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The Last Captain
#16
I took pictures at the Selberg Invitational over the weekend. The tournament is hosted by the same man who is funding The Last Captain. So, naturally, I have a huge man crush on this man. Huge.

I sent him a link to the pictures so he could see them online. He sent a note back thanking me and asking me if I would put another book together like I did last year and maybe a little movie with the video I shot. Of course. Anything, right? But here is the part that is indicative of the man, he said "Happy to pay if you would like to do a book or video" 

Happy to pay? What the F?

I mentioned the man crush, right?
As a matter of fact, my anger does keep me warm

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#17
U r such a photo/vid slut.

Milk that cow.

Does he have a sister?
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#18
Wednesday was a bust. We were supposed to speak to our first person that had a direct connection to Piller. His name was Danny Magay and he fenced for Piller on the Hungarian Olympic team in 1956. Unfortunately, Mr. Magay is in the middle of a bathroom remodel so he decided it would be best if we came back another day. That other day will be Monday.

I spent the day calling people and doing paperwork and reading about Hungary in World War 2. I also had enough time to have a fight with my mother over the windows in the house. I now understand that they are to be closed at all times even thought it is in the 90s outside and god knows what temperature on the inside of the house.

I talked to Mr. Derek Cotton about leads and introductions to people in Budapest. His main suggestions was I go to Prague. He says it's like going to a movie set. I'm thinking he was a little unclear on why I was going to be in Budapest. But he did spit out a few names of powerful people he was going to introduce me to.

Also talked to a musician named Wag to score the film. The name Wag gave me pause but he was recommended by a friend. Then he told me he was doing a documentary for Ron Howard and that gave me pause in a completely different direction. There was no way I was working in the same budget neighborhood as Ron Howard. He also said he assumed I had a music director. I told him he assumed wrong. Or that could just be another one of my myriad titles on this production.

So, Thursday I have a meeting with my man crush in Berkeley. I almost had to do an interview with someone Haggis knows. He was the last director of the Pannonia club. I was afraid if we did interview him it would have been a lot like the Elvira interview with no real information about Piller. But this gentleman backed out.

Haggis finally called former Mrs. Dan Magay. She also declined our interview request citing she didn't have much Piller information and only got to know him briefly here in the United States. She escaped from Hungary in 1956, too. Although to tie it all together, Piller did give her away at the wedding when she married Mr. Magay.

So, it's going to be slow going until Monday and the Magay interview. Then it is off to Ashland to interview the man who was supposed to take over Piller's legacy.
As a matter of fact, my anger does keep me warm

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#19
The meeting with the man crush went well. He had lots of great ideas to spend the money he gave us. I guess we should have asked for more money to satisfy his requirements. He is off on a vacation so he doesn't want to hear anything from us until September, which is good?

Had lunch with DM on the way back from Berkeley. It's always nice to score a free lunch. Probably good have spent the afternoon in Claim Jumpers if only waitress had been hotter and we had grow toys to put in our glasses of water.

I spent the afternoon starting to do the research on finding interpreters and drivers in Hungary. I'm happy to say there is enough money in the budget to actually cover those expenses.

For some reason I popped awake at 2am to thing about the things I need to do.

I was happy to get an email back from Budapest with some good news. Dr. Colonel Mr. Vilmos Kovacs (That's how his letter head reads) of the military history museum sent me a letter stating he had a lot of pictures and memorabilia in his collection about Piller, including the gold medal he won at the 1932 Olympics. He also sent a rate sheet on how much it would cost to use it. The word is cheap.

Later this morning, I'm going to an LED light manufacturer to look at their kits. I need a 220 kit to take to Hungary.
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#20
(06-24-2016, 09:47 AM)Greg Wrote: Probably good have spent the afternoon in Claim Jumpers if only waitress had been hotter and we had grow toys to put in our glasses of water.

Wasn't it a waiter and wasn't he a little sweet on you?  That's why I short changed him.  So jelly.  Had to put him in his place.

Good to hear things are cheap and within budget.  

My house in Budapest

My hidden treasure chest
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#21
First off my proofreading blows. But that's not news. Yes, our waiter was a big boy instead of a ninjette. And if he had been sweet on me, my iced tea glass would never have run dry.

Quote:My house in Budapest


Shouldn't that be 'Miles from Budapest'?
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#22
Not even a little.

