Tag Archives: Mr. Blog’s Tepid Ride

Spotlight: Peter Church (2012)

2 Aug

August 2, 2012

You might remember Peter Church from his Spotlight last year. Here is what I wrote at the time:

Meet the Renaissance Man, Peter Church… Peter has spent the last six years as a repertory actor for The Classical Theatre Project (Toronto), logging thousands of performances in productions of Hamlet, Macbeth, Romeo & Juliet, Othello and A Midsummer Night’s Dream…

He also, as you are about to read, does a whole lot more. As I said last year, he’s taken something I’ve long wanted to do and actually made a go of it. I’m jealous, but on the other hand I am not nearly as talented.

He’s been busy since the last time we checked in on him. And he has not given me one reason to let go of my jealousy in the recent months. As good a person in real life as you will ever find, (although I wonder about his choice of pets), read on and see what he’s up to now. This is a man who does not let time pass him by.

And oh yeah, he’s a darn good (and smart) writer as well.

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A few years ago I became enthralled with the term Pro Bono.  More accurately, I became enthralled with its Latin origin, Pro Bono Publico, translated as “For the Public Good”. 

Andrew Knowlton / Marie Jones in “The Man who Found Out” by Algernon Blackwood

For the Public Good… I like that.  I like the idea that some things are done simply because they are extremely good for Society.  This sentiment was a large driving force behind my partners and I when we created Radio Project X (www.radioprojectX.com).  After all, no one expects to turn a profit by producing radio plays fifty years after the death of the genre!  I suppose we do get other benefits from the process… like simply getting to write and perform radio plays!  That’s pretty rare and wonderful.  We also get to laugh and work with a number of tremendously talented artists and musicians – that’s pretty rewarding and inspiring.  And I guess it can also make us feel better about being “starving artists”.  That’s to say, if I were performing every month pro bono it’d sound to my parents like I was working for free and was a sucker, but if I’m performing every month “for the Public Good”, suddenly I’m working for a cause and I’m a philanthropist. 

from “The Evolution of Money” by Neil Jones

“The Public Domain”.  That’s another concept I love.  I’ll bet we have the notion of “Pro Bono Publico” to thank for the Public Domain as well!  It’s as though we’ve collectively agreed that if a story is told and re-told enough – when it’s been handed down through generations – then it belongs to all of us; it becomes part of us.  I know the issue of copyright is a complex and controversial one, but I love the sentiment behind the Public Domain, nonetheless.

There’s a wonderful free service in Toronto called ALAS. 

This hilariously appropriate acronym stands for “Artists’ Legal Advice Services”, and they do just that: provide free legal advice to professional artists.  They, understandably, tried very hard to advise us not to do recreations of radio plays or even short-story adaptations.  They dutifully explained that even though many of the old BROADCASTS are in the Public Domain, it doesn’t necessarily mean that the SCRIPTS are in the Public Domain.  To be certain of avoiding any “Imperial Entanglements” they suggested that I’d need to hunt down the writer of each script (or surviving family members) and confirm that they did not, in fact, happen to copyright the particular manuscript in question.  Sadly, the stinging reality around Old-Time-Radio is that many of the directors, writers and actors have had their names lost to Time.  Full series like “The Haunting Hour” (http://relicradio.com/otr/series/haunting-hour/) remain entirely un-credited.  Alas, ALAS maintained that the legal burden would be on us to uncover these missing identities in order to confirm that recreating their work would not be an infringement of copyright.

I told them that would be an impossible task.

They agreed.  And suggested we stick exclusively to writing original material.  Q.E.D.

Peter Church / John Fleming / Andrew Knowlton / Claire Armstrong / Scott Watkins in “Invasion of the Cheese Men!”

In a last-ditch filibuster, I ranted about OTR transcription discs, Shakespeare’s First Folio, World War Two, the history of Human Communication, the problem with modern entertainment, and of course… The Public Good.  ALAS eventually acknowledged that modern audio entertainment, like Radio Project X or our friends at www.flashpulp.com, is a vital part of keeping the old stories alive by introducing a modern audience to the tradition of “Sound Entertainment” to tune-in the power of Human Imagination.

As MP3 players become ubiquitous, people are becoming accustomed to listening to what they want, when they want.  The public’s aural horizons are broadening beyond the Top 40 and (thanks to the Internet) they’re able to try out new (or very old) listening material. It’s our hope that Radio Project X can bridge the gap between the modern podcast culture and the richness of classic radio drama.  

On our website, please keep an ear out for some of our hilarious original sketches and things like Algernon Blackwood’s chilling tale, “The Man who Found Out” or Philip K. Dick’s sci-fi story, “Beyond Lies the Wub”.

