Happy Insured Motorist Day!
My friends, it has been a while and with today being a double holiday (May Day and Insured Motorist Day) we have much ground to cover which means I will have to type twice as fast meaning you will have to read four times as fast. As always, it's great to have all of you along, especially those of you joining us for the first time.
Speaking of that, you all will have to be on your best behavior because celebrities may be lurking about on the blogs. May I first introduce to you Michael Ferraro of Film Threat fame? I've just started reading his blog, but so far I have loved every word of what he has to say, especially this. Furthermore, I like his cartoons, namely these two:
While on the subject of celebrities, I have my own little celebrity story to tell. Ok, so I'm going to tell two. Shoot me.
Last year (that'd be 2006 for those of you in DFW) I went to my first film festival, Sidewalk. If heaven is supposed to be better then anything on earth then heaven truly is unfathomable by the human mind for I can not imagine anything better then a film festival except working on the film itself. I was working my volunteer shift tearing tickets when Allen Hunter co-founder of WorkPlay came into our venue and was making small-talk waiting for the feature to end so he could lead the Q&A. On his way out, I asked him if the awards ceremony (which was being held at WorkPlay) was open to the volunteers. He said, not usually, but you're invited. As soon as Allen left the building, my manger came over and said "You just got a special invitation!"
The night didn't end there. When I got to the awards ceremony, I got to meet writer/director Terry Green. His film Heavens Fall was the closing film of the festival. I can't tell you what an honor it was to be part of that screening. You see, Heavens Fall starring Timmothy Hutton and David Strathairn is about the Scottsborough Boys. The film was screened in the Alabama Theater (click here for a brief history) and won the Audience Choice Award hands down. Also present at the dinner/awards ceremony was Azura Skye; I not only met her, I got her agent's number. Alas, it just hasn't been in the cards that her talents have been required.
The other celebrity story I wanted to tell you about was meeting Amanda Gusack. Her film In Memorium screened at the Birmingham Museum of Art. The film was so well put together that during the Q&A afterwards, the dialogue went something like this:
Crowd: That was a great film. When will it be in theaters?
Amanda: The distribution rights are still for sale.
Crowd: But we can buy the DVD on Amazon, right?
Amanda: The distribution rights are still for sale.
Crowd: Okay. Your car's full of DVDs for us to buy here at the festival, right?
Amanda: The distribution rights are still for sale.
Crowd: Bummer.
After the Q&A, I shook hands with Miss Gusack and we talked shop for several minutes. She told me she shot the entire production on the DVX 100 and that the "snow" used for the webcams was actually a Photoshop image that took forever to get "just right". She was gracious when I told her the continuity error I found in the screening. I like her. I like her work and want to see more of it and was surprised when I got this return email from where I was cleaning out my inbox the other day:
We're still hanging on to the film, but we're actually shooting another one this summer: (link). I can't say much about it, but it should definately be available to view/purchase when it's finished. :)
Captive is not yet listed on IMDB or even IMDB nor have any reviews been written on the project, but I assure you I will pre-order my copy the moment it becomes available. The same goes for In Memorium.
Anniversary of Anarchy
As many of you my dear duly devoted lifetime readership know, in an effort to illustrate absurdity by being absurd, last year I single-handedly invented a holiday, Insured Motorist Day. Today is the anniversary of that holiday. Many I'm sure have forgotten about this little incident and many more do not care, but WE WILL NOT FORGET! I had great plans to have a gala of sorts to mark the occasion, but now that I'm a deadbeat part of the white collar populous (translation: I stare at a computer screen all day and people call me thinking [rightfully so] that I am a computer god and thus pour out libations unto me) I did not have the time to do the fundraising nor establish the committees. However, I am confident that the five-year anniversary will contain such a gala with fundraising and committees and so forth. In lieu of fundraising and committees, I offer Drax0r's Rant in D Minor where he discussed 7/11 convenience stores on 7/11/06.
From Blogger News Network:
Demonstrations are scheduled around the United States today as thousands of protestors are expected to take to the streets and demand a path to citizenship for the nation’s 12 million illegal immigrants. Protests are scheduled for almost every city in America with the notable exception of Atlanta where immigrants are afraid of new state law that takes affect in July. The law requires that individuals who are seeking non-emergency state benefits be in the country legally. It also penalizes employers who hire illegal immigrants, and allows police officers to check the immigration status of people that they arrest.
Remember last year how there were supposed to be millions upon millions upon millions of illegal immigrants illegal aliens people who aren't supposed to be here undocumented workers that were going to march all across the nation in preparation for their liberation on Cinco de Mayo? TeeVee stations nation wide looked for huge crowds of illegal immigrants illegal aliens people who aren't supposed to be here undocumented workers to photograph yet they could find NONE! because the media had over-hyped the situation.
Furthermore, what is all this happy horseshit about demand[ing] a path to citizenship for the nation’s 12 million illegal immigrants? Since when does someone who is here ILLEGALLY have the right to protest to become a citizen? I don't get it. I've been hiding under my shell not paying attention to the news thinking that last yeare was a once and done thing and this is what I get? This country is becoming Mexico going to straight to hell.