» On 3/27/2024 06:00:00 AM Mountain Standard Time, Alan wrote:
R.I.P. Stephen Christopher "Chris" Worth (07 Aug 1951 - 25 Mar 2024; Age 72). 

My classmate, my teammate, my friend. Safe travels, Chris.

His obituary, Facebook account, and the GoFundMe page (archive) that chronicled his final illness.
The Chelmsford [MA] HS teams we were on together: '65 x-country ~ '66 track ~ '66 x-country ~ '67 track ~ '68 winter track. That last photo brings back a lot of powerful memories. Chris and I are in the second row. As you can see, he was a tall drink o' water. Funny as h*ll, too. He went on to earn his living by playing music on the streets of France, Spain, Denmark and Japan, among lots of other places. I was always amazed by his adventures. His older brother Kim (front row) went on to become a standup comic and the 1st runner-up in Jeopardy's 1998 Tournament of Champions. I sat in the studio audience and was impressed by his accomplishments, too. Kim won nearly 80 grand in less than a year. The guy sitting at Kim's left (BP) went on to become a convicted murderer. I guess none of us really knew what the future would bring.

Labels: cw

 
» On 3/16/2024 02:50:00 PM Mountain Standard Time, Alan wrote:
R.I.P. Emily Griffin (Oct1981-Mar2024; 42yo). 

Sad news on a sign hit me this morning, when I walked into my local supermarket. Emily was a bright light, always smiling and upbeat. She worked mostly in the self-checkout area, and I interacted with her quite a bit. She was very helpful, and I sometimes "invented" a small problem for myself so that she would come over to my checkout machine. She was super-stylish, with her close-cropped blonde hair, and I loved to hear her giggle, so I created jokes for us.

While checking out today, I talked with another Fry's employee who happened to know her well. The woman said that Emily had survived breast cancer, but it entered her bones, and she passed away four days ago, at the age of 42. So Emily knew what was coming, but she chose to spread good cheer anyway.

This fancy new Fry's opened in 2020, and I moved from the smaller, dingier Fry's which is still open, 2.4 miles to the east. In the early days, I justified the extra mileage by saying there was a Starbucks inside the new store, but chats with Emily soon became most of the equation. Boy, I'll miss her. 💔

Emily's social media accounts: Facebook, Nextdoor.
UPDATE: This photo I posted on Nextdoor received 19.9K Views, 457 Reactions, and 122 Comments in 2 weeks.

 
» On 3/15/2024 06:45:00 AM Mountain Standard Time, Alan wrote:
In Memoriam list for our NBC Page class. Requiescat In Pace. 

L-R, T-B [tap image to enlarge]:
Mark Steven Traub 1958-2022 age 64
Stephen W. Weinheimer 1954-2013 age 59
Ramon M. Plaza, Jr. 1953-2018 age 65
Gregory P. Pavlis 1958-2000 age 42
Louis Padilla Jr. 1956-1995 age 38
James Edward Ellis 1957-2014 age 56
Kenneth F. Delahanty 1947-2020 age 73
Nancy Beresford Henze 1954-2019 age 65
Neal J. Bamonti 1957-1988 age 30
"The life of the dead is placed in the memories of the living."
--Marcus Tullius Cicero (106 BC - 43 BC)

Labels: acbpage, rip

 
» On 3/05/2024 09:33:00 AM Mountain Standard Time, Alan wrote:
1980 Convention Season. 

July and August 1980: two great NBC Page assignments, working at the conventions. In Detroit, it was the Reagan & GHW Bush coronation. But in Manhattan Square Garden, President Jimmy Carter & Senator Ted Kennedy ripped the Democratic party apart.
>>FYI: Secret Service lapel pins are impossible to obtain. I know. I tried. 😉
[tap to enlarge]

Labels: acbpage, conv

 
» On 3/04/2024 11:32:00 AM Mountain Standard Time, Alan wrote:
Letterman Before The Beginning. 

