Escape from Elba

Literature => Meander Where You May => Topic started by: Administrator on July 30, 2018, 12:15:38 PM

Title: Meander Where You May
Post by: Administrator on July 30, 2018, 12:15:38 PM
....
Title: Re: Meander Where You May
Post by: Cornelius II on August 06, 2018, 10:49:43 AM
Thanks, Admin, for bringing it back!
Much appreciated.
Sincerely
Cornelius II
Title: Re: Meander Where You May
Post by: ffleate on August 07, 2018, 08:03:24 PM

Well my goodness, what a shiny new site.  Haven't dropped by in years.  Redecorating? 

I will go and explore various corridors.  Good to see this place still exists. 
Title: Re: Meander Where You May
Post by: ffleate on August 17, 2018, 03:37:55 PM
 I saw a poll asking about reducing the number of threads/forums here on Escape From Elba.    If the number is reduced, here's hoping that Meander Where You May stays intact.  It's early days after the big reboot, and I'm hoping some of the old NYTs, along with newbies, will start to repopulate this forum.   I'm missing meandering. 
Title: Re: Meander Where You May
Post by: ffleate on August 17, 2018, 04:03:00 PM
Why DID they shut down the old NYTs forums, anyway?
Title: Re: Meander Where You May
Post by: ffleate on August 17, 2018, 04:34:02 PM
latte?
(http://)
Title: Re: Meander Where You May
Post by: whiskeypriest on August 17, 2018, 04:55:33 PM
Why DID they shut down the old NYTs forums, anyway?
Trump. Its primary his fault.

NYT went to a article based comment format. May have also been a pay feature. Memory is not as good as it.was.in times past.
Title: Re: Meander Where You May
Post by: ffleate on August 17, 2018, 05:25:09 PM
Ah, well.   Good to see at least one familiar name here.   It's been years since the Olden Days,  before the mass migration.

I invited someone to meet me here for coffee, hence the photo.
Title: Re: Meander Where You May
Post by: barton on September 01, 2018, 03:39:29 PM
https://www.theguardian.com/media/2018/aug/31/the-village-voice-ceases-publication-after-63-years

RIP.   My uncle (the Bohemian artist one) used to subscribe, and in my youth I would read it sometimes when visiting.   It being Kansas,  that was a pretty good reach for a neighborhood newspaper.   
Title: Re: Meander Where You May
Post by: bosox26d on October 11, 2018, 08:12:26 AM
Meander is like the New York football Giants these days
Title: Re: Meander Where You May
Post by: FlyingVProd on January 02, 2019, 01:01:20 AM
Mille Bornes is a great game...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mille_Bornes

It is great like Yahtzee and Monopoly.

Salute,

Tony V.
Title: Re: Meander Where You May
Post by: FlyingVProd on January 16, 2019, 07:58:59 PM
One time when I was attending the AADA, it was raining, and I did not have an umbrella, and all of the stores were sold out of umbrellas, so everyone told me about an umbrella man who walked the streets with a cart selling umbrellas. I went driving around looking for the umbrella man, and I finally found him, and I was running late so I was in a hurry, and I hit the brakes and spun around to where he was with his cart, and for some reason I scared him, and he left his cart there and he took off running. I had to chase him down and tell him that he was safe, and that I just wanted to buy an umbrella. He might have been frightened by my old pickup, I had a 1960 Ford F-250, with a Chevy 350 engine in it, with a 400 turbo trans with a shift kit, it jumped when it shifted gears, and I had big tires on the back, with chrome wheels, and it was black with lots of chrome. It was a cool truck. Anyhow, finally I convinced him that he was safe, and I bought an umbrella, it turned out to be a nice umbrella and it was only five dollars.

Just a little story about a rainy day in the past.

Salute,

Tony V.
Title: Re: Meander Where You May
Post by: barton on January 16, 2019, 09:23:22 PM
https://www.abebooks.com/books/weird/?cm_mmc=nl-_-nl-_-C190112-RNC-weirdbAWTRADE-_-b2img&abersp=1
Title: Re: Meander Where You May
Post by: FlyingVProd on January 16, 2019, 10:40:51 PM
One great thing about stories, is that sometimes you wish people were there with you to experience something, and with a story you can share the experience with people, and it is sort of like they really were there.

Salute,

Tony V.
Title: Re: Meander Where You May
Post by: barton on April 13, 2019, 03:39:16 PM
From the Wikipedia article on Deutsches Worterbuch, which was begun by the Grimm brothers....

Quote
More volumes and updates were planned, but in their lifetime the brothers could only fully complete portions: Wilhelm Grimm wrote the articles to the letter D and died in 1859; Jacob, who was able to fully complete the letters A, B, C and E, died in 1863 while working on the entry for "Frucht" (fruit).   

Not sure why I find this detail so amusing. 
Title: Re: Meander Where You May
Post by: FlyingVProd on May 16, 2019, 03:35:45 PM
Here are some ghost stories...

One time when I was a kid, just before my father died, I was laying in bed, and it was a bunk-bed with my bed on top, and my brother's bed under mine, and I saw a ghost, it was a lady in white, and she picked me up, and I started praying to God to help me, and the ghost carried me around the room, I remember looking out the window as we went by the window, and then she put me back in my bed, and she disappeared.

Then, I worked at a dog kennel that was haunted. One day I was feeding the dogs, and I had to get more food for them, so I grabbed the food pot and I left the cart there, and I went to the tub room to mix up a pot of food for the dogs, and I turned around to walk back to where the cart was, and there was the cart behind me. A ghost brought the cart to me. I was the only person there.

And another time at the kennel, in the tub room, I watched a funnel get thrown across the room by a ghost.

When my Grandmother died, I was home in bed, and I saw a ghost of a woman in white at the foot of my bed. I just put my blanket over my head, and prayed to God.

Another story... I had a friend, Drew, he was a retired studio executive at Paramount, and at Universal, we were roommates in a group home, the group home was a seven bedroom mansion, and at the time I owned a motor home, and there was a spot on the property to park motor homes, and so my motor home was parked there. We used to sit in my motor home and party, because we were not allowed to party in the house, and my motor home had a nice stereo and stuff, so it was nice to party in my motor home. My friend Drew loved my motor home, and he used to sleep in the motor home sometimes. Well, Drew died, and after Drew died I was in the motor home, and a light turned on in the motor home, and it was Drew turning on the light I bet.

I went from that mansion, to another mansion, and then to my apartment. When I moved into my apartment I soon found out that it was haunted. The stereo would turn on in the middle of the night while I was asleep. The VCR would turn on all by itself. The CD player would turn on all by itself. And I saw a ghost one night while I was in bed, the lady in white, and I put my blanket over my head and prayed. Then my Uncle Dennis died here in my apartment.

I have other stories too. Yes, I believe in ghosts.

Salute,

Tony V.
Title: Re: Meander Where You May
Post by: barton on July 13, 2019, 09:31:31 PM
I read that 1,153,237 people got married last year; not to cause any trouble, but shouldn't that be an even number?

 I want to die peacefully in my sleep, like my grandfather. Not screaming and yelling like the passengers in his car.

 I find it ironic that the colours red, white and blue stand for freedom until they are flashing behind you.

When wearing a bikini, women reveal 90% of their body... men are so polite they only look at the covered parts.

 A recent study has found that women who carry a little extra weight live longer than the men who mention it.

Relationships are a lot like algebra. Have you ever looked at your X and wondered Y?

 America is a country which produces citizens who will cross the ocean to fight for democracy but won't cross the street to vote.

 I think my neighbour is stalking me as she's been googling my name on her computer. I saw it through my telescope last night.

 Money talks ...but all mine ever says is good-bye.

Title: Re: Meander Where You May
Post by: josh on July 25, 2019, 10:27:49 AM
I read that 1,153,237 people got married last year; not to cause any trouble, but shouldn't that be an even number?

 I want to die peacefully in my sleep, like my grandfather. Not screaming and yelling like the passengers in his car.

 I find it ironic that the colours red, white and blue stand for freedom until they are flashing behind you.

When wearing a bikini, women reveal 90% of their body... men are so polite they only look at the covered parts.

 A recent study has found that women who carry a little extra weight live longer than the men who mention it.

Relationships are a lot like algebra. Have you ever looked at your X and wondered Y?

 America is a country which produces citizens who will cross the ocean to fight for democracy but won't cross the street to vote.

 I think my neighbour is stalking me as she's been googling my name on her computer. I saw it through my telescope last night.

 Money talks ...but all mine ever says is good-bye.

If one guy marries twice in a year, then it becomes an odd number.
Title: Re: Meander Where You May
Post by: FlyingVProd on July 25, 2019, 11:14:36 PM
Here is a story for you...

I was living in Battle Mountain, Nevada, and I was working as a cook at a casino, and it is cold in the winter in Battle Mountain, and I was not making any money, I was only getting five dollars per hour, I was living in an old travel trailer with no electricity, no running water, nothing, I had to pay five dollars at the truck stop to take a shower, and so I decided to go to Florida and try my luck in Florida, I had nothing to lose, I was very poor with no hope of ever rising at the casino, so I jumped on a Greyhound bus and I went to Orlando, Florida.

In Orlando the first thing that I did was to go to a barber shop to get a hair cut, so that I would be presentable as I went job hunting. And then I went to a pawn shop and I bought a cheap beach cruiser bicycle to get around.

Then I got a cheap motel room, and early the next morning I went to Walt Disney World to apply for a job.

I rode my bicycle right down the side of the highway to get to Disney World, it was probably illegal, but I did not get in trouble.

The lady at Disney World said that the only job opening was for cooks, I was tired of working as a cook, I had been a cook for two years for low wages, and I was tired of it, I was working like a slave and I was sick of it, I wanted to make some money. But, I was open to whatever I could get, I had to work, I did not have a benefactor to take care of me. I was on my own in the world. So, I told her that if a job opened up for a cook that I would take it, I told her I was open for anything.

Then I went to look for a cheap motel to stay the night. I struck gold that night, I ended up at a really nice hotel, with valet parking, and everything, it was a nice hotel, and I had a jacuzzi bathtub in my room, and it was cheaper than the cheap motel that I had stayed in the night before. I scored. I soaked in the jacuzzi, and I loved that hotel room, the bed was great, the television was nice, it was a great room. What a blessing that was. But, I was running out of money, and I had to find a job fast or I was going to run out of money and be homeless and hungry.

I put in applications for a job at everyplace I could find. But, no one hired me, and I ran out of money.

After I ran out of money, I went to sleep in a field, I built a camp fire, and I slept on the dirt next to a camp fire. Florida has alligators, and I was lucky that I did not get eaten by an alligator. The next morning I went to go have some breakfast, and I went to the bathroom at the restaurant to shave and brush my teeth and get cleaned up.

The restaurant was a Roy Rogers restaurant, and I told them that my brother married Roy Rogers' granddaughter, and they thought that was cool. I filled out a job application at the Roy Rogers restaurant while I was eating breakfast, and then I turned it in to the manager.

The manager looked over the application, and then he told me that I needed to soften my heart, and that I needed to thicken my skin. I had no idea what he was talking about, I just needed a job.

As I left a beautiful waitress at the Roy Rogers restaurant told me that if I found a job that she needed a roommate, and she said that I could move in with her and live with her. She was a babe, that would have been great. But, I could not find a job.

The economy was not very good in Florida at that time. I applied for a job at every business, but no one hired me.

So, I rode my bicycle from Orlando to Cocoa Beach, to see if I could get a job there. I applied for work all over, but I still could not find a job. Then I went to a Blues club on the beach, and I spent my last three dollars on a cappuccino which I drank while I filled out a job application to work at the Blues club.

As I was filling out a job application and drinking my cappuccino, a guy came walking in with a guitar case, and there was a band playing, and he plugged in and played with the band. The band was "The Groove Monsters" and the guy who walked in to play with them was Jimmy Page from Led Zeppelin. They jammed all night. I sat on the beach in front of the club and listened to the band play all night, and then I went to sleep under the boardwalk.

I was out of money, and I could not even afford to eat, so that was the end of that journey.

I rode my bicycle to the Greyhound station, and people can send you money with Western Union, so my Mother was going to send me money to buy a bus ticket to get back to Battle Mountain, and the casino said that they would hire me any time.

As I was riding to the Greyhound Station, I found a pair of vice grip pliers on the ground, and I picked them up, and I found an allen wrench on the ground and I picked it up. It turned out that those were the perfect tools to take my bicycle apart, and I found a cardboard box that was perfect for it, and I was able to put my bike in a box so that I could bring my bike back to Nevada with me.

I rode the Greyhound back to Nevada, and I went back to work as a cook at the casino. I rode that bicycle to work.

Eventually I quit the casino and came back to California to train to be an actor and filmmaker, but that is my story about my trip to Florida. I ended up hungry and homeless, but I had the experience of seeing Jimmy Page live jamming with the Groove Monsters, so that was great, and I had a beautiful woman who would have let me live with her if I would have succeeded, and at least I tried.

Salute,

Tony V.

Title: Re: Meander Where You May
Post by: FlyingVProd on October 14, 2019, 04:42:44 PM
I have been thinking, about how some people enjoy life, they enjoy sunrises and sunsets, and they enjoy food, and music, and movies, and books, and they enjoy socializing with other people, and they enjoy loving other people, and some people love dogs and horses, and the wild animals, etc, some people love life.

But, then on the other hand, we have people who are miserable and unhappy, and they hate life, and they hate other people and they are cruel to animals, some people fight with other people and hate and kill other people, and we have people who hate life so bad that they commit suicide.

And there are poor people who love life, and there are rich people who commit suicide, so it is about more than money.

I know that it is a Mental Health issue.

But for me, I believe that life is a gift, given by a loving God, and life is all about love. And sometimes life is hard, but God will walk with us through the hard times, and when we die we go to Heaven where it is paradise and where we will have eternal love.

All of my life I have tried to enjoy life, and I have tried to make the most out of life. And I have worked hard to try to make a better future. And there were times when I was homeless out on the streets, and there were other times when I lived in million dollar houses.

I never did succeed with my dreams, even though I worked hard, but I hope to do some great things with however much life that I have left. I am optimistic and hopeful.

I want to get my poetry book published, I want to make my movie "Echo, A Rock and Roll Tragedy," and I want to fall in love with a beautiful woman and it would be great to at least have one child. It would also be great to make other movies, and to own a vineyard and make wine, and to own a night club, etc. We will see what happens.

And of course there is good and evil in the world, and a lot of the suffering and bad things are caused by evil. Some people are evil. And the bad people will burn in Hell when they die, according to my faith.

One of my heroes was my friend Tom, he loved life, he loved food, he loved music, he loved movies, he loved other people, and I watched him help to raise over one million dollars to feed the hungry people by running a crew that sold beer and hot dogs and stuff at Angel Stadium and at the Rose Bowl, etc, and he also fed the needy, and he managed homeless shelters, etc. And he was so humble. He was only 50 years old when he died. He was never rich, he was often lonely, he was homeless at times, but he still kept a good attitude and he helped other people. He radiated love. Tom believed that there was a battle going on between good and evil, and he was on the side of good. He believed that suffering and starvation were evil, and he believed that by making people's lives better and by feeding people that he was fighting against evil. Tom showed love to homeless people, etc, and that was part of how he fought against evil.

My friend Lisa too, she serves God by opening homeless shelters and by feeding the homeless, etc. She is getting old, and soon she will retire. She is a wonderful person, and she has helped many people.

And then there was Kurt Cobain, who had it made, and who could have helped millions, but he shot himself with a shot gun.

I also think about the Middle East. It would be great if we could stop the hate, and if we can get people to live in peace. It is sad when people sit around and hate other people, and blame their problems on other people. People need to live their own lives, and they need to stop blaming and hating other people. Live and let live. The misery needs to stop. And they need to learn to be happy with even just simple lives.

We need to teach the children to be happy, and to enjoy life, and to love other people instead of hating them, the world will be better if we can raise better children.

Anyhow, those are a few thoughts.

