Bo-boom

Sorry we've been a bit absent, but here we are, back with an inappropriately timed drumroll (or two).



Thanks Rita and Animal.


PS: For those (like us) whose Spanish isn't up to stuff:
"Listen Buddy. All I wanna tell you is that you shouldn't do that. It's not nice, you understand? Look at me when I'm talking to you. This is my number, and if you bother me any more I'm gonna hit you so hard, it's gonna leave you stupid. Cool it."
Sounds so much better in Spanish, doesn't it?

6,000 Sticky notes

This Deadline film should make you smile.

One of those things that you'd think you could do yourself (if you'd have thought of it) but soon realise there's a lot more to it than the initial, simple impression. 6,000 sticky notes, 3 months planning, and a 4 day shoot.

The follow up of a sticky figure man traveling the world is even more fun, albeit an advert for a sticky note company. The making of Deadline and Deadline Two (Sticking Close To You) can be found here and here.

Just fun.

James

Cannon Safety Inspector

Sometimes there's an advertisement that just raises a wry smile.

This one from here was one of those.

 

The cannon in question is actually at Williamstown, across the Yarra mouth from Melbourne and somewhere we've been for the odd day out. I'm glad to know the cannon is rendered safe.

It's a good example of how a great little story can be told on film with minimal props. (Obviously, in that case you don't use your own cannon, but 'borrow' one.)

There's actually an irony over the apparent humour of this idea, as there are still thousands of unexploded bombs across Europe and the UK, many buried under the cities. Likewise some display bombs, cannon and missiles have been found to be not quite as safe as was thought. However most of the taller stories are urban myths, of course.

James

Airlifts - Berlin to Haiti

Image by C-130 Hercules Flight Engineer Mark.
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I'm sure all our readers will be well aware of the tragic events over the last week in Haiti. Over on my aviation writing blog here, I've put up a comparison of the current airlift into Port au Prince with the 1948-9 Berlin Airlift. While they are very different events, the historical comparisons and the importance and limitations of aviation in these airlifts is, I think, of interest.

Berliners watching a C-54 land at Berlin Tempelhof Airport, 1948. United States Air Force Historical Research Agency via Cees Steijger.

There has been a good deal broadcast over the issues at Port au Prince, but I was privileged to obtain some aircrew first hand accounts of the current efforts in Haiti, particularly in detail from my friend Brad Pilgrim, a loadmaster on a United States Air Force (USAF) C-17 transport aircraft. These insights are not the kind of thing that makes the news - the news version's nice and tidy (and perhaps less technical) and those trying to address Haiti's problems haven't got time to hear the stories. But you might like to gain an insight what it's like to ride alongside some of these crews, and what are some of the real problems and successes.

Above: The ramp at Port au Prince Haiti. (US Defense. A high res version of the image is available here.) On this ramp area is a remarkable variety of aircraft. Some are familiar to us all from airports, others, like the US Coast Guard Hercules less so, and in the middle of the photo is an upright white tail between two grey ones. That's a C-54, one of the types used over half a century ago to save Berlin - as seen in the black and white image above.

I'll hand over to Brad. These views are his own, not official USAF or similar, and certainly worth sharing;

I landed there last night. I unloaded 130,000 pounds of rolling stock and food. We expected to carry out 250+ passengers. We were told that no passengers were on site. While we were getting ready to leave, a guy ran up and asked how long we could wait. I checked with my pilots and told him we had about an hour. He said a bunch of passengers had just shown up unexpectedly and they wanted to put them with us. I told him to get me as many as they could. ...

Brad Pilgrim.
I'd just like to publicly thank Brad and the others who responded to my request for feedback, and for their work in extraordinary challenging times. Read their stories in my other post here.

James

Striped Tomaato or Striped Tomahto?

Just five questions, thanks to a recent DVD fest.



What's with running over car bonnets (sorry, hoods)?

Could you choose between no branded clothing and plaid of the 1970s, or todays' delightful branded clothing and the retreat of plaid?

Why does Paul Michael Glaser run funny?

When choosing a car for stakeout, would you really take a - actually, no, make it the - striped tomato, and ensure you screech the tyres every time you exceed 2mph?

Why does the hood's car in the opening credit car-chase follow our heroes into the parking lot rather than escaping?

Enquiring minds want to know.

Incidentally, it's actually a lot better than remembered, except sartorially. But you'll have to excuse me, I'm about to accelerate away while casually clapping a red flashing light to the roof.

James