All by himself, plus a few thousand viewers

When Richard Dunn was stuck at the McCarran International Airport overnight, it didn’t occur to him to just read a book, take a nap or watch a movie on his laptop.

What did occur to him was to spend all night making a video of himself lip-syncing to Celine Dion’s version of the Eric Carmen classic “All By Myself” in his very own music video.

Dunn, who grew up in Moncton, works as a lighting designer for corporate entertainment. He now lives in Canton, Georgia.

The video, while inspired by a lonely airport, has received more than 4,000 plays on Vimeo - and counting -  and has been shared in over 49 countries.

Dunn was offered vouchers to be bumped off two consecutive Delta Air Lines flights leaving him the entire night free until the next available flight at 6 a.m.

“I thought, well I don’t have enough time to go to a hotel so what do I do? I’ve got my phone and an empty movie set, lets see what trouble I can get into.”

So he accepted the money and started brainstorming.

First he started looking up songs about travel, but wasn’t feeling inspired.

Then he Googled songs about being alone.

“And then our dear Canadian sister started streaming in my headphones, “All By Myself” and I thought ‘that’s it, that’s pure movie gold.’”

Dunn killed time while the airport cleared out until 2 a.m. and then set to work.

He said Celine Dion is his guilty pleasure —it didn’t take long for him to have the words down.

He asked an airport mechanic for tape which he used to secure his iPhone to a ruler. He’d sandwich the pole between luggage bags to secure it as a sort of tripod.

“I’m just peeing myself laughing listening to this stuff thinking ‘you’re just tired its not that funny,’” he said.

Richard Dunn
The big crescendo scene in the video was shot from a piece of luggage set on the escalator. (Richard Dunn)

For his big finale, Dunn strapped the camera to a bag and set it on an escalator so the camera zooms out on him as he crescendos.

He said he had to do the take and then sprint to the top of the escalator to catch his bag before it was pinned in the escalator.

In the video Dunn appears outside a women’s washroom singing on the floor and on a ticket counter holding an announcement slip.

He said the cleaning crews were surprisingly undeterred by his video.

“I can only imagine what they see in the LAS airport overnight.”

Watch the video thru this link:

http://vimeo.com/97634383

Richard Dunn

Thousands of naked bicyclists stage festive Portland protest ride

by Reuters

Cyclist pour into the streets of Portland for the 11th Annual World Naked Bike Ride June 7, 2014. | Reuters

Portland Oregon - Thousands of bicyclists, many of them stark naked, poured into the streets of Portland, Oregon on Saturday night for the 11th annual World Naked Bike Ride, a protest that promotes bike riding as an alternative to driving cars.

Nude cyclists with lights flashing in their tire spokes rang bells as they barreled down avenues lined with cheering spectators, while a naked, apparently pregnant woman rode in a bike trailer.

"This is a party, but it's also a protest," said Carl Larson, a ride spokesman. "It is about oil dependence, cycling vulnerability and body" image.

Cyclists showed up in Normandale Park an hour before the ride, shedding garments according to the ride theme "as bare as you dare".

The rides are held in more than 75 U.S. cities and in more than 20 other countries, but Portland's is believed to be the largest, with more than 8,000 participants last year.

But unlike events in other cities, the Portland ride works with local police, being considered as a protest. Officers direct traffic during what is generally a trouble-free event.

"We've had a few complaints from neighbors but overall not many issues of concern," said police spokesman Sgt. Peter Simpson before the ride, adding "for residents who don't want to see it, the best advice is to just not go outside."

Jennifer Young, 40, who was at the ride with her 16-year-old son and was painted blue head to toe with fairy wings on her back, saw the goal as showing cyclists' vulnerability, saying "I think it's a little more evident when we're naked."

Neighbors looked on as a marching band played and dancers kicked off the start. Later a naked punk band jammed from the sidelines as bikers rolled past.

Fred Tebo, 90, wasn't sure want to think of the hoards of naked people in the park across the street from the house he has lived in since 1971.

"It's entertaining and it's stupid at the same time," he said, sitting on his steps. But a few minutes later he let a young woman and man clad in their underwear use his bathroom.