africa blog: May 2012

FINDING THE FLOW
About to start month 9 of the new life, and this week i finally found the flow. i love Nairobi, but it took a while for me to let go of my first world expectations. living in a third world country is like swimming above water in a foreign sea. things are anxiety laden trying to fit in and find your groove and there is some inherent resistance. but after a while, you get tired of buffering and eventually you accept your world and stop paddling so hard and sink in. you finally are comfortable enough to swim underwater and things are much easier. you sink into the third world and accept it as it is. and you're fine with it. it's too much work to hold onto your old life notions of how things should be. you get what you get and you don't get upset. just go with the flow.

VISITORS
Had my first visitors to see me in 9 months. caroline and roland from zurich. they were here for a short week, 2 nights with me, 3 in the mara (they saw the coveted leopard their first day. jealous.) then 1 more night with me. it was wonderful. they are very easy company and we saw a lot. it was fun to show off my new digs and new town. they loved it. i'm sure they'll be back and i'm sure i'll see them in zurich in january. my old ranger friend manfred i met in botswana in 1991 is having a big birthday bash in germany jan 12 so i plan to be there and chill in europa and the UK maybe for the whole month. may see some friends in paris as well. COTW catching up with old guard.

THE STABLE
the new crib is stinking cool. VERY happy here and having it dialed in is a blast. really enjoying the vertical work station. and the whole place has a homey arty vibe. loving it. still not sure if it's more africa lodge than cheesy Vegas lounge, but it's fun. and as a live/work space it's ideal. sleeping quarters on one end, the edit lounge and Lo's office on the other near the kitchen. great layout and positive work flow vibe. can't believe i ended up here. more than i could ever imagine. way cool. peaceful. beautiful, and retired race horses (like me) living right next door. never gets old. one of the coolest places i've ever lived. and i imagine i'll be here a while. it feels like home and i don't care to leave. i have more travel coming up, but i'm quite content to chill here.

SLINGSHOT NATION
Slingshot Productions is finally getting busy with some paying gigs. and this one is a home run. a 6 day shoot in Nairobi (NBO), Rwanda, Uganda, NBO, and Ethiopia. lots o' travel. it's for Full Circle Exchange and they "empower women thru economic enterprise". so we'll be shooting these little factories of workers who are making jewelry, bags, purses, bangles, etc. interviews and B-roll. we started today with Katchy Collection in NBO. very sweet bunch of single mothers working hard and making a living and feeling empowered instead of living off handouts and aid.

the other Slingshot push is to start a seminar series on acting, directing, filmmaking, screenwriting, editing, commercial acting, and some misc fun workshops. we have a cool space in mind in the CBD downtown and ddm just needs to start a 4 hour power point presentation for each! but the climate is good in NBO for young people wanting to have a career in show biz. the cost will be @ $12. we think it can sell out and have good word of mouth. i see it more as a one-man theatre piece and want to produce it strongly so it's immensely entertaining and enlightening. and being from Hollywood is instant street cred over here. and a abundance of IMDB credits after being kicked around in the industry for 30 years also helps. should be a blast. and potentially profitable. i see 9 or 10 seminars i could produce. and my shy, reclusive personality might actually enjoy being on stage for 4 hours a session. (joke). so all in all, the long wait to get my work permit and papers in order is all going to be worth it. in short, i'm very happy being here and having fun! well worth the one way ticket in moving here! the great adventure is only growing! NOW FOR SOME PICS! (i know that's your favorite part...)

the kitchen at a friend's house. looks like a french castle. done to the tee. pimped out as the kids say.

the gnarliest can of glue ever. and great colors.

the wet season brings spectacular skies.

a log sofa set i had made. more of the rustic safari look.

delia stirling of brown's cheese. i randomly met her and her hubby andy while i lived in phoenix. the connection was
instrumental in me moving here. hmmm, maybe not so random after all!

