interview was okay, despite my predictable sleep-in and scamper to get there on time. my subconscious keeps getting more clever, i am now able to disable three alarm clocks (including one which requires getting out of bed) without fully resurfacing to consciousness. yesterday morning i was dreaming that i was awake and about to get up when in fact i was asleep and not going anywhere. oh, the ferret-like cunning. and wearing contacts for the first time in weeks took much longer to sort out than it would have six months ago.

they were nice, we got along okay, there was nifty designer furniture and a couple of installations in the reception area. didn't say anything too severely fucked-up, but am not holding high hopes for this one. (actually worried on the way home that i might have sworn during the interview. don't think i did. damn subconscious).

soothing cooking when i got home. the nicest thing about impulse-buying a whole lotta seaweed and making dashi is that i do get that joyous moment of putting the bonito flakes in and mentally doing an Iron Chef-style commentary. i also feel better about doing anything that keeps me out of demographic stereotype. buying shoes is well and good, but right now i prefer seaweed.

and now on to films:

The Motorcycle Diaries was on free in the Piazza, followed by Y tu mama tambien, as part of the festival's week of free films with road trip themes. i liked the movie, laughed a lot, probably ogled the scenery more than That Nice Looking Mexican Boy, and appreciated the way that Ernesto is portrayed in a more human than iconic fashion. i don't really know very much about Che and don't have very strong feelings about him, so there was probably a lot in there that i missed. felt that the "it's a geographic journey, BUT ALSO a political/emotional journey!!" thing was overdone, but as it was probably the whole point of the thing it's not much of a fair criticism. also contributing to unfairness was that i was watching this in a concrete structure with hard plastic seats, lots of ventilation from the river breezes on a winter night and i didn't have a coat or a jacket. one of the reasons we didn't stay on for the second film.

the second reason was Phil the Alien, which i think can only be described as a Canadian movie about an alien who crash lands in northern Ontario, is befriended by a talking beaver, becomes an alcoholic, then ends up fronting a christian rock band on a trip to Niagara Falls while eluding capture by authorities. it was supposed to be on at last year's BIFF, but got cancelled, it was worth the wait. trash gold.