Wednesday, May 14, 2014

Mother's Day 2014

For many years we have established a Mother's Day tradition of heading over to Mom and Dad's condo for brunch, then a walk to and through the park. A rational person could question why our Mothers Day celebration centers around a plan which involves my mom doing a great deal of work, but families operate more by tradition than by logic.

I'm not sure how this got started, but the number of gift precipitants exceeds the notion that one buys a present for your mother, if fact it has expanded to purchasing gifts for every family member that carries a double X chromosome. I would love to say that I begin searching for the perfect gift in January, but the truth is I at best procrastinate, at worst totally forget. With my mind as sharp as Patrick's from Sponge Bob, the job of selecting and wrapping presents falls on my wonderful caring wife Ilene. A woman who is filled with the best of possible intentions, she is also over-whelmed with long lists of multi-part tasks piled onto her desk, and email in-box from work, while simultaneously having a husband and son, both asking her if she can find where we left our ADHD meds.

The typical level of chaos that comprises our daily lives has been sent into over-drive as Lane's last year of high school comes raining down, puddles forming at our feet. In addition to the deadlines that come free with graduation a few weeks away, Lane, true-to-form, has tacked on additional work including, rewrites, casting, rehearsals and staging of his full length play, Film Festival, completing the editing for the 12 grade film banner, editing a ruff-draft of his 30 minutes film "Coming Home" and performing a song with a friend from school. On Wednesday our dear fiend Stacy asks if we would attend a gala that her husband Scott was generous enough to purchase two tables for, but too busy at work to arrange to fill. It was so kind of them to ask, and we so enjoy spending time together, that of course we said yes. A new tux purchase later, we were ready to arrive; albeit 30 minutes late. Luckily Ilene had the good idea to shop for mother's day gifts at their silent auction.

Sunday we found our way to Mother's day brunch - late, but bearing gifts. We got to meet the Kirsch's newest addition, a fit-in-your-purse type dog as cute as can be, just like Kimberly's dog Georgia.

Here are a few pictures.





      

Thursday, May 8, 2014

Chicagoland High School Film Festival 2014

05/16/2014 UPDATE
HAND SPRINGS TOOK FIRST PLACE.

I am proud to say that Lane's short film "Hand Springs" has been accepted as a finalist in the Chicagoland High School Film Festival.
Needless to say, this would not have been possible without the performances of Erika Marks, Riley Nelson and Cullen Welch. They put in a lot of time and dedication, for no compensation, even arriving on "The Set" for 7:30am shoots on some of the very last summer days before the school year started; giving up what otherwise would have been their last opportunity to sleep-in.

Thanks to the Max McMahon and family for putting up with Lane "Kicking them out of their own home"; so he can shoot a few scenes there.

The 2014 Chicagoland High School Film Festival will be held at the Latin School of Chicago’s Wrigley Theatre (59 W. North Blvd), on  Friday, May 16th, from 6:30-9:00 pm.  Created by and for Latin School students in 2002 as Zwinglifest, the event has since expanded to include students from both public and private schools, giving young filmmakers the opportunity to share their expressive voice while gaining insight from an expert panel of some of the best in the business. 


PREVIOUS WINNER INCLUDE STUDENTS FROM:
 Benito Juarez High School/ Street Level Youth Media
 Francis W. Parker School
 Glenbrook North High School
 Hinsdale Central High School
 Lake Forest High School
 Latin School of Chicago
 New Trier Township High School
 Palatine High School

In past years there have been some very talented filmmakers, each creating impressive work resulting from up to hundreds of hours of effort, making this something worth attending.