(Photo from Professional Woman’s Magazine. Naomi Parker Fraley, the real Rosie the Riveter, died in 2018 at 96.)
I wrote a short script for a One Week Short Script Challenge early in April. After getting all the feedback, I edited the script multiple times and re-submitted it for more feedback. On May 1st, I entered it in the 2023 Pipeline Media Group Short Script Competition. I’m not expecting to win anything, but I’m proud of myself for doing it. I challenged myself, and that makes me feel stronger as a writer.
What are you doing to challenge yourself?
~
The Writers Guilds of America, East and West, are officially on strike. This is a significant strike against the major Hollywood studios and networks that will affect everyone. New movies and TV shows will not be produced or delayed, projects may be canceled, and the new season episodes we are all waiting for will be put on hold. We will see more reruns and recycled TV shows until the strike is resolved.
Writers are striking for the same reasons all workers go on strike: long hours, less pay, loss of value and respect, less creative autonomy, and fewer opportunities. The regulation of A.I. is on the list of demands.
The WGA has already sent emails to its members and members of organizations like The Black List, warning against “scabbing” and crossing the picket line. Any writer who sells a screenplay, makes a deal, or gets hired to write for a Guild signatory company during the strike will be blacklisted and banned from WGA membership for life. Their Hollywood career will be over.
Dawn Pisturino
May 3, 2023
Copyright 2023 Dawn Pisturino. All Rights Reserved.
When Don Cornelius committed suicide in 2012 with a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head, the music industry reacted with profound shock and sorrow. Cornelius, as many music lovers know, was the genius behind the hit TV show, Soul Train. He was instrumental in launching the careers of Aretha Franklin, Michael Jackson, and other R & B artists. Soul Train premiered on Chicago’s WCIU-TV in 1970. It graduated to national syndication in 1971 and ran until 1993, when Cornelius decided to step down.
Soul Train introduced soul music to the American public. Black artists like Marvin Gaye and James Brown soon became staples on mainstream radio stations. And the dancing! The Soul Train dance line introduced young people to a whole new style of dancing and having fun.
Why did Cornelius commit suicide? At the age of 75, he was suffering from several health issues, including frequent seizures. He had undergone brain surgery in 1982, but he admitted publicly that he never felt the same afterward. His health issues were part of the reason he retired from Soul Train in 1993.
I loved watching Soul Train as a child. The opening graphics, the music, the dancing, the high excitement and infectious energy always pumped me up and helped me to view the world in a whole new way.
Wherever you are now, Don Cornelius, may you rest in eternal peace.
~
Dawn Pisturino
March 31, 2023
Copyright 2023 Dawn Pisturino. All Rights Reserved.
When the pilot for Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In premiered on TV on September 9, 1967, the Vietnam War raged in full gear, the Civil Rights Movement continued to explode, and the country was split by conflict and political divide. A forerunner of Saturday Night Live, Laugh-In used provocative satire and humor to comment on current affairs. The show featured well-known actors and actresses like Henry Gibson, Lily Tomlin, Goldie Hawn, Ruth Buzzi, Arte Johnson, and Richard Dawson. Sets used bright colors and mod art, reflecting the hippie culture of the time. Popular slang, like “Sock it to Me,” peppered the show. Strange characters, bold costumes, and mind-blowing music enthralled the audience so the show emerged again as a series on January 22, 1968, and ran until May 14, 1973.
There were no social media then and people frowned at curse words. Laugh-In compensated by inventing the Flying Fickle Finger of Fate award. Every week the hosts, Rowan and Martin, awarded some entity this award, which was the equivalent of giving the finger to unpopular governments, public officials, organizations, celebrities, and corporations. The first award was given on September 16, 1968. Over the years, winners included the Pentagon, the U.S. Congress, and the National Security Agency.
(Rowan and Martin awarding the Flying Fickle Finger of Fate to Soviet Russia.)
Dawn Pisturino
March 27, 2023
Copyright 2023 Dawn Pisturino. All Rights Reserved.
I was finishing up my final project for class, and I had notebooks and papers scattered all over the living-room. My husband, who hates it when I pile books and papers everywhere, said to me:
“You’re a nerd!”
I looked at him and said, “You’re just now figuring that out?”
I mean, I’ve known like forever that he’s a comic book-reading, Star Wars-watching Trekkie and Geek! No mystery there! We used to spend hours at the comic book store in Palo Alto, California while he looked at role-playing stuff and browsed through the collectible comics. We used to show up every Saturday to play hours of Dungeons & Dragons, which I thought was boring as hell. We spent hours playing board games that I almost always lost (except Scrabble). We spent tons of quarters at the arcade playing video games.
My husband watches the original Star Trek, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager, and now Picard, over and over again. I swear, he has the dialogue memorized for every episode. He and my daughter watch all the Star Wars stuff. We even attended a Star Trek convention one year in Las Vegas. Then there are the Superheroes, like Batman and Spider Man.
I do what I’ve always done – read books, write, watch movies and TV, take classes, and listen to music.
And he’s just now figuring out that I’m a nerd?
