THE CNN SHOOT

THE FIRST 100 DAYS

Saturday morning, sitting at nairobi java house at the Galleria, writing another blog. can't believe it's been 100 days already since moving here oct 1, with 15 bags of everything i owned. all the adventure i had hoped for and the life change i was looking for has certainly exceeded all expectation. i took off not knowing the folks i was staying with and had never been to the house i was meant to stay in. into the unknown. but it all worked out exceptionally well, had a blast staying with chris and lindy and quickly plugged into their community. i was "all in" having used my one way ticket to get here, and the great journey was on. leaving many precious friends behind in LA, it was time to mix it up. let go of the groovy loft in "loftville" DTLA, say goodbye to the career in hollywood, and head into the great open wilds of africa. one of the best decisions i've ever made. i've come alive, become a "citizen of the world", have met many wonderful folks, had great travel exploits, and learned the value of "you get what you get and you don't get upset". 

i've been to ethiopia, all over kenya, and even joburg and cape town. none of that was planned oct 1. i also have worked for the last 8 days as the lead cameraman for a CNN shoot in kenya for their show "The Next Line" (thanks to the salim amin connection at A24 who i met in addis ababa). likewise i have shot 3 safari camps and seen amazing game! 6 nites in the Masai Mara and 4 nites up in Lewa...at dave brown's house no less! and i've plugged into a very cool community at the Karen Vineyard. it's been so much more than i ever imagined, and hopefully the work and travel antics will only continue. very cool things keep coming my way. a sure sign of a good decision. and the fun part is that through this blog i've been able to bring you all along with me (ah...the wonders of cyberspace!).

2012 holds much promise. getting my Slingshot Productions sorted here in nairobi, training local kenyans in shooting and cutting, working on an african comedy screenplay, getting my toyota 4x4 "bush compatible", getting the karen CC membership in order, and in general, feeling like a local and using my kiswahili more and more. in short, having a ball! and can't wait to see what comes along next! i'm present, in the moment, and alive. hopefully a vibrant part of the fabric!

HOUSING ISSUE

have a small housing glitch on the horizon. deb gets back feb 8 to take back "the shack" and my new digs "the stable" won't be avail to me til march 1st? so i've got a month in transit where i'm not sure i'll be at the moment. hmmm. something will pitch up i'm sure. just a titch unsettling at the moment. the shack has served it's purpose, but i don't imagine i'll miss it a great deal. the stable is bloody awesome and i cannot wait to dial it in. i think i'll be there for quite a long while. many pics of that place in the future for sure! but for the interim, it's watch and wait.

COMMENTS

i would love to know who's following the blog so if you don't mind just post your name at the bottom of this post. (you don't need to sign in to comment!). or just write COTW on facebook as a comment. then i'll know who's along for the ride! it's always fun to get your feedback. it's equally amazing and kinda creepy how facebook has become such a community for me to stay in touch with my peeps. being 10,000 miles from home, it's nice to get a holla! so give me a shout out and let me know you're with me on the journey!

okay, now for some pics! 

a colobus monkey at Trout Tree restaurant. they would swoop down from the tree,
jump on your table, grab a roll, then dart off. and they are big! we ate there twice
with CNN. recommend the beef kabobs!

trout tree grows trout. aquaculture. and beautiful.

it's built in a tree. the coolest tree house ever. and good food. we stopped here
on the way to the bee shoot, which we dubbed "beeville". 

our CNN table. 

hyrax ecu.

these hyrax are large tree dwelling shrews that screech at nite so loud it gives
you chicken skin. surprisingly fast. 

we shared a bunkhouse in beeville. elijah, abdul and me in this one. stalag seemed
to stick as a description. 

sound man abdul and yours truly. we opened two different boxed hives hanging
from trees. 10,000 bees? a little spooky having bees in your face, but like breathing
underwater, you adjust. 

the dining hall was with these cute huts. hutville. but no room for us, hence we got
stalagville.

deb, my bee cam operator from CNN NYC. she found the only spot where she could
get a blackberry signal. "who won the Globes????"

the dining hall. had a certain je ne sais quoi!

me and dr. muli. a zoology professor and bee expert. it took us 11 hours to get to
oldin nyiro, 4 hours past nanyuki on 4x4 roads! slow going and bumpy sana!

abdul is from southern sudan. has been doing sound mixing for nearly 40 years. an
old pro with a great face and an infectious laugh. someone i'd love you all to meet!

flying to kisumu. i've taken 1000 photos at airports and out of airplanes, but this
could be my favorite. kenyan airways. we barely made our 7am flight! here the morning
sun is lighting the underside of our wing as bank left.

use of negative space. or white space via clouds. either way, it's salama. peaceful.

you could write a book called "A World where the Pavement Ends". a sequel to A
World Lit Only by Fire. More than half of africa has dirt roads. rough in the dry season
and slippery mud in the wet season. terrible either way. but you adjust and survive.
here's a road in Ukwala, near the Uganda border.

