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Author
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Topic: Post your random news stories here
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Tim Reed
Better Projection Pays
Posts: 5246
From: Northampton, PA
Registered: Sep 1999
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posted 12-21-2008 11:23 AM
quote: Jeff Stricker
Hope they can get Les Nessman to deliver the news.
Hahaha! Les was one of my favorites, Jeff! "Turning to sports, at the top of the leader board today at the US Open was Chy-Chy Rodra-guys (Chi-Chi Rodriguez)." LOL!
The WKRP show was so much like real radio. It very much resembled the first station I ever worked: there was the hip morning guy, the suave overnight guy (our station was a daytimer, so we had the suave afternoon guy), the slicko sales manager, the hot secretary, the old lady who owned the place (and who still thought rock and roll was a fad), and the neurotic GM who kow-towed to the old lady...
The writers must have worked in radio at some time, because it was so "on".
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Rick Raskin
Phenomenal Film Handler
Posts: 1100
From: Manassas Virginia
Registered: Jan 2003
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posted 01-02-2009 08:00 AM
Washington Post Story
A Subterranean Shangri-La
Gordon Brinckle in a photo from "The Projectionist," artist Kendall Messick's exhibit on Brinckle and his basement theater. (By Kendall Messick -- Hemphill Fine Arts
By Jessica Dawson
Special to The Washington Post
Friday, January 2, 2009; Page C02
In large-scale photographs and a documentary film on view at Hemphill, artist Kendall Messick introduces us to Gordon Brinckle, a nonagenarian who had a decades-long passion for the Alvin Shalimar -- a fully functioning nine-seat movie house that he built into his Delaware basement.
Films? Brinckle (pronounced "Brinkley"), who died in 2007 at age 92 -- could take 'em or leave 'em. The Shalimar never screened one all the way through. Instead, Brinckle's ardor centered on 1930s-era "movie palaces," as he called them, and the escape that their plush interiors offered.
In these pictures, Messick shows us two Brinckles. One, the aged former film projectionist (he held the job several times) hunched to a nearly 90-degree angle, who putters around the house. The other Brinckle lives downstairs, in Technicolor. He poses on the Shalimar proscenium in front of vaudeville-bright curtains, dwarfing the screen beyond. Elsewhere, he's lighted so bright that his shadows conjure a genial Bela Lugosi.
The "Alice in Wonderland" effect of Messick's camera creates scenes that register both claustrophobic and bigger than life. His series serves as metaphor for the confinements of old age and the deliverance offered by imagination.
Watching Messick's half-hour biopic devoted to Brinckle's life, you can practically smell the mothballs. Here Brinckle wears loud jackets -- spiffy, he might say -- while leading us around the projection room and ticket booth. Gesturing with his long fingers, Brinckle talks about his underground utopia.
Of his projectors, which Brinckle calls "the girls," he says: "I couldn't ask for sweeter machines than these two." Of today's multiplex: "It's such a cheap looking affair." Of changing times: "The beauty and the graciousness of the past is just something that isn't anymore."
We could dismiss Brinckle's words as an oldster's lament, yet there is a truth there: the truth of watching your life pass, and the years along with it -- the inability to stop time and the shock of its speed.
In the 1990s, Messick's sympathy for the elderly prompted him to document the aging population of a North Carolina town. Now 43, Messick rediscovered Brinckle -- he was his neighbor growing up -- about seven years ago. When Brinckle died, he bequeathed the theater to Messick.
In an interview with The Post, Messick talked about "The Projectionist" and the weight of his inheritance:
How did you discover Brinckle's theater?
Gordon had one daughter, Sandy, who died of cancer in December of 2001. The day she died, I was visiting my mother across the street and upon learning of her death, we immediately visited Gordon and his wife to pay our respects. It was during that visit that I saw the Shalimar for the first time as an adult (I had seen it once as a boy) and realized that this would be my next project.
