First Take

SHOWTIME

2011-10-18T11:06:00.000-07:00

My latest documentary. You're going to need an hour for this one. I've never worked harder on a project. Or been more fulfilled.

Trailer (The South Will Rise Again)

2011-07-10T18:12:00.000-07:00

My short documentary "The South Will Rise Again" has been accepted to the DocuWest Film Festival in Golden, CO. They asked me to create a trailer for the film which I was happy to do. Here it is.

Trailer (Showtime)

2011-06-18T20:46:00.000-07:00

Trailer for my next film, "Showtime," an hour-long documentary that follows a girls' high school basketball team, the H.W. Byers Lady Lions, through an entire season. The film will be released online August 22nd.

Teaser (Final)

2011-05-22T04:20:00.001-07:00

Fourth, and final, teaser trailer for my new film. The film will be released online August 22nd.

Teaser (Coliseum)

2011-05-15T06:24:00.001-07:00

Third teaser trailer for my new film. Fourth, and final, teaser will go up May 22nd.

Teaser (Look)

2011-05-08T15:43:00.000-07:00

Second teaser (of four) for my upcoming film. Next teaser will go up on May 15th.

Teaser (Jersey)

2011-05-01T07:26:00.001-07:00

First teaser (of four) for my latest documentary. I will post a new one each Sunday.

Why "Waiting for Superman" is BS

2011-03-22T10:41:00.000-07:00

This month I'll be part of a panel discussion at the University of Alabama after a screening of the documentary "Waiting for Superman."

Here is a general overview of my feelings about the film:

- The film does an excellent job of documenting the utter desperation low-income families feel when it comes to a lack of good options for their children's education.

- The filmmakers interview a billionaire (Bill Gates), a multi-millionaire (Geoffrey Canada), superintendents, principals, parents, and students. The one group not represented in the film? Teachers.

- The average person (i.e. my mom) leaves the theater thinking two things: 1) Unions are the problem. 2) Charters are the solution. The film quickly glosses over four significant facts related to these two issues:

Only 17% of charters are more successful than their corresponding public schools. Most charters perform worse than their corresponding public schools.
Unions give teachers basic protections that they need and deserve. If unions were the problem than Mississippi, a right to work state (no unions), would be first in the nation when it comes to education. Instead, Mississippi is dead last.
The teachers of Finland, which the film accurately points out is the highest performing country in the world when it comes to education, are 100% unionized.
The director of the film belongs to a union.

- The film bashes the idea of "rubber rooms" where teachers facing a disciplinary review get paid a full salary while sitting around reading the newspaper. Why is this a bad thing? You should have a review before getting fired (as many of our MTC teachers who have been summarily non-renewed can attest) and you shouldn't be in the classroom while waiting for said review.

- The film makes it seem that the process of firing teachers is second only to climbing Mt. Everest. In fact, the process is fairly simple. Several observations and a plan of improvement. How is this unfair? A principal should not be able to arbitrarily fire a teacher (as many MTC teachers who have been summarily non-renewed can attest) and a teacher should be given the chance to improve.

- The problem IS teacher quality but the solutions are not more charters and breaking unions. The solution is to pay teachers significantly more money (starting salary of $100,000 and a ceiling of $250,000). This dramatically increases the talent pool of incoming teachers and allows a district many more options when hiring teachers. How will states pay for this? Easy. Increase taxes.

- A few other solutions while I'm at it...

A National Curriculum with national standards.
A huge bonus (say $30,000) for veteran teachers to teach in critical-need districts.
A longer training model for new teachers. Simulate the residency component of medical school with new teachers interning for two years in veteran teachers' classrooms.
Universal Pre-K for all families starting at age zero.
Universal health care for all.
Get rid of standardized testing (although I reserve the right to change my mind about this).
Schools run as a partnership where the teachers elect their principal. Teachers and administrators should be equals.

If you want to hear more come out to the Honors College at the University of Alabama on March 23rd.

More on why "Waiting for Superman" is BS:

NOT Waiting for Superman

New York Review of Books

Professor Linda Darling-Hammond

Grading "Waiting for Superman"

How Finland is kicking our a**

The effects of Unions

Why "Waiting for Superman" is Bullshit

2011-03-13T17:20:00.000-07:00

This month I'll be part of a panel discussion at the University of Alabama after a screening of the documentary "Waiting for Superman."

Here is a general overview of my feelings about the film:

- The film does an excellent job of documenting the utter desperation low-income families feel when it comes to a lack of good options for their children's education.

- The filmmakers interview a billionaire (Bill Gates), a multi-millionaire (Geoffrey Canada), superintendents, principals, parents, and students. The one group not represented in the film? Teachers.

Only 17% of charters are more successful than their corresponding public schools. Most charters perform worse than their corresponding public schools.
Unions give teachers basic protections that they need and deserve. If unions were the problem than Mississippi, a right to work state (no unions), would be first in the nation when it comes to education. Instead, Mississippi is dead last.
The teachers of Finland, which the film accurately points out is the highest performing country in the world when it comes to education, are 100% unionized.
The director of the film belongs to a union.

- A few other solutions while I'm at it...

