"Korea Dreambus" Pilgrimage and Documentary Film

Pardon the kitchen counter! This morning I charged up my DJI Osmo Pocket II and battery handle to start taking some test runs with it. I may edit something together with that footage, as nonsensical as it is.  In the photo at right, you see my small backpack and the gear bag. To the far right on the counter is the handle/stick with the cradle for the Osmo and the clamp for the iPhone, which serves as a monitor. Just to the left of that is the camera itself, with its "hood" on to project the lens.  Every time I put the hood on it, I think of a hawk. Nestled into the gear bag are cables, the microphone and its accessories, and the SD and microSD cards and card reader. The photos below show the gear back packed and closed. By the way, the entire camera, microphone and accessories package was generously supplied by a local filmmaker, my friend Nate, who sold this to me for far less than I would've paid on Amazon or any other used camera outlet. Filmmakers supporting filmmake

Charlotte-Genesee Lighthouse as seen in my local pilgrimage meditation video on Patreon Thank you for checking in again.  Please head over to my Patreon page and become a member to see my local Marian pilgrimage video! Blogger won't accommodate the videos I'm creating, but  Patreon will and allows far more organization and easy access. Right now I'm placing most videos in the "Free Membership" category, but later, there will be other content in the Paid Membership tier, as well. Patreon is a great way to share these videos, and you will be notified in your email as soon as I post anything there, which makes it easier to see what I'm doing. I'd love to share more behind-the-scenes musings as well as camera trials and experimental bits and pieces in advance of my pilgrimage to Korea. Then when I return, I will be able to upload clips from the footage I collect there and update on the editing process. So, in other words dear readers, it's worth it to j

Two months from today, I'll be boarding a plane at Rochester International Airport bound for Detroit, then on to Incheon. Since Korea is 13 hours ahead of EDT, I'll be arriving on Sept. 18, at 5:20 p.m.  My flight to Detroit has changed twice since I purchased the ticket in May, but only for a slightly longer layover. "More time in duty free shopping," my friend and supporter Binh texted me. Binh has contributed to my fundraiser, and he has graciously offered to bring me to and from the airport -- even though my return flight lands in Rochester at midnight! Thank you, Binh! How to travel well  I haven't flown in several years, but I remember my personal routine and pointers for traveling well. Yes, there's a right and a wrong way! Stretch :  I like the window seat for short flights, but for the international flight, it'll be aisle seat. I know I need to get up every hour or so and stretch my legs, and I'll have a little more stretch room with the aisle

A little over a month ago, I found this article about a Korean photographer, Lee Seoung-ho, a Buddhist, who felt drawn to document the history of the Catholic martyrs in Korea. To quote the article, written by reporter  Kang Hyun-kyung with The   Korea Times : Lee Seoung-ho felt his heart was sinking when four children’s graves near a Catholic cemetery caught his eye six years ago. The cemetery, which is home to 37 tombs of Catholic martyrs sacrificed in the bloody persecution in the 19th century, is part of the Hanti Martyrs' Shrine Pilgrimage, a 45.6- kilometer route stretched along Mount Palgong in the rustic southeastern county of Chilgok, North Gyeongsang Province. The article describes how Mr. Lee felt drawn to explore and document the lives of the martyrs and their mountain villages where they raised their families in community, staying faithful despite persecution. He published a photobook, titled “Gongso: A Place Cherishing Memories of Korean Catholicism.” Quoting the ar

Someone recently asked me what exactly a pilgrimage is and what it isn't. This is an excellent thing to consider.  The English word “pilgrim" is derived from the Latin  peregrinum,  which conveys the idea of wandering over a distance, but not aimlessly or without intention. Pilgrimage is practiced by many religions, and for those who don't believe in a religious tradition, a pilgrimage could be a way to reconnect with history or one's own past. In any context, it can provoke an inner journey.  Myself, I make a twice-yearly pilgrimage to my favorite beach in Massachusetts; it has special significance in my past and always provides me with solace, no matter the season or tides. From a Catholic perspective, the primary purpose of pilgrimage is to honor God by devoting a time for going outside the purely mundane and connecting with the Eternal in places that are regarded as holy.  Pilgrimage can be experienced as a communal or a solitary adventure, but even a solitary pilg

Friends, there is so much to write about concerning the history of the Korean Catholic Church and its noble martyrs and saints, but I will start with a brief overview of its early history, highlighting a few saints which I'll write more about on my Patreon . The birth of Catholicism in Korea happened as a result of the human search for God, that innate draw that God has placed in every person. In the late 1700s, the dominant ideologies in Korea were Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism. Scholars subscribing to these ideologies would attach themselves to different political factions and dispute with other factions. However, a few scholars of the time abandoned this fractious political life and retreated to the countryside to research more deeply into the question of Truth and the human condition.  This group of scholars met in Chonjinam and Chuo-sa (sometimes referred to as the Bethlehem of Korea).  There they studied the work of Yi Ik, a philosopher who had studied "The True Doct