Thursday, September 5, 2013 New Reviews Up At Christian Geek Central!

I know it's been awhile since you've seen a written review on this blog. I've been getting some help with the editing and posting of articles and reviews at Christian Geek Central and so things have been operating a little differently, resulting in my reviews going up there instead of here.

This may be a trend that continues, which means that the best place to go to get all of my reviews, as well as some great reviews by other like-minded Christian Geeks, is christiangeekcentral.com

In the last few weeks we've posted reviews for:

Neverwinter Nights 1 & 2(Video Games)

The 13th Warrior

Kick Ass 2

Evil Dead

The Car

Beowulf

New content is being posted there all the time, so be sure to visit christiangeekcentral.com and subscribe to our feed!

-Paeter Frandsen

Monday, August 19, 2013 Complete Special Edition Commentary Available Now!

The final part of the Spirit Blade Special Edition Commentary is now complete! As I conclude my thoughts on the remixing process, I talk about how I selected, edited and manipulated music to create the climactic scenes of Spirit Blade, while gladly tossing out the horrible music I had originally created myself.



What did Spirit Blade do before Star Wars did it? What superhero movie did I steal dialogue from? What don't I like about the song "Fly"? Those answers and more in the final portion of the Spirit Blade Special Edition Commentary!

Download all seven parts of the commentary for free right now on our Media Page!

Wednesday, August 14, 2013 Major Schedule Change

My wife Holly and I had lunch on Thursday of last week and put our entire work situation on the table to re-examine it all again, fresh from the ground up, for the first time in about 5 years.

As you might know, since the launch of Spirit Blade Productions in the fall of 2006, I've also been a substitute teacher for about 60 days of each school year to help round out our family finances. Spirit Blade Productions is able to pay for some of its own expenses at this point(Thank you Insiders, Financial Contributors and Customers!!), but not all of them. And it certainly isn't a source of income for us.

As I tend to be an out of the box thinker, I put a somewhat wild idea on the table, thinking Holly would hate it. The idea being that I would fully embrace the role of "Mr. Mom" five days a week(instead of just two), allowing her to work during the day every week day, while I do my work for Spirit Blade Productions beginning at 4pm or so every week day.

I hate working nights. I seem to require a minimum of 1-2 hours at the end of each night to "detox", or else find myself very moody in general. So you might think that CHOOSING to work nights every day is a disaster waiting to happen for me. 

But I have recently found I can leverage my time well enough during the day (even as Mr. Mom) to still get some work done. This is important because by doing this I feel I can justify ending my work day around 7:30 or 8pm each night.

The "Mr. Mom Scenario" gives me about two or more "multi-tasking" hours each day to write and answer emails or create/adjust web content while I manage our boys and other household responsibilities. Then I also have around 3-4 hours of completely focused and undistracted work time, which I typically use for a little study and then largely creative endeavors. (This much "focused time" is typically what I've managed on my best days in the past, but it's never been even close to the norm.)

In this scenario, Holly will work two extra hours each week, all year long. I will also take on more responsibilities for running the household... and completely stop substitute teaching. Resigning as a sub is something I've wanted to do for years but I had always hoped it would happen because of SBP's income. The timing isn't right for that to be the case, but to my surprise Holly was still open to this idea.

We're still working out details and it will require some significant stretching and growth on my part. But in the end we both think the pros outweigh the cons. Still, we want to experiment with a trial run for one semester before committing long term. From now through December we will be giving this lifestyle a go, making adjustments along the way. We'll either crash and burn at some point along the way or re-evaluate in December, at which point I'll either resign as a sub for good, or go back to subbing part-time for the rest of the year and onward.

All this yapping to say that we could use some prayer as we explore this new approach to our lives. It looks like it could be very good for both of us, our family and Spirit Blade Productions. (If it works out, it will shave months away from post-production on "A World Of Shadows" and all future endeavors!) But we want to be on Yahweh's agenda, even if it doesn't look as appealing and beneficial as this does.

So if you think of it, please pray that God will give us wisdom, clarity, patience and grace for each other in the weeks and months ahead. 

