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Starting tomorrow...all the glamo(u)r, excitement and substance abuse.
First hot tub party today at 5...
Therese

Update: It was girls-only and I didn't even end up tubbing but instead stayed indoors gossiping and eating.

I'm going to give you the bad news first: In a shocking lack of coordination and sensitivity, I have been assigned lodgings WITHOUT A HOT TUB!!  Why oh why oh why?? Was it because on the volunteer contract where they asked if I needed any special housing requirements I put "I need a hot tub?"  Could they be so cruel?? I think my mother needs to write some more letters to Geoff Gilmore (who, in answer to all your queries, is the Director of the festival).

The other equally  appalling development is that many of the volunteer guys here have grown big bushy beards. I mean - we’re talking Unabomber beards.  Park City is full of otherwise-hip 25-year-olds exploring the next big thing in alarming facial hair…Don’t say I didn’t warn you.
 
As of tonight, the festival is officially open, and after two days of relative peace, Park City is swarming with PIBs (People In Black, which is what the locals call us.) Although the volunteers are more like PIGALGs (People In Gray And Lime Green) which is the color of this year’s volunteer jackets. And you’re thinking "could there be a less flattering color combination on this earth?!? Trixie - How are you holding up under all this fashion stress?"

True, the colors made me want to puke when I first saw them, but that turned out to just be a touch of altitude sickness. And after seeing how good the colors looked with red, the jackets have really grown on me. Plus, since no one else in the known universe would willingly wear gray and lime green, you can spot the volunteers and staff from a mile away. Did I mention they’re made by Kenneth Cole, our very generous sponsor three years running? This year Kenny outdid himself and we got not only the ski jacket, but also a fleece jacket and a messenger bag, all in the same signature colors. Not that we need any of it. There's lots of snow but the weather is as balmy as ever here. Today it's around 50 and I'm actually too hot in my aforementioned jacket.

The other night we had our welcome volunteers party, which this year was extra-fun because there was karaoke all night. You’ll be shocked to hear that I didn’t get up there and belt out  "I Am Woman" or even that Sundance classic "Will You Love Me Tomorrow?" I think it was due to the fact that because my head was about to explode from lack of sleep and altitude sickness, I was drinking lots of water and (hardly) no booze.  I actually came home with an unused drink ticket.

Our venue opens tomorrow (today) with the visit from Bob. If I am forced to be there, I’ll give you all the breathless details. Also I’ll write some stuff about the films here for the one person (you know who you are) who is interested in that kind of thing.

Sending a special shout-out to JLCoolJ  and much pity and warm thoughts to all of you on the east coast whose front doors have frozen shut. 

Update: I've been here about 36 hours and although I'm now comfortable with the jackets and the altitude, I will never get used to the deranged-hermit-in-a-mountain-shack look. And the strongest thing I drank today was Diet Coke.™

Thank you to our longtime loyal correspondent Lady Diedree Palmour of Fort Lewis WA who writes:
"You know, what with all this mountain man hair, it might not be such a bad thing that you don't have a hot tub. 
Think of all the clogs."

Late late Friday night I slipped on the ice and broke my arm. I had surgery aned spent several days in hospital. And as you can see I can't type. It all sucks beyond belief!!!! When I'm able to type again or find some lackey to do it I will fill you all in. But not now. Can't type and cant answer emails!! Aaaarghg!!!

Update 6:30 pm
yesterday was on 45mg morphine every 3 hrs.ahhhh... told street value of my prescription worth thousands. still very hard to type but stay tuned for special guest bloggers!! if you want to post one, email it to me.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BRADLEY!!

"Were you wearing the red cowboy boots? Please have one of the hairy young gentlemen take them to a cobbler and have a rubber sole put on ASAP! I wrote this poem. I hope you like it! I'm not much of a writer, but this is an emergency! Love Sarah

A Poem About Therese
Walking in Sundance one icy day
Thinking of Redfern, and what I would say
to him if he'd ever watch my super groovey film.
If only I'd made a movie that was starring him!
I think I would have got a showing, or at least a big bash
That all the stylist mountain men would surely want to crash.
But alas, I made a doc and here I sit like a geek
With a broken arm and morphine drip during Fun Film Week!

Hi everyone. This is my first sad attempt at typing and I don't think it's gonna last long. oh the pain!!! Did I mention I am totally off pain killers during the day?

