Hola mi Gente,
wow, over 2 weeks in one stationary place, simultaneously the most peaceful and most stressful experience i've ever had, if you can imagine this. anyone who comes down here (remote Mexico) with as much gear as i have is destined to become a marked man, and while i've kept things ultra-incognito, other than throwing last week's party (!)... and even then, hardly anyone saw inside the RV... regardless, parking in extremely remote (vulnerable locations is never the best idea with an RV... despite how tranquilo it is here... (and with all this GEAR!): i mean, i had JUST gotten used to the fact that i pretty much own this little patch of beach... never more than a few passerby's by day... lulled to sleep every night by the sound of the waves, woken up by jungle birds, the perfect shade of the canopy keeping the temperature as perfect as you could request from up above... gentle ocean breeze... So sunday afternoon... writing, and a truck ambles down the path... i step outside my door and see 2 police officers, different uniforms, and one with his machine gun drawn (!)... telling me that i'm parked on property "privado". "Entiendo, pero..." I try to explain that i had spoken with some local people who said it should not be any problem for me to camp here, pero si necesito a salir ahora (but if i need to leave NOW... ((was i going to raise any issue with a machine gun wielding welcome wagon?))? I explain that i had chosen this place because it was so quiet and perfect for working, and that i was a writer, and that i had made arrangements with the local tow-truck driver to help me get out, when it was time to go... and if it was time to go NOW, then NO problema, i'll go find him right away... if they could understand, its just a bit expensive, so i figured i'd stay until someone requested that i leave. "Tienes una chica al dentro?" (You have a girl inside? said the machine-gun cop, spitting, smiling and acting the total machismo. "No hoy!" (Not today, i smile back and say)... "trabajando..." (working...). They ask a few more questions, and i'm waiting to see if they're going to try to weasel a bribe or something... wishing my fridge was working so i could offer them a cold beer... pretty much the only reason i keep beer on hand in Mexico. But the mood is already lightening, and the older officer says "No problema", shakes my hand and says i can stay. I'm pretty much shocked, first by the gun so flagrantly in my face, then by the sanction to stay... on private property. They get back in their pick-up and hustle off. Now i'm left even more stunned. What brought them all the way out here? Did they have mafioso-bandito friends, and now they're cluing them in? I couldn't concentrate on work, sat pondering my security for a while, and crashed early. In the morning i was thanking God i was left undisturbed during the night, weighing my odds constantly. Monday I awoke to the nicest weather yet (a real 9.9 day, as opposed to the usual 8.5 to 9.5)... solar was kicking... I saw only a couple people from a distance, didn't speak to a soul... incredibly productive day. Captured 5 tapes worth of video to the hard drives and started putting together the rough outline for DVD #1... the rough storyboard to the first release... (i'll release chapter 4 of 6 first... then 5, 6, then back-track to 1, 2 and 3): "Revelations", the first chapter to be assembled and produced from 5 years of audio/video archives, which coincides (same title and theme) with this next Eklektro Breakbeat of the Week, Eklektro Mexico episode number 4... after "Impetus", "Exodus", "Excelsious"... "Revelations" is next in line... and thematically right on cue, as true-to-life revelations have unveiled themselves indeed these past few tropical weeks! I expect i can have the first disk's master finished within 2-3 weeks (fed-exed and duped perhaps 4-6 weeks?) and by the time i finish Breakbeat, umm... "of the Week" number 5 and 6: "Definition" and "Exhibition", it'll be time to head back to the states... its gonna be HOT here in a month! but bottom line, and the biggest weight off my head, here in DVD desperado-land: i WILL indeed finish a DVD before leaving this country... perhaps even have "Definition" (disk #2)'s master in hand by border-crossing time) and best of all, i've discovered that if my formula pans out, i should have enough material for 6 DVD's, released one at a time over the next 6 (or 12) months. and as to actually PRODUCING the disks, as this new experimental format affords, something somewhat interactive... I began reading the manual for DVD Studio Pro 2 software, and i'm incredibly excited. With a bit of study, this program added to my arsenal, as well as some new video styles i've worked on in the past 3 episodes, my relatively new 3-chip camera and much-expanded array of firewire 800 hard drives, i'm gonna be able to churn out the content. It seems that becoming a DVD "recording artist" is indeed my destiny, and yes, there's a method to the madness (the nomadic theme... 5 years of living it, 5 years of writing, Breakbeat of the Week as practice, and promo... and all along the DEFINING, the part that has taken all the TIME)... and it just took sitting STILL in one place for a little while, in the peace and quiet, in order to see the light: instead of being overwhelmed by the prospect of putting out that one end-all disk... rather: Chapters, multiple releases: definitely reflecting cycles in my nomadic life. And so its soon time to make an Exodus out of my beloved perch down here... despite the tow-truck fee (i'm gonna see if i can get a 2 for 1 deal... so i can come back next week). One thing i've learned over the years, its best to move around. And i haven't even seen Puerto Vallarta, and that's the only place to use the bank machine, and i'm down to $5 worth of pesos... am getting a bit tired of the water rationing (only bathing in the ocean the past 2 weeks... soap is hard to control with such big waves! ... and washing dishes with seawater) and i want to see if i can fix my fridge, aluminum-weld my door, change the oil, and get back onto some cheap internet... see just a little bit more of the region... and then there's Semana Santa: gotta find a refuge. Mexican families take to the beach in partying droves for the gran fiesta of Easter Week, often Beverly Hillbilly's style, always loudly(!)... so i gotta find a new place to park me, or be prepared to join quite a different party... for an entire week!
