I don't think I'd have the ballz to do it, but it sure looks fun.
Wednesday, January 31, 2007
Monday, January 29, 2007
A very touching story
This brought tears to my eyes. I chat on Cougarboard.com from time to time with thousands of fellow BYU Football fans. A person that I know from there had conjoined twins that he and his wife made the painful decision to have separated.
Here is their story:
Here is their story:
SFF Day 11??
Pretty un-eventful. Worked my last shift and then headed down to pick up Caiden at my parents.
Krystal gave Caiden a hair cut. She's so nice about those things. She cut's and styles EVERYONE'S hair in our family and doesn't even whine about it. I think we all know that we'd do anything for each other, so it's just a given that she wouldn't think twice about doing that for us. Thanks Krystal. I know a Boy's haircut only takes 10 minutes, but it means a lot.
I talked to Roman last night too. He's my bro and always will be. Most of the time when I talk to him, it's usually kind of short or rushed, but it was cool just to talk for a bit. We talked mostly about family, work, and Disneyland. Oh yeah, he also told me how to rip DVD's into a format so I can load them onto my ipod. He says he basically ripped all his DVD's, stores them on a separate hard drive, then loads it onto his ipod when he's ready to watch a movie. He can then hook his ipod up to his TV and it puts out a good image on his TV, which is a 50" HD TV, so that's pretty cool.
So I'm going to use this software to rip a DVD and see how it turns out.
My music. One thing I noticed about my music is that I have a lot of bands that start with the word "The". Not bands where "the" is optional. These are bands that have to have the word "The" in front of them, or it wouldn't sound cool.
Case in point:
The Strokes
The Shins
The Clash
The Format
The Ramones
The Killers
The Rentals
The Postal Service
The Vines
The Who
The Velvet Teen
These are bands that could not be said without saying "the" in front of them.
It was just an observation, so go easy on me this morning.
Krystal gave Caiden a hair cut. She's so nice about those things. She cut's and styles EVERYONE'S hair in our family and doesn't even whine about it. I think we all know that we'd do anything for each other, so it's just a given that she wouldn't think twice about doing that for us. Thanks Krystal. I know a Boy's haircut only takes 10 minutes, but it means a lot.
I talked to Roman last night too. He's my bro and always will be. Most of the time when I talk to him, it's usually kind of short or rushed, but it was cool just to talk for a bit. We talked mostly about family, work, and Disneyland. Oh yeah, he also told me how to rip DVD's into a format so I can load them onto my ipod. He says he basically ripped all his DVD's, stores them on a separate hard drive, then loads it onto his ipod when he's ready to watch a movie. He can then hook his ipod up to his TV and it puts out a good image on his TV, which is a 50" HD TV, so that's pretty cool.
So I'm going to use this software to rip a DVD and see how it turns out.
My music. One thing I noticed about my music is that I have a lot of bands that start with the word "The". Not bands where "the" is optional. These are bands that have to have the word "The" in front of them, or it wouldn't sound cool.
Case in point:
The Strokes
The Shins
The Clash
The Format
The Ramones
The Killers
The Rentals
The Postal Service
The Vines
The Who
The Velvet Teen
These are bands that could not be said without saying "the" in front of them.
It was just an observation, so go easy on me this morning.
Sunday, January 28, 2007
SFF Day 10
Wait, I must be off on my days because there are only 10 days to the festival and I'm posting about Saturday???? Anyway, I hung out with Caiden for a bit before dropping him off in Orem with my mom. I have to work Saturday and Sunday at Sundance, so he is going to stay with her.
I worked my shift (again, un-eventful), then headed back down to SLC to meet Alene to watch two movies at her theater.
The first movie we saw was called "The Good Night". It had a ton of great actors in Martin Freeman from the BBC version of "The office" as well as some other recently great British films. It also had Gwyneth Paltrow (the movie was written and directed by her brother), Danny Devito, Penelope Cruz, Simon Pegg (who played "Shaun" from Shaun of the Dead).
