Hey guys– I was able to post good news last night. Today, I have some less good news.

On Friday morning, Kathy’s Grandpa Leon passed away. Most of you know Kathy as Safetysaurus on the site.

Her grandfather lived overseas, so it’s tough for her whole family to reunite. Please keep her and her family in your thoughts and prayers.

Take a look at Kathy’s blog about his passing to get her thoughts.

Kathy, we’re all thinking of you.

Much love, Jeff & the whole g14 crew

Hey guys, I just got back in from Philadelphia (I promise one of us will write something up about our wonderful experience there in the next couple of days). I wanted to share some wonderful news– during the panel presentation, I got a text/picture message on my cell from our very own intrepid web-dude, Brian Stearns. His 4th child was born today! Hooray!

Here’s the vital stats, for those who are into such things…

Lorien Annalee Stearns
Weighs 9 lbs 0 oz.
Measures 21 1/2 inches long
Measures 14 1/2 head (circumference)
Has APGAR scores of 9 and 9
Is very hairy: a full head of dark hair
Is nursing very well

Now, I don’t know what some of that means, but I feel like I have to point out that her adorable sister Cara also had a full head of dark hair (it was kind of Japanese popstar hair), but is now a full-on blonde. So there.

Mother and child are well. I’ll post a picture as soon as Brian puts one up on his page.

So share your love with the entire Stearns family.

Jeff

Quick update: Here’s a photo…

I saw an interesting documentary last night that ties into some of the things we’ve discussed before here at ye olde vlog. The documentary was called Before the Music Dies. It was hosted at the Arlington Cinema Drafthouse by a band that is friends with g14, The Veltz Family.

The documentary is all about the state of the music business, and how independent artists are flourishing outside of the label system. Anyone who has ever talked to g14 about our “mission” (not to sound pretentious), will understand that this is a message that resonated very strongly with me. It’s a reminder that outside of the mainstream production world of art (tv, movies, music, etc.) there is ALWAYS a strong undercurrent of artists who are doing their work out of love.

A lot of people out there are pouring their heart and soul into what they do. Please try to find a way to support them.

And if you haven’t checked out The Veltz Family, please do. They are the real deal. They understand what the message of the movie is about. They’ve been down the road as independent artists, including having to fight to get control of their music back from a major label (Atlantic). Visit their site, if you dig their stuff, say hi and buy their music. Next time they are in town, head on out to one of the shows. I’m at almost all of them.

And if you want to see a copy of Before the Music Dies, drop me a line. I picked up several copies that I want to circulate within g14. If you dig it though, I’d ask that you consider supporting the team that put it together and buy a copy. At the show last night, it was only $8, and a portion of the proceeds went to support the Veltzes (Veltzi?).

Plus, Erykah Badu is worth the price alone.

I wanted to send a belated birthday shout-out to g14’s leading little lady, Cara! You’ve known her and loved her in such epic masterpieces as the 48 Hour Film Project, and Dementos commercial #3! Well, now she’s 2 years old (although she vehemently insists she’s still 1– she’s a bit young to be lying about her age, but you know how girls are)!

Anyways, here’s a pic of my cutie almost 1 year ago during the 48 Hour Film Project shoot. She’s apparently horrified that I’ve decided to go cannibalistic (what can I say, it was a long shoot!).

So, I’m an editor first and foremost. I love to edit. My absolute favorite moment in editing is when you plug in a piece of music and all of a sudden it does exactly what you wanted it to. It brings out the drama, the comedy, the nostalgia– whatever you want your audience to feel.

Which is why I love the wealth of new and great music that we’ve discovered while bringing you the bliggity-blog every week. Most of the music that we have used has been from PodSafe Audio. There are literally hundreds of artists who are putting their music out there to be downloaded and used in various projects. And they are making GOOD music. Almost 90% of the music we use (and a bunch that we don’t use) has made it onto my iPod. These good folks are licensing their music under a Creative Commons copyright, so there’s a whole lot you can do with it.

So, you should go to PodSafe Audio, check out a bunch of good music and support these people any way you can. They’re putting their livelihood out there. Be sure that whatever you do is included under their Creative Commons copyright.

And if nothing else, you can discover new, indie music and then have the following conversation with your friends (we’ll pretend you are Dave, for the sake of argument, and speaking to your friend Jeff):

Dave: Hey, did you hear the new song by Devin Anderson?
Jeff: Who?
Dave: What, you’ve never heard of Devin Anderson?!? (rolls eyes and walks away)