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Date: 2002-03-24 19:22:15

Back! At the college of the double Walla.

I quote James Cameron in my quotes file, from The Abyss special edition, saying "It's probably a mistake to let film-makers talk about their films." I wonder, is it even worse to let film-makers (especially those of worst sci-fi productions) to reference their own films?

I'll let you ponder that for a little while.

As you all probably know, I managed to finish The Worst Sci-Fi Trilogy Conclusion Ever around 0230 this morning. Somehow or another, it took me another two hours to transfer wsf2 and wsf3 onto VHS for posterity archival. (And to inflict Gem with them, which will likely happen later tonight, and quite possibly Dr. Aamodt.) So I went to bed at 0430 with my film almost, but not entirely, complete.

It's done. I rule. My movie, nine months in the making, is done.

(Ok, I'll confess that most of those nine months was spent sitting thinking about the hour and a half of footage sitting on 8mm tapes somewhere around the house and trying to figure out an intelligent way to edit them all together. I'll go on record saying that Zan Lynx's video editing setup was several orders of magnitude better than anything else I could have possibly come up with any other way. Non-linear editing is really the one true way.)

(I have to leave something to fix for the special edition, right?)

So I wandered over to DIA a little sleep-deprived. Fortunately, I didn't get singled out for special checking. Our first transportation conveyance was an Airbus A320 from Denver to Seattle, which was the first time I've flown in a non-Boeing jet. I had vague memories of some vague problems with some Airbuses in the recent past, but I don't think it was this model. (Especially since the article said that only American Airlines was flying passengers in that troublesome model, and I flew United.) The best part was LCD screens that retracted from the ceiling above every other row, on which the safety feature briefing (which everyone ignored) was shown and Remember the Titans was shown during the body of the flight. Landing in Seattle was cool -- I got to see the Puget Sound and all sorts of exciting scenery. (I spotted the Space Needle landing in Seattle from Pasco last Thursday, while heading out to Boulder.) Bethany and I had a two-and-a-half hour layover in Seattle, so we wandered over to C concourse from the north satellite concourse and found some over-priced airport food. While I held a slippery pretzel, Mom called and I simultaneously spotted Bethany's friend Ginger (aka Red).

The flight from Seattle to Pasco, in an EMB 120 Brasilia (thirty-three passenger twin-engine turboprop), was shorter than I expected; it seemed that we had barely gotten to cruising altitude (above all the clouds) when we started descending to Pasco. I glued my nose to the window taking off from Seattle (at last, I got a window seat) and was about ready to give up when we entered a cloud bank. I was staring out into pure brilliant white when, all of the sudden, the clouds vanished and I looked thousands of meters down to the outskirts of Seattle below. I looked behind and saw that we had just flown out of the middle of a massive cloud bank.

Tristan picked Bethany and I up in Pasco, proving that he is indeed worthy to be my brother-in-law in the near future. (I think he's a little wierded out by the minor little detail that his roommate is marrying his sister.)

I'm sure other things happened over spring break, but not much of substance. I went skiing on Wednesday at Copper Mountain and skied the same trail all day long: beautiful blue moguls on Little Burn. I'm sure I greatly improved my mogul technique, but I didn't feel inspired enough to go try it out somewhere else. My major project was my movie, which was why I wasn't willing to let it go early this morning. Then there were Kevin Smith's New Jersey Trilogy (Clerks, Mallrats, and Chasing Amy). I enjoyed them all, in different ways. I laughed so hard in Mallrats that I managed to wake Dad up, who requested that I not laugh nearly as loud. I emphasized with the characters in Chasing Amy and tried to fend off the urge to tell a personal story of my own.

we'd gather around all in a room
fasten our belts engage in dialogue
we'd all slow down rest without guilt
not lie without fear disagree sans jugement

we would stay and respond and expand and include
and allow and forgive and enjoy and evolve
and discern and inquire and accept and admit
and divulge and open and reach out and speak up

this is my utopia this is my utopia
this my ideal in sight
utopia this is my utopia
this is my nirvana
my ultimate

we'd open our arms
we'd all jump in
we'd all coast down into safety nets

we would share and listen and support and welcome
be propelled by passion not invest in outcomes
we would breathe and be charmed and amused by difference
be gentle and make room for every emotion

this is my utopia this is my utopia
this my ideal in sight
utopia this is my utopia
this is my nirvana
my ultimate

we'd provide forms
we'd all speak out
we'd all be heard
we'd all feel seen

we'd rise post-obstacle more defined more grateful
we would heal be humbled and be unstoppable
we'd hold close and let go and know when to do which
we'd release and disarm and stand up and feel safe

this is my utopia this is my utopia
this my ideal in sight
utopia this is my utopia
this is my nirvana
my ultimate