Inland Empire Screening Party

Last Wednesday night at the Hammer Museum, Filter magazine hosted a DVD release party for David Lynch's "Inland Empire".

Besides a screening of the film, the event promised a special musical perfomance by the director, a post-screening Q&A, free David Lynch coffee and Dewars and RedBull, silkscreened T-shirts created for us on the spot, DJ's, and more surprises.



The first surprise was that the event was seriously overbooked. I got there almost 2 hours early, and there were already lines stretching throughout the entire museum courtyard. There was a small group of people with handstamps that were guaranteed admission. The rest of us would have to wait and see.

While we were waiting, I was able to check out the merch booth. I bought a pound of David Lynch organic espresso.

Which was probably a good idea, since the free coffee was long gone.

It also turned out that the Dewars and Red Bull was only for the guests with the handstamps. A little after seven, we were ushered into the overflow theater. I got the last seat in the last row.

After a few minutes, David Lynch came out and talked to the crowd.

Then, David and a fellow musician sat down at the keyboards to create music. The result was a low, dissonant drone that sounded, well, like the soundtrack to a David Lynch movie.

I really enjoyed the film. See below for a link to the review I wrote for Laist.

Afterwards, there was a brief Q & A. Lynch was charming, and soft-spoken. A real character. He talked about the importance of ideas, and offered a little insight into how he works. For this film, he would have an idea for a scene, call everybody up, then go and film it. When he had another idea, he would repeat the process. It was only after a while that he started to have ideas that actually linked the scenes he'd already shot. After taking a few questions from the audience, Lynch introduced "the Valley Girls" from the movie.

They came out and reprised their shining moment from the film - performing a quirky choreographed dance to "The Locomotion".

Please check out Laist.com to read my original movie review, as well as additional coverage of the event.

Hawaii - One Last Thought

For you immature people:

Hawaii - Part 3 - The Final Chapter

The next day, we decided to drive to the Volcanoes National Park. It's almost exactly on the opposite side of the island, and we were told that there were two ways to get there. We decided to take the slightly longer, but more scenic, route so that we could see more of the island.

It was a good decision, because we were able to take a short hike and see more waterfalls.

And more waterfalls.

And more waterfalls, just a little further down from the other waterfalls.

We also saw these shoes tied to a power line. I thought they looked cool.

After Kona, Hilo seems to be the biggest city on the island. We stopped there and walked around. There are all kinds of cute stores.









After Hilo, we took a detour off the beaten path to visit the area of the island known as Puna. Puna is very close to the volcanoes, and volcanic activity as recently as the 90's has changed the landscape dramatically. We particularly enjoyed the naturally heated pools...








Since 1983, nearly 200 homes have been destroyed, and over 600 acres of new land has been created. The entire fishing village of Kalapana was destroyed. It's fascinating that the border of the island continues to expand. There used to be a famous black sand beach called Kaimu that no longer exists. However, you can walk past where it used to be and visit a new unnamed black sand beach. This is the beginning of the walkway.

This is the new terrain. You feel like you're at the end of the world, or at the beginning of the world.

The beach is a beautiful sight.

We couldn't get enough of the black sand. Here is Gina's feet in the black sand.

Here is Gina holding the black sand.

After the 1990 eruption, one dying woman planted a sole coconut tree in an effort to jump start the rebuilding of the land.

Others followed her lead, and began planting coconut trees all over the new Kaimu Beach. Now, life peers out from amongst the black rock almost everywhere you look. It's a sight to behold.

We said aloha to the beach, and made our way to the (still active) Kilauea Volcano.




We hiked along the Mauna Ulu Crater.

Then, I realized that we were gonna be hiking down into the crater!

The experience was overwhelming and awe-inspiring.

It's always stunning to see life suddenly appear amongst the devastation.

Inside the crater, there were steam vents everywhere.

Now we're back to the old "Different Planet-Prehistoric Times" debate.

We climbed out of the crater, just as the sun was setting.

Our last day in Hawaii, we decided to just relax and go to the beach.

The water felt so good. Gina is clearly enjoying it.

We still managed to take a nice drive and take in some Kailua views.

By the end of the day, me and Gina were both very relaxed.

Maybe too relaxed.

For the last time, we watched the ugly sunset from our room.

We're already talking about going back next year!

It seems hard to believe that there are more pictures, but there are. You can look at them here.