Salute,

Tony V.
Title: Re: Meander Where You May
Post by: barton on October 18, 2019, 09:58:16 AM
(https://scontent-lhr3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/72897281_10158853240783222_1778012118608510976_n.jpg?_nc_cat=1&_nc_oc=AQnn-PYskWUWfRzJNDYaH4h2qo-pjFcW3lEx5APtGA9--nWiTFBELZt8n68jUe8yoMw&_nc_ht=scontent-lhr3-1.xx&oh=25b163d49886ff28150e502fb0c17cf0&oe=5E6186C2)
Title: Re: Meander Where You May
Post by: josh on October 26, 2019, 01:46:25 AM

But for me, I believe that life is a gift, given by a loving God, and life is all about love. And sometimes life is hard, but God will walk with us through the hard times, and when we die we go to Heaven where it is paradise and where we will have eternal love.


 
I hope for you that you get to make your movie and your book. And I hope you find love with a woman who cares deeply for you and you for her, regardless of what she looks like - that she is beautiful to you, Tony.

But... I have to tell you, if we have a loving God who has a paradise available for us, I just don't get what the purpose of the pain and suffering down here could possibly be. Is this a "the ends justify the means" deity? I sure hope not!

I had a GF who was all, "if you really love me, you will jump through this hoop!" She eventually convinced me that I did not really love her.

You work hard to be a good person and to live a good life, Tony. What is the point of withholding this paradise from you at this point in time?!



I am glad you have your faith and you should not let my curmudgeonly attitudes bring you down. But do think about looking for a woman who is beautiful on the inside, rather than prioritizing one on the basis of her outside appearance.
Title: Re: Meander Where You May
Post by: FlyingVProd on November 01, 2019, 04:14:35 PM
Thanks Josh!

Salute,

Tony V.
Title: Re: Meander Where You May
Post by: FlyingVProd on November 01, 2019, 04:15:07 PM
Here is a story, which helps me with my low self esteem...

After I came out of the hospital homeless, I was put in a great group home owned by my friend Lisa, and everyday we went in a van to a facility in Santa Ana where they helped us with our paperwork and everything to get signed up for all of the Government programs, etc.

There was a beautiful doctor from Vietnam who worked at the facility, she was a Psychiatrist, and her husband was an actor, he was acting in a musical at the time, The Lion King, and I used to hang out with her a lot. There was a Saint Vincent De Paul thrift store next door to the mental health facility, and they had awesome stuff, all of the Italians donate to Saint Vincent De Paul and so they have wonderful clothes and great stuff.

So, I used to go to the thrift store with the doctor all of the time, and we helped each other pick out clothes. She liked to dress sexy, and I had fun picking out clothes for her. It was fun. She had a great little body, she went to the gym everyday, and she liked to swim, and the clothes looked great on her, she was beautiful.

As for me, I have several nice Italian suits that I got at that thrift store.

She was fun to hang out with, she was a special person, and of course people who are helping the homeless are special. She was great.

And her parting advice for me as I left the program, was that I am a great man, and that I will find a special woman, and she told me not to date the homeless mentally ill women, but rather to find a good healthy high classed woman, she said that life is hard enough dealing with my own health problems, and she said that I need to find a healthy woman. Her advice was to get healthy, and fall in love with a healthy woman.

So, the hot little doctor thought that I am worthy of a good woman, and hopefully I can find a good woman and fall in love.

Salute,

Tony V.
Title: Re: Meander Where You May
Post by: FlyingVProd on November 11, 2019, 04:04:10 PM
Well, I am 52 now, Saturday was my Birthday. I have mixed emotions about growing older.

In one way I have learned a lot, I have had a lot more life experiences and education, so this is the greatest time of my life in that regard. I am older and wiser. And which is why the Native American Indians all respect their elders.

But, I miss my youth, we had a lot of fun at times. And sadly some of my favorite people have died. As I get older and older I lose more and more good people.

But, I am still middle aged, I am not that old yet, and I hope to live a good long life, and there are many things that I still want to do.

I need to find a bride, maybe a hot little model and actress or something. My boss at the dog kennel married a hot little actress who was twenty years younger than him. And they say it is best to be a boss, marry a boss, and build an empire.

And I want to travel, and I want to do charity work. I might donate libraries when I become wealthy.

Hopefully this is the year that I get my poetry book published, and when I get my movie made. And if I make money and if I invest wisely, then it should be cool. I can open a night club in Rome, and there is a lot I can do. I can make wine. We will see what happens. And when I find a woman, she will have plans on stuff that she wants to do, so I will share her dreams too, as she will share mine.

Anyhow, I am sort of healthy, I am not in pain, and I still have my long hair. I have food and shelter, and I am friends with all of my neighbors, I get along good with my neighbors. I live in a pretty cool city. I have a lot to be grateful for. And I hope that I can rise from here and that things will only get better.

Salute,

Tony V.
Title: Re: Meander Where You May
Post by: FlyingVProd on November 13, 2019, 02:14:03 PM
Teamwork...

One example of teamwork which I can use to explain how to make things possible by using teamwork that otherwise would not be possible...

My Brother was in a motorcycle accident, and I had to go to Northern California but I did not have a car to get there. My Cousin had a car, but he did not have gas money. I gave my Cousin gas money, and we went and got my Brother, and everything worked out. Neither I nor my Cousin could have went to get my Brother on our own, but by working together as a team then we were able to accomplish our goal.

And it is the same thing with making movies, making movies is all about teamwork. I have a script, but I cannot make it into a film on my own, I need a whole team of people to make my movie. None of us could do it on our own, but by working together with a team I will be able to get my film made. I also utilized teamwork to write my script, a college professor in Texas helped me to write my script, we worked together as a team.

With my poetry, I could go door to door selling poetry, but I would be better off to get a publisher to publish my book, and get bookstores to sell it, I need to utilize teamwork, and we can all make some money.

With any business then you need teamwork.

Richard Branson sits on a private island and runs a giant company with his computer, and a cell phone. He is a master at delegating, and he builds great teams.

You can do things by working together as a team with other people that none of you can do on your own.

Hermits are not very successful in the entertainment industry, in the entertainment industry you need to be a "people person" and you need to be a team builder.

Salute,

Tony V.
Title: Re: Meander Where You May
Post by: FlyingVProd on January 28, 2020, 03:20:43 PM
In the 1980's everyone wanted to make money, we all wanted to be rich, and now in 2020 everyone just wants to see who can be the toughest gangster, and for me I would rather be rich, in a lot of ways I am stuck in the 1980's. I was never into violence, and I hate to hurt people. I find no joy in hurting someone. And I have worked very hard not to get hardened, and I want to stay soft and loving. I want to care about people, and I would rather feed a starving kid. I want to get rich, and I want to do charity work to help other people.

Sure, we need tough guys to be police, and to be prison guards, and to be soldiers, but that is not me, and I would never be good at any of those jobs. I would rather teach acting to college kids.

I am a poet, and I am a lover, and I just want to get rich so that I can give it all away. And I want to pass down a better world to future generations.

In the 1980's I wanted to get rich, but not just for me, it was about what I could do for others, and about finding a wife and being able to support a family, etc. I wanted to make money and to have a family. In 2020 my goals are the same, I want to make money, and I want to find a good woman and see if we can have a kid. That is a good thing about being a man, we can still have children as we get older.

Salute,

Tony V.
Title: Re: Meander Where You May
Post by: FlyingVProd on January 28, 2020, 06:46:01 PM
One time I went to Mexico on a charity mission with Youth For Christ, we went to a garbage dump where people were living, including children, and then we went to a couple of Catholic orphanages.

When we arrived at the garbage dump the children there did not like me, and they were screaming at me and they were spitting on me, and if I tried to be a tough guy then it would have all been bad, but I am a Christian and I had love for the kids who were spitting on me, and I was there to help the kids. So, I climbed up onto a dumpster and I did a flip off of the dumpster onto a pile of cardboard, and then I had candy, so I started passing out candy to the children, then the children were all happy and they were doing flips off of the dumpster onto the cardboard, and they were all eating candy, everything turned out cool. And we were able to get the lice off of their hair, and we were able to help them. It all turned out cool, because I came from a place of love, instead of reacting in a bad way to being spit on.

Then at the Catholic orphanages the children were great and polite, as the Nuns taught them to be, and the orphanages were very nice and clean, especially compared to how the people lived at the garbage dump.

It was a good mission, and there was a lesson in love.

Salute,

Tony V.
Title: Re: Meander Where You May
Post by: barton on February 25, 2020, 11:13:51 AM
I am reading a book on the history of glue.

I can't put it down.
Title: Re: Meander Where You May
Post by: FlyingVProd on February 28, 2020, 04:38:15 PM
Many years ago I left one stage of life, and I entered another stage, and in the transition I lived with my cousin at his girlfriend's house in Rialto.

His girlfriend had a daughter who was about 14, and she wanted to be an astronaut when she grew up. As my cousin was often busy with his girlfriend, I would spend a lot of time with the kid. She was a good kid. We even raced around the block, just having fun.

The kid gave me advice on what she thought that I should do for a living, she thought that I should be a host of a science show on television. It is interesting when we see ourselves through someone else's eyes. That was the way that she saw me, through her eyes I would be a great host for a science show on television. I am open for it, I would do it.

But, right now I have my movie script, and my poetry book to make money on. And I may do more writing, and work behind the camera, producing, and directing, etc. I may produce "Echo, A Rock and Roll Tragedy" here in Hollywood, and then I might produce "The Count of Monte Cristo" as a miniseries and shoot it at Cinecitta in Italy.

And I may produce some love stories in Italy.

And I might make wine in Italy, we will see what happens. I also might open a recording studio for my friends, they will be able to record in Italy. And I might also open a night club in Rome, with food and entertainment.

Salute,

Tony V.
Title: Re: Meander Where You May
Post by: Hairy Lime on February 28, 2020, 04:55:27 PM
You might continue to post on the internet from your mother's  basement.
Title: Re: Meander Where You May
Post by: FlyingVProd on February 28, 2020, 07:28:56 PM
You might continue to post on the internet from your mother's  basement.

With the local economy it would be no shame.

California lost over 500,000 jobs to China, plus we lost jobs to Canada and to other places.

Finally we have a President who is demanding new trade deals. 

A lot of good people are living in their Mother's basements. Some of my best buddies are living with their Mothers.

All over the world. 

And the people in the basements are lucky, some people are homeless without even having a basement. 

Salute,

Tony V.
Title: Re: Meander Where You May
Post by: FlyingVProd on February 29, 2020, 02:43:29 PM
Two thirds of Italian millennials live with their parents

https://www.thelocal.it/20161024/two-thirds-of-italian-millennials-live-with-their-parents

----------

Young adults living with their parents hits a 75-year high

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/percentage-of-young-americans-living-with-their-parents-is-40-percent-a-75-year-high/

----------------

Many people are living with their parents, and we have 500,000 homeless people in the USA sleeping out on the streets who do not have parents to live with.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homelessness_in_the_United_States

It is no longer shameful to live at home in your Mother's basement, for some people it is a blessing.

Salute,

Tony V.
Title: Re: Meander Where You May
Post by: FlyingVProd on February 29, 2020, 03:05:03 PM
If I succeed and buy a vineyard and winery in Italy, then no one in my family will ever be homeless again, I will pass it down to future generations in my family tree, and my descendants will always have an income, and they will always have a place to live. I wish one of my ancestors had done it for me. 

Salute,

Tony V.
Title: Re: Meander Where You May
Post by: FlyingVProd on March 03, 2020, 02:52:12 PM
In life we have good times and we have bad times, and sometimes we have good things and bad things going on at the same time. And we are not alone.

The Bible tells us to think about the good things...

Philippians 4:8 New International Version (NIV)

8 Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.

So, we should think about the good things, and we should try to cheer up the other people who are on the journey with us. If good and bad things are going on at the same time then we should focus on the good things.

For instance, I came out of the hospital homeless, and that was all bad, but they put me in a million dollar mansion with a studio executive from Universal and Paramount, he told great stories, and we had great food. So, I was often sad about being homeless, but then at the same time I was happy because I was in a million dollar house with great people with great food to eat, etc. I was not the only one struggling, all of the guys were struggling, but we could try to cheer each other up, and life was good if we could focus on the good things and if we could be hopeful of a good future.

And the same thing in acting school, we were all starving, and we were hopeful that the future would be great, instead of being sad about starving we had to be grateful and work hard and know that a great future was coming. You had to be happy for a future that was not here yet, and enjoy the process. And I was surrounded by wonderful actors, I loved watching my fellow students do scenework and stuff. I also love to learn.

There were many times in life when I had good things and bad things going on at the same time and I had to choose to focus on the good things like the Bible says. And sometimes the only good things were created by having hope for a better future, you know, it might suck now but the future is going to be great, hope can sustain you. So even just by focusing on good things that are not even happening yet then you can cheer yourself up, and you can cheer up other people.

Life can be very hard, and life can be very cool, and sometimes life is really bad and really cool at the same time, and you need to do like the Bible says and focus on the good stuff. And dream, and all things are dreams incarnated, someone had to dream that it could happen, and that is what they teach you in college, you dream and then you plan a pathway to reach your goals. And even with acting the characters have objectives and plans, etc. It is important to have good goals and plans, especially during the hard times.

Focus on the beautiful things, and have good goals.

Salute,

Tony V.
Title: Re: Meander Where You May
Post by: FlyingVProd on March 07, 2020, 10:00:18 PM
My favorite teacher at Quartz Hill High School back in the 1980's was an actor, and he was friends with Michael Landon and Ricardo Montalban, and his advice for when you go to parties in Hollywood was to be a good listener, instead of talking and trying to show how much you know or whatever, just slow down and listen, and people will love you, if you just listen then they will love you. People love people who are good listeners. And you learn about other people when you listen to them, and they feel like you care because you listen.

Salute,

Tony V.
Title: Re: Meander Where You May
Post by: FlyingVProd on April 09, 2020, 07:08:14 PM
When I attended the AADA, they had a vending machine that made fresh cappuccinos from fresh ground beans, it would grind the beans fresh and steam the milk and give you a great cappuccino, it was the best vending machine that I have ever seen. I always thought that a businessman should put those wonderful vending machines at the train stations and train stops, and at the Greyhound stations, etc. It is easy to make money when the product is awesome, and that machine was amazing, it made the best cappuccinos. The people would love to have those machines. You can also put them at Rest Stops along the freeways, etc.

Salute,

Tony V.
Title: Re: Meander Where You May
Post by: FlyingVProd on April 24, 2020, 04:40:12 PM
You could make money from making handmade sandals in Venice Beach, California. They make them in Capri, and Jacqueline Kennedy bought some, and other famous people. All that you need to do is go to Capri and learn how to make them, and learn what equipment you need, and what supplies, etc. The sandals are very simple, and they would be easy to make. The company is very successful in Capri, and there are a lot of places where you could be successful making them, Venice Beach in California, and Cocoa Beach in Florida, etc.

Link...

https://www.canfora.com/

Salute,

Tony V.
Title: Re: Meander Where You May
Post by: FlyingVProd on April 25, 2020, 03:46:14 PM
Now would be a great time for everyone to write a book, or a movie, they say that everyone has at least one great book in them. I already wrote a book, and a movie, a long time ago.

When it comes to getting a book published, or getting a script sold, or produced, you need to find an agent who has connections. I tried to do it on my own, and I almost succeeded, but I never made it.

Right now for movies, I recommend finding an agent with connections to Netflix. And if you find one, let me know, so I can submit too.

As far as getting books published, I have no idea. A long time ago I sent my book to several publishers, including to Random House, with no luck. I guess you would need to find an agent for that too, see if you can find an agent who knows how to submit books for publication.

For many people in the entertainment industry their agents are their best friends. A good agent is important. I need to find one.

I tried everything, I even tried to go start at the top, but my best advice is to find an agent right in the beginning.

