Post 694 - Journal Entry from 1985

Uncovered while picking up some spilled files:

Journal Entry May 20, 1985

Received a call yesterday just as I was getting ready to be late for work.  I said, “Hello.”  The caller said, “Hello, Jim.  John Garcia here with some good news for a weapons fanatic like yourself.”

Now, such comments over the phone really get my mind working.  First of all, who the hell is John Garcia?  I knew a John Garcia in high school, but he was at least four years older than me, and I think we used to call him Juan.  Or he used to call him Juan.  But I haven’t spoken with Juan or John or anyone named Garcia since somewhere in the mid 70's.  And then this “weapons fanatic” stuff – I mean, I’ve expressed an interest to Hobday or Lematta* that I might like to get one of those black powder muskets and pretend I was Dan’l Boone and scare various wild birds from my parents’ swampland, but I would consider that as qualification to be a fanatic.  I truly thought about all of this before I finally said -

“Well, I couldn’t consider myself a fanatic.”

John (or Juan) had a quick reply to that.  “I’ve got an UZI!”  He said it like I would drop the phone, pass out, wake up again, run to the bank, get a quick loan at 35% interest, and then dash to his feet, panting, begging to hold this instrument of persuasion and call it mine.

My response wasn’t quite what he was expecting.

I said, “That’s nice.”

Now Juan (or John) was sounding uneasy - and suspicious.  “Is this Jim Middleton?”

I told him You Betcha.

“Well, it doesn’t sound like Jim Middleton.”

The only other Jim Middleton I’ve ever met was my grandfather, and since he has been dead for about four years, I don’t really know what he’d sound like now.  In addition, he was into Lincolns, not guns.  Juan wasn’t finished, however -

“What nickname do we call Mr. Ruble?”

Hoo boy, here it comes, I thought.   Some secret password, some coded message with this question to separate the wimps from the Survivors.  The only thing that popped into my head at this time was “Barney,” but I didn’t say this for fear of being right, and then who knew what would happen?

“Are you a friend of Ron Hobday’s?” I asked, instead.

This seemed to be a major shut down for Mr. Garcia.  He said, “Hoo, am I sorry.  Excuse me,”
and he rang off.

I was still late for work.

*two former fellow pharmacists in my hospital days

Yee HA!

Post 693 - "The General" Novelization - 1927

Small town libraries don't seem to be the repositories of history any more.  The digital push brushes past tangible artifacts that have slipped from the thin vapor of memory and are no longer deemed significant.

This afternoon I found a volume in the local library's "discard bin."  It may have been remaindered from a local estate sale, it may have been donated and rejected for fund raising purposes.  

The title immediately caught my attention, having recently attended a showing of the Jim Schaub/Ron Pesch documentary, Keaton:Home in Muskegon.  The General is frequently cited among the best silent films ever made, and in terms of comic timing and visual composition, a likely contender as one of the best films ever made in any category.  

I never heard of the author, Joseph Warren, and opened it, expecting to see the exploits of some European count or Great War honcho.  Instead, the cover page told a completely different tale - The General was a contemporary novelization of the 1927 Keaton masterpiece, an expensive epic that, to jazz age eyes, wasn't all that much to get enthused over (the Raymond Griffith film Hands Up! had better reviews), with the dark humor of the battle scenes regarded as positively repelling.   

I'll be scanning the pages in the days ahead to preserve this version of the film, lest my own eventual estate sale be equally incapable of finding the original volume a proper, appreciative custodian.

Thus far, I have only come upon one other novelization by Joseph Warren (of Long Island, according to his prologue to The General): What a Widow! was a novelization of an early Gloria Swanson talkie of the same name in 1930.  Will continue to explore the rabbit hole!

 

(note her producer's name) 

 

Click here for The General (archive.org 4K file - if it takes too long to "fire up" you can just download the file and enjoy it when and where-ever you wish!)

Post 692 - First Rough Assembly - IAD Poster Animation Material for 2024 - ASIFA Central

 Testing the morphing images, adding the first roughed in animation as examples for the chapter members.

Kids! Try this at home!

2024 ASIFA Central

Post 691 - Anijam Transition Test - Using Plympton and Benny

 First run, using only a morphing program as a test for resolution:

And then, using image three and four as a framing device to introduce Benny:

Take Two - 

And Annoying Autodesk Products in the meantime with other images:

And take Two with that one:

Post 690 - Ireland Part Six - Video Clips and VIMEO link to "Slide Show"

                                                    (c) 2024 Jim Middleton, The Animating Apothecary

 

And here's another minute you'll never get back --

 And a 12 minute slideshow, on Vimeo - PRESS HERE

 

Post 689 - Ireland Part Five - Killarney, Irish Deer, the Rock of Cashel, and Tommy the Teaser (NSFW - hee)

Preparing for a "Jaunty Ride"- first thing in the morning in Killarney

Protected Irish deer never lose their spots - why should they?

