Give Me the Barrel

Give Me the Barrel

The year was 1998.

The place was a bend in the Yellow River, just south of Porterdale, about 40 miles east of Atlanta.

The movie was False River, a film best viewed while intoxicated, being savaged by weasels or in the throes of a malarial fever dream.

We had just returned to work after a weekend of torrential rain and the river was high. Really, really high.

Remarkably high.

Dark shapes keep appearing along the top of the churning, rock-strewn rapids then slipping below again.

Those were turtle heads.

Snapping Turtle heads to be precise…. and they were everywhere.

Dozens of them covered the width of the Continue Reading

Highway To Glidden

Have Roller Will TravelHave you ever been watching a car chase movie and thought to yourself “Gee, there sure are a lot of skidmarks on the road…” just as one of the onscreen vehicles slams on its brakes and goes into a mad spin? I personally never gave car chase continuity a thought until after I’d worked on a wreck of a movie named “Black Dog“, back in 1997.
Continue Reading

Scene 144 (night)

Scene 144 (night)Ahhh, good old Scene 144 (night). You’re the one that really gave me a headache. The one that came back to bite me in the ass. The one that made Denzel Washington scold me like a schoolboy. Yeah, I’m talking about you Scene 144 (night).
Continue Reading

A Lot of Questions

The following is an email that I sent out to the list back in mid-March, just now making it onto the website.

“Do you miss it?”
I keep hearing that question echo through my mind.

“Are you coming back?”
We all know that very few get away clean.

*Do* I miss it? More than you know.
The water-slicked streets, the low background rumble of city traffic, the electric jolt of adrenaline knowing that your next decision could affect billions of people around the world.

Am I coming back? Eventually. Somehow. I have to.
Continue Reading