Matthew McConaughey's Online Journal
September 6, 2005 Leaving Burbank, CA
Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast...a natural disaster leaving everyone in shock...a day later the levees that protected the crescent city of New Orleans from the water that surrounds it on three sides collapsed, and the city began to flood....
Watching this on TV, the water was rising in time with the chaos, the question marks accumulating as the massive scale of these events turned catastrophic...I, like everyone, was trying to comprehend the situation, and I felt the need to do something, but what?
My assistant and my publicist got online, researching what was being organized. I got on the phone calling friends in southern Louisiana, calling government officials in my state of Texas, calling heads of major networks...I was looking for something to do "on location"...down here in the areas that are affected...Everyone I talked to was taking action in some way but I still hadn't found a practical way to serve in a "hands on" way....
After 5 hours of researching, my publicist called and said, "I've talked to some producers at the Oprah Show and they are looking for people who want to get 'down and dirty' ...The next morning I was on a plane with a camera and sound crew on our way from Burbank to Baton Rouge. The plan was not defined, but the ball was rolling, we were on our way "forward", we were headed to the Gulf Coast....
We landed, the airport was more than busy, it was an organized circus...That's when a red Suburban pulled up and out jumped...
Take a look at my photo diary.
Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast...a natural disaster leaving everyone in shock...a day later the levees that protected the crescent city of New Orleans from the water that surrounds it on three sides collapsed, and the city began to flood....
Watching this on TV, the water was rising in time with the chaos, the question marks accumulating as the massive scale of these events turned catastrophic...I, like everyone, was trying to comprehend the situation, and I felt the need to do something, but what?
My assistant and my publicist got online, researching what was being organized. I got on the phone calling friends in southern Louisiana, calling government officials in my state of Texas, calling heads of major networks...I was looking for something to do "on location"...down here in the areas that are affected...Everyone I talked to was taking action in some way but I still hadn't found a practical way to serve in a "hands on" way....
After 5 hours of researching, my publicist called and said, "I've talked to some producers at the Oprah Show and they are looking for people who want to get 'down and dirty' ...The next morning I was on a plane with a camera and sound crew on our way from Burbank to Baton Rouge. The plan was not defined, but the ball was rolling, we were on our way "forward", we were headed to the Gulf Coast....
We landed, the airport was more than busy, it was an organized circus...That's when a red Suburban pulled up and out jumped...
Take a look at my photo diary.
September 6, 2005 Waveland, MS
Leslie...She introduced herself as one of the producers of the Oprah show specifically assigned to me...We huddled with a camera and sound person and quickly discussed our direction...With an endless amount of needs to be met for the people down here, our next goal was where and what? Leslie downloaded me on the conditions in Waveland, MS...how it was one of the hardest hit by the hurricane and had the most direct devastation of physical property (remember, the hurricane and the New Orleans flooding are related but separate devastations)...90 percent of the structures were wiped out in this gulfline community...alive and deceased were still being found...This became our assignment: Get to Waveland, cover the reality, [and] in precisely that, the stories lie...We were off.
When I left California for the Gulf area, I didn't know how I could best be of service...Was I going to hand out water at shelters? Was I going to grab a chainsaw and open up doorways in homes for people trapped inside? I did not know...As our mission matured it was apparent that my ideals of necessary service were valid and relevant, but not the best use of my personal time...The best use of my time was going to be in an arena that served others while using my strengths as well...Me and the Oprah team were going to Waveland to find stories...to report the "news" of what was happening, to the places, and to the people...to show people the reality, so they might better understand it, to help bring attention through individuals, which will hopefully compel others to serve these people in need, through giving their time, donations and prayers....
While every story we have pursued has taken directions we never planned for, that seems to be just the point...after such a drastic change in so many lives, the future becomes very fluid, and every story has a life of its own....
So here's how I got here and this is what we've been doing...I look forward to sharing more very soon...so in the meantime and every time,
Just keep livin, McConaughey
Take a look at my photo diary.
