east oregon film festival 2011 recap & this weekend’s rabble rouser show!

by every measure the 2011 eastern oregon film festival was a rousing success. here’s a little recap of the films, with links (and kid yoshida's rating for each).

thursday 10/20.
resurrect dead. engaging documentary about the 20-30 year search for the “toynbee tiler” of the east coast, who was found(?) but never seen. the story weaves nicely through the life of the mystery person as well as the detective, both of whom lived beyond the fringes of society. the director flew in from philadelphia for this west coast premier of a film he spent close to 10 years making. (rating: 8)
friday 10/21.
green. probably my least favorite, i give props to a debut director for creating a cozy feel and good production. it was a fairly weird love triangle story. the plot was interesting, although predictable. the dialog was pretty thin. some cheesy love scenes and queasy moments, but i suppose it is good when a film moves you in your seat? (rating: 3)
cirkus columbia. bosnian film that was nearly shortlisted for the academy awards last year. director tanovic had already won an academy award and a golden globe for “no man’s land” in 2001. this one takes place in 1991 amidst a serb uprising just after the fall of yugoslavia. it was a tale of two sides struggling for control and some bizarre family dynamics caught in the middle. (rating: 8)
last mountain. the most engaging documentary since “gasland” showing how big business continues to dominate government. last mountain gives a convincing argument for clean energy with hefty support from robert kennedy, jr. this left me so mad that i became determined to buy the documentary and make a 100 copies and leave them around like toynbee tiles or something. this one was followed by a panel discussion from oregon rural action. in a push for energy conservation, brian kelly provided a hilarious example about his neighbor using a leaf blower to vacuum up individual leaves. pathetic. combat obesity and save the planet at the same time! (rating: 10)
dragonslayer. documentary of skate culture in southern california. a sweet glimpse into a life few people are daring enough to try. a fun treatise of a man drifting through life with all he knows and without much concern, until some type of success finds him. cinematography is excellent. but the truly great part are the lines and natural acting of people in their true environment. i will re-watch this several times just for the quotes. hilarious stuff. (rating: 9)
saturday 10/22
country story. on the heels of dragonslayer, this movie kept righteous dialog coming. it was a very thin plot about a guy forgetting his mom’s birthday, but it didn’t need plot. it was a drift through daily life kind of story. dialog and cinematography take this film a long way. filmed locally, there were many familiar scenes and faces for theatre-goers here in la grande, but i don’t think it is bias to say this was one of the best films in the line-up. i nearly voted for it as best, but it lost on a coin flip with my other favorite. i really thought it would win the audience choice awards. the director added the unseen dimension to the film when asked prior to the film if he had anything to say, he said, “not really. i slept on a concrete floor last night. but i found a yoga mat to curl up with.” (rating: 10)
bad fever. the film i was most excited about leading up to the festival was he one feature film i did not see. trailer had a “buffalo 66” feel to it. honestly, though, i needed to rest my eyes a bit. panda and i did a short radio show furious about “last mountain” and then took a break to books n brew (inside lookinglass books). count on seeing me there more often!
nobody cares. i voted this film best of the fest. filmed in boise with an slr camera that anyone could pick up at an electronics store for about $2000, but the end result is a hollywood level production. not only should that make a local viewer proud, but how awesome is a movie experience when you find yourself standing in line at the concession stand chatting with the lead actor? beyond that, though, it had a first rate script and was super hilarious. storyline evoked memories of “what about bob?” to top it off, the music was done by travis ward of hillfolk noir. (rating: 10)
press pause play. this screening had an issue getting the dvd lost in the mail and it turned out that the substitute version soundtrack didn’t match the video, which made the end tough to watch. this was a documentary that felt a bit disjointed with many different viewpoints about the death of the music industry, or the new age of it. there were some good points, but many that seemed obvious. maybe it would be good for someone that isn’t constantly immersed in the music world. it did have a nice bit of nostalgia concerning media changes, but that was a minimal part of the film and, overall, it got sleepy in places. (rating: 5)
bellflower. another youth gone wild flim, this one definitely pushed buttons. like most films at the fest, it made me glad that the filmmaking industry is more accessible than ever to hollywood outsiders. many of the scenes were shot on a camera the director made specifically for this film. it communicated the dirty feel of the phenomenal plot. just when things started to seem predictable, a shocker would rocket you out of your seat. afterwards, the director joined q & a via skype from ireland, where it was 6am and he still hadn’t been to bed. yeah, rock on, this film spoke volumes to us afterparty people. the 2011 east oregon film fest went out with a serious bang! (rating: 9)

