Maybe We Can Not Do Things Like This...

I don’t often use this blog to vent or post on serious topics. But I witnessed something recently that has really stayed with me and I wanted to use this as an outlet to share my thoughts.

I help supervise high school football games every week. And at end of one of this season’s games, the visiting Junior Varsity team (who won 21-0), instead of huddling together as is customary for teams to do, lined up on the field and faced the home crowd. Once in position, the team did several jumping jacks in unison and made taunting gestures to the opposing crowd. Again, NOT to their own fans, it was done entirely as a mocking gesture to the home crowd.  After they had just shut out that crowds team. Their actions during the game and the resulting victory weren’t enough. They had to take it one step further in one of the worst displays of sportsmanship I’ve ever seen at any level of competition. They were met with boo's and, of course, the players just yelled back at the crowd and celebrated with one another to rub it in further. And while the actions of these players are sad, it's hard to fault them. What's disgusting about this to me is that their coach not only encouraged this, but likely orchestrated it. This grown man who is supposed to be a role model to these 14 and 15 year old boys, is teaching them that practicing terrible sportsmanship is the right thing to do. They were simply doing what their role model had taught them. And this situation REALLY saddened me. It makes our future look bleak. I love sports and I love the lessons in team building, sportsmanship and unity that they offer. But too often I see completely opposite lessons being taught, as was the case with this particular team.

So consider this an open letter to anyone in a position of influence over impressionable minds. You’re setting an example. You are a role model. You have an OPPORTUNITY to help mold the future of this world. Not too many of us can say that. And it breaks my heart to see people completely trash that opportunity.

I want to remain optimistic. And I still am. The glass is always half full for me. But acts like the one I witnessed in this game pour a little bit of water out of that glass. So anyone reading this, put a little back in that cup for me. Do something good in this world. Spread positivity. Brighten someone’s day. Encourage someone. Teach someone something. Love someone. Forgive someone.  

Never forget your influence on others. A little can go a long way.

Video Making Is No Joke. Use Pedialite.

Without a doubt, one of my ABSOLUTE favorite things to do as a kid was make home videos. And by home videos I mean movies that were created with some sort of premise where characters and acting were involved. But there was no writing of scripts. No major planning. No rehearsals. It was as simple as getting an idea, grabbing the camera and going for it. And I gotta say, my friends and I came up with some freaking awesome stuff.

Please allow me to run down some of the highlight videos that come to mind.

60/60 News - This was a spoof on 20/20 where I sat behind a piano bench with a blanket draped over it to deliver news stories. Of course the news stories were terrible. They ranged from anything like kids who got injured jumping on a trampoline to rabid dogs on the loose. We even interviewed "Richard Simmons" once, which led to a flashback of me as an obese newscaster eating mayonnaise straight out of the jar. That days topic: food. Needless to say, Mr. Simmons encouraged me to turn my life around and lose the weight. The support cast of my two best friends Danny and Greg, along with my brother Robert and sister Erica allowed for multiple characters and newscasters. We did several of these productions over the span of a few years, the earliest of which I found from 1996. My God, they were so good.

The Cardboard Monster - In 1998 we created one of our more epic productions featuring a murderous monster made of cardboard, appropriately titled The Cardboard Monster.  The engineering team of Robert, Greg and his twin brother Brian created the monster using several cardboard boxes, paper cups, pipe cleaners and dryer vent tube thingies. Notice I didn't include myself as part of the engineering team. I was too dumb for that. I stayed solely on the creative side of this project. This was one of the first times we experimented with different camera angles, including a view from the monsters perspective as he strangled Robert's characters to death several times. Robert played five different characters in the film, all of whom met their demise at the hand (or teeth) of the monster. All, except of course, his last character who (SPOILER ALERT) finally decapitated the monster, ending his reign of terror. Three years later, my cousin Tony assisted Robert, Erica and myself in creating The Revenge of the Cardboard Monster in which the headless monster (played by Robert) hunts down Tony and I after we find his head in a trash can. We did a decent job, though my brother and I fought mid-shoot causing him to leave the production. We, in turn, had Erica step into the role of the monster. It was weird when the monster suddenly had girl legs but eh, we rolled with it.

The Blair Witch Parody- The Blair Witch Project was pretty huge in 1999. So what better way to capitalize on that then by creating a parody of the movie? Shooting was relatively easy since the actual movie was shot on shaky handheld cameras. We didn't even have to try to replicate that since that was already our style. I thought we did a pretty good job w/ this project, though we kind of lost steam at the end. Instead of finding the Blair Witch, we find Danny on the toilet suffering from constipation. Robert then reminds us that, "Constipation is no joke. Use Pedialite." I don't know how we did it.

