Giving Life to the Ghost

The Girl and the Ghost has been out there for a little while now.  It seems very odd to type that.  I worked on this project for so long that I don't think I've processed that it's actually finished and available for all to see.
A few nights ago, while working to promote the movie and get the word out, I started thinking about how it all started and thought maybe I should write it out for posterity and for anyone interested in the behind-the-scenes aspect of things.

I think it was Christmas 2006, I was at my Grandma's house and surrounded by family.  Some of my cousins were pretty young at the time and I found myself frustrated that I couldn't show them most of the animated shorts I had worked on.  My most recent projects were Tootsie Blow Pop and Batman's Gonna Get Shot in the Face and while I'm proud of them, they definitely aren't for little eyes and ears.  I wanted to make something that anybody could watch.  So, I started brainstorming.

My goal was to create an animated short that kids could enjoy, but I didn't want it to be so "kiddy" that it would turn adults off.  I wanted something that would let me play with atmosphere.  In early 2007, I came up with the idea for The Girl and the Ghost.  I liked the idea enough that I went ahead and wrote a script.  The script led to the creation of some concept designs.

I actually started animation almost immediately, even before giving voicework a single thought.  I was trying out ideas and techniques that were new to me and it was exciting!  Time consuming, but exciting.  Even early on, I was pulling off shots and visuals that I didn't think I'd be able to.  Anyone who knows me can attest to the fact that I'm my own harshest critic, so for me to impress myself like that was rare and surprising.  I had a feeling this project might actually work out and possibly even be something special.

Eventually, the time came when voicework was needed.  Larry and Aaron came onboard.  Larry was set as William and Aaron would be Harold, a character who actually first appeared in a script I wrote back in 2002 or 2003.  I remember Aaron was so excited, he volunteered to do a voice before I even had a chance to ask him.  As for the voices of Annabella and her mother, my friend Laura Segura recorded a test all the way out in LA.  I loved it.  She was in.  The cast was set.

The original cast.

Time passed, I kept working, and I got a good look at a bunch of the speed bumps that pop up during the movie making process.  I was excited to have the cast recording their parts from all over the country (Laura in LA, Aaron in Charlotte, and I recorded Larry here), but I soon saw the problem in that arrangement.  Everyone was in different places and using different equipment, this resulted in the audio quality of their recordings not matching up.  I tried to fix up the audio, but the difference was still jarring when the characters talked to each other.  I'd be able to record Aaron whenever he was back in town, but for my little no budget project, meeting up with Laura or getting her into a studio just wasn't possible.  I hated to make the call, but I was going to have to go another way for Annabella and her mother.
I had no idea who else I would get to play the parts, but the answer came at our premiere for The Greatest Fan Film of All Time and The Wimp Whose Woman Was a Werewolf in the form of my then new friend, Marisa Zakaria.

So, over the course of animating the movie, I'd record Larry, Aaron, and Marisa individually whenever they were free and/or in town.  If any lines ended up needing to be redone for whatever reason, it could be a long time before things lined up for us to get together and try again.  It was tricky, but we made it work.

Our recording studio was my living room.  Most of the dialogue was recorded on my MacBook using my Rock Band microphone.  Credit goes to Marisa for that one.  We were all set to record her lines and the microphone I planned to use wasn't working.  Marisa noticed my Rock Band setup and suggested we try that mic.  It worked beautifully.

For a pop filter, we used a piece of nylon legging stretched over a bent piece of wire hanger.  Fancy?  No.  But it got the job done.

Jake Ruby helped out with sound effects and did a fantastic job.  Everything sounded just how I wanted it to, but one sound eluded me.  In the movie, just before William appears, Annabella hears bumping and scratching sounds coming from her closet.  Jake tried a few things, I searched, but we couldn't find a sound effect that sounded right to me.  So, I took my trusty Rock Band microphone, put it inside a cardboard box, and had my mom scratch and tap on the outside of the box.  Got it.

The ability to work with what's available to you is important.  A little ingenuity can really save the day when you're in a pinch.