In the middle of Killarney, you can find a park where you forget you're in the middle of Killarney

No Killarney visible here, either

Hidden history, a site in plain sight

A favored place to exile those perceived as naughty so they can just think about what they've done for 20-30 years.  "I think I've done found a lovely place to enjoy a peaceful exile, thank you very much!"

Former park manager house, now for tea and strumpets. Er, crumpets.  Well, maybe both.

The mark of a professional thatcher.

It's happy to see you!

A break in the rain in the ring of Kerry

Suzann, Joanne, and Patricia with their lovely toppers on display.

The Great Southern Hotel, Killarney

The Munster Ruins

The ruins are holding together better than I ever could

Local guide telling us not to feed that baby to her left, or it'll follow you home

Perpetual sun roof

...and at dusk, the pipes will sound, and the earth shall bring forth McCarthys and O'Briens...

Over the wall lies more manicured fields.  Manicured fields everywhere.

Majestic, and breezy

One clan would build their cathedral in front of the other clan's cathedral

And windows are just for sissies.  Squint hard at the rocks and you'll see all you need.

A chunk (on the left) fell in the 1840s, and nobody saw a need to put it back.  Some church in Wisconsin has a bit from this castle in its foundation.  Our newlyweds from Wisconsin had extra luggage searches when they left.

Anne counting her steps, while the young lady with nine oysters under her belt continued to feel funny.

Fixer upper opportunity

The purported face of a benefactor who gave money to the construction program, ca 1100

The face of someone whose check bounced.

Lookit them flying buttresses!  I didn't know I was such a buttress sort of guy.

Some original plasterwork remains.

burial crypt, something for the viewer to enjoy

...and something for the user to view

Fleming tapestry - some reconstruction near the ruins

Guard sheep

And then, to Kildare town and the "National Equine Innovation Center" - aka "The Irish Stud."  A wealthy British benefactor was convinced that proper race-horse breeding required a deep appreciation for astrology and, apparently, Japanese gardening.  When he died, leaving his farm to Ireland, there was actual  dispute whether they should keep up such a British endeavor - and someone said, have you seen the size of those stud fees?  Lunch came first...

For Americans, the locals provided this version of "veg" with their meal

The wealthy British benefactor, Colonel William Hall Walker, is memorialized in this sculpture depicting him invoking the knowledge of the stars to give him prize horseflesh, supported by the delicacy of Tassa Eida's gardening visions.   The peak years for both appears to have run between 1906 and 1910

(another wonderful shot by Richard Ong of Toronto)

Tommy the Teaser - he struts around to see if the gal's are a-willin', then has a nice lunch

The prize stallions can take part in 100-150 "coverings" during the breeding season.  Sounds like a typical freshman year at some Michigan colleges.  Invincible Spirit, age 27, has an unlisted fee for his services, due to his advanced years, but some fees are in a six-figure range.  Quite the cover charge.

By appointment only

St. Fiachra's Garden - you enter through the GATE OF OBLIVION, pass through the CAVE OF BIRTH, then the TUNNEL OF IGNORANCE, climb the HILL OF LEARNING, enter the PATH OF ADVENTURE, choose marriage for the ISLAND OF JOY AND WONDER and cross the ENGAGEMENT BRIDGE, feast at the prenuptial table, be confirmed by the MARRIAGE BRIDGE, walk the HONEYMOON PATH, examine the branches of DIFFERENCE OF OPINION, drink from the WELL OF WISDOM at the HILL OF AMBITION, descend to the TEA HOUSE, cross the BRIDGE OF LIFE, settle into the CHAIR OF OLD AGE and rest beneath the weeping trees at the HILL OF MOURNING.  Then have some fries at the cafe.

Back to the well-trained pillows at the Radisson Blu St Helens, in Dublin

The June Taylor Arrangement

Solid veined marble

And Doc Martin's favorite cure-all, PARACETAMOL!!  But in the US, we call it ACETAMINOPHEN.  In Ireland, you can only buy it at a pharmacy, with a two box limit.  That is why Ireland still has pharmacies.  In fact, we saw only a few recognizable "chains" - one was Papa Johns, and McDonald's is there, but elicits a certain look of derision by the locals.  Just like in the US!

"Well, hope you had a nice time - meet me under the tree anytime, and be sure to tell your friends."