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Just like movingoffcampus.com, we’re on facebook. We’ll see you on there as well.

Sometimes you need to save the date or you’ll never get the time of day at all.  For that we have a calendar, but we ought to share some film festivals to look forward to this year.  Or at least these are the ones we already know about.

• 3rd Annual African Film Festival: March 27-30th on Washington University, starting at 7pm every night in Brown  Hall, Rom 100.  Admission is FRE to each screening.
  In addition to screening these films, new this year is a Youth Program which will play in the Saint Louis Art Museum on Wednesday March 26th from 9:30am-noon and another screening on Thursday March 27th from noon-2:15pm.
• The 3rd Anime St. Louis festival is taking place in Sunset Hillsthis year, from noon-5pm for three days starting on Friday March 28th-30th.  This year will mark their first independant celebration organzied by the Maryville Anime Club and Webster University Anime Society.  Here’s how their website explains this film festival of sorts.  More info soon.
• Kinematifest 2008
• Senior Overview Showing: For film students! Saturday May 1oth from 6:30pm-10pm in the Winifred Moore Auditorium on Webster University.  The organizers describe it thusly on Facebook: “The culmination of 4 years of hard work…and a whole lotta memories! These shorts (and capris) will rock your socks off, made by the Webster University Senior Film Production Majors.”  Right then.
• IAFF and FYSTL: a review of the greatest hits of the first 3 years of the Idaho Avenue Film Festival, presented by Frontyard FeaturesSTL in the the Feasting Fox on May 31st.
• 48-hour Film Project will begin on June 6th-8th, and screening will be announced later.  Of course, you’ll have to be there and then for your submission to be accepted at all.
• St. Louis Filmakers Showacse will take place this year between July 19th-24th.  Submissions are being accepted between now and May 31st of 2008.
• Idaho Avenue Film Festival is September 13th, 2008.  That is all we know.  They can tell you more.
• St. Louis Int’l Film Festival starts on November 13th-23rd.  Submissions to this festival are being accepted from now until July 1st.

Attention students of school, be you undergraduate, graduate, or still in high school (sorry doctors to be): You probably already have your own domain name, but now interactive media and animation students have their own festival.  Introducing the first annual Kinematifest, in which a Webster University chapter of SIGGRAPH have organized a juried collection of 2D and 3D animation, sequential art, digital compositions, and Interactive media.  Yes, that could mean you might submit your website (provided you’re still a student).

Although submission deadlines are fast approaching, the festival is on track to begin the weekend of May 2-4 at Webster University.  Since students for all schools are invited, there will be networking opportunities scheduled that weekend for students from various campuses (and off campus).  Of course all films will be screened on Webster University, most likely in the Winifred Moore Auditorium.  Check their website for further details, since it’s probably worth the LOL animation on the index page alone.

Only one week ago MidwestBlogs.com and STLProBloggers.com were active in organizing bloggers and their efforts to promote and control their intellectual property.  But in an e-mail sent out last evening, it turns out their own organization is about to become a relic of Saint Louis’ social blogging network and lose their own intellectual property.  According to Liz -

Goodbye so soon? Yep. Unfortunately Midwest Blogs and STLProBloggers.com
will be going dark within 24 hours of this email. The personal commitment
required to maintain and further the goal of the site proved to be just
too much for us to really do it justice at this time. So we have decided
to end this venture and thank you for all of your support in this
short-lived project. Your membership and contributions were greatly
appreciated.

A blogger meetup is still scheduled for Sat., April 19 at Atomic Cowboy.

Farewell old/new friends. We hardly knew ye…

As a film students, I’m always looking for stories to tell and opportunities to get my work screened.  So when I got this message this morning from Highway 61 contributor Lauren Reid, I thought I’d pass it along not just to film students and geeks but animal lovers as well:

“Here’s something to do if you are a filmmaker: Cinema St. Louis and the Animal Protective Association of Missouri invite filmmakers living within a 120-mile radius of St. Louis to create a short film about the bond between people and their pets. Finalists will be showcased on the APA website, the APA MySpace page, YouTube and at the APA’s Grand Reopening Party. Cinema St. Louis will then choose one of the films to screen at the St. Louis Filmmakers Showcase in July. The entry deadline is April 1, 2008…
Here’s something that would be cute, a story about you and James. Could be fun since you two don’t really have quite the typical relationship between pets and owners. He’ll claw you during the day and sleep with you during the night.”

Besides my passive-aggressive cat, which you’re either unlikely or just unlucky to meet, you can catch other Screwball Comedies this and every proceeding Wednesday this semester. ”Topics in Film Studies: Screwball Comedy” will be screening a series of films as part of a class on this film genre.  It will start off at 7:15pm this Wednesday with the Frank Capra classic “It Happened One Night“. All of the films will be screened in the Winifred Moore Auditorium, and admission is FREE.  We expect you show up for class on time every week, that is unless you get lost in a series of seemingly disconnected misadventures which lead you to where you actually need to be that night.

