tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-347985992024-03-07T18:07:46.765-05:00The Legion of DecencyThe business of screenwriting and fighting the good fight. Being true to your talents and your calling.jimhenshawhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07815834271470133872noreply@blogger.comBlogger1353125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34798599.post-56690603612905342602023-05-24T16:00:00.007-04:002023-05-24T16:04:05.167-04:00TINA<div class="separator"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjPOfRuOQsIUnFVsDwVVRW9TJ4aql_H5WlR1tJLAFOSuWo3BqGgkDzEYJ2cQmDqr-_vtc7C2lUszWMKfmHuB3YwMa_fhv2V7_nJHyk2E5LDnzk9hSMkXYD7rBuHjdvNzQVpKBqug-3HcGQuInHjA0SW0iLHz6QQnYXKlHmjVMwcQH5zMMcXUE/s5375/tina.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3583" data-original-width="5375" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjPOfRuOQsIUnFVsDwVVRW9TJ4aql_H5WlR1tJLAFOSuWo3BqGgkDzEYJ2cQmDqr-_vtc7C2lUszWMKfmHuB3YwMa_fhv2V7_nJHyk2E5LDnzk9hSMkXYD7rBuHjdvNzQVpKBqug-3HcGQuInHjA0SW0iLHz6QQnYXKlHmjVMwcQH5zMMcXUE/w399-h266/tina.jpg" width="399" /></a></div><p><br /></p><p>Legend has it that Tina Turner was booked (along with her notorious husband, Ike) as the opening act of The Beatles first major British tour.</p><p>On the opening night of said tour, the Fab Four watched her performance from the wings. And became terrified about taking the stage. They simply had no idea how to top what she was doing.</p><p>I had the good fortune of seeing Tina live in concert twice, at shows more than 20 years apart. And I can say without a word of a lie, she hadn't lost a step or had to compromise a single note. </p><p>The Lady just got better. You left a Tina Turner concert both energized and exhausted. The Adrenalin rush lasted for days.</p><p>Ms. Turner passed away today at the age of 83, perhaps typifying the adage that "it's better to burn out than it is to fade"; and probably having, in her last moments, more energy than a lot of performers generate in a lifetime.</p><p>Girl, you were something special. Here are two of my favorite moments... </p><p><br /></p><p><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="324" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/de5Xauv99QM" width="389" youtube-src-id="de5Xauv99QM"></iframe></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="329" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/TTfYnRQgKgY" width="397" youtube-src-id="TTfYnRQgKgY"></iframe></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div>jimhenshawhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07815834271470133872noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34798599.post-79890072424396385982023-04-14T10:56:00.007-04:002023-04-14T11:08:07.519-04:00Loose Lips Sink Ships<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbFNQLwinhoBJuTQ1oi5QuAzb8voCrxDadf94_opVBUJBJVYFCy2xmcLskKFdnZGSHTqTMvD9Ej4yR83UWo9sh3W5C7Fql1DB-_z-51rbCQUlYybT777ZjL2TqkMU3mCrnEsaetCYWl7vWMHCpW2gYEx6vmb39dZszVBlf-KDgnEe1V7zIb1w/s1024/loose-lips11.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="924" height="417" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbFNQLwinhoBJuTQ1oi5QuAzb8voCrxDadf94_opVBUJBJVYFCy2xmcLskKFdnZGSHTqTMvD9Ej4yR83UWo9sh3W5C7Fql1DB-_z-51rbCQUlYybT777ZjL2TqkMU3mCrnEsaetCYWl7vWMHCpW2gYEx6vmb39dZszVBlf-KDgnEe1V7zIb1w/w377-h417/loose-lips11.jpg" width="377" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p><b>I'm seriously considering blogging on a regular basis again. </b></p><p><b>The recent passage of the hideously Dangerous-for-Canadians-with-a-Creative-Streak Bill C-11 and the impending greater intrusion into your private thoughts C-18, which goes by the charmingly Orwellian moniker of the "Online Harms Bill" are pushing me in that direction.</b></p><p><b>But, at least for the moment, what I post here won't get me banned on the more popular platforms.</b></p><p><b>Censorship has been an issue I've battled much of my life. Since back when the Toronto police Vice Squad used to close or threaten to close theatres like the "Toronto Free", "Passe Muraille", "The Factory" and others over the Canadian plays they were producing.<br /><br />Well written, challenging and audience drawing shows like "Clear Light" and "I Love You Baby Blue" saw actors, writers and directors harassed and interrogated by real live police officers for nothing more than what you could see or hear in any number of American and British films which might suffer no more than a restricted rating.</b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqraAqoy8grQFgT1IH9mIee1IdfAoRgkcK97AJtHQZ27olqMl28U1x1EsJfHzXzRSZC20C_YxHNGn0ScFp8rSVyzR9V9T4wayIAyLDJBFGGOkj72PyG1tPRbuaUNIs-vwa_0qvre21P_DNNzccONdoUtKfp8mXETezNgWvEN0GG5EMgW2Ihfk/s10023/Restricted-Cougar-logo-for-Zlatina-01.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="6117" data-original-width="10023" height="124" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqraAqoy8grQFgT1IH9mIee1IdfAoRgkcK97AJtHQZ27olqMl28U1x1EsJfHzXzRSZC20C_YxHNGn0ScFp8rSVyzR9V9T4wayIAyLDJBFGGOkj72PyG1tPRbuaUNIs-vwa_0qvre21P_DNNzccONdoUtKfp8mXETezNgWvEN0GG5EMgW2Ihfk/w246-h124/Restricted-Cougar-logo-for-Zlatina-01.png" width="246" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;"><b>Over the last year, I've received two "warnings" from Facebook over what most would consider jokes. The first came for asking how fans of hockey's Brandon Wheatkings could cheer for their team if social media banned the "Let's Go -- You know" chant.</b></span></div><p><b><br />The second arrived a week ago. Amid a flurry of funny memes and comments about a former American President and a Porn Star, I posted this one of the 42nd Commander and Chief.</b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_KnGyZdxO04XPKcLDgQDLgcailhnc7lYIeKdped8HXPr8cfLEYjAN46KBLA0-bbcDl8LKFjO2h6K72xtyQVxt9QZsWJ5RblYvxmIEek248FKHrfAVQK3fdm4p14hV2GKg9TQyW1PS8kwUgfB6TQmqe4JLm8SeoX2hv1yAca4d7enBK-uEJug/s680/wait.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="680" data-original-width="546" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_KnGyZdxO04XPKcLDgQDLgcailhnc7lYIeKdped8HXPr8cfLEYjAN46KBLA0-bbcDl8LKFjO2h6K72xtyQVxt9QZsWJ5RblYvxmIEek248FKHrfAVQK3fdm4p14hV2GKg9TQyW1PS8kwUgfB6TQmqe4JLm8SeoX2hv1yAca4d7enBK-uEJug/s320/wait.jpg" width="257" /></a></div><div><br /></div><b>Apparently "independent fact checkers" had determined that the above pictured gentleman's settlement with a woman named Paula Jones "differed in context" with the current case.</b><div><b><br /></b></div><div><b>Guys, it was a joke. Now we have to choose between which aging Horn-dog it's okay to laugh at?</b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div><b>All that brings me to yesterday, when I told a joke to a couple of friends over coffee that related to the current Bud Light situation. One laughed. The other smiled but opined, "I wish people wouldn't use things like this to divide us". </b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div><b>Oh. Right. I forgot. There are certain oxen you can't gore during the current news cycle. </b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div><b>One of the new adages in Hollywood, "Go Woke. Go Broke" seems to get re-proven at least once a week and yet does not seem to be slowing the lemmings hurling their fortunes and working futures over a cliff just to be on the right side of -- what? History?</b></div><div><br /></div><div><b>I mean, I recognize that I'm a product of the Canadian film business, where most people live hand to mouth creating government sponsored art that never gets a theatrical release or significant ratings; while I achieved a comfortable living and the occasional majority share in American Neilsen numbers by believing you had to add a little entertainment value -- and maybe not worry so much about what "some people" might think. </b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div><b>My little joke from yesterday was included, in a less funny version than mine of course, in the video that follows.</b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div><b>Fox News -- yes, I'm going there -- has a late night show entitled "Gutfeld" which for more than a year has been garnering larger audiences than Stephen Colbert and the two Jimmys, sometimes attracting more viewers than all three put together. </b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div><b>In the cable category, where show host Greg Gutfeld's ratings are officially counted, "Gutfeld" has six times the viewers of "The Daily Show" and up to 20 times that of his other competitors.</b></div><div><p><b>Last night, Greg Gutfeld's monologue was about the current Bud Light Brew-ha (to coin a phrase). But Greg's monologues also include comments from his guests for the evening. And that -- in my usual long-winded way -- is my point. </b></p><p><b>Comedy and thoughts we're cowed into not speaking often lead to more substantial places than just "taking a side" or "not upsetting someone". For none of Mr. Gutfeld's guests gave a damn about who drinks Bud Light. Instead they revealed what those who would control our speech really don't want you thinking about...</b></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/B7Cs9XrMHjU" width="320" youtube-src-id="B7Cs9XrMHjU"></iframe></div><p></p></div>jimhenshawhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07815834271470133872noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34798599.post-41510845368922864522023-01-13T17:16:00.005-05:002023-01-13T17:18:09.386-05:00Sheri<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifRZeyMBheopLMrMuWbQsBUoCe_QwbWcPuvQLTNcvkepcZ-Z8BjQec_rK8LjKt6VpXGlXaHqoL4ejvgUKMLEUMbz3mIH7cyMNKVVQdPbGeqGXOWqn3BbKKdNnxafpp-90jszxlu_HeyYcD7HoHLvtO3wEygdagYQcEHKi6e_7iPdORxXM1hXw/s447/Sheri%202.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="377" data-original-width="447" height="355" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifRZeyMBheopLMrMuWbQsBUoCe_QwbWcPuvQLTNcvkepcZ-Z8BjQec_rK8LjKt6VpXGlXaHqoL4ejvgUKMLEUMbz3mIH7cyMNKVVQdPbGeqGXOWqn3BbKKdNnxafpp-90jszxlu_HeyYcD7HoHLvtO3wEygdagYQcEHKi6e_7iPdORxXM1hXw/w421-h355/Sheri%202.jpg" width="421" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>Sheri McGrath once saved my life. Maybe more than once.