John Fischer's Philadelphia
Vol. 1 - Number 35 - 08/16/99
Did you ever have one of those weekends from hell? I should have known things were going to be crazy when I fell dead asleep Friday night in the living room at something like 8:15 p.m.. The next thing I recall is waking up at about 2:00 a.m. with lightening, thunder and rain pounding against the house. While I proceeded to wander the house for the next two hours, wide awake, my wife slept through it all.
Saturday afternoon we were invited to a pool party/barbecue held by one of my wife's business associates. The afternoon was hot and a bit muggy, so I sat by the pool with my feet in the water. Everything was fine until a big wave washed over the side of the pool, soaking the bottom of my pants. All would have worked out well, had the sun stayed out and I had a chance to dry.
Unfortunately, however, what was supposed to be an outside party suddenly was forced inside due to another torrential thunderstorm, far worse than the one the prior night. It's not easy to stand around in someone's home for three hours trying to make sure your butt is always facing a wall.
As I was standing pondering how wet and uncomfortable I felt, it suddenly occurred to me that surely I did not leave the sunroof open in my car back home. I even made a quick joking mention of it to my wife, but I suppose believing that I could not have possibly been that stupid, I wiped the thought almost immediately from my mind.
The party broke up at around 7:00 p.m. and we drove home in what was by then just a slight drizzle. I parked Eileen's car and proceeded to walk past my car towards the front door. As I opened the door to the front porch, I turned around to see Eileen standing next to my car with her arm extended right through the open sun-roof.
It's amazing how much water can get into a car through an open sun-roof. I put my keys in the ignition and closed the sunroof. We proceeded to do some mopping for a while, hoping that a nice day on Sunday would let nature handle the final drying.
Sunday morning was a bit overcast and there were forecasts for a possible afternoon shower. I got dressed and decided to open my car windows and sunroof. After a few minutes searching for my set of car keys I borrowed Eileen's set and proceeded to my car, only to discover my set of keys still in the ignition and no power in the battery.
It's not easy to jump the first car in a driveway using the car parked behind it. It requires some repositioning which is not easy, particularly when you need to roll the dead car down a steep drive towards the street. But, I was able to jump my car, pull it back up the drive, turn on the heater and begin the drying process.
After the battery had recharged, I turned off the engine and went into the house, leaving the windows and sun-roof open to allow for further drying. Needless to say, the afternoon shower appeared at 10:30 a.m. A mad dash to the car in the rain, filled with screams of expletives, and I closed the sunroof and windows and came back into the house. Five minutes later I realized I had done it again! The keys were still in the ignition. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.
One of the big topics of discussion at the party on Saturday was the film, The Blair Witch Project. Opinion was very split on the film and extreme in both likes and dislikes. Another friend had already recommended that I see the film, so on Sunday I took the plunge.
Made on a budget of $35,000 The Blair Witch Project has, as of last Monday, grossed in excess of $80,000,000 making it, in terms of profit versus cost, the most successful film of all time.
The film's success is, in large part due to a highly successful website which was live well before the film's premier and a carefully marketed advertising campaign on the internet. I wish I had explored the website in more depth before I had seen the film since it would have made parts of the film much clearer to me, and in fact a bit scarier. Be sure to check out the Timeline of Major Events in the History of Blair Witch.
The film is presented as a documentary, presumably using the actual footage taken by three film students as they attempt to explore the legend of the Blair Witch in the woods of Central Maryland.The style of filming is unique to say the least, and some may find the visual approach of the film more disturbing than the actual content itself.
For me the technique was very effective in creating a sense of realism. In fact, many viewers who do not know about the making of the film have reported believing that they were watching a true story.
The legend of the Blair Witch goes back to February of 1785 when a local resident, Elly Kedward, of the village of Blair is accused by several children of luring them into her home to draw their blood. Kedward is banished from the town and presumed dead in the woods.
By midwinter all of the children who accused Kedward as well as half of the rest of the town's children disappear. The remaining residents flee Blair. In 1824 a new town named Burkittsville is founded on the site of the old town of Blair and over the next two centuries bizarre and disturbing events continue to occur.
It's a totally different approach to film making than you have ever seen before, but it's well worth seeing. Our Guide to Hollywood Movies/Reviews, J. Sperling Reich, has prepared a detailed feature called Fortnight Scores With Blair Witch Project with his review of the film as well as extensive background information.
Well, I learned some things this weekend. When your invited to a pool party, wear a bathing suit if you sit by the pool. If you want a big rain, just hold an outdoor party. It doesn't matter if it hasn't rained in six weeks. It will rain that day. Also, I have learned that sun-roofs are not all that they are cracked up to be. Finally, I learned that there is more than one way to do a good ghost story.
Well, that's my spin on things. What's yours? You can join me in our chat room almost every evening - Philly Chat - or drop me a note at philadelphia.guide@about.com. Also, be sure to check out our new Philadelphia Forum where you can share your comments and feelings, ask questions, post classifieds and much more
If you missed any of our recent columns you can still catch them:
John Fischer's
Philadelphia 08/02/99
John Fischer's Philadelphia 08/04/99
John Fischer's Philadelphia 08/06/99
John Fischer's Philadelphia 08/09/99
John Fischer's Philadelphia 08/12/99
John Fischer's Philadelphia 08/13/99