Fall-ing

Halloween music on, Karen making dishes with root vegetables... means it must be ages since I posted.

Some old guy had an awesome chocolate-orange cake with a Tabasco theme.




We got in a visit with Carmen and the Amazing Roelants. Waaay too long since we've seen them, and the girls are a delight.

















But the big fall event was a movie premiere for

Storm Dependent

the local west Michigan movie that threatens to turn super hero storytelling on its head.

Red Carpet, sponsored by Dr. Pepper.

 Co-director and editor, Anna Minnebo.

Co-director and screen"writer," Diablo Cody.

The first showing!

Setting up for the gala. The cake was so good we invited the baker.




Awards the same night as the premiere? Someone's on the ball.

This was the first awarding of the Ultimatums, sure to go down in history as the greatest honor in cinema.


Here are the nominees. Winners are highlighted.



Best Location Supervisor & Craft Service for a Motion Picture: Karen Golden, Storm Dependant; Rachel Ray, Unbearable Lightness of Being; Martha Stewart, The Thief, the Cook, His Wife and Her Lover

Best Riff Raff in a Motion Picture: John Golden, Storm Dependant; Simon Helberg, Dr. Horrible; Meryl Streep, Sophie’s Choice; Gregg Minnebo, Storm Dependant (it's a tie?)

Best In-depth Reporting in a Motion Picture: Ysabela, Storm Dependant; Michelle Pfeiffer, Up Close and Personal; Holly Hunter, Broadcast News


Best Editing in a Motion Picture: Anna Minnebo, Storm Dependant; The Bourne Ultimatum - Christopher Rouse; The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King - Jamie Selkirk

Best Super Villain in a Motion Picture: Xavier, Storm Dependant; Jack Nicholson, Batman; Samuel Jackson, Unbreakable; Neil Patrick Harris, Dr. Horrible's Sing-along-blog


Best Sidekick in a Motion Picture: Chris O’Donnell, Batman Forever; Brandon, Storm Dependant;  Sebastian Stan, Captain America 

Best Sword Fighting in a Motion Picture: Mandy Patinkin, Princess Bride; Mason, Storm Dependant; Viggo Mortensen, Lord of the Rings

Best Super Hero in a Motion Picture: Christian Bale, Batman Begins; Chris Hemsworth, Thor; Robert Downey, Jr., Iron Man 2; Lillian, Storm Dependant


Quite a night for Storm Dependant!

Aside from the premiere, we've had the chance to catch a couple rocking Christian shows. The Blind Boys of Alabama at Hope, and the Music with a Mission Tour with Super(chick).

The St. John's youth group took a spin for Crop Walk. The youth were cheered on by Tess the Tremendous.

To wrap up, two videos from this weekend with the kids, showing where they're at...

Xavi did a great job with this belt test. Good concentration and perseverance.

Ysabela finally consented to putting a song to video - she's been working hard on this one.

Where They Are

The kids got their chores done, so we got to go to the movie today! Yeah!

I loved it. Thought it was one of the better movies I'd seen this year. It was amazing for taking the book, and imagining why things in the book are the way they are. Great connections among the characters, between Max's wild life and home life... very intense emotionally. Visually, it's just about perfect. The special effects are seemless, and the Wild Things are amazing in physicality and in voice actors. Max is very convincing with his sparse dialogue and expressive eyes.

As to whether it's too scary for kids, Xavi says "it was kind of scary, but it was not creepy. Big dramatic scariness, and not creepy scariness. It is scary, but big, and just in one place."

It's not fluffy funny exciting... it's full of deep intense emotions like sadness, frustration, rage and joy. No woo hoo, but whoa. And maybe a long satisfying howl.



ps. On the pix, Karen says, "and I pose in front of Judith. I guess that's appropriate." Which was a very Judith thing to say.

Humans Are High in Fiber

A joint production of Golden Films and Felock Productions.

Once Upon a Time...

Care and Feeding of Dragons

The latest from Golden Film Studios, A Ferryport Landing Special Report.

No dragons were harmed in the filming of this video. If only we could say the same of the children.

In related news, the Feminineos came in for a whirlwind visit. We had a recap of the Grimm Party mystery, and then the kids made a mystery for the grown-ups. The Scarlet Hand had stolen the Bell of Au (one of the trippiest Grimm artifacts, involving church attendance and forest apes. Really.) and we had to solve three riddles to find it.

The next day saw an amazing encounter with our favorite children's author, Laurie Keller. She seems as nice as is humanly possible. Back home for the movie making and ... slinky? After a quick 24 hour visit they were off again, wending their way towards Florida.