A National Curriculum with national standards.
A huge bonus (say $30,000) for veteran teachers to teach in critical-need districts.
A longer training model for new teachers. Simulate the residency component of medical school with new teachers interning for two years in veteran teachers' classrooms.
Universal Pre-K for all families starting at age zero.
Universal health care for all.
Get rid of standardized testing (although I reserve the right to change my mind about this).
Schools run as a partnership where the teachers elect their principal. Teachers and administrators should be equals.

If you want to hear more come out to the Honors College at the University of Alabama on March 23rd.

More on why "Waiting for Superman" is bullshit:

NOT Waiting for Superman

New York Review of Books

Professor Linda Darling-Hammond

Grading "Waiting for Superman"

How Finland is kicking our ass

Interview at the Oxford Film Festival

2011-03-02T08:14:00.000-08:00

Oxford Film Fest

2011-02-13T16:12:00.001-08:00

My short documentary "The South Will Rise Again" was awarded "Best Mississippi Documentary" at this year's Oxford Film Festival. You can see my acceptance speech here:

And you can see the actual film here:

The Ten Best Documentaries of All-Time

2011-01-26T17:15:00.000-08:00

Welcome to (drumroll please) Ben Guest's List of The Ten Best Documentaries of ALL-TIME.

1) "Hoop Dreams"

Many people think the central theme of "Hoop Dreams" as the pursuit of the American Dream. They are wrong. The theme of the film is the American Family: the love, the jealousy, the hope, the shame, the faith, the hurt and the triumph of two American families.

Side-Notes:

-The film does what the documentary format in general demonstrates so well: the passage of time. We get to know and care about the characters as they age and succeed and fail right in front of us.

-The directors and producers of "Hoop Dreams" were lucky in (at least) two ways:

-First, the two 8th graders they chose to follow (Arthur Agee and William Gates) turned into outstanding basketball players (I wonder if there were other players initially filmed but that didn't make the final cut).

-Second, both Arthur and William are charismatic and interesting on-screen (and in different ways). It's like lightening struck twice.

-As an aspiring documentary filmmaker watching "Hoop Dreams" is like what watching "Citizen Kane" must have been for Hollywood directors circa 1941. It sets the bar impossibly high. You wonder if anything can ever be that good again.

-My favorite edit in the film is a cut from the coaches and players on the St. Joe's bus to the exact same shot of the coaches and players on the Garfield bus.

-I have a short documentary playing in this year's Oxford Film Festival. Turns out so does Peter Gilbert, one of the producers of "Hoop Dreams." I can't wait to meet him.

-The film was produced by Kartemquin Films, a great production company based in Chicago that has been making films examining social justice and societal inequity for 45 years. Follow them on Twitter here.

2) "Up Series"

Even more than "Hoop Dreams," in fact more than any film, the "Up" series documents the passage of time. Starting with a group of seven year olds and touching base with them every seven years for now more than forty years now ("56 Up" is scheduled to be released in 2012). We come to care deeply about the characters and find ourselves anticipating where the next film will find them.

3) "Murder on a Sunday Morning"

I've only seen this once, several years ago, but I have never forgotten the power of it. A black teenager arrested and forced to confess to a crime he didn't commit. More than anything I remember the ending and an incredible moment, captured on film, between father and son...

4) "To Be and To Have"

As a teacher this is the best film (narrative or documentary) about the skill of teaching.

5) "Bowling for Columbine"

The best of Moore's many great films. Two of my friends here in Mississippi sometimes call me the Michael Moore of "Ole Miss" because of my short film "Ten Dollars an Hour."

6) "Capturing the Friedmans"

Memory. This movie is about the quality of memory. How can so many people have such different memories of events that may or may not have taken place?

7) "Neshoba"

Saw this at the Oxford Film Festival in 2009 and was blown away. The directors gained access to all parties involved in one of the country's most notorious civil rights murders. Includes one of the greatest final shots in film history.

8) "Harlan County USA"

Classic film about the lengths to which the wealthy exploit and dehumanize, in every way possible, the workers who created that wealth.

9) "Heart of the Game"

Like "Hoop Dreams" this film follows a basketball player over the course of five years. As a former basketball coach I was amazed by the decision of the coach to play, in the state championship game, every single player on the team. What a wonderful decision and a wonderful lesson for his players.

10) "The Beginning"

"The Phantom Menace" sucked. This making-of film, included on the DVD, is fantastic. A great example of Direct Cinema as the filmmakers follow George Lucas and company through four years of production.

Honorable Mention (in no particular order):

Once Brothers
The Cove
LaLee’s Kin

Truth or Dare
Deliver us From Evil
An Inconvenient Truth
4 Little Girls
When We Were Kings
Heart of Darkness
Gimme Shelter
Touching the Void
Gasland
Exit through the Gift Shop
Pumping Iron
General Idi Amin Dada

Notes:

-I did not include television mini-series productions like "Eyes on the Prize" or "Baseball."

-I did not include concert films like "Kings of Comedy."

-In preparation for making this list I re-watched:

-"Hoop Dreams"

-"Capturing the Friedmans"

-"Neshoba"

-"Heart of the Game"

-"The Beginning"

-I've seen "Bowling for Columbine" more than once.

-I have seen the "Up" series, "Murder on a Sunday Morning," "To Be and To Have," and "Harlan County USA" only once.