</p><p>The production of the first season of any television series is chock full of chaos and exhaustion. Nobody, including networks, the creative team, as well as cast and crew has a firm grip on what they should be making or could be making given all the possible options -- let alone whether the audience will deem it entertaining. Everybody involved is pushed to the limits of their talents, ingenuity and ability to deal with sleep deprivation.</p><p>It's a wonder any of us live to see a renewal.</p><p>My first time in that world was the CBS series "Adderly", which landed in Toronto in 1986. It arrived with additional challenges in its production obstacle course. Envisioned as the 2nd entry in the network's burgeoning attempt to extend Primetime past midnight as an alternative to Johnny Carson and a slew of other cheap to produce talk shows. And it had to deliver an hour of US Primetime drama and action on a fraction of those budgets.</p><p>It also had to accomplish that in a place not known for the genre, let alone doing it 22 times in 7 months. Somehow we not only made it, but won some awards and a loyal following. But more importantly we were picked up for a second season.</p><p>David Jansen, star of the original "Fugitive" series described having your series picked up as "A Horrible Relief". And I understood exactly what he meant. I was wrung out, dead on my feet -- and now I got to do it again.</p><p>The actual good news was that the production had found the money to buy me an assistant. And a day or so later, she turned up at my office for an interview.</p><p>A biker chick named Sheri.</p><p>Among her extended family were about half of our transport department, the biker gang veterans who knew where all the skeletons in the production office were buried -- likely because they buried them. </p><p>I needed somebody literate, who could type, understood the new fangled things called computers and maybe could make them churn out pages in script format since no such software then existed.</p><p>She tossed aside her leather jacket, giving me a smile that told me she knew she was the only candidate that would be dropping by, and asking what I needed to know.</p><p>Computers? She'd never touched one.</p><p>The next morning, I was leaving for a much needed beach to fall face down in for a week, so I decided to nip this attempt by somebody to keep some skeleton buried and handed her a half dozen Harry Potter thick books on computers, the first chapters of which I hadn't even been able to get past.</p><p>I told her to read them and when I came back we'd see if she could handle the job -- assuming by then she'd have moved on and production would find someone else.</p><p>I came back to find Sheri waiting. Yes, she'd read the books -- thought they made things seem more complicated than they actually were and "What else do you want?".</p><p>The test started and within seconds I knew she knew the new technology far better than I did as well as already having work arounds for a lot of the problems we'd had in the past.</p><p>I knew she had saved my life.</p><p>Over the next season, Sheri not only whipped the story department into shape, buying me time to deal with all the new levels of expectation from the network and improve my own writing. </p><p>A kid who'd grown up in Toronto's working class "Junction", the Canadian equivalent of "Hell's Kitchen" in New York or Boston's "Southy", Sherry also had the street smarts to handle pretty much anything the Hollywood tough guy wannabes could throw at us. </p><p>On top of that, she never stopped smiling and never got too busy or tired to help somebody else.</p><p>Productions become families, partly because you spend more time with them than your own kin, partly because if you don't put your own clan ahead of everything else, some other clan gets your time slot.</p><p>And by watching who Sheri stepped up to help, I quickly learned something that most creative types never do. The cast and crew, the PAs, drivers, grunts in all departments, office staff and accountants won't get rich and famous. They won't live on royalties long after a show is forgotten. They won't be wined and dined to take future opportunities, get invited to Comic Cons and Film Festival retrospectives. But their dedication to their jobs is what ultimately determines a show's success. </p><p>When "Adderly" ended and I moved to "Friday the 13th", bringing Sheri onto the show was part of my contract. Amid studio expectations at entirely new levels of impossible on that series, she again made it possible for me to do what I did. Among the brighter moments, was me arriving one morning to find Sheri on a conference call with Paramount Executives far above both of our pay grades, telling them how to run their own computer systems.</p><p>The same thing happened again when we moved onto our next show "Top Cops" at CBS, this time with her instructing their staff on how to do email. </p><p>"Top Cops" led to my writing pilots for all four US networks of the time, Sheri managing them all while still finding time to help anyone else on their productions who needed it. And she never stopped smiling.</p><p>Although she did give me a scare one day, coming into my office, quietly closing the door and saying "We need to talk". What man doesn't tremble when a woman utters those words?</p><p>Turns out Sheri's boyfriend had run afoul of the local constabulary and was starting a stretch as a "Guest of the Crown", if you know what I mean. There was a visitation schedule that wouldn't be adjusted should the needs of production intervene. She also didn't want the reason for his absence to become public knowledge.</p><p>So we worked out a cover where there would be days when Sheri had to take her Mom to Bingo. Everybody knew Sheri's Mom wasn't well and didn't get out much, so nobody would begrudge her the unscheduled time off.</p><p>A year later, we ruffled some feathers when she asked if she could take a shot at writing a "Top Cops" script and I said "Yes". And she silenced the critics by turning in a great one.</p><p>A couple of weeks later she was presented with a copy of the episode with the credit "Written by Sheri McGrath", able to show it to her dad shortly before his death. He told her he'd never been more proud of her. It was the only time I ever saw her cry.</p><p>With "Top Cops" eventual cancellation, we moved on to make a bunch of MOWs. It was for a company whose ethics I couldn't stomach. I asked how she felt about my quitting and she wondered how I'd managed to stick with them as long as I had.</p><p>I knew the agita that would result from my departure might mean I couldn't get us a job for a while. She was okay with that, ready to spread her wings in other parts of the industry.</p><p>After nine years, Sheri was no longer a part of my life. </p><p>But looking back, part of me realizes that her work with me was done. I'd learned to value everybody who works on a show, not just the ones who get to be rich or famous or both.</p><p>Years later, on a series best unnamed, one of Sheri's extended family turned up at my door one night carrying a tire iron. He'd heard I was getting a lot of hassle from another unethical producer and asked if I wanted somebody to have a talk with him. </p><p>Much as I appreciated the gesture, I said "No". He nodded and turned leave, then said "oh, Sheri says Hi".</p><p>She was still looking out for me.</p><p>This week, Sheri's life ended, taken decades too soon. She leaves behind a production family who valued her as much as she valued them. All of us knowing we couldn't have done many of the things we did without her -- or maybe even survived the doing</p>jimhenshawhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07815834271470133872noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34798599.post-83354360723965742612021-02-28T14:16:00.010-05:002021-02-28T17:14:37.636-05:00Cancel Culture<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUJ3CAOQOki-wiv5kuFclmJcPN5gCygelf4Z_M_rc3uyjFtSaSs4mJLLte4neWf1e2cY8tnhlBs4-mlZjb-w0rZD0Bh4MSkjRCCulplBaZ_TvijxTXcNR33gXrfNolOlycXJdBVA/s1200/cancel.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1200" height="309" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUJ3CAOQOki-wiv5kuFclmJcPN5gCygelf4Z_M_rc3uyjFtSaSs4mJLLte4neWf1e2cY8tnhlBs4-mlZjb-w0rZD0Bh4MSkjRCCulplBaZ_TvijxTXcNR33gXrfNolOlycXJdBVA/w377-h309/cancel.jpg" width="377" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Somewhat
inspired by the Bill Maher clip on “Cancel Culture” I posted on Facebook last night, I
thought it was time to be clear on my view of that world. It’s simply the 21<sup>st</sup>
Century version of “Blacklisting”. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">This year,
I’m celebrating my 50<sup>th</sup> year as a Showbiz professional, having spent
a good chunk of that time as a screenwriter. And during one of my sojourns in
Los Angeles, I had the pleasure of meeting and spending time with Edward
Dmytryk, one of the “Hollywood Ten”. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">For those unaware,
he directed a long list of classic films, from “Murder, My Sweet” to “The Caine
Mutiny” and the Ten were a group of elite screenwriters and directors who
refused to co-operate with a Congressional witch hunt intent on driving
anyone considered sympathetic to Communism out of the film business.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Edward went
to prison for that refusal and despite being one of the most sought-after
talents in Hollywood, afterward found himself considered unemployable or “blacklisted”
by the major studios.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">This year’s
much deserved award season contender, “The Trial of the Chicago Seven”
showcases Abbie Hoffman’s evocative quote, “Give me a moment, would you friend?
