Every year, NFL Films raises the flag of the Super Bowl Champions at its headquarters in Mt. Laurel, New Jersey. The ceremony is only open to employees of NFL Films and distinguished guests. This year was extra special as most employees live in the vicinity of Philadelphia, and this was the first ever Super Bowl Championship won by the Eagles.
Last night we got the honor of sharing in the celebration of 25 long time employees of NFL Films at Lincoln Financial Field. These are the people that built the NFL Films house, and kept it going after Ed and Steve Sabol could no longer. These are the people that made it possible for every current employee to have a career with NFL Films, keeping the flame of our legacy burning for decades. And now they are beginning the next chapter of their lives, but I know that their influence will last for many more decades, in our culture, in our standards, in our conduct, in the way that had made NFL Films the institution it has become in the sports universe.
Monica and I had the pleasure of mingling with all of my colleagues, including our executive producer Ross Ketover, who steers this ship with unyielding pleasure, and Roger Goodell, who understands the huge importance and value that NFL Films, a little production company in the tiny suburb of Mt Laurel, NJ, brings to the world of sports.
And I realized as that old guard moves on, that the people that I have grown up with over the last two decades, starting as interns, or in the shipping department, or just as an over night tape dubber, are now charged with continuing to grow and cherish the reins that we’ve been given. I know that those moving on will be watching, making sure that we always “Finish Like A Pro” the way that all of them have.
Oh, and we got to go onto the field, lit with World Championship Eagles pride, and take some pictures with the Lombardi Trophy. So yeah, that was pretty cool, too.
This week I’ve been preparing the best I can to go away for a while. I’ve never been gone this long before. The people that mean the most to me will have to live without me, and realize that they can.
Not everyone gets a chance to prepare for missing home, or being alone, or losing someone you love. I get that luxury that many people in life don’t get. The comfort of knowing I’ll be missed while I’m gone, and that others hope I’ll be back soon.
Some of us never know the warmth of being loved, or suddenly find that what we thought was love was just an empty hollow hunger. No one should ever have to feel that way. It’s inhuman to do that to a person.
But time still ticks, in my head, in my home, in my life. In everyone’s life. And time will always tell. It will tell what’s true, what’s right and wrong, and what are just words and what is reality.
So I stay true to the things I knew when I was younger. That the emotions I feel I will never apologize for. That I should do to others what I deserve of myself. That I should admit when I’ve done someone wrong, and fight for what I think is right. That I know I’m not perfect, but no one is, and when we accept that as people, we can finally move on together. That accepting change in life is something to embrace, and not fight, because allowing ourselves to clutch to the past only causes pain.
Time unfeelingly marches forward. In time, feeling empathy for one another moves us all forward together.
Is it weird that my concern is which of the clocks I wind in life will be stopped when I come home?
This morning, for the first time in a week, I woke up in my bed. Monika and I have not slept in our actual bed, but instead on our new couch for the last week for varying reasons. Mostly, because we’re both so fucking busy that the pile of clean clothes stacked in the middle of our bed went unfolded, and I refuse to sweep it onto the floor to crawl in because the carpet is covered in cat hair.
It doesn’t matter where we sleep, for the most part, the cats find us and sleep with us. Guest room, couch, real bedroom, they find us, and sleep there. They don’t bother us, for the most part, because when they were young and would piss me off, they were expelled, and ignored. They learned to behave.
The other reason is that I’ve been having a ton of allergic reactions, and I’m trying to narrow down the cause of my itchy fits. I think it’s the clothing detergent. Seems likely, right. Washed all my clothes; have not had a chance to wash all my bedding…until yesterday.
Didn’t really have a long holiday weekend to catch up on that kind of stuff. Show on Wednesday night, home at 3:30 AM. Thanksgiving out on City Line Ave with family, but also a late night. Black Friday, Saturday and Sunday at the good old Mart. Back at Films on Monday.
So yeah, busy. Cats, not so much. Eno has become basically an outside cat (almost). These two barely use a litter box anymore. They prefer the outside. Probably smells better, too.
Monika at Hebrew school tonight. We’re still sorting through all our personal belongings to see what we’ll re-incorporate into our re-designed home, pack away in the attic, or donate to goodwill, or just plain trash. It’s hard to throw away things that remind us of our past.
It’s like a memory, and once that specific, quirky, ugly, non-useful object is gone, so is the reminder of the part of our past that we’d like to hold onto. So, we hold onto things, in boxes and tubs, indefinitely, because we’d never throw away our past, and don’t want to lose any memories.
