Master Puppeteer

What is it about the Muppets that make them so darn endearing? To this day, I am still enamored with Jim Henson's creations, marveling at the incredible life they bring to the screen, despite being so obviously not real.

I mean, come on. Even when I was very young, I knew the Muppets weren't real. Big Bird was no more real than Santa Clause (no, my parents did not attempt to perpetuate that myth with me). But I loved watching. Sesame Street, The Muppet Show, Fraggle Rock; I loved 'em all. Still do, in fact. But why?

I've always felt a strong affinity for the fantastical. If children's books introduced me to magical and fantastical worlds, it was film that cemented it as the highest idea of fiction in my mind. I spent endless hours reading books by the faint light that seeped into my room from the hall at night, hoping my dad wouldn't suddenly appear and chastise me for not sleeping as I should have been. When I was grounded, I would still risk everything to sneak into our family room, hiding under the coffee table when I heard my sisters ask if they could watch a movie. I don't recommend disobeying one's parents or other authorities in pursuit of entertainment, but it amazes me now how far I was willing to go because of my intense fascination. Nowadays, I treasure the little sleep I get each night. And I watch too many movies and videos for my own good. Funny, how some things change.

And yet others don't. Locked inside this head of mine is such a wild imagination it's amazing I manage to contain it! Whole worlds populate my mind! Peoples and cultures and characters! So full of life! A much more interesting place to hang out than the humdrum of usual life. And yet we must live humdrum lives...because we have to leave, therefore we must eat, therefore we need money, therefore we must work, therefore we must drive, therefore we need a car, therefore...et cetera.

And wow this post deviated far from where it started...I salute you, Jim Henson! Thanks for sparking my imagination and encouraging it to run wild. Thanks for doing so to countless others.

Hmm...I still have more to say...hmm...aha!

TO BE CONTINUED...

~ Tommy

Excitement, Depression, Impatience, Hope

The more I think about being a filmmaker, I feel both excitement and depression rising in sufficient amounts to all but cancel each other out. Excitement because of the stories I'll tell, the power of the moving image, the breathtaking visuals I will compose. Depression because of the high expense associated with the telling.

For a wannabe indie filmmaker, money is a big thing. Anything I do will be either self-financed or financed by a small number of contributors giving very modest sums. That's hard for me, because the stories I want to tell tend to be epic. Like, the original meaning of the word epic. But whatever I do not already have, I have to buy. Which right now, is just about everything. And it can be hard to work creatively when it's one guy and a camera. Heck, I'm blessed to even have a consumer camcorder with which to work.

But I know that God has promised to work all things for the good of those who love Him and have been called according to His purpose (Romans 8:28 NIV). God has set me on this path, and I will walk it, for better or for worse. It may take me years before I can begin to tell the stories I want. It may take me many more years before I can effectively tell the stories I want. Rome wasn't built in a day. And God's times are not my times.

Lord, help me to be patient, to wait on Your provision, and to seek Your will every day of my life.

~ Tommy

Those Who Came Before

Minas Tirith - Screen Capture from the Film

As a creator of artistic works, I owe a huge debt to those who have gone before me and paved the road as far as it has led me to this day.

In the realm of writing, Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Robert Jordan, L.B. Graham, Orson Scott Card, Asimov, among others.

In comics/graphic novels, Bill Watterson, Jeff Smith, Stan Sakai, Travis Hanson, Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, among others.

In film and cinema, Nolan, Spielberg, Lucas, Peter Jackson, Ryan Connolly, and many, many others.

In LEGO even, Nnenn, Jordan Schwartz, Michael Jasper, DNL, also among many others.

I admire these people even as I grow frustrated over them, for my works in any field will constantly be--even if unconsciously-- compared against theirs. Theirs is the talent, theirs is the past, theirs is the foundation or the continuation, each a Citadel or a Tower, either anchoring the rest or passing all others to reach the heavens. Theirs is the shadow that threatens to starve the budding artist for want of light.

I don't expect to become famous in my lifetime. I don't expect to become well known in my life time. I fully expect to die penniless if not homeless, a starving artist to the bitter end. Well, maybe not THAT bad.

But it is a strange place to be in. To create something that will stand on its own is nigh impossible these days. And it certainly will receive its share of assaults and sieges. So to look at those who have carved their niche and receive adulation for it...sometimes makes my blood boil. Not anger. But frustration.

Where the future leads? I do not know...where my future begins? Heh...a depressing oxymoron, that.

What even to classify this post? Not really Scholar, not really Dreamer...perhaps I need another voice? The Ranter? The Knave? I shall think on that...

~ Tommy

Dreams: Parkour

Photo by James Davidson from AmericanParkour.com

Anyone who knows me could tell you I am a fan of Parkour. I fan with aspirations of being a practitioner. I started on that road some years back, but knee, hip, and back problems kept me from doing things as simple as jogging or doing repeated squats, let alone the acrobatics exhibited by the likes of David Belle, Sébastien Foucan, or Danny Ilabaca. But God has given me some small victories of late. I have been visiting a Chiropractor who has been adjusting my back and giving me physical therapy to improve my overall strength. I asked him if he thought I was ready to start jogging. He said I was, though I need to take it little by little at first. And largely (I suspect) thanks to Kendo, my knee, leg, and body strength has dramatically improved.

Praise God for small victories! I may be a long way from the stunts like you see exhibited in the photo, but each step forward brings me that much closer.

~ Tommy

Peter Jackson Talks "The Hobbit"

I got a tip from a friend yesterday that there was a vlog by Peter Jackson circling the 'net made on the set of The Hobbit. As an avid fan of J.R.R. Tolkien's epic masterpiece and Peter Jackson's filmic homages to them, I immediately set sail in search of this first glimpse at the new movie in production.

And here it is, for you all to see:

As you can see, Ian McKellen is back as Gandalf, and those are some tough-looking dwarf characters in there.

I don't know about you, but I am EXCITED! Thanks, Peter! Let's see some more real soon!

~ Tommy

Dreams...

Here I am, Dreaming away the lonely hours...
A forked path looms, decisions multiply.
Things to be done, ideas to pursue,
New places in life to explore...
Oh what a Great Adventure!

~ Tommy