Friday, August 17, 2007
It's a little after 9pm, and I am sitting here at SFO waiting for my flight to Scotland. Actually, to be more accurate, I am waiting for my flight to Toronto where I will then connect to London and then to Edinburgh. The next 20-plus hours are going to be tiring, but right now, I am so amped up. I have never been to Scotland before, so I’m bouncing off walls, and this is sans sugar. What I have going on right now is a natural high. Borm neurons are wildly dancing, and those who have ever seen me on the dance floor, you can probably get an idea of how frenetic the inside of my head is.
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I swear, this has been a crazy summer. Who would have thought that this little thing called the 48 Hour Film Project could lead to all this madness? I swear, when I signed everyone up for this event, I knew that people would either give me high fives or kill me. I’m happy to say that I’m still alive and kicking. Without Urgent Care, there would be no Lynn Ruth Miller, and without Lynn Ruth, there would be no Scotland. Since I have another hour to wait before I board, I’m going to hop online and learn a little more about this Fringe Festival. Oo-wee, I think one of those six-legged winged insects in my stomach just laid and egg. Nerves, I guess.
Saturday, August 18, 2007, 4:43am.
Is it Saturday? I think it’s Saturday, but I’m not quite sure. According to the clock on my MacBook Pro, it’s 4am in the morning. I’m really not sure what time it is though because I’m really not sure what time zone I’m in. True confessions: I am geographically illiterate. I don’t know where Toronto is. I know it’s in Canada, I’m just not sure which part. I am assuming it’s somewhere in the middle. Mr. Waller, my 7th grade Geography teacher, must be rolling his eyes right now. I am such a failure to him, and I hope he never reads this blog. To my defense, though, Mr. Waller did focus more on Europe and Africa, and Canada got pushed to the side. That’s why I don’t know where Toronto is! In any case, I am going to stop with the nostalgia. If I am going to walk down memory lane, then I am going to avoid that bumpy path known as Junior High Blvd. Come to think of it, I’m going to avoid everything between 1984 and 1992.
I’m going off into strange tangents, aren’t I? It must be fatigue. I’m happy to say that I didn’t have a bad flight! In fact, they stuck me at the window seat in the emergency exit row with one passenger on the aisle and nobody in the middle! I was actually able to stretch out during my snooze. I didn’t sleep well, mind you, but it was enough to stop my eye from shutting. I now I have a three hour lay over. I just scarfed down some really bad Canadian California rolls, and now I’m sitting here staring at all these Canadians walking back and forth. I know they are Canadian because every fourth word out of their mouths is “eh?” Ok, maybe that’s stretching just a tad. I’m stuck here for a couple of hours, so I’m just going to sit back and attempt to relax. The excitement and nerves that I felt earlier are gone. Now I’m just tired. Hopefully, I will be able to sleep on the next flight.
Saturday, August 18, 2007, 5:29pm.
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The Edinburgh Fringe (officially the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, commonly just The Fringe) is the world’s largest arts festival. It takes place in Scotland's capital during three weeks every August, at the same time as several other arts and cultural festivals: the collective names for all these events is the Edinburgh Festival. The Edinburgh Festival Fringe is just one part of the Edinburgh Festival. In fact, there is no single Festival as such; the term is shorthand for all the discrete festivals which take place in Edinburgh from late July through to early September.
Alongside the official Edinburgh International Festival (started 1947) and the Festival Fringe (1947) other roughly concurrent festivals in Edinburgh include the Edinburgh International Film Festival (1947), the Edinburgh Jazz and Blues Festival (1979), Edinburgh International Book Festival (1983), the Edinburgh People's Festival (2002) and the Edinburgh Art Festival (2005). Plus there is the ever-popular (and audible to other festival-goers) Edinburgh Military Tattoo every evening on the Castle Esplanade during August.
In addition to the summer festivals, Edinburgh plays host to a range of other festivals throughout the rest of the year. [1] It matters little to the festival-goer which events are part of which festival, except that each festival has a separate programme (and website) and sells tickets only for its own events.