-Several documentary "classics" that I have not seen and, thus, are not on the list:

Shoah
Titticut Follies
Crumb
Grizzly Man
March of the Penguins
Winged Migration

MLK at Riverside Church

2011-01-17T08:44:00.000-08:00

Ten Best Basketball Books of All-Time

2011-01-12T15:42:00.001-08:00

Last weekend I finished the basketball book Unfinished Business. Putting the book back on the shelf I realize that, over the years, I've collected quite a library of basketball related books. While books on baseball and golf are ubiquitous, great writing on basketball is harder to find (someone once said that the smaller the ball the better the writing). So, without further adieu, based on my library of 50 or so books, here are the "Ten Best basketball Books of All-Time:"

1) The Golden Boys by Cameron Stauth. Stauth's account of the original 1992 Dream Team moves both forward in time through the Olympics and backward in time through the lives of each of the twelve players. Stauth finds loneliness, ego, talent, selfishness, teamwork, insecurity and, interestingly enough, unconditionally loving mothers. Particularly fascinating sections include: the selection process (Chuck Daly, the coach, ranked each of his Detroit Pistons highly); a thorough examination of "the zone," the fleeting basketball plane where a player cannot miss; and Charles Barkley's last year as a Philadelphia 76er, doing everything he can to force a trade. Stauth also gets to sit in on the greatest HORSE game of all-time. Long out of print the cheapest used copy on Amazon currently goes for $50. If you can find it it is a gem.

2) Play Their Hearts Out by George Dohrmann. Published in 2010, Dohrmann, a Pulitzer-prize winning journalist, embeds himself with an AAU team of twelve-year olds in California. He follows the coach, players, parents, shoe company execs, and "grassroot organizers" for seven years (until the kids finish their senior year of high school). The result is an in-depth examination of youth sports. Kids are reduced to investments in an unregulated market. It is an indictment of capitalism itself, as the greed of coaches, touts, advisers, family members, and shoe companies builds up and destroys twelve-year old children.

3) The Last Shot by Darcy Frey. Originally an article in Harper's this book is like the written cousin of the film "Hoop Dreams." While "Hoop Dreams" follows two high schoolers from Chicago, IL, "The Last Shot" follows four high school seniors from Coney Island, NY. The team has a good shot at winning a city championship, especially with precocious 8th grader Stephon Marbury on the varsity. Well-written account of how the odds are stacked against anyone making the NBA.

4) A Season on the Brink by John Feinstein. Coach Bob Knight gave Feinstein complete access to the Indiana program during the 1985-1986 season. This book was the result. By the end Knight was no longer speaking to Feinstein. However, a man of his word, Knight never revoked Feinstein's access.

5) The Breaks of the Game by David Halberstam. My unofficial review of the blogosphere reveals this classic to be considered the best basketball book ever. Halberstam's account of the 1979-1980 Portland Trailblazers covering multiple angles: the players; the wives; the coaches; the management; and the owners.

6) Hang Time by Bob Greene. Two years with Michael Jordan at the height of his fame.

7) Sacred Hoops by Phil Jackson. Jackson explains the beauty of the game.

8) Venus to the Hoop by Sara Corbett. A companion of sorts to "The Golden Boys" this book follows the 1996 women's Dream Team through an entire year, from training camp through 51 straight wins in various exhibition games to Olympic gold.

9) When Nothing Else Matters by Michael Leahy. Account of Michael Jordan's two years playing for the Washington Wizards. "Like a general who found himself in deep snows with inexperienced troops..."

10) The Smart Take from the Strong by Pete Carril. Carril became famous for coaching overachieving teams at Princeton and beating, in his final year of coaching, the defending champion UCLA Bruins in the NCAA tournament. This is his basketball philosophy.

Honorable Mention:

Basketball According to Bob Knight and Pete Newell (Volume One and Two). The best books for any aspiring coach.

Forty-Eight Minutes by Bob Ryan and Terry Pluto. A minute by minute breakdown of a regular season game between the Boston Celtics and the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Basketball, Multiple Offense and Defense by Dean Smith. Another great book for the aspiring coach.

Wages of Wins by David Berri, Martin Schmidt and Stacey Brook. In my opinion, the best of all the statistical models of basketball. Dr. Berri also hosts my favorite basketball website: The Wages of Wins Journal.

Loose Balls by Jayson Williams. Williams has become notorious for (allegedly) accidentally shooting a limousine driver and then trying to cover it up. But his memoirs of his time in the NBA, written before the shooting, are hysterical.

The Winner Within by Pat Riley. The best of the various "business strategies" type books. Riley coins the phrase "the disease of me."

Finally, for about 16 years Zander Hollander published an annual book, titled "The Complete Handbook of Pro Basketball." The handbook contained short, well-written bios of every player in the league. The bios were always informative and, on occasion, hilarious. Here is an excerpt from the bio on Rasheed Wallace after his rookie year with the Washington Bullets: "Showed the emotional maturity of Hitler during the bunker days."

The Klan

2010-11-29T14:51:00.000-08:00

Earlier this year, as part of a class titled "Restorative Justice and Public Education in Mississippi," I made a short documentary about the controversy surrounding the chant "The South will rise again." Since about 2003 this chant was yelled during football games at the University of Mississippi. In the fall of 2009 the chancellor, Dr. Dan Jones, directed the university band to no longer play the song "From Dixie with Love," a song that served as the trigger for the chant. This controversy culminated in a rally, on-campus, of the Mississippi White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan. Here is the film:

The South Will Rise Again from Ben Guest on Vimeo.

