I'll post a proper update soon.

But in the meantime, I'm posting this PSA on behalf of my friend Ransom:

Hi all,

I'm sending this to everyone I know, and everyone they know, and
probably even a few people I don't know. The reason: a short film I
directed called "Portable Living Room" has been named a finalist
in the IFC Spirit Awards -- one of four nominated out of
many, many submissions -- and if it wins it will be broadcast live
on the Independent Film Channel as part of the 2007 Independent
Spirit Awards telecast.

The finalists were chosen by a panel of IFC judges, but the winner
is chosen via online voting. So I need all the votes I can get,
and the competition is fierce! Lots of people watched the film
online after my first email, and though I got a lot of great
feedback from people who enjoyed it, not very many voted.
If you could take a minute to register for the IFC site
and rate the film 5 stars, it would be a great help!
(And if you're a friend of a friend of a friend and aren't sure
who I am, please accept my apologies -- and check out the film anyway!)

Here's a direct link to the film on IFC.com:
http://medialab.ifc.com/film_detail.jsp?film_id=3431


HOW TO VOTE

A lot of people wrote to tell me that they liked the film, but
didn't know how to vote. Unfortunately, the IFC site isn't
very straightforward, but what seemed like errors or glitches
to people who tried to vote is actually the way the site works!
Here's what you have to do. (This actually doesn't take very
long):

1) Go to the link above. My film will start playing immediately.
You will see RATE IT! and 5 blank stars below the film, but
when you click on it, the site asks you to register.

2) Fill out the registration form. It will ask you to re-enter a
bit of semi-garbled text for security purposes. You may have
to type it in a number of times; this isn't a glitch, it's just
an (annoying) security feature.

3) The site sends you an email. Click on the link in the email
and it will take you back to the site. Enter your email address
and the password you created.

4) You see a page called "my profile." Just ignore this -- you
don't have to enter any info here -- just go back to the page
with my film on it, using the same URL as above:
http://medialab.ifc.com/film_detail.jsp?film_id=3431

5) Now you can vote. 5 stars!