Musings of an Info-Geek

Migraining Away

Jennifer Brown — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 03:03:00 GMT

This weekend I participated in BNAT, but it was a near thing. A three week migraine nearly overwhelmed me. Only the facts that BNAT happens only once a year, I'd already paid for it, I might not get in again, and I was covering it got me out of bed.

The first few movies were near torture; I had to block my ears. But I was bemused when one film, the new Scorcese thriller Shutter Island, features a migraineur, and even described migraines accurately. To paraphrase, migraines were described as opening up one's skull, filling it with razors, closing it back up and shaking it. That's about right. Around that time, my migraine was subsiding.

Surprisingly, by the time the 26+ hours of the festival ended, I was migraine free. Unfortunately last night's socializing gave me another migraine with all the trimmings. But it was worth it.

Post BNAT Awake

Jennifer Brown — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 21:47:00 GMT

This is a lame kinda post. I finished up a 26+hr film festival, BNAT. I should be exhausted and crashed. But I'm just a bit tired. I'm going to hold off on sleeping until normal bed time if I can.

I have a Thing about hygiene at film fests, and hearing so much feedback about BNAT funk I scrubbed extra hard going in, and used deodorant twice when there. I ended up not changing my socks there, despite advice to do so, and I'm glad I didn't, because when I took my sneakers off, I could've killed people in a hermetically sealed room. Normally I don't have heavy food odor but I guess 28hrs in the same sock will funk out any sock.

I'm all minty fresh now, but I am a bit tired. It was a great festival. And my first BNAT. Hopefully, the first of many. It was a fantastic lineup of vintage and upcoming films.

BNAT Blackout

Jennifer Brown — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 13:51:00 GMT

I'm off to BNAT, also known as Buttnumbathon, a 24hr+ celebration of old and new film, as well as the birthday of Harry Knowles, founder of Aint it Cool News. I wrote a little piece on it for Slackerwood.

BNAT doesn't allow phones or recording devices so I'll be offline for over a day. But that's OK, sometimes it's good to be away from technology for a while. I just hope I don't go into twitter withdrawal.

Universal Application

Jennifer Brown — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 22:36:00 GMT

This fall I attended a panel at the Austin Film Festival to support a friend who was speaking. Chris Holland, another contributor over at Slackerwood and a principal at B-Side, has extensive experience programming film festivals, and had some practical advice for filmmakers when submitting their films.

His advice included things like:

Only submit to festivals that would be a good fit for your film
Distracting gimmicks and packaging will not help your film get selected
Don't take it personally if your film doesn't get selected
- Selections are based on categories and matching the film festivals style
- Failure to be selected does not automatically mean your film isn't good
- Some years a category gets so many great submissions, even good films get rejected
Make sure every disc has basic information on it, like the film name, and contact information
Understand and follow the guidelines for submission

I kept thinking as I listened to Chris talk, that not only where these practical tips for filmmakers, but anyone submitting their work for selection, whether in a competition like a film festival, or a job search.

Same principals apply.

Rant: Cine-Phone Stupidity

Jennifer Brown — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 23:31:00 GMT

I went to a film screening today, for a film everyone is talking about and was a hassle to get to see. The biggest hassle was getting in.

They had at least four security cards; two to secure mobile phones, one to bag search, and one to wand. It's 2009, these phones are a fact of life, do they really think anyone in that theater was going to record anything? they are ways to monitor in the theater, right?

So one stop to hand over my phone and to sign a form saying I wouldn't hold them culpable for what is my primary communication device with a lot of private data on it. There's a whole table for that. But they want to search my bad, which I have to hold open. I was already having a bad day, so I copped quite a bit of attitude. Not gracious, I know, but Austin doesn't have an issue with people being stupid with their cell phones. And there was no table to set down my bag for the search. And for the record, I had about 6 different, places I could have stored electronic devices that they didn't check. I could have easily kept my phone with me. In fact, I could have easily kept it in the one compartment they searched.

