AIFF 2010: Tips for Film Festival Skeptics

[Some updating for 2012]

OK, you've heard that the Anchorage International Film Festival is coming soon, but there are so many movies you never heard of that you really don't know how to pick a good one.

And why are tickets at the Bear Tooth going to be $8 for the film festival instead of their regular (newly raised) price of $3.50?  Besides movies at Film Festivals are experimental and weird and just film groupies go, right? 


Maia Nolan at Alaska Dispatch is doing a story on the film festival and buttered me up into sending her some tips for

"someone who'd never been [to a film festival and] was on the  

fence about checking it out, what would you tell them?"

[UPDATE:  Maia's post is up now.]

I've been trying to do an update of last year's Film Festival UFAQ's (Unasked Frequently Asked Questions) but it's not done yet.  Some of it is still relevant, a lot not. So, here are my  

Tips for Film Festival Skeptics.  

1.  See a film the film maker will attend and discuss.  This is one of the great parts of a film festival.  Don't be nervous about talking to the film maker.  Most film makers are more nervous than you are.  The baby they've been working on for years is now getting judged.  You get to ask how they picked that music, or why they wrote that story, etc.  You can see a list of film showings that include the film maker at:

http://anchorage.festivalgenius.com/2011/schedule/week/type/discussion *
This link goes to a Saturday morning with filmmakers.  I haven't found an easy link to all the films where film makers are scheduled to be there.  I'll see if I can find that.

2.  See 'films in competition.'  These have been selected by the initial screeners as the best in their category.  That doesn't mean the others aren't good and it doesn't guarantee you'll like the film.  It increases the odds though.

http://www.anchoragefilmfestival.org/2012/the-festival/festival-selections/

will get you to a list of all the films by category (feature, documentary, short, animation, etc.) and the ones in competition have a ✓ at the end.



3.  Go to a free event.  The Family and Youth Media Program (Saturday morning, December 10, at Loussac  from 11:30 to 5) is free.  For more information go to
here for the Marston Theatre events and here for the Mexican film workshop.

• Free Industria Cinematográfica de México workshop at Inlet Tower on Dec 6th from 6 to 7:30 
• Family films screened at the Wilda Marston Theatre on Dec 8th from 11 to 5

5.  Saving the best for last - Go see an animated program. These are shown in groups or programs because most are pretty short. If you don't like one, it will be over soon and you're almost guaranteed to see at least one that will make it all worthwhile.  Some of the most exciting film is animated and you won't see these other places.  There are programs for families and for mature audiences only. You can find the animated programs

There is just one program of animated shorts this year - International Animation for All Ages.  You can get the same short attention span benefits at the Shorts programs and, even better, at the Super Shorts.

Like all websites with LOTS of information, the Festival Site is complicated and takes a bit of time to figure out. Pick up a copy of the print version (in the current Anchorage Press). I also have a post with some tips on negotiating the Festival Website.
The post is a year old, and the images are from last year's festival, but the information is still basically good.  EXCEPT:  There is only one pass this year ($90) and you can't get tickets on line.

AIFF 2010: Features in Competition - Son Istasyon (Last Station)

Here's what's up already on the Features in Competition:

• The overview of all the Features in Competition, and
  
• The Wild Hunt
• The Temptation of St. Tony

This one could be good. It only plays once and the film maker is scheduled to be there. At the very least it will give a glimpse into life in Turkey.

From Son Istasyon website

There's not much online about this film. Here's a google translation from a Turkish site Sinemaloji (the IMBD summary is similar, but this has more charm.)

SUBJECT: A railway officer, played by famous comedian Levent Kirca movie passes between trains. Warm and engaging story of remarkable production for a long time erased memories of the last station striking scenes and surprises the audience may be film-quality shows of the year.  Three children, played by Levent Kirca Ruhi railway officer and his family installed in telling the story of sadness and humor, drawing a realistic panorama of Turkey.

Ruhi is a small station in the country a memurdur counting his retirement days.  Retired roof of a house not flow away in a peaceful way to spend your life in the most recent  big dream.  But the daughter and youngest son of Esra Önder like to live better understood, and there is an innocent wishes. Their dreams of the innocent, the whole family at a time leads to Istanbul. Ruhi coming to Istanbul with his mother, his wife and is no longer anyone's control of events is no longer growing.

When you go to the  Son Istasyon website you hear a snippet of their theme music.  I had it on while I was checking up on the various Features in Competition and even though it looped after a minute or two, I really got into it.  They also have the trailer on the website - they've disabled the embed code, so I can't add it here.

AIFF 2010: Guide to Using Their New Website and Festival Genius

This year the Anchorage International Film Festival bought Festival Genius, a program for film festival websites.  Rand at the Bear Tooth was making the website by hand a couple of years ago and now they have an off-the-shelf product.  Well, it's not quite that simple.

There are actually two websites - the AIFF's website which is what you see on the right.

The tabs didn't come out too clearly in the screen shot - they're in the burnt orange bar above 'Advance Tickets." (If you double click on the images you can see them better.)

This is the Home.  If you click any of the others tabs you stay in this AIFF website.  However, if you click the Film Selection Tab and THEN click on one of the two drop down selections (2010 Schedule or 2010 Screenings), then you go to the Festival Genius AIFF site.   It looks like this:

From here you can check out all the films and when they show.  The four drop down windows

• Category
• Country
• Venue
• Trailer

give you lots of ways to sort the films that weren't available in the past.

REGISTRATION ON FESTIVAL GENIUS
If you register (on the FG pages) you can also click to put films you like onto a schedule.  I haven't done this because I didn't like the terms of the agreement (probably not a problem for most people, but it was for this blogger who might want to take screenshots) or the privacy conditions so I didn't register.