My job is really like a family. There’s bumps in the road, for sure, but Films has always been a close knit kind of place. Once a year (except during lock outs), the family, literally, honors those employees who have grown up inside the company.
I wasn’t one of them. On the record, I’ve only been employed there since 2007, but actually, I’ve been working with my peers for over 12 years, since I was 22 years old. If you don’t know who is in this picture…It’s our founder, Hall of Fame inductee Mr. Ed Sabol, and his son, our president, Mr. Steve Sabol. Their dream now employ 250 people, including me and many people I consider friends.
After the pin awards ceremony, and an incredible hilarious speech from Big Ed, the master story-teller, we headed outside for a celebration banquet and some summer games.
Along with the BBQ tent, we managed to organize 12 teams to pass the time playing Baggo. Now, I prefer Washers, but as long as the game allows for one free hand to hold a beer, I’m okay with it.
It was a double elimination tournament. Consequently, this motley crew and I were swiftly double eliminated, and then drank on the sidelines ( I cried silently in a bathroom stall, but no one has to know that). We aptly named our team the “Celluloid Zeroes.” Props to anyone who gets the reference.
Back at home, regular remodeling dreadfulness.
Eh, all my tools covered in dust. So tiring. Being rich must be fabulous.
But, Monika and I got some hang out time in the backyard, enjoyed a Thursday Martini together, and looked forward to the weekend
Eno escaped. We barely cared. Everyone deserves to run free at least once daily.
Random pictures from the third story of NFL Films. It was originally supposed to be finished out with more office space, but money ran out, and so now it’s just a big junk drawer of abandoned technology, old sets, and crap.
This is a picture of my (kind of) new desk at work. I’m not official working in this new department, but I’m there two days a week, and I almost know what I’m doing. Hopefully, someday, this will be my permanent one. Yes, they are all my computers, and notice, there is no film on my desk.
In the vault at NFL Films, we have this old chart of shows. We hung it up just so visitors could look at a piece of history. It’s really just garbage, but, eh, people seem to think it’s cool.
Since Kodak went out of business, er, I mean declared bankruptcy, we bought a shit ton of film from them just in case Fuji couldn’t keep up with our demand.
Kreg painting his new molding. He’s been remodeling his house in anticipation of guest coming in for his wedding NEXT MONTH!!!
We had to stop by our local “motivation office” for some liquid refreshments.
And, speaking of remodeling…
Out of the loop for the last few days, for a good reason that will be posted shortly. Until then…
looks like kool aid, but it's not
it's CD-3, some nasty chemistry that looks like this when you add it to your developer. Had to doctor up some of our chemistry post Super Bowl
went to World Cafe Live to see Julia Nunes again!
you can barely tell, but we were only 20 feet from the stage. Had a wonderful dinner while watching a great show.
got to meet her again after the show and have our new cds signed
and, we stole the setlist off the stage, and had her sign that as well!
another day in the cold depths of our vaults
was in the area, so I stopped by Iron Hill to see what was going on for lunch
I found this!
we needed to harvest a ton of things from our garden because of our week off in Cape May
this is just the tomatoes and a cantalope. and seriously, not even all the tomatoes. mostly the ones that were really ripe or had already fallen on the ground after I re-staked them up.
some of our pepper crop
I wish we grew this, too, but this is mostly suburban organics. one day perhaps I'll be in some place warm enough to grow my own fruits./ I guess I could grow apples and peaches and blueberries...but I only have so much backyard right now
Poe chilling on the old kick drum I turned into a flower pot
Due to certain "cutbacks," my job took all the free coffee stations out. This is the temporary station that one of my coworkers set up to replace them. tips accepted.
over the weekend was National Home Brew Day. Hung out at Iron Hill and drank...a lot. Didn't take too many pictures.
This is the eight keg system that the president of Barley Legal Homebrewers set up. Had some of his classic "thong remover." It did not cause me to take my pants off, luckily.
first trip to Pope's Gardens to grab some plants and start the veggie garden.
for the planting session we brewed some sun brewed tea.
this is the garden before, post a generous dose of compost from the last year.
the garden after picture. not really that much to see yet. stay tuned.
I guess most people take a lot of pictures of their kids doing stupid stuff and attending “fun” activities. I take pictures of my cats doing stupid things and my garden just kinda sitting there (not even having fun). But, we don’t have kids and I spend most of my time in my garden with my cats. I think we both like it that way just fine right now.
On The Verge of Tears 