We're headed to the airport in a few hours to head to Entebbe, where we'll meet a former IC roadie who will drive us to Kampala. Tomorrow, we take a long bus ride to Gulu. As a former IC employee myself, I'm pretty thrilled to be heading to Uganda, finally. It will be good to see it with my own eyes.

Kenya has been nothing short of lovely. We arrived about a week ago, after a red eye from Bamako, Mali we had some breakfast and got on a six hour bus ride to the Nyanza(?) province, where, incidentally, Obama's father hails from. I had the flu and wanted to die. Luckily it only lasted one day.

An aside: I want to send a quick thank you to the US of A for Obama's victory. My companions and I were huddled around a small radio listening to the BBC broadcast at about 4 am local time when we heard the news. Perfect. Hearing the reactions from Africans has been fun and inspiring. There is tremendous hope here. It's nice to be optimistic.

Anyways, Kenya is stunningly beautiful. The skies are storybooks and the sunsets are art classes. We stayed with week with a Bishop in the Church of God of Prophecy, a denomination I had never heard of either. He lives in rural Kenya and the house had no indoor plumbing and few amenities but his large family and many of his parishioners cared for us so completely--making our meals, cleaning our clothes, helping arrange things for the film, translating--it quickly felt like home. We are incredibly thankful to have become a part of that community, however briefly, and they insisted that we bring their greetings back to that states so I do. The people of Kenya say hi.

Before Kenya was Mali. A much different place. Both countries are poor by American standards, of course, but the poverty in Mali was unlike anything we have encountered in Kenya. In Mali even nature works against you. It is a dry, desolate, harsh landscape, and the city air was filled with dust and smoke. It rarely rains and little grows. Nothing is easy in Mali. Nonetheless, through the support of a local Pastor and his friends, our work went very smoothly. I'm proud of the work I've been doing so far, and I can't wait to share it with my family, my friends, and anyone Pray With Africa reaches.

I better upload this while the internet still works. Greetings from Nairobi. Quick Nairobi fact: if you order a chocolate milkshake here, you just get bad chocolate milk. The more you know.

Take care.

I'm going there. Tomorrow. For reals.

Nine AM tomorrow I embark on a ridiculous adventure. I will be heading to six (six!) African countries: Mali, Malawi, Liberia, Uganda, Kenya, and South Africa. Not necessarily in that order, but I can't actually remember the order.

I'm headed to Africa with two lovely people, Cary and Ciona, from an organization called Pray With Africa, based out of Nashville. They were looking for a video/documentary guy to shoot some stuff. I was looking for a chance to go to Africa. Hurrah!

I will be shooting a series of short subject documentary portraits, attempting to tell the larger story of some of the continent's most critical development issues through the lens of an individual's story and prayers.

We're basically going to be hitting a country a week. Which means essentially a doc a week. Which is, in case you were wondering, crazy. But crazy in a good way.

We've got a lot of contacts lined up. Please pray that doors open.

I'll do my best to keep this blog updated with thoughts and photos and videos and the like in travelogue/blog form and I hope that will help some of you to share in just a little of the adventure with me.

Ummm... yeah, so that's it. Holy geeze. Tomorrow morning. I need to pack.

Also, I made this movie last week for my church. I hope you like it. It was shot on the crazy cool camera that Pray With Africa bought for this trip... so hopefully I will be making some beautiful movies indeed.


Carlos from Austin Flack on Vimeo.

Tough, plainspoken, attractive, with easy to digest views on issues like energy and national security, and a (disputed) reputation for standing up to corruption, Sarah Palin is easy to like. However, I find the zeal with which she has been embraced by America pretty astonishing. Like Obama, Palin has become a 'celebrity'. Unlike Obama, her celebrity seems to be driven primarily by identification. As Marc Fisher of the Washington Post points out, Palin is being widely celebrated for her relative ordinariness--she is an everywoman, thrust upon the national stage, duking it out with the big boys, juggling career and family, dealing with familiar domestic crises:

"In this time of American Idol, bedroom bloggers and the belief that experience, knowledge and education don't necessarily mean a whole lot, Palin is a symbol, a statement that anyone can make it if he or she really tries."

While Obama is dismissed for being an arugula-eating, Harvard-grad elitist, Palin is celebrated for her Wal-Mart-shoppin', moose-burger-eatin', hockey mom persona.

What is shocking to me is that this sort of folksy charm still appeals to the American public in the wake of George Bush, a profoundly unpopular president whose own persona is so distinctly similar. Bush has always been seen as a guy you'd like to have a beer with (never mind he doesn't drink). Sure he's clumsy with words, a bit simple minded, maybe even willfully ignorant, but hey, aren't we all?

For all the talk about Obama's celebrity, at least his cult of personality has developed around a persona primarily defined by intelligence, judgment, dispassion, and dialogue. In his most celebrated moments, Obama has attempted to elevate the political discourse and appeal to our 'better angels'. He has compromised those ideals many times, but that's still the basic appeal of his persona. The cult of Palin, on the other hand, celebrates gut-level thinking, simplistic reasoning, home-spun wisdom, and hockey mom toughness--a feminized version of the Bush mystique.