Leslie...She introduced herself as one of the producers of the Oprah show specifically assigned to me...We huddled with a camera and sound person and quickly discussed our direction...With an endless amount of needs to be met for the people down here, our next goal was where and what? Leslie downloaded me on the conditions in Waveland, MS...how it was one of the hardest hit by the hurricane and had the most direct devastation of physical property (remember, the hurricane and the New Orleans flooding are related but separate devastations)...90 percent of the structures were wiped out in this gulfline community...alive and deceased were still being found...This became our assignment: Get to Waveland, cover the reality, [and] in precisely that, the stories lie...We were off.
When I left California for the Gulf area, I didn't know how I could best be of service...Was I going to hand out water at shelters? Was I going to grab a chainsaw and open up doorways in homes for people trapped inside? I did not know...As our mission matured it was apparent that my ideals of necessary service were valid and relevant, but not the best use of my personal time...The best use of my time was going to be in an arena that served others while using my strengths as well...Me and the Oprah team were going to Waveland to find stories...to report the "news" of what was happening, to the places, and to the people...to show people the reality, so they might better understand it, to help bring attention through individuals, which will hopefully compel others to serve these people in need, through giving their time, donations and prayers....
While every story we have pursued has taken directions we never planned for, that seems to be just the point...after such a drastic change in so many lives, the future becomes very fluid, and every story has a life of its own....
So here's how I got here and this is what we've been doing...I look forward to sharing more very soon...so in the meantime and every time,
Just keep livin, McConaughey
Take a look at my photo diary.
September 7, 2005 Leaving Waveland
Heading to Texas now where over 250,000 evacuees are living. After being down here in the Gulfland for the past week and catching up on the latest media stories I think we need more hope stories...to rehabilitate...people need direction, what to do first, second, third...people need resolve (it will take a long time with many more frustrations)...people need practical ways to move forward...so many are waiting to be told what to do, they NEED direction...yearning to put a foot forward yet unsure of where to step....
If they get this, it will give them hope. This is the only way to repair, move forward, and evolve...this can only be done through uniting, not dividing. Looking for places to place blame is not constructive right now, it will divide. Yes, later, accountability should be scored, but right now it only serves to digress the spirit and will from self-reliance, from self-respect, and self-significance, instead of towards a future and livelihood, individually, as a nation, and as a people.
Just keep livin, McConaughey
Take a look at my photo diary.
Heading to Texas now where over 250,000 evacuees are living. After being down here in the Gulfland for the past week and catching up on the latest media stories I think we need more hope stories...to rehabilitate...people need direction, what to do first, second, third...people need resolve (it will take a long time with many more frustrations)...people need practical ways to move forward...so many are waiting to be told what to do, they NEED direction...yearning to put a foot forward yet unsure of where to step....
If they get this, it will give them hope. This is the only way to repair, move forward, and evolve...this can only be done through uniting, not dividing. Looking for places to place blame is not constructive right now, it will divide. Yes, later, accountability should be scored, but right now it only serves to digress the spirit and will from self-reliance, from self-respect, and self-significance, instead of towards a future and livelihood, individually, as a nation, and as a people.
Just keep livin, McConaughey
Take a look at my photo diary.
September 8, 2005 Austin, TX
Hopes are high among the 5000 evacuees (or "guests" as Mayor Wynn sincerely calls them)...there is plenty of food, bedding, medicine, showers—there is even a hair salon that some of the female evacuees set up...there are services for Catholics and Protestants and non denominations...there are Alcoholic Anonymous meetings, busses taking the kids to and from school, basketball goals, free long distance phone lines, a centralized online database for registering and finding loved ones, and much more serving the youngest (6 days) to the eldest (103 years young)...Basically, Austin has created a temporary "city" of sorts within their convention center, equipped with more social services and volunteers than I could have imagined.
