Everyone looks for a magic bullet at one time or another. In my case, I wasn’t sure what it was, except that a road trip seemed important. Not so surprising, when I’d just spent a large chunk of time cooped up in the studio. So, when I got invited to show Cognition Factor at the 2008 Grahamstown Film Festival, I made plans to ensure that a road trip was also what I got. I’d been to Grahamstown once before in 2000. At the time I’d promised myself that when I returned to the festival I would bring my own show. Eight years later, with Cognition Factor locked and loaded, the time was ripe. It was unfortunate that I had to leave town the day before my daughter’s High School dance, slipping out of town in dawn traffic that reminded me why I was no longer a commuter. I knew that she would forgive me, eventually. I hadn't had much sleep the night before, due to the fact that I'd suffered an emergency root treatment on one of my front teeth that afternoon. It was supposed to have been just a routine checkup, but before I knew what was up I was surrounded by magnifying glasses and long needles. But at 7.00 AM the next morning, no painkillers were strong enough. In too much pain to lie down, I’d spent most of the previous night uploading music to my Ipod, programming my GPS and messing with my kit. I'd had breakfast with the kids, then knocked back another cocktail of antibiotics, vitamins, etc., before hitting the road. The early morning isn't my given time, but I couldn't think of a reason to look back.
If you’ve been following this rather long blog, sometimes rant, you’ll know that Dennis Joey and me have just spent three nights on Ibiza, but by the time I’d woken up on day four it seemed that we’d been here much longer. It hadn’t been that late a night and I’d slept well enough. There were no relevant excuses. It’s officially Saturday and it was time to return from forever, or to forever. Whatever. (There's a short movie at the bottom of the page, in case you want to skip to that now.)
