Quick Trip to DC after SFIAAFF

Another San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival (SFIAAFF) had its curtain call. As always, I had a great time at the festival seeing old friends, and making a few new ones. Although the recession has a visible impact on the festival — corporate sponsorship is down, party’s food is not as lavish as in the past — but the spirit of the festival remains high and the theaters are always packed. After all, we all come to the festival for the movies, which never disappoint at SFIAAFF. As I stated earlier, "All Around Us" easily becomes the best film I saw at this year’s SFIAAFF. I spend most my times attending short programs, because I saw very little before the festival as a member of the festival’s feature screening committee. For many of these short films, this is probably the only chance I can see them in a theater. http://picasaweb.google.com/s/c/bin/slideshow.swf I miss SFIAAFF already, but that’s okay. The 52th San Francisco International Film Festival (SFIFF) is just around the corner. I am glad to learn that Ying Liang‘s (应亮) new film "Good Cat" (好猫) is selected at this year’s festival. Why is it significant? Because I made the English subtitles for this entire 103 minutes film! During the SFIAAFF, I was hanging out at the Kabuki Theater pretty much the whole week, attending at least two screenings each night. That leaves me little time at home doing things like writing a blog or cooking myself a dinner. I need to set my priorities. Last Friday, a day after SFIAAFF closes in San Francisco, I flew to DC. No, I didn’t go to DC to ask any stimulate money. I have never got a penny since the government started to throw cash around like spaying pesticide in a heavily damaged corn field. I doubt there is any money left in Washington, if the government doesn’t borrow more money from China. I went to DC because I need to teach a short course at a conference on Sunday. After a hectic schedule, finally I am able to find time to write something during my six hours flight. http://picasaweb.google.com/s/c/bin/slideshow.swf I always like DC for its spectacular monuments, wonderful museums, and cultured population. However, this time I stayed far away from everything that vibrates. Actually I was not in DC, but in Virginia, on an isolated location called Gay National Resort. Ops, that should be Gaylord, or Gay Lord. Whatever. Once I got there, it immediately reminds me the Grand Opryland Hotel in Nashville, Tennessee. Other than it doesn’t play country music in the lobby, almost everything at the hotel is tacky, ostentatious, and stupid. I feel like in a redneck’s trailer that’s blown up, and charges $300 per night. In order to reach my room, I need to go around and around after I exit an elevator, without any visible difference in each hall way. I think only blind people might be able to keep their sense of direction while walking in these hall ways. That got me into trouble. My room number is 14-218, on the 14th floor, which is really the 13th floor, and luckily I didn’t find any ghost in my room, but it’s far away from the elevator. When I walked around and around, I finally saw the room number 14-128. I inserted my room key trying to open it. I failed. Repeated. Failed again. Then I realized that I was trying to enter somebody else’s room! After walked around the hall way more. I finally found my room 14-218. I didn’t this not only once, but bloody FOUR times during my two night long stay. I blame it on the designer of this ugly hotel, which doesn’t have common sense. Another example of bad design of this hotel is its elevators. There are lights on both sides of each elevator. Each light is just a light, no arrows or anything else indicating which light is for which direction of the elevator. When an elevator arrives, only one side of the light gets lid, but where is this elevator is going? The only way to find out is for me to get in and press the button for my floor. If it takes it, I am okay. If it doesn’t let me, I get out for the next elevator. If the hotel were named Gay Resort, things might have been totally different. The hotel is also far away from the airport and downtown DC, which makes going using public transportation extremely difficult. I am glad that when I go back to DC in August, I will stay a hotel close to the National Mall. Unfortunately, I am about one week earlier before the cherry blossom season. That’s okay. There is always next time. I am just so happy to be back home back home, and to get life back to normal, hopefully.