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8/12/06
I’m writing this on the drive home from Vegas. God, I’m looking forward to a peaceful night in my own bed. Six weeks living with my dirty clothes at the foot of 2-foot wide bunk bed has had its day, with my feet hanging off the end all night. I swatted a fly a few minutes a go, only to see a plume of dust rise off the couch, to settle again elsewhere. And the Jamboree jig that each of us does while trying to balance in the moving RV simply will not be missed. The dust; the gagging smells of propane, gasoline, and human waste mixed with pungent body odor; the last bottle of water frozen solid in the freezer; the shower that makes the smallest of people feel like Andre The Giant; green apples; and the damn terrible shocks are soon to be only a memory. Maybe one day it’ll be like a faint dream, shrouded in doubt of whether or not it really happened.

Over the last few days we’ve been from Seattle to Southern Idaho, Reno, Bakersfield, and Las Vegas. Circumstances in Idaho allowed us to wake in the morning and go to sleep that evening without any travel in between – a first for the entire trip. It was truly a lovely experience.

Reno… well Reno is like Vegas without the perceived class. If you imagine Vegas, then take away the glitz, the wealth, and the youthful crowd, you will have a hopeless town in the middle of the desert called Reno. We stopped only to sleep and eat bad food, then headed off to our last on-the-road ‘Sociology of Me’ shoot. Now, I could write pages about the details of that day, but I think it can be summed to poor communication. For all the people we’ve spoken to about the importance of communicating with your spouse, one would think it may also be beneficial on something like a feature length film production.

…and Vegas… well, that stays in Vegas. Cheerio folks, it's been a hoot. Live, love, and laugh ; )



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8/05/06 Seattle
How do you respond to someone when they say “I can only write the alphabet three times on a grain of rice?” The man’s teacher at the Curious Shop in Seattle can write the entire Lord’s Prayer on a single grain without any type of magnifying tools or eyeglasses. I was impressed. Apparently, in Turkey rice is customarily considered a sign of prosperity and fertility, and so at weddings the bride and groom’s names are written on a grain for good fortune.

I thought it was interesting that the same man who runs the rice-writing section of the shop has been in a committed relationship with a woman for I think he said eleven years. In their hearts they are married but the only legal documents between them are power-of-attorney over each other. He and his “wife” have no desire to bring the government into their common law marriage to get an actual marriage certificate. I personally have a lot of respect for their situation, even though the man said he has been criticized many times by people who don’t understand it.
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8/04/06 Home is where the heart is
I learned yesterday that it’s a long damn way from Sturgis, SD to Glacier National Park. 13 hours in the RV and I was going nuts. I couldn’t concentrate on the computer and the endless wheat fields got to be a bit monotonous for gazing out the window. Regardless, we made it safely with only a few hiccups.

My mother always used to say that every time she visited Washington, it felt like coming home. I finally figured out what she meant. Glacier National Park was every bit as beautiful as I remember it, I only wish I could spend more time there. I remember diving into Lake McDonald and feeling the water getting colder with each kick that pushed me closer to the bottom, and how refreshing it felt when I surfaced; and breathing the fresh air on top of Mt Brown, past the treacherous ridge that most dare not climb. Too many memories to describe here, and even if I did, it wouldn’t serve them justice. I ran into my old boss at Lake McDonald Lodge and immediately he offered me a job. A part of me wanted so badly to take it, to forget my obligations and live in the park once again. It would mean saying goodbye to too much, so I guess I’ll just have to cherish the memories for what they are and return one day as a tourist just saying hello…





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8/02/06 Iconic America
We went from Mt. Rushmore to the Sturgis bike rally. Two places I’ve never been before and can now check off my list. I wouldn’t mind going back to Sturgis sometime with another bike. It brought back some fond memories of cruising down the highway listening to the wind and that rare feeling of complete independence. On a bike you can see and feel everything happening around you; the warm sun on your skin, wind in your hair, the hum of tires gripping the road, and there’s always a smell of the passing world. Those who prefer to drive with the window down rather than turn on the air conditioning may understand slightly what I am talking about. It’s a sense of freedom as well as appreciation for the tremendous world we live in.



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8/01/06 Henry XIII
Divorced, beheaded, died; divorced, beheaded, survived. Maybe some people just shouldn’t be married? Luckily today it’s not quite as treacherous as in King Henry XIII’s time, then again maybe it’s worse. We spoke with a girl today whose parents were married and divorced three times to each other before finally calling it quits. It was difficult to figure out how deeply it affected her psychologically, but I don’t imagine it could have been easy watching her parents go through their ups and downs.

