Here’s Some more film my friends and I made. In this one, I was cast as the main character, Moe Green. The movie was to be a series of vignettes built around the character. Unfortunately, or fortunately, depending on your point of view, the film was never completed. However, several scenes were shot and edited. The following was the fifth scene and was to be the location of several reoccurring gags.
My friends and I had the great idea to make a second movie. The movie was to be a series of vignettes centered around one character. Basically a day in the life where the character goes through a series of odd adventures.
This scene is the first of three scenes that take place at a water fountain and the fifth scene of the movie. It is the longest of the three and the most complete scene from the movie.
Obviously, the movie was never finished, but some scenes were. We had some really good ideas for some of the scenes, but producing the entire movie was a little ambitious of us.
Unfortunately, I was cast as the lead in the movie. I’m allowed to say this because it’s about me. Also, I believe my strengths lie behind the camera, not in front of it. Also, in the cast for this scene is a world renowned mathematician.
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.
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.
Tonight, when I got home from my brother’s house, I decided to eat a snack in the back yard where it was cooler than in the house. I was treated to one, no, make that five of those things that remind you how big a place the world is.
I had left the windows mostly closed when I went out earlier today since the weather channel had warned of rain and I was going to be out until evening. It had been another hot day, although not as bad as earlier in the week. When I got back this evening, I opened a bunch of windows. Still, it takes a while for a house to cool down so I decided to enjoy a bowl of cereal in the backyard while it did so. (As a side note, I almost never eat cereal in the morning. For some reason, I enjoy it more as an evening snack.)
As I sat in the yard and looked up at the sky I saw several things. Some minor clouds that just lurked on the horizon leaving me with clear skies overhead. Stars twinkling through the hot atmosphere. Airplanes going in every direction. And, something else; little stars that silently moved in a straight line at a constant speed from horizon to horizon.
If you had never seen these objects before, you might assume they were very high flying airplanes, up so high you couldn’t hear them. But they moved to straight and steadily to be planes.
If you thought about it, you would have realized they all were flying over the same path. Three of them from south to north and two from north to south. (That should have been a give away clue.) They were in fact, satellites. Man made satellites to be exact.
I’ve seen them for years while growing up. It was in Cape Cod on summer evenings where my family and I first realized what they were. We would sit out on the beach or the porch of my grandmother’s house talking into the evening and gazing at the sky. Our two favorite things to spot were satellites and meteors. Both always seemed abundant on warm summer evenings.
So, not only do they remind me what a big place the world is when I think about how many miles above my head they are and how fast they are moving. Both large numbers and yet small compared to the space and the stars above and around them. This time, I’m also reminded of time. My recanting of when I first saw them and thought about what they were was also years ago. So now I’m also getting a sense of time when I look at them.
I guess I always did think about time in a way when I looked at satellites. No matter how recently a satellite is launched into space, I will always think of footage of NASA from the ’50s, ’60s, and ’70s. Don’t know why, it just happens. Well, that and footage of the Hubble Space Telescope being launched from the space shuttle in the ’80s.
Anyhow, it was a nice thing to sit in the yard and enjoy watching the silent light show above me.
Okay, this entry will require reader feedback. I made a video tour of my garden; unscripted and unplanned. I just went through and discussed what I have. It’s rough to say the least.
Leave some comments on wether I should do more like this on the garden or not.
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. 
