Tales from the Corners

We enjoyed paying tribute to those who inspired us. Oy Vey, It’s Mr. Goldstein! is one of those efforts. For those who are too young to remember, Mr. Bill was a recurring, clay-sculpted character on NBC’s Saturday Night Live within its first five seasons. While it can be labeled a blatant rip-off, it was fun to do this effort at parody.  As we shot this, I truly had some empathy with the original Mr. Bill creators. One could do anything that they wished to do with pieces of Play-Doh as it was proved on Saturday Night Live . My favorite moment was when Mr. Bill met then-cast member John Belushi. Mr. Bill asked for an autograph. Belushi obliged but the result was quite tragic. We somewhat created that moment in the film when Mr. Goldstein receives a true “knuckle sandwich” and is then, spoiler alert, doesn’t do too well with my childhood Mighty Casey train set.  As for the fullscreen titles, I’m not sure where Dan was going with those, but I think they still get ...

Friday The 13th What A Bad Day is one of those shorts obviously done on a lark. One afternoon we decided to do another experimental short without any pre-planning. I think we were well ahead of our time since zillions of productions have been done since without any pre-production.  This incredibly short Super 8mm silent film features an attempt at object animation. The one-frame option on Dan’s silent Bell & Howell camera was a function that we were truly discovering in those days. We read about mixing the regular 18 frames per second and the one-frame options in a short production.  This film is the first attempt at that “look.”  In our version of  ‘Friday the 13th,’I am coming into the house trying to pour some Pepsi, but the glass moves on its own. Yes, that’s the real product going all over Dan’s table. Like I wrote in this space: the place was our own funhouse.  Notice that I’m wearing a Coke shirt while pouring Pepsi.  Cl...

One of the benefits to having two older siblings when growing up is that they had the opportunity to “babysit” me, their younger brother. Oftentimes those nights fell on a Saturday which meant that I was treated to some fare on television that many other kids my age didn’t have the chance to enjoy in those days. On those Saturday nights, I watched the CBS-TV lineup which consisted of Mary Tyler Moore, All In The Family, The Carol Burnett Show and MASH. Legendary shows that, overall at the time, went over my head. Yes, I loved laughing at Ted Baxter’s and Major Frank Burns’ buffoonery on those shows, but viewing those same episodes years later makes me realize how many of the references and the context that I clearly missed as a kid. It didn’t take long for my sisters to introduce me to NBC’s Saturday Night Live , which aired at 11:30p Eastern, beyond late for a kid in those days. I loved laughing at a guy named Chevy Chase who made falling down an art, but I wondered to mysel...

As of this writing, Georgia will be re-opening on Friday, April 24, but with some restrictions. Gyms, bowling alleys, salons and other indoor venues will be open for business while complying with social distancing rules. There seem to be many questions. How will the social distancing rules be regulated and by whom?  Will folks who visit the bowling alleys be required to wear gloves, especially to pick up those bowling balls which have those holes in them. Am I wrong on that one or are those bowling balls a breeding ground for bacteria.  Are gyms a major petri dish? Certainly I can keep my hands off of the treadmills, but that is impossible with everything else in there including weights, weight machines, bikes and ellipticals.  Movie theaters might be a bit easier to operate in the post-shelter-in-place era, but what about hair and nail salons? There’s some close contact in those places so masks and gloves will need to be mandatory in some sense, right?...

Morguefile/daffers234 Some beaches are open as well as other outdoor spots throughout the Peach State. It’s all OK, say many authorities, that is if everyone is social distancing. It all sounds like common sense in this day and age of COVID-19, but there is proof that the order is constantly being violated. Whistleblowers throughout the social media landscape are posting proof of the violations.  Is the nation and world for that matter, doing its collective best to slow down the spread of the dreaded novel Coronavirus? That’s a tough question which receives myriad responses. It’s all enough to make one’s head explode, get off the grid and seek refuge in a north Georgia cabin with a friendly bear.  While most of us wouldn’t do well seeking refuge in a north Georgia cabin with a bear (even a nice one like the SCANA bear), we can do our best to follow all of those CDC guidelines that are easily accessible by visiting their website at:  http://cdc.gov Indeed...

Morguefile/ pawankawan As  of this writing, the great outdoors is a ghost town in certain respects. As I run, jog or walk in the neighborhood, I see fellow residents on the sidewalks and/or paths. They're a bit more active these days and for good reason. We need to get outside of our four walls to forget about the pandemic for a while.  Thus far, we all follow the CDC protocols and distance ourselves. I have yet to encounter anyone violating the guidelines. Although, I do witness neighborhood cyclists crowding a bit much. Perhaps being on the bikes gives cycling groups a sense of security -- albeit that is quite false in reality. I also observed some construction workers crowding up a bit. As I make my way on the neighborhood paths, I try not to take it all as an insult as we all step out of each other's way, but that is quite difficult whether one is insecure or not insecure.  I'm confident that anyone reading this in late March 2020 will agree that socia...

It seems that when it comes to weather, the bottom always falls out on MLK Day here in the Atlanta metro. Last year, I participated in the MLK Day Drum Run 5K . I made my way down to the Piedmont Park area, parked at Grady High School and then braved the 20-degree Fahrenheit morning. Of course, I was all bundled up for the occasion, but I was pondering why in the world it was a bit more tolerable on New Year’s Day 2019, when I was at Piedmont Park for the Resolution Run weeks prior. It even rained on that New Year’s Day run and still, it was not nearly as cold as it was on MLK Day. This year, I decided to forgo the Drum Run and participate in another volunteer effort. I signed up to do another river clean-up, this time with the Chattahoochee Riverkeepers. Mind you, I signed up when we were experiencing 70-degree days in January – knowing full well that the temps would drop by MLK Day. Not only did the temps drops, they fell well beyond what I expected. Like most events suc...