open letter to the 'Lost Fresno' String contributors
Submitted by Out of the Void on Sun, 01/21/2007 - 14:22.
(This is a dup. of a comment entered on the actual thread.)
I'm not from here, so I don't spend a lot of time in the 'way back machine,' here in Fresno.
(I have my own sites that focus on the many places I've come up back east.)
I was, however, really heartsick, and holding my breath that this particular thread may have been lost in the recent gutting (be it accidental, or deliberate, whatever,) ---and was hoping that it could be restored, (again, thanks Suzi...)
I read the string, and find it really impressive,
--it also tugs at my heart.
(Just having a place to race slot-cars would have been enough for me.)
My own towns have been changed, or completely done away with, back east, and I miss them too and can sympathize.
I wanted to thank you all for writing what you have written.
I do read the string from time to time, and it's like sitting and hearing stories from people who don't usually talk about their lives, and where thy lived them... and it's fascinating.
I don't contribute to the string, -as, I'm not even from this timezone, (though, even my own neihborhood is changing in this past year and a half... Fresno is pretty wild that way.)
If I could make one suggestion?
Seriously?
Back East, there is an enormously successful series of books that can be foud that focus on historic photographs and such of local towns and areas, (some of which don't exist AT ALL,)
-they are usualy paperbacks, have a nicely done dark sepia and Burnt Umber and Antique White 'Vintage,' design of the cover ---and designate 'Historic: ________' -and aren't too expensive.. (Very cool to have.)
I'm not sure If I've seen the same sort of thing up at Borders or not.
More than that? (If the books are done or not already.)
There is an EXTREMELY popular series done by local public TV stations that do programs, which become VHS or DVD's
-usually titled, like, 'Things that aren't there anymore.'(Very cool series out of Philadelphia,)
-and they usually have a narrator and a lot of still photos,
-as well as old films, of local sites that are completely gone,
-or have been changed and altered so that you'd never know what once was.
-Frequently they cover such things as Amusement Parks, Racetracks, Beer Gardens, Etc. Etc. and go back (usually,) no farther than the twenties or so.. but it varies, -usually it's based upon what folks want to remember and what there's the most interest in. (Or what is the most controversial.)
-They're excellent series, usually, and not really hard to make.
-The often are sold during 'fund drives,' for the local public TV stations...
-Never go out of style, -and often give birth to additional volumes, as more people want to remember more places.
-I'd buy a few...
-Maybe someone could take this and run with it????
-Again, it could be a goldmine for the public stations and historical folks...
-Anyway, thanks for your adding to this HUGE string...
-Eric Field
»
also try Rogue Film
Another place to bounce this idea would be
in the Rogue Festival. There are film entries.
Mostly shown, I believe, at Java Wava---so I'm guessing
local film makers and local film fans will be hanging there.
That'll kick in during the first two weeks of March.
local nostalgic film--'lost fresno stuff'
It sounds like a great idea. AND it sounds like there are a lot of folks excited about it.
Sounds like you need a person who can do a very professional job of making a film. ----you'd want a product that you could sell at the local bookshops---maybe retail shops of all sorts might want to carry it as a 'local interest' item---and you'd definately want something the libraries would wish to buy.
It seems, that if you could get a film-maker to take on this project,
you'd have a product many people would be interested in owning---it might even pay for itself (a big plus of course in getting someone to bite).
Jaguar's name was mentioned---I believe he's involved in one of the local film festivals---he'd be a great person to mention this idea to.
There's also the local PBS station----that seems like a natural fit in fact.
okay.. private message time...
...Tman
I know you got a lot on your plate, but if there ever was a person who was in love with this place, it's you, everytime we've gotten together you're always pointing 'at this building or that one' and telling me all the secrets to it, and how it relates...
-besides you're good with people and know half the damn town anyway... (they like you, even the grumpy ones..)
You know who to talk to, -and folks are already contributing video footage, (you really got to meet Andy, he's cool..)
I know you're busy with the rogue and all... but when the time comes? This would be a ball.
-this may be extremely theraputic, for all parties involved.
-Ya know???
I'm not talking about you 'doing,' this, or nothing,
or being in charge or anything like that,
-just being maybe one of the guys that folks could recognize as involved with this?
You've already done stuff sort of like this before.
Besides, people like you.
Me?, half the time they either love me, or are looking to strangle me... this ain't a Felini film, we need somebody more balanced in the public's passions.
I'm not from here, never will be, I still get lost on the way home from FoodMax, but you write one letter about ditchbanks to MindHerd, and everybody lights up...
--and there are like, 6 people already piping up and digging it(which means that by 9am tomorrow, there will be ten times that much who will be interested...)
This could really work,
-and the one thing everybody chiming in on this has in common is a serious love for the 'no, who also have friends and family from here, some gone on ahead, some still around. (-and the whole bunch of ya's quickly loosing the images and buildings that meant home...)
