Friday, August 29, 2008

The road back home and how do the filmmakers in "when bears attack" do it?


The band departed from Astoria on Tuesday morning to begin the two-day ride back to Portland for their show at the Doug Fir lounge on Saturday, August 30. It was nice to get back on the road. Although it felt good to have a few days of downtime while we were in Gearhart for the Concert for Big Red, it was hard for us to relax. Max was working on the most recent video we have posted, and Emily is still trying to learn about sound.

So far on the journey, we have been pretty astounded at how well the biking part of the tour has been going. There have been a few flat tires and some other mishaps along the way, but no injuries or major delays. In fact, their incredibly good luck has made following them even more difficult for us, as anticipating luck striking is not the easiest task.

About 10 miles into their trip back to Portland, Israel noticed that his hand painted flag (which he had already lost and found once) had fallen off of his trailer at some point along their ride. He decided to go back to look for it and left his trailer and backpack (still holding our wireless microphone, which he now requests in the morning) in some bushes. He then got a flat at about the same time that the rest of the group arrived at a Shell station in Westport and began enjoying some make-your-own burgers. Finally! we thought, some drama on this trip. We filmed the trio at the gas station as they discussed Israel's predicament and then headed up the road to find Israel to see how he was doing. It was really hard to watch him struggle with a ripped tube, trying to inflate it, as it got darker and darker and then began to drizzle. We finally left Israel to walk along the road and eventually get picked up by a kind person who also helped him collect his trailer.

Being objective observers and documenters of people you consider to be good friends is harder than one might think. We have always said that we would put down the camera and help them if they found themselves in a dangerous situation or if someone was hurt. But what about these minor errors in preparation? It would have been simple for us to go get a new tube for Israel, but we were instructed to remain separate and not "cheat." The band is dead set on handling thse situations as if we are not there. Still, a problem solver by nature, Max found it hard to not suggest ideas, and Emily could not help herself from offering Israel water. We just hope that our documentation of this tour will make up for any impact that may come along with our presence.

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