You can also make comments about the films - they encourage reviews.  (Someone suggested I post copies of my reviews there, but the agreement says FG owns whatever you post.)

You can also make reservations.  That doesn't mean buying the tickets.  However, for films at Out North, you CAN BUY TICKETS online (but not for the Bear Tooth.)  You DO NOT HAVE TO REGISTER to buy the tickets for Out North showings.

So there is a lot available on the Festival Genius part of the website.  All the Festival Genius pages say Festival Genius on the right left side just under the header (see the FG screenshot above.)

Also, on the URL bar before the http:// it has fg.  The AIFF regular pages have the snowflake symbol there.

HOW TO GET BACK TO AIFF ORIGINAL SITE FROM FG

Problem:   There is no link that's marked to take you back from Festival Genius pages to the original AIFF pages.  But you can go back by clicking on the header (the part that says "10 Anchorage International Film Festival" with the burnt orange and dark green/blue on top.)  It's easy to get to FG from the original AIFF, but you need to take the secret passage in the header to go back.

TICKETS and PRICES

All the information about prices and tickets are on the original AIFF HOME page, so if you slip into Festival Genius and want to know about prices, you have to click on the header to get back there.

Individual films are $8.
Workshops are $8.
Special events - opening night gala, awards ceremony, etc.  vary in price.

When you do switch back to the original AIFF pages from the FG pages, you probably won't get the header picture with the people in the audience (above.)  I've gotten these two.

Remember the AIFF original stuff has a dark background and the FG pages have white background.

When you get to the film pages on FG, if you put your cursor on a  particular film (in the image below on a grouping of shorts)  you'll get a window that shows more information. You don't have to click on everything and go to a new window and then return.  Very nice.

A




Another big improvement is that you can see the groupings for the shorts online.  In the past it was really hard to figure out when and where a particular short film was shown because you had to figure out what group it was in first.

Unfortunately, it still doesn't tell you the name of the grouping, but it does tell you what other films it screens with.  You have to click on 'more' and go to the next link to see the name of the grouping (ie Films for All Ages or Hot Animation for Mature Adults.)

However, if you go to the last 5 categories (not Snowdance though) you get the groupings (this image above) and it shows all the films in the grouping and the time and venue.

So go have fun looking around the website.  I found using the Countries tab interesting.

ALSO, DON'T FORGET there is a hard copy guide as well.  There's something nice about something you can mark up and take with you without having to plug in or log on.   It was in this week's Anchorage Press and you can get them at the Bear Tooth, Out North, and probably other places I don't know about.

AND there's an AIFF Facebook page and a Twitter account.

AND FINALLY, don't forget the festival passes.

For $90 you get an all film and all workshop pass.  At $8 for each event, if you go to 12 or more you come out ahead with the pass.
For $115 you get an all events pass - which gets you into all the films and workshops plus all the extra events (with food) like  the Opening Night Gala ($30 otherwise) and the awards night.  15 films or more and you break even, and fewer if you include a  special event or two.  And this is NOT a snooty festival.  I've always found people really friendly at these events.  And you get to chat with the film makers and actors as well.

And with the passes, you get into the theaters first without waiting in line (though you did need to stop at the ticket booth and show your pass and get a ticket so they can keep track.)

Here's what the 2008 AIFF Website looked like.

I managed to catch some of the Festival organizers doing some organizing Friday afternoon.

Rand (AIFF President) is at the end of the table, Tony (AIFF founder) is front right.  Dawnell (AIFF General Manager) is in the blue top to the right of Rand.  Teresa (AIFF Programming Coordinator and Liaison) is to the left of Rand.  I don't remember everyone else's names.  Sorry. 

Clutter Wars - Low Tide

The clutter wars continue.  J announced last week that she wants to paint one of the downstairs rooms and needs to get things out of there.  The room that is my project was totally strewn with boxes and stuff.  There was no room there to put the painting refugees from the other room.  So I vowed to get the floor cleared enough that it could become a storage room for the room being painted.

The picture shows the morning high tide and the afternoon low tide.

This room has been full and bare several times over the last few years.  I'd like to think that we get rid of stuff in the process.  And that like things get closer to being in the same boxes so they can be more easily sorted later.



In any case, I did get the floor clear by my arbitrary Friday deadline.  There does seem to be more room in the closet, and I remember filling the recycle bin with stuff.  Now I have to take pictures off the walls and books off the shelves and other odds and ends that are out in the open and move them into my now cleared floor.

AIFF 2010: Features in Competition - The Temptation of St. Tony (Püha Tõna Kiusamine)

At the rate I'm going, I'll get these Feature in Competition previews up by April.  I'm going to have to be a bit more efficient.  In the meantime  here's what's up already are

• The overview of all the Features in Competition, and
  
• The Wild Hunt
• The Last Station (Son Istasyon)

Here are some excerpts and links to explore for The Temptation of St. Tony, which I have high hopes for.  It would appear to be in the more 'esoteric' 'art' film category which is why it is a perfect festival film. The film makers are scheduled to attend the showings.

The St. Tony's website is spare. 

From Fandango

New York Times

A Take on Faith and Capitalism

By JEANNETTE CATSOULIS
Published: September 16, 2010

Bizarre and beautiful, disturbing and droll, “The Temptation of St. Tony” wonders what it means to be a good man. Kicking off with a quotation from Dante’s “Inferno,” this delirious sophomore feature from the Estonian filmmaker Veiko Ounpuu observes Tony (Taavi Eelmaa), a triumphantly depressed middle manager. Dissatisfied with his adulterous wife and a boss who orders him to sack all his factory workers, Tony descends into a midlife crisis that manifests itself as a series of increasingly hilarious, horrific visions.