So, Phase 1 (crisis management) is doing well so far here... Now, the "sustain" phase is beginning...the goal? As the Red Cross puts it, "to restore the resources these people had BEFORE the hurricane..." A valiant goal and a tougher realization, combined with the fact and understanding that many of the people here quite simply, did not have many resources before the hurricane and floods.... Quality of life...what it WAS, what it IS, and what it CAN BE...these are the questions to understand and answer....
Let me share some opinions on WHAT THE QUALITY OF LIFE IS (here in the convention center). Everyone we talked to praised the hospitality and service they are receiving here...Setting aside their angst for an ambiguous future, many of the evacuees say that they are "getting more here..." and "have better food and services here, than they did BEFORE the hurricane..." At the same time they understand that this is merely a "holding place to be guests in for a short time..." So, this raises the third question, WHAT WILL THE QUALITY OF LIFE BE? Factually, many will return to New Orleans and-or their homes that survived the floods...others will go to live with family and relatives in other parts of the country...the rest will make a life in and around Austin... So, how? Well, there will be elders who need assisted living, there will be youths who need daycare and schooling, there will be others who have a trade and will seek work to practice it, and there will be many more with no trade at all, leaving us with a situation that has an undefined direction...
So, you have those that will GO BACK HOME, those that will GO SOMEWHERE ELSE, and those that will STAY HERE...this is where this and other communities have the most work to do and as I mentioned above, this is where the most questions lie. This latter group will need housing and jobs...they will also need patience, endurance, and self significance.... This is going to be a frustrating time not only for the new guests seeking to become members of the community, but also for the existing members of this and all similar communities...point is, the future holds not an easy task for the "guests" or the community, and the assimilation process goes both ways...And lets remember, to a great extent, there are the "haves" and the "have nots", the communities being the first and the guests being the latter, and its going to take some giving from both sides.... It's not ideal and it sure as hell aint easy, but an eternal opportunity is being offered to us all...to serve...
In the meantime and all the time,
Just keep livin, McConaughey
Take a look at my photo diary.
Hopes are high among the 5000 evacuees (or "guests" as Mayor Wynn sincerely calls them)...there is plenty of food, bedding, medicine, showers—there is even a hair salon that some of the female evacuees set up...there are services for Catholics and Protestants and non denominations...there are Alcoholic Anonymous meetings, busses taking the kids to and from school, basketball goals, free long distance phone lines, a centralized online database for registering and finding loved ones, and much more serving the youngest (6 days) to the eldest (103 years young)...Basically, Austin has created a temporary "city" of sorts within their convention center, equipped with more social services and volunteers than I could have imagined.
So, Phase 1 (crisis management) is doing well so far here... Now, the "sustain" phase is beginning...the goal? As the Red Cross puts it, "to restore the resources these people had BEFORE the hurricane..." A valiant goal and a tougher realization, combined with the fact and understanding that many of the people here quite simply, did not have many resources before the hurricane and floods.... Quality of life...what it WAS, what it IS, and what it CAN BE...these are the questions to understand and answer....
Let me share some opinions on WHAT THE QUALITY OF LIFE IS (here in the convention center). Everyone we talked to praised the hospitality and service they are receiving here...Setting aside their angst for an ambiguous future, many of the evacuees say that they are "getting more here..." and "have better food and services here, than they did BEFORE the hurricane..." At the same time they understand that this is merely a "holding place to be guests in for a short time..." So, this raises the third question, WHAT WILL THE QUALITY OF LIFE BE? Factually, many will return to New Orleans and-or their homes that survived the floods...others will go to live with family and relatives in other parts of the country...the rest will make a life in and around Austin... So, how? Well, there will be elders who need assisted living, there will be youths who need daycare and schooling, there will be others who have a trade and will seek work to practice it, and there will be many more with no trade at all, leaving us with a situation that has an undefined direction...
