Category Archives: Scene

Sage Takes on #Outdoor Retailer 2015

Sage was an 0R baby. Born August 2006; smack in the middle of the summer Outdoor Retailer show in Salt Lake City, Utah. I attended the outdoor demo day in 100-degree heat, hiking trails for the Magellan scavenger hunt, the next day I went inside to the Salt Palace Convention halls for meetings with the various manufacturers of outdoors equipment and by dusk the contractions hit. My first thought was- hope I wouldn’t have to cancel the rest of my meetings. At 7 a.m. I’m in the recovery room making phonecalls to let everyone know I had my baby and I wouldn’t be able to make my appointment.

All of this was magical and said to me Sage was meant to be part of my life and part of the outdoor world. I wheeled her stroller around more than 1000 exhibitors at the 2007 Winter Show, breastfeeding in the bathroom and hunting for outdoor baby stuff to review. The Show is held twice a year and brings in an estimated $495 million to the Utah community- one largely comprised of kids and dogs. Sage has joined me at every OR since then helping me find the gear kids love, talking to companies for her own reports and getting to know the world she’ll grow up in.

Imagine my surprise when I was stopped at checkin and politely told that working media could no longer bring kids to the show- “didn’t I get the memo?” My jaw dropped.

The Outdoor Retailer show is not just about buyers and sellers of backpack and jackets. It’s everything related to the outdoors- a description that grows and morphs by the minute. It’s biking, hiking, snowshoeing, paddleboarding, kitesurfing, Nordic and backcountry skiing, yoga, even ‘festival going’. These are things we participate in as families and yet I was told networking media shouldn’t have kids with them because they’re supposed to be working. My kid is my work!! Perhaps this bearer of bad news has never been a working mother but Sage is a part of my team (and so’s my dog for that matter) and when my team is on the hunt for the best gear for the family it’s all eyes on deck.


Takoda testing the TUGG-a plastic ball that can be filled with water to create up to 20 pounds of wobbly resistance

They let me bring Sage in because I presented proof of her junior reporting skills but I really hope that this policy in general doesn’t stick. Kids (and pets) are an important part of the outdoors and it’s the media (attending the OR show) that can share and inspire that passion that perpetuates future explorers.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5dbHnkBy46E&w=560&h=315]

Who’s Coming To Sundance 2015?

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Its hard to explain why we are so hungry for photos of actors; even when we constantly see them in magazines and on the big screen. The whole paparazzi thing is so nuts that people have died, sued and written books on the subject. Still. snapping photos of strangers is a national past time and there’s no better place and time to feed the frenzy than this week at the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah.

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Each year, the ‘A listers’ in attendance grows. Many have films appearing in this year’s fest while others (like the Kardashians and Paris Hilton) arrive to work the scene and perpetuate their mystique. Here’s our list of who’s coming to Sundance 2015, give or take a few dozen.

Power up those digis, grab a Sandisk Extreme Waterproof SD card (weather forecasters are predicting snow fall during the last two weeks of January) and watch for clusters of cameramen stalking Main Street’s facades (ie Grey Goose Lounge, TR Suites, Filmmakers Lodge, Village At The Lift). When they start shooting so should you. I met a gal a few years back who snapped away with a medium-priced point and shoot. She told me she makes hundreds of dollars every Sundance selling her photos overseas.

 

These are a few of the stars coming and their films they’ll represent:

 

Jack Black, Jeffrey Tambor & James Marsden, “The D Train”

 

Jack Black is in charge of his high school reunion and Marsden, the most popular guy in school, won’t come. Comedy ensues.

 

 

Kristen Wiig, “The Diary Of A Teenage Girl”

The hybrid of live action and animation turns the book about a daughter involved with her mother’s boyfriend into a quirky drama set in 1970s San Francisco.

 

Nicole Kidman & Joe Fiennes, “Strangerland”

 

Nicole Kidman and Joseph Fiennes play parents frantically searching for their two teens lost after a massive Australian dust storm.

