Wake up. Make coffee. Out the door by 7:45. Work. Eat lunch. Chat with a co-worker. More work. Traffic. Home. Pet the dog. Dinner. Bed. Reset.

So often, one day is like the rest. We often forget to open our eyes to the world we pass through. Thankfully, there is a global army of cameraphiles intent on bringing the world to us.

Yet, if you want to see their work, you’ll have to look beyond the local megaplex. These films live in the arthouse theaters, the impromptu screening rooms and free range of the internet.

In April, for the seventh consecutive year, the Iowa City Documentary Film Festival (ICDOCS) brings two dozen short films to our fair city for a three-day celebration of non-commercial film-making.

“Documentary means a lot of different things, depending on who you ask,” explained festival organizer Alex Petsel. “The work that is screened varies greatly.”

“I often think of a quotation by Jean Marie Straub that all films are documentaries,” Filmmaker David Kelley (Flotsam Jetsam) said. “If you look at fiction and documentary films… sharing the same photographic medium, then they are both realistic and in a discourse with realism.”

In fact, some filmmakers see documentary as a dirty word, since audiences traditionally identify the term with the staid and somber educational films of their youth.

“When asked what I do, I often find myself saying ‘I make documentary films’ — and in an instant throwing in ‘not for television,” explains Minou Norouzi (All Shades of Grey).

ICDOCS’ loose definition of documentary gives the event a fine art feel, weaving experimental film, motion photography and traditional short stories into a unified experience. If Hollywood has a set formula, these films do all they can to ignore it.

Most of the filmmakers exhibiting their work will never see a royalty check, or even recoup the cost of making their film. In fact, they pay just to be a part of festivals like this. So why do they do it?

“The artists want to gain exposure for their work, for their cause or simply be a part of an international festival,” Petsel said.

“The work usually has its own story to tell, and I feel I am usually just a conduit for that story to be told,” said Annmarie Lanesey (Sittin’ on a Million) of her dedication to the craft.

Her film straddles the traditional lines of documentary to tell the story of an early 1900’s small-town madame. It blends a journalistic pursuit of an urban legend with performance art re-enactments. It’s the sort of creative storytelling that most of us rarely encounter on our digital cable package.

Much of the thanks for this new generation of video artists is owed to the advent of the digital camera. But this blessing can also be a curse, as the most well-known digital videos are YouTube sing-alongs, not the thoughtfully constructed work of dedicated artists.

Good thing, then, that festivals like ICDOCS persevere, to expose us to the unusual ideas and extraordinary stories that dwell in the seldom visited corners of our world.

If nothing else, it gives us something to talk about over lunch.

Miya was the lucky one. The odds had turned against her in an instant but reversed course just as quickly again.

Your faith tells you which of the above statements you believe, but the facts tell you this: Miya Rodolfo-Sioson was the lone survivor of the 1991 University of Iowa shootings. She was a temporary secretary—the victim of a dispute that didn’t involve her. By fate, by grace, or by luck she had a second life to live. She used it proudly.

Daniel Julien met Miya in that second life, lived mostly in Berkeley, California, where she’d moved to escape Iowa’s cold winters and the weight of the Gang Lu shootings. The woman Julien met there, paralyzed from the neck down since that awful November day, intrigued him for more than just the events that had defined her life.

“I didn’t know what to expect of a quadrapalegic doing demanding work,” Julien said of the woman he had hired to work at his student exchange program. “But she turned out to be capable of many things which able-bodied people are not.”

He decided to make a movie about her. Julien’s film, Miya of the Quiet Strength, shows April 12th at the Pappajohn Business Building on the UI Campus as part of a week commemorating her life. Other events include a photo exhibit, luncheon and outreach events, all of which are listed on the film’s website www.miyafilm.com.

Miya had been an activist as a young adult, before she was shot. But after landing in California, she became an advocate for the rights of the disabled. She spoke at community meetings on the issues important to her peers. She was appointed to the Berkeley Commission on Disability in 1998, where she served for eight years — two of them as chairperson.

“Everyone told her she was an inspiration,” said Julien. “She didn’t like that word. She called it the ‘i-word.’ But it’s hard to avoid it when you talk about her story.”

It was years after they first met when Julien heard from a mutual friend the truth of what Miya called her “accident.”

“To me this event is like ancient history,” Miya told San Francisco’s KGO-TV in 2008, “There’s so much that’s happened since then.”

Not all of it was good. Shortly after Julien learned of the shooting, Miya told him she had cancer. That’s when he told her he wanted to make a film about her story. She accepted, even though she’d turned down offers from professional crews before.