I’ve never been on trial for my thoughts before.” <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Even decades
later, the hurt and loss associated with being convicted for his thoughts was palpable in
Edward. And there is no way of calculating what other classic films we were denied by silencing his voice.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Which
brings me to Gina Carano, an MMA fighter turned actress, widely celebrated for “empowering”
and “inspiring” young women by her role in Disney’s Star Wars off-shoot “The
Mandalorian”. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Like the
Hollywood Ten and Chicago Seven, Ms. Carano has been tried and convicted for
her thoughts, among which was a tweet comparing Conservatives in Hollywood to
Jews during the Holocaust. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">A bit of
stretch? Maybe. If your image of the Holocaust is people being tossed into
ovens. Perhaps not, if you’re aware of the years of condemnation, restrictions
on work, travel and much more applied to Jews in Germany which, for years, preceded the “Final
Solution”. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">It seems
those who admire the message of “The Trial of the Chicago Seven” don’t realize
they have become the intractable monsters who prosecuted them or destroyed the
careers of the Hollywood Ten.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">They don’t
seem to understand that she was fired by a company, Disney, who recently went
out of its way, in the credits for “Mulan”, to thank the very people currently
in charge of the Uyghur genocide in China, choosing to do that over condemning institutionalized rape and sterilization, involuntary organ harvesting and removal
of children from their families that are part of that stain on humanity.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Yes, those of you who chose to cancel Gina Carano, took the side of Disney and an actual Genocide.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">And you targeted a woman months ago considered empowering and inspiring to girls, so you can send them a different message. “The only way you will be accepted is
to shut up and obey!”<o:p></o:p></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="246" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/mxObG659Sc0" width="388" youtube-src-id="mxObG659Sc0"></iframe></div><br /><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p>jimhenshawhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07815834271470133872noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34798599.post-14654527535819325272018-04-01T22:05:00.004-04:002018-04-02T01:30:53.354-04:00Lazy Sunday # 516: Your Turn In The Barrel<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<b></b><br />
<b>I first met Steven Bochco over coffee in Las Vegas.</b><br />
<b></b><br />
<b>That's not as world-shattering an event as it might appear. I'd just finished 4 seasons of "Top Cops" and a fistful of TV movies for CBS and was taking a break, or more accurately a busman's holiday, attending my first National Association of Television Production Executives Convention in Sin City.</b><br />
<b></b><br />
<b>Steven Bochco, the man who had created "Hill Street Blues", "LA Law", "Doogie Houser M.D." and was currently the toast of television with his latest hit series "NYPD Blue" was doing an early morning talk about the craft of writing and I knew I had to be there first thing because this was the "can't miss" event of the symposium and all the seats would be gone the minute the doors opened.</b><br />
<b></b><br />
<b>Back then, Steven Bochco was a God to writers and remains so to many of us. He broke so much new ground in television that those writing obituaries following his death today will be hard pressed to do more than scratch the surface of all the changes he wrought and how many successful series would never have made the air without the creative pioneering he did.</b><br />
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<b>Bochco was so beloved of the networks that <span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; display: inline; float: none; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">William Paley of </span>CBS had once offered him the presidency of his entire entertainment division. More interested in creating television than deciding who else should do it, Bochco turned him down for an unprecedented 10 series deal with ABC where he would retain ownership of his shows.</b><br />
<b></b><br />
<b>I set my alarm to go off before dawn and arrived to find waiters rolling in huge carafes of coffee, trays of muffins and piles of ceramic cups labelled "I just had coffee with Steven Bochco". As I selected one, the man of the hour strolled in and poured himself a cup.</b><br />
<b></b><br />
<b>He asked if we were the only ones there. I suggested some other people were sure to turn up. He laughed and asked what part of the business I was in.</b><br />
<b></b><br />
<b>And here's where it got tricky. </b><br />
<b></b><br />
<b>Because "Top Cops" had debuted in the same Thursday at ten time slot as Bochco's "Cop Rock" when it made its debut. And 11 weeks later, we were a huge hit and the series ABC had poured a fortune into because it was from the magic pen of Steven Bochco was gone.</b><br />
<b></b><br />
<b>Knowing how much some Hollywood types hold grudges, I danced around offering my resume, just saying I wrote and produced. Uh, yeah -- series. What am I working on? I told him my show had just ended its run. He asked the title...</b><br />
<b></b><br />
<b>I had no choice. I confessed. He studied me for a moment, "That was you?". I said it was a lot of other people too, people equally enamored of his work and who didn't have any say whatsoever over what time slot we got, or...</b><br />
<b></b><br />
<b>He laughed again, offered congratulations and said a couple of nice things about the show. I said I was sorry "Cop Rock" had been cancelled so soon and commented on how innovative and courageous it had been.</b><br />
<b></b><br />
<b>He shrugged off the sympathy, admitting he'd liked it a lot too, but "Sometimes it's just your turn in the barrel".</b><br />
<b></b><br />
<b>Somewhere back in grade school I'd memorized Rudyard Kipling's "If" and its instructions on what it takes to make a man successful and respected and the lines...</b><br />
<b></b><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; display: inline; float: none; font-family: "roboto" , sans-serif; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 23px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><b>"If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster</b></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; display: inline; float: none; font-family: "roboto" , sans-serif; font-size: 17px; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 23px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><b> And treat those two impostors just the same..."</b></span><br />
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<b>...immediately sprang to mind. And I realized that in addition to his many talents, Steven Bochco was a man whose character rose far above the showbiz environment Hunter S. Thompson once described as... </b></div>
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<b></b><br /></div>
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<b>"...<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #181818; display: inline; float: none; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 21px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">a cruel and shallow money trench, a long plastic hallway where thieves and pimps run free, and good men die like dogs."</span></b></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #181818; display: inline; float: none; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 21px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><b></b><br /></span></div>
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<b>He'll be missed on too many levels to count.</b></div>
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<b>YouTube's Archive of American Television has dozens of videos of Bochco discussing his life and work. What follows is one of my favorites, for the way it makes innovation look like just another practical day-to-day decision -- which in many ways it usually is.</b></div>
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<b>Enjoy Your Sunday...</b><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #181818; display: inline; float: none; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 21px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><br /></span></div>
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jimhenshawhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07815834271470133872noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34798599.post-28603592204502122892018-03-25T23:16:00.003-04:002018-03-25T23:16:39.730-04:00Lazy Sunday # 515: The Wild Canadian Year<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<b>Canadian film-makers are forever trying to think up new ways to show Canada to the world. An interesting phenomena since most of the world and even a majority of Canadians haven't seen it in the first place.</b><br />
<b></b><br />
<b>We have huge expanses where nobody lives or that only see a human presence on very rare occasions. Many of these are locales of such stunning beauty and grandeur you'd think they'd draw crowds larger than those that flock to the Great Pyramids and Taj Mahal.</b><br />
<b></b><br />
<b>But the blessing in our disinterest in these places is that they teem with wildlife.</b><br />
<b></b><br />
<b>In honor of our just completed 150th birthday, a celebration that saw such things as a giant rubber duck being towed to various urban locations, the Documentary division of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation dispatched more than a dozen camera crews under the supervision of film-maker Jeff Turner to spend more than 800 camera days recording what goes on in these remote places.</b><br />
<b></b><br />
<b>The shoots took place during all four seasons, producing a remarkable five part series entitled "The Wild Canadian Year".</b><br />
<b></b><br />
<b>If you haven't seen it, or just want to have your breath taken away once more, the entire series can now be found either on its own YouTube Channel or <a href="http://www.cbc.ca/wildcanadianyear/blog/binge-watch-the-wild-canadian-year-on-youtube" target="_blank">here</a>.</b><br />
<b></b><br />
<b>In addition to episodes for each of the seasons, there's a great final hour documenting how the whole thing got made.</b><br />
<b></b><br />
<b>But Turner and his crews weren't happy just documenting what they saw. They wanted to find yet another way to show Canada to the world. And they did that by including 360 degree cameras in their arsenal.</b><br />
<b></b><br />
<b>These astounding scenes not only take you into the Canadian wilderness, they make you feel like you've been abandoned there. For no matter where you look as you swing from horizon to horizon, there is nothing to suggest any other human being is within miles of you.</b><br />
<b></b><br />
<b>This is amazing footage worth visiting whenever you feel the walls of your apartment or the banality of an urban landscape closing in on you.</b><br />
<b></b><br />
I<b>t just might just be the best thing we did to mark our 150th year and watching it will go a long way to helping you...</b><br />
<b></b><b></b><br />
<b>Enjoy Your Sunday.</b><br />
<b></b><br />
