imagine nerds.  now imagine their mecca.  now imagine that large media corporations figured out that if they make things the nerds like, the nerds will spend their money on said items.  now image the large media corporations decided to sponsor extravagant parties in nerd-mecca.

perhaps a tad over simplified, but the small convention for comic book artist, fans, and publishers has grown into an epic “Festival of the Popular Arts,” that features comics, movies, tv shows, games, toys, original art, t-shirts, and cos-play.

this was my 4th year going.  each year I feel like I understand the convention a little more and am able to negotiate the pitfalls a little better.  this time I wasn’t in it for the costumes, games, toys, and comics… My goal was to attend the panels and listen to filmmakers and artists talk about making their work.  Hopefully, I can apply their lessons to my own projects.

next I’m going to write about the different panels and the specific things I found interesting in each…there’s no real “through line” or consistent theme other than these are filmmakers making the sorts of films that I like to watch…and would love to be making.

TRON: Legacy

the first panel I went to was for TRON, in Hall H.  last year, the first day in Hall H was a mad house.  ”Twilight” AND “Avatar” were scheduled that day…and there were many screaming girls (and their mothers) in attendance.  this year, no Twilight meant less girls – although there were a couple NON-comic fans in line near me.  it was their first year at the Con and they were there for “Salt” and “Megamind.”  both of these struck me as odd…especially since “Salt” was opening that week. why wait in line for hours to see a preview of something coming out soon?  but it definitely illustrates that part of the convention’s continued growth is due to it’s more “inclusive” nature.

a couple things stood out about the TRON panel.  the first was the use of audience participation.  part way through the event they had the entire 5000 person crowd do a series of karaoke style shout-alongs that were being recorded FOR the movie.  we said things like “Res-ner,” “Disk wars,” and “De-Res.”  we stomped our feet and cheered…and in between NO ONE misbehaved.  nobody shouted, or whistled, or yelled “freebird.”  everyone played along.  it was really remarkable. by including the crowd in the filmmaking process, they had just made them 5000 fans. people want to feel special. and when they feel special, they tell other people about WHAT made them feel that way. in this case, it was the makers of TRON.

the other thing was something that Jeff Bridges said:

“We need modern myths.”

this really made me think.  after “Star Wars” – what do we have?  ”The Matrix?” anything else?  there is something deep seated and important about myths.  so, how do I tell stories that fulfill the same needs as the “myths of old?”

Green Lantern

Peter Sarsgaard, who plays the villain Hector Hammond in the film, told a story of when the director, Martin Campbell pitched him the roll.  the director told him the story through HIS character’s eyes.

why is this important?  it makes the story REAL for the actor.  it shows them the journey that THEIR character will go on.  making the character more interesting will help get talent.  it’s that simple.  why would a talented, in-demand actor want to be in ______ movie?  there needs to be a hook, and showing them the story as their character would experience it is a good way to do it.

Cowboys & Aliens + Captain America

both films showed rough, unfinished footage.  why do this?  why show something that isn’t 100% perfect?

because it makes the audience feel special (just like with TRON).  letting them see something exclusive sets up fan loyalty.  a core group of committed fans can MAKE a movie even before it is done with production. many would argue that the buzz that the Jon Favreau’s first “Iron Man” earned at Comic Con set it on the early road to success.  personally I can’t wait to see “Cowboys & Aliens” his next flick…and I’ve told numerous people how awesome it looks.

Let Me In

when should a movie be re-imagined? rebooted? that is, when should a film be remade? this question was the “elephant inside the room” at this panel.  after all, the Swedish film “Let The Right One In” has been rated as one of the best movies.  EVER. I’m not sure that the questioned was every really answered, but it was interesting to see the director, Matt Reeves, dance around the question.  without a doubt, he definitely loves the source material (a *gasp* book) AND the Swedish version of the film. with his version of the tale, he is not trying to “one up” or “replace” the first film, rather he seeks to add another interpretation to the source material.

he had several intriguing things to say; for me the most interesting were the notes he received from Spielberg regarding working w/ children.  since one of my leads for “Certified” is a kid, I paid close attention to these.

first off, let them come up with stuff.  no need to feed them everything, let them start with how THEY imagine things.  kids have great imaginations and if you can build off those, it will be a more organic process for them.

second, have them journal AS their characters.  every day they can write about whatever they want, as their characters, only rule is they must share and discus w/ director.  I don’t think this will be necessary for “Certified,” since it’s such a short project, but I’ll keep it in mind for future projects.

while walking around the floor I also had some thoughts regarding my own work, and specifically how I “pitch” it to people.

when people ask me “what sort of films do you make?”  I’ve invariably said “short films and music videos.”

this is a horrible answer.  it’s a conversation ender.  I can talk about my work… and I should.  this happened once at a booth where I was buying a plush toy and later that night I was thinking about it.  I realized that I need to change how I answer that question, so I’ve been working on it.

what sort of films do I make?  I make films that deal with reality and question our perception of it.  my work is a surreal, fantastic, quirky, and often funny take on the human condition.  what does it mean to be a member of society, to be a co-signer of the social contract and how does our perception of reality affect how we do participate in society?  most often I’m working the sci-fi, fantasy, or noir genres.

it still needs a little work, and that might be a little too didactic for some, but it’s a good start.

on my last day at Comic Con, I spent about 9 hours in Hall H. I had the best seats I’ve EVER had…I could actually see the faces of the people on the panels.

here’s a pic of the screen from near my seat.

and then…this GIANT guy sat in front of me. take a look at how much of screen his head blocked out.

ahhh well. C’est la vie.

