Isaac is 9!

Isaac and his peeps from l to r Ethan, Marty and Alex! The ate pizza,
bowled and instilled fear in all they in countered with lollipops and
the mysterious hand gestures.

Aud Dancing!

Shooting Baby!

WARLORD... an amazing short film

alison dark

Trash and Class

Isaac's first Jayhawk football game

Audrey hosted a sleep over. Emily went to one.
Nothing left to do, but for the boys to have fun!

Kansas 40 - Florida International 10

Eszter and Allison 2

LIGHT AND DARK

Because finishing the film in LA wasn't enough work, I found away to sneak in a photo shoot. Meet Eszter and Allison left to right. I shot them separately, but with the contrast between the two I had to get them together.

ohm, I need a smoke

Cathay Robinson

Peanut butter

Who else do you know that would offer chinese women peanut butter? Of
course they loved it.

Jason and George

Jason, Assistant Camera and George, Dolly Grip

the blue umbrella

the bikes of china

prop cuffs

Having fun with Rayni, camera exposure and prop handcuffs!

The Gaffer

Over thinking?

Lena

Fishermen

Hong Kong

incense wheel

This is an incense wheel (attached). Specifically the wheel me and
another western crew member burned on behave of the production. You
write what ever you like on a piece of paper that is attached to the
top of the wheel. It is then presented to Kwan Yin (Iron goddess of
mercy/compassion) see also, my tatoo) and then it is hung on the
outside of the shrine/temple.

Kirk, the DP on the shoot had been talking about this buddhist temple
he had seen while driving to and from work. So on, Sunday last he and
I went to the temple. We didnt even know what it was called, just knew
that it was some sort of temple. Once we got there 6 busses dropped of
a large crowd of people and the entrance was packed. Instead of
following a crowd around we decided to follow the path less traveled.
So we went around to a water fall that led to a path straight up the
mountain. We sat at the top shooting pictures of the landscape and it
begin to rain. Tropical weather dictates a short rain, so we waited
under a shelter with a chinese army guy... dressed in fatigues. Not
sure why he was up there, but with the olympics going on in the same
country, things I have been told are about strange right now. So we
gave the man a smoke and waited out the rain.

We found the temple when we walked down the mountain. Saw the locals
performing the ceremony and decided to join in the experience. It was
nice.

I made a joke to Jennifer, regarding my tattoo. "You have to wonder if
I got something in Portugese on my arm, if I would be in Brazil right
now." If you knew where I was right now you would really wonder. When
we are out and about and someone reads my tattoo, and catches my eye,
they tend to point in the direction of the temple. Not knowing where
we were or what the temple was called. I looked to google... Hello?
Surprise... the Kwan Yin Temple. Oh well, it was nice to discover that
fact in a truly organic fashion.

I was told I would be in Guangzhou, but I am in fact in Nan Hai in the
Guangdong provence, which is about 40 minutes from Guangzhou. An area
that is famous for to particular shrines/temples of Kwan Yin. My
apartment is on the actual lot. Something I don't care for. The rest
of the crew is split between Guangzhou and apartments about two miles
away Nan hai. My roommate is the director and we just dont get to go
shopping or anything where we are. The producer just wants us to order
everything we need and stay put, but I just don't work that way. I
would rather be lost trying to make my way through a conversation
about beer or beef than have someone drive and pick up a carry out
meal from me. I never know what I want anyway so.

In other news, we are on day four of the shoot. Things are going about
the way you would hope they would. The crew was tight in the
beginning, but once they caught wind of how things worked, they
loosened up. You can really see the love in their eyes. They are
hooked, I remember that feeling, for the first time and it is
something else. It is fun to work. We are also teaching them not to
take everything so seriously. Everyone makes mistakes, something the
industry knows happens and is always very forgiven. They are also
starting to get that we spend a lot of time making jokes and each
other laugh and have started chiming in, when the understand.

