Solar Eclipse

Posted on by Thor

Getting to witness a complete solar eclipse is rare. When I found out a solar eclipse was coming, I researched where the path of totality was as it passed across the country. The narrow band crossed over Charleston, South Carolina. I have a sister who lives in Charleston so I gave her a call. Then I researched the best places to witness the eclipse and I found out about Joe Riley Stadium the home of the River Dogs. The stadium opened early before the game so that fans could watch the eclipse.

Pam and I found solar glasses well over a month before. We drove up to South Carolina with John Naughton and his nephew. The road trip itself was fun with a few short stops along the way, including an amazing restaurant in Savannah Georgia. My sister agreed to join us on game day to watch the eclipse. It felt good to share such a rare event with family.

I expected huge crowds approaching the stadium but parking and getting in proved effortless. Once seated, we got a few hot dogs and waited. Announcers kept track of the eclipse progress sharing video on the jumbo-tron screen. A drone hovered over the field watching the crowd and the players lounged on top of their dugout to watch as well. Hundreds of people watched the sky with their solar glasses. Some kids had built their own solar pinhole devices which projected the eclipse on a white card for viewing. The last time I witnessed a solar eclipse I was maybe 10 years old and made a similar pinhole viewer. A group of students also launched a weather balloon high above the field. Rumors circulated that Actor Bill Murray was in the crowd. A face painter was busy painting solar eclipse themes faces.

It took quite some time for the sun to completely block out the sun. When it did the stadium grew quiet. Even the birds stopped chirping. It was a reflective moment. This crowd seemed small compared to the grand scale of the universe. Gaps between leaves in the trees acted as pin hole viewers projecting crescent shaped images all over the pavement. Just as the day had grown pitch black, it slowly illuminated again. Once the sun was out, the game got under way and went on right until sunset. The sunset was glorious and golden behind the bleachers.

The Jungle Book opens April 15th.

Posted on by Thor

I went to a preview screening of Disney’s, The Jungle Book at The Regal Winter Park Village Stadium 20. The Florida Film Festival was going on at the same time and because of that, the preview audience was let into the the am earlier than usual before the screening time. When I was young, I saw drawings from the original Jungle Book movie on display in a mall in New Jersey.  The drawings were fro a scene in which the menacing tiger Shere Khan gets up and walks back into the forest. The drawings were awe  inspiring and they lead me to want to someday animate for Disney. That dream eventually came true and [ got to work beside some of he best draftsmen in the world. When digital films took over the need for hand drawn animation disappeared.

Since The Jungle Book played such a pivotal roll in my boyhood dreams and aspirations, I was excited to see this new adaptation. Quite honestly I expected it to fail miserably. In the opening sequence, Mogli is running through the jungle being chased by an unseen predator. The jungle glowed warm and was a character in it’s own right. The second an animal spoke I groaned. Cute wolf cubs seemed like an overly saccharine sweet touch. But then the stony tool hold and the talking animals grew on me. Baloo the bear was played by Bill Murray. The voice stopped me in my tracks until [ could place it. Then Bill breathed new life into an already lovable character. I was shocked when tears welled up as Baloo told Mogli, that he didn’t want him around anymore. Of course the big bear was lying, he had become emotionally, attached to the boy, but Bagheera the panther had convinced him that the man village was the best place for the boy.

The film was astonishingly dark and real. Mogli always had scrapes and scars from the jungle. The scene that showcased the monkey king  reminded me of a scene from Apocalypse now in which Marlon Brando rubbed his bald head with cold water. Louie, the monkey king and Sher Khan were both incredibly menacing characters. Some children were crying in the theater, Yet it is precisely this brute force that makes this film a true classic. I was blown as by it’s power and majesty. I was swept away by the mythos of a young boy finding his way alone in a cruel world. Friends help in times of trouble. I can not recommend this film enough. It opens in theaters nation wide on April 15th.