The Mezzanine

Google gets green

noreply@blogger.com (daniel bellury) — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 22:28:00 +0000

Very interesting. Seems Google's got the gumption to get green.

http://www.project10tothe100.com/

Check my band

noreply@blogger.com (daniel bellury) — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 22:50:00 +0000

Heading to Montreal tomorrow to record with my band Pacific Theater. I started a new blog for the band to post pictures and stuff.

pacifictheater.tumblr.com

Enjoy.

Werk

noreply@blogger.com (daniel bellury) — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 19:00:00 +0000

Not working has started getting depressing.

Every time I tell someone that I haven't been working for 3 weeks, they get jealous. I would too. But being in the thick of it really blows, because you're worried about getting work which makes it hard to enjoy your free time.

I sit here at this desk everyday noodling on guitar and waiting to hear back if I'm going to work anytime soon.

I need to get outside.

Gobbledigook

noreply@blogger.com (daniel bellury) — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 19:00:00 +0000

It seems like such a shame to waste a perfectly good blog, doesn't it? With that in mind I'd like to start writing about things I like.

So without further ado, welcome back to The Mezzanine.

Last Day

noreply@blogger.com (daniel bellury) — Fri, 13 Jul 2007 15:50:00 +0000

Today is the last day of my 8 weeks in Latin America. Tomorrow I will be on a plane heading back to New York City.

Thanks for being a part of my journey. Writing about it, taking pictures of it and making music for it have been an integral part of being here for me. And sharing it with you all was like my way of whispering secrets into the trees and having the wind sweep them up and blow them to you.

Now here are a couple final pictures that I managed to snag before Jean Grey bit the dust again.

So again thanks for reading. I have a feeling this blog isn't over, so don't delete it from your bookmarks just yet...

With Love,
Daniel

Are You Sleeping?

noreply@blogger.com (daniel bellury) — Mon, 09 Jul 2007 11:36:00 +0000

Can you hear me? Do you know if I am by your side?

Ok some of you may remember my last post where I mentioned sickness and general unhappiness. Let me give you a 10 point numerical list of what I did yesterday, my first full day in Cancun, Mexico.

1. Woke up late
2. Ate awesome breakfast
3. Got in the Caribbean
5. Took a Scuba Diving lesson
6. Ate tacos
7. Went to the Cancun Aquarium
8. Saw a Dolphin show
9. Ate more tacos
10. Wore my bathrobe before bed.

Ooohkay. Best day ever? Sounds like it, but guess remember when I Scuba Diving Lesson? Well, I'm headin' now to go see some friggin' coral reef.

Hasta luego mi amigos!

Bogota -> San Jose

noreply@blogger.com (daniel bellury) — Tue, 03 Jul 2007 19:14:00 +0000

Part one: Party On Bogota

I'll be honest with you, I didn't write at all in Columbia because 4 of the 7 nights I was in Columbia I went out on the town. Let me tell you what- if you ever want to party like a rock-star and dance the night away, Bogota is the place to do it.We met some amazing people and had a ton of fun.

It's crazy that it has such a bad reputation. I even expected a 3rd world type scenario, but it's a modern and expansive city. There are dangers, but I never felt unsafe even late at night. It's probably my most recommended city that I've been to so far.

Jean Grey (new name for my camera) started working again so I snagged a couple cool shots of the city.

Part two: Sick in San Jose

Immediately juxtaposed with the biggest positive surprise of Bogota was the biggest letdown of San Jose, Costa Rica. Let me be clear- Costa Rica is beautiful. There is rainforests, volcanoes, monkeys, sloths and all kinds of cool things. However the capital city San Jose where I have been stuck in the equivalent to a Motel 6 sucks really hard. In fact it's the first place that has disappointed me.

And on top of everything else I got a wicked cold two days ago and have been laid up in this gross, muggy, prostitute riddled place. Did I mention there is a casino in the lobby of our hotel? Sounds cool right? No, it's scummy and terrible. I was excited to gamble for the first time in my life, but as soon as I walked in there I realized that this was not the place to lose my gambling virginity. I picture gambling in a James Bond tuxedo, plopping down $100,000 chips in a fight to the death duel of no limit Texas Hold 'Em. This is ugly Americans with ugly hookers and ugly carpet.

