Our Culo's Came Off
Okay, need to set a few things straight here. Apparently, our audio guy, Alex Theodoropulos, is catching some flack from loved ones over some of our blog postings. Those close to above mentioned Alex believe he is spending the majority of his time on this side of the equator partying, which I could understand given the postings of Ren Jose and myself. But here is the truth: we are working our culo's off on the films down here (look up "culo" here). Thing is, it seems more fun to write about transvestite bartenders, sunrises and an Argentine friend who brings six young, single female friends to our parties then about the details of shooting and editing video. But here goes:
Here is Alex half way through a four hour session recording some music for one of our pieces in a small court yard at the Peperina Hostel. Notice the maté cup (Argentine tea).
This is a shot of Mateo and Alex... I don't know what they are doing. There is so much work involved in these films that there is always something to be done. Nice hats (they bought them here in Córdoba).
We make Andrew edit in the closet (just kidding Andrew's mom and dad). No, this was his choice, in the closet; we are open minded here at Global Transmission Media.
And this is me on the top bunk, power cord draped over the door to the outlet. Just another day at the office.
This is something I have been working on: transcribing interviews Andrew and I did with Charlie, a British guy who apprenticed an Argentine dog walker for a week.
And here is our family away from our family: Soledad and Nicolás. They made us lunch this afternoon because... you guessed it: we were working so hard.
It will be difficult to find a way to thank these two enough and the rest of the kind folk at Peperina Hostel for their hopitality. They basically let us turn their hostel into our post production facility. A nicer group of people would be hard to find.
Well, its 3:00am and the boys and I have to get up in an hour and a half to go hiking and camping in Condor National Park with Soledad and her sister Cynthia; working hard!
posted by The Professor @ 9:59 PM
6 comments
6 Comments:
i know i'm going to catch flack for this, but do we need to tell everyone everything we're doing 24 hours a day.
i mean really, are we that important?
i don't think so. we're not curing cancer here.
morgan posted work photos and such, and i think it was to prove a point. global transmission is working, but does telling everyone that we put video from the camera to the computer or that we had so and so holding a make-shift boom for sound necessary for blogging (or is it entertaining for that matter)?
i'm speaking strictly for myself on this, not for the other members.
but what's next, are we going to have to censor the blog????
there has been talk about it before.
i mean it's just a blog, a journal, a diary, a place to write freely about whatever happened that day or on our minds. our blog is about travel...oh wait, cross that out, 'my' postings are about travel and the usual trials and tribulations, and incredibly awkward funny moments that come with travel.
i could write about every single place that i've been and all the tourist sites i've visited and repeat word for word what the tour guide says, but that's why they have guidebooks.
i'm sorry if i'm jumping the gun here, but censorship is LAME. if we have to be politically correct (trust me, i've been holding back on a lot of my postings) about everything we post (or cross that and exchange 'we' with, 'i post'), doesn't that defeat the purpose of the information superhighway being an open forum for information of every kind?
does everyone want to here that i spent 4 hours on the internet yesterday trying to send photos to intrepid travel to use in their upcoming brochure?(it's a paying gig by the way, it's about time..woohoo). and how difficult it was to get photos to australia?
or that i spent a week writing an article for 'the argentimes' to make the 27 september deadline?
or that i spent the last 6 months writing a guidebook on buenos aires, and rushed to get it done before starting global transmission in buenos aires?
or now that i'm waiting to here back from the publisher about edits for the first draft? (he did like what he's read and photographs he's seen so far..double woohoo)
if so, then i can do that, but it will be some real boring writing. in fact, there's no way i can do it, since it would be a chore, it would be work to write stuff that i view as monotonous,
and it would be the same as other blogs,
and it would not be real,
and i would not be true to myself.
and i hate being fake.
perhaps i'm reading into morgan's last blog incorrectly and jumping to conclusions. actually i hope so, and this is me again writing since i've got a fire under my 'culo'. AND BY NO MEANS DO I MEAN TO OFFEND ALEX'S FAMILY...OR CHE HIMSELF FOR THAT MATTER. if i am jumping to conclusions, then scratch the above paragraphs, and pretend you never read it. and i hope you enjoy reading my last posting about my experience with ice cream here in china...quite a letdown since argentina. it's a joke by the way.
from what I've seen and read , you guys are doing some fabulous work. i'm sure i wouldn't be checking out the GTM blog if it were all about filming or recording or editing (not that i find that boring; i'd rather be doing it than reading about it). i check this blog out for all the fascinating stories and experiences you boys are encountering on your travels. it's a great read and one of the highlights of my day.
i'm sorry if i haven't commented enough; rest assured this won't be the last.
keep up the great work, guys!
i don't understand what the problem is. i don't mind reading about things you are doing or seeing pictures. i'm glad your posting everyday.
-a
First off, your (collective) postings have been awesome! DO NOT STOP!!! They have been massively entertaining, informative, insightful, inspiring... I feel like I am a part of your group, a part of the entire travel experience-- like I am there with you guys! Definitely way more valuable than any guidebook or travelog I have ever read. An that, my friends, is due to the candid, uncensored nature of your postings.
I don't know how many of you have tried to keep a journal while traveling-- but let me let you in on a little secret: IT'S NOT EASY! These guys are dedicated and disciplined enough to grace us with their experiences EVERY DAY. Trust me, when you are traveling, the last thing you want to do is stop for an hour or two at an internet cafe and write down everything that is rushing in your head. Heck NO, you want to be living it! Just try writing a blog of your own life everyday and see how hard it is.
