This video is a new version of the last few weeks of video. I’ll head back to California soon. I guess I’m tired of going Kerouac on your ass…

Much of Memphis can not be filmed, but I’m on an illusive hunt for an Al Green interview. I’ve been playing tag with these people for weeks. Send me your positive vibes…

L&P,
MM

After my first formal interview in old New Amsterdam, I realized that my personal theological beliefs probably closely align with the Unitarian Universalists. Not only do they believe that all religions enjoy facets of the truth, one of their major modern theologians presented the same dichotomy as I: Love vs. Fear. Wow. When I learned of the generalities of Unitarianism a few months ago from a minister who was a friend of a friend (whose interview will be in the doc) I was amazed that so many of their planks were the same wood as I used to construct my theological shelter. Now I learned Melville attended this church? What? As one of the All Souls NYC parishoners stated when I explained my experience, “Perhaps you were always a Unitarian Universalist and you didn’t know it.” Their perspective of acceptance and freedom seems the most “American” of all religious groups I contacted as of yet. I guess it makes sense…they are the most sensitive Pilgrim offshoot.

I returned to Queens, met with Rusty (who spent the afternoon resting off his hangover with his lady companion and Nancy Drew on DVD) and received a call from Clare’s friend Jenny. She was seeing Step brothers and invited me to join. I decided to see it again opening weekend to support a movie I would like to make. Rusty and I got there at 4:20, the time Jenny suggested. I bought tickets while Rusty ran to Duane Reed for candy, and we saved seats…until 4:40, the start of the show. I’m pretty sure Jenny walked in about 2 minutes after I gave the seats to the two foreign blondes. They were not that cute, but I expected I was being stood up, which is probably my biggest pet peeve. When Jenny walked down the aisle with her boyfriend or dating dude or whatever, I put on my hat and sat low. She either didn’t see me, or didn’t recognize me, or ignored me, but from my perspective my ninja skills once again saved the day- until those blonde foreigners gabbed repeatedly during the picture. I know, ladies, his hair is gross. It’s called a visual joke. Justice always exacts itself.

Rusty and I walked from 80th down Lex to 59th to catch the train since it was a beautiful day in a nontraditional sense. The cloud cover was just dense enough that it appeared to be magic hour. There was barely even a shadow underfoot. We admired the female sights along the way. I always enjoy the fact that men can like such different things in women. Thank goodness. We have to keep this world spinning somehow. When we made it to Queens on the elevated French Connection style tracks, you could see the clouds were like curling ribbons of darkness above the city. By the time we arrived at the Bohemian beer garden they had dissipated, though other beauties appeared on the horizon. Rusty noticed my penchant for doll-faced, big eyed girls, and a table away from ours sat a brunette one complete with pointy face and over exaggerated mammaries. Audrey said she called her first, and I said I saw her before we even entered the garden. She and her 8 female family members (I assume they were all family. They had that air.) intimidated the shit out of me, as they just started turning back and looking at me if I ever sought a glance at her. Now I am not a wuss, I saw it as a personal challenge to overcome any fear of the fair gender while on this trip, but my bravery sat in the back seat. I have approached a table of women to talk to one, and done so directly with success. But stepping up to a table of 8 Eastern European women who were already aware of me and giving me bad vibes seemed, well, like forgetting your soap on a rope when you’re heading to County. Why? Is she going to decide to marry me and come across the country with me? As I said to Rusty on my way out, “I already had a pretend relationship with a girl like that who lived 400 miles away- I don’t need to do it with a girl 3000 miles away.” The group of women followed us out, and were taking a picture in front while I lit a cigarette. Rusty took the initiative and offered to take the picture, well, he offered for me to take the picture since I am a “professional.” The girl with the camera was all attitude, and made me take it four time because of where I was framing their feet. I think that in their native language (Serbian?) they were making fun of me for being a Macedonian or something…

Rusty and I stayed up most of the night talking, and got up around ten for a breakfast of egg and bean tacos. Marvelous treats, indeed. We set the kitchen alarm and I interviewed him for the documentary. I wish we had more time, but I had to catch a flight in Newark. Destination: Memphis.

