Should be writing now, but…

Sat down for what might be an unusual opportunity to get some writing done. fuego will be getting off work in a bit, and then we’ll have an emergency summit to come up with some sort of plan for how we’re going to get from here to the first day of shooting. Gotta cut down the shot list a bit, work up a shooting schedule, find a cafe with a good layout and parking lot that doesn’t mind having business disrupted for a few days. We need to figure out when I need to get over to New Mexico to drive around testing green chile cheeseburgers, scrounging props, and taking pictures of long, straight stretches of road.

And props (anyone have a goldn figurine with ruby eyes lying around? I’ll be careful, I promise). And costumes (good thing there are bikers handy). And a thousand other things I don’t even know I need to worry about.

And the car. Holy Moley, we need to chop the top off that baby pronto. And get it running. And get “Crusader” painted on the back. And…

Meanwhile, the movie fuego is currently working on, Return to Frog Mountain (or something like that), is in full swing. I think they start shooting on Sunday, and end the day before the shootout begins. So the guy who actually knows how to do this stuff is already doing long, long hours. The good news is that if my IMDB search was accurate, the guy who is assigned to us as mentor looks like he’s been around the block, having directed a couple of pretty major films, but not afraid to do things for art’s sake. It should be really interesting to work with a guy like that. The people running the festival assume, I think, that the winners are writers, not experienced film people, so they are prepared to do a lot of the preproduction work. That’s a good thing, but I still want to participate – I don’t want to lose parts of the script simply because there’s no one available to do the leg work to set it up.

I don’t know much, but I do know it’s going to be a blast. A serious non-stop sleep-optional romp where all that really matters is getting maximum energy from the cast, getting it on – uh, whatever the medium is – and just having a good time doing it.

It sounds like we have a couple of bands writing original music for us – that should be a hoot, and Tom Waits is one of the judges that will pick the best of the short films. It’s too bad he can’t be a pirate.

I’m thinking that when the dust settles I’d like to have a couple of parties, one in New Mexico and one in San Diego, to show off whatever it is we end up with. You’re invited!

21 thoughts on “Should be writing now, but…

  1. Nice (nearly) mixed metaphor. How many vehicles have gears and rudders? The first thing that pops into my head is a WW2 U-boat.

  2. Could you please elaborate on the phrase, “chop the top off.” For instance, windshield and door frames intact or not? Will you ever want to reroof it?

    Do you want me to but a package of hacksaw blades, or is there a budget that would allow for a body shop to look at it?

  3. I assume the Hotelsmobile is the intended victim?

    You might want to give my uncle Clark a call. He may be no less busy in retirement, but he probably knows somebody with a cutting torch.

  4. Jer,

    Look me up if you get to my neck of the woods in New Mexico: Clovis, eight miles from the Texas border (about in the middle on the eastern side).

    They just made a movie, Believe in Me, in Clovis. I guess New Mexico has some great incentives for moviemaking.

  5. Gee, David, you just missed pL’s last visit … seems he was there working on some old basketball movie or other just a couple of months ago.

    Meanwhile, Clovis definitely has a lot of longer, straighter stretches of road than we have up here in Rio Arriba County.

    Anyhow, Jer, if you still need help chopping the top off the Hotelsmobile, I have some former students who specialize in turning cars into rolling works of art, although it sounds like you already have a lot of offers of help in that area. If you need additional vehicles, I can get you in touch with the former student who bought my old Toyota and turned it around for a tidy profit. If you’re looking for biker duds in extra-extra-extra-large, I have a friend who dropped about 200 pounds and who can’t stand to just donate all those acres of leather to a thrift shop.

    Meanwhile, I’m volunteering Five O’Clock Somewhere for your New Mexico party. We can get a keg or two of something nice from the High Country, and the home theater system has the big screen, surround sound, and all that.

  6. It’s too bad I didn’t know you back in my homeless tour days. I passed through clovis while fuego worked on Believe in Me.