beautiful skies at the windsor country club for brunch.

caroline and roland from zurich at brunch.

went to the races in NBO. awesome.

felt like del mar or santa anita circa 1920.

place your bet then hit the grandstand.

winner's circle.

won my first bet. $12 dollars won $36 on Whispering Murray.

some shade for the locals.

they parade the horses so you can bet intelligently. didn't help me on the second bet.

beautiful grounds. total Out Of Africa vibe. i loved it.

i shoulda bet on #6.

they head to the gate.

then run the wrong way around the track!

meanwhile back at my stable, a blacksmith puts on some new shoes.

the biggest slug i've ever seen!

roland and caroline at the elephant orphanage.

pretty darn cute pachyderms.

and an orphaned rhino. in this lighting, it looks like wood.

log furni inside my crib.

a mock-up poster for the seminar series.

some product from katchy collection.

slingshot's latest addition, shem, gives me some pointers.

bounce card wrangler.

i sprained my wrist badly falling at night in the mud. the hair? deferred maintenance.

women at work.

arduous beading and painting.

try string these all days. it makes your barista gig look pretty good.

white walls are a killer.

the bangles are hand painted.

they make amazing stuff.

and such faces.

she was very shy being interviewed in swahili. so sweet.

they sang a song. the harmonies were heavenly.

paka paka has taken my pleather wicker sofa as a crash pad and scratch post. bad kitty!

patio work station.

new dining room table seats 10. good for my saturday nite dinner parties.

all for now!

CINCO DE MAYO IN AFRIKA (ay con rico!)

well, this starts my 8 month of My New Life Journey in Africa since arriving here on 10/01/11. the months are flying by but the weeks can be long!! lots of good news/bad news this week so let's get to it.

good news: got my work permit approved! Slingshot is legit. pick it up monday. its good for 2 years and now i don't have to get a tourist visa every time i come and go and also can get a residency card...i think...so i can get into NBO nat'l park at the locals rate. etc etc. poa sana. very cool.

bad news: threw my back out last sunday lifting my heavy camera bag off the top of the fridge. major muscle strain. good news: amazing chiro clinic around the corner from me in Hardy. feeling almost 100% again! and have a new chiro for adjustments!

good news: ordered some custom furniture this week in Karen to complete the cowboy-safari look-and-feel of The Stable. bad news: got burned badly by a different furni maker (a fundi) on Ngong road last week. live and learn.

bad news: old internet expired from last tenant and the new fibre optic internet shielded cable from neighbor won't take the RJ-45 connectors. so no cyberville for 2 weeks now. ugh. may have to call JTL on monday. can't operate Sling without an internet connection. good news: i can always drive somewhere if i HAVE to get online. remember world travelers: you get what you get and you don't upset. but living here sometimes is a study in frustration and can be very aggravating.

sidebar: the overwhelming fortune and favor i felt over new year's in betty's bay in cape town came to an epiphany that i was blessed to be a Citizen Of The World. COTW. my whole life i've gotten by being a charming, amiable actor type who avoids conflict and people-pleases everyone. but this week all the frustrations of a myriad of dynamics at play forced me to be BOTW...Butthole of the World. laying down boundaries left and right and putting people off, BUT I'VE HAD IT! and was ready to pop. things not getting done, hired fixers and furni makers flaking, internet setbacks, car problems, back problems, relationship issues, 6 inches of rain, etc etc. so ddm is toughening up.

my brother always says: "it's my job to tell you how i want to be treated". and he's 100% right. so this week, BOTW told the world in NBO how he wants to be treated. i was unhappy at myself and the results of being the huggable marshmallow type and put the hammer down. funny, i got results and liked myself better. a sizable adjustment after having an agent do all my hard negotiating my whole career while i remained eternally "the good cop". but in the wilds of NBO, i'm having to stand up for myself. uncomfortable, but at least i can live with myself. no more "kinder, gentler, a thousand points of light" stuff. more like "shock & awe" i'm afraid. ddm gittin' er done.

