Travel / Willard Suitcases Documentary / St Crispin’s Day
Yesterday morning I drove out to Ithaca to begin work on the suitcases documentary that I am working on with Peter Carroll and Deborah Hoard.
After a quick lunch at the Lincoln Street Diner, Peter and I drove up to Willard to shoot some B-roll in the Cemetery.
It is a special place to visit in so many ways. When I took this photograph, the smell of mint was intense. It seemed odd that it was so healthy this late in the year.
We are in the beginning stages of figuring out how to document my work with the suitcases. The point of this early filming is to to create a short piece that will help us raise funds. We will probably run another Kickstarter campaign, which I expect will be up in the early part of next year.
It was a beautiful day on the lake. Chilly and breezy, which is to be expected in late October. I can’t emphasize enough what an amazing spot this is. The fact that 5,776 former Willard patients are buried here makes for an emotional experience.
With the help and encouragement of the wonderful Peggy Ellsworth and Craig Williams, we were given access to the Romulus Historical Society to film the interview today. It worked out really well (even though the heat is currently off in the building).
Peter is a genius in setting up lighting for interviews. This is a frame grab from the video. I am looking a bit stern in this shot, but I do smile from time to time. It was a really productive day and I was reminded of how great it is to work with Peter and Deb.
The historical society has a few suitcases that for some reason never made it into the main collection in Albany. It was nice to be able to use them in the setup.
I have driven past this winterized travel trailer on Route 96 repeatedly and finally stopped to take a few photos. I love how the little wheels are covered too!
Today is St. Crispin’s Day. I usually try to drink a load of Cognac to assist me in feeling a connection to the French and English soldiers who died at the battle of Agincourt. If this post is a bit wordy, I’ll blame it on the bottle of Hennessy that seems to be emptying at a rather steady pace. Check out the amazing Olivier in the 1944 version of Shakespeare’s Henry V.
Thanks for following. Be well.
Spikes
When I was in high school, I played soccer. I spent alot of time practicing on fields very much like the ones near the UMASS football stadium. We were coached by Mr Shuster, who was from eastern Massachusetts and had a very heavy New England accent. His favorite expression was “Can of corn!” which was his catch-all phrase for something that was supposed to be really easy. At the end of the season he told me that I was the only player that he ever coached that started the early games on the first team and ended up the season not even traveling to the final away game. I never fully understood what I had done wrong to be demoted so far, and he didn’t seem interested in explaining his logic. It was an early example for me of having someone in a position of authority assuming I knew what was going on when I hadn’t a clue. Anyway, I had fun playing. When Pearl and I were walking across the rugby pitch yesterday I looked down and saw these spike marks in the muddy grass and it brought back a flood of memories. / Today is St. Crispin’s Day. I like the Olivier version best. Check it out. It still gives me chills.
Jon Crispin's Notebook 
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