The Fringe mostly attracts events from the performing arts, particularly drama and (the big growth area in recent years) comedy, although dance and music also figure significantly. Theatre events can range from the classics of ancient Greece, Shakespeare and Samuel Beckett, through to new works. However, there is no selection committee to approve the entries, so any type of event is possible: the Fringe is well-known as a showcase for experimental works which might not be admitted to a more formal festival. The organisers are the Festival Fringe Society: they publish the programme, sell tickets and offer advice to performers from the Fringe office on the Royal Mile.
Sunday, August 19, 2007
I Finally Made It To Scotland! I have no idea what day or what time it is because I've been through so many time zones in the last 20-plus hours! For this reason, I am very happy to finally arrive. Once my plane landed, I took a cab into Edinburgh. I arrived at my flat some time in the late afternoon. My room reminds me a little bit of my dorm from my college days, but with some historic European flare. It is really small and dark, but that's perfectly fine with me, since I paid a whopping zero pounds for the lodging. For those who need the American conversion, that's zero US dollars. Lynn Ruth Miller provided me with the accommodations, so I will make no complaints. I'm just glad I have a roof over my head! In any case, I freshened up, packed up all my camera equipment, and headed into Edinburgh to meet up with Lynn Ruth at the Hilton Edinburgh Grovesnor Chester's Bar for her two evening shows, "Absolute Comedy Chaos" at 7pm and then "Ballooney Tunes" at 10pm.
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I made it to the Grovesnor Hilton with enough time to down a Coca Cola Light before the show. I was greeted by the thunderous voice of Lord Buckley. This lanky Scot, clad in a tuxedo jacket and a safari hat, introduced himself as the world's oldest rapper. A young woman with a scarf wrapped around her head stood beside him. I responded, "hello Lord Buckley, I am Borm." The young woman interjected, "Oh, Borm, I'm Cameron! Lynn Ruth has told me all about you!" I smiled and replied, "Ah, yes, Cameron, the girl from Portland! Good to finally meet you." Lynn Ruth Miller had invited this 15 year old girl from Portland to assist with her show. It seemed odd to me, but I'm sure there is history between the two, so it probably made sense.
Cameron noted that Lynn Ruth had stepped out and that she would return shortly. We exchanged some pleasantries and then then she showed me around the venue. She also noted that Lord Buckley is one of the comedians on the roster. I later learned that "Lord Buckley" is actually one character from comedy writer's Bob Sinfield's vast repertoire. As Cameron filled me in on how the performances have been going, Lynn Ruth entered the club. I walked up to her and she gave me a big kiss on my right cheek. This is a signature Lynn Ruth Miller salutation, and I'm quite used to it. Lynn Ruth said she was very happy that I made it to Edinburgh in one piece. She then introduced me to 80's Luke, the other comedian scheduled to perform at Chester's Bar. 80's Luke is a 30-something heavy set Scot with "hair by Loreal and body by KFC." (His words, not mine). I stepped back and took a look at this colourful cast of people standing before me. These characters looked like something out of some bizarre situation comedy. I had to take a picture. The young gentleman in red is the 20 year old bartender from Malta. I pulled him into the picture to complete the family.
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"Absolute Comedy Chaos" is a show case of comedians throughout the night. This club is not an elite venue by any means, but it's a great place for upstarts to try out their act. I had no intention of filming tonight's show because my goal for the evening was to scope out the place as preparation for tomorrow night's filming. I really liked this place. It's quite cozy. I also quickly figured out that, though Lynn Ruth Miller may be one of several performers, I considered her the headliner, simply because of who she is. This woman commands stage presence.
In any case, after that dismal first show, a group of 20-something males showed up for the 8pm show. An audience! I was so excited! I sat back and watched the show. Lord Buckley once again opened the show and introduced the line up. This time around, Lynn Ruth and 80's Luke was joined by local comedian Terry Milligan, Helen O'Troy, the young comedienne from London, and a corpulent Scot with big curly blond hair whom I cannot seem to remember his name. I thoroughly enjoyed Terry's and Helen's performances, but I'll have to be honest and say that I did not understand a thing the third guy was saying. What saved him was his sight gags. In any case, all these performers impressed me. They may not be seasoned veterans, but they made me laugh, and that's what counts! I whipped out both my video camera and my Nikon D70 and snapped away.