Video games to the rescue!

Music is a huge part of movies.  It helps create moods, it amplifies emotion, it helps the story flow.  I wanted great music for this.  Not good, great.  It was very important to me, but I was nervous because I didn't know who to go to that could do what I wanted.  Larry put me in touch with composer Mike Wilkinson.  We emailed back and forth a few times before he came up with a sample of music to suit the story and sent it to me.  It was outstanding.  I was blown away and felt so lucky.  As things went on and the project was delayed a few times (which I'll discuss shortly), our schedules no longer lined up.  By the time the movie was finally ready to be scored, Mike was committed to other projects and couldn't do Ghost.  It was totally understandable, but disappointing to be sure.  I didn't think I'd get that lucky again, but I had to keep looking and hoping.

I had met Karen Graves several times over the years, as she frequently plays violin with Chantal Kreviazuk and Raine Maida.  I took a shot and asked her if she might be interested in lending her musical talents to the project.  It was a long shot, but I had to try.  To my extreme surprise, she said yes.  I got lucky again.

What Karen came up with caught me off guard.  I knew she'd create something beautiful, but I never could have dreamed it'd turn out as beautiful as it did.  Every time I hear the music she made, I'm taken aback all over again.  Karen raised the project to a whole new level.

It's a winding road loaded with detours.  Changes can pounce out of the blue and target any number of aspects of a project.  I had to learn how to assess and handle each change in its own way.  I even started making changes on my own.  Originally, there was one more character in the story, an evil shapeshifting shadow creature that was pursuing William and appeared in the finale.  He actually made it into the animation phase, but I realized he slowed things down and wasn't really necessary in the story, so I cut him out.  Change can be scary, but sometimes it can be a blessing and improve the end result in unexpected ways, so don't be afraid to embrace it.

Maybe he'll get his chance in a future project.

I know how long these projects can take, I know how long animation alone takes, but I can say without exaggeration that I had no idea how long The Girl and the Ghost was going to take.  I would get on a roll and make big strides with the animation and then put it on hold when I was needed on another project, or I'd be sick for a while, or life in general would have other plans for me and keep me away from working on it for extended periods of time.

Animation is a slow, tedious process and I'm fully aware that my situation exacerbates that.  Most digital artists use a drawing tablet for their work, but my disability doesn't allow me to do that.  I have very limited movement in my arms and hands, so I can't draw in the traditional way.  Everything I make, I make using only a mouse.  The Girl and the Ghost is 17 minutes long and animated at 24 frames per second.  That's a lot of images.  Drawing and animating with a mouse is time consuming, frustrating, and can really tire me out, but it was the only option available to me, so it's what I did.  Living with a disability, you learn how to adapt to situations that aren't always suited to you.  You have to.  Using a mouse isn't the ideal animation method, my actual techniques may not be the "right" way to do things, but I do what I need to do in order to make it work.

Years have passed and it's finally done.  My cousins are older.  Since I set out to make this movie, I've become an uncle.  My nephew, Matthew grew up watching me animate it.
One of my favorite memories is when I was syncing a character's mouth to the dialogue while Matthew was sitting next to me.  He was maybe two years old at the time.  Hearing the audio playing one individual frame at a time, he started to mimic the choppy sound of it.  "Eh.  Ooh.  Eeh.  Uh."
During one of the project's delays, he would watch the first 6 minutes of the movie over and over again, despite its unfinished state.  My cousins may have inspired me to make this kind of movie, but Matthew fueled me to see it through.  Watch for it and you'll even spot some of his own artwork in the movie.

Over 800 hours of animation, plus voice recording, plus sound editing, plus music creation, plus editing, spread out over nearly 6 years.  If I've done my job well, you won't think of any of that while watching the movie.  You'll only think of Annabella, William, and their story.  I hope I've done my job.

