Andy Mills Media

Moved!

2011-02-14T06:25:00.000-08:00

Though you're free to look through these posts,
I've moved my blog over to a new site:

ANDY MILLS MEDIA

love,
andy.

2011-01-05T07:01:00.001-08:00

Merry Christmas Indeed

2010-12-24T11:37:00.001-08:00

Our friend Robert Krulwich, gives us an approving nod.

Free Music and New Radio Piece!

2010-12-09T12:54:00.000-08:00

Hello, Hello!

We've finished the new Winter Album and it includes "I Don't Know",
a new take on audio art and storytelling.

Downlad it for free here:

http://dogsontour.co.cc/?p=676

and enjoy!

Happy Whatever It is You Celebrate This Time of Year!

2010-12-09T12:50:00.000-08:00

Music For Winter Volume 2 from Corey Bienert on Vimeo.

A Stranger's Smile

2010-09-03T09:32:00.000-07:00

A STRANGER'S SMILE from THE MEDIA on Vimeo.

Chicago friends and I have started our new mult-media collective.

we are THE MEDIA.

more to come.

Saltcast

2010-07-20T08:53:00.000-07:00

I've recently been featured on Salt Institutes' PRX podcast:

http://podcast.prx.org/saltcast/?p=1064

Many thanks to Rob and Patty for all the insight, instruction and inspiration they shared during my time in Maine.

finales.

2008-11-30T19:03:00.000-08:00

well, after a long and laborious adventure of sending and recieving my documents and photos from one side of the Atlantic to another, i, now back in these States, am able to put up many photos that still linger in my library of archives from Sudan.

i again invite you to Look! and See!

ride to dawn!

2008-08-12T15:34:00.000-07:00

though i could not leave with such sass and style as the man pictured above, the ever-evolving reality of our existence has finally spun the clock's hand around far enough to conclude my year of living and penning in the land of Sudan.

please feel free to click and view the its and whos of this little blog, and be not dismayed from repetition! There are more photos of the Sudan that have yet to emerge from my collection and into your eyes.

yet, there may now be a short hibernation of posts as i take a month to travel through Morocco, Spain and France with my brother, on a pilgrimage of experiential enlightenment in a season of transition, as we all turn to face the mysteries of the many approaching tomorrows .

Operation. (warning to the faint-of-stomache).

2008-07-19T06:29:00.000-07:00

Dr. Atar invited me to experience one of his operations.
i was/am honored at the invitation.
i accepted.

the above-photographed-man had a large cyst removed from his thyroid.
he had been suffering a dry-cough every few minutes for almost a decade.

it took over two hours.
Dr. Atar had to be careful with:
the scar-tissue.
carving so close to his throat.
cutting so close to the thyroid.
and...with the man being awake.

that's right.

when he squirmed.
i squirmed.

(don't misunderstand...he had local anastia.
but not the knock-you-out strength sort)

In 95% of Sudan, such operations are as rare as rainbows.

Dr. Atar is a big deal.

Doctor.

2008-07-19T06:26:00.000-07:00

this is Atar.
a hero to those who listen.
a storyteller of the worst and best of man.

children's ward.

2008-07-19T06:20:00.000-07:00

malaria.
like most problems,
it hurts the smallest and hungriest the worst.

the river-bed.

2008-07-19T04:44:00.001-07:00

sometimes you find more than what you were looking for

sometimes monkeys ride bikes.

2008-07-19T04:12:00.000-07:00

as we hustled through the "black-cotton" mud before more rain defeated our journey's end we saw something that made us stop and stare.

i took a picture as fletcher said the only that made since:

"sometimes monkey's ride bikes."

tukuls and bubbles.

2008-07-16T23:10:00.000-07:00

this is a tukul.
(fletcher's for two years,
and i joined as his roommate for a short season).

This is a Bubble.

q: what could make such a sudanese-sun-set any more magical?
a: bubbles.

thanks to Haley Schell and her thoughful package,
i've entered into a season of bubbles.

blow 'em if ya got 'em.

learn.

