In a Different Town...
This weekend, in Pasadena California was the Pasadena International Film Festival, where, on Saturday afternoon, Steve Carlson's movie about the making of his last CD was premiered.
I had the very good fortune to be able to attend, as well as being able to be a part of the R&R Caravan that accompanied it.
This is my second caravan weekend, and while it was a shortened version of the weekend I went to in Dallas last year, it was just as much fun, if not more.
I flew in silly amounts of early on Friday, figuring I could find somewhere at the hotel to hunker down and get some work done, but to my surprise, they had a room available and let me have it, so I was in my hotel room at 8:30 or so, and able to get logged into work and get some work done.
Around 1, I headed up to the pool & hot tub. My hip was an unhappy camper, and I figured a good soak in the hot tub would do wonders. I sat in the sun for a while after, just enjoying a gorgeous afternoon (and spamming instagram with pics of the gorgeous afternoon) before I headed back to my room to finish working.
Later I had to head back to the Burbank airport to fetch a friend. We grabbed dinner and headed back to the hotel...where we sat in a lovely courtyard while sipping adult beverages and catching up.
Saturday morning started with my friend and I sitting in the hot tub to get our achy joints to something resembling functional. Then we went and grabbed some breakfast before it was time to head back to the hotel and get ourselves ready for the day.
We met up with the Caravan at a coffee shop near the movie theater. There were a bunch of introductions....a lot of talking, some magic tricks before it was time to head over. There were four short films on before Different Town.
Of the four, only one of them was pretty amazing. The first one just left all of us scratching our heads, the next two were very predictable. Then came a short called "Red" and it was very well done. Still a little predictable, but a good story, excellent acting. It felt very real.
Different Town was excellent. Of course, we knew most of the story going in, but there were still surprises and seeing all of those places filled me with wanderlust.
We had dinner at a place where Steve used to go to eat with his grandma. It was really good food, and I ended up sitting with Jon Dorenbos (Steve's friend who plays for the Philadelphia Eagles) for a very long time. I actually ended up giving him a copy of my book. Which makes me terrified and proud at the same time.
I also gave a copy to Lana and Steve and that also has me slightly terrified. LOL.
Sunday was breakfast and the Stage It show, which was interesting to see from that perspective. We were in the Stage It studio, so it was not just watching Steve play to the computer, but we got to see the background workings. We played "stump Steve" as we requested songs we hadn't heard in a while before the show started.
Alas, though, all good things must end, and before you knew it our weekend was over and it was time to come home.
A few comments without order or necessarily context:
Sandy and Chris Carlson are still adorable. Maybe the most adorable couple in LA unless they're standing next to Steve & Lana.
I adore Lana Carlson.
Jon Dorenbos has HUGE hands. He also has a great laugh, a great sense of humor. He is intelligent and articulate and an all around great guy.
Every single person Steve introduced me too responded with some version of "Oh, you're the photographer he's always talking about" and that had me beaming nearly all weekend.
In case it wasn't obvious, my love for that man continues to grow. I really do adore him.
I had the very good fortune to be able to attend, as well as being able to be a part of the R&R Caravan that accompanied it.
This is my second caravan weekend, and while it was a shortened version of the weekend I went to in Dallas last year, it was just as much fun, if not more.
I flew in silly amounts of early on Friday, figuring I could find somewhere at the hotel to hunker down and get some work done, but to my surprise, they had a room available and let me have it, so I was in my hotel room at 8:30 or so, and able to get logged into work and get some work done.
Around 1, I headed up to the pool & hot tub. My hip was an unhappy camper, and I figured a good soak in the hot tub would do wonders. I sat in the sun for a while after, just enjoying a gorgeous afternoon (and spamming instagram with pics of the gorgeous afternoon) before I headed back to my room to finish working.
Later I had to head back to the Burbank airport to fetch a friend. We grabbed dinner and headed back to the hotel...where we sat in a lovely courtyard while sipping adult beverages and catching up.
Saturday morning started with my friend and I sitting in the hot tub to get our achy joints to something resembling functional. Then we went and grabbed some breakfast before it was time to head back to the hotel and get ourselves ready for the day.
We met up with the Caravan at a coffee shop near the movie theater. There were a bunch of introductions....a lot of talking, some magic tricks before it was time to head over. There were four short films on before Different Town.
Of the four, only one of them was pretty amazing. The first one just left all of us scratching our heads, the next two were very predictable. Then came a short called "Red" and it was very well done. Still a little predictable, but a good story, excellent acting. It felt very real.
Different Town was excellent. Of course, we knew most of the story going in, but there were still surprises and seeing all of those places filled me with wanderlust.
We had dinner at a place where Steve used to go to eat with his grandma. It was really good food, and I ended up sitting with Jon Dorenbos (Steve's friend who plays for the Philadelphia Eagles) for a very long time. I actually ended up giving him a copy of my book. Which makes me terrified and proud at the same time.
I also gave a copy to Lana and Steve and that also has me slightly terrified. LOL.
Sunday was breakfast and the Stage It show, which was interesting to see from that perspective. We were in the Stage It studio, so it was not just watching Steve play to the computer, but we got to see the background workings. We played "stump Steve" as we requested songs we hadn't heard in a while before the show started.
Alas, though, all good things must end, and before you knew it our weekend was over and it was time to come home.
A few comments without order or necessarily context:
Sandy and Chris Carlson are still adorable. Maybe the most adorable couple in LA unless they're standing next to Steve & Lana.
I adore Lana Carlson.
Jon Dorenbos has HUGE hands. He also has a great laugh, a great sense of humor. He is intelligent and articulate and an all around great guy.
Every single person Steve introduced me too responded with some version of "Oh, you're the photographer he's always talking about" and that had me beaming nearly all weekend.
In case it wasn't obvious, my love for that man continues to grow. I really do adore him.