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jimhenshawhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07815834271470133872noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34798599.post-43818949361100469492018-03-18T23:56:00.001-04:002018-03-19T00:09:05.463-04:00Lazy Sunday # 514: A Stand Up Guy<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<b>A few months ago, a friend of mine decided he wanted to try his hand at stand-up comedy.</b><br />
<b></b><br />
<b>Now, this is a bright, talented, intelligent guy with a Masters in Languages and a very successful career in another branch of the show business. Maybe it was some kind of bucket-list, mid-life crisis thing. I don't know. But he wanted me to accompany him to a local open mike night and critique his work -- so I did.</b><br />
<b></b><br />
<b>And as a result, I ended up meeting a bunch of young comics just starting out and was reminded of the comedy scene in Toronto when it was just a gleam in Mark Breslin's eye and whoever conceived the Just For Laughs festival still hadn't put that first bottle of seltzer down somebody's pants.</b><br />
<b></b><br />
<b>On one level, those who do stand-up comedy are no different from those who choose to become actors, singers, writers or directors. There are some who are hugely talented but adrift. Some with little talent but lots of drive. All trying as best they can to find their voice and a way to entertain an audience.</b><br />
<b></b><br />
<b>But on another level, stand up comics are very, very different. I've always looked on them as the professional wrestlers of legitimate show business. The kind of people instilled with a clarity of purpose that would give a Jesuit pause and the courage to go out night after night to get a steel chair in the face.</b><br />
<b></b><br />
<b>There is simply no one braver than a stand up comic. As the saying so aptly goes -- "Dying is easy. Comedy is hard". And stand ups face their own agonizing version of death every time they step onto a stage.</b><br />
<b></b><br />
<b>Through little more than dumb luck, I saw some of the best comedians ever to come out of Canada take their first baby steps. Jim Carrey. Mike Myers. Ron James. Brent Butt. Howie Mandel. And the list goes on.</b><br />
<b></b><br />
<b>But perhaps the bravest of them all was Mike MacDonald. </b><br />
<b></b><br />
<b>Mike stared down depression and a bi-polar condition long before he ever stood in front of an audience. And he continued to fight those demons as he built an astonishing list of classic routines that were funny as hell.</b><br />
<b></b><br />
<b>Later he battled Hepatitis C and performed the super-human feat of rebooting his career following a liver transplant, going back on the road while struggling nightly to remember the intricate, nuanced jokes that had once rendered audiences helpless with laughter.</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>Much of that is covered in a Marc Maron WTF podcast from last Summer and well worth a listen <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nMGuO7HONMk" target="_blank">here</a>. Mike's portion begins about 40 minutes in.</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
<b><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; display: inline; float: none; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">Mike died last night back home in Ottawa, leaving </span>fellow comedians stunned. To many of them, Mike was a giant, both as a talent to emulate, a mentor and a friend. </b><br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>And those, like me, who saw him perform remain awed by the ability he had to make us laugh.</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>Whether you had that good fortune or not, Mike left a raft of great routines, TV specials and more to keep us laughing for a long time to come.</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>Here's a taste.</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>Enjoy Your Sunday...</b><br />
<b></b><br />
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jimhenshawhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07815834271470133872noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34798599.post-91347171006226876762018-03-11T15:08:00.000-04:002018-03-11T15:14:03.299-04:00Lazy Sunday # 513 Tattad Tattad<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<b>All week long I've struggled with what I wanted to write this week. The winning of an Oscar by an old pal and creative partner had me leaning in that direction. </b><br />
<b></b><br />
<b>Tonight's pending Canadian Screen awards seemed worthy of mention.</b><br />
<b></b><br />
<b>And in the midst of it all was International Women's Day and there are few guys who love women as much as I do. Heck, half my career was founded on cleavage.</b><br />
<b></b><br />
<b>Therefore -- lots of things worth celebrating in the best sense of that word.</b><br />
<b></b><br />
<b>But then I noticed a trend that I've been aware of for pretty much all of my life in Canada. We have trouble truly celebrating significant moments here -- with real Joy. </b><br />
<b></b><br />
<b>I don't mean that we don't know how to party or share a lot of laughs, because we're spectacular at that. But somehow, when it comes to really embracing the inspiring moments, we tend to go in a different direction.</b><br />
<b></b><br />
<b>The very day J. Miles Dale and his talented gang of Canadian creatives snagged the Best Picture Oscar for their beautifully made and spiritually uplifting film "The Shape of Water", the CBC was working hard to tarnish the achievement by <a href="http://www.cbc.ca/radio/day6/episode-379-populism-in-italy-s-elections-greenland-s-ice-melt-the-shape-of-water-ode-to-cds-and-more-1.4555633/what-the-shape-of-water-gets-wrong-about-disability-1.4555657" target="_blank">insisting the film</a> didn't really understand the disabled.</b><br />
<b></b><br />
<b>Meanwhile, virtually every nominee in the feature category of the Canadian Screen Awards can be described as dour, depressing or at best -- heartbreaking. Nothing that encourages people to line up at the box-office and lay down some hard earned cash for an evening's entertainment.</b><br />
<b></b><br />
<b>Meanwhile, International Women's Day was marked by Canadian film execs <a href="https://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/film/how-industry-outsider-carolle-brabant-changed-telefilm-from-the-inside-out/article38225372/" target="_blank">eulogizing the career</a> of Telefilm Exec Carolle Brabant for revolutionizing how Canadian film success is measured -- meaning she stopped equating it with entertaining audiences or earning money.</b><br />
<b></b><br />
<b>In other words, they were appreciative of her adding additional years to their inability to actually reach an audience.</b><br />
<b></b><br />
<b>Now, trust me, I know that financial success isn't everything in the world of film and that celebrity is shallow and fleeting. But to quote writer Mickey Spillane -- "I have no fans. You know what I got, Customers".</b><br />
<b></b><br />
<b>Customers are what "The Shape of Water" will have for generations. Few, if any, of whom will ever catch one of tonight's Canadian Screen Awards nominees unless they're afflicted with insomnia and watching TMN at 3 o'clock in the morning.</b><br />
<b></b><br />
<b>Other nations celebrate the joy their cinema inspires in its people. Those sappy montages from the Oscars are one example. For another, search Youtube for clips from the Bollywood Film Fare awards which fill stadium sized arenas with rabid movie lovers.</b><br />
<b></b><br />
<b>Therefore, I offer the following lesson in learning how to find the joy in making films your country can embrace. It's a musical number from the Bollywood hit "Goliyon Ki Rasleela Ram-leela" basically "Romeo and Juliet" in Hindi. </b><br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>It also allows women still celebrating International Women's Day the opportunity to shake their booties and objectify a guy for a change.</b><br />
<b></b><br />
<b>And if any of this upsets you -- I was probably influenced by a rogue element of the Indian government.</b><br />
<b></b><br />
<b>Enjoy Your Sunday...</b><br />
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jimhenshawhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07815834271470133872noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34798599.post-3706382074768108192018-03-04T20:43:00.001-05:002018-03-04T20:43:09.061-05:00Lazy Sunday # 512: The Dog Photographer<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBb2pkfYSKPxIdw4VaRa90Po0zI26MGQy9cfpAvf3bq0dnejpGnaUfrQDuqyfzVBJAVsUDlK3RJfpG1jmAhdUw-8rTMpMZ7vCuxmfd7wtAg1WVujXM-pmsvrSe1p78DbbLr8kutw/s1600/dogs.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><b><img border="0" data-original-height="623" data-original-width="621" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBb2pkfYSKPxIdw4VaRa90Po0zI26MGQy9cfpAvf3bq0dnejpGnaUfrQDuqyfzVBJAVsUDlK3RJfpG1jmAhdUw-8rTMpMZ7vCuxmfd7wtAg1WVujXM-pmsvrSe1p78DbbLr8kutw/s400/dogs.jpg" width="397" /></b></a></div>
<b><br /></b>
<b>I've written before that I own a dog who hates to have her picture taken. I don't know why. Every other dog I've spent time with just kinda sees a camera and assumes an "aren't-I-cute" pose.</b><br />
<b></b><br />
<b>My theory is that she was once part of a litter of puppies much sought after because her mom and dad were both champions. People came and took pictures and one by one all her brothers and sisters disappeared. Ergo -- Camera = Vanishing without a trace.</b><br />
<b></b><br />
<b>Now and then, somebody at the dog park catches a great shot of her. Usually when she's too exhausted from playing with her pals to notice her picture is being taken.</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgh0a9XGEEynxNR9ZYtfybu3h0snVaRD-ob-Y2YufhPOuSbXx4T-qjqXoNvBSUlyHfqZsTny4xBia3eB8EFevuVgZJNpV5jTTWXEvGoK-C5cbRdY56XJNz6wYceD6P5zGLOKgkd9Q/s1600/IMG_6625.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><b><img border="0" data-original-height="1143" data-original-width="1600" height="228" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgh0a9XGEEynxNR9ZYtfybu3h0snVaRD-ob-Y2YufhPOuSbXx4T-qjqXoNvBSUlyHfqZsTny4xBia3eB8EFevuVgZJNpV5jTTWXEvGoK-C5cbRdY56XJNz6wYceD6P5zGLOKgkd9Q/s320/IMG_6625.jpg" width="320" /></b></a></div>
<b>But even with dogs who love to be in the spotlight, it's hard to capture an image that resonates with the true character of the animal. Some gifted photographers manage to do it now and then. But only one has done it continuously for decades.</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>William Wegman.</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>For more than 45 years and using barely more than his own pet companions, Wegman has managed to corner the collective imagination when it comes to depicting the relationship/similarity between dogs and those who love them.</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>There is simply no one better.</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>Enjoy Your Sunday...</b><br />
<b></b><br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="250" mozallowfullscreen="" src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/255932028" webkitallowfullscreen="" width="440"></iframe>
<a href="https://vimeo.com/255932028">Being Human With the Dog Photographer</a> from <a href="https://vimeo.com/greatbigstory">Great Big Story</a> on <a href="https://vimeo.com/">Vimeo</a>.<br />
