14 Finalists, 14 Revelations

Congratulations Doc Challenge Finalists!

Congratulations to all 14 finalists of the Documentary Challenge, especially to the two Seattle teams who walked away with the two top prizes. I am honored to be in your company. The quality of everyone's films has motivated me to continue to forge ahead with all my creative endeavors. I love documentaries because not only does this art form entertain, but it also educates. I learned a great deal this weekend, and I thank you all for broadening my horizons. After the screening, 14 revelations hit me:

• YNOT is "Tony" spelled backwards. That's an anagram! Why Not???
  
• A digital camera is just a modern day version of the Polaroid.
• A toonie is a Canadian $2 coin, a loonie is a Canadian $1 coin, and a penny is a worthless piece of American copper.
• Why can't I rub oil on a Dutch Lady's naked derriere? Only in Amsterdam...
  
• Filing down the teeth of a saw to make music is definitely the safe way to go. The last thing I would want is to accidentally maim or fatally wound a spectator with my saw musical instrument. I may be thrown in prison for that. I guess that wouldn't be a bad thing, because that would set up the sequel to Bend & Bow, and Profluence Productions could use the original title that they had scrapped: "The Sawshank Redemption."
• Freeganism is an anti-consumerism lifestyle whereby people employ alternative living strategies based on "limited participation in the conventional economy and minimal consumption of resources. Freegans embrace community, generosity, social concern, freedom, cooperation, and sharing in opposition to a society based on materialism, moral apathy, competition, conformity, and greed." The lifestyle involves salvaging discarded, unspoiled food from supermarket dumpsters that have passed, or in some cases haven't even passed, their sell by date, but are still edible and nutritious. They salvage the food not because they are poor or homeless, but as a political statement. - Wikipedia
• Does Facebook have a version of Bingo like they do Scrabble? That would be Bingo-liscious!
  
• I have this weird urge to go throw on a parka, drill a hole in the middle of an ice skating rink, guzzle down some beer, and catch some frozen fish. Of course, all this would be done while rocking out to Vanilla Ice. ding ding ding ding ding ding ding ice ice baby!
  
• Supporting the ma and pop shops in America is the way to go. I'm going to drop Starbucks and start hanging out at one of the local cafes in San Francisco.
  
• "The parallels and divergences of twins Chris and Kevin--twice the documentary in the same low running time." Imagine if Chris and Kevin had a fraternal triplet sister named Candace. Boy oh boy, I could only imagine what their Final Cut time line would look like.
  
• When will ghost bikes start cropping up in San Francisco?
  
• I doubt that I would be brave enough to interview a homeless person in New York. Kudos to Team Boss and Coder 34 for taking chances.
• "In a society where singular dedication to a career seems like the only way, Gary Synder struggles to balance two lives and thrive as both an art dealer and an Aikido instructor." I, too, am trying to balance a full time job and being the creative soul who just wants express myself through film.

After the Documentary Challenge screening, a bunch of us headed on over to The Fox & The Fiddle to celebrate, and it was at that pub that I had my final revelation: A Documentary Film Maker + Alcohol + Karaoke = a huggin' and a kissin', dancin' and a lovin', wearin' next to nothing cause it's hot as an oven! The video clip below says it all. (Please pardon the the bad audio!)