Author Archives: Jill Adler

New Contour Music Festival Kicks Off Jackson Hole’s Summer

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When you live in the mountains there seems to be no end to the summer festivals. These wide open spaces are idyllic and ideal for gathering the masses. Telluride has their Bluegrass Fest, Aspen has their Jazz Fest; the Snowmass Mammoth Fest, Big Sky’s Music in the Mountains, Bend’s Peak Music Festival, and the list rolls on. Now, Jackson Hole, Wyo., is getting a jump on the summer music season with the inaugural Contour Music Festival, June 11-14.

The cowboy town will roll out four nights and three days of nationally touring bands and artists for an innovative experience of music, culture, and arts in the Tetons. Unlike other fests, the more than 40 hand-selected and artists like Thievery Corporation, The Polish Ambassador,  and Sweater Beats will also play at venues around town.

The main stage will be at the base of Snow King Mountain in the ballpark but after the encores, “late night” acts will perform at classic local venues like the Pink Garter Theatre, Center for the Arts, the newly renovated Silver Dollar Bar, and the Town Square Tavern.

The Detes:

FRIDAY, JUNE 12
Main Stage:
The music starts at noon with Paranome followed by local electronic duo Head to Head. After this, you will not want to miss The Cave Singers. This high-energy indie rock band out of Seattle put on an amazing show to a small crowd at the Pink Garter Theatre in the summer of 2012. They are sure to get the party started outside at Snow King.

After the Cave Singers is a back-to-back tour de force of electronic music, including Emancipator and The Polish Ambassador, that carries the Festival into the evening.

Late Night Concerts:
Town Square Tavern –live DJ music from Tiger Fresh, Sweater Beats and Sango.
Pink Garter Theatre –more full-band electronic experience featuring Cure for the Common, Late Night Radio and Papadosio.

Center for the Arts –Quixote – “Composer Anthony Magliano, along with an award-winning band…create music with instrumental foundations and diversity that is meant to inspire movement within the group’s other half; dancers, multimedia designers, and aerialists.
Silver Dollar Bar – If you are looking to change things up and experience a local Honky Tonk dance floor, head on over to the Wort Hotel for the down home sounds of Country Hammer followed by One Ton Pig – the resident country/bluegrass band of the Silver Dollar Bar.

SATURDAY, JUNE 13
Main Stage:
The action heats up with local funk outfit Sneaky Pete and the Secret Weapons followed by Cure for the Common. DO NOT MISS The Congress. This group out of Denver will blow you away with their take on American rock and roll – great songwriting and amazing vocals from lead singer Jonathan Meadows paired with the incredible guitar talent that is Scott Lane. Up next, Roadkill Ghost Choir, Sage Francis, Autograf, and closing out the main stage for the second night of the festival is an amazing indie-progressive rock band out of Nashville you will want to see through until the end – Moon Taxi.


Late Night:
Town Square Tavern – get your Yacht rock on with “Home at Last: The Nth Power perform Steely Dan” followed by Orgone.
Pink Garter Theatre – DJ sets from PRSN, G Jones and Djemba Djemba
Silver Dollar Bar –Country Hammer followed by Spirit Family Reunion (also performing main stage on Sunday).

SUNDAY, JUNE 13
Main Stage:
Sunday does not slow in pace at all with two of the most anticipated acts (Charles Bradley & His Extraordinaires and Thievery Corporation) closing out the night.
The day opens with a funky set from Fort Knox 5 followed by the acoustic foot-stomping sounds of Spirit Family Reunion.

Religious or not, everyone will be testifying to Robert Collier’s Gospel Brunch Set with the sweet and soulful sounds of the pedal steel. Reva Devito Band and The Nth Power warm up the stage for two acts that may be the highlight of the festival weekend.

From the Daptone Records/Brooklyn scene, the breathtaking Charles Bradley and his backing band bringing uptown funk and soul to the Tetons.

To close out the festival weekend on the mainstage is the internationally-acclaimed electronic duo Thievery Corporation. Their reputation and their records speak for themselves. Save some energy for this set.

Late Night:
Town Square Tavern – Head to TST for funk with McTuff and The New Mastersounds.
Pink Garter Theatre – Dance it up at the Pink Garter for an electronic throw down featuring Shaprece, Deltron 3030 and Mike Thunder.
Center for the Arts – DJ sets by El Papa Chango, Barisone and The Librarian.

Pack your car, book your flight, find a place to stay, whatever you have to do to get to Jackson next week. Be sure to get your tickets in advance and upgrade to the “All Night Long Pass” so you don’t miss a beat. Or you can enter here for a chance to win two Main Stage Weekend Tickets and Two Grand Adventure passes to Jackson Hole Mountain Resort.

For tickets, full schedule, area and lodging information visit: www.contourmusicfestival.com

FYI- There is no tent camping in town in Jackson. Contact Jackson Hole Reservation to find a place to stay or try couchsurfing.net. The closest campgrounds are 20 minutes away.

48 Hour Film Project Lures Me In

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When Liz told me she was on Andrew’s team for the 48-hour Film Project in Salt Lake City my first thought was why didn’t they ask me? We actors are so egocentric. I mean I was the one who introduced Liz to Andrew in the first place. So I messaged Andrew and he said of course I could join them. He said he didn’t ask because he sees from my FB posts that I’m always busy. Never too busy for friends and an all-nighter! Plus, I’ve always wanted to do this event – at least once in my life-and I’ve never been in town over the dates. And so began my annual 48 Hour Film “career”.

