Drinking the Tigris: Impeach Cheney :: 06.30.08
Rep Wexler put this out six months ago. Looks like its getting a second wave of attention: Go Wexler!
www.wexlerwantshearings.com
Drinking the Tigris: Supreme Court Slap Down! :: 06.13.08
"The laws and Constitution are designed to survive, and remain in force, in extraordinary times."
Yes! Yes! Yes! That's my America! I hope this is just the beginning. Unravel baby! If Bush is MacBeth, then does this mean the forest has begun to move?!
Pardon me for making light of this, but the epic battle that our society is locked in, may be best summed up in this Chuck Norris clip: we are Chuck, the Bear represents the stupid people that have been mauling the Constitution for the last 7 years.
Speaking of mauling, how bout that dissolve on the close ups?! You can get kicked out of film school for stuff like that.
Drinking the Tigris: Video Serendipity :: 06.12.08
I received two different Youtube links today from friends who don't know one another. They are strangely, shockingly connected:
The first one is painful reminder of our pathetic leadership and the mismanagement of our stupid war:
The second video is exactly the kind mercenary behavior we should be prosecuting these contractors for. We don't have a legal framework to address these types of crimes, but we call ourselves a nation of laws?
Drinking the Tigris: Full Access??? :: 06. 2.08
Baghdad Airport, Lee at Night
Fortress Baghdad, T wall at Night
I've been interested in taking pictures outside our compound for a while but assumed because of the security environment it would be impossible. A couple weeks ago I talked with an Air Force officer, and fifteen minutes later I had a letter that gave me authorization to take pictures of anything and everything excluding two sensitive areas. I couldn't believe it. The sergeant that issued the letter talked about how they want transparency and people back in the States to know what's happening here. Given the new obsession with security back in the U.S. and all the stories about people being busted for taking pictures of buildings and train stations, I think it might be more open here? What the hell is going on with us? These are a couple shots from a test roll. Hope to crank out some daytime stuff soon, pictures I could never take in the States.
Drinking the Tigris: Bush League :: 05.27.08
Last week, I got to go over to the (scary) place where the Iraqis train and fire a full auto AK47. It was fun and broke the monotony. Nobody should ever be allowed to own one of these things, its ridiculous that there's an argument about it in the U.S. Otherwise my day to day life is so monotonous that I can't remember anything about it.
My personnel life is also pretty lame, but at least I have my film to keep me going. Every now and then I hit a patch in the footage that reminds me why I love it so much and why its become the focus of my existence.
Bizarre extremes?
Bush League: 14 sec Malawi Moment of Zen :: 05.22.08
Bush League: Zolokere Choir :: 05. 6.08
I put this video up ten months ago and its been averaging around a thousand hits per month. It passed 10 thousand today. A nice landmark! It’s a no brainer considering how good the music is, but even so, the response is way beyond my expectations.
I'm glad to say that more will come out of this. No details for a while, but I've been talking with Malawi Jake about doing some field recordings that focus on this music. He's looking for a fitting project for his post-Peace Corps return to Malawi and it looks like it's going to happen this autumn.
I was shooting a soccer practice for Bush League when I heard the choir start. I recorded five or six more songs, so I'll have to post a couple more for you soon.
Drinking the Tigris: Old Glory :: 05. 1.08
I was perusing flickr the other day and came across my buddy JR's latest photos. This one caught me off guard. From his notes:
"This is the massive face of the BP Hydrogen Refinery in Long Beach. It faces the 405 freeway; several thousand people see it every day on their way to and from work. It's a pretty provocative image made more so with each passing day. While I was shooting the plant, well within my rights, a security guard zipped up in his company truck and demanded I stop taking photos. He asked me to return to my car where I would meet him. By blowing through a red light, he beat me back to my car, which he had blocked in with his truck (it was the only car in a vacant lot on a Sunday afternoon). He wouldn't allow me to leave until I had given him my name, phone number, street address, place of business, and "reason" for being there. He claimed that "since 9/11, you can't shoot anything you want," and that I would need to check with the local police in order to find out what I was allowed to shoot. Unfortunately, this kind of misinformation about photographers' rights in the post 9/11 America is becoming more and more common. I eventually gave up trying to explain my rights as he seemed more intent on filling out his paperwork and keeping his job. It was a sad experience - his written english was very poor, and I ended up having to write the report for him. It's a hollow feeling to be forced to help someone take away your liberties; America in microcosm."