I hate to be so negative, because I like to be positive about everything. In fact the first day here when everyone else was complaining I kept saying "Hey guys, it's not so bad! It's like hotels we stayed in while the band was on tour. And you don't have to share it with 4 dudes!"

But I'll tell you what, tour hotel generally don't have as many prostitutes. And you generally only have to stay in them one night and then move on to a city where hopefully you have some friends who'll let you crash on their couch. And usually your friends aren't prostitutes. And also on tour you get to place music at night and hang out in the city during the day, not work during the day, then stay inside at night for fear of being assaulted by fat prostitutes.

Did I mention prostitutes yet?

Anyway, enough of my bitchin. Here's what I've been doing in my free time.

Click To Play

PPS> I did get to go to a volcano in Costa Rica that was wicked awesome. I have some shots which I will hopefully post on Flickr soon, but they are on a drive that got sent to the editors room. So you're just stuck with the whining for now.

Cusco Got Her Groove Back

noreply@blogger.com (daniel bellury) — Sun, 24 Jun 2007 22:07:00 +0000

Cusco (or Cuzco) Peru is the first place that feels like we're in the heart of South America. It's a place unlike anything I've seen on this trip. The people are kind and full of their ancient culture. Every road is cobblestone and the architecture is beautiful in it's Spanish and native design.

Interesting things about Cusco:

1) It's the city that the movie "The Emperor's New Groove" was set in. Haven't seen it personally, so I can't really add anything to.

2) Here in Cusco it's ok to pee where ever you want. This is a great policy for anyone with a weak bladder. The only downside is that the streets smell like piss and genitalia is waved around with wild abandon.

3) Women carry their babies around on their backs. It looks like they have psychedelic, backwards baby björns. Also, men are never carrying children. So my assumption is that Peruvian ladies are just stronger.

In other news, while I haven't been posting songs on here, I have still been purchasing instruments in every place I visit. In Peru I met a wonderful street musician who sold me a Charango which he handcrafted himself.

Now spending time in Peru, you see a lot of Charangos. They have mariachi bands that play in 75% of the restaurants, and there's always someone playing one. So I've seen a Charango or two and most of them have the personality of Short Round from Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom- short, spunky and loud. Mine however reminds me more of Natalie Portman in The Professional- short, calm and cute, so I named her Mathilda.

I'm still going through my Cusco pictures and I'll post some of them soon.

Machu. Picchu.

noreply@blogger.com (daniel bellury) — Thu, 21 Jun 2007 23:43:00 +0000

Sit, my friends and listen to my pearls of wisdom: With every action there is an equal and opposing reaction. Also, when life hands you lemons you must make lemonade, or lemon creme cookies, mmmm mmmm MMMM!

To wit, as soon as I finally got Photoshop installed on my computer, my wonderful companion and friend Nikon D50 (second closest companion next to Taurus, my 80 gig video ipod) has caught some sort of virus and is now coughing forth photo phlegm. In layman's terms, my camera is busted.

Awww, poor me. If everyone has caught their breath and finished crying over Nikon we can move on to the pictures I did manage to get.

Holy ancient ruins Batman! Machu Picchu is the shiz.biz! It's the bees knees! And of course, I had to ruin (get it?! hahaa..) some perfectly good scenery.

The whole experience is one I won't forget. The train ride, to the bus ride up the switchbacks, to our tiny tour guide Gladys, to just sitting there and watching birds fly around these gargantuan mountains.

Incans were pretty dang amazing in their ingenuity and probably their work ethic. I think if it'd been me, I'd have said "screw these stones, let's just build a couple bungalows." Thankfully, I wasn't a part of the Machu Picchu architectural committee.