2008-07-15T00:00:00.000-07:00

while taking pictures at the Kurmuk Community Center, where our education program has been working with students of all ages, i snapped this picture of a man who i assumed to be an instructor.

when Fletcher was going through my photos, he informed me that i was mistaken.

this lovely man is a student.
a primary three student to-be-exact,
and he's excitedly learning to read and write.

Bravo, i say.
Bravo.

dik,dik.

2008-07-13T05:29:00.000-07:00

the local word for him is : Dik,dik.

Hesra's name for him is: Tim tim.

but what you'll hear the men cry out at his sight is : "LaHm!!!" (meat!)

though i hear he is tasty,
he lives happily in a cozy house at our main base.

Nile Special.

2008-07-12T06:37:00.000-07:00

Chris, the purest.

Hesra, the majestic.

and i, the narrator.

this is me...

taking this.

a local river-man told me the routine:
1. you + friend carve a boat from the trunk of a strong tree
2. you make paddles and fishing rods
3. you board the craft and enjoy the currant's pull.
4. you spend your days fishing, with occasional stops for fires and food
5. after a week, you arrive in Juba.
6. you sell fish.
7. you sell boat.
8. you sell rods.
9. you walk back. (can't fight against the water's currents after all).
10. repeat.

(childs-oh-the-river.)

(almost there!)

hydrate or die.
(this motto mortal warning actually became a situation for us on the return.
we ended up drinking the brownest water without so much as a grimes.
However, no photos were taken at the direst of times.)

a few months ago,
three brave souls decided to hike to the Nile River from the compound in Kajo Keji.

What began as a lovely day-outing,
soon became the most difficult endurance test of my little life.

such quotes were featured:

"You guy's go ahead, I'm just going to vomit for a while."
-Chris

"I hurt everywhere."
-Andy

"I knew we were in trouble when even Andy hadn’t been talking for a few hours."
-Hesra

the above photos show the lovely parts of the gruesome-yet-glorious day.

Fletcher.

2008-07-11T02:25:00.000-07:00

it was an unforgettable email from this man that birthed a desire to live in Sudan.

(yes, he is as cool as this photo makes him appear).

changes.

2008-07-09T07:41:00.000-07:00

my friends says:

Hevio Devio Elivio.

(that's just the way it is).

workers.

2008-07-08T08:28:00.000-07:00

the kids in Sudan work hard.
we like to joke about hiring "babies".

population/babies.

2008-07-07T11:02:00.000-07:00

yawner:

chris and i are often in jesting conversation about:
a. the escalading population problem that is already turning to disaster on our planet
b. how 8 out of 10 women we see on the road-side in Sudan are:
1. prego
2. carrying a baby on their backs
3. prego and carrying a baby on their backs

but we also admit...that there is little on earth more beautiful than a mother with a child.

(and YES, those are marijuana leaves on her head-wrap.
and YES, she has no idea what those leaves are a symbol for in the west.)

for the forgetful...

2008-07-07T10:56:00.000-07:00

this is what i look like.

(i'm the pale-one...with a little too much greasy-hair)

ol' momma.

2008-07-07T10:41:00.000-07:00

i meet a lot of good people.
me and this momma spent a long time trying to figure out how old she is.
her guess: "Less than one hundred...more than 80."
her friends comment on the issue: "She's the oldest person we know."

again! and this time with feeling!

2008-07-05T06:40:00.000-07:00

the window-watcher...

2008-07-05T06:25:00.000-07:00

tree-huggers...and planters.

2008-07-05T06:14:00.001-07:00

in a ceremony that (unknowingly) goes quite-well with the Western-world's Going Green fad,
we here in Sudan get the chance (on quite pompously official gatherings) to plant trees with the communities we work with.

Jean Claude.

2008-07-05T06:08:00.000-07:00

don't let his lazy demeanor and cuddling fool you...this cat is a killer.
but don't take my word on it,
ask the mutilated lizards Chris and i have to fish out from under his bed in our tent.
their bloody, panic-faced bodies say a lot about Jean Claude's hunting skills.

Shoes.