Or are they? [the review continues]

UK site Hey Guys writes:

A possessed priest walking up the side of a rundown church, a phantasmic lady floating in the woods, a dead dog that is black and wolf like returning from the dead are among the many strange sequences that help to create the uncomfortable and weird tone of The Temptation of St Tony (2010). There are many film references in the film which suggests director Veiko Õunpuu's need to showcase his immense knowledge of criterion collection films by making references that presumably are intended to entertain the film aficionados among us. Õunpuu's acknowledges this directly in the film when Tony's wife's lover teases Tony for being an angel who is hopelessly oblivious. His cruel teasing fetches his girlfriend's disdain. Should it invite our disdain? It depends not on whether you can take a joke but rather on whether you are willing to look past the offense to enjoy the bizarre and absurdist display.

Jafarkas at Mixtapes gives us some background of the history of St. Anthony:

Dali's St. Anthony from Metal on Metal

In early Christian lore, the Egyptian monk Anthony traveled to the Saharan desert in search of St. Paul, but instead encountered a host of demons who tormented him physically in order to test his enduring faith. For reasons known only to 4th century masochists, this piece of arcana is commonly referred to as “The Temptation of St. Anthony.” Because of the graphic demon battles and underlying implications of lust and desire, surrealist painters from Hieronymus Bosch to Salvador Dalí have felt compelled to depict this story in painting. Georges Méliès, the magician of early cinema and a pioneer of fantasy filmmaking, also made St. Anthony's dilemma the subject of one of his early shorts.

From Wikipedia

You can get more details on his life at Wikipedia and you can see the other two parts of  Hieronymus Bosch Triptych of Temptations of St. Anthony on at another Wikipedia site.

Metal on Metal has a whole post with 14 paintings from  depicting St. Anthony







This film was selected for Sundance and is the Estonian entry for Best Foreign Film at the Academy Awards. (Wikipedia says the population of Estonia is 1.3 million) Markku Pätilä & Jaagup Roomet  have been nominated for best European Production Designer(s) at the 2010 European Film Awards for their work on Temptation of St. Tony.  Coincidentally, the awards will be announced in Tallinn, Estonia - the film maker's home - on December 4, the same day the film first shows in Anchorage.
[UPDATE Dec. 4: St. Tony lost to Roman Polansky's The Ghostwriter which swept six of the 18 awards.]

"He has comic timing tattooed on his genes" - Scott Schofield Performs at Out North

Scott in January

I first saw Scott Schofield last January when he introduced the Under 30 performances.  At the time I was surprised by his easy presence in front of the audience.  There was something special about him, though I didn't quite catch what he was doing here, something about being a visiting performer.  We missed his performance of Debutant Balls because we went to Juneau.

Scott after Wu Man

In July he introduced Wu Man and friends.  This time Scott was introduced as Out North's new artistic director.  Again, I was impressed.   Enough to write this as a side note to a long discussion of Wu Man and the evening's music:

His introduction Wednesday was a pleasure to listen to.  His words were good, his delivery fluent, and he effortlessly rotated to acknowledge the audience members sitting behind him on the stage. 

I'm giving all this background to just say, there was something special about this guy which I picked up from the time I first saw him.  Friday night I learned that he is an established performer who has performed all over which was brought home when in one of his pieces he mentioned that he'd 'just played to a packed house in Brussels."

So, my gut was right.  Out North has pulled a minor coup by snagging Scott as the artistic director.  He's closing in on his 30th birthday (this also came out - I think in the Q&A after the performance) and looks like he's approaching 20.  But he's been performing a long time and knows lots of people beyond Anchorage, a number of whom he's going to entice up here and introduce us to.

Friday night (and he does this again Saturday - tonight) he was on stage at Out North as a performer, though he confessed afterward that he couldn't completely get his administrator role out of his head  asking himself, as a performer and an administrator, "Is this show going to go well?  Is this going to help or hurt our future box offices?"

He didn't have to worry.  This guy is a natural story teller. He says raconteur, which I can't write unless the spell checker has it. (Phew! It did.) And his material is compelling.  The program says,

Two Truths and a Lie. . . is a collection of three autobiographical solo performances which have toured nationally to critical acclaim:  Underground Transit (2001), "Debutante Balls" (2004) and "Becoming a Man in 127 EASY Steps (2007).  

After Show Q&A

He gave the briefest of introductions - I'm not even sure what he told us.  Enough for us to know that he was born and raised as a girl and the title "Becoming a Man" meant just that, literally.  So, he had 127 steps.  Our job as the audience was to give him numbers and he'd find that particular step and perform it.  Or, as it turned out once or twice, show us the video.

I don't know a lot of people who have changed genders and the couple I can think of switched from male to female.  And it wasn't something we talked about.  I listened to Tafi's presentation focused on male Samoan children who are early identified as Fa 'afafine at UAA's Diverse Voices presentation.  I've read Middlesex.  My favorite documentary at the Anchorage International Film Festival last year was Prodigal Sons told by a woman returning to her rural home town for her 10th high school reunion who left for college after being the quarterback of his HS football team.  I'm sympathetic to the idea, but the male-female dichotomy is still one of the most rigid we have.  Homosexuality still causes many people grave distress.  The idea of being a woman and then a man or vice versa challenges our brains' flexibility.  We think it has to be either/or.

In the book - Two Truths and a Lie - Scott writes about coming up with this performance.