Bush League: The Warm Heart, Mr. Muntale ::
Receiving a hand written letter from a friend in Malawi is a huge treat. From Mr. Muntale, a shop keeper and local chief in the Hewe valley:
"Dear Cy Kuckenbaker
First and foremost, I would like to know your life. How are you treated there?
With me here and the family, I am doing fine.
Sir, I have thought it wise to write you a letter because since you left Malawi, no communications with Mkwinda (that's him). You have been here in Malawi, chatted with us, to me that was a very good thing.
I know traveling is money. For you to come to your friend Jake. It means you really love one another.
The next thing is that you have been with us here (in his shop), so I should apologize if in any way myself or other people have done anything bad to you.
Nothing more to prolong. May God allow us to communicate once more in letters or physically.
Your Loving Brother"
How can you not love a guy that writes like that?!
Drinking the TIgris: Red Bandana :: 04.27.08
These are some amazing photos of a Mi-24 HIND my buddy James took out at one of the outposts. A Polish crew is running this thing. I'm pretty sure this is the same helicopter Rambo took out with a sling shot and a red bandana. From James:
"Max speed is over 200 mph, which is pretty phenomenal. The pilot is really
crammed in there -- he can really only get out by opening his canopy,
although there's a kind of crawl space behind him which he could use if
he were a twelve-year-old child. The co-pilot is really just trapped
down on the nose by himself in his bubble. The crew says they are being
sent to Afghanistan, possibly."
Men in Grey Suits :: 04.25.08
Disturbing to see this just before bed. A white shark killed a guy off San Diego. My closest friend is a lifeguard Sergeant just about a mile North of this beach. Was hoping to see him in the background at the press conference.
We used to take the Junior lifeguards up to La Jolla and swim them out a quarter mile. Didn't like doing that swim. Looking down into the green knowing the canyon was dropping out from underneath us for hundreds of feet and all these little kids splashing and kicking. Butt clencher, though I never really thought a big one could be out there.
Hans, paddle your big boards for a while and keep you feet up. Seriously.
Bush League: Ethnographic Recordings ::
Today I listened to a cool piece about an ethnographer who recorded all kinds of American folk songs on the New Yorker website (http://www.newyorker.com/online/2008/04/28/080428on_audio_bilger/?xrail). Got me thinking about the music for Bush League. One of the things I'm trying to do, is use a hundred percent Malawian music for the score. I tried to collect as much as I could while I was there, and will probably, hopefully, go back for more. This is a recording of the players themselves singing one of their songs. Listen to that chorus! They played percussion with an empty water jug and a steel bowl full of popcorn seeds. These guys are the coolest. We recorded it in the middle of the night, so don't look for a picture. Can't wait to get back there.
Bush League: Honesty the Dog :: 04.23.08
Getting some work done on Bush League this week. Here's a shot of Honesty the Malawian village dog going toe to toe with a baby goat. Cracks me up cause Edward, one of the soccer players, is laughing so hard.
Drinking the TIgris: Sand Storm :: 04.17.08
A sandstorm came up early this morning and ruined the day. I could smell dust in the air when I woke. Bad. Got so much dust in my room I had to change the sheets on my bed. Still going, just hope it clears for tomorrow.
This is tough land. The people who've lived here over the millennia are tough. Summer is an oven and winter is cold. It was hitting the low thirties every night for a couple weeks in January and it even snowed once. They said it was the first time in 80 years it snowed in Baghdad. I guess the locals don't have a word for snow, so they were calling it frozen rain or something to that effect.
When it rains, the mud is different from anything I've ever seen. Everybody talks about it like its magic. Its as thick as potters clay, when you walk through it, it builds up and collects anything you step on, making you taller as you go. Even if it hasn't rained for months, the ground doesn't absorb the water. These are my shoes after a twenty yard walk to the laundry room a full day after the rain stopped.
