Thanks for Nothin!

One of the best feelings, the tranquility of Sunday afternoon when you have Monday off, but yesterday was ruined. Our landlady who lives in California was in town and wanted to come by and pick up some of her belongings in the garage and meet us. It took a turn for the weird, lasted five hours, and in the end had H helping her pack her car including tying down some stuff on the top, and her taking art she wanted to take back with her directly off our walls. Did I mention we’re paying for a FURNISHED place? It was obvious although we’re paying her a premium, she thinks we’re house-sitting for her and she’s doing us a favor.


While the last thing I want to do is move AGAIN and leave our gorgeous view, we’ve reached the point of no return. Ugh. H keeps saying not to be mad but to think about this as a good thing. I need to work through my mad and my anxiety.

On the bright side on Saturday as A and I were talking about this visit, A was trying to guess what she’d look like and bet me an ice cream at Cold Stone Creamery. I won. Of course when I won she had to tell me that that didn’t include the “gotta have it” large size at Cold Stone. So after a morning run, we headed over to get our “like it” ice creams. I joked that when the woman asked me what mix-in I wanted I was going to respond with, “hang on, I’ve got a list” to make it the most expensive “like it” in history.

Convince Yourself That Everything is Alright...

It was a full moon last night

So let me preface this by stating that I in no way think I’m cool, hip, or any of the above terms. I realize more this year than any that I’m lame. Back a few months ago, missing the live show experience and scanning the concert listings in SLC and being very unimpressed with slim pickings I saw that Pete Yorn was going to be in town. Seeing Pete Yorn is kind of like seeing the best parts I remember of St. Louis. K and I went to see him at Vintage Vinyl our favorite record store for an in-store set. We also saw him at our favorite venue, The Pageant, and then our last concert in St. Louis was Pete as we sat on the steps of the Arch. Pete was bringing some of my favorite STL memories to me. How could I not go?

But as I mentioned, I’m lame, and as the snow began to fall as I drove home from work, I began to think I’d just skip the concert and stay wrapped up in a blankie and watch my favorite show, Top Chef All-Stars. I even said to H, “Do you think it’s safe out there?” giving him the opportunity to give me the okay to stay home but he said it looked fine to him, so I bundled up and headed out. It was as if it was meant to be because I got primo parking right in front of the venue (see how lame I am?) I walk in to the opening act, Ben Kweller who very soon after I’m there invites a friend from Salt Lake City to juggle as her performs. I look around at the crowd and think how even the nightlife has a wholesome quality in the SLC. Juggling, really? I could be listening to Anthony Bourdain put a chef in their place at judge’s table.

So I didn’t quite expect the night to turn into Caligula. Let me just say Pete sounded great and he played a lot of the old favorites. For that I wasn’t disappointed and the crazy around me kept me from getting too nostalgic. Was it his strong shoulders and the five o’clock shadow or a hangover from Valentine’s Day that made it seem like everyone standing around me had taken ecstasy before the headliner? In between songs a woman standing next to me howled at the singer, “You make me wet!” After the next song, as Pete said, “This song” and then took a pause. Another lady standing to my right yelled, “Is it called DO ME?!” But the strangest thing and I’m not making this up, was the two very drunk girls to my left who after making a spectacle of themselves, caught the attention of a couple also to my left. The woman in the couple looked like she stepped off the set of a porno and while I can’t say here what was being discussed, let’s just say the four of them were arranging some group activities after the show. Seriously? On a Wednesday night in Salt Lake City in front of a singer/songwriter?

Me, I picked up a ticket to see Adele in May at the box office and was in my pjs by 11:15pm.

Couch to 5K - Done

With all the Sundance hullabaloo I forgot to comment on the Couch to 5K program. I finished! And I’m still running. Having time to just listen to music and zone out when I run, is very therapeutic. Here’s the iPod playlist that got me to the end. Are they my favorite songs? No, I might not listen to some of these at all but they all have a great tempo.