music & after parties
mike surber busked it outside the granada on thursday night, then it was auburn isaak on friday and someone i’d never seen before on saturday. then the after parties rolled hot all weekend! mt. emily ale house hosted the thursday night funk. hillfolk noir, always a crowd pleaser, had the downstairs stomping. james dean kindle & the eastern oregon playboys played to one of the bigger audiences upstairs. he’s a ham, but for the crowd it was like a sweet honey ham on thanksgiving. people screamed for encores, and were treated nicely. friday night’s after party at benchies featured local superstars elidila and sons of guns, followed by boise heavyweights finn riggins. all three of these bands are always tight. as elidila warmed the crowd, i saw travis ward trying to push through to the bar. since the cd he had sold me the night before was worth more than $7, i felt i owed him a drink. so, i bought him and eric gilbert a drink. then a round for sons of guns, then a round for finn riggings (except lisa who doesn’t drink), then a few more rounds for pretty much anyone that was thirsty. as can be imagined, the night quickly got away! finn riggins had benchies jumping until nearly 2am. never ever miss a concert with a line up like that! saturday night’s after party was at ten depot street. gregory rawlins played several new songs, plus a version of good fence, great war that was maybe even better than the one on oregon slogan. then, jared mees & the grown children flew in from las vegas just to play the closing night! you know the event is big when that happens. finn riggins even played the last song with them. and since the grown children had not been to la grande in so long, they gave away all their merch for free and announced it was their last show of 2011. atomic mama closed out the night. maybe cuz they played last…maybe cuz they are the newest…maybe cuz this was their first time in la grande…maybe cuz they drive a rad school bus, but, whatever, they were my favorite act of the after parties. certainly, i’ve not seen a two piece that good since digger & the pussycats. likewise, the audience reaction seemed the most intense for atomic mama. thankfully, we were not allowed to vote audience choice awards for the bands! every act was superior. and the fabulous weekend ended with atomic mama and finn riggings coming into the studio for about half an hour on sunday morning before they all headed back to boise.
you know how some people count down to their birthday, to xmas, to new year and such? i am couting down to next year’s film fest!!!

how can kid yoshida make halloween weekend half as good as what film fest weekend was? tune into to the rabble rouser show to find out!!!
original time & then some! saturday from 5pm to 9pm. then, i will also host the first congregational church of audio inspiration from 9pm to midnight!
i am thinking of starting with an album in its entirety, if any man in black fans give a shout out. as usual, i got tributes. a couple fabulous musicians have passed away in the past couple of weeks.
plus, saturday is the 40th anniversary of the death of one of the very best guitarists of all time … expect a good long set for that! naturally, there will be quite a bag full of halloween treats. drop by the studio with some candy for me, or just tune in for some spooky fun songs. at 10:30 will be the cage match. pink floyd’s another brick in the wall part 2 is the reigning champion, of course kid yoshida will come up with something to beat it. you just gotta tune in and vote!!! if there is time late in the night…there may be a tribute to the ufo show…which was a staple of community radio kkfi in kansas city back in the 90s, so you know that means far out 90s underground space jams.

give the kid your halloween requests and ye shall be mortified!
the grooveyard is rocking this saturday on keol!!!

what's in a name?

panda never seems to accept calling me yoshida. she says yoshida is not my real name. i wonder what is real?

it could be debated why we even have last names. this has a lot to do with the particular culture one comes from. many cultures do not give last names, just as many do not have middle names, just as many cultures use several middle names or hyphenated last names. the earliest families that used last names, did so to keep ties to royal families. otherwise, there really was no need for a commoner to have more than one name. it seems to me that we have so many names just to distinguish ourselves from each other. however, the idea of starting off with one given name and then maybe letting the child choose their own identity later in life never seems to be considered. so here i am stuck in a society that deems it important to give me three names from birth.

the first thing i question, why do wives take the husband’s last name?
among the cultures that use last names, it appears to be universal that the patrilineal line is the one that continues. since christian societies seem to use the bible as a guiding force, i decided to check what it had to say. the best i could find was that ephesians chapter 5 says a wife should put her husband’s needs first and a husband should serve his wife. honestly, that is just a load of crap. sure, partners should be one for all and all for one and all, but respecting or serving someone has nothing to do with taking their name. that does nothing to mention that one person should be more represented than the other? so, really, why can’t the husband take the wife’s name or they just keep their own names?

