UNDER THE MARQUEE

The Kidd coulda knocked out lightbulbs on this sign with his forehead.

MOMENTUM MAGAZINE

Click heading to see Momentum Magazine's article on TWC. Just one thing, the SOSA are NOT cute. Mr. King and Torbin Ross are the most hardcore squatch wranglers on the planet. They live, breathe and smell like Sasquatch. They've been living in the moss, mud and underbrush since '88. Obviously the short segment on The Winking Circle didn't do them justice but just you wait, Terry Twitchell has tapes that'll blow your cute little mind.

SKATE RAT

No skatepark here in Ann Arbor so the Kidd and I jumped outta bed at sunrise and hit the road on a skatepark mission. We drove over an hour north to sample the Mason skatepark: outdoor, concrete, free. It was amazing; 3 concrete bowls, countless hips, channels and transfers, but unlike the photos on the web there was now a fence around it. Why a free public park with no posted rules would have a locked gate, I don't know. It's torture. Do they lock up the playground or the swing sets? We jumped the fence at 8:30 and were shredding until 8:45 when the cruiser pulled up. That was that. Some lady across the street 'who likes to keep an eye on the park' ratted on us. She must love peaking through her curtains watching the skaters get a talking to. We maintained our innocence and the cop even empathized with us saying "I know how it feels, I fish and I'm waiting for the season to start too." The skatepark wouldn't be 'officially open' for another week or two. So while the snow has thawed and the temperature rises, the skaters all have to wait for some town councilor to give the nod on opening the gate. And it hardly even snowed this year, the locals coulda been skateboarding all winter. The same thing is happening in Uxbridge: they build a public skatepark then keep it closed half the time, so when the kids sneak in to use it the town threatens to shut it down.

AAFF UPDATE

The Kidd and I are here in Ann Arbor despite our are car being ransacked by the US border patrol, who have mastered the art of being total dicks. The Michigan theater is gorgeous. Huge vaulted ceilings with ornate mouldings in gold. Puts today's big box theaters to shame. There's no dancedance revolution in the lobby but instead a man in a tuxedo playing the most incredible little gold organ at the front of the theater. He sits surrounded by a horseshoe of keys and paddle switches which his hands dance over, filling the theatre with vaudevillian music. We've seen some great films so far, attended workshops, are putting on a Winking Circle presentation tonight at the neutral zone (Ann Arbor's teen center) and have an interview scheduled for right now.

SNOW SQUATCH

With the spring thaw the snow squatch seems to be drifting further north again. David spotted one at Wink World yesterday and made this rendition using his favorite medium, LEGO.

FMTM

From Monument To Masses is playing in San Francisco this Friday night at Café du Nord for the Directions in Sound kickoff event as part of the Center For Asian American Media's 24th SF International Asian Film Festival.

IT'S OFFICIAL

Time to press the suit and polish the shoes. The Kidd and i will be traveling out to Michigan to attend the Ann Arbor Film Festival.

MICROCOSM

The Winking Circle DVD is now available through Microcosm Publishing.
http://www.microcosmpublishing.com/catalog/videos/1680/?PHPSESSID=0424bb2716a398599905d01be12abe63

AAFF

The Winking Circle video zine is playing at the Ann Arbor Film Festival on March 25th.
http://www.aafilmfest.org/schedule/winking-circle/