SPNN pics 227
Originally uploaded by kevinkalla.

As I'm still not feeling well, I left work early today to do some work at home. Tomorrow's my birthday, so I'm hoping to feel slightly less out of sorts come tomorrow morning. As for a progress report, things are going fairly smoothly at SPNN. We're still working on our fashion and clothing episode of Set It Up, and I've been very busy doing all sorts of small tasks (computer maintenance and the like). Also, I was involved in two presentations last week for CTEP. I use the word involved loosely. The first was a presentation that Roxanne did on teaching media literacy. Riley and I talked about the tools and techniques that companies employ in the creation of advertisements, but all of the credit for the presentation goes to Roxanne. Then on Friday, our committee did a presentation on media representations and the power of media to create change. This presentation was Dave's baby, but we helped position his discussion of representations of American Indians and the film In Whose Honor within a greater context of the power of the media. For having little time to prepare, I think our presentation went relatively smoothly. And while the film was exceptionally difficult to obtain, I think people responded favorably to it. All right, that's all for now. I've included a photo taken last month at the studio taping of our first episode. Enjoy!

Hey everyone! A real post is coming soon, but here's something to tide you over until then. I've been very excited that our current episode of Set It Up is going to include an animated piece. In the spirit of this, please check out the video for Okkervil River's "For Real." Click here to view the video!

The season premiere of Set It Up is now streaming on the web! This episode was a learning experience, and the technical difficulties are apparent. However, there are flashes of brilliance. In particular, look out for the show opening (even the music was done in-house) and for a spoken word piece entitled "Racism: Then and Now." Click here to watch the first episode! (If you have any problems playing the video, try installing the newest version of Quicktime).

Postcard for enewsletter
Originally uploaded by kevinkalla.

So I've been working on a postcard to send out to youth that have been involved with SPNN in the past. We're trying to get people signed up for our e-newsletter and to update their contact information (to keep our database current). It's the first postcard I've ever designed, and here's what I came up with. Thoughts?

Happy New Year! It's my first day back at work after my two wonderful weeks in Washington. The season premiere of Set It Up will air tonight at 7pm on channel 16 (if you live in Saint Paul). If you happen to live anywhere else, you'll have to wait until I compress a copy that will stream on SPNN's website. Also, I encourage everyone to check out this article. The beginning of the article gives a really good overview of what public access television is, who uses it, and how it is funded. It then goes on to examine some of the proposed bills in congress that may affect the future of public television.

So I really should be editing video right now, but I wanted to post one last blog entry before heading home, and I'm not sure when else I'll have time to do this. I'll start in the present and work my way backwards. See those posters on the right? Those are the two framed posters I have hanging up in my bedroom representing two of my favorites bands: The Wrens and Okkervil River.

This Saturday, December 17th, I'm heading back home to Washington. I'm flying in to SeaTac and staying in Seattle with my lovely sister Karen and her husband Charles. This just happens to coincide with KEXP's Yule Benefit Concert. Guess who's headlining? The Wrens and Okkervil River. My head may explode. I'm going to do everything in my power to make it to that concert.


On to other, more work-related things. We shot our footage for the WiFi video project over the past two weeks. It was a difficult process, and it turned into a logistical nightmare. We ended up rewriting the ending. On a positive note, I think it turned out really well, thanks to the dedication and general awesomeness of the media committee (who I promise to go sledding with when I come back in January).


Our last shoot was on Tuesday, and I've been capturing and editing footage since then. I have a rough cut put together, but it definitely needs a lot of polish. All in all, it was a great learning experience. Thanks to Catherine for trusting us with her amazing video camera, lighting kits, and the like. I've posted a few pics from the experience. The first one is of Roxanne frozen in carbonite. The second is of Riley, Dave, Roxanne, and Huy filming in the playground at Skyline.
The last two were taken during our shoot at the Stone Arch Bridge in Minneapolis. It was absolutely beautiful and absolutely freezing.

As if there wasn't enough going on this week, today is our studio shoot for Set It Up. I'm definitely excited. We did a practice shoot in the small studio on Tuesday, and it went fairly smoothly. Leon is our host for his episode, and he's a born entertainer. As voted on by Set It Up members, our set is going to consist of a low-to-the-ground coffee table and floor pillows and a backdrop of blue and red lighting. Since it's the last day of Set It Up before the winter break, we're going to have about half an hour at the end where we'll have delicious snacks from Bread and Chocolate and we'll hand out a couple of awards for perfect attendance. That's all for now, I have to get back to some sweet, sweet editing.

So we didn't have everyone here on Tuesday, but I went ahead and took a couple of group shots anyway. From left: Donald, Majid, Xavier, Bekka, Karesa, Leon, and Vanessa. We have a really great group, and I'm just hoping that we manage to pull off the first episode by the end of next week. The real challenge is going to be finishing up some of our segments with what little time we have left. As I've mentioned before, our first episode deals with stereotypes. I've found that skits have been the most difficult segments to produce, as they require the highest level of coordination in terms of actors and locations.

But we will prevail. The first episode will air January 2nd at 7pm on Channel 16. I've taken on a project to stream episodes of Set It Up on the SPNN website, so if you don't live in St. Paul or you do but you don't have cable, you should be able to check it out there. Hopefully I'll be able to work on that a little before I head home to see my awesome family in Bellingham, Washington (I'll be gone the 17th-30th, getting back just in time for Josh, Erin, Emily, and Ryan's Semi-Formal Dance-Rock-Themed New Years Blowout Extravaganza).

In other exciting news, the media committee is going to start (and hopefully finish) shooting our WiFi video project tomorrow. We will be doing much of the filming at Skyline in Saint Paul. Roxanne, our excitable committee advisor, cut through MetroTransit red tape and secured us a shoot at the 46th Street Station bus stop with our very own bus (we don't get to keep it or anything, but we're still excited). The structure of our piece is going to make coordinating with actors and locations a logistical nightmare, but you know what they say about AmeriCorps members: we get things done.

A real work-related blog update is coming soon. To fill the void, I encourage you to check out a video clip of Bob Dylan giving his Grammy acceptance speech in 1991 after receiving the lifetime achievement award. Go to this website, scroll down to 1990s, and click on Grammy Awards '91. You'll need Realplayer or Real Alternative to play it.

Roxanne with action figures
Originally uploaded by kevinkalla.

On a final note, the media committee (of which I am the figurehead) has been offered a most awesome project. Currently there are plans to implement city-wide wireless internet access in Minneapolis and, eventually, Saint Paul. The contract with whatever vendor the city of Minneapolis decides on will include a community benefits agreement, which essentially lays out what the vendor will do to ensure that this new technology benefits as much of the community as possible. This is where CTEP comes in. Several members of CTEP are involved in this process, and the media committee has begun work on a project to create a short (60-90 second) video that will be shown at the beginning of town hall meetings and other meetings with different communities in Minneapolis. The video will act as a catalyst, a conversation starter.

As awesome as this sounds, we're working on a pretty short timeline. We are supposed to complete this project by the middle of December, and we're still in the pre-production process. Fortunately, we have some really fantastic people on the media committee with a lot of creativity and talent. The picture you see here was taken at our first brainstorming session. Roxanne brought action figures to help us plan our shots. At some point The Rock started calling the shots.

I love this state so much

First snow
Originally uploaded by kevinkalla.

In other news, it began snowing this past week. This is a shot I took on the first day. I think the bleakness of the photo accurately reflects the way I feel about winter. As someone who spent most of his childhood fairly close to the equator, the first snowflake that hits the ground sounds more like a death knell to me. Tom, if you're reading this, I know you would agree.