It was about a person's failed relationship and how he finds love in his dreams and his attempt to better control his dreams. When I first heard the description, I thought that I had already seen this movie (Michele Gondry's "The Science of Sleep"), but I was wrong. This was a great movie and the characters I related to in some ways. It seemed very real. All a guy really wants is support and to have his ego fed. All a girl wants is to feel important to the guy and to do something exciting. OK, that may not be entirely true, but that was what was wrong in their relationship. I was pleasantly surprised at how well the movie was done. I think Tim would be a bit upset because I think the situation of the movie (kid of famous sister/parents does his first big movie and get's all kinds of great actors to be in it, which isn't fair aka: Sofia Coppola, hehe).
After that, Alene and I walked down to the Tea Room with Jake Paltrow in tow, but after we crossed the street, he went somewhere else (we lost him). I had never been to the tea room, but it was quite nice. Of course, they served lot's of tea, but I had a soup and salad, which hit the spot. The salad had a bit too much vinigarette on it, but I was cool with it. The place felt like you were sitting in an old living room or something. There was a live acoustic band playing music in there (not singing, just some soft stuff; it was relaxing).
We then went back to the theater to watch the film "Black Snake Moan", which was directed by Craig Brewer, who did Hustle and Flow a couple of years ago. It starred Samuel Jackson, Christina Ricci, and Justin Timberlake. It was an interesting movie very funny at times, weird, serious, and emotional.
It's about a girl named Rae (Christina Ricci) who's boyfriend (Timberlake) leaves for the army and she has this uncontrolable urge to have sex all the time with anyone (it stems from her youth and being molested by her step dad). She drinks a lot and sleeps around a lot with guys while her boyfriend is gone. She ends up beaten up and un-conscious on the side of the road after partying hard one night.
Along comes Lazurus (Jackson), who is a depressed old former blues singer. His wife just left him and he has some inner deamons that he has to deal with. He finds her boyd while taking his trash out (it's way out in the country, somewhere in the south). He immediately feels he has to help cure her of her deamons. He takes her to his house to help her heal, but part of his remedy is a 40 lbs chain that he ties around her waist and to his radiator heater so she can't leave. In the mean time, she helps him become a better person too. He starts singing to her and playing his guitar. He starts reading from his bible again and working on himself.
I think the movie was very redeaming to both Jackson and Ricci's character too. Both have deamons they had to deal with (as does Timberlake, as we find out later that he has anxiety issues and is honorably discharged from the army). I think Ricci and Jackson gave an amazing performance in this film. I was a bit surprised about how Ricci (who was half naked most of the time and pretty much topless for some long scenes in the movie). I thought I had read somewhere that she would never go nude in front of the camera. Oh well. I'm sure most people don't mind :-).
Anyway, it was a great film.
Oh yeah, one more thing. The film had been bought out by a major distributor and they sent two "jar-head" looking dudes to make an annoucement before the film. One dude firmly stood up, told everyone to not turn their phone volume down, but to turn them off entirely. He also firmly said that if anyone is caught recording the film or taking any pictures, he will personally throw them out. I guess they walk around the theater with night vision goggles. He was met with a ton of booing and jeering. It was pretty funny. I didn't agree with the guy's approach. I think he could have simply stated that recording the film was not acceptable and that anyone caught would be removed. I know that is basically what he DID say, but it was his tone that pissed everyone off. I think anyone would understand that if they were recording it, that they would be thrown out. Oh well, it was funny.
One more day to work the festival, then I'm done. It's been pretty cool so far (I guess). I mean, the best part of my job is getting people excited about how to do the sundance thing. Most come to me saying "tickets are already sold, huh" as if they know they can't get in. When I give them a film guide and show them how to do the wait-list thing, they get excited and start making plans to see a movie. Other than that, I've had a lot of time to read at my booth, so that's always a good thing :-).