For 13 months, Julien documented Miya’s activism in the Bay Area, sifted through the media archives of the incident and interviewed her friends and family. He dove into the issues that affected her life like disability rights, gun control and health insurance.

In March of 2008, he returned to Iowa City to learn more.

“I discovered so many things about her that she had never talked about,” Julien said. “Our culture is so much about bragging about things we’ve done… or didn’t do. She was the opposite of that.”

In Iowa City, Miya had organized student activists against the U. S. involvement in El Salvador, was interested in women’s rights and, when her rehab was complete, she had returned to finish her degree on the same campus that had been the scene of so much heartache.

When he was wrapping up the film, Julien got a call from Miya. She wanted to do one more interview. She wanted to talk about dying.

“It was difficult to shoot. She was very private, but had opened up during the filming,” Julian recalled.

The film was finished in November 2008. Julien held a special screening for Miya, her family and friends in the hospital where she was being treated for stage four breast cancer. Days later, Miya passed away.

In a message on the film’s website, her former Iowa City roommate, a woman named Suzanne, laments: “I have always felt that if I had been the victim, I probably would have drowned in bitterness and regret at what I had lost. But Miya refused to fall into that pit. She just got on with the job of living. I still find it hard to comprehend how, after overcoming such obstacles, she should have to endure [cancer, too].”

The fates. God. Chance. Whatever it was that dealt Miya Rodolfo-Sioson a cruel hand didn’t account for her resilient spirit. Quiet Strength documents a life lived beautifully under such trying circumstances.

“Miya never realized the impact she had on other people,” recalled Julien. “She underplayed the things she had done even though she had done a lot more than most of us.”

Forgive the viewers, Miya, if you’re called an inspiration.

Sound too good to be true? Well, guess what, it surely is. Clicking through to the site will lead you to an offer for a stimulus grant writing packet, which promises instant governement riches in a matter of days.

I received this fabuluos offer this morning when I logged into my gMail account. Here’s the tacky part. You’d think this would be a spam email that snuck through gMail’s tightly controlled defenses. Not so. Google itself was serving up the spam as an ad inside my inbox. And Google isn’t the only one. It seems Facebook has the ads plastered all over too.

Both Facebook and Google have a team of ad approval monkeys whose job it is to sniff out mailcious ads, false promotions and downright illegal stuff. So why are these ads getting through? Especially at Google, whose motto is “don’t be evil?”

Seems the hard economy is taking casualties on all sides. (Dear Google, are “Jeff’s” Adwords checks clearing?) Don’t let yourslef fall victim. $2.29 may seem like a reasonable wager for the slim chance that the grant packet is real, but remember, you have to give them your personal information too, which, as the economy gets weaker, is fast becoming your most valuable asset.

John Thain, the former Merrill Lynch & Co. chief executive officer ousted yesterday, spent $1.2 million redecorating his downtown Manhattan office last year as the company was firing employees, a person familiar with the project said.

Friday, January 23

The Thinkin’ Lincoln exhibit is gone from the ICPL, but you can still honor the former president and go see live theatre. Friday there are not one, but two local shows opening up.

Guys On Ice | Riverside Theatre, Iowa City | 7:30pm | $12-26

Wisconsin’s most famous musical comedy returns to Iowa City. The “Ice Fishing Musical” has broad Fargo-like appeal, but will be instantly recognizable to the significant number of Badger or Gopher transplant here in the Hawkeye City. Snowmobile suited friends talk Packers and broken hearts in an ice shack in Wisconsin.

Prisoner of Zenda | Rage Theatrics, Space/Place Theatre, Iowa City | 8pm | $10

Prisoner of Zenda has something to do with troubles in the moarchy of Ruritania. But what Zenda is really about is swashbuckling. Rage Theatrics was founded to as an outlet for the art of stage combat and Prisoner of Zenda is a vehicle for swordfighting. Though, it must have enough plot to entertain, as its also been adapted for film for the likes of Douglas Fairbanks Jr and Peter Sellers. For more, read Iowa Theatre Blog’s Q&A with the performers.

Saturday, January 24

Yacht Club 6th Anniversary Jam | Yacht Club, Iowa City | 4pm-close | $6

The Yacht Club celebrates turning six in style. The big bash starts early and includes the official opening of the new upstairs bar, unveiling an expanded BBQ menu and six bands (Dead Larry, David Zollo, Mooseknuckle, 5 in a Hand, The Bottom’s Heavy, Johnny On Point and Backdrop). It’s the Yacht Club ing (more) of what it does best.

