Everybody's Working for the Weak

After a gruelling, exciting week of summer film camp with eight year olds, I was definitely ready for the weekend. Friday night I started piecing together the summer camp film since a big premiere was scheduled for Saturday. Kara and I stepped out for a bit and took in a gallery walk of sorts on Cherokee Street. Firecracker Press had recently relocated down there and was holding a grand opening celebration. Maid Rite was playing and several other galleries and shops were open in support of the night. It was a nice enough night out to make the gallery walk and we saw some really interesting pieces.

It's still a shame that Cherokee is as dilapidated as it is. Hopefully soon the remnants of Antique Row and this newer, hipper stretch can connect, cohabitat, and flourish to create one St. Louis' premiere neighborhoods. If I may rant, there simply is not enough in St. Louis like Cherokee, or at least what St. Louis could be. Now please don't harp on me about the Loop and how great that is. I'll agree with once it's more than two blocks and a handful of shops. Don't be afraid to expand your borders, people!

One of the main objectives of the walk was to scope out some of the featured art by Ben Stegmann, creator and distributor Freezerburn, a zine beyond explanation, so check it out for yourself. Afterwards, Kara and I stopped for Ted Drewes, which was once again delicious. Drewes is becoming a dangerous habit for us. We've already stopped there innumerable times since it reopened on Grand.

On Saturday, Kara organized a yard sale and we got rid of a lot of junk. It was insane. The traffic was slow at first, but the day proved to be a success as we cleaned out our basement and met a few folks from the neighborhood in the process. I stepped out to check in Karu throughout the day as I took breaks from editing the pirate (summer camp) movie. I settled for a rough edit so I could burn a DVD for the screening that night but am still in the midst of cleaning up a final version for all of the kids to take home. Hopefully, if the finished product is of decent quality, it may screen at the St. Louis Filmmakers Showcase in July. Fingers crossed.

After the screening on Saturday, Karibe and I met up with Rich and we attended Iron Man. Although it was the second time Rich and I had seen it, I was excited to see the Nick Fury segment after the end credits. I was really glad, though, that I saw it again in the theatre as there many details I missed through the first viewing. This was just a quality superhero movie.

On Sunday, I got up early to play a little outdoor hockey in Maplewood. This was a decent rink, though it was really, really hot. I was exhausted for just about the rest of the day. We had a good group out, the Brothers Bryan (with Nick in goal), Gerald, and Dan Nichols. It was fun playing hockey with them and I certainly miss skating on a regular basis, especially competitively.

K and I took it easy the rest of Sunday, which was very nice, especially after how crazy hectic our time has been since, oh, about the beginning of the year. Tonight we are going to see "The Incredible Hulk." I'm not quite sure yet how I feel about this version of my most beloved Marvel comic book character.

David and I are getting together tomorrow to create special effects for the pirate movie, finish up the Frankenstein movie, and jump start progress on the knife-throwing movie. It has been many months since Meatloaf Productions worked on anything, and it has been a very painful time, but hopefully that is changing in the very immediate future.