  7. Wow, David, that’s a nice site. Would you happen to know where there might be a nice straight stretch of 2-lane blacktop in desert terrain with a nice little bar/café along the side of the road?

    I have no idea what the location budget is (or even if there is one, and filming is likely to disrupt business for three days.

    We will be tied to Albuquerque, I’m afraid, so we might only be able to do exterior shots at a café that’s too far from where the actors live.

    I’ll keep browsing through your site for more ideas.

  8. AND TOM WAITS??!! You live on Cool Street, Coolsville, Planet Cool. He’d make the best pirate (short of Johnny Depp; he’s not in it too is he?)

  9. We thought of Johnny early, but sset our sights on another actor, a guy who would carry it off as easy as sneezing. A natural. We haven’t heard back from his agent.

    Maybe we should have gone for Depp.

  10. Well, I know a guy who knows a guy who has Depp’s email address, but he’s not the kind of guy who gives that sort of thing out.

    Note that Tom Waits is not in the movie, he’ll be judging it. That’s why he can’t be a pirate.

    Maybe if we hint he can be in the feature-length version…

  11. Well, there was the little place along the road at White Lakes, halfway between Lamy and Clines Corners. If it still exists, it would have the advantage of not disrupting business, since the place has been out of business for years. Unfortunately, it would also have the disadvantage of not being in business and therefore probably not still having the furnishings and equipment.

    If you have the digital wherewithal to edit background scenery, you might be able to use Raphael’s Lounge on the I-25 frontage road in Algodones. It actually still has some movie-set stuff left over from the last time it was in a movie. (Anybody remember Convoy?)

  12. San Diego on the tour list huh Jer?

    I can only give you sites in New Mexico near our clinics and I would not think your film crew would be fond of those places. But there are plenty of ‘extras’ missing parts and pieces you could use for background.

  13. Most of the cafes alone the side of the road are near Fort Sumner and Clovis and places farther south.

    A neat hole-in-wall bar/cafe is the Owl Cafe in San Antonio–not too far from ABQ and a great place to grab a beer and green chile cheese burger.

  14. Ah, David, as an alum of New Mexico Tech I know the Owl Bar well. In fact, one memorial day weekend after I moved to San Diego, Bob and I took a road trip 900 miles to taste the magical food. The chile was particularly good that year, and a tear ran down my cheek as I chewed the first bite.

    “This is so good!” I exclaimed.

  15. …but it sounded like “mif af so goom!” because he was talking with his mouth full, and green chili shards flew across the table at Bob.

    I wasn’t there, but I’ve seen Jerry eat before while exclaiming.

  16. It was a great road trip that started more or less as a dare. An offhanded comment in a bar on Thursday night along the lines of “If those green chili cheeseburgers are as good as you guys claim, then why don’t you go get some” led to hoping in the convertible Fri after work and driving thru the night to the promised land. (Veteran MR&HBI readers have already contributed greatly to discussions of the route in the “road trip stories” section.)

    My favorite part of the drive was actually the short cut on the dirt roads thru the Jemez Mountains after we said “hi” to my grandmother.

    As for dining with Jer, anyone who has done so knows that there is plently of time to enjoy the food gradually digesting in your stomach as you watch Jer glacially finish his own meal.

  17. My favorite part was when you came by my apartment in ABQ unannounced and unexpected. I was about to get into my car to drive to Heron lake to join Mom & Dad. I was amazed to see you and even more amazed when you decided on-the-spot to extend your road trip up to Heron Lake. I need some of that reckless adventure spirit in my life. Unfortunately, my sister got it all.

  18. Hey, Bob and Bill, you want another side trip to Heron Lake? Sunday afternoon (July 3), I’m throwing a slab of brisket on the barbeque, primarily as a reward to the volunteers who are repairing the marina, but if anybody wants to join in, come on up. Side dishes and beverages are potluck.

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