Hello, is it nachos you're looking for?

Franco:

Below you will find a short film I made for a cinema production class I'm currently taking for funskees. The assignment was to show a character moving from one location to another using the editing/shooting methods of visual continuity we learned in class. In other words, don't disorient your audience. Have the character walk into frame and then walk out. If he/she is walking from left to right in one shot don't have him/her walking from right to left in the next shot. Cutting on action was stressed as well. If a character goes to pick up, say, a plate of nachos make the cut as he/she is moving then have the next shot (of a different angle and/or zoom) begin where the action left off, in this case picking up the nachos. It all sounds pretty obvious but it can be a big headache if you don't plan for it before a shoot. For my film I not only had a lack of preconceived shot selection but I had no idea what it would be about. I am not the most creative person and staring at a blank canvas paralyzes me. For weeks I was racking my brain as to what my film would be about. I knew I had the help of my film nerd, Niraj, and once my brother-in-law Tal and his girlfriend Sarira, volunteered to help I thought I could use some sort of a love triangle dynamic. Beautiful Dolores Park was a great location to shoot with its hills and greens and people. I was racking my brain as to what the film should be about when Sarira stated she was starving and bought some nachos at the Mexican food truck. Once I saw the mammoth plate of nachos I knew what my film would be about. That sort of serendipitous luck was the genesis to what you are about to view. I like the little film but would've shot it differently had I time to think out the shots. Being prepared in filmmaking is a must. I wasn't. As a result, some shots don't particularly work that well but oh well. The whole point of this is to learn and to learn cinema you must practice. Enjoy.      

Lovin' SF

We came across a city block with random swings hanging from the trees.

Amazing idea.

La luna de miel

Hey all, CoCo here. I'm dedicating my first (solo) post to our honeymoon. Maybe it's because I have spring fever and am itching to go on a trip, but I've been thinking about our honeymoon a lot lately. Plus I finally finished editing out photos. So without further ado, let me take you on a photo journey of Puerto Rico, my heart's devotion...

We arrived to La Concha Renaissance Resort Monday evening, after a three-day wedding extravaganza and a day of travel. We were exhausted so we ordered room service and went straight to bed. Going to bed at 8 p.m. meant waking up as the sun was rising, and I'm glad I woke up so early because I got to see this beautiful scene from our balcony:

Not only was our room view beautiful, the hotel itself was pretty amazing. 

Downstairs we met a concierge sent to us from the honeymoon gods. Friendly and extremely knowledgeable, we handed him our honeyfund to-do list and he planned out our days and set up our adventures. After that we headed to the room for our first of many naps during the trip. (Did I mention the whole wedding weekend really knocked us out?) When we woke up it was for honeymoon outing numero uno: the spa.

We had a couple's massage and body scrubs and while I found it the perfect way to start our vacation and let go of all the anxiety and stress that led up to wedding weekend, Franco wasn't so convinced. The sauna was too hot, the steam room too sweaty, the scrub too wet. Hmph, men. (Note to self: plan future spa days with your girlfriends; avoid spa days with Franco at all cost.)

After the spa we headed back to the hotel and, yes, we took a nap. When we woke up we got dressed and went to the hotel's famous La Perla restaurant. It was pretty cool because it's on the beach and shaped like a shell, and when you're inside it even feels like you're in a shell. Check it out:

After dinner we went to bed, making sure to get plenty of rest before we took on day two: a zip line jungle adventure. 

As you can tell from the photo, Franco wasn't too excited about the zip line adventure. Apparently he waited until we had booked the trip to tell me he was afraid of heights. He decided to give it a go anyway and we hiked our way up paths, rivers, and waterfalls to get to the top of the zip line system.

  

Franco got past his fear and we both had a lot of fun. Our guides knew a lot about the geographic history of Puerto Rico and its plant and animal life, so we learned a lot about the area along the way. Franco even got to eat some live termites. Another bit of knowledge we got from a guides was where to eat in Old San Juan. That same night we took one of his recommendations and went to Marmalade.

Our guide told us to make sure we told them it was our honeymoon when we made our reservation and once we got there we knew why. We had the best table in the house (a corner spot with a bed of pillows behind us) and they covered it in rose petals. We had a million-course meal with wine pairings and our waiter showered us with excellent service. It was by far the most romantic dinner we've had.  

