Now a month later, Adam will be trying on a new role as VJ. He’s stoked. Kachisan will be playing twice tomorrow in Seoul as part of the HBC Fest. They’ll be at the VFW in Haebangchon at 3:00pm and then at Rocky Mountain Tavern in Itaewon at 10:00 pm. Adam will be VJ-ing at both events. If you’re in Seoul, stop by to hear some great rock music combined with cool, atmospheric film manipulation. Here’s the event info.

HBC Fest will have tons of live performances all day and into the night at every possible venue around Haebangchon, so it’ll be more than worth the trip. Here’s the schedule.

-Jessica

Addendum: So, the venues aren’t set up well for the VJ-ing that Adam and the guys envisioned, so Adam is going to join them in a couple of weeks for some gigs in Hongdae. Kachisan is still going to rock it at HBC fest, though, so stop by!

Dear Kid from Hannah Shin on Vimeo.

What would you say?

-Jessica

A story about an artist, told by a writer and a photographer, all boyhood friends of mine whom I am so happy to see are using their talents to bring beautiful things into the world. Through Kevin Bouldin’s vivid words and Daniel Collin’s communicative images, I was able to catch up with an old friend from boy scouts, Ethan Swiggart. His is a classic tale of lemons and lemonade. I feel so proud to know these guys. I hope you will head over to Nashville Public Radio‘s web site and check it out.

-Adam

This past Thursday we held our first evening of a new Laughing Tree sponsored event, ’8mm: Owl Bus Vintage Cinema,’ and it was lots of fun. (for more event info and a map, click on that link)

I’ve been into emulating vintage film looks with my digital photography work for a while now, trying to capture the delicious, muted tones and nostalgic feel produced by Holgas, and old 35mm film. Any of you that have kept up with some of the photos I’ve been posting lately are aware of this already. I think this retro fetish first began with my obsession with electronic duo Boards of Canada whose whole aesthetic is dripping with 70′s and 80′s vibes and was then further fostered and fueled by of my creative heroes, Scott Hansen of ISO 50 and Tycho fame.

Anyhow, this vintage fixation has begun to carry over into an interest in retro-styled moving images as well. I began collecting some home movie and other 8mm footage when I was working on ideas for the video for “All the Pretty Little Horses”, and I just got kinda hooked. Something about the gritty jumpiness and washed out colors felt so authentic and really transported me into another emotional space that slick, HD video and CGI just can’t match.

At first my collection was confined to home movies, and then started branching out into other genres like old animations, some experimental film, commercials from the 50′s and 60′s, and even some old ephemeral films produced for education and promotion. Video can fill up a hard drive quick, and soon I was wondering what I was going to do with all of this material. I’ve long had some latent VJ aspirations and considered getting into that, but honestly I still don’t have the time or money to really pursue that hobby just yet so I let that idea go. Then a few weeks ago I was talking to my friends Hyesook and Heejong at one of our favorite spots in Hongdae, Owl Bus, and they told me they were looking for a way to get more people in during the week. I told them I was looking for an opportunity to share my growing film collection with people, and we hatched a plan to do a weekly vintage film night there. Win-Win. Love it.

Well, we managed to pull it together the past Thursday and had a nice crowd of about 15 or 20 folks there throughout the evening. Just about right for an opening night when the kinks are still getting worked out.

I will be there at Owl Bus curating 8mm each Thursday night from 7-11pm from now on until it stops being fun, so I hope that you will come and join us some night soon!

-Adam

Tomorrow we’ll take a bus back to the capitol Chisinau and take the night train back to Bucharest, arriving there early on Saturday morning. We’ll have a day and a night in Bucharest, again with our host Tony. Then on Sunday, we’ll fly to Italy and have a week there with our friends. In Bucharest or Italy, we’ll try to take some time and write down some thoughts and stories as well as post some pictures and videos from our time here in Moldova.

Thanks for sharing this experience with us and praying for us and Felicia.

Lots of love,
Jessica and Adam

Tomorrow, Tony will show us some of the sights, and in the evening, he’ll put us on the overnight train into Moldova (his home country). We’ll arrive in Chisinau, the capitol of Moldova on Saturday morning, and we will meet our hosts from CERI, Sweet Sleep‘s parent organization. Then, on Sunday, we’ll ride a van up to Balti where we’ll get to spend a week with dear Felicia and her friends. We’re excited!