You chose black-and-white film to document Brinckle's quotidian, street-level world and saturated color for his basement theater. Could you walk us through the journey from upstairs to downstairs and discuss your approach to shooting these realms?
The profound difference between Gordon's upstairs environment and his constructed reality downstairs is what led me to make images upstairs in black-and-white and downstairs in color. Upstairs, the 1950s-era, three-bedroom house was furnished in a cluttered, modest fashion with numerous items amassed over a lifetime. Due to Gordon and his wife Dot's failing health in recent years, it had been impossible for them to maintain the upstairs. The downstairs theater, on the other hand, was orderly, pristine and clearly preserved with the utmost care.
In this project, I question how we choose to see what we want to see -- whether it's the Gordon upstairs or the one downstairs. The black-and-white images depict what a casual visitor would see in the home of any elderly person. They can be hard images to look at, and we tend to brush past them. The color images of Gordon's downstairs fantasy world are an unexpected window into a world that we might never have seen.
In your pictures, Brinckle appears a giant in cramped quarters. How did it feel to walk around the Shalimar?
Although the theater was small in scale, it was not miniature. I didn't ever feel like a giant when I was there. On the contrary, while it was a bit cramped in certain areas, the overall feeling I always had was one of warmth. In fact, it was rather womblike.
In "The Projectionist" video, Brinckle's skin tones have a strong pink cast, as if you didn't color-correct for the light. Why?
The vibrant pink hues of Gordon's theater struck me from the beginning, particularly in contrast to the blandness of the living areas above. There were rosy hues and pink lights throughout the theater, and I made the conscious choice to play up that otherworldly ambiance. I also consider it a visual representation of the way that the theater literally "colored" Gordon's life.
How, finally, did Brinckle's Shalimar Theater arrive in your care?
The future of the theater was highly uncertain, and the possibility that it could have ended up in a dumpster somewhere would have been an utter tragedy. In 2006, I committed to save it and had it removed piece by piece and reconstructed to travel. The theater is currently crated and in storage, ready to be transported to future exhibition venues. How could I not preserve his life's work?
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John Wilson
Film God
Posts: 5438
From: Sydney, Australia.
Registered: Dec 1999
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posted 02-04-2009 02:51 AM
Letter to Richard Branson...
(apologies for the number of photos in this but it really needs them)
Link
Author of 'world's best passenger complaint' revealed
Craig Platt
January 30, 2009
A Virgin airline passenger whose hilarious complaint letter became a viral internet phenomenon has been invited to select food and wine on future flights.
The identity of the letter's author was revealed to be Oliver Beale, 29, a high-flying advertising executive, according to London's Daily Telegraph.
Mr Beale's addressed his letter directly to Virgin boss Richard Branson to complain about the quality of his in-flight meal during a flight from Mumbai to Heathrow in December last year.
He attached photographs of the meal as evidence.
In his colourful complaint, Mr Beale described his feelings about pulling back the tin foil on the main course thus:
Link
Dear Mr Branson
REF: Mumbai to Heathrow 7th December 2008
I love the Virgin brand, I really do which is why I continue to use it despite a series of unfortunate incidents over the last few years. This latest incident takes the biscuit.
Ironically, by the end of the flight I would have gladly paid over a thousand rupees for a single biscuit following the culinary journey of hell I was subjected to at the hands of your corporation.
Look at this Richard. Just look at it:
I imagine the same questions are racing through your brilliant mind as were racing through mine on that fateful day. What is this? Why have I been given it? What have I done to deserve this? And, which one is the starter, which one is the desert?
You don't get to a position like yours Richard with anything less than a generous sprinkling of observational power so I KNOW you will have spotted the tomato next to the two yellow shafts of sponge on the left. Yes, it's next to the sponge shaft without the green paste. That's got to be the clue hasn't it. No sane person would serve a desert with a tomato would they. Well answer me this Richard, what sort of animal would serve a desert with peas in:
I know it looks like a baaji but it's in custard Richard, custard. It must be the pudding. Well you'll be fascinated to hear that it wasn't custard. It was a sour gel with a clear oil on top. It's only redeeming feature was that it managed to be so alien to my palette that it took away the taste of the curry emanating from our miscellaneous central cuboid of beige matter. Perhaps the meal on the left might be the desert after all.