The Girl and the Ghost went online on November 19th, 2012, almost two months ago.  As I write this, it's been viewed 746 times.  In the scope of the internet, that's not great, but for a 17 minute long film by an unknown animator?  I'm happy.  That's 746 more people than had seen it before November 19th.  And far more important than the numbers- the people who have seen it, both child and adult, have responded positively.  That's what matters.  This is what matters.

So, now that it's out there, I'm going to continue to email, tweet, and do whatever I can do to get more people to see the movie.  If you haven't seen The Girl and the Ghost yet or if you just want to help spread the word, here's the link:

http://youtu.be/0R_A8NC6jLM

To those who helped me make it, to those who have watched it, to those who supported me throughout this long haul, to those who have shared it...thank you.  From the bottom of my heart, thank you.

Now, as the Ghost Hunters would say...on to the next.

The Girl and the Ghost

It's been a long time coming.  Setback after setback kept popping up and delaying the project at every turn.  At this point, it's been five years since I had the idea, wrote the story, and began animating it.  I actually finished it a few months ago, but wasn't sure what I wanted to do with it.  A few weeks ago, I thought "it's nearly Halloween, it's the perfect time."  So, I decided that Tuesday, October 30th was going to be the big day.  Then, true to form, just as I was about to upload the movie, another setback popped up.  What was it this time?  Hurricane Sandy.

On Monday, October 29th, at 10:30 PM, an hour and a half before I was going to start the upload, I suddenly found myself sitting in the dark.  The winds proved to be too much and ended up snapping three electrical poles on our street and splitting a fourth in half, not to mention the tree that came down and blocked our street.

So, on October 30th, while everything was supposed to be happening, we were packing up to head over to Grandma's house, where there was still electricity, and more importantly, heat.  And that's where I stayed until November 3rd, along with Mom, Dad, Kris, Jessi, Matthew, and London.  It was an interesting few days.

Then I found myself back at home, but Halloween week, the ideal time to release the project, had passed.  I regrouped and weighed the options, trying to decide when the next best time would be.  One could go nuts trying to plan this stuff, so I decided.  What better time than right now?

At long last, I'm finally able to present to you… The Girl and the Ghost.

http://youtu.be/0R_A8NC6jLM?hd=1

I'd love if you'd let me know what you think of it.  I'd be honored if you shared the film with your friends.  Most importantly, I hope you enjoy it.

A Ghostly Update

The Girl and the Ghost has a history of being delayed.  Example- one year ago today, I announced the completion of animation for the project.  Is the movie done yet?  No.  But that will soon change.

Both the sound effects and music are extremely close to being finished, thanks to the fantastic Jake Ruby and Karen Graves.  Once they're done, I'll put them together, and The Girl and the Ghost will finally be complete.  It's just days away now.

With the movie being so close to done, cool things are already starting to happen.  First up?  The poster is here.

Also, the official Facebook page is up and running.
http://www.facebook.com/TheGirlAndTheGhost

And finally, the trailer is online.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v5Ci7AXrIVE

Watch.  Enjoy.  Pass it on.

It's almost here!

How I Spent My Summer

Like a sticky, 90+ degree whirlwind, summer has already come and gone.  Looking back, I'd have to say it was a pretty odd summer for me.  It began with a burst of awesomeness and spun into a blur of inactivity.
So, let's start with the (mostly) high note that kicked off my summer.


For the past couple years, I've been friends with the fantastic Teal Sherer (whom you might recognize from The Guild).  Earlier this year, an idea became a discussion, a discussion became plans, and Teal and I agreed to finally meet and hang out for a few days in Niagara Falls.
Everything was arranged quickly and before too long, the end of June had arrived and I was ready.  Well, almost.


On the morning of Thursday, June 23rd, I was up at 7 AM. The original plan was to hit the road at 10 AM, but it was becoming increasingly apparent that things weren't going according to plan. Despite everything being booked and ready so far in advance, my dad didn't take our van in to get checked until the day before I was supposed to leave. Our van is a few years old and has a bit of rust on the bottom. As a result, every time this guy fixed something, something else would break. He kept the van overnight on Wednesday and kept working through Thursday.  So, I sat in my living room as the hours passed by, tracked Teal's flight all the way across the country (LA to Buffalo), and it started to look like we weren't getting the van back. Dad finally brought the van back at 8 PM.  Mom and I debated what to do and decided to leave that night, so we didn't lose half of Friday traveling. We packed up and left at 9:45 PM, picked up my aunt, and arrived in Niagara Falls around 2:30 AM. By the time we got unpacked, settled in, and in bed, it was 4 AM.