Salute,

Tony V.
Title: Re: Meander Where You May
Post by: barton on April 26, 2020, 03:57:40 PM
Over the years here,  I've occasionally mentioned unusual place names,  most recently Pee Pee Island (Newfoundland).   And various celebs,  including Jimmy Kimmel and Carrie Fisher,  have visited the town of Dildo (again,  in Newfoundland, and you may well start to wonder if there is some unique cultural force at work there).  And now I'm alerted that there is a Fucking,  Austria,  where,  to quote a wiki entry,  "Its road signs are a popular visitor attraction, and they were often stolen by souvenir-hunting vandals until 2005, when the signs were modified to be theft-resistant."

I also clip this informative paragraph...

Quote
The village is especially popular with British tourists; as a local tour guide explained: "The Germans all want to see Mozart's house in Salzburg; the Americans want to see where The Sound of Music was filmed; the Japanese want Hitler's birthplace in Braunau; but for the British, it's all about Fucking."[10] Augustina Lindlbauer, the manager of an area guesthouse, noted that the area had lakes, forests, and vistas worth visiting, but there was an "obsession with Fucking". Lindlbauer recalled how she had to explain to a British female tourist "that there were no Fucking postcards."   

Title: Re: Meander Where You May
Post by: FlyingVProd on April 26, 2020, 07:00:17 PM
Sometimes I wonder if it is God's will that I should write and produce movies, for several reasons.

One thing, my first film that I helped to write is "Echo, A Rock and Roll Tragedy," which I wrote with a college professor from Texas, and Echo has nudity, sex, drugs, homosexuality, foul language, suicide, and what some consider to be devil music, etc, it will definitely be rated "R." It is a movie that I took to Hugh Hefner to try to get the money to make it, and Hef loved it. I could not take it to a Christian group to try to get the money, they would not approve of my movie. But, here is the saving grace, my movie is a story about unconditional love, it is a love story, and that was what Jesus was all about was love. Certainly it is like a classic tragedy in the vein of Shakespeare and Sophocles, so it is of the world, with a modern twist, but the main thing is that it is about unconditional love, and as a Christian I can feel good about making my movie, if I get it made.

And I plan to make love stories in Italy. And movies like "The Count of Monte Cristo" which have a good message. I want to make all good movies with a good message, and good movies about love. I may also make movies about great men, like Lech Walesa, we will see. But I want to make movies about love, and movies with a good message.

I do not know, I have been working on trying to get my production company going for 20 years now with no success. And as a Christian I trust in God's will, and it just was not God's will for me to get my company going yet, but we will see what happens in the future. I still have my script, and I own the copyright, so we will see what happens.

Salute,

Tony V.
Title: Re: Meander Where You May
Post by: FlyingVProd on April 26, 2020, 07:43:03 PM
I even had a Screen Actors Guild representative assigned to my project, "Echo, A Rock and Roll Tragedy," her name is Ruth Garbutt Lewis, so that I could use Union actors and actresses. I want to use all Union workers on my film. I support the Unions. Everyone on my projects will be paid well and they will be treated well. I want my projects to be a blessing for everyone involved.

Salute,

Tony V.
Title: Re: Meander Where You May
Post by: FlyingVProd on May 05, 2020, 04:25:14 PM
I was going to volunteer at the food bank, but I do not have a car, and the food bank is all the way in Garden Grove. They are doing the work of God. God loves it when you give people food.

If I had money, I would buy a new Jeep, I want an electric Jeep.

I need to make money.

I have a poetry book that I wrote and I have a movie script that I helped to write.

I know how to run a dog kennel, and I know how to train dogs.

I know how to cook, and I was a cook at a casino in Nevada for 2 years.

I did construction labor, but I do not want to do construction work anymore, I am too old, and my body hurts. Those jobs are for the young guys. I could study, and become a housing inspector, or I could get into architecture and design, and then there is real estate, etc. Certainly I will buy properties eventually.

I had a security clearance to work on government jobs and I worked at NASA and at China Lake, it would be cool to be a scientist at China Lake or something. I also submitted some experiments to UCI, it would be cool to get my research funded.

I am grateful for the aid that I receive now, I am thankful for my housing assistance, and I am thankful for my Social Security and Disability money, and for the great medical care, but I do not want to remain on aid forever, I want to make money, I want to find a good woman and get married, etc. Being on aid right now is just temporary. Plus I want to have a home and do business in Italy, I want to make wine, and have a night club, and make movies at Cinecitta, etc.

As soon as I am able to make money I am going to talk with my Doctor, and I would like to make my own money and not need aid.

I am grateful, but I want to fly with my own wings. I want to learn how to be wealthy, and be free to do what I want.

Salute,

Tony V.
Title: Re: Meander Where You May
Post by: FlyingVProd on May 05, 2020, 05:15:01 PM
I worked at Universal for just one year, in between community college and acting school, I did not make any money, but it was a good experience, and I was able to attend Bob Hope's birthday party, I was an escort for Phyllis Diller, and cool stuff like that. I learned stuff that I can teach to Cinecitta in Rome, and also if Anaheim opens a movie studio.

It would be cool if Anaheim opens a new and modern film and television studio.

I worked at the Broadway department store in Pasadena too, it is gone now, but that was a good job, and my boss was great. I did not make very much money per hour, but I worked a lot of hours so I was able to earn some money. It is sad that California has lost great stores like the Broadway, it has been gone for a long time now. Someone should open the Broadway back up.

I was a Valet / Doorman for Suzanne Pleshette, at a condo highrise in Hollywood, that was cool, I met a lot of famous people, and I got to drive Hal Needham's Maserati, and other great cars.

And I was a limousine driver in Malibu, for Gemstar, we were the official limousine service for the Jay Leno show. The lady who owned the company owned luxury cars and private planes, etc, it was a good company. It is gone now. And I cannot drive any more, I get anxiety and panic attacks on the freeway, the days of driving a limousine are over for me.

Salute,

Tony V.
Title: Re: Meander Where You May
Post by: Hairy Lime on May 21, 2020, 01:26:22 PM
https://www.sciencealert.com/after-17-years-of-quiet-cicadas-are-set-to-deafen-parts-of-the-us

Time to reread Pale Fire, the unofficial Book Mascot of the old NYT Meander.
Title: Re: Meander Where You May
Post by: barton on May 21, 2020, 03:49:19 PM
Did you catch the Pale Fire references (and quoted lines) in Blade Runner 2049?

Cells interlinked within cells interlinked
Within one stem. And, dreadfully distinct
Against the dark, a tall white fountain played. 
Title: Re: Meander Where You May
Post by: Hairy Lime on May 21, 2020, 04:17:50 PM
Did you catch the Pale Fire references (and quoted lines) in Blade Runner 2049?

Cells interlinked within cells interlinked
Within one stem. And, dreadfully distinct
Against the dark, a tall white fountain played. 

Haven't seen it. Waiting for the traditional eighth Director's Cut.
Title: Re: Meander Where You May
Post by: barton on May 22, 2020, 02:54:19 PM
Ha!

Somewhere a while back (Salon maybe) I saw a piece comparing Ryan Gosling character in 2049 to John Shade,  will post if I find.

Title: Re: Meander Where You May
Post by: josh on May 22, 2020, 10:41:08 PM
https://www.sciencealert.com/after-17-years-of-quiet-cicadas-are-set-to-deafen-parts-of-the-us

Time to reread Pale Fire, the unofficial Book Mascot of the old NYT Meander.

I have no real ada to reread Pale Fire.
Title: Re: Meander Where You May
Post by: FlyingVProd on July 10, 2020, 02:19:44 PM
California Dreaming....

I found a boat that I am going to buy after I make my movie "Echo, A Rock and Roll Tragedy."

It is a 100 foot Benetti which was designed by Versace.

Link...

https://youtu.be/RAqsB659KLk

And I am going to build a stage on my boat for my friends who have bands, my friend Jon and his girlfriend Susan will have a luxury suite on my boat, and Jon can decide where he wants the stage, etc. And they will be able to record their music, and plus we can shoot video, etc.

And I am going to set it up so that we can eat good. I want to be able to barbecue filet mignon, and I want to be able to make fish tacos, etc, we need to be able to eat good.

And I want all young hot women to be my captain and crew, my whole crew is going to be young hot chicks.

We could park it here in California in a million places, or we can go down and cruise it down the Amazon River, we could go check out Colombia and stuff, or we could cruise it around the Mediterranean Sea, we could go to Cannes, Monaco, Capri, Greece, Cyprus, etc, we could go a lot of places.

And I could make my boat pay for itself by shooting video for PBS, or for some channel on television, we could cruise down the Amazon and shoot video of the experience, etc.

And plus I will have a vineyard and winery in Italy, a night club in Rome, a movie production company at Cinecitta, etc, which will all help me to make money. And I will have a recording studio for my friends.

And I will date Mahlagha Jaberi, she is a 30 year old model from Iran who lives in San Diego, California.

Here is her Instagram page...

https://www.instagram.com/MAHLAGHAJABERI/

Plus, I want to buy a helicopter to fly from the winery to the movie studio in Italy.

And I want to buy the house where I lived in Malibu.

http://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/6315-Gayton-Pl_Malibu_CA_90265_M15737-07387

And I want to have at least one child. If it is a boy I want to name him Aldo Augustus Verley, and if it is a girl I want to name her Grace Nicole Verley.

And I want to publish my poetry book. I might also write some more books. And my future wife might want to write books too, so I can help her to publish her books. I could help my wife to produce her own television show, or whatever she wants, she can make her own films, etc. She could have her own brand of perfume, whatever.

There is a lot of cool stuff that can happen if I get my movie made and if it is a success.

Salute,

Tony V.
Title: Re: Meander Where You May
Post by: FlyingVProd on August 05, 2020, 05:28:32 PM
A story of survival in Hollywood...

When I was homeless, I stayed one night at the Russ Hotel on Skid Row, and when I woke up in the morning I went to take a shower, and someone had taken a shit in the shower, it was gross. That was the worst place I have ever spent the night. I decided I would rather sleep in my pick-up truck than stay at that hotel.

So, I left Skid Row and I went to Beverly Hills, I used to hang out in the nice areas, and the expensive areas, when I was homeless. And I went to the Beverly Hills free clinic to take a shower, they have nice showers for the public to use. I always stayed clean when I was homeless, I showered, and I did laundry and I wore clean clothes. That day I put on a suit and tie to go look for a job.

I bought a newspaper, the Los Angeles Times, and I looked at the classified ads to look for a job. I found a place that was hiring a valet / doorman in Hollywood, and all that I needed was a driver's license and a clean driving record. The job paid minimum wage plus tips. So, I went to check it out.

As soon as I walked into the office to apply for the job, the lady asked "Are you here about the job?" And she told me that I was hired before I could even answer, she hired me before she even knew my name. She hired me because I am handsome and I look great in a suit and tie, and that was what they wanted, they wanted a handsome doorman / valet who would make them look good.

Then later I found out that my boss was Suzanne Pleshette. My Mother was excited to hear that I was working for Suzanne Pleshette. I was working at a condominium high-rise in Hollywood, where many rich and famous people lived. It was great, I was able to meet a lot of great people, and I could afford to eat, I still did not make enough money to be able to afford an apartment, but at least I was eating good. I was allowed to shower in the clubhouse on the roof of the highrise, there was a clubhouse and a swimming pool on the roof, and I was allowed to use it.

If you are clean and well dressed then people do not need to know that you are homeless. And I was able to meet a lot of cool people. Zsa Zsa Gabor was great, she gave me $20 just for opening her car door, and she said "Thanks Darling" in her special way. Suzanne Pleshette and Zsa Zsa were good friends. I met a lot of cool people. And I was able to drive all kinds of awesome cars, including Hal Needham's Maserati.

I worked there for about 1 year, then I quit and started my production company and acquired and developed a movie script. I had a lot of confidence from hanging out with all of the successful people in Hollywood. I almost made it, the first person who I took my movie script to was Hugh Hefner, and Hef loved my script and he was going to put up the money to make my movie if someone he knew and trusted directed it, so I suggested Oliver Stone based on his work on "The Doors" with Val Kilmer, and Hef said yes, that if Oliver would direct my movie then he would put up the money, so I sent the script to Oliver, and unfortunately he turned me down, then Hef backed out, and I lost the money. That was as close as I have come to success, I almost made it. And Hal Needham said that he would help me with my movie if I needed help after I got the money, I had a few cool people lined up to help me make my movie. Sally Menke, Paul Maibaum, Hal Needham, all wanted to help on it, along with other great people. Anyhow, I almost made it.

Salute,

Tony V.
Title: Re: Meander Where You May
Post by: FlyingVProd on August 05, 2020, 09:55:32 PM
The building where I worked when Suzanne Pleshette was my boss was named "Empire West" and the building was full of rich and famous people, it would be a great place to live if you wanted to make movies because your neighbors could help, everyone could work together to make movies. They had stars, writers, producers, directors, billionaire rich people, famous agents, the place was jam packed with rich and famous people. It was a fun place to work, I met a lot of cool people.

Salute,

Tony V.
Title: Re: Meander Where You May
Post by: FlyingVProd on August 15, 2020, 02:45:04 PM
Here is a vineyard and winery for sale in Tuscany, making Chianti wine, with the option of buying more land to make more wine. I want to own a vineyard and winery in Tuscany, and this is the type of thing I would be interested in doing.

https://youtu.be/rFrfAV_F2es

It would take a lot of workers to run and maintain such a venture, but I can get workers from the Philippines. The Filipinos love Italy. I could hire Filipinos to help me.

Salute,

Tony V.
Title: Re: Meander Where You May
Post by: FlyingVProd on August 15, 2020, 05:00:51 PM
Here is a vineyard and winery that is for sale on the Amalfi Coast in Italy, it is awesome...

https://youtu.be/_WDbOqPCsX4

But, the one in Tuscany makes Chianti wine, and I would love to make Chianti wine in Tuscany.

I could also grow tangerines, and I could make cheese. We will see what happens.

Salute,

Tony V.
Title: Re: Meander Where You May
Post by: barton on August 23, 2020, 02:14:49 PM
https://www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/new-york-is-gone-forever-according-to-me-a-baby-with-no-object-permanence
Title: Re: Meander Where You May
Post by: Hairy Lime on August 24, 2020, 10:51:54 AM
Here is a vineyard and winery that is for sale on the Amalfi Coast in Italy, it is awesome...

https://youtu.be/_WDbOqPCsX4

But, the one in Tuscany makes Chianti wine, and I would love to make Chianti wine in Tuscany.

I could also grow tangerines, and I could make cheese. We will see what happens.

Salute,

Tony V.
Time to double my investment in Powerball tickets!
Title: Re: Meander Where You May
Post by: barton on September 10, 2020, 06:30:20 PM
(https://e6f7x6r7.rocketcdn.me/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/diana-rigg-emma-peel-16.jpg)

Title: Re: Meander Where You May
Post by: Hairy Lime on September 10, 2020, 07:41:48 PM
Damn. There was a time when I most definitely dreamed of meandering there.
Title: Re: Meander Where You May
Post by: oilcan on September 11, 2020, 07:16:24 PM
Looks like image file was moved.   

Great actress,  and quite the kitten in her Peel years.   She was a good Mrs Danvers in the ITV/WGBH "Rebecca " too.   

Title: Re: Meander Where You May
Post by: barton on September 14, 2020, 10:30:22 AM
http://existentialcomics.com/comic/199

A strip that has some fun with philosophy.   
Title: Re: Meander Where You May
Post by: josh on September 25, 2020, 03:23:21 PM
Which reminds me of two of my favorites:

https://garfieldminusgarfield.net/

http://www.nietzschefamilycircus.com/
Title: Re: Meander Where You May
Post by: barton on September 26, 2020, 09:44:47 AM

https://garfieldminusgarfield.net/


Belly laugh.

Brilliant!
Title: Re: Meander Where You May
Post by: barton on December 07, 2020, 11:16:43 AM
https://www.washingtonpost.com/travel/2020/12/07/croatia-open-americans-europe-ban/

“This summer I guided around 20 tours — not a lot, really — but the majority of my guests were Americans,” said Tomislav Matana, a longtime Dubrovnik tour guide. “They all had a big will and desire to come to Croatia. And although it was [anything] but simple for them to come to Croatia and Dubrovnik, they all say that it was worth it.”