I just LOVE the fact that this is what I spent my days of childhood doing. I didn't realize how important the creative process was to me. That THAT was my gift and my way of sharing joy with others. And that the process and passion behind creating these videos was something I'd carry with me into adulthood. If you know me even a little, you know that I still love creating anything. Songs, t-shirt designs, greeting cards. And of course, videos. And I still do it with the same giddiness and enthusiasm as when I was a kid.

I recently had many of these tapes ripped to DVD and burned onto my computer, and I've spent a little time working with the footage. I may get around to posting finished movies someday. I kind of like leaving them as is though... they're more symbolic as memories. But that said, I did just put together a montage of all the death scenes I had from these videos. Which makes us sound kind of morbid. But bear in mind, we created these deaths to be absurd, not grotesque, as you'll see in this video.  Look out for clips from the above mentioned projects. Enjoy the best of our murder scenes in this brief glimpse into my childhood mind:

Chili Dog Extravaganza!: FINALE

So get this. LAST summer (like, over a year ago) I started recapping my adventure from 2002 where my sister, brother, best friend and I went to all the Wienershnitzels in our neighborhood to collect the free chili dog's they were giving out for their anniversary. You can read about that a little more in depth here.

We documented our outing on video and I decided to bring that video back to life as a five part video series since a lot of the footage was either shaky or just sort of a waste of time. So I trimmed everything down into a more watachable series of videos. See those here.

But for some reason, I decided to procrastinate for a YEAR before completing the final video. Well get off my back, I finally got that shiz done! And you can watch it riiiight here:



Holy crap does time fly. I can't believe this adventure was TEN years ago. ifeelold.com. But this outing really stands out as one of my favorite memories from my youth. It was spent with some of the most important people in my life and dammit, we had a blast! Thanks for watching.

O.J. Horray!

I recently joined a group on Facebook (started by my friend Ryo) called "Songwriters' Circle". The premise is simple. Each week, a new theme will be presented to us and we have ONE week to write, record and post a song fitting that theme. I LOVE this idea and am more than up for this weekly challenge. Week one's theme: CITRUS. Only one thing came to mind when I saw this theme. And here are the results:

Let's do it with the lights out... Frisbee Edition!

About two weeks ago, a vision of mine came to life. Night Frisbee.

People should always be glow-in-the-dark.

Ever since starting an unofficial Ultimate Frisbee club that consists of siblings, cousins, childhood friends and new friends almost nine months ago now, I've wanted to play a night game using a variety of glowing/light-up items. The idea was sparked when I bought a light-up Frisbee just to expand on my Frisbee collection. I knew it would be fun to toss this Frisbee around at night, but then I took it a step further. What if we played a full on game of Ultimate where not only the Frisbee lit up, but the players and the field itself did as well?? That would have to be WAY awesome, right? 

Well after collecting an assortment of glow bracelets with the help of those in our Frisbee group, we chose a night and gave it a go. And the following video is the results:



It was a freakin' blast! It WAS still a little hard to see players from a distance. During each pull as we were standing at opposite ends of the field, we really couldn't see the light up bracelets on the other team. It wasn't until we got to within about 30 or 40 yards that we could really make out the colors. So for next time, we're thinking of up-ing the glow factor by getting that glow in the dark paint and plastering it on our t-shirts. Then we'd DEFINITELY be more visible.

Now accepting donations for glow supplies. Thaaaanks.

Ultimate Frisbee Rules

Lago Seco Ultimate! Featuring Dave The King of Mexico (holding Frisbee).

So a few weeks ago, I went on air with The Kevin and Bean Show (KROQ's morning show) whom I have been affiliated with for several years having worked for the station and the nationally syndicated version of the show. What did I go on air to talk about? ULTIMATE FRISBEE.

Kevin & Bean couldn't wrap their heads around how people actually think it's a sport. They can't see past the fact that it's just "two guys throwing a frisbee." I did my best to explain to them the athleticism, agility, skill and endurance required to play Ultimate, but they weren't having it. Click on the third segment here to hear the conversation.

Well to prove the legitimacy of the sport, they sent out their assistant producer, Dave The King of Mexico, who swore it was an easy sport and that he'd whoop on everyone. Dave, who's a friend of mine, gave it his best shot. The dude's a competitor, I knew he'd come out ready to play. See for yourself how he did:

Click me! Dave meets Ultimate.

