Screenings! Premiers! Bikes!

Have some reports on upcoming Gravity screenings to share! Woohoo! The Buenos Aires Festival Internacional De Cine Independiente (BAFICI!) has announced the date and times that Gravity will be showing in Buenos Aires Argentina (April 9th, 10th & 16th it seems), our South American premier! The festival seems massive so it is really hard to get a sense of what it is all about... I see they are having a bunch of outdoor screeings and a ton of industry related lectures, panels and interviews! Maybe I can have one of my ex-pat friends report on the events down there? Hm...?

The film will also be playing for one night only (April 8th) at the Salt Lake City Film Center in Utah! I don't know anything about this screening but...after some quick internet research I think I can safely say this film center is pretty wonderful offering everything from an evening with Michael Ondaajte about adpating his book, The English Patient, into a film (never saw the movie but the book was pretty thick with beauty and themes of the complicated systems of war, religion and love!) to Tumbleweeds, the first annual film festival for children and youth! So glad Gravity is going ot be a part of this nice film community! [Side note: Speaking of which, made it to the Troy Bike Rescue finally for a little show of some bands, the space is an incredible building in the name of bikes, recycling and just general community building awesomeness! Some pictures of the rad space seen here!]

Now, back to working on Brent's animation project which is probably the hardest thing I have ever had to do in the name of Brent art (and I have risked my life at great heights and sewn thousands of feet of fabric in the name of Gravity alone!), let's just say my hands look like I was mauled by a large, feral cat right now! Art!

Space is (Not) Boring

In Gravity news...a few more international fests have added the film to their line up, will pass word along when more things become official and whatnot! Is there a chance I will cross the equator...? Stay tuned!

In other animation news: the film Brent is currently working on here in Troy has something to do with Laika, the ill-fated dog the Russians shot off into space during the first space program tests! The film series Orbit (film) was the original source of inspiration for this animation and Orbit (film) just had it's debut in Houston  (which is also where the first vision of Brent's Laika project was formed with the exhibition we mounted at Diverseworks [partly pictured above]. Oddly, Houston is also where the first scientist came forward with the true details on Laika's short lived life in orbit, poor dog). Orbit is made up of a collection of commisioned short films by artist/filmmakers & each film is about one of the special planets in our solar system (Brent's piece for this series is, obviously, still not done, frame by frame he draws and draws...and it is also not exactly sticking to the planetary theme but...)! Hope Orbit (film) gravitates to my area soon!

And fittingly, you know what today is? That's right! It's open to the public telescope day on the roof of the astrophysics building at the Hirsch Observatory at RPI! YAY! Now I wait for dark and cross my fingers the clouds cooperate (which they DID NOT do during supermoon day/open telescope day last week)! Here is Gravity's moon and a teaser for Orbit(film) in the meantime!


Orbit(Film) Teaser from Mike Plante on Vimeo.

Was In England Once for 20 Minutes to Hastily Switch Planes

 I know some Englanders (including some fine ladies of The Branchage Film Fest, Lee Kern, and whoever the guys were in London who saw the film in Rotterdam and ranked it in their top three via twitter) were lucky enough to have already seen Gravity but tonight a whole new crowd of Brits will be able to see our film!  I've been reading all about how awesome the Flatpack Film Festival is- melding art & music with an intense love of cinema and its' lovely historic past, accessible future and many, many formations!


Actually the DJ for one of their events pretty much sums up the entire film fest ethos from what I can tell: Sculpture is a DJ duo who make zoetrope albums- you heard me! Visual, animated, music! (See video above) Seriously? Awesome! I also read that the short I was hurrah-ing for just the other day (The Eagleman Stag) is screening there, a vintage mobile cinema (! a giant drivable theater-van from the 60s that was used to tour factories and screen films about the future of industry!) is driving around, there is a panel called The Cinema Exists To Please Women that explores the legacy of the female film critic (which, especially as a film blog lady and someone who took Feminist Film Theory pretty seriously back in the day, I am thrilled about!),  and Shadow Shows  a live music performance with a three screen projection featuring the art of shadow puppetry and the early spectres of film/theater is happening as well! From everything else I've read online I can safely say I am completely bummed I am missing this festival! Maybe next year? Hope so!

