sundance and a hamster

i'm in a minivan.

we were supposed to pick up our cars on wednesday night, then it became thursday morning. i'm working as part of the transportation department for the sundance film festival. specifically, i'm on the film maker fleet thanks to my friend adam huner. we drive directors to their showings and, i'm told, it's arguably the best team to be on.

at the honda dealership yesterday morning, all but three of us had cars available. two of the guys got their cars later on and i got the sliding-doors-on-both-sides soccer mom minivan. i was ashamed. people laughed and scoffed.

bah. it's an awesome car. after hanging out in the park-n-wait at the airport (reading the sunday school lesson off of my phone) for an hour and a half, i was told that i wouldn't be needed for about three hours. we're paid for the day regardless and i used to time to stop by gandolfo's and visit my sister and nephew. like most jobs in the film world, this work is hours of waiting punctuated by moments of sheer terror.

actually, that's life on a camera crew. just the same, i was a little nervous when i was picking up my first passenger (can i call them a "fare" if my service is complimentary?) a million what if's fluttered around me, but there wasn't much i could do about them so what was the point?

i pulled up at the airport and a friendly lady and her husband waved at me. she was a director who had a film at the festival last year and was speaking this year. he was along to support her. they were way cool and as i drove them to their various venues last night, we talked about favorite movies and the excitement of the industry. i seriously dug it.

(so far the only celebrity i've seen so far was michael moore.)

this post is feeling kind of bland and i'm short on time. you get the idea. i can't even find a picture i like, so i'm just putting up a hamster.

in closing, here are the my xm presets:

X1 (the upbeat singalongs)

1. ch.8 "80s on 8"

2. ch. 20 "pop 20k" (they play coldplay)

3. ch. 47 "alt nation"

4. ch. 44 "1st wave" (they play oingo boingo)

5. ch. 54 "lithium" (early 90s grunge or something)

6. ch. ? "classic vinyl" (can't tell if this or "classic rewind" is better. or even what the difference is)

X2 (the chill night time, hoping to keep my passengers from wanting to stay out too late)

1. ch. 51 "coffee house" (wonderful)

2. ch. 70 "real jazz" (so good...)

3. ch. 77 "pops" (classical)

4. ch. 78 "symphony hall" (yes, more classical, one station over)

5. ch. 84 "chill" (chill beats)

6. ch. 80 "area" (decent techno)