Movies, Maceo and Mayhem
We went to back to the I Reel Film Festival (still part of Bumbershoot) and watched a multitude of short films. Here's the breakdown:
- "A Whole New Day" -- James Gandolfini plays a disoriented man who wakes up in his newly vacated apartment. But where's his wife calling him from?
- "Dog Days" -- Ever wondered what you should eat when all the rations are gone and it's every man (or dog) to himself? Dark movie, adapted from a short story that touches on homelessness and social structure in post-nuclear-war America.
- "The Dishpan Man" -- Gino, a tough Italian restaurant owner, takes in a hapless would-be robber, who realizes his full potential with rubber gloves and a no. 5 scrubber. Silly story with a touch of Raging Bull.
- "The Closet" -- Emotions run rampant with two friends who hide in a dead man's closet. Funny, tight dialogue by Jason Wolk.
- "Girl Meets Boy" -- We looked forward to watching this film, but it was painfully off vertical-hold, and too short to give the tech-guys enough time to fix it. Great action sequences though.
- "Who, Me?" -- The nice man next door is little more psycho than you think he is. Funny punchline, but a little expected.
- "Zen and the Art of Landscaping" -- Greg's just doing his job when he happens upon the family worthy of Jerry Springer fame. Surprises a minute with this one.
After the movies, we headed straight to watch Maceo Parker at the main stadium. Lots of people dancing and boogeying on down (including us!) to the sounds of funky, jazzy tunes. He started announcing his exit half an hour before he actually left the stage. People just wanted more and more.
After some ethnic carnival food (Russian piroshky filled with salmon and cream cheese, and dill sauce over red potatoes and sausage), we headed over to watch Sleater-Kinney at the Key Arena. Punky tunes and lots of energy from this girl band. All the kids went to this show. They all bounced on the floor of the arena, while the old folks sat up in the seats. Darryl actually caught a few zzz's, too.
There was nothing left to do really after this but go back to the main stage and wait for Ani DiFranco. The show wouldn't start until 7pm but there was already a line that started sometime in the early afternoon. No problem, the stadium was huge and we got a relatively good seat. Again, we older folks didn't feel like standing for the whole show.
Ladysmith Black Mambazo was the warm-up act for Ani diFranco. They are a South African group of about 12 men who do not play instruments but their own voices. Even so, their sound is very rich and dynamic. They sang with Paul Simon and perhaps even did that Life Savers commercial. "Life Savers -- Ummmmmnnn". Also, think -- "awimbawe, awimbawe" from "The Lion Sleeps Tonight." That's derived from the same traditional Zulu music Ladysmith Black Mambazo sings.
Ani put on an awesome performance, even with the flaky sound output from the bassist's amp and the looming clouds above. We were *so* expecting rain at this point -- the cameras for the real.com broadcast even had raincoats! Ani strutted and brought down the house. Thankfully, it did not rain. And we left the concert dry.
