Saturday, September 30, 2006

Attention Hottie Filmmakers

Hey, we played your film. Remember like 6 hours ago when you were
talking to us? Now the screening is over and you totally blew us off,
that ain't exactly polite, not cool. You didn't even have the customary
1 drink at the meet and greet.
Bad form ladies, bad form.

--toby wallwork (from Sidekick)

Real Butter

This industrial container holds the delicious 'buttery' topping that the
Davis uses on it's popcorn. You might notice the small, incredibly
slick puddle just to the top of the frame.

--toby wallwork (from Sidekick)

Saturday's Ad in Chicago Sun-Times


--toby wallwork (from Sidekick)

Friday, September 29, 2006

Second Show, this is a piece of cake!

Second show is Nels' third smoke break.
A light drizzle hasn't stopped the turnout.
A local guy has brought in about 40 friends, all ticket buyers, we love them.

--toby wallwork (from Sidekick)

We Are The Ones That Do The Work

Dan is a three year veteran of the show.
He should know better.
Me? I'm in it for the chicks.
I should know better.

--toby wallwork (from Sidekick)

Enjoy The Show.

The first show has begun.
"Growing Up Sucks" is a show we've done every year.
The fest is officially under way.
I could use a coffee.

--toby wallwork (from Sidekick)

Cheese Friday: What is it with bass players and Cheese?


Blur bassist Alex James (the one on the left) has revealed that he is ready to start producing his own cheese.


"The more I think about cheese," wrote James, "the more I like it and the more I want some, which is why I'm taking matters into my own hands and venturing into the world of independent cheese making."
Click here to read more.


Awesome.

-Mr. DNA (also has a future in cheese, a past too.)

The Sound System Has Been Fixed!

... kinda.
--toby wallwork (from Sidekick)

12 Hours To Go...

I feel that we may have lost momentum. I thought we were done, but it
looks like we aren't.
The two photos or my watch were taken 24 hours apart. I have made a
bunch of show reels (right now I'm making the 'best of..' reel, the
audience's favorite will be dropped in at the very end).
I'm kinda burned. A lot of the grief I forget about is back with a
vengeance. Nels has stopped answering me when I ask him what it is
Scott actually does. Nels did a lot this year (even more than usual)
but I think he's a bit fried too. He's being a bit snappy and I resist
the urge to tell him that he must have forgotten who he's talking to (it
worked last year).
In 12 hours we'll be at the theater. Nels will be setting up the
projector, we'll all pretend that the hum isn't anywhere near as bad as
it was, Scott will walk around saying what 'we' should have done but did
not (just like last year) and no one will pay the slightest bit of
attention to him (just like last year).
This year we have a sponsor that might actually put butts on seats, the
Chicago Sun-Times has slapped their name upon us. I wonder what that
might mean...
The King Tut hat was just to help me feel good about myself.

--toby wallwork (from Sidekick)

Wednesday, September 27, 2006

Introducing The Davis

Today we inspected the sound system at the Davis, the theater we are using this year. It is not as old as the 3 Penny Theater (our first home) but still has little in common with the larger chain theaters. Of course we'd never be able to get into one of those places.

It's a nice old theater. The manager is very accommodating, but he got very nervous when we broke out the RadioShack™ bag o'cables to wire us into their audio system. It must've been like when Joe Morton gets that Terminator arm in T2 because our technology was light years beyond the stuff we found in the projection booth. The manager immediately fell to his knees and began chanting. Talk about awkward moments...

Like I said this is a nice old theater, the kind of place that will surely be gone before too long. All the signs were made on the managers Windows95 Paintbox program, there were lots of labels made out of papertape and a general lack of knowledge when it comes to figuring out how this stuff all works together. Guess what? It doesn't.

There is a slight hum, a ground hum. It's not terrible, but if it were gone we'd be really happy. After much speculation (but decidedly little action) I found myself behind the screen tracing the audio cables to the speaker. It is cramped and dark and dusty with cobwebs. When I find a link in the cables I'm surprised that we're getting any sound at all. In my hands I was holding exposed wires and the twist caps holding them together. When I give them a jiggle I am both surprised and disappointed. The audio is not interrupted. So the twist ties work, which is good. But I haven't found the source of the hum, which is bad.

Chalk this up as, To Be Continued...

I have to go and make some more show reels.

--toby wallwork (from Sidekick)