I worked my shift (again, un-eventful), then headed back down to SLC to meet Alene to watch two movies at her theater.
The first movie we saw was called "The Good Night". It had a ton of great actors in Martin Freeman from the BBC version of "The office" as well as some other recently great British films. It also had Gwyneth Paltrow (the movie was written and directed by her brother), Danny Devito, Penelope Cruz, Simon Pegg (who played "Shaun" from Shaun of the Dead).
It was about a person's failed relationship and how he finds love in his dreams and his attempt to better control his dreams. When I first heard the description, I thought that I had already seen this movie (Michele Gondry's "The Science of Sleep"), but I was wrong. This was a great movie and the characters I related to in some ways. It seemed very real. All a guy really wants is support and to have his ego fed. All a girl wants is to feel important to the guy and to do something exciting. OK, that may not be entirely true, but that was what was wrong in their relationship. I was pleasantly surprised at how well the movie was done. I think Tim would be a bit upset because I think the situation of the movie (kid of famous sister/parents does his first big movie and get's all kinds of great actors to be in it, which isn't fair aka: Sofia Coppola, hehe).
After that, Alene and I walked down to the Tea Room with Jake Paltrow in tow, but after we crossed the street, he went somewhere else (we lost him). I had never been to the tea room, but it was quite nice. Of course, they served lot's of tea, but I had a soup and salad, which hit the spot. The salad had a bit too much vinigarette on it, but I was cool with it. The place felt like you were sitting in an old living room or something. There was a live acoustic band playing music in there (not singing, just some soft stuff; it was relaxing).
We then went back to the theater to watch the film "Black Snake Moan", which was directed by Craig Brewer, who did Hustle and Flow a couple of years ago. It starred Samuel Jackson, Christina Ricci, and Justin Timberlake. It was an interesting movie very funny at times, weird, serious, and emotional.
It's about a girl named Rae (Christina Ricci) who's boyfriend (Timberlake) leaves for the army and she has this uncontrolable urge to have sex all the time with anyone (it stems from her youth and being molested by her step dad). She drinks a lot and sleeps around a lot with guys while her boyfriend is gone. She ends up beaten up and un-conscious on the side of the road after partying hard one night.
Along comes Lazurus (Jackson), who is a depressed old former blues singer. His wife just left him and he has some inner deamons that he has to deal with. He finds her boyd while taking his trash out (it's way out in the country, somewhere in the south). He immediately feels he has to help cure her of her deamons. He takes her to his house to help her heal, but part of his remedy is a 40 lbs chain that he ties around her waist and to his radiator heater so she can't leave. In the mean time, she helps him become a better person too. He starts singing to her and playing his guitar. He starts reading from his bible again and working on himself.
I think the movie was very redeaming to both Jackson and Ricci's character too. Both have deamons they had to deal with (as does Timberlake, as we find out later that he has anxiety issues and is honorably discharged from the army). I think Ricci and Jackson gave an amazing performance in this film. I was a bit surprised about how Ricci (who was half naked most of the time and pretty much topless for some long scenes in the movie). I thought I had read somewhere that she would never go nude in front of the camera. Oh well. I'm sure most people don't mind :-).
Anyway, it was a great film.
Oh yeah, one more thing. The film had been bought out by a major distributor and they sent two "jar-head" looking dudes to make an annoucement before the film. One dude firmly stood up, told everyone to not turn their phone volume down, but to turn them off entirely. He also firmly said that if anyone is caught recording the film or taking any pictures, he will personally throw them out. I guess they walk around the theater with night vision goggles. He was met with a ton of booing and jeering. It was pretty funny. I didn't agree with the guy's approach. I think he could have simply stated that recording the film was not acceptable and that anyone caught would be removed. I know that is basically what he DID say, but it was his tone that pissed everyone off. I think anyone would understand that if they were recording it, that they would be thrown out. Oh well, it was funny.
