I am a man in unbelievable pain. I have a blood blister on my right ring finger, missing a chunk of thumbnail, have a bloodied and battered heel and, worst of all, I’m pretty sure I pulled my groin muscle. How did I do all of that, you might ask? Simple: CineVegas Bowling Night!
Before I recount more about what made tonight’s bowling experience so epic, I’d first like to talk about earlier in the day. Jamie caught “Go Go Tales” and “Momma’s Man,” while I got to check out the wonderful documentary “All Together Now.” Fittingly, considering the doc is all about the Cirque de Soleil Beatles’ show “Love,” tonight’s party was at the Mirage’s Beatles’ Revolution Lounge.
It’s hard to see, but the O’s have half-naked womens dancing in them…
CineVegas Artistic Director Trevor Groth rocking the jumpsuit next to the man behind Revolution, David Pappas. Jamie and I enjoyed Revolution quite a bit, and I think she has way better low-light pics than I do (her camera got some amazing ones that really show off how awesome the different lighting effects in the club were), but I do have a few shots of her enjoying herself…
Yay, Jamesway! Kidding, there are pics of her having fun, but this was my favorite, so I posted this one. Deal with it.
After Revolution, it was time for my favorite annual CineVegas event, filmmaker bowling at the Gold Coast Casino. Put on by SAGIndie, it’s the only time during the entire year that I bowl. Every year, the goal is the same: break 100 points. To let you know my skill level, my very first bowling event, two years ago, involved a zero game. Yes, a game in which I got ALL gutter balls. Last year I broke 100, and I hoped to continue the trend of improvement.
But before I get into the bowling adventure, I really want to mention something Darrien Gipson from SAGIndie mentioned to me, which is a guaranteed completion deal for independent films. Essentially, filmmakers interested have until June 30th to get a SAGIndie contract going, and if they do, in the event of a SAG strike, indie productions will not have to stop production. They can keep shooting as long as they don’t bump up to regular SAG contract (due to studio financing or distribution). In other words, and research this because I know I’m not giving or even getting the finer details, if a strike happens and the big productions have to stop working, you can go ahead and shoot your indie film. The benefits? Your movie will be available when the industry is looking for new projects AND you just might score a big actor that you might, otherwise, be unable to get due to studio production schedules. Indie filmmakers, GET ON THIS!
Back to the tale of bowling. CineVegas bowling is serious stuff. There are little bowling bobblehead dolls that are given out as awards (Erik Childress won high game last year), and folks can get pretty into it. Mike Plante, in no doubt an effort to hide from my camera lens, even donned a disguise for this year’s event…
At the decidedly AFI Dallas lane, Sarah Harris watched as James Faust got his stretching in…
And over at lane Film Threat (named so because, somehow, Jamie and I got our own lane and no one would join us), a battle was about to be waged between Jamie and I. See, Jamie and I are both fiercely competitive, and it was decided that we would play a best of 5 bowling series.
Now, Jamie is much better than I am, and she trounced me in Game One, bowling 117 to my 69 (giggle). Still, it was the first game, so I figured I had a shot, right? Under said logic, Game Two went to me, as I scored 80 and Jamie landed somewhere in the 70s…
Jamie and I were neck and neck for most of Game Three, but I had a pretty solid lead going into the final frame, scoring an 85. Jamie? Well, look at the scorecard…
86! Beat me by one freaking point! Game Four was on, and Jamie was running away with it (especially when I opened with a first frame 0). By the time we got to the 10th frame, I was at 99 points and Jamie, with at least two throws left, was at 91. I sat down, and resigned myself that I was going to go out in four games, instead of going the full five.
Then, a miracle happened! Jamie came up short, getting only 3 out of 10 pins for a final score of 94. 94! I was still in it! And beat to all Hell. As I mentioned in the opening, I was tore up. The walk from Ellis Island the other night had cut up my heel, and I started off bowling with a band-aid firmly in place so that I would stop bleeding through my sock, Curt Schilling-style. On top of that, I had somehow managed to get a blood blister on the tip of my right ring finger, and ripped off a considerable portion of my thumb nail. And if that wasn’t enough, based on my kamikaze bowling style (which ended with me on the ground, or on one knee, quite often), I had pulled a muscle in the groin area, making bowling, let alone walking, quite painful. And now I had one more game to play.
You know what? I bowled my best game of the night, scored 118 and won the best of five… and then ran all around the lanes telling everyone about my accomplishment (which was pedestrian, I know, but I gave my all and… I know I suck, but I left it all out on the bowling lanes and I was giddy about finally, FINALLY winning something).
Now, it’s 5am (again), and I’m back in the hotel room in pain. Luckily I brought Aleve with me, and I plan on giving myself some much needed pain relief. Not sure how painful walking will be tomorrow, but hoping everything is good.
CineVegas, how I love you…
My humor veers toward the black side of it at times. Crazy, yes. But sometimes you’ve just got to laugh in order to keep sane.
However, I do not take responsibility for the existence of the Hilton sisters, nor of Perez Hilton or anyone who hasn’t done a real day of work in their lives. That, I fear, is Satan’s doing.
Wow, it is God!
Why is there so much suffering …
oh, nevermind. I guess you’ve got a crazy sense of humor, don’t you?
I know, Dave, I know. I’ve been having plenty of problems with them too.
I hope you recover soon. A possible groin injury, ouch.
God, I hate digital cameras.