"Okay," my partner-in-crime S. Bear Bergman sighed as ze [sic] always does when calming me down on a late night, long distance phone call.  "So you have about 127 stories to tell and an hour in which to make sex change EASY, step-by-step."  I made notecards from memories, ruminated, and typed.  Then I found one of my old Choose Your Own Adventure books from elementary school.  Later, on tour in New York, T Cooper and Felicia Luna Lemus left Joe Meno's book The Boy Detective Fails by the couch they made up as a bed for me.  There I found the decoder ring.  With such random origins, how could I write any linear play?  The elements of chance that structured my process had to be reflected in the product.

Scott performs Two Truths and a Lie again tonight (Saturday) at 8pm at Out North.  Tickets at the door.  It will be a different performance from the one we saw because the audience isn't likely to choose the same numbers.

Now, as much as liked this, I think it could have been even better.  The lottery aspect of the audience choosing which scene he's going to play means there are a lot of missing parts and the actor doesn't know which scene is up next. 

Even with that caveat, Anchorage folks, what I'm saying here is WE'VE GOT THIS WORLD CLASS PERFORMER TELLING THIS MESMERIZING STORY AND NO ONE KNOWS IT.  So go now and see Scott.  In ten years when he's moved on and he's famous, don't kick yourself because you didn't see him 'way back when' in an intimate little theater in Anchorage before the world discovered him.

As Judith Jack Halberstam, Professor of English and Gender Studies at USC, wrote in the front of Scott's book,

Scott, it should be said up front and often, is simply a mesmerizing performer.  You could listen to his voice all night.  He has comic timing tattooed on his genes, and he can make the trip from irony to sincerity in 3 seconds flat. 

Why Cars Kill About 160 Moose a Year in Anchorage

We were coming home from Scott Turner Schofield's performance of parts of his book "Two Truths and a lie" at Out North tonight and the car in front of us turned soooooooooo slooooooooowly at the green arrow onto Northern Lights.


You can really tell who doesn't have studded tires, I was thinking.  Then as we were almost home another car put on his right turn blinker (that's good) and then turned into a cartoon slow motion car for half a block before the turn.  Then J said - there's moose.

 I was barely moving when the car turned right to reveal a moose and calf barely visible in the dark.    You can see why so many get hit.  Or maybe I should say you can't see.

I'm always amazed at how these huge brown animals can blend so well into their surroundings.  I've passed moose while jogging and not realized they were there until I sense something there, and look over to see one eating ten feet away as I pass.  It was a good thing the car in front of me took so long to turn right and I was barely moving.

Winter, finally

Thanksgiving Day

The wimpy snow followed by rain we've had haven't pushed us into a proper winter, but it looks like we're there thanks to a couple of Thanksgiving inches.  It finally looks and feels like it should. 

This first picture was on Thanksgiving Day.  The rest were today.

The bike path plow is busy near the new light on 36th at MacInnes.  I was skeptical about yet another light to slow down traffic on 36th.  Then when one of the traffic guys said, at a community council meeting, that most vehicles on MacInnes will now probably have to wait longer than in the past.  Time tests showed traffic breaks without the light came more frequently than the light will change.  GRRRR!  Once a few loud people get a project in queue it won't come off even when it doesn't make sense.  Maybe they could set the light so it will blink yellow on 36th and red for MacInnes most of the time, and then have the light when the traffic is really heavy between 4pm and 6pm when UAA is open.  But I'm not holding my breath.  It also means cyclists who want to cross at this point have to wait three minutes for the light to change or break the law.  Not good traffic policy.

Dormant Recessive Vampire Genes? Neckrophilia?

It's not neckrophilia because there's no sexual arousal involved at all.  So maybe I have some recessive vampire genes that make devouring the turkey neck - yes eating the flesh, there's no blood left to suck out - so irresistible.  Or maybe it's that the neck is the first part done.

Thanksgiving is like a vegetarian day of Lent.  We don't have to give up vegies entirely, but we are required to taste the flesh of dead animals so that we understand the fleeting pleasure the beast-like craving for animal flesh gives our regular meat eating friends and relatives and why they defend their heathen practice as 'normal.'

In fact I've found a sermon, Not Like the Beasts, that helps explain all this.

What does it tell us that, when faced with any attempt to make the case that this substance should be harder to get than it is, some reliable subset of defenders can be counted on to respond more like animals than like people? If such is not the very definition of addiction, what is?

It was the insight regarding the animal-response that has stuck with me since I first read this article. It’s not just, it seems to me, those enslaved to pornography who may lash out when their sin is exposed. No.

Instead, it seems to me that any of us is tempted to respond like that whenever the light encroaches on our dark places. And Satan is surely pleased that it can devolve us into beasts.

It may be an aspect of the mystery of lawlessness that causes us, at times, to respond not with gratitude but with (un)righteous indignation when our pet addictions, our personal idolatries, are exposed.

If we respond with disdain when our spending habits come under scrutiny, perhaps we’ve fallen into mammon-worship. If we respond with vitriol when our relationships are questioned, perhaps those relationships are inappropriate. If we respond with hatred when our particular political party is critiqued, perhaps we’re worshiping the wrong king.

And if one responds thusly to having one's carnivorous lusting pointed out, perhaps one is worshiping the destruction of life and gluttony. 

Enjoy your Thanksgiving turkey and remember, it gave its life to bring income to turkey farmers (not too much), agro-business (a lot), and retail food outlets (more than farmers), as well as satanic pleasure to your palate. 

