"Salemia" intro looks more interesting than Salem

Ever since I heard about this video production I've been excited about "Salemia," our capital city's response to "Portlandia," a television series about Oregon's metropolitian centerpiece of hip, sustainable, cutting-edge coolness.

Which doesn't describe Salem in the slightest.

Our convention center attracts groups like Center for the Enthusiastic Appreciation of Paint Drying. The most frequent diagnosis at the Salem Hospital E.R. is acute episode of Chronic Boredom Syndrome.

But we do have some talented film makers in the personages of Mike Perron and David Jenkins, who recently teased our Salemia-starved appetite with a one minute intro to the production.

 

I like it.

And I'm not saying that because I appear for a whole three seconds, from 0:19 to 0:21, though this fact admittedly does have some bearing on me being responsible for a healthy share of the current crop of You Tube views (most of the rest likely coming from the computers of Perron and Jenkins).

Way back in the '60s, Andy Warhol talked about how everybody would be entitled to fifteen minutes of fame. Given how things have speeded up, three seconds seems closer to the truth.

So this could be mine. Guess I need to milk it as much as possible.

If "Salemia" ever becomes the huge cinematic success that it deserves (though probably the history of artistic expression will look more kindly upon the production if it becomes longer than one minute and one second), students of this genre will discuss every moment of the Salemia Intro in excruciating detail.

Thus for posterity I shall offer up some revealing insights into my actor frame of mind after I was given a brilliant directorial instruction by Mike Perron, "why don't you go rummage through that trash can?"

In my middle-class life I haven't done much rummaging through public trash cans. So for inspiration I had to draw upon the times my wife has said, "I hope you didn't throw away that piece of paper that's been sitting around for a long time. It's really important."

However, upon lifting the lid I immediately realized that this receptacle on the Capitol Mall contained different stuff from our home trash can. Most obviously, a lot of McDonald's debris.

The photo above captured a moment of hesitation which likely is an accurate reflection of choices faced daily by actual transients. There's quite a bit left in this milkshake container; should I suck it out through the straw?

Art intersected with reality. I was torn between an impetus for Cinéma vérité and a desire to not get a nasty stomach bug. In the end I foreswore the straw, in part because I only like vanilla milkshakes and wasn't sure what flavor was in the container.

There's much more I could say about those three seconds. But too much explication of fine art detracts from the je ne sais quoi which is just about all the French I know, and so feels great to squeeze into a blog post whenever I can.

Here's another Salemia-related video from Perron and Jenkins. These guys have a great sense of humor.

 

Comments

[Frank Haynes]

WOW! That was a great "bit" of acting, you were really into character because even knowing you I could tell it was you!? Can I have your autograph next time we meet??

[Blogger Brian]

Frank, sure. But beyond an autograph, you might want to purchase some fan memorabilia that probably soon will be for sale. I'm waiting to confirm that my fan base soars beyond the current total of... well, it looks like two: you and me.

[Stan]

Dude, I like that you're a prolific blogger and that you lean to the left (you're backwards on things concerning gender though), but your constant negative remarks towards Salem will lead me to removing your blog from my RSS list. It's really old. Get a new schtick. It makes you lame. Who wants to read about an ol' guy who sh*ts on where he lives every chance he gets?

[Blogger Brian]

Stan, the most interesting thing to do in Salem is to complain about how uninteresting Salem is. Seriously. You can't take away an old man's last joy. Please -- leave me with one of my greatest pleasures: blogging about how little pleasure there is in living in Salem.

[Willie R]

I'm thinking that all of that radiation from Fukushima will shortly be making things very interesting in your neck of the woods. Oh wait...maybe it's confined to Washington and Canada....

[cc]

Watching that video, I noted how my reaction to those two guys at my door would have been, "Who are these two thugs"?

I then realized that this is an old person's reaction to thirty-something guys who, in trying to look like cool, calculating anthropods to each other, happen to look thug-like to older people.

My theory is that because they grew up with computers, they try to emulate that impersonal rationality by eschewing all affectation.