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The moment we indulge our affections, the earth is metamorphosed; there is no winter and no night; all tragedies, all ennuis, vanish, -- all duties even. |
Friday, June 18, 1999
One year ago: In the Groove
I had dinner tonight at a Senegalese restaurant called Afrikando, with some film festival buddies. We did this last year, also. The food was great, and of course I enjoyed the company. Doug Ing, an aspiring filmmaker, had had some festival reviews published in the International Examiner, so he had copies of the local Asian weekly for all of us. That reminds me, I haven't done an index page yet for the movies I saw at SIFF this year; I must get around to that! I did one of these last year.
While we were waiting for the last member of our group to arrive, we took turns poking though a box of jewelry that Y--- had made. Very pretty beads, and she sold them to us at about the cost of the materials -- I picked out earrings that look like a brownish agate. I think they'll go well with the tortiseshell print dress I bought a few weeks ago.
I think everyone gave this year's festival good marks. We had fun rehashing, contrasting and comparing to previous years' editions. I was only a trifle distracted, because I wanted to get home when Jack was due to arrive from Bellingham. I even called him on his cell phone, borrowing the restaurant's phone to do so, to find out his ETA. He hadn't gotten on the road as early as he'd hoped, though, so I had plenty of time to eat.
* * * * * * * *
When I was dropped off by C--- and Y--- (I'd taken the bus to the restaurant), I was surprised to see Jack sitting on the tailgate of his truck, strumming his guitar! I guess dinner had taken a bit longer than I'd thought. But he'd only been waiting fifteen minutes or so, which wasn't too bad. We made several trips, bringing his stuff inside. He's still traipsing from motel to motel in B'ham, with no permanent residence yet, so he had more than you'd expect for a simple weekend visit. I think he has the entire contents of his old bathroom cabinet in one of those folding-lid costco plastic bins, along with various rechargers, and a pair of shoes!
He didn't bring it all inside, though; just the stuff he thought he'd be needing, or that he didn't feel comfortable leaving in a parked vehicle.
* * * * * * * *
It was already about nine o'clock, but Jack wanted to go out and do something. The pressures of his family situation (older daughter is still on the run) mean that if he sits and thinks, his thought start looping around that intolerable, insoluble situation. So tonight was a good night to go see the Phantom Menace again! and this time, we'd actually get in to the Cinerama theater.
We got seats in the middle, in about the fourth row, but that wasn't uncomfortably close; there's a bit of space between the very front row and the screen. I paid strict attention to the actresses this time, and I think I kept them straight for most scenes. The size of the picture made it a pleasure for me to examine details of the sets and landscapes. The sound was also great! It's really worth seeing this at the biggest, best theater you can find.
Jack and I had been discussing the David Brin articles in Salon, about Star Wars and Star Trek. I liked Brin's viewpoint, but Jack has long been a SW fan, and isn't that wild about Trek, so he wasn't buying. He felt that Brin was exaggerating when he imputed a Nazi subtext to Lucas.
In other PM news, Lance has revealed some scenes that were cut from the movie, that might change your opinion.
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