Woody Cavenaugh

If last night was the only night you came out to check out the 48 Hour Film Project, you might have come away with a bad impression. Maybe it was just my expectations, the first night was good, the second night was great, I was hoping that tonight would be incredible. Instead what I saw as a whole was worse than the first night. As a group they stunk on ice. But individually there were a couple of good ones. Here's the breakdown in order of appearance.

The Throwaway by Contagious Media, The team name is ironic, I think they might have actually been contagious. This team has a sad story that I have to share. They are a new team of inexperienced young people who threw their all into this effort. With ten or twenty minutes to spare they got across the finish line and then sat back to catch their breaths. The time ticked away and the deadline was reached. As they are sitting around talking about what they did and what they would do better next year, it slowly dawned on them that they never actually copied their film to the tape they turned in. They had turned in a blank. They went back and turned an actual tape, but it was too late to qualify them for judging. How was the film? If it was meant to be a spy comedy, it failed to deliever the right laughs at the right places, though the audience did laugh. If it was suppose to be serious, it failed because the audience was laughing. In the lobby I overheard someone say that this piece would have been much better had it ended just after their opening graphics. It was a harsh comment, but they did have some excellent opening graphics and that may have set our expectations too high. With more experience this team could perform. I would call this maybe the best of the young newbies.

Rapper On Da Ruuf by The Macaroni Project. These guys got musical and ran with it. Nothing happened. There wasn't a plot or anything, but I think most people chose this as one of their top three choices. Great idea, great execution, and a possible explenation for the origin of Rap. Love it or hate it, I think Dr.Seuse was the inspiration for the entire movement and this piece convinced me of it. At no point during the night did I laugh harder than I laughed during this piece. I met some of the cast and crew of this piece and they were all really a fun bunch.

Love Meat Tender by Mini Boom. As I heard in the lobby after someone said, "I want to use Love Meat Tender as an example of what NOT to do when making a comedy". Technically it was shot ok, they had some pretty low resolution graphics, clever use of the softball, and really clever credits. What they didn't have was all on the creative side. Still, next year, if they got a genre more suited to their style (definately not mocumentary or comedy), who knows what they could accomplish.

Coney Island Whitefish by No Wah-Wah. A few tips to young filmmakers everywhere. In most cases Autofocus is NOT your friend. I think this was one of those teams who had only a camera and for that I applaud them for at least trying. Another tip, if you are indoors and you want the camera to focus on an opening exterior door in the bright sunlight, DON'T. It takes a very skilled group to pull of that shot without it looking horrible. (No one tonight pulled it off.) I would talk about the story, but I don't know what it is. I got so wrapped up in trying to figure out if they were trying to establish the passing of time, or just having terrible continuity problems. Wait, you want us to think that you are showing a sex scene but everyone is in their underwear. You know, when soap operas do this they put the actors UNDER a sheet, so we believe they are naked. The saddest part of this film was when it was over, there was only a smattering of polite applause. That means that I wasn't the only one who was thinking "WTF?"

Late To A Kill by Phenomena. This was very funny, very creative, and mostly likely to be forgotten by audience and judges alike. (Not that it mattered, I see they didn't cross the finish line in time.) I think this was another newbie team, but they were solid. I was really torn between voting for this one and voting for one other. The reason I ended up not voting for this one was that though they were fine technically and story wise, they didn't try anything. They risked nothing and took all the easy ways out. If they had gotten this piece in on time, it might have paid off for them.

Love Overdue by the Strait 90's. This was my favorite of the evening. It was a good complete story, with good acting and nice cinematography (They had two Directors of Photography). They had light problems but pretty much everyone tonight did. I am thrilled that they are eligable, but overall I don't think they will stand up to the strong competition found on other nights.

Yes, Jane, Yes by Sugar Free Productions. I loved this idea. I would love to see a good experienced team shoot and edit it though. What they had in concept, they totally lacked in technical know how. If Good As A Mugg or Team Underexposed had this it would have been a winner.

The Lowering by Summer of Love. I have worked with their team leader before and I know he is a solid local filmmaker. If you had asked me before this competition who the real competition was, his name would have been on the list. That said, I didn't like this horror. What we had was a woman with substance abuse problems and a really cute goth chick, and they edited these two different things together. Most of the people I talked to did like this, but they seemed more pleased with the technical aspects than the story. (Was there a story?) This piece made a stab at post production sound to create a horror atmosphere, and I guess it was effective, just not enough to carry it in my opinion. If I was going to fault them for anything technically it would have to be their lighting. Afterwards at the Q&A they admitted that they had a whole different story and location but they were so creeped out by the abandoned house location that they chickened out and went for the B plan.

GOK Tom Lipscomb Productions. I know Leo, I like Leo. This film got off lucky by being last. It was cute, it was quirky, and it had some good dialogue. It wasn't very strong technically, but the reason I voted for this film and not "Late To A Kill" was that they took some risks on shooting and effects to raise their production value. So I guess what this tells me is it really is better to try and fail, than never to try at all.

So there we are. It was a tough night. Of the nine teams that showed only four qualified for judging. My picks were "Love Overdue", "Rapper On Da Ruuf", and after much deliberation "GOK". If these three films had shown last night, none of them would've gotten my vote.

My overall choices from all three nights were
1. "The Gift" by Team Underexposed
2. "Unhinged: The Sly Stephens Story" by Hyperactive
3. "Organized Art" by Good as a Mugg

My Bonus 4th pick would be "Triggerfinger" by The Jive Mechanics

Saturday night at The Sky Bar starting at 7pm is the Wrap Party, where we find out what the audience as a whole liked for the Audience Award, and what the Judges thought for everything else. Besides "Best of" (The award everyone wants) there are the following other categories, Best Directing, Best Script, Best Cinematography, Best Editing, Best Acting, Best Use of Character, Best Use of Prop, Best Use of Word, Best Music, Best Sound Design, Best Effects.

If you don't make the party, drop by here on Monday and I'll recap it all.

Posted by Woody Cavenaugh at 8:40 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)

These were the "Group B" films shown more or less in alphabetical order by team name, there was one exception, one teams entry didn't get into the program, and was tacked onto the end. One thing I noticed about the official 48 Hour Film Project trailer was that at the end they thanked the Screen Actor's Guild. Why? Money didn't change hands anywhere, so the union shouldn't really care, I mean except for the part where they feel like actors should make a flat million dollars a minute fee (Unless someone misses a meal, has to work late, or is asked to do something uncomfortable, then they get more.) The screen actor's guild is a lot like The Empire, and the 48 Hour Film Project is sort of like Cloud City. Its a small operation that the Empire really isn't all that interested in. (Unless it suddenly has some sort of stragegic advantage like trapping Jedi or something). This is another discussion for another time.

