Change of Place. Back in Michigan. Change of Diet?

Well, I'm back in Michigan staying with my folks for a month before moving to Chile.

Before I left Puerto Rico and the Ann Wigmore Natural Health Institute, Kelly came to visit me.  We spent a week driving around the coast exploring the island.  We took the ferry from Fajardo and went to the island of Culebra for a few nights.  The beaches and snorkeling was fantastic!  Lot's of sea turtles!  

I really love Puerto Rico:  Its people, mountains, rain forests, beaches and its tropical produce.

I really love its tropical produce!  The coconuts, bananas, papayas, oranges, limes, grapefruit, avocados, mangos, watermelons, and more... 

However, I was really happy to eat an apple yesterday, or rather, several apples.  It's tough to find a good organic apple shipped to PR.  I needed a separation from Michigan to realize how much I love and appreciate simple things like apples, cherries, berries, etc...

I will now miss the tropical foods very much.  Anyone who hung out with me in PR may attest to the vast amount of bananas I ate.   I believe I could beat anyone in a banana eating contest.  The PR bananas and varieties are SO GOOD.  One banana that I believe they called "apple banana" has a berry like flavor that would sometimes make me feel like I was eating strawberry shortcake or a similar desert- just the banana!  Brilliant!

While traveling around PR, it was difficult to find good greens whenever I left the institute where we were growing greens ourselves.  So, I usually resorted to a high fruitarian diet.  The best place to buy fruit is not from the supermarkets but from all the fruit stands that are set up daily on busy roads.

While visiting a beach one day, I stood out like a total foreigner as I ate watermelon.  Although I was the only white kid on the beach- tanned white kid that is- it was my watermelon that was drawing attention.  I cut it half and scooped it out with a spoon.  A young group of locals started talking to me and thought it was funny how I ate the watermelon like a bowl.  I'm not sure if it was just the way I was eating it that was weird or if eating watermelon on the beach in general is weird...  We communicated a bit with our little understanding and speaking of English and Spanish.  It was nice. 

Although I was able to use Puerto Rico's abundant raw tropical fruit to create a healthy diet for myself, I found this contrasted with much of the island both culturally and economically.  Unfortunately, there is an abundant amount of fast food in Puerto Rico.  Traditional bakeries are everywhere serving nutritionally lacking products of refined sugars and flours.  Food carts and trucks are parked on every street and corner serving fried meats, plantains (tostones) and other foods.  Obesity is very common and it seems like fry oils are as imbedded in the current culture as it is in the cells and pores of the people.

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I thought about food and health a lot while I was in Puerto Rico:  What foods do I like most?  Eat most?  What fuels me best for my particular body type and activity?  Where do these foods come from?  

I recall reading a nutrition book that challenged me with a radical suggestion that sounded something like this:

The majority of your food should come from fresh local seasonal produce.  Perhaps you should MOVE to the region whose produce and growing season suits your diet and needs.

Woah!  This idea may seem far out but it makes intuitive sense to me.  

From my little bit of studies and experience, I think that diets and health use to be very traditional.   People adapted to the available and abundant food sources of their geographic region.  For example, a high consumption of seal, whale, salmon for Alaskan eskimos.  High consumption of fish, rice, and sea vegetables in Japan and coastal regions.  Corn and chia staples for the Tarahumara tribe of Mexico.  Perhaps high fruitarian diet for the tropics...

Perhaps particular people have physically adapted to better digest and perform with foods of that region as well, or perhaps sought the food that suited their needs best.  For example, the Tarahumara is known for being a running tribe and their diet includes chia seed that has the property to retain water for a longer period of time when soaked, which is important for hydration in hot climates.  I haven't studied any of this enough though to really know...  

When I say adapt, I mean to eat to really live healthily and not just survive but thrive.  In terms of Puerto Rico, I cannot believe that the people have adapted because they thrive best on a high diet of fried foods.  Obesity doesn't seem essential for thriving in the tropics whereas it may be for insulation and survival in the Arctic. 

Right now, I do believe there is no optimal universal diet.  That belief relies on the premise that I couldn't recommend a high tropical fruit diet for an eskimo that lives in freezing temperatures.  It simply isn't possible, at least naturally.

Although if a universal diet is possible, I think it would include a very high quantity of GREENS.  The Ann Wigmore Living Foods Lifestyle is created in a very SIMPLE way in terms of ingredients for a universal approach to health and healing.  The main staples are sprouts and greens along with sprouted nuts, seeds, fruits, veggies and fermented foods.  I believe there is much truth to the Living Foods Lifestyle in which you can then add or tweak foods for your own personal needs. 