And vegetarians, savor this date of eating flesh so that you are less judgmental of your flesh-eating brethren.  This is, for many, an addiction which they cannot escape, despite the cruelty suffered by so many of the animals they devour, despite the damage caused to the environment by factory farms and by the need to destroy forests to grow feed for the animals, despite the unnatural chemicals in the flesh they devour.  Show them understanding and lead them out of temptation, not through your own self-righteous nagging, but through your own good example.


tic

"Here he comes, swelling like a turkey-cock"

Discovery News tells us about the findings of a study published in February 2010:

Native Americans had already domesticated turkeys twice: first in south-central Mexico at around 800 B.C. and again in what is now the southwestern U.S. at about 200 B.C., according to a new study. . .

"Interestingly, the domestic turkeys were initially raised for their feathers, which were used in rituals and ceremonies, as well as to make feather robes or blankets," lead author Camilla Speller told Discovery News. "Only later, around 1100 A.D., did the domestic turkeys become an important food source for the Ancestral Puebloans."(Wired had a better story on this.)

 According to the University of Illinois Extension website:

Spaniards brought tame Mexican turkeys to Europe in 1519, and they reached England by 1524. The Pilgrims actually brought several turkeys to America on the voyage in 1620.

 England had turkeys for only 40 years when  William Shakespeare was born in 1564 and 75 years when he wrote Henry V.


From Birds of Shakespeare:

The turkey-cock, introduced into Europe from the New World in the early part of the sixteenth century, had become quite naturalized in the farm-yards of England by the time of Elizabeth the First. It is several times alluded to by Shakespeare, sometimes as a symbol of conceited ostentation, and also as an article of food. When in King Henry V Gower sees Pistol approaching, he exclaims to Fluellen “Here he comes, swelling like a turkey-cock,” to which the Welshman, who had resolved to make the braggart eat the leek, replies, “’Tis no matter for his swellings nor his turkey-cocks.” [V, 1]

But let's go back to those pre-Columbian turkeys. I found traces of information and then I found this from  foodtimeline:

"Aztec food...is a subject for which relatively rich written source material exists...The chronicle of Bernal Diaz del Castillo, who accompanied Cortes...and the illustrated work...of Father Sahagun, written in the 1530s, are full of fascinating detail for food historians. The Aztecs, coming south from the deserts of New Mexico, had in the 14th century occupied sites in the valley of Mexico, an area rich in lakes, whose produce (fowl of many kinds, fish, frogs, water insects, algae) the newcomers adopted with enthusiasm. They flourished and established their dominion over a wide area...Sahagun tells us they feasted...on white tortillas, grains of maize, turkey eggs, turkeys, and all kinds of fruit. He gives a list of 25 fruits, including four varieties of sweet potato, sweet manioc, avocados, and come cacti. It is said that they flinched from chocolate at first, but when the Indians set the example they drank and found it good...The description by Bernal Diaz of how Motechuhzoma was served and ate, and of the thousands of jars of foaming chocolate, is famous. It contrasts strongly with the general impression of the Aztecs as an abstemious and frugal people, who subsisted on meagre fare and for whom fast...were a part of the way of life...Maize was the staple food of the Aztecs and the focus of a large part of their religion...The food value of the maize was greatly enhanced by the process called nixtamalization...Beans and chia were important enough to figure as items of tribute paid to the Aztec state, as were amaranth and squash seeds. Chilli was available...The short list of domesticated creatures has headed by the turkey and included the dog as well as...bees. The culinary sophistication of the Aztecs is apparent from the extraordinarily long list of spices and flavourings which they would use with chocolate."
---Oxford Companion to Food, Alan Davidson [Oxford University Press:Oxford] 1999 (p. 44)

And finally, the jackpot - a paper which "was read at the Central States Anthropological   Society meetings, March II, 1989, University of Notre Dame, by the senior author."
(the link below is a PDF file)

Evidence for Pre-Columbian Animal Domestication in the New World

D.L. Johnson

B.K. Swartz, Jr. 

Ball State University 

Muncie, Indiana

. . .Here we will discuss seven animals domesticated in the New World before European discovery. The dog, "llama", guinea pig, turkey, Muscovy duck, stingless bee, and the cochineal insect comprise the list of known Pre- Columbian, New World animal domesticates. . . (p. 1)

Turkeys; Meleagris gallopavo

Turkeys are found throughout North and Central America. Domesticated turkey bones appear in the Tehuacan Valley sequence early in the Palo Blanco phase, ca. AD 180. This is the oldest reliably dated evidence for the domestic turkey in Mesoamerica (Flannery 1966:175).

MacNeish (1966:290) points to the hybridization of turkeys, as evidence by bones found at Tehuacan, as proof that the turkey was domesticated. Bones found in the Northwest of Mexico and the Southwest United States, with earlier dates, as well as genetic similarities amoung present day domestic and wild turkey populations in the "Southwest United States, indicate that domesticated turkeys spread from the greater Southwest to Tehuacan"
(1966: 19-5) .

Analysis of coproliths, radiocarbon dating ca. AD 180, from the Tehuacan Valley shows the presence of turkey feathers and bees in the diets of the people living there (Callen 1966:273, 265). Turkey bones found in the basin-valley sites in the Northern Sierra suggest that the bird was originally taken from its mountain habitat and penned in the lower valley villages (Di Peso 1977:7) .

Three varieties of turkeys were found at Casas Grandes, ca. AD 250. They were: 1) the Small Indian Domestic, -most popular at the New Mexico Tompiro pueblos in the Rio Grande drainage; 2) the Large Indian Domestic, resembling birds from east central Arizona; and 3) the Tse Tala. which was a very large bird (Di Peso 1974:602). Evidence of egg shells and bones suggest that the Small and Larqe Indian Domestics were hybridized (Di Peso 1974:603) •

The earliest naturalist to give an account of the domestic turkey was Oviedo y Valdes. Slightly confused, he described turkeys that he had seen in the West Indies soon after the Conquest, "Whither they had been brought," he said, "from Spain" (Di Peso 1535:306).

