Monday, October 29, 2007

Thank God for you, awkwardly-unaware man!

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So in recent years I've gotten a lot better at not being judgmental of others. It used to be that I would make snide comments about people I didn't even know to not only myself, but any near-standing half-friend within earshot. With that said, I saw this guy at the gym today who was practically begging me to return to my roots of sarcasm. (I think I saw Roots of Sarcasm open for Whitesnake years ago...)

The short and sweet description of this guy: imagine a slightly older Kip from Napoleon Dynamite sauntering his heart out on an elliptical trainer. A more detailed description to follow. So here is a man in his early to mid forties, probably some sort of businessman because he is doing what seems to be non-recreational reading, and has a full manila envelope resting on the control face of the elliptical trainer. Perhaps his cluelessness is evidenced in his complete focus on his reading. He is wearing a simple white tee shirt, nothing unusual there. It's everything else he's wearing, or not wearing that makes things interesting. (Not to worry, the "not wearing" comment only holds a small weight in upcoming statements. I simply threw it in there because it makes for a titillating read.) The rest of the ensemble, from the top down, begins with the slightly yellowed, formerly white sweatband which is grasping desperately to a slightly-balding, poorly-shorn head of straw-like hair. Skipping down past the unusually usual white shirt, we can see he is wearing black spandex shorts, which only seems appropriate for a man who is moving at an astronomically intense two miles per hour on a low-impact exercise device. Not only are the shorts spandex, but they're that old sort of spandex, late-eighties or early-nineties, the slightly shiny stuff that people who don't normally exercise wear to appear like they regularly take trips to the local gymnasium. Before going on to the last item of clothing, I have to describe the piece of flesh connecting the shiny shorts with its podiatric counterpart. The legs are veiny, but not the kind where you can see the blue of the veins. These veins seem to be lumpily holding together his two generally neglected collections of half-muscle, which still seem to struggle despite the fact that the poor guy's torso couldn't have weighed more than fifty pounds. Not to be outdone, the feet are of particular magnificence. Firstly (and here's where the titillation comes to a disappointing end) they are sporting only white tube socks, which, as tube socks tend to do when not held in place by footware, have begun to floppily-increase in length. There are no shoes whatsoever. And, as if this caricature of a man could not get any more precious, he had over-large round glasses and a thin wiry mustache, no doubt to catch the eye of those gym-skanks whose outfits continually shrink to ever decreasing levels of modesty. Oh, I almost forgot the very best part. He is sporting (sporting, mind you, not just wearing) a black leather fanny-pack over the white tee shirt, just above the shiny spandex shorts. Now imagine this sight one row in front of you as you try not to laugh aloud not only at its pure unaware genius, but its comically-slow traipsing along on the elliptical trainer. Honestly I think he could have simply walked around the halls in the adjacent mall-space and gotten a better workout. But then I couldn't have basked in his splendor. Thank God for you, awkwardly unaware man. You bring a smile to the faces of people all over the internet and yet still maintain both your anonymity and dignity because I did not have my camera with me.

Sunday, October 21, 2007

Film Festival hilight

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So last weekend I went to the Bend Film Festival. I remember missing it the year before, and wishing I had gone. My parents live in Bend, so I have a place to stay, making a weekend visit both feasible and affordable. The last, and only other film festival I've attended was the Anchorage International Film Festival in 2005. Jannell Brisson, as an early birthday present, bought me a pass for any and all showings at the AIFF. It was one of the best weeks I ever had to that date, so I figured I could at least get a small slice of that at the Bend festival. So I looked over all the films playing over the two days I could be there, and made myself an itinerary of 6 full-length films, and a smattering of short films, all in the span of 2 days. They also offered free Q&A kind of sessions with film-makers, organized by topic. I attended one on documentary filmmaking and one on how to promote your film once you've already finished it. They both seemed appropriate to my particular situation. Anyway, I went to the film festival to see some cool independent films, and try my hardest not to let my brain ooze out my ears from sitting for so long. But what I came away with was far more than just a couple amazing films, though there were some really amazing films.