Bananas are probably one of the biggest staples in my diet because they are my go-to base for breakfast smoothies.  There are very few days when my breakfast is not a smoothie.  My typical smoothie in Puerto Rico would contain some combination of bananas, almond milk, rejuvelac, chia seed, avocado, coconut, sprouted buckwheat groats, sunflower greens, mixed greens, carob, mango, or papaya.

Now that I'm back in Michigan, I'm thinking of how I may rework my smoothie a bit more for this region... however, I'll probably still eat a good amount of bananas for now, even though they don't taste as great.

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Perhaps I am may be best suited to live in a tropical region.  However, I'm not gonna settle yet.  I'm gonna keep traveling and exploring:  Looking for the geography, the community, the food, the fun and everything else in life that suits me best.

I'm not saying I'm gonna settle in the tropics one day just for a banana.  Food is very important to me, but there are plenty of other aspects aside from a year round growing season that support the lifestyle I'm creating:  Lots of sunshine, barefoot running on the beach, the fresh air by the sea, the latin music and percussion.  I love the idea of living in a thatch tree house that I make myself...  I love the fact that I just spent the first winter in a long time where I didn't experience a fair to significant amount of seasonal depression during winter in Michigan.  The only thing I really missed was friends and family.  But, just like fruit, I realize by separation how much I appreciate them! 

Change of Place: Coming Home and Heading Out

Okay!  Here is my exciting personal news!  It was a rainy day in Puerto Rico, I've been taking classes last week and this week to receive my Living Foods Lifestyle certificate, I'm still working full time, and preparing to leave the Ann Wigmore Natural Health Institute (for now)... so I'm exhausted.  The video may not express my excitement as well as I would like... but I'm excited!!!

(P.S. I'm becoming conscious of my "And" fillers and am working to remove those for more concise videos when I'm too tired or lazy to edit.)

Change of Place: Inspiration, Flaky Non-Actors, and Utter Disappointment

Part of my plan in coming to Puerto Rico was to take a break from film and commercial work.  But that quickly changed in less than 2 weeks.  Moving to a new place makes everything exciting.  If you've been walking down the same street, neighborhood or city for a few years or more, chances are good that you don't "see" as much anymore.  Things like grocery shopping, going to the post office, or filling your gas tank are now probably mundane.  Unless you make a conscious effort to look, or see things in a new light.

All of that is much easier when you move to a new place.  You can explore everything: The streets, the alleys, the people, the places, etc.  Everything from a stray dog taking a shit can be exciting!  And there are A LOT of stray dogs in Puerto Rico.

Needless to say, I'm already rejuvenating my creative inspiration.  However, I thought it'd take me a while to find crew and actors.  Within a week and a half, I met a fashion photographer and cinematographer who relocated from New York.  His wife teaches where I work.  That was a start.

We decided to try working together, first, on a contest for MOFILM.  I came up with an idea I really liked and kept it simple so that we could produce it within our limitations (No budget, 2 man crew, I don't have a car, no lights, short amount of time until the deadline, very small actor talent pool, etc).

The last week I've been very busy both at work and then running around trying to produce this project.  Craigslist isn't very popular on the island.  In order to find actors, I ran, literally ran on my feet, around town posting handwritten casting notices.  Meanwhile I was scouting locations, trying to borrow a truck, gather props, all while trying to make a schedule that can be realistic and simple as possible while balancing all the variables.  

Casting was appearing to be the most difficult.  The DP and I went to the market, the beaches, and around town asking strangers if they were interested in acting.  The short notice and scheduling was looking difficult.

Monday I got a call from someone who was interested.  It was getting down to the last minute.  I ran 5 miles down the beach barefoot with my backpack to meet her.  Again, my feet are my only transportation.  Not too many people ride bicycles here because the roads are narrow, there's usually not a shoulder, people drive crazy, and there's 1500 accidents on the island a week.

I meet the woman, she's a yoga instructor.  She hasn't acted, but she's enthusiastic and looks the part.  She has a husband, a surf instructor, who fits the part and is interested as well.  Awesome!  We're cast!

We planned to shoot yesterday on my day off after they get off work but I get a call the night before from the husband saying that yesterday was the only day he could have a mechanic fix his car.  No flexibility there.  Okay fine, it's gonna be a pain but we reschedule everything:  Borrowing people's truck, apartment, babysitter for the DP, my work schedule...

