The House of Hunt

The less words spoken, the better. This is simply beautiful.

Is this the face of the Joker as envisioned by Christopher Nolan and company? I had hopes that he was going to do a decent job on The Dark Knight, but this makes me believe that we may be looking at another grand slam of a Batman movie. I cannot wait.

I love my wife. Have I ever mentioned that? I’m absolutely crazy about her. She’s hott, beautiful, talented, funny, kind, loving, forgiving, hilarious, awesome, brilliant…I could go on for days. She’s all of these things and more.

But on this particular day, I would like to spotlight her awesomeness in relation to movies. From the get-go, one of the things that first cemented our friendship was our mutual love of movies. April has great taste in film, especially for a girl. Yes, she loves her romantic comedies and her tearjerkers just as much as any female. But she also digs “guy” flicks like Man On Fire, Hellboy, and even 28 Days Later.

So we recently attended a showing of 28 Weeks Later (as detailed in my previous post) at the Ballantyne Village Theatre. It’s a sweet place…the kind of movie theatre that shows indie flicks and rare films…the kind of movie theatre that serves sushi and drinks that you can consume whilst you watch…the kind of movie theatre that makes you want to get a job there so you can watch movies all day long.

At any rate, on this particular evening, as we’re walking into the lobby, the girl who greeted us asked if we wanted to enter in a drawing for free movie tickets. All we had to do was fill out a little card with our name and email address on it. April was all up ons, so we both filled one out, and then went on our merry way. Well, lo and behold, she got an email a couple of days ago notifying her that she had won!! Out of 400 people! Whoo hoo!!

Oh and did I mention that these free movie tickets were actually a season pass FOR A YEAR to the BVT? And that she can go to as many movies and as often as she wants?? Holy crap cupcake. This wife of mine is amazing. I love you April. Thank you for marrying me. Let’s go see a movie.

HOT.
DAMN.

Wow. April and I, along with Luke and Teddy, went to see 28 Weeks Later Friday night. It was phenomenal…one of the best movies I’ve seen all year. It succeeded in staying true to the overall vision and feel of 28 Days Later, while developing the story further and taking it in some new directions. The cinematography was fantastic, with some absolutely crazy “hand-held” sequences.

It was brutal, gory, and incredibly human as well. April jumped a mile out of her seat quite a few times, whilst I tried valiantly to be the brave one and not flinch. I want to see it again…and I want to watch the two films back to back to see how they flow into each other. The ending was awesome and it definitely left things wide open for a 28 Months Later. Hehe. If they manage to make another film as good as the first two, it might be one of the first perfect film trilogies in a very long time.

From time to time, I like to actually use this here piece of intellectual real estate for something worthwhile…or in this case, to bring attention to something worthwhile.

In this case, that “something” is Southtown Riders, a skate/wake ministry run by Owen Parker, and Danny, David, and Meredith Tolentino, friends of ours at Renovatus. They run clinics and tour across the country (and around the world), hanging out with kids and just having fun skating and wakeboarding. They just recently re-launched their website, just in time for the summer touring season and it looks awesome. The whole feel definitely suits them and the overall ministry.

We prayed for them last week at Renovatus and I’m excited to see what God’s going to do in and through them this summer. I know they touch kids’ lives in powerful ways and it’ll be awesome to hear the stories as they filter in throughout these hot upcoming months.

So check ‘em out! Pray for them, donate to them…it’s an incredible ministry and they are some of the coolest folks I know.

There are times in a writer’s life when God just drops a present in your lap. Times when all attempts at fictional humor pale like Jim Gaffigan beneath the fluorescent glow of the operating room lights in comparison with the truth. Real life truly is a many-splendored thing. And stories like this make this all too apparent.

I really don’t know where to begin, so I’ll simply highlight my favorite sections:

“For about eight minutes on Tuesday, through the streets near downtown, police chased a driver who had no arms and one good leg.

He got away.

He is used to this sort of thing.”

Used to this?? How the H does he still have a license? How hard is it to contain a man with one decent appendage left?

“His license has been suspended so many times that driving itself has become a felony.”