I, for one, would like our nation's leaders to be vastly more knowledgeable, experienced, intelligent, and thoughtful than myself, my family, my peers, or for that matter, our current Commander in Chief. I admire candidates who know more than I do about foreign relations, tax policy, or environmental degradation, and I certainly welcome candidates who would rather consult experts and analysts than their own small intestine.

I, for one, am tired of leaders who are "just like us."

Goodtimes at the Casa Mia.

After three flights, a six hour layover in Bangkok, and a stretch of 50+ hours of sleeplessness, I hit the sack last night in Chaing Mai, Thailand, united with the rest of the Eleho team at last. We are staying in a charming air conditioned guesthouse, with the river as a backyard.

Dear friends and family,

At the end of the month I will be traveling to the Thai/Burmese border with an organization called Eleho (www.eleho.org) which is seeking to bring some attention and relief to the long-suffering Burmese people. I don't really have the resources to take this trip, so I'm trying to find people that might like to partner with me, financially, prayerfully, and otherwise, and help make this trip a reality. I've included the text of my support letter at the bottom of this blog entry. I'd be very thankful if you would take a moment to read it. If you are interested in partnering with me financially, know that anything you can spare would be an enormous help to me. Just so you know, Eleho is a registered non-profit and our application for 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status has been filed and is pending approval.

If you would like to learn more about the situation in Burma and what Eleho is trying to do about it, please click here: http://www.eleho.org/about.html

If you would like to contribute financially to my trip, please click here: http://www.eleho.org/austin.html

Thank you so much for your time.

God bless,

Austin


As some of you may know, my first job out of film school was a brief stint at Entertainment Tonight. I gleaned little from the experience save this: it takes dozens of remarkably talented and intelligent people to make that stupid show. In my subsequent employment in reality television, I have continued to find incredibly creative people making compelling television out of some of the most banal and useless content imaginable.

With so many good Hollywood folks working so hard to entertain and distract us with reality television, no wonder it’s so difficult for real reality to compete for our attention. And with so many tragedies around the world--Uganda, Darfur, human trafficking, AIDS--it’s no wonder that when they are confronted with reality people often get overwhelmed and turn on Project Runway.

There are lots of non-profits and NGOs trying to make a difference in Burma. Many of them are much larger and better funded than Eleho and they do incredible, invaluable work. But this summer, in late June, I’m traveling to the refugee camps near Mae Sot, on the Thai/Burmese border because I believe that Burma needs storytellers as much as they need aid workers. People who will not only help disseminate the awful truth, but do so in arresting and dramatic fashion, attracting eyes and capturing hearts. I am taking this trip in the hope that if I can help attract enough eyes, or manage to capture the right hearts, I might play some small role in bringing peace and comfort to the Burmese people.

I want to produce creative, compelling media about the crisis in Burma that inspires people to care about Burma at least as much as they care about America’s Next Top Model. I want to get cameras into Burmese hands and help them tell their own stories. I want to use social networks and new media to forge connections between distant nations. I want to bring peace to this war-torn nation and freedom to its subjugated populace.

It’s a tall order, but my experience working for Invisible Children has shown me that people are thirsty for substance and cause and that when talented people tell powerful stories creatively, people get involved and things change. With your help, Eleho can do the same for Burma.

In order to make this trip a reality, I need to ask for financial assistance. Sadly I’m not yet to the place where taking two or three weeks off and flying to Thailand is a fiscally-responsible decision. I’m not going to let that stop me but I would be profoundly thankful for any money you might be able to donate to my cause. And I promise to write exceptional thank you letters.

Here's where it’ll go:

$1,300 will be spent on airfare,
$200-300 for room and board for 2 or 3 weeks
$500 for sandals, rice, medicine for children and refugees
Any extra raised will go towards the kids.

I know this is a tough economic climate and that many of you might not be in the best place to give money but anything you can give will be greatly appreciated. Also, if you’re the praying sort, please pray for me, that I might be wise and humble and attentive to God’s guidance.

Thank you so much for your support.

I went to two Dodgers games. Both times I had great field-level seats.

One of the games had an hour-long rain delay with one out and a full count in the bottom of the ninth.

I sat in a hot tub.

I saw a massive firework show.

I ate kebabs.

I got a job.

I went on a date.

I played whiffleball and had two hits, and an RBI, and plenty of costly errors. I also struck out with two on and two outs in the top of the ninth inning of a tie game.

I had my best ever experience at an Albertsons.

I saw Speed Racer with Korean subtitles.

I ate at Crazy Hook.

I decided to go to Thailand this summer with Eleho.

So goes the pattern. At this point, I might as well just accept it.

Brief recap: I got a gig working as a nighttime assistant editor on the Style Network reality show Split Ends. The hours were death but the people were good to me and I learned a lot. That show ended and I am once again looking for work. Which isn't actually all that bad, at least during the day when I'm awake and not dreaming about Sallie Mae tormenting me as a giant club-wielding orge beating the earth like a dusty rug while I scramble from taking orders at Applebees to selling sweaters at Old Navy, working a series of dead-end jobs in order to keep a roof over my head and stay out of sight. At the end of the dream, the ogre tires of the chase and just clobbers my parent's retirement account instead.

