Kickin' It With James Franco (Sort of): AFF Part 2

Well friends, I promised you celebrity sightings in my last post, and celebrity sightings is what I’m going to give you.  I didn’t know this when I first volunteered, but the Austin Film Festival is kind of a big deal.  Like, celebrities come and show their movies.  Now for those of you who have never been to my hometown of Lancaster, you may not be aware, but celebrities don’t exactly flock to our humble city.  Shocking. 

But Austin is a bit different.  For all of the similarities between Lancaster and Austin (too many to count), there are a few differences, and I suppose one of those is the celebrity-attraction factor. 

The biggest star to appear at AFF was Johnny Depp.  Yes, Gilbert Grape himself graced us with his presence and premiered his newest film, The Rum Diary.  Unfortunately, the roommates and I had to work a theatre that night, and it wasn’t the Paramount, where Mr. Depp’s film was premiering.  But rest assured, we were able to catch a glimpse of dear old Johnny (don’t tell him I called him that).  Here’s what happened:  basically, we were stationed at a pretty slow theatre, so we had a bit of time to kill while our patrons watched their film.  So we decided to head over to the Paramount just to check out what was going on.  And it was crazy.  Seriously nuts.  There were people everywhere with signs and pictures, waiting for Johnny Depp to show up.  They even had a red carpet where he made his entrance.  And although we weren’t working that particular premiere, we were wearing our volunteer t-shirts so we were automatically corralled into helping with crowd control.  This basically meant attempting (and failing, if you’re me) to keep people out of the streets while, oh, I don’t know, cars came zooming past, and hoping that no one got hurt.

I’m going to be honest:  when Johnny Depp finally arrived, I was essentially useless.  Another volunteer and I totally fan-girled and started craning our necks to see him.  What crowd control?  We were just as bad as everybody else, pointing and giggling and ignoring the people in the streets.  But I don’t think I was as bad as my dear friend Joanna, who totally abandoned her post and joined the crowd, snapping pictures of Johnny with her iPhone (sorry, Jo).  You should thank her, though, because if it  wasn’t for her, I wouldn’t be able to share with you the lovely pic below. 

Johnny Depp at AFF

Mira Sorvino joined us on the final night of the festival, premiering her film Union Square.  I was actually working that film, but the crowd was much more demure than that for Mr. Depp.  Surprisingly, not as many screaming girls were around to make a big deal about Mira’s presence.  Poor Romy.

But as I told you in my last post, friends, the highlight of the festival for me was James Franco’s appearance.  In case you didn’t know, I’m a big Franco fan.  Is it his charming looks?  His seeming ability to master every task man ever attempted?  His Oscar nomination?  Yes, it’s all of those things, but it’s also the nerd in me who is smitten with the fact that he’s getting his PhD in English and is considering pursuing a Masters in Creative Writing.  Yes, I’m a dork, I know. Whatevs.

Anyway, Franco came to the AFF to premiere his latest film, Sal.  He only has a small role on screen, but he directed, wrote, and produced the film.  You know, between his PhD classes.  Just your typical guy.  So he showed the film, and then there was a Q and A following with him and Val Lauren, the actor who plays Sal Mineo in the film.  And it was awesome. 

The film was interesting, although it’s not necessarily one I would recommend to everyone.  There were several interesting stylistic elements, and I appreciated a lot of the technical aspects of the film.  The story follows the last day in Sal Mineo’s life, so it’s one of those films where not a lot happens.  What’s interesting, though, is how much importance is placed on the mundane tasks that happen that day because you see them through the context of it being someone’s last day on earth.  I enjoyed the film, but I could see where the pacing might be a little slow for some people.

What’s crazy is that they shot the film in like, nine days or something.  I don’t even know how that’s possible.  But that’s Franco.  I should expect nothing less.

But I’m not here to give you my opinion about Sal.  I’m here to show you pictures of James Franco.  The quality's not the best, but it's still Franco.  Oh, don't be so picky.

The amazing James Franco introducing his new film Sal at AFF

James Franco with Val Lauren (right) during the Q and A at the Sal screening

You’re welcome.

Those were the biggest stars we saw at AFF.  We also ran into Fred Stoller on the street who was there to promote his latest movie, Fred and Vinnie.  Caitlin got her picture with him, which was pretty cool.  And kind of random.