Timecrimes | Bijou Theater, IMU, Iowa City | 5 & 9:30pm | $5

The Bijou is back, breathing life into the exceptionally depressing Iowa City cinema scene. (The megaplex currently has one showing of Doubt and one showing of The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. Both Oscar nominees. There are three showings of Hotel for Dogs. Nuff said.) But I digress. Time travel is a favorite narrative device, which usually leads to much temporal-traipsing excitement and mind-maddening plot twists. This Spanish language chrono-thriller follows Hector as he crosses paths with himself…and another himself after discovering a time-travel deivce near his new home. Trailer below, though the movie is not nearly as hokey as the tease.

Sunday, January 25

Coralville Winterfest | Iowa River Landing, Coralville | 1-4pm | Free

There’s a lot to love about winter, but sometimes we need a friendly reminder of what those things are…so thanks, Coralville. IN no particular order, here’s what you’ll find at Winterfest: wassail tasting, ski lessons, bird watching, candy making, sleigh rides, snowshoeing, roasted chestmuts, ice sculpting, live music, and well, a lot more. And what’s better than fun? Free fun.

It’s January, so it’s time to make some resolutions. Here goes:

1) More weekenders. That’s right, we’re coming back after a short hiatus. And we’re starting this weekend, see below.
2) Exercise. Our fab intern Kelly Ostrem is heading up the Little Village Live Healthy exercise squad. Eat right, get movin’ and earn points. Wanna get in shape? Email her at kelly.ostrem@littlevillagemag.com. First activity? Pond Hockey at 10am, Saturday at City Park (again, see below).
3) More exciting web activities. We signed up for a Twitter account today. We’ve got our Flickr account up and running. It’s time to use them. Stay tuned in 2009.

Without further ado, some further to-do’s…

Friday, January 16

Dance and Shadow Puppetry | Arts Iowa City, 103 E. College St. | 8:30-10pm, Jan 16, 17, 22, 23, 24 | Free

Live dance, here in Iowa City, for free. How can you go wrong? It’s one of the small pleasures of a university town to have talented artists that would otherwise never be in a city of less than 500,000. Take advantage. Make Your Cake and Lie in It is a new show from local choreographer Eleanor Goudie-Averill of the Stone Depot Dance Lab, which will be exhibit along with work from UI MFA Painting candidate Nicole Donnelly. Other dance performances will be featured each night.

Saturday, January 17

Pond Hockey | City Park, Iowa City | 10:00am | Free

In our first official/unofficial promotion as part of Live Healthy Iowa, I’m heading down to City Park for a little pick-up hockey. Bring your skates and a stick. All skill levels welcome. Can’t make it that day? Email me at andrew@littlevillagemag.com and I’ll keep you posted on future pick-up.

Emma Goldman Choice Dinner | IMU 2nd Floor Ballroom | 6-9pm | $60 ($50 in advance)

Emma Goldman’s annual fundraising event is always a well-attended gathering of pro-choice folk. This year’s presenter is Jael Silliman an international women’s health activist. The price includes dinner and program.

Mannix | The Yacht Club, Iowa City | 7pm | $5

Check out local favs Mannix, Petit Mal, Lipstick Homecide, Happy Chromosomes and Victorian Halls at the Yackt Club this weekend. Mannix has been busy lately, and got a little ink in Little Village back in Novvember. Five bands for five bucks, and you can check out the upstairs.

Catfish Keith | The Mill, Iowa City | 8pm | $10

Local bluesman made good returns on tour to the Mill “for a night of foot-stomping, string-twanging original blues and roots music on his fleet of National steel and acoustic guitars.” If there’s one thing that could help me get through this bitter cold, it’s some nice twangin’.

But, I’ve been surprised. The City Park pond is a great place for skating (when its been groomed), and even more surprisingly, winter in Iowa City is a great time for birdwatching (something I never thought I’d find enjoyable).

The cardinals and blue jays find their home in my backyard, but the big treat is the aerie of bald eagles that feed on the Iowa River when the water start to freeze. This week I’ve counted over a dozen eagles perched in the branches overlooking Crandic park on Rocky Shore Dr. The frozen streams in much of Iowa limit the eagles’ fishing territory in the winter, but there’s no ice at the spillway near the Iowa River Power restaurant and around the bend towards City Park.

These beautiful white crested birds sit high in the trees at the bend in the Iowa River, watching the water below for the signs that a meal is close to the surface. It isn’t more than a few minutes before one of these, uh…eagle-eyed predators spots a fish loitering too close to the air and takes off in pursuit.

It’s a National Geographic special playing out where the NatGeo cameras rarely go: the middle of Iowa. Just another of the pleasant surprises that the Iowa City area has for those who go looking. And look you should. Spotting one bald eagle can be a thrill for many, but a dozen eagles within 100 yards? That’s an experience that shouldn’t be missed.