Vultures of Cultures

This week, in between trying to figure out which humanitarian effort to donate some of my small income to, I also chose to donate to some independent publishers as well. I know this seems wrong in a time when there is so much need but...as a NY publishing expat I have a fondness for media and, being that everyone is up in arms about being charged for the NYTimes online now, I have a special worry for the future of independent media. As someone who is now deeply involved in self produced art and independent filmmaking, I completely understand the need for the cost of media (looks at taxes). We didn't really want to make Gravity a limited edition art piece, we had to in order to pay our bills but even moreso to afford to make more work. Artists, filmmakers, writers are really small businesses whose commodity just happens to be enriching in a very unquantifiable way making things increasingly complicated in an open source world.

Every artist of every medium feels compelled to put stuff out into the world, even possibly for free, to be seen & heard and to stimulate the minds & lives of an audience but the point where one should be compensated for their artistic output is a gray area that I worry about often in our media driven age. It is definitely a transitional phase where rare things, like content and beauty, are acting on a strange scale of value- a strange scale that I feel the need to donate to, among other things, during these shakey, fluid times that every aspect of the world is going through. Culture makes us human, act humanely towards it!

Here are some pictures from 2009 of the beginning of Leonard's house, erected at a very uncertain time in the post boom of art history and, for that matter, at a very uncertain time in the history of the American dream. Now, more than ever, we need to think closely about the resources we use both culturally and as a human race during this time of huge transformation.

What Good Is He If The Electricity Fails, If He Cannot Part The Water

I don't think I posted this article by Killing the Buddha and I should have! It is a wonderful account of Gravity Was Everywhere Back Then and, being that Killing the Buddha is a self proclaimed "religion magazine for people made anxious by churches," it explores the concepts of faith & electricity in our film to perfection! In fact the author, Genevieve Yue, who contacted me during our hectic tour (and I apologize to for being so busy, unhelpful & far from files at the time) has an affinity for Thomas Edison which makes her the perfect person to comment on Brent's world of filmic, glowing, handmade creation!

Check out the article if you get a chance and the rest of the site as well, it's a pretty wonderful resource for those looking to "move past the complacency of belief " a theme that Gravity too grapples with everytime it is screened. Here are some of my recent favorite posts from their site, actually all of their posts are really, really great: Castles Made of Sand (Burning Man, it's socio-political malcontent & the culture of counterculture ), Jesus In Space (Mormon cosmology discovered through a giant marble Jesus) and The Lingering Loveliness of Long Things (an account of a marathon Moby Dick reading that mourns the passing of listening and communion- oddly reminding me of the experience of our live shows that I often feel)! Here is a picture of our own, as Brent says, "fully functioning God," that he built in the yard..and who is still sitting out there, waiting.

The Tax Man

Now that we're done with our late winter tour I've been noticing a bunch of reviews about the shows we did lying around the internet....! It is really great to read what people have to say, it makes the long hours in the car worthwhile to know you've effected even one person in an audience somewhere!

Here are some pictures of Troy NY (look at those planes tear into the sky!) I took in between adding up our receipts for 2010 Gravity taxes...it's like a nostalgic trip down memory lane being that we were still filming a year ago- receipt for mountain climbing harness we used in the car crash, recipt for clay to make my stilt shoes, receipt for glass bottled milk that Leonard drinks from (because you know Leonard is one of those adults who likes to drink milk!), receipt for one yellow parakeet! So many details spelled out in dollars & cents, what a weird way to see a movie! Back to the calculator; one receipt for nails, one receipt for screws, one receipt for giant water tank turned wax cylinder....

"You just think lovely, wonderful thoughts and up you'll go."