Earlier records of turkeys include the lists of food served by Moctezuma to Cortes and his men in 1518 (Anderson and Dibble 1978:19; Prescott 1847:89). Prescott (1847:101) records that the yearly expenditure of the Aztec king Tezcuco included 8000 turkeys. Tepexi received tribute from his people in 1537, to give to Cortes, that included turkeys (Gorenstein 1971:341).  Di Peso (1974:602) mentioned the use of turkeys for trade, plumage, blood for decoration and religious ceremonies in Casas Grandes, as well as grave goods.  (pp. 37-38)

So, as you eat your Thanksgiving turkey today, you  are following a tradition (eating turkey, not our Thanksgiving holiday dinner) that goes back a long way in North and Central America.  But I'm guessing the didn't keep their turkeys wrapped in plastic in the fridge.

AIFF 2010: Features in Competition - The Wild Hunt

The Wild Hunt is the opening movie at this year's Anchorage International Film Festival. 

Wikipedia tells us about the (actual) Wild Hunt:

The Wild Hunt is an ancient folk myth prevalent across Northern, Western and Central Europe.  The fundamental premise in all instances is the same: a phantasmal group of huntsmen with the accoutrements of hunting, horses, hounds, etc., in mad pursuit across the skies or along the ground, or just above in
The hunters may be the dead or the fairies (often in folklore connected with the dead). The hunter may be an unidentified lost soul, a deity or spirit of either gender, or may be a historical or legendary figure like Theodoric the Great, the Danish king Valdemar Atterdag, the Welsh psychopomp Gwyn ap Nudd or the Germanic Woden (or other reflections of the same god, such as Alemannic Wuodan in Wuotis Heer ("Wuodan's Host") of Central Switzerland, Swabia etc.)

The movie itself involves a modern reenactment of the old Wild Hunt.  The synopsis from the movies website:

A MODERN MEDIEVAL SAGA, The Wild Hunt tells the story of Erik Magnusson, a young man who decides to follow his estranged girlfriend Evelyn into a medieval re-enactment game when he discovers that she has been seduced by one of the players.
As the down-to-earth Erik treks deeper into the game in search of his love, he inadvertently disrupts the delicate balance of the make believe fantasy-land.

Passions are unleashed. Rules are broken. Reality and fantasy collide. The good-hearted game turns into a tragedy of mythic proportion...

You probably also should know about LARP, which stands for Live Action Role Playing.  Unlike those who play games on computers, these are people who do it for real.  As I was writing this, I discovered that Movieset has already written my post, citing Wikipedia on LARP and on the specific LARP location and event where The Wild Hunt is set - Bicolle.  I'll just give you a snippet of what they have and you can see the rest for yourself at Movieset:

What is L.A.R.P.?
From Wikipedia:       
A live action role-playing game (LARP) is a form of role-playing game where the participants physically act out their characters' actions. The players pursue goals within a fictional setting represented by the real world, while interacting with each other in character. The outcome of player actions may be mediated by game rules, or determined by consensus among players.
The first LARPs were run in the late 1970s, inspired by role-playing games and genre fiction. .  .

 What is The Duchy of Bicolline?
From Wikipedia:        http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bicolline
Bicolline is a fantasy live action role-playing game (LARP) campaign in Quebec. Events take place at a dedicated venue covering 140 hectares called the Duchy of Bicolline located in Saint-Mathieu-du-Parc near Shawinigan, Québec.

The most passionate players involved over the years have built a medieval village with roads, bridges, ditches, an inn and a castle at the Duchy of Bicolline venue.  Players are responsible for their buildings and must follow standards of construction. The village is composed of one hundred buildings, with more being added. The demand for construction sites is such that one Bicolline staff member spends all year controlling applications, validating the plans for buildings, ensuring that projects are feasible, and so on. [Read it all at Movieset]

Sounds like they have their own version of zoning restrictions.  The actual Duchy of Bicolline site is in French.

Double Click to enlarge to see it clearly or go to original here.

 And The Wild Hunt was partially filmed at Duché de Bicolline.  The site has a poster of The Wild Hunt with this announcement:

Long métrage tourné au Duché de Bicolline incluant des scènes de la Grande Bataille 2008 et la participation de nombreux joueurs et joueuses. 

 or as Translate.reference interprets that:

Feature film shot in Duchy of Bicolline include scenes of the Great Battle of 2008 and the participation of many players and players

As Roger Ebert tells it:

Evelyn has left for the big weekend, where she will be captured, held hostage and otherwise be the center of attention. Erik is fed up. He goes out to the forest to talk sense to her, but his role-playing brother Bjorn (Mark A. Krupa) makes him wear a costume because It Is Not Permitted to Wear Just a T-Shirt.

If you want to check, you can read the Régles du Combat for Bataille du Bicolline.  My French is limited to words that look like English words and that page isn't copy-able so I couldn't find a rule about T-shirts.  Probably because those look like the rules of combat.

Ebert has a lot more to say and you can check out his review if you want to know more. Generally, he liked the movie and identified a bit with Erik. 

Twitchfilm also thinks you should see this (it's not clear who wrote the review - the byline is Todd Brown, but it also thanks Andrew David Long for the review.) This is from last December:

Alexandre Franchi just might be a genius, and his first feature shows the same lyric creativity and the same commitment to themes of imagination he displayed in his stellar collection of short films (Fata Morgana, Troll Concerto, etc.), all while suggesting - contrary to his earlier works - that reality must eventually destroy fantasy. . .

