Journal

Friday, January 28, 2005

Son and dance

Quieter day -- interviews for much of it. In the late afternoon Dave McKean, Lisa Henson and I got our photo taken by Entertainment Weekly, then Dave and I got our photos taken in the HP centre -- and I got given my first "swag" -- a gift of an HP photo printer (and paper, and ink). (Dave will be sent an iPod.) The HP photographer also took a pic of me and Dave using my phone, which I'll try and post here. Frankly I think we look like extremely dodgy characters.

This evening saw the Reefer Madness musical movie, which was pleasant enough, but many of the songs seemed to go on for at least a couple of choruses past the point where I was ready for the story to start again -- it felt like a little judicious editing could have made it into a much sharper, faster and funnier film. (Ana Gasteyer was excellent, and I should say that the majority of the audience seemed perfectly happy with it the way it was.)

Then to the short film show, where there were a few duds, a few interesting ones, and one that I utterly loved, and a quick google tells me it's online at http://www.sundanceonlinefilmfestival.org/2005/index.aspx. The one I loved is called The Sailor's Girl, and it's a perfect little film that you should go and watch if you have the bandwidth. (You have to register, but it's worth it. Trust me.) Brett Simon, who made The Sailor's Girl, is a writer-director to watch. (The story reminded me a little of Kelly Link's fiction, which is a good thing.)

My son Mike has just arrived, and is sleeping on the sofa bed (well, he's actually sitting on it as I type this, looking at the Sundance catalogue, picking out films to watch over the next two days).

Neil,I'm sure others have already informed you of this, but if not, there's an interview with Alan Moore conducted by Stewart Lee (creator of "Jerry Springer: The Opera") online:http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio/aod/networks/radio4/aod.shtml?radio4/chainreaction. Comic Book Resources also has a transcript of the interview, for those who can't stream it:http://www.comicbookresources.com/news/newsitem.cgi?id=4737 It was quite entertaining and funny, and Alan certainly doesn't come off quite as mad as we've all been led to believe. Hope Sundance has been treating you well. All the best,dave golbitz http://1031productions.blogspot.com

Alan's the smartest person I know. He's also one of the nicest, possibly the funniest, and has always struck me (and we've been friends for about 18 years) as very sane indeed, at least as sane as anyone with a cherub vortex on the wall upstairs can possibly be. If anyone attempts to lead you to believe otherwise I would suggest you view them with deep suspicion.

The Chain Reaction show will be up on the BBC site for a week, and then for a week from next Thursday it's Alan Moore interviewing Brian Eno.

g'night.