Warm-up

Entertain – Sleater Kinney (perfect 5 minutes long)

Run

4 Minutes –Madonna

Starlight – Muse

Lazy Eye – Silversun Pickups

Sink Into Me – Taking Back Sunday

Mind Eraser, No Chaser – Them Crooked Vultures

I Will Follow – U2

Check Yes Juliet – We The Kings

Cool-down to news podcast

Last Festival Post

Okay, so I'll stop going on and on about movies and make this my last post about Sundance.  Sunday, the last day of the festival, I decided to not try and use all of my last three vouchers but instead just use one and take A and try and use my one last guest voucher for her.  The movies on Sunday were very full.  Our chances looked pretty good in the waitlist line as we pulled numbers 4 and 5 so that meant that if there were at least five extra seats, we were in.  The movie in question, to.get.her.  I don't want to give too much away but only to say that I liked it more after listening to the writer/director's explanation and message.

to.get.her Q&A

As we were queueing in the waitlist line another volunteer from Portland came up to us and asked us if we wanted the two extra tickets she had been given which meant we got to step out of the waitlist line and into the actual line, we were in!  Immediately I started thinking, this means we can see one more film since we don't have to use our volunteer and guest vouchers!  I had to calm myself.  H must have seen the OCD in my eyes earlier in the week when I told him I was going to use all my vouchers.  At some point it stopped being about the actual films and just an obsession to see more more more!

After the film upon our return I told H that I had sat through 20 screenings over the last 10 days and looked forward to annoying all my friends and family as throughout the year movies were released and I was able to say, "Oh I saw that at Sundance".  He said sitting through a work week's worth of movies was his idea of hell but I would have been ready to do it again.  So here's the list, with Another Happy Day being the only one that annoyed the hell out of me.

Being Elmo: A Puppeteer's Journey

Submarine

Pariah

Like Crazy

Higher Ground

How to Die in Oregon

Another Happy Day

Miss Representation
Granito
The Black Power Mixtape
Grab
Troubadours
Being Elmo: A Puppeteer's Journey (2nd viewing)
Rebirth
Position Among the Stars
Salvation Boulevard
Shut Up Little Man! An Audio Misadventure
The Music Never Stopped
Becoming Chaz
to.get.her

Double Feature Saturday Night

Saturday morning I say to H, “I’ve got six volunteer vouchers left which means I can see six more movies”. H says, “You don’t have to use all of them”. Me, “Yes I do!” Due to some Saturday morning commitments I decided to try for a double feature. Saturday night was awards night which only certain people can attend. I was hoping that and the awards party might keep the crowds away from the screenings but the opposite took effect. The Sundance Festival passholders were en masse trying to see as much as possible. My early arrival though guaranteed me a seat at The Music Never Stopped, part of the U.S. dramatic competition and one of my favourite movies of the festival. It is based on a true story in one of Oliver Sacks’ books. J.K. Simmons is in it, who recently played Juno’s dad in the film Juno. What a sweet story. Even the guy sitting next to me was blotting away tears.


The second of the double feature was a documentary called Becoming Chaz. From what I understand Oprah Winfrey caused quite a stir walking down Main Street during the festival. I understand she might have bought the rights to this documentary, which follows Sonny and Cher’s daughter Chastity as she transitions from female to male. It did a pretty good job of answering the obvious questions that everyone has without being too sensational.  I had no plans to try and see this one but several of the other volunteers recommended it.

Unfortunately because it was awards night there were no Q&As as part of these screenings. Before the screening of Becoming Chaz began, the theatre made the no Q&A announcement stating that the filmmaker was not available.  A guy sitting behind me said loud enough for me and the people around to hear, "What about Cher?  We were hoping for Cher."  Nevertheless, it was a good night at the movies.

Friday's Lineup

I got a late start but was hoping to line up several movies for the day. In the end I only saw two, a comedy and then a documentary.


