ROAD WARRIORS (Road Worriers)

We left our lovely accommodations at Western Carolina University in Cullowhee -- amazingly, we had a charming four bedroom cottage to ourselves, a place we felt we could live happily in ever after. But duty called, and the next venue lay five hours down the road in one of our favorite cities in the world, Charleston, SC. By now, we were working on honing our road skills, trying to find other things to do while driving besides yelling and screaming at each other. So, we replaced those behaviors with singing badly at the top of our lungs. We also had a LOT of time to think, so we came up with a name for ourselves if we were an indie rock band -- and "SCHMUCK" was born. But we needed an opening act, and that was easy: "THE LOST MORONS," an outfit which would open for SCHMUCK. We would be both bands, and hope that nobody noticed.

We resumed our real identities as we rolled into our beloved Charleston, where we were quartered in the heart of the historic district, in a mansion on the campus of the College of Charleston. Another good screening at the Halsey Institute of Contemporary Art; another good crowd, gratifying since there were numerous other cultural events happening that evening in the same beautiful building, chock full of art.

The highlight was spending time with the charming curator, Mark Sloan, who is a kindred spirit, and as we were to learn, a man who has made a career of nurturing unknown, eccentric, and exceptional artists. He gifted us with two of his wonderful books. This is a man so committed to beauty and excellence that he had only just returned from Iceland, having met there with what he considered to be the best printer for his next book project. In all our time in the film business we have never encountered anyone who has come up with so many inspiring subjects that would lend themselves to making great films. One of our new goals is to produce something with Mark in the near future, and also move to Charleston. The city is seductive beyond description, even though the weather was uncharacteristically cold and gray. Nevertheless, our first "rest" day consisted of walking the pretty streets of Charleston for hours and hours, feeding our spirits, delighting our eyes and hearts.