Or in Klingon, “vetlh ‘oH yIn.”

-Luke

Music & Food.

and maybe not in that order.

on our 2nd day in New Orleans we took the street car up Canal St. it went almost all the way to the Fairgrounds. we didn’t really know where we were going, but we assumed that the massive group of pale, older, folding-chair carrying white people did. we followed the pack the 8 blocks or so and viola! the Fairgrounds and Jazz Fest awaited us.

it was sunny. and hot. and there weren’t many places to sit. we covered ourselves in sunscreen, camped out on the grass and started to watch music.

there are about 8 different venues that were simultaneously showcasing different sorts of music. each stage had it’s own theme (more or less). and each stage allowed for varying levels of intimacy. for example, on the “ACURA” stage, you’d be lucky to make out the performers features…if you could even make out their face. the “Heritage Stage” was one of my favorites of the festival. it featured local New Orleans musicians…and it was small, so I could get up close.

the Paulin Brothers Brass Band

after a couple bands it was time to eat.

crawfish Monica

mango freeze & boiled crawfish

the crawfish was pretty tough to eat. there isn’t much meat in each “fish” and getting it out is tricky. Teal and I eavesdropped on some other “out of towners” who were getting help from a “local.” step one, pull the heads off. step two, suck out the juices from the head. step three, pinch, squeeze and pull out the tail meat with you teeth. not an easy task. by the time we’d finished the 30+ crawfish I felt like I was just starting to get the hang of it… another basket and I think I’d be good.

sweet potato pie

some of the other bands we saw on the first day include:

Coco Ronicheaux and the Swamp Monsters
Groupa – Nordic Folk Collective
Steven Martin and the Steep Canyon Rangers
Tribute to Louis Prima

Teal and I were both pretty tired after the first day…and our feet were even more tired-er. (hehe) so we decided to pick up some of those folding chairs that everyone was lugging around. best $10 spent. EVER.
(make sure to go into the CVS on Canal St. and pick some up if you go.)

the 2nd day was overcast, windy, and just a little humid. after the blazing sun and windless heat of the day before this was a welcome change. being able to unfold our chairs and sit down at a moment’s notice made it all the sweeter.

watching Buckwheat Zydeco

of course, the eating continued…

fried soft shell crab po-boy

pheasant, quail & andouille gumbo

even though we were tired, Teal and I stuck it out to the bitter end. our last stop was the Gospel Tent. there weren’t many people watching the act and we felt a little bad about leaving, but eventually we threw in the towel and headed back to our hotel.

some of the bands we saw that day included:

Hadley J. Castille Family & the Sharecroppers Cajun Band
Forgotten Souls Brass Band
Elvis Perkins in Dearland
Gospel Inspirations of Boutte

along the way we tried to sell our chairs. there were still two more days to the festival and we figured SOMEONE on the street car would have sore feet from standing all day. but no one would bite! it was very curious. we ended up giving them to the front desk clerk at the hotel, hopefully they found a weary festival goer to hookup.

later that evening the whole family ventured into the French Quarter for an ice cream place that Teal had found called la divina gelateria. the night was hot and muggy. people were out and about, it felt like a real city.

one thing I really liked about New Orleans was the coffee. it was good. and it was good at any number of places. even the drip coffee at this little spot was excellent. after tasting numerous varieties of ice cream, we sat outside and enjoyed our treats. I tried to convince the clan to go get some Absinthe with me…but to no avail, so we headed home for some much needed rest.

black coffee & black pepper cherry gelato

our final morning in New Orleans we went back to Café Du Monde. it was just as good as our first visit. along the way we passed an art dealer selling paintings of the DOG that we’d seen all around the city including at Jazz Fest, on a big hotel, in various galleries, and in bus station ads.

rodriquez dog

smoking fish

our last stop before leaving was the famous Central Grocery where we purchased their equally famous “Muffaleta” sandwich…

Dad noms

it was quite a trip. we got to experience all manner of new food and new music. it was really special to try things that if we were back at home we wouldn’t have access to. New Orleans truly is an American gem. I highly recommend going there…and not just for Jazz Fest. there is music and food available on a daily basis there…in fact, it’d be hard to go and there and NOT experience it.

do you have any favorite food or music destinations? I’d love to hear about them!

-Luke

hope everyone had a great 4th of July weekend…it’s crazy to think that this time last year I was experiencing winter in Chile (read it here). this year, my big trip was South again. but instead of South America, I picked the American South. my family and I were going to New Orleans, Louisiana.

New Orleans has been at the top of my “places to go in America” list for many years. the history, the culture, the food, and the music have fascinated me for as long as I can remember. finally, the stars aligned and I was able to plan a trip to not only the city, but the famous Jazz Fest.

our first morning in NOLA we wanted to see the Mississippi…and have coffee and beignets at the world famous Café Du Monde. we walked along the river and looked at the birds, the auto ferry, and the joggers. it’s amazing seeing such an important body of water…it reminded me of seeing the Rhine. so much history in a flat, wide, and not very big river.

a statue by the river

nestled in the shadow of a dike, the café is surrounded by old brick buildings with wrought iron railings. the Café does only two things. and they do them well. normally I try to stay off the beaten path and out of the tourist traps, but I wouldn’t hesitate to go back here. I’d probably have gone here every morning if schedule allowed.

coffee & beignets

a painting in our hotel…just a little bizarre.