I did hear that song on the way to KFM yesterday.
As a matter of fact, my anger does keep me warm

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#23
(06-24-2016, 12:56 PM)Greg Wrote: First off my proofreading blows. But that's not news. Yes, our waiter was a big boy instead of a ninjette. And if he had been sweet on me, my iced tea glass would never have run dry.

Quote:My house in Budapest


Shouldn't that be 'Miles from Budapest'?

Good point on the ice tea carafe.  I bet if we fluttered our eyelashes, he would have broke policy and left it with us.

I poached that lyric off the web for accuracy.  Let me know if you need another Elvira pic to de-worm your ear.
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#24
We shot today in San Francisco.

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#25
[Image: giphy.gif]
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#26
[Image: tumblr_m2yphkAS6m1qzr8nao1_500.gif]
I'm nobody's pony.
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#27
Friday I went to a light manufacturer. Not a company that does light manufacturing, but actually makes lights. They run on batteries. They run on 220. I need them.

But they were a little unclear on the leaving on Monday, would really like a price post-haste concept. They did give me a quote at the end of the day, but for some reason it was more expensive than if I had bought all the same items in a kit. Still waiting for answer to that conundrum.

And that was it for Friday. Lots of wandering the house. Lots of emails to Hungary. Lots of reading about Hungary in World War 2. 

Saturday felt like a real film day. I got up at the crack of dawn to grab Haggis and head for the city.

Our first stop was at the old Pannonia Club, where Piller taught, on the corner of Polk and Turk. To make things interesting, I was going to fly the drone around the building. Couldn't find any rules against it but I'm sure they are there. I found a place kitty corner to the former California Hall, former German Hall, current Art Institute Building. Yes, the Federal Building was right behind me. What could go wrong? The club was on the top floor under the eaves. Haggis also talked fondly about a Rathskeller restaurant in the basement.

For a change, nothing did. Traffic was light around us. There wasn't much pedestrian traffic. We did have to wait for about twenty minutes for light to hit the building. When it did, it was really nice. I flew all over. The club was on the top floor under the eaves. Haggis also talked fondly about a Rathskeller restaurant in the basement. The only really way to shoot that floor was either from the roof opposite (The Embassy Hotel, which had a lot of signs for trains to White Chapel around the bottom) or use the drone.

Turned the drone and got some shots of City Hall, which looked nice in the rising sun. The only thing that would have made it better is if the blinds over the windows to that floor had been raised and I could have peeked in with the camera to see what the old club looked like now.

While I did have the drone in the air, four cop cars and four ambulances drove by. They never slowed. Haggis was a little worried that we would get caught up the preparation for the Gay Pride Parade. They were already blocking off streets around us. But, again, no problem.

I did shoot some regular video from the DSLR on the sticks. Shot about five shots before I realized something was wrong with framing. At some point, I must have turned automatic ISO on and changed the cropping to DX format from full format. What does that all mean? It means I had to go and reshoot all my original shots. Didn't take long.

Our next stop was Fort Point to do the Golden Gate Bridge. It was spectacular. Clear blue skies. Surfers riding the waves just off the point. Ships drifting under the bridge. Good times.

Except for the jogger who stopped and asked if we were flying a drone. I said yes. He said you know you are in a National Park and can't fly drones in a National Park, right? I did know. Damn. My rejoinder was that yes, we were in a National Park, the drone, which was probably a half mile away from us over the water, was not in the National Park. He said good luck.

Well, this conversation spooked the Haggis and he called for an end to the drone flight. I reluctantly brought the drone back. But I think I got some good stuff.

We took the DSLR all the way to the point to film the surfers and container ships going under the bridge. I don't think I got any  good surfer footage because the surfers kept missing the waves. Stupid surfers.

We stopped in the Marina on Pierce street to film Piller's San Francisco home. There wasn't any parking so Doug waited in the car in a semi-legal spot while I filmed. 


It was a bit awkward filming the house since the drapes on the house were wide open. I kept waiting for the current occupants to look out the window and wonder what that strange man was doing taking pictures of their house?

I also had my first near catastrophe of the day. I was crossing the street to set up a new shot. I was leaving the camera and video recorder attached to the tripod as I moved such a short distance. I had just put the sticks down when the video recorder came loose from the hot shoe. I made a quick grab for it as it plummeted to the ground. I nabbed it before there was any damage.