I would be remiss in neglecting to mention Claudine Sauvé's lovely 35mm cinematography, which nimbly integrates small crew documentary-style shoots and some intricate night scenes, and gives form to Franchi's lyric bent. 

Do yourself a favour and chase down a screening of The Wild Hunt.  You'll be glad you did, whether or not you believe Ragnarok is nigh. [This is the beginning and end of the review, for all of it go to Twitchfilm.]

It won the Best Canadian First Feature at the Toronto International Film Festival (2009) and the Audience Award for Best Narrative at Slamdance (2020.) 

This is said to have been done under a Canadian$500,000 budget.  I suspect doing it at the actual Duchy de Bicolline saved money on sets and costumes.  Also, the director knows something about money.  The website says:

After pursuing a successful banking career in Canada, the Persian Gulf and Central America, Alexandre decided to follow his passion for film and quit the business world for good. His stories, in which characters escape a dreary reality and find solace in the imaginary world, are a grim reminder of his old banking job. The Wild Hunt is his first feature.

Click on the link for a list and overview of all the Features in Competition.
Individual posts on other Features in Competition:

The Temptation of St. Tony

Anchorage Closed Due to Ice

The advantage of living in Anchorage is supposed to be that we get snow and cold enough weather that it stays until spring and we don't have to deal too much with ice.  But that's been changing.  Here it is almost December, it's raining, and the streets are covered with wet ice. 

 

 

 

This is what if feels like when your feet find a slick patch.

But my grippers yesterday kept my feet on the ground.

And where they spread gravel on the ground it's a lot easier.

Not everything is closed.  People are driving slowly and most 

places are open including the airport.

AIFF 2010 - Feature Films in Competition Overview

Feature Films are full length narrative films.  Fifteen features were chosen by the screening committee as "Official Selections."  Of those, seven are "In Competition" and the jurors will choose the Best Feature of the festival from among these films. 



In this post, after listing the films and times, I'm going to briefly introduce the Feature Films in Competition. In separate posts I'll write up a little more about each film. At this point I haven't seen any of the films so I'll be putting together background information that I find of interest.  My goal is to present information that will:

1. help you decide whether you want to see it, 
2.  make it more interesting if you do,
     and will NOT
3. spoil the film.

The last criteria, for me is most important, because I assume everyone wants to see every film. :)


Here's the list of the Feature Films in Competition with the Directors, Countries, and times and locations.

FM* indicates that the film maker is scheduled to be at the showing and available for Questions and Answers after the showing. Note:  all but one film will have someone here to talk about the film after the show. This is one of the neatest parts of a festival - the chance to talk directly to the film maker.

Also, all but two of the films (Empire of Silver and Last Station) will be shown twice.

Bai Yin Di Guo [Empire of Silver] 5:15 PM     Sat, Dec 11     Bear Tooth  FM*	Christina Shu-hwa Yao	China
The Drummond Will 7:20 PM     Mon, Dec 06    Bear Tooth 5:15 PM     Sun, Dec 12     Bear Tooth	Alan Butterworth	UK
Hello Lonesome 5:30 PM     Tue, Dec 07  Bear Tooth FM* 5:10 PM     Sat, Dec 11   Out North  FM*	Adam Reid	USA
Karma Calling 7:45 PM     Fri, Dec 10  Bear Tooth FM* 8:30 PM     Sat, Dec 11  Out North  FM*	Sarba Das	USA
Son Istasyon [Last Station] 5:30 PM     Sun, Dec 05 Bear Tooth FM*	Ogulcan Kirca	Turkey
The Temptation of St. Tony 7:55 PM     Sat, Dec 04  Bear Tooth FM* 8:30 PM     Sun, Dec 05 Out North  FM*	Veiko Õunpuu	Estonia
The Wild Hunt 7:30 PM     Fri, Dec 03  Bear Tooth FM* 7:45 PM     Tue, Dec 07 Bear Tooth FM*	Alexandre Franchi	Canada

After checking out all of the films online (but not watching them) I can give a little intro to them, but I'll have a separate post for each film with more details.  As I get those posts up I'll put up links below.  (The links above go to the Anchorage International Film Festival website page for the films and have trailers and summaries of each film.)

The Wild Hunt Post - posted November 24  (Canada)
The Temptation of St. Tony - posted November 27 (Estonia)
Son Istayon - The Last Station - posted November 30 (Turkey)
The Drummond Will
Hello Lonesome
Karma Calling
Bai Yin Di Guo (白銀帝國) (Empire of Silver)



The list above is in alphabetical order.  The very brief overviews below are in chronological order that they first show in the festival. 

From Moviegoods

From Fandango

There are two films - The Wild Hunt (Fri/Tue, Dec 3/7) and The Temptation of St. Tony (Sat/Sun, Dec 4/5) - which work off old myths or stories.  The Wild Hunt is a modern reenactment of a mythical medieval hunt involving the spirit world.  St. Tony's middle manager main character's trials in this film are loosely based on those an early Egyptian monk - St. Anthony.  In both films, the protagonist faces his wife/girlfriend's lover/seducer.  The Wild Hunt's trailer suggests there is a blurring of reality and fantasy as the reenactment and reality clash.  The trailer suggests an adventure epic spliced onto a modern love drama.   St. Tony's look - and the reviews - suggest more cerebral black and white films reflecting Estonian director Veiko Õunpuu's Swedish neighbor Bergman.  This looks good to me, but reviewers hint it might be too obscure and bizarre for many.  A perfect film to see at a festival. Wild Hunt won Best Canadian First Feature Film Award at the 2009 Toronto International Film Festival and is the opening film in Anchorage.  The Temptation of St. Tony has been nominated for best European Production Designer at the 2010 European Film Awards.  Coincidentally, the awards will be announced in Tallinn, Estonia - the film maker's home - on December 4, the same day the film first shows in Anchorage.