Lets talk movies! First off I have to say that "Group B" on a whole was better than "Group A" and once again the bar was raised into the atmosphere. If "Group C" continues the trend, next year will be completely mindblowing.

Synthetic by Bonnie and Clyde Productions. The night started off with a bang, almost literally as this film walked the tightrope between gay stereotyping and chauvinism with a big old scoop of Kevin Smith for inspiration. It was cute, funny, edgy and origional. Where they lost out was the technical side, makeup, lights, sound, one scene they forgot to white balance and their actresses looked like zombies. Did they nail Kevin Smith, absolutely not. Did they nail their comedy genre, oh yes. I made this my third pick based on script alone.

Organized Art by Good As A Mugg. These guys won big last year and I see no reason so far why they won't do it again this year. The difference is this year will be a little harder for them due to everyone else stepping up. Did it have problems? Thankfully, yes. I was completely confused and ended up having to try to read my program by the light of my tablet to figure out what genre they had. Finally, they revealed that it was mockumentary and the mob guys were talking to a film crew and not to other mobsters. Once that confusion was out of the way, I laughed and laughed and laughed. After the initial confusion, it proved to be a very solid technical piece with a funny script, and good actors. I gave this film my second pick. This team is sure to take home an award or several again this year.

Where Are the Flying Cars by The Mes. I think this must have been one of this group's first film attempts, and for that it wasn't bad. Credit where credit is due, it was really risky to drive all the way to Nags Head to film a one minute sequence, but it was worth it as it really added to the film's production value. There were huge problems in many places, but for a group of newbies it was a good solid start.

The Super Best Buds by Nexus. Five kids between the ages of 13 and 16 make a superhero movie. In parts I found it embarassing to watch(I remember being that age all too well), but I couldn't deny this group of friends have unlimited potential and one day they will surpass everything we've seen so far in the 48 Hour Film Project. Greensboro needs a filmmaking summercamp for these guys and others like them. I'd volunteer to help.

Silo by Pure Energy Productions. Buddy movie? How can you make a buddy movie when one of the buddies is a ghost and the other is being murdered??? This was a team with a good idea, that needed a tripod and a script revision.

Scarred by See-Saw Productions. They drew horror, and drew upon the relatively recent advances in Japanese horror movie style. I was on the fence with this one after I saw it, and made a note that said so. However, unlike a film I saw last night, the more I thought about this one the more I liked it. They cleverly solved the whole actor problem by having no real dialogue, and only flashes of two people. Where these guys really shined was in the editing room, and though they had a couple of render problems, and some messed up sound it was technically very sound. I could have easily given this my number three pick, and probably would have had I been given an hour to think about it before I voted.

Strangers by Sweaty Tooth Madman. I hated that they opened with some pretty bad graphic's problems, but it didn't take me long to forget about it. This was the film where afterwards we all sat around and tried to figure out what the story was about. Rednecks, sex changes, huh? Not too shabby on the technical side, they had real problems with sound that either happened during shooting or in post, and a few of the handheld shots made me want to hurl, but overall it wasn't too bad. This film wasn't eligable for judging because they went way over in time. I felt like they wanted more time to tell their story, but I think a different editor and director could've told the same story in less time. This team is destined for better in the competitions to come.

The Gift Team Underexposed. What a wild ride! A great deal of stuff happened in seven minutes and it managed not to come off as rushed. The overall production value was so high that the one tiny technical error I saw that most of the audience completely missed crushed my soul. This was a team who like only one of the other teams tonight made the conscious decision to sacrifice nothing in their 48 hours. It was clear that every job in this production was filled by someone who was dedicated not only to the film as a whole but in excellence in the roll they played in it as well. I went back and forth on this one a little but in the end I gave this film my #1 pick. I can't imagine this film not winning something, and with so many excellent elements, its just a matter of the judges picking which element they want to single out the most.

Unforced Entry by Carolina Dream Team. These were essentially first time filmmakers giving a good honest try at the competition. Their story was pretty good, even if I was lost at the ending. Maybe I was supposed to be confused, they did choose mystery. They obviously didn't have much equipment, and what they had they really weren't comfortable with using. I suspect that if they had had an extra six hours in post production they could have fixed 90% of what was wrong and I hope that they will go back and reedit their piece not only for practice but to use in other competitions.

So my voted on picks were "The Gift", "Organized Art" and "Synthetic". Had I had another hour to think about it I would've switched "Scarred" with "Synthetic", but I do not by any means regret my decisions.

Over everything I have seen in the past two days, my picks would be "The Gift", "Organized Art", and "Unhinged: The Sly Stephen's Story". But I am not 100% certain in what order I would place them.

If you are free tonight, come out to the Carousel theater to catch the "Group C" films at either 6:30pm or 8:30pm, if these past two nights are any indication, you will not be disappointed.

Or if the weekend is more your thing, come out to the Sky Bar at 7pm on Saturday the 30th for the awards ceremony. The "Best Overall" award will be given at 9pm with the technical awards going first. Who knows, maybe they will be able to show the winners. (Hear that Ed and Nisha?)

Posted by Woody Cavenaugh at 8:58 AM | Permalink | Comments (6)

Last night at the Carousel I attended the first screening of the Group "A" teams. We had ten films shown total with seven eligible for judging.

On a whole I can say with complete honesty that we have upped the bar of what we can do in 48 hours in Greensboro. The worst film I saw last night was way better than the worst thing I saw last year. That says amazing things about the big movie making town that no one has ever heard of. (I believe this is going to change in a hurry thanks to things like the 48 Hour Film Project.)

I will say many things about the films I saw last night, but will definately borrow wise quotes from those who are clearly more experienced at film making than I am. I also feel ok doing so since neither of them have weighed in yet on what we saw. With that said, it was Sara who brought to my attention that the worst of last night was way better than the worst of last year.

The next observation which segways into my own observation was by Ike Quigley, and it was a good enough observation to try to quote him on. "You've only got 48 hours to make a film, everyone is going to feel like they have to give up something." While I think he is exactly right, I think that it was more a matter of being ok with not having something rather than leaving something behind. The only thing you really have to have to compete in the 48 Hour Film Project is a camera. Beyoned that everything else are "nice to haves" (Including really knowing actually how to USE the camera.) If you have these other things you end result is going to be more polished with a higher production value, but it doesn't automatically mean it will be better overall. Many of the films I saw last night didn't even have a tripod to put the camera on, and sometimes I did have to turn away from the screen to keep from getting motion sick, but it in and of itself didn't mean the film had no value. On the other hand one team had a well trained crew, good equipment, and wiz-bang special effects, but by no means did that mean they were the best there.

