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So difficult to keep up with the times … life is a live experience …

Yesterday was BSMXXII.

Beachmont Frank and Other Derek joined. Here’s a profound clip:

… and this morning’s ablution:

Oh yes, and there’s already talk of the forthcoming Extensions Saturday ..,

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So much to report, so little time. This video has many related elements:

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The last photograph of the labyrynth:

… of 2020.

Be nice to have 20/20 in the hindsight.

Yesterday’s Full moon.

My new lighting option:

Pretty nice, right?

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Got to spend some holiday car time with Brother Jerome. Driving between Porter Square and Allston and back again. Digging the jazz Christmas of Jimmy Smith, Duke Pearson, Bobby Timmons, and Kenny Burrell.

Returning to his parking lot for these numbers to land the ship:Joy and Celebration manifest indeed!

Photographic evidence:

The Good Times

Now Today

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First we began with The Haverhast Ceremony:

Here is what we paced to:

Pretty nice, right?

Here is a film of the event:

The Good Times.

… how the final film of the evening related to the first?

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In these unprecedented times we have, of course, an unprecedented announcement.

We have our first:

Triple Crown Winner

Yes, you read that correctly.

Haverhast XI goes to:

“When the Alarm Goes Off”

Honourable Mention:

Holly Mulone as Tomothy’s companion in the above mentioned work.

The Saint’s Choice:

Frank Mulone for the score in his film.

Never before has a film in our series made my eyes well. A stunning achievement!
Yes, tears have come via fits of laughter, but never from the bittersweet fountain of poignancy.

Thank you Frank.

And congratulations! Another achievement unlocked: he gets to maintain possession of the trophy!

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Pandemic, isolation, anxiety, guns, alcohol, and the lure of self-harm. Welcome to “20 effing 20”. Now on to my reviews.Extensions II: Victory (2020 Version)
Interesting time capsule. It was an entertaining glimpse into the lives of several of the Extensions stalwarts 34 years prior to Today. Ah, youth…The band rehearsal footage was good fun. The final segment was disturbing with its Columbine-esque ending. Bone chilling actually.

The First Tasting
Good to see The Gourmand Society moving on from cannibalism to other foodstuffs. I detected a subtext on today’s obsession with photographing food for FaceGram and InstaBook fodder. Poor Gordon Stacks didn’t get the memo about being present and experiencing the rare “Fromage de luné”in the moment. His agonizing yelps had to be muted while we watched him helplessly flail about, condemned to see the prized morsel before him evaporate just out of his grasp. A cautionary tale to be sure. Special thanks to Vlindinhauer for liberally using my musical cues throughout the film. It should be noted that they were all written without the benefit of screening the film. 

Sea Peoples
A stellar film in so many ways. I had more questions than answers at the film’s conclusion, but that’s part of what I loved about it. Each viewing provides more insight and more queries. The naturalistic acting by the entire cast gave this film a quasi-documentary feel. Excellent cinematography, score, and performances. Will we see a companion piece to this film sometime in the future? I hope so. There’s so much content yet to be explored. 
The Sleep Demon
This claustrophobic little gem grabbed me and shook me! I’ve heard several tales of sleep paralysis from my nephew and this short captured his description of it vividly. Shades of “The Babadook”. 
The Will
I understood this to be a Zen parable. In English the Buddhist word Nirvana literally means “to blow out” or “extinguish”. “The Will” depicts four participants in a Zoom meeting gathered for their fifth annual Russian Roulette ritual. Talk about the potential for a blow out! Three of the four men appear to outwardly embrace the act while The Preceptor (played by yours truly) is a skeptic who no longer wishes to play along but seems bound by an irrevocable pact. Gregory Silver speaks of how cheating Death only makes one feel more alive. He, however, has his affairs in order should it be his turn to reach the ultimate state of nothingness. Stories and grievances are aired and many toasts are offered before it’s time to spin the cylinders and pull the triggers. What this film lacks in cinematography it more than makes up for with writing and character study.