There are days when this is, without a doubt, the ugliest place I've ever been. I don't mean Iraq, I mean the little perimeter I'm stuck in. I have no idea what the rest of the country is like. But now and then, the sky gives us something nice. Not that the ugliness is so bad. Its so ugly, its interesting. I've been trying to capture it with a photo, but I'm not good enough. Beauty is way easier a subject.
The water here fascinates me. This is a lake just north west of Baghdad. Not sure what its called or if its manmade or not. The desert is peaceful from the air. Its vast and empty, so I can only imagine what its like to pass through it on foot, then encounter one of these bodies of water. The contrast.
And of coarse there are the rivers. This is the Euphrates. I love seeing it for some reason. The Tigress I've never seen, but I drink it everyday. I think the water starts in the mountains in Southern Turkey, but it tastes like a plastic bottle. If it wasn't for the Euphrates, the British would have never been interested in this region. They wanted it, because it gave them their best and fastest access to India, which was their cash cow back when. They sent their messages to and from India via the river. Kind of a Victorian pony express. As WWI ruptured, the regions oil came into play. The Brits started drawing odd national borders with rulers and making up nation states to their advantage, or so they thought. Almost a hundred years later and we're in up to our necks in the consequences of bad foreign policy, from then and now.
Its already getting hot. Yesterday was way over a hundred. My thermometer said over 105, but I can't believe it. My body has never been so acclimated to heat before. 105 is nothing.
New Holga Shots :: 04. 4.08
Holgas are the Russian tractor of the photography world. Its a 15 dollar plastic camera with a plastic lens that takes medium format film. They leak light, have no adjustments for aperture, focus or shutter speed and the viewfinder is completely inaccurate. But they can take some great pictures. After shooting nothing but digitals for years now, its fun to shoot real film and wait for the results. The shot in the Charles De Gaulle airport is hands down the most popular picture I've ever taken. It's getting me more love and affection on flickr than I've ever gotten. Almost didn't take it cause I was afraid of airport security.
Paris Airport
New Vilnius
Field in Kupiskis
Kupiskis Church
The Orphans: Blowing Up :: 03.22.08
My boy Ervinas who starred in my thesis film 'The Orphans' has reinvented himself. When I met him he was a retired assistant director, now he is DJ Deutschland. He's the guy in the back on the turn tables with the sideburns. Let this be a warning to any actors that work with me, this is what your future will hold. Zebra pants peebles, my jaw be dropped. As my friend Maria likes to say: discuss.
Bush League: TED notes :: 03. 1.08
Below is a presentation from this years TED conference. This is a Ugandan journalist talking about the consequences of foreign aid in Africa. Most interesting to me is his argument that our whole framework of media coverage for Africa is wrong. Americans and Europeans seem to always frame Africa in a couple basic ways. It's either the Garden of Eden full of exotic animals that we feel entitled to protect or its the Heart of Darkness full of war, disease and petulance (pestilence too). Both ways, it works as a counter point to an old notion of European civility. Much as I love the old stories and books, its time to move on. I look back at The Troubles in Zolokere and I was definitely working in that old mode. Bush League will be different, I promise to bring something new!
Drinking the Tigris: Jon Taplin's Blog :: 02.24.08
I started reading Jon Taplin's blog about a month ago and have been impressed by his analysis of a half dozen important subjects. I left a comment on his blog the other day, was excited to see this response:
http://jtaplin.wordpress.com/2008/02/22/note-from-baghdad/
Bush League: Words on Reggae Fitzgerald :: 02.14.08
Man I love Fitz. I've been sending him a few bucks now and then to work on his third record. He names all of his records Kadandulu. He told me it's the name of a special bird that cries if its nest is destroyed. The last money I sent, he took half and bought a mountain bike. Makes me smile so much cause he was definitely sneaking, but I don't mind at all. Glad to help the guy, and glad he's not buying beer with the money.