Jazz Fest didn’t start until the following day, so we took the street car down St. Charles Ave into the Garden District. this is one of the older residential neighborhoods I’ve ever been in…at least in the States. the area dates back to the 1800’s. it’s amazing to walk past a house and read a sign about how it was built during the Civil War…and it’s still being lived in! thanks to fires and earthquakes there aren’t many places like that in California.

a tomb in the historic Lafayette Cemetery #1

Mom & Dad

Teal checkin’ the interwebz

a house in the Garden District

Third St.

a tower of jasmine

besides the beautiful old homes and 100 year old oak trees, one of the things that I really loved about the Garden District was the smell. it really IS a garden. it is one of the lushest and greenest urban places I’ve ever seen. the entire area was filled with the fragrant smell of blooming plants. I don’t think I’ve ever seen that much Jasmine in my life.

after walking around we’d developed quite an appetite… Teal had a list of notable local restaurants and after some discussion we settled upon Cochon. it’s a haute cuisine take on the local Cajun food that’s savory, rich and spicy.

pork & pickled watermelon

BLTO (the “O” is for Oyster)

dinner was incredible, but this was just the start. Jazz Fest was the following day and it promised not only interesting and eclectic music, but the food that makes New Orleans famous.

-Luke

Happy 2010 y’all. for the last several years I’ve been doing a “Top 10″ list for the year…I don’t limit it to movies or events or projects. It’s an across the board collection of what was most memorable for me.

Here’s the list for 2009. enjoy.

10.) Chris’ “Grapevine Fires” video

My friend Chris, 1/2 of the directing team “Walter Robot” made an amazing video this year. I’m not sure if a music video has ever touched me so emotionally. And it was something that came out of our writer’s group. Pretty awesome to see the process work with such wonderful results.

Watch it here.

9.) Star Trek, District 9, Moon, The Road, and Avatar

What an amazing year for Sci-Fi. From low budget indy to INSANELY high budget blockbusters, each film brought its own unique take and technique to science fiction. And each one of these films I could watch multiple times.

8.) Movie Ink

One Star Wars reference…one Spinal Tap reference. Tattoos are fun.

7.) XBOX 360

It’s been a good 10 years since I played video games…and I gotta say they are pretty awesome. Many fun nights playing with my director friends Lex, Mark, Josh, and Rylan.

Hollar if you want to pwn n00bs on xbox live sometime.

6.) Parents’ Architecture Visit

My Mom and Dad visited in the Spring and we took a multiday tour of Los Angeles architecture, including a impromptu and private tour of the Ennis House and the Eames House, pictured below.

5.) Sing It Loud Music Video

Getting to make a video with a budget was pretty awesome. There were production trucks there, MY production trucks…and I didn’t have to unload them. Having a full crew allowed me to focus on JUST directing…I’ve tasted blood. And I want more.

Read about the production here and watch the video here.

4.) Grindin’

Like many people, this year had its slow periods…but I filled those by writing and working on my own projects. I wrote 2 shorts, 1 feature, and numerous blogs about the filmmaking and creative process. I finished the 3rd season of ‘The Real Luke’ which included a fashion shoot. I directed a Coca-Cola commercial featuring The Real Luke, finished a short I started in college, and made a Super 8 travelogue for my trip to Chile. In December I directed an experimental short…expect that in early 2009.

Additionally I ran the LA chapter of SFSU Alumni and supervised development for a production company, going through over 170 scripts.

This was all done outside of the music videos I directed AND while working 40+ hours a week as an editor. Grindin’.

3.) Working With Teal

Earlier in the year I took stock of what I found most helpful in having an assistant. A big part of it was simply having someone who knew everything I was working on and would check in, encourage, and if need be harass me about the projects.

The person who understands me the best…and knows how to push my buttons the best is definitely my sister. Luckily she was willing to take the job.

2.) Thanksgiving & Christmas Dinners

This year I was fortunate enough to travel back to the Northwest for both Thanksgiving and Christmas. For each holiday, Teal and I did the cooking. It’s a real joy to work in the kitchen with Teal. Her creativity and skill in the culinary arts is something to behold. And feeding my family with delicious food? It doesn’t get much better than that.

1.) Chile Trip aka Chingón Aguilas: 2009

I turned 30 in 2009 and when thinking about my approaching birthday I knew I wanted to do something special. And for me, the best thing I could think of was to go snowboarding..and with a birthday in the middle of summer my options were slightly limited. In the Northern Hemisphere at least. So my friend Will and I traveled to the Andes for a snowboarding and travel adventure. The trip and snowboarding were both amazing. But one thing that really stands out was becoming closer friends with Will. A good trip can do wonders for a friendship and this was no exception.

And now, a special treat – the Super 8 travelogue from the trip. Premiering for the first time right here. Enjoy!

-Luke

A chance to escape the SoCal heat, go snowboarding, and film a Real Luke ad in July??? Yes please!!!

On the flight to Santiago I ended up sitting next to a wild haired, tattooed German guy. His name was Wilhelm Von Schmakënbrau. We talked a lot about art, music, and incidentally snowboarding. Wilhelm is quite the artist. He has exhibited or performed all over the world, from Berlin to Johannesburg, from Mumbai to Tokyo. It’s hard to classify his work, the best I can come up with is Metal Infused Post Deconstructionist Performance Art. But it’s not to hard to describe it, basically he “blows shit up with sound.” It’s pretty badass. He’s pretty vigilant about keeping it strictly PERFORMANCE based and spends hours everyday searching youtube to eliminate any clips of his work that may have popped up. If you could say anything about the Germans, it’s that they are thorough.

