After working hard to put a film together in 48 hours, tonight was the night to see our film Saving Super along with 10 other teams' films on the big screen at Fleur Cinema. Our theater was sold out! After watching them all, I'd say three or four of them were pretty great, a handful were well done (including our's) and the rest, well, better luck next year.
It was awesome to see so many people support local talent, but it wasn't that surprising. In the three years I've lived here, I've seen this support time and time again: 80/35 concert, Des Moines Arts Festival, Farmers Market, etc. People in the metro really enjoy celebrating local artists, bands, food, restaurants, teams and events. I know I do. The 48 Hour Film Project organizers should soon be revealing the top 12 films. There will be another screening for those films coming up in August. If I can, I'd love to be able to attend. Seeing the best of the best, will
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I'm no James Bond buff, but I've seen a few movies in my day. However, this was my first time reading (listening) to a James Bond book. Devil May Care is an interesting book in the fact that author Sebastian Faulks wrote it as Ian Fleming, who created the legend James Bond. Fleming was born on May 28, 1908, and this book was written to commemorate what would have been his 100th birthday. Oddly enough, I share the same birthday has Fleming; I'm just a few years younger. Maybe this means my destiny is to become a Bond girl... or maybe just a random coincidence.
The plot line, like most Bond plots, take you from country to country to hunt down the bad guy and save the woman. It was at times a little confusing with all the characters and just one guy reading all the parts. We'll see if this one turns into a Daniel Craig film. Most mornings I listen to NPR on the way to work, but some days, I just don't feel like being informed on current events. I feel like being entertained. Devil May Care filled that need wonderfully. It also helps to have a book to listen to when driving more 15 minutes. You can only listen to the same songs on the radio so many times. Thinking about a hunky James Bond is a great alternative to start my morning. This was the 9th year for Des Moines to host the international competition The 48 Hour Film Project. At the kickoff party, teams from each city are told a character (Jim or Jana Davis, a prop (toy stuffed animal), and a line of dialogue ("Let's call it a day") they must use in their 4-7 minute short film. Each team also draws a genre out of a hat (western, dark comedy, fantasy, romance...) If you don't like your genre, you can pull a wild card (found footage, operetta, martial arts...). This was a record-setting year in Des Moines with 51 teams participating. It was also my first time. I joined a team of co-workers who put together a film last year. We met a few times leading up to the weekend to bat around some plot ideas for each genre. What genre did we end up pulling? Superhero!
So at 7pm, the organizers told us all get the hell outta there and get to work. Our team, Continental Shift, spent Friday night deciding on an idea and writing a preliminary script. We called it a day around 11pm and headed home to get some sleep. We'd start filming at 9am Saturday morning. In my past life as a TV reporter, I'm used to shooting my own video, writing the story, and being completely in charge. Well, since I was acting in the film, I couldn't be behind the camera. It was a very different feeling to work as a team and come to consensus and trust other peoples talents. We finished shooting by 5pm and two of us started reviewing the footage and editing. I was back in my comfort zone with editing. It was very cool seeing the film come together. One of our teammates is a killer blues guitar/harmonica/singing musician. He recorded some music to help the film flow together wonderfully. We worked up until midnight and had a very rough draft completed. Sunday morning, we got back at editing around 9am. We tweaked this and that, and cut this and added that, until at 3pm it was the best it was going to get. Teams had between 5:30-7:30pm to turn the films in. I dropped our's off at 6:42pm. All in all, it was a very cool experience. I'm hopeful to do it again next year. I know Zumba is so 2010, but this isn't the first time I've arrived late to the party. Being a salsa dancer since 2006 and a lover of dance my whole life, it seems pretty obvious that I would enjoy Zumba. My schedule got all jumbled up this week so the stars aligned, and I ended up in Zumba class at my gym Fitness World West. It was a non-stop high intensity 45 minutes. So much so (I hate to admit this) I even got a side cramp. It was quite the excercise, and my body appreciated the change of pace in my workout schedule. I hope to be make it back in the next week or two.
RABGRAI made its first overnight stop in Des Moines since 1997, and I think they threw a pretty good party downtown. Sponge, Filter, Live, and Everclear performed on the Court Avenue Bridge to a couple thousand fans pumped to see their favorite bands, riders needing a beer and music to unwind, and locals looking for a good time. I'd honestly never heard of Sponge, Filter or Live, but I was excited to see Everclear perform. Who wasn't an Everclear fan - 15 years ago?
I've been to Prairie Meadows Casino and Racetrack only once before. The horse racing was mildly entertaining, and I didn't venture over to the slot machines and card tables. I had high hopes for my second time at the track and my first time to witness zebra and ostrich races. Well, silly me, I thought that those were the only races going on. Oh no, only two "special" races were scheduled in between six horse races. The zebra races were first. There was one heat with three zebras and one "zonkey," which a cross breed of a zebra and donkey. They ran a whopping 100 yards, which we could barely see because everyone crowded around the track. At that point, I felt very weird. My inner animal rights person came out. It was kind of like being at a zoo. I just felt really sad for the zebras. I hope they have a good life. Because of my now compromised feelings, we left before the ostriches came up to the plate. For all the hype this race has gotten, I was truly disappointed.
Sure, RAGBRAI riders are super tough and athletic. Not just anyone can ride a bike the entire length of the state of Iowa. Me, I'm not one of those. Instead, today was my longest ride - a whopping 26.5 miles. That's not even half a day of RAGBRAI. It was a great day for a leisurely ride all around Des Moines. We left our place headed down along the Des Moines River to downtown to Gray's Lake northwest past Waveland and back up to Urbandale. The best part - I wasn't even sore the next day.
Without cable, Lucas and I rely very heavily on Netflix. The past few weeks we couldn't turn it on without seeing its new original series "Orange is the new Black" being promoted. I caved. The first episode didn't convince me, but it did force me to watch another one. A few episodes later, I'm into it. I even caught Lucas watching it without me. I never thought he'd be a Netflix cheater...
You are looking at what I am considering the prettiest prison I've ever seen. To be honest, I haven't seen that many prisons, but I highly doubt any are as majestic as the Anamosa State Penitentiary. The inmates even worked on the construction of this massive stone building themselves. Some on the construction team tried to escape in 1879; four were shot, one was killed. I actually have a second cousin who works there and have heard him talk about it. I had no idea this is what it looked like. I'm sure the inside ain't so pretty, but I'm not too anxious to check it out first hand.
Oh, Cedar Rapids. I had three great tour guides this weekend to show me around you. From the west to the east, I saw downtown, Czech Village, the NewBo City Market, a harbor full of houseboats, and much of what's left from the 2008 flood. I learned many interesting facts, including that the landfill known as Mount Trashmore is the tallest point in town, in the 1950's the city's synchronized swimming team was inducted into the Swimming Hall of Fame in Florida, and the first black man elected to the Iowa legislature in the 1960s was from Cedar Rapids. Unfortunately, your motto of "The city of five seasons" is so often affectionately changed to "The city of five smells" for a reason. While I enjoyed my tour and spending less than 24 hours with you, I could never see myself living there. Sorry, CR.
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