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Well, I'm back. I can't tell you how happy I am to at least temporarily not have to go through a proxy server (that is, a backdoor service that allows you to login to websites using an anonymous ip address) to even look at the blog. I kind of lost my steam when it became such an annoying process. I've been thinking of you all. The other day Marissa asked me, "do you miss anything about America?" I thought for a while and couldn't really think of anything except family and close friends. Isn't that what life is all about? Most of the other little preferences in food, language, etc, can be changed through acclimation.

Today was pretty much the last day of shooting the cowboys (other than B-roll). We ventured to Jatujak market to film them, walking the extensive market through unbearable heat. On the way we passed a myriad of different performers, each performer reminding me of globalization, but even more so, localization. We saw young teenagers singing punk rock (actually, screaming), contorting their voices to sound like the popular Staind and Linkin Park songs they adore. We stopped by a group of Rasta men with bongo drums and dijaradoos, surrounded by tourists from many different nations, and a young Thai woman to the side of me who swayed her hips to every beat of the drum, wearing Rasta gear and reminding me of an American hippie past I never lived, but have experienced through numerous films. I also passed by a number of traditional Thai performers, the juxtaposition serving as a reminder of my generation's reality. While we make dates at Thai restaurants on the weekend, young Thai boys pick out outfits from the latest American magazine, reinterpreting culture from the minute they touch it. The Thai cowboy culture is no more "authentically" American than our Thai or Chinese food in America is authentically Thai or Chinese. The moment of uninhibited cultural exportation is here --- and I'm filming every minute of it :)

The last day with the cowboys was bittersweet. It feels great to be near wrapping up on our project, yet I feel like so much has gone unsaid. Today the cowboys were happy to see us, and we were happy to see them. We filmed them playing some bluegrass music for an hour or so, and then asked them for their addresses and full names so we can send the finished product to them. It looks like we have plenty of footage for our short film. Now the challenge is condensing about 10 hours of tape into 10-15 minutes.

We have also recently been recruited to film some for a documentary on obesity. This will be a paid job for another documentary that already has national distribution by the same group that we worked on the Cheney doc with. Our job is pretty easy. Essentially, we are going to do street interviews with Thai people and ask them questions like the following:

"How do you spot an American Tourist?"

"Why are Americans fat?"

"Describe the kind of food you think American's eat."

"What kinds of food do you eat? Do you go to McDonalds, etc?

I anticipate that most Thai people will answer "Why, bread and milk of course, with an occasional side of butter." Nonetheless, the footage will be classic. We're getting 50 bucks per tape. We're rich! Well... maybe not quite yet :) I'll keep you posted on this project.

I think I'll end this post here and start a new one soon. Long posts = no one reads them :)