The heat wave broke several days ago and things are much better in Manhattan.  Since then, however, there has been a run of over two weeks of over 100^o F in regions of Texas.  And a tornado touched down in Salt Lake City, of all places!  I was raised in the Salt Lake Valley and also lived there several years of my adult life, and never once did I hear of a tornado in that area.  In fact, that was one of the weather phenomena that we always felt immune from given the vicinity of such impressive mountains so close by.  But this past week, it happened.  I guess a heat wave in Manhattan isn't so bad by comparison.  Besides, I've written enough about weather for now.

Filming on the Hawthorne piece has gone rather well.  We're on schedule, as a matter of fact, which is as unusual for film as it is for software development projects.  Several factors have contributed to the progress we've been making -- the director had a very specific vision, which she planned very well.  The rehearsal process was sufficiently long as to allow the actors enough room to grow into the roles.  The team assembled has a great balance of young, eager energies mixed with calm, seasoned experience.  And the director of photography (DP), who is also a film professor (the director teaches film at NYU, the DP at Hunter College) as well as the husband of the director, is extremely competent with the technical matters of film making.  They make a great team.  And while the process has not been without our share of glitches, it's gone rather well -- better than any film I've been part of to date.  I also think the fact that we're shooting using digital technology makes a difference in terms of productivity.  Lighting is a bit more forgiving.  And the sound synch isn't required -- the sound track, just like with video, is part of the digital tape itself.  Sound is always a problem when it comes to film, but shooting in digital with the sound track integrated with the visual seems to eliminate some portion of the potential glitches.

We have two more days of shooting, this Saturday and Sunday.  And that should be it, as far as production is concerned.  Post production will likely take several months.  I'll be quite surprised if I see a finished copy of this work before the end of the year.  But I must say, it's been a great experience.  And I'm just about ready to start a new acting project.  I have an audition early Saturday morning for a short 35 mm piece, and I'm in the running for a good support role in a full length feature which will be shot in November.  With any luck, I'll be part of one more film project this calendar year.  In fact, let me say it here:  I will act in at least one more film project this calendar year -- going out on that limb again.  :)

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What if internet access were restricted by law?  What if the government where you live decided that it was not in your best interest to ever have access to the internet?  As unimaginable as it may seem, some 20 nations on planet Earth here at in the waning months of 1999 have such draconian rules.  Even as information access and the technologies that enable such access become cheaper, asymptotically approaching free, promising a Renaissance unlike any we've enjoyed as a species, the organizing principles for many of us remain antiquated and ever so provincial.  Thus, the have/have not trend will continue, not because of don't have the means, not because it's a zeros game, not because there isn't enough for all.  But because of fear...fear, the need to control and, the need to maintain "order."  <sigh>  If we are in the process of developing technology that is indeed facilitating the next step in human evolution, clearly not all humans will be involved.

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