Festival Wrapup

The Boston IFF ended yesterday, and I got to see a number of free, and good (for the most part) movies.

Loud Soft Loud: A Film About the Pixies (which I described here.)

Infamy
This documentary, directed by Doug Pray (Hype!) follows a number of graffiti artists from cities across the U.S. The film shows the art work behind what goes into graffiti, and the two types of graffiti artists. The people who do it for the rush of breaking the law, and the people who do it for the art of it. Infamy also follows a guy in L.A. who lives his life obsessively driving around L.A. to erase any signs of graffiti in hopes to make the city safer. A very interesting and entertaining movie, and gave a new angle to this article in today's Times.

American Blackout
This movie was similar in tone to Fahrenheit 9/11 but better, and it made me leave the theater a lot angrier about the pitiful state our country is currently in. The film highlights Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney from Georgia who was voted out of office based on misinterpreted statements she made about the Bush administration. American Blackout uses McKinney as a way to look at historical black voter disenfranchisement from the Civil Rights Movement to the 2000 and 2004 presidential elections. Cynthia McKinney spoke after the screening with the director, and she was charming, and down-to-earth, and it seemed obvious that the recent press about her in the media as a stereotypical angry black woman is exaggerated.

The Legend of Lucy Keyes
Starring Julie Delpy and Justin Theroux, the movie is based on a true story from western Massachusetts about a ghost that haunts a small rural town. I am not a big fan of ghost stories, but usually when I see them I am entertained because I am trying so hard to keep calm. But thinking about it later, the visual effects of the ghost were lame, and the pacing of the story was not great. An okay film.

Chalk
Centered around young high school teachers, Heather described it as "The Office" with teachers. A very funny and realistic look at the politics and life as a high school teacher.

Bob Saget's full house

As a child, I watched a number of what I now consider bad TV shows. I still watch some of these every now and then for nostalgia. These shows included Step by Step, Family Matters, Saved by the Bell, and Boy Meets World. But perhaps my favorite of these shows was Full House. I used to dream of being on the show and becoming best friends with Stephanie. The shows saccharine quality did not bother me as a kid, but as an adult, it leaves me with a bittersweet feeling (such as with the awful 7th Heaven.)

Which is why, in the last few years, I have become a Bob Saget fan, especially after The Aristocrats. Half of why he is so funny to me is because of his crudeness after his years of playing the dad-next door on television.

So when Patrick informed me that Bob Saget would be playing at the Comedy Connection, I jumped at the chance to see him. Of course, the show was crude as promised, although not as crude as I expected after The Aristocrats. While it was very disconcerting to see the TV dad I had watched for so many years cursing every other sentence, and talking about sex and drugs, it was an extremely funny show. I will never be able to watch Full House in the same way again, and I have Bob Saget to thank for that.

Volunteers of America

Throughout my life, I have always been very interested in and enjoyed volunteering. In college, I participated in various walks (AIDS, breast cancer, etc.), volunteered at a children's hospital, helped raise money for charity, etc. But this week, I am going to enjoy the best possible volunteerism. Thank to my good friend Heather, I have been introduced to the benefits of volunteering for the Boston Independent Film Festival. The benefits of volunteering include a free t-shirt, and free entrance to any of the movies playing during the week-long festival. All for volunteering for 1 or 2 six and a half hours shift.

Last night, my free entrance ticket was to "Loud Quiet Loud: A Film About the Pixies." The documentary chronicled the Pixies reunion tour that started in 2004. Although the film was nothing earth-shattering, and was basic rock documentary fare, it was still quite enjoyable. Having been a big fan of the Pixies since I was a youngin (thanks to Listmaker), but not really knowing much about them, I learned quite a bit. Such as:

Frank Black is a dick.
Frank Black likes to have his shirt off a lot.
Kim Deal formed the Breeders. (I can not believe I did not know that.)
Kim Deal seems like a very depressed woman.
David Lovering (the drummer) is insane.
Joey Santiago is the most normal of the group.
The band does not like to communicate or talk to each other. (Example: In 1992, Frank Black did a radio interview where he announced that the band was breaking up, but failed to inform the rest of the band of this.)

I am now on a Pixies kick. Hopefully, I will be able to see for free some of the other films that will be playing the IFF Boston this week.

A bunch of family photos

Over the weekend, I flew down to Charlotte to visit my relatives down there. Between the relatives of Charlotte and relatives coming down to Charlotte, the number of family totaled 15. It was great seeing everyone, and it was a really great weekend.

Among the highlights:
Seeing my cousin Jerry in "The Goat. Of course Stone Groove needed a picture with the poor goat.


Having genuine Southern cooking for the first time. The biscuit, mac+cheese, and salmon patties were delicious. I also tried grits for the first time; not very impressed.

And of course the biggest highlight was seeing and catching up with all the family.

And now to bore you with a number of family photos:
Listmaker lurks in the background


Youthlarge and Listmaker, non-lurking


Stone Groove with Sister Groove


Cousins, part I


Cousins, part II


Aunt Alice+ Cousin Toby


Stone Groove+Mrs. Groove


This post should be Stone Groove's favorite ever because of all the pictures of him.

Ridiculous shoes for a ridiculous girl

I have a little bit of a shoe problem. I am not like many girls who care about dressy or designer shoes. But, I love me my sneakers, especially Saucony Jazz and Pumas. They are all over the apartment, and I probably did not need another pair of them. But this weekend, I went to the mall and I could not resist buying a truly ridiculous pair of shoes. Make fun of me what you will, I will still love them (even if they are giving me blisters on my feet as I break them in.)

Massholes

I moved to Massachusetts in August. I had spent the majority of my driving years in Maryland and Delaware, and now I realize how spoiled I was. Sure, there were always the jerky drivers who did not use their turn signals (one of my biggest pet peeves), but I learned to live with it.

My first month in Massachusetts was spent living in Worcester. Almost immediately, I was struck by what jerks people were when they were driving. Not putting on a turn signal was just the beginning! Cars would constantly cut me off, turn left when they did not have enough time, and were generally awful. I was complaining to Allie about this to which her reply was "Yea...that is why people call them Massholes."

Once I got to Boston, it was no different. The drivers up here continue to be among the rudest and worst I have ever encountered. And its not just the drivers! Pedestrians are jerks too. They will slyly and slowly jaywalk across the street without looking. I honked once, and the dumb teenage girl cursed at me and hit my car.

I have talked to some native Massachusettsians about this. Apparently, the only way to solve my frustration level is to become a Masshole like them. But, I do not think I want to stoop to that level. I will continue to try to be as courteous a driver as possible, and will always use my turn signals.

In health news: I am now completely better after 5 days of feeling like complete crap. Thank you to everyone who asked how I was doing, and to my brother for calming me down over the phone during the worst of it.