Even if you’re an art major I highly doubt you’ve been in a studio where 40+ artists throw down a painting in less than 4 hours.  You’ll get just such an opportunity during the 5th Annual Wall Ball, along with a myriad of music, drinks, and cupcakes.  You can throw out your plans for that Saturday April 5th from 7-11 like they were a ball against a wall, and maybe next year you’ll be bouncing back. This ball will be held between the walls of the Third Degree Glass Factory.

And it’s for a good cause - the South City Open Studio & Gallery for Children - which is why it’ll set you back $30 to get into this annual fundraiser.  But loyal reader Amy VanDonsel offers these encouragements to support your local artists:

You can even buy my painting (or a painting by one of those 39 other people) or get yourself a t-shirt printed with your choice of designs by the various artists. (Yes, there is indeed an AVD design.) There will also be drawings, auctions, a cupcake raffle, DJs, appetizers, cocktails… That’s right, a CUPCAKE raffle. I have no idea what exactly that is, but it sounds awesome to me. Seriously, where else do you have to be? Are there cupcakes and live art there? I very much doubt it.

Although I’m pretty sure that a cupcake raffle is probably just a snack size version of a cake raffle, it still makes art sound delicious. There will be an after party at the Atomic Cowboy, which would set you back $3, unless you already had a wristband from the Wall Ball - in which case admission will be free.

[youtube=http://youtube.com/watch?v=G9SphIfkXEQ] 

Last week we wrote about Sock Hops in Saint Louis, and our rich history of dance.  This video from the 1970s shows one of those dances, the St. Louis Shag as performed by a couple of St. Louis’ better performers (at their age at least).  If you don’t dig on the music, skip ahead to about 1:30 into the clip to see this versatile dance being used to an electric bluesy-rock song.  We found a few more examples of this dance, and thanks to loyal reader Lori for the tip.

The video above is a short trailer of the record release party for The Monads, who will release their second album “Ornery” on Big Muddy Records.  Watch it, I’ll wait.  From the looks of the clip above, it would appear more bad news lies ahead of the primary calendar for Hillary Clinton (watch the video again if you need an explanation of that). 

If “not even a robot Hillary Clinton” can stop this imminent release, you’ll know you’ll want to be at Off Broadway on March 28th around 9pm.  But get there early, because the first 50 paying guests will receive a complimentary copy of the CD, and our friends at Big Muddy promise surprises:

“Toenail clippings collected from everyone in the band is a possibility,” said Monads’ banjo player Jason Matthews. “Maybe even an essay I wrote on the proper way to tree a raccoon. You’ll just have to find out for yourself!”

To find that out you’ll need to bring $7 and one of them picture identification cards to prove you’re over the age of 18.  Getting age checked is just the start of your “Ornery” experience on March 28; alongside the bluegrass-styling of the Monads will be emceed by Clownvis Presley anchored by other Big Muddy favorites the Vultures and Pokey LaFarge.  Yep, see you there.

Highway 61 stands in solidarity with our fellow Midwest bloggers.  At first we were flattered to be be kept in the good company of so many other talented writers on BlogNetNews, but after repeated attempts of our own to contact the website administrator, we understand the frustration of our comrads.  When it comes to making money by borrowing the work of others without their permission (or reimbursement), “this just ain’t right“.

So what exactly went wrong?  Rebecca has one of the best explanations I’ve read:

“The site is using bloggers to make advertising revenue for itself. The site is taking the content of blogs without their authors’ consent, permission, or even awareness. The site is refusing to acknowledge the many requests by bloggers to have their blogs removed from the site. The site is using people’s registered trademarks against their will. The site is acting under the pretense that it creates community, when all it actually does is use bloggers in order to make a buck for itself. Heads up, Mastio and crew: angry bloggers united make a formidable foe indeed.”

Kids, there’s nothing more cool than being acknowledged by someone you like, but If someone uses your blog in a way or in place that makes you feel uncomfortable, “That’s NO GOOD.” It’s your body (of work), no one has the right to use it unless you want them to.  So what do you do?  First you say “NO!”, then you get out of there.

As a blogger I’ve learned a thing or two about…something writing related.  You see, I’m not a creative writer so much as an ironic one.  And that’s why I’m going to cut and paste this flier, which is making the rounds, from our new friend Ryan Miller who wants to help you help yourself:

I’m teaching a 7-week course for fiction and creative non-fiction writers (sorry, poets)…  The idea is to provide a supportive and productive environment for writers to share their work and connect with others who are engaged in/struggling with the creative process. I hope to have more laughing than crying (though crying isn’t all bad) and to rouse some energy and motivation within the St. Louis writing community (Could such a thing exist?).

Time: Wednesdays, 7:30 to 9:30
Dates: April 9th to May 21st
Fee: $40 (no books to purchase—readings will be sent by email)
Location: The Gathering United Methodist Church* at 2105 McCausland Avenue in Maplewood

Ryan wants to promise us the class is strictly non-denominational, so we’re pretty sure that makes it Lent-friendly in this town.  If you’re looking to join a group of around 10 other local writers looking to hone their craft, this could be your kind of gig. And if you’re looking for a little more creativity (besides going meta), could you tell me when you find anything?