No. 9
“They’re only noodles Michael...” Family Reunions in Santa Carla (Santa Cruz)
Two weeks ago my family and I travelled to Northern California for a family reunion. We spent some time in San Jose, stayed with a dear friend in San Mateo, stopped off for a short visit in
San Francisco (which I will describe below) before finally winding our way to Santa Cruz where we would spend the majority of our vacation. When I discovered that were going to be within spitting distance of the Santa Cruz Boardwalk and I completely lost it. Now, you may be wondering why I would care about a stationary carnival next to the ocean, well this particular boardwalk was the primary shooting location for the cult horror film T he Lost Boys!
Released in 1987, T he Lost Boys f ollows the Emerson family, single mother Lucy and her two boys Michael and Sam to the California town of Santa Carla to stay with her hippie father following her divorce. While both Michael and Sam check out the local nightlife they discover that Santa Carla is a beach bums paradise by day and by night- a den of vampires! With Michael initiated into the dark world of the undead, it’s up to Sam and two militant comic fans, The Frog Brothers, to hunt down the vampire gang and restore safety to Santa Carla.
I was basically raised on this movie as soon as it hit VHS. We still have our copy taped off of Cinemax from the early 90s. T he Lost Boys r epresents the perfect mix of horror, humor, sex and adventure and to this day is probably my favorite vampire film with F right Night coming in at a close second. And last week, I was actually there on the boardwalk and truthfully not much has changed.
I was able to visit every key location from the film with the exception of Grandpa’s House and The Frog Brother’s Comic Book Store mostly because everything else was directly along the boardwalk.
Top: From the opening crane shot of The Lost Boys over the water. Bottom: My less ominous iPhone shot across the water.
Top: Lucy (Dianne Wiest) in front of Max’s Video store. Bottom: Now the Bay Company gift shop along the pier
Top: The motorcycle challenge scene from the boardwalk into the beach. Bottom: My pale ghoul face standing in the same spot. They’ve added more boardwalk seating, but the color scheme is the same.
I didn’t ride the iconic Looff Carousel featured in the film, but I did get to observe it. It’s a beautiful piece of work and I’ve no doubt looks a lot more Bradburyesque at night.
And here it is! The trestle bridge where Michael is initiated and drawn into the world of the immortal undead. I didn’t get to hang from it...next time. This bridge is literally at the very end of the boardwalk. It was shocked to see how close everything was.
While I did see a stage, I saw no sign of oiled-up sax-man, Tim Capello which is a shame because his scene stole the film and no doubt resulted in several pre-teenage stirrings for young girls and boys alike. Had he hosted a concert, I would have been there, cheering him on.
So that was my small, geeky trip to Santa Carla. If you have seen The Lost Boys you know what an an awesome trip this is, if you haven’t, watch it now on NETFLIX!
Anyway, let’s get this ball rolling!
826 Valencia - The Pirate Supply Store
I first heard of “The Pirate Supply Store” because of writer, D ave Egger’s TED talk about his tutoring initiative. You can watch the video HERE and I highly encourage you to do so. Essentially, Eggers and several other writers and educators wanted to be able to help local children with their writing and school work so they opened a tutoring center, but while they were renovating the building, they thought the stripped wood, looked like a pirate ship and so they decided to theme the front of the center in pirate and maritime decorations and products while the back end of the shop is meant for learning. It is an incredibly charming idea and has led to other copycat shops internationally.
Since I knew we were going to be close to San Francisco, I begged my wife to go and all three of us had a lovely time since the store is really meant for children as well as adults.
My son watching the “Fish Theatre”
I adore the idea of a themed shop that serves as the cover for a tutoring and educational initiative. The pirate theme adds a layer of whimsy to the project as well as welcomes play among adults and children alike. If you get the chance, check out this wonderful place and who knows, there might be a center near you right now.
Ron Swanson - Paladin
Dana Gould - “Animal Aftercare”
Dana Gould is probably my favorite comedian working today. Probably best known as a writer for The Simpsons, you may have also seen him in supporting roles in the 90s on the shows Working and T he Ben Stiller Show. He is also the creator is the hilarious horror comedy TV show Stan Against Evil. Gould’s style of comedy really appeals to me because he’s excellent at building a story around a single joke. His bit about T he Black Dahlia remains (probably) my favorite comedy bit of all time. He understands that horror and humor are close cousins and uses that relationship to great effect. To get a taste of his style, WATCH HERE for a bit from his comedy album I Know it’s Wrong, in which he discusses the death of the family dog and then...things take a very different path. This video has some harsh language, so please be advised.
REJECTED JOKES!
Explanation: I’ve been submitting humor pieces to publications steadily for over a year now, which means that I’m sitting on a ton of material that never made it to print. I continue to polish and submit these rejected pieces, but as it stands they do not have a home. Below is one of my (many) rejected pieces. Enjoy and remember that one person’s trash is another person’s treasure.
Popular TEDx Talks
● "Why do all Cheetos look like Bam-Bam's club from The Flintstones?" -TEDx Tampa ● "No, YOU'RE a disappointment, Karen!" - TEDx Van Nuys ● "How I changed my outlook on white after Labor Day after my cousin got gay-married." - TEDx Staten Island ● "The Shape of Water is just a remake of Mannequin Two: On the Move and everyone knows it!" TEDx Akron ● "There's going to be a lot of grisly deaths before we finally get sex-bots right." - TEDx Silicon Valley
● "How our daughters fall victim to gin, jazz cigarettes, and the Charleston." TEDx Atlantic City ● “The connection between serial killers and people who eat pineapple on pizza.” TEDx Wichita ● “Kate Selby, will you go to prom with me?” TEDx Billings ● “What I learned from a decade of strangling horses by hand.” TEDxCasper ● "Why is it pronounced Sean Bean instead of "Seen Been" or "Shon Bon"? TEDx Duluth
The Zelda Comics of Zac Gorman
My brother-in-law first introduced me to the work of Zac Gorman several years ago. Gorman, who has now gone “mainstream” with his work in comics like R ick & Morty a nd The Great Lakes Avengers, was internet famous for creating a lot of beautiful work around video game culture in his series Magical Game Time. This was in an era when “nerd culture” hadn’t yet soaked the zeitgeist. My favorite of his work remains a series of GIF comics he put together about T he Legend of Zelda. It is sentimental, beautiful and extremely poetic. This is how I thought of the game when I was playing it in the early 1990s. You can see his other work H ERE.
Well, that’s it for now. I hope you guys enjoyed this issue of the The Pneumatic Tube or at least found parts of it useful. If you have any questions or recommendations for me, you can reach me at robwalkerfilms[at]gmail[DOT]com Be sure to tell your friends about it and if you want to reach me elsewhere, you can find me at these spaces below.
Robwalkerfilms.com
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Or you can drop me a line at robwalkerfilms[at]gmail[DOT]com
Take care,
-Rob
“The Forbidden Zone was a paradise. Your breed made a desert of it ages ago!” - Dr. Henry Kissinger
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