I told my daughter about our conversation, and she just laughed. She said she doesn’t think of either one of us in that way!
~
Dawn Pisturino
February 22, 2023
Copyright 2023 Dawn Pisturino. All Rights Reserved.
(Vintage postcard of our town’s Andrew Carnegie Library, built in 1913)
When I was a child growing up in Southern California, our town’s public library was an Andrew Carnegie Library, built in 1913. I always admired the historic architecture and felt quite heartbroken when the city decided to tear it down and replace it with a more modern structure. Yes, the newer building was easier to navigate and filled with light, but the old, beat-up structure had more character. It reeked of history and days gone by.
Andrew Carnegie (1835-1919) was born in Dunfermline, Scotland, and emigrated with his poverty-stricken family to Pennsylvania, USA in 1848. With only a few years of schooling behind him, this self-made millionaire managed to rise — through hard work and shrewd investments — from a lowly factory boy to a railroad worker to a powerful steel magnate. He sold the Carnegie Steel Company to banker J.P. Morgan in 1901 for $480 million. After retiring, he spent the rest of his life and most of his fortune on philanthropic projects.
Carnegie believed that the wealthy have “a moral obligation to distribute [their wealth] in ways that promote the welfare and happiness of the common man” (The Gospel of Wealth, 1889). He funded the construction of Carnegie Hall in New York City and founded the Carnegie Institution for Science, Carnegie Mellon University, and the Carnegie Foundation.
A devoted bibliophile, Carnegie funded the construction of 2,811 public libraries in America, Europe, and other parts of the world. Some of these buildings are still in public use as libraries or government centers. He is buried in the Sleepy Hollow Cemetery in North Tarrytown, New York.
Thanks for stopping by. Have a great day!
Dawn Pisturino
January 11, 2023
Copyright 2023 Dawn Pisturino. All Rights Reserved.
[NOTE: I’ve been busy with major housecleaning, shopping, doing Christmas stuff, cooking, doing homework for an online class called “Online Obsessions,” and hanging out with my husband before he returns to work next week (he’s been off for the last three months recovering from a total knee replacement). I’m getting caught up with responding to your comments and visiting your blog sites. I apologize for the delay!]
I inherited these recipes from my mother, and I have no idea where she got them, but these are the cookie recipes I use at Christmas. They also make great cookies for Valentine’s Day. Rich, sugary, buttery, spicy, and delicious!
Old-Fashioned Butter Cookies
3 cups sifted flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup butter or margarine (butter is best)
3/4 cup sugar
1 egg
2 tbsp. cream or milk
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Sift flour with baking powder and salt and set aside. Cream the butter. Gradually add sugar to the butter, creaming well. Stir in egg, cream, and vanilla. Add dry ingredients gradually and mix well. Chill for at least an hour in the refrigerator. Roll out, one third at a time, on floured surface to 1/8 inch thickness. Cut into desired shapes with cookie cutters. (This dough also works well in a cookie press.) Place on ungreased cookie sheets. Bake at 400 degrees for 5-8 minutes or until edges turn golden brown. Let cool. Frost with powdered sugar frosting and decorate.
Gingerbread Cookies
1/2 cup shortening (butter works best)
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup dark molasses
1 egg
2 1/2 cups sifted flour
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. ginger
1 tsp. cloves
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. salt
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cream shortening and sugar well. Blend in molasses. Add egg and beat well. Stir in sifted dry ingredients. Chill the dough for three hours in the refrigerator. Roll dough on floured surface to 1/8 – 1/4 inch thickness. Cut into desired shapes with cookie cutters. Bake on ungreased cookie sheets at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes. (Do not over-bake.) Let cool. Dust with powdered sugar or frost with powdered sugar frosting and decorate.
Serve your cookies with milk, hot chocolate, tea, or coffee, and enjoy!
I love the Hot Chocolate Scene from PolarExpress:
Christmas is coming! Make it Merry!And today is the Winter Solstice – the shortest day of the year!Or, longest night – however you want to look at it. LOL!
(George Winston playing his beautiful and inspiring piece, “Thanksgiving.” My mother adored George Winston.)
My parents always came for Thanksgiving. Now that they are gone, I always think of them at this time of year.
PSALM 95:1-5 (NKJV)
Oh come, let us sing to the LORD! Let us shout joyfully to the Rock of our salvation. Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving; let us shout joyfully to Him with psalms. For the LORD is the great God, and the great King above all gods. In His hand are the deep places of the earth; the heights of the hills are His also. The sea is His, for He made it; and His hands formed the dry land.
PLEASE NOTE: I WILL NOT BE POSTING ANYTHING UNTIL SOME TIME NEXT WEEK.
Have a joyful and blessed Thanksgiving!
~
Dawn Pisturino
November 23, 2022
Copyright 2022 Dawn Pisturino. All Rights Reserved.
When the cartoon industry was relatively new, animators did not shy away from making spooky, fun, and memorable cartoons that both children and adults loved. These are the Halloween cartoons that our parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents (depending on your age) would have watched in the movie theater.
