Another Automated Poem by Remy
My Idiot Brother
A Strong Sadlib
My idiot brother strong sad is such a
softy! When I ponch him, he cries.
When he loses a cat, he cries. And
when i call him a softy, he cries!! I hate
my idiot brother strong sad.
Remy Lewis
New Chi-Pig Album Out After a 25-Year Rush Release
Note: This was already published on my Friendster (TM) Bulletin Board. If you have already seen it, you may move on.
Don't want to seem like i'm spamming, but I just
got the new Chi-pig disc, "Miami", in the mail
from Sue Schmidt. "New" is not exactly the word I
guess, as it was recorded 25 years ago. But the
album Chi-Pig recorded at that time is finally
making it's bow. It is fleshed out with the
single they did release (in 1978) and their track
from the "Akron" comp on Stiff.
In short, Chi-Pig was a New Wave three-piece from
Akron headed up by Sue Schmidt and Debbie Smith.
They played The Pit in Cincinnati at least twice,
and I opened for them in Qi-ZZ at The Bank in
Akron (August 16, 1980). They were awesome, and
the CD is no less so - sophisticated, innovative
and full of piss and vinegar.
My wife says Chi-Pig reminds her of The Fairmount
Girls. I explained that the group was around 20
years before the FG's, and she qualified this by
saying "all of the Ohio chick bands sound to me
like The Fairmount Girls, but that's a good
thing - I like the Fairmount Girls. I like that
sound."
Al also noticed some similarity to The
Pretenders, which makes more sense - as a high
school student Chrissie Hynde used to hang out
with Sue & Debbie's earlier band The Poor Girls.
Sue and Debbie also played with Peter Laughner in
Cinderella's Revenge and Friction.
Chi-Pig is putting this out themselves - even
if you only have a few shekels to spend on music
in 2004 my feeling is that you really should get this,
especially if you are female and/or play in an
Ohio band. This is like the Rosetta stone of New
Wave from up north. They do have an email
address, but no website yet -
chipigmiami@yahoo.com
If you take the plunge, tell 'em Uncle Dave sent
ya.
News from Bayonne, NJ in re: Centaur (No Kidding!)
You may recall in March I published a filmography of the Centaur Motion Picture
Company's output along with an article. Imagine my surprise when Bruce Calvert
sent this article through the pipeline!
Uncovering film history
Old vaults found during sidewalk repair in Bayonne
Al Sullivan
Reporter senior staff writer 04/25/2004
WHAT'S DOWN THERE - From the surface, you can see some of the brickwork and
chambers of the former film storage areas.
Bayonne contractor Carmen Cannarozzo didn't immediately know that he was digging
up a bit of film history when he responded to a water leak at a home on Avenue
E.
The family living at the house near 42nd Street told him part of the sidewalk
had collapsed. But he soon discovered that the space beneath contained three
empty vaults once use to hold silent films for a Bayonne film company that would
later move to Hollywood.
William DeCarlo, who had grown up in the house, told Cannarozzo that he
remembered the door to the chambers from the house being sealed at some point
more than 35 years ago.
Bayonne had played a significant role in the early film industry. This fact is
still remembered by the historical society, which put a plaque up in the lobby
of Gabriel F. Doria's dentist office because it stands on Broadway near where
one of the Centaur film studios was once located.
Centaur's vaults apparently were located a few blocks away, under the sidewalk
of the Avenue E house, constructed after World War II.
In investigating the chambers, Cannarozzo and his crew found only the vaults but
no remaining films, although he said water had leaked from a nearby pipe,
filling the floor of at least one chamber. From the surface, the slight arch of
the chamber roof was made visible when workers widened one of several holes.
"We didn't know what to expect," he said, recalling his crew's climbing down
into the dark space to probe the interior. "We didn't see any films down there,
but we were surprised about how big a space it was."
Cannarozzo said a passage led to the basement of the house, which DeCarlo said
had been sealed more than 35 years earlier.
"Those chambers must have been there for 90 years or more," Cannarozzo said.
A historic find
Bayonne has played several significant parts in the history of early film-making
over the years. Before going onto Hollywood in 1917, Stanley Laurel, of Laurel
and Hardy fame, made seven silent films in Bayonne.
Brian Keith, who would later become famous for his role the 1960s television
show Family Affair, was born in Bayonne and started out as a child star for
silent films. Perhaps most the most notorious moment in Bayonne film history
occurred when film star Mae West attempted to put on a stage show called "Sex"
for which she faced criminal charges later in New York City.
Yet, most historically significant was the location of Centaur film studios at
several locations in Bayonne, as Centaur would later become part of Universal
Studios.
Centaur was founded by a one-armed British-born entrepreneur named David
Horsley, who according one published source, first bought a building in Bayonne
in 1902 with the aim of making it into a pool hall. But economic panic in 1907
caused him to team up with a camera operator instead, turning the pool hall into
a primitive film studio.
The film company released its first film in December 1907 called "The Cowboy's
Escape."
Many of Centaurs films starred Crane Wilber - who was best known for the Perils
of Pauline film series done by another studio.
In 1910, Horsley relocated to Southern California, renamed his company, and
became wealthy enough to return to Europe where he promptly purchased an animal
circus and shipped it out to California. Many of those animals were featured in
films, some of which were processed at the Avenue E plant in Bayonne. While the
animal circus boomed for a while, it eventually went broke, forcing Horsley to
sell his buildings in Bayonne.
His brother, William, who helped raise money for the initial venture, set up a
film processing business in Hollywood and processed many early Walt Disney
films.
Although Centaur films became part of Universal Studios, Horsley had sold his
interest and eventually died penniless in 1933. Of the dozens of films his
company produced (some of which were shot in nearby Curries Woods in Jersey
City), only one film "The Kaffir's Gratitude," has survived in full.
Modern times
Film history is still being made in Bayonne with the renting of space to movie
production companies at the former Military Ocean Terminal there. Among several
films made there was "A Beautiful Mind." Bayonne's own Nick Taylor, whose
independent film "Meet the Pitts" is currently being shown in Manhattan, has
produced works for Fox TV.
Three additional independent films are scheduled to come into Hudson County over
the next few months, one slated to start in June, another in July and a third
September, according to Secaucus Assemblyman Anthony Impreveduto, who also noted
that one or more may wind up using Bayonne's studio space.
These films are part of a state effort to bring back film production to New
Jersey. The films, which will feature several Oscar Award-winning stars, are
taking advantage of the state's New Jersey Film Industry Assistance program that
provides grants, low interest loan, and technical expertise to film production
or distribution companies.
***
Okay, so empty vaults and no films found. But an amazing coincident, don't you agree?
Uncle Dave Lewis
UncleDave41@comcast.net