Tuesday, May 5, 2009

The video of  "Sure Thing" was much better than I expected. The production was well done on many levels. The acting was very good, especially the young lady...her body language was spot on for each version of the encounter. This seems like a script that would be hard to keep straight, so many versions, with almost the same lines. The set was minimal but more than adequate, the camera work and the lighting were both good. I will watch some other versions of Sure Thing that were available on you-tube for comparison when I get the chance.

Tuesday, April 21, 2009

This is the link to our team blog. 

Wednesday, April 15, 2009

Fiction readings

A & P; by John Updike, I read this short story and wrote an even shorter version of the story from Stokesies POV.

A Rose for Emily; by William Falkner, A story of lost love, aristocracy, and a town character.

Teenage Wasteland; by Anne Tyler, no not the song by the "Who" this one is a sad tail of poor parenting.

Sonny's Blues; by James Baldwin, a big brother without a lot of faith in his little brother, a recovering heroin addict, learns his little bro. Sonny is an accomplished blues pianist.

A Worn Path; by Eudora Whelty, is an almost surreal journey by a very old black woman into town to get medicine and a cardboard toy for her injured grandson.

The Jilting of Granny Wheatherall; by Katherine Anne Porter, is the story of an old dying woman told from her perspective and her daughters.

Miss Brill; by Katherine Mansfield, is a Sunday in the park, and inside Miss Brill's mind.

The Rich Brother; by Tobias Wolf, is all about the frustration of dealing with family and having to
make accommodations that are less than convenient.

Cathedral; by Raymond Carter, is not the best story in the section, conversations seem contrived and stilted, but he does manage to convey the awkwardness of the situation

Barn Burning; by William Falkner, a young boy has to decide between doing the right thing and family loyalty, never an easy decision.

Tuesday, April 7, 2009

A & P

So, it's three O-clock and I'm six hours into a Sunday shift here at the A & P, and about to fall asleep. I'm on register two and Sammy is on three checking out one of the local matriarchs, when these three teeni-boppers walk in wearing nothing but their swim suits. Sammy spots them, stops dead, and losses track of his check-out, but the matriarch is watching and jump on him for charging her twice for something, and he has to smooths her feathers for the double ring. I have to bite my lip to keep from laughing out loud. He tries to act cool, and calms the old battle-ax down, but he still can't quit staring at the trio of teen queens working their way toward us. He's nineteen and these gals are a year or two younger than him, but you just don't see girls of any age in here wearing nothing but their swim suits. They remind me of the Goldi-locks story; one is a little to tall and thin, although in a couple of years shes going to be a knockout, one is a little to short and heavy, but in a cute round bottomed teeni-bopper way, and one, well she is just right. This gal is the ring leader, you can tell. She has her straps off her shoulders, and walks ahead of the other two with her head up and her shoulders back like she goes shopping in a swimsuit all the time, you can tell she's used to being the center of attention. She's a sun bleached strawberry blonde, not to tall, not to short, that looks and is built a little like Grace Kelly.

I realize he sees that I'm staring too, so I lean toward Sammy and say "Oh daddy, I feel so faint." He gives me a look and hams it up with a "Darling, hold me tight" like it's a joke but I can tell he's more than interested. As they turn away, and head up the pet food Isle I can't see them any more but Sammy is locked on target, I whisper loud enough for him to hear, "Is it done?" but he never looks away. We have that new air conditioning and it's cool in here; but there's a little sweat on his upper lip and I can tell he's hooked hard. Hell, I'm three years older than Sammy, with a wife and two kids and all I'm thinking about right now are those two little crescents of white skin at the top of her suit where it has slid down an inch and a half without the aid of those shoulder straps that bounce ever so slightly with every regal-barefooted step she takes.

I really can't blame him for checking out mentally, he's stuck in this store working a job his folks arranged with that goody-two-shoes Lengel, instead if hanging out chasing girls and getting into trouble with his buddies he graduated with last June. I mean look at me, I'm stuck here in a job that was supposed to just be for a while; until a good job came along. Then my girlfriend Lacy got pregnant and suddenly I'm married and a dad; and the regular paycheck and the employee discount have me trapped. Now I am the "senior" checker praying for the day that stiff Lengel retires or dies so I can be the store manager and get that raise to $3.25 an hour with benefits.

Anyway, a few minutes later, I'm ringing up one of the local house frau's, dressed in sweats, with her hair up in pin curlers covered with one of those see-through hair nets with the flowers printed on it, as if that makes her look okay to be out in public, when the teeni-boppers walk up to Sammy's check stand and Grace Kelly hands Sammy a 6 oz. jar of pickled herring in sour cream. Sammy is almost dumb-struck, but manages to ring it up and ask Grace for the 49 cents, and wait for it, she pulls a folded dollar bill out from the hollow between those glistening white crescents at the top of her suit and hands it to Sammy. I swear I hear him let out a little groan, he's a goner, she had him hook, line, and sinker.

