh... Marriage!" So Andrew and I thought it would be appropriate to shoot a video about marriage. This one happens to be just about everyone's favorite, although it was a bit rushed in the making. We finished this spot on the Saturday morning before Brian's party. We had edited all night long until 5 am and the party started at 6 or so. If I had it to do over again I would make it a bit different, but it is funny as is.

Who is Jesus?

Here's one of the videos that kicked off our Parsnip Soup phase. I produced and edited this video for Brian Fife as a part of his comedy act, he would play this towards the end before going into a ministry time. This helped the crowds to come down off of a humor mentality into a more thoughtful time. It's about 3 years old now, and it shows its age, but the message remains clear. This video was also broadcast worldwide on the now extinct Running The Race Television Broadcast.

Parsnip Soup Opening

Here's a strange little piece of video, but it also happens to be one of my favorites. WAAAAAAAY Back in 2004, Andrew Willmore, Brian Fife, and I thought it would be a good idea to produce some videos for fun and post them out on the internet for people to enjoy. At the time, Brian was moonlighting as a Christian comedian and we had a great idea to put on show as a troup, using multimedia as our communication of choice. We had agood plan - we would open to this video, perform a live skit, show another video, and then Brian would have a 10-15 minute comedy set and then a message/ministry time deal. That was all well and good until I realized that I had a newborn daughter and the extra work of keeping up videos and a website was killing me. SOOOO, long story short, we have shelved the idea... for now. This is our cheesy sitcom style opening filmed on location in Birmingham and Oxford, AL. Let me know what you think of our madness!

Custom Blog Design

I'm in the middle of customizing my blog to fit my design, so you guys'll have to be patient as this is a time consuming process that I'm learning as I go. I don't know too much about Style Sheets, so I'm working on coding some of this. Let me know what you think as I progress! Thanks!

YOUtube videos

Just a thought... If any of you guys ever check out these videos of mine and like them, click the video player after it is finished to go to YOUtube's corresponding page for said video. Sign up for a YOUtube account, if you haven't already (it's free) and rate my videos. I'm working on getting a more vast library of my work on YOUtube for fun. Thanks!

Easter Spot 2005

This spot is one of my favorites. Using paraphrased scripture and a little bit of an eerie "jewelry box" style tune, this text only spot was one of the easiest spots that I have ever made. It just goes to show you that big isn't always better. Enjoy.

Birmingham Civil Rights Museum

This video is from a WAIO News segment for Word Alive that we filmed in February for Black History Month. The Birmingham Civil Rights Museum is a fascinating place to visit, and it is extremely well designed. We enjoyed a walkthrough before we began filming and the displays and surrounding areas around the Museum are great historical landmarks. Hope you enjoy!

Celebrate Recovery 60 second spot

I finally posted my Celebrate Recovery Spot on YOUtube, which is probably going to be my preferred method of hosting my vids, since it is free. I know I mentioned this spot the other day as I posted about the Celebrate Recovery Brochures and I wanted everyone to see this one. Keep in mind that the real spot is in High Definition and looks MUCH sweeter than this highly compressed version. First I have to compress it, and then YOUtube compresses it even further. I'm not complaining, though. It is free, after all.

I did this spot as a last minute commercial for our Celebrate Recovery ministry at Word Alive. I wanted it to begin with some jarring imagery about the subjects that this ministry primarily deals with, but I also wanted a crescendo into a more Hope filled theme. I believe that this spot is one of my favorites to date, and this spot will air in the Northeast Alabama Area on Broadcast and Cable. Enjoy, and let me know what you think!

Do you remember?

Do you remember WAAAY Back on March 3 when I wrote an article about my bathroom leak? WELLLL, It looks like I'm finally going to be able to finish that project in the next couple of days. Yep. It has taken me 3 months to redo the smallest room in my house. Told you I suck at "man stuff". However, it is not completely my fault, and I'll leave it at that. It does look wicked sweet, though, and maybe I'll post some pictures when it is through. This has taken a beating on my pocket book and donations are being accepted now, if anyone isn't a cold-hearted jerk.

Seriously.

They Might Be Giants Concert in Atlanta 5-3-06

Yeah, yeah! I know that the concert was a month ago. I'm trying to catch up! Which is why I'm going to write very little about the concert itslef, except that it was the best live performance that I have ever been to. If you'd like all of the geeky details, click here for my friend Andrew's insanely detailed review and pictures. I'll post a few of my own picture highlights here and tell you that I met and got a DVD cover signed by John Flansburgh.

This is just some cool grafitti that we saw in Atlanta on our way to the Variety Playhouse. This stuff takes real talent!

Michael Leviton and Leah Hayes, the openers. They earned a new fan in me that night.

BACKLIT!

John Linnell sings!

Flansburgh rips up the guitar!

Celebrate Recovery Designs

I recently (before the Vegas trip) did a design for our newly revamped Celebrate recovery ministy, which is having a kick off evening on this Friday. Celebrate Recovery is a support group focusing on getting people delivered from their hang-ups and vices. Hopefully I will be able to post a commercial I made for this ministry as well at some point. This is a brochure that tells a little about the meetings for advertisement purposes, and it came out really well. I'm proud of the final product.