Thanks,

Paeter Frandsen

Wednesday, August 7, 2013 Hitting The Song Wall

After a somewhat unsuccessful "off-grid" week, I'm back to my normal schedule and in the thick of song production again. This week my focus is a song called "Mercy", featuring Saolos and the Sanctafi (in the form of a men's choir).

Songs tend to have much longer stretches of monotony during production compared to working on scenes. Most of my work on Mercy this week involved editing together multiple passes of my own voice to create an ensemble of men.

This is trickier than it sounds, since I have to make sure consonants and note cut-offs match up as much as possible, but not so much that it loses the sense of being an ensemble. (I also use a different "voice" each time I record a pass to give the final product a variety of voice types as you would hear in a real ensemble.) Then there is auto-tuning to do and volume adjustments to make in order to decide which voices will stand out and "lead" more than the others.

All of that is just to complete one voice part of one ensemble in one section of the song. Afterward I rinse and repeat about a dozen times. If that was boring to read, just imagine doing nothing but that for hours at a time. Bleh. The result can be a "wall" that I hit (which I did on Monday) that sucks the creative life out of me and makes it very hard to keep going.

However at the end of the day yesterday I managed to get through the worst of it, which means the next time I sit down to work on Mercy will be much more creative and interesting. Today also marks the beginning of the school semester, which means that our oldest son begins Kindergarten and working at home becomes just a little more doable during the day. Of course it all also means I will start getting called for subbing gigs soon, but you take the good with the bad.

-Paeter Frandsen 

Wednesday, July 24, 2013 Marathon Song Work

Unlike previous entries in the Spirit Blade Trilogy, I find myself focusing right now on completing work on all of the songs at once. In the past, the songs have come peppered throughout the overall post-production phase, often only becoming a main focus of my attention when I naturally reach them in the process of chronologically mixing scenes. But this time I'm surprising myself by finding both the motivation and creative inspiration to work on them one after the other, here at the very beginning of the post-production phase.



At first, the decision was a functional one. Unlike previous projects, I have spread out recording of cast members over not just months, but years. Mike Tully was the first to record, back in May of 2012. Over the following 12 months I scheduled sessions with the rest of the main ensemble cast. And though most of the cast recording is done, I still need to do one more session with Randy Hesson (Vincent Craft) as well as all sessions for my wife and myself and one or two brief sessions with supporting performers.

Since I don't have every line recorded for every scene, but DO have all song performances recorded (at least by those not living in my home), it's made sense to focus on the songs until I have all of the dialogue in.

So far I've discovered that it takes me about a week and half to two weeks to get a song to about 80% complete. At that point, the pattern seems to be that I lose inspiration to work on it further, and so set it aside to begin work on another song. This part of the pattern is actually pretty similar to my work on previous projects in this trilogy. Finish a song up to 80%, then set it aside and come back to it a few months later. By that time, I can hear the song with fresh ears and have a better idea of what is still "missing" from the final product.

Right now I've got two song at 80% and another at about 20%-30%. I'm very happy with how my creative inspiration seems to be holding up. Songs tend to require a lot more creative energy to produce than scenes, which is why historically I haven't done them all at once. But I'm just so freakin' excited about every single one of these songs that it's been an enjoyable process so far, even with some inevitable grinding here and there.

If all goes well, I should have all songs at about 80% by the end of September, at which point I'll either go back and start finishing some of them or jump into mixing scenes for awhile. And with an average mixing pace of three months per hour of story (as I discovered working on "Similitude Of A Dream"), that would put me roughly on track for a finish date of fall 2014.

Of course guessing at production time-tables is always a bit of a game for me, as my estimates have always proven lousy. But I still like to give myself something to shoot for!

Saturday, July 20, 2013 New Commentary Available Now!

As you may have noticed it's been quite awhile (October) since I last released a new segment of the commentary for Spirit Blade: Special Edition. And while no one has complained in the absence of new content, I figured I needed to eventually get around to finishing off the commentary. (The prep work for this commentary takes about twice as long as usual.



