So far, I’ve gotten into the London (Ontario Canada, not UK), Toronto, and Vancouver BC fringe festivals. I will likely BYOV (bring your own venue, or self-produce as a part of the festival) in Ottawa, since that festival falls between London and Toronto, and all three cities are within an eight-hour drive of each other.
Toronto friends, I hear it’s difficult to get billeted there, so I will probably be needing a place to stay from July 1-15. If you can host me for any/all of that time, please email me! I can’t really offer much in the way of compensation other than my undying appreciation, comps to Threads, and a few stellar home-cooked meals. Plus a whole metric fuckload of stories to tell your grandchildren. Heh.
Looks like I’m going to be writing a review for Tits and Sass of For a Good Time Call, the movie I wrote about in my last post. Apparently, they had someone else all set to review it but that never happened. They thought of me, came to this blog to get my email, and lo-and-behold, there’s me mouthing off about how much I’m dreading the flick. Lol. I’ll make sure I link to my take on the flick here when it goes up. Also have a couple of possible film/tv documentary appearances in the works- you’ll know more when I do.
But my big news is that I’m moving! Not far from where I live now, still in Portland, but to a gorgeous “Old Portland” home across the street from a park and with a stellar view of Portland’s West Hills and downtown. The next week or two I’ll be running loads of stuff over to the new place, unpacking, and getting settled in. If I’m difficult to reach, I apologize in advance. I won’t be at my computer, even if it says I’m logged into IM, so either email me or just call if you see I’m available.
Speaking of moving, can I just say that the rental market in Portland is ridiculous? If you’re looking for a certain price range, size, and neighborhood, there are a couple combinations that make for BRUTAL competition. No joke. They have open houses for rental properties here. And if you don’t show up with the application pre-completed and deposit check in hand, too bad if you like the place. In the time it takes you to fill out the paperwork on site, five people will have turned in applications before you. I have seen little old ladies elbowed out of the way and near-physical altercations between potential tenants. It’s fucking crazy.
I kind of can’t believe none of the tv shows that film in town have mined this particular Portland peculiarity. So without further ado, here are my suggestions to their writers and producers about possible plotlines…
Leverage…The team puts a stop to a rental scam that bilks unsuspecting low-income housing applicants of their application fees and deposits but leaves them homeless.
Portlandia…An over-aggressive Alpha couple camps out overnight on the porch in order to be the first ones at an open house for a cool Hawthorne bungalow.
Grimm…After the gruesome death of an elderly wiesen, Detectives Burkhardt and Griffin discover she was murdered by relatives who couldn’t find affordable rental housing and hoped to inherit her house.
Does that give you some idea of how competitive the Portland rental market is? I looked at over 20 places in the span of a month and was getting really close to a complete mental breakdown when I found the PERFECT PLACE. Pictures will follow once I’m settled in…