I woke up to my phone ringing around noon on Friday, it was Teal checking in to make sure we arrived safely. I quickly got into my chair and a little while later, Teal made her way up to my room.  After two years of friendship, we finally got to meet face to face.

We went to a late breakfast at Friday's, then basically just wandered around the area for a while.

We made our way down to the Maid of the Mist, and hopped aboard.  Sure, we got a bit waterlogged, definitely moreso than Teal expected, but I couldn't, in all good conscience, let her miss out on the Maid of the Mist experience, could I?

After the boat, we wandered back to the hotel and had dinner at The Keg.

All of us ended the night just hanging out in the room and watching the fireworks over the Falls.
Despite the craziness of Thursday, Friday was great.

Saturday started with another late breakfast, this time at Tony Roma's, and then it was time for the big event.  A lot of my Niagara trips are planned around Chantal Kreviazuk concerts, as was the case this time, but this one was raising the bar of awesomeness. Not only was it another show at the excellent Jackson-Triggs Winery, but this time, Chantal was being accompanied by the Niagara Symphony Orchestra.  As if that wasn't cool enough, the concert was also being filmed for a DVD/Bluray, etc.
So, Mom, Aunt Karen, Teal, and I packed into the van and headed to the winery early to meet up with some friends before the show.  It was fun, as always, to visit with Terence, Deb, Shelly, Chris, Russell, Mitch, Sandy, and a very pregnant Kathy.  People came and went, we hung out and chatted for a bit, then made our way down to the amphitheater for the show.

In reviewing the concert, I would end up mostly echoing my own comments about past shows, so I'll just say the show was incredible, Chantal sounded and looked wonderful, the orchestra really enhanced the sound into a whole new experience, the venue was beautiful, the wine was outstanding, and we had perfect seats (Thanks, Del!).

After the show, we said our see-you-laters, snapped some pictures, and headed back to the hotel.

The awesome Karen Graves

The gang

Del!

Unfortunately, this is where the whole thing went downhill for me.

Around 4 AM on Sunday morning, I woke up feeling awful.  The best I can guess is the mixture of wine and what I'm assuming was a kidney stone episode hit me at the same time and threw me for a loop, leaving me stuck in the hotel bed for the next couple days. I stayed in bed from Saturday night until we left on Monday morning, slept the whole way home, then got in my own bed for a couple more days.
For the last bit of vacation, my aunt and Teal bonded as they hung out and wandered around Niagara while Mom stayed in the room with me. I consider the "end" of the trip to be Sunday night. They had fireworks again and I could see them from my bed, so everyone gathered and watched. Teal had an early flight back to LA on Monday, so after the fireworks, she hugged me and was off.

After we got back, it took me about a week before I started to feel back to normal. Plus, I was laid up for so long, I got a bit weak and it took me about a month to fully feel like myself again.
So, the trip started and ended badly, but the concert and spending time with Teal were worth it.


That was the start of summer, and honestly, the rest of the summer whooshed by.  It was an exceptionally hot summer, so I really didn't go out much.  Everyone was busy, so I didn't see many people, though I did spend some good time with Bridget and Sarah.  I even got to catch up a bit with Cathy and Nikki, neither of whom I'd seen in ages.
And, of course, I'm always hanging out with my ever-growing and scarily smart nephew, Matthew.

Before I knew it, my birthday was upon me and summer was nearing it's end.  I had a pre-birthday visit from Corey, Eric, and Brendan, and then had a blast celebrating at Corks with Bridget the following weekend.

Me & Bridget

The weekend was topped off by a great hang out session with Marisa.