When I touched down for a short Atlanta layover, I received a message from Clare, who was my primary Memphis contact. She had spent the weekend in San Diego at Comicon to promote her new movie The Graves, and she missed her flight back to the Mid-south. I was a bit worried, because it seemed that my accomodations were also in question. I asked her if I should just try to change my ticket to go straight to the West coast, and she asked me if the tone of her voice seemed like I should. I bought a sandwich to eat before the flight, and they took the order incorrectly. Atlanta- I have to remember to watch out for Atlanta.

It was my first time in Memphis, and Clare’s old roommate Ruth picked me up from the airport. I finally visited the Memphis Pizza Kitchen, where Clare, Ruth, and other members of the contingent work(ed) for years. I told Ruth after hearing about it for so long it was like I was visiting Avalon or something. Over beers I explained the Eternal Love Revolution, and people seemed generally interested. I was told of a church that has a replica of the Statue of Liberty holding a cross and bible. Wow. I think I’ll get some interesting stuff here.

My friend, attorney, and cohort Amanda stated without maliciousness upon my departure that I was not prepared. She was absolutely correct. Though I downgraded this journey from mission to LRRP (long range reconnaissance patrols that special forces ran in North Vietnam), I did not prepare or train hard enough for this process. Loving people all the time demands much energy. Often that focus needs to be adjusted, because Love includes so many disparate feelings and behaviors. There is a huge chasm between Agape and Eros. I know that if I want to continue this journey in the future I must train my mind/body to another level of fitness and discipline, or I will lose focus and waste time…again. I must prepare intensely for this process.

For some reason sleep eludes me in the New York, New York. I guess those (now) cliche lyrics are correct, but no one has ever accused me of being much of a sleeper. Street noise and city heat kept me awake until Robin closed the doors and switched on the AC at 5 am. Somehow I forgot to activate
my phone alarm, and anwoke about 20 minutes before my call time in Manhattan. I hate being late, though that practice continues to annex my New York state of mind. I grabbed a towncar when I entered Manhattan, but it would have been quicker to switch to the A train at Jay St/Burough Hall in Brooklyn. You live and learn and pay for your mistakes along the way. At least the towncar guy said I tipped him too much and gave me back some cash.

Alden, one of Colin’s tight buddies, hooked me up with the gig. Colin, an LA collaborator and one of the first people at Sundance I talked with about actualizing this project, was hopping around the East and Midwest doing jobs and visiting family. I missed him during his 6 hour NYC sojourn, but I always seem to miss Colin though I love him so. Back from the tanget: the make-up was over an hour and a
half late, so my 45 minutes appeared measely. The stressed photographer barely bleated a hello (he apologized for this later), so I went to town introducing myself to other crew members, and especially enjoyed the three female stylists before Alden showed and we got to work. We loaded Alden’s truck and busted around town doing pickups in his Tundra full-sized pickup. My first question: how do you like this truck these days? His answer: It can tow anything but it sucks in the city. Driving around we grabbed more lights, a genny, and some Chipotle burritos in an awesome double parking maneuver on 4th Ave. Alden used to be a competitive climber, so we talked that for a bit (I barley got to go in the last 6 months and Alden says the only NYC climbing gym is 30 grand a year!), and then how the city lifestyle is treating him since one of my friends may want me to move out here if his pilot gets booked into the fall ABC schedule. New York seems like an expensive, dense Los Angeles with better public transport and way shittier weather. He does recommend everyone gives it a shot for at least 3 years…I don’t know…maybe…

We caught up with the rest of the crew, and I jumped in the van with the stylists and hair. We joked and chatted our way across the Washington Bridge and got to the New Jersey Palisades, which are quite majestic, though we shot almost entirely in an old public toilet that resembles a castle. It was classic behind the clock, run and gun photography. I did suggest one shot that got used, so that’s good. On our way back to the city we took some wrong turns, and I didn’t get back to Brooklyn around 10, which was okay since I was too tired to do anything except watch a movie: Stepbrothers. That, of course, got me totally amped and I stayed up writing on my new SF concept until 3 am.