I’ve heard many people say ‘get married for the sake of any children,’ and stay married to keep the family unit together. I disagree. I remember two parents who constantly argued, and staying together for the sake of the kids did not work. Everything I’ve seen, read, heard, or otherwise come across shows that children suffer a bad relationship every bit as much as the parents.

…We ended up in Wall, South Dakota and I was told by a friend that she’s photographed herself with a sculpted man on a bench outside of Wall Drugs four different times throughout her life: she gets older, but the man stays the same. To top that, her friend has 22 pictures of herself with this man, one for every year of her life. I think one of me will suffice, as the guy kinda freaked me out.



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7/31/06 Mall of America, Minnesota
First time I’ve ever spent all day in a mall. A miniature Lego Land to my left, screaming roller coasters on my right… food courts, shops, and the epitome of what the rest of the world despises about this country. Bigger is better and over-indulgent is mandatory. There’s even a wedding chapel on the third floor where we interviewed the owner, though had to be brief in order to be out before the next wedding began – that’s right people actually get married in the mall. I guess one benefit would be the gifts as no one would have an excuse not to bring one and then if you didn’t like the gifts, you could always return them on your way out.

Actually the owner of the chapel had some of the best things to say regarding marriage. “Take it slow.” Getting married now or in five years makes no difference in the long run. If you plan to spend the rest of your life with someone, that life begins long before you say your “I do’s.” Trust, understanding, and appreciation of each other are far underrated in the grand scheme of eternal love.

I can remember one relationship in particular in which I was loved dearly, but the trust and appreciation between us just wasn’t there, consequently it was the most bitter breakup imaginable. Now ¾ the way around the county I’ve heard a lot of people talk about love and communication in their lives. Don’t ever try change someone, and don’t ever expect a fancy wedding to improve a relationship. I always valued trust above all else, and so far this documentary has continually reaffirmed this conviction.
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7/30/06 I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream…
There’s a place in the middle of nowhere, Wisconsin called Two Rivers where the ice cream sundae was supposedly invented. They even have dates of when the cherry first became a standard in the sundae ingredients, and yes – they were originally only available on Sundays. Now I haven’t done any research to support or disprove the whereabouts of the sundae invention, but I know for sure that I’m going to be having dreams about the one I ate in the Washington House Ice Cream Parlor. Before leaving the place I had four very generous scoops and was highly content. Walter, who ran the place, is the healthiest looking 83-year-old I’ve ever seen, and extremely gracious. I think I would be a frequent patron if I lived in the area.
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7/29/06 Chicago, Illinois
So we looked up Buckingham Fountain online and found an address and phone number for the location. Honestly, I was curious to call the number to see who would answer and to find out where exactly in the fountain the phone was located. Our first interview there was cut short when the lady felt faint and actually passed out while being walked to a nearby bench. At the same location, however, we were able to interview our first gay couple. Together for more than a decade they both wore rings and were committed to each other, only no marriage certificate exists between them. Of course it was nice to get a unique perspective on the whole idea of marriage. I’ve known a fair number of gay men in recent years, including those who flaunt their sexuality, those who try to convert everyone they find attractive, as well as those who are just matter-of-fact. I tend to trust until I have a reason not to, and it was unfortunate that within two consecutive months a few years ago, three different gay men gave me enough reason to distrust all homosexuals. In my own experience, those who are matter-of-fact about their sexuality while being able to respect others for their own, are happiest with themselves and their partners. I personally have nothing against gay marriage as long as it is sincere between the two people and not just because they can – I believe the same should apply to heterosexual couples as well.



Millennium Park consisted of no interviews, just some interesting b-roll. We used the jib to scale the side of a giant chrome bean, which offered some interesting reflections of the surrounding city. Filming for two hours in front of what is essentially a giant mirror got a little hot, however. I’ve actually noticed an odd-looking tan line on my forehead from a bandana I got at the Warp Tour a few days ago. To get some shade, I walked underneath the bean (I wish I new if the sculpture has a actual name other than “the bean”) and found myself looking at this multi-dimensional Esher-type montage of reflections. I pointed my camera straight up and snapped a picture in which I’ve been able to count 25 reflections of myself.





