January 2004 Archives
There are a few film festivals that are known around the world--the Berlinale, the Venice film festival, Cannes, and Sundance. They attract big name stars and famous directors, who in turn attract crowds of fans and swarms of paparazzi.
But those massive happenings are in the minority. At virtually any moment on any day of the year, some more obscure film festival is taking place somewhere in the world. Park City may have Sundance, but London has Raindance and Rhode Island has Clamdance, and we mustn't forget Lapdance and Slumdance and Slamdance and Squaredance. There is the Amsterdam Fantastic Film Festival and the Belgrade International Film Festival and the Copenhagen International Film Festival , all the way through to the Yugoslav Festival and the Zanzibar International Film Festival.
I admit it; I am not a fan of professional athletics. My idea of a perfect sports-related evening is when my wife finds somebody else to go to a baseball game with her, so that I can stay home and watch a Busby Berkely musical. (By the way, if anybody ever holds a contest to construct the least heterosexual sentence possible that contains the phrase "my wife," I plan on entering the one you have just read.)
But Lauren has always thought it would be fun to go to Wimbledon, and since going to Wimbledon will never require a smaller investment of time than it does now, I agree to come along.
And thus it is that, on a beautifully sunny day that would be absolutely perfect for sitting inside watching a movie, I find myself having to endure fresh air and world-class athletics.
As I sit at home working, I smell something that smells kind of like candles burning. I look around my flat, but there seem to be no candles. Then I see smoke gushing past my window. I look outside, and it is clearly belching from a window of the building next door. The building is set back a bit, so I can't see exactly where it's coming from, but it seems to be a window in the third floor flat, which almost unquestionably must be on fire.
Should I go outside and check? No--if I delay, people could die. I call 999 (which is British for "911") and report what is happening.