This is where the story gets fun, Lengel has been outside haggling with the produce delivery driver, something about cabbages. Well he walks in and almost makes it to the office that represents my future, when he notices the girls with their bare feet and swim suits and without a seconds hesitation walks over and starts scolding them about how they're dressed in front of everyone in the store, like some dutch uncle. At first the girls are embarrassed, but it doesn't take a second for Grace Kelly to remember her status as queen bee and she starts to, not really argue with Lengel, so much as defend herself, saying she only had to get one thing for her mom, and she wasn't really shopping. Lengel, the Sunday school teaching, over starched, buttoned down, stick in the mud, he is, is not going to take any back talk from young girls with bare shoulders. He has to keep this fine establishment a decent place for the middle aged ladies in curlers and sweat suits, so he puts her in her place, but good. Next thing you know the girls are half way to the door and I hear Sammy say "I quit" Just loud enough for me, Lengel, and the girls to hear. Lengel doesn't flinch, he's watching the girls retreat out the door without looking back, with his arms crossed like the sole defender of virtue. When the door closes behind them he turn to their would be knight in shining armor, and asks Sammy if he said something. I half expected Sammy to back down, but in a small voice he repeats it, "I said I quit." Lengel snaps "I thought you did," what a square. I can tell Sammy is mad, the way he stands up to Lengel in front of me and the customers who are fidgeting and looking really uncomfortable, and calm as can be, he tells Lengel "You didn't have to embarrass them,"and Lengel comes back with a lame "It was they who embarrassed us," like he had some secret knowledge of everyone's feelings, sheesh. Sammy gives Lengel a look and says "Fiddle-de-doo." It sounded like something my grand-ma would say; but somehow it was the perfect come back.

Now Lengel is feeling the eyes on him and tries to make nice to Sammy and in his most fatherly tone tells Sammy something like "I don't think you know what your saying." Sammy isn't about to let him off the hook and as he is taking his apron off he lays a "I know you don't, but I do," on Lengel and starts to walk out. Lengel is close friends with Sammy's folks and he knows this will make problems for them all, so he tries again "Sammy, you don't want to do this to your Mom and Dad" Sammy just keeps walking. Lengel half yells "You'll feel this for the rest of your life" at Sammy's back as he's walking out. Of course I have to act like nothing has happened, but I am so proud of Sammy I could have kissed him.

A stiff and angry Lengel takes Sammy's place at the register and started ringing up groceries like this was just another day at the A & P, and when the last of the customer/witnesses are gone, he retreats to my future office.

Friday, March 27, 2009

Snake! (a five minite story)

When I was 10 years old, my grandparents on my mothers side lived in Madras, Ore. It was a

three hour drive so we always stayed at least two or three days, and it was common for one or

more of my aunts and uncles to schedule co-visits so we could all get together. There was about

12 of us cousins, and we played real well together, so these visits were something us kids looked

forward to.

Madras sits on the east side of Mt. Hood where the foot hills level out into the high desert of

eastern Ore., it's sagebrush country with a nice mix of juniper trees scattered across rolling

hills. My grandparents lived a few miles out of town and there was no limit to adventures we

could find. The was wild life all around and I loved to explore, this was as good as my life got at

this age.

My grandpa Jack was great, he was tall, thin, kind, had an incredible knowledge of the natural

world and was amazingly patient; when 12 kids between 2 and 15 descended on his home.

Grandpa's hobby was rock cutting and polishing; and the family had bought him the biggest, best
rock saw they could find for him when he retired. He would often load the older cousins (say 8

and older) up in his old Chevy pick-up and drive us out into the desert and take us rock

hounding. The desert around Madras was littered with agates, obsidian, jasper, chert, petrified

wood, and the occasional arrowhead (I once found a piece of agate that weighed 26 Lbs. that

grandpa cut into slices the size of dinner plates).

On one such trip, late in April or early may, the weather was warm and the oldest cousins got to

sit in the back of the pick-up, how fun is that, we all swapped stories and took turns teasing each

other. We had been traveling down a dirt road (no gravel) about 35 MPH for about 10-15

minites on the way to one of grandpa's favored spots when he suddenly swerved back and forth

and slammed on the brakes. We all went sliding and slammed into the bang-board behind the

cab. He jumped out of the cab with a worried look on his face (as he should have after bruising 7

of his grand kids at once) and hurried right passed us back up the road. We all were asking what

was wrong at the same time and grandpa shouted over his shoulder "I think I ran over a

snake!" (Grandpa loved all living things and especially reptiles). I was a 10 year old boy and I

positively loved reptiles. I would catch the same half dozen blue-bellied fence lizards that lived in