First, I have to listen to the original commentary I made for the original edition of Spirit Blade (available as a part of The Spirit Blade Productions Archives Vol. 1) so I don't repeat myself. Next, I have to listen to the relevant section of the original edition of Spirit Blade and then finally listen to the relevant section of the Special Edition, making notes for when I actually record the new commentary.

So I just barreled through last night and finished the final two segments of the Special Edition commentary. Part 6 is available now on our Media Page. And part 7 will be released sometime next month.

I hope you enjoy!

-Paeter Frandsen

Tuesday, July 16, 2013 The Future Of Christian Geek Central

Toward the end of June I did some thinking about the future of Spirit Blade Productions and Christian Geek Central in specific. I settled on some conclusions that, while not entirely new ideas to me, were still considerable game-changers regarding how Christian Geek Central will move forward.


Since the fall of 2006, Spirit Blade Productions has been largely a solo effort. My wife does the book-keeping for our taxes, but everything else pretty much gets done by me. It's not ideal, but I've accepted it. After all, I'm doing something that, monetarily speaking, isn't the most sought after occupation. So asking others to join me out on the limb and invest without financial return has never really been an option I've considered. And none of that has really changed.

But Christian Geek Central is a different story. It's an endeavor produced and supported by the resources of Spirit Blade Productions, but one that will never be realized if I am the only one pushing it forward. From the beginning I envisioned CGC as something FOR a growing community. But I'm unavoidably concluding that it must also be BY that community.

Fulfilling the vision of Christian Geek Central to equip, encourage and inspire Christian geeks to live more and more for Christ is an ambitious vision that requires efforts far outside of my areas of strength. Up until now I have spent much of my time climbing up a mountain to achieve relatively little through a huge amount of effort. I am one part of the Body of Christ but I've been trying to do the jobs of several other parts. Jobs I'm simply not made to do effectively. And by trying to be these other "body parts", I've lost opportunities to serve God in the areas I am most effective in.

So at this point, although I am still 100% committed to the vision of Christian Geek Central, I'm equally convinced it is meant to be realized by a group of people, not just myself. And with that in mind I've posted a list of several open positions I would like to fill at Christian Geek Central, which together will form an administrative leadership team to take the vision forward. 

My plan is to lead that team, providing the foundational vision and philosophical grounding for Christian Geek Central. But the rest of what Christian Geek Central will become will largely depend on the ideas and passions of those who come alongside me to help lead it.

I'd greatly encourage you to check out the description of open positions and contact me if you are interested or have any questions.

I've also had some thoughts for those of you who may not feel drawn to apply for one of those positions. I suspect that God is currently taking our community through a season of growth. By that I don't mean numbers, but maturity. Oftentimes, churches that grow too quickly can fall apart because they do not have a solid core of people to provide stability and consistency for those suddenly joining. With more people in a community must come more leaders. Maybe not those in official leadership positions, but those who are welcoming or friendly, supportive or discerning, insightful or knowledgeable... the list goes on. If you're at a healthy church you've probably met one or more people who aren't in leadership, but are consistently there and consistently provide something valuable to you. 

I want to be clear that I don't view Christian Geek Central as a replacement for the local church. But there are things common to a healthy local church I'd like to see develop at Christian Geek Central. We've got a small core of maturing believers who are dedicated to Christ and each other. And for CGC to move forward that core will need to develop even more. A growing core of people who enjoy being a part of the community, but also recognize it as more than recreation. People who see their involvement at Christian Geek Central, whatever it may look like, as a purposeful way to grow, be encouraged, and facilitate spiritual growth and encouragement for others.

My vision for Christian Geek Central is for a community increasingly filled with people who are gung-ho, hard core geeks who also highly regard scripture and apply it to their lives well. A community that doesn't judgmentally look for trouble in the geek world or forget how to enjoy geek entertainment, but that also doesn't downplay or compromise portions of the Bible or the Christian faith to avoid conflict or the label of "legalism".

It's a crazy kind of fine line to try and walk, requiring constant discernment. Constant "truth seeking". I may be leading the battle cry at Christian Geek Central, but I'm in need of growth here as much as anybody. So I need a site like Christian Geek Central just as much as I want to provide it for countless other geeks.

