Wrestling the slug also known as the March Hiking Report

Alas poor Urick. Yes, we found a large, dead bird on the beach. At first we thought it was an Osprey, since there is a population of them nearby in First Landing State Park, but checking the bird book revealed that it is indeed a Marsh Hawk. Or so I think, my wife believes it's a Red Tailed Hawk. Either way, it was a sad and fascinating find. Also strange in that there was no obvious evidence of foul play. Looks like the old boy (or girl) just cacked in mid-flight.

So, what does all that have to do with slugs or the Hiking Report? Nothing or then he was found on a beach hike. The numbers stack up like this 37/116. I hiked 37 miles in March, which means I have a grand total for the year of 116 miles, so I am now 34 miles behind the average. I got some work to do. That's where the wrestling the slug part comes in. See, I haven't felt much like hiking lately. Been more prone to sit on my ever expanding ass and catch up on Battlestar Galactica (the geek confession). The further in the hole I get, the harder it is to think I'll be able to dig out. But it is far too early to throw in the towel. And April is the perfect month to do some catching up before the brutal heat and humidity of summer. Next month, big numbers! No really, I promise.

OK HW

Happy Walter Premiere

Here's where it went down, the first public screening of "Happy Walter" anywhere on planet Earth. Whee-Haw! The Melwood Screening Room is located in a suitably funky and urban part of town, down a street that is more pothole than asphalt. Guess they put all the money into the football stadium. The theater itself has a laidback, academic feeling to it and when we arrived the spacious lobby was packed with folks woofing down the free eats and drinks (as in beer and wine). Zoje and her sister Dev were already there with a group of friends and Pittsburgh-based cast members from HW. A woman I have never seen before walked up to me and said, "Hi, I believe I'm your ex-wife.". This was Vivienne Shaffer, who portrays "Laura Kimball", Happy Walter's first wife and mother of Jr. (Zoje's part). Viv's real husband Frank Carr was there too, also a cast member, he got the plum role of Dave Wisniewski, Happy's childhood friend. I say plum as that character got some of the biggests laughs. Viv and Frank's son, Woody, was there too and when he say me he threw up his hands and yelled, "Happy"! Fun stuff. It was wonderful to finally get to meet some of the other cast members and talk about the film. More and more people poured into the lobby and I was glad to know that the first showing of HW would be for a good size audience of mostly strangers, so for good or for ill we would be able to honestly gauge how it would play. The time finally came to get in the theater, which was a decent size room with good seats and an overall homey feel. It reminded me of some of the boutique style movie theaters I've seen in Europe. The lights went down and the opening short film, "The Loves of S.D. Hawkingson." (director Marc Roman Czornij), lit up the screen. It was a good appetizer before the main course as it featured some quirky humor and art was a major plot element, a good compliment to HW. There was a brief Q&A with the director after the short, then on to the main course, "Happy Walter".

What can I say? From the title shot of Happy rolling some toilet paper into the camera accompanied by Joanthan Young's bouncy, hobo guitar soundtrack to the end credits, "Happy Walter" delivered the goods. The audience laughed in the right places and genuinely seemed to be engaged by the story. Overall, I was pleased at how well acted the piece was, Viv and Frank both did a wonderful job, particularly Viv as her character displays a wide range of emotions, which Viv convincingly pulled off. Besides being my first time on the big screen, actually that's not true as I had a very small part in "Cold Readings", a film that played at the Virginia Film Festival, so to be accurate, the first time with a speaking role on the big screen, it was also my wife Janet's. She plays, "Tatiana Chichikova", an art collector and dealer and she made fine work of the cerebral and spacey dialogue, threatening my role as the "family ham". And what of my performance? I'll leave it to others to judge, but I will say that I am proud of the work I did and it makes me want to do more acting. Look out world! I did find it difficult to watch myself at times and it makes me understand now when I've heard actors say that they don't watch their own films. What winds up on the screen is quite different from the experience of creating that moment on set. The illusion on the screen is both a reminder of that moment, but also, for me seems to lessen the purity of my own memory. The two illusions collide in a weird way , and I felt caught between the two. I got to say that I feel real damn lucky that Zoje gave me this shot, trusted me with such a big role and gave me such useful direction. Where I see other folks try, she has succeed and my hat is off to her. Well done my friend.