In the making of that film I interviewed lots of people, some of whom didn't make the final cut. Here are excerpts and various bits of footage:

The first few clips are of an interview with investigative reporter Jerry Mitchell:

Intro-Jerry Mitchell from Ben Guest on Vimeo.

The White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan of Mississippi-Jerry Mitchell from Ben Guest on Vimeo.

Today's Klan-Jerry Mitchell from Ben Guest on Vimeo.

Young People Joining the Klan-Jerry Mitchell from Ben Guest on Vimeo.

Poor, Whites in Mississippi-Jerry Mitchell from Ben Guest on Vimeo.

Footage from the Klan demonstration:

Ku Klux Klan Demonstration from Ben Guest on Vimeo.

Clips of Melissa Cole, one of the students featured in the film:

The South Will Rise Again-Melissa Cole from Ben Guest on Vimeo.

New Generation-Melissa Cole from Ben Guest on Vimeo.

Melissa's Email-The South Will Rise Again from Ben Guest on Vimeo.

Alma Mater-Melissa Cole from Ben Guest on Vimeo.

Outtakes-Melissa Cole from Ben Guest on Vimeo.

David Simon

2010-11-23T16:25:00.000-08:00

A few weeks ago I had the opportunity to hear David Simon speak. Simon, creator of "The Wire" and "Treme" and writer of "Homicide" and "The Corner" is, along with Alan Moore, my favorite living author. As Simon spoke I took notes. Here are some quotes:

"We pretend to progress when there is no progress."

"It seemed like every year I was getting better at this." - On the crime beat.

"There was a need to walk away from the police as your central source of info." - On writing "The Corner."

"That guy's lazy." - Referring to the moderator's mention of a friend who couldn't understand the dialogue in "The Wire."

"'Ball Four' is a great book about America."

"'The Wire' came out of institutional scandals of self-preservation."

"Even a Baltimore cop knows, 'Bad shooting, throw a pistol down.'" - On the US not finding weapons of mass destruction.

"The great thing about HBO was getting away from the advertising."

"People would watch 'Law and Order' and see that every punch was pulled." - On network cop shows after "The Wire."

"You tell a story once it is a fool's errand to tell it again."

"The only person that's going to mug you in Alphabet City is some four-star restaurant." - On Manhattan.

"Eighty percent of us live in metro areas. We are an urban people... I live in Baltimore among real Americans."

"'Treme' is an argument for the American city."

"They're all 'The Glenn Miller Story.'" - On the music biopic.

"You're not martyrs. You butchered your own industry long before the internet showed up." - On newspapers.

"I feel a great deal of affection for journalism."

"'Clockers' is 'The Grapes of Wrath' in the late eighties in the ghetto."

"I didn't do anything well after, like, 7th grade."

"The ugliest part of writing is you're alone."

"'That shit's wrong' is the most terrifying thing you could say to me." - On writing.

The South Will Rise Again

2010-04-22T15:28:00.000-07:00

Here is my latest film, about race and the symbols of racism at the University of Mississippi:

The South Will Rise Again from Ben Guest on Vimeo.

Civil War Ball

2010-02-10T06:52:00.000-08:00

Regents is a private, religious school here in Oxford, MS. They recently held a 6th grade Civil War ball. Photos, including the one above, were featured in the local magazine "Invitation Oxford." More pics here. Hat-tip to Otis P.

"The South Will Rise Again"

2009-10-23T09:35:00.000-07:00

Nice article in today's CL (h/t to NMissCommentator) about the student government at the University of Mississippi and the new Chancellor, Dan Jones, working together to "encourage" the student body to stop yelling "The South will rise again!" at football games. Of course, articles like this bring out the crazies in Mississippi so read the comments section at your peril. Entire article below...

'Rise again' chant spurned by UM

Shelia Byrd
The Associated Press

The University of Mississippi has shortened one of its fight songs to discourage football fans from chanting "the South will rise again" during part of the tune, which critics say is an offensive reminder of the region's intolerant past.

However, some fans have continued to recite the chant at the end of the song, From Dixie With Love, despite the change made last week at the chancellor's request. The Ole Miss band performs the medley before and after games.

Earlier this month, the Ole Miss student government passed a resolution suggesting the chant be replaced by the phrase, "To hell with LSU."

Dan Jones, who became Ole Miss chancellor in July, said he asked the band director, David Wilson, to modify the song to support the efforts of the Associated Student Body. He said he has received complaints from alumni that the slogan is offensive.

"The fact is, the phrase 'The South Will Rise Again' is not part of our tradition or spirit, and it is inconsistent with the university's values and what Ole Miss stands for - a great public university with a focus on the future," Jones said in a phone interview Thursday from the campus in Oxford.

The modified version of the song ends abruptly before the chanting phase starts. It was first played Saturday at Ole Miss' homecoming game against the University of Alabama at Birmingham, but that didn't stop some fans from chanting.

Brian Ferguson, 26, head of the Colonel Reb Foundation, said he views the university actions as an attempt to silence students.

"I think it's a big to-do about nothing. There were very few people other than the students who knew to say it," said Ferguson, whose organization works to preserve traditions at Ole Miss. But Ferguson agreed that the chant really isn't a tradition.

"If the students get fired up and upset enough about it, they're going to continue to say it. Our biggest fear is that that's going to lead them to eliminate From Dixie With Love, altogether."

