Aliens: Friendly or Hostile? You Tell Me.
Stephen Hawking has been getting a lot of press lately because of his statement that Earthlings should not try to communicate with extraterrestrials because they may pose a threat. Here’s a link to a fluffy ABC News piece. Here’s how … Continued
The Tango Guy
Recently, I went to a Brooklyn Symphony Orchestra concert and on the program was Holst’s The Planets. The orchestra was excellent and the “Mars” section is always exciting to hear. Afterward, a friend and I strolled along the promenade in … Continued
“What the Hey Were You Doing in Waco, Texas?” Part 1
Cinematographer Andy Bowley and I visited Robert Darden at Baylor University, home of the Black Gospel Music Restoration Project. Though I conducted an extensive interview with Robert in Chicago (see “What the Heck Were You Doing in Chicago?” Part 1), … Continued
Divine Dissatisfaction, Blessed Unrest
Keep the channel open. No artist is pleased. There is no satisfaction whatever at any time. There is a queer, divine dissatisfaction, a blessed unrest that keeps us marching and makes us more alive than the others.
Your Future Is in Good Hands
Periodically, I look through footage that on first blush, I’ve deemed not too useful. This practice led me to this clip. In June 2008, Tom Harting, CSC, and I followed Jill Tarter and a bunch of SETI REU students (Research … Continued
It Was 50 Years Ago Today: A Clip
April 8, 1960. Frank Drake conducts the first SETI experiment, pointing a radio telescope in Green Bank, West Virginia, at the star Tau Ceti. To commemorate the anniversary, here’s a snippet from a sample I put together a while back. … Continued
Seven Wishes for A Life’s Work
If I had unlimited funds for the film (this itself is a big wish), what would be on the money-can’t-buy-it wish list? 7. End credits song: “This Old Guitar” by Neil Young * 6. Robert Zemekis and company’s permission to … Continued
Breaking News! Breaking Me?
Recently, the Dallas-Fort Worth NBC affiliate broadcast a piece on the Black Gospel Music Restoration Project and Robert Darden. Click here to see it. Mentioned in these four minutes and twenty five seconds are Darden’s relationship to gospel music, the … Continued
My Other Hat, Part 2
Update: You can read the story here, on the blog. My story in The Literary Review (“There Is Joy Before the Angels of God”) is available NOW at your finer bookstores! It may be on The Literary Review website at … Continued
A Filmmaker’s Progress
My residency at the MacDowell Colony ended March 19. So did I accomplish what I had hoped to accomplish? Yes and no. I selected the sit down content for the remaining two-thirds of the film. I erred on the long … Continued