the first fruits

so, here we are. we have finished shooting at christ's college. they never allowed me to film, passing the buck from one person to the next, saying it would cost money, that it would need special permission that couldn't be granted until october, that perhaps someone could arrange something. but nothing could get done. tomorrow is the last meeting.

now it's on to leicester (pronounced "lester"). i shot my first interview with my father in the car on the way to the records library. it was an hour and a half drive and a 55 minute interview. i think i'm starting to get a handle on what this documentary is going to look like, and how i will shoot it.

as for leicester, it's like a small, forgotten-about, mid-west town that has alot of elderly people. cambridge is completely different. it has an unabashed history. the buildings are forced upon you, with hundreds of years suddenly there in front of you. with the blue card that tyndale house on selwin gardens gives us we are allowed to go inside these colleges (there are 22) whenever they are open. they usually charge to step foot on their property, but we are allowed to use these campuses as passageways on our daily treks. the antiquated beauty is amazing to see, every day.

there is a quietness to the normal cambridge life. walking the cobblestone streets at eight in the morning, the beautiful bells tolling hour, there is a sense of importance that is about to begin the day.

there seems to be several different areas to cambridge. the area near tyndale house is deafeningly quiet. only a few pubs, a few colleges and several trees. trees create barriers along the streets, forming borders on the sidewalks and streets with their leaves.

as you approach the colleges, the cam river, which splits in several spots, is teaming with punts. these are driven by hired help or a friend, forcing large poles into the bottom of river, which has long been layered with rocks to help with this touristic past-time.

when you get into the city, the pubs' numbers increase exponentially, the stores look a little familiar, but with a nice british taste. homeless men sell "the big issue" at nearly every major street corner, and people from all around the world relive the history.

it's a cool place. and i still have a lot of filming to do . . .