Earlier this week I was on Dr David Allen's talk show discussing the Hermitage in Cat island and the life of Father Jerome. I edited out the commercials so its not too long but I hope its informative and inspires more people to go to Cat Island and see the Hermitage.
Here is a three part video I put together from the 27 gigabytes of video I shot while in Los Angeles. Watch for some of Mrs Seeward's wonderful photographs at the end of the video as well!
I have been neglecting the site lately because I have been soaking up so much wisdom and experience through dialogue and travel. I attended a gathering for the online theology class I have been doing called III Text and I went out to LA for a few days with Barry Taylor. You can get a feel for bits of the III Text conversation in the short video above. I have lots that I am ready to start posting about so I stay tuned!
We took a day trip into the city to have a look at the decorations and to see the Radio City Music Hall Christmas Spectacular. It was a great time just hanging out as a family but it was also sooooooo cold! I had forgotten what real cold weather felt like and now I think my ears are permanently going to stay pinkish red and sore.
What a wonderful event and chance to raise money for The New Providence Community Centre Hurricane Shelter! Everything went off without a hitch except that I didn't win the portable DVD player that had an HDMI cable output (for the non geeks that means 'cutting edge') Check out the video and you will get a great feel for the day and how much fun we had!
I woke up before the sun this morning to talk about the Advent Conspiracy and Rethinking Christmas.com. You can check out the clip above to see if my brain is fully functioning at 6am!
Just got back from an inspiring time in Miami at the CCDA Peace in the Streets conference. So many things really touched me but they had a no video rule so i was only able to capture a few bits of footage on the sly. It still gives you a sense of the experience but it doesn't show you the most impressive thing about the conference: meeting John Perkins(80+ civil rights leader) who blew everyone away with an hour and a half morning bible study that taught more than I ever dreamed.
This morning's Ordination service was such a joy to be a part of. As the above video shows I was honored to be ordinated my my longtime mentor, friend and cousin, Clint Kemp. We ended the service with a song of mine that had helped me through many rough patches in in life and I'm sure will also help through many more...
I know this isn't the OSCARS but I want to thank my parents, many soul friends who are too numerous to mention and my wife for supporting and nurturing me over the ups and downs.
We were making our daily pilgrimage to Starbucks and we were excited to see that one of Nicole's photos was hanging in the little gallery space that they have on the wall. Thanks to Flixwagon and its iPhone video live streaming to the web, you can share the moment with us!
Nicole had the opportunity to exercise her interior design skills on a room for a friend's twin girls. She did a fantastic job and the room looks awesome! I love the bright colors and the playful but clean feel to it all. You will see in the video that the twins themselves where so overjoyed that they became speechless just like on the television design shows. Well done Mrs. Seeward!!!
The Anthony De Mello is an online archive of stories, videos and mp3 recordings of Tony De Mello's spiritual reflection on a wide range of subjects. The above video is a sign of a cheesier video production style than the hipper christian world uses today but the teaching is still engaging and relevant. I love how relaxed and calming his presence seemed to be. For the interested, here is a link to a short bio of Tony written by his younger brother.
After all the hard work that went into the iWorship fundraising event the NPCC worship team took a much needed day of beach fun and relaxation. Thanks to Brooks and Chris for boating all of us up to a private little getaway on Rose Island for a wonderful labor day adventure. The fundraising was also a success and we met our goal of over $10,000 for new equipment for the stage!
I have been busy the last few days working towards the iWorship event we held at NPCC. The above video is a very rough audio mix from the 24track that I used to record the event. We will be producing a cd of the concert and I will post some mp3's when they are finalized.
A few posts ago I mentioned that my friend AJ had given me a custom painted skateboard as a gift. If you check out the above video you will see that my skating skills haven't changed a bit since I was in junior high school. I still shred it up to the Violent Femmes as well!
I made this short film for our Easter service. It is a series of short interviews about the meaning of Easter. It features a combination of footage that I shot and footage I gathered off of the web (the best footage came from Work of the People). Towards the end you will see a super-macro shot of a honey bee working on a fresh flower. I shot that with the marco setting on my video camera and it turned out great!
