Picturing: A View from the Oxford University Grounds

As I walked along a path a beautiful sight stood before me, and my Canon AE-1. My first inclination was to capture this lovely textural mix of stone and flora.

That morning as I readied my day in my London hotel room I asked myself: "Where should I go today? I know where. Oxford! A day trip!"

To Paddington Station!

Oxford is a beautiful city.

Picturing: I'm a Star in Dover, I'm a Star in Calais

The post's title may come across as somewhat vain, I'm not even a star here in Toronto, but I thought it would be a cute play on Canadian singer Patsy Gallant's big disco hit song of 1977.

The refrain: "From Dover to Calais"

Picturing: HMS Alliance at RN Submarine Museum

Lord Horatio Nelson, the great and legendary Royal Navy admiral, no doubt dreamt of a fantastic naval machine having the ability to travel under the sea.

Yesterday I posted another piece on my visit to Portsmouth, UK. And at the end of that piece I wrote: "While at HMNB Portsmouth, I visited the insides of a sub...."

Indeed I did: the insides of HMS Alliance, a Royal Navy A-class (Amphion-class or Acheron-class) diesel-electric submarine. Essentially a Second World War sub, hence the "diesel-electric", she was literally opened up to the public in 1981, shortly after her decommissioning as a training ship, and now rests on dry-land cradles at the Royal Navy Submarine Museum in Gosport.

The above pic is the only one I took of the boat. Unfortunately, my camera was loaded with 100 ASA/ISO film, making sub-interior photography somewhat problematic — not instamatic. Besides, I enjoyed the tour so much that bringing my camera up to my eye was not a priority, certainly not in a submersible's cramped spaces. (I should have had my 28mm lens with me.)

Where does my love of submarines come from?... Probably from a television series I loved in my youth. I missed Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea in its original 1964 to 1968 run, but did watch it religiously when Buffalo, NY, television station WUTV stripped it at 5pm on weekdays in the early to mid 1970s. The nuclear submarine SSRN Seaview was a great and fantastic machine, one commanded by one Admiral Harriman Nelson.

Picturing: Some Royal Navy Oberons at Portsmouth

Further to my post from yesterday, on a visit to Portsmouth, UK, years ago I took some snaps of a Royal Naval fleet, from yesterday to today. Above are Oberon-class submarines, diesel-electric boats, and the type operated by the Royal Canadian Navy from 1965 to 1998.

Looking at the pictures now I noticed how much the sky (and colour temperature!) had changed between my two shots: the top one I took from a small tourist boat; the bottom from a walkway.

I love submarines, and all things Navy. While at HMNB Portsmouth, I visited the insides of a sub....

Wow: From Zinnemann to Saint

Minutes ago I was reading up on Austrian-American film director Alfred "Fred" Zinnemann when I saw actress Eva Marie Saint listed — she co-starred with Don Murray and Anthony Franciosa in the director's 1957 flick A Hatful of Rain (which I've never seen).

My Wow: Ms Saint is still with us at 102 years of age! "She was born in nineteen twenty-four, which means she's now...."

She co-starred in the brilliant 1954 crime drama On the Waterfront, with Marlon Brando.

Picturing: HMS Warrior at Portsmouth, UK

My fascination with "ironclads" drew me to HMS Warrior, a warrior now berthed at the Portsmouth Historic Dockyard. Aye, she's a beautiful lady, and a fine ship!

I took the top photo while standing on the stern of a small tour boat. Of course, British seaside weather being what it is, my fellow tourists and I were blessed with a flash drizzle.

On the Speaker: The Linda Lindas Gotta Get Out

I'm looking forward to giving this a spin! I have their two previous albums, Growing Up and No Obligation. They are four very talented young ladies who have written some terrific songs.

I've heard a couple of samples from Gotta Get Out, and if they represent the level of songwriting on this album, then all I can say is I'm in for a treat! Tomorrow....

This Site and Moi Get an A.I. Overview ― Cool!

Yesterday I keyed-in my domain name improperly and ended up on a search result displaying the above. I found it to be very interesting in how it did an accurate overview of this website/blog.

Yikes!

The text, and text....

"Squibber is the personal website of Simon St. Laurent, a Toronto-based artist and former film and television technician."

Fine.

About the Website

"Content: Features personal photography, reflections on Toronto, memories of growing up as an RCAF (Royal Canadian Air Force) military brat, and posts about books and media."

Not bad.

"Background: The author is a former film and TV visual effects technician who previously worked on projects like Time Runner."

While I worked as an optical compositor with Film Effects - Toronto, that indeed was a film I worked on. It missed American Psycho (Film Opticals of Canada).

"Access: The site's content is actively updated and licensed for public viewing."

I made a joke online about this site being licensed for public viewing. Good scoop-around! Actively updated, yes — very important.

Scary stuff.

Picturing: One Super Film Crew Here in Toronto

It was a beautiful Sunday in November of 1989. We shot for two consecutive Sundays since we worked most of the time, it seemed. Actually, with the exception of the gent in the fedora, the crew was also crew at VTR Productions, which is how we all met. The project: a 35mm short film called "Visual Effects Matte Composite". I really should dig out that neg roll and have it digitized. (Another "I really should", yes.) The location is Sir Winston Churchill Park, a beautiful filming location.

The super film crew is, from left to right: Me, Mark, Nicole, Joe, Paul, Mike. Not shown: Jonathan.