This month we not only have special musical guest, Katie MacTavish crooning for us, but we’re also very excited to have permission from the Theodore Sturgeon Literary Trust (http://www.theodoresturgeontrust.com/) to perform our adaptation of Sturgeon’s creepy story, “The Other Ceila”. We’ll also be performing some hilarious commercials and radio sketches, so if you’re near Toronto on August 14 or 21, come and experience what you can’t find anywhere else – it’s only ten bucks and besides… it’s for the Public Good!

“Good night and good luck!”

Peter Church
peter@radioprojectX.com
www.facebook.com/radioprojectX
www.twitter.com/radioprojectX

Radio Project X.  It’s Sound Entertainment.

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Hi, me again. I just want to say that all of his projects, links, etc, have nothing but good and fun, and sometimes good fun, associated with them, so click away and check them out.

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Spotlight: Jimbo (The OTR Guy)

1 Aug

August 1, 2012

Spotlight Week rolls on with Jimbo. Jimbo is one of the true Good Guys on the internet. One of his many interests is OTR, Old Time Radio, a topic I know a bit about myself as well. But if I know a bit, Jimbo knows tons. One of his favorite shows is Vic and Sade, a very funny show I have slowly become a fan of thanks to Jimbo and his great site http://vicandsade.blogspot.com/ (just one of his many sites- this guy does a lot, including keeping a great twitter feed running) where you can learn all about this funny show, and also Uncle Fletcher, Jimbo’s favorite character. You can click on the link in the sidebar to go to http://otrbuffet.blogspot.com/, a site that has something about everything in OTR, including a couple of interviews with me, Your Obedient Servant. I also must add that some recent content on this blog has been inspired by his very funny ideas.

Today, Jimbo moves away from what I’ve come to expect from him and tells us of a very personal experience. Although it is rarely mentioned in this blog, Jimbo and I share an interest in the following topic, though his story beats any of mine.

Object: Unidentified and Flying

Thanks to BMJ2K, who has opened his website to me to do whatever I wanted to do.  I had thoughts of writing something really, imaginatively funny and I thought about writing something tear-jerkingly sad as well.

However, what I have chosen to do is tell you a true story, something that once happened to me.  I don’t ask you to believe me; you can do as you wish.

It was a cool morning and a humid one in 1997 or 1998. It is always humid here.  I live less than 5 miles from the Atlantic Ocean and am in the deepest, darkest part of Georgia, right in the middle of God-only-knows how many swamps.  Sure, I’ve seen plenty of gators and wild boar.  Deer and tree frogs are common too.  That’s life in the middle of nowhere.

Actually, it isn’t fair to say“nowhere” because there is a Naval base in the town where I live.  This means that the town is made up of all manner of Americans with about a million dialects.

So one morning, about 14 years ago, I headed off to work.  I had to be there at 5:30 am; something I’ve always been used to doing has been to rise and shine at an early hour.

I don’t remember much about that morning until it happened.  Out of my left upper periphery I noticed a very bright light.  The light was so bright and so close that I slowed down to a near crawl, as there was no one on the street but me.  There were power lines on both sides of the street and I was near my work site and I began – not be scared – but to becomes enchanted by what I saw.

I could see now there were about 6 visible lights.  They were round and white and reminded me of basketballs, although they were probably much larger.  What happened next bewildered me and left me speechless – even though there was no one to talk to at the time.

I could see now that this object was a flying vehicle of some sort and though I could not to this day tell you exactly what it was, except it was flying and had many bright lights.  It came down low, came right at my truck, probably at a speed of 30 miles an hour or so and brushed right over my vehicle.  The light blinded me and awed me all at once and I did not have the hindsight to look back to watch where it went.  As a matter of fact, I kept driving and I didn’t speed up or slow down that I remember.  I often wonder now what it was that kept me from looking back.

When I got to work, I parked and sat there a good 5-10 minutes reflecting on what had happened.  Did I just have a real experience?  Am I fully awake?  Did I just see a vehicle come out of the sky and come right over me?  The answer to all of those questions was yes.

I was in my right, fully capable mind that morning.  I was not on any narcotic nor was I an indulger of alcohol.  What happened to me was real.

I thought to myself – and still wonder to this day – if this was some kind of government (maybe a Navy) vehicle.  It could have been, I never have said it was an alien vehicle or a “flying saucer.”  However, the thing defied the laws of psychics.  It maneuvered flawlessly, silently over and around power lines.

I was excited.  I couldn’t wait to tell people what I saw.  But of course you know what happened when I told them.  Coming from me, one of the biggest leg-pullers in North America, no one believed me.  To this day the only people I feel really believe the story are my brother and sister.

I have been foolish enough to tell the story enough times to be fully disbelieved about a thousand times.  And now, a thousand and one.

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