The mystery behind these ruins is unparalleled. When it was discovered in 1911 there were mass graves found and by all calculations, something happened to drive the Incans to make a mass exodus from Machu Picchu. You can tell in certain areas that there are structures which weren't completed. It's an amazing place to theorize and imagine what could have happened.

Personally, I think it was either ninjas or dinosaurs that invaded, but that's just me.

My ultimate goal on this trip was also realized. I wanted to make sure I got a chance to be in some amazing place and play my melodica. I brought the dang thing specifically for that purpose and then subsequently got on my mission of purchasing an instrument in each city I visited (more on that later...). In fact the edit team has taken to calling me the Pied Piper. It was actually the best place to play, because the sound echoed throughout the ruins. So if you were at Machu Picchu the other day and you heard the piano notes for "Squalor Victoria" on a melodica- that was me.

It's just an incredible place. There's not much more I can say about it. I've dreamed of going there for years and years. I even want to come back some day and do the whole 4 day Inca Trail hike and soak in the entire experience of what it must have been like to live in that magical, mysterious world.

Here's a final shot of me overseeing the haps in the 'Picchu.

For more pictures check out my Flickr account. Link to the left, ya'll...

Bad Daniel, no cookie

noreply@blogger.com (daniel bellury) — Tue, 19 Jun 2007 15:11:00 +0000

I have slacked tremendously on blogging, I know. The worst part is that I'm in Peru and I've having to retro-blog on Santiago, when all I want to tell you about it where I'm at and what I've been doing. All in good time my friends...

So Santiago was one of the kindest cities I've been in yet. People there are just awesome. The weather was the real bummer. It rained all but 2 days that we were there and the nicest of those days I was stuck inside working all day long.

Oh well, I guess you can't win them all. I did go out to some bars with members of the cast and crew which was a lot of fun. And my hotel room was tres elegant. Which brings me to the brunt of this blog post:

An ongoing list of my new friends (and subsequently my new enemies)

1) My new friend, Roomservice. He's great when you're feeling down. Or bored. Or hungry. I suppose it's a lot like getting delivery, but it's in a hotel and you don't have to clean anything up.

2) My new friend, The Gym. So I'll confess, I haven't really worked out in years. I'll rock a yoga class every now and then, but weights? Treadmills? Ellipsis machines? Give me a break, I didn't even know what an ellipsis machine was. Well, the rub of the Sheraton is that you have to pay $5 to use the gym and the swimming pool is a part of the gym, so I figured I better get my money's worth. And actually I really enjoyed it and have wild notions of making exercise a more prominent part of my life. The downside is...

3) My new enemy, Sore Arms. Wow, don't bite off more than you can chew when you start going to the gym for the first time in years. I felt like my shoulders cans of silly string, shooting forth pink a green streams of pliable chemicals, which are good for nothing except annoying your friends with.

Well, I didn't take any pictures that I was crazy about, but I posted 60 from Santiago on my Flickr page, in an effort to start getting that guy back up to date.
Check them out here.

Oh and the title of this entry is completely untrue- I've been eating tons of cookies.

Chilly

noreply@blogger.com (daniel bellury) — Mon, 11 Jun 2007 03:33:00 +0000

Admittedly, I am a huge cornball. Corny to the max. It's mostly my dad's fault. But I can't help it- it's actually cold in Chile!

I had a great first day in Santiago. Walked around Plaza De Armas, took some pictures, bought a hat and took the subway (they were playing "Friday I'm in Love" by the Cure in one of the stations!). Then met up with Maura, one of the producer's sisters who is a travel writer for the New York Times, and we went on a tour of Pablo Neruda's house. Excellent stuff. Definitely learned a lot about him and it inspired me to buy his autobiography, which in English is just called "Memoirs" (boring) but in Spanish it's called "I Confess, I Have Lived" (cool!).

Then we took a "Funicular" which is like a trolley of sorts up to Cerro San Cristobal and saw the huge virgin Mary statue, then took these crazy 60's sci-fi cable cars back down. It was a lot of fun.