After 14 hours in the air and 3 hours going through customs, we’d become pretty good friends. I needed a camera person, so I asked if he’d like to help me with the production. He was a little resistant, it being “commercial” and all, but when I explained the character of The Real Luke – a Post Industrialist Waldenian on a Vision Quest – and that we would be shooting on Super 8, he was hooked.

The shoot went smoothly, and the client notes were surprisingly simple. The only problem was getting a dang copy of the piece. My best guess is that Alessandro, my account rep, left the agency. He’d been mumbling something about a kayak trip in Patagonia. I’ve been scouring the web looking for the video and it finally popped up online. Some dude (well, it’s the internet, so who really knows) posted a bunch of weird beverage ads from South America… and mine is in the mix!

Hopefully I’ll have a pretty quicktime online soon, but until then – click here for the youtube video or watch below!

I sat in our windowsill, read, and drank the complimentary coffee. It was peaceful and relaxing looking out at the mountains and down on the people going about their days. There wasn’t too many people out…probably because it was Sunday.

Eventually we wandered next door to a breakfast type spot and had some brunch. I had a quiche and salad. The salad was sliced tomatoes, avocado, and iceberg lettuce all neatly arranged like the slices of a pie. The tomato and lettuce were pretty gross. Perhaps it’s the wrong season for them? The avo tasted super good on the quiche though. Of course we each had cortados. It had been pretty clear that this was going to win out as the trip’s “Official Beverage.” (narrowly beating out rehd-büll)

We took a walk to a park I’d seen on the free hotel map. We saw a place to hop over the fence and in the spirit of adventure took it. The park didn’t seem to be a normal park, we saw a few clay tennis courts, then a few more, then a gated entrance. Oooooh maybe it’s a private tennis park? We shot a little film of people playing on these brilliant brick red courts w/ the grey Andes looming behind them. Then we sauntered out.

Along the way back I started taking picks of all the footprints, tire tracks, and paw prints in the sidewalks. I’d NEVER seen so many. All around Santiago people just walked through wet cement. They weren’t even writing their names or drawing bad anarchy symbols – they were just wandering through.

Somewhere along this road we also saw a guy trimming his lawn…with hand shears. really?

We got back to the hotel and were a little early for our airport departure…but we didn’t really have enough time to do anything besides check the intertubes and leave. So we did.

The route back to the airport was super easy. No losties.

Along the way, we drove past that section of river w/ all the trash on its banks. And there were multiple soccer games going on next to it. And the people watching the games must have been cold…cause they were burning the trash. Multiple open trash fires in a major city. Hmmm…might have something to do with why the air is so polluted.

We were too early for Delta. We couldn’t check in. The girl told us to come back in a couple hours…not that there were CLOCKS anywhere or anything. sheesh.

So we went to a little cafeteria type place and played some table football. It was a pretty close game. heh. I don’t think I’ve played that game in at least 10 years. It used to be the default thing I’d do whenever I went to a restaurant.

Will ordered a pepsi and a milkshake. They were both pretty gross. I had a glass of water and a beer. The water was totally undrinkable…probably why the other drinks were so foul. The water in our hotel was good…and the water in Farellones was awesome…but not at the airport.

Eventually we could get in line. It was a pretty massive que…since no one could check in early. Thanks Delta. We met a painter named Steve. He split his time between Studio City and Santiago. We chatted about a variety of things. One of the more amusing moments was when we told him about the Chileans complaining about other people’s Spanish. He laughed and said they had it all turned around. THEY spoke bad Spanish. If you wanted to learn it, he recommended Columbia.

Past security we had a pretty sweet meat sandwich and papas fritas meal. Some young American kids came up and talked to us. They noticed us in line with our snowboards and wanted to know about our trip. See – that’s a normal travel sort of experience.

After that we had just enough time to buy some Lucky Strikes and head for the plane. We’d be waking up in Atlanta.

——–

Atlanta was pretty miserable in the morning. Hot, muggy, and we waited in line after line. It took forever to get our bags, then to get through customs, then to get ALL my film and their cardboard boxes individually swabbed for explosives.

One guy did come up to us and ask if we were Pro Skaters. That was kinda cool. The rest of the time we occupied ourselves by planning what scams we could run to get to “Easy Street.” Most involved slipping and falling and then suing “Atlanta” or “Chile.” There were some other ideas…but I’m not posting those on the internets for people to poach!!!!

We were really pushing the time to make our connection…we didn’t do the “Home Alone” run through the airport, but we moved as quick as possible. We didn’t get food, go to the bathroom, have a smoke, or get coffee.

On the escalator up to our gate there was a woman blocking the entire step. I said “excuse me.” She turned and looked and me, then turned around and didn’t move. I said it again.

Then we tried it in: French, Spanish, Italian, German, and Japanese.

That’s SIX languages. She didn’t move.

We got off the escalator and walked quickly past her. I walked a *little* too close and “accidentally” ran over her foot with my rollie bag. Oops.

Will was proud.

Buuuut. We missed our flight. Epic fail Delta. Epic fail.

Well at least I rolled over her foot. And we now had time to get some good ol ‘Merican breakfast; bacon, eggs, and grits!

Delta squeezed us on the next flight. The guy next to me freaked out whenever we hit turbulence.

Soon we were back in 90+ degree Los Angeles, sweating our balls off. It was just a little bit confusing to go to sleep in Winter and wakeup in the middle of Summer.