The song blends the Confederate Army's fight song, Dixie, with the Union Army's Battle Hymn of the Republic, according to Peter Frost, a visiting professor of history and international studies at Ole Miss.

The school has worked to erase its image as a bastion of the Old South, which was solidified in 1962 when James Meredith's admission as the first black student led to a bloody standoff.

The university six years ago decided not to have an on-field mascot during sporting events, getting rid of the long-standing Colonel Rebel, a white-haired old man who carries a cane and resembles a plantation owner. At the time, school officials had said they needed a more athletic-looking mascot. The teams are still called the Rebels.

Cortez Moss, director of communications for the ASB, said the organization is trying to explain to students why the phrase is offensive.

"You take back on that slave mentality," said Moss, who is black. "I know the South won't rise again and the South can't rise again."

Former Netscape CEO Jim Barksdale, who donated $100 million to the university in 2000, said the chant should be abandoned.

"I hope it will pass on quietly and the students will refrain from the chant, but I found out a long time ago it's hard to tell students what to say and what not to say," Barksdale said Thursday.

Roun McNeal, a former ASB president who is now in law school at Ole Miss, said his own decision to refrain from the chant was easily made.

"I said the chant one day and there was a black family sitting in front of me and they turned around and gave me this look like I hurt them," McNeal said.

French Food

2009-10-19T13:33:00.000-07:00

Award-winning chef John Currence talks about the French Food:

French Food from Ben Guest on Vimeo.

Food Industry

2009-10-16T07:17:00.000-07:00

Award-winning chef John Currence talks about the food industry:

Food Industry from Ben Guest on Vimeo.

Recipes

2009-10-15T09:27:00.000-07:00

Award-winning chef John Currence talks about sharing recipes:

Recipes from Ben Guest on Vimeo.

Beginnings

2009-10-14T11:59:00.000-07:00

Award-winning chef John Currence talks about how he got started in Oxford:

Beginnings from Ben Guest on Vimeo.

Follow-Up

2009-09-30T17:55:00.000-07:00

Ten Dollars an Hour, the short documentary I made in the spring about an African-American cook at a fraternity house on-campus at the University of Mississippi, has been viewed almost 2,000 times in the past four days. I'm flattered that people are responding to the film. I believe it started when the film was posted on metafilter and from there several blogs picked it up. There have been more than 80 comments on the metafilter post, including my own. Here is the film, of which I am quite proud, with some follow-up comments below:

Ten Dollars an Hour from Ben Guest on Vimeo.

Leasse Williams (and Janis Jones) still work at the Sigma Nu fraternity house.

The numbers the economist and I ran were wrong. At $15,000 a year, Ms. Williams is not below the government poverty line. Yesterday, I attempted to edit this part out of the film but my hard drive crashed. Once I get the hard drive fixed *fingers-crossed* I will cut the sentence from the film where the economist states that Ms. Williams is living below the poverty line. In ant event, it doesn't change the point that $10 an hour is not a livable wage.

Ms. Jones has twice contacted my professor (the film was originally completed as an assignment for a Southern Studies course in documentary filmmaking [side-note: at the end of the semester the "best film" was chosen by the professor from the five projects completed for the course. Here is the winner]) to express anger over the film. During the first phone call, which occurred over the summer while I was in Namibia, Ms. Jones, who had not yet seen the film, mentioned that she had been contacted by a Sigma Nu alumnus in New York who was looking into taking legal action against me for slander.

Brad Walsh, a lawyer here in Oxford and a former Sigma Nu financial advisor and House Corporation member, has left several comments on my vimeo page, to which I have responded.

2009-09-26T17:46:00.001-07:00

See my follow-up comments about the film here: http://ping.fm/ItS2n

2009-09-25T12:50:00.001-07:00

University produced commercial for Ole Miss on ESPN last night said: "Nearly twice as many students are accepted into medical school" but never stated the comparison. Twice as many as what?

2009-09-25T12:36:00.001-07:00

"We can't even agree to increase the minimum wage after ten years." David Simon is the man...
http://ping.fm/Epsuz

2009-09-23T19:04:00.001-07:00

I don't see why folks hatin' on Jordan's induction speech. I loved it. You got an unfiltered glimpse into what made MJ so competitive.

2009-09-22T08:57:00.001-07:00

Recent UM newsletter: "American students found that the Mexican culture does not necessarily encourage perseverance or responsibility."

2009-09-20T10:25:00.001-07:00

"MDMA got you feelin like a champion/The city never sleeps, better slip you an Ambian."

2009-09-20T10:23:00.001-07:00

Blueprint 3 has two instant classics: Empire and On to the Next One. Can't decide which is better.

2009-09-16T17:02:00.001-07:00

It's a shame the best pizza I've had in MS is at Newks. FYI: Sal and mookies in jackson is wack.

2009-09-16T17:00:00.001-07:00

Wish newks had half-pizza and salad option.

2009-09-14T19:14:00.001-07:00

Pats win! What a finish. Brady says, "That's not the way we draw it up." Classic!

2009-09-14T18:58:00.001-07:00

How do you call "roughing the passer" on a sack? Isn't a sack, by definition, roughing the passer?

2009-09-14T17:47:00.001-07:00

My favorite Patriot of all-time? Troy Brown.

2009-09-07T10:18:00.001-07:00

Making pasta with pesto, roasted red peppers, diced tomatoes, fresh basil, and grated parmigiana...

