The Sundance Film Festival

Baseball might have been America's Favorite pass time way back when, but then America realized that baseball isn't nearly as exciting as it was before steroids were invented and talent was alnatual! Let's just say we've wised up. Film, movies, flickers, the big screen! America is driven by the latest movies. Film drives the latest fashion, topics of conversation, and culture. Long story short, everyone loves movies. And these people aren't just the main stream lovers of mindless robotic transforming and superhero film making. These are lovers, touched for the very first time, everytime. This love drives thousands of people to travel across the country and (as I learned from an Austrian man who's voice grew four octaves higher at the thought of meeting "de' Obi Van Ken o' bee") intreats even world travelers to Park City's Sundance Film Festival.

It wasn't long after I rode the shuttle up and down the "Theater Loop" when suddenly I felt if I was running with my people, barefooted and pants-less. This means a great deal because I hate pants. Ideally I would be wearing mocasins, let's just face it, they're in! But ANYWAY, this place was friendlier than happy valley! In the past two days of Sundance I've had the easiest and most stimulating conversation since I've graduated or even before that. I bonded with the bus riders, the volunteers (who so happily gave us directions to where the cute boys from the bus were eating) and countless film enthusiasts. It was my first year at Sundance and by 9:30pm on my first night I was gutting buffalo and smoking peace pipes like a native. Wingapo, Robert Redford. Solid work.

As lovely as it would have been to join the well prepared ticket-holders in the heated tent, my Sundance experience would not have been complete without the connections (which I imagine to be little strips of film) I made with the lesser mortals out in the 25 degree weather, huddling for warmth and forming strategic game plans. Wait-listers are required to arrive approximately 2 hours before show time to receive a waitlist number. However, the die hard fans who value the rush of winning admission and, coincidentally, the affections of parents, arrive at least 3 hours early to stand...and wait...and of course bond...and wait. My first waitlist line was so happy to move from the unofficial waitlist line to the officially roped off indoor waistlist line a Congo-dance style high five trail sporadically emerged. Then the wait began. At two hours to the show we received our bright green Southwest Wait List Number. This was in no way a guarantee that we would be accepted into a premiere, but merely our place in line when we would return a half hour before the show.

Well The Sundance Gods have treated me well of late. My numbers have been 5 and 13 for both world premieres I've attended. For "The Devil's Double" the beautiful volunteers in Sundance blue vests let in 10 (winner). For "Perfect Sense" the lucky number-well my number was the lucky number,but that fell within the 20 wait listers the blue vest beauties allowed in the Eccles Theater.

I love this. I win. I get to spend one more day making friends with complete strangers I'll never see again. Hopefully once again we'll smile as we're insanely running in to the theater to get seats to the next premiere on which only a few people's tingly, symbolically minded, cathartic craving eyes have laid.