We apparently didn’t learn our lesson about going out in mid-day heat as we found ourselves wandering through old neighborhoods of Bangkok as the heat spiraled.  We managed to find a small local spot for fried spicy crumbled catfish and fried crispy noodles and lots of water to cool off… […]

It’s hard to sum up Bangkok in one word or even a set of words. Crowded, bustling, overwhelming, disorganized, stinky and hot might help to set the stage. Yet what’s most striking about Bangkok is its extremes. From the rickety open-aired tuk-tuks attempting to weave between lines of traffic to […]

We flew DC to Detroit to Tokyo to Bangkok for a total 24 hours of traveling, which I was dreading prior to our trip but now barely remember.  We arrived at our guest house just after midnight after passing at least three Seven Elevens and a few gilded framed posters […]

In less than a week, we are leaving for two months in Southeast Asia. Among the myriad of preparations for the trip, packing our film gear lightly and efficiently is most important.  We will be traveling through four countries and moving often, so light and compact is key. Here’s what […]

I got an email solicitation the other day from a composer looking for work. At present, I have no need for music composition, but I filed his email away in a folder marked “contractors”, thanked him for contacting us and let him know that I would keep him in mind […]

I love art that finds beauty in the ugly. That’s exactly what Juliana Santacruz Herrera did on Parisian streets with her crochet pothole art. How colorful!  See more images on her Flickr Photostream.  

A couple of months ago, I blogged about great documentaries streaming on Netflix.  Since then, Netflix has added a few more of my favorite non-fiction flicks: October Country: October Country is a beautifully rendered portrait of an American family struggling for stability while haunted by the ghosts of war, teen […]

This week we had two new toys to play with:  the Kessler Crane Phillip Bloom signature pocket dolly and the PMD 661 Marantz audio recorder.  While it’s always exciting for us to try out a new piece of technology, it’s tricky to figure out how to integrate the tools into […]

It took over 300 hours of video filmed over the course of a year to produce The Interrupters, Steve James‘ latest documentary study of urban America. While James’ celebrated Hoop Dreams captures the rise of inner-city kids to college basketball fame, his latest flick studies the pervasive violence that plagues […]

It doesn’t matter if you don’t know who Bob Forrest is, or recognize his alt-rock band Thelonious Monster. His is the story of ’80s and ’90s rock in America. Silverdocs selection Bob & The Monster is a throwback to that time, including both the sublime and the ugly, and it’s all […]

During a vintage store shopping trip down U Street this Sunday, I came across this “Gagged Washington” on the side of a building owned by DC Vote founder and board member Daniel Solomon.