Ra Ra Ron Howard

Ra Ra Riot were terrific. I took many pictures, but ¾ of them were blurry. I still might post a few of the pictures, though. Guitarist Milo Bonacci said, "It's weird being on stage here. I used to come here and watch movies," he said of performing at the Smith Opera House. It was weird to hear people discuss The Animal Collective in Geneva, of all places. Before the show, I stopped at Parker's and drank two Smirnoff Ices. Shut up. Shut. Up.

Today was really nice- 45 degrees outside -and I took two walks. One was my "normal" walking route, the other an extended, longer route. It's supposed to be cold and snowy again this week, but I hope there are more mild days like today, even if the temps are in the 30s. It would be nice to drive to be able to drive to Ithaca again.

Later in the afternoon, I got to work on my zine again. I began work on it back in October, following the unceremonious exit from my job. After I set up this blog and got hired at my temp job, it sort of fell by the wayside. Today I finished an essay about my trip to the Woodstock Film Festival that I started writing back in November. I also transcribed a text message conversation between me and my sister that relates to the essay that I will publish as a "sidebar".

Last weekend, I checked out the movie Frost/Nixon, which was AWESOME. Later on in the week, I watched one of Ron Howard's early directorial efforts, a TV Movie titled Cotton Candy:

Movie: Cotton Candy

Charles Martin Smith (who previously worked with Ron Howard on American Graffiti) plays a high school senior who decides to put together a band after he gets the brush-off from the lead singer of their eventual rival band, Rapid Fire. Like all good Ron Howard movies, it features his brother, Clint.

IMO, I found the Mean Girls-style rivalry between the two bands a little unrealistic. Any "Battle of the Bands" is competitive, but who really gets that vicious? Other than the pretty boy front man, I don't see how Rapid Fire would have a following, since they play the worst version of "I Shot the Sheriff" EVER. But overall, it's a sweet entertaining fluff of cotton candy.

Past, Present, and Future

I did go to Ithaca on Tuesday, and I took my father with me. We paid a visit to a friend of ours for about an hour. I didn't go to the Workforce office there, but I did do a weekly stop at the office here yesterday. I think it's best to wait and hold off on stopping at that office until I know that the weather will be dry and safe enough to commute back and forth.

Wednesday it snowed like crazy, so I spent a good portion of yesterday morning shoveling. I don't mind it, because it is a good workout.

I've been doing a lot of thinking about future projects, and reflecting on past ideas and projects and why they did or didn't work out. So much has changed for me in the (almost) four years since I made Are You From Bingo?. I realize now it doesn't have to be a crapshoot; I know there's some kind of audience waiting. At this point, it's a matter of committing something to paper.

For awhile, I've thinking about shooting it in Ithaca or Binghamton, but today I've been giving serious thought to shooting it in the Woodstock/Kingston area. I used to love traveling through there when I would travel to New York from Oneonta, and of course, this past fall, I attended the Woodstock Film Festival and since then, I've been looking for an excuse to return. Also, I think it might be easier to get a cast and crew up to that area than further up New York. We'll see.

Earlier this afternoon, I did an interview with Binghamton University's Pipe Dream newspaper, and that went well. Tomorrow night, I'll be going to see Ra Ra Riot at The Smith Opera House. I'm looking forward to it.

Ra Ra Obama!

It hasn't even been eight hours since the inauguration, and already, I feel better about myself and the country. I feel like I've had a long weekend, with Martin Luther King Day and now today. It'll be back to normal first thing tomorrow, when I go to attend a job interview. I also plan on following up on the interviewees for the DVD.

This morning, I purchased my ticket to see Ra Ra Riot at The Smith Opera House in Geneva. The lady running the box office and I talked about guitarist Milo Bonacci's Geneva connections: his former employer, the Cornell Agricultural Experiment Station; how he was in an early line-up of Gym Class Heroes; and how his cousins used to baby-sit me when I was little. To have that conversation must have been a relief for her, since Ani DiFranco tickets went on sale today, and she couldn't keep up with the phones and purchases.

I admit I haven't listened to Ra Ra Riot much, but this type of music doesn't come to Geneva EVER (I usually have to go Cornell's Fanclub shows). I'm looking forward to the show anyway, and stopping in for a cool one at Parker's afterward.