So what's next? I hear that HW is being submitted to film festivals and Zoje is working on getting it screened in Rochester, where most of the cast lives. Somewhere down the line, I hope the DVD is available for folks to buy and I'll certainly be posting that news if/when it happens.

And for me, well I've recently found an acting school in my town and I think it's time to get more serious about this acting thing. I would love to do a Sci-Fi or Horror flick, so you never know.

Stay tuned.

OK HW

I'm Big in Pittsburgh...

In anticipation of the premiere screening of "Happy Walter" this coming Tuesday (March 13, 8pm), there is a friendly article in The Pittsburgh City Paper. Read Article. Is this the beginning of fame and fortune? Shall I quit my day job? Nahhhh, but it's a real hoot to be part of the buzz and it should help with turning more folks out that night. One minor correction to the story, Bill O'Driscoll refers to Zoje's character as "Happy Walter IV", actually she portrays "Happy Walter Jr.".

OK HW

February Hiking Report

30 miles last month, so the year-to-date total is now 79 miles. Some of those miles where gathered in while I was back in Ireland for a visit. Here's a photo of my friend Alan and I on the rocky hill above the Cahir Valley. It was a blustery Sunday afternoon and we were hunting for an ancient Celtic tomb that we had found before and wanted to show to our friends. Heavy grey rain clouds moved in from the west and we thought for sure that we'd get rained on, but time-after-time the sheets of rain moved off down the valley and headed out into Galway Bay leaving happy and dry-ish. It's hard work moving over that broken ground. Gaps between the Burren limestone hunger for your booted foot and I could not help but imagine the drama of snapping my ankle if I miscalculated a step. Thankfully, none of us fell to such a fate and we located the tomb and made our way back off the hilltop and headed back to Ballyvaughan to warm up and have a hot whiskey.

OK HW

January Hiking Report

Yes, you read that correctly, this is my report of my JANUARY 2007 hiking activities. Figured I better get it in before February is gone. My mileage goal for the year is 600 miles, the same as last year. I've added the additional goal to get out in the woods more, however as I find that too many of my miles come from the old, easy routes, primarily the beach outside my front door. Last month I managed to pound out 49 miles, just one mile shy of the fifty mile average I need to stay on track, so not a bad start. February is shaping up to be a slack month, though I did get a few soggy miles down in Ireland, more soon on that.

OK HW

"Happy Walter" Coming Soon to a Theater Probably No Where Near You

"Happy Walter" is headed for a big screen premiere in Pittsburgh, Pa. of all places. Zoje Stage, the writer/director/actor/producer/editor/etc of "Happy Walter" has a strong connection to the town and has shown work before through the Film Kitchen organization. I lifted this from the Master Builder newsletter:

"The main news I have to report is that my
feature-length mockumentary HAPPY WALTER will be
screening at Film Kitchen (Pittsburgh, PA) on March
13. Reception with free food & beer at 7pm, followed
by the movie at 8pm -- all at the Melwood Screening
Room in Oakland. "

My wife, who also has a small acting role in the film, and myself will be making the drive up that day to attend the world premiere. I'm really excited to see the final cut, I've only seen a few bits and pieces and I'm also looking forward to visiting Pittsburgh for the first time. We'll only be staying the one night unfortunately, but I have my sight-seeing priorities and plan on paying a visit to the Monroeville Mall. Now I'm not a mall guy, in fact go out of my way to avoid those places, but Monroeville Mall has history as it was the shooting location for the original "Dawn of the Dead". As a teenager, my friends and I would catch DotD whenever it played at the midnight movies on the weekend. You see this was back in the pre-video days where if you wanted to see a particular film, you had to either catch in the theaters or on TV were it was heavily edited and if Dawn of the Dead ever was shown on TV back then, it would have been about 12 minutes long. I'm sure there's lots of great stuff to see in Pittsburgh, but I'll be checking it out after I go to the mall.

OK HW