TINA

               

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.

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.

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. 

The Lady just got better. You left a Tina Turner concert both energized and exhausted. The Adrenalin rush lasted for days.

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.

Girl, you were something special. Here are two of my favorite moments... 

Loose Lips Sink Ships

I'm seriously considering blogging on a regular basis again. 

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.

But, at least for the moment, what I post here won't get me banned on the more popular platforms.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Guys, it was a joke. Now we have to choose between which aging Horn-dog it's okay to laugh at?

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". 

Oh. Right. I forgot. There are certain oxen you can't gore during the current news cycle. 

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?

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. 

My little joke from yesterday was included, in a less funny version than mine of course, in the video that follows.

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. 

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.

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. 

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...

Sheri

 

Sheri McGrath once saved my life. Maybe more than once.

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.

It's a wonder any of us live to see a renewal.

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.

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.

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.

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.

A biker chick named Sheri.

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. 

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.

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.

Computers? She'd never touched one.

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.

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.

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?".

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.

I knew she had saved my life.

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. 

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. 

On top of that, she never stopped smiling and never got too busy or tired to help somebody else.

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.

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. 

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.

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. 

"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.

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?

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

After nine years, Sheri was no longer a part of my life. 

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.

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. 

Much as I appreciated the gesture, I said "No". He nodded and turned leave, then said "oh, Sheri says Hi".

She was still looking out for me.

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

Cancel Culture

 

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^st Century version of “Blacklisting”.

This year, I’m celebrating my 50^th 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”.

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.

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.

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.”

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.

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”.  

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.

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”.

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.

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.

Yes, those of you who chose to cancel Gina Carano, took the side of Disney and an actual Genocide.

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!”

Lazy Sunday # 516: Your Turn In The Barrel

I first met Steven Bochco over coffee in Las Vegas.

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.

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.

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.

Bochco was so beloved of the networks that William Paley of 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.

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.

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.

And here's where it got tricky.

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.

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...

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...

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.

He shrugged off the sympathy, admitting he'd liked it a lot too, but "Sometimes it's just your turn in the barrel".

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...

"If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same..."

...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... 

"...a cruel and shallow money trench, a long plastic hallway where thieves and pimps run free, and good men die like dogs."

He'll be missed on too many levels to count.

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.

Enjoy Your Sunday...

Lazy Sunday # 515: The Wild Canadian Year

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.

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.

But the blessing in our disinterest in these places is that they teem with wildlife.

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.

The shoots took place during all four seasons, producing a remarkable five part series entitled "The Wild Canadian Year".

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 here.

In addition to episodes for each of the seasons, there's a great final hour documenting how the whole thing got made.

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.

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.

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.

It 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...

Enjoy Your Sunday.

Lazy Sunday # 514: A Stand Up Guy

A few months ago, a friend of mine decided he wanted to try his hand at stand-up comedy.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

But perhaps the bravest of them all was Mike MacDonald.

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.

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.

Much of that is covered in a Marc Maron WTF podcast from last Summer and well worth a listen here. Mike's portion begins about 40 minutes in.

Mike died last night back home in Ottawa, leaving fellow comedians stunned. To many of them, Mike was a giant, both as a talent to emulate, a mentor and a friend.

And those, like me, who saw him perform remain awed by the ability he had to make us laugh.

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.

Here's a taste.

Enjoy Your Sunday...

Lazy Sunday # 513 Tattad Tattad

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.

Tonight's pending Canadian Screen awards seemed worthy of mention.

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.

Therefore -- lots of things worth celebrating in the best sense of that word.

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.

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.

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 insisting the film didn't really understand the disabled.

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.

Meanwhile, International Women's Day was marked by Canadian film execs eulogizing the career of Telefilm Exec Carolle Brabant for revolutionizing how Canadian film success is measured -- meaning she stopped equating it with entertaining audiences or earning money.

In other words, they were appreciative of her adding additional years to their inability to actually reach an audience.

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".

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.

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.

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.

It also allows women still celebrating International Women's Day the opportunity to shake their booties and objectify a guy for a change.

And if any of this upsets you -- I was probably influenced by a rogue element of the Indian government.

Enjoy Your Sunday...

Lazy Sunday # 512: The Dog Photographer

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.

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.

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.

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.

William Wegman.

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.

There is simply no one better.

Enjoy Your Sunday...

Being Human With the Dog Photographer from Great Big Story on Vimeo.

Lazy Sunday # 511: Never Die Easy

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.

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.

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.

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.

Or at my age -- is there one I might still attempt to share in the "thrill of victory or the agony of defeat".

And maybe there is...

Enjoy Your Sunday.

Never Die Easy: The Dag Aabye Story from Justin Pelletier on Vimeo.

Lazy Sunday # 510: The PC Zombies

As explained by Bill Burr -- because why would you listen to anybody else...

Lazy Sunday # 509: Joy & Heron

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...

Enjoy your Sunday...

JD.COM 'Joy & Heron' from Nylon Studios on Vimeo.

Lazy Sunday # 508: Make An Impact

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?

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.

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.

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.

My personal favorite is delivered by Al Pacino in the best football movie ever written by John Logan and Oliver Stone, "Any Given Sunday".

At least it was until I ran across this one by Rick Rigsby, a former coach and Chaplain of the Texas A&M "Aggies".

These are words that apply to anybody in any endeavor whether or not you've ever laced on a pair of cleats.

It'll make you a better person, no matter who wins today.

Enjoy Your Sunday.

Lazy Sunday # 507: Imagination: Tom Wallisch

I'm going to go out on a limb here...

Actually, I'm not.

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.

Enjoy Your Sunday...
Imagination: Tom Wallisch from The North Face on Vimeo.