I can share one story before I pass out...
When I was in the ambulance in horrifying pain from a badly broken arm and was being really calm and lucid while they took vitals and bumped across icy Utah roads to the hospital 40 minutes away in Salt Lake City.
Then...they started cutting into my purple velvet shirt!!! Right up the arm.
Me: (seeing the scissors tear into the fabric) NOOOOOOOOOOOO! NOT THE SHIRT!!! IT'S MY FAVORITE SHIRT!!!! ANYTHING BUT THE SHIRT!!!!!
Medic Guy: Sorry ma'm but it's the only way to get to your arm.
Me: NOOOO!! Anything but cutting into the shirt!!!!
Medic: (ignores my wails and continues to cut)
Me: OK OK OK but CUT ON THE SEAM! CUT ON THE SEAM!!!  please (whimper) cut on the seam.

The rest of the way I devised a desperate and brilliant plan to use ribbon to repair the damage up the sleeve. Later at the hospital when they had to splint my arm properly, they wanted to cut the rest of it off me (so far only the sleeve had been slit open like some fresh game). The xrays were done and I had now been in massive pain for about 1.5 hours.
Me: NOOOOO!!! No more cutting the shirt!!!!
Doctor: Ma'm it's the only way we can get it off without causing you a lot more pain.
Me: CAUSE ME PAIN! I'll help. Just take it off without cutting. I beg you.
So we did. It sits in it's sad sleeve-slitted sorrow in the closet awaiting some miracle sewing back home.
RIP purple velvet shirt.

Let me take a moment to compose myself and introduce today's guest blogger:

MS from Toronto* (my mother) writes:
I am considering filing a civil suit against (who is the guy I was supposed to write letters to?). Remember the lady who sued Mc Donalds because the coffee was too hot and she made tons of money? Well, you did slip on ice,
so they either did not clean up properly to assure the safety of bearded young men and other filmmakers of all sexes, or they did not manage to monitor the local temperatures (Unacceptable behaviour from film moguls). First I will write a few warning letters to what's his name, then I will look for a suitable lawyer. Take good care of the morphine, it might come in handy when you are short of cash. By the way, do youy need any? Cash, not morphine. Take good care of yourself. Eat proteins. We love you.

*Canadian spelling style will be used. Take all necessary precautions.

This morning I will be answering questions and responding to comments from my loyal readers:

Please tell me thats not also MY favorite purple velour top.. the sexy off the shoulder one? SF, Istanbul

No SF - It's bright purple and has buttons down the front and would be way too warm to wear in Turkey.

What have you gone and done to yourself!?!?!?! JW, Los Angeles

OK I slipped on some ice late one night and as soon as I feel I knew it was bad news. My friend and lifelong hero Howard (a Torontonian, of course) managed to hail an ambulance driving down the street (how often does that happen!!!) X-Rays, shirt mutilation and other hilarity ensued...blah...blah...blah. Apparently I broke my lower humerus just above the elbow joint in a particularily spectacular fashion. The doctors were really impressed at the damage I managed to do with a simple fall, but then I always have been an overacheiver. Under general anasthesia (squeamish should skip this) they went in a put the pieces of bone back together with little metal plates and screws. They actually had to break another bone just to get access to what used to be my elbow. I was in hospital for a few days and very heavily doped up. Morphine is a truly beatiful thing. So much better than vodka. I have a soft cast from wrist to shoulder of my right arm which will change to a hard cast in a couple of weeks when my incision(s) is certified to be healing OK. All told it will be 6 weeks with an immobile arm.

Are you just hanging around now harrassing people?

No I'm back at work almost full-time. It's amazing how fast you heal. One day I'm planning to fly home to Toronto so that my parents can care for me for the next two weeks, the next day I'm at the Volkswagen party followed by an 11:30pm screening of "Brick" (an interesting take on the film noir genre set entirely in a high school but totally true to noir form. Really impressive by a first-time filmmaker starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt - the kid from 3rd Rock - who is also amazing as teen hustler in "Mysterious Skin" by Greg Araki).

I WAS going to comment that the green jackets would look great with your pointy green shoes but that in Utah they would be way too SLIPPERY!! SF, Istanbul

You fashion sense is always on target SF. I have, in fact, become the self-appointed Park City footwear police and I lecture every inappropriately shod person (almost always female) on the idiocy of wearing anything but big old boots. Sure they don't go with that midrif-baring fur t-shirt, but neither does a honking huge cast.

To all those kind souls who suggested I get an extra drink ticket for my troubles, may I remind you that I am still taking painkillers at night and I'm not all that steady on my feet to begin with. It's strictly diet caffinated beverages for me until further notice.