Scenes For Sunday: The Mystery of The Pyramids!

In the days before hobbies were invented, my friends and I were often reduced to filling in the plentiful leisure hours of our misspent youth with whatever impulsive thoughts might enter our heads. Forming human pyramids in the basement had probably only crossed our collective minds once if ever; but once was enough to initiate the snapping of this '6 Stooges' photo back in the mid 1970s.

Four of these people have completely vanished into the fog of time. They might continue to exist somewhere on some level, and may even still be found alive on the globe; but I personally haven't seen them in over 3 decades. Only Dan ("Ooo - that feels good") has managed to remain within easy shouting distance over the same time period. And thats only because we're on the same softball team each summer. Therefore, before my brain cells have completely eroded, I should attempt to list the names of these forgotten human pyramid pieces starting at the uppermost point. Diane, Doug, Chris, myself, Dan and Paul.

Comical word-balloon stickers from a current (at the time) Mad Magazine were employed within this image to add further hilarity. A few short weeks after partaking in this aimless tomfoolery, neighborhood cameras would begin rolling on the first of many epic homemade Hollywood-ish super 8 movies; finally giving purpose and structure to some of the people seen in this picture; and putting a quick & speedy end to the short lived fad of pyramid building.

Sunday Scenes

Once again, it's time for another edition of Snapshot Sunday (or did we end up calling it 'Sunday Scenes' I forget); the day each week when we open up the sealed wooden barrel down in the storage room and dust off another photograph or two from the far distant past for uploading to a world wide audience. (One of these days, I'll try uploading a few from the far distant future.)

Since we've missed the last three weeks (I was busy remastering the CD release of the 20th Anniversary Postal Rock Opera with bonus tracks, rare photos and full libretto) we'll have to make up for the lost time by including THREE scenes today.

This first offering finds two of 'the gang' relaxing in the backyard of Paul's home on a summer's eve with the family dog. (Name of dog unknown.) A barbeque was the main focus of this obviously well dressed event, and before the horde of dinner guests had arrived, I managed to capture Don & Doug in the style and fashion of the 70's period in which they were so painfully stuck.

Engine envy. Yes, in hindsight perhaps I should have stood on the other side of this neighborhood scrum to get the people's faces, but hey, I'm actually surprised I bothered to snap this picture at all. From left to right, that's my sister Fran, and then the backsides of Jack, Emil, and Doug (Jack's boy). The lower leg of Mike (Fran's husband) sticks out of the car door. The inner workings of cars never interested me much, but it was obviously candy to the neighbors. Trivia note: the gas cap on the car in front, does not match the same green color of the rest of the body. Only Barthlomew Woods knows the reason why that is.

And finally, a picture of two future blog authors, Bartholomew and myself, promoting the services of the world famous International Janitors Supplies Limited - complete maintenance supplies and equipment - or at least promoting the perfect lettering job on the side of the van. Let's all chuckle at the dark, black socks BW is wearing with his shorts (a no-no in his books today). Meanwhile, I was still strolling around with hippy hair from the 60's, and would continue to do so far into the 70s. By the level of this photo, I can only assume that the cameraman was BW's sister Leigh. Not so much a cameraman, as a little cameragirl.

By the way, don't forget that today (9/9) is Angela Cartwright's birthday! Put on an episode of Lost In Space to celebrate.

Annual Philum Festival

The author with his Nikon R10 super 8 movie camera.
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It has already been reported at some earlier stage in this ongoing blogorama, about my brief but prolific career in the mid-70s as a writer/director of low budget, cornball homemade super 8 movies - and how I would enlist the acting services of friends and neighbors (at zero cost to me of course) in the completion of one hairbrained mini-epic after another.










But I think it's important to also mention how I was not completely alone in this hobby of creating nonsense for the screen. Much like the rival cross town studios of 1930s Hollywood, my friend Don (pictured above) would also put on a director's hat now & then (hat missing in these photos) to produce some cornball movies all his own.

In fact, there was a real concern at one time that the two of us would be facing a serious shortage of actors/actresses now that there were TWO competing studios picking from the same limited resource.

What was eventually spawned from all this homemade movie making madness was the first (and only) Annual Philum Festival - a chance to salute each other's cinematic efforts and present awards of recognition to the performers; sorta like our very own, invitation only Oscar© night.

Artsy posters and programs were drawn up, listing the evening's film showings (I think there were 9 in all) and Don's sister Brenda designed promotional t-shirts in an attempt (no doubt) to sway the judges into selecting her brother's madcap murder mystery: 'Why Did They Do What They Did' as the best super 8 movie of the year. This title was a phrase Don later told me he'd seen in newspaper ads being used to plug a real movie downtown; a phrase he then just HAD to use as the title for one of his own movies. And we're glad he DID - because it's given us plenty of laughs over the years. (Referred to nowadays in it's simpler form: WDTDWTD.)

Here's Bill, manning the tiny snack bar (located by the back door) during the intermission portion of the gala event. The poster behind him, while listing a wide range of edible options, also points out that Bill himself would be making an appearance in one of the evening's films - a bizarre existential romp called 'Billy's Epic Journey'... which is probably better remembered today as Billy's Epic Waste Of Time.

Sadly, Don and I were unable to continue our healthy rivalry as the top super 8 film studios in town any further than this. Within a year of the Philum Festival, Don would accept a teaching position in Australia (where he remains to this day) and the old pool of grubby actors we'd both been dipping into for our goofy films would also shuffle off to more important affairs and more important hobbies; like moving, marriage, and making a living. In fact, it turned out that I wouldn't make contact again with a couple of these 'actor types' for more than 30 years!

Above: a scene from the classic tale: "Farm News" starring Big Dan. Below: a scene from the classic (they're ALL classics) drama: "I Love To Walk" starring Hanklin Snowden. Is there ANYone who wasn't a fan of Hanklin's films during the mid-70s? He was the closest we would ever get to having our own Jimmy Stewart or Randolf Scott.

So I guess we all look back now a bit wistfully on those fuzzy old memories of making blockbuster super 8 movies around the neighborhood. Heck, we're looking back wistfully on everything from the past - such is the habit of elderly people when they get to 'that certain age'. But while the labourious task of making all these flickering images didn't seem to last very long in hindsight (it was only 1974-1976), the actual films themselves, with their bad fashion statements, crazy long sideburns, and historic value, just keep on going and going as if they were all up on the same level as 'Citizen Kane' or something.

Above: an outake from the closing chase scene of "Esther; Teenage Runaway". Trivia note: the second of these four thugs would eventually grow up and marry the lead actress, Esther. (I feel personally responsible for initiating that union!)

Why not click on the link below to watch a short but dull scene from this exciting 1975 motion picture production. You'll be glad you did.

SHORT SCENE