-Jessica

p.s. While we were in the air, I missed posting another nice write-up we had for our lullaby CD, this time from Peekaboo Picks. Thanks to them for such a nice mention on their product blog. You can read the blog here.

I hope you’ll take a few minutes to read our interview with Amy on Lullaby Link.

Thanks, Amy! It’s been a pleasure working with you.

-Jessica

Moldova has an ungodly number of orphans due to the poverty of the people. Our friends at Sweet Sleep went there a few years ago and saw that the kids in the orphanages were sleeping 2-3 per bed on filthy, soiled, lumpy mattresses that were over 50 years old. Sweet Sleep began building beds for all of the kids in several orphanages.

Stemming from the poverty and social situation in Moldova, orphans have little choice than to enter organized crime or the sex trade when they “graduate” from the orphanage boarding school at age 16. Thus, Sweet Sleep initiated child sponsorships through their parent organization CERI. This is how we met Felicia.

For four years, we have exchanged emails, sent gifts, contributed toward her schooling and added to a savings for Felicia’s future.

Tomorrow, we’ll be on our way to meet her for the first time.

We’re flying through England for a day and then landing in Romania where we’ll catch a train to Chisinau, the capitol of Moldova. From Chisinau, we’ll ride a van up to the village of Falesti where we’ll meet Felicia, her little sister Eugenia, her good friends Marina and Doina, and the other kids at the orphanage as well as help out in any way we can for a few days.

We are so excited to finally meet Felicia in person, but we’re also a little nervous about meeting her after so long. Adam and I would be so grateful if you would please remember us in your thoughts and prayers over the next couple of weeks.

If you are interested in building a bed for a child who needs a safe haven in their unsure life, you can click here to learn more about Sweet Sleep and support them. We are also donating 10% of all proceeds from sales of our Laughing Tree Lullabies to Sweet Sleep. Visit CERI’s site for more information on child sponsorships.

Thank you for your love and support. We’ll let you know how our trip goes!

-Jessica (and Adam)

MUTO from Blu on Vimeo.

I got curious to see if any one else was doing similar work, and in poking around here and there, I came across this guy David Ellis, and was equally impressed:

Daily from David Ellis on Vimeo.

Needless to say, I was absolutely stoked to discover on Likecool today a recent collaboration between the two executed at the Fame Festival in Italy. Amazingly, it was executed in just a week. Behold, the madness, the masterpiece that is “COMBO,” by Blu and David Ellis:

COMBO a collaborative animation by Blu and David Ellis (2 times loop) from blu on Vimeo.

Produced by Studio Cromie
Music by Roberto Lange
Made at Fame Festival, September 2009

-Adam

Jessica and I have been loyal listeners of Chicago Public Radio’s, “This American Life,” for years now and are continually amazed at the creative and engaging way the show communicates stories that matter. So, I was particularly intrigued to see the following video posted on another favorite creative pathway guidebook of mine, Scott Hansen’s ISO50 blog:

“The first couple years that you’re making stuff, what you’re making isn’t so good — it’s not that great. It’s trying to be good, it has ambition to be good, but it’s not quite that good. But your taste, the thing that got you into the game, your taste is still killer and your taste is good enough that you can tell that what you’re making is kind of a disappointment to you. A lot of people never get past that phase and a lot of people at that point quit.”

I think that this video should be a part of the mandatory curriculum at every arts school. Scratch that, every school. I know that this pain and fear caused by making inevitably inferior, initial work has been the single greatest struggle along my way as a maker of art.

“And the thing I would just like say to you with all my heart is that most everybody I know who does interesting creative work, they went through a phase of years where they had really good taste and they could tell what they were making wasn’t as good as they wanted it to be. We knew that it didn’t have the special thing that we wanted it to have and the thing to do is — everybody goes through that. And for you to go through it, if you’re going through it right now, if you’re just getting out of that phase or if you’re just starting off and you’re entering into that phase, you’ve got to know it’s totally normal and the most important possible thing you can do is do a lot of work. Do a huge volume of work.”

So, I say this to you (but also, and mainly to me): Keep your great taste. Just be kind to yourself and keep making, despite it.

-Adam