Sundance Film Festival 2014

I just got back from my third consecutive, and fourth overall, Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah.  This trip was, by far, our best one yet - aided by our cumulative prior experience, where each year we have figured out more secrets to having fun, seeing films, and people watching.

Rather than buying individual tickets, we went for a ticket package this year.  Buying a package guarantees an earlier purchasing time, which turned out to be a great deal for us - securing tickets to premiere films.  These are the films you want to see because many of the stars and production crew are present to answer questions after the screening.  Our first film was "Laggies," starring Kiera Knightly, Sam Rockwell, and Chloe Moretz.  The movie was cute and had several laugh-out-loud moments.

Our second film premiere was "A Most Wanted Man" with Philip Seymour Hoffman, Willem Defoe, and Rachel McAdams.  I was not very impressed by the plot, but my friend felt some of the intended suspenseful elements.  And the actors did a great job in their roles, but sadly the director never brought the story to life for me.  The second premiere experience was not completely lacking in excitement, though, because there was a surprise addition to the audience - Bradley Cooper snuck in with his girlfriend Suki Waterhouse.  Bradley Cooper!

So that covers the films.  With our package, we received two grey credentials that got us into several of the festival venues - unfortunately none of the invite-only parties and swag areas.  One of the credentialed areas was the Sundance Channel HQ, where we were able to catch a panel discussion on the intersection of independent film and television featuring Aaron Guzikowski (creator of Sundance Channel show The Red Road), Jason Momoa (Game of Thrones, Conan), Paul Riser, and Maggie Gyllenhaal.

Of course, no Sundance experience is complete without a solid dose of people watching.  This year, we were primarily back at the same spot on Main Street by the Town Lift - refueling after a good day of skiing - and the celebrities were walking by us.

Having already seen Christina Hendrix, Jason Momoa, Tom Sizemore, and Julianne Nicholson in the Salt Lake City baggage claim the day before, the morning started out with a sighing of John Lithgow and Alfred Molina on my way to the ski lift near one of the festival photo tents.  Additional stars spotted include (pictured below): Kate Hudson, Lance Bass, Diane Kruger, Goldie Hawn, Kurt Russell, Dan Stevens, Josh Gad, John Slattery, Evan Handler with Tim Daly, Jason Ritter, Michael Shannon, Elle Fanning, and Cheryl Hines.

I love that my friend caught me talking to and taking a selfie with Zach Braff while he was on his way to his film screening party at the restaurant next to our restaurant.  Of course, if I had to identify the celebrity photo coup for the weekend....

...it was, without a doubt, getting a photo with the most infamous member of the UK boyband One Direction: Harry Styles. After we took this photo, the mayhem started - the teenagers and associated screams multiplied like rabbits.  By the time Harry made it to his car, it was surrounded. What a phenomenal thing to witness!  Absolute insanity, though a smaller scale than what he is used to, I imagine, being that we were in the mountains of Utah and not a major city.  Regardless, hopefully this firmly secures my title of "Coolest Aunt" in my pre-teen niece's eyes.

Additional celebrities spotted but not photographed: Sam Shepard, Shiloh Fernandez, Jim O'Heir, Molly Shannon, Mark Ruffalo, Matthew Gray Gubler, Anna Kendrick, Lea Thompson, Ian Brennen, and Don Johnson.  The latter was not very nice at all, and I wanted to tell him that he is a has-been that is only popular because of his two cheesy cop shows a long time ago.  Fortunately for him, I'm the nicer person.

Now we've covered movies, special events, and celebrity spotting.  The last part that makes the Sundance Film Festival so great is some of the best skiing in North America!  As an added bonus, this past weekend was the U.S. Olympic Team qualifying events for Slopestyle and Halfpipe.  We were watching the guys fly off the jumps and do amazing aerial maneuvers as we skied down the mountain and took the lift back up.  Taking photos from the lift proved to be a bit challenging, as I'm sure you can imagine.  What a great way to get into the Olympic spirit, though!  I wanted to do another Olympic-related thing, but was prohibited by time and cost.  At the Salt Lake Olympic Center, they have a trained bobsled driver that will take you down the Olympic bobsled run.  I was very tempted after seeing reviews that mentioned it cost only $60, but when I looked it up, it was $200!!!  Perhaps that's an off-season rate?  Anyway, it was still a fantastic weekend without the at-speed bobsled ride! Maybe next time.....

One last photo: a morning sun rising and moon setting, overlooking the mountains of Park City: left to right ski resorts - Deer Valley, PCMR, Canyons.

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Reducing the Reading Pile

Sorry for another book post so soon, but with the holidays and air travel, I seem to get more quiet time to get through my list of books I want to read.  Plus, a trip to Powell's Bookstore didn't help, only adding to the pile - physical not virtual too!

Must Read

The Light Between Oceans by M.L. Stedman

While the book is slow to start and sometimes drags on a little, I think overall the story was good.  It really captures the strong emotions of a couple who lives an isolated life on the island with the lighthouse, their struggles to create a family, and the significant repercussions of a decision to keep a child found washed up on shore in a boat with her dead father.