In a nutshell, that’s basically our AFF adventures.  But lest you’ve forgotten, I also volunteered for the Austin Book Festival at the same time as the film festival.  My stint there was much shorter – only two days and like 3 hours each day, but it was still a cool experience.  The second day of the festival, my roommates and I helped out at the book-signing tent for a couple of hours.  It was fairly slow because there were more volunteers than necessary, and I think a lot of the patrons had already gone home. 

But my first day at the book festival was pretty awesome.  I was an author escort for Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist Stacy Schiff.

I’m going to be honest with you:  I didn’t know who she was when I first got my assignment.  Clearly, she’s kind of impressive since she, you know, won a Pulitzer Prize or whatever.  But I had no idea.  All I knew was that I had to escort her to one of the chamber rooms in the Texas Capital without getting lost.  No pressure (especially given my since of direction - recall the bus debacle?).

It wasn’t until I learned that she’s written a book on the life of Cleopatra (fittingly titled Cleopatra:  A Life), that the wheels started turning.  And my age began to show.  I remembered watching an episode of The Daily Show a couple of months ago that featured an author who wrote a book about Cleopatra.  A quick Google search on my smart phone revealed that Stacy Schiff was indeed the author on that episode (I didn’t reveal this knowledge to Ms. Schiff, however, because I didn’t want to let her know that the only way I recognized her was through a show on Comedy Central.  I'm such a good English major). 

I started getting a little nervous because I was realizing that Stacy was pretty important and I was going to be responsible for making sure she got to her speaking session on time.  And I was pretty sure that I was going to get her lost.  Thankfully, I was saved by Kay, a lovely lady who had been assigned specifically to Stacy as her own personal escort, which basically meant I just got to tag along with the crew and sit at the front of the room while Stacy talked about her book.  Not a bad deal, if I do say so myself.

And that concludes my volunteer adventures thus far in this crazy city.  By the end, we were really tired and our feet were seriously hurting, but it was so much fun.  We saw some great movies, met a lot of random people we probably wouldn’t have met otherwise, and learned a little about what it’s like to work in a theatre.   

And did I mention I saw James Franco?

My Brief Brush With the Film Industry (AFF, Part 1)

And so, the world’s worst blogger returns yet again with more insight and updates into my Austin chronicles.  I hope, dear readers, that this entry will excite you, as it’s filled with much more entertainment than my previous posts (and no rodents).  You see, my lovely roommates and I spent much of the past two weeks volunteering at the Austin Film Festival.  We also volunteered for the Austin Book Festival, but our tenure there was much shorter, so I’ll save those details for post 2.  Yes, you are about to witness my first 2-part blog post.  Get excited.

When we signed up for both festivals, we failed to realize that they would be taking place at the same time.  Typical.  So it was quite hectic as we struggled to remember which shirt to put on each morning and where we needed to get off of the bus.

Yes.  You read that correctly.  We tackled the bus.  Now, some of you are scoffing at me now, I’m sure, since thousands, or perhaps millions of people take public transportation every day (I really have no handle on population statistics).  What’s so special about taking the bus, you may be asking?  Well clearly, you weren’t with Joanna and me last December as we attempted, and failed miserably, to make use of the buses in Austin.  You would think that two college-educated women would be able to read a map and determine a proper route for getting from point A to point B.  You would be wrong.  I think we took the correct bus and got off at the right stop once.  In four days.  So taking the right bus to the right stop was quite an achievement for us.  Sad, but true.

  But anyway, enough about my geographical challenges and utter lack of directional sense.  Volunteering at the Film Festival was pretty awesome.  I was crazy tired by the end, but it was definitely worth the lack of sleep to see a bunch of great movies and meet some cool people.  Our first shift was helping out with a panel at the Stephen F. Austin Ballroom in the Intercontinental Hotel.  Here’s the thing about the Austin Film Festival:  it’s more than just a bunch of movie screenings.  They have this big conference with panels that people who buy badges can attend.   The main focus of the festival is on screenwriting, so lots of the panels deal with that.  They bring in guest speakers, and the audience gleans pearls of wisdom from these experts and then generally gets a chance at the end to ask questions so that they can (hopefully) one day earn a sacred spot in Hollywood as a legendary screenwriter/filmmaker/director…you get the idea.