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jimhenshawhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07815834271470133872noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34798599.post-66120531713158816472018-02-25T23:58:00.004-05:002018-02-26T00:01:35.691-05:00Lazy Sunday # 511: Never Die Easy<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<b>The latest version of the Olympic Games wrapped up last night, and given that they were happening half a world away and broadcast live in the middle of the night, I didn't think I'd pay much attention.</b><br />
<b></b><br />
<b>But I did. As surrounded as they are by corruption and nationalist bullshit, I love the Olympic Games. Even sports I wouldn't normally a) pay any attention to or b) remotely understand.</b><br />
<b></b><br />
<b>I've never been much of an athlete. I played baseball and hockey, curled a little, wasn't bad at tennis or bowling and was absolute crap at golf. But I've always admired those who dedicate their lives to something like conquering the half-pipe or mastering the bobsled run.</b><br />
<b></b><br />
<b>So I lost a lot of sleep over the last few weeks and in that twilight dream-state when one of those "aren't the games grand" commercials was on, I got to wondering if there was a sport I could've excelled at that might have won me a medal of some kind.</b><br />
<b></b><br />
<b>Or at my age -- is there one I might still attempt to share in the "thrill of victory or the agony of defeat".</b><br />
<b></b><br />
<b>And maybe there is...</b><br />
<b></b><br />
<b>Enjoy Your Sunday.</b><br />
<b></b><br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="250" mozallowfullscreen="" src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/255508592" webkitallowfullscreen="" width="440"></iframe>
<a href="https://vimeo.com/255508592">Never Die Easy: The Dag Aabye Story</a> from <a href="https://vimeo.com/straymatter">Justin Pelletier</a> on <a href="https://vimeo.com/">Vimeo</a>.<br />
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jimhenshawhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07815834271470133872noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34798599.post-70532610772057524392018-02-19T02:29:00.001-05:002018-02-19T02:29:11.155-05:00Lazy Sunday # 510: The PC Zombies<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<b>As explained by Bill Burr -- because why would you listen to anybody else...</b><br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="250" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/xZTYg2xx3ec" width="440"></iframe><b><br /></b>
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jimhenshawhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07815834271470133872noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34798599.post-64445738636638143332018-02-11T22:51:00.006-05:002018-02-11T22:51:59.631-05:00Lazy Sunday # 509: Joy & Heron<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<b>With the stories on the News endlessly dark and Winter sticking around too long. There's a need for a moment that simply cute and cuddly...</b><br />
<b></b><br />
<b>Enjoy your Sunday...</b><br />
<b></b><br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="250" mozallowfullscreen="" src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/254969912" webkitallowfullscreen="" width="440"></iframe>
<a href="https://vimeo.com/254969912">JD.COM 'Joy & Heron'</a> from <a href="https://vimeo.com/nylonstudiosvimeo">Nylon Studios</a> on <a href="https://vimeo.com/">Vimeo</a>.<br />
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jimhenshawhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07815834271470133872noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34798599.post-52615899225354861012018-02-04T14:35:00.000-05:002018-02-04T14:37:02.622-05:00Lazy Sunday # 508: Make An Impact<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<b></b><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCjl3rL25gLR0zmhP5-VFX2w1TPA_LZ_JRzDQhWIqQ8kEIqctEuDHF2VxDloBIGWMOjwboDQlw8z6O_1trjvY38tVFsTIW-lbwlQz9-6AEgvMZ1SNoIVssscoFrj5VnxkQepy0bA/s1600/any+given+sunday.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="222" data-original-width="500" height="177" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCjl3rL25gLR0zmhP5-VFX2w1TPA_LZ_JRzDQhWIqQ8kEIqctEuDHF2VxDloBIGWMOjwboDQlw8z6O_1trjvY38tVFsTIW-lbwlQz9-6AEgvMZ1SNoIVssscoFrj5VnxkQepy0bA/s400/any+given+sunday.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<b></b><br />
<b></b><br />
<b>It's Super Bowl Sunday. Meaning at some point there will be a discussion of inspiration speeches. What do coaches say to their thoroughbred millionaire players on the eve of or halfway point of the big game?</b><br />
<b></b><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; display: inline; float: none; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><b>These speeches are often replayed, paraphrased or parodied by leaders hoping to inspire any group of wannabe achievers from cub scouts to Fortune 500 Vice-Presidents. </b></span><br />
<b><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; display: inline; float: none; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; display: inline; float: none; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">A good percentage of any training of professional athletes is set aside for improving character. And who among us doesn't want to be a better person -- or at least imagine scoring the winning points in a championship game.</span></b><br />
<b><br />
The inspirational speech has always been a required moment in any movie about football. Knute Rockne's "Win One for the Gipper" probably started that trend in "Knute Rockne: All American and since then we've had too many to count. </b><br />
<b><br />
My personal favorite is delivered by Al Pacino in the best football movie ever written by John Logan and Oliver Stone, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f1yWSePMqsk" target="_blank">"Any Given Sunday"</a>.</b><br />
<b></b><br />
<b>At least it was until I ran across this one by Rick Rigsby, a former coach and Chaplain of the Texas A&M "Aggies".</b><br />
<b></b><br />
<b>These are words that apply to anybody in any endeavor whether or not you've ever laced on a pair of cleats.</b><br />
<b></b><br />
<b>It'll make you a better person, no matter who wins today.</b><br />
<b></b><br />
<b>Enjoy Your Sunday.</b><br />
<b></b><b></b><b></b><br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="250" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Bg_Q7KYWG1g" width="440"></iframe>
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jimhenshawhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07815834271470133872noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34798599.post-82189990330349853242018-01-29T01:48:00.005-05:002018-01-29T01:48:56.673-05:00Lazy Sunday # 507: Imagination: Tom Wallisch<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<b></b><br />
<b>I'm going to go out on a limb here...</b><br />
<b></b><br />
<b>Actually, I'm not.</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>Because I can say with complete certainty that this week's short film contains more creative ideas, interesting camera work and the sheer joy of life that can only be found in Canada -- than anything you'll find in all the films funded during the past year by Telefilm Canada and/or any other purveyor of Government funded ART.</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>Enjoy Your Sunday...</b><br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="250" mozallowfullscreen="" src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/239517391" webkitallowfullscreen="" width="440"></iframe>
<a href="https://vimeo.com/239517391">Imagination: Tom Wallisch</a> from <a href="https://vimeo.com/thenorthface">The North Face</a> on <a href="https://vimeo.com/">Vimeo</a>.<br />
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jimhenshawhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07815834271470133872noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34798599.post-75110108755953946442018-01-22T00:10:00.004-05:002018-01-22T00:10:54.857-05:00Lazy Sunday # 506: Alive<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<b>I grew up in a place that was little more than earth and sky and a well defined horizon marking where one ended and the other began. </b><br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>Where I live now is endlessly amazing and I often wonder -- "How did I get so lucky?".</b><br />
<b></b><br />
<b>I'm sure a lot of us feel that way about the places life has taken us and where we are or who we've become.</b><br />
<b></b><br />
<b>This is where I live. Feel free to try and top it.</b><br />
<b></b><br />
<b>And enjoy your Sunday...</b><br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="270" mozallowfullscreen="" src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/251646742" webkitallowfullscreen="" width="440"></iframe>
<a href="https://vimeo.com/251646742">ALIVE | Canada 4K</a> from <a href="https://vimeo.com/flonick">Flo Nick</a> on <a href="https://vimeo.com/">Vimeo</a>.<br />
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jimhenshawhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07815834271470133872noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34798599.post-91834634573214233202018-01-14T22:20:00.000-05:002018-01-14T22:20:22.483-05:00Lazy Sunday # 505: The Story Machine<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVhzPky-s97B4088OdurLPgNQWgzX5VYvHwA6EuxfyMRa1Zv-Gp9cXSRKvheM8LyObGTzFPJt5IUnilimO3KpVdRMusKNaSL5z55_pjmLE4B7uGG9coE8OYy3MxJofn5pyvtz3gg/s1600/short+edition.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><b><img border="0" data-original-height="542" data-original-width="868" height="248" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVhzPky-s97B4088OdurLPgNQWgzX5VYvHwA6EuxfyMRa1Zv-Gp9cXSRKvheM8LyObGTzFPJt5IUnilimO3KpVdRMusKNaSL5z55_pjmLE4B7uGG9coE8OYy3MxJofn5pyvtz3gg/s400/short+edition.jpg" width="400" /></b></a></div>
