White Island

ornenDear readers I have a favor to ask. A short film I whipped up is in a contest and could really use your vote to get to the finals. This ghostly short is based on the true story of S.A. Andreé’s tragic balloon flight to the Arctic.

**UPDATE** I won the contest! So excited to go check out the Stanley Hotel, the place where Stephen King came up with the idea for The Shining.

You can watch the short below.

White Island from miss alix on Vimeo.

Wildfire

WILDFIRE – Glendora, CA January 16th, 2014 from Shawn Bannon on Vimeo.

We’ve entered wildfire season in Southern California. Yesterday this fire broke out in Glendora, just east of Los Angeles. It’s crazy to see the fire planes flying so low to fight the flames. Today the fire is still burning but it’s not entirely out of control.

pumpkin bread

pumpkin bread 227 After having a non-stop schedule for the past few months it was nice to have a free day where I could spend some time in the kitchen. We got a little pumpkin in our last CSA box and I had wanted to make something special with it. It seemed like a great chance to make something fully from scratch, instead of using canned pumpkin which is so readily available. It wasn’t difficult at all to bake the pumpkin before making it into puree, it just took a little extra time. I used this recipe for pumpkin bread, halved and without the walnuts. It was perfectly moist and spicy.

Can you tell the difference between the canned pumpkin and the fresh pumpkin in the end? I’m not sure. It’s still nice to know it was simple if I ever want to nix canned foods in general. Plus I made a little video of the process, which made the whole thing a little more fun.

Real Life Exp.

Real Life Exp. from Kristoffer Borgli on Vimeo.

I am a really big fan of Kristoffer Borgli’s Whateverest so I was pleased to find he had released a new short film. Real Life Exp. is much a much subtler narrative piece that explores what happens when two girls are locked in a swimming pool. It perfectly captures teenage boredom and playfulness. It shows two girls balancing on the edge of childhood, about to fall into the world of adulthood.

autour du lac

Carl et les hommes-boîtes – Autour du lac from Carl Roosens on Vimeo.

I went on a boat ride today, which was lovely (and surprising because I’m mildly terrified of boats). The whole time I had the song that accompanies this video stuck in my head. I think it’s a fun animation and it reminds me a little of Don’t Hug Me I’m Scared in it’s tone. Hope you enjoy it.

Looking forward to catching up with the Los Angeles Film Festival in the next few days.