COTW is trying to get the balance right. but nairobi is a tough town, people robbed every day, insane corruption on all levels, you have to have boundaries. so....this mzungu kubwa (big white guy) is responding to his environment. kind of a tangent here, but it's been quite a revelation. yes i'm learning patience, but i'm learning how to be more direct as well. is the boy becoming a man??? (ha, another power cut here at java house. the power goes out all the time. bad grid i suppose. or maybe no grid! another obstacle/hurdle of life in kenya.)

keeping it on a positive note, i LOVE The Stable. no internet and power cuts and warts and all, i still love it. the place is really cool. used to be an old chicken run. a chicken coop for hundreds of chickens. now it's a groovy venice, ca, type of post-production bungalow. a very nice feel and great light and cement floors and i even adopted the cat from the stable next door. or rather he adopted me. but i'm a cat guy.

here's my reasoning...with a dog you're married to it. with a cat, you're only dating. cats won't marry you. they only date you when they feel like it. suits my commitment level just fine. but what to name the stable cat? my neighbor mark dubbed him "tom". another suggestion was "zechariah" (father of john the baptist and mute husband of elizabeth) which i think means "god remembers", as i was genuinely touched to find Tom at my doorstep one morning. the most talkative cat i've ever heard. my cat-hili isn't that good, but we seem to get each other well enough. "kitty kitty" is pretty universal. or "paka paka" which is swahili. one problem: Tom is not a boy. so, i'm open to all blogsters to name the stable cat. at least i don't think he's a boy. i'm no vet, but the private parts looked pretty buried. just saying.com.

man, this wet season is living up to it's name. like 8 inches in the last 4 weeks. sometimes 2 inches a night! luckily my tijuana steel corrugated roof is holding up. it's very loud but very dry so far. i'll take loud and dry over quiet and soaked!

last night at que pasa was classic! the dump was jumping on a friday night so i ended up sharing a bar table with keith, an old roofer from liverpool, on assignment building the new Hemingway's 5-star hotel in Karen. what a character! drank like a fish and smoked like a chimney! he kept buying me Tuskers so i kept nodding my head and laughed whenever i thought he said something funny, even though this so-cal kid could barely wade through his thick, almost scottish sounding liverpool accent! he reminded of billy barty: short, bald, but the guy could spit nails. full of piss and vinegar for sure. i stayed on his good side. definitely a COTW in his own right. too funny.

now for some pics. thanks for reading. and please name the stable gato!

chameleon on the patio chair. cool to hold. very mellow and can jump!

the real stable next to my Stable. beautiful horses. literally 100 feet from my pillow. you can hear
them neighing all day. i love it. and no flies. a clean operation with frequent mucking.

the wet season. the crappy roads and no sidewalks = muddy kenyans,

more mud, and a very intriguing transpo system. you have to see it to appreciate it.

love the colorful skies of the wet season.

my own grill! at last! it's no Weber or Grillmaster but i can still burn my chicken just as well!

moses and dennis outed the american honky to show me how afrikans cook chicken. go ahead fellas!

meanwhile my niece Brielle in arizona makes an african mask i wish was hanging on my wall! good job!

late afternoon in The Stable. starting to get some furni pieces.

view from edit lounge into the sitting room.

loving the kitchen. small but workable.

bought a new hat with the kenyan flag. touristy yes, but does it also say "african filmmaker"?????

nothing says third world like a donkey, a cart full of grass, and a driver with a nepal hat and white
rubber boots. the wet season is cold here. we're a mile high. much more Seattle than waikiki.

cattle wondering on the highway always makes me smile.

imagine traffic stops on the 405 so cattle can meander through.

and these are old world oxen.

more sitting room. starting my shield collection. the tiny springbok skin is FPO...For Placement Only.
waiting to find some bold brown and white cow skins.