I’m here safely in Colorado after exactly 15 hours on the road. It is currently 60 degrees up here; which is so awesome after spending a week in Phoenix. I felt nasty with all that road dirt clinging to me, so I took a quick shower before diving into all of my emails. It was great to take a shower where the spout was actually above my head. My shower in Nashville hits me in the neck. Fun. Afterwards, I took a few moments to stand out on the deck and gaze at the millions of stars. The sky is so clear it seems as though I could reach up and rearrange all of the stars with my hands. I am staying at 9,000 feet in the Rockies, with nothing but the woods and the wind. No street lights, cars or sirens. Just absolutely peaceful. It’s moments like these that you love to share with those close to you. And a photo won’t capture even one tenth of the beauty that I am seeing. As I look at the stars I am reminded of a story that I was once told many years ago. I will try to retell my own version of it with as little detail as possible as to strike the point. (My last post was so long I think some are still reading it.)
A young boy was spending the evening with his grandfather. They were playing inside the house, running toy cars across the hardwood floor and carrying on in a way only a grandpa and grandson could. Out of nowhere the boy said, “Grandpa, what is heaven like?” His grandfather paused for a brief moment then replied, “Do you see how beautiful this finished hardwood floor is?” To which the boy quizzically responded, “Yes.” He then continued, “Come, follow me.” They proceeded outside and pulled away some of the boards blocking access to the crawl space under the house. With flashlight in hand grandpa began to slide through the opening. The little boy followed curiously. After crawling for a few feet grandpa pointed the flashlight at the underside of the floorboards. They both lay there looking up and the grandfather said, “What do you see?” The child replied, “Dirt, spiders, and lots of gross stuff!” Grandpa then said with a chuckle, ”You are correct my boy!” He then shut the flashlight off and his grandson immediately noticed light pouring through the cracks in the floorboards. To which grandpa said, “That’s right! Now hurry out to the backyard with me.” They scuffled out from under the house and raced to the back lawn. Grandpa then took to a spot on the grass and gazed up at the stars. His grandson followed suit and lay back on the grass posturing himself just like grandpa. Then his grandfather spoke again, “Son, see how beautiful all of those stars are?” This was followed by an enthusiastic, “Yes!” He continued, “Those stars are the floorboards of heaven. How much more beautiful will heaven be if like the floorboards of the house, so gross and dirty, are these stars to the floorboards of heaven?”
That little story has always stuck with me and brought a smile to my face. With that I will say goodnight. I have a lengthy day awaiting me after just a bit of sleep. Thank you for all of your prayers, wonderful emails and comments regarding my last blog post. I will do my best to respond to them all.
Godspeed.
Cory Basil
This is the blog that never ends…
I am writing you tonight from Phoenix, Arizona. It is around 11pm and I am sitting on the back deck of a family friend’s house. There is a strong breeze blowing across the trees and for the most part it’s rather quiet, aside from the wind and a stray car. My companion this late June evening is a giant dog named Wallace. He continues to run in the yard chasing the wind for about 30 seconds then returns to my side to lather my leg with spit and make sure that I know he is still there. I have been blessed tonight with one of my favourite things about the valley, the smell of desert rain. There is nothing like it. It is a sweet mixture; 1 part dirty earthiness 2 parts freshness. They say we will be getting a downpour at some point this evening. Which tickles me a bit. After 6 full days here experiencing 110 degree plus temperatures every day. I finally may get to experience desert rain again just hours before I leave. It’s a bit like my life really. Years of dry hot desert air before a beautiful thunderstorm and an onslaught of rain. I’ve yet to experience a refreshing rainstorm in my life. But I know it’s somewhere out there (beneath the pale moonlight). Knowing that reaping what I sow will eventually arrive is what keeps me going; keeps me giving all of my pursuits one hundred percent (or 110% if you are overly –enthusiastic). That and staying around for my family is what keeps me breathing. Continue reading ‘Music, Love & Loss.’
