Wild Bill Ketelhut provides the "blog" to this anti-blog
Wild At Heart
While I didn't do anything on Halloween this year, I did enjoy two events surrounding the holiday. It started the day before Halloween when I went to see Rod Serling's daughter Anne at Barnes And Nobles. She is promoting her book "As I Knew Him". Anne was 20 when her father passed and she was totally devastated by his loss. Her book talks about her fond memories of her dad, talking about his military life as well as just hanging out with his daughters. I have heard many stories about how much a family man he was and she just confirmed it telling some nice stories about her dad (esp liked hear these like the time he accidentally walked into a closed glass door and talking about the fading warning sticker still on the door.). Rod is so much more than his TV persona when narrating all those Twilight Zone intros and she seems to capture that nicely. Living in upstate NY also keep that lifestyle from intruding on his family. If you are looking for a nice read about a major TV influence, this very humanizing book would make a great read.
The other event was going to the George Eastman House to see Roger Corman get the George Eastman award for distinguished contribution to the art of films. The award was established in 1955 and includes Corman school alum Martin Scorsese as well as a number of actors (Charles Chaplin, Lillian Gish, Meryl Streep), directors (Frank Capra, John Ford) and cinematographers (Hal Mohr, William Daniels). He was accompanied by his wife Julie and the answered some questions from the audience. He talked about filming "The Intruder", the only film about civil rights filmed in the deep south during the cvil rights movement, such as the final scene was shot at three different park swings because the kept getting kicked out by unhappy local law enforcement. He was asked about the person he worked with that he thought was the biggest potential star (and mentioned working with Jack Nicholson who worked with him for 10 years (appearing in "Little Shop Of Horrors" and "the Raven" and writing the screenplay for "The Trip") before Hollywood finally caught on.
Speaking of catching on, he mentioned that when watching "Jaws" he thought that Hollywood finally caught on to making films like he did but with a budget and independent film makers had to worry. Corman has never really seen a lot of acclaim for his films except as cult favorites with movies like "X: The Man With X-Ray Eyes", "The Wild Angels", "Machine-Gun Kelly" and all those great Vincent Price adaptations of Edgar Allen Poe. However, he was one of the earliest experts of finding foreign films and successfully marketing them in the states such as Academy Award winning films "Amarcord", "The Tin Drum" and "Dersu Uzala". He was also a great springboard for actors like William Shatner, Peter Fonda, Dennis Hopper, Sandra Bullock and Robert DeNiro and directors including Francis Ford Coppola, Jonathan Demme, Ron Howard and Joe Dante. His influence of finding and bringing up talent is what makes him really special and important to films. It is not often one gets the opportunity to meet someone like Corman (who was born in Detroit) and I was glad to be in the same room with such a legend who truly influenced modern cinema.
Getting away from TV and movies, here are some cool concerts coming your way.
Tuesday (11/05) - Screaming Females @ Magic Stick
Wednesday (11/06) - Rusted Root @ Magic Bag
Friday (11/08) - City And Colour @ The Fillmore, Gwar @ Harpos, Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons @ Ceasars Windsor
Saturday (11/09) - Dr Dog @ the Majestic, Breathe Carolina @ Royal Oak Music Theatre, City And Colour @ the Fillmore (2nd night)
Sunday (11/10) - Third Eye Blind @ the Fillmore, Amos Lee @ Royal Oak Music Theatre, Gretchen Wilson @ Motorcity Sound Board