by Ian Rygiel | Dec 19, 2014 | Ian's Blog
One of the reasons I enjoyed Rt. 66 so much was because of the spontaneity we were afforded on that stretch of road. Unlike our other stops, we had no pre-approval to film anywhere along the highway. Sure, we had a few ideas for locations, but we were truly counting on our own charm and good luck to be able to shoot anywhere. Luckily, the staff at Pop’s were gracious enough to let us record our visit. It was about noon and our first real stop of the day. We were all starved and grateful for a break from rest stop food, and the heat, as we rolled into Pop’s. If you’ve seen any of our short videos, it’s the place with the massive soda bottle out front. The metal frame buzzes loudly with the sound of electricity during the day, almost as if straining in anticipation for the moment its switch is flipped, and it can illuminate the night. There’s likely a metaphor to be found here; possibly, something about feeling boxed in and yearning to light out across the land – or maybe just some sexual innuendo. It’s been a long work week, so I’ll let you fill in the blanks. But I digress. Aside from the bottle out front, Pop’s is known for carrying a ridiculous number of sodas (pop, to our regional readers) for sale. If it’s made inside this country, or even outside, they likely have it. I’m not much of a soda drinker myself, but even I was taken by temptation to try some of the more interesting flavors and fill up a...
by Ian Rygiel | Dec 5, 2014 | Ian's Blog
Route 66: The Mother Road — Few roadways in America can claim more nostalgia or whimsy than this historic route. Luckily, our departure from Missouri and our next shoot in Texas placed us conveniently in the path of 66. I had wanted to ride the Mother Road for years, and it was an opportunity too good to let go by. Like many Route 66 travelers, we had left our homes behind with little money in our pockets and California in our sights. We didn’t have any specific shoots planned; rather, we hoped to pick up some impromptu footage. The prospect had a freeing effect, and I for one hit the highway in high spirits. As we rode however, I began to grow disheartened. The routine of the journey was all-too-familiar: ride until our bikes or bodies demanded refueling; fill ‘em up; and keep going until nightfall forced a stop. We had an all-day ride ahead of us, and I was becoming increasingly worried that time limitations would once again trump the experience. It was during this stretch that I became aware of a cycle that would happen on long riding days. Inevitably, they had their ups and downs, and as the sun rose and the humidity grew, it looked like we were in store for a miserable stretch. By the time we rode into Galena, Kansas, Jeremy and I were dehydrated and overheated. We split with the crew in order to search for water while they set up for some quick pick up shots. A few bottles of water later, we were standing in front of the cameras once...
by Ian Rygiel | Nov 21, 2014 | Ian's Blog
As I less-than-coyly hinted at in my last post, my work life has been incredibly busy the last few weeks. Regardless, I wanted to make sure I squeezed in a post tonight. One: because I feel guilty when I shirk an obligation (I’m a proper American laborer in that way; blame it on the Puritans). Two: I feel reinvigorated whenever I get to relive the trip in my own way. Short on time or no, I’ll share a quick story from Missouri, which the crew and I still get a kick out of. We were doing a bit of camping and realized there wasn’t a whole lot of dead wood to be found around the campsite. Not having the means to cut anything substantially dead down, and being fairly close to civilization, Lauren and I headed out in search of a small town we passed a couple miles back. Rolling into a small strip mall that had seen better days, we split up. Lauren went in search for the truly important items we needed (water and beer), and I went looking for some fire wood. What I found was described to me as a cord. Now, if you’re at all familiar with cords of wood, they generally measures 4ft x 4ft x 8ft. I didn’t know that at the time and was just happy to have found some fuel to cook dinner with, so I bought two and headed back to the car. In my absence, it seems our van had become quite the topic of conversation, which Lauren managed to eavesdrop on. It went something along the lines of:...
by Ian Rygiel | Nov 14, 2014 | Ian's Blog
My apologies to both of our regular readers for missing last week’s post. In the interest of full disclosure, I did have an entry ready to go, but I would have immediately regretted posting it; I was in my cups, my Irish was up, and I was feeling frustrated with my current profession (not the one where I get to ride a motorcycle and talk to amazing people, that’s the best job in the world). The language of my original post was a bit too raw, but I’d still like to touch upon the same theme. Labor. It’s a noun, it’s a verb, it’s an adjective, and it’s the unsung, under-appreciated engine that drives our economy. So where’s the love for those who literally and figuratively put their backs into their work? The sad reality is productivity and corporate profits are at an all time high in this country, but workers’ wages continue to stagnate. The laborers reward for their hard work? More work. Longer hours. Larger demands. A smaller share. When I think of the hard workers we met, the first person to come to mind is a rancher named J.R.. He very much played the part with his wide-stance, direct speech, and exceptional mustache. J.R. was an intimidating presence, but he said some of the most insightful things I heard all trip. Through sweat and sheer force of will, J.R. made the Blue Springs Ranch in Missouri what it is today. To any outside visitor, myself included, the Ranch seems idyllic, and wildly successful, but it takes an incredible amount of work for everything to appear so...
by Ian Rygiel | Oct 31, 2014 | Ian's Blog
It’s Halloween Eve, which is to say the eve of All Hallows’ Eve, and everyone and their brother with a creative outlet is doing a Halloween-themed entry. I’d like to tell you I’m better than all that. I would love to say I’m going against the grain, blazing my own trail, and taking the path least taken. But I have a confession to make. A deep dark secret. I love Halloween. Halloween is without a doubt my favorite holiday of the year. Since I was just a wee shaver, I felt drawn to monsters, horror films, and the macabre. October was the one month of the year everyone else seemed to immerse themselves in this world with me. Horror films, dark humor, and the celebration of all things that go bump in the night took over for one whole month. It was glorious. And it still is. I never lost my enthusiasm for the spooky things and places of the world, and I want to spend some time in this blog talking about the scarier moments from our trip. They’re likely not the moments you would think. A few films have informed public opinion about rural America: Deliverance, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, and The Hills Have Eyes all come to mind. The plots share some similarities; namely, a group of city folks are terrorized by disturbed individuals who live beyond the edges of civilization. As a city boy myself, you would think that I’d carry some residual fears with me across the country. In all honesty however, I never felt unsafe in rural America. The people we met were...