13Jun1980: David Letterman starts dress rehearsals for his morning show w/Rich Hall, Valri Bromfield, Wil Shriner, Edie McClurg, etc. Final airdate: 24Oct1980. (Late Night then ran from 01Feb1982 to 25Jun1993, when Jay Leno knifed Dave in the back.) [tap to enlarge]

UPDATE: I was a Key Page (supervisory) for the audience on that show, and we had a lot of trouble finding enough people to fill the seats. But our biggest challenge was the homeless guy who came every day and sat in the same seat... and peed in it. The smell was horrendous. After a few weeks, nobody would sit next to him. What to do, what to do? Should we ban him, and lose a dedicated audience member, or should we let him stay and pee in the seat? What would YOU do? 😉

Labels: acbpage, dl

 
» On 3/03/2024 11:31:00 AM Mountain Standard Time, Alan wrote:
NYC Page SNL Invitations, 1979/80. 

SNL 4th & 5th end-of-season parties - NYC Page invitations:
(Left) 26May1979: Edie Baskin hand tint.
(Right) 24May1980: Buck Henry. [tap to enlarge]
In the Promenade Cafe at Rockefeller Center (outdoor skating rink in winter).
NY Times 31Jan2014: Lives of the After-Party

Labels: acbpage, inv

 
» On 3/02/2024 01:10:00 PM Mountain Standard Time, Alan wrote:
SNL Promo Card, 1975. 

11Oct1975: Saturday Night Live, a topical comedy sketch show featuring Chevy Chase, John Belushi, Dan Aykroyd, Gilda Radner, Garrett Morris, Jane Curtin and Laraine Newman, made its debut on NBC.

Promo card text: "NBC Saturday Night-Live. This is a big one! Don't miss the exciting premiere of a new series that's a whole new dimension for TV! It's live from New York spotlighting the comedy and music stars of today - and tomorrow! Tonight's host: George Carlin. A comedy film by Albert Brooks. Jim Henson and the Muppets. Special musical guests Janis Ian, Billy Preston. Plus two brilliant new comedy finds: Billy Crystal, Andy Kaufman. Next week: Paul Simon, host, with special guest star Art Garfunkel! 11:30 PM"
[tap to enlarge]


Miscellaneous Memorabilia:

1979: This Weekend Update pin surfaced recently. I actually DIDN'T steal it - while working the Studio 8H desk, I looked longingly at the pin collected from Jane Curtin after a WU rehearsal. The wardrobe mistress smiled at me, then disappeared into the temp dressing area. After a few seconds, she came back out and handed me this one, saying, "Well, we do have an extra."

8Mar1980: The J. Geils Band promoted their new single on SNL (video) & gave out "Love Stinks" lapel pins to us NBC Pages, thus prompting an everlasting love. Which stank. 😉

15Mar1980: The Pages were invited to SNL's 100th-show party, in Season 5. (Tonight's 2Mar2024 show is #961, in Season 49.)

4Apr1980: "Page Daze" update - literary license - after coming out of the Grateful Dead's studio rehearsal for the 5Apr1980 SNL show, Jerry Garcia threw his guitar pick on the floor in disgust and started to walk away. I picked up the pick, and said, "Do you mind if I keep this?" He smiled and replied, "I hope it works better for you than it just did for me." [Did you notice "picked up the pick"? 😉] [Wallet]

24May1980: Stand-by ticket for SNL's end-of-season show (Season 5).

27May1980: When SNL's order for cast/crew satin jackets was delivered at the end of the season, there were a few left over. I bought one, even though it was way too small. So I've never really worn this, but I still keep it anyway. What a packrat.

Labels: acbpage, pro

 
» On 3/01/2024 07:00:00 PM Mountain Standard Time, Alan wrote:
Smelly Balls. 

I live in Mesa, the third-most populous city in Arizona, and the 36th-most populous city in the U.S. Its history dates back at least 2,000 years to the arrival of the Hohokam people, whose name means "All Used Up" or "The Departed Ones." They built the original canal system, which was the largest and most sophisticated in the prehistoric New World. Some canals were up to 90 feet wide and 10 feet deep at their head gates, extending as far as 16 miles across the desert. By 1100 A.D., water could be delivered to an area covering more than 170 square miles, transforming the Sonoran Desert into an agricultural oasis. By 1450, the Hohokam had constructed hundreds of miles of canals, many of which are still in use.

The temperature on this beautiful sunny Friday reached 78°F. The Missus and I sat on a lakeside bench just 50 feet from our front patio and greedily sniffed lungfuls of the heavenly aroma wafting from the yellow puffball flowers on a Sweet Acacia tree.