2009-07-27T11:46:00.001-07:00

Capetown: sushi on the waterfront; Cuban cigars; beautiful people, beautiful conversations, and the city street lights glittering like jewels in dark sand.

2009-07-24T08:53:00.001-07:00

Just finished a hike through the mountains in Winterberg. In South Africa son!

2009-07-19T15:02:00.001-07:00

In Atlanta, on my way to South Africa. Back in a month!

2009-07-14T22:18:00.001-07:00

Twostick trivia: second place.

2009-07-10T17:32:00.001-07:00

Just saw a woman with the vanity plate "I Am Bebe." Not a good look.

2009-07-08T17:42:00.001-07:00

Well, this day sucked.

2009-06-30T22:15:00.001-07:00

Two-Stick Trivia: First-place son. Recognize.

2009-06-30T18:58:00.001-07:00

The soundtrack to "Boomerang" is one of the best albums of all time.

2009-06-29T19:13:00.001-07:00

I'm addicted to the iPhone poker app.

2009-06-27T14:34:00.001-07:00

It's hotter than a chicken pot pie.

2009-06-26T05:01:00.001-07:00

The remixed video of Smooth Criminal sucks.

2009-06-24T20:43:00.001-07:00

Pelham 123 remake was garbage. Why remake a good movie?

2009-06-12T17:46:00.001-07:00

So a tornado passed by my house, literally, and I was in the bed, sleep. This is the second tornado I've slept through...

2009-06-11T17:15:00.001-07:00

"I would argue..." is a lame way to start a sentence.

2009-05-31T19:42:00.001-07:00

Intern QOTD: The Bible is a good book.

2009-05-28T21:15:00.001-07:00

U heard it here first: Cavs will go on to win Game 6, Game 7, and then the NBA championship.

2009-05-27T20:47:00.001-07:00

Leaving City Grocery with Kelly, Asia, Tahina, Shanika, and Melissa.

2009-05-26T22:35:00.001-07:00

Two-Stick Trivia = Fourth place (but it was just Amanda and me. Not bad for 2 people).

2009-05-24T17:20:00.001-07:00

At Foxfire Ranch in Holly Springs. Blues and BBQ

2009-05-19T23:01:00.001-07:00

Two-Stick Trivia: 4th place. But the audio portion was nice...

"We only seem to waterboard Muslims..."

2009-05-18T18:59:00.000-07:00

2009-05-16T20:03:00.001-07:00

"Che: Part 2" was outstanding.

2009-05-16T06:47:00.001-07:00

Freshly-made hot tamales for breakfast. That's how we do in the 'Sip.

2009-05-15T16:34:00.001-07:00

Yeah, truffle salt's the bomb.

2009-05-15T16:09:00.001-07:00

My washing machine has ADD.

Profile of Austin Walker

2009-05-13T20:41:00.000-07:00

Great profile/story put together by Tobie Baker and featuring second-year MTCer Austin Walker (and an interview with me):

Profile of Austin Walker from Ben Guest on Vimeo.

Tortillas

2009-05-12T12:47:00.000-07:00

The short film I posted yesterday was created as the final project for a (fantastic) Southern Studies course I took this spring. The class met for the final time this past Wednesday. Everyone screened their films. The next day the professor chose the best film from the class. Mine did not win (tear). Here is the winner:

Tortillas de Maiz from Andy Harper on Vimeo.

And here is mine:

Ten Dollars an Hour from Ben Guest on Vimeo.

Ten Dollars an Hour

2009-05-11T08:00:00.001-07:00

I've spent the last two months making a short (16 min.) documentary about Leasse Williams, a cook who works at the Sigma Nu fraternity house here at the University of Mississippi. Check it out (high quality version here and full HD 720p version here):

Ten Dollars an Hour from Ben Guest on Vimeo.

Simon on Moyers

2009-04-30T14:26:00.000-07:00

Great interview (h/t to Michele Sabatier), as always, with David Simon:

BILL MOYERS: And yet, the drug war keeps getting crazier and crazier. From selling guns to Mexico's drug cartel, to cramming more people into prison, even though they haven't committed violent crimes. Why don't the policies change?

DAVID SIMON: Because there's no political capital in it. There really isn't. The fear of being called soft on crime, soft on drugs. The paranoia that's been induced.

Listen, if you could be Draconian and reduce drug use by locking people up, you might have an argument. But we are the jailing-est country on the planet right now. Two million people in prison. When I started as a police reporter, 33, 34 percent of the federal inmate population was violent offenders. Now it's like, seven to eight percent. So, we're locking up less violent people. More of them. The drugs are purer. They've not-- they haven't closed down a single drug corner that I know of in Baltimore for any length of time. It's not working. And by the way this is not a Republican/Democrat thing. Because a lot of the most Draconian stuff came out of the Clinton Administration. This guy trying to maneuver to the center, in order not to be perceived as Leftist by a Republican Congress.

...

The people most affected by this are black and brown and poor. It's the abandoned inner cores of our urban areas. And we don't, as we said before, economically, we don't need those people. The American economy doesn't need them. So, as long as they stay in their ghettos, and they only kill each other, we're willing to pay a police presence to keep them out of our America. And to let them fight over scraps, which is what the drug war, effectively, is. I don't think-- since we basically have become a market-based culture and it's what we know, and it's what's led us to this sad denouement, I think we're going to follow market-based logic, right to the bitter end.

