Monday, September 24, 2007

Video: Voices from Oodena

Tonight was the opening night of THIN AIR, Winnipeg International Writers Festival. Meant to be at the Oodena at The Forks Market, the event was rained out at 5:00 am, when it stormy stormed.

Though that's not entirely true, because it was the storm that was supposed to break mid-evening that pre-emptively rained out the event, moving it inside the Forks Market itself.

Having the event inside the Forks didn't seem to affect anyone but me - in that I couldn't stop thinking about Bindy's, two stalls over - as over 150 people showed up and sprawled over the space available (for the record, blue/brown plastic stacking chairs pulled from storage and also foodcourt wooden chairs, a pair of which weighed more than Perry Grosshans, WIWF General Manager).



It was a prop-heavy night, with bicycle jerseys, signboards, three-year-old children, and, of course, my video camera, as I was recording a time-elapse video.

The camera was taking a still image every two seconds, but WIWF staff, nervous, flighty creatures, kept fleeing from the camera, not knowing that they wouldn't be noticeable unless they stood in plain view for a minute or more.

As I walked away from the Forks Market, tripod under one arm, extension cord under another, flashes of lightning played across the sky. It was the most reasonable/pleasurable rain delay I'd ever experienced....

And so, for your viewing pleasure, the two plus hours of Voices from Oodena, compressed down to, well, two plus minutes...

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