So though the films were great, my favorite parts were the little Q&A sessions, particularly the one featuring a panel of documentarians. They talked about their craft, their inspirations, their current projects, and while nothing they said really blew my mind, I was just happy to get to listen to people who vocationally so what I want to do. Two of the filmmakers were particularly interesting to me. Tom Putnam recently made a film called "Red, White, Black and Blue" which is about Attu Island on the tip of the Aleutians. The film follows two WWII vets as they revisit the island 60 years after the 17-day battle to win it back from the Japanese. Attu is the only American soil occupied by a foreign force since 1812. Anyway, it's a great film, and for those of you who are interested, it'll be on PBS on November 6, I believe. The other filmmaker I was interested in is named Adrian Belic. He and his brother were nominated for an Oscar for a documentary they finished in 1999 called "Genghis Blues." If you're a fan of Tuvan throat-singing, (and who isn't in this crazy post-9/11 world) you'll love "Genghis Blues." Adrian's newest film is called "Beyond the Call," and was my favorite documentary of the festival. It chronicles the journeys of three post-middle-aged men as they display the most incredible humanitarian effort three independently-funded men can display. Seriously, these guys are pretty bad-ass and love helping people who can't help themselves. So, coming back to the story, Tom Putnam and Adrian Belic were pretty cool and knowledgeable guys in the business. So I decided to meet them.

For some of you, it may come as no surprise that I'm a bit of a social phobic. Well, close to phobia. Meeting new people is quite a chore for me, especially people who happen to be attractive or important. These two guys are actually eking out a living as documentary filmmakers, which is quite a feat, so I was a little intimidated. Fortunately I didn't find them attractive. That would've really been a chore. Anyway, the two of them, Tom and Adrian, were having a conversation or networking session, so I waited nearby for them to be done. I was going to talk to Tom because he seemed a little more conversational. Well, when they finished my conversation and asked if I needed to talk to either of them, I managed to rope them both in. Because Tom's film is based in Alaska, I used that as a common point, mentioning that I'm from Alaska, and that it was nice to see a film made about Alaska. We talked a bit about Alaskans and their starvation to see themselves larger than life, about how his showing of his latest film sold out its first showing, forcing a second one. I don't remember how it came about, but I got to tell them I just finished a film set in Alaska. Adrian congratulated me and shook my hand at that, and they wanted to know more about it. I told them that "Bible Camp" is a documentary about a Bible camp in Alaska's interior, a camp my grandfather started 43 years ago. I had this unusual energy as I was telling them about it, and managed to keep their attention throughout my little Bible Camp exposition. So I had the complete undivided attention of two actual career filmmakers, and got to share about the film I made about a camp I love. Wow.

After talking up Kokrine Hills a little longer, I asked them about self-promotion, ad how one gets better at it. Probably my least favorite part of this process has been the fact that I have to sell myself to everyone, and never think I do a great job. they stopped me right there and said that not only do all filmmakers have a hard time with self-promotion, but that I had in fact done a great job selling the film to them. They commended my use of knowing my audience (Alaska as a commonality) and said that I had both their attentions throughout. That was pretty much the most encouraging thing anyone could have ever said to me. Two guys who know how it works told me one of my greatest weaknesses wasn't nearly as bad as I thought. Tom even offered to view my film and let me know what he thought. They both told me I needed to submit my film to the Anchorage film festival, and that I needed to drop both their names to the guy in charge in Anchorage. Turns out the deadline for entrance into the Anchorage festival was the beginning of September, so I lost my chance, but I tried anyway. Tom and Adrian both gave me great advice on selling myself and networking, both of which are paramount to the filmmaker existence. I needed business cards and post cards with my film's info on them, didn't have either, and was chastised by the two guys for my lack of connectibles. But I suppose I hadn't ever come with the intention of even mentioning "Bible Camp" anyway, so no big deal this time. All in all, it was an incredible 15 minute interaction.

I came to a festival to watch movies, and ended up with connections to real filmmakers, something I've not had until this point. AND, I really feel "Bible Camp" got a whole new lease on life. I emailed Tom and he gave me his address so I can send him the DVD, and now I'm back on the trail to setting up showings and selling as many DVDs as I possibly can. What had become an elephant on my back, largely a film people showed little interest in, has now become a revitalized passion for me to get out into the world. Man. It's just so amazing how God will orchestrate situations to give us exactly what we need right when we need it. Woo hoo.

Thursday, October 18, 2007

Woo hoo!!!!!

