Manda Bala (Send a Bullet)
I break my long-standing attempt to be cute and witty (and my long-standing habit/policy of not using names) to shamelessly shill a documentary that is not even out yet, but is being edited as I type. But in order to do that, more about my vacation:
a) my sister wanted birch beer, so I flew home from Toronto in the morning of the morning; helpful hints to those traveling from Canada: a1) US customs is on the Canadian side of the border (which may explain why I almost went to the domestic departure window when flying to Canada); and a2) there is a Customs/INS line just for US citizens (and I hope that the stupid airport official who had us all on the international line had some reason for doing so, or is reading this).
I should explain, the birch beer that my sister wanted was available to Old Bethpage Restoration Village, which is a lot of 1800s houses brought together. They also do things like play old style baseball, and, the day that we went, had a little Civil War skirmish.
b) but much of my family week was taken up by just hanging around or watching movies -- including a bit of a family video my dad had transferred to DVD.
c) except Tuesday we boarded the dog for the day so that we could drive out east and do a few things there: walk around the town of East Hampton, visit the best place for roasted corn, go to the beach, look at condos (my parents still flirt with the idea of getting a place out there).
d) however, the place we boarded the dog, which advertised itself as medical boarding for dogs that had special needs and which my dad checked out, screwed up a teensy bit: since there were two dogs with the same name (they say), they did not feed ours her food or medicine. (And the dog is 15 or 16 years old, so she needs her meds.) Anyway, predictably, she was ill the next day, as dogs sometimes get when you change their food. All was well and good until the next day when she became really ill. I won't describe the situation for those tender of stomach, but suffice to say that she visited the vet once, was not very cooperative in taking the pepto paste the vet gave us, and couldn't keep it down. Around about 3 or 4 o'clock (I think), we (the three siblings) took her to an emergency veterinary clinic. Pop transferred her the next morning (Friday) to her regular vet, where she spent the entire weekend. She came back Monday afternoon, still a bit worn down, and on a whole new regimen of meds. And the part of her leg that they shaved so they could attach an IV is either pathetic or tragic.
e) the original plan was to board her on Friday as well and go into the city; as it turned out, since she was in the hospital anyway, we decided to go: we ate at a Buddhist retreat/vegetarian restaurant ("18 Arhans" or something like that), looked at a vegan shoe store, and went to services.
f) Saturday I went into the city and hung out with friends Chris, Mulzer, John, and Dave, people whom I see just abut everytime I go into the city, and certainly every time I'm home.
g) Tuesday I went into the city again and hung out with my high school friend Jason Kohn. I heard from J last maybe a year or two ago; he told me something about going to Brazil to make a documentary on government corruption, embezzling money through industrial frog-farming, kidnapping, security systems, the largest private helicopter industry (market?) in the world, ears being cut off to send along with ransom notes, and pioneering reconstructive ear surgery. So, coincidentally before my trip home, I got a message from him that he was in NYC, so we got together. I was a little worried beforehand about getting together with one of my best high school friends (who, to be clear, was also one of the people I stayed really good friends with while at college), but it was a really good time.
h) but enough about hanging out with J, I want to mention his movie, which looks incredible. J did not go to college for film, which is probably why he's doing film now; this is a very hands-on learning experience for him (though he did intern with Errol Morris for a while). Anyway, it was a little odd to visit the production studio where his film is being cut, the same studio where Solaris and a bunch of Coen films have been worked on; I'm a little surprised at the direction his life seems to be taking, but then, so is he. I want to say again how great the 11-minute fund-raising trailer looked, and I hope that the film itself turns out great, because then I won't feel bad about being such a shill for it. As it is, you should all look out for Manda Bala (Send a Bullet), which will hopefully win something tremendous at Sundance (after it, hopefully, is ready for Sundance). However, those of you with weak stomachs may want to look away during the frog-harvesting and surgery scenes.
i) As I get older it seems I have less and less sympathy with Gore Vidal's "Whenever a friend succeeds, a little something in me dies."
j) Then, to top off my already excellent Tuesday (which involved Liev Schrieber in a walk-on role), I had dinner with Chris, Mulzer, Hannah; dessert with Chris, Mulzer, John, Elizabeth; and drinks with John, Elizabeth, special guest Clancy, and surprise visit from the twin of a girl I knew at college. Then, as an extra-special treat, there was a 2am train and I didn't have to wait til the 3am one.
k) now I would just like to sleep, and in that sleep, I would like my papers to be dreamt for me.
a) my sister wanted birch beer, so I flew home from Toronto in the morning of the morning; helpful hints to those traveling from Canada: a1) US customs is on the Canadian side of the border (which may explain why I almost went to the domestic departure window when flying to Canada); and a2) there is a Customs/INS line just for US citizens (and I hope that the stupid airport official who had us all on the international line had some reason for doing so, or is reading this).