Restoration Design - Banners!

Well, if you think back, you might remember my last design for work being the Restoration design. This theme is carrying our church all the way to July, which is our Sabbath Month. We decided to use this design as a part of our overall "look" for the series, which involves a 9 week drama that unfolds in a Motorcycle Garage, hence the design. We had giant banners printed up for signage and they are currently hanging up on stage in the Sanctuary of Word Alive. Hopefully, I will be able to take a picture of the set soon to post up here. These 12 foot high banners have become our centerpieces - That's me and one of my employees Caleb Mattox on the top left, and below is my assistant, John Crutchfield, acting like giant roadkill. Yeah, I'm a weirdo, and I work with weirdos.

It's been a while

Man! It has been a while since I could regularly post on this here Blog. Hopefully I will get back into the swing of things over the next couple of days. I spend a lot of my free time working on my bathroom, but I have many things to post about, so hopefully I won't ever get so behind again - but don't count on it.

Vegas part 15 - The Mad Dash

Of course, after our second 2 am breakfast, we all kinda slept late. The problem with that is that we still had to eat, buy our families souvenirs and get to the Las Vegas Airport. We spent the better part of three hours on the town, first eating and then rushing to find those elusive souvenirs. You'd think that in as big a tourist trap as Las Vegas that one would be able to find something for the family, but all I kept seeing were $35 t-shirts that I couldn't bring myself to buy... I ended up buying Cailey a t-shirt and I bought Jessica the cheapest and most generic souvenir this side of a "collectible spoon"... a keychain. I know. I'm a horrible husband and father. It seemed that we were going to make it alright on time, but as we exited NYNY Las Vegas, we realized that, to catch a cab in Vegas, you have to be at a hotel. With a little bit of luck, and after about 20-30 minutes of waiting, we found one. By this time, it was crunch time. We sped to Circus Circus to pick up our luggage and then it was off to the airport. We were at the airport with 40 minutes to spare... we were safe. Or were we? A queue line attendant pompously announced to us that "this is an hour and a half airport everyday boys. Don't forget!" AS if we'd ever been there before. After about 15 minutes, we finally got our tickets and proceeded to the security line which was HUUGGE. It took us about 20 minutes to get through the security, ruching as fast as we could. We had 5 minutes until take off, and we still had to get on the tram to our gate... we finally reached our gate and saw- to our relief - that our plane had not departed yet. WHEW!

It was only after a 30 minute wait to board the plane that we realized that we were never really in danger of being left at all. All that running for nothing is bad on a fat man's feet.

Vegas part 14 - Breakfast at 2 am part 2

Whew! Almost finished with this 3 week long Vegas series. Yikes! After we returned from all of our Thursday show, we decided to cruise around some of the casinos for a while and, after a full night of activities we finally came back to Circus Circus at, you guessed it, around 2 am - only this time it was local time. Yep, that's 4 am Alabama time. Josh, Jonathan and I decided to hit the Pink Pony again for a late night meal while Jeffrey Freeman went to the hotel room to sleep (the wuss). What a weird way to wrap up the trip, back where we started, and accustomed to our new time zone. We ended up talking a lot about our lives and sharing our histories with each other. You know, there is something special about being able to open up about your life to someone else... to share your individual triumphs and failures, your strengths and weaknesses. And there's something about doing it in Vegas, eating breakfast at 2 am that makes it an unforgettable bonding experience. Thanks for the good times, men.

Vegas part 13 - Avenue Q

I expected to go to Vegas and see some great equipment and great shows - to be entertained and informed, but never did I expect to go and see the best broadway musical I've ever seen. It seems i had heard about Avenue Q somewhere before Vegas, as I knew it was "like sesame street for adults", but I'm not exactly sure where I heard it from. I think it was Andrew that had mentioned it to me in passing. The posters of the characters in line at the ticket booths were what piqued our curiosity on the subject. When we were looking for a show for Thursday evening, the best available show was Avenue Q. I was excited when the guys decided to go, because I thought that this show would really only appeal to me.

I was wrong.

As it turns out, Avenue Q was the best show we saw in Vegas. It's humor, originality, irreverence and artistic flare actually appealed to everyone. The entire show was acted out through a mix of humans and puppets, which made for an interesting interpretation of a Broadway musical. There were 3 human actors - Brian, Christmas Eve, and Gary Coleman (yes, THAT Gary Coleman); and the rest were puppets. Not in the traditional sense of the word, though, as each puppet had at least one actor/puppeteer assigned for motion, voice, and expression. This turned out to be a perfectly produced musical. I came to find out that Avenue Q has won 3 Tony Awards for its still ongoing stint on Broadway, and it was so popular that it branched out into Las Vegas.

The story is one that everyone can relate to on some level, despite its wacky overtones. The music was hilarious and yet oftentimes very insightful. I purchased the soundtrack as we exited the theatre, and it has remained in my CD player ever since. Even with the humor involved, the emotion of the play was palpable, culminating in what is, in short, the best production I believe I will ever see.

