Tsunami, The Aftermath airs on BBC TWO

Ugh... I can never seem to get to bed on time lately! I suppose it doesn't help that I am starting my trip to Israel tomorrow - I always feel pretty wired before traveling.

Anyway, it's confirmed, I made it through the editing process for the film, Tsunami, The Aftermath. Michelle Gray from England, a friend and fellow volunteer in the Khao Lak area of Thailand, just gave me the news via Google Talk. Apparently Kudos (the production company) and the rest of the gang did a good job in general, and in recreating the damage as well:

2:28:29 AM Michelle: hey saw you on the tv the other day.

2:28:38 AM Rafael: yeah? did you see you too??

2:29:17 AM Michelle: not me i knew where i was in the background but you are on for ages playing volley ball

2:29:26 AM Rafael: hahaha
rad, I'm fake volleyball superstar

2:30:08 AM Michelle: its a 2 part tv movie and its pretty good actually.

2:30:24 AM Rafael: you've seen the movie already?

2:30:30 AM Michelle: its mad to see everywhere all broken up
it was on BBC 2 on tuesday

She didn't mention if my role as a "continuity dead person" materialized on film, so I'm still curious about that... If you see the film, let me know.

The documentary, Making Tsunami, The Aftermath, is getting good initial feedback as well: IMDB.com Boards

Either I'm really bad at finding listings on the BBC website, or BBC sucks at updating it -- I can't find where on the site it says Tsunami, The Aftermath was airing on Tuesday - it still shows it as unconfirmed. Oh well...

By the way, it's Michelle's birthday. Feliz cumpleaños Michelle! I think you deserve some more fame, so here's to hoping you'll get you more paid work in the film industry (and of course, some actual screen time). ~_^

Michelle Gray displays her infamous wound as a "holiday maker" on the set of Tsunami, The Aftermath. A similar shot was featured in her hometown tabloid newspaper

Israel: Visiting the Holy Land

Friday, I fly from Mexico City to Israel! I'm meeting up in Tel Aviv with one of my best friends, Mark Aceves, for a two-week exploration of Israel, Jordan (Petra... remember the last Indiana Jones movie?), and possibly Palestine. Pretty exciting, as I've wanted to visit Israel for years and years. The amount of world-changing history concentrated in such a small section of the world is overwhelming.

I know, two weeks is not even close to the amount of time needed to truly experience everything. However, Mark was going alone, and I rarely get the chance to travel with my friends, so off I go! Perhaps I'll get a chance to introduce Mark to some of the new Israeli friends I've made during the last 18 months of traveling.

Most people don't think about the fact that the history's most influential revolutionary came from Israel: Yehoshua Moshiach.

no, it's not che

Sadly, the ironic thing is that although this radical revolutionary never killed anyone -- he promoted only tolerance and love for everyone -- many have killed in his name. Hopefully, more people will lead the way living by his example, instead of using his name to promote their own selfish agendas.

Tsunami, The Aftermath Update

Tsunami, The Aftermath Part 1 (of 2) has got a release date, finally! As you may recall, I worked as an extra on this movie when it was being filmed on location Khao Lak, Thailand. December 10th, the 2004 tsunami story, based on real life characters and events will start airing on HBO, almost every day of the month.

Right now, there's a behind-the-scenes documentary entitled Making Tsunami, The Aftermath being shown. I may or may not show up in either of them, but if I do, you may get to see me playing volleyball on the beach and gawking at the strange sea behavior (woohoo), and maybe even dead on the ground (eww).

BBC Film details
HBO Schedule for Making Tsunami, The Aftermath
HBO Schedule for Tsunami, The Aftermath Part 1

my professionally applied fatal(?) wound

Dual Citizenship, Here I Come

Okay, it's about time! After almost exactly 32 years since my parents left Mexico for California with me as a baby, I am finally on my way to USA and Mexican dual citizenship. Today, my new friends Gustavo and Claudia were my testigos (witnesses) and vouched for me when I went to apply for my Mexican credencial (Federal ID). The staff was great. The process was actually very simple and didn't cost anything but time, and the the thing that probably took the longest was when the woman taking my photo was trying to make it look just right. My new ID will be ready when I get back from Israel next month. I'm stoked!

Next step: Mexican passport!

After visiting the IFE office, what better to do than relax for a bit at the beach? Here's a few shots of Boris, Gustavo and Claudia's son en la playa. What a character!