I have been trying to avoid talking about these films by name to protect feelings, but if I can't say something a little critical then it also means I can't heap on the praise, and by golly I want to praise and if I have to pan a little to do that I hope no one takes offence.

"Pink Slip" by Big As A Jugg Productions, was a superhero film that I had already seen before. Drawing elements from the BBC sitcom "My Hero" and Disney's "The Incredibles" they really started the night off with a bang with outstanding special effects, that didn't go overboard and draw attention away from the story. What they "gave up" due to time was a strong script, and tight editing. I worry that they will lose points for their use of the required character.

"Slice of Life" by The Dirt Bags was a mystery that was "stabbingly funny". When the mystery was solved, it was clear that had it not been a comedy it wouldn't have worked. The crowd really liked this one, and we laughed from the opening sceen to the closing one. This was a team who seemed to have only a camera and a tripod, and what they lacked in technical merit they made up for in storytelling. In seven minutes they told a complete story from start to finish. This got my #3 pick.

"Terrarium" by General Pictures was a Sci-Fi truly inspired by shows like The Twilight Zone, and Outer Limits. Had I been able to pick my top four favorites rather than my top three favorites I would have picked this one as my #4 pick. I liked the story, and they clearly had some post production available to them. I wasn't wild about their foley work, but then again, as a boom operator, I tend to focus on these things beyond what is really necessary.

"Unhinged: The Sly Stephens Story" by Hyperactive This comedy mocumentary pretty much stole the show. It got my #1 pick and for good reason, terrific script, great use of character, great use of prop, great music, and great acting. This team didn't sacrifice very much at all in 48 hours.

The Interrogator by Honey, It's Not What You Think. A detective/cop film, they had great cinematography, good use of character, good lighting and good acting, they sacrificed sound. As for their story, this is a tough one. In my notes I wrote "not stunning, slightly confusing", later I went back and crossed out "slightly" and replaced it with "very". The more I thought about what I saw the less since it made until it just unraveled in my mind. I think others might have liked it more than I did.

Triggerfiger The Jive Mechanics did it again, this time with a buddy film (They chose the wildcard). I was impressed by their work last year, and they impressed me again. I think if these guys could actually get their project turned in on time they would take home a prize. In my notes I wrote less than one minute into the script that this was a "Tater" script. For those who know the guy that I am talking about, during the course of this film both Ike and Sara turned to me and said the same thing to me. Obviously this was one of my picks, and it was my #2 pick. They didn't seem to have much beyond a camera and a tripod to work with (the sound was pretty rough throughout), but it got a huge audience reaction and for the Group A audience, their overall favorite without a doubt will be this or "Unhinged".

Three Little Furies & A Golden Lock by Mercury I believe that this team was the youngest overall team that showed in this group. That said it is difficult to compare to the others due a different maturity level. I think this group had only a camera and did their best to tell an action/adventure story.

Bad By Design from New South Pictures, was supposed to be a mockumentary, but wasn't. They had good sound, great acting, a very clever script and nice music. Infact I noted they had the best sound of the entire night. I know they had better sound equipemnt, not only by how it sounded, but because my heart fell into my stomach when in one of their shots the boom shadow appeared predominantly. Had this been an actual mockumentary then the boom shadow would have been a sight gag and not an unfortunate screwup. The whole audience ended up gasping outloud and I heard more than one "awwww.." when it appeared.

Espionne by The Offbeats a spy movie drawn by another group of young people. It featured predominately a Belgin beauty who was only in the states for two weeks. I personally thought they nailed the "Spy" genre. It was exactly what you would expect to see. So that in and of itself might be one of this story's biggest drawbacks. This team didn't even have a tripod. There are few who can hold an extreme closeup on someone's face with a handheld shot without wavering. I also liked their closing credits even though it was exactly the same way that Saturday Night Live does it. Thus, it was more comical then it needed to be.

Once More by Triad Film Duo. This team fearlessly tackled the "musical" genre armed with only a camera and a boombox. They had an uplifting story of carrying on with a "Cats in the Cradle" feel. I almost though they had two camera crews at work here. Someone with a good camera who knew how to use it and someone with a lesser camera who only really knew how to press record. More than any film I saw tonight, this was the one most hurt by the lack of equipment. Attention future teams who draw musical, you had better have some sort of place to record vocals later on to ADR in. The microphone built into the camera simply won't do. It doesn't matter how talented your singers are. (And this team had a very talented singer.)

So to sum up. (For the two or three of you who slogged through this long post.) Of the ten films I saw four of them featured children playing catch with the softball, three of them featured the locksmith as their main character (And had his name written on his red toolbox), two teams wrote the line "It hurts when I do this" on the softball. One team, rather than have a locksmith named S. Stevens, had a character named S. Stevens Locksmith. I guess after careful research of earth language and customs also decited "Ford Prefect" was probably a perfectly non-conspicuous name as well.

Of "Group A" my favorites were Unhinged: The Sly Stephens Story, Triggerfinger, and Slice of Life.

If you can, please come out to the Carousel Theatre tonight and tomorrow night at 6:30 or 8:30 to catch the Group "B", and "C" films. The team that won last year is showing their newest film tonight in Group "B" (alongside my team, Team Underexposed). And of course, come back tomorrow for my reviews of the Group "B" shows, and Friday for the Group "C" films.

48 Hours to make 7 minutes to impress.

Posted by Woody Cavenaugh at 10:03 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

I just got off the phone with an exuberant Jim. In fact the last time I heard him this excited about anything it was his wedding day and his zipper was stuck!

He went to his two week post surgery check up and discovered that he had lost 67 pounds!

Needless to say he's as pleased as punch and will be blogging as soon as they get back to the hotel. Tomorrow they will be packing up the truck and headding back to good old Greensboro. I am sure he is excited about seeing all his friends again, just not over dinner.

I know someone who is probably really excited about their 15 year high school reunion...

Posted by Woody Cavenaugh at 1:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Its Monday morning. On the way into work I looked at the clock in the car and it said 98.7 in a panic I called into work to let them know I was going to be late. That's how tired I am.