2009-04-12T14:37:00.001-07:00

FYI: Documentary is about a cook who works on-campus at a fraternity house.

2009-04-12T12:09:00.001-07:00

Documentary is just about done. Clocks in at 12 min. Final Cut is pretty cool.

Boy

2009-04-12T06:08:00.000-07:00

I recently used a service to clean and scan hundreds of negatives that I had lying around. Over the next few weeks, I'll be posting some of these reclaimed, and now digital, photos. You can see all pics in this series here. This photo was taken in 1999 in Tses, Namibia, where I served as a Peace Corps Volunteer. This is one of my students.

2009-04-11T15:44:00.001-07:00

Moved on to bolied peanuts and getting distracted.

2009-04-11T14:55:00.001-07:00

At my first Rebels baseball game, eating chicken on a stick, and chilling with friends in left field.

Janeze and Pernaphia

2009-04-11T06:06:00.000-07:00

Manassah and Libard

2009-04-10T06:03:00.000-07:00

Martha

2009-04-09T06:05:00.000-07:00

I recently used a service to clean and scan hundreds of negatives that I had lying around. Over the next few weeks, I'll be posting some of these reclaimed, and now digital, photos. You can see all pics in this series here. This photo was taken in 1999 in Engela, Namibia, where I served as a Peace Corps Volunteer. This is Martha Mukumangani, one of my students.

Pernaphia

2009-04-09T06:02:00.000-07:00

2009-04-07T12:18:00.001-07:00

Yeah, Vermont keeps it real.

2009-04-06T18:55:00.001-07:00

Joe made pizza from scratch with a garlic and parm crust.

2009-04-06T18:53:00.001-07:00

Watching the game with Joe, Elizabeth and Connor.

2009-04-06T10:52:00.001-07:00

At Proud Larry's for Whit's BDay.

2009-04-05T20:29:00.001-07:00

New photos up on the MTC homepage: http://ping.fm/XZufP

Mervin

2009-04-02T05:45:00.000-07:00

Otiile

2009-04-01T05:41:00.000-07:00

I recently used a service to clean and scan hundreds of negatives that I had lying around. Over the next few weeks, I'll be posting some of these reclaimed, and now digital, photos. You can see all pics in this series here. This photo was taken in 1998 in Engela, Namibia, where I served as a Peace Corps Volunteer. This is Otiile, one of my students.

Church

2009-03-31T05:41:00.000-07:00

Woman

2009-03-30T05:40:00.000-07:00

I recently used a service to clean and scan hundreds of negatives that I had lying around. Over the next few weeks, I'll be posting some of these reclaimed, and now digital, photos. You can see all pics in this series here. This photo was taken in 1998 in Engela, Namibia, where I served as a Peace Corps Volunteer.

March, Part II

2009-03-29T05:39:00.000-07:00

I recently used a service to clean and scan hundreds of negatives that I had lying around. Over the next few weeks, I'll be posting some of these reclaimed, and now digital, photos. You can see all pics in this series here. This photo was taken in 1998 in Engela, Namibia, where I served as a Peace Corps Volunteer. On this particular day the students were marching in support of SWAPO, the governing political party.

March

2009-03-28T05:35:00.000-07:00

I recently used a service to clean and scan hundreds of negatives that I had lying around. Over the next few weeks, I'll be posting some of these reclaimed, and now digital, photos. You can see all pics in this series here. This photo was taken in 1998 in Engela, Namibia, where I served as a Peace Corps Volunteer. On this particular day the students of Engela were marching in support of SWAPO, the governing political party.

Old Dan Tucker

2009-03-27T14:25:00.000-07:00

Today's Bruce Springsteen song is a cover of the American folk classic "Old Dan Tucker," originally published in 1843.

Old Dan Tucker was a fine old man
Washed his face with a frying pan
Combed his hair with a wagon wheel
And died with a toothache in his heel

Saigon, It Was All Gone...

2009-03-26T11:25:00.000-07:00

Today's Bruce song is "Brothers Under the Bridge." A homeless Vietnam vet tells his story to his child:

I come home in '72
You were just a beautiul light
In your mama's dark eyes of blue
I stood down on the tarmac, I was just a kid
Me and the brothers under the bridge

Come Veterans' Day I sat in the stands in my dress blues
I held your mother's hand
When they passed with the red, white and blue
One minute you're right there ... and something slips...

Youngstown (and Twitter)

2009-03-25T21:11:00.000-07:00

Note: You can keep up with my twitter feed here.

Drove to Indianapolis and back last week to visit some MTC friends. I listened to Bruce Springsteen for the entire drive there and back. The albums I listened to were:

Tracks (2 CD's)
Live (3 CD's)
Live in NYC (2 CD's)
Greatest Hits (1 CD)

Here is one of my favorite lyrics, from the song "Youngstown."

From the Mongahela Valley to the Wasabi Iron Range
To the coal mines of Appalachia, the story's always the same
700 tons of metal a day, now sir you tell me the world's done changed
Once I made you rich enough, rich enough to forget my name

Girl

2009-03-24T05:00:00.000-07:00

I recently used a service to clean and scan hundreds of negatives that I had lying around. Over the next few weeks, I'll be posting some of these reclaimed, and now digital, photos. You can see all pics in this series here. This photo was taken in 1998 in Engela, Namibia, where I served as a Peace Corps Volunteer.