Over and out,
e>k>G
wow, over 2 weeks in one stationary place, simultaneously the most peaceful and most stressful experience i've ever had, if you can imagine this. anyone who comes down here (remote Mexico) with as much gear as i have is destined to become a marked man, and while i've kept things ultra-incognito, other than throwing last week's party (!)... and even then, hardly anyone saw inside the RV... regardless, parking in extremely remote (vulnerable locations is never the best idea with an RV... despite how tranquilo it is here... (and with all this GEAR!): i mean, i had JUST gotten used to the fact that i pretty much own this little patch of beach... never more than a few passerby's by day... lulled to sleep every night by the sound of the waves, woken up by jungle birds, the perfect shade of the canopy keeping the temperature as perfect as you could request from up above... gentle ocean breeze... So sunday afternoon... writing, and a truck ambles down the path... i step outside my door and see 2 police officers, different uniforms, and one with his machine gun drawn (!)... telling me that i'm parked on property "privado". "Entiendo, pero..." I try to explain that i had spoken with some local people who said it should not be any problem for me to camp here, pero si necesito a salir ahora (but if i need to leave NOW... ((was i going to raise any issue with a machine gun wielding welcome wagon?))? I explain that i had chosen this place because it was so quiet and perfect for working, and that i was a writer, and that i had made arrangements with the local tow-truck driver to help me get out, when it was time to go... and if it was time to go NOW, then NO problema, i'll go find him right away... if they could understand, its just a bit expensive, so i figured i'd stay until someone requested that i leave. "Tienes una chica al dentro?" (You have a girl inside? said the machine-gun cop, spitting, smiling and acting the total machismo. "No hoy!" (Not today, i smile back and say)... "trabajando..." (working...). They ask a few more questions, and i'm waiting to see if they're going to try to weasel a bribe or something... wishing my fridge was working so i could offer them a cold beer... pretty much the only reason i keep beer on hand in Mexico. But the mood is already lightening, and the older officer says "No problema", shakes my hand and says i can stay. I'm pretty much shocked, first by the gun so flagrantly in my face, then by the sanction to stay... on private property. They get back in their pick-up and hustle off. Now i'm left even more stunned. What brought them all the way out here? Did they have mafioso-bandito friends, and now they're cluing them in? I couldn't concentrate on work, sat pondering my security for a while, and crashed early. In the morning i was thanking God i was left undisturbed during the night, weighing my odds constantly. Monday I awoke to the nicest weather yet (a real 9.9 day, as opposed to the usual 8.5 to 9.5)... solar was kicking... I saw only a couple people from a distance, didn't speak to a soul... incredibly productive day. Captured 5 tapes worth of video to the hard drives and started putting together the rough outline for DVD #1... the rough storyboard to the first release... (i'll release chapter 4 of 6 first... then 5, 6, then back-track to 1, 2 and 3): "Revelations", the first chapter to be assembled and produced from 5 years of audio/video archives, which coincides (same title and theme) with this next Eklektro Breakbeat of the Week, Eklektro Mexico episode number 4... after "Impetus", "Exodus", "Excelsious"... "Revelations" is next in line... and thematically right on cue, as true-to-life revelations have unveiled themselves indeed these past few tropical weeks! I expect i can have the first disk's master finished within 2-3 weeks (fed-exed and duped perhaps 4-6 weeks?) and by the time i finish Breakbeat, umm... "of the Week" number 5 and 6: "Definition" and "Exhibition", it'll be time to head back to the states... its gonna be HOT here in a month! but bottom line, and the biggest weight off my head, here in DVD desperado-land: i WILL indeed finish a DVD before leaving this country... perhaps even have "Definition" (disk #2)'s master in hand by border-crossing time) and best of all, i've discovered that if my formula pans out, i should have enough material for 6 DVD's, released one at a time over the next 6 (or 12) months. and as to actually PRODUCING the disks, as this new experimental format affords, something somewhat interactive... I began reading the manual for DVD Studio Pro 2 software, and i'm incredibly excited. With a bit of study, this program added to my arsenal, as well as some new video styles i've worked on in the past 3 episodes, my relatively new 3-chip camera and much-expanded array of firewire 800 hard drives, i'm gonna be able to churn out the content. It seems that becoming a DVD "recording artist" is indeed my destiny, and yes, there's a method to the madness (the nomadic theme... 5 years of living it, 5 years of writing, Breakbeat of the Week as practice, and promo... and all along the DEFINING, the part that has taken all the TIME)... and it just took sitting STILL in one place for a little while, in the peace and quiet, in order to see the light: instead of being overwhelmed by the prospect of putting out that one end-all disk... rather: Chapters, multiple releases: definitely reflecting cycles in my nomadic life. And so its soon time to make an Exodus out of my beloved perch down here... despite the tow-truck fee (i'm gonna see if i can get a 2 for 1 deal... so i can come back next week). One thing i've learned over the years, its best to move around. And i haven't even seen Puerto Vallarta, and that's the only place to use the bank machine, and i'm down to $5 worth of pesos... am getting a bit tired of the water rationing (only bathing in the ocean the past 2 weeks... soap is hard to control with such big waves! ... and washing dishes with seawater) and i want to see if i can fix my fridge, aluminum-weld my door, change the oil, and get back onto some cheap internet... see just a little bit more of the region... and then there's Semana Santa: gotta find a refuge. Mexican families take to the beach in partying droves for the gran fiesta of Easter Week, often Beverly Hillbilly's style, always loudly(!)... so i gotta find a new place to park me, or be prepared to join quite a different party... for an entire week!
Over and out,
e>k>G
posted by Eklektro at 2:52 PM
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