Absolutely Comedy Chaos ended at 10pm and Ballooney Tunes started up shortly afterwards. This is Lynn Ruth Miller at her cabaret best. This is the one woman show about Queenie, the senile stripper and her collection of outrageous parodies that are guaranteed to put your underwear at risk! A body of balloons goes pop and every funny bone is exposed. Comedy at its naked and bawdy best. Most of the audience from the 8pm show stuck around for Ballooney Tunes. Lynn Ruth belted out every song, and the audience cheered her every move. I kept asking myself, "where does she get all this energy?" When she hit her final note and took her final bow, she leaned into me and said, "I hope you're not too jet-lagged 'cause we're going to The Bongo Club now!" Once again, WHERE DOES SHE GET ALL THIS ENERGY??
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I saw some other great acts that night. The two that stood out were Paprika Balkanicus, a band that blends Balkan, Eastern European and Gypsy music with Classical and Jazz influences as well as originals, and "The Suit Case Royale, a band of three multi artists creating Junkyard Theatre in Melbourne that is toured locally and internationally." (description taken from The Suit Case Royale official website). Their music was so infectious that I found myself humming their songs the rest of the night. I got to meet both bands after the show.
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I am here at this Scottish Starbucks taking a break from all this documentary filming. I swear, Lynn Ruth Miller is all over the map. I'm getting awesome footage, but if I don't pull over and rest, I may just burn myself out. Edinburgh is a "walking" city, and everyone knows that I am not a walker. It's a good thing I brought my comfortable pair of Vans, but I do have to say that lugging around 50 pounds of equipment is doing quite a number on my back. Any chance I can sit back and relax, I will take full advantage of it. I really wish I had a venti green tea lemonade right now, but this Innocent Smoothie will do.
I had a pretty long and tiring day, so it's nice to sit back and relax. We stayed out very late last night. After Lynn Ruth's gig at the Bongo Club, we had dinner at an Italian Restaurant called Dario's. That restaurant is open until 4am, and we barely made the cut off time. I had a mediocre pizza that tasted like it had just been defrosted. We got back to the flat at about 4am, and because I ate so late, I had a hard time sleeping. After about an hour of tossing and turning on my twin size bed, I managed to fall asleep. Actually, it was more like fall "anap." I didn't really sleep. I took a nap, and eventually woke up at noon.
I walked to the Three Sisters Club at 139 Cowgate to see Lynn Ruth's storytelling show, "An Audience With Lynn Ruth." This show is the polar opposite of her comedy routine and strip tease at the Bongo Club. It's much more serene. In fact, this performance show cases Lynn Ruth Miller's softer poignant side. I attempted to film this performance but I just didn't have too much luck. I'm just not good with the camera. I'm pretty good with Final Cut Pro and 90% of the time I disguise my fallacies through creative editing. I really do have a lot to learn, and this week will be a true test. All I know is that I have to find a camera shop somewhere in Edinburgh. I desperately need a tripod. The one I brought is just not working out for me. I hate to do it, but I am prepared to pay an arm and a leg for this tripod.
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It's about 4:07pm on a Tuesday afternoon. I am sitting at the Edinburgh Public Library because the Starbucks in Edinburgh City Centre did not have wi-fi. I never thought that I would end up at a library in Scotland, but here I am! I'm not complaining, because not only do I have a nice quite place to review the footage that I took of Lynn Ruth's storytelling show, but the wi-fi is free at the libary!
I have to say that I wasn't too pleased with my filming of "An Audience With Lynn Ruth" this second day. However, I learned from my mistakes from the previous day, so there is a 20% improvement. Tomorrow's filming should be 20% better, so I'm optimistic that by the end of the week I will reach 100%. Is that wishful thinking? I hope not. It's all part of digital workflow (did you catch that, Evan Donn?).
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Right now, I am sitting in the "romance novels" section, looking through my footage Lynn Ruth's performance of "Ballooney Tunes" from last night. I have to say that I am not happy. Even with my new 14 pound (that's currency, not weight) tripod, I still wasn't able to get the filming right. It didn't help that Lynn Ruth was all over the place, running around putting wigs on audience members and throwing diapers at the people in the front row. For this show, she really needs someone who is good with the hand held camera, and I'm not the guy. In any case, I'm looking at this footage and telling myself that I really need to do some creative editing in order for Ballooney Tunes to work. I'm going to log some of this footage and then head back to the flat. I'll take a little break and then attempt to walk to Chester's Bar at the Grovesnor Hilton. I don't read maps well, so this will be a challenge, especially in the dark!