Still trying to sneeze out the remainder of a cold & still up in beautiful Troy NY for Brent's residency! While I am on the mend Brent is doing every crazy thing from testing out brain controlled flying machines (seriously?) to painstakingly hand drawing animated frames picture by picture. Speaking of flying (?)...Gravity had it's Spanish premier at the Punto De Vista International Documentary Film Festival of Navarra (congrats to all the winners there!) a little while back! And the upcoming British premier is just around the corner at the (seemingly awesome) Flatpack Festival in Birmingham happening at the end of this month! And, to make us even more worldly, our South American premier is set for next month at the Buenos Aires Festival Internacional de Cine Independiente (BAFICI!)!

Also recently came across this beautiful article written by a grad student in Arizona who saw the Gravity set when it was installed out there in the desert (pictures by Olya of the set in Arizona seen here). Their take on our project was stunning and so full of ideas I too have had about Gravity- specifically relating it to the concept of "...works of art that concern themselves with other human lives is the way multiple 'personal adventures'—those of the subjects, the artist, and the observers of the artwork—become braided." A layering that I find inherent in Brent's work and a very, very important part of cultural understanding and progress, building our lives through & with eachothers is the very foundation of art to me. But, all this might be, as Emily says, my feverbrain talking...! Quiet you feverbrain, quiet! Vitamin C anyone? (falls asleep on keyboard)

Nightswimming

Do you remember before when I was trying to uncover the mystery of our cellist John Swartz? He's still an enigma after spending weeks in a confined truck with him...! He did take some stunning photos while on tour (two of which seen here! That's Drew Nightswimming below [special points to who knows which Gravity cinematographer shot that Nightswimming video in the link!] and me & Drew & Brent looking aloft in Deluth) and he has been updating his tumblr with them recently- please check them out! Maybe they can give more insight into who this wild-man cello player is?? Or at least insight into what he does behind that camera! Beautiful work John!

Ones & Zeroes

We are lucky enough to be up here at EMPAC (pictured) in Troy (also pictured) for Brent's residency during another Onedotzero program, part of their traveling film festival Adventures In Motion. I had never heard of Onedotzero until coming to EMPAC but they seem to be a London based organization that seeks to explore new forms of motion making through commissions, showcases and general platform building- mostly leaving you wondering how a computer made that or did a computer make that, blurring the lines between our eye & brains capabilities and those of new technology. It is pretty incredible! The program we just saw was Extended Play 10 that featured a series of stories being played out through all kinds of animated protagonists in all kinds of, mostly animated, forms- something Brent is quite familiar with!

Michael Please's The Eagleman Stag was insanely gorgeous- a styrofoam and paper wonder, all in a strictly white hue (somehow sterile yet lush all at once) whose story of a man's life as a scientist afflicted with the worst of all, time, was both breathtaking and beautiful! Another beauty was Brent Bonacorso's West of the Moon- a seamless blend of computer animation and live action about an aging dreamer with a hand grenade heart.

Also interesting was the call for social change in Coalition of the Willing, produced by Knife Party but created by many teams of animators in multiple styles, the piece explained how capitalism has corrupted our planet and how open source idea hubs can help us to use advertising techniques for us instead of against us: swarm together to save the world from global warming! O, and I almost forgot The Wonder Hospital a darkly pop look into the desolate landscape of self improvement, including an endearing, twisted face protagonist looking for change in an eerie, unloving hospital of creepy. I didn't stick around for the second screening (which I heard contained a ton of gore) due to intense tiredness & a tickly throat but I have a feeling fake blood was made all the more real through computer technology! By the way, Onedotzero has an open call policy in order to get as many new ideas from as many places as possible- send them your work! Ok, now where did I leave that Echinacea...?

Home Is Where The Pretzels Are

Our midwest, late winter tour is over????!!! We drove home from Columbia, MO with Drew and John and Brent and the hitcher Lee Kern to New York where we deposited the band (and Lee) and returned to rural Pennsylvania! Only to get back in the car and travel up to Troy NY tomorrow for a month of building & animating with the brilliant minds of engineers! Aside from that we will be rebuilding the Gravity set in Louisville in April, perform a few live screenings of the film (including a live show in Chicago next month!) and attempt to organize a bunch of other goings on in our studio! Here's to a great 2011 start for Gravity!

