Week 6, Day 4: Whoa… lazy day.

Day 4 of Week 6 was a strained 6 mile run completed in 47m and 30s.

I sqeezed out the run on the treadmill on 3.5 hours of sleep. Ugh.

While I ran I thought:

1) In light of watching X-men Origins: Wolverine , realized that the whole Marvel franchise is a cycling of Greek tragedies.  It’s not a bad thing, but it explains all of the mommy/daddy issues, self-awareness against the concepts of nationhood, of humanity and why many are so resonant with audience (note: resonant does not imply amazing).

2) I thought why the hell was I running.  Lack of sleep, compromises my immune system, making me susceptible to catch something.

3) I’ve been seeking out more and more photographic ghost-mentors (folks that I look to for guidance without ever breaching anonymity), and am taking a look at Tony Remington’s, Alan Dejecacion’s, and Sean Marc Lee’s Flickr accounts.  These folks are more accessible to me, somewhat easier to contact, and they interact with spaces and bodies that are more familiar.

4) I wish I practiced my writing so I could write like Jay.

5) (Yes)

more about “get down: Reflection For Eternity“, posted with vodpod

Week 6, Day 3: Easy does it.

Went on the treadmill again to save myself from the cold, biting winds outside.

Did 6 miles in 50m 10s.

Jumped on the weights for another 20minutes.

Some thoughts going through my head at the time:

1) Glad that I finally figured out why my Pentacon-Six was giving me these:

I only found out after shooting another roll with Monica that the shutter wasn’t completely shutting, so that there was a streak of overexposure/light leak in the shot (See the shot of my nephew, and of the Lozada side of the family).  In the slower shutter speeds, or later in the roll, the shutter would actually get stuck open – which explains why my dad and sister look ghostly in the last shot.

Sure this is an arugment for the digital side, but again there’s a value in the craft, mechanics, and work that’s still present in shooting film, especially from older cameras.  Perhaps it’s a dogmatic, old-school way of practice, but diligence always has it’s benefits, and for the most part, it’s worked in my favor.

2) On that tip, I’ll finally be expecting this lovely in the mail:

Can’t wait.  Can’t wait.

3) I’m driving down to Los Angeles and will be around from about May 6 – 8 to support a 2004 project entitled, ‘down so bad, looking up.’  It was my 2004 effort with Visual Commmunications Armed With a Camera Fellowship.  ‘down so bad..’ is a short experimental chronicle that features a fictional manong who found his voice with a bottle of whiskey, and Bukowski.  I had five minutes, and really pushed the structure and narrativity.  Of course, it’s disjunctive, odd… questionable.  But it’s sincere and aware of itself — I don’t know what that means, but I put some effort in it, and got some strong support so come out if you’re in the hood!  Oh, props to Muni Zano who acted in it, Terry Kosel, Jay Perez, and John Dion for listening to my rants, reviewing my scripts, or even rolling with me to Los Angeles (remember how we ended up volunteering Terry?).

Day ???: Summary

I’ve been running.  Just haven’t been updating. :/

Day 8, Week -3; February 26, 2009

Ran 5 miles;  Saw From Monument to Masses and a bunch of old friends.  FMTM is truly cinematic.  I’d like to work with them to do a doc on their tour, but I’m sure somebody’s already got them covered that way.

Day 9, Week -3; February 28, 2009

Ran 6 miles – Up and down Twin Peaks.  Anyone else try that yet??  It’s not a bad hill run via the paved road, to make it challenging one should run up and down the paths and get their knees beat.  Sight was loverly, I probably saw you down there either with loved ones, or chillin’ by yourself.

Day 10, Week -2; March 2, 2009

Ran 4.0 miles

Day 11, Week -2; March 3, 2009

Ran 3.5 miles.  Ran outside.  Along Embarcadero, through Chinatown.  I hit up the Manilatown Heritage Foundation space and saw Jerome R. and Jose T.  Jerome has been holding classes there and is working on something pretty awesome-like, it’s top secret, so I’m not at liberty to say other than it involves memory and space.

