What I’m Thankful For (2011): The Year of Magical Thinking

My life changes so quickly that I frequently feel as though I’m breathlessly trying and failing to catch up. This year has been a year of change and of endings. If I could use one Youtube video to sum up and evoke my life, it would be that HBO promo of Tony Soprano, overlooking the ocean as he contemplates his entire existence coming to a head:

This year, jobs have ended. Relationships have ended. School has ended. Virtually every significant element of my life has undergone some irrevocable change. It has been a year of loss, and I face a future full of uncertainty.

Simultaneously, I’ve also had so many blessings this year:

I visited one of the most beautiful places on Earth
I met director Peter Jackson
I took a class with one of the best wedding photographers in the world
I helped Stephen Tobolowsky put on a storytelling performance
I launched a budding photography business
I will soon receive a Master’s degree from a decent educational institution

It has been a year of amazing times, of great challenges, and of personal and professional growth. While many of the above things were done through sheer force of will, I would be lost without those who have supported me during this challenging time. Through late night phone conversations, relentless encouragement, and stunning self-sacrifice, my friends around me have helped me in immeasurable ways. You know who you are.

I am eternally grateful to those who have volunteered their time (and their posing) this year to help me become a better photographer. Together, I believe we’ve made some great art. Thanks for your patience and for your support.

But in addition to my “offline” friends, I continue to be thankful for my online colleagues, who have continued to stimulate my mind and support me in all that I do. You have heartened me so much and given me the strength to keep going.

And as usual, I remain grateful to you, the reader, listener, Tweeter, Facebooker, and enabler of all my online adventures. Thanks for your continued readership, listenership, and support. I certainly would not be where I am without you.

The future could not be less clear these days, and I am not sure where I will be one year from today. But today, right now, I’m grateful to be surrounded by the love of family and of friends. It is truly all I need.

A Plague On Both Your Film Houses

I really loved Charles Taylor’s new piece for Dissent magazine, in which he lambastes both online film critics and the print critics who hate them:

The rigorous division of websites into narrow interests, the attempts of Amazon and Netflix to steer your next purchase based on what you’ve already bought, the ability of Web users to never encounter anything outside of their established political or cultural preferences, and the way technology enables advertisers to identify each potential market and direct advertising to it, all represent the triumph of cultural segregation that is the negation of democracy. It’s the reassurance of never having to face anyone different from ourselves.

Can the iPhone 4S Replace a High-End Camera?

Ars Technica joins the discussion with this in-depth exploration, complete with comparison pics:

[P]hotographers accustomed to DSLR quality won’t be trading their higher-end gear for a smartphone camera of any kind, iPhone 4S or not.

In the end, the iPhone 4S offers convenience—light weight, fits in pocket, simple controls—along with competitive, if not excellent, image quality. Unless you need or want full manual control or greater versatility in lens options, the iPhone 4S certainly makes a great photographic tool.

Troubling

The above video of the UC Davis protests has been making its way around the internet. It is incredibly troubling in its depiction of police brutality against non-violent college-aged protesters. Brian Stelter at the NYTimes has a solid overall summary of the impact of this video in the media, and the current situation at UC Davis. James Fallows’ words at The Atlantic ring true to me:

Let’s stipulate that there are legitimate questions of how to balance the rights of peaceful protest against other people’s rights to go about their normal lives, and the rights of institutions to have some control over their property and public spaces. Without knowing the whole background, I’ll even assume for purposes of argument that the UC Davis authorities had legitimate reason to clear protestors from an area of campus — and that if protestors wanted to stage a civil-disobedience resistance to that effort, they should have been prepared for the consequence of civil disobedience, which is arrest.

I can’t see any legitimate basis for police action like what is shown here.

Finally, be sure to read Alexis Madrigal’s analysis, as well as Digby’s piece on the historical antecedents.

Thoughts on the First Tobolowsky Files Live

Last week, Stephen Tobolowsky and I took to the stage of the Brattle Theatre for our first-ever staging of The Tobolowsky Files Live. By most measures, the shows were a success: hundreds of people showed up, most of whom appeared to enjoy themselves (based on the comments I got afterwards and the general “mood” of the room. See also this lovely review from Pajiba). More importantly, Stephen and I got to play around with how we are going to do this thing in Seattle in January, when our audience is estimated to be around 700 people. Subsequent shows are currently being discussed for New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, and maybe even Boston again in a few months.

Photo: Tech Check at the Brattle (t-minus 2.5 hours till the show!)

The Brattle Theatre was an excellent host for us. Not only did they take a chance on what, at this point, is somewhat of an “unproven property,” they also made a whole weekend out of it, honoring Stephen by playing many of his movies in the theater, and by making him the guest of honor at the annual Brattle Gala. Here’s a video of them presenting a gift to Stephen at that gala:

As for my own personal experience, it was, by any measure, a thrill. Many people from the audience had never heard Stephen live, so it was great to be spreading the “Tobolowsky gospel.” Moreover, I met tons of amazing fans, both of the /Filmcast and of the Tobolowsky Files. One couple had driven four hours just to see the show that night. It was humbling and inspiring to see. And it was heartening to know that I had helped to create something that brought people together in a way that I hope was powerful.

Beyond that, there is something magical about the art of live storytelling — the idea that by uttering a few words, a person can change the entire mood of a room, can make you re-think your life, can move you and make you angry, sad, or joyful. Stephen Tobolowsky has this gift. To see him deploy it in an intimate theater with people whose hearts were open is an experience I shall never forget.

A few other snippets of media:

Here’s a video I recorded of Stephen and I chatting before the very first show. I was pretty nervous. Stephen may have been too, but he remained a consummate professional:

I was able to place my iPhone in my front breast pocket before I walked out on stage the second night. The video is almost incomprehensible, as the camera is at an extremely weird angle, but I still think this gives you a sense of what the mood was like for the packed audience that night.

Lastly, here’s a photograph I took of Stephen and Ann on their last day. Her support and encouragement helped to make last weekend possible.

“We Need You, Michael Bloomberg”

Keith Olbermann, on the troubling site of a billionaire mayor invoking the police to forcibly evict the Occupy Wall Street protestors from Zucotti Park:

Using God’s Name in Vain

Frederick Clarkson, on the increasingly prevalent phenomenon of politicians invoking God’s name during political races:

While it is hard to top an endorsement from God, what if God has, as seems to be the case this time, several candidates in the same race? Maybe they were mistaken. Or perhaps God was up to something else.

Perhaps God wanted people to see the shameless way that pols invoke his name. Perhaps God wanted treat us to some spectacular displays of political sleazebaggery in the way pols will use and abuse God to achieve vainglorious ends.