More than a lobby can hold...

Ah, Memorial Day weekend. The un-official start of summer: BBQ, hot days, and swimming. This weekend was nothing more than rain and more activities than I care to take part in usually. Friday, well for some reason I can't remember Friday. Saturday had Kara and I traveling through four different counties for various gatherings. First off we took in the wedding ceremony of K's friend, Brittany, in St. Charles. We then traveled to Troy, MO, to attend the graduation party for the daughter of family friends. We quickly scurried back to St. Chas for the reception of the wedding. Kara and I had a table to ourselves and that was quite enjoyable. Finally, we shuttled off to Arnold, MO, for a fantasy hockey league mangaers party (kings of cool, I tell ya!). Kara dropped me off and she headed home. I spent the next few hours debating and chortling over nothing important.

Sunday found Kara and I knee deep in bedroom restoration as we continue to finish an agonizing project. We completed all of the drywall and have begun mudding in hopes of painting in the coming weeks. We are very close to having a real bedroom again!

Sunday night we took in the new Indiana Jones movie. I feel like I have been stabbed in the heart through the butt. That's how painful this movie is. I'm not a huge fan of the Indiana Jones movies, but I've always found them to be a good time. This installment seemed very stilted, almost like watching a cardboard cutout of a movie.

Kara and I spent Memorial Day together in lazy fashion. We went to the Gypsy Caravan and Walked around for over half an hour avoiding the masses of people populating the place. We then headed to Kara's aunt and uncle's house for bbq. We did some much needed grocery shoppin on the way home before settling in for an hour's worth of "Arrested Development." The weekend ended too soon and now I'm back at work today.

The film camp is less than a week away and anticipation is running into overdrive. There is a screening of the Idaho Avenue Film Festival on Saturday and I'm nervously excited about that. It'll be interesting to see what type of turn out there is for something of its kind. The next two weeks will once again be non-stop, no time for anything except the task at hand thrill ride, but I'll keep you posted as much as I can. I'm still working on that Colorado post as well, trust me.

You were on my mind.

I've got troubles. I've got worries. I've got problems. Serious problems. I have been playing Freecell like a maniac lately and I don't know why. It makes my brain hurt and I have been getting more work done. You read me right: MORE WORK DONE! What's up with that? I am becoming freakishly good. Earlier today I won 28 games in a row. What's wrong with me? Where can I announce my greatness and possibly secure Guinness World Records?

Same Kids, same jokes (still funny)

Last night Kara and I went to see the Kids in the Hall perform at the Pageant. We attended with Dax and his new lady, Sam. Beforehand we at Pi, a new pizza place in the Loop. We were joined by my boss, Chris, and his boyfriend, Adrain. The pizza was alright but I really enjoyed the crust. It was like cornbread and I love corn bread.

The show was a lot of fun. Kara and I both laughed quite a bit. I'm still somewhat upset that I did not get to see "Dave's I Know" but I'll survive. I wasn't sure what to expect really. I didn't know if it would be new material or classic skits. From what I could tell it was mostly old skits with new twists, but it was still pretty damn funny.

I'm slowly compiling a post about my recent trip to Colorado with Karibe. We had a grand time and did some cool things, which you will learn about shortly. Quickly, here are some house updates. The central air has been completely installed and tested. We haven't had a chance to really use it yet, but we will. Oh, yes, we will. Karu and I will use the holiday weekend to finish as much of the bedroom as we can. It would be nice to start sleeping in there again. We may be purchasing a new bed soon, too. I got kind of giddy when I typed that. Weird.

Rocky Mountain High

In Colorado | In Love

Way back in the middle of May, KW and I took a road trip to Colorado. We began driving out on a Thursday afternoon and rolled into Denver sometime after 12 am CST. We chatted with our host, Kara's friend Mike Hester, for a little while but then went to bed to rest up from the long day on the road.

FRIDAY
We had a light breakfast and then embarked on foot to do a little shopping and discovering Denver's culture. We hit a couple vintage stores, a rummage sale and an excellent hand made clothing boutique that proved to be the most expensive stop on the trip. We had a lunch at a bistro much akin to Mocabe's here in town. We also visited several dingy music stores, much like you would find down on Cherokee. Not that that's a bad thing. For dinner, we headed over to a giant outdoor mall and ate at a BBQ shack before going to see Speed Racer. That's right, we saw a movie while on vacation. I know, I can't get away from them! The movie was actually pretty good, great kids movie. It's a shame it made so little at the box office.

SATURDAY

I think this was the morning we walked down to a breakfast place which was not all that great. I love breakfast and this place broke my heart. I think it was called hot cakes. For shame. We then went down to the Denver Art Museum.

There wasn't any particular piece that was overwhelming, but it was fun to explore a new and different museum.

A museum which featured a lovely Brian-style hubcap.

Afterwards, we drove to Boulder and headed into the mountains and spent a little time walking around and just taking in the view.

The most beautiful thing I've ever seen in my life.

A mountain.

We headed back into town and spent the night relaxing. We had dinner at a place called Chedd's, which serves gourmet grilled cheese. I'd say this is a place you'd find down on the Loop. I was pretty pooped from the drive out, the change in altitude, and an attack on my sinuses.

The view of downtown Denver from where we stayed.