meet Pascalia, a nurse at the Matibabu foundation, our second CNN story. we had
fun debating how many cows she was worth for her dowry. normal is 2 cows. she
wanted 53! very smart and cheeky!

pascalia and janelle and carolina outside the hospital soon to be opened by the
Matibabu Foundation..."in the rural".

they also train girls to sew. 

fellow CNN crew, deb and janelle. we had so much fun!

here is dan ogala, founder of matibabu. our hero interview was here in this room
under construction at his Smart Center. great lighting and wall textures. 

a hut similar to where dan grew up. we shot him against the wall, next to the
blue door! 

our hotel in the Ugenda district where the volunteering doctors stay. looks secure,
eh? and only took 2 hours each nite to get our dinner! "...and you don't get upset!"

our lunch stop in ugenda. no menu..."you want chicken or beef?" at least the coke
 was cold!

shooting dan in front of the secondary girl's school he started. my camera overheated
here for the first time. after shooting 4 hours in the african equatorial sun!

dan in my viewfinder...with a canon 300 mm lens.

always a wonder to see the women carry things on their heads.

our intrepid crew, janelle, tracy, abdul and deb! we covered a lot of ground in one
week! spent 40 hours together in our van. it was good to be part of a fun team.

"the shooter" look. 

some trees you just have to shoot. we shot til the sun went down at the hospital.

we killed an hour before our flight back home at the Kisumu yacht club. it was classic!

the biggest fan palm ever!

nice signage.

a canoe on lake victoria, the second largest fresh water lake in the world after
lake superior!

my lunch...margarita pizza. ahhhhh. yum! 

the flight home. it took off 15 minutes early. luckily we were there on time!

dan moved to kibera when he was 18. kibera is the biggest slum in the world in
the heart of nairobi. housing some 750,000 with no running water or electricity.

our welcome sign at a primary school in kibera.

the kids were well behaved and the teacher was a doll. plus great lighting!

kiberan local.

everything is lined dried here. everywhere.

my producer tracy and myself in the heart of kibera.

kiberan residents. amazing textures. 

africa is always colorful.

meet carolina. a polish social worker living in brussels on loan to africa for 3
months working in the rural with matibabu. another inherently interesting person
living in africa. the int'l community is quite unique.

deb and i trying to shoot the "view" shot of kibera. you may recognize the railroad
tracks from The Constant Gardner, shot in kibera. (a must watch!)

janelle was from san jose traveling with tracy and pitching in on the crew. she was
 very helpful!

bwana producer tracy! 

kibera impressed me with how much community was there. 

deb with the security police men we hired to protect us. thugs abound, and text
others outside kibera to come and mug people. we felt safe. 

this belongs in the Helvetica doco!

bwana guard! somehow the ole AK says it all...back off!

the kibera day ended with a cultural experience of music and dance. these guys
are awesome and the locals from the slum get some culture! another outreach of
dan ogala. quite an amazing individual.

having lived here and been inundated with the british community (and terror threats), this john cleese humor really got me! enjoy, and be sure to comment below! cheers!

ALERTS TO TERROR THREATS IN 2011 EUROPE
by John Cleese

The English are feeling the pinch in relation to recent terrorist threats and have therefore raised their security level from "Miffed" to "Peeved." Soon, though, security levels may be raised yet again to "Irritated" or even "A Bit Cross." The English have not been "A Bit Cross" since the blitz in 1940 when tea supplies nearly ran out. Terrorists have been re-categorized from "Tiresome" to "A Bloody Nuisance." The last time the British issued a "Bloody Nuisance" warning level was in 1588, when threatened by the Spanish Armada.
The Scots have raised their threat level from "Pissed Off" to "Let's Get the Bastards." They don't have any other levels. This is the reason they have been used on the front line of the British army for the last 300 years.

The French government announced yesterday that it has raised its terror alert level from "Run" to "Hide." The only two higher levels in France are "Collaborate" and "Surrender." The rise was precipitated by a recent fire that destroyed France 's white flag factory, effectively paralyzing the country's military capability.

Italy has increased the alert level from"Shout Loudly and Excitedly" to "Elaborate Military Posturing." Two more levels remain: "Ineffective Combat Operations" and "Change Sides."

Belgians, on the other hand, are all on holiday, as usual; the only threat they are worried about is NATO pulling out of Brussels .

The Spanish are all excited to see their new submarines ready to deploy. These beautifully designed subs have glass bottoms so the new Spanish navy can get a really good look at the old Spanish navy.

Australia, meanwhile, has raised its security level from "No Worries" to "She'll Be Alright, Mate." Two more escalation levels remain: "Crikey! I think we'll need to cancel the barbie this weekend!" and "The barbie is cancelled." So far, no situation has ever warranted use of the final escalation level.

John Cleese - British writer, actor, and tall person.

HOLLA!

xxo

ddm