TheHaunted House (1929) – Mickey Mouse – DisneyCartoons:
Produced and directed by Walt Disney. Walt also provided Mickey’s voice! Chief animator: Ub Iwerks. Music composed by Carl Stalling. This short cartoon, which was part of a series of Mickey Mouse cartoons, was released and distributed by Celebrity Productions.
Silly Symphony – The Skeleton Dance(1929)– DisneyCartoons:
The Skeleton Dance, also produced and directed by Walt Disney, preceded The Haunted House and incorporated iconic “danse macabre” images (art which was popular during the Black Death era).
Getting in the Halloween mood?
Dawn Pisturino
October 24, 2022
Copyright 2022 Dawn Pisturino. All Rights Reserved.
Jazz musicians are no strangers to Halloween. Even the great Louis Armstrong recorded a couple of fun Halloween songs that were quite popular in his day. When Armstrong appeared in his first major motion picture, Pennies from Heaven (1936), he performed The Skeleton in the Closet with Jimmy Dorsey and his orchestra.
The Skeleton in the ClosetLyrics
Boy, don’t you go in there Come outa there, boy Don’t you know that house is haunted
There’s an old deserted mansion On an old forgotten road Where the better ghosts and goblins Always hang out. One night they threw a party In a manner à la mode And they cordially invited All the gang out At a dark bewitchin’ hour When the fun was loud and hearty A notorious wall flower Became the life of the party Mmm! The spooks were havin’ their midnight fling The merry makin’ was in full swing They shrieked themselves into a cheerful trance When the skeleton in the closet started to dance Now a goblin giggled with fiendish glee A shout rang out from a big banshee Amazement was in every ghostly glance When the skeleton in the closet started to dance All the witches were in stitches While his steps made rhythmic thumps And they nearly dropped their broomsticks When he tried to do the bumps You never heard such unearthly laughter Such hilarious groans When the skeleton in the closet rattled his bones
In 1954, Armstrong recorded the song Spooks with Gordon Jenkins and his orchestra.
SpooksLyrics
The other night, about twelve o’clock I thought I’d go downstairs just to check the lock When I heard something in the house I don’t mean a mouse
I swear they were spooks, spooks, spooks I know they were spooks, spooks, spooks, spooks I couldn’t move, just stood and stared I never was so scared
The first spook spoke and I heard him speak He said, “What say I go make the back door squeak?” Oh he would tease the cat and hound the pup And raise our spirits up
Oh lordy, them spooks, spooks, spooks Those scary old spooks, spooks, spooks, spooks You don’t have to take my word But I heard what I heard
The next spook spoke, he said, “Suppose we make The faucets drip and make the shutters shake You let me know just what you want This is my favourite haunt
Beware of them spooks, spooks, spooks Them mischievous spooks, spooks, spooks, spooks I ain’t spoofing, man I mean That I seen what I seen
A big spook spoke, he said, “Spike, my son,” he said “I’ll show you how to scare up some fun But next time when you wail, see here You make it loud and clear”
Watch out for them spooks, spooks, spooks Oh them nasty old spooks, spooks, spooks, spooks Maybe you don’t think it’s so But I knew what I knew
The last spook turned to his spouse and frowned Said, “I thought I’d told you to wait in the ground But you look awful cute tonight In fact, you look a fright”
When my daughter told me she was going to go to clown school, I thought, Okay, what new adventure is this?Isshe going to join the circus?The rodeo? What’s up with this?
After a few chuckles, she explained to me what clown school is — a school for performing artists to learn the intriguing history of clowns, a variety of new acting skills, and a way to incorporate playfulness and fun into theatrical acting.
The Clown School, located in Eagle Rock, Los Angeles, California, is one of the top clown schools in America. People from TV and film attend the school in order to further their careers. My daughter, who is a professional singer and performer, has been taking their online classes, and she loves it.
One famous TV clown was Red Skelton, but Lucille Ball was also considered a clown. Her comedy routines, playfulness, and ability to make people love her and laugh, are legendary. I Love Lucy re-runs are still on traditional TV and streaming.
Clowns have been around for thousands of years. In 2400 B.C., Ancient Egypt’s Fifth Dynasty saw priests assuming the role of clowns in order to promote social and religious concepts. Jesters were common in China as early as 300 B.C. They were used in India as interpreters in 100 A.D.
Greek and Roman theater featured clowns and mimes. During the Middle Ages and Renaissance period, fools and jesters entertained members of the public and the royal courts alike. They were often used to promote religious concepts for the Church. In the 14th century, clowns began to appear on tarot cards.
The Aztecs were employing court jesters for entertainment when the Spanish arrived in 1520 A.D. The Commedia del Arte established the tradition of the three Zannis in 16th century Italy, which included the character of Harlequin.
Among Native Americans, clowns were used to make social and religious statements. Their antics made people laugh and think about the message the clowns were trying to deliver.
The first circus clowns were brought to England by Philip Astley in 1768. And Joseph Grimaldi (1778-1837), a British entertainer, expanded the role of the clown and earned the title “Father of Modern Clowning.”
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