california

[mattias]

so, i'll be in california from june 26 to approx july 8, los angeles and san diego mainly, plus a bit of mexico. who wants to hook up for a beer or some surfing, or invite me to a party/barbecue/screening? check out my homepage for contact details, or pm me here.

/matt

[Nigel]

Damn...

I'll be in NYC some of those dates.

Maybe next time.

Good Luck

[super8man]

Too far south for me...

[sooper8fan]

i'm in San Diego (carlsbad) but with a pretty tight schedule. I don't know if I'm cool enough to hang out with you though...LOL. Actually, My wife and I are photographing a wedding in Carlsbad on June 28th from 9am-3pm. I was hoping to shoot some Super8 at this wedding but we have to dedicate our focus to photographing. If you want to cruise by for a couple hours and use my Nikon R10 and shoot some E64T for me you could! I could probably scrape up $50 for you, but I'm sure you've got other things to do! Have a good time while you're here!

-seth

[sooper8fan]

Hey, by the way...regarding Mexico...it's simply not safe anymore. Lately there have been a lot of issues with kidnapping random tourists, raping them, mugging them, and if they think you look like you're worth anything they'll hold you for ransom and/or kill you. I know there's craziness everywhere, but lately it's been really f'ed up in Mexico. I'm never setting foot in Mexico again.

So, just a heads up!

-seth

[mattias]

yeah, i heard that about mexico. we've managed to stay alive in the rio favelas though, so i'm willing to gamble. it's all about looking like you're not completely lost and, as you say, like you're not worth anything. do you think renting a car in mexico is a better idea than driving down, for that very reason?

(flashes from the mexican and el caminos before my eyes)

/matt

[sooper8fan]

do you think renting a car in mexico is a better idea than driving down, for that very reason?

i have no idea, sorry!

[teadub]

Rent a car there. They used to not care, now they want you to get some vehicle importation paperwork, which is just a lead in for a scam.

[Ace]

Wow, don't completely scare the dude...it's like anywhere you go, there are bad areas and good ones; and it's all about how you carry yourself. Here in LA, if you are looking like a complete tourist with your fanny pack, backpack and red bandanna around your head in South Central LA, then you may have a problem. Just like there are areas you don't want to go in NYC, or Brazil, Colombia, Europe, etc, etc.

Mexico is fine, just be aware of your surroundings. I was in South America shooting a documentary about the Galapagos Islands in Ecuador, and while I was there I kept hearing about Colombians coming into the country and kidnapping tourists. While I'm sure it happens, I never saw evidence of it, and made sure I was very careful about where I traveled while I was there.

There was a rise in kidnappings last year (26) and only 2 this year:
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/mexi ... idnap.html
quote from the article "Most of the victims have business interests or family members in Mexico."

Among those are 'virtual kidnappings' which is described in an article here;
http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/04/29/ ... mexico.php

(I have seen at least 5 Amber Alerts in the last year in LA, just to compare)

[teadub]

I agree. I didn't mean to sound alarmist at all. I'm sure Matt will be fine just about anywhere (within reason). Mexico is totally fine, I go there and friends go there frequently.

[mattias]

thanks, yeah i'm sure i'll be fine. i've traveled around for example brazil and eastern europe before and i'm still alive so i'm confident. confidence comes from knowledge and street smartness though, which is why i was asking about the car. will a u.s. car dramatically increase the risk of it being stolen or broken into, or us being kidnapped for that matter if it comes to that?

so, nobody but seth wants to hang out with me in so cal this summer then?

/matt

[BolexPlusX]

A few years ago I worked a lot in Tijuana and commuted across the border from San Diego every day with a rented US car. I stayed in a hotel up near Balboa Park. The rental car companies are not cool with their cars going into TJ and even though they can't stop you, will not insure you in case something happens down there. If you get into an accident in Mexico you can count on having to stay in Mexico until you can prove your liabilities will be covered. If you are driving what is legally an uninsured vehicle this can be a long, long stay.

What allowed us to get away with this kind of travel was that our employer had Mexican car insurance and we carried the certificate.

Do yourself a favor: wherever you rent a car keep it to something budgety looking that blends in. Our Director of Purchasing used to rent luxury cars and could count on being shaken down for a bribe by the Mexican Highway Patrol pretty much every trip. I, as just a humble Engineer, always wound up with econoboxes and never ever got pulled over in more than twenty weeks of daily commuting.

Newer rental cars seem to attract the attention of the US border guards coming back north. I was driving a brand new car coming home one night and sat at the border for almost an hour while they poked and prodded the car looking for contraband. They seemed especially interested in it because it was so new.

Driving in Mexico, and especially in TJ is worse than anything I ever experienced in the rest of North America or Europe. The roads are bad, the drivers are aggressive (..and remember, this is coming from somebody that drives in New York city fairly often.), the traffic patterns are near psychotic, most of the cars are scrap iron on wheels. However, much beyond Central Tijuana it can actually be kind of nice.

[MovieStuff]

Here in LA, if you are looking like a complete tourist with your fanny pack, backpack and red bandanna around your head in South Central LA, then you may have a problem.

:lol: :lol: :lol: I'd say anyone that considers South Central a place to relax with the family deserves what happens to them, regardless of how they're dressed.....

so, nobody but seth wants to hang out with me in so cal this summer then?

I would love to hang out with you in so cal, only I'm in so tex!

Seriously, if you can go back home by way of Utopia, I'll put you up in our guest house by the river. Beer's free!

Roger

[Ace]

:lol: :lol: :lol: I'd say anyone that considers South Central a place to relax with the family deserves what happens to them, regardless of how they're dressed.....

Ha Ha...yeah true...how about Venice Shoreline Crips then?

[super8man]

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&g ... 117.058754

Select the STREET VIEW to check out the neighbourhoods you will be hanging in...oh, notice even Google is too chicken to cover Mexico...what's up with that?