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Editorial retraction regarding the indie film "Permanent Job"
Why the original Lettercol entries in this space concerning the above-mentioned film have been removed.
Gentle readers: this is the first time I have ever deleted material in a Lettercol after publishing. A regrettable can of PCR worms had been opened earlier this week, one of the most divisive in recent memory. In an earlier edition of this week's homepage, since modified, in amongst my reviews of movies seen at the recent Saints and Sinners Film Festival, I mentioned that I had initial reservations about PCR writer John Lewis's credit as director of the short film, "Permanent Job". I thought the film was good, but I had extreme doubts John, a first timer with no hands-on experience, was truly responsible for the film's production, to say nothing of a few impressive bells and whistles. Further aggravating my growing contempt, one co-producer and one cast member sent me behind-the-scenes information on this topic that was, to say the least, damning, resulting in me all but disqualifying John as a director or a filmmaker.
After I subsequently re-thought the wisdom of splitting hairs on a director's role, fellow PCR writer Terence Nuzum (also the recipient of the same vague/damning/faulty information), a very hands-on director himself, was infuriated and accused me of "going soft" on what makes a director/filmmaker, something he takes VERY seriously and very personally. To this end, he wrote a scathing indictment against John Lewis, going so far as to call him a fraud.
Due to important and reliable information gleaned about the production of "Permanent Job" since this PCR's original publication date, I have since learned these views were and are in error and I am officially retracting both my comments and Terence Nuzum's, along with Orlando filmmaker Jason Liquori's (altho his letter was very positive, it wouldn't make sense out here by itself). The new information makes further debate on this topic pointless and can only result in petty attacks and hurt feelings that accomplish nothing. This is certainly NOT the PCR's mission. A short film was produced from this area that was good. That should've been enough. I regret the tempest in a teapot.
Note: Although anyone can write me personally anytime about anything, no more emails on the particular subject of "Permanent Job" will be published. I still invite, and will publish, more general commentary on filmmaking, as always.
Nolan B. Canova
JOSHUA M. ON BATTLESTAR GALACTICA Couch Potato,
OK, were you paying attention at all? (Re: "BattleStar Melodramatica", this issue's Couch Potato. ---Nolan) The human Cylons where not humans; they were built to look, sound, and bleed like humans, but they're a machine. Baltar was implanted with a chip so that number six, the female Cylon, could screw with him. And how are the Cylons now---well in this update that did the classic no good but drag its name through the mud, the home worlds are not destroyed they where nuked and the point of this new remake was to teach the classic lesson do not create what you can't destroy and that without hope you have nothing. Yes, there is talk of a remake, but the SciFi channel is waiting to see what we the fans have to say.Joshua M.
STEVE BEASLEY ON GLEN CAMPBELL Nole,
After reading what some reader wrote to you in "Letters" (Re: Glen Campbell being "married" or not to Tanya Tucker as I erroneously reported they had been in PCR 192--Nolan)....Ya know, I thought they were married too! In our defense, Glen and Tanya [Tucker] DID have a boyfriend/girlfriend thing going on for about a year. So, they weren't married in the Christian sense....they lived together and f*cked each other silly in the real sense, regardless of her being less than half his age. Can't say as I blame him, tho. (See: http://www.doney.net/aroundaz/celebrity/campbell_glen.htm)
Steve Beasley
DAVIS GANDEES ON LA FLORIDIANA, PCR #193 RE: PART THREE OF THE HISTORY OF AVIATION IN FLORIDA
Hi Will!
I really enjoyed the first two parts on Florida aviation. The streched DC-8s were one of the prettiest of the line. I sat in the very rear of an EAL DC8-61 once, and when it turned during taxiing, you were actually moving sideways! Did you see the article in the St. Pete Times last week on the DC-3? If not I'll save it for you (maybe still in their article achive?).Had breakfast at the Compass Rose Cafe at the Fantasy of Flight this morning and spotted a new addition to Kermit's collection being assembled...a Grumman F-7F-2 or 3 Tigercat..couldn't see it well from a distance. Also, have you ever noticed in the junk by the by the building across the highway from Fantasy of Flight there are at least 4 gondollas from WWII blimps! If you ever get the chance to take the "Behind the Scenes" tour, do it...you won't believe all the unique stuff Kermit has.
You guys must have froze last night at Setzer's! Talk to you soon.
