Josh Garrels: Farther Along

A friend introduced this song to me this weekend and I wasn't immediately keen on it, but as I listened to it more it's true power really struck me. I think it's the honesty of the lyrics and the raw emotion of the performance that really connects with me.

"Farther Along"

by Josh Garrels

From the album Love & War & The Sea In Between

Farther along we’ll know all about it
Farther along we’ll understand why
Cheer up my brothers, live in the sunshine
We’ll understand this, all by and by

Tempted and tried, I wondered why
The good man died, the bad man thrives
And Jesus cries because he loves em’ both
We’re all cast-aways in need of ropes
Hangin’ on by the last threads of our hope
In a house of mirrors full of smoke
Confusing illusions I’ve seen

Where did I go wrong, I sang along
To every chorus of the song
That the devil wrote like a piper at the gates
Leading mice and men down to their fates
But some will courageously escape
The seductive voice with a heart of faith
While walkin’ that line back home

So much more to life than we’ve been told
It’s full of beauty that will unfold
And shine like you struck gold my wayward son
That deadweight burden weighs a ton
Go down into the river and let it run
And wash away all the things you’ve done
Forgiveness alright

Farther along we’ll know all about it
Farther along we’ll understand why
Cheer up my brothers, live in the sunshine
We’ll understand this, all by and by

Still I get hard pressed on every side
Between the rock and a compromise
Like the truth and pack of lies fightin’ for my soul
And I’ve got no place left go
Cause I got changed by what I’ve been shown
More glory than the world has known
Keeps me ramblin’ on

Skipping like a calf loosed from its stall
I’m free to love once and for all
And even when I fall I’ll get back up
For the joy that overflows my cup
Heaven filled me with more than enough
Broke down my levee and my bluff
Let the flood wash me

And one day when the sky rolls back on us
Some rejoice and the others fuss
Cause every knee must bow and tongue confess
That the son of god is forever blessed
His is the kingdom, we’re the guests
So put your voice up to the test
Sing Lord, come soon

Farther along we’ll know all about it
Farther along we’ll understand why
Cheer up my brothers, live in the sunshine
We’ll understand this, all by and by

I got my first Mondo poster!

And it's for a movie that I genuinely love! First let me step back for a second here and explain what a Mondo poster is. Mondo is a company that has affiliated itself with the Alamo Drafthouse in Austin, Texas. They commission and screen print original artwork to serve as posters for screenings at the Alamo Drafthouse. These posters are screen printed in very limited quantities and often sell out in minutes online. The New York Times wrote an article recently discussing the popularity and attention these posters are getting. The article entitled Hand-Drawn Homage to Classic Films begins with this...

THE movie poster is dead. Long live the movie poster. Gone are the days of hand-drawn studio posters that possessed a creativity and artistry matching that of the films themselves. Think of “King Kong,”with its harrowing illustrations, or Saul Bass’s Minimalist design for“Vertigo.” The contemporary studio poster is often a literal, less adventurous affair, like the vision of Julia Roberts on the back of Tom Hanks’s scooter in the poster for “Larry Crowne,” a typical example of today’s photography-driven advertisements.
But an outfit far from Hollywood has sought to recapture the vintage hand-drawn spirit while injecting some contemporary flair. The company is Mondo, an offshoot of the Austin, Tex., theater chain Alamo Drafthouse. It commissions artists to design alternative versions of posters for films considered cult or genre pictures. The styles range from multi-tiered, character-packed collage (like Tyler Stout’s fanboy-friendly work for “The Empire Strikes Back”) to subdued prints that express a movie’s mood more than anything else (like the simple smoking gun forming Clint Eastwood’s profile inOlly Moss’s “Dirty Harry”).