In this journal entry, I also need to say a very big thank you to the Lindl’s for welcoming us into their home and cooking the most incredible dinner we’ve eaten thus far on this trip. It was greatly appreciated.
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7/27/06 Utopia No More
Woke up this morning and had a near-death experience. Brian and I decided to go for a morning swim in the Ohio River that bordered our RV park. As Brian walked down the boat launch testing the water’s depth, I walked to the end of the adjoining dock. Halfway down the dock Brian raised his arms straight up and submerged himself, the water covered his fingertips which I deemed deep enough for me to dive. I balanced myself at the end of the dock, bent my knees and dove confidently into the silty water. I hit bottom! My hands sunk into the mud bottom only four feet below the surface as a sharp twig cut into my palm. Luckily I was able to redirect the rest of my body, only slightly scraping my chest on the river floor. Obviously it was not a true near-death experience, but it sure helped to wake me up. Most rivers get deeper the further out you go, this one apparently got shallower. I guess it fits the backwards nature of most things Ohio.

We then drove ten miles down the road to the thriving city of Utopia, consisting of a two-pump gas station and maybe half a dozen homes. I noticed things were not quite normal when I saw the USPS delivery woman driving her car from the passenger seat and reaching over to the drivers seat to steer with her left hand – I could not see how she was operating the whole break/acceleration thing. Apparently there have been two “utopian” communities built here. The first one was based on sharing of investment money and of labor, but fell apart because the people grew to hate each other. The second community was more spiritual, though was destroyed when a flash flood hit the church and killed 150 of the 156 town residents worshiping inside. It makes me wonder: maybe utopia is not something we should strive for?

Moving on from Utopia, we made our way to another idealistic community – the Amish. I never realized before how deeply their ways are based in Christianity. Everything they do or don’t do is directly quoted from the bible. Of course they are extremely family orientated, and divorce is such a rare thing that the man we interviewed could only recall one instance of it ever happening in his community. It was a little different going out of our way NOT to show the gentleman’s face and to use as little amount of gear as possible – namely one camera and a wireless mic. I found it interesting that no one in the Amish community is allowed to date until they are 18, and when a boy does finally ask a girl to see her outside of church it is usually a luncheon with her whole family at her house. At this point he is also considering her as a wife. The Amish do not go on dates unless it is a sincere gesture on the road to marriage… After the interview we then ate at an Amish restaurant for dinner and listened to the theme from Titanic play repeatedly at least two dozen times… it was great. ; )
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7/24/06 Niagara Falls
Okay, I guess I’ve been so busy and tired that the previous entry took me three days to write. To sum up our travel route, we went from New York, through Connecticut and Massachusetts to Maine (to get the third corner of the U.S.) and then back through Vermont to New York again. I thought one of the interviews we got in Bangor, ME was interesting when the wife said she considered the two of them overweight and that their marriage (and sex life) would be better if they lost some of it. It was similar to what the couple in Miami said, but made more of an impact coming from an overweight couple rather than from two lean, athletic people.

In the interim of the recent travels, one of our crew-members’ suffered a loss in the family and had to fly home. We all wish him and his family well through this difficult time, and hope to see him again soon.

Now we are about 30 miles from Niagara Falls where we will get a new jip to replace our very much broken one. After filming at the falls, we are then off to hopefully shoot at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland…

…twelve hours later I am now very tired, and am writing this while waiting for the other computer to become available so I can go over some recent emails. Even though I am tired, I did enjoy myself at Niagara. We hired a ranger who drove Cory and I to a few different locations to scout interview possibilities, finally deciding on Bridal Veil Falls, which looks upriver towards the famed Horse Shoe Falls that most people are familiar with. While everyone carted the gear to Bridal Veil Falls our guide led Cory and I to the Windy Caves down closer to the water. I wrapped the camera with a plastic bag and sealed any holes with tape to make it look somewhat retarded, but waterproof. Operating a camera inside a plastic bag came with a few challenges, but we got some nice “touristy” shots of Cory walking up to the base of the waterfall. Then, on a whim I put the XL H1 down and ran up to the Hurricane Deck where I got a very refreshing fully clothed shower – Cory snapped a picture and then we switched and I took one of him. The funny thing was, everyone around us wore these transparent yellow ponchos that you wouldn’t be caught dead in anywhere else – well, everyone except for us, we just got wet.