So, here we are.  Fall has arrived and it looks like it'll be a busy one.  I'm just about to embark on another Canadian adventure, I'm working on a big screenplay, I'm prepping a short film I love, and I'm working on a comic strip.
Yowza.
Let's go, fall!

"You Make Me Feel Like I've Gone Halfway Around the World..."

Dec 8th, 2009- Day 2

I woke up to that Toronto Tuesday morning at 10 AM with sore eyes from the dry hotel air.

Getting in gear for the day was slow going. We didn’t actually leave the hotel room until after 2. Mom and I were looking forward to avoiding the chilly weather, so we made our way down to the PATH. Right off the bat, I was met with a handicap accessible elevator...that my wheelchair could not access. My chair was too long to fit inside.

I turned around and up to the cold, windy surface we went.

We hurried over to the Eaton Centre in search of a cheap replacement prepaid cell phone. Mine had finally turned back on, but I didn’t really trust it (plus the roaming rates are outrageous). After checking 3 different cell phone stores, the cheapest phone I could find was $50, as opposed to $15 back at home. No sale.

The Eaton Centre's giant Christmas tree

My store!

Next stop? Massey Hall.

The main point of this whole trip was to see Chantal Kreviazuk at Massey Hall. As a bonus, it was the only show of Chantal’s tour that Raine Maida would be joining her.

We got out of the cold and into the historic building only to be met by another tiny wheelchair elevator, just like the one in the PATH. This time, though, we had the presence of mind to remove my leg rests, which let me fit inside.

Shortly after 3, we were inside for sound check. A few minutes later, Chantal & Raine arrived. Chantal came over and chatted with us for a little while. We mostly exchanged tales of how hectic things have been for both of us.

First up during sound check was Canadian duo Dala. I was aware of them, but had never really listened to them before. I was pleasantly surprised and really loved what I heard. I made a mental note to look into getting any CDs they have available.

Next up, Raine started his sound check.

A few songs in, the cavalry arrived. Chantal’s parents arrived with Raine & Chantal’s kids in tow, as well as Chantal’s cousin and her kids. It was a big ol’ family reunion and Mom and I were smack in the middle of it, watching and laughing as the kids took over the stage while Mommy and Daddy played their songs.

After sound check, we had about three hours until show time, so we headed back to make a quick stop at the hotel and then to find somewhere to eat.

We tried Baton Rouge, a restaurant in the Eaton Centre. Unfortunately, the doors were too narrow for my wheelchair to fit through, plus it was extremely crowded inside. So, we settled for McDonald’s in the food court.

We left the food court around 7:20 to start the walk back to Massey Hall. Just before exiting the Eaton Centre, Kathy & Sandy spotted us, so we caught up a little and walked to the venue with them.

Not long after getting to our seats, Dala took the stage to start the show. They only played a few songs, including a ukelele-centric rendition of Moon River. My personal favorite song of their set was Horses.

Raine took the stage for his set, which consisted mostly of songs from The Hunters Lullaby. He did include one new song, which I don’t know the name of, but it sounded amazing. He also slipped Innocent in, which is always great.

During the intermission between acts, I got to meet Michelle, a friend from the internet and fellow Chantal/Our Lady Peace fan. It was brief, but it was great to meet her.

I look like I'm smashed

After intermission, it was time for Chantal.
She filled the night with an excellent mix of her classic stuff and newer songs from Plain Jane. She even snuck in a cover of Bruce Springsteen’s My Hometown.

At one point, Dala came back out and joined Chantal for God Made Me, which was the first song of Chantal’s I ever heard all those years ago.

There was also the inclusion of a new song, Not One Drop, a song inspired by the tragic passing of a friend’s young daughter, Sylvie.

I think the highlight for me was Chantal’s performance of 5000 Days, which featured some great home videos of their kids projected on a giant screen at the back of the stage.

Randy Cooke rocks the Santa hat. And the drums.