 

Ryan Reynolds, “Mississippi Grind”

 

From the filmmakers who brought us the highly acclaimed “Half Nelson”, here’s a gambling flick that takes Reynolds to a legendary high-stakes poker game in New Orleans.

 

Sarah Silverman, “I Smile Back”

 

Comedienne Sarah Silverman takes in the drama of a housewife who has it all but turns to drugs and cheating when depression and disillusion set in.

 

 

James Franco, “I Am Michael” & “True Story” (with Jonah Hill)

 

James Franco gets two films into the Sundance Film Festival. The first, based on a true story, has him as a gay rights advocate who finds God and denounces homosexuality. The other has him playing a murderer on the run who tries to steal Hill’s identity.

 

Robert Redford & Nick Nolte, “A Walk In The Woods”

 

Robert Redford meant to make this senior buddy film with good friend Paul Newman but he passed away too soon. Now Redford treks the 2,100-mile-long Appalachian Trail with Nick Nolte right into the Sundance Film Festival.

 

Winona Ryder, “Experimenter”

 

Winona Ryder stars in a twisted bio pic about social psychologist Stanley Milgram.

 

Ethan Hawke, “Ten Thousand Saints”

 

A true darling of Sundance, Ethan Hawke plays a dad forced to reconnect with his estranged teen after the kid moves in with him.

 

Ewan McGregor, “Last Days In The Desert”

 

McGregor as Jesus. What more can you say except the film was shot by Emmanuel Lubezki, the cinematographer of “Gravity” and “Birdman”.

 

Jennifer Lopez & Viola Davis, “Lila & Eve”

 

J-Lo at Sundance!

The two ladies take the law into their own hands after their kids are killed in a crime and the authorities fail to do anything about it.

 

And the rest-

 

Molly Shannon

 

Giovanni Ribisi,

 

Guy Pearce

 

Billy Crudup

 

Tye Sheridan

 

Toni Collette,

 

Hugo Weaving

 

Orlando Bloom,

 

Brie Larson,

 

Sam Rockwell,

 

Jesse Eisenberg,

 

Jason Segel,

 

Anna Chlumsky,

 

Joan Cusack,

 

Mamie Gummer

 

Peter Sarsgaard,

 

John Leguizamo

 

Anna Kendrick

 

Anthony Michael Hall

 

Jason Schwartzman

 

Chiwetel eliofor

 

Chris pine

 

Cynthia Nixon

 

Kid cudi

 

Blthye Danner

 

Sam Elliott

 

Rhea perlman

 

Edward James almos
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Laura dern

 

Keanu reeves

 

Patrick fugit

 

Spike lee

 

Sienna miller

 

Jason sudeikis

 

Amanda peet

 

Emma Roberts

 

Felicity Jones

 

Emma Thompson,

 

Mary Steenburgen

 

Lena Headey,

 

Richard Dreyfuss,

 

Dianna Agron

 

Jennifer Connelly,

 

John C. Reilly,

 

Tye Sheridan,

 

Michael Cera

 

Brighton To Host Backcountry Awareness Clinic

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Nothing like a ton of fresh snow to make you beeline for the backcountry. Well, not so fast. Now is the time when people die. Coming next week, Brighton’s Backcountry 101 will address the hunger you might feel in your ski belly. The course is designed specifically for upper intermediate+,  recreational skiers and boarders. Learn all of the fun things:

Companion Rescue – Weather – Snowpack – Terrain – Route Finding – Gear Considerations – Human Factors.

The weekend starts Thursday, Jan. 29, 2015, with an indoor lecture from 5:30 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. Then spend all day Saturday, Jan. 31, 2015, outside practicing what’s been preached. You’ll need an avalanche beacon, probe and shovel but uphill gear or lift ticket is not required.

The course costs $90 on the first day of the clinic. Brighton employees and volunteer ski patrol take 50 percent off. Pre-registration is required. Send a note to keith.kink@gmail.com.