Davis Gandees
ED TUCKER ON FAO SCHWARTZ Nolan,
Just a quick observation about your comments in the latest PCR concerning economic prosperity (Re: "Christmas Shopping", PCR #192--Nolan). I won't argue politics with you but, suffice to say, almost everyone I know who is either unemployed or under employed is that way because they make an effort to be that way.My real point though is that you picked a really bad company to make an example of in your comments when you chose FAO Schwartz. Have you ever done business with them? For starters they are a high-end toy and collectibles store that tried to make their niche with way overpriced collectibles. In their latest catalog, they have a child sized working SUV and travel trailer for $30K! Now what kind of a market do you really think there is for a product like this (outside of Michael Jackson of course)? Most of the exclusive G.I. Joe figures they have done in the past were badly chosen and priced at $10-$20 more than any other store was selling more interesting selections for. This year appeared to be an exception though when they did an exclusive reissue of the Adventure team set "Skydive to Danger". This was one of the greater later sci-fi themed sets where G.I. Joe fights a giant spider. It was campy but, at least to me, it had a lot of play value. Unfortunately FAO put a description for the set in their catalog that was so vague I had to keep checking the picture to make sure it was the right thing. In all honesty the ad sounded like they were describing a millitary set and failed to mention many of the cool features of this one. When my wife tried to order this FAO Schwartz exclusive from their Christmas catalog as a Christmas gift for me, she was told it would not ship until January 11! How much business do you think moves like this cost them? This isn't the first time I have run into this with them either, just the most obvious. She decided if she couldn't get it for me for Christmas then she wasn't going to buy it. Fortunately she mentioned this to me and I told her to get it anyway and I would wait since this will probably be the last Joe exclusive they ever do and I really like the set. My point with all this is that FAO Schwartz is filing bankruptcy for the second time because they have a very limited clientel in an entirely discretionary market and they have questionable business practices.
I don't think their demise is a reason to question what we are being told about current economic trends, I just think they are lucky to have survived for as long as they did. I am sure you have many other examples to support your point, you just happened to pick one that I have a history with.
- ED [Tucker] -
ED, What happens too often is I write the PCR headline section after I've formatted everybody else's pages, so it's after noon and I'm half in the bag and shouldn't even try to write anything intelligent or comprehensive, but I'm under time constraints by that point. The result is that I wind up under-explaining, or badly explaining things, for which I apologize. The FAO Schwartz example was my attempt at showing that in bad economic times, the higher-end discretionary income stores are going to be the first to fall because everyone's tightening their belts---exactly the opposite of what the Bush administration is saying is supposed to be happening right now. I picked Schwartz mainly because their second bankruptcy was in the headlines I'd just read that morning. I might've also said that Corvette and Cadillac sales are down (I don't know that they are), because everyone's sticking with cheap cars until the economy improves. Unemployment and underemployment is another thing I glanced over quickly because I'm used to it being a fact-of-life around here. I should've realized it may not be that way everywhere else. Someone living in Detroit, for example, would be much more sensitive to assembly-line layoffs than other parts of the country. Other careers like doctors and lawyers, more impervious to recessions, may not feel the heat from market ups-and-downs. Joe-Six-Pack kind of jobs, however, are the first to disappear and STAY disappeared from Tampa. It is constantly in the news here.
That said, if anyone else out there in fandom assembled has had similar bad dealings with FAO Schwartz, write in, let's hear about it. Their corporate officers would be very interested to know, I should hope!
MIAMI MIKE ON LA FLORIDIANA, PCR #192 RE: PART TWO OF THE HISTORY OF AVIATION IN FLORIDA
Nice article !! :>)
The Concrete covered Radio Tower at the extinct NAS Richmond is actually one of the foor door supprt frame columns. There were three more on this dirigibile hangar site and four on the other. They held the doors when open. The four on the other hangar and two on this hangar were torn down after the hurricane that destroyed most of the base in the 40's during the war. Two remained from this hangar until the 1960's. One was torn down due to structural instability. The one that remains is a small reminder of the size/scale that the HUGE dirigible / airship hangars were. They have a small area dedicated to photos of the NAS at the Gold Coast Railroad Museum which now resides at the site.Happy Hunting !
Miami Mike.
ROBERT CLARK ON GLEN CAMPBELL Sorry, Nolan B. Canova,
I have to make a correction about Glen Campbell being married to Tanya Tucker (Re: "The Mug Shots from Hell", PCR #192.--Nolan). I heard he was married 4 times, but not to Tanya Tucker. C'mon, She was old enough to be his daughter in 1981.Robert Clark
Robert, thanks for writing! I was trying to write that from memory and I thought I remembered one of Campbell's wives was either Bobbi Gentry or Tanya Tucker. I remembered Gentry was married to Jim Stafford for a while, and that maybe I confused the two. I should've looked it up. --Nolan
To send an email to Letters to the Editor write to: Crazedfanboy1@aol.com. Any emails sent to this address will be assumed intended for publication unless you specifically instruct me not to. I can and do respond privately, if that is your preference. Frequently, it's both ways.---Nolan