Night Frisbee! Video coming soon...

Our crew played an awesome night game last week where we dressed ourselves up in glow bracelets, lined the field with glow sticks and played with a light up Frisbee. It was about the most awesome thing I've ever done, check back for video highlights soon!

Abandoned LA Zoo Adventure

Danny & I in one of the more traditional cages.

Last week, my best friend Danny and I decided to go on an adventure in search of the somewhat hidden ABANDONED LA ZOO. I saw a video of this place and decided  I needed to find it and make my own video. Located at Griffith Park (less than a quarter mile from the location of the current LA Zoo) this abandoned zoo features a number of old cages and exhibits that once hosted a great variety of animals. I'm told monkeys, lions, bears and various reptiles were exhibited here.


So I Yelped directions on how to find this place and turns out they didn't really help at all. My advice to anyone planning to visit the Abandoned Zoo... just make your way to the parking lot above the Merry-Go-Round and ask one of the Park Rangers to point you in the right direction. That's what we did. It's a pretty short uphill hike. If it feels like you're going the wrong way, odds are, you're not. Just keep going. I know those are pretty lame instructions but trust me, just go and you'll find it eventually.

Me doing my jumping lion impression. Fierce. Danny hanging around like a monkey... a cashmere-wearing monkey.

Check out the video I put together from the day and tell me if you're sold on it. If you're not, then have fun being boring.

Kev In Nepal: The Finale

Well, it's finally all come to an end. Nearly three months after I returned from Nepal, I've finally finished all my videos recapping the trip. This final video will sum up 64-1/2 hours of travel into a convenient five-minute fifty-three second video. So without further adieu (or cliche), here's the final installment of the "Kev In Nepal" video series:



Without a doubt, this was the trip of a lifetime. As mentioned in the video, it was all possible thanks to New Community Project, a small non-profit doing all the little things to help change the world. Visit their Learning Tours page to find out how you can have an adventure of your own. I can't recommend something more.

Even if you watched just one video, thank you. It makes me feel like I didn't waste my time editing away all this footage. I'm glad I could share my experiences with you. See ya for the next journey.

Kev In Nepal: Day 10

This here is my LAST FULL DAY in Nepal. Not my last video, however. I documented quite a bit of my travels home, so that'll close out this series. THIS video, however, features a quick look at our last day in Kathmandu as we say goodbye to the city, our host Ronit and each other.



And oh, how about a video bonus?? This was not shot on this day...this was shot while I was on my trek, but I figured this post could use a little extra content. Enjoy the Nepal edition of Kevin's Nature Corner!

Kev In Nepal: Day 9

Didn't get much footage on this day. We took a nice little walk around Kathmandu and I got some footage of our awesome tour guide, Ronit, singing a beautiful song he wrote. Check out the fun!

Kev In Nepal: Day 8

Day 8 in Nepal was chock-full of activity! (Note: this is first time I've ever seen the term "chock-full" spelled out and I'm not sure I really like it.) Check it now, you get yourself THREE videos today. All of which, I believe are worth watching.

PIGEON ISLAND: We hopped on a boat to check out a temple in the middle of a lake in Pokhara, only to discover that it was over run by everyone's favorite aviary creatures.



HAIRCUT ADVENUTRE: While I was in Sri Lanka in 2002, I went to a barber shop to get an official Sri Lankan haircut. So I decided I had to do the same while in Nepal. Here are the results.



NEPALI NIGHT: Just a short overview of what most nights in Nepal looked like for me.

Kev In Nepal: Day 7

Day 7 was spent trekking down the mountain. It took us nearly half the time to get down as it did to get up. But it was a lot harder on my old man knees. Since I didn't take much footage, I just threw together some of the animal sitings from my downward trek. Please do not feed the animals while viewing.

Kev In Nepal: Day 6

TREKKING ADVENTURE!! Day 6 in Nepal was spent trekking through the foothills of the Himalayas. We went on the Ghandruk Circuit in the Annapurna Trekking Area which we were told was an easy-moderate trek. We quickly discovered that the Nepali definition of "easy-moderate" is far different than our version. This ENTIRE trek was uphill. No joke. Every. Single. Step. Was. UP. But it was totally worth it. Check it:

Happy 90th Birthday, Gramps!

Today, my wonderful grandfather, Dr. Russel Elwood Schatz, turns 90 years old! That's pretty gosh darn remarkable. So allow me to remark. My grandpa is kind, sincere, witty and good-hearted. Even in his old age, his humorous and loving nature still shine through. I constantly strive to be like him and I'm honored to be his grandson.