-I think it would be good for all of you, and a lot of people are itching to contribute, i'd put money on it.
Now's the time.
I fer one, am stepping back (kind of,)
I'd be happy to be a gofer and chat up whomever to get involved in this, (Emails etc.. -tune up folks bicycles as they ride by on the screen??? provide chairs??? what...)
---but you got some pretty serious members of the community who are showing interest, the thing could very easily fund itself, and it could be a real shot in the arm for the whole town.
-it could also go as many volumes as there are interest...
('course I'm going to ask you in front of everybody about this,
but then again,
it's nothing to get itchy on...)
-all we's is a bunch of guys sitting kicking ideas around, nobody is signing on any dotted lines...
-just talking and seeing if it would work...
just some ideas, yep, little ones...
-just a bunch kicking some around, nothing to be nervous about, just a bunch of guys talking, that's all...
(well, I know FezGurl is hiding around here somewhere,.. none of you characters smell that good..)
...'ts all it is...
couple a ideas...
(that really could
work...)
(noooo pressure.)
(...so who are you going to call first??? ...you may just have to get a cel phone to stay in touch with your new nostalgia buddies..)
-just floating this out there...
(..end private message here...)
(to the rest of us.)
---Okay, so Patrick, aside from black widows, -what you got in your garage??? (and how did those speakers work out?)
I can get in touch with a really cool lady who's um, lived here for quite a while, sharp as a tack, a real charmer, prettier 'n a picture and knows this place like the back of her hand, (her daughter runs the videoplace...) -She also knows I think every old person in three counties on a first name basis, (some older than the state.)
-We could probably get interviews as far back as the thirties at least, first person narrative.
(Not sure how we're going to get ANYONE to remember the 60's, because if you can, you obviously never were there... (We'll think of something...)
---BJzus.. you think Gudo's got stuff we can use???
-We may be able to get the film deparments from the schools, (city or State,) to have some of the kids do some of the filming as part of a class assignment...
(someone go stick a finger in Beaver's eye, get his attention, (he normally avoids my writing like the plague.) he's both a writer and a journalist, --he's got to know people,,,, FrankD, too...)
Jaguar totally kicks ass at writing grants,,, dunno if he reads FresFam, though... think he'd be interested? -this thing could actually get some funding from the state??? Maybe??
(maybe as a stand alone apart from the historical society???)
-Initial screenings could be at the tower, (etc.)
No joke, we could probably put together the past 70 years on first person recollection (with artifacts,) without even breaking a sweat...
--And that's just with the people that live here in town NOW....
(I'm just saying, you know, in case this takes off.)
jeeze,,, look at that,
I've been here, what, a year and a half, don't know hardly anybody, but from where I'm standing, it looks like every facet of this thing could seriously work, beautifully.
--This town is crawling with talent that could put it together in their sleep, they all know each other from here, and then some...
coool.
(Okay...I think that's as close as Germans get to being subtle...)
...Sorry folks, the right shoulder is starting to bark, I need to drop some more vicadin and catch some shut-eye...
-this could work.
-g'night.
building ideas
Does The Bee have a file cabinet?
I Do Have a Old Film From Fulton Mall
I have some home movie footage of my sisters riding the tram that used to go up and down the Fulton Mall when it first opened in the mid-60's. We had the film transferred to DVD last year. There is also some footage of a fire on the mall as well.
..had a feeling this would get you out of the woodwork too...
...happy NewYear, Sir...
ummmm, well, I dunno.
UTube might work,,, (I don't think in terms of UTube, but that is only because my computer does not have the capacity to run it... I am truly in the stone age because of that one fact alone.... well, that and I still play cassettes in my truck...)
so, UTube? I guess. dunno.
I was thinking of the same spirit that is causing folks to do such excellent contributions (literature wise,) on the 'Lost Fresno,' post to translate over to a video, -or series of videos that documented, presented, and sort of re-lived those particular places.
-It could take a lot of different aspects.
-It could be a noted gathering spot that is no longer there. (Store, Skate Rink, etc.)
-It could be a phenomena (cruising, gathering at the figs, etc.)
-It could be actual businesses, theatres, parks, (etc,) that were torn down,
-It could be a 'craze,' that went through of some sort.
-It could be the way holidays are celebrated, festivals, or how different local cultures have been introduced and changed over the years, (Hmong with tennis balls on NewYears??? dude, that's coooool... still have no idea what happens, but I want to find out..)
-What I've seen (especially around Philadalephia,) was a series of well done videos that showed old places of interest, (such as Willow Grove Park,) -that used to be an old Amusement Park ---and then was torn down and became a mall, (with some of the old banners and such in it.)