Dual Moguls Wraps Up Deer Valley Freestyle Competition

IMG_6300It would be a challenge to guess which event made Deer Valley guests cheer louder; the dual moguls in the Visa Freestyle International World Cup or the big, fat, fantastic flakes falling all around. IMG_20150110_211523

Justine Dufour-Lapointe of Austria ever-so-slightly edged out 2010 Olympic gold champ Hannah Kearney and a couple of Canucks took the top spots in the mens division of this grueling head to head elimination race. But even with the excitement and energy, it was the fast moving snowstorm that upstaged the annual Deer Valley event. No one was going to complain. It’s been more than a week of unseasonably high temperatures and clear skies. Not just the Park City resorts but every resort in Utah is in dire need of refreshments with the MLK weekend ahead. The flakes cascaded as the fireworks signaled the end of the night and young and old practiced bodysledding down Wide West at Snow Park Lodge.

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Maybe the freestyle skiers were doing a snow dance up there as they cruised Champions run in front of thousands of spectators ringing the manmade amphitheater. The dual moguls draws out even the most casual spectator because it’s easier to root for and spot a winner. It’s the athlete who not only throws down the hardest but crosses the finish line first. Over and over.

Tonight wraps up three days of moguls and aerials competition that saw the US women making a 1-2 punch on the podium on the first (aerials) night. Ashley Caldwell from Virginia pulled a pair of triple flips and teammate Kiley McKinnon from Connecticut laid down two clean double flips to come up first and second respectively.

This weekend, as well, marks the 16th year Deer Valley has hosted freestyle events that have included the 2002 Winter Olympics. “Our athletes love it here. It’s the trifecta of lodging, food and customer service,” said Konrad X Rotermund Chief of Competition, “Plus, Deer Valley has never lost its touch since the Olympics. It has retained that aura of wanting to win here.”

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The Champions course was the first one ever built to spec for the Olympics and continues to be one of the longest in the FIS family. It also has the steepest start to a hard, fast bump ride.The next stop for our freestyle athletes is the 2015 FIS Freestyle Ski and Snowboard World Championships, Jan. 14-19, in Kreischberg, Austria.

At home, weather forecasters are scratching their heads and taking bets whether the totals will land at the low or high end of the predicted 4-12 inches. The clouds clear out by the end of the week so your best turn day will be Tuesday. The powderflu may be going around.

White God Coming To Sundance and It’s Not The Ski Kind

I don’t usually get excited this early over Sundance films but I started to drool when a notice about White God crossed my computer. I had just finished tweeting about the new changes in breed ban laws in Utah and here is a movie about dogs taking over the world.


White God won the Prize Un Certain Regard Award at this year’s Cannes Festival for its modern day twist on Animal Farm. Hungarian filmmaker Kornél Mundruczó has created a staggering vision of dogs driven to rise up against their human masters. The movie used a cast of more than 200 dogs to depict everything from bonding with fellow street mutts to dramatic chase sequences as the dogs tear through the city. This certainly doesn’t sound like a Disney dog tale.

When 13-year-old Lili has to give up her beloved dog Hagen, because it’s mixed-breed and deemed ‘unfit’ by The State, she and the dog begin a dangerous journey back towards each other. At the same time, all the unwanted, unloved and so-called ‘unfit’ dogs rise up under their new leader, Hagen, the one-time housepet who has learned all too well from his ‘Masters’ in his journey through the streets and animal control centers how to bite the hands that beat him.

White God (Dog spelled backwards?) is a story about the indignities animals suffer by their supposed “human superiors.” It’s also a brutal, cinematic metaphor for the political and cultural tensions sweeping contemporary Europe.

It’s being screened in the Spotlight category (North American Premiere) Friday, Jan. 23, 9:00 pm, at the Salt Lake City Library Theatre, Sunday, Jan. 25, 8:30pm at The MARC in Park City and Saturday, Jan. 31, midnight at the Egyptian Theatre in Park City.

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