Salvation Boulevard starred Ed Harris, Greg Kinnear, Pierce Brosnan, Marisa Tomei, and Jennifer Connelly and was a farce based on the Christian mega churches. It was hilarious! If you can laugh at organized religion look out for this one. Religion and cults seemed to be a running theme in the festival lineup.

Shut Up Little Man! Filmmakers

The second film I saw was an Australian documentary about an American story. It was called Shut Up Little Man! An Audio Misadventure, and I really enjoyed this one. Back in the 80’s these two young guys from Wisconsin moved out to San Francisco and was living in a dump apartment with very thin walls. Two men lived next door. One sounded like a raging homophobe and the other sounded gay and they would both get very drunk and have horrible arguments. The guys started taping them. In the pre-internet era, these tapes went viral. In fact this young filmmaker in Adelaide Australia heard about them this way. In telling the story lots of questions come up regarding privacy and morality. The Q&A was great. There was an older gay gentleman in the audience who was really angry that these young men capitalized on these men, especially since a lot of the content of the arguments was homophobic rants, which taken out of context becomes “frat boy humor”. He had some very interesting points and the filmmakers encouraged him to share his thoughts.

Last Day of Volunteer Work

Once again I had the opportunity to see three documentaries on the day I volunteered.

A popular pre-movie gathering place at Temple

The first was Being Elmo: A Puppeteer’s Journey which I had already seen. After the film I ran into the editor and told him I’d seen it twice now and I laughed and cried the second time just as I had the first. He asked if I’d seen it the first time at the volunteer screening and added that that was a highlight for them. Everyone involved with the film was so nice and very willing to talk to everyone who had questions after the screening. Did you know there is a “muppet geek” community? There were some bloggers at the screening who’d been at multiple screenings of the film because of the Jim Henson content. Oh, and when we were setting up for the screening we reserved five seats and the theatre manager said those were set aside in case “Bob wanted to come see Elmo”. Bob = Robert Redford. I started to have a mini heart attack because where I was positioned for the screening, I would have been watching Bob watch Elmo. Setting aside seats for him as well as for the jury happens at a lot of screenings but due to schedules often get rearranged and they don’t use them. Alas, he didn’t come to the screening, and that’s probably a good thing. I don’t know if I could have taken that.

The second screening was a documentary called Rebirth. It followed five individuals who lost family on 9/11 filming them each year since the tragedy. Once again, I absolutely sobbed. As a mother, one of our fears is the thought of dying and leaving our children motherless. Because of this very real fear, the teenager who lost his mother really moved me. I seriously wouldn’t have been able to deal with the rest of the day if the film hadn’t ended on a positive note for him. This film wasn’t exploitive at all but beautiful. One of the gentleman profiled in the film, a rescue worker who lost his best friend, was there and people were just walking up and hugging him afterwards because they were so moved.

The last documentary of my shift I knew nothing about. I knew it was the third in a trilogy and it was called Position among the Stars set in Indonesia. At the Q&A I learned that Indonesia used to be a Dutch colony and the filmmakers, brother and sister, were of this mixed heritage. This film was an unexpected treasure. First, it was the most beautiful film I saw at the festival. Several of the shots could have been stopped and framed. It was also a fascinating look into a multi-generational family dealing with the changing times, from the grandmother straddling village and city life to the teenager living in a slum but still wanting a cell phone and to go to the mall like teenagers in America. She becomes the family’s only hope to escape poverty. A. would never sit and watch this film but boy I wish I could get her. It would make her very appreciative of what she has.

Funny, one of the elements of the film is an uncle who raises fighting fish which he bets on in hopes of making a fortune. Something significant happens to the fish in the documentary and so one of the audience members asked about the fish at the Q&A. The director said that the government has made changes to no longer allow the importing of these fish for betting. So now he says that two men meet and place their cell phones standing up next to each other on vibrate and then people call the phones. The first one to fall loses. It just goes to show that there is a very strong belief in lower classes that gambling is a way out no matter what.