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So apparently there are all these beautiful single people out there! I know they're out there because myspace and facebook tell me they're there. And all these beautiful people are just so desperate to meet possible romance, they all have congregated on these internet dating sites! And apparently the same people who were single six months ago are still single! I can tell by their pictures, or those really insightful little videos that appear on my web page. So logic tells me that most single people out there are terribly beautiful, and that in order to find these people I will need to join the club. Or clubs. This is the greatest discovery since the world's first discovery was made! What a strange and beautiful place we live in! So says the internet...

Tuesday, October 9, 2007

I need a Compass

Sometimes I think it's a real shame I don't know any rich people. Of course, those times are when I need things or want things, and often when I've forgotten that God works out some pretty crazy things on a regular basis.

So I have several dilemmas, the lions-share of which could be solved with large amounts of cash, or at least decent sized little hillocks of money.

First dilemma: Daylan (sister and bestest friend extraordinaire) wants me to come to Kenya again for Christmas this year. I would LOVE to come. The issue of whether I'll come, however, is not even closely dependent upon how much I want to come. It's a spendy little journey. Today I was looking, yet again, to see how much it would cost me to get to Nairobi. I actually figured out a way to get as far as Amsterdam for $775, round trip. THAT is quite reasonable. Not bad at all. However, Amsterdam's a little less than halfway there. The second half of the journey, I've discovered, runs no less than $3100, round trip. Ah. A slight increase. I realize holiday travel anywhere warm will run high, but seriously folks. Maybe someone who can afford those sorts of tickets can buy one for me too. I make a delightful traveling companion, don't complain about ridiculously small spaces for long legs, and exude the fresh scent of pine wherever I go. I'll even bring my guitar and serenade you, the rich European reading this silly American's blog, for the entire nine hour flight. I will. Believe that. Anyway, unless Daylan can meet me halfway (which wouldn't be a bad idea anyway, wink, wink... Paris, London, Amsterdam, Rome, wherever is realistic for both parties), and barring the support of the independently wealthy (though those of you who are dependently wealthy should not consider yourselves completely out of the game), there will probably be no Daylan present in my Christmas plans.

Second dilemma: I need to upgrade my computer equipment. Up to this point, I've only mentioned how ludicrous (Thank Bill Gates for spell-check. I just spelled ludicrous like the misspelled name of the rap artist of homophonic nomenclature. Oh, and according to a previous phrase, one might make the mistake of equating Bill Gates with God, as in the phrase, "Thank God for..." but very few things could be further from the truth... though I'm now quite tempted to think of those things which would be further from the truth. Suggestions?) are the thousands of dollars required to get to Kenya around Christmas. What I haven't mentioned is how little actual cash money I have. I believe I have around a couple hundred dollars to my name, and it should stay around that until the end of November, according to my calculations. A far cry from the pre-Bible Camp documentary days. Did I used to be fabulously wealthy? Maybe just pleasantly wealthy, or financially secure. But after buying a ton of video equipment and producing a DVD which has not only proven unpopular (strictly from a sales perspective, I assure you), but whose proceeds are largely going to a camp and not to cost recovery. Not that I'm whining, but those of you who know me well know I am a whiner by nature. Anyway, he said after a typically long-winded though eloquent rabbit trail, I ain't got no money, and need a new computer. I'm trying to join Pioneers, a mission organization that has recently assembled a media division I want to be a part of. This will require me to be portable, which currently I am not, unless I can buy a donkey to haul all my junk around all the time. I would name him Compass, not because of his directional skills, but because his job would be hauling my hefty COMPuter around. Anyway, the computer I am looking at getting is a spendy little bugger, and, in my current work situation, I have no way of affording it anytime soon, if ever. On top of that, I want to upgrade my video camera and one of my microphones if possible, though that's more of a want than a need at this point.

Basically I need a miracle to pull off any of this. So, if you're so inclined, give a shout out for me as you pray. Not only could I use the miracle for practical purposes, but it would also be a pretty compelling reason to believe even more strongly in the sovereign power of the Almighty.

I'll let y'all know if anything develops. Peace, brethren.

Saturday, October 6, 2007

Question

So I have a question for both of you who read my blogs. As you know, my blogs tend to be quite long. The last one was three pages when I typed it in Word. So my question is this: are they too long? Or, if you prefer, would shorter blogs be more enjoyable or interesting? One reason I want to know is that a long blog takes around two hours to write, which is a lot of time to spend on a regular basis, which is why my blogs only come every couple weeks or months or so. I'd love to write more regularly, but it's quite an investment for me. Anyway, let me know. Thanks.

Dayn