Here are some PA road pics from our journey towards home! And yes, that sign does say pickled pigs toes! And yes, ewwww!

True/False IV

After we came through Columbia Missouri last summer I remember being instantly struck by the awesomeness of the town- the beauty and feeling of community, the intelligence and hunger for progressive newness, the movie theater and the food! When David Wilson (the co-director of the fest along with Paul Sturtz, who I didn't get the chance to meet!) asked us back to the town for True/False to perform Gravity live I was ecstatic, since I had been trying to think of a reason to go back there ever since we left! The crowds were a perfect balance of interested Missourians and (not too) serious film people and the films all covered the current state of human culture: where we have been, how we have gotten here and where we are going.

Since the beginning of film it has been used as a medium to move people, for better or worse, and document things around us, both true and false, this festival really embodies the essence of cinema to me and I only hope we have another excuse to go back one day! But, until then, I will definitely be telling everyone I meet about the best, most relevant film festival in the middle of nowhere (some pictures of the town seen here!)! Officially part of the True/False cult (sips the True/False Kool Aid from my new True/False water bottle whilst wearing my True/False Hoodie, smiles! Then signs petitions regarding every social cause I was confronted with on screen during True/False.)

Party Time, Excellent

So….as I rubbed my bleary eyes awake I realized something about True/False: they know how to party! I was warned but still not prepared for the insane late nights and social wonder of Columbia MO! I met so many great directors, fans and volunteers at these events that it made me see how important the partying really is in making the festival become a community & meet new friends & colleagues in an unstuffy, awesome way- on the dancefloor! A special shout out to the 700 (!!!) volunteers at the festival especially Megan & Chrissy who I spoke to a lot and who both, when not volunteering at the film fest, have jobs that advocate social change just as much as most of the True/False film program!

The closing night party was a bit crazy- two floors and a roof of ice cream, pizza, drinks and great company (beautiful, lacey, camp inspired set up pictured below)! Brendan’s good friend, and former bandmate, Ian Svenonius the Great (pictured, Molly also pictured-who also spun a bit!), spun soul records that got everyone dancing in the end! I don’t think the night really ended exactly as me, Mike, Holli, John, Drew & Lee Kern arrived to our hotel lobby full of people playing guitars and banjos, singing and waltzing around as a perfect closing/waking dream to a perfect event! So much fun!

I was Engrossed In A Film

I somehow made it to four more screenings during my time at True/False! I am still not sure how exactly but, eye drops in hand, I did!

Benda Bilili and Blood In the Mobile both took place in different areas of the African Congo. Both were stories of struggle and change but in very, very different ways. Benda Bilili opens with a group of men in hand cranked wheelchairs slowly convening on a dark, dirty street corner to practice the songs that they create as a means of survival. Their songs are almost all about the fragility and fluctuation of life which is a theme at the core of the entire film. Taking them from rehearsals in a local zoo to a European concert tour all with the understanding that change in inevitable and every moment must be seized. This film was pretty inspiring filled with images of suffering, humor and the poignant thoughts of children on the ways of the world- this film should come packaged with tissues!

Blood in the Mobile sends a Danish director to the heart of the Congolese metal mines discovering the harsh conditions and war profiteering caused by the mineral operations whose products are found in most mobile phones. A heartbreaking scream for change, this film really made you see how the world must ban together against corporate injustice in order to advocate a new system.

I also saw James Marsh’s older film The Burger and the King a food journey through the life of Elvis Presley. The film was crafted so expertly and uniquely I’m not even sure how to describe it? Interviews with those who prepared Elvis’ food, staged Elvis impersonator last suppers, recipes for the best of the worst of the food that eventually killed the King. Similar in originality to Errol Morris & The Maysles takes on America, see this movie!

