W00t. I stepped out of work this afternoon and was bathed in Californian snow (wildfire ashes). They're just as pretty as real snowflakes, though they do have the pesky tendancy to, y'know, burn your eyeballs. But hey, real snow doesn't smell as good. It's funny though, because this morning as I was driving to work, I was thinking about two summers ago when the wildfires came close enough for the county sheriffs to order an evacuation (which we all ignored, of course). Could I have smelled the fire this morning without being aware of it? I know I hadn't heard anything about it on the news, and I didn't really notice anything amiss. It's just so weird, because the thought of wildfires was stuck in my head all morning, and when I stepped outside after work, I wasn't really all that surprised to see the billowing wall of smoke rising over the hills.

And to continue on that cheerful note, anyone who gets the chance must see the indipendent film PVC-1. It's based on the true story of a woman in Colombia who was the victim of a bizarre act of terror. A student from my university shot it last year, and I have to admit, it was damn good. It was a huge hit at Cannes and the director is in the process of cleaning it up for the theatrical release. It doesn't have that contrived feeling you get from so many student films, and I can honestly say it's the most 'real' movie I've seen in a long time. The entire movie is one continuous 85 minute take--the director was telling us that as he was shooting the very last image, the camera warned him he had one minute left of tape. The timing of the movie was that precise. I assume it will also be released on DVD, but probably after the theaterical release.

W00t. I stepped out of work this afternoon and was bathed in Californian snow (wildfire ashes). They're just as pretty as real snowflakes, though they do have the pesky tendancy to, y'know, burn your eyeballs. But hey, real snow doesn't smell as good. It's funny though, because this morning as I was driving to work, I was thinking about two summers ago when the wildfires came close enough for the county sheriffs to order an evacuation (which we all ignored, of course). Could I have smelled the fire this morning without being aware of it? I know I hadn't heard anything about it on the news, and I didn't really notice anything amiss. It's just so weird, because the thought of wildfires was stuck in my head all morning, and when I stepped outside after work, I wasn't really all that surprised to see the billowing wall of smoke rising over the hills.

And to continue on that cheerful note, anyone who gets the chance must see the indipendent film PVC-1. It's based on the true story of a woman in Colombia who was the victim of a bizarre act of terror. A student from my university shot it last year, and I have to admit, it was damn good. It was a huge hit at Cannes and the director is in the process of cleaning it up for the theatrical release. It doesn't have that contrived feeling you get from so many student films, and I can honestly say it's the most 'real' movie I've seen in a long time. The entire movie is one continuous 85 minute take--the director was telling us that as he was shooting the very last image, the camera warned him he had one minute left of tape. The timing of the movie was that precise. I assume it will also be released on DVD, but probably after the theaterical release.