A cab ride home, a shower, a short rest, then I took Will back to the airport. On the way home I stopped at the Apple store and got a new iPhone.

Bitchin’ Eagle bro. Bitchin’ Eagle.

-Lukw

p.s. Stay tuned for the Super8 film coming soon…I think I finally found a track to use…

I’m not sure when we got up, but it was later than breakfast time. I stumbled down to the bar and ordered a cortado, some empanadas, and then waited for the intertubes.

The plan for the day was fairly loose. In the guidebook there was a downtown walking tour mapped out. I modified it a bit so we wouldn’t have to change subway lines. We packed up, grabbed the super 8, and headed towards the nearest subway station.

It was a bit of a walk. The subway didn’t really run out in our direction. If I ever go to Santiago again I’m not going to stay in Vitacura. It was like we were staying in Beverly Hills. A couple blocks away from our hotel was a street w/ expensive boutiques. The house and apartments were all really nice. The whole area was pretty new. Too far away from the action.

It makes me wonder about the girl that recommended this area…I wonder what she’s like?

Anyhoo, as we walked we stopped to film a fountain and some street performers. We got a snack at a “Big John’s” convenience store. My small bottle of coke was like 30 cents. See! This is what I’d been missing. At the ski area everything was basically “American” prices. It must have been pretty expensive for regular Chileans.

The subway was pretty easy to figure out. Get your tickets at the window. Feed the ticket into the machine (kinda like in Japan). Stand on the platform and wait. One side went downtown, the other went…um…not downtown. The cars were clean and bright. As we got further towards the city center the car filled up, but never to an insane amount. It was a Saturday after all.

We exited the subway and stepped out into the low evening light. I LOVE winter evenings downtown. The yellow glow shooting between buildings, the erie grey of the shadows, the crisp air.

This area was old. I mean, the city has existed since 1541. (holy crap) I just looked that up. Wow, I was guessing 1700’s. The buildings had that solid rock look with ornate cravings that you could imagine a craftsman working on.

I started us walking in the correct direction and we started to wander. If we saw a street that looked interesting we went down it. We stumbled upon a major walking street full of shops, vendors, performers and people.

And not only that…it had…the very first…public…CLOCKS. And more than one! (wait for the film…)

We passed several different young ladies singing to pretty large crowds. I think they were selling CDs too. And they had their own gas generators to power their PA’s.

Will bought a churro…I warned him against it. Who knows when they last changed that fry oil? Apparently it was delicious…and he paid for it later.

As we headed North towards the river we entered a slightly seedier part of town. It was interesting how quickly that became apparent. It wasn’t dangerous, but the character of the area changed. Then in front of us we noticed an elevator up a hillside. Yeah…an elevator up a hill.

People were going up it, and we decided to join it. It looked like it might lead to a park or something…if my memory of the guide book served me correctly.

It did. The elevator opened up to this strange mix of a garden, park, and castle. It was pretty amazing…and the views were out of this world.

We were wandering around at the top, taking pictures, trying not to stare at the couples making out when the first Chileans talked to us. It was two young guys, probably in their late teens or early 20’s. We talked about why were were in Chile (snowboarding), how beautiful Chile was, and then they tried to sell us drugs.

At least I thought they did. Will thought they were only making conversation about how cheap and awesome Chilean Joints were.

I think they are selling ice cream?

This hill top is called Santa Lucía Hill.

(click for bigger pans)

By the time we made it down the hill it was night. We walked down the nearest largest street to get our barring and just happened to come across the subway stop we needed. But we were both wicked hungry and decided to look for something to eat downtown.

We ended up at what can best be described as a Chilean Greasy Spoon. It was a little tiny diner. As you walked in there were cubes on either side. To the right was the chef’s area, to the left was the cashier’s. Then in the back 20 or so seats were crammed in a strange mix of tables, booths, and counters.

The proprietor was very friendly. He spoke to us in English and asked us about our trip and what sort of food we liked.

“Carne y queso” was Will’s response. The man laughed.

We both ordered the “Lo Pobre”…Will with steak, me with Chicken. It’s a grilled piece of meat, topped w/ a fried egg, and served with fries. A pretty dang good meal. Will had a Coke (which are as good as “Mexican” coke) and I had a Chilean beer that I’d tried at La Parva.

The food was awesome. We headed back towards our hotel full and happy.

After naps we headed out. It was almost 2am…but people were out until at least 4:30 last time, so we should be good right?

We took a cab to a new area, one that seemed to have more bars. The first place we went to – totally empty.

So we walked to place number 2. Along the way we stopped at Dunkin’ Donuts for a snack. And there were NO donuts.

No donuts in a Dunkin’ Donuts. WHERE WERE WE, CRAZZZZY TOWN?!?

The club area was pretty cool. 4 or 5 places in one little courtyard. We sat down in an outdoor area and ordered some nachos. Will got a redbull and I tried to order a redbull and vodka.

Backstory on redbull. If you order a “redbull” you get a blank look back. They have NO idea what you are talking about – even if you point at the redbull fridge. This happened multiple times to us. So we’d learned to pronounce it “rehd-büll.”

I shit you not. “Redbull” nothing. “Rehd-büll” prompt drink delivery.

So here I ordered a “Rehd-büll con vodka.” Nothing.

I said “Rehd-büll” and the guy nodded. I said “con vodka” and I got a blank expression.

The waiter motioned to hold-on and he went and got a woman. She said to me in broken English “I’m sorry, but we don’t have Vermouth.”

uh what? Will and I looked at each other with a WTF expression.