In the morning Robin made Josh and I breakfast, we cleaned the kitchen, and I ran to the bank to deposit my pay before jumping on the subway to catch up with Rusty in Chelsea. Rusty is a friend from high school who has been building his career as an illustrator for the last few years. Let it be known that he is also one of the kindest, most generous people on the planet. Also an exemplary house guest, I often think to myself when staying at other’s homes “What Would Rusty Zimmerman Do?” The answer is often the dishes, or cleaning something else that needs it. I wanted to offer him the most service possible, especially since he was having his first opening in Chelsea. I helped a bit, but not as much as I would have liked. I worked the bar for the night, and basically chatted my tongue off with a couple of Bellarmine alums who were in town. I then got to talk with the artist sharing the opening with Rusty, and she had actually done her thesis on unconditional love and the Song of Songs. I really want to interview her, and am hoping to shoehorn it in before I leave for Memphis. We’ll see…

I’m not getting as much done here for the movie as I would like, but so it goes people. I have a formal interview scheduled before I leave.

L&P,
MM

After a raucous arrival night hanging out with my friend Shannon and her totally awesome boyfriend Dagan, I took the morning a little slow month before hitting the street: Wall Street. I’ve never been so intimidated in my life. I took some pretty decent pictures of Federal hall, and enough of the NYSE to make a nice composite, but I got a little hesitent about asking my intended targets, the traders and whatnot, to interview. Maybe it was the highly symbolic, threatening architecture. Maybe it was the trader’s near military mission focus and stride. Maybe it was the cops with attack dogs and AR-15s. Yeah, definitely the cops. I decided I would need a permit if I were to attempt this, or I would be leaving NYC minus some too valuable equipment or money. I’ll be back to shoot you later, traders.

I decided to walk up to ground zero, which was, well, an underwhelming experience. I expected it to have that feel of tragedy that places can acquire. It didn’t…for me anyways. It probably is due to all the construction. In one way or another it nullifies the destruction, I guess. You can’t mourn forever, and the energy of the space owes more to the dogged perseverance and resilience of New Yorkers and America. That’s the whole point of our new Freedom Tower, right?

On my way back down to Wall Street I walked past Trinity Wall Street, which is a historical Episcopalian church in the heart of the Financial district at the end of Wall Street. I luckily ran into the Pastor as he was walking into the church. We talked for a minute, and he seems interested in taking part in the documentary, though he may not have time during this trip to NYC. I guess we shall see. They do a lot of charity work, and service is definitely a growing theme of the piece.

I spent the night with my friends Josh and Robin who just moved to Brooklyn. They made delicious tacos. Robin’s friend Rebecca showed up which I was totally not expecting since the last time I talked to her she was further upstate. She has been working at Esalen in Big Sur, which is a retreat center where a lot of people take time to develop spiritually. I ought to have taken the opportunity interview her here, but I would prefer to do it at Esalen, and she will return there in a few weeks, so maybe I can make that happen. We spent a few hours on the roof discussing American foreign policy and various conspiracy theories. Two of my favorite all time topics…good times were had indeed.

This is one crazy city…I don’t have the swing of it, but I seem to adapt to it quickly. I got the offer to work a job as a photo assistant, and decided to take it. Funny how things like that work. It will probably get me pretty close to even on my ridiculo first day expenditures. Now I’m taking the Subway like a professional New Yorker. Adaptability is my favorite aspect of the living.

L&P,
Mark Maccora

I’m riding this great bus from Boston to NYC. It’s called the Bolt, and frankly, it rocks! We’re talking comfortable seats with power outlets and wifi! It’s $18, and if you buy in advance, supposedly you can pay as little as $1! Crazy! Check it out if you’re on the East Coast!

Some more great news: my essay on bicycling our way to heaven was picked to be a possible published essay in “How to achieve a Heaven on Earth.” I’m pretty excited. I get a $1000 honorarium, and perhaps will be on pages alongside Pulitzer Prize winners and the biggest of all intellectual dogs, the G.W. himself. Can I request the opposite page? PLEASE!?!

One of the developments I did not expect with this trip was how much people in my life missed me and wanted to spend time with me. I certainly missed them as well, but life gets so hectic in LA that missing anything is a chore! I’m glad I spent this time to see them.