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<b>Writers often speak of "feeding the machine". Film and television production in particular often has the feel of a runaway train. There are schedules to be met, time is of the essence and little or no time can be spared for the thoughtful consideration of plot twists and character development. They need the pages on set -- yesterday.</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>That machine has different variations in the publishing of everything from novels to daily newspapers, even greeting cards have to get the Christmas season covered by early July, if not sooner.</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>Writers constantly bemoan their deadlines and the lack of sympathy they receive for having to do the intricate work of story creation under such pressure.</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>And that's not hard to understand. As technology pushes our lives to a faster pace to keep up with business competitors, travel schedules, family demands and just about every segment of our lives, we're all short of time.</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>And what little time we do have is seldom given over to reading a story. In airports, coffee shops, buses and commuter trains around the planet, you seldom see people with a book or reading from a portable device.</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>We play mindless, repetitive games. We surf Facebook, looking for worthy nuggets of anything amid mindless, repetitive posts about things we rarely care much about. </b><br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>Where is the content that might enrich those few moments of free time we manage to find?</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>Well -- a French company called "Short Edition" may have found it.</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>This week at CES, the Computer Electronic Show in Las Vegas, they unveiled a device they've been testing in France for the last two years. It's a story vending machine.</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>The user simple presses a button indicating how many minutes (one, three or five) that he has to spare. Then the machine dispenses a story of that can be read in that length of time. </b><br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>In an unusual twist, the story costs the reader nothing, but the writer is still paid. What's more the machines are calibrated to suit their location. One in a children's hospital will draw from a database of stories for kids for examples. Those in railroad stations and airports might dispense content for travellers to particular destinations. </b><br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>There are a myriad of algorithms for all manner of demographics to find just the right tale from a current database of 85,000 stories.</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>Those who access a story invariably share it with someone else at their location, who invariably shares it with someone else, creating discussions and interactions you will never get from a session of "Angry Birds" or scrolling a Twitter or Instagram feed.</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>Until a Short Edition machine turns up near you, you can sample some of the stories <a href="http://short-edition.com/en/" target="_blank">dispensed here</a>. Or you could see the reaction of the first North American to buy one for his restaurant. Francis Ford Coppola, a guy more than familiar with feeding stories into other story machines.</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>I think these things are going to be very popular and maybe even help one of you to...</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>Enjoy Your Sunday...</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="250" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/G0Vf30w2yZg" width="440"></iframe>
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jimhenshawhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07815834271470133872noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34798599.post-42136121953800657702018-01-08T00:44:00.001-05:002018-01-08T00:44:21.489-05:00Lazy Sunday # 504: What if.....?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEge3Xcq22jqQmLpUI45m5Xb52WdXyMTsnnjwEwmJlmgq-QAG-9Fxvzu3CD1p-z4sxXwgJwpO4B_4edTUSlowNGk0hX8aY9os6g7PS507dvy6ilhR7duUouFzEuYjwEWkCwmzpmDfw/s1600/adventure-alternative-blue-dark-Favim.com-2852461.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="325" data-original-width="500" height="260" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEge3Xcq22jqQmLpUI45m5Xb52WdXyMTsnnjwEwmJlmgq-QAG-9Fxvzu3CD1p-z4sxXwgJwpO4B_4edTUSlowNGk0hX8aY9os6g7PS507dvy6ilhR7duUouFzEuYjwEWkCwmzpmDfw/s400/adventure-alternative-blue-dark-Favim.com-2852461.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<b>The arrival of each new year brings with it intentions among all of us (whether ascribed as resolutions or just a to-do list) to make this the year we finally accomplish something specific.</b><br />
<b></b><br />
<b>Maybe it's something big. Maybe it's small but of personal import. Maybe it's a desire to just do what you normally do or be what you normally are -- only a little better than before.</b><br />
<b></b><br />
<b>For those of us who write fiction, that process begins with the question that leads to any story -- "What if...?".</b><br />
<b></b><br />
<b>Some of us work harder at crafting "What if?" than others. But nobody goes as far or as deep or as detailed as Randall Munroe, the guy behind the "What if" blog, which you can find <a href="https://what-if.xkcd.com/" target="_blank">here</a>.</b><br />
<b></b><br />
<b>An example of this process is in the video that follows.</b><br />
<b></b><br />
<b>Imagine yourself making this kind of commitment to your germ of an idea/intention/whatever and...</b><br />
<b></b><br />
<b>Enjoy Your Sunday...</b><br />
<b></b><br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="250" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/I64CQp6z0Pk" width="440"></iframe>
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jimhenshawhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07815834271470133872noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34798599.post-33832084501590449272017-12-31T16:46:00.001-05:002017-12-31T16:46:56.231-05:00Lazy Sunday # 503: Fake News<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijrcqi0xo7o-xSqVanKYE5vIqhhDriknT1-ri1btK4rSuymwIpZ-HJS463D43mvA8X0-oxOyVnvPM1LSHoiXOYjSU8VCAGJYH6JDxhJTK1F3Tvrg1Xsi4gGNsOpEwQcv0TMltO1g/s1600/weekly_world_news___hillary.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="786" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijrcqi0xo7o-xSqVanKYE5vIqhhDriknT1-ri1btK4rSuymwIpZ-HJS463D43mvA8X0-oxOyVnvPM1LSHoiXOYjSU8VCAGJYH6JDxhJTK1F3Tvrg1Xsi4gGNsOpEwQcv0TMltO1g/s400/weekly_world_news___hillary.jpg" width="327" /></a></div>
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<br />
<b>According to several media reports, "Fake News" is the most hated phrase of 2017. Mostly, I would presume, by members of the media.</b><br />
<b></b><br />
<b>I'm not exactly sure when I started ingesting news reports with a grain of salt. But it might've been near the start of my acting career, when a play I was in garnered a less than glowing review from a prestigious newspaper. I asked the show's director if there might be some truth in what the critic had written.</b><br />
<b></b><br />
<b>His response was along the lines of -- "Kid, I don't believe what they put on the front page. Why should I take anything in the entertainment section seriously?".</b><br />
<b></b><br />
<b>It might've been the first time I considered that journalists might not be telling me the truth.</b><br />
<b></b><br />
<b>And after decades of seeing films and TV shows I was involved in depicted as something they weren't, misquoted, flat out lied about and spun to favor competition that bought more ad space, I can tell you that in my experience news is often fake.</b><br />
<b></b><br />
<b>What's more, if you spend any time in the company of journalists and get enough drinks into them, many will freely admit to tales they've completely made up. Sometimes they're those speculative headlined pieces based on suspicion rather than fact and intended to do little more than pull in a few more readers or viewers.</b><br />
<b></b><br />
<b>Sometimes, they're floating fictional balloons to try to get somebody upset enough to confirm or deny whatever they can't nail down on their own.</b><br />
<b></b><br />
<b>And sometimes, like everyone of us, they simply misinterpret what they've seen with their own eyes.</b><br />
<b></b><br />
<b>Any cop will tell you how unreliable eye-witnesses can be. People witnessing the same bank robbery will claim there were anywhere from one to five robbers, dressed in suits or camo gear, armed or unarmed and from a variety of races.</b><br />
<b></b><br />
<b>It's apparently just the way the human brain works. In stressful situations, we not only take in what our senses are telling us, but are simultaneously spinning through some internal card file of possible options, outcomes and explanations while constructing a story of what happened should we be required to explain it to someone.</b><br />
<b></b><br />
<b>In other words, pretty much every anecdote in our personal story file is, from its inception, a turd we're already polishing to make it more dramatic or funnier or show ourselves in a different light.</b><br />
<b></b><br />
<b>To be clear, everything we see or read has already been coated with a small patina of "fake".</b><br />
<b></b><br />
<b>How else do you explain the inhabitants of Canadian filmmaker Jay Cheel's documentary "Twisted", which explores events that either did or did not take place at the St Catherine's Can-View Drive-In in 1996?</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>Some of what follows is fake -- but what?</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>Enjoy Your Sunday...</b><br />
<b></b><br />
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="250" mozallowfullscreen="" src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/248505397" webkitallowfullscreen="" width="440"></iframe>
<a href="https://vimeo.com/248505397">TWISTED</a> from <a href="https://vimeo.com/jaycheel">Jay Cheel</a> on <a href="https://vimeo.com/">Vimeo</a>.<br />
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jimhenshawhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07815834271470133872noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34798599.post-48450035799555197282017-12-24T13:00:00.001-05:002017-12-24T14:40:49.077-05:00Lazy Sunday # 502: Out For Delivery<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_flC0qhlHSgEIlZCqmpVnOGO7NZLOMpbksBQgKju6I-b96bWxtIBhlSunhpb-_8nkjN3fmTl9kULCPAEyN0R4eXCWYlWs7sMPOk9jhrpEGk6en2EelW717EozRQSjRCEvJFXBKA/s1600/delivery.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><b><img border="0" data-original-height="341" data-original-width="500" height="272" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_flC0qhlHSgEIlZCqmpVnOGO7NZLOMpbksBQgKju6I-b96bWxtIBhlSunhpb-_8nkjN3fmTl9kULCPAEyN0R4eXCWYlWs7sMPOk9jhrpEGk6en2EelW717EozRQSjRCEvJFXBKA/s400/delivery.jpg" width="400" /></b></a></div>
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<b>When I was a kid, everything Christmas was delivered to your door. We lived in the middle of nowhere Saskatchewan, far from stores and those city sidewalks where silver bells rang on every corner and shoppers rushed home clutching their packages.</b><br />
<b></b><br />
<b>A couple of months before the big day, the Sears and Eaton's Christmas catalogues arrived and everybody took turns leafing through the super-colorful pages and circling what they wanted in the hope that Santa or somebody else in the family would take notice and order it for you.</b><br />
<b></b><br />
<b>My dad worked as a station agent for the CPR back then and as Christmas got closer the freight shed was stacked higher and higher with cardboard cartons containing somebody's Christmas. Make that everybody in town's Christmas.</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>Bulky grey canvas bags stamped "Royal Mail Canada" piled up there as well, along with whatever boxes rolled in on the Greyhound or Saskatchewan Transport bus.</b><br />
<b></b><br />
<b>But those packages contained more than just Christmas presents. There were frail wooden crates of Mandarin oranges direct from Japan, heavy as a brick fruit cakes and burlap wrapped wheels of cheese, not to mention metal barrels of beer and wooden boxes ringed with steel strapping that held wine and other spirits.</b><br />
<b></b><br />
<b>One Christmas, a St. Bernard puppy arrived on the baggage car and stayed with us for a few days until the road to his new farm home could be plowed after a blizzard.</b><br />
<b></b><br />
<b>But we weren't completely backwoods and pioneer-timey. We had television and saw all the big Christmas specials with Bob Hope or Perry Como as well as the Christmas parades from far flung metropolises. </b><br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>There were Christmas movies too. Not a lot. But you could count on "It's a Wonderful Life" and Alistair Sim's Scrooge in "A Christmas Carol" making at least one appearance.</b><br />