Finally, these guys are indeed working their culos off. They had a dream, a goal way back when in San Francisco. They worked their culos off to save $$$ and plan for the trip. And now they are finally realizing their dream -- in a foreign country, where they didn't speak the language initially, took the time and $$ to *learn* the language (how many party-ing tourists do that???), took the time and interest to learn the culture, took the time to learn and bond with the people there.... If they just wanted to party, why would they do all of that??? It would be far easier to find a Club Med, drink Coors Light with a bunch of your USA Freedom buddies, and joke about how funny & ignorant the locals are.
Also, making movies is not a trivial task. It takes a lot of work -- months if not years of many collaborative hours. Just look at the credits of any major Hollywood film: there's a reason why you see hundreds of names scrolling by really fast. IT TAKES A LOT OF WORK! Go dust off your video camera and try to make something that's concise, interesting, doesn't bore people to death, doesn't make them sick from the camera shaking around, is bright enough to see, is loud/clear enough to be heard, etc. Point is, it is TOUGH. Sure, it's easy to make crap. But that's not what these guys are doing. Again, if they were just partying, why would they be spending 10-12 hour days making movies??
I'm really impressed that besides all the hard work these guys are putting in, they are still managing to find time to have fun. That has got to be the hardest thing of all-- balancing actually enjoying the trip with working nonstop on a project that's more work than people put in at their 9-to-5 here at home.
I wish that I was as dedicated as the GTM team. They are some of the most incredibly driven guys I know. We should only be so lucky to live with as much passion & gusto in our lives as they have in theirs.
Que Viva GTM!
ThaiBoi
(aka J.Russo)
(aka Jaromy)
Morgan - I don't know if using the door to drape your power cord is OSHA approved. I'd hate for you to have a workplace lawsuit.
Just concerned.
dear knockonthedoor,
just as a clarification, when i mentioned whether we are important or not, i meant this in relevance to censorship and whether we should be monitored in what we write. it is my opinion that journals should be free and open to express our thoughts, feelings, and experiences. especially in what we are doing (travelling, filming, writing, shooting, etc.), our senses are constantly flooded by new and wonderful (as well as not so wonderful) experiences. to try to express everything in a blog entry is impossible. but i think it's important that whatever we are feeling (i for one have experienced every emotion imaginable on this trip) or whatever we see, or whatever we do that day, can be expressed in a free forum such as this blog. so the 'whether we are important' comment, was a comment based on media itself, which is monitored (FCC), manipulated (corporate advertising), and produced strictly as marketable product ($$$ profit before product $$$). it's my opinion, that when we started the global transmission thing, we wanted to film the life and culture that is out there in the world, because there are so many incredible stories out there that never get shown. things such as the everyday life of foreign places. i think these things fascinate all of us. i believe, we want to report these stories,
without manipulation,
without monitoring,
and done in a creative, artistic, possibly thought-provoking (depends on the subject matter), well done manner.
so are we important?
in terms of having to be monitored and censored, it's my opinion, no.
maybe this wasn't clear (since sometimes i write with a lot of emotion and fire....actually, many times i do), but in the blog comment i'm defending our actions at global transmission and defending what morgan was referring to in his posting.
i'm on the team, not against it.
as a team member working on global transmission projects, of course i want to put out an incredible product.
that goes without saying.
but as thaiboi said, a lot goes into making films. whether we need to defend or explain the process on a daily basis, that should be decided by the bloggers themselves.
hopefully when the films come out (and the buenos aires content looks great by the way), maybe that's what we should be judged by. the films and not the daily journal.
have you ever kept a journal and looked at it a year later?
it's funny, it's embarrassing, it's sad, it's happy memories. i've been travelling for awhile now, and i keep a daily diary in my sketchbook. whenever i look at my sketchbook and read some of my entries, it brings back memories of places, faces, emotions, and great experiences. for me that's a wonderful thing. from time to time i do that (re-read) with my original blog from my first 6 months of this trip to bring back wonderful memories, to remember people i met, places i've seen, and crazy situations i've been in.
in regards to 'navel gazing ramblings', no offense was taken. i'll be the first to admit that i'm sometimes childish, sometimes raw, but always straight forward and honest. just to point something out, i haven't written about parties or women in a month or so. if you've noticed, all of my recent writings have been about china and the culture shock here. as a clarification regarding buenos aires and the females there, they are well known for their beauty. the culture is known for men who are non-stop and persistent in their approach and hitting on women. looking beautiful is an obsession there almost to a fault. women are preached to be skinny (even pregnant women - they almost looked sickly being so skinny while carrying child) or else they won't have anyone to marry or no one will like them. they have high rates of bulemia, anorexia, and because of this, the highest rate of psychoanalysts per capita in the world. so writing about the 'navel gazing' was part cultural observation.
have you been to buenos aires and seen what it's like?
as far as the parties were concerned, our weeklies were a great way to get the word out on our projects, meet lots of locals (who became integral parts of our projects), and to let off some steam. by our last party, the che pelotas thing was known by every new guest we met. the parties were also a lot of work to prepare, host, cook, and clean....especially after working, going to spanish school, etc., they took a lot of effort.
so with 4 guys living, working, and playing in the same apartment 24/7, we needed to have some fun.
i mean, how many tourists can say that they had a party of 25 people at their rental pad on their second day in the city?
but most importantly, thanks so much (also to everyone else out there) for reading (with the utmost sincerity!!). it's good to hear differing opinions especially when working on a creative endeavour such as this. if everyone agreed with everything we did, we would probably be showing the same conformist, watered-down, crap that you can get anywhere. i believe all artistic, creative work is not going to appeal to everyone's tastes, but it must first appeal to the creators before it can appeal to anyone else. at least we have the freedom of choice to watch, listen, buy, or read whatever we like. i'm amazed at the amount of people following this blog. to be honest, it's really quite humbling. but if you don't like what you see (or what i write), feel free to tune it out.
sorry this is so long once again. it's another long winded, babbling comment from yours truly.
ps. 8 comments. morgan, you win.
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