Hi

...and I'll be your Tour Host for the 29th Annual Banff Mountain Film Festival World Tour
here in Worcester and the Somerville Theatre. This will be our 4th year in Worcester and our 13th at the Somerville Theatre. I visited the Festival this year to preview the films and hob nob with the filmmaking elite. Okay, short on the hobnobbing...long on the previewing... I watched ALOT of films... three days...over 30 films...man...IT WAS GREAT!!

So here we are, getting ready for the World Tour to come to town, and I think we've got some great shows planned...This year, Banff sent me 24 films to choose from...9 hours and 14 minutes worth to be semi exact...My job is to whittle those down to two shows...5 hours worth of Wildness in the Wilderness! The show on Sunday February 20 at Clark University will have 9 films...and will be repeated at the Somerville Theatre on Tuesday night February 22...if you're looking for a little quieter environment, for a little less money, consider the Worcester show as a good alternative to Somerville... and on Wednesday night, February 23, there will be a completely different show with 7 more films, including a Ski Film called "Sinners" that wins the chunkymonkey award for the coolest music of the Festival! So all you Worcester folks...c'mon over to the World Famous Davis Square in Somerville for the Wednesday Night Somerville Theatre show...come early...eat at Redbones...visit the Burren for a pint, or check out one of 600 coffeshops..the Somerville Show is always a good time, and...we give away more STUFF!

...a climber friend tells me...once a climber...always a climber...I'd like to believe that...but after a series of finger popping noises...creaky knees...shoulder surgery...and a bout with non hodgkins...my exercise has been reduced to pulling on rubberbands and 12 oz. curls...
...so...here I am...40 pounds later...the Chunky Monkey...
...that was all a few years back now...I've given up the Gypsy life...married...built our house...traded in old obsessions for new ones...but y'know..I still love a good winter storm...but dug in has a new meaning...
and I'm still grinning at the wildness...

...I've always wanted a little storefront studio...do my printmaking thing in the back...put my work in the window...offer up some wall space for other artists to show...teach some classes...water the plants...hangout...
so now I've got this new idea...the newsprint tabloid magazine thing...when i was climbing, it was always about...how can I do this all the time and still pay the rent...things are a little different now...(see chunky monkey below...)now I'm thinking...how can I do the artist thing and still pay the mortgage....ahh...the life of the obsessed...so I'm building this little magazine to celebrate mountain culture...if you're reading this you're probably a member...you've been to the mountains...you've spent time up high... you know that there is another world away from this craziness we call civilization...it's a sensibility we bring back down here to the cities, that keeps us sane...it's my muse...perhaps it's yours too...
for now , it's 8 whole pages...I'm using it to promote the Film Festival...It's got my work on the cover...and I feel like it's begun...
I've got two more festivals coming...so there will be at least two more editions...
so if you're an artist type person...writer, sculptor, filmmaker, illustrator...drop me a line...meanwhile...click on the Hermit Lake thing for more info...and hey, thanks for dropping by...

...If I wasn't climbing I was thinking about climbing...Willie Unsoeld...Raineer...Shasta...The Winds...Paddy Shermans' "Journey to Nowhere"...Quincy Quarries...Climbfest...the longwood wall...Cathedral...The Prow...Cannon...Otter Cliffs...the Callaghans deck...
...Up high...that was where everything made sense...the quiet majesty...the winter storm roaring over your head...dug in...grinning at the wildness...looking down at a 1000' of cliff between your legs...anchored in...charged up...gauging strength...balance...confidence in your ability to perform the task at hand...gauging the consequences of hubris...