<b></b><br />
<b>We're back to Christmas arriving in packages nowadays. Some days, I've seen as many as six trucks parked on my street as drivers in brown or blue or whatever they slept in last night hustle parcels to doorsteps. </b><br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>My own place was so busy one morning, the dog gave up the "Danger, Intruder!" bark-fest intended to strike fear into couriers and just pretended she didn't hear the doorbell.</b><br />
<b></b><br />
<b>We've got Christmas movies up the ying-yang too. Sometimes 4 or 5 a night. Most of them feature stars you've never heard of or thought were long dead basically beating you over the head with the sentiments of the season while doing their best to get you reaching for a Kleenex.</b><br />
<b></b><br />
<b>In the end, the overwrought repetitiveness tends to numb viewers (or me at least) to the true message of Christmas.</b><br />
<b></b><br />
<b>Much of that has been remedied by filmmaker Ethan Milner, who turned his gaze to the return of the delivered Christmas and crafted a terrific short film entitled "Out for Delivery".</b><br />
<b></b><br />
<b>Please take a half hour break from the holiday as its envisioned by Hallmark and Lifetime to watch a terrific little movie that shows what the day is really about.</b><br />
<b></b><br />
<b>Merry Christmas from The Legion.</b><br />
<b></b><br />
<b>And Enjoy Your Sunday...</b><br />
<b></b><br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="250" mozallowfullscreen="" src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/247650973?color=ffc906&title=0&byline=0&portrait=0" webkitallowfullscreen="" width="440"></iframe>
<a href="https://vimeo.com/247650973">Out For Delivery | Short Film</a> from <a href="https://vimeo.com/shadesmtn">Shades Mountain Baptist Church</a> on <a href="https://vimeo.com/">Vimeo</a>.<br />
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jimhenshawhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07815834271470133872noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34798599.post-87920628038157155612017-12-18T00:18:00.003-05:002017-12-18T00:18:28.697-05:00Lazy Sunday # 501: Earth Vs The Flying Saucers<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgH-Lsfhu2nsZnB_dkXa4JoDgFNmFQYgwOaHb4sPmZFNW3Kla5q_L0ayN0Gfu9oqX2mwS-j7fryqlrpSlPXLp0E5My3MVtud6HUjspUFQ2lXyv7tZ61XG9b2hxeqvLPnUAlYUCI9A/s1600/flying+saucers.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1260" data-original-width="1600" height="313" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgH-Lsfhu2nsZnB_dkXa4JoDgFNmFQYgwOaHb4sPmZFNW3Kla5q_L0ayN0Gfu9oqX2mwS-j7fryqlrpSlPXLp0E5My3MVtud6HUjspUFQ2lXyv7tZ61XG9b2hxeqvLPnUAlYUCI9A/s400/flying+saucers.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<b>When I was about 7 or 8 I went to see a movie that marked me for -- if not Life, the balance of my childhood. It was called "Earth Vs The Flying Saucers" and if you've ever stayed up past midnight, I'm sure you've seen it.</b><br />
<b></b><br />
<b>It's trashy and stupid and wholly representative of what passed for movie science fiction in the 1950's.</b><br />
<b></b><br />
<b>Six or seven years later, middle of Summer in Saskatchewan, I was flopped on my parents couch watching it again, wondering what exactly had freaked me out. And then something totally freaky in the real world happened...</b><br />
<b></b><br />
<b>An RCAF jet came screaming over our suburban house rocketing for downtown. A minute later, another one almost tore the shingles off our roof as it tore after it.</b><br />
<b></b><br />
<b>I ran outside to see what was going on to find a couple of my friends looking pale and shaky and asking, "Did you see it?"</b><br />
<b></b><br />
<b>They didn't mean the jets. They were talking about what the jets were chasing -- a UFO which had apparently streaked across the prairie skies a couple of minutes earlier. Somewhere in the North end of the city, the air raid sirens that had been stuck up around town around the time of Cuban Missile Crisis went off.</b><br />
<b></b><br />
<b>This frozen shiver went through me. And then the siren cut out. False alarm.</b><br />
<b></b><br />
<b>But my friends had seen something. A lot of people had. Including the pilots of those jets. But by next morning there was nothing on the radio beyond an apology from the nearby air force base over a "low flying training exercise".</b><br />
<b></b><br />
<b>I've always wanted to believe in UFOs. But more often than not their sightings get blamed on swamp gas, weather balloons and too much Tequila.</b><br />
<b></b><br />
<b>But the stories continue and with the arrival of YouTube, entire channels of UFO footage have become available. Sometimes the witnesses are airline pilots or people who seem eminently grounded and respectable. Most often, however, they look like the guys you see getting arrested on "Cops" and the spaceships bear an uncanny resemblance to Christmas lights and pie plates.</b><br />
<b></b><br />
<b>Then yesterday, the New York Times <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/16/us/politics/unidentified-flying-object-navy.html" target="_blank">published a story</a> about a couple of Navy pilots who'd encountered "something unexplainable" off the coast of San Diego in 2004. It's one the Pentagon itself has been investigating for the last 13 years and has finally decided to make public.</b><br />
<b></b><br />
<b>Now, I don't know if this is the final step in preparing us for the official verification that aliens have arrived or just another unexplained mystery. What I know for sure is the video of the event is a lot more plausible than anything else I've seen so far.</b><br />
<b></b><br />
<b>Enjoy Your Sunday...</b><br />
<b></b><br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="250" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/DqNNXpgB2bw" width="440"></iframe><br />
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jimhenshawhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07815834271470133872noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34798599.post-69769310909976085442017-12-11T00:27:00.002-05:002017-12-11T00:27:15.905-05:00LAZY SUNDAY # 500: Curiosity Stream<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<b>In 1961, Newton Minow, President John F. Kennedy's Chair of the American Federal Communications Commission (the much feared and vaunted FCC) had this to say about one of the major industries he regulated...</b></div>
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<i><span style="color: yellow;"><b></b><br /></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="color: yellow;"><b>"When television is bad, nothing is worse. I invite each of you to sit down in front of your own television set when your station goes on the air and stay there, for a day, without a book, without a magazine, without a newspaper, without a profit and loss sheet or a rating book to distract you. Keep your eyes glued to that set until the station signs off. I can assure you that what you will observe is a vast wasteland".</b></span></i></div>
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<b>The vast wasteland he described is often looked upon now as one of the early "Golden Ages" of television. Many of the shows of that time still run on channels such as MeTV, sell as DVD packages or remain available worldwide on their own YouTube channels.</b></div>
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<b>What's more, the formats and genres they popularized are the same ones we use today -- in another "Golden Age of Television" -- and are found in much of the material produced solely to be streamed instead of viewed on a traditional television.</b></div>
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<b>Newton Minow practically begged the TV industry to produce intelligent, thought-provoking programming. His entreaty did not fall on deaf ears -- screenwriter Sherwood Schwartz immortalized him when he dubbed the boat on his pilot for "Gilligan's Island" the S.S. Minnow.</b></div>
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<b>And those searching for intelligent programming are still giving up on finding it on television. When I went to university none of my professors even owned a television set and the same is true for the handful of them I know today.</b></div>
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<b>But now you don't need to own a television to find intellectually challenging fare. Streaming services like Netflix and Amazon Prime offer a lot of great documentary programming. And now there's a streaming entity offering nothing but that kind of content for $3 a month.</b></div>
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<b>Curiosity Stream offers hundreds of hours of high-end documentary content on all sorts of subjects and in all manner of disciplines. It's available on any device on which you want to consume it -- phones, tablets, laptops, desktops or even your television if its connected to a Roku or Apple TV box.</b></div>
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<b>It's one more example of the kind of challenges being faced by specialty TV channels, the industry version of the brick-and-mortar retailer. Why pay three or four times those $3 for a documentary or educational channel packaged with some other channels you have no interest in?</b></div>
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<b>Curiosity Stream may or may not be of interest to you. But it's certainly worth sampling for free for seven days while you decide. You can check the service out here. What follows is a sample of what you'll find.</b></div>
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<b>Enjoy Your Sunday...</b></div>
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jimhenshawhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07815834271470133872noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34798599.post-37109436570586144592017-12-03T22:22:00.003-05:002017-12-03T22:26:34.538-05:00LAZY SUNDAY # 499: THE POLAROID JOB<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhN3u0H4mJDo3Fz75lOZ4uOTsZrxOyLkhePE09zmM_tRLqna4n5_7tv7cAZ_ZnuTYU8jk23vSc1AEVJRnIu9NRls27XPbz5-QJAhfKwzwq9HFjgzj7wbFtyl6ab9Cbnih51hSOzXw/s1600/santa+pet.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhN3u0H4mJDo3Fz75lOZ4uOTsZrxOyLkhePE09zmM_tRLqna4n5_7tv7cAZ_ZnuTYU8jk23vSc1AEVJRnIu9NRls27XPbz5-QJAhfKwzwq9HFjgzj7wbFtyl6ab9Cbnih51hSOzXw/s400/santa+pet.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<b>I've always found those pictures people take this time of year of their pets with Santa Claus were somewhat cute but mostly stupid. I mean, any picture of an animal being coddled or cuddled is heart-warming. But they don't know Santa anymore than what Christmas is. The whole process is forced and fake. And it gives people the impression you oughta have better things to do with your free time.</b><br />
<b></b><br />
<b>But this week I got a nice note from my local pet store offering me the chance to support them as well as raise money for a group who trains compassion dogs to assist people with medical issues -- and you end up with a picture of your pet with Santa Claus. One of those win-win all round deals.</b><br />
<b></b><br />
<b>And in my case I've also got a pooch who refuses to have her picture taken, so I've hardly got any photographs of her. That's because whenever a camera points in her direction, she immediately shies away, like a canine version of those ancient tribes who believed capturing their image was a way for the photographer to steal their soul.</b><br />
<b></b><br />