Vegas part 12 - The magic of Rick Thomas

After that freaky guy freakin' freaked me out, we headed across the street to the Stardust to see the Rick Thomas magic show. I thought that it might be a bit... funny, judging from his picture ads. Apparently the cool thing in magic advertisement is to look as much like Siegfried and Roy as possible. He wears a lot of make up and even has the tigers, but this guy was awesome. He performed magnificent stage illusions that were highlighted with choreography and his show girl assistants. He's really accomplished a lot and has a love for animals and motorcycles, so he uses both in his show. He was named stage magician of the year last year and I found out through his website that he produces other stage shows, designs graphics, produces and edits video, as well as houses a tiger habitat at his home in Las Vegas. Now that's my kind of versatility!! I encourage everyone to go and see his show if you are ever in Las Vegas and check out his website. The man's a phenom!

Vegas part 11 - The man who knew my name (aka, the freakiest moment of my life)

We had just gotten tickets to see Rick Thomas and Avenue Q when a man, who appeared to be homeless, stumbled by muttering to himself, somewhat like an idiot savant would do (you know, Rainman.)

As I passed him he mumbled, "rchrd...Richard... How's it going Richard?"

I answered, "I'm fiiiiiiyayayayaaaaa!" as an uneasy horror flooded over me. He knew my name. He knew MY NAME! How??

I was speechless as I listened to him immediately stumble past the next person and say their name, and they were as horrified as I was!

I was in a bit of a funk for the rest of the day... Who, or what knew my name? More importantly is why?

I'm still speechless...

Vegas part 10 - If I see another Wetzel

At NAB, we ate Wetzel Dogs by the ton. After I returned from Vegas, I thought I was tired of them, but now I could probably eat another! Mmmmmm. Wetzels.

Vegas part 9 - Carrot Top

Wednesday evening we went to see Carrot Top perform at the Luxor Hotel and Casino. What an awesome show it was! There was an opening act by a comedian whose name escapes me, but he was pretty good. Then came the good stuff! Carrot Top has a highly interactive and well produced show that includes TONS of visual and aural cues and accents. He accentuates his comedy with sound effects and clips from songs. He did a lot of things that I haven't seen before and a lot of the comedy was Vegas-centric, including the Vegas theme song of "I Would Walk 500 Miles." Of course he did a few of the jokes he did when he first started in comedy, including his trademark Wendy's jokes, which are always funny. The whole show was spectacular! I was surprised by the fact that Carrot Top is gigantic! He was always kind of skinny on TV and the 1-800-COLLECT commercials, but he has beefed up quite a bit, as you can see in the pictures. You know, it seems to be a fad to make jokes about Carrot Top, to say he isn't funny and to lament his presence, but I find him very funny and amusing. PLUS I wouldn't want to be his enemy now that he has a physique.

Vegas Part 8 - Slow Bus from China

We had decided that the fastest and most economical way to travel (and most foot saving) in Vegas was on the Deuce double decker buses that circulate through the city. I enjoyed riding on the bus some on Tuesday and when we set out for our show with Carrot Top Wednesday evening, we hopped back on the bus. This time, a Chinese man was driving, and he was the most entertaining bus driver I have ever had the pleasure of riding with. He was very dry and monotone, with an obvious Chinese accent, so when the bus would stop at destinations, he would say things like "Frontier. Wednesday night. Cold Beer, Dirty Girls. Woo hoo." Now say that with no tone in your voice, no laughter, and a moderately heavy Chinese accent. If you don't laugh, you have no sense of humor. He went on to say many more hilarious things in this voice, but the other one that stuck out to me was this, "We have no courtesy in Las Vegas. Please be careful. When I get you safely to your destination, please do not walk out in front of my bus. I don't know how to do paperwork." Wotta Card!

Vegas Part 7 - Wednesday with Dick

As you know from my previous ramblings on my Vegas trip, I was very excited to take another Mixed Bag of Tricks class with Dick Reizner. I took a two day seminar from him about 7 or 8 years ago in Birmingham, AL, and it was at that point that I began to realize what a cool profession media can be. There are no sets of rules that you really have to follow, save standards comittee stuff, and you can be as creative as you want to be with media. He's kind of like an encyclopedia of inventive creation. The man can turn anything into a tool, and that is the kind of versatility that more of us need in media. I learned a lot of new tricks from Dick, and was reminded of a few more that I had forgotten. He and I don't know each other, of course, so I considered it an honor when he asked me to assist him demonstrating a few tricks, all of which involved a small strip of gaffer's tape. This was fun to watch him work and get to be a part of it as well. As it so happens, as I was taking notes, I stuck the piece of tape into my note book where it lives today. I know that you might think it weird, but I scanned it to include into this post because of the significant influence Dick has had on my career, even though he doesn't know it. If you would like to read some of Dick's handy hints, they can be found every month in Videography magazine under the title Tips to Clip.

New Audio Bio Posted

I've posted another brief entry into my life's soundtrack over on my audio bio blog. Check it.
Until the next time, here's the Quaker Oats Guy! Oatmeal, Yummy!