I feel so recharged, though this last week in Boston taught me that my physical fitness is even more important to my spirits than I knew! I felt a little cranial slow, and while that may have been from the immense amount of drinking I did I Ohio (I never realized how much booze affects brain function until this trip), at the end of the Ohio portion I felt on it! While this may be due to sleep deprivation or my comfort levels increasing, I think it had to do more with me working out almost every morning I was there. The sleep deprivation generally hits me hard the next few days, and I definitely felt far more introverted when I arrived in Boston. I may have just shut down a bit when I started to hang out with my brother and his friend Jordan since they are 24/7 on the disparaging comedy tip, and it always takes me a minute to catch up with Jeff’s Shaolin thousand tongue slap technique.

I definitely didn’t get to photograph as much of Boston as I would have liked, and have barely done any of the nature photography I wanted to do on this trip. Wow. That’s, like, really lame. Though, honestly, I doubt a lot of that would be able to make the cut for the short. If you make a short longer than 20 minutes, it becomes very difficult to program into a festival. In fact, twenty minutes may be very difficult. However long the “short” ends up, it’s going to be some dense business, especially visually. I’ll probably use most of the honorarium to survive while I edit and do vfx. This thing is going be a bit crazy, people.

I think my plan is to head to Memphis next, which will cut the trip short a bit geographically, but ought to fit well into my new plan of multiple national crossings. I need some unexplored areas, and a lot of the people I’ve been trying to get a hold of in DC have been unresponsive. It’s pretty much vacation time everywhere in the Northern Hemisphere…

L&P,
Mark Maccora

So I finally finished a video that shows parts of the Ohio & Massachusetts segments of the trip. I hope you enjoy it. It’s a bit long for internet content, but it could easily have been 20 minutes.

I was talking with my Dad the other day, and after reviewing the blog, he suggested I extend the process before attempting to complete the feature. That the 40 day limitation was a hinderance. I could get a lot of great information if I took a break, earned more money, planned further, and went out to shoot more every couple of months for the next year. He also said this was the best thing I had written since a short SF mystery I wrote in high school. With my new “accept all suggestions” strategy, for the first time I actually decided to entertain my Father’s advice instead of rejecting it immediately. After considering, I balanced one of my most intense desires for this project (to get into Sundance 2009 to avoid anyone beating me to the proverbial fisticuffs) and the reality of my situation I long denied (I lacked the resources to produce this feature, even on the minimal scale to which I chose to resort). So I came up with this compromise. I will edit the first section of the trip into a short to submit to Sundance. Then I will continue with planning, save up more money, gather financing, and plan to do the process the right way in the next couple months. One of the things I like about this concept is that it does make the process much more “On the Road.”

What do you think of this plan, loyal readers? Leave me some comments or drop me an email.

L&P,
Mark Maccora

I’ve definitely gotten a lot of great footage here in Boston the last couple of days. I interviewed Lizzy Dann, the outreach coordinator of the Muslim American Society in Somerville. She converted to Islam post-911. Her brother’s conversion a number of years earlier introduced her to a gentle version of Islam in opposition to what she saw in Osama bin Laden, and she wished to discover which of the two was anomalous. She found the theology to be clear and simple, and perfect for her after becoming disenchanted with her childhood Christianity.

Lizzy Dann, outreach coordinator for MAS Boston.

I’ve been going to gigs with my brother, which has been fun since I rarely get to see him perform. I enjoyed some great conversations, but more people were hesitant about being on camera than I expected. Finally last night I met Alexia who is a devout Christian that spent time in Malawi as a missionary. She ended up getting into a serious conversation the Deffy, AKA Mike, one of the guitarist/singers in my brother’s band Spike the Punch.

Alexia and Deffy discussing faith.

L&P,
Mark Maccora

PS- I’m past the half mark in my forty day goal! I never expected to make it this far!

Boston is the kind of city where you have to pay for everything, and the prices are Los Angeles steep. I’m lucky to have my brother here. I can buy groceries and try to keep financial wounds somewhat sutured. I have yet to do an interview, but I’ve got my first formal interview tomorrow at 3 pm with a member of an area Muslim Society which does a lot of interfaith dialogue. I’m also trying to hit up the Christian Science headquarters as well as Quakers (since I’m not going to hit Philadelphia) and a representative from the First Church of Boston. It is the oldest church, but not the oldest standing church building, in Boston.