I'm going to post pictures, but I mainly wanted to give myself an excuse in this post. We traveled a day early this week, leaving Rio crazy early Saturday morning and arriving in Chile (after many delays and a layover in the worst airport in the world, San Paulo Brazil) in the late afternoon. Now during the flight somehow my new instrument, the mini-harp, became un-tuned and so the new song that I had composed in Rio will have to wait until I can get a wrench and retune.

Bum out. So instead I have a picture of me sitting by my windowsill in Rio looking longingly towards the sea with my mini-harp, and that will have to do for now.

Up, Up and Away

noreply@blogger.com (daniel bellury) — Fri, 08 Jun 2007 02:11:00 +0000

Hello. How are you? What did you do today? Oh yeah? That's great.

Oh what did I do today? Oh not much. You know, the usuge for Brazil. Sandwiches on the beach. Drinking out of coconuts... Hang gliding.

Yep. That's all I really have to say about that.

She Dances On The Sand

noreply@blogger.com (daniel bellury) — Wed, 06 Jun 2007 07:37:00 +0000

Yeah. The title was a little obvious, sorry.

Rio De Janerio. Possibly the most beautiful place I've ever seen in my life. The city is intensely amazing. From my window I can see mountains and oceans, mountains in the ocean and behind my hotel are oceans tucked in betwixt mountains. Aerial views of the city are breathtaking and the beaches are golden. Today I watched the waves crash against rocks for a solid hour. Like this one;

Another perk to this job, for some reason my position requires that I have a common space for the crew to drop of tapes and equipment. This basically means that I get a suite(sweet) in every city. Here in Rio I have the most amazing room with a sick view, two television sets, a couch, a table with 4 chairs, two bathrooms, one with a jacuzzi and a king sized bed. I have no idea how I scored all this, but I'm not complaining. Check out the view;

And at night;

And I just think this is cool;

Despite all these pros, there is a strange sense of a con in Rio. I haven't been able to put my finger on it exactly, but what I've seen so far there is a weird negative vibe here. Admittedly, I haven't seen a whole lot yet, but just what I've seen of the people there is an attitude of what I like to call "tough guy superiority." I don't know if I'm off-base, but this is what I feel.

UPDATE!! I just spent the afternoon in Ipanema and it kinda changed my opinion of this city. Really cool laid back area with interesting people. Maybe "Cariocas" aren't as tough as they seem...
/UPDATE

Regardless, it's still gorgeous. Here's two shots of Ipanema;

Then here's me and our old pal, Jesus;

Random thoughts:

I missed New York for the first time today. Got emails and chatted with friends online and do miss the city a little. Sounds like everyone is having a good time, so just know I'm thinking about all of you.

I have been without a mobile phone for almost 3 weeks now. I love it. Might start leaving my phone at home sometimes when I get back.

I have been drinking aqua com gas (water with bubbles or seltzer) with apricot juice and it owns my face (© Copyright 2006 Ben Helfen).

Lost forums are amazing. There are folks out there with IDEAS, people.

My friend on the crew Fleur and I have been planning out a sloth farm. Proposed specifications are as follows:

- Lots of sloths
- Monkeys
- A garden
- A jacuzzi
- A greenhouse
- One baby tiger

Location for sloth farm yet to be determined.

So far there are two Mom's (that I know about) reading my blog. Can I just say that Mom's are awesome?

Finally, I still can't stop listening to Menomena.

Love and nunchucks.

Pools of Infinity

noreply@blogger.com (daniel bellury) — Sun, 03 Jun 2007 00:41:00 +0000

Hey, the first episode of 5Takes is tonight! If anyone watches, let me know what you think. And in other news from the states, I hear The National played great shows in NYC. Everyone should make a point to pick up their new album 'Boxer.'

So I'm leaving Manaus in about 4 hours, headed for Rio De Janerio. Why we have a 3:30am flight is beyond me. I didn't even know people scheduled flights for 3:30am. But hey, why would I know anything about the airline industry? Oh wait...

Today was the most relaxing day. I ate a lot and about 75% of my day was spent at the Infinity Pool. Now I don't know if anyone else is privy to these new fangled "infinity pools" but they are pretty awesome.

