7 Reasons

Tag: Chile

  • Guest Post: 7 Reasons To Chase The World’s Most Dangerous Motor Race In A Rentcar

    Guest Post: 7 Reasons To Chase The World’s Most Dangerous Motor Race In A Rentcar

    If you are one of our Argentinian or Chilean based readers, you may have seen bikes, quads, cars and trucks flying through your garden in the last week. This, we must point out, is not the doing of 7 Reasons. Instead we point you in the direction of the Dakar Rally which is currently winging its way through the deserts of South America. The Dakar Rally is widely acknowledge as both the toughest and most dangerous motor race in the world. You’d think, therefore, that chasing the race in a rentacar – while filming it – is a rather crazy thing to do. Well not if you are Simon Lee. Simon did exactly that this time last year and the result is the film Dream Racer – to be released later this year. Before you head off to the cinema though, let’s find out why Simon did it.
    Poster for the film Dream Racer

    1.  Because You Gotta Do What You Gotta Do. I’ve wanted to make a movie like this for so long that when I met Christophe and heard about his dream of finishing the Dakar Rally on his motorbike, I knew I HAD to do it. I couldn’t get a broadcaster to back it, so I couldn’t afford a camera crew, a sound man a producer or any of the usual things you would have on a shoot like this. Ultimately I just thought “sod it, it’s now or never”, clawed together just enough cash to get me there, left my wife in Australia with our 6 week old daughter, flew to Argentina and made a movie.

    2.  Because Nothing Beats Asking A Hertz Clerk For “A Rentacar To Do The Dakar Rally”. Ok, I wasn’t quite “doing” the Dakar Rally, but I was about to drive 10,000 km across some of the harshest terrain on earth. And I drove it in a 2 wheel drive roller skate with a 1.4 litre engine – a Fiat Sienna.

    3.  Because The Dakar Is The Greatest Mechanical Show On Earth. Despite having spent the best part of 18 months working on this film project, I’m not actually a big fan of motorsport. That said, there is something extraordinary about watching tons of steel hurtling down sand dunes the size of mountains. It’s particularly exciting when you’re playing “dodge the hurtling tons of steel” whilst filming.

    4.  Because Real Life Delivers Better Scripts Than You Could Ever Write. When I embarked on the project, I knew that it had potential as a great adventure documentary, but I could never have anticipated just what a roller coaster journey it would turn out to be. 3 weeks before the start of the race, it looked like it wasn’t going to happen, then out of the blue, Christophe empties his bank account and enters. Then he calls up the KTM factory in Austria to arrange payment for the bike he’d ordered, and they’d sold it to someone else! I mean, you wouldn’t write this stuff. Then to do the whole race without even a mechanic, get seriously injured, ride a perfect stage in the desert and still finish the race – this is the stuff of Hollywood blockbusters – just without the multi-million dollar budget.

    5.  Because There’s A Chilean Radio Station That Plays Non-stop Late Eighties/Early Nineties Hits. Driving interminable miles across the Atacama Desert afforded me ample opportunity to re-live my musical youth. I think I may even have sung out loud to the Soup Dragons “I’m Free”.

    6.  Because If It’s Easy It’s Probably Not Worth Doing. Making this movie has been one of the hardest things that I have done (and it’s not quite over yet). Everything – from chasing funds, to three draining weeks in South America, to trying to balance the project with being a half decent father and husband as well and keep money coming in to pay the bills – has been bloody hard. But boy did it feel good being there to film Christophe crossing the line, knowing everything we had been through to get there! As you’ll see in the movie, it was a pretty emotional moment…

    7.  Because Maverick Solo Movies Are Where It’s At. There’s something equally terrifying and exhilarating about going it alone on a project like this. At the end of the day it comes down to raw drive and creativity and the ever-present question of “just how badly do you want this?” I truly hope that this comes through in the film, because ultimately that’s what it’s about – the story of what happens when you stop listening to the excuses conjured up by your rational mind, and act instead on the niggling inner voice that’s urging you to step out and live your dreams.

    Dream Racer will be released mid-2011. To view the trailer and follow the progress of the Dream Racer project, join the Dream Racer Facebook group.

  • 7 Reasons I Shouldn’t Do A Mexican Wave In My Living Room

    7 Reasons I Shouldn’t Do A Mexican Wave In My Living Room

    Ever wondered what would happen if you started a Mexican wave in your own living room?  I did.  I thought it through during the Brazil vs. Chile match last night.  I won’t be starting one.

     

    Uniformed British Police doing a Mexican Wave
    I love this picture!

     

    1.  I’ll look foolish. My wife won’t join in.  As I enthusiastically stand up and raise my arms aloft, she’ll gaze disdainfully over her knitting at me while rooted to the spot.  I’ll look like a fool.

     

    2.  She’ll look foolish. My wife joins in.  As – in response to me – she enthusiastically stands, raises her arms aloft, and jubilantly hurls her knitting ceiling-ward, I’ll gaze at her contemptuously at her thinking why is she joining in?  She looks like a fool.

    3. We’ll both look foolish. Our cat won’t join in.  He will gaze, apparently aghast, at the cretinous behaviour of the simpletons on the other sofa.  Why are they not paying me any attention?  What the hell are they doing?  They look like fools.

    4.  The cat will look foolish. The cat joins in.  My wife and I will gaze, slack-jawed, at the astonishing behaviour of the creature on the other sofa.  The useless animal can’t even catch birds.  Why is his only talent the Mexican wave?  Wow!  Okay, it’s quite  cool though.

    5.  Our neighbour will look foolish. He won’t join in.  He will, however, stare incredulously as he glimpses our Mexican wave through his living room window.  When he says, as an aside, to his wife, “Have you seen what the weird couple from across the street are up to now…Good lord! Is that a cat performing a Mexican wave?” He’ll look like a fool.  His wife will wonder whether to ration his port.

    6. Our neighbour’s wife will feel foolish. She won’t join in.  She will, however, glance furtively for the remainder of the World Cup – at her vociferously adamant husband’s insistence – to glimpse the Mexican waving cat through our living room window *.  Having invested a substantial amount of time dubiously looking for something so incredible and unlikely, she’ll feel like a fool.  What am I doing?  I’m trying to see a cat do a Mexican wave.  Is this how it started with Aunt Hilda?

    7.  South America will feel foolish. After all, if Brazil had played with a bit more flair, and Chile had more of a cutting edge in attack I wouldn’t even have been considering doing a Mexican wave in my own living room.  I’d have been fixated on the football.  Like I was during Mexico vs. Argentina.  Or most of the other matches.  Is this the most convoluted way of saying “dull match” ever?

     

    *Our cat absolutely, categorically does not join in with Mexican waves.  Please stay away from our windows during the World Cup.  There is nothing to see here.   Except for a man eating crisps, a woman knitting and a dozing cat.