I am having an amazing time in Bali working on a movie and music video with about 50 friends from the west coast. Celebrated the Bali new year yesterday, they have a very interesting custom, for new years eve they build a bunch of elabrate sculptures of various Demon's simbolizing aspects of the themselfs that they want to let go. Groups of 20-100 people parade through town careying these large statues with balinese gamalon orchestra marching band. They eventually meet up with all the other demons of the village, often times in a rather agressive competitive way, in the past there were large spread fights that broke out between rival demon troupes. They then burn the demons in a frenzy of trance dance. Very elabrate and wild scene to behold, though I was unable to find the place where they burned the demons because they were keeping it a secret do to the ilegalization of the event do to fighting in previous years. It was still very cool to see 30 foot tall nicotine demon being paraded around. The first day of the new year is a day of absolute silence where the entire island of Bali shuts off electricity and stays indoors. It is believed that the first day of the new year which is also a new moon is a day when certain demons fly over Bali and the idea is to not draw these demons attention to the island so that they just pass over. Sounds suspiciously like UFO activity from the past. Jemini myself and friends Amae and Jason that night saw in the sky a very bright twinkling light that was moving in a strange patern, it was in the sky for a couple of hours before disapearing over the horizon. It could not have been a plane or a star or a satalite, definately left us all scratching our heads.
We are all getting ready to go to this small island where we will do some filming and do some scuba diving and fire dancing for kicks. Our whole posse will pretty much take over an entire island. I am pretty excited to be swimming in the creatively furtile sea's of a tropical paradise island in indonesia.
I am planning on staying in Bali for another month and half before going back to Thailand to do some business shopping. I have been picking up all kinds of amazing imports, so be sure to look me up when I return to get first dibs on these amazing goods from the master craftsmen of Bali.
Lotsa love, Forest.