Then there was the getting of the phone. In having to pull things out for the security guard to poorly search, I lost the ticket for my phone so I had to pull out my identification for that. While I appreciate the fact they verified I matched my phone, the whole process wasn't necessary. The only time I've seen anyone use a camera phone in a theater was when a studio guest had to take pictures throughout a special screening.

All that hassle for a film that wasn't in focus, with unimpressive 3D.

Ups and Downs and Up Again

Jennifer Brown — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 17:26:00 GMT

Last year during Holidailies I focused on holiday stuff. This year, I'm going to focus on job related topics, even if tangentially. Today's is a ramble down memory lane.

Two years ago, in November, I had A Really Bad Month. I'd spent the entire year unemployed, despite being so good at knowing and (mostly) doing the right things to network and job search that I was an invited speaker on the subject no less than three times that year. Unemployment hadn't been extended yet, so I was rapidly running out of money. Thank gods for the generosity of friends.

I was submitting my resume to as many jobs as I could that matched up to my skillset; I wasn't sending it out scattershot, but I was starting to applyto jobs that weren't necessarily a great match. I'd customize my resume to each job, showing (accurately) how my skills and experience matched the job. But it was tough. It gets more like a country song later, trust me.

I saw a job description requiring project management, training, and technical writing skills described in a way that seemed like they were looking for someone with my experience. It was a monster board job I found on a Sunday. On Monday I had two phone interviews. On Tuesday I had the offer. On Wednesday I did the required drug test. On Thursday, I had to euthanize my cat.

She'd seemed ill that weekend, but it got worse. On thursday I took her to the vet, and by that time she'd gone blind. Apparently she had kidney disease. I could have taken her home ofr a day or two more, but she was very stressed by trips. So after 16 years together, I held her for the first time without her struggling, between sedation and euthanasia, and that was it. What should have been a celebratory weekend was Very Tough Indeed.

Starting the job was bittersweet; I'd come home and look up at the windows, and knowing there was no one there to greet me was rough. Enter one of those generous friends, who'd offered to 'guarantee' payment with the vet who saw Keely. She was fostering two feral rescue kittens. It I met them on Black Friday, and now, two years later, it's about to be our second "anniversary" of living together.

They are so unlike Keely it's funny; she was a persnickety bitch, not a lap cat, but a frequent 'lump in the bed' because she liked to cuddle under covers. Plunkett and Macleane are very much cuddle cats, but they have as much Personality as Keely ever had, but they hate being under covers. It's like living with two pubescent boys, inseperable, bickering, and all around the most obnoxious fun I've had in years.

So knowing my job is likely ending in January, I'm even more aware that even unhappy changes can still bring Good Things.

Work Relief

Jennifer Brown — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 05:02:00 GMT

Today I got confirmation that my current job is lasting through the end of January. This is a big relief. A little over two years ago I was interviewed for what was intended to be a half time, two or three month temporary job, and I've been doing it for over two years now.

I have to admit, I'm spoiled; my hours are very flexible,allowing me to take time off in the middle of the day for errands or the occasional daytime screening for my moonlighting gigs as a film critic. I have the best boss, who gives me support when I need it and the room to get work done with the flexibility that allows me to be most productive.

I'm one of those people who doesn't need a lot of management. Just point me in the right direction with the required parameters, and I'm off and running. I just finished a huge, cumbersome, board level project involving almost two dozen courses and a final evaluation, and all the required students finished in the most recent deadline. Praised was heaped on, but honestly, to me, I was just doing my job.

Learning that my job wasn not approved for the permanent headcount last month wasn't the happiest of days, but it's been a good run. But I have to admit, the idea of having to back to a daily 8-5 office job was depressing. I have a little reprieve.

Let the Daily Updates Begin

Jennifer Brown — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 16:18:00 GMT

Dear Webgods, it's been 175 days since I last updated...