2008-07-05T06:03:00.000-07:00

Zanzibar, Tansania

2008-07-05T05:48:00.000-07:00

it's already been a month since we've returned,
but yet again troy and i found ourselves on a vacatoin,
with new friends,
new memories,
new laughs,
and new stamps on our passports.

peace.

2008-05-13T09:23:00.000-07:00

below is an email i wrote to my friends Mal and Nate:

(i'd invite you to read it too)

dear brother,
dear sister,

something just happened on this rainy day that i had to tell you.

at our lunch-table here at the main-base-camp there was a large amount of american ex-pats,
all with rice, beans, birds, and chapattis.

as i was finishing my meal,
and licking my fingers clean,
one middle-age american man started bashing obama as well as american "liberals" and "hippies".

considering my reputation for preaching 'round the table on the need for love and peace...
with recent-emphasis on the need for human beings to over-come the temptation to "label the humanity out of real people" because we want to belittle their opinions and decisions.....
and considering that i was the only long-haired, big-bearded brother at the gathering...

eyes looked to me.
and i sat attentive but stoic.

i listened in quiet.
then i got up and went to wash my hands.
as i got to the door some one said,
"andy, what do you have to say about that?"

and i replied:

"i think we should support the politicians who support our ideals...and respect others who do the same."

then i cleaned the grease off my sticky fingers.

when i came back into the room the man was doing another monologue.
as i crossed the room to grab my TIME magazine and head out for some reading,
he looked right at me when he said,

"i think that the cowards who burn their draft cards and move to Canada shouldn't be allowed to vote or be considered americans."

i stood still in his stare.

then he said,

"and if i ever catch someone burning a flag, i'm going to burn them."

my heart beat like a little humming-bird,
with such hatred in the room with me,
with such anger directed at me...even though i hadn't stated anything to the contrary.
even though i didn't give him dirty looks,
and even though i had been so intentional to listen with attentiveness.

(as you already knew would happen, i said something.)

when words came from my mouth,
they arrived without anger,
with out f***-you-faces,
without "you-old-dumby" condescension...

i just said,

"do you think it took some courage to be so passionately committed to an ideal that you'd move to a foreign country and risk imprisonment to make your statement known to the world?"

from here on out,
no matter how angry he got,
i never fought back.

in fact,
i never gave him my opinion on one issue,
because he never asked.
(such behavior is very powerful in peace-building i think)

i just kept asking him to try and see the people on the other side of his opinions as real people.
people who are trying to protect their family, them selves, and their ideals,
people like him.

it came out over and over again that he was a Vietnam war veteran,
he was one of the many who were exiled by their generation.
one of the many who were spit on and disrespected.

i assume that my appearance and such vivid, disturbing memories are the reason to why he originally made me the target to his harsh words.

the conversation jumped around to different key-issues in american politics,
abortion, war, prison reform, american-poverty responsibilities, social welfare,
and he would state the "absolute" facts behind his opinions,

and i would just tell him a story about some one i had the chance to meet, who saw things differently,
but showed equal passion, siting "freedom" and "family" as the foundations to their opinions.
and asked him what he thought after each story.

i really was listening to him!
it was a very transcendent flooding of self-control.
it was real brotherly-love i felt concerning this angry man.

but THIS last part is why i'm emailing you.
we did something today!
(yes, of course, WE.
for, though it seems cliche in-light of the band name of our friends...
there is no "me" without "you".)

i could see the conversation was winding down,
and i looked him right in his eyes and said something that i have paraphrased below:
(and i seriously didn't plan on saying it until it came out of my mouth)

"Don, on behalf of all of us who believe in the power of peace being stronger than the might of armies,
on behalf of all of us who try to protest against diverse wars of the world with our songs, poems, marches, pictures, paintings and lives,
on behalf of all of us who really believe in a lot of the Allan Ginsburg ideals that helped spawn the hippie-fad of the 60's,
on behalf of all of us,
i'm sorry that you were spit on.
that was wrong.
that is awful.
and i am sorry.
"we" are sorry."

he said, "thank you....but really there's no need...."

then i said,

"here is the first opinion i'd like to share with you today -
i DO think there is a need.
i think that american's everywhere should be apologizing for the sins of our fore-fathers and mothers,
i think that we who wear the skin of the white complexion should apologize for the sins of our ethnic-fathers and mothers,
i think that we who claims to follow Jesus' teachings should apologize for the legacy of violence and the perpetration of exclusivism that the majority of the past and way-too-many of the contemporary followers have shame-less-ly embraced."

then he thanked me for everything....
for not getting defensive, even though he had attacked me without reason,
he thanked me for listening,
he told me that i was very articulate and that he thought i must be a good writer.