After the official Soularize event ended, a few people got together with Richard Rohr to explore contemplation. Thanks to a bit of Scottish hospitality at the end of the first day Nt Wright, Brennan Manning, Richard Rohr and Barry Taylor had an organized chat surrounded with about four video cameras and various mp3 recorders. Below are some of my shots but you can get the whole conversation as well as the whole conference over at Soularize.net:
The conversation was interesting but the highest point came not from one of expected speakers but from a very funny and slightly bent Irish lad named Gareth Higgins. Cheeky Lad, that Higgins.
Well the much anticipated Soularize 07 conference is over and in a flash. It was a great time to hang with Barry Taylor and hear some interesting people talk about interesting ideas. The video above is a little montage of some of my footage. You can join up to get all the content from the workshops and the main sessions here. It is well worth the small fee to hear such a diverse selection of ideas and experiences. My favorites were Richard Rohr, speaking on the concept of contemplation and its essential role in spiritual development. I also enjoyed Rita Brock and her emphasis on paradise rather than overcoming sin. I got to meet some cool folks as well and will be posting links to their blogs in the future. For now, check out this little preview of a conversation between Bishop NT Wright, Brennan Manning and Father Richard Rohr. They were interviewed by Barry Taylor and are answering his first question about the future of the church.
'Honeymoon in Havana' sounds like an old movie title starring Frank Sinatra and filmed during a casino inspired visit to his mobbed up associates. Havana is not just the city that got stuck in 1959 it is also the magical location of our second honeymoon after our second wedding ceremony (more to come on that front! can you say SA) There are many interestign changes to Cuba since I was there almost five years ago. One of the most obvious is the restoration program that is bringing color and life to some of the cities most beautiful buildings. The other is the increased amounts of capitalism that is creeping into every aspect of the country. For instance
Check out the first of the images to the lower left that Nicole took and you can see the way that the Cuban government will stop at nothing to sell a t-shirt. We had a great time walking through Old Havana with Renier, our Cuban tour guide. He said the average Cuban makes about 23-26 US Dollars a month. He has a degree in chemistry and used to work at a water purification factory. He was a great guide and had a sweet spirit.
Overall it waas a wonderful time that would have been even better if the food was better. I am not one for fancy eating but the food in Cuba is quite awful. We both left with a touch of upset stomach and a deep hunger for two quarter pounder with cheese extra value meals.
On Saturday evening many of our friends and family were invited to a surprise 'wedding shower' at my cousin Todd's (and his lovely wife Lorna) beautiful home in West Ridge. What they didn't know was that we had a beautiful surprise for them. Once they shouted 'surprise' I told them that we were about to get married right now. Everyone was very shocked and one cheeky person even shouted a funny question : "Does Nicole know she is getting married tonight?" - She did and we did!
The above image was taken just as Nicole pulled up with her special drivers (John and Archie) and that is one of the flower girls catching a sneaky peek. The girls looked adorable in matching dresses and flowered hair.
After the short but beautiful service led by Clint Kemp we had a long and passionate kiss:
We were so blessed to have our friends David and Angie Sacks join us for the event and have David capture the magic with his keen photographer's eye. We laughed and kissed and then kissed and then laughed some more. Nicole was having so much fun posing for the camera and looking so cute at the same time:
We took a few posed pictures of the wedding party which included my brother Jared as the Best Man and Nicole's good friend Chris Awkew as the Maid of Honor:
We also got a few great images of my family standing with us as well:
After the photos we moved into the back yard which was decorated wonderfully by Chris, Paul, Randy, John and Archie.
The food was wonderful and the spirit of joy and celebration filled the air:
We want to say a special thanks to everyone who helped make this night the best we've ever imagined - particularly my mom and dad for their generosity and for being at the center of the deception! We look forward to celebrating again with Nicole's family in South Africa next year and we have many more pictures that we will be making a larger website for. So if your not in any of the images then don't worry, we still love you!
I had a wonderful time on Saturday helping out with the production of a short film called Pudgy. It is a short story that Dr Allen has used as a type pf parable in his teachings. A few years ago I wrote a theme song for the story and so I got a nod for the music to be in the film (and my hairy self as well!) I met some great people and I learned a lot!
This little movie is from our trip to Cat Island. It features shots of the beatiful beaches, the creepy crabs and a few surprises. You can also see footage of two small churches that were built by Father Jerome. (see this post for more video of Father Jerome's work) It was so great to hang with Andrew Jones and have a quick jam in the living room of Greenwood. Cat Island is a fantastic place to get away for the hectic pace of Nassau! Do you need a Bahama-vention?