Croatia, which closed itself off early in the spring to keep coronavirus infections low, hit zero reported cases within its borders in May and reopened to visitors from all countries in July, with testing requirements in place. The move made Croatia the only nation in the European Union to accept travelers from the United States.

That continental distinction has not changed, even as Croatia’s cases have risen and as it implemented a partial national shutdown last week that included closing bars and restaurants and banning weddings through Christmas...
Title: Re: Meander Where You May
Post by: barton on February 17, 2021, 09:38:40 AM
I enjoy sniffing my fingers after holding a basketball.   
Title: Re: japanese diarrhea video
Post by: barton on April 11, 2021, 11:21:47 AM
https://youtu.be/CKjaFG4YN6g
Title: Re: joyce
Post by: barton on April 25, 2021, 08:47:12 PM
His soul swooned slowly as he heard the snow falling faintly through the universe and faintly falling, like the descent of their last end, upon all the living and the dead.
Title: Re: The Bard Meets Grand Theft Auto
Post by: Holly Martins on June 17, 2021, 04:46:52 PM
https://kotaku.com/gta-online-player-tries-performing-hamlet-dies-1847114526

Title: Re: Meander Where You May
Post by: Oilcan on February 05, 2022, 03:15:58 PM
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/feb/05/ufos-america-aliens-government-report

Will the ETs look like Alan Tudyk?
Title: Re: Meander Where You May
Post by: josh on February 13, 2022, 11:05:19 PM
Any fans of Globle, Nerdle, or Quordle here?

How about Jotto?
Title: Re: Meander Where You May
Post by: Holly Martins on February 23, 2022, 08:13:14 PM
I've heard Six Letter is brain-busting (it's a six letter version of Jotto which requires a perfect positional match to get a nonzero answer).  I want to try all of those you mention - Globle looks like something I'd especially enjoy, have always done well with geography.  Will seek out.  Thanks! 

Do you have a favorite game of these types?
Title: Re: Meander Where You May
Post by: josh on February 23, 2022, 11:47:24 PM
I've heard Six Letter is brain-busting (it's a six letter version of Jotto which requires a perfect positional match to get a nonzero answer).  I want to try all of those you mention - Globle looks like something I'd especially enjoy, have always done well with geography.  Will seek out.  Thanks! 

Do you have a favorite game of these types?

I've played Jotto for more years than I remember - usually in our heads. Had one friend with whom I played 10 letter Jotto. Jotto is definitely a fave.

I have been more frequently stumped by octordle than any of the others, to this point.
https://octordle.com/

https://wordlegame.org/ lets you play from 4 to 11 letters.

It also allows you to play in any of 14 languages.

There are build your own Wordle game options and Wordle for Kids.

And it is not a daily play, but a play as often as you wish with new variants each time.

So, that may be my favorite.

I don't like nerdle that much.
Title: Re: Meander Where You May
Post by: josh on March 02, 2022, 11:51:04 AM
In the Guardian:
(https://scontent-bos3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t39.30808-6/274869306_10228425800093853_601077442762032709_n.jpg?_nc_cat=108&ccb=1-5&_nc_sid=8bfeb9&_nc_ohc=QcQ1Cq3TaI4AX8NQ2X6&_nc_ht=scontent-bos3-1.xx&oh=00_AT_IIRLrwDrqHTiLy5BKnjxH86lMehnhIMQ6ZtGNtn_tSw&oe=622581B0)
Title: Re: Meander Where You May
Post by: Holly Martins on March 09, 2022, 08:35:24 PM
An expedition that set out in search of the lost ship of polar explorer Ernest Shackleton has found it, 106 years after the vessel sank off Antarctica.

The wooden ship Endurance has been located remarkably intact about 10,000 feet underwater in the Weddell Sea.

https://www.npr.org/2022/03/09/1085432575/endurance-ship-found-ernest-shackleton
Title: Re: Meander Where You May
Post by: josh on March 10, 2022, 12:55:17 AM
An expedition that set out in search of the lost ship of polar explorer Ernest Shackleton has found it, 106 years after the vessel sank off Antarctica.

The wooden ship Endurance has been located remarkably intact about 10,000 feet underwater in the Weddell Sea.

https://www.npr.org/2022/03/09/1085432575/endurance-ship-found-ernest-shackleton

Wow!

The pics are amazing, but that they found it is even more so!
Title: Re: Meander Where You May
Post by: Holly Martins on May 21, 2022, 12:00:50 PM
https://www.npr.org/2022/05/20/1100514856/longtime-new-yorker-writer-editor-roger-angell-has-died

Growing up, my family had one coffee table, quite elongated (built by my dad for the purpose of high magazine and book capacity), and there were always issues of The New Yorker, and usually something by Roger Angell in them.  Baseball fans may remember him best.
Title: Re: Meander Where You May
Post by: josh on May 31, 2022, 03:11:05 PM
https://www.monsterchildren.com/bullshit-artists-found-to-be-more-intelligent
Title: Re: Meander Where You May
Post by: Hairy Lime on May 31, 2022, 05:25:23 PM
https://www.npr.org/2022/05/20/1100514856/longtime-new-yorker-writer-editor-roger-angell-has-died

Growing up, my family had one coffee table, quite elongated (built by my dad for the purpose of high magazine and book capacity), and there were always issues of The New Yorker, and usually something by Roger Angell in them.  Baseball fans may remember him best.
I had several of his books; basically his New Yorker baseball articles from 1966ish through maybe 1983. A great writer.

He died while I was on vacation. I was surprised no one mentioned it in the MLB forum.
Title: Re: Meander Where You May
Post by: Holly Martins on June 09, 2022, 10:01:48 AM
https://www.capecodtimes.com/story/news/2021/06/11/humpback-whale-catches-michael-packard-lobster-driver-mouth-proviencetown-cape-cod/7653838002/

Let's be happy it wasn't a sperm whale.
Title: Re: Meander Where You May
Post by: josh on June 28, 2022, 12:49:13 AM
We don't really have a place for grief on this message board or for other personal stories that are not tied to public existence.

I want to note, briefly, the passing of a friend, not a close one but a nice one regardless. He died in Feb 2021 of diabetes, at the age of 39. I didn't know because none of our mutual acquaintances were as close to him as I was and I had the best chance of hearing about it - he died 2 months after we last exchanged messages.

Life was often not what he had wanted it to be, but with encouragement, he had begun to find his way.

And then not.
Title: Re: Meander Where You May
Post by: FlyingVProd on July 18, 2022, 01:58:43 PM
Here is a story with a good lesson...

A lady graduated from college and her Father gave her an old Jeep that he had been saving for her, but he told her that before he gave it to her that he wanted her to take it to the used car dealer to see what he would give her for it. The lady returned, and she told her Father that the dealer said the Jeep was old and offered her $1,000 for it.

The Father then told her to take the Jeep to the pawn shop and see what they would pay her for it. The lady returned and told her Father that the pawn shop said the Jeep was old and they offered her $100 for it.

The Father then told the lady to take the Jeep to the Jeep Club and see what they would give her for it. The lady returned and told her Father that the Jeep Club said the Jeep was a collector's item and was very rare, and the Jeep Club offered her $100,000 for the Jeep.

Her Father then told her that life is like that, and that we need to go to where we are valued, if we are not valued in one place then we are in the wrong place and we need to go to someplace else where we are valued.

Salute,

Tony V.

Title: Re: Meander Where You May
Post by: FlyingVProd on July 18, 2022, 02:41:48 PM
Sorry about the loss of your friend, Josh, may he rest in peace.

Salute,

Tony V.
Title: Re: Meander Where You May
Post by: FlyingVProd on July 18, 2022, 02:56:40 PM
My favorite acting teacher from the AADA is in Italy right now for her 78th Birthday, she has always wanted to go to Italy so she is taking a 10 day tour for her Birthday. It is so cool, one of my favorite people is experiencing one of my favorite places. I am sure she is going to love Italy, and I am sure Italy will love her. She is a wonderful person.

She got off to a bad start because of the airport in Zurich, Switzerland, her flight was canceled a week ago and they did not tell her, so she showed up and her flight was cancelled and they knew it and did not warn her. I too had a bad experience at that airport, on my way back from Rome to Los Angeles they pulled me into a back room at the airport in Zurich and they strip searched me, they treated me like a criminal. I will never use the airport in Zurich again, it is a horrible airport. So my friend was stuck at the airport in Zurich, and meanwhile her whole group was already in Italy, she was very upset. But, it turned out that 10 people from her group also missed the plane so they are going to give her a refund and she is going to continue her trip with the group, but she will miss one day of Venice. I will never use the airport in Zurich again, but instead I will fly directly to Italy, or if I have to switch planes then I will switch planes in Paris, France, they treated me great in Paris when I went to Cannes.

My favorite teacher is in Italy right now probably, it is a short flight from Zurich to Italy. I am looking forward to reading her posts on Facebook about her trip. I love my teacher and I love Italy. I hope she loves Italy as much as I do, and I hope that Italy loves my teacher as much as I do.

Salute,

Tony V.


Title: Re: Meander Where You May
Post by: josh on July 19, 2022, 09:47:10 PM
Sorry about the loss of your friend, Josh, may he rest in peace.

Salute,

Tony V.

Thank you, Tony.
Title: Re: Meander Where You May
Post by: FlyingVProd on July 24, 2022, 04:11:09 PM
My Father's cousin Sally just died, they were the same age, and they were best friends. My Father died in 1977, and she really missed him. When she added me on Facebook I could feel the love that she had for my Father. She expected a lot of me because I was my Father's son. She was certain that I must be a great man because I am the son of my Father. And even though I do not remember ever meeting her, I loved her back, I could feel her love for me and I loved her back. I feel like I let her down so far as having turned out to be a great man, but I am an honest Christian and I tried. I wish I could have been the man she thought that I certainly must be. Anyhow, may Sally rest in peace, I feel very sad, even though I do not remember ever meeting her.

Salute,

Tony V.
Title: Re: Meander Where You May
Post by: FlyingVProd on July 31, 2022, 06:12:55 PM
I have a buddy who I respect a lot, and we have been friends for 20 years, but he became a hard core Trump supporter and he has changed. I miss the buddy that I used to have before he got into Trump.

My buddy said that instead of getting an education that people should go work in the construction trades, and invest money into starting businesses, instead of getting student loans and investing in your education. He said that an education actually hurts your ability to become an entrepreneur. It is all bullshit, his head is full of shit now.

I value an education, and I explained to him that instead of coming out of college deep in dept and being homeless, the graduates need to have access to business loans, etc. And people need to value educated people when they are hiring.

One example that I shared with him was about 2 daughters in Malibu who were the daughters of a wealthy business man, after the daughters graduated from college their father set both daughters up in business, one daughter got the Malibu Gym, and the other daughter got the Gemstar Limousine Service, I drove a limo for Gemstar and we were the official limousine service for the Jay Leno show, both daughters succeeded and got off to a great start in life. I explained to my buddy that the poor people need to have the same opportunities that the rich people have. And when the poor people graduate from college deep in debt they need to have opportunities to get business loans so that they can start a successful business to earn money to work their way out of debt, like the rich people do.

Poor people should not be punished for getting an education and trying to improve themselves, and for trying to make themselves more valuable, and for wanting to have a richer life. The poor people need to have access to business loans when they graduate, just like the rich people get. You graduate from college, you draw up a business plan and get a business loan and then you can work your way out of debt.

If it were up to me, I would give all Americans a free college education. And I support free community college for all Americans. The poor people need to have the same opportunities that the rich people have.

The educated people value an education.

So, all of a sudden my friend is treating me like a loser because I went to school in order to try to improve myself, and for not having succeeded after school. He said that I never follow through on anything and he is acting like I am just some bum now. And he is acting like the education and training that I got was actually a detriment to success, instead of just starting out uneducated and in the construction trades.

I did construction labor before I went to school, and I did not make shit, I was working for $10 dollars per hour, it was shit. If you are going to do construction, then my advice is to join a labor union and get fair wages and good treatment, and also prevailing wages on government jobs. Working hard and being poor sucks. If you work hard then there has to be some reward. Life should not just be punishment for being born. There has to be some good in life, and some success, and some reward for being honest and working hard. For me, doing construction labor was like I was being punished for being poor, and I had to live in the poor part of down with the bad people, it was all bullshit.

Being poor made me study twice as hard so that I could try to make myself more valuable.

I still never made any money. And my buddy is judging me by that, I am a failure in his eyes now.

And my stepfather is the same way, he never saw how hard I worked and studied, and he just thinks that I am a loser. It was like I hit a brick wall and I could not even get a job cleaning toilets in Hollywood. I worked hard and studied, but all of a sudden I am a bum because no one will hire me, and it was hard, I ended up homeless on the streets of Hollywood for 2 years, and I had a nervous breakdown and ended up in the hospital, and then I came out of the hospital homeless again before they put me in a group home that my friend Lisa owned. Lisa was a saint, and she helped me. But, the world was a cold and hard place after I went to school, it seems like everything just kept getting harder instead of getting easier, the harder I worked and the more I studied then the harder life got.

I lived for one great year in Malibu after acting school, and my roommates were all rich and educated, and I loved it, it was one of the best years of my life. So, there are some good people, and I had some good times.

But, I am sad that my buddy judges me unfairly now, and it is sad because I never judged him unfairly when he was poor and homeless, and I even gave him a free motor home for him and his girlfriend to live in, but he forgets all of that.

Sometimes you just need to let people go. People change. I do not like Trump, and Trump has had a bad effect on our nation, and on my friend and on my stepdad, all of a sudden poor people are losers, and I am a failure.

I do not see any love and support coming from the Trump crowd. And I miss my buddy, he changed, and we do not get along any more, it is sad. I have to set my boundaries and I cannot hang out with people who think I am a failure and who treat me like a loser.

Salute,

Tony V.
















Title: Re: Meander Where You May
Post by: FlyingVProd on August 02, 2022, 03:03:34 PM
I took an Italian language class at my local community college almost 20 years ago, and I remained friends with my Italian Professor, he is a great guy, and he loves Italy and Italian cinema, etc.

He said that his Italian classes are more popular now than ever, and he said that Italian cinema is also very popular now, so that is great. He said that he feels like he won the cash cow, he is doing very well now.

And Cinecitta is doing better than ever, so that is great. Maybe someday I will get to do some work at Cinecitta. When I was in Italy Martin Scorsese had just been there making "The Gangs of New York" at Cinecitta, it is a great studio.

Salute,

Tony V.
Title: Re: Meander Where You May
Post by: FlyingVProd on August 14, 2022, 03:24:33 PM
I know of something cool that I could sell at the Santa Fe Springs Swap Meet, I could buy some old out-dated equipment that they used to manufacture Italian sunglasses back in the 1950s, and I could manufacture the 1950s Italian style sunglasses and I could sell them at the Santa Fe Springs Swap Meet. If you could find the old equipment that they do not use anymore, and then put it to use, then you could make some money. No one else is selling 1950s Italian style sunglasses.

Salute,

Tony V.
Title: Re: Meander Where You May
Post by: FlyingVProd on September 05, 2022, 06:26:00 PM
You may notice that I have a lot of good ideas, but I never accomplish anything and I never turn my ideas into reality, and that is because I am poor, with bad credit, and I do not have a family or connections who can help me to turn my ideas into reality. An idea without money to back it up never works out, and because I have bad credit then my only chance is to get as educated and smart as I can possibly become and then succeed in having an idea brought to fruition by a generous benefactor.

With Donald Trump, he studied Business, and then he went to his Father for a Business Loan, my Father died when I was 9 years old, so I do not have anyone to go to for a Business Loan, otherwise I would have owned my own Dog Kennel 30 years ago and I would be a millionaire right now with a hot wife and a great family. It sucks to be poor and alone when I know I can run a business and earn money. Even manufacturing old out-dated 1950s Italian sunglasses with old out-dated equipment and selling the sunglasses to tourists, and also selling the sunglasses at swap meets, etc, would make money, there are a lot of ways to make money. Or I could open a night club in Rome, Italy. It just sucks to grow old poor and alone when I know I can do better.