PEACE!
more than a ideal!

it was great my brother and sister.
it was right.
and it is far-more "hippie" than dred-locks, stinky-pits, used clothes, or "intentional" living communities.

and i felt you both with me as it all went down.
i felt walt.
i smelt the lingering fragrance of our hopes and dreams.

love,
andy.

moral support.

2008-05-12T13:48:00.000-07:00

where they dry...

2008-05-12T13:44:00.000-07:00

swing 'em if ya got 'em.

2008-05-12T13:27:00.000-07:00

these grow right outside the tent.

2008-05-12T13:12:00.000-07:00

pick, cut, eat.

would you like to share any of these??

2008-05-11T09:31:00.000-07:00

some water?

a song?

a laugh?

some tea?

.

2008-05-11T09:18:00.000-07:00

in the wild

2008-05-11T09:13:00.000-07:00

green.

2008-05-11T09:08:00.000-07:00

maridi is the greenest place on the planet.*
if ever in Sudan...i recomend it strongly.
have a soda at "homeboy's enterprises",
hang out with Bishop Justin,
high-five a Bangaladishi-U.N. worker,
and pet a monkey.

* i made this fact up.

beards be gone...

2008-05-11T07:13:00.000-07:00

the venue

(in the back of the moving truck...we snapped it's final picture)

sir.

billy.

tom.

elle.

grisim.

the lost member of boys II men.

the boys in Maridi decided my beard had grown long enough.
(five little inches...psssshhh)

we decided that it was bonding-time,
and all jumped into the truck.
drove to the "big town",
and bought shaves all-a-around!

bush rat.

2008-05-11T07:01:00.000-07:00

at the swimming-hole,
i saw happy young boys with bows and arrows taking home some kill.
i said,

"howa bush rat?"

and they shouted,

"eye!"

and we celebrated the good-fortune with some photos and high-fives.
(once again, we eat something i think the lost boys would be proud of).

such pretties...

2008-05-11T06:58:00.000-07:00

Sabi.

2008-05-11T06:52:00.000-07:00

i hung out with this monkey for a few hours.
we bonded like you might imagine.
now...he lives/bathes/sleeps/eats with my friend jeff.
(which is very fitting)

worms and lost boys.

2008-05-11T06:35:00.000-07:00

i know that Sudan is far from "neverland".
I aslo know that the boys who suffered lonely exile-adventures during the war have been dubbed "the lost boys".
I only want to add to this that here in Sudan there are hundreds of men/boys who live/dress/work/are so much like the famous brothers of beloved Peter pan that they deserve the respect of all of we many fellow lost boys around the world.
(be we lost in our culture, thoughts, doubts, faiths, loves, dreams, responsibilities...)

(this is his perfect-lost-boy knife!)

yeah, it tickled a little.

Maket smiles.

2008-05-11T06:29:00.000-07:00

this boy's momma can really cook-up a chapatti.

Mogili

2008-05-11T02:48:00.000-07:00

among the goat-slaughtering celebrations of Chris and I turning 24,
we had the chance to interview and investigate the Mogili Leper Community in Kajo Keji.

the "common" in this community goes further than the loss of fingers, toes, and mobility.

the day's interviews included this quote from Chris that i've thought a lot of since:

"so what you are saying is that this community is completely dependent on the children for everything?
...cooking, building, cleaning, caring for emergencies?
...everything?"

to which the leader replied in his broken english:

"yes, we ol er dependent on children."

it is also important to note that the only medicine access mogili has had since 2001 is to small supplies of basic pain killers that periodically are made available from Uganda.

rainy season...

