Hello again,

I've now been away from America for a full month, and I'm definitely starting to miss it a little. Just simple things, like cloth napkins and good service in restaurants. Otherwise the experience continues to amaze. We've shot most of episode 1 and bits of 2 and 3. For those who without prior knowledge of what exactly I'm doing, here ya go- it's a 7 episode HBO miniseries about the 2003 Iraq invasion called 'Generation Kill.' It will start airing in September '08. It focuses on a platoon of Recon Marines who are at the 'tip of the spear' of the entire invasion force. I am playing the platoon commander.

Until this week, we were shooting out in the desert, where the morning wind made for some tough shooting conditions. This past week we shot in Walvis Bay, Namibia, which will represent areas of Nasiriyah, Iraq. The sets were amazing-- we walked from our trailers around a fence and into a war zone. Blown up cars, piles of rubble, scarred buildings, and us rolling through in our humvees. I've added a pic of me, fully geared up, weapons and all.

The platoon has 22 Marines and one Navy corpsman in it, and we are incredibly lucky to have one of the actual Marines from the story playing himself. His name is Sgt Rudy Reyes, and he's an absolute one of a kind. He is obsessed with working out-- he probably trains at least 6 hours a day. In between takes, he'll dig a boulder out of the desert topsoil and do standing shoulder presses with it. He's been in 3 combat tours, and has been called upon to kill many times. But somehow he's also the kind of guy who puts on face cream at night and obsessively cleans his body with baby wipes. He's the most encouraging, positive person I've ever been around. He's always smiling, laughing, and teaching. I'll get a good pic with him and send it along in the next email. (my camera passed away in the fine desert sands of Dune Seven a few weeks ago)

More to come-
Stark

Hello All!

Namibia is great, even when the shamals (sandstorms) kick in. There is no internet where I'm staying, and it takes half an hour to get to the closest internet cafe, which has one dial-up connection that all the users share. Needless to say, I'm not getting much chance to send emails here. My workday typically starts with a 5:45am pick-up, when I'm picked up in a van and driven to set 25 minutes away. Breakfast, wardrobe, make-up (really just sunblock), and off to set. Every day we gear up in full MOPP suits (charcoal lined chemical protection suits), combat boots with bulky rubber boots over them, flak-jackets, utility belts, and kevlar helmets. I am issued an M16 with a 203 Grenade Launcher attached. A real one. I sling it over my shoulder and keep it with me all day. I also have an M9 Beretta strapped to my leg. So far we have been shooting in "Camp Mathilda", the base camp in Kuwait the battalion waited in prior to the invasion. Yesterday we shot the scene where the battalion rolls out of camp and towards Iraq-- we drove out in our humvees as the lead vehicles in a convoy of 40. There were hundreds of extras running around, and 4 cameras rolling at once- one on a huge crane that started out at ground level and swung out and up to 150 feet to see it all from a birds-eye view. The shot lasts for 3 minutes, so we were about a mile away by the time they called cut. Its really fun.
The first 5 weeks are here in Swakopmund, Namibia, followed by 13 weeks in a tiny farm town called Upington in South Africa. After that I'll be in Maputo, Mozambique for 2 months, then Johannesburg, South Africa for the last month. All told, I will be in Africa doing this until December 19th. Please don't hesitate to email me, it's a good feeling to check my email and have dozens of notes to read from my friends and family. I will reply as I can. Next time I will try to attach some pictures so you can put some visuals to my incredible descriptions.

Hello friends, A page has been set up especially for my friend Bryten Goss who passed away in October 2006, he was 30 years old and one of the most amazing young artists of our time...since most or all of you are my friends, if you haven't already been added as a friend, I urge you to go to the site and add The Bryten Goss Foundation for the Arts to your friends list to stay apprised of the Foundation's progress, news, up and coming exhibitions and events and to support Bryten's legacy...your friendship is needed. The URL address is: http://www.myspace.com/brytengoss