One more day to work the festival, then I'm done. It's been pretty cool so far (I guess). I mean, the best part of my job is getting people excited about how to do the sundance thing. Most come to me saying "tickets are already sold, huh" as if they know they can't get in. When I give them a film guide and show them how to do the wait-list thing, they get excited and start making plans to see a movie. Other than that, I've had a lot of time to read at my booth, so that's always a good thing :-).
Saturday, January 27, 2007
SFF Day 9
Friday I worked my tail off at my regular job for a few hours in the morning, then booked it up to Park City to do my volunteer shift from noon to 5pm. It was un-eventful (as usual). I did get a good pizza from the resorts food court area. GIANT piece and it tastes pretty good. Almost as good as the Pie, but the pie adds some other kind of cheese or spice to their pizzas that I have not been able to figure out.
Oh yeah, just a reminder everyone, I want one of those pizza ovens for my BD.
Anyway, I jetted back down to SLC to meet Alene, Jeff, and Mandi. We ate at Squatters Brew Pub (the BEST burger in the world), which was across the street from the theater that Alene was working at and had the film we were going to see.
We saw "Chapter 27", which was a film about the dude Mark David Chapman who shot John Lennon. Jared Leto played him and it was impressive not only in acting, but the fact that Jared, a normally somewhat skinny dude, put on 65 lbs to play this role and has some health problems now (gout) because of it. That's crazy.
Anyway, the movie was almost a Docu-Drama in that it pretty much followed what happened for the 3 days that Mark Chapman was in NYC and what was going through his head. He had read and been reading the book "catcher in the rye", which I have never read, but now I need to. Alene read it when she was 15 and loved it. Mark Chapman thought he was the main character in the book, so he did a lot of things the main character did and even tried to talk like him. However, he took it even further and went to the extreme to "eliminate" John Lennon because he felt he was a fake and a phonie. I thought it was very well-done. I think Leto did a great job. He was a producer as well and I actually like it sometimes when Actors produce because they put even more into the project and likely give the best performance they can.
Oh yeah, just a reminder everyone, I want one of those pizza ovens for my BD.
Anyway, I jetted back down to SLC to meet Alene, Jeff, and Mandi. We ate at Squatters Brew Pub (the BEST burger in the world), which was across the street from the theater that Alene was working at and had the film we were going to see.
We saw "Chapter 27", which was a film about the dude Mark David Chapman who shot John Lennon. Jared Leto played him and it was impressive not only in acting, but the fact that Jared, a normally somewhat skinny dude, put on 65 lbs to play this role and has some health problems now (gout) because of it. That's crazy.
Anyway, the movie was almost a Docu-Drama in that it pretty much followed what happened for the 3 days that Mark Chapman was in NYC and what was going through his head. He had read and been reading the book "catcher in the rye", which I have never read, but now I need to. Alene read it when she was 15 and loved it. Mark Chapman thought he was the main character in the book, so he did a lot of things the main character did and even tried to talk like him. However, he took it even further and went to the extreme to "eliminate" John Lennon because he felt he was a fake and a phonie. I thought it was very well-done. I think Leto did a great job. He was a producer as well and I actually like it sometimes when Actors produce because they put even more into the project and likely give the best performance they can.
Friday, January 26, 2007
SFF Day 9
Friday I worked my tail off at my regular job for a few hours in the morning, then booked it up to Park City to do my volunteer shift from noon to 5pm. It was un-eventful (as usual). I did get a good pizza from the resorts food court area. GIANT piece and it tastes pretty good. Almost as good as the Pie, but the pie adds some other kind of cheese or spice to their pizzas that I have not been able to figure out.
Oh yeah, just a reminder everyone, I want one of those pizza ovens for my BD.
Anyway, I jetted back down to SLC to meet Alene, Jeff, and Mandi. We ate at Squatters Brew Pub (the BEST burger in the world), which was across the street from the theater that Alene was working at and had the film we were going to see.
