Hi folks,
Can’t quite bring myself to shoot the view out the front Gus and I woke up to this morning (Tuesday, July 16th, currently about 8:30 AM)….
Oh, hell, all right, I’ll shoot it. See if I can grab an image that communicates the vibe where I am…
Right. Walmart lot (Moncton, Nova Scotia). So much for my Into the Wilds bullshit, the Bay of Fundy’s bilblical blah blah…
But let me tell you – and I’ll show you once I get it together – just down the road from this Walmart lot there are some major league cosmic doings and I’m going to hang here in Nova Scotia much longer than I had planned, because of those doings, that tidal rhythm. I’ve looked on Youtube and elsewhere for imagery that gives the feel of the twice daily show Big Blue puts on here for us humans, and found them all sorely lacking. So my goal, and you’re hearing it first here and now, is to make the Fundy flick. Might take me a week, might be a year, whatever. I am going to do it. Hopefully, it won’t take six-plus years like Water Time but whatever. I’m here until the task is complete.
Do not unsubscribe until you’ve seen what I’m up to! Hang in. Okay? Okay. (People unsubscribe for strange reasons, is my impression from the data Big Al provides me with about this blog. But more on that some other time…)
There are about a dozen other rigs scattered around the Moncton Walmart lot’s perimeter, some of which look like they’ve been here a while. Why folks would be ensconced in a Walmart lot for any length of time is a question I may look into…
…on the other hand, there is nothing, no physical object needed for modern living that is not in that building over there (which has to be four or five acres in earth-surface area) including free, non-password-encumbered Wifi that beams out here into the pictured lot. I mean theoretically Gus and I could live out our days right here…
…whoa, hadda lie down for a minute there…
Reason I’m here is I need an intervalometer for my Canon Rebel (in order to properly shoot Fundy) and may have to hang in while the local camera shop orders it.
A Meanwhile: In case you haven’t figured it out: I am right now as loose as a human can get, in terms of ‘future plans.’ Literally, each morning upon awakening I ask myself ‘What kind of change of plans can I come up with today that would blow my own mind?’ In a sense, this is the real point of this endeavor. How free can a person be, with a few givens? By ‘givens’ I mean I’m going to stick to RV living, I’m going to keep Gus as my companion, and… and that’s it. Other than those two strictures, I am loose. Maybe I’ll really look into what kind of folks camp out at Walmart lots. Stay here ‘till the snows of October kind of thing. Probably not, but it’s a thought…
So while we wait and I have weird fantasies I thought I’d be in touch. Aside from the borderline distressing photo image above, I’m going to offer a couple links, the first being Day One of my interactions with Rich Grove (& Lisa Arbecheski) back in Hartford, Connecticut (the ‘Insurance Capital of the World!’). Rich posted our conversation – filmed in his home-built studio – on his Tragedyandhope.com website, in the subscribers only area, but you get to see it here.
Bear with me if (here and down the road) I seem hung up on Rich Grove. I sort of am, but for good reasons, I think, even aside from those explained in my last post. Try to hang in, and give Rich the benefit of the doubt if I screw up in intro-ing him to you. (He’s done so much great stuff I don’t know what order to stick them in, fearing attention span problems from folks who would later thank me if they’d just hung in.)
I’m doing my best to put you together with him in a way that will benefit you both. (What’s in it for Rich? Like me, he’s semi-obsessed with communicating some simple and maybe not-so-simple truths to his fellow humans. And the more – humans and truths – the better. So the biggest favor I can do Rich is to turn others on to him. And I owe him a favor, for all I’ve learned from him.)
Regarding Tragedyandhope.com’s ‘Subscriber’s only’ thing: Something like 95% of the humongous amount of media Rich has created since his whistleblowing, since, really, 9/11/01, is public and absolutely free.
(One of my goals is to get you to experience Rich’s The Ultimate History Lesson; A Weekend With John Taylor Gatto, a sort of My Dinner With Andre for those of us who are serious – but at the same time playful – about knowing How the World Works. I’ve watched the five-hour series six times so far and am far from done…)
As I did with my film, Water Time; Surf Travel Diary of a MadMan, Rich does not want money to come between what he has to offer and you. But on the other hand, as I do, Rich has to live, pay bills, buy equipment, and so forth. Okay, I know, he made a million (as what I refer to as ‘a Wall Street Sharpie’), but those bucks were taken from him by those he blew the whistle on, when his crisis decision loomed and he did the right thing…
So hey, consider spending five bucks (or more) a month to support Rich’s endeavors. I can tell you because I was there: Aside from his need to ‘get by,’ virtually all of your donation will be ‘up on the screen,’ as the H-wood expression goes.
Enough! Where’s the goddamn link? Click here!
Yeah, yeah, it’s long, but it starts well, aside from my stuttering/murmuring problem and overuse of the word ‘etcetera.’
As an addendum to the above, here are my videos, referred to during our blab:
Here’s the Sikh shooting expose.
While I – or if I – still have your attention, those of you who liked Water Time can help me out by going to Water Time’s Chain NYC Film Festival page and clicking ‘Like’ – just your having visited the page will help a lot by bringing attention to my film; attention it doesn’t have, since I’m a nobody in NYC filmmaking (at least for now). You might have to register (sorry!); please do whatever you can on that page to help my film… Click here…
Last but not least, here’s the Tragedyandhope.com subscribe page. Feedback on what you think of Rich and his work is welcome. Lemme hear it!
Next time you hear from me odds are good that I’ll be back on Fundy, making the Fundy Film.
Allan
Just as I was about to post this I realized that the date of writing – again, July 16 – is the anniversary (the 45th) of the Apollo 11 ‘launch.’ I use scare quotes for ‘launch’ because, technically speaking, in terms of real, nitty gritty critical thinking, we have to doubt the whole Apollo magilla, start to finish, although I do believe the sonsofbitches at NASA did launch something that day. (I sense fingers out there hovering over the Unsubscribe button. Don’t do it! Not until you’ve seen my Fundy Film!)
But the question remains, and it’s one of those that I love/hate: To what extent is the history of the space program at all real?