We sent a finished but not polished version of our film to the finish line about an hour before the deadline. They didn't intend to turn it in unless something terrible happened and the polished version didn't make it in in time. With ten minutes to spare our lead actor saunters into the tavern and after exchanging passwords switched the polished tape for the unpolished one and the mystery Co-Producing Scotsman known only as "Erik Rankin" turned in all of our paperwork, and our polished film to the contest officials, Ed and Nisha. By 7:30 only 21 of the original 33 teams crossed the finish line. Like last year, a full one third of those who try fail. It sends a shiver up my spine to know that for two years in a row I have been on a team that reached the finish line on time. What will next year bring?

It was worth it though, and I can't wait until next year to do it all over again. By that time I should be caught up on my sleep. I figured now would be a good time to make a quick list of other people on the crew who blogged about the experience and link them here also this way you get a more complete picture of what Team Underexposed was up to. And no, we aren't going to tell you what it was about other than we drew "Spy" as our genre.

Rob (Post Production Supervisor)Saturday July 23rd, 11:38 am.
Rob (Post Production Supervisor)Saturday July 23rd 10:21pm.
Rob (Post Production Supervisor)Sunday July 24th, 1:43pm.
Rob (Post Production Supervisor) Monday July 25th 8:28am.

Kimi (Script Supervisor), dropped something on her livejournal but refuses to release it to the wild because in her words, "I went 30 hours without sleep, anything I wrote wouldn't be insightful."

Sara (First Assistant Director) "*snore*" I SAID SARA (FIRST ASSISTANT DIRECTOR) "*snooooooorrrrreeeeett* *mumble*." I couldn't have said it better myself.

There are others, but who knows if they will weigh in on their blogs at all.

My overall impression after the fact was that through Elvin magic (or at least some cookies) several small groups of excellent people came together with some other excellent people no one had worked with before and formed a perfect union of likeminded souls who made a concerted effort to raise the already sky-high bar of indi film in Greensboro. I have no idea if we would win anything in the final contest, but our effort helps to make everyone have to work just a little harder.

So wanna see a movie?
Group A films show July 26th at 6:30pm and a second showing at 8:30pm
Group B films show July 27th at 6:30pm and a second showing at 8:30pm <--That's us
Group C films show July 28th at 6:30 and a second showing at 8:30pm

The winners will be announced on July 30th at the Sky Bar "Best overall" will be announced at 9pm so come early and meet the teams. We will all be showered by this time, I promise.

UPDATE:
Sara Cavenaugh (First Assistant Director) Has had her say.
Ike Quigley (Director) Has his say.

Posted by Woody Cavenaugh at 9:47 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)

Its that final two seconds that is taking the most time to finish. It isn't about making a perfect two seconds, its about taking them away. We are exactly on schedule and spirits of all involved are high.

Our finish movie length is 7:57:007 Our producers are in place with the final product and we are waiting for the actors to come in at the perfect dramatic time for the "Big Finish".

When dining on the fourth floor at McCouls be sure to have the hagis, it is excellent.

Our spies report that not all teams are going to make it on time. Apparently some teams are having car trouble and others can't seem to find the drop off location. That's too bad guys. Better luck next year...

Posted by Woody Cavenaugh at 6:21 PM | Permalink

Last night we learned that it takes 30 minutes to get from the lair to the fortress. I just wish it hadn't been 2am when we made this discovery. I slept last night. It was good, but not enough. I think I got a total of six hours.

I am at The Lair II where I've been since 10:30am, I have been working with our sound designer who I have nicknamed "Wash" because of how much he reminds me of "Wash" from Firefly. I would work with him again. I would drink with him. We spent the morning doing foley work, and now he's back in editing post production sound design.

After foley, I napped, woke up, and discovered to my pleasant surprise that Rob had set up a wireless network in Lair 2. The blogging will continue.

The time is now 3:31pm and we are slightly behind schedule, but well within schedule'd slush time. Our spies reported that the team that took it all last year finished shooting about the same time we did. As far as we know, he is still doing his own shooting and his own editing, so at the moment we both finished shooting, we were way way ahead of him.

The special 3D effects, which we thought was going to be the biggest hurdle, are finished, integrated, and so seamless you won't know that she wasn't there to begin with. We had the bonus dog fight footage from the airport yesterday we couldn't just not use it. And why not, we got a waiver and everything.

Posted by Woody Cavenaugh at 3:24 PM | Permalink

We have just finished shooting at the airport and I am happy to report we are not only on target but we have extra footage just too cool not to get. "You mean you dogfight?"

We have one sequence left to film and that is done at our primary lair. Meanwhile at the secondary lair news of my death has just been capured to computer from the tape. The lab is running fine with editing, post production sound, and 3D titles and graphics cranking out movie magic as we speak.

Seinfield has the superman item in each episode. Ike Quigley has a big Woody he just loves to abuse. (So far I have only survived one Ike Quigley production.)

As you can tell from my ability to write in complete sentences I managed to get a one hour nap. One hour sleep in 48 hours awake isn't much, but it is way better than no sleep at all.

On the project management side of this, we had some task run late but we were able to run some other tasks concurently so we were able to do more work in the same period of time. The Holywood method would be to "crash" the schedule by throwing dollars at the problem until it went away. So far this production has only cost about $450 (including the entry fee) and we don't want to waste precious dollars. As of now we have rebaselined for a slight scope increase but anticipate we will be finished with shooting by 11pm. Everyone sleeps and we wrap post production between 9am and 3pm with 4 hours to spare. The principal stakeholders are thrilled as we are well ahead of their last years project which failed to meet the hard end date. We are also saving them money over last year.

Fear our 3L337 Project Managemenet Filmmakeing skilz.

update; Rob is also keeeping us updated from the second lair. I think I will turn on trillian.

Update2: 1am shooting has wrapped and the last tape is one the way to the second lair. ADR will begin setup at 9:30am and actors will arive at 10am. We are in very good shape. Or so this light switch keeps assuring me. sleep.....

Posted by Woody Cavenaugh at 9:12 PM | Permalink

At least I am trusting the computer that it is Saturday. I have a confession to make. I woke up at 5am on Friday, went to work, got off of work, and went to play in the contest. It is Saturday, it is 3pm, 80% of our shooting is complete and being edited at our second secret lair. (we have shot in 4 locations so far, the first location we were in for 9 hours). I haven't slept more than five minutes and that was standing up with a boom over my head. Ok, once I fell asleep drinking coffee. I have another burn now.

I am tired. How tired? A female cast member just changed bras and shirts in front of me and I didn't care.