As an actor when I was young there were so many great people and the industry seemed so exciting, and I wanted to work and get rich with all of the cool people in Hollywood. But, now it all moved to Canada, and to Georgia, and to Australia, etc. I am not going to go to Canada to work. I wanted to live in Malibu and work in Hollywood. I almost succeeded, after school I moved to Malibu and I rented a room from the ex wife of Sammy Hagar's family doctor, and I drove a limousine while I tried to get a job in Hollywood as an actor. I spent a fortune on photographers and pictures, but I never got any work. I could not even get an agent, and I could not get any auditions. You cannot get work if you cannot even get seen.

But, I have a movie script that I wrote, and I have a poetry book that I wrote, if I can make my movie and publish my book then hopefully I can make enough money to open a night club in Rome, and I want to write and produce movies and television shows. Then, if I really succeed big time then I want to buy a vineyard and winery in Tuscany.

Anyhow, I have a lot of ideas, I just need to get my ideas into the minds of people who have the money to make the ideas a reality. I also have given ideas to Mayors and other leaders, and some of my ideas have been able to help people.

So, that is my reality, I am poor with bad credit, so I am not going to be able to open my own business. I have a lot of ideas, but I do not have the money to turn my ideas into reality. I need to publish my book, and produce my movie, in order to get seed money to get started with my own night club, etc.

Of note, I studied Small Business Management Consulting so that I could help people to start and operate a successful business, the class was in conjunction with the SBA and we assisted actual clients of the SBA. Also, the professor helped poor young Black men in Compton to start their own businesses and then after they succeeded then they all took a trip to Africa together. Professor Berry from AVC was the guy, he helped poor Black people to start their own successful businesses and then they all took a trip to Africa together. I wish I had a professor to help me start a business and become successful, so it was healthy for me to train on how to teach other people to succeed. I became that which I wish I had when I needed help. If only I had a future me to come back in time to help me, the way that I help other people.

Anyhow, I spent my Stimulus Money to buy an Apple Laptop to use to publish my book, and to make or sell my movie script, but I do not know how to use it and I do not have the right programs on it, and also I need to get a wireless router, I am using a 20 year old dsl for my internet connection on a 20 year old HP computer.

My best chance is to go get help at the film school, which I have been talking about doing but have never done. I do not have a car, and it is too far to go on a bicycle. And I am not sure exactly where the school is as I have never been there.

I am tired of being poor and alone, I will tell you that much. One of these days one of my ideas will work out, and then I can move onward and upward.

And pretty soon, if nothing else, In N Out Burger pays their managers $120,000 per year, I can manage a Fast Food restaurant and I can save my money to move to Europe and open my own night club in Rome.

I am sure my poetry book and my movie script are going to be enough to at least open a night club in Rome. I just need to get help making my movie and publishing my book.

Salute,

Tony V.
Title: Re: Meander Where You May
Post by: Holly Martins on September 05, 2022, 08:22:22 PM
Tony,

It is possible that your real skills might lie in social work.  Many of your posts show a great sense of community spirit and compassion and an awareness of how people can help get their lives together.   Perhaps put the pipe dreams aside for a while (people who make it as writers or filmmakers usually do so by their late 20s or 30s).  Start with entry level social work, like assisting people in group homes with building life skills.  No degree needed.  Volunteer work can also help your resume. 
Title: Re: Meander Where You May
Post by: FlyingVProd on September 05, 2022, 09:33:23 PM
Tony,

It is possible that your real skills might lie in social work.  Many of your posts show a great sense of community spirit and compassion and an awareness of how people can help get their lives together.   Perhaps put the pipe dreams aside for a while (people who make it as writers or filmmakers usually do so by their late 20s or 30s).  Start with entry level social work, like assisting people in group homes with building life skills.  No degree needed.  Volunteer work can also help your resume.

Thanks!

I loved volunteering with Kiwanis. Also, as a teen I went to Mexico with Youth For Christ and it was a life changing experience. I also volunteered with the Burbank YMCA at a summer camp as a teen. And I have friends who run the local Mental Health Association. I also have a Wellness Center close by where I could volunteer.

I have thought about volunteering.

Also, I have some ideas for fundraising to help the Foster Youth.

Of note, here in Anaheim the citizens are very powerful, and a lot of money flows into our city, and we own Angel Stadium, etc, the citizens have a lot of power. Part of my skill set is to teach out of touch old rich people how to help the poor and to have a sense of urgency when it comes to helping the poor. I have experienced poverty and homelessness with the poorest of the poor, but I have also studied and worked and tried to make myself valuable, and I have dined with Mayors, so I can contribute as one who has experienced poverty but I can still relate to those who are rich and powerful. I am not afraid of Mayors and other powerful people, and I can tell them directly what I think. I may be able to do stuff with the City of Anaheim and City Hall to help people.

Meanwhile, I use my computer to send ideas to everyone and I try to help people from home with my computer.

We will see what happens. Of note, doing service to help others is part of who I am, so I am sure I will find a way to help people. Also of note is that the best use of fame is to help people, if I was rich and famous I would be using my fame to help people, that is what it is all about. So, service is a part of who I am, no matter if I am rich or poor. ( And Jeb Bush met his wife while helping to build an orphanage in Mexico, doing charity work is a good way to meet people and maybe find a wife. )

Salute,

Tony V.






Title: Re: Meander Where You May
Post by: FlyingVProd on September 05, 2022, 09:35:37 PM
Here is my student film from USC film school, I was handsome like James Garner and like Michael Landon, and I had good training, and I had a couple of years of college, and I studied hard. I really tried to make myself a good person who they would want to hire, I wanted to make myself as desirable as possible as a person who they would want to hire, but I never got any work. So, if no one is going to hire me, then I need to rise to the top and create jobs for myself as well as creating jobs for other people, I can be the guy to help the other people. Anyhow, I attended a great acting school, and I was handsome, and I lived in Malibu, I just did not have the right connections. And also, some people at the top were jealous of me, I think, because I was better trained and more handsome than a lot of people in the industry.

https://youtu.be/GJ2wBMgs-lQ

I am happy that I at least was able to make a student film to show people. I would like to do more student films. I would be doing student films for free everyday if I could, and I wish my neighbors were all film students. Chapman is close, I need to go there an have lunch and check it out, and see if I can get help there. I also want to see how I look on film now that I am 54 years old. I am healthy and I exercise and eat well, and I quit smoking cigarettes, we will see.

Salute,

Tony V.
Title: Re: Meander Where You May
Post by: FlyingVProd on September 05, 2022, 11:38:58 PM
Life can be brutal, I certainly am not alone in having suffered, Roy Rogers used to say that our suffering was what unites humanity.

One of my Buddies from when I worked at a summer camp for the Burbank YMCA as a teen ended up homeless after he turned 18 years old, his Father made him move out when he turned 18 and he did not have anywhere to go. He ended up homeless in Burbank. I used to go visit my Buddy in the homeless shelter in Burbank, and it was so sad. He was a good guy, and he worked hard, he was not a drug addict, he was a good guy, and it did not make any sense for him to be homeless. He ended up joining the Army so that he could get a job and housing and their other benefits.

When I was homeless the Army was not an option, because I am color blind, and the Army will not accept you if you are color blind. I also could never be a cop, because I cannot see the color of clothing and cars, etc.

Anyhow, life is hard, and as the jobs from Burbank left for other places then the people of Burbank suffered, and good people ended up homeless. My Buddy was a good honest guy and there was no reason for him to be homeless. If he had honest opportunity then he would have seized it.

After my Buddy joined the Army then I never saw him again. He joined the Army and he started a new life, and then he left his old life and his old Buddies behind. Life can be brutal.

Salute,

Tony V.
Title: Re: Meander Where You May
Post by: FlyingVProd on September 06, 2022, 01:06:25 AM
As we work to help the homeless in Los Angeles then the problem is too big just to get the people into group homes via Wellness Centers like we are doing in Orange County. In the OC the people can go to the Wellness Center to get into a group home and then get into permanent housing from there, but the problem is too big to handle the situation that way in Los Angeles. In Los Angeles we need to ship some of the homeless to live and work in Gardens in Merced, California, and in Napa, California, and in Battle Mountain, Nevada, and the people can grow food, and they can raise animals, and they can make cheese, etc. And the people can export food to feed the workers in China, etc. And the workers can feed the people in San Francisco, etc.

We need to get the workers to build Santorini, Greece, style apartments in Merced, and in Napa, here in California, and in Battle Mountain, Nevada, and the homeless can be bused to work in Gardens growing food and raising animals and making cheese, and making wine, etc. The problem is too big in Los Angeles to just get them all into group homes, like we do in the OC, instead Los Angeles needs to send people to live and work in other areas outside of Los Angeles.

And we have refugees, and immigrants, along with the homeless people, we need to help a lot of people. We need to build housing for a lot of people and we need to get them all working to grow food and raise animals and to make cheese, etc.

Salute,

Tony V.

Title: Re: Meander Where You May
Post by: FlyingVProd on September 06, 2022, 04:17:21 AM
I had a friend who used to help the homeless people, and he was one of my heroes and I was proud to have him for a friend. He was a combat medic in the Marine Corps in Desert Storm, and he spent 20 years basically working as a doctor in Pennsylvania for the military, and then he went to work helping the homeless. My friend Lisa owed group homes with about a hundred people, and my friend put the people in her houses to work at Angel Stadium selling hot dogs and beers at ball games in order to raise money for charity to feed the hungry people, my friend paid the workers per diam just to give them a little cash, and then the money that they raised all went to a group called Canning Hunger, my friend raised over one million dollars to help to feed the hungry people, while at the same time providing a healthy activity for the people in the group homes. My friend also sold hot dogs and beer with his crew at the Rose Bowl, and at concerts, and other events, they worked whenever they could and they tried to stay busy.

My friend was a great leader, and he helped a lot of people in the group homes. He died about 7 years ago, I miss him.

I am not great like he was so far as going into the group homes and organizing all of the people and putting the people to work at Angel Stadium. I can send people ideas, and I can suggest stuff, but my friend actually created opportunities for people and he raised money for charity.

For me, I thought about going to Santa Fe, New Mexico, to teach acting to the Native American Indians who have their new movie studio that Robert Redford helped the Indians to build, the Camel Rock Studios. And I can direct, and write, and act, etc. But, I doubt I will do it. I wish the best to the Indians, but my best opportunities might be local at the local film school if I can ever get there. I might be able to accomplish a lot right here at my local film school. I just need to get myself down there. And maybe I can work with the Indians in the future. I really do support the Native American Indians. And my ancestors were Cowboys and Indians, I need to do a blood test but I am sure I am part Indian.

I also had the idea of organizing the homeless and helping them to grow and produce food and to help them to build housing, etc, and busing the people there to live and work, in Napa, and in Merced, here in California, and in Battle Mountain, Nevada, we will see what I can do, I can at least keep sending ideas to people.

I also may get involved with helping the Pope, and the Catholic Church, to help the homeless and the refugees and the immigrants, the Catholic Church is on my team, and I love the Pope. I have been sending ideas to the Catholic Church.

The best way to get over depression is to get busy helping other people, and I try to help others whenever I can. And a beautiful model in Italy told me that all of my dreams might come true while doing charity work and while helping the poor and the needy and the Foster Children, and the homeless, etc. And someday I hope to have a beautiful wife as a teammate and partner, and we can work together to help the Foster Children, and the homeless people, etc. And it would be cool to find a wife who wants to write and produce with me, etc.

Anyhow, I watched my friend succeed in helping the homeless, and I was proud to have him as a friend. He never made any money, and he died poor, but he helped a lot of people. He deserved a better life than he had, but he had the respect of a lot of people.

Salute,

Tony V.
Title: Re: Meander Where You May
Post by: FlyingVProd on September 06, 2022, 02:34:07 PM
As we work to get people into housing, we need to remember that many people have bad credit, and many people have evictions on their record, and many people have a hard time finding a place to live. So, we need to have websites such as Craig's List where people can find a room for rent, or an apartment for rent, that will rent to them even if they have bad credit.

Here is a link for an example of what we need more of...

https://boise.craigslist.org/search/apa

Also, there is a fantastic new program with our local community college working together with Disney to train people for jobs at Disney. Fullerton College is now working together with Disney so that people can go right to work for Disney after they graduate. Instead of coming out of school poor with no employment opportunities, then the people need to be able to go to school and train with the specific purpose of going to work for Disney when they graduate. And the homeless people in group homes can go to Fullerton College to train for jobs at Disney, etc.

Salute,

Tony V.

Title: Re: Meander Where You May
Post by: FlyingVProd on September 07, 2022, 07:32:22 PM
I am living Mediterranean style, I walk and ride my bicycle everyday, and I eat Mediterranean food, and I drink red wine. The Italians live longer than everyone else, so if I live Mediterranean style then I will be healthier and I will live longer.

Tonight after it cools down I am going to walk to get a pastrami sandwich for dinner, I am craving pastrami. It is nice to get out and walk, and that is what they do in Italy, they all get out and walk to the market, and they go for walks in the evening, etc.

I can get by if I live a simple and cheap Mediterranean style life. I gave up my car, and I quit smoking cigarettes, and I can get by, and in the Mediterranean all of the people live the same cheap simple life that I am living right now. Very few people in Rome own cars, and they all walk and ride bicycles. I live simple, and I try to be grateful for the little things. I appreciate good food, and I am grateful to have a nice apartment in a good neighborhood with good stores and good parks in my area.

The world is going to love my poetry book whenever I can get it published, and the world will love my movie script when it becomes a film, but meanwhile I just need to keep it simple and be grateful for the little things.

Salute,

Tony V.
Title: Re: Meander Where You May
Post by: FlyingVProd on September 14, 2022, 03:09:51 PM
Today is the anniversary of the death of my Father, he died on September 14, 1977, I was 9 years old.

We were living in Lebanon, Oregon, and I was in the 5th Grade at Griggs Elementary School. I had a girlfriend, Michelle Lynn, and she was the prettiest girl in the school, her family owned race horses and she had a race track on her ranch, etc, and I used to help her with the horses, I always thought that if my Father would have lived then I would have married Michelle, but you never know, we were only 9, but for me it was love. My Mother is from California, so after my Father died we moved back to California where I was born and where my Mother is from. I never saw Michelle again after I moved back to California. Certainly my life would have been different if my Father would have lived, I would maybe be married to Michelle, living in Oregon, and I would probably be working in the horse racing industry. ( My Grandfather was a good horse trainer, and I am good with animals, I might have ended up as a horse trainer for race horses, working with Michelle. )

My Father was a good man, and his funeral was huge, it was like a President died. My Father was well loved. He studied Business at Pepperdine here in California in Malibu, and he worked as a Hay Broker in Oregon, buying hay before it was planted and then selling and delivering the hay to dairies and to ranches, etc. He died while delivering hay to a ranch in Oregon, he was killed by lightening.

Rest in peace, Dad.

Salute,

Tony V.
Title: Re: Meander Where You May
Post by: FlyingVProd on September 15, 2022, 09:12:58 PM
It is important to have a good neighborhood and to be friendly with your neighbors.

Where I live most of my neighbors speak Spanish, but they are mostly hard working parents, and a lot of the people here are related, their parents and cousins and stuff live here, people brought their extended families to this complex. It is nice here, and they are good people, but they speak Spanish and I speak English, so we are not really that close. But, we do not have any drug dealers nor domestic abusers, so it is good. We have mostly good honest hard working Mexicans here, and this is the neighborhood where they choose to raise their families. This is the good side of town where the immigrants come to raise their children.

But, it is hard because I cannot really be friends with the neighbors, and we do not really have anything in common. I am reminded of how great it was at Empire West when I worked for Suzanne Pleshette, the whole building was full of people from the Entertainment Industry, you could make movies with your neighbors. I would love to have neighbors who I could make movies with. Even film students from Chapman would be great to have as neighbors. I would just love to have neighbors who I could write movies and television shows with, and who I could act and produce with.