Lazy Weekend

Wild by Cheryl Strayed

Overall, the book was a great memoir of this challenging adventure pursued by Strayed.  After a while, though, I could no longer believe that the root cause for the journey was the loss of her mother.  It felt more like she was, like most kids in their early 20s, searching for herself, and going on this trail was maybe an attempt to figure it all out or simply an escape from the reality of having to start her adult life. Of course the cynic in me says that this was concept book from the beginning, because she had wanted to be an author, and later the rationale for going was generated to give the book more meaning.

Heading out to Wonderful by Robert Goolrick

I'm not sure why I picked up this book while shopping at Powell's because I really did not like Goolrick's "A Reliable Wife."  This book is a lazy weekend book because the story's imagery is solid and Goolrick successfully creates a vivid 1949 small town environment with strong characters.  The plot is unoriginal though.  Man sees woman, woman is unattainable, love can't be stopped, tragic consequences, etc.  So, I don't think you'll be disappointed when you turn the last page, but you may not be running out to buy more by this author. 

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New Years - A Look Back and Ahead

It's that time of year again where we look back on what we did with our lives for the past 365 days, see if we actually accomplished any of our resolutions, and think about what we want to change in the upcoming year. 2013 was quite the year full of new memories, crazy adventures, and new records.  I flew over 53,500 miles, which is guaranteed the most I've ever flown in one year - of course traveling across the world to India and Nepal helped a lot.  Other travel and adventure stats include:

• 19 US States 
• 4 Canadian Provinces 
• 3 Foreign Countries
• 3 National Parks
• 5 Mountains Skied

From an entertainment perspective, I was lucky to see some of my favorite bands live this past year and get exposed to new bands that I've now added to my favorites list - Punch Brothers and The Milk Carton Kids. One of these concerts actually led to my #1 most memorable moment of the year - meeting Marcus Mumford and having a random conversation about guitars.  It was also a great year for theater shows, seeing some great actors and actresses on Broadway stages and locally in D.C.    

As for resolutions, like all years it was a mixed bag of those accomplished and those abandoned. One of my resolutions last year was to take a photo of five interesting places.  Not surprisingly, this was the one resolution about which I was most enthusiastic because it got my imagination running and served as a catalyst for my travel planning.  Here are the final five places, some with more than one photo:

1. Ice Hotel in Quebec

2. The Taj Mahal in India

3. A view of Mount Everest from Namche Bazaar in Nepal

4. The neon sign boneyard in Las Vegas



5. The Subway at Zion National Park

Looking back on my resolutions for 2013, I wondered if I just had too many that made achieving all those goals to be impossible.  For 2014, I want to keep it simple and keep it centered around things that are meaningful or that incorporate some of my favorite things to do.  So for next year, I want to:

• Travel to at least 1 new country, but go abroad 2 or more times
• Photograph 5 Interesting Places - Part 2
• 365 Photography Project: Take a photo every day for a year (follow me on Instagram!)
• Have lunch with at least 1 Facebook friend, each month, that I have not seen in over two years even though that person lives in the DC/Baltimore region
• Bake something new at least twice each month

So here's to finishing out one great year and to keeping the pattern going in 2014.  Happy new year everyone!

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My "Best of" Portland, Oregon

While I spent a good portion of my formative years in and around Portland, Oregon, as an adult now living on the east coast, I rarely return.  When I do, I love that even the familiar becomes an adventure.  So while on the west coast for the holidays, I made a quick 24 hour trip to P-town to run around to old haunts, try new places, and take photos while I'm at it.

Center of it all is Pioneer Courthouse Square in Downtown Portland.  Though not much to see, this is a good orientation point for deciding on your walking paths - yes downtown Portland is very walkable.  Don't miss the famous statue of the man in the rain, dressed in his ugly Christmas sweater apparently for the holidays if you're there in December.

Powells Books:  If you are a bibliophile of any magnitude, then Powell's Books is a place where you will need to allot a good chunk of time during a Portland visit! I had to stop myself after just 2 hours because my back was starting to hurt from the weight of my basket.  Housed in a 68,000 sqft building that occupies a whole city block at 10th and Burnside, you walk in the door and quickly realize you will need to take one of the complimentary maps to explore all of the new, used, and rare books available.  The bookshelves sometimes require stepladders to reach, and you'll find one in practically every aisle.  Book suggestions are numerous everywhere, identified by the folded cards on the edge of the shelves.  If you remember the Choose Your Own Adventure books from the 1980s and 1990s, then this store ironically seems like you're living in one of those books - where each staircase leads you to a new adventure path.  Sadly, I spent the majority of my 2 hours in just one room and left the remaining rooms to be explored on a future trip.

Portland Saturday Market: What was once just a small square near the Burnside Bridge, Saturday Market is now spilling into three areas, including space along the riverfront.  On the weekend, local artisans bring their goods to this market to sell.  Great place for souvenirs!

Also, Saturday Market is conveniently located around the corner from the very popular Voodoo Doughnuts.  If you're from Washington D.C. or have visited, you might equate Voodoo with Georgetown Cupcakes - tons of hype, line around the corner, higher than average prices.  I wasn't too impressed by the doughnuts themselves, but the experience was fun!