For those of you that don't speak Spanish, Puerto Rico means "land of no turn-signals" and I got to experience that first hand on day three of our honeymoon. We rented a car so we could go visit El Yunque, the only rainforest in the United States (see video below). The park was beautiful and perfectly maintained. We stopped at a few vistas and then hiked to Las Minas Falls for a quick swim. 

 

After El Yunque, we continued east since we were going to go kayaking that night. Our superstar concierge recommended that we stop at Luquillo on the way there. When we showed up, it turned out that one of Puerto Rico's most popular beaches had been privately reserved for us. What a concierge! Or was that because we were in Puerto Rico during their slowest month of the year? Whatever the reason, it was beautiful and after alone time on the beach we found a nearby restaurant. There, we had the best monfongo (traditional mashed plantain dish) of our trip.

 

After the beach, we headed to Fajardo for some night kayaking. I'll admit, this is when I started getting scared. Although I made myself out to be a thrill-seeker when making fun of Franco for fearing the zip line, I was deathly afraid of night kayaking. Kayaks. Ocean. Night. Enough to turn me around, however Franco convinced me to get in the kayak and paddle along.

The trip ended up being great. We paddled out to a lagoon where a special algae grows that lights up upon movement, giving the illusion that the water is glowing. Apparently there are very few places on earth where this happens and now we can say we've seen it. We also learned that our marriage was off to a good start when we realized that every kayak duo on our tour was wildly bickering while trying to navigate but we were smooth sailing... er, kayaking.

Part of the reason we chose Puerto Rico for our honeymoon was that we could have it all: jungle, beaches, and city. At this point we had checked off the first two, and so day four was dedicated to Old San Juan.

At the recommendation of our zip line guide, we ate lunch at Cafe Puerto Rico. This was probably the most delicious meal of our entire trip. I should say good food was a priority for us on our honeymoon. We made a point to eat our way through the island and day four was no exception. In fact, it was the climax of our supreme fattiness.

After lunch, we visited Castillo de San Cristobal, one of the two Spanish forts in Old San Juan. 

Then we wandered through the city, checking out the cobbled streets and Spanish architecture and, of course, grabbing snacks (see the homemade guava ice cream!).

After wandering on our own, we met with a small group for a food tour in the early evening. This was both Franco's first and my first food tour and we agree the idea is genius. Our guide brought us around the city and explained about the architecture, history, etc. and along the way we stopped at restaurants for the different courses of our dinner. 

At one of the restaurants we sat in an old tunnel that connected the governor's palace to the church in the days of Spanish rule. Pretty cool.

After our Old San Juan day we needed a little more beach time before we headed home, so we spent our last full day in Puerto Rico on a booze cruise. I know, I know, TOURISTY!, but we had a great time spending the day on the sea, drinking pina coladas, snorkeling, and being attacked by jellyfish . 

Sadly, we woke up the next day and had to head to the airport. But not before we could order our last roomservice meal. Waffles and champagne, the breakfast of champions. :)

Overall, our honeymoon was the best vacation of our lives. It was the perfect way to start our marriage and we are forever grateful to those of you that made it happen. Mil gracias to our honeyfund donors: D.D. Robinson; Alex Jieh, Zoe Robinson & Dalton Nixon; Dennis Vilorio & Emily Harrington; James, Michelle, Danielle, & Erika Mitchell; Greg Cocozza & Lisa Della Badia; Samira Bozorgi & Josh Spira; Niraj Patil & Keesler Welch; Chris & Viola Curtis; Aditi Nath; Natalie Grace Sweet; Ana Maria & Samuel Hugo Alcoreza Stephanie Hirano; Danny & Jen Masterson; and Andrew & Deborah Luquin.

I leave you with another gem, this time a video filmed in El Yunque rainforest:

Welcome to the Oasis

Franco: In the cottonmouth dry heat of the blogosphere, Franco and CoCo have for you a treat to satisfy your thirsty desires. Consider this your oasis away from your normal oasis.

CoCo: 1) I can't believe I married a man that would publish those two sentences on the Internet for all to see. 2) I can't believe that man took 30 minutes to write those two sentences.

Franco: 3) Eat me, CoCo. With chopsticks.

CoCo: And with that, you can tell what sort of blog this is: holiday photos; family updates; all-around wholesome, matrimonial goodness. And we're glad you're here so we can share with you. Subscribe if you'd like to receive our banter in your inbox. Although, who would really want to get themselves into that sort of mess?

Franco: You can add a slice of Gouda to that, too. Smoked.

CoCo: Until the next post. We'll leave y'all with this gem from 2010. Peace.