Filmfest is over for another year. For me, that’s 20 fests in 20 years. Alas, it finished with a 6 hour (2 parts with intermission) Indian gangster flick. Passable and would still have worked well at a third of the length. I’ll probably post a filmfest summary in a day or two; feeling a bit wiped at the moment.

When filmfest is on, everything else in my life stops. There’s still some washing up from a week and a half ago to do…I have at least rinsed it. I usually don’t buy groceries prior to filmfest as, from past experience, they don’t last til post fest. I barely see my home; last year I worked from home but this year I worked in the city. My daily routine was something like:

• get up, shower, etc
• day at work
• filmfest
• home and sleep

and over and over. Just prior to fest, I had a new TV delivered and the cardboard and packing foam etc are still in my lounge room needing to be broken down and tossed (recycled where appropriate). On the cusp of fest, I had 3 cases of wine delivered, one of which I’m finally sampling tonight. Thanks to a friend, I buy a chunk of wine regularly from a good discounter, though I’m also a member of a winery in the Hunter.

Dinner during filmfest is usually dominated by whatever is open near the State Theatre…and consumed quickly prior to the next film. Wine is drunk by the glass and bought from  the bar in the Theatre. I was drinking their Semillon for $8.50 a glass. It was at least a nice drop this year…thankfully, as they’ve had some shockers in years gone by. Not unlike when I travel, the last week or so I’ve only been able to get wine by the glass. Tonight, at home, I cracked open a bottle of red that cost slightly more than that glass of Semillon. At times like this, drinking a $10 bottle of red, it is sheer luxury to be able to keep topping up my glass. That’s a freedom I’ve missed.