The number of Christians online engaging in geek culture on behalf of Christ is growing. But as I've combed the internet in search of sites to link to or partner with at Christian Geek Central, I've noticed a disappointing trend. "Christian Geek" sites, podcasts, etc. almost always endeavor to blend faith with the geek lifestyle somehow. But they often seem to emphasize one over the other in an unhealthy way.

I don't mean to discount "stealth ministry" outreach sites that focus primarily on geekery and avoid being "preachy". I think those sites, aimed at unbelievers or nominal Christians, are great and greatly needed. I'm talking about how Christian Geek sites handle truth, however much of it they may be presenting.

Many sites either emphasize biblical truth and only casually or hesitantly embrace the geek lifestyle or (far more often) emphasize the geek lifestyle and neglect discernment of truth, resulting in the acceptance of ideas and practices that are harmful to the Christian life. This is sad in either case because, despite their stated goals, they are subtly, unintentionally arguing against the idea that scripture and geekery are compatible. 

I want Christian Geek Central to not only be a place that SAYS we can fully embrace both faith and geekery, but practices that and demonstrates, by our lives, by our handling of scripture, what that looks like day to day. Far more than a site where Christian geeks can feel welcome. A site where Christian geeks will be equipped, encouraged and inspired to live more and more for the Creator of Creativity, the God of the Universe.

If you'd like to be a part of that vision, you should know that it can't move forward without you and others like you. I'd invite you again to check out the description of Open Positions at Christian Geek Central, and then hop over to our forums, introduce yourself if you haven't yet, and strike up some conversation. As small as it may sound, connecting with each other is where it all begins.

-Paeter Frandsen

Wednesday, June 26, 2013 AWOS Update and Off Grid June 28th-July 8th

My apologies for not giving an update on Spirit Blade: A World Of Shadows in a little while. My hope is to get back on track with providing updates here a little more often, now that the alpha version of Christian Geek Central has launched and this blog is returning somewhat to being a blog about Spirit Blade Productions in general.



Aside from one small supporting role performer, the only actors who still need to finish recording are Randy Hesson (Vincent Craft), Holly Frandsen (Ebony Ravenloft) and myself (Merikk, The Dark One, Sheidan Council, and misc.).

Although I have enough recorded to start mixing a number of scenes, I am focusing my attention right now on the songs for the project, one of which is about 80% finished. There are seven songs in total for the project, and while I enjoy many parts of the creative process, I learned while mixing the Special Edition of Spirit Blade that my favorite part of mixing is when I'm working on scenes instead of songs. The progress moves much more slowly when creating 4 minutes of music compared to 4 minutes of even the most complex, effects heavy action sequence.

For now I feel inspired to grind away at the songs. And another lesson I learned awhile back is to work on what you're inspired to work on until all inspiration is gone. (THEN bang your head against the wall or whatever you need to do to hammer out the rest.) At least this is the approach that seems to yield the best results for me.

With Pilgrim's Progress I learned that I can edit and mix, from the very beginning through final mastering, about 20 minutes a month. (Three months for every hour) I'm estimating a run time of about four hours for this project, which translates to about year of work to complete it, not including the songs.

So we're probably at least a year and half right now from the release of A World Of Shadows, though I'll be sure to keep you posted as work progresses.

Speaking of getting work done, my "Off-Grid" weeks have been going well this summer. So much so that I think I will continue to take some off-grid weeks during the school year when I'm able. They do a great deal to help move things forward for A World Of Shadows.

My next off-grid period, during which I won't be answering e-mails or checking in at the forums, will be from June 28th-July 8th. The first of those two weeks I will be traveling with my family. The second I will be back home and throwing myself into work on "AWOS". There will still be a podcast this weekend, and next, but no podcast the week after. (And despite the handful of "off-grid" weeks I've taken so far this summer, this will be the FIRST weekend to miss a podcast episode. Which is an even better record than previous summers WITHOUT off-grid work weeks!)

