Saturday, August 18, 2012
Friday, August 17, 2012
Friday Roundup- Time Keeps Flowing Like A River
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| Bright,isn't it? |
I started work on a new business card for Pammy for her baking work. She's very good at it and loves the creative outlet it offers. It's something she'll be working to do more often. I'm all for that. Got to have several irons on the fire, know what a mean, Vern?
Pammy
also talked to Mr. Vincent Mann about bringing his one-man
autobiographical show The Last Hippie, to Texas once again. He performed
it what at first I thought was only last year at The Vortex Theatre in Austin but in actuality was back in 2009. Three years sneaked past us! How'd that happen!! This time the hope is
to do a run here in San Antonio. When Pammy wanted to bring her dad's
short stories of his family's experiences in the military from World War
I to the Viet Nam War to life on the stage, she wanted Vincent to be
the one to perform them and did a couple times over the last few years
with Pammy directing. It was titled "Staff Car" and Vincent did a fine job each time. With any luck, he'll be opening his show here in late September or early October.
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I finally finished another monster/ sci-fi illustration in my quest to amass as many as I can in time for a convention in the spring. I'm very happy with the results so far and I'm looking forward to the next one. I've also been thinking of taking some of those illustrations and turning them into prints and also possibly putting them on t-shirts. You gotta think big to be big! That all takes moolah so we'll see how soon it can happen but mark my words, citizens, it will. Irons in the fire....
Thursday, August 16, 2012
Moreau's Femme Fatale Finished!
My portrait of the lovely Kathleen Burke as Lota the Panther Woman from Island of Lost Souls (1932) is finally completed. As a reward for myself I'm going to enjoy a chocolaty delight- a "Truffle Pig". Yummy. I think that was also the name of a Black Sabbath song, wasn't it?
Wednesday, August 15, 2012
Clown Gag Footage- 113th Edition Ringling Bothers Barnum and Bailey Circus 1983
Today's post is to share really wonderful footage of clowns on the Ringling show working the three rings during the course of the show back in 1983. That's back when clowns of the RBBBC had plenty of time to do their thing. It's a bit different these days. No offense intended to the current Ringling clown alleys on the road. They're a very talented group of performers doing the best they can given the changes that have been instituted in that circus during the last twenty or so years by the powers that be.
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| Master Prop Builder George Shellenberger |
In 1989, my wife got to be in the alley before such changes occurred. When I was on the road for the first time in late 1993, things were already changing but we still had Come-in, track gags, walkarounds and a couple of ring gags during the course of the three hour show. We also had master clown prop builders like Mr. George Shellenberger and others who produced many wonderful clown "goodies" during the summer at Clown College or at Winter Quarters if we weren't doing it ourselves. Times change.
The last time we were on the road in 2001,come-in was replaced by "The Three Ring Adventure" which I liken to a giant bazaar or circus market. It's a flurry of sound and activity and it's where we had one and a half minutes to perform a gag.
It's so radically different today but it's nice to share this footage, courtesy of Mr. Nic Beery, who I've never had the pleasure of meeting, to give you a taste of the fun they had when clowns were held in a little higher regard there. Enjoy!
Monday, August 13, 2012
Monday Wishing
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| An artist in his natural habitat. |
Let's see...today is the beginning of the count down for school to start...two weeks and counting! The summer had it's highs and lows but through it all Pammy and I did some fun and creative things. Now, Pammy might have a chance to do some more theater work in the next couple of months that might very well include me. I'm keeping my fingers crossed. I don't want to say more so as not to jinx it. Silly theater superstitions, I know, but why take a chance?
I've got my sights set for the next Artslam the middle of next month with the theme being martial arts. Perfect! I've got some good ideas for that already and am in the process of working them out. Meanwhile I'm still plugging away at my monster/sci fi illustrations (see photo above) from the 1940's and 50's though there are a few from the sixties and seventies I've done as well. Them's my formative years! Again, the goal is to set up a booth at a sci fi/ comic book type convention to sell as many as I can. So far so good.
I hoping that by this time next year Pammy and I will have been doing more and more of what we did this summer. That's a feasible and worthwhile goal.
Sunday, August 12, 2012
Sunday Morning Matinee- Superman Serial. (1948)
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| This is the very time the Man of Steel was portrayed in a live action film and starred Kirk Alyn in the non-credited role of Superman. Noel Neill, as the first Lois Lane, was also Lois Lane in the next Superman serial "Atom Man Vs. Superman", then continued playing the "tough as nails" reporter when "The Adventures of Superman" t.v. series began it's run in 1951. For the 1978 Superman film starring Christopher Reeve she, as well as Kirk Alyn, had cameos as Lois Lane's parents in the train sequence in the early part of the movie. Also, of special note for Our Gang fans, the actor portraying Jimmy Olsen (also a first), Tommy Bond, is also best remembered for his appearances in the Our gang comedies starting in 1931 in the role of "Tommy" and later went on to play "Butch", the bully who made life difficult for Alfalfa in several of the shorts. It's a fun film with lots of action and suspense as only the serials could do. Below is a Wiki link with more info on this classic from the 1940's. Enjoy. |
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superman_(serial)