This weekend will be the crews first days off in about 14 days, so we
are having a nice two day weekends. We typically will shoot six day
weeks, but want to give everyone a break before we really get down to
the nitty gritty.

Kirk, Ryan (one of the actors) and the gaffer, Erik, are headed to
Hong Kong. That will be great. Henry the producer is setting it up so
that we can hit some key points, but for the most part, we will just
drift and be somewhere else. More about that later.

Double Happiness!

There are drinks, smokes et al baring this logo. It is the character
for double happiness. It also shows up on the television when there is
no signal.

Propaganda? How can you suggest that with such a kind message. It could
just say happiness, but no... it's double happiness!

Street Dim Sum

Love is...

You ever get the feeling your are being watched or followed?

Out exploring a neighborhood open air market, (which are like strip malls in the US) I noticed that there were two giggly little voices following us. So the Tom and Jerry... cat and mouse began. We would ignore them and surprise them by turning around and laughing or roaring, what have you. They would laugh and sneak up on us when we least expected it. At one time I hid behind a pillar and sent Donnie and Kirk ahead, planning on ending up behind them for a change. I peak around the corner to see where they are and nothing, except... laughter, but from the other direct. They flanked me. We laughed even harder. 

Later we found a place to sit down for a meal and the girls sat at table near us and just hung out. We would turn from time the to and continue the game, even tried getting them sodas at one point. It was a lot of fun. 

Despite being here a short time I already know the part of the experience that will give me moist eyes and a joyful mind. It is indeed the connection. When you have no language in common you still find a way to enjoy each other. It feels good and different. It comes from different place, an amazing place. 

I have always wanted to travel the world and be a part of different people and cultures. I know now why. 

it's rainy and it's rayni!!

Some pics from China

The plane I spent 15 and a half hours being packed like a sardine!

Dense population... lots of apartment buildings like this.

This development is in Hong Kong.

This is a view from my apartment building. It is on the lot of a local television studio.

One of the sound stages being prepped for the shoot.

Writer, Director, Star... Donald Wayne Jarman during a makeup/green screen test.

The backlot. This will soon be a city facade. On the left is sound engineer, Kia and seated is DP, Kirk.

Left to right, Heather, Chinese born, Art department; Jason, American born, Camera/Editor; our server; and Owen, driver ordering out dinner. Six entrees lots of beer and tea came to 18 usd, 125 rnb for five people.

The restaurant at night.

I will be shooting lots of pics of mopeds, one of my favorite parts of the culture. Here with three people, I have seen families of four riding through crazy busy traffic.

Hmmmmmmmm!!! I guess it is time to go!

Aries Horoscope for week of June 26, 2008

Welcome to Part Two of your outlook for the second half of 2008, Aries. We're checking up on how you're progressing with the challenges you were given near the end of last year. I'm hoping that by now you're well on your way toward leaving your amateur or rookie status behind for good. I trust that you have had a vision of exactly what you need to do in order to boost your level of professionalism, and that you have taken aggressive steps to carry out that vision. If for some bizarre reason you have not yet begun this glorious work, jumpstart yourself immediately. Fate will conspire dramatically on your behalf if you do. Now here's a tip on how to make sure that your inner warrior is operating at peak efficiency: Assume there's always more you can do to raise your standards and aspire to a higher grade of excellence.

from...

Hawk eye

He was just hanging out by the side of the road one day... I hopped out of my car and shot, just to see how close I could get... the zoom lens helped some, but I got pretty damn close.

Bat man

A good friend has always encouraged me to journal the animals I see. They are said to provide insight into what is going on with you at that particular time or simply put are delivering messages from the spirit world. 

My last two sightings...

One was a hawk. I was taking a shower and looked out the bathroom window. This was hours before I found out that I got a job over seas in China working on a film.

The interpretation of a hawk:

In Native American cultures the hawk represents a messenger.  It often appears in our life when we need to pay attention to the subtle messages found in our surroundings and from those we come in contact with. As with all messages received it is important to recognize its underlying truth.  Because there are so many varieties of hawk its messages vary and can affect all levels of our psyche.