Holy crap. I'm dead.

In the relm of running this like a project, we started on time, got as far as 3.5 hours behind and made it back up with good risk management. We have seen one team and they looked pretty well rested. We weren't impressed, rest means your team probably isn't all that ambitious.

Our team has worked very well with one another, and I would work with this team again. *yawn* *snt*

huh? did someone say something?

Posted by Woody Cavenaugh at 2:52 PM | Permalink

Its 8:04 and we are live from the secret lair of Team underexposed.
The Prop- A Softball
The Line- It hurts when I do this.
The Character- S. Stephenson, locksmith
The Genre we drew- Spy!!

We are currently on schedule and the writers are sealed in an isolation chamber. Time is ticking until the script is due... If the don't deliever on time, well, we'll be hiring for writers.

We have the actors in a colorful room with lots of toys so they will be good and stimulated for shooting.

Our AD Sara Cavenaugh has a frickin' laser on her head.

Our henchmen are in place tailing the other teams and reporting back to us. Operation 'tripline' is ready to go on a moment's notice and all the proper forms have been filled out with Greensboro so the streets surrounding the drop off point will be baracaded by 6pm on Sunday.

Victory is mine!

Posted by Woody Cavenaugh at 8:03 PM | Permalink

Tomorrow is the night. kick off for this years 48 Hour Film Project is at 7pm. The gist of the thing is that at 7pm a prop, a character, and a line of dialogue will be revealed to all teams. Each team draws a genre from a hat. 48 hours from then they have to come back with a finished 7 minute film. If you don't make the deadline, you don't get judged. If you win, you get sent to the World Headquarters in Washington DC. The top 5 finishers there will get to to shoot and edit their piece all over again with professional grade equipment. The winner of that gets to keep the professional grade equipment!

"Team Underexposed" is ready to go. This year there are something like 33 teams competeing. Here's the dates and place to keep up with.

KICKOFF
Friday, July 22nd, 5:30-7pm
Sky Bar, 221 S. Elm St. in downtown Greensboro
Doors open at 5:30 PM for free hors d’oeuvres provided courtesy of Catering Carolina and Sky Bar; drawings begin at 6:30pm; the competition starts at 7:00pm sharp!

DROP OFF
Sunday, July 24th, 5:30pm-12 midnight (on-time films by 7:30pm!)
Next Door Tavern, located at 219 S. Elm Street, in downtown Greensboro. Share war stories with other teams, have a couple of drinks, eat some pizza, and wow the crowd with some karaoke!

SCREENINGS
CAROUSEL CINEMA
http://carouselcinemas.com/showtimes.php
1305 Battleground Ave., Greensboro.
336.230.1620

Group A - July 26 6:30pm & 8:30pm
Group B - July 27 6:30pm & 8:30pm
Group C - July 28 6:30pm & 8:30pm

Since I am in Group "B" and Cam will be with the Doc at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs Colorado, there will be no fencing on the 27th.

If you are interested in what's going on, feel free to check out the kickoff, the dropoff (both are like the Cannonball Run) very exciting and fun events. If you aren't interested in racing filmmakers, check out the films themselves on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday -but buy your tickets early, last year every showing was sold out early.

I will keep you posted as I can, and if nothing else I will give the "dirt" about how it went for Team Underexposed on Monday.

Wish us luck...

Posted by Woody Cavenaugh at 4:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

I wouldn't have begun to blog on the topic but I was inspired by a guy who really does a pretty good job of it. He dives in unafraid and I really respect that. He knows what he likes and he sticks with it. I figured if he could do it regularly and well, then I should be able to at least take one crack at it. It isn't like there isn't enough material.

Its been on my mind for some time, I think the first time I remember thinking about it was in church as a child. We have this book that has caused more wars than anything else I can think of. It is really a collection of smaller books written over time and bound together under one title. It has been organized into two basic parts, one of them is older and one of them is newer. A fair few thousand years comes between the first words and the last ones. (Assuming the books are in order.) Some books have been lost to time, others have been omited by the choosing of whoever was in charge at the time. Few bloggers will discuss it because sooner or later someone comes along and announces that you are doomed for all of time to misery and pain for not only bringing it up, but daring to disagree with their interpretation.

So the real problem is that if one were to print the whole thing verse by verse on note cards and stuck them to the wall you would soon discover that there are inconsistencies. Nope, not a strong enough word. The word really is contradictions. One of the most obvious ones that we deal with in the news on a day to day basis is killing. Parts of the book support killing, parts forbid it. So we send soldiers to kill in foreign lands but we put killers at home in prison and then argue wether or not we should kill them back.

There have been a good many people who thought they had the whole thing figured out, the Catholic church, the Babtist church, the Southern Babtist Convention, (There seem to be more flavors of Babtist than you can shake a stick at.) the Mormons, the Quakers, Jim Jones, and the Branch Davidians just to take a swipe at the list. Some religions only use one half of the book either the old half or the new half. I can think of at least one who wrote a whole other book to go with the other two that they use. Walk into a christian bookstore and there are a whole bunch of these books, lots of different translations, lots of different interpretations. There's more flavors than Baskin Robbins. Most use just the old part and the new part.

So you have different versions of books bound together that were written, rewritten, and translated over the course of a couple of thousand years. Every word is word of the all mighty, and in that light the all mighty is depicted as fickle. In the old part he's vocal, angry and quick to smite. In the new part he works through his son, keeps a low profile, and teaches love and forgiveness.

No wonder there is so much strife in the world. Anyone who ever tried to live the book as written has surely gone insane. So we do what humans do so well. We adapt. We spread the book out like a big buffet and we eat the parts that work for us. This reminds me of the observation that the old part of the book has some rules about what to eat and what not to eat and pork is on the list of no-no's. Yet almost every weekend southern churches are holding BBQ fundraisers. No one worries about contradiction. Society, climate, history convenience, and availability have caused these people to forgo with the rules of food. These same folks are more likely to be for killing over seas and willing to kill to protect the unborn, yet they still fight amongst themselves over what to do with those who murder.