Basically, our panel day was pretty simple.  After being sent on a wild chase for the backs of two chairs that for some reason hadn’t made it to the conference room (and which we never actually found), we spent most of our time directing people to the bathroom, quietly letting them in and out of the conference room, and showing them where they could get a glass of water.  How exciting.  In all honesty, it really wasn’t bad, and it was probably our most low-key job of the festival. 

We also helped at registration one day, which was pretty crazy.  I spent most of my time making badges for people and then handing them out.  Of course, everyone seemed to show up and need a badge all at once, and then there would be long periods where I was sitting in a room all by myself with nothing to do, pleading with my sister through text to entertain me (thanks again, Sarah).  I did, however, get to make a badge for David Boreanaz, which was pretty cool; unfortunately, he wasn’t there to pick it up, so I never got to meet him.  Ah, the perils of grunt work.  All work and no reward.

Now you’re probably reading this and thinking, ok, she worked at a film festival, but she’s yet to actually mention any films.  Or working where films were even taking place.  What gives?

Well you can rest easy, my friend, because I’m getting to that.  The most exciting part of our volunteer work was when we got to help out at the theatres, which we did quite a bit.  A lot of this work consists of crowd control:  you’re making sure everyone has a pass or a badge and that they don’t block the way for passersby to walk on the sidewalk.  The nice thing about theatre work is that after you help get everyone into the theatre, you usually get to sit in and watch the movies for free.  So basically you get to see a bunch of films that you probably wouldn’t be able to go to otherwise because they’re pretty small and won’t be released in that many theatres nationwide.   Here’s a brief rundown of the films I watched while volunteering:

Butter:  A movie about butter carving.  Sounds weird, I know.  I was skeptical at first, too, but it was really funny.  Jennifer Garner plays the wife of an award-winning butter carver who decides to enter the annual butter carving contest herself after her husband is asked not to enter again.  Now that I think about it, how could a movie about a butter-carving contest not be awesome?

Martha Marcy May Marlene:  Elizabeth Olsen, younger sister of Michelle Tanner, stars as a girl who leaves a cult to live with her sister and her sister’s husband.  It’s a dark film that switches back and forth in time, but I thought it was very compelling.

Albert Nobbs:  Glenn Close stars as a woman pretending to be a man in 19^th century Ireland.  I thought she gave a great performance in the film.  There’s also a love triangle, which always makes for a good story.

The Artist:  A silent film about a silent film.  I have to say, I really enjoyed this movie.  I was a little uncertain about a silent film because I’ve always been a proponent of sound, but this was probably one of my favorite films I saw at the festival. 

Jeff, Who Lives at Home:  Jason Segel plays Jeff, a guy who lives in his mother’s basement and basically wanders around aimlessly, waiting for signs from the universe to guide his life.  Ed Helms plays his brother, who is caught in a strained marriage, and Susan Sarandon stars as their mother.  Writer/Directors Jay and Mark Duplass were at the festival and held a Q and A following the film, and it was really interesting to hear them talk about their the movie. 

Sal:  James Franco’s (!!!!!) film about the last day in actor Sal Mineo’s life.  Franco was at the festival to talk about the film, which was without question the highlight of the festival for me.  More about this (as well as pictures) to come in entry 2.

The Woman in the Fifth:  Ethan Hawke stars as a writer who moves to Paris to be near his daughter, who lives with his estranged wife.  While there, he takes a strange job at a hotel, and many weird things begin happening to him.  This film was intriguing, but it was very abstract, and I think a lot of the audience was confused when it ended.

Union Square:  Mira Sorvino stars as a woman from Queens who goes to visit her sister in New York City after 3 years without speaking.  The two women are very different, but a family situation brings them together.  I really enjoyed this movie as well – it definitely had some serious moments, but it also had a good bit of humor, and I thought Mira Sorvino did a great job.

I also saw Toy Story with my roommate Joanna because amazing Pixar guy John Lasseter was there, but I didn’t give you a rundown of that because I’m assuming all of you have seen it.  If you haven’t, rent it.  And then rent the next two.  Indulge your inner child.  You deserve it. 

Now I'm clearly no film critic, so these are just my thoughts on the films I saw.  If you feel like taking my word on the films, good for you.  If not, I don't blame you.  I'm not exactly the most critical consumer.  