I operated the jib during the interviews and got a few sweeping shots looking up the river and then over and down in front of the interviewees. To put this in perspective, the $10,000 camera was placed inside a $0.10 trash bag and then placed on a ten-foot jib arm, which I swung out over a 176-foot drop above rocks and white water. I did not realize, however, how quickly a camera in a plastic bag turns into a very expensive freewheeling sail when the wind picks up. During the interviews I continually fought between swinging the camera into the interview and NOT into the other camera. All things considered, I think I did fairly well.

The falls actually looked very inviting. I wanted very desperately to jump into the water and swim. It didn’t even look too dangerous to jump directly into the falls themselves. At the same time, I new the whole idea was ridiculous, though the water looked so fresh that the thought alone was soothing.


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7/21/06 A Blur to New York
After DC we headed north to New York. I skipped a couple days of journal entries because truthfully, I don’t remember most of what happened each day. Four days have felt like one, and that is in no way because there’s been nothing happening or nothing worth taking note of. Two crew-members paid respects to loved ones in the New Jersey/Pennsylvania area, the vehicles got tune-ups, we battled gale-force winds outside a famous philly-cheese-steak place in Philadelphia, shot in and around New York from Time Square to the top of the Empire State Building, and have since traveled through three additional states.

Geno’s philli-cheese-stakes only closes two days a year, the rest of the time are 24-7 and there’s always a line. Across the street is another cheese-steak joint with the same hours and the same constant line of customers. Cory bought everyone a sandwich as a late lunch and I immediately got myself another one for dinner (I was kinda hungry). The sandwiches didn’t actually taste that great and were of course extremely unhealthy, but hunger and Philly tradition won out. We started the interview outside and very quickly had to pick everything up and move inside to a house VIP booth due to the incredible wind and impending rainstorm. The man asked his to-be-wife for her phone number after seeing her in an airport. Because she immediately said “no,” he followed her onto her plane and publicly announced his love for her and that no other man on the plane was allowed to flirt with her. Anyhow, she ended up giving him her phone number (possibly out of embarrassment) and have now been married for about 17 years.

New York was tiring, exhilarating, and at times down right scary. We rolled into town with Ian leading in the camper and me following with the Pathfinder and trailer. I don’t think the city really has any road laws, just a bunch of guidelines by which people are suppose to follow. I remember punching the gas several times to maneuver around cars that veered across three lanes, or stopped suddenly to make a left turn.

The ‘Sociology of Me’ shoot in central park went well, with the city in the background. Of course, it would have been nice not having to hike a mile with all of our gear with a hand-truck that eventually buckled under the strain of cracked sidewalks and excessive weight.

Shooting in Time Square that night was unlike any other place. Waves of taxis lined the streets and the hot dog and roasted nut stands covering the sidewalks. We interviewed a 49-year-old bachelor who was the perfect New York character with his fat cigar, rough beard, and uninhibited nature. There was also a 19-year-old married couple who said, ‘if it doesn’t work out in long run, at least we went for it when it felt right.’ I personally think marriage is often taken too lightly, and divorce is far too often kept as a wildcard to be played when the other cards don’t line up just right. I do also believe there are situations when both people are better getting divorced rather that continuing a relationship of angst.

The interviews in Time Square ended around 3am and then we booked it to our campsite about 45 minutes away, only to return the next day to film on top of the Empire State Building until 4am, after which we drove an hour-or-so north into Connecticut before getting some sleep. The consecutive late nights and multiple night drives behind the wheel really took a toll on me. Not to mention a nine-hour drive from Maine back into New York two nights ago through torrential rain and all the way struggling to keep up with the Pathfinder – I actually followed the wrong vehicle onto the wrong freeway at one point (after all, tail lights all start to look the same after awhile).

It was pretty neat to be the only ones on top of the Empire State Building at night. Due to the fact that the top portion is essentially a giant radio tower, we had a few issues with our audio getting distorted, but once we got that figured out we were able to get some nice shots over the Chrysler Building and the rest of NY City.
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7/17/06 Bush not up for an interview
Well, George was not up for an interview on marriage. We got footage of the Washington Monument, the Capitol, the White House, Jefferson and Lincoln’s Memorial… and of course a few interviews. Our last interview was a local couple outside the White House with sweat poring so profusely from my forehead it felt like a constant flow of very painful liquid attacking my eyes. If temperatures continue to hit 110°F I think the next opportunity I get I need to invest in a bandana!