Resurrect Dead: The Mystery of the Toynbee Tiles was a great idea- following an obsessed man who is trying to uncover the mystery of these street tiles spread throughout North & South America with a cryptic message of Jupiter, Kubrick and resurrection. A really great concept with tons of footage- I do wish this one was remixed a bit, there was just a lot going on! After talking to the director, it seems he is in a constant editing process trying to grapple with this enormously well documented mystery.

Now that I am emerged from the darkness I will leave you with pictures of what it looked like inside some of the ornate theaters of Missouri! It’s kind of unbelievable the amount of venues available in this tiny town! It is almost as if it was made for True/False!

Waking Up, Weirdly

This tour had a few firsts on it, our first time playing without a drummer, our first time playing in a church, our first time playing a matinee and, of course, our first morning show ever! Our other screening/performance at True/False was part of an event called Weird Wake Up and, as the title suggests, it was weird and it was about the time one should wake up: bright & early at 9:30 a.m. on Sunday!

The show took place in probably the strangest place we’ve played yet The Independent Order of Odd Fellows Temple Lodge #207 (pictures of rarely seen space seen here). I had never heard of the Odd Fellows before coming to Missouri and, after some internet research,  I've learned a ton about their wonderous ways! As I understand it they are a sort of fraternal order that does serious community outreach in order to "elevate the character of humanity" and, in keeping with that creed, were extreme supporters of RagTag (the epicenter of the film fest) from its inception! The Odd Fellows were so welcoming and their den was crowded with interesting artifacts on their history making the setting feel like a mix between a friendly museum & a jolly secret society.  

To make it a genuine morning breakfast was even served to the crowd, brought to you buy Café Berlin- a restaurant that creates meals out of locally grown & organic products! Speaking of eggs…the film organization Chicken & Egg Pictures are also an important part of fest support, granting funding and mentorship to aspiring female filmmakers and aiding in production of various programs at True/False. Overall every organization involved in our Weird Wake Up, the film festival, and Columbia MO as a whole seems to foster growth both in filmmaking and as members of the human race! A perfectly inspiring thing to wake up to!

As for our bright and shiny performance, it was a bit softer musically (probably due to our tiredness and the weary crowd) and the room was so resonate people were actually gasping at some of my frightening foley skills! By the end of the show Brent even tried to join the Odd Fellows Lodge but was denied due to his out of state status… maybe when I can convince him to move to Columbia Missouri he can be a real Odd Fellow?? Yes? Brent? Missouri??

True/False III (O no! It's almost over)

Last night we had our  live screening of Gravity Was Everywhere Back Then in The Globe Theater at the First Presbyterian Church and it was fantastic! The church hall, which recently had been hit by a car (!), was beautifully lit with the art of local artist Cemellia Cosgray whose expertly rendered tissue paper stained glass map of the world (pictured!) beamed blue upon us as we performed alongside our film! Here is a picture (below) taken behind my foley table just before the lights were dimming for our screening (Alan on bass clarinet is pictured in the foreground and David Wilson, one of the festival directors, can be seen in the background introducing our film to the packed, intimate theater)! Most of the audience even stayed for a Q&A too which was mentioned in this exuberant review of the show over here!

Walking around in this small town and hearing such positive, strong reactions from the audience members of our show made me truly understand why this festival is as perfect as it is: the heart and humanity of everyone involved in the True/False Film Festival is beyond belief! Ok, ok, I am tearing up a bit...what a wonderful experience! More on the fest soon but now I must try to see as many films as possible in the final day of this awe inspiring event!

True/ False II (again!)

So much goes on at this fest that it is hard to put it into one post...yesterday Brent participated in an event called Campfire Stories (Buck pictured mid- storytelling) where a glowing campfire fire creation sat in the middle of a chapel stage and a series of directors, producers and documentary subjects spoke of scenes unseen in their films. A saw & guitar combo played the interludes between sets and there were even S'mores (freakin' S'mores)! I think I am obligated to say Brent was my favorite story, he spoke about how we filmed the car crash and were able to sell off our junk cars instantly while actually getting functional cars for the shoot was impossible in the strange economy of Pennsylvania junkyards but, the directors of the film The Redemption of General Butt Naked told such a compelling account of trying to balance their cultural differences while making their film about a Liberian war lord turned priest that I might have to say their story was tied with Brent's!

