Thursday, January 19, 2017

35 Years Ago Today

January 19th, 1982 started out as a cold day in LA like any other. It was below 70 degrees. In the morning I was getting ready to attend classes at 'SC. As a commuter student living in North Hollywood, I was prepping for the hour's drive. This raises the question, "Why do they call it rush hour traffic, when nobody moves?"

I was about to go out the door when I heard my father call for me. As a lifetime asthmatic myself, I didn't hesitate to bring him the over the counter pills to promote free breathing he asked me for. I stayed with him for a few minutes discussing various things that were only pertinent to me at the time, and looking back, he was feigning interest.  He was stretched out on the bed, and he sounded fine, so I said, "I'm going to be late for school," and I left, closing the bedroom door behind me.

That was the last time I saw my father alive.

Tuesday classes as a senior in the Computer Science department minoring in Russian Studies were mostly easy to understand. I did do something slightly insane that year as I thought it was a good idea to take two classes whose time overlapped that were literally on opposite ends of the campus.  I did survive this ordeal, however.

Tuesday nights I attended Campus Crusade for Christ meetings normally, however, for some reason, I decided to drive home that day, fully intending to drive back that night, as I had computer work to do, and back then we had dumb terminals connected to a large mainframe and connecting to the 'net from home was one of the things we were creating as well.

When I got home my usual space in front of the house wasn't available, as there were a few fire trucks and an ambulance. I drove an Audi 100LS back then and shared it with dad, as mom didn't drive.  I'll tell the story of the car purchase another day. I didn't think anything was wrong as there was an old folks home across the street, and this was not a regular occurrence, or even frequent, however it did indeed happen every once in awhile. I didn't realize they were there for my father even as I walked up to the house and went in.

I was greeted with my mother freaking out and attempting to relay dad's medical history to the paramedics, and I collapsed in a chair.  I composed myself, and got up and went outside figuring I'd be in the way, and everything would be okay. It wasn't.

I leaned against the Chinese elm outside and prayed.

I went back inside and he was gone.




Monday, January 16, 2017

Coolness Achieved!

I'd like to thank those that have already contributed, and I would ask for your continued support. Having taken a hiatus from all things 168, I have come to several conclusions which I may enumerate the next time you see me face to face.

I'm again participating this season. I have an Executive Producer signed up to raise money to cover the minimal expenses which boil downto, food during production week, and covering the entry fee itself.

There are new categories since last I played on this particular field.  "What? Mike did a sports analogy?? Preposterous!!!" Most of you may be thinking exactly that at this point, but that's not important.  As a 168 alum, there is the ability to make a non-speed film. There's also never truly been a rule against having more than one team, as I demonstrated adequately in 2012.

New for this year I think, is the ability to create a warmup film of 168 seconds, with twelve seconds for credits making a total of 3 minutes.  I'm going to start that almost right away.  I'll get a verse with the theme The Love of The Father.  What's that mean to you?

To continue this particular missive while at the same time burying the lead would be superfluous.  I was at a convention recently wherein I was told that magneticity wasn't a word. Shakespeare created 537 words in his lifetime so I'm pretty sure I can have two or three of my own.

That was a really weird transition, right?

I was going to say something about multisyllabic words being all the rage these days, however some wordsmiths out there use them to sound smarter than they actually are.   Also, I've already given you two calls to action, and an implied third, so let me know what you think in the comments below, and I'm pretty sure that's a fourth.

That's my story. Hope you enjoyed it. Soon to be a major motion picture™.