So, you have those that will GO BACK HOME, those that will GO SOMEWHERE ELSE, and those that will STAY HERE...this is where this and other communities have the most work to do and as I mentioned above, this is where the most questions lie. This latter group will need housing and jobs...they will also need patience, endurance, and self significance.... This is going to be a frustrating time not only for the new guests seeking to become members of the community, but also for the existing members of this and all similar communities...point is, the future holds not an easy task for the "guests" or the community, and the assimilation process goes both ways...And lets remember, to a great extent, there are the "haves" and the "have nots", the communities being the first and the guests being the latter, and its going to take some giving from both sides.... It's not ideal and it sure as hell aint easy, but an eternal opportunity is being offered to us all...to serve...
In the meantime and all the time,
Just keep livin, McConaughey
Take a look at my photo diary.
September 13, 2005 Austin, TX
Got in touch with a good friend of mine, Homer Hill, who owns "Mr. Catfish" (a catfish-blues joint I waited tables at while I went to school here from 1990-93.) We decided to have a catfish fry with live music for all the evacuee guests staying in the Austin Convention Center... With the help and hard work of my assistant Anita Ferry alongside Homer, we worked with many of the already present volunteers, and had a "spirits high fish fry" Tuesday night. When my mom and brother and other personal friends arrived, the guests were fillin their bellies and the band "Blue Mist" (a local blues band from the school for the blind) was jammin... I almost forgot, I met a clown named "Doodle Bug" the day before and she offered to bring some of her clown friends and entertain the kids with balloons, tricks, and face painting through the eve. Thanks to her, the evening was all the more festive...
After most everybody ate, it was time to dance off the dinner, and this is when the festive turned to revival... It was open mic of course, and many of the evacuees were musicians so an all out jam session began like one I have never heard or seen before... Suddenly, we had our own private Mardi Gras right there in Austin... It was a New Orleans-zydeco-patois-gospel revival: full of tambourines, improvisation, and a wheelchair rhythm section. Basically, an all out Sunday mornin on a Tuesday night dance the devil away thank the almighty séance session—yes, it was righteous—the dance floor was full, with people three to ninety four, white, black, brown and red, some with rhythm, some without...but it didn't matter, there was a ceiling above us but no roof on the room, if you know what I mean...
After a couple of hours and a dance floor full of sweaty bodies, we wrapped up the eve. Spirits were higher, hearts were warmer, bellies were fuller, and in some respects, the sadness and fear in the wake of the recent tragedy was forgotten, even if just for an hour or three...
Just keep livin, McConaughey
Take a look at my photo diary.
Got in touch with a good friend of mine, Homer Hill, who owns "Mr. Catfish" (a catfish-blues joint I waited tables at while I went to school here from 1990-93.) We decided to have a catfish fry with live music for all the evacuee guests staying in the Austin Convention Center... With the help and hard work of my assistant Anita Ferry alongside Homer, we worked with many of the already present volunteers, and had a "spirits high fish fry" Tuesday night. When my mom and brother and other personal friends arrived, the guests were fillin their bellies and the band "Blue Mist" (a local blues band from the school for the blind) was jammin... I almost forgot, I met a clown named "Doodle Bug" the day before and she offered to bring some of her clown friends and entertain the kids with balloons, tricks, and face painting through the eve. Thanks to her, the evening was all the more festive...
After most everybody ate, it was time to dance off the dinner, and this is when the festive turned to revival... It was open mic of course, and many of the evacuees were musicians so an all out jam session began like one I have never heard or seen before... Suddenly, we had our own private Mardi Gras right there in Austin... It was a New Orleans-zydeco-patois-gospel revival: full of tambourines, improvisation, and a wheelchair rhythm section. Basically, an all out Sunday mornin on a Tuesday night dance the devil away thank the almighty séance session—yes, it was righteous—the dance floor was full, with people three to ninety four, white, black, brown and red, some with rhythm, some without...but it didn't matter, there was a ceiling above us but no roof on the room, if you know what I mean...
After a couple of hours and a dance floor full of sweaty bodies, we wrapped up the eve. Spirits were higher, hearts were warmer, bellies were fuller, and in some respects, the sadness and fear in the wake of the recent tragedy was forgotten, even if just for an hour or three...
Just keep livin, McConaughey
Take a look at my photo diary.
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