Hello!

If I may recall yet another sequence from that great text game of the
past, Zork...

> wait
Time passes...
>

Ah yes.  That does tend to happen.  Luckily for me, much has leapt
from the dark to fill those little dots!  So here is the brief of it.
Due to some randomness (this is how all things happen to me) there was
a spare set of plane, lift, and cab tickets for a cheap trip to Tahoe
with Josh, Jo-Jo, crew, and a gentleman we referred to as "Danielle".
So off I went for four days in the land of snow-o-plenty.  Sweet,
sweet snowboarding with a minimum of pain and a maximum of head
snapping, muscle wrenching, air grabbing, downhill falling fun.  The
last two days were all snowfall.  It got so crazy on the last day that
I could barely get through the virtually untouched thigh-deep snow all
the way down the slope.  We were forced to stick to black diamond
hills and incredible speeds to keep from sinking into the powder and
losing our feet.  There were, in fact, many times after rolling,
bouncing, screaming tumbles that I was sure that they were gone for
good.

The thrills were aplenty, but my time ran out along with my muscles.
So I left the half-pipes and hills for the relaxation of film viewing
and schmoozing at the Sundance film festival in Park City, Utah.  It
was a week of nonstop coolness.  Days began with four films in a row,
separated by long waits (up to two hours).  Then the scamming and
crashing began with parties till four in the morning.  Arriving home,
my eight housemates and I would go crazy babbling and arguing in front
of a cozy fireplace until we dropped into sleep and began the cycle
once more.

Apparently the festival was much better covered by the media this
year, likely due to the success of Blair Witch, which premiered there
last year.  There was a lot of excitement about the enthusiasm that
big studios (and big money) suddenly have for independent film.
Unfortunately, this also changed the character of the festival quite a
bit.  The kinds of movies that played tended towards cheap-budgeted
versions of the Hollywood style.  Cute romantic comedies, etc.  Some
were not even independently financed, but were instead the products of
newly created arms of major studios.

That said, however, there were a couple that grabbed me and certainly
some that provided tasty food for thought.  Even films I didn't enjoy
would spawn enthusiastic discussion of their content or visual style.
The most interesting and inventive film that I managed to catch was a
Korean action film called, "Nowhere to Hide".  The visual style was
wonderful and experimental, combining elements of Chinese, HK, and
Japanese while creating something all its own.  When that wound down a
bit to allow for more direct relation of the story, it was fascinating
to observe the very cultural Korean elements of the piece.  I hope
that this is the beginning of a greater body of work like this from
Korea.

"Gigantic" was another film a really enjoyed.  While quite different
from what I expected, this German film about three boys on their last
night together in Hamburg was great fun and I really got to love the
characters.  It grew on me more and more after I left the theater and
I found myself wanted to see it again soon thereafter.  Keep your eyes
open for this one in the states.

Sadly the film I most wanted to see, called "Girl Fight", became far
too popular and I wasn't able to get in.  On the plus side, it won all
kinds of awards and was the "right kind of movie" to make money in the
open market.  This will most certainly make it to the U.S. big
screens.

As far as famous people and glam go, the coolest person I got to hang
out near was Jonny "Rotton" Lyden of the Sex Pistols.  Sweet yellow
spiked hair.  I also got to talk briefly to one of the Troma people.
(For those of you not in the B-movie know, "Tromeo and Juliet" is the
masterpiece.)  I'm inspired.  I think I'm going to look into working
with these guys up in New York.  There were various other film people
floating around.  There were also a lot of beautiful and sexy people
at some of the parties, but I didn't recognize most of them because I
don't watch TV.  Apparently I should have been more excited.  Some of
the best entertainment came from watching the huge number of people
wandering around with video and still cameras, pointing them at
anything that moved.  I really wanted to assemble an entourage for one
of our group and make a big scene, just to get filmed and schmoozed
because we might be someone important.

At last it was time to head home to Austin.  The glam and glow of the
cinema vanished behind me, but the madness wasn't over.  I got home
just in time to start work on a film shoot and hit the Austin Texas
Juggling Festival!  I made a lot of progress on my basic cascade, and
started working on club juggling.  I also got the opportunity to dare
the six-foot giraffe unicycle and ride a 36" big wheel unicycle.
Ooooooh.  That was nice.  The bigger wheel builds up some momentum for
a nice, smooth, cruising ride.  Definitely a commuter unicycle.  Curbs
aren't even an issue.  All in all, a wonderful opportunity to remind
me that I'm pretty much a clown without skills.  So I'm working on it!
Juggling every day, marital arts three times a week, unicycling every
other day... I'm on my way!

Speaking of being on my way, I'm also heading out the door tomorrow
morning on a random road trip to California.  My buddy Ori is on his
way to go mack on some chick in San Diego, and I'm along for the ride.
We are going to stop by one little town in New Mexico to spit on some
buildings and read some poetry in the square for a friend of mine (he
had a rough time there), Santa Fe to get some enchiladas, Denver City
Texas to spend a night with a friend who happens to be doing some
remote consulting in the middle of nowhere... so please pass us any
similar symbolic or ridiculous adventures for the journey.  We were
even thinking of going as far out of the way as Colorado so feel free
to offer ANY ideas you might have.  We have a crazy amount of film and
a possible video camera so we can even document your little
contribution.

One of the best parts of the trip, actually, is going to be my ride
back.  I really have no way to get back yet, but I need to be in town
by March 9 for the SxSW film and music festival.  I'm hoping to tap
into the hippie network and get some kind of VW microbus ride back to
Austin from San Fran.  My new juggling skills should certainly be of
service.  I was told recently that one girl used to get rides all over
the world by hanging out and juggling while hitchhiking.  Once, in
Ireland, she was even picked out of a whole row of hitchers for a
ride!  I mean, come on.  We all know how friendly and trustworthy
jugglers are!

OK, so I'm back at it.  Diving into pointless adventure with both
toes.  Keep on writing me email and I'll get back as soon as I can.

Oh yeah, and by the way, I have a mohawk now.

Sooner!
Kai