To further join me on my production journey for AWOS, you're invited to become a Spirit Blade Insider, which also helps ensure that I can keep Spirit Blade productions moving forward faster and better than ever! In fact, in my next batch of content for Insiders I will be including the latest rough mix for the song I've been working on lately, entitled "Who You Really Are".

Stay tuned for more updates here in the future!

-Paeter Frandsen

Friday, May 3, 2013 Off-Grid And Hard At Work!

I'm going off-grid for another week starting Monday. This time I'll be working hard on the songs for "Spirit Blade: A World Of Shadows", hammering out melody and lyrics for the last song needing them, and the one which I hope will be the most intense and powerful. (No pressure!) I will also be running about six different recording sessions with recently added cast members.



While there will not be any other posts here next week aside from the podcast (Stay tuned! A new episode WILL be released next weekend!) I may still jump on to the forums as time permits.

Have a great week and I'll see you on the other side!

-Paeter Frandsen

Friday, April 5, 2013 Off Grid Until Monday, April 15th

Just a quick "heads up" that I'll be off grid and hard at work on Spirit Blade: A World of Shadows all of next week. I will not be on the forums, making any blog posts or checking my e-mail all week, although a new episode of The Spirit Blade Underground Podcast will be posted around this time next week as usual.

I will be back to my normal schedule on April 15th and will be sure to respond to any waiting messages as soon as I am able.

Thanks for your patience, and I'll see you on the other side!

-Paeter Frandsen

Friday, March 29, 2013 Auditions For Spirit Blade: A World Of Shadows!

I'm thrilled to announce the beginning of open, online auditions for "Spirit Blade: A World Of Shadows"! A number of roles have already been cast and recorded, but there are still plenty left that need enthusiastic and talented voice actors!

All the information you need to audition can be found in our audition document, which can be downloaded at-http://www.spiritblade.net/downloads/Spirit_Blade_AWOS_Online_Auditions_Doc.rtf

If you or someone you know might be interested in being a part of the climactic conclusion of the Spirit Blade Trilogy, don't miss this chance to get in on the action!

WARNING! The audition materials do not necessarily reflect the final script, as some lines have been modified to serve audition purposes. However the audition materials do contain some minor spoilers. So if you wish to avoid spoilers of any kind, you may wish to avoid reading our audition materials. However if you like that sort of thing and want some fuel for speculation, you're welcome to download them even if you have no plans to audition. Enjoy!

The deadline for audition submissions is Sunday April 14th, so don't delay!

Thursday, March 28, 2013 Upcoming "Off-Grid" Weeks

A few hours after publishing my last post I realized something else I had intended to talk about that I completely forgot, and that's going "off-grid". 
That's how I describe my life when I make myself unavailable for contact via the internet for a period of time. I almost always go off-grid for my vacation times and a couple of times I've experimented with going off-grid to spend some intensely focused and dedicated time working on a particular project.

To be completely transparent, I hate the fact that A World Of Shadows will release (AT BEST) 6 years after the release of Spirit Blade: Dark Ritual. My plan was to keep these installments 2-4 years apart, maximum. And knowing that a number of listeners are itching to have the trilogy complete also weighs on me quite a lot. The moment I started referring to Spirit Blade as a trilogy, I effectively made a promise to listeners that a third part would be released. And there are certain expectations on the timing of a trilogy that I feel I've fallen far short of. It feels as though I am breaking my promise to listeners, or at least not making that promise a priority.

That said, I think the time I took to help give the podcast and community a makeover was well-spent and vital to our long-term goals. And in the coming months there are a few more things I want to do to get Christian Geek Central off the ground that, while not as time-intensive as what has been required up until now, will still prove a distraction from work on A World Of Shadows.

For all of these reasons, I'm running a "work experiment" this summer, beginning a little over a week from now. Between now and the end of August I've identified six non-consecutive weeks which, because they will not require a time sensitive review or podcast content, are eligible for me to go "off-grid".

The podcast will still be published each of these weeks, but it will be created in advance, probably without an "In Search Of Truth Segment". (If possible I will find a suitable thematic substitute that does not require the time consuming prep work that In Search Of Truth normally demands of me.) In addition, during each of these weeks I will not be checking my e-mail (aside from filling orders) or visiting our forums, but spending nearly every moment of my work day on post-production work for A World Of Shadows.