We saw "Chapter 27", which was a film about the dude Mark David Chapman who shot John Lennon. Jared Leto played him and it was impressive not only in acting, but the fact that Jared, a normally somewhat skinny dude, put on 65 lbs to play this role and has some health problems now (gout) because of it. That's crazy.
Anyway, the movie was almost a Docu-Drama in that it pretty much followed what happened for the 3 days that Mark Chapman was in NYC and what was going through his head. He had read and been reading the book "catcher in the rye", which I have never read, but now I need to. Alene read it when she was 15 and loved it. Mark Chapman thought he was the main character in the book, so he did a lot of things the main character did and even tried to talk like him. However, he took it even further and went to the extreme to "eliminate" John Lennon because he felt he was a fake and a phonie. I thought it was very well-done. I think Leto did a great job. He was a producer as well and I actually like it sometimes when Actors produce because they put even more into the project and likely give the best performance they can.
Oh yeah, just a reminder everyone, I want one of those pizza ovens for my BD.
Anyway, I jetted back down to SLC to meet Alene, Jeff, and Mandi. We ate at Squatters Brew Pub (the BEST burger in the world), which was across the street from the theater that Alene was working at and had the film we were going to see.
We saw "Chapter 27", which was a film about the dude Mark David Chapman who shot John Lennon. Jared Leto played him and it was impressive not only in acting, but the fact that Jared, a normally somewhat skinny dude, put on 65 lbs to play this role and has some health problems now (gout) because of it. That's crazy.
Anyway, the movie was almost a Docu-Drama in that it pretty much followed what happened for the 3 days that Mark Chapman was in NYC and what was going through his head. He had read and been reading the book "catcher in the rye", which I have never read, but now I need to. Alene read it when she was 15 and loved it. Mark Chapman thought he was the main character in the book, so he did a lot of things the main character did and even tried to talk like him. However, he took it even further and went to the extreme to "eliminate" John Lennon because he felt he was a fake and a phonie. I thought it was very well-done. I think Leto did a great job. He was a producer as well and I actually like it sometimes when Actors produce because they put even more into the project and likely give the best performance they can.
Thursday, January 25, 2007
SFF Day 7 (Wednesday)
I did not have to work a volunteer shift and neither did Alene, so we went up to Park City with the intention of seeing the movie "Black Snake Moan" as well as the movie "Fido" later that night (midnight showing at the Egyptian theater).
When we arrived at Black Snake Moan, it looked like a mad-house, with people all over the place. Despite the theater being able to seat 1200+, we knew it was impossible to get in. It sucked because it was the premiere and we would have been able to see all the stars, but oh well I guess.
We went downtown to main at first. We walked up to the Egyptian and saw there was a movie about to start that had no sold out yet, so we thought the subject matter looked decent (it stated it was about a mongolian farming family that is forced off their land by the government and moved into the city and how they deal with it).
THIS MOVIE WAS THE WORST MOVIE I'VE EVER SEEN! Seriously, it was bad. I have no idea how it got by the screeners at sundance, but it was more of one of those whacky art-pieces than anything with long-drawn-out scenes with no talking for literally 5 minutes at a time. I can usually stand those, but not this time. It just plain SUCKED!!
Alene really wanted to go half-way through, but I thought it might get better so we should stick it out. I was wrong. I'm sorry baby.
After that, we got something to eat at the Wasatch Brew Pub (delicious nachos), then walked around Main and grabbed some movie snacks at the 7-11. We got in the wait-list line and were only #16 and 17, so our chances of getting into the movie we REALLY wanted to see (Fido) were very good. During that wait, we met a cool guy from bountiful that was a student at the U.
The movie was excellent and lived up to the hype it was getting. It starred Carrie Anne Moss (from the Matrix), Time Blake Nelson (from O Brother where are't thou) and a bunch of other people I recognized from smaller roles in movies (one of them was a bad guy in the Mission Impossible movies).