Later in the set, Karen and Kevin each got their turn to take center stage. Kevin sang a rendition of Joni Mitchell’s River. Karen sang Isobel, a song she wrote for her band, The Done Me Wrongs. Both performances were big change-ups from the rest of the night, yet they somehow fit perfectly.

Kevin has crazy cello skills. And wicked posture.

After “wrapping up” with All I Can Do, Chantal left the stage before coming back for a two song encore.

Just after Plain Jane was over, 5 year old Rowan (who earlier appeared on stage to ask his mom when she’d be done) returned to introduce his brother, four year old Lucca. Lucca marched up to the mic and proceeded to adorably sing a verse of Invincible.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ldP8uraTpFw
(Video courtesy of Angela)

Chantal followed that tough act by playing the song herself, bringing the nearly two and a half hour show to an excellent close.

That show made this crazy trip totally worth it.

We headed back to the elevator and through a couple corridors to the after party. I chatted a bit more with Raine and Chantal as Rowan and Lucca ran around. Before taking off, I got a quick photo with both of them.

We said our see-you-laters and left the party.

Mom and I bundled up and hurried back to hotel as a light snow began to fall. There was a big snow storm predicted to hit Toronto the next day. Luckily, we wouldn’t be hitting the road until Thursday.

W got back to the room at 1 AM and hit the leftovers as we sat and processed everything.

I was in bed and conked out by 3:30.

June 27th, 2009- "I Can Take a Wrong Turn, You're Right Behind Me"

Concert day had arrived.

I woke up on that nice Canadian Saturday morning without the aid of the fire alarm, thankfully. I did end up sleeping a little later than I wanted, though. Seems to happen a lot, doesn't it?

Once the rest of the crew was up, we set out to get a little something to eat. We ended up going across the street to The Famous, a diner-type restaurant inside the casino building.

It was okay, nothing outstanding and we had to wait a long for the food and the check.

I was hoping to get to the winery early enough to catch the sound check, so we hurried back to the hotel as soon as we finished eating to compensate for another potentially long wait for valet to bring the van.
I swear, they must have known how ticked we were the day before and sent out a memo or something. We had the van within five minutes.

Things were running smoothly and we were on our way. Until we got on the QEW, that is.
Traffic on the freeway was at a dead stop on a hot and sunny day. We were pretty much baking inside the van.

As we inched forward ever so slowly, we saw that the freeway was closed in both directions ahead of us.

We later found out there had been an accident earlier and that they usually only close down both directions if they have to land a medical helicopter on the freeway.

When we reached the detour, my MapQuest directions became useless, so we asked the officer directing traffic how to get to Niagara-on-the-Lake. He pointed out a van that was headed that way and told us to follow him. So we did.
Before too long, we were back on the QEW and lined up with my directions once again.
And then we got lost on the country roads and had to stop and ask for directions.

When we finally arrived at the Jackson-Triggs winery, the usually 20 minute long drive from Niagara Falls to Niagara-on-the-Lake had taken 2 hours.

Sadly, we missed sound check, but ended up bumping into Sandy and Kathy right as we were getting out of the van. I chatted with them a little bit, then Mom, Granny, Maude, and I headed inside the main building to pick up our tickets. While inside, my friend Nadia spotted me and we talked for a few minutes. I've kept in touch with her since the last time I visited the winery, but it was great to catch up in person.

Tickets in hand, we made our way toward the amphitheater and ran into Terence and Russell on our way. After chatting a little, we headed in.
Our tickets included dinner, so we popped over to the food tent. We found a nice shady spot and ate while having a nice visit with Kathy and Sandy.
I was a bit tense from the ride, so I didn't eat all that much, but what I had (pork, potatoes, fruit) was good. The wine certainly helped ease the tension. I went with the Chardonnay.

With showtime approaching, we headed to our seats. Nadia got off of work and came over to see us again before taking off. She told us about her upcoming wedding and all the fun and craziness that goes along with it. I'm sure it'll all go smoothly and I wish her all the best!