Personally, I found DC very static. There’s a lot of monuments and history there, but there seemed to be very little excitement. It could of course have been because of the heat making everyone (including myself) sluggish. In the evening the area came to life when locals made their way into almost every grassy area to setup baseball games.
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7/16/06 Washington DC
After a very long drive from Georgia through South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, and Maryland, we finally made in the capitol. For those of you who are keeping count, that’s five states and a province in one day. We got some b-roll of the area and headed to our campsite in Cedarville National Forest on the border of Maryland. Ian #2 (digger) and I attempted to get a campfire going but all the wood was damp and my patients grew thin after two hours and only a struggling flame. We did see this interesting spider, though. Its body was grey with a body about the size of a U.S. quarter and proportionately sized legs. The interesting part was on her back were dozens off baby spiders walking over each other and falling off to the ground. Somebody mentioned that maybe the babies were falling off to search for food; I think they were trying to cling to mom because she was food.
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7/15/06 Drive to the Center of the World
There seems to be a lot of driving on this trip. I made the comment yesterday that if we did this same project in England, we could hit the four corners of the country in three days and be done. Anyway, there’s a small town called Hartford on the northern boarder of Georgia with a metal sign on the roadside next to a five-foot high, engraved rock. The Cherokee Indian nation believed this spot to be the center of their world. It’s where many trails originated from, where battles were fought, and in general held a very high spiritual meaning. Unfortunately it was a little difficult to link that meaning to modern day marriage, so we kept on truckin’ towards Washington DC.
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7/14/06 Miami to Savannnah
Ian drove the Pathfinder with me in the passenger seat. We talked a lot about life and got to know each other a little better. One thing Ian talked about that I appreciated was the difference between the words “choice” and “decide.” With a choice there is always two or more options, one can choose which to take with or without an explainable reason. To decide means to end that choice; the suffix ‘cide’ also appears in homicide, pesticide, genocide… all refereeing to something being ended in a less-than peaceful way. All of us encounter difficult choices in our lives and usually it’s the decision process that is most stressful and wearing. The whole purpose of my conversation with Ian, and this journal entry is that choices leave more room for acceptance and can be made simply because it feels right. “Do you want vanilla or chocolate?” To decide means that you ruled the other one out, but a choice does not mean you like the other flavor less, only that at the time one of them felt more appealing.

I challenge anyone who reads this (and understands it) to recognize each decision you make during the day, and to see how a choice could improve the situation.
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7/13/06 Miami and a hot night
Miami turned out some great interviews. People were open with their beliefs on marriage and talked about the importance of connection and intimacy, as well as the commitment to each other. One man flat-out said the secret to a great marriage is to “stay in shape – don’t get fat.” Another couple said, “keep sex fun.” I think intimacy is typically an assumed part of marriage and often overlooked as to its importance. There’s usually a physical attraction that initially brings two people together, I think it is also important to maintain that physical attraction (and not by layering on the makeup). For me, it’s the most disappointing thing to see a beautiful woman cover her face in makeup – or vise verse when a seemingly beautiful woman removes her makeup and there’s a completely different person underneath.

As expected there was no time for a dip in the pristine blue ocean water. We drove a few miles south to Homestead to be closer to the Coral Castle (a poor man’s “Taj Mahal” to his lost love) in the morning though none of us anticipated the night we had ahead of us:

Imagine laying in your bed, an eight-inch mesh screen to the left with crew-members both below and to the right. I consciously regulated my breathing, though my heart pounded rapidly. I could feel each sweat gland working as fluid streamed from my exposed torso and into the bedding. At 2am no one could bare it any longer; we simultaneously slid out of our respective beds, opened the motor-home door, and stepped out onto the Walmart parking lot. One person found the backseat of the Pathfinder, another simply laid his pillow on the tarmac. The nearby gas station said they were closed and wouldn’t sell me water so I found myself taking an early morning stroll through air-conditioned isles of the Walmart Superstore. No water could be found in the refrigerated cabinets so I picked up a half-gallon of cold Florida Orange Juice, which I began drinking in the checkout line. I then stood in the open doorway and watched torrential rain seemingly materialize from the humidity. “I hope Charlie’s not still asleep on the tarmac.”

I arrived back at the motor home hearing the generator running and powering the comparatively meek air-conditioning. Cory was upset because the noise kept him awake. Everyone else was upset because they had not yet gone to sleep. Each person reacted differently to the discomfort and come morning the planned production meeting was tense. Crew-members talked of flying home, of basic needs not being met, of miss-allocated funds. Cory calls it “our first band fight.”