It's been months since I've last updated this blog, which is both good and bad. But things have been so crazy. And busy. Beyond crazy-buys. As an associate editor at Slackerwood, an Austin-centric film site. It's been great, but time consuming. And last month I joined the Sci Fi Squad, a sister site to Cinematical (and Horror Squad, TV Squad, etc.).

Reviewing films has been keeping me busy; I covered four festivals in two months, including aGLIFF, Fantastic Fest, AFF, and AAAFF. And this weekend, I have Buttnumbathon. I'm also reviewing films for another film festival. And it's the holidaze brings "for your consideration" season, so there can be two screenings a day for films to review or mini-review for Movies this Week. That's not even mentioning the Huge High Visibility Dayjob Project that finally ended last week. So I've been very busy.

I was going to update here sooner, but then I remembered Holidailies, and decided to be lazy until today, when I kick off a daily update to get me back in the swing of things.

So expect a number of random postings on all sorts of subjects for the next month.

Traffic Signals: Are You Using Them in Your Career?

Jennifer Brown — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 03:41:00 GMT

I'm a pedestrian by choice.  I walk to the gym, to the grocery store, and sometimes to the theater.  Lately I've noticed a lot more people not using the signals on their car. Sometimes the turns they'd make were obvious, but other times, they weren't. As a pedestrian, this always makes me nervous because I can't anticipate where they're going and avoid collisions.

What's equally annoying is people trying to be helpful to me as a pedestrian, and then getting frustrated at me because I can't see them trying to wave me on through the very strong Texas sun glare on their windshield. One woman even yelled at me when I had stopped before a crosswalk to let her continue through the intersection.  If I can't make eye contact, I don't assume they can see me.

I was walking home from the gym the other day, I thought of something else; not signaling is a problem a lot of people have when it comes to their career, in good times or bad.

Are you letting people know where you're planning on going or doing? If you aren't, how can people anticipate your needs?

People are often very willing to help you, but you need to speak up. If you can't articulate it, how can you expect to get it?

#TroopFlix Initiative, or, Tweets with a Cause

Jennifer Brown — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 14:21:00 GMT

I've been neglecting this blog. I apologize. I'm going vow to update at least once a week. In the meantime, you can read some of what I've been up to at Slackerwood.com.

I would like to call your attention to a little story about Twitter for good. Scott Nuemeyer, a friend of several of my friends and someone I follow on Twitter. Most of us are somehow connected to film, from critics to makers, to enthusiastic fans of moving images.

Scott decided to try for 2,000 followers by Friday April 17th. At one point he offered a DVD to one of his followers. It evolved into 100 DVDs to troops, then friends and followers got into the spirit, and operation #TroopFlix was born. This campaign, done solely based on twitter connections, has resulted in pledges of nearly 1,000 DVDs in total. At some point over the weekend, it was over 850. With so many film associations, even film companies have gotten involved, donating an undetermined number of DVDs. It's been hard to track down numbers.

The DVDs are not going out to the soldiers in the field, but to the Warrior Return Unit, which, according to the official US Navy website, has a mission to "maximize the quality of life for service members of coalition forces during the period of convalescence, expediting return to duty or transfer to definitive care." These are troops with time on their hands and in need of distraction. It's also location based, with a high turnover of troops, so the DVDs are gifts that keep on giving. Duplicate DVDs will be sent to other units at the discretion of Scott's contact at the WRU at Camp Arifjan.

If you would like to participate, let Scott know, and send your DVDs (gently used are OK) to:

c/o LCDR Tim Drill
Camp Arifjan, EMF Kuwait (Navy)
Warrior Return Unit
APO AE 09366

My package was under four pounds, but because it was going to an Army address, a special customs form had to be filled out (2976-A), and it had to go priority mail. It's a bit more paperwork, but the good side is it will get there sooner. Make sure to indicate on the customs form it's a DVD donation.

No matter your political views, it shouldn't be hard to support such an effort.