which is how i came to find myself at a political rally in remembrance of the assassination of Rafik Hariri a former Prime Minister of Lebanon. (Many think the Syrians had something to do with it...it's complicated.)
Hariri was killed with a very big bomb. It's rather the traditional way for Lebanese leaders to go, though his bombs was bigger than most...he was an important guy after all.
The intricacy of Lebanese politics is baffling and seems to have led to a permanent political stasis. Imagine a 7 way traffic intersection with no signal. Ostensibly each driver entering wants to get to his or her destination. However, as the crush of cars becomes intractable real progress grinds to a halt. The resulting mess leaves people more interested in the politics of the intersection and their final destination little more than a pipe dream. So goes Lebanese politics.
Somebody must have a theory linking a nation's traffic patterns with their political character...but i'll spare you any further attempt here.
Politics and automobile love merge.
One cab driver was so moved by the rally that he left his cab unattended for 10 minutes, blocking the one available lane and stranding hundred of cars (including this writer) behind him. This is the site of the assassination. The flaming statue is a memorial - the flames coming everyday at the moment the explosion took place.
The one benefit of the rally was I had no trouble parking.
Of course what's a political rally without a tank.
Or random pictures of seemingly bored Lebanese.
As for the movie.
We've delayed the start of it by about a week due mainly to rain.
Lebanese film making involves a number of facets not often seen in US production. One major concern: which political party somebody supports.
Every rental house, location and actor is evaluated on their political leanings. Some locations are just off limits because they're in Hezbollah controlled areas. It's not particularly unsafe but you'd rather have them with you than not - and our production company is not with them. However, certain key members of the production team do support the Hezbollah party...although political talk at work seems to be non-existent.
Few things in Lebanon are ever concrete - and even those elements you believe secure tend to disintegrate at the last moment. (An oft repeated quote by the likes of Woody Allen and Noah Baumbach characters rings all the more true in Lebanon. "If you want to make god laugh, tell him (or her) your plans.")
As a side note, the equipment house from which we're renting gear likes to put things in boxes.
Personally, i think it's a silly and overly complicated way to deal with gear, however it becomes more understandable when the inside of your truck looks like this:
We've done some scouting of locations. My method for remembering where the sun rises at each loaction:
Sometimes Lebanon doesn't feel that exotic:
(not my doughnuts!)
(not my doughnuts!)
Next up:
Production begins! (It actually started a few days ago so, the next entry should be soon)
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