I met him in Mzuzu, Malawi in 2004. He was walking around selling his cassettes out of a box. He had dreads back then and a knit Rasta cap. I bought a couple of tapes, but to be honest, never listened to them because I didn't have a cassette player. When I was back in Malawi last year, he caught me on the street and started hitting me up for a trip to America cause he thought he could do better there with his music. After that, I was dodging him for a little while cause I was scared of his full court press for a round trip ticket, then I don't know what happened, a few weeks later it hit me that I could help the guy out somehow. He wanted to promote his music and I had all my camera stuff, so we started planning for a video.
We needed to pick a song, so we walked down to a bar that had a tape player and put his tape in. His music started, and it rocked my brain. I didn't know his songs were that good till then. Edson, a local who's always around and can be seen wearing a yellow shirt in the video, started dancing. I was kind of impressed, but didn't know if it was really good, or maybe I was just wanting it to be good and liking the moment.
In the video, the room he wakes up in, is actually his sisters room. The little boy is dancing on his front porch. The big group of kids surrounding him, that's at a little school up the street. The bicycles are bicycle taxis. I paid them three or four bucks to peddle us around and I'm sitting backwards shooting off the back of one. The crowd in the street, those are the neighbors who were around and wanted to jump in. The night stuff indoors, that's all shot across the street from his house at a lodge/hotel. Some drunk guys made that difficult. The gold boom box I rented for ten bucks. The whole thing cost about 25 dollars to make, which is important cause film/video work is far too often about money. This is folk art to me. Both the music and the video. It's about the common person. Deep inside, this is really the filmmaker I want to be. People always say things like, "Oh, you could be the next Spielberg", That's who everybody thinks of when you say filmmaker, and I like Spielberg, but I want to be like Mark Twain or Woody Guthrie. I think about Hemingway's adventures all the time, and Steinbeck's endings. I also think about Emily Dickenson, Bob Dylan and Leonard Cohen a lot, but mainly I just think about being free. Free from the obsession that it's no good if it doesn't make money. That's is lame if 12 to 15 year old boys don't go to see it twice. That's is lame if agents don't call you when you're done.
It's been a long day; I'm tired and rambling.
I'm now a full blown fan of Fitz's music. He has another song called 'Penya' that I listen to all the time when I drive over here in Baghdad. I don't know what it means, but I yell along with it, "Peeeennnnyaa aaa aaa!" Damn, it makes me feel good!
Today I received this new email from Fitz:
"cy how are you, about me am just so fine.I want to tell u that the ulbum is finished.now i need to put in CDs for promotion ,and journey to radio stations Blantyre and lilongwe .Pliz help me anything little . Yewo tisanganenge. Fitz."
Congratulations to you Fitz. I know its not easy to make a record in Malawi.
I'm excited to hear the new songs, I hope some of them will find a place in the film. I'll send some dough his way, if you'll send some love for the guy. So, one more time, here's the video. Take a break, sit back and let it in cause Malawi is good for you! From my people to my people, your friend Fitzgerald Simfukwe!!!
Dis one hearrre!
Kadandulu, Fitzgerald Simfukwe -
Drinking the Tigris: Obama's Time Cover :: 02. 8.08
The newest light stencil. The TIME cover needed a tweak. I've got to give this guy my support, he's given me a much needed shot of inspiration. Whoever wins, I will be happy to close this era. It's been a dark age.
June 2008
May 2008
April 2008
March 2008
February 2008
January 2008
December 2007
November 2007
October 2007
September 2007
August 2007
July 2007
June 2007
May 2007
April 2007
March 2007
February 2007
January 2007
December 2006
November 2006
July 2005
June 2005
April 2005
March 2005
January 2005
December 2004
November 2004
October 2004
August 2004
July 2004
June 2004
May 2004
April 2004
Afrigadget
Alder Films
Alpha Diaries
Andrew Miksys Photography
Ape Entertainment
Ben Ferencz
Bruno Films
Cal Arts
Chiperoni.org
Docs in Progress
Doculink
The Documentary Blog
IDA
Jake Wilson
Librivox
Monochrome
Painted Land
A Silent Monsoon
Stephen Hawkins
Trona
US Peace Corps
Wood Movie