During these weeks, or when the end of August comes, I would welcome your feedback. It's very important to me that our community not stagnate in my absence and that no one feels as though I am not interested in the great online relationships I've developed and continue to develop with those in our community. Community is a huge priority for me, and a central part of what Spirit Blade Productions is about. So if this experiment has a significant effect on that I want to find a workaround or take a different approach. So PLEASE let me know if you feel as though I become "distant" during this experimental period.

Whether having some "off-grid" weeks now and then is the solution or not, my goal is to better leverage my time so that I can make good on the promise of A World Of Shadows, while still making our podcast, community and online presence the best they can all be.

If you have any thoughts about any of that, I'd love to hear from you!

Thanks for your support! 

-Paeter Frandsen

Wednesday, March 27, 2013 Upcoming Changes To Blog And Podcast

As we're getting closer to launching the alpha version of Christian Geek Central I wanted to let you know about a few changes I anticipate will be coming as well.



About a year or so ago I stopped publishing the "Paeter's Brain" blog, importing all of my reviews from that blog here and posting less often on this blog about Spirit Blade Productions and updates to various projects I've been tackling. That change was motivated by a desire to build community centered around common geek interests. Little did I realize it was the germ of Christian Geek Central gestating inside me. And now I believe that Christian Geek Central will be the better place to build that community, which is why I have imported all of my previous reviews to Christian Geek Central and will begin posting my reviews there instead of here once the site launches.

"The Spirit Blade Underground" has, to this point, been a community of Christian geeks of all kinds who may or may not care one bit about The Spirit Blade Underground Podcast or the various audio dramas and entertainment produced by Spirit Blade Productions. And that's totally cool by me. But to make that community even more inclusive, we're re-branding it as "Christian Geek Central", and will soon be using "The Spirit Blade Underground" exclusively to refer to this blog and our podcast.

The Spirit Blade Underground Podcast will continue to be published on this page and its feed and the content will remain geared toward Christian Geeks of all kinds. Aside from being referred to as "The Official Podcast Of Christian Geek Central" in the introduction each week, very little will change about the show.

One element that may change a little is the types of reviews I write for the show. My data right now is limited, but so far the feedback I've been getting from the recent contest question indicates that retro/home video reviews may be of more interest to podcast listeners than new release movies. I will also be trying to include more reviews of other entertainment types. These two factors combined may noticeably reduce the number of new release movie reviews featured on the show. If you don't like the sound of that, please let me know so I can factor in your feedback. Or, if you ever know of a movie coming to theaters that you'd particularly be curious to hear/read my review for, please let me know and I can try to make it a priority. This show is for you guys and I want it to only increasingly reflect that.

So to sum up, once Christian Geek Central launches, it will be the place to go to be a part of our existing (and growing!) community and to read reviews by myself and a growing number of contributors. (The podcast will also be included in that feed if you'd like to receive it that way.)

This blog will continue to be updated, though possibly only one or two times a week. It will feature our weekly podcast, the In Search Of Truth Bible study, and updates on the various projects that Spirit Blade Productions is involved in as a company. This will include announcements regarding our audio dramas, podcast and Christian Geek Central.

For now you can still plan on getting our reviews here, and I'll be sure to make an announcement when the site and feed for Christian Geek Central are ready for your use. In the meantime, I welcome your feedback as I aim to make what we're doing more useful and enjoyable.

Thanks!

-Paeter Frandsen

Friday, March 8, 2013 Podcast Sunday Or Monday

This week's podcast episode will be delayed by a few days, I think.
A central part of the show will be my review of "Oz The Great And Powerful", which I'm really looking forward to watching...with my wife! (Woohoo! Business AND pleasure!) And our date night is Saturday.

Since I try to avoid working on Sunday, we may be looking at Monday for the release of the next episode.

Thanks for your understanding!

-Paeter Frandsen

1. TravisMarch 8, 2013 at 1:43 PM

   Take your time. This way I'll get to space my podcast listening out over this tour at work!