Before the show started, Mom and I went to shut off our cel phones and noticed we had both missed calls from Kris. Mom called him back to make sure everything was okay and found out Matthew ate gravel.
Literally.
He was standing right next to Kris in their driveway and in one quick swoop, bent down, grabbed a stone, and downed it.
He's fine though. He pretty much looked at Kris as if to say "Dude, chill. What's the problem?" when he was searching his mouth for the rock.

Never a dull moment at home, even when we're not there.

Finally, they brought Chantal down the hill on a little golf cart and she took the stage along with Kevin Fox and Karen Graves. She began with another great performance of Leaving on a Jet Plane and the show was rolling.

She looked radiant and, as always, sounded amazing. Last time she played at Jackson-Triggs, we were the first audience to hear Halfway Around the World, she continued the tradition and debuted two new songs from her upcoming album for us- Invincible and 5,000 Days. Both sounded excellent, I was especially fond of 5,000 Days.
And as a bonus, it was also her first time playing These Days, a song she wrote for the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants soundtrack, live.

The winery is such a great setting for a concert. The cool, Canadian night air mixed with Chantal's music, the intimate seating arrangement, and the great wine on top of all that. Combined, it just creates a magical vibe.

Chantal was her usual chatty self in between songs. The running discussion of the night was whether the occasional scent of manure wafting in from the surrounding fields came from a cow or a cat.

After a few more songs, there was a short intermission. I'll admit, I took the opportunity to get a refill on my wine.

Once the sun had finished setting, Chantal, Karen, and Kevin returned and continued the show under the stars.

So Cold, Half of Me, and Feels Like Home were some of the songs we got to hear in the second half. Plus, the guy who was calling out to hear Wayne all night got his wish.
After "finishing", Chantal came back for an encore and played All I Can Do to end the night.

It was another amazing show that I wish didn't have to end. Even with the overall hectic vibe the trip seemed to have, while I was at that concert, there was no stress and no worries. I love Twilight in the Vineyard.
In a bit of awesome news, they announced that the show was recorded and will be aired on the radio in the fall to coincide with the release of Chantal's new album.
I can't wait to hear it and relive that night.

As the crowd made their way away from the amphitheater, we followed and headed to the main building, where Chantal would be doing an autograph signing.
Inside, we caught up with Kathy and Sandy again. In their continuing awesomeness, they surprised me again with Chantal's setlist. I swear, I can't thank them enough.

Guardians of the setlist.

The gang.

The whole group of us hung around and talked about the show while Chantal signed autographs a few feet away. Once the line started to dwindle, we headed over.

When it was my turn, I got to have a nice little visit with Chantal. I found out her album, Plain Jane is coming out in September, so that'll be a nice little birthday-month bonus for me. Before saying our see-you-next-times, she signed the setlist for me and of course, we took a picture together.

Then, I spent some time talking to Del from Jackson-Triggs. He found my blog entry about Chantal's last show at the winery and was looking forward to (and waiting patiently for) this new entry. I know it's long and kind of rambly, but I hope it was worth the wait.
He's working at setting up some more great concerts there, so I'm sure I'll be seeing him again before too long.

It was approaching midnight and getting chilly, so we said bye to gang, piled into the van, and headed back to Niagara Falls. The return trip was much smoother than the ride out. We only missed one turn.

Upon getting back to the hotel, I was ready to parttake in our last-night-at-the-Falls tradition of going to Fridays. Granny didn't feel like going out and asked if we minded if she stayed behind and relaxed in the room. Of course it was no problem, though we missed having her there.

So Maude, Mom, and I made the late night trek to Fridays by ourselves. I split a meal with Mom and also got the fried macaroni and, of course, an ultimate long island iced tea. I guess I had a bit of a party night that night. It was a blast.

We wandered back to hotel somewhere between 3 and 4 AM and found, to our surprise, Granny still awake and watching TV. Apparently, she watched Braveheart and Independence Day while we were out.
That's my Grandma, folks.

Exhausted after a fantastic night, we all crawled off to bed for the pre-drive-home sleep. And man, I was really conked out.