June « 2011 « deviantmonk

June, 2011

Photography: North

This past week Megan and I headed up north for a little bit of a vacation.

Our first stop was in Cincinnati, where we visited my brother Joel, his wife Brooke and my niece Ashlyn. Among other auspicious events, we attended the Berry Festival, which was notable for having only one actual instance of anything related to berries. At any rate, Ashlyn had some fun on the rides, and particular the Foam-tastic pool, which was basically a large portable pool filled with foam.

A couple days later we headed up to Cleveland, and then immediately ventured north of the border to Canada. Megan’s grandparents took us to Niagara-On-The-Lake, where we stayed at an awesome Bed & Breakfast. Naturally, we spent a few minutes at the Falls, but probably more time in both the Irish and Scottish stores. Continue reading →

Church Fathers / Paraphrase / Philosophy / Theology — No Comments
15
Jun 11

The Golden Bird

This installment of my church fathers paraphrases comes from St. John Chrysostom.

St. John was born in Antioch around A.D 347. In his early life he was engaged in classical studies, but the influence of the bishop Meletius caused him to turn to the ascetic and religious life. He began as a lector in Antioch, later became a deacon and around 386 was ordained to the priesthood.

In 397 John was appointed to the bishopric of Constantinople, which would mark a turning point in his life. Up to that point he had desired the monastic life in seclusion, but was suddenly thrust into a prominent position in one of the largest and most important cities in the empire. For John it was a very difficult transition, as he was forced into a quagmire of politics. The church at Constaninople was in need of reform, and John began with what would later be called ‘sweeping the stairs from the top.’ The reaction was mixed. Chrysostom was unsparing in his railing against the extravagances of the rich, and in due course drew their ire. However, he was also incredibly eloquent, and the people of Constantinople were enthralled which he preaching, sometimes even applauding him in church. This eloquence earned him the surname ‘Chrysostom,’ which means ‘golden-mouthed.’ Continue reading →

Family / Life / Photography — 2 Comments
14
Jun 11

Photography: Janelle & Brandon

This past Sunday I had another fun photo shoot with my friends Janelle and Brandon Gregory. They are really fun to hang out with, and also fun to take pictures of!

I was a little worried, as it started raining a little bit on the way to the location, but about the time we stopped the cars it had abated, and ended up being quite a lovely day for taking some photos. The sun was a little uncooperative, peeking out from the clouds at random and usually inopportune times, and the wind decided that ruffled hair would be a good luck for the day, but all in all I think it turned out pretty well. Continue reading →

Music — No Comments
9
Jun 11

Audivi Vocem De Caelo

I happened across this piece on one of my Pandora stations, and had to share. This setting of Audivi Vocem De Caelo was composed by Duarte Lobo, a Portugese composer who lived in the late 16th to early 17th centuries.

This motet is a short verse intended for the Office of the Dead.

Lobo creates an interesting effect with the sort of call and response, which underscores the beauty and mystery of the both the text and its musical setting. The first line, ‘I heard a voice from heaven, saying to me:’ ends with all the voices converging, (at 1:30 in the video) and then from out of the midst of that the soprano begins the response: “Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord,” which is then taken up by all the voices again.

Latin:

Audivi vocem de caelo, dicentem mihi.
Baeti mortui qui in Domino moriuntur.

English:

I heard a voice from heaven, saying to me:
Blessed are the Dead who die in the Lord.

Family / Life / Theology — No Comments
8
Jun 11

Feet to Love

Love, we are told, is a many-splendored thing.

This simple word can instantaneously evoke so many thoughts and emotions, as passion and affection, goodness and ecstasy ring around its guilded panoply.

But brilliance cannot be beheld without balance, else it would blind rather than beatify.

In the Gospels, Jesus is revealed in myriad images. He comes as a king, but in the raiments of a commoner. He is the source of all Good yet bears upon himself the weight of all evil. He is the complete gift of self revealed in Eternal Love, yet is scorned as the Divine Lover.

Love finds that its meaning hangs upon a thread already against the blade. Betokening the embrace of the erotic and the obsession of the compulsive, glimmering as the rarest of gems and as common as the taste upon the tongue, its life seems but a breath, to vanish with the sound in the very act of escaping the mind and the mouth. Continue reading →

Family / Life / Photography — No Comments
8
Jun 11

Photography: Kara & David

This past weekend I had what amounted to my first ever photo shoot that didn’t:

1. involve my wife (as the subject)

2. involve food

3. involve trees or flowers

Rather, we headed to downtown KC with Megan’s brother David and his girlfriend Kara to get some fun shots. Continue reading →

Motion — No Comments
7
Jun 11

Motion: 2011 VBC Missions

VBC 2011 Missions Video from deviantmonk on Vimeo.

I created this video for KiDSCOR’s 2011 VBC Missions project, which is providing clean water to families in the village of El Obraje, Honduras.

I chose to go with a crisp and clean aesthetic for this one, since the theme is water. As far as I remember, all of the graphics were generated within Motion, which is a change from my normal method of creating stuff in Photoshop. I really wanted to have a lot of the elements flow into each other, and so I needed to be able to manipulate control points and geometry and what not.

This video ended up taking a little bit longer than I intended, but that was ok since I had the time to work with. Everything in this is hand-animated, so there was a lot of keyframe editing, which is always a blast. I was very happy with how it turned out, and I hope you enjoy it.

Design — No Comments
7
Jun 11

Design: MAC Track Book

This is the cover and chapter divider page(s) I created for the forthcoming MAC Track training book. Each of the different chapters utilizes a different color to distinguish them from each other.

The picture I used was kind of random, and is actually of a park bench, but for some reason the composition and contrast really seemed to work for the look I was going for. Randomness FTW!

Enjoy.

Family / Life / Photography — No Comments
5
Jun 11

Photography: Megan

Yesterday Megan and I headed downtown to do a little bit of location scouting for a photo shoot later today. Late spring’s heat was upon us in all its fury, with nary a cloud to assuage its fire. Nevertheless, it was still a lovely day, and we got a few good photos out of the deal. Continue reading →

HDR / Life — No Comments
3
Jun 11

The Way to My Heart

The way to my heart is paved with black beans and a gooey four cheese blend.

Megan made some quesadillas and a black bean corn salad which were both quite amazing. But don’t take my word for it- visit her blog, get the recipe and make it for yourself!