Jewel in the Palace

I have gotten so hooked on a wonderful Korean soap opera, Dae Jang Geum. It, regrettably, is coming to a close. We are at Episode 51 of 54 episodes. I don't know how I came to know about it, except that maybe one night I was channel surfing and came upon it.

Dae Jang Geum, also known as “Jewel in the Palace”, was the most popular TV show all over Asia when it premiered in 2004 - and that's a lot of people. It is set in 14th century Korea and has all the elements of a great story: love and romance (of a chaste variety), treachery and intrigue (the Lady Macbeth-like character is always trying to poison her enemies, and sometimes succeeds), beautiful Palace scenery and court dress. But most of all, it extols classic human virtues of remaining true to your principles, being the best you can be both professionally and personally, assisting all those around you, staying modest, sacrificing personal happiness for the greater good, but finally, standing up for yourself and finding personal happiness.

Of course, our interest is also in the beautiful cinematography. Some scenes are sweeping epics, others are warm and intimate portraits of daily life. It is all the more compelling because it is based on an actual woman who started from humble beginnings, rose through the ranks to head the royal kitchens, and then through one plot twist or another, started as a servant again and became the royal household's personal physician at a time when only men could hold such a position.

With just 3 episodes left, the romantic in me hopes that the man (Sir Min) who has supported, nurturing, cherished and loved our heroine for years will be rewarded by her hand in marriage. That would be a satisfying ending for me and for Dae Jang Geum.

Enduring Marriage

We filmed a wonderful weddng this weekend at the Ritz Carlton in Half Moon Bay. It is one of the most beautiful locations for a wedding in the Bay Area and every member of the staff set the standard for excellent service. The weather was absolutely perfect for our beautiful bride and adoring groom. They were surrounded by such warm families and friends. And, they incorporaed some fun activites. During the recessional, guests were invited to write their wishes for the happy couple on paper airplacnes and launch them in the direction of our bride and groom as they joyfully left the ceremony. Later on, everyone was invited to make s'mores out at the barbeque pit.

In addition to covering the wedding day, they asked us to do something a little different. We are preparing a short piece 'Enduring Marriage'. Our lovely couple wanted to hear how their close friends and family keep their marriages fresh, alive, ever-changing, and how they manage to weather the rough spots. We had our doubts about whether people would speak frankly enough about such intimate topics to be useful. Were we surprised! Our bride and groom knew their guests well. Everyone we spoke with was generous and articulate. They were funny, sincere, and genuine. Some had been married over 50 years. Others, for just 4 days. We learned so much, and it's already changed my thinking, and behavior in my own marriage.

This project had another impact. After reflecting on marriage and chatting with us, people were mindful of what marriage meant to them, and all the joys they had already shared. An atmosphere of a higher order of spirituality was created, of serenity, of gratitude, among all the guests. It was one of those times when everything seemed so perfect.

Without reviewing the footage, our general impressions were that a good marriage depends on consciously giving time and thought to the marriage and family; sacrificing and suppporting each other, doing small kindnesses for each other every day; letting go the little trifles; seeing the value of the differences between you; and being willing and able to change uncharitable thoughts to loving thoughts. Even the young flower girls, from observing their own parents' marriage, had some wise words to share.

We will condense the over 8 hours of conversations to a 20-minute piece which our lovely couple will present as a gift to their guests. We felt honored to be asked to work on this project, and felt blessed to come to know all those who freely shared with us.

We wish our wonderful couple a lovely honeymoon and a lifetime of contentment.

Gromit, Oh Gromit!

People ask us, where is your tortoise? When she is hibernating they wonder, what does she look like? Here she is. Isn't she a beauty? Such intelligence in those eyes.



Other questions people ask...

Q. Is she housebroken.
A. Yes.

Q. How does she get into the house?
A. Through the cat door. When she was younger, Chuck had to build a ramp so she could get over the sill of the cat door. Now she can navigate on her own.