From Son Istasyon website

Son Istasyon (Last Station) (Sun Dec 5) is Turkish and looks to be a good one.  It takes place in modern Turkey as a man's retirement dreams clash with his children's dreams.  It should offer us a glimpse of life in a country few of us know.  The actor playing the main character is a famous Turkish comedian and is directed by his son.  I haven't found much on this film, so I'm guessing this might be one of the first showings in the US.  And the music from the website has found its way into my brain. 

From Screengeeks

In the black and white English murder/comedy The Drummond Will (Mon/Sun, Dec 6,12), bodies begin to pile up.  This film recalls an earlier era of British films.  David Minkus at Screengeeks gave it a 4/4, with the caveat that he is a sucker for a good English comedy.  Marty Mapes, at Movie Habit  said, "It’s often funny, and it sometimes works."   The Drummond Will just won the People's Choice Award at the River's Edge Film Festival and the Best Feature at the Ferndale (Michigan) Film Festival, in early November 2010.

From Hello Lonesome site

Hello Lonesome (Tue/Sat Dec 7/11) has some outstanding actors  (James Urbaniak, for example, played comic book artist Robert Crumb  in American Splendor) and won the Best Ensemble Performance at the LA Film Festival.  Adam Ried produced, directed, wrote, and filmed these six characters in three stories exploring human relationships.








Karma Calling's (Fri/Sat Dec. 10/11) website has one of the best promo lines I've seen for a film:

From Karma Calling Website

"What happens when a bunch of hapless Hindus from Hoboken get mixed up with an underworld don with connections to an Indian call center?"

This is the story of an immigrant family that doesn't meet the stereotype of the highly educated and successful Indian-American family.  This one looks like lots of fun.

Karma Calling won the  Best Feature Film at the New Jersey International Film Festival (hometown favorite here), and the Audience Award at the LA Asian Film Festival, and the Grand Festival Prize at the Berkeley Film and Video Festival.

From Flixster

Bai Yin Di Guo (白銀帝國) (Empire of Silver) (Dec 11) has an actual historical setting in late 19th Century China and tells the story of the son of a banking mogul in Shanxi province, north central China.  The film was released in 2009 and except for the cinematography has not gotten the best of reviews.   The movie is based on a trilogy by Cheng Yi titled "Valley of Silver."[It looks like all the references to this are copied from the same source and I can't find anything on the trilogy besides reviews of the movie.  I'm checking on it and will let you know what I find out.]

Aunt Flo's 1911 Trip to Fairbanks at lol irw with to & ho

For Alaska history buffs, Heidi Olson at Laughing Out Loud in the Real World is posting her Great Aunt Flo's trip from Seattle to Fairbanks in 1911.  She has copy of the hand written journal and she's typed it out as well.  The posts are going up to be read on the same dates they were written, 99 years later.  It starts on October 31, 2010  and begins:

Awoke early - my last day in Seattle for awhile. Finish packing. Ida buys my ticket. Answered phone [call] of Capt. Donovan. Mrs. Clingen comes. Good dinner. Mr. Turner comes in auto to take us to the dock. Olive comes and brings packages. ALL ABOARD. Capt. heaves into sight. Kiss all goodbye and go on board to stateroom 30. Northwestern Ship. Nice stateroom. Go to bed.

Why Would TSA Delete The Images?

The TSA scan(ner)dal has way too many facets to cover all in one post, so I'm doing this piece meal. 

According to CBSnews:

"The (body image scanning) technology is sent to the airports without the ability to save, transmit or print the images," said Greg Soule, TSA spokesman, in an interview with CBSNews.com. "At airports, the images are examined by a security officer in a remote location, and, once the image is cleared, they're deleted."[emphasis added]

 Why would they delete the image right after someone is cleared?  The same lack of logic that caused them to go to scanners instead of using other ways to (like thinking human beings instead of machines) to stop terrorists causes them to say they delete the images right away.

If I were going to the trouble to take images of every passenger, I'd at least save them until the flight landed safely.  Suppose they delete the images, and a plane explodes and goes down.  Wouldn't you want to go through the images to find out what you missed?  I sure would.

And CBS' report goes on to discuss the 100 images from a Florida Federal Courthouse that have gone public, which you can see at Gizmodo.  

And anyone with a computer knows it can do things you didn't intend.  And anyone who knows a human being, knows they don't always do what they're told.

Previous posts on this topic:
1.  Updating Havel's "Power of the Powerless" for Airline Pilots
2.  Creating Child Porn to Stop Terrorists

Sunrise Fires - Winter Ice

J's workshop met today as well, but an hour later.  Yesterday it was clear at 8am when I dropped her off and today there were fog/clouds still hanging in.  One of the peaks is just barely visible above the fog (it's above the 'm' in 'am' in the Saturday picture and below that 'm' in the Sunday picture.)

I decided to go a little further and check out Campbell Airstrip. As I drove east, the sky got pink.  Once I turned up Campbell Airstrip Road, I could stop and shoot.

 

There is good reason to get up for sunrise, and in the winter, when it's after 9am, it's not that hard to do.  Below I'm walking on the bridge over Campbell Creek which was already frozen over.  But there was water running under the ice.  (See the video below.)

I really hadn't dressed to go out for a walk in the 10˚F (-12˚C) chill of east Anchorage, but I did go up the trail for ten minutes and took some pictures.  These ice crystals are on a small tree branch.  And before I got to the bridge I went down to the creek to watch and listen to the water flowing under the ice.