Tuesday, August 21, 2007
I'm really liking this Absolute Comedy Chaos. I'm known as "The Camera Guy" at Chester's Bar, and all the comedians treat me like I'm one of them. There's no egos here at the Grovesnor Hilton, and I really like that. The attendance is hit or miss: some nights we will pack the house and the laughs would be thunderous, and then other nights there may be only one or two souls lurking in the bar. What I really like about this venue is that it's so casual. I also like the fact that I've actually become a fixture here. I swear, Absolute Comedy Chaos at Chester's Bar could be a situation comedy. There are definitely enough colourful characters. Picture the cast:
- Lynn Ruth Miller, 70-something strip teasing granny.
- Lord Buckley, world's oldest rapper.
- Cameron, 15 year old personal assistant to the strip teasing granny.
- Borm, camera guy and the only Vietnamese person in Scotland.
- Noah, young mild-mannered bartender from Malta.
- 80's Luke, Scottish comedian with hair by Loreal and body by KFC.
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It's 5:13pm, and I'm sitting in the lobby of a hostel in the middle of Leith Walk in Edinburgh. I don't really know how I ended up all the way out here, but I guess that's what you get when you fold up your map and stick it in your back pocket. I'm sitting here looking at all the pictures I've taken with my Nikon D-70 up to this point. I'm up to about 700. My critics often scowl at my excessive nature, but I will stand behind my actions. I document my life via Blogged Arteries, so every photo and every frame in my extensive video archive helps me remember every detail of what goes on in my life. I'm looking at these photos and thinking about what a great time I'm having in Scotland. It's definitely going to be hard to return back to the States.
It was another late night for me last night. After Lynn Ruth's Ballooney Tunes show, we all took a long walk across town to The Carlton for her strip tease act. When Lynn Ruth takes off her clothes off on stage, the audience roars. Her performance at the Carlton brought the house down, and I was glad I was able to get video footage of it. Initially, the club owner have us a hard time about filming, but Lynn Ruth managed to sweet talk them into letting me film. I managed to snap a few good shots.
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I left the Three Sisters right after Lynn Ruth's show. I took the rest of the afternoon to explore Edinburgh by foot. My first stop was the Museum of Edinburgh for the Andy Warhol exihibit. According to the museum's official website: "The first installment of our Bank of Scotland totalART series presents the largest collection of Andy Warhol work ever exhibited in Scotland. Twenty years after his death, Warhol remains one of the most prolific and contentious artists of the twentieth century and this show presents a diverse range of his work. The Bank of Scotland totalART series aims to showcase some of the most critically acclaimed artists of the 20th-century. The next instalment will see a major collection of work by Joseph Beuys in autumn 2008. Beuys and Warhol admired each other’s work and spent time together sharing their very unique views on art, society and popular culture. Both shows offer a unique insight into the life and works of these two significant artists."
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I spent the rest of my afternoon walking up down Princes Street and then headed towards Leith Walk. I also made my way to Edinburgh High Street, which is part of the Royal Mile which runs for about a mile, from Edinburgh Castle at the top of the hill to Holyrood Palace in Queen's Park at the bottom of the hill. Part of this street is closed off during the Fringe, and all the artists and performers roam free. I had been focused on filming Lynn Ruth Miller all week that today was really the first day that I had to immerse myself in the Fringe. As I walked around High Street, I couldn't help but smile. Everything I love about life surrounded me at The Fringe. Creativity fuels me, and it was a huge pleasure to see others just like me expressing themselves at this festival.
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Today was a marathon day in Edinburgh. I was scheduled to fly out of Scotland at 6am Friday morning, so I figured there was no reason for me to go to sleep. Since I had to be at the airport two hours before the flight, I stayed up through the wee hours of the morning and took a taxi to the airport early Friday. This worked out just fine because every minute counted, and this allowed me to fully enjoy my final day at The Fringe.