Day 12, Week -2; March 4, 2009

Ran 5 miles @ 7:30PM.  Treadmill running.

Day ?, Week -1;  March 9, 2009

Ran 2.5 miles @ 5:30AM;  I chased the moon, and ran from it.  It was cold, felt like 45, ice down my lungs.

Ran 3.0 miles @ 2:30PM;  I walked with Jerry for a bit, asked about his health.  Ran up embarcadero, and through Chinatown.

This morning I woke up with a stronger cough.  Thanks.

Aside from the continuing regimen, I’ve been watching these movies:

Autumn (Sonbahar)

Played at Cinequest.  It’s about a young man regaining his identity after being imprisoned for 10 years due to his political involvement in a failed Turkish rebellion.  Set against a forested backdrop, the film works to isolate his anguish.  The lead heads to the city often and falls for a sullen prostitute.  Their dynamic is the familiar Holy-Mary-Mother-Whore relationship.  I was on the fence about it, however, the cinematography was on-point, which narrative nods to Dr. Zhivago, Autumn is still an honest attempt at never being quite the same ever again.

Historias Extrodinarias

Also played at Cinequest.  Films an ambitious, and indulgent road tour on the existential Argentinian male.  Traversing rural, and abandoned landscapes, the geographies match their mutual protagonists.  The writing is a romp, and the direction is committed in its hubris, with a voice-over film hitting a little over four hours.  Yes, four hours.

Tokyo Sonata

Also played at Cinequest.  Caught this one here because the SFIAAFF screening is sold out.  Y’all are missing out if you don’t get to catch this film.  I’ve always held in high esteem films about falling apart, implosion, dissolution, and eventual rebirth-malformed as it may become.  This film is absolutely that.  You’ll love the forays into the nuclear family webbing becoming undone, and the butterfly that emerges – and yes, I probably ruined the film for you at that point… not really.  Watch it whereever you catch it.

Watchmen

Caught this at 4AM.  I only got through 2 chapters of the comic, and a couple of articles, so I had a superficial understanding.  Loved it.  You need to watch it, Moore purist or not.  If you’re a hater, please tell me what the last comic film that seemed to be hermenutic AND hermetic all at once (pretentious, of course).

I’ve been filling myself with this too:

I’m not the only one diggin this ish:

Paz.

Day 5: Running Upward, Heave-ho!

Day 5, Week -4 / 12:00PM

1.5  mile warm-up on flat ground

5 times repeat hill training

Completed in approximately 1hr

In the past, I’ve been lazy about integrating more hills into my runs, as they mess with my breathing and my mental game.  I can’t avoid them this time around though, as San Francisco is peppered with hills, and the marathons that I’ve been apart of have always had a major hill or two thrown in the first half of the race.

For a good read on hill training read this Runner’s World article here.  If you want a specific regimen, read Active.com’s recommendations from the American Running Association here.

Slowly but surely, I may be on my way to my goal time.  Took me a number of tries, but I think this regimen (and this blog) will be my answer.

Day 3: Form and Function

Day 3, Week -5 / 5:30PM

6 miles from door to door, round Lake Merced

Completed in ??m ??s

Peak speed at ??? mph for ? min.

[I forgot my watch]

Good morning.  It was Lincoln Day yesterday.  Started off with Obama’s speech, and went to the gym, I went against running because I wasn’t fully awake, and not about to faint on the treadmill.

I did end up running at the end of the day though.  The sun stayed out just a bit longer, but it was still cold.

I took careful consideration of my form.  I try to integrate best practices when it comes to running, paying mind to form – I pretend that I’ve got a string at the top of my head and it’s being pulled by the sun, my shoulders pulled back, not too far though.  There’s an optimal range of posture that seems awkward, but i’m sure is familiar to marching band geeks.

I’m also mindful of footstrike, making sure not to slam on my heel at too rough of an angle, as I know from long runs that such an angle affects your joints and your lower back.

