Throw a rock, board a plane. Fly that flag and sing.

by Ryland Walker Knight

Spent Tuesday in the sun with those guys and that girl; Wednesday is her birthday. The Yuba River was low but still perfect. I'm a bit burnt and worn out. I should be in bed. I need my sleep with all the activity to come this weekend. But, you know, fuck it. This little adventure should be a lot of fun. Definitely something new. Guess I have to come to terms with the fact that, since the TIFF schedule says it's hosting the North American Premiere, I won't get to see the new Denis; ditto Che. However, I'm sure there will be other high profile pictures. For instance, Lucrecia Martel's La Mujer Sin Cabasa is not on the TIFF docket; ditto Waltz with Bashir. On top of the new stuff, there will be Zizek to contend with (or let go and enjoy) and a bunch of fellow film fiends to meet. I still have yet to decide if I'll make the time to blog from Telluride but my guess is that I'll write a journal by hand (in some fashion) and transcribe the cool stuff for a longer essay, or some other form of criticism (dun dun dun), once I'm home. Seems like the only way when they say we'll be busy from 8am to midnight every day. And when I'm really tired, and I'm too jazzed to sleep, like now, I can settle into two books, among millions, every kid should read after s/he graduates college. I mean, de Certeau's is what every book should be called -- and it's not some new age mess; it's a thoughtful account of how we operate in all the systems big and banal that we encounter each day through (dig this) what he likes to call "a science of the singular." Then there's Burroughs, a man it's taken me some time to understand. I don't know if do, yet; I may soon. Returning-to-class Daniel understands, or claims to, and I grant him what he's related here. (See: it's about singularity, too.) As I get ready to fly into Denver, a city careening, I hope I find some Johnsons, and not Vampires, on my trip. I trust I will see both. As ever, I'm just hoping for a decent ratio around me and that I don't play Vampire too much, or (uh-oh) too often.