It was basically set in the 1950's "father knows best" era. During this time, the whole "zombie" phenomena started to take off among the youth, so I'm sure this is why they chose this era. Basically, the idea was that zombies were alive and everywhere and taking over the world, but a company (zombicorp?) invented a collar device that when placed on a zombie, made it so they did not desire human flesh anymore. People started to have zombies as servants around their homes and treated them like pets.
Fast forward to Timmy and his family (carrie ann moss is his mother) and they are the only family on the street without a pet zombie, while other families have 2 or more (something to do with his dad being scared of them). One day his mom buys a zombie and Timmy becomes attached to it. Here is a summary of the rest:
"Timmy Robinson's best friend in the whole wide world is a six-foot tall rotting zombie named Fido. But when FIDO eats the next-door neighbor, Mom and Dad hit the roof, and Timmy has to go to the ends of the earth to keep Fido a part of the family. A boy-and-his-dog movie for grown ups, "FIDO" will rip your heart out."
It was HILARIOUS and gory at the same time. Pefect in my opinion.
Here is a screen shot from the movie:
Anyway, can't wait to get this one on DVD. I know Russ would love it. Alene and I left the theater at 2am and gave that dude (the U student from bountiful) a ride to his car.
When we arrived at Black Snake Moan, it looked like a mad-house, with people all over the place. Despite the theater being able to seat 1200+, we knew it was impossible to get in. It sucked because it was the premiere and we would have been able to see all the stars, but oh well I guess.
We went downtown to main at first. We walked up to the Egyptian and saw there was a movie about to start that had no sold out yet, so we thought the subject matter looked decent (it stated it was about a mongolian farming family that is forced off their land by the government and moved into the city and how they deal with it).
THIS MOVIE WAS THE WORST MOVIE I'VE EVER SEEN! Seriously, it was bad. I have no idea how it got by the screeners at sundance, but it was more of one of those whacky art-pieces than anything with long-drawn-out scenes with no talking for literally 5 minutes at a time. I can usually stand those, but not this time. It just plain SUCKED!!
Alene really wanted to go half-way through, but I thought it might get better so we should stick it out. I was wrong. I'm sorry baby.
After that, we got something to eat at the Wasatch Brew Pub (delicious nachos), then walked around Main and grabbed some movie snacks at the 7-11. We got in the wait-list line and were only #16 and 17, so our chances of getting into the movie we REALLY wanted to see (Fido) were very good. During that wait, we met a cool guy from bountiful that was a student at the U.
The movie was excellent and lived up to the hype it was getting. It starred Carrie Anne Moss (from the Matrix), Time Blake Nelson (from O Brother where are't thou) and a bunch of other people I recognized from smaller roles in movies (one of them was a bad guy in the Mission Impossible movies).
It was basically set in the 1950's "father knows best" era. During this time, the whole "zombie" phenomena started to take off among the youth, so I'm sure this is why they chose this era. Basically, the idea was that zombies were alive and everywhere and taking over the world, but a company (zombicorp?) invented a collar device that when placed on a zombie, made it so they did not desire human flesh anymore. People started to have zombies as servants around their homes and treated them like pets.
Fast forward to Timmy and his family (carrie ann moss is his mother) and they are the only family on the street without a pet zombie, while other families have 2 or more (something to do with his dad being scared of them). One day his mom buys a zombie and Timmy becomes attached to it. Here is a summary of the rest:
"Timmy Robinson's best friend in the whole wide world is a six-foot tall rotting zombie named Fido. But when FIDO eats the next-door neighbor, Mom and Dad hit the roof, and Timmy has to go to the ends of the earth to keep Fido a part of the family. A boy-and-his-dog movie for grown ups, "FIDO" will rip your heart out."
It was HILARIOUS and gory at the same time. Pefect in my opinion.
Here is a screen shot from the movie:
Anyway, can't wait to get this one on DVD. I know Russ would love it. Alene and I left the theater at 2am and gave that dude (the U student from bountiful) a ride to his car.
