hoodooencoding

The Time Out and All In Social Club is in Full Effect!

I was once told that the purpose of capitalism is to make a profit. Perhaps this is why I love seeing a brother running his own business. My new friend Joel Sanders in Berlin has run several. His latest venture is an excellent event location, "The Time Out and All In Social Club".

This clip is from a Halloween Party he organized last month. The food and atmosphere was superb. I can hardly wait to see what he's planning for New Years Eve.

One of the things I love about the clip is that it shows how near his place is to the Tegel airport; the plane you see at the beginning of the footage had just landed on the airstrip located not too far from his front door. Surreal.

We plan to have a "Time Out and All In" facebook fan site, so you'll be able to check out more pics and updates about the club's activities in the near future.

In the meantime, I hope you enjoy the footage of the party; believe me, a high time was had by all.

BTW, this is the first time I've had a chance to use some of my original music for a video clip, ever.

Reverend Boogaloo would be proud :-)

Elizabeth's Endurance: interview

This is an interview I did recently with Elizabeth Adekunle, co-founder of the African Women and Youth Organization e.V. (AWYO) in Berlin Germany. Elizabeth started her non-profit, community advocacy project in 2006 to assist African women and their families gain access family counseling services in areas of education, legal advice and intercultural communication challenges. She has worked tirelessly as a community activist to support Africans in the diaspora throughout Germany.

You can find out how you can support Elizabeth and the AWYO project by visiting http://www.awyo.de/

As I mentioned in my last blog entry, I'm still learning how to edit on-the-fly. The biggest mistake I made this time (and learned from) was my failure to eliminate background noise in the room: I forgot to turn off all the computers in the room when I started the interview, hence, I discovered the whir of the computer fans in the background only after I was done shooting. You can also hear other people in the room moving glasses and plates on tables around the halfway mark. 

Now I understand why assistant directors yell "ALL QUIET ON THE SET!!" before the cameras start rolling when shooting a feature film. DUH.

Live and learn.

I'm think I'm gonna enjoy yelling "QUIET!!...Dog-bite-your-time!!..." the next time I do this.

In the meantime, here's the director's cut of my original interview with Elizabeth Adekunle...I thought that what she had to say was interesting, timely and compelling.

I wonder what you think...