In light of everyone’s lack of sleep and the very long drive ahead to Savannah, we did not film at the Coral Castle. Instead we found a suitable place to sleep that night and drove north.
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07/12/06 On the Road, Florida
Now I remember why I became so eager to leave this state when summer rolled around. It’s HOT and STICKY. It’s actually cooler than some of the other states we’ve been though, but the humidity is suffocating. We made it to the Orlando area, and have about 200 left to Miami. I’m looking forward to the beach, but doubt there will be time to go swimming.
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07/11/06 Atlanta, Georgia
Drove through three states today – Tennessee, Alabama, and Georgia to our second ‘Sociology of Me’ shoot which are generally a lot calmer than the run-and-gun ‘Love American Style’ locations. Jay and his wife were very nice and gracious to us and opened up their beautiful home to us for the night. We also ate at a local oriental restaurant – the food tasted great and looked great, but sometimes I think I would prefer less emphasis on presentation and more on quantity. Loosing weight is not a priority for me.
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07/10/06 Memphis, Tennessee
A long drive for a mediocre shoot. Graceland gave us only an impromptu monologue from Cory in front of the gates and Sun Studio flat out turned us down at the last minute. We ended up shooting a couple on-the-fly interviews on Beale Street, which is equivalent to Bourbon St in New Orleans, only Memphis style…
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07/09/06 New Orleans
Bourbon Street and voodoo priest, what else is there to say? The priest sat down for a fairly lengthy interview and then performed a ritual to help protect and keep Cory honest. I wanted to film the room full of loose snakes until the priest told us that there is also a black mamba in the midst. For those of you that don’t watch the Discovery Channel – they are very fast and deadly. I did learn something interesting about the voodoo doll. Apparently they are never used as a torture device but rather the needles were placed in the doll by a medical person to keep track of a patient’s ailments and what part of the body it affected. When the patient returned, the “doctor” can look at the doll and know the patient’s medical history.

Bourbon Street is the only place I’ve been where Jägermeister is served on tap to people walking in the street – ‘nuff said!
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07/08/06 Fort Worth, TX
Texas just isn’t Texas without Cattle. We shot a couple interviews and the cattle run at the Fort Worth Stockyard Station – by cattle run, I mean the wranglers walked about fifteen long-horn steer two blocks down a brick road and then back into their pens. I guess five minutes of exercise must keep those cows lean.

Arrived in Austin in plenty of time to film the millions of bats heading out for their nightly feed from “The Bat Bridge.” Unfortunately we learned bats are a little stubborn when it comes to cue times. They started appearing half an hour later that normal and there were comparatively very few of them.
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07/07/06 Wichita Mountains Wildlife Reserve (again)
Woke up at 6am to interview Cory’s Uncle, only to discover that his pneumonia got worse and filming was not possible. So instead we went and filmed a heard of Buffalo in the reserve. It was great. We got close enough to film a calf suckling her mother and also the power of an adult male standing motionless against the wind. Then this large buffalo decided it didn’t want to remain motionless anymore and began walking directly towards us. Digger unplugged the microphones from my camera and ran. Cory and I held our ground and I got some great shots of the animal walking past, and then turning to block my path. Cory of course did not have the $10,000 camera and was able to swiftly make his way around the bull. I on the other-hand found myself cornered between a fence, a heard of buffalo, and one gigantic bull. This got me a little nervous. In the end, when he put his head down to graze, I walked quickly along the fence line to meet up with everyone else. There was a moment or two back there during the whole ordeal, however, I thought the bull was going to rip me a new one.
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07/06/06 Wichita Mountains Wildlife Reserve, Oklahoma
On the way the wildlife reserve we stopped off at the national memorial in Okalahoma City, dedicated to the 1995 bombing. I remember at the time of the attack everyone grew particularly angry for the injured children in a neighboring daycare. That’s what effected me the most at the memorial – there’s a cornered off area of grass where the children’s play area was with bells labeling each of the deceased children’s names. I couldn’t help but think, however, that the memorial was build because of a great tragedy, but here we are now celebrating a seemingly limitless war with thousands more deaths. I’ve heard the arguments, but I can’t fathom the logic.

