If you can, after hitting play, click the “HQ” button to make this short video show up better. In lieu of a traditional letter or email, I decided to give Windows Live Movie Maker a go. Of course, thirty seconds is too short to capture all that has happened over the past year, but I hope you enjoy the highlights. Merry Christmas, and blessings in the new year!
When I took up residence on the third floor of the Big Haus at the beginning of October, I moved in just down the hall from Ian Tracy. Some readers may recognize Ian as the guitar player in the band Groovehaus. Others know him as the guy who used to have friends. I think of Ian as my neighbor, and just before Thanksgiving, Ian became my “noisy neighbor.”
I consider listening to Christmas music a chore: something to cross off my list as I prepare for the holidays. I am adamantly opposed to it being played before Thanksgiving, but as Ian began practicing for a Christmas concert, I had no choice. I am sure his brother Dylan could tell me that growing up with Ian was like growing up with Heather – while they were still beginners, you had to suffer through their practices. Heather, of course, has become an accomplished violin player, and listening to Ian play Rhonda is now more impressive than oppressive. Unless they are playing Christmas music.
I suppose the reason I went to his concert at all was because he asked me to record it. Like a good neighbor, timmyjimi was there, joining a modest crowd of family and friends at Moscow’s Nuart Theatre to hear Ian play through his Trans-Siberian Orchestra cover songs one last time. My reward for the effort was discovering that the Misfit Toys – as they call themselves – were actually a lot of fun to watch. Things the band has going for them (besides Ian) are having recently signed Santa as their bassist and an awesome drummer who is all of fourteen years old. In case you missed it or just feel like melting your face off, you can watch the entire concert over on Vimeo. Merry Christmas.
Well, sorta. Though I am still not on anybody’s payroll, my goal of finding work by Christmas has not been entirely unsuccessful. I have turned in a couple of résumés and applications at various businesses, but the job market here is reminding me of where I was a year ago. My efforts have also been selective based on a desire to find employment that will not only pay the bills, but also help me in figuring out my long-term plans.
When I purchased a Sanyo Xacti digital pocket camcorder before traveling to Norway in 2007, little did I know the hobby that it would become. By my second season at Kvitfjell, I was actually getting paid for the videos I was shooting on the slopes, and I loved the work. Nick Lungu, a friend of mine who runs a German Shepherd business, saw those videos and called me up asking if I could do some work for him. We plan to make a commercial for his website, and in the meantime, he needs videos profiling the dogs he trains. We filmed the first one last Thursday, and I just set up a YouTube channel that will feature future videos like this one:
This is a quick, last-minute note to spread the local word about a documentary showing at the Nuart Theater. The movie is titled Collision and features local pastor Douglas Wilson and prolific atheist Christopher Hitchens as they debate the existence of God in a series of public appearances and casual discussions. This is a professionally produced film that has recently been seen on the Amazon.com bestseller list and highlighted on national television and radio broadcasts. It will be showing for free (donations accepted) at 5:00 and 7:30 tonight in downtown Moscow. Copies of the DVD will be available for $20.
Just because it was the right decision to stay in Moscow for the Winter doesn’t mean I’ll miss Norway any less. If I had decided to return to work at the resort for a third season, this is about the time I would be shopping for a ticket, packing up and moving back into my old apartment at Kvitfjell. Thanks to temperatures that have been consistently low enough for artificial snow production, the mountain opened its first slopes last weekend, and this week they received an early dose of fresh powder. (Check out the photos of Scott and Marius.) Today, Kvitfjell Hotel is opening their doors for the season, and they have just added to their website a commercial (click on “Video”) that I filmed for them last March and edited over the Summer.
In case that weren’t enough to make me heartsick, last night we invited three high school exchange students to dinner at the Big Haus: Leo from Holland, Yeliz from Turkey, and Adina from Kristiansand, Norway. Adina and Yeliz had walked by the Haus a couple of weeks ago and spotted my flag, which made them curious enough to approach the front door and introduce themselves. They returned last night, where over a bonfire I got to brush up on my Norwegian, and for the first time since moving to Moscow, Adina heard more of her own language than a stereotypical “Uff da!”
In less than two weeks, I will have a new brother-in-law. Until the ceremony, he is in California. I have finished a video of the couple from our one day together in Chicago earlier this Summer. Since I cannot show him in person, everyone gets to see it.
Happy birthday, Josh. I am looking forward to finally having a brother, even if I never imagined he would be so much older than me. Enjoy this small gift, though I may also have to get you one of those “old guys rule” t-shirts. Because you rule.
This year’s Rendezvous In the Park was a great success. Perfect weather and a selection of talented musicians drew the crowds to Moscow’s East City Park in mid-July for the city’s twenty-sixth annual concert series. I was there to hear local singer/songwriter JT Grauke kick things off on Thursday evening and returned each night until another better known Moscow native, Josh Ritter, brought the festival to its climax. I have written several times before of how much I appreciate Ritter’s music, and seeing him perform live in his hometown was a wonderful experience. It was obvious that he felt the same way.
I have also written about JT’s music in the past, particularly because my sister, Heather, has accompanied him on some of his recordings. I have posted earlier videos on YouTube of the two performing together, and I had the camera rolling again at Rendezvous. In case you missed it, JT’s entire set can now be watched on Vimeo. Unfortunately, the flying insects and low lighting were enough to confuse the auto-focus on a few, but the audio turned out better than expected. A handful of photos are also up on Flickr.
Today – just over a year after my sisters spent ten days in Norway – I have uploaded the twelfth and final episode of Twidgets, a documentary of their trip. If this last installment doesn’t seem enough like a grand finale, then I will clue you into the fact that I am not exactly “done” with the project. Last year, I had hoped to have the series finished in time for Christmas. That obviously didn’t happen, but now I have enough time to play with the idea of releasing Twidgets on DVD this coming Christmas, complete with extra bonus material. Keep your fingers crossed. In the meantime, I am looping back around and starting to release the videos for public viewing. Until now, they have been private for my contacts on Vimeo, but now you can feel free to pass along the links to anyone who might be interested in what the Hagen troublemakers have been up to. We’ll begin with part one, which can be found using the video widget to the left.
Following our Midwest vacation last month, my sister, Kristen, joined her boyfriend for a few days in Santa Cruz. Before they returned to Moscow, they were engaged to be married, and I couldn’t have been more pleased. Josh Davis is a great guy and an old friend of ours. In my humble opinion, they were meant to be. Last weekend, they gave me the honor of taking their engagement photos using Josh’s fancy Nikon D80. Since this was my first “shot” at legitimate photography, it is needless to say that I was a bit intimidated. Of course, with a couple this good-looking, it would have been a challenge to make them look bad. I have posted their favorites on Flickr and Facebook.
By the way, the latest TWO episodes of Twidgets are also up on Vimeo.