I forgot to share one moving experience in Ohio. The wife of the minister at the Foursquare Church told me that she felt a lot of love emanating from me the moment I entered the church. I am successful at that part of the process…

L&P,
MM

PS- Here are some rustbelt pictures. One of my all time best friend’s, Jeff Banbury, requested some, and I decided I should post them as well:

The old Goodyear clock and factory.

Timken Plant

Night is falling on Ohio Industry.

The Canton Forge

So, just like my SATs, I cheated on this test and it seems to be paying dividends. I’m leaving Canton today on a flight to Boston (thank you Grandma AKA Mum Mum), but my prolonged stay in Ohio allowed me plenty of valuable experiences and footage which ought to be useable in the completed project. As always with my (uh) experimental (?) work, I’m not exactly sure how this project will be shaped at the end, and somehow it feels like I’m laying a bunch of minerals in an evaporating river sluice, letting them gather, dry, and harden for unknown millennia, and then returning to decide what sculpture ought to be chiseled from the rock. My only issue is that I’m not happy with my fidelity to my “concepts” because technical issues arise almost daily, and I get visual ideas that seem beautiful and exciting. I’m trying to follow my friend Marco’s advice and just go with my instincts. I am being about 85% faithful to them. In hindsight, they lead me to some of my best visual ideas. A problem is that many of these ideas are impossible to achieve with a single hand. I’ve been lucky that some people (my Mediterranean Playboy cousins Chris, Matt, and John Esber especially) have helped with the work as a second set of eyes either on the viewfinder or my back. One thing I’ve been shaky on according to a decided concept was shooting interviews with two cameras: the prettier 3CCD DVX on the wide, and the little handheld Everio shooting a CU. The “on the street” hand mic interviews are difficult to shoot with two cameras, as I must wrangle three recording devices. Other times, when I’m really working to connect with my subject, I ignore the second camera. I only regret doing this once, when I interviewed a group. That was my first attempt at that style of interview, so I’ll cut myself some slack. One general improvement in my working style is that I trust the suggestions of others quickly and completely. This process makes me ache for a planned narrative and storyboarded directing concept. Oh, yeah, and a DP! I’ve decided that I will take a break from directing when I get back (once I’m done doing the Tesla sleep cycle/editorial adventure) so that I can have some fun & focus acting in some projects, which I think I haven’t done for about 9 months.

I’m deciding how I will attack meeting people in Boston to interview. I may put up a Craig’s list Ad, I may just setup on a street corner someplace, though that necessitates some other person being around to spot some of my equipment, and I don’t want to put that pressure on my brother. I hope to hear from somebody with the Pluralism Project. They will probably be a good resource in a number of ways.

L&P,
Mark Maccora

Dear friends,

So I’ve coated you with the horrible snot of disappointment the last few days. You’ve obviously assumed that I am dead. Or given up on the mission. Or embraced some other putrid failure of this grand process. While I may not have been on point 100% the last few days, I’ve actually been distracted from blogging by, well, interviews and shooting. I’ve been traveling around north eastern Ohio gathering more footage, including interviewing a near homeless man I met in Akron while photographing the old rust belt factories. He took me on a tour of the city, and gave me quite a lot of perspective on the dilapidating region. I spent another afternoon photographing various Canton factories and farms, and trading emails with one of my long sought interview subjects who is hesitant about joining the picture. Today I went to Canton’s Joyfest, and interviewed Grammy award winner Tye Tribett, my favorite gospel artist, and about four or five other folks.

I’ve found that my most present current mistake is not hitting the record button effectively. Isn’t that the silliest thing possible? I can make excuses (oh, I have a lot on my mind, my verio doesn’t immediately allow recording, even though it is on, I’m very rarely looking at the camera when I shoot), but I’d rather just make it all work ALL the time. Some shot selections I made today could be better, and I have to get better at shooting second camera without watching it, but I am asking a lot from myself, I guess. I especially owe thanks to my cousin Chris Esber, who helped me today. It wouldn’t have been possible without him.

I’m thinking my visual style will be incredibly experimental in editorial, and that a lot of the movie will have a multi-panel presentation. I’m also thinking it will be as short as possible, preferably 80 mins. People can only take so much God talk, or so I hear…

I’ll put up another video diary asap, though I also need to do other stuff before I leave OH10.

L&P,

MM