I also made sure not to exert myself on the last .25 mile too hard, as I knew I’d catch cold–if I let the cold air get to deep in my lungs, but I’m not even sure if that’s a true thing, I just pretend that it is…

Felt relieved that I worked my body twice yesterday.  The run was a nice cap to the day, as I purchased an individual membership at the California Academy of Sciences (I can take another person in with me for free, wanna come along?).  The one most amusing thought I had out there was the abundance of folks with $1000 – $4000 worth of digital photo equipment taking photos.  In fact, it seemed bizarre altogether that so many people would take such photos, and for what memories?  I suppose posterity can’t be all that bad, but it doesn’t seem memorable to pick up a photo of an Alligator Gar behind glass, well, unless you happened to jump in the aquarium soon thereafter.  I’m not bitter that I don’t have that equipment in tow, it just seems ludicrous.

I enjoyed the penguins, the jellyfish, and listening to the short narratives from all of those involved in the preservation of the Philippine Reefs…

I made sure to hit up the rainforest dome, I nearly teared at the sight of several butterflies trying to fly out, and the others that lay dead.  Of course my imagination got the best of me, as I attempted to draw a plan to head over to Madagascar to document conservationist groups.

I also hit up the Planetarium and realized that whole fiasco and space is the best place to fall asleep.  It was better than a car ride in a baby’s car seat.  Even the hosts’ voice was very soothing.  But you figure all of its got to be that way to prepare you, ease you into the idea that this world will end, but we have options, and the god that you once thought you may have understood, may not even really be the only god, or be a god at all… all my pains and gripes were washed away temporarily at the prospect that we are not alone, and everything you thought was a big deal, is literally, not a big deal.  Wait, that’s not to dismiss the things we are passionate about, but it’s a good model just to recall when you aren’t at your best.

In a final effort to figure out what brings me joy in my life for that day, I thought about hitting up Amoeba and picking up the Menahan Street Band’s album, but since I had gutted my bank account for most of that day, I abstained.  I figure it would be best to just practice on my trumpet and all it a night…but I didn’t, I went to Manilatown’s pre-V-day festivities.  A small group of Manilatown supporters had their fill of sweets and booze, poetry, salsa dancing, and good company.  I left buzzing to the comforts of my bed (geez, sounds pitiful).

Now it’s Friday the 13th, and I botched things up with a V-Day partner earlier this week so we’ll see how this day goes.  Hopefully the CAAM, SFIAFF kick off party will provide fertile ground for me to come out shining!  Here’s to good friends and libations!

Notes and Ramblings

(As the title suggests, this is just a disparate collection of thoughts)

I have a new crush.

ACPAC

If there’s anything to be somewhat hopeful in film, these folks have it in their possession.

They leave me inspired.

**

Old School, Click here to read an article regarding music and his writing.

I just finished up Murakami’s collection of shorts Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman.  I need to rush through Kafka on the Shore, and if I have more time (which most of us never have) plow through South of the Border, West of the Sun.  I have to finish, consider I’m seeing him speak at Berkeley.

After going through this collection, I recalled how I had a short film that dealt with loss, and used a talking goldfish, a metaphysical garbage can, and projections of other “animals” which were manifestations of urban structures and freeway webs….

I also recalled another short film that dealt with a grandfather who had lost his fighting cock and wound up in the basement, and dregs of a large public library.  Pursued by a hapless grandson, the fighting cock inevitably gets away, and the grandfather inevitably forgives the grandson his ineptitude….

I wonder why I ever departed that wavelength.  It’s time I go back forward.

**

I don’t know why, but I like poppyseed bagels.

**

[Updated: 12:15 PM]

I’m bumping music at my work… and it’s pretty audible.

I’ve been using iMeem.  Been listening to Bambu for the last hour… I peeped his blog, and ran into this gift…

http://www.myspace.com/esperanzaspalding

She’s coming to town October 14 and 15 at Yoshi’s.  I don’t know bout y’all, but I’m going both days.

Yesterday, I also peeped a trailer of this film:

Where's your case?