SUNDAY

We slept in on Sunday, but when we got up, we walked to Coors Field to watch the Colorado Rockies take on the Minnesota Twins in some sweet interleague baseball action. The Rockies went onto win the game, K-Dub and I ate some stale ballpark food, and we slowly made our way back to our Denver digs.

Dinger

We decided to start heading home on Sunday since it's such a long drive and we lose an hour as well. We stopped off in Junction City, KS, and got a room for the night. It was straight to bed and up early the next day to get back on the road.

How I spent most of the trip.

Let's All Go to the Lobby!

Things have been pretty busy for Kara and I in the past week or so, especially since my last post. Kara was in a wedding on Saturday. I also finished the "school" version of Dax's shave video. It's been nice to not have to worry about it for a few days. We'll dive back in soon to work on a commercial version. Yesterday I went to the Centene Corporation to speak with employees about Cinema St. Louis. This occurred while the employees were on their lunch break. They seemed more interested in "Jeans Friday" coupons, but it was still fun to talk about the organization. Kara and I went to lunch with her parents, aunt & uncle, and cousins for Mother's Day. We dined at Soda Fountain Square. Earlier on Sunday, we stopped by Luby's newest home/estate sale and bought a new guest bed and credenza (which is now our entertainment center). Kara also found a whole stack of Al Hirt records. She already had most of the copies she picked up, but the new ones are in very nice condition.

Sunday night we went to see "Forgetting Sarah Marshall." It was nice to wrap up the long weekend with a goofy, romantic comedy. We purchased popcorn, soda, and Milk Duds. The film was funny, but a little too long. There were a few scenes that felt a little drug out or tacked on. Aside from that, it was just a nice relaxing experience.

Tuesday I went to a screening of Errol Morris' new film "Standard Operation Procedure." In the same vein as "Taxi to the Dark Side" this film explores torture and abuse of detainees at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq. You may remember a photo of a soldier, Lynndie England, pointing and giving the thumbs up in front of a nude prisoner being forced to masturbate. The film covers her and the group she worked with at Abu Ghraib. The film is filled with disturbing images capturing indescribable acts committed by the 'good men and women' of our armed forces. Most of the soldiers come off as podunk, small town stooges who had no better choice in life than signing up for the Army. Lucky America. Do you remember the stupid bumper stick "These Colors Don't Run?" That's the type of people in this movie. "Shucks, we thought it was okay to do this. Our superiors never said otherwise. Heck, they are the ones who led the way." Of course, the superiors, the real root of the problem, never suffer any of the blame or scrutiny when this sort of the scandal enters the purview of the public eye. Chalk up another victory to this administration of lies, deceit, and criminal activity.

I shall fight so that failure is possible.

This weekend there is a screening of Jean Luc Godard's "Le Mepris" at Webster University. This will be the second Godard film I've watched in the last week, the first being "Band of Outsiders." Of the French New Wave directors, I've seen more Godard works than any other, but have still yet to see his most well known and well regarded pieces: "Breathless," "A Woman is a Woman," and "Masculine Feminine."

My bosses have been preparing questions for our upcoming trivia night. The questions are really tough and really show how little I know about film, film history, and movies in general. This also increases my desire to learn more, watch more, and understand more about film. Let's hope the journey is a long one.

Here's a really cool trailer for the Godard film, "Masculine Feminine," it looks like a lot of fun.



(the title of this post comes from the Godard film "Alphaville" as spoken by Lemmy Caution)

You're so rad...

This is the time of year when summer is approaching and that means the start of the 48 Hour Film Project season. In years past I have participated on many different levels from bit player to team leader. This year I will be stepping into a new role: judge. One one of the screening nights, I will be able to evaluate and grade the films shown. This should be a lot of fun and very different experience.

I've also been working on setting up a screening of the Manhattan Short Film Festival in September. This event takes place worldwide over the course of 4 or 5 days. The same films are shown in various cities around the world, voted on, and then the winner is announced on the final day of the event. It's pretty neat to be involved with organzing an event of that nature. Still doesn't compare to the ball-busting, back-breaking extravaganza that is organizing SLIFF.

Slamma-Jamma!

Here is some video footage of my bro, Davey Vega (the alias of Josh Lamb) smashing up hardcore on some snot-nosed punk. Josh will be training in Philadelphia this summer as he ascends the ranks of wrestling's elite, so wish him luck.

NGW Davey Vega vs Brett Gakiya Nov. 3rd 2007

Lazy May

May has come in slow and steady. I haven't been to the movies since "Iron Man" but have watched a few at home including "Kiss Kiss Bang Bang," "The Watcher in the Woods," and "Band of Outsiders."

This past weekend, Kara, Kara's dad Rick, Rich, and I knocked out a major portion of refinishing our bedroom. We put up all of the drywall (ceiling and walls) and mudded a majority of the room. Now we sand, re-mud, and paint and we're almost there. After working for almost 12 hours on the room Sunday, Rich and I stayed up for the entire Sharks-Stars 4OT thriller. The two teams played the eighth longest overtime game in playoff history. You know that when a game goes that long the series is close and the teams are evenly matched. Sharks goaltender Evegni Nabokov made too many great saves to have to lose that game. Better luck next year.

Dax and I are wrapping up his final class project, the shave video. Rich will be doing the voiceover tonight and hopefully we will be burning the finished product tonight. Kara and I are finalizing plans to travel to Colorado later this month. That will be a nice little vacation after having something to do or work on nearly every single night for the past couple of months.