I don't think I ever suffered jet-lag on this trip because I never got away from San Francisco time. Lynn Ruth, Cameron, and I pretty much stayed out to the way after midnight every night. Ballooney Tunes started at 10pm, and by the time we got out of Chester's Bar, we would have a late dinner. It's a good thing we walked all the way back to the flat every night because it allowed me time to digest. Last night was no different. I made it back to my room at about 4am and I finally got to sleep at 5am. I got up at noon and walked on over to The Three Sisters to film "An Audience With Lynn Ruth" for the last time.
I stopped off at Bobby's Sandwich Bar and picked up a ham and cheese baguette beforehand. I paid about 5 pounds (that's ten US dollars!) for that sandwich. It was adequate, but definitely nothing compared to the cinco peso torta (that's 50 US cents) from Huatulco. I brought my 5 pound sandwich (that's currency, not weight) to The Three Sisters and munched while I filmed Lynn Ruth's final show. I made sure that I turned my face away from the camera so that the microphone didn't pick up any of the baguette crunches. I'm not sure it would have mattered either way, because once again I walked away with another less than stellar recording. I'm going to have to do some very creative editing in order to make this video look good. Oh boy. In any case, after I finished filming, I took off for High Street to enjoy my final day at The Fringe.
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Terry Milligan and 80's Luke cracked me up. I came into this show thinking that I would get a repeat from Absolute Comedy Chaos, but that was not the case at all. These two are very good at sketch comedy and their "Bringing In The Sheep" show made me laugh so hard I literally peed! Really! As part of his routine, Terry Milligan takes his audience out of the club and into the public as they all chant "bringing in the sheep, bringing in the sheep, we will go rejoicing bringing in the sheep!" When I first caught his routine at Absolute Comedy Chaos my first night in Scotland, Terry dragged his audience out in the street and crammed them all into a phone booth while chanting that bringing in the sheep ditty. For his show at The Laughing Horse Berlin Bar Club, Terry led his audience of 10 into the ladies room and made everyone hide in a stall with the door closed as we continued to sing the sheep song. Oxymoron, eh? How can one be hidden if they are chanting? It's all part of his act, and it's funny as heck. In any case, as we waited in the stall, I decided to pee. I did my business and when I flushed the toilet, Terry got excited. He tried to find the culprit, but I didn't fess up. I knew what Terry Milligan was capable of doing to his audience members, and I really did not wanted to be singled out for public humilation! When that joke ended, Terry took us all back into the club, and at that point, he and 80's Luke went at it with their tag team comedy. I laughed so hard, I almost peed in my pants again.
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I'm back in United States. After 20-plus hours of travelling through four different airports, I am very relieved to be back home in San Francisco. NEVER EVER again will I try to save a few bucks and take flights with multiple connections. San Francisco to Toronto to London to Edinburgh and then back again is a big price to pay for a bargain. I would rather cough up that extra couple hundred of dollars for a direct flight. Live and learn. At this time, I am completely wiped out, so I will keep this blog entry short. I am going to jump into the shower and then crash on my nice comfortable Ikea bed. Boy oh boy, I really missed that bed...
Saturday, August 25, 2007
It's Saturday afternoon and I am sitting at the Starbucks on Bryant & Mariposa in San Francisco. I am still on Scotland time, so an occasional yawn have snuck in as I sip my venti green tea lemonade sweetened with four Splendas. I haven't had one of these beverages in a week, so it's nice to get it back onto my palate. I am sitting here thinking about how I am going to piece this documentary on Lynn Ruth Miller together. I have about 16 hours of footage, but I am embarrassed to say that only about 60 minutes of it is usable. I haven't looked through all the footage yet, but I pretty certain that this is the case. In between logging and capturing, I am looking at the 1200-plus digital pics that I took. Of all the shots, this one stood out most:
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I wish we could all express ourselves 100% of the time, but unfortunately, that will never happen. People are so hung up on what other people think that it's easy to fall prey to what someone else deems as appropriate or not. That is why we have events like the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. It is ok for the inner artists to take it all off and show the world what they got. There is no fear of any higher being demolishing their vision and locking them up. That's what I got out of this display, and that is what I take away from The Fringe.
1 comment:
if you want a place to stay at in London, I recommend hotellondons.com . I'm absolutely waiting to read what other things develop for you.
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