Anyway, this is all irrelevant at the moment. I was raised strictly but neatly by my parents and if they knew I had started desert before the main course, a sponge shaft would be the least of my worries. So lets peel back the tin-foil on the main dish and see what's on offer.
I'll try and explain how this felt. Imagine being a twelve year old boy Richard. Now imagine it's Christmas morning and you're sat their with your final present to open. It's a big one, and you know what it is. It's that Goodmans stereo you picked out the catalogue and wrote to Santa about.
Only you open the present and it's not in there. It's your hamster Richard. It's your hamster in the box and it's not breathing. That's how I felt when I peeled back the foil and saw this:
Now I know what you're thinking. You're thinking it's more of that Baaji custard. I admit I thought the same too, but no. It's mustard Richard. MUSTARD. More mustard than any man could consume in a month. On the left we have a piece of broccoli and some peppers in a brown glue-like oil and on the right the chef had prepared some mashed potato. The potato masher had obviously broken and so it was decided the next best thing would be to pass the potatoes through the digestive tract of a bird.
Once it was regurgitated it was clearly then blended and mixed with a bit of mustard. Everybody likes a bit of mustard Richard.
By now I was actually starting to feel a little hypoglycaemic. I needed a sugar hit. Luckily there was a small cookie provided. It had caught my eye earlier due to it's baffling presentation:
It appears to be in an evidence bag from the scene of a crime. A CRIME AGAINST BLOODY COOKING. Either that or some sort of back-street underground cookie, purchased off a gun-toting maniac high on his own supply of yeast. You certainly wouldn't want to be caught carrying one of these through customs. Imagine biting into a piece of brass Richard. That would be softer on the teeth than the specimen above.
I was exhausted. All I wanted to do was relax but obviously I had to sit with that mess in front of me for half an hour. I swear the sponge shafts moved at one point.
Once cleared, I decided to relax with a bit of your world-famous onboard entertainment. I switched it on:
I apologise for the quality of the photo, it's just it was incredibly hard to capture Boris Johnson's face through the flickering white lines running up and down the screen. Perhaps it would be better on another channel:
Is that Ray Liotta? A question I found myself asking over and over again throughout the gruelling half-hour I attempted to watch the film like this. After that I switched off. I'd had enough. I was the hungriest I'd been in my adult life and I had a splitting headache from squinting at a crackling screen.
My only option was to simply stare at the seat in front and wait for either food, or sleep. Neither came for an incredibly long time. But when it did it surpassed my wildest expectations:
Yes! It's another crime-scene cookie. Only this time you dunk it in the white stuff.
Richard. What is that white stuff? It looked like it was going to be yoghurt. It finally dawned on me what it was after staring at it. It was a mixture between the Baaji custard and the Mustard sauce. It reminded me of my first week at university. I had overheard that you could make a drink by mixing vodka and refreshers. I lied to my new friends and told them I'd done it loads of times. When I attempted to make the drink in a big bowl it formed a cheese Richard, a cheese. That cheese looked a lot like your baaji-mustard.
So that was that Richard. I didn't eat a bloody thing. My only question is: How can you live like this? I can't imagine what dinner round your house is like, it must be like something out of a nature documentary.
As I said at the start I love your brand, I really do. It's just a shame such a simple thing could bring it crashing to it's knees and begging for sustenance.
Yours Sincererely
XXXX
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John Wilson
Film God
Posts: 5438
From: Sydney, Australia.
Registered: Dec 1999
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posted 07-15-2009 05:07 PM
Scooter may be world's smallest dog
By staff writers
NEWS.com.au
July 14, 2009 03:00pm
SOMEWHERE inside this tiny ball of white fluff is a dog.
Perhaps the world’s smallest.