The posters have become so popular and revered that The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences have begun archiving them among their vast collection of artifacts, film prints, and posters from cinema history. All of this is to say that I first came across them a little over a year ago and immediately caught the fever to get one of these like everyone else. At the beginning of the this year I told my wife I was determined to get one this year. My wife almost secured the Pan's Labyrinth one earlier this year, but it sold out while she had it in her cart and was checking out. I popped on at one point and was able to add the Sucker Punch poster to my cart, but I decided against getting it because I had no interest in the movie. I have tried on and off all year to get one. I even considered getting one on eBay at the inflated prices they are going for there. But my patience paid off today. I was brushing my teeth this morning when it dawned on me that this poster was going on sale today. I resisted the urge to stop what I was doing and run over to the computer to see if it had gone on sale yet. (They go on sale at an unspecified time.) I figured I would finish what I was doing and go check to see if it had gone on sale yet before going about the rest of my morning routine. I logged on and they hadn't gone on sale yet. I open a new tab in my browser and checked my email. Before turning off the computer I clicked back over to the Mondo site and reloaded the page. The new Jurassic Park posters were not only up for sale already they hadn't sold out yet. I panicked! I frantically added it to my cart and hunted for my wallet. I tried setting up an account but I was bounced to a page that said my email was already associated with an account. I forgot I had set up an account previously to try to speed up the process in the event that one day I would be able to get one. I couldn't remember the password I had used!! It felt as those the poster was slipping through my hands. I tried 3 different passwords and the third one worked! I made it through and was able to pay and complete my check out before they sold out! I know it seems ridiculous but it felt like a huge victory. Tiny in the grand scheme of things for sure, but I'm excited to finally get one and see it hung on a wall.

Retrogaming

I want to start off by saying that I didn't even know that "Retrogaming" has become a verb. I was trying to make "Retro Gaming" the title of this post and Googled it for spelling errors. Lo and behold I had spelled it correctly, but upon confirming it I noticed the the first response Google returned was a Wikipedia article called Retrogaming. I clicked through and began reading. It turns out that what I was planning on writing about is more common than I thought!

Shortly after I bought our Wii in 2007 I bought two Virtual Console games mostly for the pure novelty of it. I bought Super Mario World and The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past. Both of these games were originally released for the Super Nintendo in the early 90's. I logged countless hours on both of these game during my childhood. I didn't, however, finish the games. I played bits of both after repurchasing these for the Wii and then they sat dormant for the most part. With the announcement last year of The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword for the Wii I became eager to play another Zelda game in the meantime. I decided to fire up A Link to the Past and try to complete it. And complete it I did. It's a fantastic game and playing it lead to a desire to play more games that are generally considered classic. This lead me to a SNES game called Chrono Trigger.

I have never liked Role Playing Games (RPGs). Even as a kid I was annoyed by the random nature of the battles and menu driven combat system.While visiting with my cousin this summer he mentioned that he had recently played through a Final Fantasy game and really enjoyed it. This got me thinking that maybe I should give the genre another chance. Maybe my tastes have changed as I have grown up. Around the time I finished a Link to the Past there was a lot of hubbub on the internet about Chrono Trigger finally being released on the Virtual Console. The game has a reputation as one of the best RPGs of all time. So I put two and two together and decided I would give Chrono Trigger a try. I'm currently about 5 hours into the game and I can say at this point that I like it, but I don't love it. The story is fantastic and I am really enjoying the story mechanics and how the game is developing. On the flip side though, I am still struggling to enjoy the gameplay. I like the idea of leveling up a character through the course of the game, but what I'm still wrestling with is the menu driven combat system. It's fun to try something new though and I'm looking forward to trying out many more old, but new to me, games. On my wishlist to play is Final Fantasy III (SNES), Secret of Mana (SNES), Pikmin (GameCube), and The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask (N64). That's a lot of  hours of gameplay, but I'm hoping our kids will join me on some of these quests.

One last thing. I have been hoping for a while now to get my hands on the controller pictured above. It's essentially an exact replica of a Super Nintendo controller that connects to the Wii remote to play Virtual Console games. Will it make the games any better? Will it make much of a different while playing the games versus playing the the current Classic Controller Pro? The answer to both of these is of course no, but it's still really fun and it doesn't make me want one any less. Nintendo of Japan, Europe, and Australia have all released this as a Club Nintendo reward. Nintendo of America has not made any mention of it whatsoever. I was hoping they were saving it to celebrate the 20th Anniversary of the SNES, but that date has come and gone. Hopefully it gets released in the US soon!

My first attempt at Pixel Art

Here is my first attempt at Pixel Art. It's been something that I have been interested in for a while and decided I would give it a shot last night. I'll call it a self portrait. I'm looking forward to exploring this style more!