Get it? Pretty sweet, right? Especially since it's on the Amazon. It's also hard to take a bad looking photo around it.

I was relax to the max.

Then I finally got a (semi)descent photo of a dolphin.

As the sun was setting I finished my second book of the trip, "The Old Man and the Sea." What an awesome book. I read it years and years ago back in homeschool and remembered it having a profound effect on me back then and now I feel like it'll be one of those books that pops up sporadically throughout my life. Since it was such a great setting to finish a book about being on the water, I took some more pictures.

Walking back to our hotel, we saw a sloth! I dubbed him "Chewy" in honor of his great wookie ancestor.

And as promised here is my collection of instruments so far.

I'd post pictures of the hotel, but they aren't really that interesting comparatively.

Jack Kodiak asked for a poem about the Amazon, but I like haikus better, so here we go:

Rivers of life and rain
Glad the gator didn't eat me
Thank you for the tan

Now it's time to pack up and say farewell to the Amazon. See you in Rio!

Amazonas

noreply@blogger.com (daniel bellury) — Fri, 01 Jun 2007 05:02:00 +0000

Perhaps it's the sun or perhaps it's the malaria pills, but for some reason this week I've been really tired. At night I've barely had enough energy to get my work done much less for blogging. And there have been a lot of nighttime activities. So I've just been beat.

I am staying in the most amazing hotel I've ever seen. It's like a huge expansive of long wide hallways with beautiful mahogany doors and gigantic, ornate, hanging street lamps. There are pools and restaurants everywhere. I will take pictures before I leave, but for the time being, let's check out some photos.

First off- The Amazon River is in my backyard. The first day we were here we took a boat tour down the river and saw the Pointe de Negro, which is where the Yellow River and Black River (Rio Solomoes and Rio Negro) meet. It's incredible. Two completely different colors butt up beside each other, but don't mix. There's science behind it which I don't remember how to explain.

Here's a freighter from the Yellow River, then from the Black River

On the Amazon there are lots of people who live right on the water either in floating houses or houses on stilts. It's pretty awesome and I love that they wave at you if you start taking their pictures.

So then we got off at this floating restaurant/market and walked down this dock through the flooded forest. Now there is tons of animal life all over the place and yes, I did get a few pictures, but what I didn't get were the monkeys which were too far away to get a good shot of (why oh why didn't I get that long lens?!) and the fresh water dolphins which were too quick for me. Well, I got a fin, but that's it and not worth posting.

Maybe you notice the alligator in that last one, hmm? And here's the crew in the boat.

Needless to say, it was an amazing experience. Now I hate that I didn't separate these into different posts, but since I was a slacker this week, you'll have to just pause for a second, maybe go pour another cup of coffee, then keep on for the second part...

Near our hotel is the Pointe De Negro and right now there is a big festival going on with a open market full of bead necklaces and silly shirts. We walked through it yesterday before it was open while they were still setting up the stage and found this little pier and started taking pictures. A handful of local boys came up and started diving into the water and petitioning us to take their pictures as they leap in. It was really surreal and also really hilarious. I got a couple shots that I am really proud of.

Pretty cool, eh?

And finally I made another song, which I'm not sure if I like as much, but it's longer and has the same vibe as the first. I have purchased two new instruments which I haven't taken pictures of, but I will and they'll be included with the hotel pictures. Scouts honor.

MP3 - Manaus (#6)

Whew, ok mammoth post I know. Next stop Rio de Janerio!

La Loba, Mi Corazóne

noreply@blogger.com (daniel bellury) — Sat, 26 May 2007 02:18:00 +0000

(Blog post best enjoyed listening to this song, sitting in a cozy room, dimly lit only by lamps with sepia toned shades and preferably near a fireplace.)

On the corner of Esmerelda and Viamonte in the Retino district, is La Loba, a cafe with a cresent shaped exterior with glass walls and door cluttered with posters, which may or may not have been stuck to the doors for over a decade. As soon as you walk in the door, a wood carving of Romulus and Reamus sucking on the teat of the wolf is attached to the back wall and it beacons you to take your seat on a stool at the stainless steel counter that wraps around the entire room.

