Lady On The Bus

I was on the bus to go home from work. I found a seat next to a woman who was talking on her cell phone. I was a little annoyed, because I try to get off the phone as quick as I can if I get a call while on the bus. A few minutes after she was finished with the call, I noticed she was quietly weeping. I don't talk to people on the bus very often, so I felt awkward, but wanted to say something. It was none of my business, but I knew I couldn't sit there and pretend that she wasn't crying.

"You going to be ok?" I asked.

"Yeah *sniff* ... big news."

"Oh, sorry, I wish I had a tissue to give you."

Still crying, she joked "t's ok, it's what sleeves are for."

She couldn't stop crying and I couldn't do much more. I sat quietly and waited. Then I had a strange epiphany. I heard myself say "There is a veil over my eyes."

The crying woman was upsetting, but the interaction itself brought a peace to my heart. I thought about how fearful I am about speaking to people I don't know. I thought about how hard I try to keep to myself on the bus, or in public.

I wondered how many people on that bus were hurting in worse ways without any outward signs. I thought about how lonely I get on the bus.

It's so much better to reach out to people than to not, but my pride prevents me. I'm glad it was different this time.

Imagine a city known for it's humility.

Mt. Si and ROFLCon

Two weeks ago, Connie, Nathan, Jess and I hiked Mt. Si. There was still a bit of snow on top, so we had to slide down some of the trail. The view at the top was amazing, but hard to capture with a camera, so I captured it with one of my socks instead. If you come over to my house, I'll show you.

In other news, Kid Show screened at ROFLCon this past weekend, along with many other shorts. ROFLCon is a convention in Cambridge, MA focused on internet culture.

Wham

A lot of great things happened at work last week.

The Two Little Ninja Dragons

This is a film that my friend David and I made back in 1993. The title card in the beginning reads "The 2 Little Ninja Dragons." We thought we were the real deal. Maybe we were..

For whatever reason, the sound was all messed up with the video camera, so I put in some music by a musician I recently learned about called Birdie Hilltop. He has all his music available on his site. Check it out.

Daniel Johnston with Kid Show

Last Thursday, I saw Daniel Johnston live for the first time. The show was amazing. If you've never heard of Daniel, be sure to rent The Devil and Daniel Johnston. It's a great documentary (and one of my favorite films) of his life and music.

The photos above are Daniel with a DVD of Kid Show and other animations. Whenever I put together a DVD, I hand-draw the cover. I didn't get to hand it to him personally, but my friend Andy Roulston and his brother Jonathan were photographing Daniel that night, so they were able to bring it to him and take these great pictures. Thanks Andy.

AFI Interview for Kid Show

Director Tom DesLongchamp Presents KID SHOW At AFI DALLAS 08 from AFI DALLAS on Vimeo.

I'm excited that they posted this interview, but then again, it's hard to watch yourself be interviewed. I could write a whole paragraph about how stupid I think I look and sound, but I'll just be quiet.

Also, Kid Show won the Jury Prize at the Columbia University National Undergraduate Film Festival. I'm stoked. Thanks CUNUFF.

AFI Dallas 2008

My animation Kid Show screened at AFI Dallas this past week. The festival was unbelievable. I had my first encounters with red carpets, and Lexus shuttles.

At my first screening, they had to screen from DVDs, but my DVD had multiple films on it, and the projectionist accidentally chose the wrong film! I sat there, anticipating my film and suddenly Earl Boone Is Alive popped up on the screen! I yelled "Wrong one!" but they didn't stop it and the audience laughed the whole way through. Don't worry, Kid Show was screened soon after, so in the end, it was a total blessing. Two films at AFI! During the Q & A, the audience actually had more questions about Earl Boone Is Alive, but I love that animation, so I had a great time talking about it. I would have submitted it if it wasn't two years old.

I ran into Lee Kazimir, who I had also seen at Slamdance, but never met. His documentary, More Shoes, was my favorite film that I saw at AFI. Lee and I hung out for my last two days at the festival, along with Carl, Staci and Deidra. It was a great time. We all took photos, danced, and I drew some portraits of some of them. Staci and Deidra were the main actresses in a great film titled Disfigured. I hope to cross paths with all of them again.

Many thanks to Max Bell, who was my host in Dallas. Max showed me around, made me breakfast and we had some great conversations.

Also, Kid Show is screening at the Columbia University Undergraduate Film Festival in NYC this evening. Earl Boone Is Alive won most original film there last year.

John, Please.

Bryan, John, and I made a short film at work.