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Here for those of you who haven’t checked out my Vimeo channel, is part two of F.R.A. – 8711.

F.R.A. – 8711 Part 2 from Karl Tsakos on Vimeo.

In this tale of monsterious proportions, two mad scientists get involved in murder. Well, actually creating a robot. But there’s death none the less.

This is part two of a twenty minute film my friends and I made and released in the summer of 2001. It actually showed at the Westchester Film Festival.

As promised in an earlier post (a much earlier post), I uploaded my movie to my Vimeo account. You’ve seen the trailer, now see the movie the trailer is based upon. Of course, to make things a little harder on you, I am posting it in two parts. So sit back and enjoy part one of F.R.A. – 8711.

F.R.A. – 8711 Part 1 from Karl Tsakos on Vimeo.

In this tale of monsterious proportions, two mad scientists get involved in murder. Well, actually creating a robot. But there’s death none the less.

This is part one of a twenty minute film my friends and I made and released in the summer of 2001. It actually showed at the Westchester Film Festival.

When I was in third grade there was a major debate taking place. Which was the better band? Queen or Kiss?

Well, of course when you are a third grader you know everything for certain. And I, like many of my friends, knew Kiss was the better band. And, we weren’t afraid to argue that point despite not ever listening to the music of that or pretty much any other band.

Of course when I say debate, I of course mean everyone versus Jeff Wilde. At least I think his last name was Wilde. There were two Jeffs in my class and I’m almost certain the one I am thinking of had that surname. The Jeff on the side of Kiss, the side I and all right thinking people were on, was a skinny kid with ruffled, brown hair. Jeff Wilde, on the other hand, was a slightly plump kid with a blond crewcut. He was all alone on the side of Queen.

Now, I knew I was in the right because my older brother was a Kiss fan. He purchased their albums. He even had the Love Gun album which came with a cardboard gun. The gun was designed with a flap of paper which would pop out with a loud snapping sound when you flicked the gun. It even had the word “BANG” written on it (just so there was no question that you heard a gunshot). How cool is that?

On the other hand, Jeff brought in evidence of his fandom one day in the form of a Queen album. I remember it well. Even though it didn’t have any cool toys with it, it did have a picture of a giant robot holding the limp and crushed bodies of the band in it’s cruel hands. Now I know that is cool.

No, this debate never went any further, no school yard fights. I think it was pushed aside for a more interesting topics such as the Yankees (another favorite topic of third graders).

Today, I believe I can name one Kiss song or two – maybe. But, I can name several Queen songs and albums. In fact, I consider them one of the best bands of all time for their musicianship and creativity. I guess I will concede this one to Jeff Wilde.

*For the record, I don’t know anything about the Yankees anymore either.

As most of you know, I suffered a stroke in July. I have not blogged since then, not because I have had nothing to say, but because I felt I should start by talking about the stroke. Well, I’ve decide that it’s not going to happen. Maybe someday I will discuss the stroke, but not today.

Suffice it to say, I have almost no lingering side effects from the stroke and am living a normal life. And now, I will continue with blogging as part of that life.