This past weekend Keith and I attended the Syracuse International Film and Video Festival. They have a very nice, very "indie" website so I was looking forward to it. Also, they chose Keith and me to serve on a panel to discuss "Music and Sound in Film" which was not only an honor, but they paid for transportation and housing. Also very nice.

At the forum, the Sony Game Composer showed some of her sci-fi television series and discussed how music can add so much to the visuals of documentary, drama and computer games. The Native American Film Composer had this great educational montage describing native instruments in his composition and how they relate to the drama. Keith and I talked about our creative process for "Credo" and showed the film. I love the way "Credo" was created; the process was perfect. Imagine the actor, director, writer and editor all creating a film together. Each having his own say and being taken seriously. Even the actor. It's heaven on earth. The audience (mostly students) asked questions about games and indigenous music and how to make it in the industry. We attended the reception with a few interested folk and talked theory until it was just us and the administrative staff and students who came to scavenge the leftovers.

And then we rode back to the hotel in our stretch Humvee. Now, there's a sentence I thought I'd never say. For so many reasons.

Because of our unique schedule, I didn't see a film that wasn't ours or playing with ours. "Credo" was shown in the IMAX theater in town. "Credo" on IMAX. Mmmmmmmmm. At our first of two showings, we had a lovely question and answer session. People asked good and fun questions. Nice. One woman asked if we thought God was confused. I said, "no." Keith said, I believe, "God was repentant." Just try and engage us in a fundamentalist theological discussion across an IMAX theater. Just tryyyyyy.

Awards Ceremony. "Credo" was nominated for Best North American Film, Best Music and Best Experimental Film. After we didn't win for the 3rd time, I thought that maybe we could catch a flight home immediately instead of waiting for the morning. Then one of the judges made a speech and introduced four films that hadn't won in the listed categories but deserved recognition. "Credo" was one of them. Thank God and Hallelujah.

We celebrated with a dinner of venison. When you ask someone what game meat tastes like they answer, "gamey." Well, what does gamey taste like? It tastes like liver. Gamey tastes like liver. Not as strong, mind you, but if liver were an animal instead of an organ, it would be described as gamey. And that's fine with me. It's not that it tastes like a liver. It's like it is infused with essence of liver. Simply delicious!

When we arrived at JFK, Keith took a cab home. I took the Air Train to the Howard Beach A Train station. I should have known better. I had announced Thursday night that I would never take the Air Train to the airport again as we almost missed our flight due to 2 passed-out passengers on the A-Train. I figured that if I were delayed going home it wouldn't be that big a deal. For the trip home, I was waiting in front of the Car Service across the street from the Howard Beach station while Keith was playing with babies in his livingroom. Live and Learn, that's my motto.

We had a delightful time in Syracuse, NY. I recommend it. If you stay at the Marx Hotel, you're but a stretch Humvee ride away from anything the city has to offer, including an IMAX theater. Go next Spring and catch a bunch of movies. If you see a stretch Humvee, wave. Chances are you'll know someone in it.

If you would like to read another view of the weekend, please visit Keith's Blog.