The Amazing Life

I just love watching the Amazing Race. Its so much more edifying than trashy favorite show #2 Mad Men. I can download the entire season on Itunes for about $20.00. As soon as it airs I can download it. I like The Amazing Race so much because I can relate to it. In many ways it mirrors my life. Take today for instance. I had to travel downtown to a place called Deira. I had only been there once before. I was meeting my DOP (Director of Photography) and we were going to meet a production company to see their computer animation. We might keep all the production and post with this company. So Saji, the DOP, tells me its near the Sheraton Deira Creek. I think I know where that is. So I head out a little bit early as I had to make another stop. I looked for the Sheraton Deira Creek map on its webpage and tried to memorize it (My printer was out of ink—Road Block). Now Im looking at my gas gauge and its on E. I was a little worried. Surprisingly enough there aren’t hardly any gas stations (they call them petrol stations) out here when compared to the US. The US there are gas stations on every street corner. Here they are few and far between. This is kind of weird considering the oil comes from this region. So I’m trying to follow the street signs, and use my intuition. I’ve only leased a car for about two weeks now so I haven’t driven around that much, and certainly not on that part of town. So I get to the Sheraton Deira Creek and the landmarks that Saji (my DOP) tells me to look for are nowhere around. It turns out there is another Sheraton. The Deira Sheraton is what I needed. (Two Sheratons both called Deira…where is the logic in that?) So I called Saji and he was kind enough to drive to me so I could follow him to the facility. Following Saji in Middle Eastern Traffic is like a game show in itself. Its slightly easier than following Lady Lebanon in Abu Dhabi but not by much. By the way if you can’t find something, which is often the case, its quite common for someone to drive to you to lead you the rest of the way. Addresses are just not used here at all, just landmarks. So we get to the facility and it was really something. Production facilities in Los Angeles, are plush, modern, and very high tech. Well some of them anyway. Its all about image in LA. Not the case here. This facility we went to does very good work. However they are crammed in a tiny three office suite with two of the offices holding editing equipment and the other had their camera equipment. All this cramped space plus there must have been 15 employees standing around because there was no place to sit. But, these guys did excellent work. The GM and I were talking. He was from India. He realizes the limitations of working in this area. He has a great animator, and editor but they don’t speak English very well. So that detracts from business. He said many clients that he has prefer to work with guys like me, simply because Im American…or my white skin. Then I joked that’s why I hired Saji, who is from India (Kerala…you’d like him Reji) but has very light skin. Indians have great senses of humor and just love life. I really felt comfortable with this crew despite the basic office. These guys did lots of Bollywood Flims (That’s how Indians prounouce Film, its Fl-ims). It was a nice meeting. They are treating me with great respect out here. Being a director carries a lot of weight. I am honored by the respect. So the game show part continued as I drove away to find my back which is a lot easier. The game continues tomorrow as I need to get my visa renewed. Im still on a 30 day visit visa so I need to leave the country every 30 days. I went to Bahrain to visit Darren one month. I went back to surprise Jennifer last month (What a surprise that turned out to be!) and now Im driving to Oman. How do you drive to Oman, not really sure, but that is part of the adventure. What’s poetic about this in a life imitating art sense is that the episode I watched today of the Amazing Race (it aired two weeks ago in the US) had all the contestants traveling through both Dubai and Oman. The producers of the Amazing Race are really doing justice to accurately representing the Middle Eastern Culture here.

Meanwhile on another course of the race, Lady Lebanon was busy trying to get all the permits, schedule the shoot, negotiate the budget, book the crew, arrange catering, and all the other details. Normally this type of production needs about one month pre-production. We have a deadline of Jan. 2. So we only have one week.

We are supposed to start shooting next Tuesday. If you can keep us in prayer it would be appreciated. This is a big production in a foreign country. There are lots of challenges, the deadline and the budget being two of the biggest. But I have an extremely good crew around me. Plus I have a secret weapon. Despite all the activity, I don’t seem to be that busy. I attribute that directly to spending time with God each day. All the details after that seem to sort themselves out.

So yes, my life at the moment does seem like a game show. With the amount of peace and joy I have, I can honestly say its An Amazing Life. That’s not say I don’t have everything perfect in my life. I can no longer speak with my children as they won’t take or return my calls. When they do respond to emails its either heavily influence or written by their mother and/or stepfather and filled with bitterness and hate. Now unfortunately I can’t do anything to fix that, and I’ve tried pretty much every approach. So Im just giving it up to God. I know the relationship is only strained temporarily. I know someday they will see the truth and realize how much I love them. My love for them is absolutely unconditional so no matter what I will love them just the same. I tell them via email and voicemail every chance I get. So how am I so joyful despite this heartbreak? Well I think that is what makes God, God. I can’t dwell on the pain. Im focusing on what I have and that is the hope that our relationship will be restored someday. I have so many other positive things to focus in my life. When I think about everything that I have done, with friends, family and loved ones cheering me on, I can honestly say, It’s an Amazing Life. Still, the best is yet to come.