Now, I know it must sound like I am knocking the lifestyle. Far from it I support the lifestyle and often buy BBQ plates from church fund raisers. All people seem to have a few basic needs, they need to believe in something, and they need to belong. So like minded people will join together and be comforted by their similar beliefs. Even the anarchist and the non-conformist all come together as a group of likeminded people who believe in being different from everyone else. (The irony of that always makes me smile)

What sets my teeth on edge is when one group of likeminded people gaze condescendingly at another group and want to change or destroy them. Quick list to prove I am not making this up.
Christians VS Muslims
Christians VS Judaism
Christian VS Catholic
Muslim VS Judaism
Muslim VS Catholic
(ok, that could take a while)
Conservative VS Liberal
Republican VS Democrat (NOT the same as above btw)
People who are against gays
Pro life VS Pro Choice
Pepsi VS Coke
Walmart VS every mom and pop store in existance
Ford VS Chevy
Your Belief VS My Belief
Yankies VS Mets
Saber VS Epee (Foilist are general a tolerant bunch.)

I once had a man come to my door and ask me if I "feared god". I told him, "No, but I had a powerful respect and awe for him". The man told me I was a sinner and was going to go to hell if I didn't change my ways. Isn't my eternal life a private issue between me and the All Mighty??? I don't think anyone on this earth has the right to judge me on matters of my eternal soul. (Chances are we will both be wrong and burn together anyway.)

My beliefs, correct or incorrect are mine. They are not your business. My beliefs do not hurt anyone. It shouldn't matter to you if I am christian, muslim, jew, zen, or atheist. It shouldn't matter to you if I am pro life, pro choice, pro capital punishment, pro gay people being able to be legally linked for purposes of law, proton, or protein.

It is not your decision.
It is not your business.
It is not your life.

If you look around and you feel you no longer belong with the people around you, seek a new group, do not try to change your group back. Nothing good ever comes of that. Unless of course you like backlash, revenge, and revolution.

Wow. I feel better now. Thanks for letting me rant. Special thanks to Sara and Kimi who impatiently waited for me to finish ranting. Yes, we can go now.

Posted by Woody Cavenaugh at 4:14 PM | Permalink

The missus and I have been kicking around the ups and downs of relocating closer to civilization. And there are plenty of pluses and minuses in both directions to consider.

Where we are out in the bush we have these good and bad points.
The Good:
1. I can open the door and let the dogs out without putting on a robe. Or underwear.
2. I can take the trash to the truck without putting on a rob. Or underwear.
3. The dogs can run free, and 5 acres seems enough space for them.
4. No neighbors.
5. No highway noise.
6. No wondering if we are going to have a place to park near the door for the three vehicles.
7. No one cares if I don't mow the grass.
8. Sitting on the back pourch drinking coffee and watching the sun come up without wearing a bathrobe. Or underwear.

The Bad:
1. No delievery food.
2. Twenty minutes from the nearest store.
3. Forty minutes from work.
4. A mile of dirt road.
5. An acre of grass to mow.
7. Constant brushes with wildlife.
6. Dogs constantly dragging dead animals into the yard.
7. Dogs constantly creating dead animals in the wild.
8. No quick jaunts to visit friends.
9. No quick jaunts anywhere.
10. If Sara and I drive separate to work we only see each other on the weekends.

Now for the moving to town part.
The Good:
1. Close to everything we would need to do.
2. Close to everyone we would want to visit.
3. Many delievery options available.
4. Less grass to mow.
5. Short drive home after I get out of fencing at 9pm every class.
6. I could drop Sara off after work every day before I go teach fencing.
7. Smaller gas bill.
8. A neighborhood you could walk/bike in.

The Bad:
1. There are currently 5 place for sale in my neighborhood and all of them have been on the market for some time. (Two more than a year.)
2. Physically moving.
3. Having to wear cloths everytime I open the door.
4. Fenced in dogs used to more romping room.
5. Finding something in my price range. (why I went native to begin with)
6. Bad/Nosey Neighbors.
7. Being expected to mow my grass regularly.
8. Being expected to paint regularly in an association approved color.
9. Three vehicles.
10. Homeowner associations. (Rant material)

So much to think about and I am sure there are other points both good and bad that I have not thought of yet.

Posted by Woody Cavenaugh at 4:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (8)

I have to admit, I feel a little guilty about the title, but I woke up to NPR talking about this and it really hit me that hard. In a nutshell, one of the people wanted for questioning in connection with the London Tube bombing happened to be a student at NCSU. Here's a news article.

The thing that gets me most is all universities pride themselves on making better people by offering quality educations. Even if you don't care for Wolfpack Red you can't deny that it is a really good school that draws students both locally nationally and internationally. No one can deny that it is something to be proud of.

And students who go to universities are in an environment where they can experience new and different thoughts, ideas, and customs. See it, experience it, and make decisions about it that shape the rest of your life. If you doubt this just look at any universities listing of student run organizations. College is the time to try new things, grow your hair out, color it purple, shave your head, or pierce something.

And now we have these black marks reoccuring where someone comes to a place of learning, experiences new things, takes away great knowledge, and uses it in ways no one ever imagined.

What's the answer? There isn't one that I can see. If you limit who you allow to gain knowledge you destroy the whole reason for doing it. It is certainly not the Universities responsibility to profile and deny based on the possiblity that someone will use their knowledge for something other than the greater good. All they can do is offer the tools to do so and hope that the experiences of the student drive them down that path.

In this I guess the universities are successful, surely at least 50% of all university graduates manage to keep from breaking the law, or wantonly hurt others. (I almost wrote 90% and then I remembered Enron, I'm betting those guys had MBAs. There goes the curve.)

Posted by Woody Cavenaugh at 10:24 AM | Permalink

The headline read "Dog bites two year old." Mayodan's police chief answers with a self made list of naughty and nice dog breeds and a proposel to ban all those on his naughty list.

Sure, that's one way, but it isn't the right way.

What happened? A dog bit a two year old.
What REALLY happened? A mother and a father failed to be parents so an unsupervised child antagonizes a chained up dog whose only real concerns are trying to stay cool on a hot summer's day.

You've seen it before. Toddlers exploring their world, grab noses, pull beards, pull ears and poke eyes. When it happens to you and I we use our hands and our words to defend ourselves and when necessary to say "No" don't do that, it hurts. When it happens to the family pet and parents are around you can usually interfear before your best friend runs out of patience and has to say "no", using what he has available for the purpose.

There was no one around to protect the interest of this dog and he used what he had to say "no" when the unsupervised child wandered into the neighbor's yard to pat the doggie.

This is why I am proposing a manditory leash law on all walking children under the age of four while they are outside of their homes in the public eye. It is as much to protect them as it is the world they don't know how to explore yet. Obviously it would be simpler and more logical to demand that parents watch their children, but in today's society this is just too much to ask. The leash will help.