I repeated myself “Rehd-büll con vodka” and she said “ooooh vawd-ca.”

yeah, seriously.

It was like no one had ever ordered this drink before. Between the two of us, we’d probably had this drink in 6 or 7 countries. But in Chile, they were completely confused by it. And they had other redbull + ___ drinks on their menu.

After our drinks and snack we headed to another club for more libations. But they just had last call. It was barely after 3am. Oh well. The whole night was pretty much a bust, but at least we tried.

We headed back to the hotel…tomorrow we’d be leaving for the US.

On the evening of the 10th we were in a bar and the locals learned it was my birthday. They spontaneously broke out singing “Happy Birthday.” It was a special moment.

In Chile I was greeted by Clara and Jessica with wishes of felix cumpleaños, hugs and kisses. Then Clara brought me out a piece of cake with a candle and sung “Happy Birthday” to me in Spanish. Outside of being home with my family, I’m not sure I could think of a better birthday breakfast.

We packed up our things and then went out to get a few Real Luke pickup shots. I’d thought about the shoot that night and realized I wanted to do a couple things differently. The light was a little different, but for the shot needed it wouldn’t be too much of a problem.

Then we said our good byes. “Estoy triste” Clara told us as we prepared to leave. We were sad too. It’d been a great week with this wonderful ladies.

The drive down was pretty chill. Well, as chill as it could be with the hairpin turns, lack of guard rails, and Chileans coming up for the weekend with a loose concept of “lanes.” Pretty much guaranteed if we encountered a car coming up hill – it would be in our lane.

The is a great example of how steep the road was. See those three roads that look like they are RIGHT below us? Those are parts of the same road we are on…yeah.

In some ways it reminds me of the roads to ski areas in the Los Angeles area…cacti along the road.

We stopped at the bottom of the hill and gassed up. Then unsuccessfully looked for any thing that said “Ski Farellones,” or “La Parva, El Colorado, or Valle Nevado.” Where was all the tourist crap???

One of the places we looked was called Mall Sport. It was a giant mega mall that had a shop for every outdoor activity. And that’s not hyperbole. They had shops for everything from boating to knives to skateboarding to golf. And they had many facilities to try out the various gear…as the pictures below will attest to.

We left there and headed towards Santiago. The google directions we downloaded seemed fairly straight forward…but we were soon to learn that what google said and what the SIGN said were not always the same thing.

Our first problem came when we passed our exit. It was supposed to be “Americo Vespucio,” but the sign only said “Vespucio.” Was that the same road? We saw signs for other “Vespucios” further down the highway, so weren’t sure if we’d gone far enough. The road signs listed another one at “19.” Was that in 19 KM or was that exit 19? We continued down the highway figuring it would be easy enough to turn around if that next exit was the one.

It wasn’t that easy.

We got off the freeway and there was no clear way back on. Plus it was one of those spots where multiple freeways were crossing – so I feared that even if we got back on the freeway, we might get on the wrong one. Which would only compound our problem.

This ended up not being an immediate problem since we couldn’t get on ANY freeway. We drove down the street through a lower class residential area. There were a lot of people out walking around and going to a park that bordered the freeway. There were the requisite dogs…and even some horses. After about 6 blocks we realized we took a wrong turn and flipped it around.

Somehow we made it into a slightly more commercial area and seemed to be heading away from the road. Will suggested we turn back around. I agreed. We were pretty sure we were above the freeway…but were unsure if it was the correct one.

We turned around and saw an on-ramp. We took it. As we drove up towards the freeway we finally saw a sign. It was the right road, Corso Norte!!! High fives all around.

When we exited Vespucio we headed the wrong way. Getting off the freeway and onto the correct road THAT THE EXIT WAS FOR required a u-turn and 4 other merges or turns. We ended up going the wrong way. The options would be labeled north/south at the first turn…but not at the 2nd…by the 4th we were completely turned around.

As went over a giant hill and away from the river I realized we were going the wrong way. Again.

We took the first exit and Will quickly realized that the there was NO on ramp the opposite way. As we got BACK on the freeway going to wrong way (it was at least on purpose this time). I figured that the signage of the exit w/ an “X” on one side must have something to do w/ the availability, or lack there of, of onramps to the freeway.

On the US State Department website it says something like “traffic signs in Chile differ from those in the USA.” But is there a list of these signs? No. Does my guidebook have them? No. Am I the first person to get lost in Chile??? I’m gonna take a wild guess and say “no.”

Finally we were on the correct road, going to correct direction. In no time at all we were at our hotel, checked in, and relaxing in the nice, clock free room.

However, the LOBBY of the hotel did have the only clock we’d seen up until that point.

Our batteries recharged we headed out. Both Will and I liked to walk around new cities, so that is what we did. It was a beautiful winter day in JULY. The light was golden and low. The air was crisp and cool. We headed towards the city in search of some food and cortados.

Along the way we stopped to film some motorcycle delivery drivers. There were a TON of them and they fascinated me. They were basically riding dirt bikes and about 50% them were wearing slip-on loafers.

We grabbed a quick snack of chips from a street vendor. We never saw any “real” street food…lots of carts selling stuff, but it was all packaged goods. Probably for the best…at least as far as our stomachs were concerned.

As we sat on the ledge of a fountain and ate our chips, a young man was giving a woman a Tarot card reading on the other side. I never saw anyone beggining for money in Chile…but there were LOTS of people performing and entertaining out on the street. You’ll see the performers and delivery drivers in the film…coming soon(ish).

