More on twister...

Photos: This is the school in Eagle Pass, and it was damaged severely.
In Piedras Negras, the church is gone! We shot a sequence of images (for EL ESCAPE DE LOS SANTOS) in the park directly in front of this church but it is all gone now... :-(
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I passed by yesterday through the affected areas, and I was amazed at the damage...
In Piedras Negras, clean-up crews were everywhere. Military, state and local officers, along with contractors were all around cleaning up the area with tractors and other heavy equipment.

ON THE OTHER SIDE of the river in Eagle Pass, the only officials I saw, were cleaning up the school (which was heavily damaged), and directing traffic, HOWEVER in the residential area, where homes where also heavily hit, and trailer homes destroyed, I saw only volunteers and just plain civilians helping out and cleaning the area. Even though there were many people helping in the cleaning of Rosita Valley, it seemed dwarfed, next to the clean-up team in Piedras Negras.

Both places looked like some post-apocalyptic futuristic movie... it was quite sad to see all this.
On the optimistic side, many people are helping out, and hopefully their lives will be restored as soon as possible. :-)

No movie news to report at this time :-|

Tornado

UPDATED: The second video is amateur video of the destruction of Villa de Fuente in Piedras Negras. The video is very heartbreaking, especially because many shots at the end of EL ESCAPE DE LOS SANTOS were filmed right in front of where the church used to be.
ALSO, when I was a kid, I had a lot of friends there, and we went frequently to the Campestre (it was like a ballroom place for parties, graduations, etc...). :-(

First of all, thanks to all for your phone calls and emails...
As you might have known a huge tornado ripped through my hometowns of Piedras Negras and Eagle Pass...

I had no idea that a tornado had passed through here... I was editing but turned off my PC, since it started to pour really bad, and the sound of the thunder was deafening and it was frightening my computer... My son on the other hand was excited to witness the hail and celebrating and laughing everytime he saw lightning... Yes, that's how boring it gets here :-)

While enjoying the passing storm (which lasted 20-30 min.) it suddenly faded and the sound transitioned to the sirens of emergency vehicles...

An hour later we turn on the TV, and they showed the devastation first hand... apparently a reporter had been around the area coincidently and got to the affected area immediately after the twister hit...

The sights were astonishing. It reminded me of war of the worlds or children of men... I was aghast with the destruction... I had not realized that a tornado had just passed through here, and what I saw was simply heartbreaking.

As you can see in the video, the reporter is just walking in the streets and talking to all the people and asking them where their houses were and some pointed towards a pile of debris, and told the reporter that their house was there... it was very sad to see this desperation in people in my own town.

Our hearts are with the friends and family of the 10 people who died during this tragedy.

Rejected but not affected...

Good times: Nestor Pragas (Rolando Tamayo), ME, and Gregorio Cazares (Fred Cisneros), we were shooting a flashback scene and it was f***in' freezinggggg.... BUT can it get any better than this? hanging with the coolest and baddest people on the planet! On screen and OFF!! jajajaja NOTE: Tamayo's blood and bruises are the product of Paco's makeup... :-|
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How many times have you been rejected in your life?
Well, I have been rejected on many, many, many, MANY occasions, and to tell you the truth, I have developed a tough skin... jajajajaja
A few days ago we got the rejection email from the biggest, most hugest film fest in the world, the cannes film fest in france...
All I can say is we did our best, and I have no regrets, or plans of how we could've done it differently... Which is good :-D
SO, our plans for the future?
KEEP SWINGING!
We're not gonna let a little film festival in france, let us down... jajajajaja
Just like people, festivals have a distinct taste for films, and we all know that ASH WEDNESDAY is NOT for everyone... Think of it like a food contest: Beef fajita tacos would win at my contest, wheareas spaghetti would win at an italian contest and so on...

IN GOOD NEWS, we are designing a poster with graphic designer magnifico Alex Probst... and it is looking incredible... more to come later...

IN more festival news, we have submitted to many other important festivals around the world, so hopefully one festival, will actually "get" the film...

IN NON-Movie news, we are doing a lot of work in the private sector, we are doing the videos for the 2007 Mexican-American Unity Council Gala (check out last years videos here), AND we are doing a very important project for the City of San Antonio's Public Works Dept and the Asphalt Institute that will be presented at the national public works conference in September... so we are quite busy... :-D

IN MORE NON-Movie BAD NEWS:
Our beloved pet /Co-Editor Doggy Mendoza has gone missing since April 4.
She has been with us for 4 years and has kept us happy ever since... You know, when you get home and you feel like SHIT, she was the one that would brighten up your day, because she was so incredibly glad to see you...
She disappeared Wednesday in the afternoon. My guess is that she left to hide when she heard thunder, and then it started raining. We also suspect that she is in the care of someone, because no one in the neighborhood knows anything...
We have put up signs around the neighborhood, announcements on the radio and TV, AND a huge ad in the newspaper...
So hopefully she'll turn up...


(No shade) Too much to sacrifice, (No light) it's hard to recongnize
(Just black) traps to compromise (And white) obscuring deadly alabies
(My plans) It's combinational, (designs) the pressure's so intense
So I'll construct this sound defense
(No Way) Nothing's plainer than the madness in the world today
(No sign) I must conceal myself and steal myself and break away
(No grace) I seek initiative in matters that are black and white
(No sense) So I'll construct this sound defense
BAD RELIGION- THE DEFENSE