I should explain, the birch beer that my sister wanted was available to Old Bethpage Restoration Village, which is a lot of 1800s houses brought together. They also do things like play old style baseball, and, the day that we went, had a little Civil War skirmish.
b) but much of my family week was taken up by just hanging around or watching movies -- including a bit of a family video my dad had transferred to DVD.
c) except Tuesday we boarded the dog for the day so that we could drive out east and do a few things there: walk around the town of East Hampton, visit the best place for roasted corn, go to the beach, look at condos (my parents still flirt with the idea of getting a place out there).
d) however, the place we boarded the dog, which advertised itself as medical boarding for dogs that had special needs and which my dad checked out, screwed up a teensy bit: since there were two dogs with the same name (they say), they did not feed ours her food or medicine. (And the dog is 15 or 16 years old, so she needs her meds.) Anyway, predictably, she was ill the next day, as dogs sometimes get when you change their food. All was well and good until the next day when she became really ill. I won't describe the situation for those tender of stomach, but suffice to say that she visited the vet once, was not very cooperative in taking the pepto paste the vet gave us, and couldn't keep it down. Around about 3 or 4 o'clock (I think), we (the three siblings) took her to an emergency veterinary clinic. Pop transferred her the next morning (Friday) to her regular vet, where she spent the entire weekend. She came back Monday afternoon, still a bit worn down, and on a whole new regimen of meds. And the part of her leg that they shaved so they could attach an IV is either pathetic or tragic.
e) the original plan was to board her on Friday as well and go into the city; as it turned out, since she was in the hospital anyway, we decided to go: we ate at a Buddhist retreat/vegetarian restaurant ("18 Arhans" or something like that), looked at a vegan shoe store, and went to services.
f) Saturday I went into the city and hung out with friends Chris, Mulzer, John, and Dave, people whom I see just abut everytime I go into the city, and certainly every time I'm home.
g) Tuesday I went into the city again and hung out with my high school friend Jason Kohn. I heard from J last maybe a year or two ago; he told me something about going to Brazil to make a documentary on government corruption, embezzling money through industrial frog-farming, kidnapping, security systems, the largest private helicopter industry (market?) in the world, ears being cut off to send along with ransom notes, and pioneering reconstructive ear surgery. So, coincidentally before my trip home, I got a message from him that he was in NYC, so we got together. I was a little worried beforehand about getting together with one of my best high school friends (who, to be clear, was also one of the people I stayed really good friends with while at college), but it was a really good time.
h) but enough about hanging out with J, I want to mention his movie, which looks incredible. J did not go to college for film, which is probably why he's doing film now; this is a very hands-on learning experience for him (though he did intern with Errol Morris for a while). Anyway, it was a little odd to visit the production studio where his film is being cut, the same studio where Solaris and a bunch of Coen films have been worked on; I'm a little surprised at the direction his life seems to be taking, but then, so is he. I want to say again how great the 11-minute fund-raising trailer looked, and I hope that the film itself turns out great, because then I won't feel bad about being such a shill for it. As it is, you should all look out for Manda Bala (Send a Bullet), which will hopefully win something tremendous at Sundance (after it, hopefully, is ready for Sundance). However, those of you with weak stomachs may want to look away during the frog-harvesting and surgery scenes.
i) As I get older it seems I have less and less sympathy with Gore Vidal's "Whenever a friend succeeds, a little something in me dies."
j) Then, to top off my already excellent Tuesday (which involved Liev Schrieber in a walk-on role), I had dinner with Chris, Mulzer, Hannah; dessert with Chris, Mulzer, John, Elizabeth; and drinks with John, Elizabeth, special guest Clancy, and surprise visit from the twin of a girl I knew at college. Then, as an extra-special treat, there was a 2am train and I didn't have to wait til the 3am one.
k) now I would just like to sleep, and in that sleep, I would like my papers to be dreamt for me.