I'm sitting in the Continental lounge at the Houston airport on my way back from a fun weekend. I went to Orem, Utah, and felt the snow on my face (on Sept. 29th at 7,000 feet) and the wind in my hair (what's left of it). It was a great weekend in the Rockies.

The best part?

I can now truthfully say that, on Saturday, I presented a 30-minute rough cut of my "Democracy In France" documentary (see previous columns) at Sundance.

What? (You say.)

Sundance? (You say.)

Okay... A couple "caveats."

It wasn't the Sundance Film Festival (which isn't on yet) but it was at Sundance, the Redford-owned resort and original home of the film festival.

It wasn't before the festival's judging committee but to a big meeting of surgeons who, while they didn't give me an award or a statue, did give me a round of applause and some appreciative comments. Being a worldly and intelligent lot they also asked some excellent questions. It was good mental exercise AND they paid for my trip.

Who knows? Maybe I can hit them up for some funding for the next project. All I need is a Limited Partnership registered in the Caymans with a 10-year depreciation load and some back-end write-offs to make it worthwhile for them. Anyone know a good film-industry lawyer?

Heck. Maybe I can get a few weddings out of it to help pay off the Visa bills from my three-month stay in France.

(It was worth EVERY penny...)