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Today's Song: Volcano, Damien Rice

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D'yall want anymore Sudance reporting? I mean, I fully understand that my Sundance reporting is less "YOU MUST SEE THIS GRIPPING, GRITTY FILM" or "OMG I made out with Julianne Moore!" but rather more "I did this on Saturday, this on Sunday, isn't that exciting?" It's just that's how I roll, I guess. If you want to see stars, check out WireImage. If you want film reviews, pick up Entertainment Weekly. If you want to see the house I stayed at, well read on.

As is customary for Sundance, Barlow was MVP. (MVP, however, is very, very different than BEST OF FEST. Best of Fest is an award given to the best volunteers - out of like 1400 volunteers, only five Best of Fest awards are given. Remember that whole 2000 Election debacle? Well, trust me when I tell you that the United States Supreme Court is going to have to determine whether Stella or I is more deserving of the Best of Fest honor.**)

Barlow was MVP, because she secured our lodging.* This little cabin:



This little cabin had okay views:


It had a sauna with satellite radio piped in (there were huge arguments over whether the 80's channel or 70's channel was more appropriate. Thankfully, Jedd did not insist on Octane or Left of Center). I'm generally not a fan of saunas, but the satellite radio and easy ski-in/ski-out access made it easy to cool down when it got too hot:



Do you think I was embarrassed when this skiier noticed me attempting a toe-touch in a swim suit on a ski run? N-o-p-e.




When we weren't working on our physical fitness, we were working on our pop culture appreciation. To wit, one morning I woke up, took a look at the home's EXTENSIVE dvd collection, grabbed one, and presented it to Barlow. "Nooooooo. What? Noooooo. Don't put that on." Um, ladies and gentlmen, it was Dallas seasons 1 & 2. Don't you think Barlow was being unreasonable? Well, don't think too hard about that because she converted to Dallasism faster than Katie Holmes to Scientology. She almost missed a shift she was so engrossed. But not as engrossed as me. I found myself laying in bed watching Sue Ellen and wondering if her alleged drinking problem truly required her to be committed to a "sanatorium". As I layed there looking at her and her looking at me, I was taken aback:

Like lookin' in a mirror. (And believe me or not, that photo was not staged.)

But it wasn't all fun and games. Come on. There was shopping to do:



I really did consider buying that hat. But there were PETA protesters on Main Street and I didn't their grief. I needed a warm hat.

And there was finagling ourselves into exclusive parties. Where this guy was the entertainment:



He looks like a real riot, right? Well, do you remember this?



His alter-ego Kelly.

At this point, I will turn the time over to Barlow and Stella to contribute some stories in the comments section of this over-long, gratuitous post.

*Actually, Barlow was MVP for loads of reasons. Too, too many to enumerate.

**May I present Exhibit A for why Stella will not receive Best of Fest? Our venue hosts nightly "Wine Escapes" sponsored by the likes of PBS and Discovery Channel. The Wine Escapes are catered and complimentary Stella Artois beer and Turning Leaf wines are served. Our venue has a full kitchen where the Stella Artois and Turning Leaf wines are stored in cabinets. The cabinets are labelled with post-it notes. On about her third or fourth day of working, Stella finally noticed the labels on the cabinets. Like really, noticed them. And in all seriousness, she looked at one of the cabinets and said, "Wait, that's my name. Is this where I am supposed to put my stuff?" Like an elementary school cubby!



Reason why she may actually have a leg up on me in the Best of Fest race, she seriously rolled the mats and rugs way, way tighter than I did. And, well, she made it a priority to always "look fresh for Jon Hendry." (And Stella I intentionally spelled his name wrong in case he ever Google's his own name.) But her actual ace in the hole, is my actually "working of the panel." Working the panel requires the volunteer to stand in a large room, with a microphone, and when a panel audience member raises their hand to ask a question, the volunteer has to run over to the audience member and stick the microphone in their face. I work the panel by standing in an entirely different room, watching the panel on a flat screen tv, and wander back in occasionally to see if anyone really wants to ask a question.



(This panel was about film criticism with critics from Entertainment Weekly, SL Trib, and a couple film bloggers. They didn't have a moderator so they just sat up there and talked, and talked, and talked. Finally, they realized they needed to take questions, and I assure you I was back in there working that audience like OPRAH!)

Today's Song: Iris, GooGoo Dolls

More Sundance

So last Saturday night at Sundance was relatively eventfuly, however I don't have all that much photographic evidence of it. But I do have this.

My friends and I went to Davanzas for late night pizza. Inside the restaurant, Johnny spotted a girl he recognized. He explained to me that she was the star of an infomercial he'd seen very late one night. I don't doubt that he gave all the details of the infomercial, but due to extenuating circumstances, all I really got got from his explanation was that the infomercial was for hair extensions. Apparently, I then went up to this girl, stared at her, and when she said "hello?", I said, "extensions?" Laughter ensued, she confirmed her participation in the infomercial, and picture was taken. Look at this girl:



See that hair? You'd think she did infomercials of the "Secret Hair" variety too, right? I did. And I thought that up until yesterday.

It turns out, however, that her infomercial was not for hair extensions. Johnny sent me this YouTube video to clarify the actual product she was selling.