A portly man with a blue shirt and a wide smile greets you and politely inquires

"¿qué tienes mi amigo?"

"dos cafe con crema, por favor," for you and your friend.

The portly man with the wide smile, smiles at you again and this time you notice the small crevice between two of his front teeth. Then he makes his way around Romulus and Reamus and prepares one of his specialties. When he returns he sets down the most resplendent coffee drinks you've ever tasted in your life.

You look around the room and see old men sitting around sipping on cafe espresso and reading the paper. Many of them shooting the breeze with other old men sitting around sipping on cafe espresso. No one is in a hurry to do anything.

Sometimes when you finish, you order another one just because you can't bear to have the moment end.

The portly man will glance over to see if you are doing ok and if you lock eyes with him, he'll smile again and shoot a wink your way. If you're like me, you'll wink back.

When it's time to leave and get back to work you raise your hand and say

"La cuenta, por favor."

"Si, tres cinco"

You toss a couple bills and some loose change on the counter.

"Gracias mi amigo"

"Muchas gracias"

"Ciao!"

"Ciao!"

La Loba is my favorite place in Buenos Aires and I hope that one day I can go back there and have another cafe con crema from the portly man in the blue shirt.

Hasta lueago, Buenos Aires. Hasta lueago, La Loba.

Long Daze

noreply@blogger.com (daniel bellury) — Fri, 25 May 2007 07:50:00 +0000

Been a long day and didn't really get a chance to get out much because of work. But good none-the-less. Helped Blair, one of the cast, create his vlog for the Travel Channel 5Takes website and I added a link for the website on the side bar (<--- that way).

Got a special blog post in the works for tomorrow, so tonight I'm gonna try to get some much needed shut eye.

Yo La Tango

noreply@blogger.com (daniel bellury) — Thu, 24 May 2007 05:40:00 +0000

Yo La Tengo = "I have her" / an indie rock band from Hoboken, NJ
Yo La Tango = "I tango her" (which makes no sense) / A form of dance originating from lower class (IE brothels) areas in Buenos Aires.

What a difference a noun can make.

Went to a Tango in Palermo Soho tonight. Took some pictures, but I fear they are too dark so I'm going to just review them tomorrow and decide if they are worthy. Tango is pretty amazing to watch. It can be really fast or really lethargic, but always incredibly sensual and hypnotizing to watch.

I slept very poorly last night and all today's tapes are already logged, so I'm going to curl up and sleep. Possibly like a baby.

Two quick notes:

1) Cabbies are really talkative, one today laughed really hard when he asked where in New York we were from and Adam relayed "Brooklyn, su tambien, su tambien..." then looked at me and told him I was homeless in spanish. Next on my to learn list "Hi, I'm Daniel and I'm homeless."

2) I keep forgetting to mention that I have seen 3 instances of graffiti that just says "Daniel". I also never have my camera handy when I see them, but it is true...

Wicked Rest, No?

noreply@blogger.com (daniel bellury) — Wed, 23 May 2007 05:06:00 +0000

Bah, sleep is for quitters. And I'm not a quitter, so I haven't been doing much of the ol' shut-eye. The downside is exhaustion (from what I hear) has a tendency to shorten blog posts. I'm just sayin...

Yesterday I woke up and one of my ears was clogged and I couldn't really hear out of it very well. This has happened to me before (too much rock?) so I just kinda ignored it and asked around unsuccessfully for Q-Tips. This morning it was still bothering me, so after breakfast I decided to take a hot bath and soak my head to loosen up that ear gunk.

That worked pretty well. The problem was that I made the bath SUPER hot and I mean, like hotter than a black camaro's hood on an august afternoon in Georgia (you know the camero with the bird painting? Niiiice). So I tried adding some cold water, but it was too late and I just got in.