I must admit, there was a time in my life when I would've balked at such a proposal, but over the years I have come to realize that we as a species are losing our sense of self-preservation and so laws must be enacted to artifically force self-preservation upon us. As a species this completly screws us in the long run but we'll let our future generations worry about that.

Posted by Woody Cavenaugh at 9:27 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

This story starts out like any good joke would.

A guy (me) goes to his regular western doctor with a problem and the doctor orders a huge battery of test including a month on a heart monitor.

I go to my Eastern practitioner and tell her the same problem, she asks me a couple of questions, checks my pulse, looks at my tongue, and fixes the problem.

I'm not knocking the western philosophy, I grew up with it and I am still alive, but nothing I have ever experienced demonstrates the real difference between the two styles like what I described above.

On the downside, I am now having no problems at all yet, I must keep Blinky wrapped around me for another three weeks. I keep telling myself it is "just in case" but that doesn't help the fact that I have a digital readout on the center of my chest like some sort of 1960's cyborg. It isn't comfortable and it looks lumpy resting between my man-boobs. Very unsexy. Add to that the fact that yesterday I accidentally activated it while I was trying to screw the lid off of my coffee cup. It took me several minutes to figure out what was making that tea-kettle sound.

However, being obedient to both hemispheres, I will not remove it until the appointed time just in case something happens. Plus I know if I break a bone, or my nose suddenly falls off to spite my face, my western doc will be my go-to person.

I get the best of both worlds, though it is a lot like a divorce situation. I've got the equivilant of two parents living in two places who won't even speak to each other.

Posted by Woody Cavenaugh at 8:35 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

After reading about doubles epee in American Fencing magazine the coaching staff of the Downtown Fencing Club was very curious about how it would be. Since it was summer and our students are often comming and going with vacations, camps, and such, it seemed like a terrific time to try something new to break up the monotony. We wouldn't have that many new students during the summer so it wouldn't really interrupt our lesson structure.

The first hurdle was equipment, but since we currently have on our roster North Carolina's only USFA certified armorer, there is little that can't be overcome. She created the adaptors in about an hour.

During that time we had the students split into two groups and had them play games that broke them out of the conventions of one on one swordplay. By the time the adaptors were completed they all anticipated what was next and were excited about the prospect.

It went well, and a great deal of fun was had by all. We will probably keep doubles epee as one of our activities. It is not a USFA recognized sport, and probably won't ever be, however what it teaches about tactics is valuable enough that we see it as very useful.

Also, the kids love it...

Actually, I had a blast too...

Posted by Woody Cavenaugh at 5:02 PM | Permalink

My mother and father are what you might call "rustic". Born poor farmers Dad didn't have electricity and running water until he moved to Wilmington to seak his fortune. Mom says that because of me they have learned to try new exotic foods. Exotic like pizza, subs, and Chinese take out.

This weekend was another first for them. After a busy morning heading shrimp caught the night before, we wanted lunch. Dad mentioned that one of his favorite buffet places had closed and been replaced with a Chinese Buffet that he had heard from friends was good. So I suggested we go and check it out. It had not occured to me that they had never eaten at a Chinese buffet before.

I served as translator from english with an NC accent, to english with an Asian accent. I also served as international ambassador for Chinese cuisine for my parents. Mom had no idea what anything was and asked that I not let her eat anything "gross" or "raw". I made the crack that the most unusual thing I had ever seen on any Chinese buffet was chicken feet and I would steer them clear of that. Dad's response was "I used to eat chicken feet all the time as a boy." Ok, so everything was going to be easy.

I had not counted on a sushi bar complete with sushi chef keeping careful watch over his sushi buffet table. All rolls very carefuly prepared by someone who obviously knew his way around sushi. So for my first plate I made a very attractive ring of sushi around my plate. My parents followed suit (but to a lesser degree). My mom's mantra was "I don't want to eat anything raw". So being a good son I pointed out the sushi with the tuna and the salmon. Mom, managed to pick one of each of those anyway.

Eating her sushi and repeating her mantra of "I don't want to eat anything raw." she ate all of her sushi even as I had to tell her, "That's raw" (she would eat it anyway) with each raw piece. Dad proclaimed that never had he seen any food so pretty to look at. Mom agreed. Both thought that though tasty, it was't something they would crave. After a morning of heading live shrimp, maybe I could sympathize with them. I enjoyed mine at least.

Over all they approved of Chinese buffet, and were even more greatful that it was less expencive than Golden Coral, which is their usual first choice in Fine Dinning. Again they credited me with allowing them to explore new and "exotic" foods. It will be easy to use this power for evil, so I must be ever vigilant. That and hope that the Crystal Coast never gets anything more exotic than the Hooters which just opened.

Posted by Woody Cavenaugh at 8:52 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Brandi reports that Jim is not only out of ICU and in a room but talking and breathing too! Of this I have a first hand report as Jim up and called me from a chair in his hospital room, he was just about to take a his first steps since getting gutted and might have needed a little moral support. Why he called someone as immoral is I, we shall never know, but I did my best. It was so good to hear that he was doing well from himself that I suspect my excitement was contageous. Word is he will be out of the hospital in a few days and land in a hotel for the rest of the month while he does the physical theorpy thing. All I can say is its gonna hurt! (But it will be sooooooo worth it!)

Reporting Blogged from Newport NC, Woody Cavenaugh
(I like my momma's internet just fine!)

Posted by Woody Cavenaugh at 9:11 PM | Permalink

Jim is ok! There were problems. There are always problems I guess, so he had to spend the night in ICU intibated. Those who know him know that this would leave him extremly surly. Though I have to admit, it would probably be pretty funny to watch him try to rage against the world while so doped up he wouldn't gag on the tube or have a panic attack from all the gear up next to his face. I've been thinking about sending him one of those custom made teddy bears with a note that reads, "Congratulations on a successful surgery, you are now literally a new man!" Of course, the bear would have to be dressed in fishnet hose and a corset. It isn't fun if it doesn't imply something wicked.

Meanwhile back at the ranch today is the first day that the car, the truck, the wife, or myself didn't have to go get serviced somewhere.
I guess I've even made peace with Blinky. I slept really well last night and I was almost on time for work. Today is the first good day since Saturday. The sun is shinning, the birds are singing, my buddy is kicking, when do you figure the other shoe is going to drop?

Posted by Woody Cavenaugh at 9:58 AM | Permalink

To say these last two weeks have been absolutely stressful would be an understatement. I won't recap, I'll just let you see my today and understand that the past two weeks have been just like that.

5:30am worry about all of the various large projects at work I can't focus on properly because of all the other large projects at work I can't properly focus on.