We continued on the Wichita Mountains Wildlife Reserve in Indiahoma, Oklahoma. A few miles into the reserve is Meers Restaurant, famous for their one-of-a-kind burgers. Joe, had many things to say about keeping a marriage together through the restaurant business, and had a great personality to capture on tape. Of course, after the interview I ate a Meers burger, which was so large it came cut in fourths.
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07/05/06 Tulsa, Oklahoma – Sociology of me interview, Praying hands
Watched Superman Returns and lit of a few fireworks last night. Superman was a little overproduced – I think it was a general consensus that the originals have more of a storyline. Sometimes special effects just get in the way.

We split up the crew to try manage our time more effectively. I went with Cory, Colleen and Digger to Oral Roberts University (nothing to do with dentistry) to film the largest pair of prying hands. So I post the question: how do you film a pair of 60-foot praying hands from across the street, while eliminating distracting traffic and overhead telephone wires? The whole idea for filming there is the limited symbols of marriage in religion. Religions surround themselves with relics and iconic symbols; marriage also has it’s own symbolic icons. Why then is it so rare that the two are combined? You never see prying hands wearing a wedding band, or stained glass windows of a couple lighting a unity candle. Nevertheless, from the people we’ve interviewed religion is a critical part of most marriages, and vise verse.

We then met up with the rest of the crew in Tulsa, Oklahoma to shoot our first interview of Sociology of Me. I think it went well. The difficult part of any interview (for either film) is being able to dig deep enough to get the emotional stories that most are afraid to tell. An interview in general sets up a formal situation that most people are not accustom to, and so conversations are usually completely different on camera than the ones either before or after. Oh, and thank you Tyler Reeder for opening up your house to us. I actually got a very comfortable, full night sleep.
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07/04/06 Pratt, Kansas
“The home of America’s most beautiful women” is what the locals call Pratt. Ironically, a prat in Britain is also an idiot. The city hold’s the Miss Kansas pageant every year, whose winner goes on to compete for Miss America. Truthfully I did not see many hotties while we were there.

We filmed a monologue in The Pratt Historical Museum with manikins and pictures of the Miss Kansas winners. Stressed for time, we quickly set up the lights, and lit the scene quite nicely. Then Cory mentioned that he wanted to walk from one area to a much darker location inside the museum. We rearranged the lights, moved the cameras back and reevaluated the audio which then put us back half an our or so. I’m not complaining about rearranging things at all, but the limited time made everyone stressed, and may have compromised Cory’s train of thought on camera.

Now we are off to Wichita to hopefully watch some fireworks, and maybe a movie. Happy 4th of July everyone.
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07/03/06 Cawker, Kansas
Yee haw, we gone done got ourselves in the middle of Cawker, Kansas, home of the world’s largest ball of twine. People have tried to burn it a few times so it is sprayed every year by the local fire department with fire retardant. Supposedly people have also gotten down and nasty on top of it a few times (doesn’t seem like such a hot thrill to me). Anyway, the thing is almost 18,000 pounds and I, along with each of the crew-members added a ring of twine to the circumference. Cory even tied the knot. The lady who maintains the ball talked to us about her marriage with her stroke-affected husband. I wonder if people in her situation ever feel robbed out of their marriage? It was not what either of them expected, so my question from the antagonist is this: when is enough, enough? If most people tend to rationalize marriage, then who wouldn’t ask themselves when does it get too much to handle. People must do it all the time or we would not have such a high divorce rate in this country. People seem to find it difficult to talk about or define.
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07/02/06 Texas
Don’t mess with Texas, the home of Bush. We are on the road again to Amarillo. I remember pulling into that town once a long time ago on a 600cc Honda Shadow with Richard on his Yamaha something-or-other. The first impression was passing seven motorcycle cops in a speed trap…

side note: I just remembered something else about Texas. Everywhere you go it either stinks of cows or oil. Right now it’s stinking of cows!

Okay, back to Amarillo. Richard and I rode around town to buy a few tools for the bikes and then checked into a rundown motel. From there I made a phone call to arrange when and where we would meet… a phone call that if more or less was said, may have made my life very different from how it is today. Lets see what the town brings this time…

…Amarillo turned out to be fairly uneventful. Just outside of town, however, is the Cadillac Ranch. Half the crew continued to Pratt, Arizona in the motor home, while Ian #2 (digger), Colleen, Cory, and myself filmed the ten spray-painted Cadillacs nose-end into the ground. We almost got our fist tear on camera when a young woman told us about her pending divorce. Emotion is always good on camera though everyone keeps a safety barrier to avoid showing their true feelings in awkward situations. So far most of the people we’ve interviewed talk about marriage with rational thought rather than blind emotion. What is more important in a marriage?