Malibu was nice too, and I had a lot of people in the Entertainment Industry in my neighborhood there, it was great.

I have been in this apartment for almost 20 years, and while I am grateful I would love to be someplace where I could have a girlfriend and friends and people to work with in the Entertainment Industry.

My Uncle Dennis lived in a complex where the whole complex was on heroin, and I am grateful that my neighbors are not drug addicts and drug dealers. The people here are all clean, and they are poor working Mexicans with children to raise.

In Italy there is Cinecitta in Rome, and all of the people are Christians like me, so I fit in with the people in Italy. It would be nice to open a night club in Rome, and maybe I can produce Christian bands and have the Christian bands play at my club. Italy is the Christian Capital of the world, everyone there is Christian, and I love that. I love to live someplace where we all obey the 10 Commandments and the Golden Rule.

Anyhow, I have been here for almost 20 years, and it is safe and nice, I just wish I had friends here who I have stuff in common with, like if I lived at Empire West, or in Malibu, or in Rome. I keep wanting to go to the film school to explore, and to reach out to try to meet new friends, but I have not made it there yet. They also have workshops and stuff for the public at the film school. So, I am grateful to have a film school here, I just need to go find it and check it out.

Salute,

Tony V.
Title: Re: Meander Where You May
Post by: FlyingVProd on September 23, 2022, 02:17:31 PM
After attending community college and acting school, I moved to Malibu and I got a job as a limousine driver for Gemstar, and we were the official limousine service for the Jay Leno show. There was a rumor that they were going to start a new show in the middle of the night, and that they were looking for someone new to do the show. I told them that I would do it. But, nothing ever came of it, the show was never made.

But, later on I did an interview of my friend Jon who played guitar for the Red Hot Chili Peppers, and for Suicidal Tendencies, you get to see what I would have been like if I had my own interview show, I might be good for MTV in the middle of the night, interviewing people.

Here is an interview that I did some time back...

https://youtu.be/47YL7vd0pKQ

Salute,

Tony V.
Title: Re: Meander Where You May
Post by: FlyingVProd on September 29, 2022, 01:05:58 PM
A cool thing about Anaheim is that everyday we get 50,000 new tourists arriving here who have nothing but love for Disney and for Anaheim, and they come here to enjoy themselves and they spend money here.

Everyday is a new day, with 50,000 new people here.

My dearly departed friend Tom used to take homeless people who were living in shelters to sell hot dogs and beer at Angel Stadium, they would clean the people up, and get them on medication and into therapy, etc, and N/A, etc, and Tom would take the people to sell hot dogs and beer at sporting events and at concerts, etc. Tom helped to raise over one million dollars for charity with his crew selling hot dogs and beer.

Every day is a new day, with 50,000 new tourists to sell stuff to.

And now we have Fullerton Community College training people for jobs with Disney, it is wonderful, people can go right to work for Disney when they graduate. Disney is a wonderful company, and we are lucky to have Disney here in Anaheim.

Salute,

Tony V.
Title: Re: Meander Where You May
Post by: FlyingVProd on September 29, 2022, 03:25:57 PM
One business that would succeed in Anaheim big time would be a Jody Maroni's Sausage Kingdom, they have locations in Venice Beach, as well as at Universal Studios, and it would be perfect to open a location at Downtown Disney. I called and talked with Jody and he sent me a packet to take to an investor to try to get the money to open the location at Disney, but my friend who I was going to try to get the seed money from died. She was rich, and she would have helped me, but I waited too long to go talk with her about it, and she died. She was cool, she gave her Son an apartment building in Hollywood for his Birthday present for his 18th Birthday. She gave him an apartment building as a gift, that was how rich she was. She would for sure have helped me, but I waited too long, may she rest in peace. But if anyone has a wealthy connection or a good banker then they can check out the idea of opening a Jody Maroni's at Downtown Disney.

http://www.jodymaroni.com/

Oki Dog in Hollywood would succeed at Downtown Disney too.

Salute,

Tony V.
Title: Re: Meander Where You May
Post by: FlyingVProd on October 01, 2022, 02:18:16 PM
Today is national coffee day, I love coffee. My favorite was in Rome where I could go to Gianni's coffee shop and I could get a cappuccino for sixty cents, made by Thelma. Thelma was a very beautiful woman, and she did not speak English, and I could not speak Italian, but we got along great, Thelma was great.

Salute,

Tony V.
Title: Re: Meander Where You May
Post by: FlyingVProd on October 01, 2022, 03:46:44 PM
I think that the people who are living in the apartments in Hollywood for the people from the Entertainment Industry are lucky, I would love to have neighbors who were actors and writers and filmmakers.

And Empire West where Suzanne Pleshette lived was great, the whole building was full of people in the Entertainment Industry.

Malibu is cool too, there are a lot of people from the Entertainment Industry in Malibu.

I would love to be able to create art with my neighbors, and to be able to help each other and network.

Right now where I live my neighbors mostly speak Spanish, and they are good people, but there is no one here who can teach me about the programs that I need for my Apple laptop to share my movie script, and also to publish my poetry book.

My only chance here is to go to the film school and have lunch and check it out, and see if I can make new friends and new connections at the film school. And I can act in student films.

I loved my time at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts because I was surrounded by artists who shared common dreams with me. It was a special time for me.

Salute,

Tony V.
Title: Re: Meander Where You May
Post by: josh on October 07, 2022, 02:07:03 PM
Tony, you wrote:
"Anyhow, I spent my Stimulus Money to buy an Apple Laptop to use to publish my book, and to make or sell my movie script, but I do not know how to use it and I do not have the right programs on it, and also I need to get a wireless router, I am using a 20 year old dsl for my internet connection on a 20 year old HP computer."

Clearly, the Apple laptop was a mistake, but it doesn't have to be permanent.

1) What software do you need/want to use?

2) What aspects of using it do you not currently understand?
Title: Re: Meander Where You May
Post by: FlyingVProd on October 07, 2022, 03:18:06 PM
Tony, you wrote:
"Anyhow, I spent my Stimulus Money to buy an Apple Laptop to use to publish my book, and to make or sell my movie script, but I do not know how to use it and I do not have the right programs on it, and also I need to get a wireless router, I am using a 20 year old dsl for my internet connection on a 20 year old HP computer."

Clearly, the Apple laptop was a mistake, but it doesn't have to be permanent.

1) What software do you need/want to use?

2) What aspects of using it do you not currently understand?

Thanks Josh.

My first goals are to be able to share my movie script that I already wrote, and to be able to publish my poetry book with Barnes and Noble. So, I need some type of word processor to put the script onto the computer, and then some program to send it, and then to be able to share it. And I need to be able to put my poetry book onto the computer, and then I need to be able to publish my poetry book with Barnes and Noble.

Chapman film school said that the programs to make movies are...

Final Draft Pro - Screenwriting

Entertainment Partners Movie Magic - Budgeting and Scheduling

Adobe Premier, Avid Media Composer, Black Magic, Davinci Resolve - Editing

Avid Pro Tools - Sound Design

Mac Pages, PDF - To Publish with Barnes and Noble

Those are what the film students are using at Chapman film school.

The studio pros are all using Final Draft Pro for Screenwriting.

I was thinking about going to the film school and hiring a tutor to help me. I feel so silly, owning this Apple is like owning a beautiful bicycle and not knowing how to ride a bicycle. I want to learn how to use this computer, and my script and my poetry book are like money in the bank I just need to share my script to get it made, and publish my book.

And I had dreams of sitting around with a team eating pizza writing stuff, and I would like to find a girlfriend who wants to write with me, and we can produce, and publish, etc.

I saved my money for a long time and then used all of the stimulus on my Apple lap top, and I need to learn how to use it, and I need to get the right programs put onto it. It is like learning how to ride a bicycle.

Salute,

Tony V.






Title: Re: Meander Where You May
Post by: josh on October 15, 2022, 11:37:37 PM
Tony, you wrote:
"Anyhow, I spent my Stimulus Money to buy an Apple Laptop to use to publish my book, and to make or sell my movie script, but I do not know how to use it and I do not have the right programs on it, and also I need to get a wireless router, I am using a 20 year old dsl for my internet connection on a 20 year old HP computer."

Clearly, the Apple laptop was a mistake, but it doesn't have to be permanent.

1) What software do you need/want to use?

2) What aspects of using it do you not currently understand?

Thanks Josh.

My first goals are to be able to share my movie script that I already wrote, and to be able to publish my poetry book with Barnes and Noble. So, I need some type of word processor to put the script onto the computer, and then some program to send it, and then to be able to share it. And I need to be able to put my poetry book onto the computer, and then I need to be able to publish my poetry book with Barnes and Noble.

Chapman film school said that the programs to make movies are...

Final Draft Pro - Screenwriting

Entertainment Partners Movie Magic - Budgeting and Scheduling

Adobe Premier, Avid Media Composer, Black Magic, Davinci Resolve - Editing

Avid Pro Tools - Sound Design

Mac Pages, PDF - To Publish with Barnes and Noble

Those are what the film students are using at Chapman film school.

The studio pros are all using Final Draft Pro for Screenwriting.

I was thinking about going to the film school and hiring a tutor to help me. I feel so silly, owning this Apple is like owning a beautiful bicycle and not knowing how to ride a bicycle. I want to learn how to use this computer, and my script and my poetry book are like money in the bank I just need to share my script to get it made, and publish my book.

And I had dreams of sitting around with a team eating pizza writing stuff, and I would like to find a girlfriend who wants to write with me, and we can produce, and publish, etc.

I saved my money for a long time and then used all of the stimulus on my Apple lap top, and I need to learn how to use it, and I need to get the right programs put onto it. It is like learning how to ride a bicycle.

Salute,

Tony V.

For learning about your Mac, I recommend a trip to the Anaheim Public Library.

When there, ask about Digitallearn.org - they have training for you in the MacOS and should be able to bring you up to speed with it.

They also have access to all the CourseRA courses, for other subjects.



What format is your script in, currently?

Libreoffice works on both PC and Mac systems and it's free.

Failing that, if you send it to me, I can turn it into something Mac Pages can read.

The same applies to your poetry book.



Apple Mail should work for you to be able to send it, whether to me or elsewhere.

[email protected] is my email address.

Final Draft 12 has a free trial copy you can download and experiment with. It's good for 30 days. There is a set of 48 training videos for Final Draft 12, free on YouTube, if you want them.



I'm going to suggest we stop there for the moment - you don't need the budgeting or film editing software at this stage. Let's see about your getting your Mac Legs under you and your script and book into useful formats for you, while you learn to use Final Draft 12.

You and I can discuss how to get your hands on your own copy of that software between now and when your trial copy expires.

Okay?
Title: Re: Meander Where You May
Post by: FlyingVProd on October 16, 2022, 02:03:08 PM
Thanks Josh, I sent you my poetry book, and my movie script, on very old programs from an old HP Desk Top. I have no idea if you will be able to open the programs, I cannot open them but my Mother was able to open my movie script, I guess. It is sad that everything gets old and that programs become outdated.

Thanks for the advice on the Apple, I will learn.

Let me know who you think should star in my movie, if you are able to open it.

Salute,

Tony V.
Title: Re: Meander Where You May
Post by: FlyingVProd on October 16, 2022, 04:01:10 PM
My favorite Casting Director is Julie Hutchinson; she started on Off Broadway, and then she went to Broadway, then she came to Hollywood, she worked for 20th Century Fox when I met her, and then she worked for Universal Pictures. Now she is retired, but I think she still enjoys to work.

When I met her it was at a workshop in Beverly Hills at Take One Studios, she broke the group up to do scenework and there was an odd number of people so there was no one to be my scene partner, so she told me that she could act and that she would be by scene partner. We did a scene from "A Life Less Ordinary" where she was my willing kidnap victim. We had chemistry, it was a great scene. She is my favorite Casting Director. I was able to spend the day with her that day at the workshop, on my Birthday, it was a great day. But, then after that day she became unapproachable, I could not call her, nor could I get an appointment to see her, the studio people kept her sheltered and away from the public. But, even though she became unapproachable she is still my favorite.

Salute,

Tony V.
Title: Re: Meander Where You May
Post by: josh on October 22, 2022, 12:16:06 AM
Thanks Josh, I sent you my poetry book, and my movie script, on very old programs from an old HP Desk Top. I have no idea if you will be able to open the programs, I cannot open them but my Mother was able to open my movie script, I guess. It is sad that everything gets old and that programs become outdated.

Thanks for the advice on the Apple, I will learn.

Let me know who you think should star in my movie, if you are able to open it.

Tony, I will take a look at each of your works, but I would not expect a response from me for at least a week.

In turn, you should find Mac-readable versions of them each in your inbox!

~Josh
Title: Re: Meander Where You May
Post by: FlyingVProd on October 23, 2022, 05:41:39 PM
Thanks Josh, I sent you my poetry book, and my movie script, on very old programs from an old HP Desk Top. I have no idea if you will be able to open the programs, I cannot open them but my Mother was able to open my movie script, I guess. It is sad that everything gets old and that programs become outdated.

Thanks for the advice on the Apple, I will learn.

Let me know who you think should star in my movie, if you are able to open it.

Tony, I will take a look at each of your works, but I would not expect a response from me for at least a week.

In turn, you should find Mac-readable versions of them each in your inbox!

~Josh

Thanks Josh. Good thing I have my script and my book printed on paper, I am not good with computers. I miss the old days when I could just send my book to a publisher to get it published, but there is actually more money to be made by self publishing with Barnes and Noble. With the modern environment artists are making their own way on Social Media and they are making it into show business. Stars from Tik Tok are going to work for Apple streaming services, etc, and for Netflix, etc. So, people are making it on their own in the current environment, I just miss the days when we had lots of helpers.

That is a good thing about buildings in Hollywood such as Empire West where all of the stars live, you can make movies with your neighbors, and also in Malibu.

There is a village in Germany where they have been keeping the study of filmmaking alive since the beginning...

http://www.filmreference.com/encyclopedia/Romantic-Comedy-Yugoslavia/Ufa-Universum-Film-Aktiengesellschaft-GERMAN-ART-CINEMA.html

The Germans want to bring back the UFA, and they want to have a whole village full of artists working in the entertainment industry.

And in Rome they have Cinecitta, I tried to get work there. I still might work at Cinecitta in the future.

Here in my neighborhood we have the Dodge Film School at Chapman University, and it is the #4 rated film school in the world. My plan is to go to the film school and try to get help and meet new people. They also have workshops with industry leaders at Chapman, etc. The school is there to help people, and I am sure the school is fantastic. And I need to make new friends too, so the film school is a good place to go hang out, I need to get involved with their activities. And I acted in a student film at USC a long time ago and it was a fantastic experience and now I have a cool film from when I was young. Maybe I can act in student films at Chapman. And I need to get out and meet new people in a nice safe environment and the film school is a nice safe place to meet new people.

Thanks for your time and effort Josh, I appreciate it.

Salute,

Tony V.





Title: Re: Meander Where You May
Post by: Holly Martins on October 24, 2022, 03:48:36 PM
Little quiz of random fun questions.

Fats Domino, famous R&B musician, inspired the stage name of what other musician?

The Canary Islands are named for what animal?   

What is the animal most dangerous to humans? (Aside from fellow humans)

What was the reason to give Easter Island its name?
Title: Re: how staggered Senate seats works
Post by: Oilcan on November 06, 2022, 12:03:57 PM
I know Senate seats are staggered elections, so that there is continuity, but never quite understood how that worked so that only a third of seats are up every two years.  Especially as to how seats are staggered at the state level, right from the start.  One person draws a shorter term, in a lottery, which means the two senators are in a different "class."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Classes_of_United_States_senators

The only exception, where you could have both Senate seats up for grabs in the same election, would be a special election due to death or resignation of one member.  And that person still retains the class number of their predecessor, hence gets a shorter term. 