Umbrella

2009-03-23T05:58:00.000-07:00

I recently used a service to clean and scan hundreds of negatives that I had lying around. Over the next few weeks, I'll be posting some of these reclaimed, and now digital, photos. You can see all pics in this series here. This photo was taken in 1998 in Engela, Namibia, where I served as a Peace Corps Volunteer. The umbrella is for the sun, not the rain.

Kiki and Saloma

2009-03-22T05:58:00.000-07:00

I recently used a service to clean and scan hundreds of negatives that I had lying around. Over the next few weeks, I'll be posting some of these reclaimed, and now digital, photos. You can see all pics in this series here. This photo was taken in 1998 in Engela, Namibia, where I served as a Peace Corps Volunteer. The photo is of two of my favorite students, Kiki and Saloma.

Kiki and Saloma

2009-03-21T05:57:00.000-07:00

I recently used a service to clean and scan hundreds of negatives that I had lying around. Over the next few weeks, I'll be posting some of these reclaimed, and now digital, photos. You can see all pics in this series here. This photo was taken in 1998 in Engela, Namibia, where I served as a Peace Corps Volunteer. The photo is of two of my favorite students, Kiki and Saloma.

Kiki

2009-03-20T05:55:00.000-07:00

I recently used a service to clean and scan hundreds of negatives that I had lying around. Over the next few weeks, I'll be posting some of these reclaimed, and now digital, photos. You can see all pics in this series here. This photo was taken in 1998 in Engela, Namibia, where I served as a Peace Corps Volunteer. The photo is of Kiki, one of my favorite students.

Kiki and Saloma

2009-03-19T05:53:00.000-07:00

I recently used a service to clean and scan hundreds of negatives that I had lying around. Over the next few weeks, I'll be posting some of these reclaimed, and now digital, photos. You can see all pics in this series here. This photo was taken in 1998 in Engela, Namibia, where I served as a Peace Corps Volunteer. The photo is of two of my favorite students, Kiki and Saloma.

Grandmother

2009-03-18T06:39:00.000-07:00

I recently used a service to clean and scan hundreds of negatives that I had lying around. Over the next few weeks, I'll be posting some of these reclaimed, and now digital, photos. You can see all pics in this series here. This photo was taken in 1999 in Namibia, where I served as a Peace Corps Volunteer. The photo is of the grandmother of Dennis Shikwamibi. Dennis was my best friend in Namibia.

The Cloud

2009-03-17T06:47:00.000-07:00

Great article in Wired (one of the only magazines I read cover to cover) about the rise of Netbooks, or compact, cheap laptop computers. One of the points the article makes is that virtually anything you want to do using traditional software on a computer is available online (in the "cloud" to use net-speak): Microsoft Office is now Google Docs, photos are on flickr, music at pandora, video at YouTube. Now that everything is in the cloud, why do we need a hard drive (or, for that matter, why do we need to pay a hundred bucks for Office)? Never mind that most people probably use computers for only three or four things: email, facebook, IMing, and twitter. All online. Here is an excerpt:

Netbooks are evidence that we now know what personal computers are for.Which is to say, a pretty small list of things that are conducted almost entirely online. This was Asustek's epiphany. It got laptop prices under $300 by crafting a device that makes absolutely no sense when it's not online. Consider: The Eee's original flash drive was only 4 gigs. That's so small you need to host all your pictures, videos, and files online—and install minimal native software—because there's simply no room inside your machine.

Netbooks prove that the "cloud" is no longer just hype. It is now reasonable to design computers that outsource the difficult work somewhere else. The cloud tail is wagging the hardware dog.

...

"But what about Photoshop?" It's the standard retort from those who dismiss netbooks as children's toys. Sure, a dinky 1.6-GHz chip and Linux are fine for email and silly things like YouTube. But what about when you need to do some real computing, like sophisticated photo editing? The cloud won't help you there, kid.

In the narrowest sense, this is true: A really powerful application like Adobe Photoshop demands a much faster processor. But consider my experience: This spring, after my regular Windows XP laptop began crashing twice a day, I reformatted the hard drive. As I went about reinstalling my software, I couldn't find my Photoshop disc. I forgot about it—until a week later, when I was blogging and needed to tweak a photo. Frustrated, I went online and discovered FotoFlexer, one of several free Web-based editing tools. I uploaded my picture, and in about one minute I'd cropped it, deepened the color saturation, and sharpened it.

I haven't used Photoshop since.

Crisis of Credit

2009-03-16T06:48:00.000-07:00

Neat visualization/animation of the credit crisis. Even I can understand this...

The Crisis of Credit Visualized from Jonathan Jarvis on Vimeo.

Wall

2009-03-15T06:38:00.000-07:00

I recently used a service to clean and scan hundreds of negatives that I had lying around. Over the next few weeks, I'll be posting some of these reclaimed, and now digital, photos. You can see all pics in this series here. This photo was taken in 1999 in Namibia, where I served as a Peace Corps Volunteer.

Girl

2009-03-14T06:37:00.000-07:00

I recently used a service to clean and scan hundreds of negatives that I had lying around. Over the next few weeks, I'll be posting some of these reclaimed, and now digital, photos. You can see all pics in this series here. This photo was taken in 1998 in Namibia, where I served as a Peace Corps Volunteer.