6am, NPR reports that London mass transit has been attacked by terrorist during rush hour. Nothing like good news to start the day. Ironically whoever did it instead of getting what they want is going to end up getting a more firm and resolute opposite of that. When are people going to learn that when you push a people as a group, they push back as a group.

7:30am Take truck to garage to have work done.

8am Drop Sara off at work.

9am Go to Carolina Acupuncture and Herbal Medicine for appointment

9:30 get needled

10:am get needled a second time

Had it not been for the accupuncture I am pretty sure I would be blogging right now from the fetal position under my desk. Perhaps that is why I got two entirely separate accupuncture treatments. First the six pulses, then the tongue, then the needles, then the pulses again, then round two of needles. I swear by all that is buena that she used a panneling nail in the side of my left foot. Well... it felt that way anyway.

11am get to work, park across campus from my office. (closest spot)

11:05am Getting questioned about my new office I will be moving into at the end of the month. Where now I have an office of my own, at the end of the month. I will be sharing a space with Kimi (so it isn't all bad). The office will be larger, but there will be a big net loss in space for each of us. No more first floor suite, we will be on a third floor hallway. *shrug* Stair climbing is good for you right? This I have chosen to just shrug off. I know I can trust Kimi, so I am just going to leave the whole thing in her hands and like what ever I end up with. Even if it is pink walls, and blue teddy bear boarders. Come to think of it, that sounds pretty relaxing. If she does that I guess I will have to give up the S&M dungeon theme I was kicking around.

11:30am Right now, in Nashville Tennessee my oldest friend is having his entire intestinal track rerouted "Scotty" style. (or if you prefer, he will be gutted like a fish.) If all goes well he will have a permenant hardware modification giving him a life long physical eating disorder, which will save his life. If all goes poorly, I'm a pallbearer. Think of him and his lovely wife. I can't seem to do much else right now. The surgery takes four hours under the best of conditions.

Meanwhile Blinky is constantly giving updates 150, 121, 95, 117, 134, 99...

Posted by Woody Cavenaugh at 11:12 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

I always make the same two mistakes when I go to see my doctor. My first mistake is I am always optimistic that clean living will pay off. I eat well. Well, better than usual. I exercise. I exercise the government suggested ammount per week. So when I go to the doctor for a check up I expect to hear in addition to the fanfare about losing the government suggested two pounds per month, positive reinforcing things about my blood pressure. Instead of "Hey, your blood pressure is looking really good, we should lower your dosage such that you take the minimum ammount to maintain a healthy blood pressure." Instead I get "Hey your blood pressure is looking really good, here's a perscription for a years supply of the exact same thing." My reward for good behavior is more of the same liver damaging, can't be in the sun, chemical designed to keep me dehydrated. The logic is, the less water in my body, the less blood, thus lower blood pressure. I'm no doctor, but I play one with machines, why not we solve what is making my blood pressure high in the first place, instead of treating the symptoms. I guess that's why I always keep my acupucturist's card in my wallet.

My second mistake is honesty. I always thought you were supposed to be strait up and honest with your doctor, but there is no reward for this. I tell my doctor that every night during fencing between 7:30 and 8pm I get the sensation that if I don't sit down I will fall down. I spend the rest of the night coaching sitting down. Plus my coach always knows it is about to happen because the color drains out of my face just before I notice something is wrong. I am not the doctor here, but I am of the opinion that perhaps the dosage of the blood pressure medicine is too high and when I need my blood pressure to raise (during exercise) it can't, thus my symptom. Nope. That would be too simple, and worse yet, it doesn't indicate some new malady. Quick two big viles of blood to check for blood sugar, and other mean and nasty stuff! And now, enter Blinky my new pocket monster. Blinky has extra long ears which it wraps around me such that he can listen in on what is going on inside of me. At night he makes 800 number phone calls and blabs everything he's heard about me. I don't know who he's calling, but they don't speak english well there. They seem to speak Blinky's language just fine though. Here's what I learned about Blinky staying with me. If I am lucky blinky has to be with me every moment (except showering) for a whole month. Blinky finds nothing wrong. If I am unlucky blinky goes home in a week or two. Blinky solves the mystery and a cardiologist goes on my speed dial. So far he's pretty laid back, but we'll see what happens when I feed him after midnight.

It is enough to depress a guy. I'll bet driving the blue ridge parkway is beautiful this time a year.

Posted by Woody Cavenaugh at 1:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Things around here have been pretty hectic and I think Sara and I are both getting a little frazzled (not with each other so far as I know). Most people would go on vacation during these times, but it takes money to relax so mostly we just sit around the house. Me, I decided to stretch my legs a little and go meet my folks at my Grandmother's house. Bonus points for it being my Mother's birthday. I like bonus points. Sara's going to stay home and relax so I have the drive to myself.

There are few things I like more than long drives. Take an arm load of REM cassettes and add asphalt. No work, no talking, no hassles, just peace quiet and the open road. Time to stretch my legs. Time to expand my consciousness. Time to leave behind a sedentary eighty beats a minute and embrace seventy miles an hour at three thousand revolutions per minute. Air, fuel, and four rubber soled shoes on hot pavement. Giving up body temperature and embrasing engine temperature. The Saturn's four chambered heart replaces my own. Wind to breathe, wind to hold me down, wind to keep me cool. I miss the Fairlane, when I join with the Fairlane the Fairlane joins with me, she is as excited about touch, smell, and sight as I am about, lift, drift, and horsepower. The Saturn is a completely neutral entity, it yields to me and that is all, the excitement is tempered by loneliness as I have nothing to share my excitement with. Miles, hours, miles per hour, a blur of solid yellow line and dashed white ones. My stress can't come with me as there is no room left for those things.

I arrive refreshed of spirit, if fatigued in body. I know I will sleep well upon my return. I have a terrific visit, yet all the while I feel excitement at the comming departure when I make the return three hour run back home. When I die, just place my ashes in the ash tray of the Fairlane and weld it shut, my body and my spirit are one.

Posted by Woody Cavenaugh at 1:33 PM | Permalink

On my mind is Jim and Brandi who are in Nashville right now doing the final testing necessary for Jim to receive a life saving and life altering operation on July 7th. I will sleep a great deal better on July 8th knowing that it was a success.

On my mind also is this article about the rebirth of McCarthyism. It would probably be a lot easier to ignore this if other things weren't happening at the same time that makes a dull ache form in my gut.

I need a vacation.

Posted by Woody Cavenaugh at 5:10 PM | Permalink