2. Paeter FrandsenMarch 11, 2013 at 12:54 PM

   Thanks, Travis! Podcast should go up later this afternoon!

Wednesday, February 13, 2013 Noah Primevel Book Giveaway!

If you haven't heard about our Noah Primevel book giveaway yet, it's not too late to enter the contest!

Brian Godawa is giving away a copy of Noah Primevel, the first book in his Old Testament fantasy series, "The Chronicles Of The Nephilim".



To receive an entry in the contest, just send an e-mail with the subject "Contest" to paeter(at)spiritblade(dot)net with your top three geek hobbies listed in the body of the e-mail. (This contest is also a way you can help me improve the content of our podcast in a way that better suits your interests!)

Entries are due no later than Wednesday February 20th (one week from today) and the winner will be randomly chosen from the entries and announced on the podcast the weekend of February 22nd.

I've only received a handful of entries so far, so your odds of winning are fantastic! Don't put it off! Send me your contest entry right now!

-Paeter Frandsen

Monday, January 28, 2013 Renaming The Forums

Today I want to announce an upcoming transition that I'm very excited about and hope you will be, too!

As I've mentioned before, I'm hoping to soon launch the "alpha" version of a new website called "Christian Geek Central", which I hope will help to increase the size and involvement of the great community we've already started on our forums.

My plan is to launch the alpha site in February, and soon after change the name of the Spirit Blade Underground Forums to the Christian Geek Central Forums. This will be almost exclusively a cosmetic change. The entire posting history and membership of the SBU forums will remain intact, and none of our policy should be changing, either.

Hopefully that will help put any fears of "losing" our existing community to rest. In fact, this upcoming transition should only involve gaining. Gaining more community members, more interesting content, and more potential for Spirit Blade Productions to develop new ideas, better and faster than ever before!

I'll be sure to post again when the transition is about to take place, and notify you of any changes you might need to be aware of (such as changes in URLs or navigation link names). In the meantime, if you have any thoughts or questions about this, please don't hesitate to let me know! My hope is that everyone will not only be comfortable with this transition, but be as excited about its potential as I am!

Thanks for being a part of this community! I can't wait to see what's coming next!

-Paeter Frandsen

Monday, January 21, 2013 Thank You!

As some of you may know, I've been mixing all of our projects on the same computer since 2004. It's hung in there for longer than I've had any right to expect, though not without prohibitive glitches and lagging performance.

A very special package arrived over the weekend that I'm very excited about. (The above picture was taken just before it shipped out to me.) But first, I have some thank yous to hand out today, as I prepare to open up and connect my new, super-awesome, work computer.

First, I have to thank my brother in law, Sean Corbett. He is both a fantastic musician and a technical wizard, with far more years of experience and know-how with audio production than anyone I've met. He offered to custom-build a mixing computer for me a few months ago, making it possible for me to have a computer that will meet my needs (and then some!) for many years to come, at a price far less than what I would  have paid for it otherwise. (In fact, I COULD'NT have paid for it otherwise!)

I also need to thank my older sister, Jhannea and her husband Chad. She is not a sci-fi/fantasy/horror fan by any stretch of the imagination. In fact, over the years we've come to disagreements over geek-genre entertainment on a few occasions. But Jhannea believes that the work I've committed to, inspiring, encouraging and equipping Christian Geeks to live for Christ, is important. So despite geek-entertainment and culture not being a passion of her own, she and her husband recently made a significant, sacrificial, and very moving donation to Spirit Blade Productions, that paid for well over half of the cost for my new computer. This wasn't just love for her brother. This was a gift from a man and woman who want to serve the Kingdom of God and impact lives they will otherwise never reach themselves. Their generosity and "Kingdom perspective" is a humbling example to me.

Finally, I need to thank all of you who have purchased any of our products, or who have partnered with me as a Spirit Blade Insider. Our company is small enough that when I say "your purchases and financial support make what we do possible", that isn't an abstract or "big picture" philosophical statement. It's real, and it's practical. YOUR purchase or donation (and yes, I mean you individually), made the difference. I wasn't able to pay for this computer just a few months ago, but now I can, which means Spirit Blade 3 can move forward as planned.