-It had stories tied in with the place, (human interest, records set, people who got married who met there, etc.) ---and also showed how the thing came into being, (it was the one end of a trolley line.)
-They had other vignettes on Aquariums, RaceTracks, -stuff like that.
What started as one Video became a series of 4 or 5, and they were actually given away as a fund raiser for the local PBS Station... it was pretty cool.)
The idea would be to show what used to be, as well as explain how important it was, --sometimes to show what it's become, or how it's changed too...
-But it would be 'Fresno-Centric,' type stuff.
(It could be something like 'Ditch Swimming,' ---or it could be how folks hung out at a local franchise of a national chain, 'Sambos,' or 'Farrells,' or something.
It's 100% nostalgia, but it also links the past with the present, and really lets people know what used to be, as well as what is happening now, (instead.)
The most dramatic sometimes could be how it was something that completely is not done anymore, ----or sometimes something that still was happening, -as if it had never been changed a bit, (like, 'Chicken Pie Shop,' for example...)
I'd go with stuff that people are really going on about on the 'Lost Fresno,' string... -what things do they love talking about, what they really miss -and find a way to represent those things.
YouTube would work... It certainly would put the documenting and narrative in the hands of the person who remembers and loves the thing that they're presenting, (showing stills, or footage of the place, as well as items from the place is also a big plus.)
-that's what I'm thinking...
where's Frank D
Frank has a camera.
Is the suggestion on this string to produce user videos that make the rounds with the likes of YouTube?
double p.s.
these books [those by Pop Laval} are pretty famous 'round here and probably available in every single[i'd hope] local library branch.
there's a guy(fresno history vid?)
there's a guy called Don Eskender--but he's recently had some messed up unhappiness[check back in lecram's blog]----he's very very much into local history, he's very much into collection of film. he was once the president of the William Saroyan Society.
This would be a good guy to contact. I could try and give him a call.
---p.s. for any new comers to Central Cali----there IS a book series from a guy called Pop Laval....First book, I think is called "As Pop Saw It" pictures of Fresno and Fresno County from first half of the 20thC.
Here's one book of his:
http://quilldriverbooks.com/early_valley_treasures/early_valley_treasure...
Not sure how much exists from say....1950's--to now.
That would be the era that most fascinates me.
I'm not sure if any video has been produced, but I'm sure film exists.
A fun and worthy project no doubt.
well, hot damn... we may have something...
(fires up the homemade bat-light, to shine in the sky,,, (now with 'OotV' stencil taped on in foil and masking tape...
which immed. catches fire, burning off eyebrows and goatee...)
..."*!%#&!"
...grumble grumble...
okay then... I'll resort to FresFam...
(THIS (along with what I look like in tights,) is why I'm not a superhero...)
Theramin, Anti, der Hyphenator.... (among others.)
--Who do you people know who could throw together a Tape/DVD of Fresno???
-T, I know you were doing some kids music stuff for a TV show or something...? (PS, old boy... THIS could be a nice stepping stone for that music library you've been drooling about in recent months.... -and that picture of you as you walk into starline... (the beatles thing,) ---do you EVER freakin' age??? it's scarey, buddy...)
Anti---I swear, you belch and the feathers of a thousand old pigeons from railway cars that have been gone for decades are suddenly wafting around the room... yer a walking library on this place...
-Andy??? creative division at your roll-o-dex fingertips, (though I know you're wonderfully busy...)
-A real coup' would be to get FezGurl in on this..
Yes, Fezgurl... no doubt recouperating from her shindig yesterday, (which I missed, and regret doing so...)
She owns most of the history and blurry images, in 3D on her shelves
---and can find them in a heartbeat, it IS the local Smithsonian, but it's also for sale, at great prices...)
---and, with those gorgeous blue eyes, is a natch on the camera... (she gets my vote as host/historian...)
-Okay, put Scharton on opposite her, as a co-host...
they both have great personalities, and will forget more about this joint than anyone else will ever hope to learn.
This place is getting gobbled up by 'progress' every half hour...
Documenting and presenting how cool it is/was is history preserved, roots protected, --and money to be made...
(Hurry up before Clovis jumps on this and does the same thing, only with a bunch of innocent heiffers being tied up in public... sickies..)
'...just floating this one out there.... you know, just floating it... here goes the float,'
(float, dammit,,, float,,,, do-not-sink...(blows on several times,) FLOAT!,,, go over there,,, (all this hot air has to be good for something... GO,,,, now..)
Excellent idea and one I've had before, myself.
The closest we have are a couple of the local news spots, the Bill Coates "Twist in Time" thing on 26, and Bob Long's "On the Map," which has sadly not continued in his retirement.
Books are great, and they're a-plenty. Unfortunately noone's yet taken the time/resources/money to put together a project like this.
I'd back it like crazy. If anyone has something in the works now or in the future...contact me. I'd love to help out.
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