Hearing them equate Liberian soldiers accounts of believing in naked immunity and belts turning into bullet eating cobras to our own military pageantry/culture/belief was really astounding, a concept nearly impossible to summarize the scope of in a single film! This event was unlike any platform I have ever seen: an intimate setting to really explore film-making and hear the stories about the stories filmmakers never have an audience to tell, brilliant! We also briefly attended a party (glowing plastic bag party ceiling installation pictured), a thing that True/False does extremely well, but extreme exhaustion led us to slumber in our room early on in the night preparing for our weekend screenings! Yay! Screenings!

Lee Eating Pancakes in Missouri

America! Meet Lee Kern! Lee is a comedian from England! He makes songs and films and how to crafts to boot! Brent met Lee Kern through Rooftop Films ages ago when they were both at a screening together. Every so often Lee will send along bits of what he is working on and they never fail at making us have a hearty laugh out in rural Pennsylvania. I never met a comedian before and I find it really hard to talk to him, like I am trying to be funny to make up for my obvious lack of funny in comparison...maybe tomorrow I can just simply accept the fact that I am the least funny in this situation and let the hilarity ensue? Lee is here in Columbia Missouri to present a few comedy acts- tomorrow at 11:15pm & Sunday afternoon at 3:30pm in a session called How To Crap On Everyone and Make It To The Top. Lee also enjoys eating pancakes while in the States. Sometimes offensive but always funny, America, embrace Lee Kern!

True/False II

Despite tornado siren warnings late this afternoon True/False marched on- literally! The March March parade through the streets of downtown Columbia went on even in the pouring rain...drum lines, costumes, tubas, even the fire ball twirlers weren't hindered by the weather at all!

But let's talk about the real reason we're here..THE FILMS! Today I was able to see two amazing documentaries- El Bulli: Cooking in Progress and Project Nim. Both deal with experimentation, one experiment in the current visionary kitchen of a Spanish restaurant and one experiment involving a monkey in the late 70s. When I told people I saw El Bulli they sort of dismissed it as another "cooking" thing, giving up an entire subject thanks to reality tv! Thanks Reality TV! The film, like the director (Gereon Wetzel) said in a Q&A following the screening, is a narrative that follows the characters of the food- how it evolves out of this kitchen in the 6 months of menu planning the chefs undergo and what the food becomes in the end. Beautiful, thoughtful, simple and surprisingly funny this movie is the perfect modern documentary!

Project Nim was one I missed at Rotterdam and was super excited to catch this time around! James Marsh, the director of the famous Man On Wire and the director of honor at this years True/False fest, crafted the story of an actual experiment that took a chimpanzee from his mother, attempted to raise it as a child (complete with a sign language vocabulary), and then sort of dissolved into a battle of interpersonal (human) relationships and (mostly) bad decisions. A crazy story and a well made film that made me wonder how the seventies happened? The film ended with the director, producer and one of the story's heroes, Bob the chimp caring student, answering a few questions and trying to restore the audiences faith in humanity.

Hopefully I'll get to see a few more films here tomorrow if our set up & sound check isn't too involved-Gravity Was Everywhere Back Then screens Saturday March 5th at 5pm at the Globe Theater in Columbia Missouri with a live soundtrack featuring a giant line up of Brent, Brendan, Drew, John, Alan, Mike and Me (Donna K. for any new comers! hi!)!

True/False

Yesterday marked the first day of the True/False film fest! I love this town! And this fest! And films questionably categorized as documentaries! Drew & I broke out the tacky glue on the long trek from Chicago to make masks for the opening night jubilee masked ball! We just missed the festivities but that didn't stop Drew from wowing (?) those at a dinner we went to with his eerie masked skills (?)!