grandpa's rock wall, every time I visited. I scanned back up the road and there was the biggest

snake I had ever seen, stretched out across the road. If granddad hadn't run it over he had done

a pretty nifty job of straddling it. I jumped out of the back of that pick-up and caught up to and

passed grandpa, and had that snake in my hands before grandpa and the rest of the cousins

could get close. I turned around with a huge smile on my face and half out of breath, asked "is it

a rattlesnake grandpa?" For the first time in my life, I saw my grandpa angry. He leveled a look

at me that would stay with me for 40 years and in a voice that scared me with it's even timbre

said "you always ask that question, before you pick up the snake Richard." My cousins never get

tired of telling me about the look on my face as the implications settled in. The snake was a 5 ft.

long bull snake that had just shed it skin, it was glossy and beautiful. We all took turns holding it

and asking questions while grandpa told us everything he knew about bull snakes; which was

considerable. When he thought the snake had had all the attention it could stand he made us

walk it out into the sagebrush away from the road and let it go. I don't remember if we found

any agates.

Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Check it out!

Hey Bob, com'er, you got to see this. Just a minute Jeff I need to finish this work-order. No,

seriously you gotta see this man. What is it Jeff? I'm kinda busy here. Dude, that hot red-head

you were helping a few minutes ago dropped her cell phone, and well, I thought I would check to

see if I could find her number to let her know, and I was just kinda look'n through her video files

and there are these shots of her and some guy, and dude, they are totally do'n it. Don't mess

with me Jeff, I have work to do. Check it out! Am I lying? Wow, no you're not, now that

chick is my kind'a freak. You'd better give that to me Jeff, your not old enough to be look'n at

stuff like that. No way Bob, finders keepers man. Fine, genius, but if the boss finds out you've

been scoping out a customer's personal info, you're history; he is one straight arrow.

Daaamm, your right man, he'd totally blow a gasket. So, what are you gonna do now junior,

find the chick and give it back to her, keep it to show your buds at school, try to sell the video to

one of those on-line porn sites? Slow down Bob, I need to think. You'd better figure it out before

she comes back look'n to see if she left it here and finds you slobbering over it. Oh shit, your

right. I can't give it back to her now! One look at her and stupid grin on my face is gonna give me
away, she's gonna know I was check'n it out. Yeah, that's one drawback of being seventeen, your

face is pretty much an open book, and watch you language here on the floor man, customers,

remember. Sorry, oh man, this realy sucks Bob, if she figures out I've been check'n out her

stuff and complains to the boss, I'm screwed; he's gonna cann me for sure. What do I do? I need

this job! True story pup, I'll tell you what your going to do, give the phone to me and I'll take

care of it for you. What are you gonna do with it? Jeff, you're a good kid, but you really can't

keep a secret, it's probably best if you don't know. Lets just say I'll find a way to get it back to

her and keep your name out of it. So, what do you say, are you going to lose your job or let me

bail you out? Your right as usual dude, thanks, here, take it. Por nada son, that's what friends

are for, but you owe me one.

Hello, hey Babe...Slow down, relax! I've got it, you dropped it here in the store...No, that kid Jeff

found it...Yah, but he saw the video...Oh yah, he got an eyefull...No, it wasn't too hard to talk him

out of it, candy from a baby...No, he doesn't have a clue I was the camera man. I don't think it

even dawned on him someone had to be holding the phone...No, no worries...Oh, I'm sure he'll be
tell'n his friends about it, but I convinced him if the boss finds out he snooped, he'll lose his

job; besides he doesn't know who you are...No, he didn't put us together, he thought you were

in here buying something... okay, see ya tonight, and we can post this clip on our web sight, and

Babe, try to be more careful with the phone; we don't make any money if these videos end up on
Youtube.

Tuesday, March 3, 2009

Behind Blue Eyes

This is one of my favorite songs, written by Pete Townson of the "Who"

No one knows what it's like
To be the bad man
To be the sad man
Behind blue eyes
No one knows what it's like
To be hated
To be fated
To telling only lies
But my dreams
They aren't as empty
As my conscience seems to be
I have hours, only lonely
My love is vengeance
That's never free
No one knows what it's like To feel these feelings
Like I do
And I blame you
No one bites back as hard
On their anger
None of my pain and woe
Can show through
But my dreams
They aren't as empty
As my conscience seems to be
I have hours, only lonely
My love is vengeance
That's never free
When my fist clenches, crack it open
Before I use it and lose my cool
When I smile,
tell me some bad news
Before I laugh and act like a fool
If I swallow anything evil
Put your finger down my throat
If I shiver, please give me a blanket
Keep me warm, let me wear your coat
No one knows what it's like
To be the bad man
To be the sad man
Behind blue eyes

I always thought he was describing the life of a politician.