In 1938, master architect John Cyril Hawes(later renamed as Father Jerome), left his station designing churches for small farming communites in the Australian outback, for Cat Island Bahamas. He had grown weary and frustrated during the contruction of his most famous structure
St Francis Cathedral in western Australia
He lived in Cat Island for the remaining 18 years of his life and during that time built 4 churches. (check out future videos to see some of the churches) His most complex structure was his personal Hermitage on the highest point in the Bahamas, mount Alvernia. The structure is based on a monastry from the times of St Francis. The spot is striking on a few levels. First it is a rare sight to be so high up and have such an impressive view of the whole island. Second, the scale of the building is reduced so you have to bend over to enter the rooms and walk around. This was a design feature with spiritual reasons. Father Jerome was a tall and successful man but he intentionally built the ceilings low to force himself to remain humble and bend over, as in prayer. Another of the Hermitage's unique features is the 16 stations of the Cross that dot the landscape as you walk up the rocky path towards the 240 ft plateau. Father Jerome built his own tomb on the site and used to sleep inside it once or twice a year so he could 'get used to it'.
this is a little video highlight reel from the Q conference in Atlanta : April 2007. In the video you will see Kevin Kelly, founder of Wired Magazine, Jeff Johnson, host of two shows on BET, Rob Bell, pastor with indy rock like cult status, and the very funny Rick Mckinley from Portland, Oregon. Overall I had a blast listening to so many diverse speakers and meeting some new people like Marc Elliot, Marc wins the award for being the first person to recognize me in real life from this website!
In the Bahamas it is not what you know but who you know! Or more acurately - who you are related to! I have been fortunate to have some very well healed relatives in high places, like my cousin Todd Kemp who is very important in the Water Features Dept at the Mega-Resort Atlantis. Last weekend he was kind enough to give us a little behind-the-scenes tour of the aquarium system. The tour was great and we got to see some pretty freaky fish without having to stand in a massive line of obnoxious cruiseship passengers who are in a hurry to get back to the food trough. A big think you to Todd for his time - it was fantastic (except for the fish feeding kitchen smell =)
Friday was spent lounging on Robinson Caruso Island (Rose Island actually!) in the able care of the Majestic Lady and her crew. Nicole's sister is in town from South Africa and we have been having a great time! (read: more videos on the way!) The boat trip was fantastic and the weather was perfect. It was truly a much needed break and reminder of why I live in such a beautiful place.
There are a few things that Bahamians can claim is truely their own and the musical style 'Rake and Scrape' is very close to the top of that list. With its stylistic roots spread across the neighboring tropical islands, the style of 'Rake and Scrape' just makes you feel Caribbean! On Friday night at NPCC we had a true 'out-island' experience with Ancient Man and Crab Man. You can see from the video that a great time was had by all and the event was planned and executed very well, thanks to the hardworking Events Team! There was even someone playing the saw which added to the unique cultural flavor. When you play the video, make sure to pause it for a few minutes after hitting play, so it can load up, then hit play again and enjoy!
Saturday was Nicole's birthday and we had a wonderful time celebrating! We gathered at one of our favorite restaurants Indigo. Another treat was that our friends band Sway was performing that night so the place was packed full of good times! Check out the video to share in the experience! Nicole looked amazing(you'd never guess she was turning 25 ;-) and we all had a fantastic time!
It works best to pause the video after hitting play. Then after a good portion loads you can begin the video again and playback will be much smoother.
This weekend at npcc we had Carlos Reid as a guest speaker. Carlos used to be the leader of one of the largest street gangs in Nassau. Since the early 90's, He has been running Youth Against Violence. At the end of his talk he introduced The Platinum Soldiers, a hiphop group made up of boys and young men from his ministry.
The video is about 10 minutes long so you might need to pause it, after hitting play, to let some of the video stream load. This will ensure a smooth playback.
My friend Snucky (the best bass player I have ever met!) just opened a new deli called the signature deli. I went to the grand opeing on Friday to hear his new band Pneuma play some smooth and funky jazz. The deli has a nice starbucks type feel and the food is very good. During the weekends they are going to feature some interesting jazz combos. The band sounded amazing (trust me because the audio from the video camera doesn't do it justice)
Remember to pause the video aftering hitting play. That will allow some of it to load and the ensure the viewing will be smooth.
