Chuck first emailed me in March of 2003, as I’d tentatively signed up for a local weblogger meetup (I never did show). We started visiting each other’s blogs, and returning, as we found we shared many common interests. In August of that year, we met IRL. Chuck was screening a rough cut of Blogumentary, in the Bryant Lake Bowl’s cramped little theater. It was just a taste of things to come, and it left me wanting more. Over the next fifteen months or so we met socially a few times, but our relationship remains, for the most part, in the blogosphere. I’ve followed along at home as Chuck would tease his audience. Some tantalizing footage here, news of landing a sought after interview there, a dash of his frustrations regarding the creative process, all of it culminating in last night’s premiere. He has said that, with all the rough footage he’s captured over the last two years, he could probably make a dozen different cuts of this film, each from its own POV. But I like the angle he chose to go with, humanizing what many on the outside might think of as cold and detached, focusing on the person behind the blog rather than the technology (look for that in another version, or heck, make that version yourself with Chuck’s open source footage). Especially compelling were interviews with Stuart Hughes, and Chuck’s close friend Crystal. In another’s filmmaker’s hands it could have gotten really dark, but Chuck lightened things up by interspersing it with goofy shots of himself (which there could have been even more of). And oh my, the turnout. A full theater with a healthy sampling of our blogosphere locals in attendance. I was able to talk to many, due to a technical difficulty that kept us waiting outside. Said hey to Lorika, hung out with Spacewaitress and her wonderful Mom the HIPPLE, comrades Jonathan and Cheek, met compatriot Chris (also of New Patriot), and hung out with peers Grid, GrippingImage, Ciri. And who knows how many more of us were there. If he hadn’t run out of time Chuck had intended to ask all the bloggers to stand up during the Q&A. It would have been a good portion of the theater, I’ll bet. What a fun evening. And yes, I did enjoy seeing the little man’s big head taking over the screen at the Oak Street for a few seconds.
NaNo word count: 7959/50000