Q. How big is she?
A. 3" tall, 4" wide and 5.5" long.

Q. How does she grow?
A. See those "plates"? They grow like tree rings.

Q. How old is she?
A. 10 years old. We got her after her predecessor, Cardinal Ralph de Bricassart died. He was over 30 years old and was over 20" long, big enough to slide open the doors and to shake our bed hard enough to make us think we were experiencing an earthquake. He was actually quite gentle and would nuzzle your bare toe, because it looked just like "mother" to him. Tortoises' respiratory systems are quite delicate and he succumbed to pneumonia. We actually acquired him when we bought our house. We had no idea we owned him until one day in the spring, he crawled out from under the deck. He was a Califonria desert tortoise, and it is now illegal to own one because they are on the endangered species list.

Q. Doesn't Gromit escape?
A. No, we have an enclosed yard. She can see the wonders of the greater world only if one of us carelesly leaves the front door open.

Q. Where does she hibernate in winter?
A. Next to the bathtub because the porcelain is cool.

Q. Where did she come from?
A. The Russian steppes.

Q. Who is she named after?
A. The cute animated dog in the Wallace and Gromit series.

Q. Is she a vegetarian?
A. Yes, because it's difficult for her to catch something that runs faster than she does.

Q. Does she make any noise?
A. Yes. She hisses like the air being let out of a tire when she's aggravated.

Q. Where does she hang out?
A. At the front door in the morning so she can warm up in the sun, crashing through the garden in the afternoon, and under the deck at night.

Extra! Extra!

Extra! Extra! Our latest press release is out. You can view it at...
www.emediawire.com/releases/2006/5/emw382902.htm.

The power of the web never ceases to amaze me. After 24 hours, our press release was picked up 465 times by media outlets, and at least 30 people were serious enough to print it or download the PDF file. And, no, it wasn't Mom who ran off 30 copies to have bragging rights with her friends.

As we anticipated, 75% of the hits came from Yahoo News and Google News. We also have a window into which search terms were most popular. Someone was looking for an event planner and I hope she found one in Jubilee Lau, one of our favorites who was liberally quoted in the press release.

I read an interesting article about the new rules of PR. You can reach clients directly through the web rather than having to go to the press which first filters information and then releases what they choose. This changes everything about how you write, optimize and distribute a press release. We're not in Kansas anymore, Dorothy.
www.davidmeermanscott.com/documents/New_Rules_of_PR.pdf

If you're wondering how to optimize your press release, here's some information.
How to Increase Traffic to Your Website Through Optimization
www.seo-pr.com/pdfs/guidetoincreasesitetraffic.pdf

Memoirs of a Wedding

We spoke with Sylvia and James tonight, our darling bride and groom who married on March 25 and just returned from their honeymoon in Bora Bora. We’re so excited!

They loved the Vignette and have played it on the 'BridePod' we sent them over 100 times within the first few days. They said they thought the movie trailer we produced was better than most movie trailers they see in the theaters because even if people don't know them, they will want to find out how the story ends. Here is their Vignette: www.savadelis.com/movies/memoirsofawedding.mov/

Life really must be like a movie…there are over 500 people on blogspot.com alone who have said their lives are like a movie. Hopefully, their movies are light comedies or romances, and not science fiction or horror flicks.

Life Is Sweet

Life Is Like a Movie will be a commentary of the people we meet, the places we go, and the things that happen to us that inspire us to think, "It doesn't get any better than this. My life is like a movie!"

Together with my darling husband Chuck, we own and operate a cinematography company. Every time we serve a great client or receive some recognition for our efforts, we're in a life-is-like-a-movie moment. These moments happen with moderate frequency since we film weddings, which are happy events.

We're excited because we just fedex'ed a new video iPod with a movie trailer to a fabulous couple in Boston, Sylvia and James, of their March 25 wedding. They should receive it today. We can hardly wait to hear their comments. Hopefully, life will be like a movie to them in a few hours.

Chuck and I are also so thrilled that Daily Candy mentioned us in their April 18 column. Who knew the power of the press? We had 10x more visitors to our website than usual and the phone was ringing all day. We had requests to film weddings as far away as Greece, and as near as an exclusive private estate in Napa. And all that from just a word from the fabulous Ashley McAdams, editor of the San Francisco Daily Candy. Thank you Ashley! And thanks for the other 364 columns you and your team write throughout the year. You always seem to find the 'next best thing'.