The 48 Film Project is a national competition that starts at the city level. That year, 2013, 120 cities on six continents hosted a 48-hour weekend. Teams gathered on Friday night- in this case May 31, 2013, at 6 pm where Team Captains reached into a ‘hat’ and drew out a genre. It could be any one of these:

  • Buddy Film
  • Comedy
  • Crime/Gangster
  • Dark Comedy
  • Drama
  • Fantasy
  • Horror
  • Mistaken Identity
  • Musical or Western
  • Romance
  • Sci Fi
  • Superhero
  • Thriller/Suspense
  • Vacation or Holiday Film

We had 48 hours to script, shoot, edit, score and produce a film between 4 and 8 minutes. The catch was that organizers drew a character, a prop and a line of dialogue out of a hat too that MUST appear in all the films in some way.

Here are some examples from previous years:

Character

  • Bitsy Ballou, Advice Columnist
  • Ignazio del Fuego, Cab Driver
  • Hugh Simon, Bouncer

Prop

  • Large Suitcase
  • Snow Globe
  • Electric Fan

Line of Dialogue

  • Is that the best you’ve got?
  • I was lied to and very much deceived.
  • When you say it like that, it’s almost poetry.

The Film Project is back again and it’ll be my third year in a row participating. One of these days I’ll be on an award-winning team but no matter it’s still a blast to spend the weekend with avid filmmakers and peers.

When the judges do choose a winner, they will continue on to compete against the winners from the other cities at Filmapalooza in Hollyweird next February.

The overall winner at Filmapalooza 2013 was “Jacques Serres” by Les Productions avec Volontiers so you can see how far this project reaches. There were winners from Cape Town, the Netherlands, Prague, Denver, Baltimore, etc. But nothing in Utah has ever come close to this caliber of speed-filmmaking.

 

 

Personally, I think Utah can do a lot better than last year’s winner:

Maybe we win; maybe we don’t but I look at this as an awesomely intense team building experience. Our team in 2013 consisted of Andrew Hook, Liz Baker, Jim Stevens, Cami Twede, Joe Hatfield, and little ‘ol me. 

Back in 2001, when the 48 Hour Film Project was first conceptualized, Mark Ruppert and several other DC filmmakers wondered, “Would films made in only 48 hours even be watchable?” Of course, some aren’t but I sure hope ours is!

Update:

I had so much fun making the 2013 film that I also acted in 2014. Here are my two shorts.

This year’s 48-Hour Film Project kicks off Friday, June 12, with 23 teams geared up so far for the weekend, movie-making marathon. If you’re interested in participating, contact any of the filmmakers you see listed under ‘teams’ through their Facebook pages. I’m sure they would love your assistance.

If you’d rather sleep in, you can see all the shorts at the premier screenings June 16 & 17 at the Broadway Cinemas at 6 p.m. and 8:30 p.m.. Tickets are $12.

23 ADULT TRUTHS!!!

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1 Sometimes I’ll look down at my watch 3 consecutive times and still not know what time it is.

  1. Nothing sucks more than that moment during an argument when you realize you’re wrong.
  2. I totally take back all those times I didn’t want to nap when I was younger.
  3. There is great need for a sarcasm font.
  4. How the hell are you supposed to fold a fitted sheet?
  5. Was learning cursive really necessary?
  6. Map Quest really needs to start their directions on # 5. I’m pretty sure I know how to get out of my neighborhood.
  7. Obituaries would be a lot more interesting if they told you how the person died.
  8. I can’t remember the last time I wasn’t at least kind-of tired.
  9. Bad decisions make good stories.
  10. You never know when it will strike, but there comes a moment at work when you know that you just aren’t going to do anything productive for the rest of the day.
  11. Can we all just agree to ignore whatever comes after Blue Ray? I don’t want to have to restart my collection…again.
  12. I’m always slightly terrified when I exit out of Word and it asks me if I want to save any changes to my ten-page technical report that I swear I did not make any changes to.
  13. I keep some people’s phone numbers in my phone just so I know not to answer when they call.
  14. I think the freezer deserves a light as well.
  15. I disagree with Kay Jewelers. I would bet on any given Friday or Saturday night more kisses begin with Miller Light than Kay.
  16. I wish Google Maps had an “Avoid Ghetto” routing option.
  17. I have a hard time deciphering the fine line between boredom and hunger.
  18. How many times is it appropriate to say “What?” before you just nod and smile because you still didn’t hear or understand a word they said?
  19. I love the sense of camaraderie when an entire line of cars team up to prevent a jerk from cutting in at the front. Stay strong, brothers and sisters!
  20. Shirts get dirty. Underwear gets dirty. Pants? Pants never get dirty, and you can wear them forever.
  21. Even under ideal conditions people have trouble locating their car keys in a pocket, finding their cell phone, and Pinning the Tail on the Donkey – but I’d bet everyone can find and push the snooze button from 3 feet away, in about 1.7 seconds, eyes closed, first time, every time.
  22. The first testicular guard, the “Cup,” was used in Hockey in 1874 and the first helmet was used in 1974. That means it only took 100 years for men to realize that their brain is also important…………….
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