Yesterday we threw him a big ol' party where a bunch of friends and relatives (some of whom hadn't seen my grandparents in years) gathered to celebrate. I threw together a little photo slide show/video and thought it might be nice to share that video here. But not only are you getting the video in it's entirety, you also get each section of the video divided up into shorter videos for an easier viewer experience. So please enjoy this presentation of my Grandpa Schatz.

Photo Slide Show 1:



Photo Slide Show 2:



Video:



Photo Slide Show AND Video:

Kev In Nepal: Day 5

Once again, this day has been split into TWO videos since the first and second halves of the day were so different from one another. So have a blast with part one here! We visited a trout farm and it was AWESOME!!



The second half of the day took us to a community center where we were hosted by a group of aspiring business women. Man, were they great hosts! Look how much fun we had:

Kev In Nepal: Day 4

Oh watch out now!! Two videos today?! That's right!!

I felt this day needed to be split into two parts mainly because the first part of the day had such an impact on our entire trip that I didn't want it to get lost in the middle of a whole day's video. We visited Bahrahi Primary School for most of this day and were just blown away with the warmth and love of these people. I know this video won't do justice for how much this school visit meant to us but I hope you can feel some of the love we felt just by watching it.



And the second video will really speak for itself. If you like bridges, you gonna love this!

Kev In Nepal: Day 3

Day 3 in Nepal was primarily a day of travel. Kathmandu --> Pokhara. Primarily by bus, but you know, there was some walking involved in there too. Like from the bus to the bathroom.

Day 3 taught me that no matter how hard I try, I will never be able to escape the reach of Justin Bieber. That dude is everywhere. Watch to find out why.

Kev In Nepal: Day 2

Day two!! We're movin' right along.

For the record, these videos are not a 100% accurate portrayal of our days in Nepal. They're pretty darn close. But there are obviously 24 hours in each day and I'm trying to sum each of those up in 3-5 minutes. So there is quite a bit that gets left out. That said, I'm trying my best to hit the major points of each day. Some things were harder to document than others and therefore may have been left out. So my suggestion is to ask me about my trip sometime. I'll fill in the gaps for you. Enjoy day two!

Kev In Nepal: Day 1

So because travel days are so confusing to keep track of, I've decided to start numbering my days in Nepal starting with today's video. This video is day 1 (which I guess makes the days of travel negative days?) But this here video is my first FULL day in Nepal. You may watch now.

Kev In Nepal: Travel & Arrival

This here video would be a recap of my travel to and arrival in the lovely Kathmandu. Oh, spoiler alert: I do eventually arrive at my destination. I hope I didn't just ruin the ending for you.

Apologies for some of the blurry shots you'll see. They were semi-pertinent scenes to what was happening so I left them in. Let's just blame the fatigue of traveling on my poor videoship. And please ignore the fact that I just made up the word "videoship".

Kev In Nepal

So how about that Nepal, huh? I spent a little under two weeks in the beautiful country of Nepal this January. The 7th-17th to be precise, but with travel it came to about 2 weeks. And simply put, I had an incredible time. I went as a member of a Learning Tour through New Community Project. NCP is an amazing non-profit that focuses on a number of global issues including women's empowerment, rain forest preservation, climate change and all sorts of other cool stuff. My trip was designed specifically to look at the inequalities that exist between women & men in Nepal and ways to shift that. We visited schools where girls are sponsored my NCP and spent time with women who are attempting to make a living without depending on their husbands. Many eye opening experiences were had.

Aaaand not surprisingly, I took a grip of video on this trip. So I've decided to give you a day-by-day video run down of my adventure in a series I'm calling "Kev In Nepal". Get it, 'cause like, "Kev In" is like "Kevin" and I was IN Nepal... Yeah, now you're with me. And I would like to credit my friend Paul Sparks who also set up a blog while he was in Nepal and titled it "Paul In Nepal". See, his wordplay is more based on the similar sound of his name with the end of Nepal's name. But regardless, I'd be lying if I said his blog's title didn't help me arrive at mine. So thank you for allowing me to be unoriginal, Paul.

So as I am tirelessly editing away all my footage in the hopes of coming up with something cohesive for you all to watch, I'll leave you with the two videos I DO have put together already. The first, a general overview of my trip for when people ask me how it was. This is how it was:



And second, a tour of one of the most important aspects of life: the bathroom.