After coffee we met some friendly streets dogs. There were a group of 4 of them that we found in a park. We played with them a bit and they seemed to love the attention. Keep in mind, we were basically DOWNTOWN. High rises around us and these random dogs, just hanging out. They weren’t mangy or dirty. They weren’t thin or hungry looking. They were friendly and smart. They’d wait for traffic signals to change – and would watch us to see when we would start across the street.

They walked with us basically all the way to our hotel…and that was a good mile away.

Naps were followed by a trip to an alright restaurant for dinner. It was basically the same sort of food that we had at La Parva. It was tasty, but nothing really out of the ordinary. We went back to the hotel and rested up for our night out. I had a recommendation from a Chilean who lived in the US of a fun bar/restaurant.

The cab we got into didn’t have seatbelts…or a working first gear. The driver would make turns from the middle lane. It was pretty awesome.

El Barril was the spot. It was super packed and seemed to be in a transition from dinner to bar. There was a band playing that oscillated from Mariachi music to Karaoke, to Rock-a-billy covers. It was a little odd…but the people there were LOVING IT.

The drinks were strong. You could smoke. But no girls would make eye contact with us. Rare for Will and I…and especially rare when traveling. Two white guys with mustaches and tattoos. We obviously weren’t from there and usually that works in our favor. But apparently, not in Chile. Never did figure that one out.

Neverless, we stayed until 4am. We talked about life, snowboarding, BS…just a good hangout. It’s nice when you are traveling with someone and on Day 7 you still have things to chat about. That wouldn’t be possible with everyone…

We grabbed a cab back to Hotel and after some myspace/facebooking we crashed.

A full day in Santiago lay ahead of us.

It was nice knowing the area a little bit. We knew our way around enough to head straight for the goods.

They only had trail maps at Valle Nevado…for El Colorado and La Parva we had to rely on boards like this.

I was figuring out when to film…and getting better about metering correctly. Next time I’m going to pack a roll of ASA 25 too. Or get a ND filter. Or both.

We lunched at the same patio as our last time at La Parva. As we walked up we ran into Sebastian (our ride that day). He asked if we could meet at 5:30 instead of 5pm. That was fine by us. All the more time to ride. It was nice interacting with someone who spoke enough English to have a conversation.

After lunch we headed to Valle Nevado. We rode down to the base of the backside and discovered a HUGE lift-line. There was cat-track that went up towards the main ski area and a fair amount of people hiking up it. According to the trail map it was about a 100 meter rise…I figured that we could do it in about a half-hour. The line looked like it would take at least that long. So we decided to walk…at least we’d be moving. About 2/3 of the way up a snowmobile pulled up. He whipped around and talked to us in Spanish about getting a ride. There was two other kids, one of them hopped on the back and the other three of us grabbed onto a tow rope. The order was kid, me, and at the end Will. As we started forward I had doubts if the kid could make it all the way up. He was bent over and barely tracking forward. It wasn’t moments before he started wobbling left/right – like he was getting speed wobbles on a skateboard.

Now this rope wasn’t very long. The distance between the tail of his board and the nose of mine was probably about 18 inches. So when he crashed, I immediately ran into…er…over him.

He caught his front edge and went down in a flash. And there’s a good chance I ran over his head.

Will hung onto the rope and swerved around the carnage. A few meters up the hill the driver realized he’d lost his passengers.

The kid was shaken, but wasn’t bleeding. I asked if he was ok, and he said “yes.” But, he didn’t get up right away so he must have been hurting.

We regrouped and teed up again. This time – we had him get on the end of the rope. If he crashed again it wouldn’t take us all out. In no time at all we were at the top of the hill – ready to ride Valle.

There were a LOT more people here than any day previous. It was kind of a shocker having to stand in lift-lines…but nothing worse than a weekend at Mammoth. In the first line we heard someone yell, in English:

“What up Gangstas!?!? Seattle in the house!”

Heh. We saw a dude throwing up his arms as he got on the chair. I had no idea who he was. Will thought maybe he talked with him a couple days ago in the lodge.

We rode the chair up with a couple Brazilians from San Paulo. One of them had just started snowboarding. The other had been at it a while and had actually lived in Vancouver, BC. He’d been to LA recently too which was kind of cool. When we told him where we were from he mentioned that he’d heard about us from his friend. I guess we rode the chair with him at La Parva? I dunno. Apparently there aren’t too many guys from Seattle riding Tres Valles that week.

Once the light started to fall we broke the Super 8 camera out. We got some good follow runs and a couple hits on film. The jumps were pretty awesome…but the landings were pretty beat. None of them were really steep enough and since they were super packed down – it made sticking the airs a little harder. We rode hard and fast until the end of the day.

As we headed back to La Parva, Ski Patrol was putting up ropes. We were afraid he wasn’t going to let us across – but he did. There was a little bit of walking on the trail back over…not too stoked on that. It’s funny cause the guide book talked about “expert skiers” enjoying the interconnections…but really they were just cat-tracks. And this one wasn’t even down hill.

The light was really starting to fall now. Some of the lifts had already shut down. We took an outer run that we’d done on our last visit here. It was a fun ride down. Even though we couldn’t see too well in the dusk – the grooming at La Parva is so good that we just loosened up our legs and flowed over the terrain. Of course we jamming past some locals on the way.