So that's just awesome. But probably not as awesome as my new Russian (she alleges she's actually Ukranian - but I don't see the distinction) girlfriend. She and her compatriots were swigging vodka from a water bottle and wanted me to help them find Brooooos Weeeeelissss. Instead, I took them to a "wine escape" party and left them to feast on lobster profiteroles and chug Turning Leaf wine and Stella Artois beer. The next day I was informed that they got so drunk that they fell down a tall flight of steps. Details.



Today's Song: From Russia With Love, Matt Munro

Fools at CNN

First, take a look at this.

That quick-witted, smug male anchor isn't so smart is he? No, he's not. The two words that come to mind are actually Alec Baldwin.

Today's Song: Blue Sky Blues, Ryan Adams (From The Merry Gentleman which screened at Sundance last night. Was good.)

Sundance Report

It was the third weekend in January, so I was back in Park City for Sundance. There was the usual mix of open parties, sneaking into private parties, hunting for swag, and trying to spot celebrities. There was a movie, too, but it wasn't very good and I don't want to talk about it. I managed to capture two celebrities on film.

First, Colin Firth:



Second, Adrien Grenier:



An old friend from high school photographs for WireImage. I passed him as he was taking photographs on Main Street. He called out to say hello, we talked, and he took a picture. See it here. Scroll down to the bottom right corner. "and guest." That's me.

Today's Song: Sweet Suburban Sky, Paddy Casey (we saw him perform at Sundance Music Cafe on Sunday afternoon. Check out his cd on iTunes)

Celine.

She's effin amazing. (I first saw this awhile ago, but it made Entertainment Weekly, so I deemed it worthy to post.)



Link.

Today's Song: Don't Fall In Love With A Dreamer, Kenny Rogers and Kim Carnes

Just(in) Hangin Around

You find the craziest pictures when you clean out an old phone.














(Man in fur coat. Michigan Ave. JCrew.)

Today's Song: Strange & Beautiful, Aqualung

My Presidential Vote is Cast.

And I vote Susie best-gift-giver ever.



Today's Song: So Yesterday, Hilary Duff

Six Words

After reading this article, I've been trying to come up with a six-word story. I'm going to do it, it's just an arduous process coming up with a theme.

Today's Song: Fool on the Hill, Led Zeppelin

Because Jim Doesn't Have A Blog of His Own

and because I know he wants everyone to see this:



I bet Sara Zarr could write a kick ass backstory for these kids.

I could talk about

how I cut my hair on Friday, or that I saw Atonement for the second time on Friday night, or how Scrabble with 9 tiles and no dictionary is a good way to go, or how I think everyone should be watching season 1 of Friday Night Lights on dvd, or the Andy Warhol exhibit I went to, or the Sundance sneak preview film I saw (The Visitor) last night, but instead I'll go with this:

A What If borrowed from Slcup:

What if I could only have five cable channels? Which ones would I choose and why?

1. BBC America: Catherine Tate, Little Britain, Footballers Wives, The Office, Peep Show, Coupling, This Life

2. Vh1: I like the Top 20 video countdown

3. Bravo: In case I decide to watch Project Runway or Top Chef to be conversant and culturally literate.

4. HBO: Reruns of classics (Sopranos, Six Feet Under, SATC, CYE) and current shows like Flight of the Conchords, Big Love, Real Time with Bill Mahr, and movies.

5. F/X: Damages, Nip/Tuck

Took me about five minutes to come up with the list.

Today's Song: Theme from Friday Night Lights

Culture Vulture

So last weekend I saw Super Diamond at The Depot with Jedd, Stella, Leah, and B-Lo. It was a pretty raucous event complete with stage dancing, boob viewing, and loads of college run-ins. A noteworthy run-in went something like this:

Me to B-Lo: Watch me blow Stella's mind.

Me to man standing next to me: Are you the Tribune "Culture Vulture"?

Man standing next to me: Yes.

Me to Stella: Stella, meet the Culture Vulture.

Then Stella talked to him for like three hours.

On that note, here is an article I read last weekend about Andy Warhol and the DuPont twins - fascinating.

And one I read this week - also fascinating.

PSA - Old Gold Jewelry

One night last week, at far too late an hour, I was watching television at Jedd and Stella's house. As is typical of the particular hour, a number of questionable commercials were airing. You know, ads for Ginzu knives, life insurance, newly released U.S. mint coins, etc. I'm able to ignore most of them. However, one particuarly advertisement captured my attention and absolutely blew me away.

An advertisement for this company. Although I cannot find the actual advertisement that company aired, this advert is pretty close:



Seems to me these people want the elderly - our grandmothers! - to ransack their jewelry boxes and send in their "old gold jewelry" in exchange for a pittance. Or they want to encourage meth addicts to burgle homes for "old gold jewelry" in order to fund their next hit. I shake my head every time I hear "old gold jewelry" and try to picture the copy writers behind these terrible ads.

In other news, I'm five episodes into Friday Night Lights season 1 and I will say that it is deserving of all its buzz.

Today's Song: Beach Baby, First Class

Happy New Year!

I welcomed 2008 at Little America's Evening in Paris party. I received a Flip video camera for Christmas, and I was able to make a video to share with you. Please enjoy.



Today's Song: The Boy With The Thorn In His Side, Jeff Buckley