Here are the two tutorials that I used to get started with:
brandontreb.com/Configuring-Photoshop-For-Pixel-Art/
brandontreb.com/Pixel-Art-Character-Tutorial-Create-A-Bitizen/

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2

Time flies! It seems like yesterday I was writing about seeing part one of the epic ending to the Harry Potter saga. We saw the finale over the weekend, along with everyone else in the world it seems, and it was a blast! A wonderful fitting end to the saga. I was very pleased with the end result. I have my nitpicky opinions about a few things, but I will keep them to myself for now and say that we really enjoyed the movie. I'm really interested to see how WB keeps things alive for the franchise over the next few years. Honestly I think in about 10-20 years they'll retell the story either through film again or television. Just my guess. Whatever they end up doing I am very excited to start reading the books with my own kids. We've got the Potter saga, the Narnia saga, and eventually the Lord of the Rings saga on the reading list in our household. That's a lot of reading to do, we'd better get to it...

Super 8

I saw Super 8 this evening at work. To put it simply I LOVED IT! I was reminded that I am living out my childhood dream. I make a living making movies! I grew up in a in a town a few hours north of Los Angeles and dreamed of making movies from a fairly young age. This was in the pre-internet and pre-DVD days so I ate up TV specials about the making of movies (in particular Movie Magic), listened to soundtracks endlessly, bought Cinefex regularly from the local book store, and scoured the library for books about the making of films. When this film began with a group of kids trying to make their own film I immediately connected. I won't pour over the plot details because I wouldn't want to spoil it for those who haven't seen it. I will say that you can certainly see the fingerprints of both J.J. Abrams and Steven Spielberg all over this film. It is a wonderful film and the perfect summer movie.

Mario and Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games announced!

The rumors are true! Sega announced Mario and Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games today! Along with the press release (included below) they launched the official website today. I really loved Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games and I'm hopeful that they can build on that further to make this a really special game!

 TOKYO (April 21, 2011) – SEGA^® Corporation and Nintendo Co., Ltd. today announced that the record breaking partnership of Mario™ and Sonic™ will once again join forces on the Wii™ home video game system and, for the first time ever, on the Nintendo 3DS™ . Over 19 million people worldwide have bought video games from the Mario and Sonic series, and now the much loved duo are heading to London to participate in the officially licensed Olympic-themed video game, Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games™. 

A host of exciting new headline events, including soccer and equestrian will debut on the Wii version appearing alongside classic Olympic disciplines, such as athletics, aquatics and table tennis. These new sports are sure to ignite even more fierce competition between friends and family in both single and multiplayer modes! The all new roster of Dream events that are set in popular Mario and Sonic worlds make for a truly unique sporting experience that can only be found in Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games.   

Arriving on Nintendo’s new handheld system for the first time ever Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games contains over 50 original Olympic themed events playable in both single and multiplayer modes. Bringing a whole new dimension to the Mario & Sonic universe, the glasses-free 3D visuals and the unique control systems mean there are plenty of new and exciting ways to compete for a coveted gold medal! 

As with its predecessors, Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games for the Wii and Nintendo 3DS is being developed by SEGA Japan and is published by SEGA across Europe and North America, and by Nintendo in the Japanese market. Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games is licensed through a worldwide partnership with International Sports Multimedia (ISM), the exclusive interactive entertainment software licensee of the International Olympic Committee (IOC). 

“Mario and Sonic have had a phenomenally successful partnership and we are extremely proud to be able to recreate this once again with Nintendo and ISM for the London 2012 Olympic Games," commented Naoya Tsurumi, Chairman for SEGA of America and SEGA Europe. “It is truly exciting to be in the position to develop interactive entertainment software titles based on the Olympic Games, and for Sonic and Mario to once again be a part of this historic event.."

“The London 2012 Olympic Games will be a sporting showcase that will embrace the world and we are delighted to have Mario and Sonic competing once again, this time in the largest number of Olympic sports ever," says Raymond Goldsmith, Chairman & CEO of ISM.
"These games bring together two of the most beloved characters in the history of the video game industry in Mario and Sonic," said Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aime. "As veterans of both video games and Olympic games, they will arrive in London as a formidable team to provide fun, competitive sporting activities that friends and family members can enjoy together."

Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games will be available on the Wii™ home video game system and the Nintendo 3DS™. A launch date will be announced later in the year.

For more information about the game, please visit www.sega.com or www.olympicvideogames.com

Hello out there!

(Photo of me at work by my buddy David Badgerow)

It's been way too long since I've posted! Facebook has really taken the place of my blog in terms of sharing personal things with friends and family, which is a good thing because it's more private. On the other hand though, I miss the "journal" type feel of blogging as a way to share thoughts and finds.I didn't go away and I hope to post more often soon. We'll see if I can get my post count back up to more than once every few months...