Surprise!!!

Here’s a short clip of my mom at 7:30 this morning. I ended up getting home a couple of days early…so I snuck in the house and surprised my mom and sister.

With over 200 pounds of gear to bring home, my buddy Seth flew to Kosovo last Friday in order to help me get my equipment back to the states. We left for the airport on Monday, flew to London Gatwick, bused to Heathrow, where we spent the night in a hotel. The next morning we had to make a last minute flight change…the direct flight to Seattle was no longer a possibility, so we flew to Chicago, where my connecting flight to Seattle filled up, so I then caught a flight to Dallas. With a hundred pounds of carry on, (my camera equipment and 3 months worth of work), the Texan’s weren’t going to let me board with the gratuitous amount of luggage. I explained my situation…told them what was in the bags, and that I had just flown from Eastern Europe…they didn’t seem to care. I attempted to strap miscellaneous bags together, hoping that the Texan’s would consider the highbred bag a single carry on, but this didn’t work either. In a final attempt to board the flight, with my life’s work in hand, I mentioned reading about some carry on exemption for video equipment…which was true…and they finally relented, and let me on the plane.

A few hours later (2:00 am), I was sneaking in my bedroom window, sleeping for a few hours, and then filming the above clip of my mom. It’s great to be home!!!

Thanks to all of you for your prayers…know that they have not only been felt, but seen in tangible ways. Your continued prayers are also greatly appreciated as I attempt to edit down the 80 hours of footage that was shot the past few months - into a 90 minute documentary. In some ways this is the most challenging part of the process, so keep on praying!!!

Anchorman

Here's a clip shot a couple of weeks ago of some kids preparing for a show on the local station, TV Mitrovica - aka MTV - Keep in mind this is a serious business meeting and they are being monitored by adults to make sure they stay on task!

Windows Media Player > high > low

Scene 1 - Take 1

Well…the “Long Black Cloud” came and went…and without giving away too much, Luli was able to shoot his film this past weekend. Was he able to get all the shots that he needed and do I think he will be able to show his finished film in the blown-up theater in Trepca this Saturday…well, I want to tell you, but I don’t want to ruin the ending! What I can say is that so far I feel good about the story, and though I still have five more days of shooting left, it looks like I should have a documentary that at least my mom, close friends, and family will enjoy! The difficult thing now will be sifting through the 90’ish hours of footage from this trip…and the 50 hours of footage from the past trips...yikes!!!

Anyhow, I’d write more, but I ate something funky yesterday, and apparently got food poisoning…fortunately Habib and Ajeta provided me with some homemade yogurt on steroids, that seemed to have the proper bacterial power to kill the death that entered my stomach last night!

Luli in an unfinished
yet inhabited refugee building

Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door…

Pray that the long black cloud
isn’t comin’ down…

Luli is set to start filming this weekend. He has professional actors, musicians, and even a production company willing to supply cameras, cameramen, and assist with editing…but, the weather. One forecast predicted snow. Today the forecast for the weekend was looking a bit better, but, your prayers would be much appreciated. Prayers that the Lord continues to direct this project – both mine and Luli’s – that the weather, and everything else for that matter, fits into God’s perfect plan! I have less than two weeks left, sooo...before it’s too late – “too dark for me to see” , when “I can’t shoot them anymore” – film Luli and the gang, I ask that you would join me in knockin’ on heaven’s door; asking the almighty to intervene – to protect us from the long black cloud, the darkness brought on by power outages, safety, sanity, vision, wisdom...

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Mama, take this badge off of me
I can't use it anymore.
It's gettin' dark, too dark for me to see
I feel like I'm knockin' on heaven's door.

Knock, knock, knockin' on heaven's door
Knock, knock, knockin' on heaven's door
Knock, knock, knockin' on heaven's door
Knock, knock, knockin' on heaven's door

Mama, put my guns in the ground
I can't shoot them anymore.
That long black cloud is comin' down
I feel like I'm knockin' on heaven's door.

Knock, knock, knockin' on heaven's door
Knock, knock, knockin' on heaven's door
Knock, knock, knockin' on heaven's door
Knock, knock, knockin' on heaven's door

(Robert Zimmerman - aka - Bob Dylan)

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"I'm pledging my time to you, hoping you'll come through too.”

Luli filming some Slavic car

Things have been pretty exciting around here lately. Yesterday the Hague war crimes tribunal acquitted two Kosovars, including a political figure, resulting in an impressive public display of support; seen through the lighting of explosives, shooting of machine guns, and the firing of other standard-issue weaponry. Fortunately I was not shot, nor hit by any military ordinance, though a few children were warned not to throw fireworks at or near me.

In the last week, a few other figurative bombs were dropped. On Saturday Luli explained to me, in detail, his schedule over the next few months. As it turns out, he has what I would estimate to be three months of work to do in the next two and a half weeks – literally. This of course adds a little excitement to the documentary, as Luli hasn’t even started shooting his film yet; in fact, he’s still looking for actors, and with essentially no money, this can be a bit difficult. Along with this, he’s lacking the needed permission to shoot at one of the film’s key locations, but he knows a security guard that may be able to sneak he and his crew in. So, this of course has made things a bit interesting, and with a December 17th scheduled film debut, time is running short.

Luli is an artist through and through, which manifests itself in various ways; namely, a lack of organizational and structural skills, a tendency to over commit, and a struggle to fulfill all of his “over commitments.” In the next several weeks Luli has two local magazines he has to publish, several conferences he needs to organize as well as facilitate, and a 9 to 5 job that entails various other obligations. I know I’m forgetting a few things, and I’m sure Luli is too, but that’s the bulk of what he has to accomplish here in the next couple of weeks, all the while attempting to shoot, edit, and debut his film.

As Bob Dylan said, "I'm pledging my time to you, hoping you'll come through too." I’ve pledged my time to this project, and to Luli, knowing that without him or his film, the documentary would wilt and die. Of course, all of this drama is exciting, and it has created a more dynamic story, but being in the middle of it all, not knowing the outcome myself, I just hope I’m not being setup for some colossal lesson in humility (I thought that was what my college basketball experience was all about). Over the past few months, Luli has not only become the central character of my film, he’s become a good friend, and I would like nothing more than to see him succeed in his dream to become a filmmaker! So, with just a few weeks left, I would greatly appreciate any and all prayers that I can solicit, both for myself and for Luli, that we pledge our time and come through too!

Pray for:
Vision
Discipline
Protection
Discernment
Completion