Flatscreen Flick: The Fabulous Baron Munchausen

Last evening I was undecided in what movie I should watch. The good news was I did not take the standard forty-five minutes to decide. The Criterion set dedicated to Czechoslovakian filmmaker Karel Zeman is most excellent. There was a flick I had yet to knock off: The Fabulous Baron Munchausen (1962, original Czech: Baron Prášil) is just that, Fabulous... and Wonderful.

My enjoyment level was such that the flick's eighty-three minutes just flew by.

The other two feature films in the Criterion boxed set are: Journey to the Beginning of Time (1955, Cesta do pravěku) and Invention for Destruction (1958, Vynález zkázy), aka The Fabulous World of Jules Verne. Interesting story: Two of my film school instructors knew Karel Zeman ("Zee-maan") from back home. They seemed to be tickled when I told them that I had seen Journey and Invention on the big screen. My introduction to the latter was courtesy of at least two viewings on German television when I was a kid.

The extras are of typical Criterion quality. Filmmakers Terry Gilliam, Tim Burton, and Koji Yamamura talk of how Zeman influenced and inspired them. No doubt! Wes Anderson is another one.

Next: The 101-minute documentary from 2015, Film Adventurer Karel Zeman (Filmový dobrodruh Karel Zeman).

Genius filmmaker!

Picturing: Visual Effects Supervisor at Film Opticals

Visual effects artist/supervisor Francois Aubry is working at the 'layout' table, no doubt setting something up for me to composite. Our time at Film Opticals of Canada was generally fun, even with the sometimes extended hours: very extended hours. Many times we dropped our work off at Deluxe/Film House at the wee hours of the morning. ("You're kidding me! You're having a coffee?!")

Picturing: Brighton Beach Promenade Walk, UK

Those readers who are into British fashion trends would probably accurately date this picture from the early 1990s. Brighton, England, is a favourite place of mine.

Picturing: Beautiful Seaside Waters at Portsmouth, UK

Such a beautiful seaside, said I as the surf wetted my feet.

Picturing: A Plaque on Toronto's Fairmont Royal York

"The Shops on the Lobby & Avenues Level at Fairmont Royal York"

Good to know!

Toronto Star Star Week Newspaper Clipping from 1976

On the 13th of this month I took a look back at the old SF television series Space:1999. While looking for a particular file this morning I noticed a clipping that should have been included. While undertaking some research through the Toronto Star online archives last year, I stumbled upon an issue of that paper's then television-listings magazine, Star Week. Given that this then young teen was still a regular television viewer in 1976, I figured a peruse would bring back memories.

Space:1999 was given a full coast-to-coast network run by the CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation) in its 1976/77 television season. The Ceeb promoted the heck out of its new fall lineup. Based on the quick series of clips, Space looked "souped-up" (as I described it at the time). I had been a little disappointed in that show's first year. Year Two was a bit different and, as it turned out, better... and I'm guessing the CBC's program-buyers felt the same way.

(In my television market, southern Ontario, and many other markets, actually, the first year of Commander Koenig and his Crashing Eagles was relegated, for the most part, to Saturday mornings ― which is how I saw it: 10:30 on CKVR, "Channel 3", a CBC affiliate.)

The clipping above is from Saturday, September 18, 1976. Look for the 5:00 listing. I did. By the way, the episode that day, if memory serves, was either "The Metamorph", the show's Year Two premiere episode, or the immediate follow-up, "The Exiles". (The CBC had kicked off the proceedings by running Space:1999's series-premiere episode "Breakaway". I had no need to see it again, but that scheduling move made sense in that it set up the show for those viewers who didn't know the series premise. However, it's possible that that spectacular, but claustrophobic and single-minded, episode turned them off from coming back!)

Anyway, that's enough of that; I'm no longer a wide-eyed television-watching teen, but a cynical adult who hasn't even bothered to hook up his television aerial.

The good news is, I'm getting better at 'file management'.

Postscript: Note that at 2:30pm, Channel 10 ran the feature film It Came from Outer Space (1953). Far out!

Picturing: Toronto Condo Development Graffiti

 

North side of Bloor Street West, just east of Spadina Road.

(I dig the funhouse-mirror effect.)

Athot for the Day: By Any Other Name, Not!

Pierre Poilievre, der geistlose Elf.

That roughly translates to English as: "PP, the loser."

Wrapping Up Star Trek's 60th: That Fantastic Theme!

Alexander Courage's brilliant and beautiful Star Trek theme is the proper way to close my "60th" posts. The composer nailed "Star Trek" when he wrote its title tune in late 1964. Contained within is the magnificent eight-note "Enterprise" theme.

All other's need not apply.

In the early 1980s, Eric Kunzel and the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra commissioned Courage to arrange his famous signature tune for concert performance.

The performance here by the WDR Funkhaus Orchestra, conducted with great gusto by Holly Hyun Choe, is absolutely splendid.

What a wonderful tune!

Star Trek 60th: Three Books from the Archives

The three Star Trek books above are what I found after some digging. They're not in any of my bookcases. I keep such books hidden so visitors don't end up getting the wrong idea about me.

Trivia: I've been to just one Star Trek convention. In the summer of 1988 I went with two friends to Toronto Trek 2. We found it a very interesting experience. It was then I realized I'm a 'mild' fan.

Picturing: Friend Jonathan at the AGO

At the wonderful Art Gallery of Ontario.