Naturally my sudden lunge caused the tripod and camera to start to fall away from me in the opposite direction. With the video recorder in one hand, I managed to grab the camera before it could become just so many broken pieces on the ground. Cat like reflexes, I tell you.

When I told the story to Haggis, he remarked I really need a helper. I can already see the Queen jumping up and down in agreement.

Our final stop was the Holy Cross cemetery in Colma to see Piller's grave. Haggis was a little impressed when I set up the slider to do some dolly shots near the stone. I also flew the drone over the cemetery since our area was deserted. Unfortunately, I couldn't get a straight track right over the stone.Just enough wind to be a problem. Or the spirits weren't happy with the noise. 

I probably flew too many sorties, because eventually Haggis said "It's just a rock, Greg" Okay. Carried away. Moving on

We finished our morning with second breakfast at Auntie Em's. No sign of Toto.
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#28
My parents were supposed to be gone for the weekend, leaving me in peace. But because I tried to kill my mother by leaving windows open during the heatwave, they stayed home. I also got to witness the after-effects of spontaneous diarrhea. 

The morning birthday breakfast in the Cruz almost negated the effects of the birthday dinner with the parents. My mother did gift me by not attending dinner at Hong Fu's because of her ongoing bronchitis battle. Thankfully, I didn't have to pretend I was having a good time in her presence. Nor did I have to do the thing I hate most which is the after dinner fortune cookie reading. It's amazing my mother's ability to ruin even the lightest moments.

But I digress.

Monday was Magay day. For some reason HK does not believe in the power of maps and my ability to find places on these maps. His plan was to meet up near Mr. Magay's house and then caravan through the maze of streets to the hidden location. I balked and said I would just meet him at the house. He told me 'Good Luck'.

So, the morning started poorly. I show up at the house and proceed to unload the car. HK decides it is more important to talk Mr. Magay than to help unload the gear mountain from my car. Even better, the both of them decide to chat right where I need to set up the equipment. Since they aren't helping, I move them to another room. In my mind, it should be set up first, chat second.

These are in the moment impression. I haven't gone back and reviewed the recordings for content, only for sound and picture quality. Mr. Magay didn't have a lot of great stories or anecdotes about Piller. It could be he just isn't a great story teller. Plus, I think I killed him with the list of questions I generated for HK. I spent a lot of time trying to get to the roots of how he learned Sabre and his early teachers. By the time we got to the Piller questions, I think he was done. Plus, I am asking him to come up with stories from 50 years ago. If I had to come up with stories from 50 years ago, they would be about my mother's womb. And nobody wants those stories.

Technically, a lot of the video shots came out soft, a hair fuzzy. Curse me. My batteries kept dying and I think when I would pop in the news ones, I would shift focus just a hair. Fortunately, I shot two cameras and while the shots are soft in one, they are a little crisper in others. I'll kick myself more in September when I'm sorting all the footage.

Tuesday, I loaded the car and headed to Oregon to the Charles Selberg Institute. Probably better known as Mr. Headley's million dollar cabin in the woods. It's really nice. Since I wasn't filming John McDougall until Wednesday, I did a leisurely set up of the equipment. I got to make sure everything was nice and pretty. After that, I spent the time hanging out. I walked down to the Buddhist retreat center with the drone and flew around. As I walked down the railroad tracks. I must have spooked at least eight deer all sleeping in the shade.

HK showed up with enough food for the week. I had brought leftovers from the house, too. So, yet again, too much food. HK's friend Deborah Allen showed up for a sleep over. It was hard to get a word in edgewise with her. Eventually, I gave up and went up to my closet, slash bedroom. It is the only room that has a door. It now also sports a sleeping couch, so I'm no longer on a cushion on the floor. The only problem is the ridge of metal that rides down the center of the bed.

Wednesday was John McDougall day. McDougall actually took lessons from Piller when he first came to San Francisco. At one point Piller was teaching McDougall and Selberg how to teach Piller's methods of Sabre Fencing. Unfortunately, those notes have long been misplaced.

The interview was going along swimmingly. McDougall seemed to have given a lot of thought to his memories of Piller. McDougall does have a lot of stories, the problem is getting them out of him. Again, he is in his eighties. But he was giving good stuff. Right up until the time he called for a break. He was feeling a bit odd and needed some food. HK ran from the salle where we were shooting to get some bread.

By the time HK came back, McDougall was stretched out on the floor covered with sweat. Fortunately, Deborah is a nurse and took over. She checked his pulse. Wiped his fevered brow. McDougall said he was having a sugar crash. He had had them before but never to this extent.