As fun as unemployment can be, if you know of anyone looking for an assistant editor, and you wish me financial security and good night's rest, please let me know.

In the mean time, I'm scouring the job sites, and finishing up a fundraising trailer for the Volkswagen doc, and trying to finish my current script, and learning After Effects and some basic 3d stuff. I'm also working with my friends at http://www.eleho.org/ doing some planning and praying. Eleho is an organization dedicated to bringing about hope to the Karen people in Burma. If you've been following the news lately, you know that Burma/Myanmar is ruled by a brutal military Junta and is generally in a pretty hopeless state. I'd really, really, really like to be able to go to Thailand this summer to do some work in the Burmese refugee camps and help Eleho to lay the groundwork for future relief work but there are some pretty significant hurdles. So we'll see.

I just got back from a two-week jaunt around the country, spending a lovely week in New York City and another equally-lovely week back home in Washington. Both places are difficult to leave, especially for Los Angeles. While I was in New York, Will and I hit the museums and saw a couple of huge retrospectives:

Takashi Murakami

and Cai Guo-Qiang

Both were preposterously awesome. The Natural History Museum is as good as advertised and Yankee stadium was a great experience, even though I had to witness my beloved Mariners get shellacked. Grimaldi's is no joke. Neither is the ramen at Ippudo. I also got to see a bunch of old friends and meet some new ones, and if you know anything about me, you know that's like pollen to a honey bee.

In Washington, the highlight was certainly my nephew Zane Harrison Flack. And smores. And Mt. Rainier. And happiness.

I flew Virgin America everywhere because they had amazing fares and mood-lighting. All the flights were great, but things got ridiculous when I checked in at Sea-Tac for my flight back to LA and was offered a 1st class upgrade for only $50 bucks. I couldn't say no, although I felt more than a little guilty about living like a rockstar while I'm unemployed.

I don't feel guilty anymore. Holy goodness, it was AMAZING. Huge seats. Legroom to infinty and beyond. Our own bathroom.

I bought dinner and paid for wi-fi and an iTunes movie rental in the airport beforehand, knowing from experience that both food and movies cost money on Virgin flights. Or so I thought. It turns out your money's no good in 1st class. When I first got on the plane, while the common folk were still getting seated, the flight attendent asks me if I want anything to drink and I automatically ask for water. The lady next to me gets white wine and that's when I realize: the booze is free. So is the food. And the movies. Everything is free. Good God almighty, being wealthy must be fabulous. So when you figure in the meal and the movie and the several glasses of wine, I was really only paying about 20 bucks for outstretched legs and opulence. Just so you know, the duck was sublime (even though I was already full) and Amy Adams is super adorable in 'Enchanted'.

Other than that, not much else is going on. The girl making my coffee is pretty and this morning as I walked here a car drove by belching out smoke and the sweet, pungent smell of its exhuast reminded me of Disneyland. Anyone know why? The old Autopia? Diesel fuel? Something else? The smell of hyper-chlorinated water always reminds me of Splash Mountain but this is a new one.

Number One: I saw Shane Claiborne speak last night up at Bel Air Pres. If you know who he is, then you probably know that he's amazing and grounded and awfully inspiring. But, did you know that he also sports a very heavy East Tennessee drawl? The more you know.

Hearing him speak got me thinking about how I need to get off my ass and finally contribute meaningfully to some causes I am passionate about and how I need to step out of my comfort zone and befriend the friendless and build community with those in need. So hold me to that. I still want to change the world.

Number Two: Making phone calls for the Obama campaign sucks. There has got to be a more efficient way of garnering support for a presidential candidate. I've called about 30 people; I've been hung up on, gotten a wrong number, left a message, reached a Spanish-only household, and/or been told that it's none of my business 30 times. I still haven not had one (ONE!) call reached the desired conclusion (I figure out if they're going to vote and who they're going to vote for). Mostly I feel like a heel for bothering these folks and a tool for using my time to make phone calls for free on behalf of a very well funded presidential campaign. In addition, I'm relatively sure that several of the people I've spoken with are now going to vote for Hillary just to spite me.

I'm sure it will get better, and I'm going to keep at it, but right now this is not very high on my "Fun Ways to Make a Difference" list.

is AWESOME.

Here's what I did today:

1. Made breakfast


2. Got my bike fixed (new innertube)

3. Got a haircut

4. Got my glasses fixed (little tight on the nose)

5. Got quarters at the bank

6. Replaced my iPhone's earbuds (missing and broken anyway)

7. Lusted after the MacBook Air

8. Watched this video and smiled



9. Got 5 pages closer to finishing Jon and I's latest script

10. Got a library card and rented 2 Wong Kar-Wai movies

11. Updated my iPhone so that Google maps can find my location and my icons can jiggle

And it's only 3 o'clock...