When I got out, my skin was kinda red and I felt woozy and put on my Reconquista bathrobe and slippers and stumbled back to bed. I seriously had to rest up for like 30 minutes before I could walk.

Bottomline; baths are awesome and powerful.

Otherwise today, I hung out at the hotel, did a little work then had coffee, lunch, coffee a long walk in a new direction and more coffee. Then this evening I went the one and only vegetarian restaurant in the Palermo Hollywood barrio of Buenos Aires called "Bio" with Adam and Aidria and it was awesome. I had this crazy mushroom and rice dish, but Adam's risotto and cheese was the unanimous favorite.

We got a cab back to the hotel because the subway was closed (at like 11- we ain't in New York anymore Toto) and Adam and the cab driver kept talking and laughing in Spanish and the only work I could understand was "whisky". Apparently, he thought we were drunk. Off 2 cervas? I think not. Then I bragged about going to see the Arcade Fire at Radio City and when I was met with awe and appreciation, I knew for sure that I am in good company on this trip.

Ok, so maybe this isn't a short blog post. Maybe exhaustion just makes you over do it with parenthetical statements.

Here's some pictures (still sans photoshop, but whatever):

I'm too tired for descriptions, so just figure it out. But don't cry for me Argentina, I'm going to bed!

The Bells

noreply@blogger.com (daniel bellury) — Mon, 21 May 2007 23:24:00 +0000

Today I made my first musical instrument purchase. After walking around aimlessly for 3 hours, I found Sarmiento Street which is apparently the music district of Buenos Aires. There were more music stores in a 5 block radius than the lower east side and 48th street combined. It was an exhilarating moment for me. Being very careful not to blow my wad, I made a small purchase of a set of 8 bells (more commonly known to non-drummers as an Xylophone). The proprietor assured me that it's a genuine Argentinian instrument, not made in China as he put it. And it's kinda beautiful actually.

So this brings my Latin American instrument arsenal up to a set of bells and a melodica (purchased before the trip for any down time on top of mountains of monuments where a tune might be appropriate). And my new goal is to buy an instrument in every country on this trip. I'm gonna make it happen. Oh yes.

Also, I have a ton of new pictures from my adventures today, but I'm photoshop-less at the moment, and these ones need a little work (too much backlight). So I'll get them when I get them.

UPDATE!!!!
Not sure if this will happen often, but I made a silly song in Garage Band last night with my new toys. Check it:

MP3 - Buenos Aires 2

El Bano, my only Spanish

noreply@blogger.com (daniel bellury) — Mon, 21 May 2007 04:40:00 +0000

Two days ago I could only remember like 2 words in Spanish (well and the phrase that Cedro at the Dove taught me which means 'nice ass' which I promise I won't use, unless it's really really really really applicable.), now I am hola-ing and gracias-ing and adios-ing all over the place. It's pretty great. Trying to actually learn something while puttering about in a foreign land.

A couple quick things:

1) I don't know if these daily updates will be daily for much longer. Once the workload picks up I will probably have less time for this. Just so you know.

2) I have a skype account now. Username = bellurypants. Get it.

3) I forgot to mention yesterday that I have seen 3 instances where there has been graffiti of the word "Daniel". Maybe I am INfamous here? ("He's not famous, he's INfamous, which means more than famous!" - special prize to the first non-Bellury who knows what that is from...)

4) Bringing only one pair of jeans was stupid.

So anyway, today was good. Got some work done and have a good feeling about how the work flow will... flow. Had some quality meals with the crew. Breakfast was awesome and complimentary. Lunch was cozy and cheap.

But then... Dinner was freaking expensive! I was supposed to go to dinner with the other assistant editor and one of the cameramen, but the three of us got roped into going to dinner with the director and owners of the production company. And while dinner was excellent, and admittedly I did have a great time, the dinner turned out to be $140 each! Now, that is pesos, so it was really only like $45 US, but still my plan was to live off only $20 bucks a day US so that I can come home rich.

I really shouldn't complain. The dinner was great and probably would have cost at least $100 in New York. And I know it's ok to splurge now and then, I just am beating myself up about it so I won't get in the habit of it.