Title: Re: Meander Where You May
Post by: FlyingVProd on November 15, 2022, 12:20:24 PM
A secret to life is to keep on going, keep learning and training and studying, and keep working, it is not good to get stuck and then to just start complaining. Certainly the squeaky wheel gets the oil and it is okay to speak up when you are having problems, but it is not good to just give up and start complaining.

And the USA is still the land of opportunity and we are a wealthy nation. I have a nephew who worked on yachts as a crew member, and he traveled all over the world on yachts, and then he worked his way up to where now he is a captain, so then he worked as a captain on yachts for a while for the rich people, and now he is a captain on a ferry and he runs a ferry. He went right to work after he graduated from high school, and he has had a good life, and he is still working. The USA has been good for my nephew.

I may get stuck, and I may complain, but the secret is to keep the faith and to keep going. I need to keep learning, and growing, and studying, the secret is to keep going and not to give up. The USA is still the land of opportunity, we just need to keep trying. And we have great schools where we can go to learn and to get help.

Salute,

Tony V.
Title: Re: Meander Where You May
Post by: FlyingVProd on November 16, 2022, 12:30:59 PM
Here is a quote from Sanford Meisner, who got it from Freud...

"...And then he has won, through his fantasy he has achieved that which before he had only in fantasy; wealth, honor, and the love of women."

That is how acting and filmmaking is for some people, they go from being poor and homeless to being wealthy and famous and to being loved by all of the women, etc. The people who have succeeded keep telling the poor people to keep trying because the fame and fortune is worth the effort. Fame and fortune is great, and you can use it to help other people, etc.

It works for women too, the lady who wrote "Harry Potter" was poor, and now because of "Harry Potter" she is the wealthiest woman in England. Through her fantasy she achieved her wildest dreams, her fantasy made her rich and famous.

Salute,

Tony V.
Title: Re: Meander Where You May
Post by: FlyingVProd on November 16, 2022, 01:19:56 PM
Rudyard Kipling wrote in his poem "If" that we should treat triumph and disaster the same, and we are the same people once we become wealthy when people suddenly love this new person who we become when we are wealthy and successful, we can afford to be more generous which makes us to appear to be more kind, poor people cannot be generous because we do not have anything to give so it may make us appear more miserly but it just is because we do not have anything to give. So all of a sudden you can afford to be generous, and so you appear to be more kind, etc and people love successful people. But, then when you are poor then you go back to being the miser or whatever, and people forget about you. Triumph and disaster, they are both the same. Though it would be nice to have some triumph and success, you just cannot let it go to your head.

Salute,

Tony V.
Title: Re: Meander Where You May
Post by: FlyingVProd on December 13, 2022, 01:09:58 PM
I continue to be inspired by the stories that my Grandmother told me about how my ancestors survived through the Great Depression, they all worked hard at any honest job they could get and none of them broke the law, and they rose to success honestly.

My Grandmother's family came out to California from Colorado during the Great Depression, and my Grandfather hitchhiked from Arkansas to California during the Great Depression, and they all picked fruit, and they worked any honest job they could get. Eventually my Grandmother ended up with a job as a taxi cab dispatcher, and my Grandfather worked driving a taxi cab, and that was how my Grandmother and my Grandfather met, and they fell in love and got married.

Eventually my Grandfather ended up with his own hardwood floor company in Hollywood, and he was able to buy a house next to Roy Rogers in North Hollywood, back when Roy was married to his first wife Arlene, our families were destined to be connected as my Brother ended up marrying Roy Roger's Granddaughter years later.

The family moved around a bit, but eventually ended up out in the desert, where my Grandfather worked construction and where my Mother grew up and where she met my Father, and where I was born. My Grandfather built my Grandmother a dog kennel in the desert, and she groomed dogs and boarded dogs, and she had some very famous customers including Pete Knight who was the fastest man alive, and other test pilots from Edwards Air Force Base, and stars from Hollywood, etc, as a kid after my Grandfather died, and after my Grandmother lost her kennel which was burned down by arson, someone stole the dogs and set her kennel on fire and sadly some of the dogs died in the fire. Later in life when my Grandmother was grooming dogs to eat and to pay the rent I worked with her in order to try to help her and to make life easier for her, she was such a hard worker, so I washed dogs for her in order to help her, and I ended up managing a dog kennel and I had stars for customers like she did, but sadly the kennel that I worked at was owned by other people and I was not paid very much money, it was not like when my Grandmother owned her own kennel and worked for herself, she made good money from her kennel, and the kennel that I managed made a lot of money, but I never made any money, for me it was a waste of time. It was good for me to help my Grandmother, but being slave labor for people outside of the family was stupid of me, I just felt like a slave, and I had to live in an alley with the poor people on welfare because I was not paid enough to rent a nice apartment or to buy a house. For me the dog business was all a waste of time, but I loved my Grandmother, and she was successful with her kennel before someone burned it down.

My Grandfather died when I was a baby, but he was a good strong man and he was a good provider for the family, he was honest and he worked hard. After he achieved success then he started sending our family members to college, he sent my Mother's Cousin to college to become a pharmacist and he currently owns his own pharmacy in Fontana, he is successful because of the help that my Grandfather gave him. Sadly my Grandfather was not alive to send me to college, which I am sure he would have done.

The thing is, they never committed any crimes, they never resorted to crime because of their poverty during the Great Depression, they worked hard at any honest job they could get, my Grandmother even worked at the original McDonald's in San Bernardino, they remained honest and they did not let poverty steal their dignity. They stayed classy, and they worked hard and they rose to a good comfortable life and started helping the rest of the family to get an education and to escape poverty.

Anyhow, I am inspired because they overcame huge obstacles including the Great Depression, and they rose to a comfortable middle class life honestly, and they never did any of the bad things that some people think that you have to do to escape from poverty here in Hollywood, they remained honest, they kept their dignity, and they worked hard.

Salute,

Tony V.



Title: Re: Meander Where You May
Post by: FlyingVProd on December 14, 2022, 03:32:12 PM
I have a friend here in Anaheim who was Mayor Pro Tem of Anaheim on 9/11, and who served at Anaheim City Hall, after retiring as a school teacher, she is in a retirement home now, and she is my friend on Facebook, and she has been reading my writing, and she told me that I am a great writer and she told me that I should pursue writing and she said that I might become very successful as a writer.

I told her about my poetry book, and about my movie script, and I told her that I have a lot of ideas for new television shows and movies, and that I intend to go to the film school to get help to make my movie, and to publish my poetry book.

All of my life, since I was a little kid, people have told me that I have a great imagination, and that I should be a writer.

I am reminded of what they said about not being able to judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, and that is how life has been, I feel like a fish that they are trying to turn into a tree climber. I am color blind, so I cannot be a cop or a soldier. I am not talented when it comes to construction work, and for me it is like slave labor, I did not join a union and the pay was very low, I would rather work for Habitat for Humanity for free and just give everyone free housing. Anyhow, I have never been able to make any money, and some people are trying to turn me into something that I am not, instead of letting me flourish via my God given talents.

I was handsome when I was young, and a lot of people told me that I should be an actor, and I like acting, so I went to acting school. And I have always been a good writer, so I took writing classes, and I worked to improve my skill as a writer. The whole thing with poetry just came natural, and for me it was therapeutic. If I do things that come natural and that I enjoy then I can flourish.

And I love to eat, and I enjoy cooking, so I did not mind working as a cook at a casino in Nevada, the only bad part was that the pay was so low, again it felt like slave labor. Hard work for low pay. But, if I had my own casino, or my own night club, where I could cook, then I could make good money and I could have a good life. So, it was beneficial to learn how to cook and to learn how to run a casino.

Working at Universal Studios was good for me, and I learned a lot, including from Lew Wasserman who used to eat lunch with the workers, but again the pay was so low that I just felt like slave labor. I was literally going hungry when I worked at Universal and I was skin and bones. I was not skinny because I wanted to be skinny, I was skinny because I could not afford to buy food. If they paid me good, and if they treated me well, then I would have kept my job and I would still be working there, if I could have bought a house and found a wife and raised as family, that would have been great. But paying college educated people the bare minimum is just no fun at all.

I hate growing old poor and alone, and my talents have not been serving me well, I need to use my talents to rise.

Having a dear friend who I respect telling me that I am a great writer and that I should pursue writing makes me feel wonderful, and I need to keep going, and I need to go to the film school and get help as I have planned. And my friend from here in Anaheim is so nice to give me encouragement, it means a lot to me.

We will see what happens.

Meanwhile, at least I am not homeless on the streets, or living in a car, I am grateful for food and shelter while I try to get my movie made, and my poetry book published, and while I write more stuff. I can also volunteer to act in student films, etc. And maybe I can find a good woman who wants to write and produce with me, we can be a husband and wife team.

And I have a passport, so I can travel, which is great. People who owe money for child support, or who have felony crime convictions on their record, have problems getting passports and traveling. My record is clean, and I do not have any children and I do not owe any child support. And that helps to make Italy, and Greece, and Monaco, etc, nicer, because the criminals cannot get passports to travel there.

Anyhow, it was nice to get a compliment on my writing ability from someone I respect.

Salute,

Tony V.
Title: Re: Meander Where You May
Post by: FlyingVProd on December 27, 2022, 01:01:26 PM
My Nephew's girlfriend put my movie script onto the Cloud so that I can share it with people. I still have a lot to learn about my Apple laptop, and the various programs, and it was very nice of her to help me, I could not have done it without help from her.

Here is the link if you want to read my movie script, the title is "Echo, A Rock and Roll Tragedy."

https://tinyurl.com/yckt8pjs

It took three years to complete the script, it was a lot of work, and I think it is a great script that will make me rich.

If you read it, then please let me know which stars you would want to see starring in my movie.

Please let me know if you are able to read my script okay.

Salute,

Tony V.


Title: Re: Meander Where You May
Post by: FlyingVProd on January 31, 2023, 03:54:16 PM
I have a friend who is a rock star, and he spent his whole life working on personal development, and he is involved with Leadership Training and with Life Coaching, and he is going to help me get my life in order. He wants me to quit complaining, and he wants me to set my alarm in the morning and to get up early everyday and to have a plan for each day, and he wants me to get an appointment book and he wants me to start filling up an appointment book with activities. To start new in 2023 he wants me to get an appointment book and he wants me to make appointments and to do activities in 2023.

The first start is that he wants me to go to bed early and to get up early, he wants me to set an alarm clock and to get up early. And then he wants for me to have goals for each day, and he wants me to make appointments and to write the appointments in an appointment book.

So, to begin with I can go to visit the film school. I have talked about it forever, but I still have not went to the film school to check the place out. I want to go have lunch at the film school, and check the place out, and look at the bulletin board, and check out the book store, etc. I need to get up early and make a plan for the day to go to the film school, and then achieve that objective. Long term goals are to get involved with activities at the film school, and to act in student films, and to get help making my movie "Echo, A Rock and Roll Tragedy," and to get help publishing my poetry book, etc. And I want to make new friends who are into making movies and who can help to teach me how to use my Apple Laptop and to put Final Draft on it and stuff. It would also be cool to meet women at the film school, and we have tennis courts at Pearson Park if I meet a nice woman who likes to play tennis, and there is Starbucks for coffee, and we have a swimming pool here at my apartment complex, so if I meet a good woman then there are a lot of cool things we can do, and also we can write movies and we can write television shows, and we can produce. And I want to make new friends who I can make movies with. I need to put together a team of people who I can make movies and television shows with, plus I want to meet a good woman.

Then, in March there will be a French film festival at Fullerton Community College, so I need to go to that, and immerse myself in French cinema, and I will meet new people there too who are into making movies and television shows, and there will be women there too.

My friend is teaching me that I have choices in my life, and I can just let life pass by while I complain and feel sad and feel like I am wasting my life, or I can get back into life and I can be an active participant.

My friend wants me just to start out by setting the alarm clock and getting up early and having plans for the day. I am used to staying up late and sleeping in, so it is hard to go to bed early and get up early, but it is the first step towards making 2023 a great year and achieving some of my great dreams instead of just growing old poor and alone and being sad about it.

Salute,

Tony V.
Title: Re: Meander Where You May
Post by: FlyingVProd on February 01, 2023, 03:48:55 PM
I have had some great roommates over the years, and they taught me a  lot, as telling each other stories is just something that I have always done with all of my roommates, they tell me stories and I listen, and I tell them my stories and they listen. We drank coffee and told each other stories, for the most part.

I had a roommate who was a Franciscan Monk, and I had a roommate who was the daughter of a Chinese General, and I had a roommate who had an Uncle who was a Mayor of a city in Thailand, one lady who ran a house where I lived was a Cousin of Gloria Arroyo who was the President of the Philippines, and I had a roommate who was a Studio Executive at Paramount Studios and at Universal Studios, etc. I had a lot of great roommates, plus my buddy Tom was a Combat Medic and he was retired from working for 20 years as a Doctor in Pennsylvania for the Navy. God brought a lot of really cool people into my life.

My dearly departed former roommate Drew was a Studio Executive at Paramount Studios and at Universal Studios. He was born in New York City, he grew up in Long Island in a house next door to Carlo Gambino, and Carlo put Drew to work baby-sitting the children. Drew had a great childhood, and he was able to go to Broadway, and to the Metropolitan Opera, and he experienced the very best that New York City had to offer. Then, Carlo put Drew to work as a Buyer for the Fashion Industry, so that Drew could earn money to attend college. Drew earned enough money to attend college in Buffalo, New York, he earned a degree in Business, and then he moved to California, to Lake Forest, and he went to work at Paramount Studios as an Executive. He worked on a lot of great projects in his life, and one show that he worked on was "Family Ties" and he dated Courtney Cox for a while, Drew had a great life. Drew went to work at Universal Studios and he worked as an Executive on television shows at Universal after working at Paramount. Drew was my roommate for 4 years before he died. We used to drink coffee and Drew used to tell me stories, he had some amazing stories, and a lot of his stories would make good movies, and his life story would be a good movie. I wish I would have met Drew when we were young and I wish we could have worked in Show Business together. Drew died in 2006, I miss him.

So along with the hard times, and being homeless, and all of that bad stuff, there were also good times, and I met some wonderful people, and I had some wonderful roommates.

I just wish I could have made money when I was young and I wish I could have found a wife when I was young. But, life is what it is, and I have learned a lot, I spent all of those years learning. I can keep a sophisticated woman good company. I will be able to date the women who have class. And I hope to find a good smart talented wife someday who I can have fun with and who I can enjoy life with.

Salute,

Tony V.
Title: Re: Meander Where You May
Post by: FlyingVProd on February 04, 2023, 02:52:02 PM
On the issue of our fighter planes...

They can vector the thrust on the F-104 Starfighter to improve the steering and to help it to pull out of spins, and they can update the technology on the F-104, and they can continue to use the F-104 to help to protect America. The F-104 is way faster than the F-18, and with some modifications then the F-104 can still be of service.

And NASA continues to use the F-104 Starfighter as a chase plane, it is a fast plane, they just need to make some modifications and the plane can still be of service, along with being a chase plane for NASA.

Salute,

Tony V.
Title: Re: Meander Where You May
Post by: FlyingVProd on April 27, 2023, 01:37:08 PM
My hometown is pretty famous, when I was a child in Oregon we used to receive a Weekly Reader in school with news for children, and my hometown was in the Weekly Reader because of the Space Shuttle Program, and they had photos of the first Space Shuttle Enterprise, etc. It was pretty cool to see my hometown in the Weekly Reader.

And also the top Motorcycle Racer was from Quartz Hill, Bob Hurricane Hannah; I had pictures of Bob Hannah on my bedroom wall as a kid in Oregon.

The Antelope Valley is more famous than people think.