Riding down to the lodge it really felt like we were the last people on the hill. No one was going up the lifts and no one was coming down. The view was incredible and it felt great knowing that we’d made the most of our last day riding in Chile.

At lodge we relaxed and had a couple of cortados. There were several people on laptops hanging out – naturally they were on facebook.

Sebastian was a little late. We were getting ready to hitch-hike back to Farellones when he walked up. I asked if he wanted to have a beer and he said “why not?” So Sebastian, his friend Francisco, Will and I hung out and chatted. There were both interesting fellows and it was clear they’d know each other for a long time. Sebastian coached skiing and for 10 years had lived the endless winter. Traveling from Europe to Chile and back again. He’d lived in Spain, France, and Italy. Now he runs a kayak guide business in the south of Chile during the “off season.” He was pretty excited to get to experience summers again. Francisco was a pro skier for Atomic.

They asked what we did for work. I told them I was a filmmaker and editor. Will responded that he was a drummer in a metal band. Sebastian remarked to his friend, “son artistas.” That was kind of cool to hear. I guess since my peer group is almost ALL artists I forget that most people do other sorts of work.

That night Jessica made me a birthday dinner. I was truly touched. She not only made a special meal for me, but she had remembered that Friday was my birthday. I’d mentioned it to her in my broken Spanish right after we met…and originally we weren’t going to be staying until my birthday – but our plans changed and she remembered. That’s really emblematic of how welcoming she and Clara were. During our entire visit we felt completely at home. It was like staying with extended family…not what I’d expect in a lodge or hotel – but it really made the experience incredible.

After dinner we walked up La Capilla to Sebastian’s place. He’d invited us over for a BBQ he was having. We got there and the guys were out on the deck, drinking, smoking and talking. They told us to come up to the 2nd floor. The house they were in was really old. Lots of stone, exposed wood, and a strange staircase. We weren’t really sure when one floor ended and the other began – and we weren’t sure if they used European floor numbering or American. Was the ground floor 1 or 0?

Needless to say we walked into the wrong apartment. There was a kid in there who starred at us as he talked on the phone. He didn’t say anything. Only a little odd…

Everyone was super friendly at the BBQ. There were some ski-bum types, a lawyer, a mining engineer, a girl who’d lived in Tahoe, and a French Canadian. And there was meat. A never ending parade of meat whet onto the BBQ – which they cooked with ACTUAL logs. There were making their own coals on the spot. One side of the grill had wood burning and once it became coals they pushed it to the other side under the meat. Very cool.

There was a a fair amount to drink. Coca Cola, Johnny Walker, and this “Troll” beer that a friend of Sebastian’s makes somewhere in the south of Chile.

It was funny listening to the Chileans complaining about other people’s Spanish…Puerto Ricans and Mexicans mostly. That was about all that I could pick up from their Spanish conversations. Luckily for us, a few of them spoke English and chatted with us.

I’m not really sure what time we left…no clocks anywhere of course. It was late, but they were still going strong.

Tomorrow morning we’d be leaving for Santiago.

moonset

After breakfast and a few cups of coffee I grabbed the Super 8 camera and set out to record some B-roll. I wanted to get out before the light was to bright and high in the sky. I took with me a roll of ASA 50 and one of ASA 250. As I walked around the sleepy mountain village I shot houses, dogs, hitch hikers and vistas. It was still a bit of a mystery how the footage would turn out, but I felt like I was exposing it better.

Back at Lomas we hung out by the fire. Surfed the intertubes, stretched, etc. Laura and Paulo showed up with a bunch of groceries and more wood for the fire. After unloading the food, Clara walked over to the fireplace and threw ALL the plastic bags into the fire…right in front of us.

The pollution in Santiago was making a bit more sense. In fact, the air in the Farellones was often thick with pollution…I remember a Toyota Yaris driving by and its exhaust being so brutal that it took the air out of my lungs. This is a car that in the US is super clean and super efficient. But here in Chile…things were different.

One of the dogs that “didn’t” belong to Clara…this one she called “Negras.”

For lunch we went to a Pizza shop / Bar that we’d tried to visit a few nights before. The food was good and the people were friendly. We noticed that BELOW the restaurant was another lift of El Colorado – plus a snowboard park and boardercross course. We debated going there for an afternoon session, but after looking at it for a while realized that the park wasn’t actually open. So it wasn’t really worth it.

After lunch we tried in vein to find some souvenirs. It didn’t seem like anywhere had a “Ski Farellones” t-shirt or a “La Parva” headband. The very idea of such seemed strange to them when we asked. It was odd especially since I saw stickers on cars from US ski resorts and people wearing hats from places like “Alpine Meadows.” I guess they didn’t do “logo” apparel here.

The “cloudy” area in the distance is really the smog covering Santiago.

Another napping dog…he had the right idea. We went back to the lodge and crashed out.

We got up just as the light was getting really good. I put on my Real Luke clothes and grabbed the Super 8 and the black and white film I brought. Will filmed me acting out a little spot…I’m going to keep WHAT exactly I was filming a surprise. But rest assured, you’ll see it soon.

Dinner was nice and hearty. We had a cheesy, eggy, meaty souffle sort of thing. And a meringue pudding desert.

We went back to the bar, Las Montañas…this time it was open – but oh, so empty. I think the only other people there were dudes our age. *sigh* I had another Pisco Sour – this one was made completely different. It was a blended version of the drink I had before. It wasn’t bad, but I think I prefer my whiskey sours.

Tomorrow we’d be going pack to La Parva and maybe doing an interconnection to Valle Nevado…