Do you remember reading Choose Your Own Adventure books as a kid? You know, the ones where you turn to page 48 if you want to jump out of the plane or turn to page 35 if you want to rush the cockpit? Well, Erik Luchauer and Kevin Antoine, creators of Rootclip.com, do. They drew upon their love of the popular user-guided storylines to come up with a new concept in film making and online media called Rootclip.

The premise is simple: They shoot the first scene of a movie; you shoot the next. Then your scene competes for votes from visitors to the Rootclip website. The winner of each round receives $500, and the final chapter winner gets an all expenses paid trip to the Traverse City Film Festival, August 1 – 3, 2008. If all this has your interest peaked, here’s a look at the first chapter from the first Rootclip film: Continue Reading

This seven minute segment of the PBS documentary Carrier shows the dangers of working on a flight deck. (HT: C. Wender)

Uploaded by Michael Wender 29th April, 2008

Tonight, Beth and I joined David and Hillary for dinner at the Sunspot Restaurant.

Philosophy professor Douglas Groothuis takes a page from C.S. Lewis by writing a letter from Screwtape to Wormword about the effects of technology. (HT: Tim Challies)

If you’re a regular visitor to my blog, and the redesign has left you wondering, “Where have all the pictures gone?” then be sure the check the “Flickr” tab at the bottom of the home page. In addition, you can see more in the Pictures category.

Khoi Vinh is the design director for NYTimes.com. His blog at Subtraction.com is an excellent study in clean lines, black and white, and the proper use of white space.

Forgive me if this sounds like part reflection, part infomercial, but this weekend I had the pleasure of moving my friend Ryan into his new house. During the move, I was introduced to the best moving tool I’ve ever seen: Two strips of nine feet, four inch long heavy duty cloth known as Forearm Forklifts.

The combination of Ryan’s packing forethought along with the Forearm Forklifts made this one move worth blogging about… Continue Reading

This past week, fellow Knoxville blogger, Casey Peters, placed the implementation of his new menu bar under my care. He provided a Photoshop comp, and I was able to slice his graphics and add some JavaScript for a nice rollover effect. His “tumblelog style” blog makes for a nice addition to your feed reader.

Yesterday morning (April 26, 2008), my muse whispered into my ear. Though she offered only the briefest glimpse of what was to come, I found myself at her mercy throughout the day. I spent my breaks and every extra moment designing, building and crafting a new WordPress theme for this site.

I’m calling this theme The Latest Post because I’ve designed it with one goal in mind: to emphasize my latest post with an eye towards featuring my content and fostering conversation. As its name implies, The Latest Post prominently displays my latest blog entry on the home page. Additionally, my aim is for the clean, understated design of this theme to give you easy access to my posts and invite your comments. Continue Reading

Uploaded by Michael Wender 23rd April, 2008

This evening the Knoxville Twitter crew was at it again as we gathered for after work drinks at Aubrey’s off of Papermill. Those present were @z11 @Whodini @bonnets @suzytrotta @jagreda @tohare and yours truly.