The owners of the company were really cool people and had lots of funny stories (they are an engaged or married couple), and they even got into a food fight was was ridiculous and awesome. I was definitely glad to get to know who I'm working for.

Ok, here are some pictures.

View from my hotel room

The Times Square of Buenos Aires

A flag.

The McDonalds corner. Apparently there are three at that intersection.

A pretty sign.

This big thing that tells me I'm close to my hotel. Kinda like a compass.

A funny sign that I don't understand.

Oh I forgot my 5th note and Kristian will be happy about this, I'm totally hooked on the show 'Heros'. I downloaded the first 3 episodes on iTunes and it rules. It's actually time for me to watch an episode and fall asleep.

Goodnight.

Hola Buenos Aires

noreply@blogger.com (daniel bellury) — Sat, 19 May 2007 22:44:00 +0000

After a long disorienting flight, I arrived in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The day started off slow with a lot of meeting the crew for the show and moving as a unit, which always seems to take a long time. Not a bad thing, as it gave me a chance to get to know the people I'm going to be working with for the next two months.

Once we arrived at our hotel and finally got situated, two of the producers and myself, went out to soak up some culture and more importantly get some real food. I grabbed a map and acquainted myself with the area and led the way to a street ominously titled "Florida Street".

Sure enough, it was a huge open mall with street performers, caricature artists- the works. Only the architecture was much more appealing than that of the Florida I know. We found a restaurant brightly lit with fluorescents and vaguely reminiscent of a diner you'd find on 34th street, except of course I couldn't understand the menu. I deciphered a sandwich and for some reason it came with shredded carrots and slices of hard-boiled egg. Tasted good regardless.

Since I forgot to take my camera out with me on my excursion, I decided to take pictures of my sweet hotel room. First off we have a wide view.

Next here's my little work area where I'll be slaving away to the Final Cut Pro gods for the next week.

Here's what looks to be two toilets. Now any world traveler might immediately recognize what is going on here, but let's open them up and see what's inside...

Yes, as you can see below, the first "toilet" is actually a bidet. For the uninformed a bidet is a post-toilet toilet that shoots water up your butt to clean it out after a number two. You can also just use it if you're bored and wonder what it feels like to have water shoot up your butt. I recommend toilet paper instead.

Ah, here is a non-descript knob that I puzzled over until when I answered my door and realized there was music coming from the ceiling.

Yeah, apparently you can adjust the level of latin lounge music that comes out of the hallway from beside your bed? Doesn't make much sense to me either, but what do I know about fancy hotels...

Ok, so that's all I have for today. Got to fall asleep now, so that I can wake up bright and early and see what this whole Argentina country is all about.

Welcome to my blog

noreply@blogger.com (daniel bellury) — Wed, 16 May 2007 16:36:00 +0000

First and foremost, please excuse the appearance as I hastily slapped this thing together from a template. Second, I'd like to thank everyone for stopping in. This blog has been in the back of my mind for a while and now with this excursion looming over me like a hawk coming in on a field mouse, I figured it's time to spread my wings and write.

Friday, I'm heading to Latin America. I'm working on a TV show for the Travel Channel called 5 Takes. We're going all over the place, starting in Argentina and then ending in Mexico. I'm feeling a little nervous, just because there's a lot to do and not a lot of time left to do it. On that tip, this won't be my longest post, because I just realized I need to fold clothes soon.

Never the less, the blog is something that I've wanted to tackle on my own terms for a long time. Having been a slide-lines blogger for a while now, I feel like I'm graduating to the big boys with a blog of my own. I mean, my little brother blogs more than I do (and his blog is much much cooler than mine)- why am I not the top dog in the "blogosphere"? I mean, I know stuff and have been a fan of the interwebs for many many moons.

I digress. The blog is here to facilitate my thoughts and experiences through the course of the next two months while on my journey. Where the blog will be after that, I do not know.

But let's take it one step at a time.

Next transmission coming from Buenos Aires!