Fifteen Childhood Vignettes
Fifteen Childhood Vignettes - In other words, using Sora AI (with all its many limitations) to bring to cinematic life things I actually did as a kid. Sora doesn't let me put my features into these - so you get a bunch of different-looking kids. All of these took place in Burbank, California.
1. 1965, Scrubbing. On the last day of 4th grade the word went out on the schoolyard that the 6th graders were waiting were lying in wait for us to scrub our faces with lipstick. When the bell rang, I ran out of the school for a good block or so just to make sure I didn't get scrubbed! Like many such stories originating from the schoolyard, this didn't happen. And I learned a lesson about scuttlebutt.
2. 1965, Huffing. Yes, I once huffed whipped cream from the can in a store (Spector's down the street from me) , and was caught by Don Spector. I had to pay for the can, 49 cents.
3. 1965, Neighborhood picketing. A softball wound up in an old man's backyard and he refused to give it back. The neighborhood boys organized a picket line. I saw this from my bicycle on the street but did not take part.
4. 1966, the Death of Ferro Lad. My very first experience with death - a literary superhero. It's all movingly described HERE.
5. 1965, Smushing pennies. Very unsafe but I did it. Those freight trains were terrifying when they roared down the tracks; I was much further away than Sora has it. We had a railroad line about two blocks away from where I lived.
6. 1966 Spy Club. I found an old radio, wrote "SAC" on it ("Secret Agents Club") and put it in a hidden spot under some eucalyptus trees on my neighbor's yard. Explained HERE.
7. 1967 Chimney climb. We had a house with a chimney where the concrete oozed between the bricks just enough for me to get a finger hold and a toe hold on them. (Sora badly interpreted this.) I could actually climb all the way up to the chimney and did this many times.
8. 1967, Sports. I couldn't be less interested in sports and as a consequence I was always the last one picked for teams. I wasn't athletic at all. My first-ever team sport was with rugby at age 42!
9. 1968, Tetherball pop. My friend hit it hard and I let it fly into a sharp pencil. Why? Why not? Yes, I got into trouble. But it was funny to watch. I could be a destructive kid.
10. 1968, Flushing a basketball. The urinal in the boys room extended all the way to the ground. I was cheerfully yanking on the flush handle when the janitor came in, saw me, and said, "You bastard." Mom had always pronounced it "bastid," so my very first thought was, "Oh, is THAT how it's pronounced?"
11. 1968, Blood oath. Richard Springer and I got the idea from reading Huckleberry Finn or Tom Sawyer when we were twelve. We pricked our fingers using a pin and signed an oath never to reveal the meeting spot with our blood - but Sora wouldn't let me depict that. The whole story is HERE.
12. 1968, Shopping cart ride. Viki, the girl across the street, loved these. As I was a strong twelve year-old, I actually had her flying in a circle so fast the cart lifted off the wheels! The story is here HERE.
13. 1968, Haunted House. Richard Springer and I once got out of our houses at midnight and roamed around the neighborhood. We visited a place that we were sure was a haunted house. It looked derelict. We were caught by a lady with a flashlight who told us to go home. The story is HERE.
14. 1968, Epic Sting Ray bike ride. Circumnavigating Lockheed's B-1 plant was only about 2.6 miles; I felt like I accomplished a great thing. Nowadays I still have fun doing things like this on my Harley!
15. 1969, Tough girls. They used to hang out at a place my mother hilariously called "Hotsy Alley." I used to see them when I walked home from Luther Burbank Junior High School. I found them simultaneously repulsive and attractive. They all wore U.S. Navy surplus pea coats which were very popular back then. That story is HERE.
Note: I tried posting this video to YouTube, but it was automatically deleted because it violated their community rules against showing youth being put into dangerous situations. What dangerous situation was YouTube objecting to? Was it putting pennies on a railroad track? The shopping cart ride down the middle of a street? Perhaps huffing whipped cream topping? Tough girls smoking cigarettes? No, it was the oath sequence! You figure it out - I can't.