Weekend Bliss and Here We Go Again

Wotta weekend!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Today my right knee has a red knot on it. This is from constantly banging into the stage barrier last night while dancing nonstop at I-Fest. This is b/c the stage had on it the following: Los Lobos. Also at times the legendary Flaco Jimenez and the great Joel Guzman. And the banging occurred b/c you can all guess where exactly I was standing in proximity to the stage. FRONT AND CENTER! Onstage before the Lobos was Rachid Taha, a total maniac if I ever saw one but lots of fun. Li'l bro jumped onstage to sing "Rock the Casbah" with him and emerged after the performance with numerous scratches down his bare chest, courtesy of Taha. ("Who is this guy, G.G. Allin?!" I, a little disturbed, asked my bro.) Several of my hip music-loving festival friends were also at that stage so I hadda check it out! Score of fun had yesterday: a perfect 10, sore feet and bruised knees be damned!

There was only one sad part though: watching Flaco Jimenez made me emotional and I teared up a little b/c I started thinking of my late, beloved maternal grandmother Julia and how she loved Flaco.

Saturday was not too bad either, although it was more mellow b/c I went to I-Fest by myself, though ran into friends as always. I left early though due to it being S's birthday. We did not go to the movies after all but instead rented a video he wanted to see and chilled out home, both of us falling asleep way too early and before the movie actually ended. (One of my horrified festival friends said: "Hugh Masekala vs. Blockbuster?!?!" I had to remind her these are the sacrifices you make when you are married. She's divorced!)

So here we go again with another hell week. Monthly sheriff's meeting tonight, and S's first official one, yay! I should be picking up another Perfect Attendance pin, which will be delightful. Tomorrow I will be in Lufkin, TX all day. I pick up the rental car at 8, then pick up my coworker, and after a 2-hr drive we will exhibit there from 12-6. I will drive home like a bat out of hell b/c S has free passes to this certain movie theater that expire on Thursday so we will see a late show, perhaps 9-ish, of something. Weds. night I have a documentary viewing event, "La Onda Chicana" that my father is promoting. Thurs. night may or may not be the CPS visit, which has been cancelled twice by THEM. In fact, maybe we'll go see the free movie that night instead of dealing with this CPS bullshit. Obviously it can wait! Friday begins another weekend with the baby and I already cannot wait to sleep late on Saturday!!! This is b/c Sunday Mudflap and I will be at the sheriff academy all day for a required training class so I will be robbed of one of my weekend sleep-in mornings, which I cherish.

The latest news on the documentary is that today I received the legal document from the Sheriff saying basically that I am going to agree to sign away all my rights to what the final product will be. It says that the Sheriff has final say and approval over the final film and that if requested I must remove any footage. It says other stuff too, like if I am filming something and if anyone asks me to cease filming I will do so. I am trying not to be concerned about any of this. That is b/c I cannot imagine what would be so controversial and/or sensitive that even I would want to include it in the film. #1, I personally have zero interest in portraying any of our "secrets", such as policy or training or anything like that. I don't even discuss those things in detail on this blog b/c I don't want any privileged information getting out into the wrong hands. #2, I seriously doubt anyone would ask me to stop filming something before I myself decided to stop filming for the reasons in #1.

Still, I am gonna hold onto this form before I sign it and just think about it for a few days. Bottom line is, if I don't sign then I don't get to make the movie. I would like to try and find out what other documentary filmmakers do in this situation.