Clockwise starting at 1 o'clock: Dirt Doughnut (yeast doughnut, vanilla frosting, Oreos), Voodoo Doll (raspberry filled yeast doughnut with chocolate and pretzel stake), Bacon Maple Bar, Diablos Rex (chocolate cake with chocolate frosting and red sprinkles), McMinnville Cream (Bavarian cream filled yeast doughnut with maple frosting), Memphis Mafia (fried dough with banana bits and cinnamon topped with chocolate and peanut butter frosting, peanuts, and chocolate chips).

The weather was a bit uncooperative (how shocking!) but I did get a few photos that I sought.  One of which is the Old Union Station sign.  What I love about Portland is that they have maintained many original buildings that reveal the charm of the city from as much as 100 years ago.  The train station exterior is a must see, but the buildings near Pioneer Courthouse Square are also interesting - I'm specifically recalling the old Meier & Frank department store building (now Macy's) that reminds me of the company's NYC Harold Square flagship store with the old escalators. 

The Pearl District is a whole new neighborhood for me because, growing up, it was not a desirable part of town.  Now the old buildings north of Burnside are occupied with newer loft-style condos, fancy townhomes, small boutique shops, bars, restaurants, and some mainstream retailers. 

Since my trip was so short, I wasn't able to get to some of my other "best of" places, unfortunately.  One of the items on my list, and probably not one that you would find on any other list, is Rimskey's Korsakoffeehouse.  Located in an old, nondescript house in an unexpected neighborhood, Rimskey's was the quirky place we liked to go to on weekends for coffee and dessert.  It was also a fun place to take people for the first time because they had three tables that have a mind of their own.  I won't say more for good reasons, but don't worry, it's a fun surprise! This may seem weird, but I would also suggest that you find a reason to use the bathroom at Rimskeys just to have that experience!  The photo below gives you a sample of what you're in for, but it doesn't do the room justice!  The coffee and desserts are decent, and it's a cash only operation, but it's all worth it for the atmosphere.

In the spring and summer, don't miss Portland's famous Rose Garden and Japanese Garden.  And for the preeminent postcard view of the city with Mt. Hood in the background, find your way to the gardens behind Pittock Mansion.

Of course, you can't be in Portland and not try one of the many craft brew pubs like McMinnamins
or Deschutes Brewery. Also, don't miss out on the food cart madness.  Permanently situated around the perimeter of several parking lots downtown, these food carts/trucks serve up good food for great prices.  As a big fan of food trucks, I was in heaven!

With some extra time and a car on your hands, Multnomah Falls is the place to go.  It's a less than 40 minute drive to see this gorgeous waterfall.  If you are inclined, you can walk to the top and get a view down the falls and into the Columbia River Gorge. 

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Happy Holidays!

From my Ewok and me to your family and you!

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Reducing the Reading Pile

It's that time of year when the weather ruins outdoor plans, and you find a great alternative is cuddling up in a comfy chair with a blanket and a good book....and I have three recommendations for you!

Must Read

Me Before You by Jojo Moyes

When Louisa Clark loses her job, she must find something quickly to help support her struggling family.  She takes a short-term care giver contract with a local wealthy family whose son was in an accident and is now a quadriplegic.  Will Traynor was a very successful and very active man, who was also very popular with London's beautiful women, until a motorcycle accident took it all away.  Struggling to win him over and lift his spirits, Louisa finally understands why her contract is only 6 months long when she overhears Will's mom and sister talking about the arrangement Will made with them - when the 6 months expires, he wants to end his life.  Louisa makes it her mission to change his mind and show him that life is worth living.

The Girl You Left Behind by Jojo Moyes

Often when one book is fantastic by an author, there's a good chance that additional books he or she has written will be good.  In this case, it was better than I imagined, with a story line that was  far removed from the tragedy of Me Before You.  Well, there was still a hint of tragedy, but my thoughts were more like "how can this get any worse for her" and "should I be worried that I'm not going to get a happy ending" and "wow, I didn't expect that, but I love it!"  Thankfully, no kleenex was required. This book is a love story, multiple love stories actually, as only Jojo Moyes can write.  I won't go into details for fear of revealing too much of the plot, so you'll have to trust me.  I have to say that I also appreciated the author's subtle commentary on modern day materialism and the loss of human connection - it makes you stop and think for a bit.

The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman

I was a little worried about the story in the beginning, a flashback told from a 7 year old's perspective, but once the mysterious events started to occur and you're introduced to the three women living on a neighboring farm, you get sucked in.  I felt like this is the first time since the Harry Potter series, where I have been able to suspend belief and journey to an imaginative and thrilling world of mystique.  At around 200 pages, it's not a big commitment for such a great entertainment return.


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An Abundance of Katherines by John Green

Unlike my experience with Jojo Moyes, reading this book was a huge disappointment after first reading Green's incredibly moving The Fault in Our Stars.  I can't even describe the point of the book except a road trip with two friends to help one of the boys get over a recent breakup.  The plot was predictable and dragged on too long.

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