Everything's good to go for today.  We're shooting at 1pm.  I get off work, make lunches to cater for the "actors" and start set dressing and moving furniture from other buildings with the DP.  We have picnic tables outside wrapped in tinfoil bouncing light into the windows.  We have a janky tripod and on it we have pretty good cameras with nice lenses.  We're all set up.

I walk around the campus to see if the a actors are lost.  I give the husband a call.  I say, "Hey this is Marty for the commercial."  I get a "Hey, what's up man!"  No indication, recognition, or apology that they are 30 minutes late.  Then I realize I dialed his house number and not his cell phone.  Uh oh.  "Are you guys on your way soon?"  "Hold on a sec."  I wait for about 2-3 minutes of silence and then the wife picks up.  She quickly tells me how "crazy" things have been for them and I get a list of eight excuses or more.  She asks if we could shoot next week.  I remind her, as I told her before, that the final deadline for submission is Monday.  Insert more excuses.  My mind and body become a bit numbed from disappointment.

I kindly explain to her how much goes into the schedule and planning for a film or commercial project.  I explain how important it is that when you tell me you are available, then you have to be available.  Otherwise, it's important to tell me that you're not available.  It makes sense to most professionals, especially producers and those in film.  Apologies.  Good bye.

Burned.

I sit down with the DP and share the disappointment.  We talk it over, try to think of alternate casting, but we really don't have anything.  I say let's think about it for 10 minutes to give time for a creative alternative or solution.  Ten minutes go by.  We call it off.  It's done.  A lot of planning and work for nothing.  Or rather, a lot of work for the lesson learned.

Back in Michigan, with my network of both actor talent, crew, and other resources, I could have pulled this off.  Not in Puerto Rico. Not yet at least.

I still feel a little numb.  I wish I wasn't working on this the last few days and I could have rested more.  Oh well, it was a great first lesson to approaching future projects here.  I'll need plenty of time for pre-production and casting to find real actors or reliable people.  I'll also need enough wiggle room for cancellations and rescheduling.  I'll forget about people being on time in the Caribbean.  Unless they're surfers, we're shooting a surf spot, and a good swell is coming in.

I'm gonna go take an afternoon nap, swim in the ocean later, and get over this one.

Change in Michigan Industry. No Change with Michigan Film Incentives.

My Michigan filmmaker friends at Deep Blue Pictures produced the above video. It's part of the new campaign: High Five for Film Incentives!

This campaign is necessary to share the positive impact and change that Michigan’s Film Incentives have created in this state. If you want keep this positive change in Michigan and allow it to develop, then please share your comments and stories on the High Five for Film Incentives website. More importantly, if you support the incentives, voice your concern to your state representatives.

The recent report from the Senate Fiscal Agency issued in September 2010 by economist David Zin drew the conclusion that the film incentives are not working, or not working enough.

Jim Burnstein recently defended the state’s film incentives against the issued report in his testimony to the Senate finance committee last Thursday, Nov. 4, 2010. Burnstein is a UofM film professor, Screenwriter and Vice Chairman of the Michigan Film Office Advisory Council. He’s been studying film tax incentives for several years following the states that have succeeded and the states that have failed from initiating incentives. He also played a major role in the passage of Michigan's incentives.

One of the key points Jim made during his testimony, which was highly attended, myself included, was that…

The purpose of the legislation was to make the people rich, not the government itself rich.

If you make any change to the film incentive bill, the state and the many Michigander’s who have invested into this industry will lose everything they started.

Leave the film incentives alone. Period.

He strongly advised that the state must wait at least 5 years before you can accurately assess the economic impact of the film incentives. Not to mention the report by Zin doesn’t account for the “overall value” the film incentives are making.

Burnstein describe this overall value with a few examples of positive change:

1. Image. The Senate Fiscal report doesn’t account for the positive change in Michigan’s image as a result of the free positive press and publicity that the state is receiving all over the world generated from the film incentives. This also benefits tourism, one of Michigan’s few industries. And you can’t put a price tag on the ability to revamp Detroit’s image, which has often been the laughing stock in world press for years. Take this video for example with nearly 3 million views.  I bet Cleveland will soon wish it was Detroit.

2. Reverse Change in Brain Drain. Burnstein cited an impressive list of innovators and CEOs who we’re educated in Michigan’s publicly funded institutions, only to leave the state after graduation and make their millions elsewhere. What kind of investment is that? Since the film incentives passed in 2008, Burnstein witnessed several of his students, myself included, stay in Michigan to seek opportunities with the film incentives.