This clip is from the Aids Day Concert ot NPCC. It features Clergy performing Refuse to Shine. The beginning of our set was a little rough in the mixing department but by this song things began to settle in better.
Here is Andrew Jones and Spirithouse performing Rushin Through the Crowd at the Aids Day Concert at NPCC. You can see the crowd was well into the music!
This clip for the Ads Day Concert features spoken word artist Anku Eneas performing his piece Tonez. Anku aslo performed some soulful new songs as well!
Here is a video of Andrew Jones and his band Spirithouse playing at the Aids day concert on Dec 1st 2006 at NPCC. They are playing one of my favorite songs Doctor Doctor. The lovely Nicole is singing with the band! More highlights are on the way if you missed the live webcast.
I flew up to New Jersey to celebrate my brother's 33rd birthday. We had a great time as the video will show! The time was too short but we packed in a lot considering. We had some very nice meals and got to drive into NYC for a few hours on Saturday.
We went to the MOMA and saw Starry Night and about a dozen of the worlds other most famous paintings. It was a bit overwhelming since there were lots of people and lots to see. I will post some individual impressions of certian pieces later but for now I have to say that seeing Van Gogh, Picasso, and Dali all in the span of about an hour is hard on the mind!
Back to regular posting soon!
Last weekend I performed (with a few friends) at a fundraising event. We were raising money for a talented actress friend of ours to pay for her university. We performed a song of mine entitled "Change the World". You can check out the video here. Thanks to Brian Lee for filming the event and also designing the groovy flyers!
As always with internet video, it works best to pause the video at first and after a moment or two it should play smoothly when you un-pause it.
I have been working on a site for our South Africa vacation photos and videos. It was made in Flash 8, so make sure you have the newest Flash player (9) before you visit the site. If you have an older player, you will not see all of the content and may get stuck on certian pages.
You can download the newest player for free here. Also when you are viewing the videos, it works best to pause it, at first, and then after a moment or two, let it play. That way enough of the video will download for your playback to be smooth.
When I was learning how to use the video editing software (iMovie) I made this little video of my new place. The music is by Beck and the video features the artwork of John Cox, DeCyPul, and others. You can watch the video here.
I made a little flash meditation at Sacred Space quite a while ago. You can check it out here. There is also an article attached that was writtten with quotes from Antonius Roberts, tyrone Furguson and Clint Kemp.
This is the first of the videos from South Africa showing some of the musical parts of the Urban Minitries Conference. This clip is a combination of the first evening's gathering and the final night's jam session. It was a thrill to play with Barry Taylor on his wonderful songs and playing on a new guitar didn't hurt!
At the end of the video you can get a glimpse into South African worship culture as the audience begins to sing a song in African. Also during the reggae jam barry invited a member of the Soweto Youth Orchestra to join us and blow some trumpet. He caught on very quickly and added a wonderful flavor to the mix. Later on in the evening more musicians joined in (as you will see in some of the pictures) and the room was filled with music.
Two interesting memories for me were:
1. Waiting to meet Barry the first night and seeing a South African guy sitting down reading Rob Bell's book Velvet Elvis. I went over and talked with him for a bit. he was from a Willow Creek type church that was just beginning to think through issues of social justice and post-modernity. I turned him onto to Shane Claiborne's book and The Simple Way - that should do him well.
2. As we were leaving the final evening a rather large African woman stopped me at the door and said she had been trying to sort out who I reminded her of for the whole three days. After a moment she smiled and told me she figured it out and that she realized I was the guy that they use as a model when the paint pictures of Jesus. That brought a smile to my face! Thanks to Nicole for capturing the fun on video!
This little video was made as a journal of our trip to Philly. It was a way of sharing the experience with our Npcc community once we arrived back in Nassau. It features short interviews with each person who went on the trip along with lots of video footage of the area aroudn philly known as The Badlands or Kensington.
The people in the video are Pennie, Jane, Mark, Tim, Nicole and myself.
It's always a good idea, with streaming video, to pause the video and allow a bit of it to load so the playback will be smooth and uninterrupted.
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