I bust up every time I see this
If you have IT, you don’t need IT
If you need IT, you don’t have IT
If you have IT, you need more of IT
If you have more of IT, you don’t need less of IT
You need IT, to get IT
And you certainly need IT to get more of IT
But if you don’t already have any of IT to begin with
You can’t get any of IT to get started
Which means you really have no idea how to get IT in the first place, do you?
You can share IT, sure
You can even stock-pile IT if you’d like
But you can’t fake IT
Wanting IT
Needing IT
Wishing for IT
The point is: If you’ve never had any of IT, ever, people just seem to know
If you need IT, you don’t have IT
If you have IT, you need more of IT
If you have more of IT, you don’t need less of IT
You need IT, to get IT
And you certainly need IT to get more of IT
But if you don’t already have any of IT to begin with
You can’t get any of IT to get started
Which means you really have no idea how to get IT in the first place, do you?
You can share IT, sure
You can even stock-pile IT if you’d like
But you can’t fake IT
Wanting IT
Needing IT
Wishing for IT
The point is: If you’ve never had any of IT, ever, people just seem to know
Wednesday, January 24, 2007
Tuesday, January 23, 2007
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.
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.
Wednesday, January 17, 2007
Friday, January 05, 2007
Merry Freaking Christmas
Someone was feeling generous this holliday season.
I just checked my 401k and and noticed that I got paid $580.00 in dividends on my funds.
First, I don't recall EVER getting paid this much in dividends.
Second, I'll gladly take them.
I'm not a financial guru, but someone basically told me that the fund will pay out dividends if it feels like it??? Something like that. Anyway, I was pretty stoked as I typically get a dividend pay-out of somehting around $20 here and there.
I just checked my 401k and and noticed that I got paid $580.00 in dividends on my funds.
First, I don't recall EVER getting paid this much in dividends.
Second, I'll gladly take them.
I'm not a financial guru, but someone basically told me that the fund will pay out dividends if it feels like it??? Something like that. Anyway, I was pretty stoked as I typically get a dividend pay-out of somehting around $20 here and there.
Caiden is sick
Caiden is sick right now with a cough, sore throat, and cold. It is so sad when he is sick because you're reminded at how fragile children are, when most of the time he's bouncing off the walls and trying to stay up until midnight every night. It's so sad to hear him say things like "I think there's a bee in my throat" or "Daddy, I think I'm getting better" when you can tell he's not (yet).
Anyway, I have been up with him all night and was browsing a few friends blogs and found this story (I posted it a while back) that has a video to it now. It teared me up and made me so greatful for my son and my wife and the hope for our future children who we can show our love to.
Here is the story and the video is at the bottom.
http://cjcphoto.com/can/
Anyway, I have been up with him all night and was browsing a few friends blogs and found this story (I posted it a while back) that has a video to it now. It teared me up and made me so greatful for my son and my wife and the hope for our future children who we can show our love to.
Here is the story and the video is at the bottom.
http://cjcphoto.com/can/
Thursday, January 04, 2007
The inspiration to my crappy 80's video
Here it is, for those of you that missed it.
Here is the video that inspired it:
Here is the video that inspired it:
Funny commercial
One of my favorite movies is Punch Drunk Love by PT Anderson and starring Adam Sandler (not a typical slap-stick Adam Sandler movie being that it's a very serious role). There is a character in the movie (the bad guy) played by Phillip Seymour Hoffman who is owns one of those cheap furniture stores (and it's actually supposed to be in Utah). In the special features, PT Anderson included a deleted scene of a commercial for the furniture store. As I was looking around on the web, I found that it was an actual copy of a real commercial made for a furniture store.
Watch and laugh:
PT Anderson's version
The original
Watch and laugh:
PT Anderson's version
The original
Monday, January 01, 2007
Happy New Year everyone!!!!
Hope you all have a great 2007. I myself will not start resolutions (such as, losing 40 lbs) until January 8th, just to be difficult.
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