One thing that all hawks have in common is the skill to move between the seen and unseen realms gracefully connecting both worlds together.  Their acute vision compliments this ability and their discriminating nature keeps them out of harms way.  The broader vision of the hawk allows them to see what the future holds.  In man this symbolizes prophetic insight.  If this medicine is underdeveloped a tendency towards over analyzing everything is common.  In so doing, clear vision is lost.  Those who hold this totem should remember to keep their analytical mind under control and not allow it to run wild.

The hawk has many foraging techniques.  The most typical in their pursuit of prey is swiftly following the animal's efforts to escape.  Once the hawk has secured the prey with its powerful talons, the bird dismembers it with its sharply pointed, strong beak.  In man, this suggests that we can run but we cannot hide from our destiny.  Sooner of later it will catch up with us.

The destiny of all humankind is to awaken from their spiritual amnesia and realign with the original intention of their soul.  When the hawk flies into our life we will be asked to evaluate who we have become and rip out the threads of our self created illusions.  This enables our inner truth to surface.

Hawk signifies union with Great Spirit.  A bird of the heavens the hawk orchestrates the changes necessary for our spiritual growth.  Having this totem can be bitter sweet.  If we accept its presence in our life we will be asked to surrender anything that doesn't honor the integrity of all life.  Be it an idea, a feeling or an action.  Although hard work is involved the rewards the hawk offers us are great.

Just mere minutes ago, I was outside and a bat flew within about 10 feet of me:

There are different species of bats, which have widely divergent characteristics. Some are small and others are large. With one or two exceptions, the large bats live on fruits and find their way visually. The small bats feed mostly on insects, catching them on the wing by a process known as echolocation in which an animal produces sounds and listens for the echoes reflected from surfaces and objects in the environment. When this medicine is fully developed in man intuitive and clairaudient abilities are accurate. When underdeveloped psychic perception becomes clouded by imaginings of the mind.

Studies on bats found that when they are placed in a refrigerator, they will go into an instant state of hibernation and come out unharmed when they are warmed, which is unique for a warm blooded mammal. This indicates that the life force of the bat is strong and is able to regenerate and replenish it when needed. Those with this medicine also have this ability and would benefit from all types of yogic practices especially those related to awakening the kundalini.

Bat holds the power of adaptability.  Everything about them, senses, feeding, flight, mating and size is suited to their particular environment.  When bat appears in your life its message may be to examine your surroundings to discern what bounty is being offered to you, and then alter your patterns so you can receive it.

An out of balance bat will get scrambled and confused and will fly into things.  Are you crashing into barriers as you try to get what you need and want in life?  If so, bat may be trying to tell you to take a moment to get your bearings and determine the relative importance of what you are seeking.

When bat flies into your life transformation of the ego self  is about to occur.  The old familiar patterns and ideas that have been your truth are about to change. That which once worked for you may no longer.  The process of transformation represents a death and a rebirth.  Bat offers you the wisdom necessary to make the appropriate changes for the birthing of your new identity.

Author Ted Andrews writes that bats have needle like teeth and can sometimes carry rabies.  Rabies is an infectious disease of the blood and can cause a person to go mad.  Fears that are allowed to spread, uninhibited will eventually permeate our system and can create a kind of madness within our lives.  Bats reflect a need to face our fears.
Because the bat is a sociable animal it can indicate a need for more sociability or increased opportunity with greater numbers of people.  It has great auditory perception and can navigate through the dark easily.  Their built in sonar enables them to know what lies beneath the surface.  Those with this medicine have uncanny abilities to discern hidden messages both from people and the environment.

When bat appears it is asking you to surrender yourself to the process of change.  Opportunities unknown to the conscious mind are about to manifest.

Animal interpretations from Cycle of Power

Megan and her Daughters!

My great friend Meg is gonna have a baby next month.
So I took some pictures today... you will see more, but this was one
of my early favs.