Oh I see. Rather than revoke it permanently, they just suspend it. Because a dude driving with stumps isn’t dangerous enough…we have to coddle him and let him slip through with a suspended license. Makes sense to me.

“According to court records, Wiley has stolen a car, kicked a state trooper and attacked his wife headfirst. He is awaiting trial on separate drug and illegal-driving charges. He faces up to five years in prison.”

I can see the interview transcripts now: “Now, explain to me again, Lt. Pansyass, how a man with one good leg got the drop on you and kicked you in the jimmy?” And then, “Mrs. Wiley, the headbutt from your husband…was that before or after he farted in your general direction?”

Finally, there’s this gem:
“Most Ford Explorers have automatic transmissions, though several people say Wiley is perfectly competent with a stick shift.

‘He is one of the best drivers I’ve ever seen in my life,’ said Lee Michie, a longtime acquaintance. ‘But he’s the worst person I’ve ever met.’”

Now I feel completely emasculated. It’s not enough for this guy to be a douche to everyone around him. He has to go with his no arms and one decent leg and make me look bad for not knowing how to drive stick. Beware!!! Beware Michael Francis Wiley!!! You’ll rue the day you crossed me!

Well, the Neon Horse album drops today and I am very curious to hear the whole thing. Tooth and Nail released a video for “Cuckoo!” and the presence of Mark Salomon in the video seems to lend more credence to the theory that he’s an integral part of the band. Check it out:

Or the hi-res, glorious Quicktime version!

As I’ve been rolling this little intriguing puzzle around in my head, I realized that the teaser trailer said that the members of the band had been in twenty different L.A.-area bands. Aside from Salomon, I’ve heard that Jason Martin of Starflyer 59 might be involved. So, just for the H of it, here are the various bands that these two guys have been in:

Mark Salomon - The Crucified, Native Son & The Foundation, Stavesacre, Outer Circle
Jason Martin - Starflyer 59, Dancehouse Children, Bon Voyage, The Brothers Martin

Granted, that’s only 8 out of 20, but there are one or two other members in the band. The list could hit 20 with the remaining member(s). We shall see. The plot thickens…

Wow.

It’s been way too long since an update…and I can’t believe this is my first one in the month of May. I am such a slacker. Shame on me. The foundation of the House of Hunt is crumbling.

At any rate, I am alive. And breathing. The past few weeks were a total blur, with all sorts of work, projects, and activities keeping me busy from sun up to sundown and beyond. My beloved and I went to Nashville for GMA Music Week, helping out with video interviews of bands and solo artists for my job. It was fairly interesting. We were both expecting a lot more in terms of vendors and booths, but we had a fun time being back in Nashvegas for a time. We hung out with with our good friend, the amazing Adrian Santos of Revolt Marketing. Adrian and I first met through Relevant, where he was their main marketing guy for a few years. He’s a stud and it’s always good to be with him.

It was also a momentous week for Rocket, as we took him along to get neutered across the border in Kentucky. Apparently the vets of Charlotte see fit to charge nearly $300 than KY vets for doing the snip-snip dance, so naturally we opted for good ole Kentuck. Rocket has made a full recovery and is no worse for the wear, though the same can’t be said for his manhood.

We also went out of town last weekend for my mom’s birthday to celebrate with her and dad. It was a lot of fun…it’s always good to see them.

And finally, we had our third Subsidium Art Show and Sale at the Renovatus offices last Friday night. It was the first time that I organized the event, as I stepped into that responsibility as part of my role as Creative Arts Pastor at Renovatus. Thanks to the herculean efforts of our volunteers, Hannibal The Great, DJ That Guy Smitty, and all the amazing artists who contributed their works, it was a great success.

So…here I stand on the start of new week. And I’m excited about what God has on the horizon. I need to take more time to spend with Him and listen to what He has to say, but there’s some phenomenal stuff coming up. Pray for me as I’m jumping into some personal projects that I’m really stoked about. Let’s just say they might have something to do with movies, music, art, zombies, horror, satire, Christianity, good, evil, life, homelessness…it’s going to be an interesting year.