limbo in cambridge

it's been almost two weeks since we've been in cambridge. we've shot a manuscript from corpus christi college, a book from tyndale house, and now are in the midst of shooting seven from christ's college. the timing is slow and it takes nearly a minute to line up each page to shoot. which, with only four people on the team, and two cameras, means that i don't have time right now to video, nor permission from the college. hopefully the latter is coming soon, though.

so far, i have climbed on the roof for a sunset, shot some general craziness, my first interview (which had terrible lighting) and begun finding my style. but it is difficult to film right now, especially with the idea of carrying all the equipment back and forth between the colleges, not having the permission to film in the colleges, and people who i need to get permission from not being at the colleges.

but, the coworkers are melding together pretty well. the jeffs and the wallaces make a pretty good team. we are all almost ten years apart from the next one, which makes for an interesting tetrachotomy, especially since i'm the one doing the filming.

i hope to do my first filming of interviews with the crew this week, but currently my stuff is at christ's college, awaiting permission for use.

for now, pretending to have a british accent will have to do.

the green acres of cambridge

it has now been 4 days since we landed in great britain. upon landing at heathrow airport, one notices how new everything feels in london. the train taking you to different parts of the airport is new (with a star trek-like wheelchair accessible door), the shops are new, even the buses taking you to various parts of england (including the newly updated gatwick airport) are mostly new. now, not everything is new in london. it's just that they like to flaunt the newness. this is in stark contrast to cambridge. in cambridge, everything is old, and they like it that way.

first, let me introduce the crew. you have dr. dan wallace, professor of new testament greek, the director of the center for new testament studies (csntm), and my father. next, is dr. jeff hargis, full time member of csntm for this year, who taught world religions and received his doctorate in patristics. then we had jeff miller, senior pastor of trinity bible church in richardson, texas. last, of course is me, the filmmaker who is completely unqualified for looking at any of the manuscripts we work on this year.

sunday, we went to church at this fairly young (meaning it was built within the last 200 years) building that has been rigged with modern protestant church-going fare. it felt a little weird worshipping from an acoustic guitar and a video projector in a building that survived the blitzkrieg, but it was still nice. after church, we took a five hour tour of downtown cambridge. king's college is pictured above. as you can see, there is a lush field of green there, and at every college. however, only fellows (the highest professors) are allowed to walk on the grass.

every college, whether christian today or not, has a chapel. it seems history is more important than religiosity. but as you walk around, you can't help but see the history. there's a pub, the eagle, where francis crick and james watson announced they had discovered the structure for dna. this was in 1953. fifty years of prestigious activity is not bad, but there's evidence that suggests the pub has been there since the 1300s. to this day, the pub's outside lounging area closes at 10:30pm so the adjoining corpus christi college students can get some sleep.

the history of every building is amazing here. what's more, the atmosphere of cambridge is incredible, including morning and afternoon tea/coffee. no crumpets though. and i have yet to hear someone use the term "brilliant" as a common compliment. but french fries are chips, chips are crisps, and elevators are go up boxes.

lastly, i shall reveal my humble abode. we four share the top two flats. and yes, those are pink sheets.

a seattle rest, and a sojourn to england

last week, i embarked on a six day trip to seattle, the place of my birth. i visited family their (the entirety of my father's family lives within about 30 miles of seattle) and some good friends, cabe and matt. staying with my grandparents for the first part of the trip was nice and relaxing. in an amazingly nostalgic fashion, we played games, ate salmon and watched the olympics. it was a great time, especially getting to see what family could make it out the last night for a pseudo-family reunion dinner. 

next, i went back to seattle and hung out with my friends. but first, we actually went on a boat with my uncle. the simple activity of watching salmon jump out of the water was actually quite fun when coupled with hummus, a drink, and friends.

next, we went to the jimi hendrix statue, and then on to the experience music project. the building was designed by frank gehry, a fact that has enticed me to see it ever since paul allen put the money towards the building. 

then, i left for dallas on thursday, getting in at about 8pm. i went home, unpacked, did laundry and then repacked. we left the house at about 2pm on friday for the airport to england. all in all, i was in dallas for less than 24 hours.

the flight was the hardest flight of my life, not because it was hard leaving the life i had started behind, or because the plane was bad. it was because i got a migraine headache about half-way through. this escalated into making me physically ill. there's nothing quite like being 30,000 feet in the air and not being able to lie down anywhere. i ended up offering back to the plane the few morsels it so graciously provided me. i then sat on the bathroom floor, anticipating more offerings and apparently fell asleep. my father knocked on the door after an hour and a half nap in the tight confines of the plane restroom.

but, we did land in england. and all our luggage made it as well. so, my first trip as a full-time member and documentarian of csntm has begun at tyndale house in cambridge, england.

a manifesto of sorts

as i begin this latest transition in my life into the field of documentary filmmaking, i wanted my friends, family, supporters, random acquaintances, and perfect strangers to be able to connect. i will be in and out of various countries (thirteen are on the list so far), and this common ground should suffice as a virtual soap box to stand upon and let me know how you are doing.

i will try and update as much as time allows. i will try and make this mostly about my travels. however, i will not constrict the discussion to that subject. from time to time, i will post thoughts on film, music and culture, and a mélange of other subjects. feel free to join in and argue against in posts like those. however, arguments against my travels will be disregarded as a polemic against reality.