I guess I should be blogging my Sundance experience

I've been so busy and sleep-deprived lately, it's been hard. I have no idea how she finds time to blog, but like anything, if you really want it, you'll get it done.

So, I'll give a run-down on my Sundance experience and try my best to keep up from here on out.

SFF Day -1 (Wed): Alene and I went to a party for all the volunteers up in Park City at the PC Mountain Resort Legacy Lodge. It was pretty fun. They had catered food and gave us each 3 drink tickets so we could join in on the fun and get wasted (but we didn't). We mingled here and there and talked to some of the people Alene is working with (by this time, I had no idea who I was working with and still have only met two of them). Alene and her crew started to boogie for a bit and I stood idly by trying to keep rhythm with my feet tapping and my head bobbing here and there. It's been so long since I've been dancing, that I feel like a complete idiot when I try to. I have no idea why. I should just have fun and not worry about it. But, I actually don't worry about it though. I'm not afraid of what others will think of me, I'm afraid of when I'll think of myself I guess???? Anyway, it's my own little problem.

SFF Day 2 (Thurs): I didn't do anything.

SFF day 3 (Friday night): Alene was working at her Venue (the Rose Wagner Theater), so I went down there late that evening to catch one of the premire movies called "Away from her". It was filmed in Canada by a Canadia actress (can't remember her name). It was very well-done and thought-provoking in many ways. It dealt with a couple preparing for the wifes bought with Alzheimers disease. They were and older couple, but she was still very young and active for someone with alzheimers (late 60's?) Anyway, the husband was in denial about it in some ways, thinking that maybe she would get better, or maybe she was punishing him for something he did years ago (he was a former college professor and there were quick flash-backs of young girls he taught). It is never revealed, but it seems that he had had an affair a while back, but I guess they leave that up to the viewers decision??

Anyway, it dealt with them having to find a rest home she could stay in that would take care of her, and how the realities of the harhsness of the people there that are supposed to take care of her and how in the end, they really don't care about taking care of the peoples needs and wants, just keep them alive with a bed, food, and occasional activities. While his wife is in the hospital, she is not supposed to see her husband for 30 days, during that time she falls in love with another patient. Not necessarily in a sexual way, but in a nurturing way. It's hard on her husband (obviously). I thought the film was shot beautifully and the actors expressions and emotions seemed real. I don't think I could sit through this movie again though, but it was good to see.

SFF Day 3 (Sat): I worked my first volunteer shift at the Park City Mountain Resort Information Booth. About 50% of the information I gave was, "Down there, before the doors to the left", which is where the restrooms are. Other than that, it was alright, considering that I had lot's of time to read and I got free tickets to do it. Plus, I guess I somewhat feel like I'm a part of the whole Sundance thing, but there are no venues where I'm at, so it can be a little boring. I did see Jared Leto there. He just casually walked in front of me by himself. He looked a little lost and was wearing snowboarding gear.

When my shift ended (I work 12pm to 5pm shifts), I just went home to be with Caiden. My wonderful sister Alana came up to watch him for me that day. She is so sweet and giving and Caiden loves playing with her. Thanks Alana!

SFF Day 4 (Sun): I worked again (skipped church) on my usual 12-5pm shift. It was much slower that day, but again 50% of my questions I answered were directions to the restrooms. I saw a dude all decked out in a snowboarding suit, but he looked like sasquatch (seriously, he was tall, and the jacket and pants had long strands of hair coming off them). He was either supposed to be Chewbacca or Sasquatch. I tried to snap a picture of him with my camera phone, but he moved by too quickly. I looked all over the web for one of those, but no luck. Maybe he was a movie star that had it custom-made, as they do with all their clothes :).

When I got home that night I hooked up with Russ and we went to the Broadway to see "Joe Strummer: The Future Is Unwritten". It was a great documentary about a guy who I admired a lot of his music, but didn't know much about him. He was the lead singer of the Clash and a very poetic person. I loved hearing him talk because he wasn't necessarily poetic in a whimpy kind of way, he was very poetic in both a rough and smooth kind of way. The film was made by an old friend of his who was around filming the Clash when they worked on their first album. The opening scene is my favorite as it shows a young Joe Strummer, standing in front of a white wall with some head phones on. He starts bobbing his head, then all of a sudden starts screaming out the lyrics to the song "white riot". He does it for about 15 seconds, then all of a sudden the music is dubbed in. It was just cool hear just his voice, which is not beautiful or amazing by any means, but very energetic and passionate. Every word that came out of his mouth meant something from every fiber of his soul. They interviewed a ton of people that knew him, both famous people and regular every-day people from his youth. All of the interviews were done at night, next to a camp fire. They said that later in Joes life, he had these famous camp-fires he would do and have everyone just sit around the fire and talk. They said he LOVED doing it and would invite total strangers over to hang out at camp fires.

Anyway, this is a film I would definitely watch again.

SFF Day 5 (Mon): I worked my regular 12-5 shift (took some time off work) then met up with Alene. We were originally going to see a short film series (they show 5 short films, which are all usually interesting), then planned on seeing another film at the same theater, but when we got there we read a review and the show we were goin to see later was reviewed and only given one star. I generally don't care about ratings, but I didn't want to take my chances. Alene and I decided to ditch the short films and head over to another theater to see "Summer Rain", which was directed by the ultimate Latin heart-throb: Antonio Banderas. It was a very beautiful movie in many ways. It had humor, it was poetic (subject was about what dreams young people have and centered on a guy that wanted to be a poet), it was funny, it was violent, it was sexy. Banderas was there for the Q&A and although he seems to be always "acting" even as he spoke (he was just very expressive), he seemed to be a very humbled person in many ways. I gained more respect for the guy. Europeans always seem so good at expressing themselves. It's no wonder that women always fall head-over heels for them.

SFF Day 6 (Tues): I'm not doing anything with Sundance today.