CHRISTOPHER HAWLEY
April 5, 2022
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I learned surfing.
At least a few meters I managed to stand upright on the board and surfed a little wave on the pacific ocean.
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But that moment isn't the thumbnail of my memories with Christopher Hawley from Venice, Los Angeles.
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It's the moment when we both were sitting on our boards, floating on the salty and dark water at the Californian coast, a few hundred meters away from the waters edge.
The ocean is calm out there. The waves are breaking somewhere behind us. Christopher calls it the white water. Chris is observing the vast water mass in front of us, looking for the perfect wave. I'm still out of breath, because it's surprisingly hard to paddle out here, against the power of the waves. At least for me. While I'm catching my breath I try to find a comfortable sitting position on my board, splashing water with my hands. Chris looked at me and tells me not to splash too much, because "it attracts the animals", "we don'´t say the word here!". I stop splashing and think about what might be beneath us. Obviously he meant sharks. Great white Sharks.
Like many film fans I am scared of the inner picture of a great white shark's face reaching out for my legs, dipping into the darkness.
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The same night I find myself binge watching drone videos from a youtuber who observes great whites at the LA coast. And I can't believe how close these creatures come to surfers and swimmers on a daily basis. Mostly without incidences, fortunately.
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The next day I was out there again with him; and them. Brave me! :)
Chris is not just a surf teacher, or a yoga teacher. He also is a singer songwriter.
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One day I filmed chris with my drone during a surfing lesson.
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MUSIC-VIDEO: THINGS GOTTA GET BETTER
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So i picked one of his songs and put it under the drone shots.
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Thank you for the lessons Chris. You were a great neighbour and you are a real Californian original! (as far as i can tell)
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CYBER SECURITY
March 30, 2022
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Cyber Security.
This topic is becoming more and more valuable for the mainstream. EVERYBODY should be aware of it! – maybe all but Amish people.
The fast increasing shift of our "real lifes" towards the digital world has a logical side effect. The criminal part of life is coming with us.
In statistics the cliché of a typical petty criminal, sneaking in the dark, wearing a ski mask and leather gloves, is absolutely NOT representative anymore.
It's not just a bunch of filthy people anymore that have the necessary greed – and above all – the braveness or desperation, to go out and make some real life crime.
The entry qualification to do the "job" digitally attracts a much broader type of human being. All you need is a computer, time and will.
Instead of walking around checking out houses and stuff, they comfortably sit behind their screens and risking almost nothing in putting all their effort in crime like theft and scam.
This note is a quick reminder: with our identity, that becomes more and more digital, our valuables do the same.
And they are not hidden and save behind the thick walls of your house. It's a thin wall of zeros and ones that "protects" you from losing your money, photos and privacy-stuff.
The good news is most “digital real estate companies” such as microsoft, apple, google etc. seem to serve us with good and thick digital buildings. So the safety risk is more on us.
It's all about our habits, that are created by a mind that has not yet realised, in what world it lives more and more. Most people almost never lock their digital doors. And if they do, they do it poorly. They leave their windows open. Or open their doors for everybody that knocks.
This is just a quick reminder. Take this topic seriously!
Just google about the victims of hacking attacks. There are many. Celebrities and normal folks. And they all can tell you how much pain in the ass this is. And sometimes even worse.
Inspired to make your digital life saver? Check this out!
Write down your thoughts.
That's a well known rule. For a good reason.
Writing down your thoughts is not about creating output, it is more about processing your input.
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So let's first talk about input. Let's talk about reading!
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The complexity of the human brain is still a big mystery, but nevertheless scientists can describe the basic neural mechanics behind reading pretty well. So what happens when we read?
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Step 1: a brain area processes the visual image of the letters
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Step 2: another area identifies the visual pattern as letters and sends it to an area called the "letterbox", where the letters become a word
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Step 3: another brain area processes the meaning and pronunciation of the word
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For an experienced reader this process takes less than half a second.
Why am I telling you this? Because scientists found out: reading about 30 pages a day, stimulates the activity of a brain area related to memories, verbal recall and emotional regulation.
Probably that's why people feel less stress and anxiety after reading, can articulate themselves better and have a lower risk of dementia.
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Okay, reading gives you a lot of benefits. But why should you write more?
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Two reasons:
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Reason 1: when you write down your thoughts about what you have read, you basically repeat the reading process. And repeating is the most important tool for learning.
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Reason 2: When you summarise what you just read, you will understand the text better. Satisfying. Your brain produces dopamin and that motivates you to read more.
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Bottom line here is: prevent Alzheimer's, improve your memories, talk better, and reduce stress and anxiety by building a reading habit trough writing.
Got it? Then feel free to take some notes :)
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Maybe this infographic helps you more to motivate yourself.
WRITE MORE!
January 1, 2022
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SHORTFILM: THE MECHANIC
September 17, 2020
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All it basically took was a flashlight and a photo camera to make this short film.
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The cinema magic of Hollywood can usually only be created with a lot of effort. Tons of expensive lights controlling every corner of the frame, handled by lots of people. Gigantic white sheets hanging in the air, softening the sunlight. And much more to make the set look larger than life.
But there are also a lot of magic scenes in blockbuster movies, that take place in the darkness, and seem to only be lit by the actor himself with a flashlight, a matchstick, a torch or a smartphone screen.
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At least for me it looked as simple as that. But I wanted to figure out if I was right.
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So I picked up my digital photo camera (Canon EOS-R) and a flashlight from amazon.
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Okay, it took a little bit more to create that piece, but the visual atmosphere is just made with these two main ingredients. And it worked.
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You can watch the final film here!
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Have fun :)