In typical Lucy fashion, this post has gone on for far, far too long.  I’ll try to get part 2 up soon, where you can learn all about my time at the Book Festival.  And I’ll show you pictures of my celebrity sightings at the Film Festival.  That's the best teaser I have.  And it's probably the only time you'll read that in one of my blog posts.  Seriously.

Until then, stay classy readers, and try not to miss me too much.  I’ll attempt to do the same.  

My (somewhat) Epic Weekend

Well readers, I'm going to stop making promises to the 5 of you, because I never seem to keep them.  Every time I tell you I’ll be better about writing, I actually get worse.  Which is just wrong.  I shouldn’t tease you like that.  So from now on, I'll just post when I get a chance and do my best to keep you updated.

That said, my apologies for taking so long to write another post.  But to tell you the truth, I haven't had much updating to do lately.  My life's been pretty boring the past few weeks...the roommates and I have been a little lame in our Austin excurstions.  The job search has continued to be soul sucking, and we've all had a few moments where we just haven't felt like doing much of anything.  So, I'm sorry for not keeping you up to speed on my every moment, but trust me, that would have been an insanely boring post.

I had a question from a lovely reader (shout out to Margot in France!) about the mouse situation, so here’s the update:  so far, we've had no more mouse sightings!  The sheet metal behind the refrigerator seems to be doing its job of keeping the mouse out of the apartment.  Do I miss our fourth roommate?  Not. At. All. I mean, would you miss something that left you chewed up carpet, half eaten bagels, and holes in your cabinets?  I didn't think so.

Now, I'm still hesitant to say that the mouse is gone for good - I seriously don't trust him - but so far, the coast is clear.  

As I've already said, the job search has been slow and uneventful, so we'll just breeze past that and move on.  It depresses me to talk about it, so I'd rather not, if that's ok with you.  And let me just say, if you have a job and haven't been through the job search thing in a while, I envy you.  A lot.

You may be wondering what the title of this post is referencing.  So far, I haven't mentioned anything about a weekend.  Well, like I was saying, we've been pretty boring lately.  Since we still have no cable, we've watched more movies than I've probably seen in the past year.  Including classics like Hocus Pocus and Casper (No, we're not eight years old.  Just reliving our childhood).  We also got a little crafty one evening and stenciled some bags (see below).  But after a somewhat rough week last week, we decided that this past weekend, we needed a little fun.  And some time outside of our apartment.

Sadly, this is about as crafty as I get, and that's a stencil

This past weekend also just happened to be my birthday (and yes, I am upset with those of you who didn't wish me happy birthday on my Facebook wall.  We'll exchange words later.), so it was a perfect opportunity for us to check out a little bit of the city.  Being the person that I am, I of course wanted to celebrate by exploring a new area we hadn’t seen before.  I know…typical Lucy, right? 

So on Saturday night, after watching Texas lose horribly to Oklahoma (let’s not even go there), we decided to brave the east side of Austin.  If you've never been to Austin, let me explain:  the east side (which means east of I-35) has a reputation for being the rougher part of Austin.  It's turning over, but it definitely has some patchy areas.  

But like all good grungy areas, there are some gems hidden in the mix.  And that’s what we wanted to discover – those places that not everyone knows about but that are filled with an eclectic mix of people, and where you can be sure you’re going to have some interesting conversations.

Now family members fear not:  we did not traverse the area alone.  Grey, who works in our leasing office, lives on the east side and graciously agreed to show us around the area.  We met up with him, where we proceeded to see an ample amount of plaid, cutoffs, and awesome mustaches (I’m talking about you, bouncer at Gypsy’s).  We went to bars with food trucks in the back, and we actually met people who don’t live in our apartment!  Don’t get me wrong – I love my roommates.  They are awesome, and they have made this Austin experience incredible.  At the same time, I think we’re all ready to meet some other people.  After a month of only each other’s company, we could use a little bit of change.  So it was awesome to hang out with Grey and meet his friends and experience a new side of Austin. 

Sunday was officially my birthday, and I spent it in about the most American way possible:  eating.  Seriously.  All day long, I basically did nothing but eat.  It was amazing.  And kind of like Thanksgiving. 

