this lossy codec

Ok, things are getting weird. Actually, more likely they have always been weird and the weirdness is just becoming too common to ignore. Last week it rained tadpoles in Japan over course of several days. Being the fortean that I am, I love this stuff. Check out links here (pics too), here & here.

The common explanation is water spouts sucking up the poor creations and delivering them wherever the wind sets them down. It seems to me probable that this is sometimes the case. Still, Fort was inspired to write books that flaunted damned data in the face of the scientific establishment. It is easy and comforting to accept the most obvious solution. But (if you read the articles) it appears even the scientific authorities in the area are unwilling to accept the water spout explanation. Well then, what other explanations are there? A bunch of birds dropped them? Should we accept Fort’s theory of a super-sea hovering in the sky above our terrestrial waters? What about teleportation? Fort did coin the word in an attempt to theorize how these strange rains could be a form of migration! But even he himself did not believe such silliness. Still, what the hell is going on here?

If you need further proof(?) that there is more to the story than unseen water spouts & vomiting birds then check out this story about a place in Honduras that has been having rains of fish annually for over 100 years. As the story of the Father Subirana miracle goes, while visiting Honduras the Spanish Catholic missionary prayed for a miracle to feed all the poor people he had experienced there. The Rain of Fish (or Lluvia de Peces) has occurred ever since. Now, I’d be interested to hear anyone’s explanation for that! Sounds like an excuse for a trip to Honduras to me. If you want to dig a little deeper into the Honduran mystery check out this article. It’s auto-translated using babelfish so you may have to read between the lines to catch the meaning.

For a list of other oddities not normally associated with ‘things falling from the sky’ check out this link.

Apparently, someone has finally (after hundreds or thousands of years of mysterious rains..come on!!!) named these freak showers, “fafrotskies.” Figure that out yourself.

Yesterday was busy so no time to blog (this is from my phone remember). Today, required waking up at 4am so I could leave at 5 and drive 1.5 hr to Zia Pueblo. It was cold (and dark) then but by now (9:20) the sun is beating down on us and the red earth. Another beautiful, if awkward) location.
Unfortunately, the hiway runs right next where we are shooting. It never ceases to amaze me peoples ability to disregard acoustic information while remaing singularly focused on the visual field. Oh well, “it’s going to be dubbed anyway.”

The pictures show the view up to the shot and then the view back down the path. The actor playing the Medicine Man is Raoul Trujillo who played Zero Wolf, the bad guy in Apocalypto.

Btw. Because of the cramped space up there, Eddie is booming with the mixer over his shoulder. Hence, I have time to relax in a teepee down below and blog away. The day is young…

By midday I am back out waving a boom pole around, dodging 3 cameras and a camera boom while trying not to cast a shadow on set. It’s a neat scene, with tan skinned locals playing the Apaches. In between shots they joke in English slang and talk on cell phones. It’s a funny juxtaposition with their period 1880s garb.

After chapping away under the New Mexico sun all day Maxamilio (one of the Italians), the DP, spoke with eddie and I about how he appreciated our work and said he would always do what he could to help out (in a shot). Specifically, he mentioned putting up a flag to block a light from hitting the wall behind the person in frame so that I wouldn’t cast a shadow behind them. Very cool. I wasn’t sure if he did it on purpose or if it was a happy accident. Apparently, he prefers to use a very subtle form of communication with the boom. He also told me he sometimes makes a little “click,click” sound with his mouth to alert the boom to being in frame. “it’s the same sound I use to control my dogs,” I told him. Funny. I guess we’ll give it a shot.

Here is a pic from my hotel bathroom featuring one of my three telephones. This is the only one that is red. I guess it is some kind of emergency line that either goes to the front desk or… a plumber(?). It has my room number printed on it so maybe it could be to call one of the other phones in the room (??). I don’t know. Still, I should probably create a new tag for this post (and the one of the paper towel dispenser in the cactus) called ‘bathroom oddities’.
If anyone has a clue to the purpose of the ‘bat(h) phone’ please lmk.

For the past few days we gave been filming on To’hajellii (sp?) reservation, about 45 minutes west of Albuquerque no cell reception for anybody. Really changes the scene. Any down time is spent scurrying for shade (or snapping photos). Really beatiful location. Most of the shooting so far has been way out on a dirt road amongst some stunning vistas. More pics to follow.
Today is Saturday and I’m working and it is HOT. At least a hundred degrees. Sun screen is essential. Don’t think I am that burned yet. Been drinking water pretty much continuously today (yesterday too). Tomorrow I’m off (ahhh) and then we begin a week of night shoots out here. That may be rough. At least it won’t be hot.

Around noon we made it down the road to Madrid for the annual Independence Day parade. It lasted all of about 15 minites with about as Manu vehicles (maybe less). In the picture you see a ‘people powered’ truck being pushed down the road (wonder if they just forgot to get gas? – no gas stations in madrid) followed by the Easter Bunny on a bicycle. Candy was thrown and water was sprayed for he fire truck hose. As this is New Mexico the water was more appreciated by everyone.

overheard in Madrid, nm: “not so much brain damage as brain change…

Sometime around 4am I wandered around the prison and snapped this photo of a wraith like entity sneaking out of the prison. Just so happens we were wrapping at the same time. That’s a 17 hour day…uh…at least that’s what someone told me. I can’t really count or add at this point. Anyway, tomorrow is a new day.

Today we moved inside the panoptic fortress that once was the New Mexico State Penn. This place (not surprisingly) has an odd air about it. There was a massive riot here back in the 80s. Pretty heavy duty stuff. There are all kinds of gruesome stories of what happened here during that riot. Some 33 were killed, some dismembered, some incinerated. Makes even filmmaking seem benign.
Today it seems we may get off a little early (only a 12 hr day) and instead face some ridiculously long day tomorrow. Oh well. Perhaps I’ll get some time to go explore cell block 4, the most potentially haunted place here.

This past week Daniél and I took a road trip down around New Mexico. We made it down to Truth or Consequences and found out the ‘consequences’ are that they will turn you into meatballs (which apparently a staple food item). We also found a nice motel (thanks iPhone) – the Bel Air – A Retro 50′s Motel with 21st Century Amenities. Cable and clean sheets for under $60.

The pinnacle of the trip came the next day as we found ourselves along Highway 180 near the border of Arizona. We had been looking for a place to hike and it was getting late in the day. We were in the middle of the Gila National Forest but there tweren’t any trees to speak of. It was looking to be HOT and dusty hike (ugh). So when we came across a park visitors center we were ready for some guidance. Turns out that just a few miles more down the road is The Catwalk National Recreation Trail. I knew from the pictures it was the right place for us. And boy was it cool.
Took quite a few pictures and did some recording to. Both coming soon.