Of course no one I've mentioned would have contributed at all if the Holy Spirit hadn't equipped them and moved or orchestrated their involvement in some way. So I'm also reminded of the constant dependence I have to have on God, and the constant gratitude he is owed for every good thing that comes my way.

Thank you so much for being a part of what Spirit Blade Productions is doing. I hope you'll continue to join me as we step into the future in anticipation of what God has planned.

-Paeter Frandsen

Wednesday, January 16, 2013 SBP 2013 Resolutions

Well, it's the start of a new year, which means a new set of hopes and dreams are in front of me that I'd love to see come about. But as I look back at previous January posts, I notice how bad I am at predicting what will actually happen for Spirit Blade Productions in a given year, or even a given month.

Last year at this time I hosted the reading session for Spirit Blade 3, with plans to begin casting in February or March. In actuality, I decided to focus on recording the returning actors first, saving new casting for later (which is now looking like February or March of THIS year.)

The "Golden Knight" audio book was released as planned, but the Spirit Blade Card Game was set back by significant redevelopment. (Far from abandoned, however! I'm considering a release date that will build toward, or coincide with, the release of Spirit Blade 3!)

As I'm reminded again, tomorrow is promised to no one, and our plans can only be made with the understanding that God's agenda may be very different from our own. However, taking that into account, here are some goals for 2013:

1. Launch the unofficial (alpha, if you will) version of ChristianGeekCentral.com in February.

2. Finish recording all Spirit Blade 3 principle actors by May. (Those remaining include Randy Hesson, Holly Frandsen and Myself)

3. Hold auditions in February-April and begin recording secondary roles before May. 

4. Complete half or more of the mixing work on Spirit Blade 3 before December.

5. Decide on the subtitle so I can stop calling it Spirit Blade "3"!

6. Launch the new version of the Spirit Blade Productions Website before May.

7. Launch the Christian Geek Central Network (more on this later).


I'm aiming conservatively this year, so it's hard to imagine that most of these things won't happen. But God has taken me through so many unpredictable turns over the years that I'm trying more and more to keep a loose grip on the steering wheel.

Whatever may come, I'm committed to Spirit Blade Productions' vision of encouraging, equipping and inspiring Christian geeks like you and me to live more and more for Christ!

I hope you'll continue to join me for the ride and maybe even become a part of how the engine works!

-Paeter Frandsen

Wednesday, January 2, 2013 Posts Resuming January 14th, Podcast Resumes January 18th

Hi Everybody!

I wanted to give you the heads up about a minor delay to my return from vacation.

I woke up at 5am on Christmas morning to begin a three-hour puking event. (You know you're creating a special memory when some water from the bowl splashes up and back into your mouth. Luckily I had flushed down my liquid stool just moments before beginning to vomit.) Most of my immediate and visiting extended family followed close behind later that day.

We all spent most of the week between Christmas and New Years Eve quarantined in our homes recovering, losing close to a week of precious family time.

Although I had planned to return to work the middle of next week, I want to take advantage of every chance I have to make up for lost time while my sister and her family are still in town. For this reason I hope you'll understand that I'll be coming back to work a little later than I'd originally stated, and the next podcast will not go up until the weekend of January 18th.

Sorry for the delay and thanks so much for your understanding.

-Paeter Frandsen

Thursday, December 20, 2012 Holiday Break

Beginning tomorrow I will be away from my office until Wednesday, January 9th, at which time I'll begin reading/answering e-mails again and processing any physical product orders. (Digital product orders will be processed automatically as usual in the meantime.)

I'm still putting out the podcast this weekend (as early as today or tomorrow if I can manage it), but I'll be off-grid otherwise. Also, my plan is for the podcast to return on the weekend of January 11th.

I do sometimes still pop in to the forums briefly once or twice while on vacation, so you may still see me there. But if not, I hope you have a wonderful Christmas and New Year celebration with friends, family and hopefully a few geeks among them! It's been great to spend the year with you and I look forward to what 2013 holds, whatever it may be!

-Paeter Frandsen