The roommates and I went to brunch at a place downtown called Moonshine Patio Bar and Grill.  They do a brunch buffet on Sundays, and it is incredible!  They have just about everything you can think of:  sweet potato casserole, French toast, broccoli casserole, eggs in like 6 different forms, bread pudding, salad, chicken fried steak…I could keep listing for days.  We actually got so full that we had to wait a good 20 minutes between plates 2 and 3 of our meal.  Yes, we had 3 plates of food.  Come on, it’s a buffet…go big or go home, right?  Plus, it was my birthday.  Oh, stop judging. 

After a meal like that, there was only one thing to do:  go home and nap.  So that’s exactly what we did.  The weather was perfect for that, too:  it was a little chilly and rainy, which Austin hasn’t seen in a long, long time.  I actually wore boots to brunch (which my sister proceeded to pick on me for because it was still like 75 to 80 degrees.  But I wasn’t the only one, Sarah…I saw several girls who couldn’t resist the urge to pull out the boots and tights). 

After our lazy afternoon, we trekked across the street to the Target that officially became a Super Target on my birthday (so glad they took my suggestion on that).  I love Target, so I was pretty stoked to go and explore the store and all of its amazing additions.  I even bought a movie, that 1990s classic Hook (hey Graybill grandchildren, did that just take you back to your childhood or what?).  Which we proceeded to watch when we got home.  Rufio!  Rufio! (For those familiar with the movie, feel free to chant now.)

Oh, and the eating wasn’t finished.  Not by a long shot.  We had my favorite, pot roast, along with Caitlin’s famous macaroni and cheese and some fried okra.  And for dessert, we had tiramisu.  Which I am proud to say, I made for the first time in my life!  See the photo below.

My tiramisu!

And that pretty much sums up my amazing weekend.  For some of you, that probably sounds totally lame.  And I get that.  It wasn’t crazy.  I didn’t go to a swanky party or some big concert.  But listen, I’m 24 now.  I’m getting old.  And I enjoy small bars, big meals, cool weather, and homemade dessert.  For me, it was pretty perfect.

If I disappointed this time, I’m sorry.  There were no scientifically engineered rodents.  No banana stands.  No festivals.  But if by some miracle you’re still interested in my adventures, keep checking back.  I’ll try to make it worth your while.

Bananagrams! (And Other Such Delights)

Hello lovely reader(s)!  I hope one day to be a bit more prompt and regular with these blog posts.  But hey, I'm new to this whole blog thing, so forgive me if it takes me a while to get into a rhythm.  I'll get there eventually, I'm sure.  I know you've been on the edge of your couch, wondering when my next post will be.  Because my life is so interesting that you can't possibly have anything better to do than wonder what I've been up to these past few days.  So here's your chance to live vicariously through me.

The last time we chatted, I was telling you about the mouse issue in our apartment (ah, living vicariously through me...aren't you glad you made that choice?).  I'll make this brief because, let's face it, no one really wants to read six paragraphs about the perils of three twenty-somethings and their unwanted rodent.

So here's the deal:  we think we have finally gotten rid of the mouse!  Last week, someone from the leasing office came with maintenance to look at the latest evidence of our "guest."  And let's just say he was pretty shocked at what he found.  The mouse had chewed a hole in the corner of the wall, behind our refrigerator.  There were literally bits of wall in a pile on the floor.  I'm telling you:  this is no ordinary mouse.  I'm convinced it's been scientifically engineered to torment humans.  And destroy homes.  A bit dramatic?  Perhaps, but you didn't see the evidence (unfortunately, I forgot to take pictures. I'll work on that).

Anyway, maintenance nailed pieces of sheet metal to the wall behind the fridge (shout out to Ray!), and we haven't seen any more signs of our pet.  Now, considering the kind of brain that this mouse seems to have, as well as the tenacity its shown thus far, I refuse to say that he's gone for good.  But suffice it to say, he's at least taking a vacation from our apartment for a while.  And I haven't missed him.  Although I was looking forward to the fake owl they were going to put outside of our apartment in an attempt to scare him (how about that owl, Grey?).  Seriously, how cool would that be?  We could nonchalantly tell all of the friends we haven't made yet, "Which apartment is ours?  Oh, you know, the one with the owl outside."  Sweet.

