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Last Week, Had the Best Backyard Party of My Life

Last week, I brought my wife and the kids to a backyard party at my co-worker and buddy, Geoff’s, house. Geoff and Sue are our closest neighbors, and they have a son who is the same age as our eldest. The couple decided to invite some friends over for a barbecue. It was a simple get-together but I have to say that it was probably the best backyard party of my life.

It was nothing fancy—just some good food, pleasant music and great company. There were about six families and a bushel of young kids. Even the Richmonds came over although they don’t talk much. My wife’s chili was a hit. Jessica, from work, brought her famed blueberry pie. Luke, Jessica’s husband, had some fireworks that the kids really loved. I do believe he’s just gained the reputation as the ‘cool dad’. John, another neighbor, played his guitar and proceeded to entertain us with an impromptu concert. It sounded awful but that man can dance.

Geoff and Sue have an Olympic-sized swimming pool. Well, not quite, but it is big and they spend a fortune on simply cleaning their pool. Geoff is a great swimmer and would sometimes teach kids on weekends. Apparently, he used to compete back in college. That day, the pool was full of colorful inflatables and the kids had a blast swimming and playing.

The parents played some games, exchanged recipes and jokes, swam a bit and gossiped, err, exchanged stories, about the children and school. All our kids go to the same grade school except for Logan’s daughter who’s in high school. The grade school actually just held a sing-and-dance program the week before so the adults teased the kids to give us an encore. Most were too shy but Eva, the Rubens’ youngest daughter, gaily sang us a pop song. She was given a party bag for her efforts, after which all the kids started volunteering, enticed by the reward.

Throughout the afternoon, good food, delighted laughter abounded. Everyone had a great time.

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Some Documentary Film Ideas I’ve Been Thinking Of

This blog has seen better days – I know I’ve let it slip for quite a while now.

But…

I’ve been playing around with some ideas for my next documentary films. I want them to revolve around travelling or animals. I also plan to raise awareness about some important issues.

Here, I’ve listed some documentary film ideas I’ve been thinking of creating.

Finnish Sauna

I met some Finnish travelers last year who became good friends. This year, they’ve invited me to visit them in Finland. One of the things they’ve told me about their country is that the sauna is a substantial part of their culture. I’ve was told stories of relaxing in the sauna during winter followed by a mad dash to a frozen lake. Then jumping into the freezing water. That would make a fun, lighthearted mini documentary.

Sloth Sanctuaries

I’m headed to Costa Rica in a few months and it would be great if I can make a film about sloth sanctuaries and how some of the touristy ones have a negative impact to these poor animals. I’ve seen pictures of people holding baby sloths posted in some of my travel groups. Most are squee-ing and ‘liking’ these photos, asking where they can do the same. Yes, it’s cute but this is not right. Normalizing this behavior only encourages more abuse. If a sanctuary allows its visitors to hold them, runaway! Or better yet, report it. In my film I would interview some sloth experts citing why and how this practice should be stopped. I can also promote legitimate sanctuaries that really do care for these animals.

Cruises

It’s a multibillion-dollar industry. My parents love them. Personally, I find them boring. I’ve only been to two whereas the ‘rents go almost every year so maybe I’m biased. What I do know is that most cruises advertise how they are ‘green’ but actually have big negative impacts to the environment overall. I’m thinking of shining a light on these. Some of the issues I’ve found on my preliminary research are major contributions to air and water pollution. One article mentions that they contribute more than 25% to the nitrogen oxides emissions in the areas they visit! Not to mention the social impact of hundreds and tourists flooding a city port. Then they go away a few hours later, leaving their trash and environmental footprint for the locals to take care of and balance out.

 

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New Film Provides Insight into Woodworking for Profit

Hey everyone, this post is not actually about us. It is a plug for our friends at the film school, Marine and David, who have recently working on a documentary about woodworking and how it can be turned into a profit by either selling your stuff online or doing custom woodwork for clients.

This film will be released very soon and I’m sure it will be great – I’ve been witness to some of its behind-the-scenes happenings, and I tell you, it’s really good.

As a sneak peak, I can tell you that Marine and David will cover things like picking the best tools for your woodworking setup for which they recommend using a site such as http://woodworkify.com/ to read reviews before committing your hard-earned cash to tools. Turns out you don’t need nearly as many tools to start with, and they don’t have to be expensive, you just need to do your research and buy the tools according to the niche of the products that you will be pursuing. For example, small wooden toys don’t require all that much machinery or power tools as you might think and the setup is completely different from say, making cabinets.

They also cover all sorts of issues to consider while setting up shop – the layout, the basic stationary tools, safety matters and so on. From there, they will move into the types of woodworking projects you can actually work on, the things that really sell, and how to use your creativity to find niche wood ideas that people want without knowing they want it.

I think the really cool part is where they tell you all the secrets of how to actually get your products sold online – there are many tricks involved and they don’t hide anything. There is a lot of misconception is regards to selling art and handicraft on the web, which they skillfully clear up in this movie. They also go into things like tax considerations and so forth, all of which is very important if you want to earn a good and honest living with your woodworking skills.

Stay on the lookout for this one, we will notify when it comes online, so sign up for our newsletter or follow us on Twitter.

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This is where it starts

It’s a great pleasure to let everyone that, at this point, we have begun filming for our new film, so far code-named “Pristine Waters” which will be released probably around the end of 2017.

The topic of the documentary is the garbage pollution that our world’s oceans face as a result of thoughtless or ignorant human activity. There are many so-called seas of trash or garbage patches in both the Pacific and the Atlantic, which ruin their respective ecosystems and needlessly kill and hurt marine animals.

Without revealing too much, we can say that we will be conducting interviews with various people from both conservation organizations as well as companies most responsible for this pollution.

Keep an eye out for more news as we continue filming and production.

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