Pacific Northwest, folks!
I’m back from Seattle. I was really only there a day. Three nights, one day. That’s how that worked.
As I mentioned I went up there for the opening night of the Seattle International Film Festival. Sword of Trust, the film I’m in, was the big opening night film. I was up there with the director Lynn Shelton. We did a full day of press stuff. Some local TV which is always sort of surreal for some reason and lots of radio hits.
The film screened for about 3000 people. Most of whom had no idea what it was or what to expect. There were there for the event. It was interesting to note the difference between the SXSW premiere and the screening in Seattle. SXSW was a bunch of young, excited festival goers who were laughing almost immediately. With the Seattle crowd, the laughs were earned. Once they got the hang of the film, about ten minutes in, the laughs started coming and didn’t stop throughout the whole film except during the deeper, more emotional moments when you could hear a pin drop in the place.
It was very gratifying to see the movie get genuine laughter again. It was also cool to watch it with different eyes: My own. When you watch something you are involved with, you see it the first time really only paying attention to yourself. The next time you see it you pay attention to everything but you are probably a little overly critical. The third time and every time after that you really watch the movie. Seattle was my third time and I really watched the movie. It’s good! Okay, I’m biased, but the audience thought so, too.
Lynn and I did a Q and A afterwards and I went on a bit of a rant in the middle about conspiracy theories and stupid people that I think surprised everyone because they aren’t used to Q and As breaking into basically a short standup set but I think they dug it.
Also, while I was in Seattle, after much inner struggle, I ate some fried scallops at Jack’s Fish Stop. Amazing. I do it every time I’m there which has been quite a bit over the last 25 years. I love them but I know they are bad. Fried. And they have grilled salmon now. I really didn’t know what I was going to get until the words were coming out of my mouth. So ridiculous. Food is fun and it’s not like I eat them all the time. I eat them hardly ever. I don’t want to be on my death bed thinking my life was shy a few fried scallops but I also don’t want to be on my death bed sooner than I should be because of fried scallops. Tricky. Fuck it. Eat ‘em once in a while.
Today I talk to the amazing Lisa Kudrow. I mean, who doesn’t love Lisa Kudrow? She’s Lisa Kudrow. On Thursday I talk to Duff McKagan from Guns N' Roses. He’s all cleaned up and sharp as a fucking tack. Great talks.
Enjoy!
Boomer lives!
Love,
Maron