From myparol.com:

Harana and Kundiman

Men in the Spanish period courted their women by singing underneath her window at night. This tradition is called the harana and still practiced in many parts of the country. The guitar or the ukulele are the most common instrument, and the specific type of music is called the kundiman, which usually begins with a minor key and then shifts to a major key in the second half; its lyrics are characterized by heavy poetic emotion that depicts the singer’s pleadings and offer to sacrifice everything on behalf of his beloved. Kundiman are lovesongs that define the Filipino gentleman’s romantic character.

This film is brought to you by the same folks who brought you The Gift of Barong.  I’m pretty jazzed about the docu.

**

I feel like eating a pork bun…

Incubator, 002

Filipino Village circa 2004. San Diego, National City. It was a space that seemed contested. Arguably, it still is, however, several factors, including budgetary shortfalls or re-appropriations leave the project in a purgatory littered with egos and history.

Combine all of these real or imagined implications with a bust of Jose Rizal – all that he represents, and is known for – in front of a Seafood City Supermarket…

… mix in San Diego’s Filipino population…

… with provincial humor, candor, and sentimentality (a la Fireman’s Ball)…

Add equal parts aging self-proclaimed scion for truth, and an aged trophy aktibista as strong opposing poles …

you have one awesome vignette for my feature.

Incubator, 001

Jerry the Security Guard at the office I work at has Rheumatoid Arthritis.

Receptive aphasia is a crystal ball to the universe.

Raymond Carver is dated, but still economical.

Running.

I love it.

Running a very flexible act to either share with somebody, or completely solo.

Running is a very intimate act as well. I’ve learned so much about my body, what I give it, and what it gives to me…

Running clears the mind, yet permits all sorts of thoughts to re-fill it.

I have musical accompaniment when I run, it’s helpful – today I was trying to figure out whether a certain Stevie Wonder song was for faith, music, or a woman:

You And I – Stevie Wonder

Conclusion: It’s all three. Which makes the damn thing so lovely.

I also thought of Haruki Murakami and an interview on running. I thought about my first encounter with Murakami – The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle right out of high school (1999), and with every subsequent book penned by him solidified the beauty within melancholy and my continued fascination with infusing it in my daily thoughts (which is detrimental sometimes, only sometimes).

I finally thought about how horrible my post-run stretching and habits are, and forced myself to sit and press out tension in my calves, which is a trouble spot for me, and affect my long runs (Thanks to Juju for inviting on her long run and amenities from her running group).

I’m training for another marathon, and hopefully my training regimen will show better results:

1st year – SF Marathon 2007: 5:35

2nd year – SD Rock N Roll Marathon 2008: 4:35

3rd year – ??

Who wants to train with me?

Speculating San Diego

I’ll be heading back home for a couple of days at the end of this month for a wedding. So far I’m dateless, and my misadventures and missteps have led me to a position where I could be dateless for the wedding altogether.

So what to do other than cause a spike in my cholesterol level?

Update old projects!

Early in my career I signed on with the Voices PROJECT based in the Sherman Heights Community in San Diego. During my very short tenure with Voices, we worked on, what could be termed as today, an asset map. We went around to City Heights, and Sherman Heights documenting folks that worked in the non-profit sector of said communities and served immigrant and seriously underserved communities in these areas. Most of the folks we interviewed were people of color, and usually scraping by. These are requisite to create or foster a sustainable change within a community. It’s not a pull em’ up by the bootstraps kind of mantra — far from it, usually the folks we’ve documented operated within an infrastructure that let them shine.

Here’s Sherman:

View Larger Map

Here’s City Heights:

View Larger Map

Needless to say, we finished up the project, and it was up on the internet for a bit, but then the organization folded, because our ED got into a graduate program. Subsequently, the website also went off-line as did those narratives. Luckily, I have the raw footage, and the edited footage sitting in a hard drive at home and it got me thinking that perhaps I can do several follow-up interviews, or at least some supplemental material to update what’s been going on in San Diego, especially within these two communities. It’d be interesting to track how their work is fairing, but also how certain external factors have affected the nature of the work, primarily redevelopment and other city planning issues. Plus it’d be nice to visit a few friends that I haven’t seen in a minute…

However, if I do get a date, then I throw this out the window… ;P Just kidding… kinda.