following from that, why do kids get named after their father? if a husband were to take his wife’s name, for instance, then shouldn’t that mean that the child would take the mother’s name as well? in some societies it works that girls take the mother’s name and the boys take the father’s name. that’s better, but not good enough for me. my father and i have many things in common, but it seems due more to dna than life experience. liking the guy as much as i do, i didn’t hardly know him until i was about 12 years old. considering i grew up with my mother, that experience provided much more of my identity. in all fairness, her last name would have been a better representation.

but then, why stop there? maybe my mother would wonder about her own last name. certainly my mother’s mother was my most important grandparent and that’s where i feel most of my familial identity. if i had my druthers, i would’ve been named after her. in that case, i must insist, if i must have a family name, then it shall be myrick.

yet, i would have to continue to question whether my grandmother would’ve wanted the name myrick. she directly descended from the all powerful myrick clan of old wales. but the story as i recall was that her part of the family was sent to america to live in poverty out of sight out of mind. if that were your family story, would you want to be reminded of it every time you signed your name?

therefore, it is not out of disrespect to anyone that i don’t use a family name. i have my own identity that is not very much welsh nor of a father that i didn’t know as a youngster. besides, if i pick one side to be named after, doesn’t it somewhat insult the other? therefore, in blazing my own trails, it’s not that i don’t want a family name, i just prefer the most representative.

several times over the course of life, any person will find themselves despondent and directionless. roses can’t even survive in the spring if there is not someone to help cultivate them. of the handful of people that helped me immensely, one was hiromi yoshida. the first six or eight months of life in japan were among the most miserable of my life. in contrast, the last couple years were some of the best times of my life. a lot of the reason things i survived the cold dark rainy winter was thanks to wonderfulness of the yoshidas. i really feel grateful for that and identify with that time of my life as one of the most significant.

was that time period more crucial than other time periods in my life? did the yoshidas do more for me than any other of my bestest friends? not necessarily. could the same argument from above apply to hiromi also? maybe. i don’t even remember what her maiden name was. but at some point, you just have to pick what feels most inspirational. and that was the situation at that time, regardless of anything else that has happened. i don’t mind recalling that part of my life every time i sign my name.

the answer to what’s in a name is identity.
the answer to mine…
first name: daniel
middle name: tsahaus
last name: yoshida
nickname: kid

hermiston hotel pot bust

this article (five arrested on pot charges) appeared in the hermiston herald two days ago. this was one of those articles that makes me think that even the dumbest criminals can be worth more than both cops and newspaper columnists.

after being caught smoking marijuana in a hotel room, these five were then arrested. makes sense, right? but what the article doesn't explain is what they did wrong. i mean, i get it, it's not exactly right to smoke weed in a hotel room. if they had been charged with breaking the fire code, that would be one thing. but the problem is that there weren't arrested for smoking weed in the hotel room. between the five of them, the article lists the offenses as: "frequenting a place where controlled substances are used, possession of less than one ounce of marijuana, possession of drug paraphernalia, a Hermiston Municipal Court drug warrant and two outstanding warrants."

so, since when is it illegal to "frequent a place where controlled substances are used"? i understand that it is not necessairly a prudent idea if one wishes to maintain proper social decorum, but how is it something illegal to be charged for? to consider, i once had a neighbor across the hall who sold/produced/used drugs. does that mean that i broke the law by going to watch tv at his place because that was "frequenting" a place where where drugs were used? you can't just make an assumption that someone uses drugs just because they go there often. and even if so, the mere state of being high isn't illegal. ultimately, if cops can charge people with shit like that, they can get away with damn near anything. if employees at my favorite restuarant are spooning coke lines in the walk-in, does that mean everyone in the place is frequenting a place where controlled substances are used? if my mom works in a hospital, does that mean she frequents a place where controlled substances are used? if allowed to stretch the law far enough, just breathing air could be a capitol offense.

as for possession of less than one ounce...is that illegal in this ganja friendly state? well, if so, then i guess the lesson to learn here is to move somewhere like denver. there the cops wouldn't even be allowed to take it away, much less charge one with a crime. that's so trivial, there have got to be more important things for the cops to do.

drug paraphernalia? if it's not illegal for a head shop, even in a podunk place like eastern oregon to sell that crap, why would it be illegal to own it?

and then there was the issue of the warrants. more description would be nice because all i am left with is the assumption that they were wanted for previous drug offenses. the problem there is that prior drug offenses could/are likely to be the same worthless "crimes" they got charged with the other day. seriously, someone needs to keeps authorities more in check by asking realistic questions. that would be nice if the newspaper would be worthy to keep such a balance in place.

ok, done living in idealistic, properly functioning dream land. now back to the real backwards, i mean backwoods, world i live in.