His name is Scooter and his New Zealand owner Cheryl McKnight is sure he’s stopped growing at the princely height of 8cm.
According to the Guinness Book of World Records, that’s a full 2cm smaller than the current record-holder, Boo Boo – a long-haired Chihuahua from America.
Ms McKnight drinks from cups of tea that are bigger than her Maltese pup, and has had to make a jumper for Scooter out of a purple sock just so she doesn’t accidentally step on him.
"It really is quite something. I can't take him for a walk or put a leash on him,'' Ms McKnight told NZPA.
She said six-month-old Scooter appeared to have stopped growing at roughly the size of a stick of butter.
Originally named Pee Wee, but later renamed due to fears of an inferiority complex, Scooter eats out of an egg cup three times a day and sleeps in a shoebox.
And to think Ms McKnight nearly gave him away.
"For the first 10 weeks or so I didn't really want him,” she told NZPA.
“I thought nah, someone else can have him. But over time I've fallen in love with him.''
Link to story
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Chad Souder
Jedi Master Film Handler
Posts: 962
From: Waterloo, IA, USA
Registered: Feb 2000
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posted 07-15-2009 07:55 PM
What you talkin' 'bout, Willis? Like anybody is going to call it that. Mile High Stadium is still Mile High Stadium
Sears Tower name change to become official
July 15, 2009
FROM THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Known as the Sears Tower since it opened in 1973, the tallest building in the United States is set to change its name to Willis Tower.
The London-based insurance brokerage Willis Group Holdings will make the name change official Thursday with a ceremony at the downtown Chicago skyscraper. Willis is leasing 140,000 square feet and moving 500 employees to the building.
The new name isn't the only recent change at the tower. Last month, owners announced a $350 million greening effort, along with plans for a 50-story luxury hotel. For tourists, glass-bottomed enclosed balconies on the 103rd floor were opened earlier this month.
Sears Roebuck and Co. was the original tenant before leaving in 1992. A real estate investment group now owns the 1,450-foot, 110-story skyscraper.
Link
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John Wilson
Film God
Posts: 5438
From: Sydney, Australia.
Registered: Dec 1999
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posted 08-03-2009 03:10 AM
Star Wars On Tour
Star Wars: In Concert launches for five years
By Ray Waddell
FOR Another Planet Touring, very good news it is.
The San Francisco-based promoter is producing the upcoming global tour of Star Wars: In Concert, a conceptualised, multimedia event driven by live symphonic performances of music from all six of John Williams' Star Wars scores.
"It is the first time in 30 years that George Lucas, Lucasfilm and John Williams have authorised a show to go out," Another Planet chief Gregg Perloff said.
"It's basically the 'greatest hits' of Star Wars, with a rock 'n' roll production."
The tour opens October 1 at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California and will travel the globe in a five-year production deal for Another Planet.
Narrated live by Anthony Daniels (the actor who portrayed C-3PO in all six films), the production features a full symphony orchestra and choir, accompanied by specially edited footage from the films displayed on a three-story-tall high-definition LED screen.
With the combination of clips from the movies and the spectacle of a live orchestra playing Williams' stirring scores, Perloff hopes Star Wars: In Concert will find an enthusiastic audience.
"If we can bring a new audience for this show ... and then also attract what I would call a normal pop-sensibility audience that would say, 'Wow, I didn't have any idea what an orchestra sounded like live,' I would be just ecstatic," Perloff said.
Initially, Star Wars: In Concert will book "several hundred" dates worldwide, beginning with 50 in North America, then Europe.
Another Planet is partnering with arenas and arena management companies in promoting the dates.
As was the case with other nontraditional live tours like Trans-Siberian Orchestra and Walking With Dinosaurs, much of the promotion is geared toward telling ticket buyers about what's being staged.
The tour's website, StarWarsInConcert.com, features information about the show, a message from Williams, videoclips and links to buy tickets when they go on sale.
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![[puke]](graemlins/puke.gif)
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