Gangrene Film Festival

What did you do this weekend?

Well, I hung out and took pictures for the Gangrene Comedy Film Festival this weekend. Did you know film festival's have opening acts? Well, this one did. The night started with Chuck Money, an Elvis Evil Kevnil wanna be and then Youtube superstar Gerry Phillips performed. He's a a manualist who plays his hands to songs like Queen’s "Bohemian Rhapsody". What does that have to with film? Nothing, but a lot to with comedy. The directors were welcomed on stage and invited to sledge hammered a car before they sat down with the MC and Gerry to field questions after their film was viewed. After the films were shown, the car was sold for of $9.99 to a group a very satisfied teenager boys (I moved their hats over to the side, not them), Chuck was available for autographs (mine is signed "Flames and Fire, Love Chuck") and a photo booth with Viking costumes was provided

(I did feel a meausre of remorse that I didn't get in).

It was much more than a film festival, it was a laugh-a-rama.

All courtesy of Craig Nybo and Gangrene Productions.

Missed it? Comcast has it on demand, but next year do yourself a favor and be there.

Craig and his team meeting with the directors and performers before the night kicked off.

Rodeo

Star Trek Goupies and Wanna Be Stars

Okay let this be a lesson, when great opportunities come by, do not pass them up. A classmate of mine announced he was doing a Star Trek parody commercial and needed some extras. How could I not go? When would I get a chance to be in such a situation again? Probably never ever. All my grown up friends had real jobs, car pool, or volunteer work so I grabbed some of my younger friends and we headed down to the Tower theatre in Salt Lake for a day of shooting in the rain. The extras were a mingle of actors, sci fi fans, and friends of the production team. We had a fabulous time. The next day I was sore from laughing so hard.

An unknown extra (she was very nice).



This is my friend Ashlee.

And this is my friend Tink, short for Tinkerbell. Standing at a height of six feet two inches with red hair, it's a perfect name for her. I don't know how this dog fit into the picture. Hopefully he got paid.

I do not remember the director being this happy.

This is the producer, my friend Brady, dancing with some of the younger extras. I think he wore that ant headpiece during the entire shoot, he wasn't actually in the shoot though.

Living Traditions

Our heritage tells the story not only of who we are but more importantly of our ancestors before us and the lives they lived. The Living Traditions Festival held in Salt Lake City every year is a three day event that strives to honor, promote, and share the diverse traditions of our community.

My family has a special love for the people of Polynesia. My husband, having lived in Hawaii for a number of years, is convinced that it is the home of the gods. I have to state for the record that I feel an amount of prejudice towards the Maori culture. That may not be politically correct to say, but it's true, it is by far my favorite of all the islands. It is not only their singing which blends with such harmonic purity, the details of the traditional longhouses, or the designs of their tribal tattoos that thrill me, but it is the Haka that captivates my soul. The Haka is a traditional war dance that is performed with intense chanting, chest beating, horrific facial gestures, and tongue flicking. The purpose of the dance was to to psychologically motivate the warriors and inflict fear in the hearts of their enemies. It is formidable to see. My son, after watching the men dance turned to me and said, "I want to learn how to do that". "How about baseball?" I asked in reply. "No thanks, just that". This is my nine year old who since he was two has been obsessed with knights and castles. Samurais, Alexander the Great, the Romans and the Aztecs have also been of great interest, but not cars or balls, which only goes to show that warriors recognize one another.

I love this shot not because it has any great qualities alone, but for the moment that it has captured. On stage are three generations of Maori males. And the youngest, who was maybe five, kept turning to the others to know what to do. I thought is was a beautiful example of what his life could be. Hopefully this boy will grow up knowing who he is with pride and respecting the traditions of his forefathers. As he matures, he will be surrounded by a community of strong men to which he can turn to and emulate. Shouldn't every young boy have such a life?

In a time of economic challenges, it seems to be so easy for the American public to categorize and dismiss the contributions and beauty of all those who have made America what it is today. This child will not be ignorant of these truths, but unfortunately many others will. That's why this festival and others like it are so important for our communities.

Searching for Shaun - World Superpipe Competition

Having a foreign object embedded in your ear can lead to a number of interesting circumstances and the following is one of them. I was up at the World Superpipe competition last weekend and had just finished up a shoot when I met Shadow. Before I start this story, it’s important to note that I know very little about the sport of snowboarding, probably about as much as most people know about applied behavior analysis.

Shadow was a friendly face in a crowd thronging a snow boarder that had just a finished his run off the Superpipe. I actually was waiting for my husband to join me and she was apparently waiting to get a picture of this rider. We chatted and it turns out she was from New Hampshire and was such a fan of snowboarding, she even had a sharpie signature ski coat of the young rider whose mob we seemed to be apart of. Being older in years, when I heard her mention "grandmother" I assumed she was this young man’s grandmother. I thought to myself, "This is one dedicated grandmother". I was thoroughly impressed that she came all this way to watch her grandson ride. And from the reaction of mob we were apart of, he was obviously a local favorite. I offered to take a picture of her with her grandson and we made a tag team effort to get through the swarm that surrounded him. At one point I was even yelling, "Hey this is his grandma, move over!" but our efforts were too late and no match for the frenzy that the youth possessed. He disappeared up the slope for another run and we shrugged and smiled, we had made a good effort.

We continued to talk when my husband arrived and I introduced Shadow to him, "This is Shaun White’s grandmother." I was proud of myself for remembering the rider’s name, I mean there were so many. "Oh no," she replied blushing, "I’m not his grandmother." With my hearing being quite compromised I had misunderstood. She had said that she was like the grandmother of snowboarding because she had being doing it for so long, almost eighteen years in fact. At least I think that’s what she said.

Shadow was actually a librarian from New Hampshire and had been trying to get a picture of Shaun for her students, not herself. When she spoke about her school and her students, her eyes and face became animated in a away that only parent or a dedicated educator’s can. The coat, she told us, that had Shaun White’s signature was going to be auctioned off for the school. She was a huge snowboarding fan and makes sure the library has all the best and recent magazines and books on snowboarding for her students. She came out to Utah specifically for the competition. That’s dedication and passion and in my book, even better than being Shaun White’s grandmother. Later I read that Shaun happened to be one of the biggest stars in sports, a gold medalist in the Olympics, and a gold medalist for the X Games in snowboarding and skateboarding. He dominates the sport of snowboarding, a Tiger Woods or Michael Jordan of sorts, but younger and hipper. So a shout out to all the students at Brewster Academy; if you felt fortunate to have Shadow at the school before you read this story, I hope you feel even more so now.

This is Shaun.

This is Shadow.

This is me trying to get a picture of Shadow with Shaun.

This is as close as I got.

After our efforts.

Not Shaun girls, but very cute and probably more availbale.