I call 'em "smelly balls."

From 30 June 2023 to 30 July 2023, this area had 31 straight days of 110°F or greater, including 17 days of 115°F or greater, and 3 days at 119°F (48.33°C: July 19, 20 & 25). Our air conditioner quit in disgust on July 14th (repaired late in the day).

Singer Buck Owens, member of the Country Music Hall of Fame, was educated in Mesa schools. Ernesto Miranda, whose conviction was overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court in Miranda v. Arizona (thus creating the Miranda warning), is buried in the City of Mesa Cemetery.

13% of Mesa's 509,000 people are Mormons.

In 2017, the Pew Research Center determined that Mesa was the most conservative city in the U.S.

During a recent election, I promised to hold my breath until Mesa turned blue.

But I had to suspend that campaign until a later date. 😉

 
» On 3/01/2024 08:00:00 AM Mountain Standard Time, Alan wrote:
Script Competition Laurels. 

BookTok Experiment 😉 ~ Bibliography ~ Filmography ~ Côte d'Azur ~ CV
[Tap any image to enlarge it. Links to background info on the books included below.]


2003Jul: Azért is . . ! [Despite everything . . !] (short animation script included in the facebookworm book) first appeared in Newtopia Magazine and was later selected (2004Feb) as one of the 68 Notable Online Short Stories of 2003 (from over 600 nominations) in the storySouth Million Writers Award for Fiction. ➡️It was also announced as an eighth finalist (top 206, from over 1,200 entries) in the FilmMakers Magazine American Gem Short Screenplay Competition (2007Sep).

1998Oct: Francis Ford Coppola calls The Fall In Budapest "quality stuff." This feature screenplay (included in the 9TimeZones.com book) was one of five finalists in SCRNWRiT's First Draft Contest. Fifty original scripts from the 1,486 members of SCRNWRiT had advanced to the quarterfinals in early October. ➡️It was subsequently named as a Quarterfinalist in the 8th Annual Writers Network Screenplay and Fiction Competition (2001Nov). ➡️A year later, it was announced as one of the top 100 scripts in AFP's competition (2002Dec).

2004Nov: Eleven Thousand Virgins: Hildegard von Bingen's Last Chants was announced as a Semifinalist in the 11th Annual Writers Network Screenplay and Fiction Competition.

2020Sep: Vlad the Impaler: Son of Dracul was announced as a semi-finalist (feature-length) in this Screenwriters Network (British) contest.

2004Feb: Merlinsky: The Sorcerer's Apprentice was announced as one of 124 Quarter-Finalists (out of 2,186 entries) in the First Annual American Zoetrope Screenplay Contest (2003), judged by Francis Ford Coppola.

2001Nov: Merlinsky: The Sorcerer's Apprentice was earlier named as a Quarterfinalist in the 8th Annual Writers Network Screenplay and Fiction Competition.

2020Jun: Côte d'Azur was announced as a semi-finalist (feature-length) in this Screenwriters Network (British) contest.

2024Mar: And the eBooks are still popular, after 4+ years!
amazon.com/-/zgbs/-/154691011/?tf=1
(Link is accurate on desktop applications only.)

Labels: acbpage, BookTok, laurel

 
» On 3/01/2024 04:30:00 AM Mountain Standard Time, Alan wrote:
NBC Helium Party. 

I remember a wild 1979 party for the muckety-mucks at NBC, when they ordered a cylinder of helium to blow up the festive balloons. A bunch of us Pages were assigned to work the party, and our first task was to fill the balloons. Well, you can probably guess which Page started inhaling the helium and talking like Daffy Duck. I soon had all the Pages, along with the party organizers, sounding like Alvin & The Chipmunks, with uproarious gales of laughter.

We calmed down when the muckety-mucks showed up, but one of the organizers was friends with one of the high-ranking execs, so she took him into the back room and introduced him to Señor Helium. Pretty soon, all the muckety-mucks wanted in, and the party went clean off the rails. I never expected to act as Huffmeister for a roomful of execs in three-piece suits.

The next day, everybody agreed it was one of the best shindigs NBC had ever thrown.

PS: NBC's tank was *much* bigger than this one. Five feet tall. 'Cos you don't want to run out of helium just when the party is reaching escape velocity. 😉

Labels: acbpage, he