2008-05-08T03:12:00.000-07:00

what a wonderful world this would be...

2008-04-02T01:33:00.000-07:00

and then there was the dam...

2008-03-31T00:17:00.000-07:00

we went to egypt

2008-03-12T12:00:00.000-07:00

animals...

2008-03-06T07:25:00.001-08:00

just a few friends i've met along the road-sides of Sudan...

club house

2008-03-06T07:07:00.001-08:00

we turned this old british ruin into our club-house.

then we made a fire and told stories.

(when i first found this room there were two yellow butterflies welcoming me with a dance)

bird killin' (beware...heavy content)

2008-03-06T06:44:00.001-08:00

this was my first slaughter.
Juma decided it was worth photographing.

please know that the bird was told "thank you for this" before i be-headed her....
and she was delicious.

the carpenter

2008-03-06T06:43:00.001-08:00

chad and chris

2008-03-06T06:27:00.001-08:00

for six weeks i got to live in a tent with these white guys...i like em.

these are a few early morning shots from the little grass run-way where airplanes dare to land.

there is hope for a tree cut down...

2008-02-29T19:48:00.001-08:00

hats...

2008-02-29T19:32:00.001-08:00

our carpenter-friend made us some hats inspired by the young man pictured above.
and these hats are real funny.

let's eat!

2008-02-29T19:28:00.001-08:00

Humphry...

2008-02-29T19:21:00.000-08:00

He's our sheep goat.
and he's got our back.

just beautiful

2008-02-29T19:19:00.001-08:00

sometimes i dance...

2008-02-29T19:17:00.001-08:00

i like to boogie with these guys...

sometimes i climb trees...

2008-02-29T19:14:00.001-08:00

but more often i just lax in their shade...

banana trees

2008-02-29T19:11:00.001-08:00

sometimes things crash...

2008-02-29T19:09:00.001-08:00

but sometimes they fly too.

old men...

2008-02-29T19:06:00.001-08:00

i can't wait to be one.

Kajo Kaji

2008-02-29T19:02:00.001-08:00

gentle giant

2008-02-29T18:59:00.001-08:00

Mary?

2008-02-29T18:50:00.000-08:00

a road and abrother...

2008-02-29T18:41:00.001-08:00

this is juma.
he helps my words make sense to people.
i love him.

this view of him is the one i know best,
as he suffers the many hours of four-wheeler riding across this Sudan.

happiness

2008-02-19T08:20:00.001-08:00

just look at him.

and remember him when others want to pity Africa.

there maybe a lot of hunger here,
but there's more happiness than i've ever seen anywhere else.

elephant hunters

2008-01-07T10:15:00.000-08:00

"my great-grandfather hunted the elephant, my grandfather hunted the elephant, and my father hunted the elephant... however, due to the war... i hunt the bush rat, and the skinny baboons left behind"

let's just say,
i met some tough bush-men that day.

Saddam

2008-01-07T09:34:00.000-08:00

so...

i saw this poster in a small road-side stand.
i was buying Juma and myself some much-needed Fanta's.

i laughed and asked Juma if the nice guys working there knew what it said.
after some chatting her replied:

"no...they just know it looks very beautiful."

less than a week later my friend Chad and i met a man wearing a t-shirt,
bearing a picture of Sadaam's mustached-faced and the words:

"i love Saddam Hussein"

chad asked him,

"do you really love Saddam?"

to which the man replied without the slightest hesitation,

"i love all people."

amen,
my friend.
amen.

mud

2008-01-06T01:30:00.001-08:00

my favorite myth of man says:

The one who created all (the flowers, the bats, the mangoes, and more!)
reaches his/her big god-hand down into the dirt,
and pulls up a handful.

Then breathes life into it.

And some where in the dirt and god-spit and breath,
humanity is formed.

out of the mud.

and around here,
the women use that same mud to make their homes,
and re-play the myth each dry-season.

fire!

