Author: CaptainJaq

I am a father as well as a world traveling, dog loving, scuba diving, book collecting, writer - currently residing somewhere in Eastern Europe. His words have been spoken by Capt. Jean-Luc Picard and Robin Hood, been read by David Copperfield, and criticized by his 7th grade English teacher. He'd like to thank the members of the Academy, although he doesn't know why. In his spare time, he's a university professor and a kick-ass uncle.

Baltic Summer University and the birth of documentarians…

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Filming an interview

So for the past couple of weeks, I’ve been teaching an intensive filmmaking class for the Baltic Summer University. The class itself had gone through various permutations, since this was the first time it was being offered (and so, it stands to reason, my first time teaching it). Originally, the plan was to have the students break into two groups, with half making a scripted film and the other half doing a documentary. With only 5 students, however, that wasn’t going to work. Add in that four of the five were really interested in documentary work and we changed plans on the fly, eventually deciding that each of them would make their own 5 minute documentary.  Continue reading “Baltic Summer University and the birth of documentarians…” →

How YouTube Became the World’s Best Film School | WIRED

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Photo by Martin Lopez on Pexels.com

Earlier this year, in a post called Two Side of Teaching, I talked about a student who wanted to know what I could teach her that she couldn’t learn from a video. I responded “not much” and then went on to explain my answer.  Continue reading “How YouTube Became the World’s Best Film School | WIRED” →

Incredible Video Flawlessly Edits Dozens Of Famous Characters Into One Coherent Scene – Airows

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Photo by Negative Space on Pexels.com

There’s something incredibly cool about the art of editing. It can transport you from one time and place to another in a fraction of a second. Kuleshov developed the idea of “creative geography” when it came to film editing and now, here’s an extreme example of how it can be put to an extremely effective use. While this might be a tad long, it nevertheless is worth watching.

Elfquest and Comics without Superheroes

When I was a kid, and I started getting into comic books, naturally, my first inspirations were the superheroes. AAron and I would pull whatever was on the rack at the local Safeway, stopping for an hour or more on our way home from Kenny Guinn Middle School to sit and read. Continue reading “Elfquest and Comics without Superheroes” →

On Superman’s Symbol

18qliape9yl2vjpgOver at Kotaku.com, they have a great piece about the changing emblem on Superman’s chest. As they point out, “the big costume changes over the decades tend to stick out—the mullet and all-black bodysuit after he died and came back—but the smaller changes that happen over time tend to be more fascinating. Now you can see them all in one place.”

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On Speaking English as a Second Language

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A friend on Facebook posted this picture, which then sparked a discussion about speaking English when it isn’t your native language.

So here’s the thing: It’s hard. What this illustration points out is incredibly true. When I moved to Lithuania, I had no idea how to speak the language. Eventually, a few years after I arrived, I had the opportunity to take a basic, entry-level class.

It was hell.

Being a teacher myself, I would talk with my teacher who told me, after that fact, that when she saw she had an American coming in to her class, she was a little nervous. “I hate teaching Americans – any native English speakers, really.”

Now, mind you, the class itself was taught in English as that was the common lingua franca amongst the students, so the idea of speaking English wasn’t the problem.  Continue reading “On Speaking English as a Second Language” →

Dinosaurs and Technology – July 8, 2018

IMG_1734.jpgSunday was our last day in town and we had decided to try for the Natural History Museum. It fit our requirement of being free and had the added benefit of being one of my favorite places (plus, I’m working on a story set there, so, yay, research!). But first…breakfast and then a walk to the park.

Back at Valentines Park the day before, we had seen a small play area for kids but didn’t get a chance to stop by, so we figured we could do that this morning. Monki loved it. She only recently discovered the joy of slides and swings back at home, and was getting pretty good at climbing the stairs and waiting her turn, so this seemed tailor made for her. Continue reading “Dinosaurs and Technology – July 8, 2018” →

Park Life – July 7, 2018

IMG_1795.jpgSo…Remember those clothes we took to the cleaner back on Wednesday when Monki got sick in the car? It wasn’t just a wash and fold, it was actually a dry-cleaner and they said they could get them back for us Friday night or Saturday morning. Since way back then we didn’t know what was going to be happening, I opted for the Saturday morning option. Now, here we were on Saturday morning, up and ready to go out for the day, except we had to wait until at least 9am so we could make sure to get our clothes. Continue reading “Park Life – July 7, 2018” →

Into London Town – July 6, 2018

IMG_1678.jpgNew day, new adventure. Once again, a jet-lagged baby was up early so we had breakfast and headed out to figure out how to get into the city. We found the Ilford station and a very nice and helpful station agent explained the advantage of Oyster Cards to us as a cost saving measure and with the help of Citymapper, an app Lin had recommended, we quickly and easily made our way to Westminster Underground station. The great thing about this app is it it not only tells you what time and platform your train/bus/subway is on, but also which exit to take in order to leave the station as efficiently as possible as well as GPS enable walking routes to get you to and from the stations themselves. Truly a great app for London (and I understand they have it for other cities as well). Continue reading “Into London Town – July 6, 2018” →

Brick by Brick – July 5, 2018

IMG_1584.jpgLegoland is located over near Windsor Castle, where the recent royal wedding had been held, and about 50 miles from us. Thankfully, due to jet lag, Monki was up early, which meant we were as well, and after a brief English breakfast at the hotel, we were off on the day’s adventure. Continue reading “Brick by Brick – July 5, 2018” →

Like 4th of July in England – July 4, 2018

IMG_1559.jpgThis was the trip which almost didn’t happen.

We booked it a few weeks back, thinking it would be a nice getaway before Monki and I had our birthdays. The financial logic here was that before her second birthday, Monki flies for the infant rate of very little, as opposed to after her second birthday, in which case her fare rises dramatically. And that happens if her birthday falls within the travel period, so our hands were a bit tied as to timing. Continue reading “Like 4th of July in England – July 4, 2018” →

Gosh, I love arrows.

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This image is from issue #3 of Mark Gruenwald’s 1983 4 issue miniseries about Hawkeye.

For a long time, the phrase at the bottom of the frame, “Gosh, I love arrows,” has been a shorthand for me, for the lopsided pleasure that something small can bring.

In this story arc (and I highly recommend reading it), Clint Barton has a really bad day. The kind of day they write country songs about. And he doesn’t know how to carry on doing what he’s supposed to do. But then he gets some help and the clouds part a little bit. There’s a tiny ray of sunlight and he clings to it, fighting for every bit of space between the clouds until he’s standing in the noon sun again.

I think sometimes I just need this reminder. That no matter how bad the world is, no matter the set-backs personally or professionally, no matter the often encroaching darkness, that there are some good and happy moments. Small things that can bring a smile and let you know it’s okay to continue to fight.

Gosh, I love arrows.