It took McDougall about 30 minutes to recover. In my selfish way, I thought this might be the end of the interview. But he rallied and wanted to complete the conversation. He kept telling us talking about fencing was one of his favorite things to do. While McDougall regained his composure, Deborah started peppering him with fencing questions herself. Hey! We are up here to ask the questions. Let's not wear him out with your foolishness, woman. I was not in a very positive frame of mind towards Deborah despite her care of Mr. McDougall.

Well, we finished the interview and John quickly departed. There was a plan for HK to do some fencing with John's driver, Duncan. But I think McDougall was worn out and it was time to go. There was a weird scene between Deborah and Duncan about who was going to take McDougall home. Deborah wanted to do it so Duncan could stay and fence. But it was weird. Both cars left together.

If I had given it more thought, I could have planned to travel back to the Bay Area right then. But I didn't and spent a rather boring afternoon hanging around the cabin. Part of the problem was I had a lot of energy to do things on the internet and not a very good internet connection.

Popped awake at 3:30am and got in my car to drive home. It was a ten hour jaunt to Los Angeles. Oddly, both HK and I had breakfast at the same Black Bear diner, only 3 hours apart. I was only 4 miles from my house when I ran into the accident on the 5. It added an additional 45 minutes to the trip.

Friday I prepped the Queen on her duties for Saturday. HK wasn't coming down for the interview so the Queen was taking his place. She was not having a good time with the Hungarian names.

Saturday, I interviewed Dan DeChaine at his home in Claremont. My excellent planning got us there way to early. But Mr. Dechaine was very gracious about it, meeting us in the driveway to invite us in. He took the interview seriously, going so far as to dress in a suit. My favorite touch were his Olympic Ring adorned socks.

Mr. DeChaine was sporting a massive gouge in his head,too. Never did get around to asking him how it happened. I'm already of thinking of ways to digitally cover that up in post.

Mr. DeChaine has some great stories, but not as much information about Piller as I could hope. A lot of these people were just catching Piller at the end of his career and can't give me a lot of substance about his youth and formative years. Despite that, Mr. Dechaine told us a lot of great stuff. I got the gruesome story about Smirnov's death. I got two fine stories about D'Asaro, including one about cheating at the Olympics. Unfortunately it is full of factual inaccuracies. But it is a good story. Best of all, I think I got him in focus.

I spent the July Fourth holiday not sleeping as Maeve feared for her life from the constant fireworks noises. She would come to the side of the bed where I was trying to go to sleep and hit me in the head with her sharp paws. 

Tuesday, I resumed work. I spent a good four hours balancing the books for all the expenditures. I uploaded film to the Hard Drives. I bought more gear. I played with the new battery powered Lighting Kit I bought. It was cheaper to buy it online than direct from the manufacturer.

At this point, I'm trying to finalize the details for Budapest, too. I'm close to getting our car and driver, but it seems like it takes two to three days to get an email response. I'm having the same problem with the translator. I send emails out and I hear nothing for a week. 

But Mr. Derek Cotton has put me in touch with one of his friends he thinks he can help the project. He is on the FIE board and he is a director of the IMF. So, not a lot of clout.

On Saturday, I'm interviewing a friend of Piller's from San Francisco, Mr. Frank Iszak. Iszak is also Hungarian and escaped from Hungary about 5 months before the uprising. His big claim to fame is that he was part of the first plane hijacking ever. Yes, he was the hijacker. I don't know how much he knows about Piller's exploits, but I'm hoping he knows everything. Hope and springs and eternal. Yep. Although, in his defense, Iszak did write a book about his hijacking experiences so I'm hoping he might have a few stories to tell.

That will be the last West Coast Interview. Next Friday, I'm loading up the Nissan Quest and heading to NYC for more interviews. The closer I get to that point, the less sleep I'm planning on getting.
As a matter of fact, my anger does keep me warm

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#29
I constantly get people derailing my interviews so you have my sympathy there. Did I tell you about a recent interview I had where Gigi kept translating the English into different English? I had to tell her to stop repeatedly. That was for the Wu Amin push hands article in the last issue. 

And there is nothing more frustrating than hitting traffic when close to home after a long drive.

This DOOMtale is like fencing trenches, only with more schadenfreude.
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#30
FYI, there is a Wu Amin vid up from TCEC 2016
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