To end this day’s journal – we got pulled over again. Not for speeding or disobeying signs, but for passing too close to a pulled-over police car. We are learning all kinds of things on this trip – such as one must by law pull into the far lane when passing a cop car that is on the roadside with its lights flashing. Luckily Cory only got a warning. For some reason, police in the south like to remove the driver from their vehicle and then ask the person in the passenger seat a bunch of questions. Both times now, I have been that person in the passenger seat.
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07/01/06 Gallop New Mexico
I woke up this morning in RV parked at the back of a Walmart parking lot in Gallop, New Mexico. I’ve never felt more white-trash American in my life until we let down the awning and set up our camper chairs (to clean the equipment). Truly, there is no other feeling like sitting under a motor home awning and looking at the beautiful blue and white store front of a Walmart Superstore, with bad music cranked on the radio.

…we then ended up in the middle of a 50th anniversary parade of the famous ‘Roswell Incident.’ Roswell, New Mexico is in the middle of nowhere and without publicity from the “downed weather-balloon” I don’t see how this place could exist. Alien paraphernalia everywhere, and to tell the truth I think some of the people living here are not human!
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06/30/06 Grand Canyon / Monument Valley
Cory, Colleen, and myself planned on waking up at 4am to film sunrise over the Grand Canyon. At 5:05am I rolled over and looked at my watch – “shit, the alarm didn’t go off.” It was light out, but still dusk. “Colleen… we need to get going.” I slid out of bed and simultaneously put my shorts on, I saw Cory stumbling towards me still half asleep. Ten minutes later all three of us were ready and heading off in the Pathfinder.

If you ever thought the Grand Canyon to be beautiful during the day, I can tell you it doesn’t compare to the awesomeness of watching golden rays of sunlight come to life across each pinnacle and ridgeline within the natural wonder. Colleen setup a time-lapse camera to capture the sunrise. I got some silhouettes in the opposite direction and filmed Cory walking out onto a viewing platform. “You can’t help thinking out there,” he told me late; “I thought about yelling ‘I love Amy.’”

Later in the morning, when the rest of the crew managed to wake their asses up and meet up with us, we set up the jib and filmed some awesome interviews. The 10-foot jib arm allowed me to swing the camera in a variety of directions while Ian got some nice head-and-shoulder’s shots, and Colleen backed off and filmed the whole picture. We ran into some audio problems with dead batteries and some difficulties on my part controlling the jib, but on all in all the day went well.

Monument valley was INSANE! Try picture this: a tripod setup inside the Pathfinder with a six-foot boom sticking out the back, a Canon XL1 HD on the end; Cory on a $30 scooter behind, and Colleen driving while trying to match Cory’s speed; rain clouds were imminently approaching with interspersing sand storms. I think the edited footage will look pretty cool when it’s done.

To add to the 21-hour day we got pulled over right on the New Mexico border. We didn’t even know we had crossed over, let alone the speed limit dropped 10mph. At mile marker four on hwy 264 a cop came barreling down on us with his lights going. Apparently from mile marker 1 to 7 it’s 55mph, and then it goes “back” to 65 as it was in Arizona. The j-ass cop gave us a ticket for speeding AND not obeying signs. I want to know how can one possibly be speeding WHILE obeying the signs? If anyone knows the answer please let me know.
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06/29/06 Dry Beaver Creek
With an emphasis on DRY, Cory just had to get a shot of this. I guess if anyone knows Cory and his sense of humor, you will understand why. Most of this day was spent getting to Phoenix, and from there: America’s biggest pothole, the Grand Canyon.
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06/28/06 Mission Beach
We packed half the gear the night before in the motor home, rearranged and packed the rest in the morning, then at the 11th hour bought a 5x8 trailer and relocated the gear into that. Now we have a Jamboree motor home pulling the trailer with Cory’s Pathfinder as a chaser car. The trailer is loaded with gear, and so is everything else – personal comfort is a distant second priority.

At the beach we ran into a few difficulties arriving four hours late and then not getting any audio through the cameras. Regardless, we worked out the kinks and got some great interviews. All of the incredibly hot women walking around didn’t make for a bad backdrop either.