2008-01-05T08:56:00.000-08:00

african hospitality at it's best.

big sister

2007-12-19T00:23:00.000-08:00

this girl was laughing becuase her baby sister was terrified of me...she kept acting like she was going to hand her over to me...and as that baby would scream in terror...she would squeal with laughter

Slingshot

2007-12-19T00:12:00.000-08:00

a big favor

2007-12-17T09:01:00.000-08:00

This happy man road his bike over thirty miles to help me out, without even me asking him to.
what-a-guy.

there is a light that shines

2007-12-16T05:08:00.000-08:00

baby

2007-12-16T03:53:00.000-08:00

CHAD - acal

2007-12-02T21:33:00.000-08:00

billy

2007-12-02T04:23:00.000-08:00

moo

2007-12-02T03:38:00.001-08:00

back in Sudan...

2007-11-24T02:04:00.000-08:00

it's great when things that once felt exotic and foreign become beautifully familiar.

growing.

2007-11-23T11:17:00.000-08:00

the border

2007-11-23T03:28:00.000-08:00

hello!

2007-11-23T03:25:00.000-08:00

our nurse...

2007-11-23T03:20:00.000-08:00

2007-11-23T03:09:00.000-08:00

the man who picked me up from this little airport told me that this plane's pilot did not deploy the landing gear, and the plane skidded across the runway for a pretty scary landing.

he did not tell me which airline it was,
but mentioned that after a few days a gang of workers arrived and scrapped the name and logo off of the side of the plane.

oh boy.

Loki

2007-11-23T01:53:00.000-08:00

welcome to my room...the bathroom's around back.

by far, my favorite hotel i've every stayed at.

no kidding,
they called this place "the hotel California"

what a lovely place...

the tarkana,
the pizza,
the tuskers,
the "rooms"...

i'll say it again,
i really like my job.

Kigali was lovely

2007-11-23T01:47:00.000-08:00

beloved and familiar friends and faces...

2007-11-23T01:02:00.000-08:00

coffee and long talks with jim...so good.

(a beauty!!)

(an actress!)

(a queen!)

(a ghost!)

a high-place...

2007-11-23T00:46:00.000-08:00

reflecting

i have some friends that like to say, "high places will change your life."

this might be why i like balconies so much.

i saw a great one in Kigali,
so i climbed the stairs,
and found three locked doors.

then.

i found this unlocked window,
and made it an opened one.

drink me

2007-11-23T00:15:00.000-08:00

there have been some drinks lately,
that have been beautiful,
but a little lonely.

i wish you could have been there to share them.

Rwanda!

2007-11-22T23:18:00.001-08:00

i just enjoyed my first paid vacation.
it involved a few busy days in Nairobi,
and many lazy days in Kigali.

why Kigali?
because of some wonderful friends,
the Zahnisers!

what did i do?

watched the Office,
drank lots of coffee,
laughed with Layla and Rachel,
talked while washing dishes with Jim,
talked while eating bannana bread with Ann,
exchanged stories with Caitlin,
did some running,
spoke at an international school,
had a little red wine,
devoured one of the tastiest meals of my life...
(God bless Indian Kassana)
rode the backs of many Moto's,
read the pages of a few books,
and explored the city.

all-in-all,
it was a good beginning to the greatness that is "R and R".

sometimes we land in beautiful places like this one...

2007-11-22T23:00:00.001-08:00

nice run-way, huh?

sometimes i fly...

2007-11-22T21:53:00.000-08:00

a handsome bike!

2007-11-03T13:01:00.001-07:00

toys

2007-11-02T01:01:00.000-07:00

where?

2007-11-02T00:44:00.000-07:00

Aworo

2007-11-02T00:33:00.000-07:00

these kids live pretty deep in "the bush".
so deep that their village stayed relatively safe for the first decade of their countries most recent civil war.

however, one day, while they were in their school-hut soldiers showed up.

they circled around the school and called for all the boys over 12 years old to come out.

the boys were taken without even giving a good bye to their worried mothers.

they became soldiers themselves, and most of them were never seen or heard from again.

these kids still go to school in the same hut.

i hope they will never be visited by soldiers again.