3 Wishes For Barack Obama

Just Do It
Modern presidential politics dictates that any contender lay out their policies and intentions on nearly every issue of the day. But, more often than not, those plans are unrealized. In 2008, all evidence points to a real possibility of united Democratic leadership in the oval office and Congress. If that happens, one can reasonably assume that the American public is ready to accept progressive ideas in areas like health care reform, tax structures, environmental policy and the war. Like He-Man before him, a President Obama will have the power. Let’s hope he uses it wisely.

Bipartisan Buy-in
On multiple occasions, the Obama team has hinted at a bipartisan cabinet. Here’s hoping they follow through. It’s little secret that an Obama selection will be welcomed outside of our borders. But here at home, the losing party will still count over 40 percent of the American public among its ranks. How to curry their favor at a pivotal point in our nation’s history? Bring them into the fold. Obama’s high-flying “one America” rhetoric has been denounced as fluff, but we believe America could come together if it had a leader willing to involve the other party.

Keep them Engaged
Who? New voters. Well, all voters really, but especially the recent additions. Obama’s opposition has reminded us often that oratory excellence can not substitute for action. We couldn’t agree more. But, Obama’s way with a crowd, his campaign’s incredible ability to engage young people and the previously uninterested, and his message of, yes, hope have given the country a sense of ownership in his ascendancy. We’ve thrown our chips in with his hand and we’re ready to do our part to play it through. America’s good faith in its leaders has been squandered so many times before. Let’s cross our fingers that things really do change this time around and participation in democracy doesn’t end on November 4.

3 Wishes For John McCain

A Return of Maverickiness
Like the Ivory-billed Woodpecker, the Maverick McCain has long been presumed extinct. But, if John McCain somehow overcomes his significant polling deficit, it will be because the moderate middle believes that somewhere inside McCain 2008 (the one that votes Bush 90 percent of the time) lies McCain 2000 (the one that votes McCain 100 percent of the time). Certainly, this country does not desire (or deserve) eight more years of radical conservatism. Here’s wishing that the current McCain is just a Trojan Horse for that inner Maverick.

Victory in Iraq
Nothing would validate a McCain presidency like success in the Middle East. Sen. McCain has staked much of his reputation on his belief that we can “win” in Iraq, but to this point, even defining victory has been out of his reach. Still, these are wishes and we’re going big. Whatever winning is, it would surely mean the return of a majority of U.S. troops, a drastic reduction in expenditures and, presumably, a public relations boost in the eyes of the world at large. America needs to exit Iraq gracefully. If we can simultaneously claim a victory over “terror,” all the better.

Longevity
Let’s face it, age is a factor. Another truth: Sarah Palin isn’t ready for the big leagues. Her selection has been a drag on the ticket. And for good reason: She isn’t knowledgeable on the issues of the day. If Sen. McCain is elected, it will be because Americans want him in the White House, not his running mate. As potentially our oldest first-term leader, already seven years past Social Security eligibility, good presidential health will play a major role in establishing confidence in our markets, in our domestic policy and in our foreign relations. We’d prefer a late 2008 retirement for Sen. McCain, but if not, let’s hope its still a healthy one whenever it happens.

Kurt Friese
A Cook’s Journey: Slow Food in the Heartland
Ice Cube Press
Nearly a decade ago, Devotay chef Kurt Friese founded Iowa’s first Slow Food chapter. As readers of his It’s About the Food column will know, the Slow Food movement has exploded in those ten short years. In his book, Friese tills the rich soil of middle America for stories from the frontlines of our revolution against bad eating. Friese spent two years traveling the Heartland in a search for those who preserved and promoted slow food ideals. In essays on local farmers, organic restaurateurs, sustainable brewers and fellow foodies, Friese pairs story with practical recipes from his own kitchen. Since opening the doors to Iowa City’s Devotay in 1996, Friese has been a tireless promoter of a deliberate approach to food, from local growing to passionate preparation, now A Cook’s Journey can do that job for him.

Thomas Dean
Under a Midland Sky
Ice Cube Press
In the life of Thomas Dean, the weather is an ever present companion. Writing his monthly column, U R Here, Dean often fuses his passions for meteorology, community and family. Under a Midland Sky is an expansion of those ideas. Here in the center of the country, our lives are set in front of harsh winters, swirling cyclones, crisp autumns and triple-digit summers. Dean examines his own personal story played out under these many skies revealing to the reader how place and environment shape who we are and ground us to a particular place. In a year when weather has defined Iowa and illuminated who we really are, Dean’s reflections are all the more poignant, helping us understand our relationship with the place we call home.