Unfortunately, it seems Burnstein’s testimony may not have gotten through to Sen. Nancy Cassis, R-Novi, the Senate Finance Committee chair. I realized that a Senate Finance Committee hearing doesn’t necessarily mean they are listening. I was disgusted at how distracted Sen. Cassis was during Burnstein’s testimony. While Burnstein defended the film incentives, and described why the Senate’s report is misleading, Sen. Cassis turned her back to order lunch. Listening to the people is a part of the job responsibility for a state representative. Sen. Cassis’ poor listening skills surprised me. She rarely made eye contact throughout Burnstein’s testimony and it seemed the majority of her time was spent overlooking her prepared statement that she would close the hearing with.

Those in attendance at the hearing may have found Sen. Cassis closing statement to be contradictory. After Burnstein cited several of the ripple effects of the film industry and how it affects several industries (construction, hospitality, transportation, security, and more), Sen. Cassis said that the film industry in Michigan is a “boutique” industry that only affects a privileged few. She said the film incentives play favorites, what if we passed incentives to support graphic design instead? I don’t think Sen. Cassis knows that graphic designers may be hired in the art department on film sets.

She also said that supporters of the film incentives are unrealistically hopeful and they only provide anecdotes of support and not facts. She provided her own anecdote saying that when she was young, she had a once in a lifetime opportunity to intern in Washington D.C. Instead of taking that opportunity, she said she married and move to Michigan to work in the auto industry. She tried to express optimism that you can give up on dreams and still find opportunities. This seemed to be the advice she gave to all of the young people in the room.

The problem with her position now is that the auto industry is no longer an opportunity. It is dead- well, in some respect I think so. Although working in film is a dream that is being realized by many people in the state of Michigan, young and old, it is also one of the few positive state movements towards diversifying it’s economy and moving away from an auto only economy.

LOOK: I’m not a politician, I’m not an economist, I’m not a scientist, and I’m not an expert on anything. But I too, like Sen. Cassis am interested in “facts.” But the facts I’m interested are not facts of numbers or facts of budgets, I’m in interested in FACTS OF CHANGE.

Change is a necessity for survival. Fact. It’s Darwinism and survival of the fittest. Your surrounding environment is always changing and you must adapt to survive.

When I look at Michigan, I see a state that was innovative more than a hundred years ago to build the largest auto industry. Then I see a state that threw away nearly all it’s economic diversity to capitalize on this auto industry. It worked great for a long time and it seems that a lot of people expected great wages forever. When I see the auto industry, I see lack of foresight. To think that you could produce the same car forever, a car that runs on fuel created from extinct dinosaurs and other matter, it is unrealistic to think that economy may be sustainable (But, they're slowly changing). It’s the same with real estate. There’s a limited amount of land and you cannot keep building and selling houses forever- at least in the same capacity it was going...

I’m sorry for those who are unemployed and suffer from this economy… but I’ll restate a fact of change, a fact of life: It’s survival of the fittest and you must adapt. The environment, the economy, the people around you, etc will always be changing whether you notice it or not. You must change too if you want any chance of survival.

The Michigan Film Incentives seem to be the state’s only attempt towards positive change and adapting its economy. Or at least it's the largest attempt that is positively affecting several industries (hotel/hospitality, restaurants, tourism, construction, and more...)  I’m certainly open to other solutions but right now, no other politicians, including Sen. Cassis, can offer an alternative in which Michigan can adapt. Instead, they suggest changing the film incentives, one of the state's few good implements. 

Please voice your concern to your state representatives, along with Sen. Cassis, and soon the new change of governor Rick Snyder.

To read Jim Burnstein’s testimony find the .PDF at the bottom right side of the screen on the Michigan Film Office's website.

Also, here’s a recent article in the Free Press of Burnstein’s testimony.

Change in Oil: The Obama Gas Station

I was driving around Detroit today doing some pick-up shots with a car mount for a short film. As we rounded a corner, we discovered change with a new gas station: THE OBAMA GAS STATION!!!

WHAT?!!!

I really don’t know what to make of this… The Obama Gas Station currently sells traditional fossil fuels… We can only hope for change in the future with a greater push towards alternative fuels to end our dependence on foreign oil.

I didn’t go inside to see if there were Obama candy bars, Obama cigarettes, or Obama high fructose beverages…

I don’t know what else to say about this so here’s some photos...