Ok, so I'll keep the mouse debacle to three paragraphs and move on to the rest of my fabulous life.  In between job searching (seriously, kill me now), the roomies and I have managed to have a little fun.  Sometimes, you just need to take a break and get out.  Like when you try to drop your resume off at a few temp agencies, only to discover that the first one is no longer in business and the third one is for manual labor (perhaps the title, "Labor Ready" should have been a hint), which is a noble endeavor, but not quite my calling.

So we'll just skip past all the tedium and move swiftly along to the in-between.  Last Wednesday was Joanna's birthday, so we decided to paint the town red, if you will, and continue our exploration of downtown.  We began at a bar called The Ginger Man, which has an insane amount of beers on tap.  It has a great vibe - dark wood indoors, and a nice patio area in the back with tables and benches.  We sat on the patio with our brews and chatted a bit before making our way to Sixth Street.  We decided to hit up the Blind Pig, a bar on Dirty Sixth with a rooftop patio.  This is where we were introduced to the amazing live musical stylings of Ben Cina.  

Let me tell you why I like Ben.  Those of you who were in middle or high school in the 90s, listen up:  do you remember those lovely R&B classics, such as Sweet Lady, All My Life, and Killing Me Softly (Fugees style)?  For those of you who missed these gems, bear with me:  I'll move along in a sec.  Well, Mr. Cina put his own spin on these tunes, revamping them with the help of his guitar and his drummer.  It was like traveling back in time, but remembering things a little differently.

We certainly enjoyed ourselves at the Blind Pig, but not as much as the lady in front of us did when Ben started playing Cee lo Green.  There's nothing like a lady in Birkenstocks shaking her head and wagging her finger to make my night.

This past weekend, we had what may have been our most "Austin" day yet.  On Saturday, we attended the Pecan Street Festival, which basically consisted of tons of local artisans and vendors setting up tents on Sixth Street, selling their crafts.  We walked around, looking at jewelry, rocking chairs, and even a petting zoo, where Joanna laughed harder at two goats butting heads than any of the children around us.  It was awesome.

Equally awesome was the musical duo that performed in marching band uniforms.  I'm not sure how they managed to make it through their entire set without passing out, since it was literally 100 degrees.  Now that's dedication to your work.

Next came Bananarchy, the absolutely amazing banana stand on South Lamar.  Let me tell you:  if you've never had a frozen banana dipped in chocolate and rolled in peanuts, you are missing out.  It. Is. Amazing.  A taste of heaven might sound a bit extreme, but you wouldn't be saying that if you actually tried one.  Oh, and the Arrested Development theme of the stand (the Gob, Afternoon Delight) only added to my affinity for this establishment (I'm going to go ahead and apologize for the obscene amount of AD jokes that are going to be littered throughout this blog).  As did the Bananagrams.  Please see below.

 There's always money in the banana stand

Bananagrams! (with some lovely letter improvisation by Joanna) 

We ended our night by going to Baker Street Pub, where local band Dysfunkshun Junkshun was playing (the English major in me just died a little while typing that).  The band was great:  I mean, how can you go wrong with a saxophonist in plaid pants and a singer with an afro wig?  But as the evening wore on, and we realized that the bar patrons were getting older and older, we decided it was time to call it a night.

Alright, I've been rambling on for long enough, so I'll sum up by giving you a rundown of yesterday. We spent the afternoon in what is undoubtedly my favorite corner in Austin.  And where my entire paycheck (once I get one) will probably go.  Imagine having a bookstore, a record store, an amazing clothing store, and a massive upscale grocery store all in one place.  Sounds too good to be true, right?  Not so, my friend.  In this wonderfully designed town, it is a reality.  Book People.  Waterloo Records.  Anthropologie.  Whole Foods.  For a book/music/fashion/food junkie like me, this is basically everything I could want in one place.  If only Bananarchy would set up a satellite location here, then I'd be set.

It's everything I can do not to just run around blindly, grabbing things off of the shelves and pushing people out of the aisles if they dare step in my way.

It's also one of the most depressing corners in Austin because I have to remind myself that I indeed cannot afford to take entire shelves of merchandise and shove them in my Volvo.  Oh irony, you cruelest of sirens!

Well, once again, this blog post is quite long (too long), so I'll shut up now.  If you made it this far, thanks for indulging me.  You sure know how to make a girl feel special.

Like I said, I'll try not to wait so long between posts next time.  Who knows, maybe I won't write a novel.  But I wouldn't bet on it.