I couldn’t of asked for a more beautiful day weather wise. It has been splendid out and continues to be so. I just got back to my place from a morning/afternoon writing session for the album. I believe I finally have the final two pieces written for ‘Conversations on Internal Bleeding’. One is tentatively titled Firefly[Reason] and strips down the thoughts of a present friendship combined with the haunting need I have to make everything right for those I care deeply about.
Two weeks ago I picked up a keyboard/piano and decided that I was sick of talking about wanting to learn the piano and began teaching myself. Three days into my self-teaching I wrote my first piece. Myself and J-Cain (co-producer on this final effort to finish the album) believe it is strong enough for the album and while it sounds great ‘acoustically’ we will produce it with a heavy band feel which will tie nicely with the rest of the project. I can’t even begin to tell you how much anticipation I have for releasing this album into the wild-blue sky for you all to hear. Continue reading ‘Painting-Writing / Painting-Packing’
Over a year ago, whenever I first signed onto Facebook, I was browsing the Marketplace which is a small version of Craigslist. I noticed a section where people post what they are looking for… so as a joke I made a post that said, “A date with Kate Beckinsale.” Since then I have received many messages because I haven’t deleted it. Most of the messages just say something really lame like, “In your wildest dreams” or, “You’re such a loser, why would you post this?” But I just received the best one yet and it really made me laugh. Here is what it said:
“I’d have to say that I would be more than happy..what are the qualifications?”
Now I’m pretty sure this guy is dead serious and thinks that I have the power to grant someone a date with Kate. So I’m debating on what my reply to him will be… I mean, I guess I could hold a contest and tell him what the qualifications are… I could make him send in a video explaining why he thinks he should win the date, I could tell him he has to shave his head and wear a dress to work… the options are endless.
Foremost, my apologies for the lack in O-Blog-Dee as of late. Things have been a little nuts around here. But today starts a new work week and I’m doing my best to finish up a few projects today and make some major progress on another. This post is to inform you that portions of a film I made will be featured in a theatre near you tonight.
Back in October/November of last year I was asked to create a documentary on tobyMac start to finish. So of course I said yes and took on the project. I had to watch over 60 hours of mostly monotonous footage of a camera rolling backstage. I then pieced together ideas that I thought would make a great storyline to follow and wrote a script that was approved. Next I composed pages of questions that I would use to shoot interviews of the band and Toby himself. As to not bore you with the details… I spent over 5 months doing this entire thing myself, many many sleepless nights… followed by many more… The DVD was released on May 27th in stores and I was able to pick up a copy when I returned from my trip. And to my chagrin after watching the credits I had to go outside for some much needed air. I do not ever feel the need to gloat or tell the world what I’ve done… but there is a fine line that should be drawn as to giving credit where credit is due. And it’s just not right… at all. And that’s the last I’ll say about it. And no, the blame for stealing credit has nothing to do with Toby. He has been incredibly grateful to me and expressed this on many occasions.
Back to happy thoughts… There was a private premiere showing on Thursday in Franklin that I attended. Thanks to Dan for the heads up on that. 
It was very satisfying to see my work up on the big screen. I must have had the goofiest grin on my face. I was flattered that they decided to show pieces of the documentary throughout the live concert. It was pieced together beautifully. If you have the chance to catch it in theaters tonight it will be shown nationwide. Hit up this site to check times and locations. The Big Picture.
I truly had a great time working on this project, aside from the politics, I was able to make the movie trailer for theaters and another trailer that was used at the beginning of every concert and on the web. As well as having a major hand in the design of the album cover/fonting etc. And I am VERY grateful for the opportunity that was given to me to create this.
I will be headed to the Thoroughbred 20 in Franklin to catch it again tonight with some friends at 7:45pm. Feel free to join us or say hello if you are there. I don’t get points on the album, but still pick up a copy to support Toby and check out my skills.
The REAL documentary credits:
created by/written by/edited solely by/graphic-animation by/audio mixing by/film colouring by/Cory Basil