<b>Nobody's been able to explain why she does this. My own theory is that -- back in the kennel, puppies had their pictures taken all the time -- and disappeared to their new home soon after. So if she wants to maintain the cushy, treat-laden and daily dog park visiting life she has, best not to let anybody have a picture of how cute you are.</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>Of course I should've listened to my gut because nothing went well. The room was packed with dogs all far more fun than sitting quietly for Santa. And when she wasn't ducking and weaving to avoid the camera, she was trying to escape Santa's many helpers as they offered squeaky toys and snackables to draw her attention where it was required.</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>It'll be a couple of days before I see the finished product, but I'm not holding out much hope.</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>Although the experience got me wondering about what draws people to this line of work. And that drew me to a video by Mike Plante about the time his family thought they'd get rich by taking "The Polaroid Job".</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>Enjoy Your Sunday...</b><br />
<b></b><br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="250" mozallowfullscreen="" src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/240739790" webkitallowfullscreen="" width="440"></iframe>
<a href="https://vimeo.com/240739790">The Polaroid Job</a> from <a href="https://vimeo.com/newyorktimes">The New York Times - Video</a> on <a href="https://vimeo.com/">Vimeo</a>.<br />
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jimhenshawhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07815834271470133872noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34798599.post-25904059501704912892017-11-27T01:36:00.004-05:002017-11-27T01:36:52.547-05:00Lazy Sunday # 498: People City<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzr7OYq6Zx2RjzVNW9N0mIFiNkcUCOW7aZfKCC7kQmbZe8HvojqaIoQmwAIs44G4eKCtqchDSsHMQWmcDLBgGn6w4DR-uw4kevqxHV03V0NFtiYR2TqA0Cr2dZS5BErsuLBWXvcg/s1600/yonge+twilight.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzr7OYq6Zx2RjzVNW9N0mIFiNkcUCOW7aZfKCC7kQmbZe8HvojqaIoQmwAIs44G4eKCtqchDSsHMQWmcDLBgGn6w4DR-uw4kevqxHV03V0NFtiYR2TqA0Cr2dZS5BErsuLBWXvcg/s400/yonge+twilight.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<b>Every city changes. They rise and fall. Evolve with the times and the tides of the people who roll in and out of them.</b><br />
<b></b><br />
<b>Toronto when I was growing up was "The Big Smoke", some place far away where my beloved Maple Leafs played and my dad went once a year for a business conference.</b><br />
<b></b><br />
<b>It sounded big and busy but it didn't hold any special attraction.</b><br />
<b></b><br />
<b>That changed in 1971 when I got an Actor's Equity Card and Toronto was the place where Canada made most of its television and all of the country's theatres went to look for casts for their plays.</b><br />
<b></b><br />
<b>I'd been there for a half a day when I was six and a couple of hours between planes a decade later. I didn't know anybody. Didn't have a clue what it was like.</b><br />
<b></b><br />
<b>I fell in love with the place immediately. Mostly because of the people I got to know.</b><br />
<b></b><br />
<b>But all cities change. And over time my affection for Toronto changed too. Like all failed marriages, it wasn't any one thing. And not really any blame that could be laid on either side. We just grew apart. Embraced different values. Had different goals. Revised ideas of what would make us happy.</b><br />
<b></b><br />
<b>I still love the Leafs. Still read one or two of her newspapers everyday to see how she's doing.</b><br />
<b></b><br />
<b>But there's no going back.</b><br />
<b></b><br />
<b>And yet, there was a time -- a golden time when it seemed like the perfect place -- a people city.</b><br />
<b></b><br />
<b>You can feel the mood of that time perfectly in filmmaker Ed Conroy's documentary of Toronto's "lost anthem" -- the song many of us heard as we switched off the tube and shuffled off to bed. A song that anyone who was there understood implicitly.</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>Enjoy Your Sunday...</b><br />
<b></b><br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="250" mozallowfullscreen="" src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/241810440" webkitallowfullscreen="" width="440"></iframe>
<a href="https://vimeo.com/241810440">People City: Toronto's Lost Anthem (2017)</a> from <a href="https://vimeo.com/retrontario">Retrontario</a> on <a href="https://vimeo.com/">Vimeo</a>.<br />
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jimhenshawhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07815834271470133872noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34798599.post-44954042732952750532017-11-20T00:22:00.000-05:002017-11-20T00:25:41.493-05:00Lazy Sunday # 497: AC/DC<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXjhp0fMatJgBKLCxVL0E5-1NwBuwDLFxjpbuJpY4XJbbTVVNmT5dOOTwOjkGNGZzP7f25M3grFR9USg9EZB8ZZ8L7ZhmZCueBVIJe4fR7pce1l7q4TyengB2kqAPdi8syo0xMIw/s1600/ACDCMALCOLM_Philip-Morris70s%25282%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><b><img border="0" data-original-height="848" data-original-width="1200" height="226" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXjhp0fMatJgBKLCxVL0E5-1NwBuwDLFxjpbuJpY4XJbbTVVNmT5dOOTwOjkGNGZzP7f25M3grFR9USg9EZB8ZZ8L7ZhmZCueBVIJe4fR7pce1l7q4TyengB2kqAPdi8syo0xMIw/s320/ACDCMALCOLM_Philip-Morris70s%25282%2529.jpg" width="320" /></b></a></div>
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<b>Rock icons are most often shooting stars, burning bright and flaming out quickly. Some endure, of course, their music shifting to fit or influence the eternal ebb and flow of trends and tastes. Few, if any, ride out a full half century doing the same damn thing.</b><br />
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<b>Malcolm Young of AC/DC was one of the latter. He started out rocking hard and never stopped. Overshadowed by the lead guitar of his showy brother and gravel voiced lead singers, hardly anybody who followed the band knew that the guy in the background was the one who wrote all the songs -- and all the infectious riffs.</b><br />
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<b>Malcolm Young's greatest talent was being able to touch something primal inside us and bring both it and those who heard it to life.</b><br />
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<b>AC/DC wasn't a pretty band. It wasn't politically correct or a darling of the critics. But it knew its audience and gave them what they wanted, outselling more highly regarded artists by the tens of millions.</b><br />
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<b>Their 1980 album "Back in Black" sold 50 million copies worldwide, making it the top selling record of any band -- as in -- any -- band.</b><br />
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<b>Much of the credit for that goes to Malcolm Young, who died this week after a long battle with dementia.</b><br />
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<b>As an example of their incredible longevity and appeal, I offer the following song as an example.</b><br />
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<b>"Highway to Hell" was first recorded in 1979. The concert in the video took place thirty years later in 2009. When did you last see 100,000 people rocking out to a song written before they were born.</b><br />
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<b>I have a feeling Malcolm Young's magic will touch their children as well. And their children as well. Like the man said, "Rock n' Roll will never die".</b><br />
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<b>Enjoy Your Sunday.</b><br />
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jimhenshawhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07815834271470133872noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34798599.post-5440324933139877952017-11-13T00:12:00.003-05:002017-11-13T00:12:59.378-05:00Lazy Sunday # 496: The Monster Factory<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEismA-4Yyf2eKEFQb06C3Bxu-GgQvfZx10rzEnohC21H8afW79DVn8eOUw8P7_gQ3CUnl4OXtQrg0fxps4vjKdtl2mzWXu78wgAd-Yq2z0uEIfaFeyTler0wq9fby-vNHXcYsJrOg/s1600/wrestling.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="253" data-original-width="471" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEismA-4Yyf2eKEFQb06C3Bxu-GgQvfZx10rzEnohC21H8afW79DVn8eOUw8P7_gQ3CUnl4OXtQrg0fxps4vjKdtl2mzWXu78wgAd-Yq2z0uEIfaFeyTler0wq9fby-vNHXcYsJrOg/s400/wrestling.bmp" width="400" /></a></div>
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<b>Spoiler alert -- Professional Wrestling is fake. What happens in the wrestling ring isn't real.</b><br />
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<b>Wanna know something else?</b><br />
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<b>Acting is fake. What happens on movie and TV screens isn't real either.</b><br />
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<b>And yet...</b><br />
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<b>Those engaged in staging the latter always seem to dismiss and look down on those who wrestler for a living.</b><br />
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<b>I've always wondered why.</b><br />
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<b>Back in the mists of time, as both streams of entertainment evolved, they each trotted colorful wagons from town to town to find an audience and eke out an existence. Sometimes they even shared the bill and taught each other their skills.</b><br />
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<b>What happened? If you ask me, one got respectable. The other -- not so much.</b><br />
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<b>Today there are no government grants to train or develop wrestlers, nor to export the culture of wrestling or expand its markets around the world. There are no respected performance spaces built by patrons or responsible city councils. No festival circuits. No seemingly endless awards seasons.</b><br />
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<b>And yet -- wrestlers endure. And prosper at levels that dwarf the money earned in Canada's currently super-heated film and television production centers.</b><br />
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<b>Without ever needing a tax credit to keep them going.</b><br />
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<b>One of my current projects involves wrestling. And this week I set out to find somebody who could train actors to wrestle --and maybe find a couple of wrestlers who could act.</b><br />
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<b>The search took me to rougher parts of town and into worlds where a red carpet just means somebody bled pretty good.</b><br />
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<b>There's a lot in that world that deserves respect. Here's a taste courtesy of filmmaker Tucker Bliss.</b><br />
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<b>Enjoy Your Sunday...</b><br />
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<a href="https://vimeo.com/239830182">Monster Factory</a> from <a href="https://vimeo.com/tuckerbliss">Tucker Bliss</a> on <a href="https://vimeo.com/">Vimeo</a>.<br />
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jimhenshawhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07815834271470133872noreply@blogger.com0