On the Transmigration of Marjorie Nolan
A welcome desert after the heavy main course. Very funny and a much needed breather.
The Tasting
Same setup as “The First Tasting” but with a wholly different outcome. Did The Count feign a deadly seizure in order to spur the three participants into rushing to his home to snag the remaining moon cheese? Or was he truly incapacitated by one of his turns? We may never know. All I know is no good can come of this! What fate awaits the first to arrive and attempt to steal The Count’s “Fromage de luné”? Perhaps further episodes will tell… Great makeup and special effects in both tasting films. 
When The Alarm Goes Off
This was truly harrowing stuff and, as a creative type myself, a situation I can relate to. F2’s film captures the fear of a blank canvas/page so well. Factor in the isolation bought on by a pandemic and throw in lots of alcohol and you have a recipe for disaster. The cinematography was top-notch, as was the score and the acting. The film-within-a-film injected much needed comic relief. The malevolent little creature that goads the artist into creating his ultimate masterpiece could have been more mysterious. Maybe shrouded in shadow or translucence? Solid film score and use of narration. Great job all around.
The Realization
A satisfying finale to the evening’s festivities. Frank as a MAGA zealot was hilarious. Cool to see the labyrinth and other seaside footage. Nicely edited and scored too. 
girl with the most cake What a shame this wasn’t screened as part of the official festival. An intense short that captured so many 2020 emotions. A leather jacket, a knife, a cake, and barely contained rage combined with the B&W and pink palette gave this film a punk rock sensibility. A brave and bold statement.
2020Another offering from Cherry Maraschino that captured the zeitgeist of a pretty shitty year. Even the adorable Pepper transforms into a wolf like creature in the final frames. Can’t wait to see more from her.

My nomination for The Haverhast: Sea Peoples

When the Alarm Goes Off was a close second.

Victory: 2020 Version

Another great collage of the past. I always enjoy these pictures as they serve as puzzle pieces to the current ‘Now Today Society.’ I was happy to see your old A.V. Teacher appear, and the finale certainly drove home the early ideal ‘Art-horror’ you continue to strive for.

The First Tasting

Part 1 of what I consider the “Zoom Dialogue Trilogy’ of the night. I’m curious as to where the Count exists in the timeline and what his presence might mean for the future of the society, since we the audience know where several of the characters’ stories end. (Or do they!?) Happy to see Steven Ghostly and Rhy’s Terrible back to their old tricks. Since the trilogy is predominantly stationary, I find the characters’ physical movements to take on more importance, and to me Gordon Stacks immobilized on his back was perhaps the most apt metaphor for 2020. MUTED.

Sea Peoples Despite the covid restrictions I was happy with the way the film turned out. No longer living by the ocean has given me a bit of nostalgia for Winthrop and Sea Peoples draws upon that. Big thanks to all those involved. I hope that this film can join the ranks of previous Extensions Saturday ‘sea-centric’ classics such as Herr O’s ‘Sea Virus: Pilot’ and Mr. Y’s “The Black Curse of the Seagull’s Seashell.”

2020 & Girl with the Most CakeGreat experimental work by Cherry Marashino. I was really lucky to have her deliver a pitch perfect voice cameo for Sea Peoples and I look forward to more of her films in the future!

The Will

The 2nd of the Zoom Dialogue Trilogy, The Will wields silence to its great benefit, creating tension throughout. Was happy to see the Professor, Herr O, Blim and Vlindenhauer duel it out through the dialectic dance Reek Crudely choreographed. As a sort of meta-commentary on the Gourmand Society, I assume that this is a seperate faction of the society – they share the same slogan, but their gruesome ritual is less cannibalistic and more determined by chance…or is it?

Sleep Demon & On the Transmigration of Marjorie NolanTwo quaint pieces from Reek Crudely serve as a perfect sinew between the heavier works on the night. Always amazed by the animation Reek puts together and having been privy to his bodily sound effects for years I find them to be perfectly suited for the Transmigration.

The Tasting

The 3rd film of the Zoom Dialogue Trilogy. I enjoyed participating in this work and was happy to revisit Navin Tickwillis. The presence of Count Vrahalyse again infers some kind of intergalactic coordination by he and Stephen Ghostly. What does the moon cheese mean for the Gourmand Society, and more importantly, how does this affect the later events of the Haverhast winner two years ago? With that type of twist ending, baited by the Count, and Navin’s potential murderous intentions, new things have come to light!

When The Alarm Goes Off

F2 once again delivers for this year’s Extensions Saturday. Somehow able to execute both comedy and horror in single sentences, I’m once again blown away by the special effects Frank is able to so deftly intertwine with his self-reflexive narrative. His own personal war on drugs continues, but this time I feel a sense of completion. The projector sequence not only wows the senses, but examines the past of F2 and potentially signals towards and future. And the future looks…limitless!

Realization

Another great finale that explores the absolutions Vlindenhauer and friends have experienced over the course of this tough year and the Political Frank skit at the end was a cherry on top of a grim but hopeful sundea.

Final Reflection:Cheers to all the participants! I’m curious about the recurring and unintentional theme of guns that were scattered throughout the line up. Maybe the media has something to do with it.