The dinner where Drew was wowing was sponsored by True/False's British sister festival The Branchage film fest. It takes place on an island called Jersey off the coast of the main land and, as their bodacious spokeswoman Molly told us, they've done everything from screen films on tugboats to use the coming and going of the tide as a part of the screenings- a true cinematic experience! It sounds great, as does Molly's band Plaster of Paris (You know "Operatic Gypsy Folk?" she said). Even the little bag of goodies handed out at the dinner were charming filled with do-it-yourself camera obscuras, paper airplanes, candies all in an envelope addressed to their film fest submission office- too perfect! What a great welcome to both fests!

As for True/False I am currently reconciling our schedule with the film screening schedule, more to come soon! Also: a car crashed into the church we are performing at tomorrow! Never a dull moment in Columbia, MO!

"An idea is salvation by imagination."

One of my favorite lines in Brent's films is from Paulina Hollers "God builds like Frank Llyod Wright. You can marvel at the complexity, the ingenuity and occasional beauty but we are by no means sound. We're not even weather proof." This makes rounding out the day at Taliesin, Frank Llyod Wright's studio and home in Spring Green Wisconsin, a perfect experience. The compound was actually closed but we were lucky enough to find the nicest Wright Fellow ever, Floyd, who took us around on a mini-tour of the main house (pictured nestled in a hillside). After wandering around the grounds and seeing all of the architect's visions I realized that Brent and Wright are very similar spirits, going after beauty with everything they have at hand, disregarding the legacy but becoming a part of it in a sense. The detail and patchwork are all part of the process and wonder, it really made me appreciate what Brent does on a greater level and he seemed so at home in this hand built masterpiece.

We ended the day where we started, at Mike & Holli's home in Chicago (pictured & adorable!)! Today, filled with homes and splendor, made me even more excited to rebuild Leonard Wood's home in Louisville this Spring! So excited!  For now though, zzzzzzzz.....

Great Rock

Today's highlights included seeing everything from roadside petting zoo general stores (goat pictured) to the BEST home smoked BBQ restaurant ever (Drew pictured in restaurant)!  More road stories to come on Gravity's day off!

Good, Beautiful, Pleasant Land

Last night's show in Milwaukee was great! Musically different than any other show we have done and performed to a small audience of people who seemed in disbelief of our improvised nature! The University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee has an amazing film program including Experimental Tuesdays, which we got to be a proud part of, and a ton of other indie/art/foreign film screenings seriously up to par with every major film house we've been to in the last year. The calendar is so intense that it even features the unheard of extended version of Gaspar Noe's new film Enter the Void! Wish we were here for that, I don't think I'll ever have the chance to see that one! Who knew this film haven was nestled way out here in the northern-midwest? Special thanks to Ross Nugent for being an amazing film lover/programmer and bringing us out here, a native Pennsylvanian filmmaker himself I hope we get to see him again in our neck of the woods sometimes soon! After a few tasty beers, a thing that Milwaukee seems to do best- in addition to awesome company- we hit the hay late last night, hit the road for a little sight seeing today and are now gearing up for our stay in Columbia, Missouri for the True/False Film Fest starting tomorrow!

Windy City

Today we are on our way to do a show at the University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee but, before we get there, we are stopped over in Chicago to pick up Mike McGinley who you might also know as Leonard Wood from Gravity and who will be playing trombone and clarinet at this performance! Not only have I never been to Chicago but I have never been to Mike and his wife, the lovely Holli Hopkin's, home here!

Apparently Mike is an amazing artist on top of being an amazing actor, musician, chef! And Holli is equally as stunning with her knitting, quilting, film production skills! Holli also shot a few beautiful moments in Gravity when she visited the film set in PA awhile back!  I usually don't like putting pics of peoples homes on the internet but Mike & Holli are such a part of the film and their home is just too wonderful not to...on to Milwaukee!