Salute,

Tony V.
Title: Re: Meander Where You May
Post by: Hairy Lime on May 08, 2023, 06:22:05 PM
Barbara Kingsolver has been awarded the Pulitzer Prize. Which would kill off this discussion if it was not already dead.
Title: Re: Meander Where You May
Post by: Hairy Lime on May 08, 2023, 06:31:50 PM
From the Meander Dictionary:

Kingsolver: v. To raise a topic that kills off all conversation in a forum. The mention of Poisonwood Bible absolutely kingsolvered Meander today.
Title: Re: Meander Where You May
Post by: Hairy Lime on May 08, 2023, 07:22:34 PM
Little quiz of random fun questions.

Fats Domino, famous R&B musician, inspired the stage name of what other musician?

The Canary Islands are named for what animal?   

What is the animal most dangerous to humans? (Aside from fellow humans)

What was the reason to give Easter Island its name?
Chubby Checkerboard, dogs, Hippos, it was discovered on that date.

Two of those combined reminded me of some research I did in about 2005 into dog bites. Between 1995 and 2005, 2 people were mauled to death by Pekingese. That makes me incredibly happy to think about.
Title: Re: Meander Where You May
Post by: Oilcan on May 16, 2023, 05:38:47 PM
LMAO!

Hippos is wrong.  It's the mosquito.

Title: Re: Meander Where You May
Post by: FlyingVProd on May 22, 2023, 02:44:10 PM
SIERRA HOTEL AERONAUTICS

Sadly, on this date in history; May 20th 1971; The Boeing SST 2707 American government-funded contract supersonic swing wing passenger airliner project was cancelled.

Had Boeing continued program development at its facilities in Seattle, Washington, the supersonic transport (SST) design was expected to be capable of reaching cruise speeds of three times the speed of sound (Mach 3), with a load of 250-300 passengers, making her very much larger, and faster than the Franco-British Concorde, and the Soviet Tupolev Tu-144.

By October 1969, there were delivery positions reserved for 122 Boeing SSTs by 26 airlines, including Alitalia, Canadian Pacific Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Iberia, KLM, Northwest Airlines, and World Airways.

It was projected that SSTs would dominate the skies around the world, with inferior subsonic Boeing's 747's being only a passing intermediate fad.

www.Sierrahotel.net

------------

Lockheed in the Antelope Valley of Southern California is working on a new supersonic passenger jet that has a quieter sonic boom so that it can fly over land. We will have supersonic travel soon, and it will be safe to fly over land, so people can travel from New York to Los Angeles in no time.

Salute,

Tony V.
Title: Re: Meander Where You May
Post by: Oilcan on October 14, 2023, 11:55:11 AM
We were looking at odd stories in medicine and science at another website, and I was happy to add a couple to my list.  I know Hairy Lime likes the rectangular wombat poo and the mauling deaths by Pekingese, among others.  Now I've added the man who died from sticking tampons up his nostrils in an attempt to cure snoring, and a 1920s story where a man was allegedly strangled by his own thymus gland.  Life is good!
Title: Re: Meander Where You May
Post by: Hairy Lime on October 14, 2023, 01:30:01 PM
 Apparently it keeps the poo from rolling away. Wombats use their poo to mark their territory. Which somehow makes me think of bambu.

Also vaguely science related is that Francis Bacon died of pneumonia conracted while experimenting with ice and snow as a means of preserving meat. Making him the founder of empiricism and its first prominent victim.

My predictive type keeps dropping the g. It has apparently taken up folk singing.
Title: Re: Meander Where You May
Post by: Oilcan on October 17, 2023, 03:44:26 PM
I have heard this before, about Bacon, from you, and reserved judgment on its authenticity.   I can't now find any evidence that it is true, and simply going outside in the winter does not cause pneumonia.  Nor did Bacon found empiricism.  Many earlier thinkers going back to Ancient Greece, Arabia, and India espoused empiricist concepts.
In Italy, Giordano Bruno and other thinkers were arguing empiricist views well before Bacon.  There was even a prior Middle Ages Bacon, Roger, who developed empiricist ideas, minus the pheasant stuffing.

Sorry to pour cold water on the anecdote.  Or stuff it with snow.  It could still be defended with a circle of wombat briquettes, if needed.


Title: Re: Meander Where You May
Post by: Hairy Lime on October 17, 2023, 03:52:48 PM
I have heard this before, about Bacon, from you, and reserved judgment on its authenticity.   I can't now find any evidence that it is true, and simply going outside in the winter does not cause pneumonia.  Nor did Bacon found empiricism.  Many earlier thinkers going back to Ancient Greece, Arabia, and India espoused empiricist concepts.
In Italy, Giordano Bruno and other thinkers were arguing empiricist views well before Bacon.  There was even a prior Middle Ages Bacon, Roger, who developed empiricist ideas, minus the pheasant stuffing.

Sorry to pour cold water on the anecdote.  Or stuff it with snow.  It could still be defended with a circle of wombat briquettes, if needed.
It is like Santa Claus punching an Arian heretic in the face at the Council of Nicaea, transubstantiation or the Russian pee tape. I do not care if it true or not. I believe it.
Title: Re: Meander Where You May
Post by: Oilcan on October 18, 2023, 01:15:52 PM
Heehee.  I'm not one to criticize, having held beliefs about ghosts, UFOs, cats that contain the spirits of dead relatives, and God being a lab nerd who makes bubble universes.  Believe on, Garth.
Title: Re: Meander Where You May
Post by: Oilcan on October 30, 2023, 10:15:36 PM
With Halloween coming, take a tour of the King library in Bangor, Maine.  No one in the King clan can bear to throw away a book. 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/books/interactive/2023/stephen-king-home-library/



Title: Re: Meander Where You May
Post by: Oilcan on November 03, 2023, 10:56:01 AM
In what percentage of cases of people uttering the phrase, "I'm not judging you," is the assertion accurate?

Title: Re: Meander Where You May
Post by: Hairy Lime on November 08, 2023, 09:22:50 AM
Happy 400th Birthday to the greatest work of literature ever published, the First Folio, by William Shakespeare, from Stratford upon Avon. A concluding statement that would have started a huge debate 8n the Old Meander.
Title: Re: Meander Where You May
Post by: bambu. on December 20, 2023, 09:42:28 PM
Happy 400th Birthday to the greatest work of literature ever published, the First Folio, by William Shakespeare, from Stratford upon Avon. A concluding statement that would have started a huge debate 8n the Old Meander.

Shakespeare should not be for high schools, only universities.
Skakespeare...baaah, time is wasted in high schools trying to fathom Shakespeare's 'double dutch' when life skills like cooking would be of much more benefit to students.

Title: Re: Meander Where You May
Post by: Hairy Lime on December 20, 2023, 10:03:34 PM
Happy 400th Birthday to the greatest work of literature ever published, the First Folio, by William Shakespeare, from Stratford upon Avon. A concluding statement that would have started a huge debate 8n the Old Meander.

Shakespeare should not be for high schools, only universities.
Skakespeare...baaah, time is wasted in high schools trying to fathom Shakespeare's 'double dutch' when life skills like cooking would be of much more benefit to students.
That statement explains a lot about why you are such an idiot with a constricted and unimaginative world view.
Title: Re: Meander Where You May
Post by: Oilcan on December 31, 2023, 09:36:03 AM
He himself might his quietus make with a bare bodkin.   End the bearing of fardels, the grunting and sweating under a weary blinkered fucktard life in Dingobugger, NSW.

 
Title: Re: Meander Where You May
Post by: FlyingVProd on January 28, 2024, 02:28:26 AM
One time I was digging a ditch for a sewer pipe, and the plumber who was laying the pipe was talking to me while we worked, and he told me that there is no such thing as a bad day, he said there are only bad moments. While he was talking with me he was pounding a metal stake into the ground with a sledge hammer and he missed the stake and almost hit himself square in the nuts with the sledge hammer. At which point I commented that that would be a bad moment, and he said "No, that would be a bad day."

Salute,

Tony V.
Title: Re: Meander Where You May
Post by: FlyingVProd on January 28, 2024, 02:34:16 AM
Happy 400th Birthday to the greatest work of literature ever published, the First Folio, by William Shakespeare, from Stratford upon Avon. A concluding statement that would have started a huge debate 8n the Old Meander.

Shakespeare should not be for high schools, only universities.
Skakespeare...baaah, time is wasted in high schools trying to fathom Shakespeare's 'double dutch' when life skills like cooking would be of much more benefit to students.

I could produce "King Lear" by Shakespeare right now with Robert DeNiro and I can get Kenneth Branagh to direct it, and I could make at least $50 million from it, maybe more.

Shakespeare is great.

One time when Broadway in New York was desperate they produced Shakespeare plays with nude actors and actresses, they performed Shakespeare while naked to bring in the money.

And you can learn a lot from Shakespeare, including learning from "Othello" to beware of people like Honest Iago. Watch Orson Welles' version of "Othello," it is beautiful.

Salute,

Tony V.
Title: Re: Meander Where You May
Post by: FlyingVProd on January 28, 2024, 04:14:59 AM
Alexis De Tocqueville wrote that one observation that he had of America was that poor people from Europe could be wealthy in America, they could change characters, and instead of being homeless bums in Europe then they could be aristocrats in the USA. The Europeans could start fresh in America.

The salvation of souls, homeless poor people could be aristocrats in the USA.

Salute,

Tony V.
Title: Re: Meander Where You May
Post by: Oilcan on February 06, 2024, 10:03:50 PM
 Why don't the Amish water ski?




It is too hard on the horses.
Title: Re: Meander Where You May
Post by: FlyingVProd on February 19, 2024, 11:58:49 PM
We have a local donut shop that is owned by a family from Vietnam, and as I was walking up I caught the Daughter of the Owner giving free donuts and bottles of water to the homeless people who were outside the shop. That is what makes up our Community here, it is not ones race, or religion, or sexual preference, that makes a Community but instead it is about doing like our City Motto says and being a City of Kindness and being kind to our neighbors and being kind to the people in our Community, that is what makes a strong Community. Diversity can be part of our strength, and it is all about being cool and passing out free donuts to our homeless people in our Community, regardless of ones ethnicity. I will always support this donut shop, and I think that the Owners are a wonderful part of our Community.

Salute,

Tony V.
Title: Re: Meander Where You May
Post by: FlyingVProd on February 23, 2024, 12:32:20 AM
Here you go Bambu, if you ever want to bring Mrs Bambu to the Wine Country of California then I recommend that you stay at the Madonna Inn in San Luis Obispo...

https://www.madonnainn.com/

And be sure to see San Simeon and the Hearst Castle, Roy Rogers used to play there at swimming pool parties with the Sons of the Pioneers, Roy was friends with William Randolph Hearst.

And you can visit the Francis Ford Coppola Winery and they have a great Restaurant where you can eat, they serve stuff like rabbit, and rack of lamb, etc, and the whole place attracts the artists. ( I guess it is a long ways from San Luis Obispo to Geyserville but I am sure it is all a nice drive, rent a convertible Lamborghini with a good stereo. The bus ride is long too, maybe worth exploring the area and dividing up the trip, and eating at the best restaurants as you go. Geyserville is 63 miles from Napa. Then there is also San Francisco. There are lots of places to explore. Everyone says the California Wine Country is the best, so there is a lot to explore. I like the Redwoods too. California has a lot to explore. )

There is a lot to do for the Tourists who want to tour the wine country of California. And California is very safe, if you stay in the nice areas, and there are lots of guards to help to protect your safety. The Madonna Inn has guards, etc, you will be safe.

Salute,

Tony V.

Title: Re: Meander Where You May
Post by: FlyingVProd on February 23, 2024, 02:36:11 AM
The Australians can come explore California, including exploring Modesto where George Lucas was born...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modesto,_California

And we have lots of jobs for the refugees to work in the vineyards, and also picking fruit with Sunkist, etc, and our whole state is a garden. We have received a lot of rain and the rain will be turned into wine and into food.

We can also do world trade and we can send a lot of goods from California and from Mexico to Australia. And Trader Joe's, and Northgate Markets, can be built in Australia and we can ship goods to Australia, and we can do trade and Australia can sell goods here.

Tourism and wine and food production are some of the main sources of income for people in California. And the entertainment industry. Huell Howser used to explore California and then put it on television on Public Broadcasting, Huell had a great show, "California's Gold."

And we need to build our high speed train faster between San Francisco and San Diego, we need to hire way more people and we need to get this project built. And we are also building a train between California and Las Vegas which is important.

California is nice, and we need to nurture the good things. We have 70,000 homeless people in Los Angeles, plus the problems in Oakland and in San Francisco and in San Bernardino, we have a lot of problems, but we have a lot of blessings. We just need to increase our blessings as we help the homeless and expand honest opportunities. Wine, food production, and Tourism, are all important here, along with the movie-making, etc, and also we build planes and defense equipment, etc. Maybe Lockheed will manufacture new high speed supersonic passenger planes in the Antelope Valley that will be faster with a quieter boom, the new planes will replace the Concordes.

Salute,

Tony V.

Title: Re: Meander Where You May
Post by: FlyingVProd on February 23, 2024, 06:07:04 PM
When I was in acting school at the AADA, I had a teacher who was friends with Grace Kelly, and she told us that one of the coolest things about being an actor is being able to go to a bar during the daylight hours while most people are working 9 to 5. There is something special about being able to go to a bar in the daylight.

Even better, being able to go to the bar in the daylight in Cannes, France.

Life is different as an artist, and she wanted for us to learn that at the very beginning.

Salute,

Tony V.

Title: Re: Meander Where You May
Post by: FlyingVProd on February 24, 2024, 01:49:35 AM
In the movie "Easy Rider" they are killed at the end because the world could not handle people having that much freedom. "Easy Rider" is a great movie, and I bet Peter Fonda and Dennis Hopper were cool guys, and I am sure Jack Nicholson is cool. I heard that Peter Fonda grew apples in Tehachapi, but I am not sure. If Peter Fonda was alive then I would ask him to help me make my movie, the dude was an expert at movie-making.

Salute,

Tony V.
Title: Re: Meander Where You May
Post by: FlyingVProd on February 25, 2024, 11:27:38 PM
Here is an idea for a movie that would make people think twice before stealing someone's identity.

This villain steals someone's identity without realizing that he was stealing the identity of a high level organized crime figure. So, all of a sudden this villain has people out to murder him because they think he is the organized crime figure. The villain quickly regrets stealing the identity, as he fights for his life. Karma bit this guy on the ass bad. He is lucky to escape with his life and he learns his lesson the hard way.

We can make the movie at Universal, and I want a Bungalow Office.

Salute,

Tony V.
Title: Re: Meander Where You May
Post by: FlyingVProd on February 29, 2024, 01:53:40 AM
Over by Lafayette Park in Los Angeles there are a lot of new immigrants from El Salvador, and there was a Salvadoran restaurant there that I went to one day when I was poor and living in my pick-up truck, I asked them if I could wash dishes or something in exchange for a meal, and the lady told me to sit down at a table and she started bringing me food. As they were feeding me multiple plates of wonderful food then the people there were showing me pictures of El Salvador and they were telling me about El Salvador. The people were really cool, and the food was great. And that is where I see the American Dream the most is with the new immigrants who bring their dreams to America.

Occidental Studios is also in that area, and they have a great Catholic Church there that feeds the homeless. Disney was using the studio at Occidental the last time I was there. That is a good neighborhood with affordable apartments, you just have to be cool with the issue of living with the immigrants from El Salvador, and from other places, the whole area is full of immigrants. And it is also close to USC. That is a good neighborhood for aspiring actors and writers, and aspiring flmmakers, etc, in my opinion. The apartments there by Occidental and Beverly Blvd are all nice and safe, and cheap, and on Hoover, those apartments are all safe and cheap.

Salute,

Tony V.
Title: Re: Meander Where You May
Post by: Oilcan on March 15, 2024, 08:48:22 PM
A little brain teaser sort of puzzle for y'all

A woman goes to a company to fill out a job application.  As the secretary looks it over, she says, oh we had someone apply yesterday with the same last name, same parents, and same date of birth. 

That is my sister, said the woman.

So you are twins, said the secretary.

No, we are not, said the woman.
 

Explain.

Title: Re: Meander Where You May
Post by: Hairy Lime on March 16, 2024, 07:55:54 AM
Adoption.