What's The Issue?
There's a three-person race for selectman in Chatham. The May 17 election is a month away. So far there has been little said about the race, which pits two incumbents, David Whitcomb and Ron Bergstrom, against challenger Leonard Sussman.
During the next few weeks, there will be profiles published and at least one debate, scheduled for May 2 at the Eldredge Public Library. Which issues will come to the fore? Is the town running smoothly, or is there room for improvement? Is the current board too soft on development? Should selectmen push harder for zoning revisions? Did the board bungle the zoning bylaw rewrite?
What do you think should be an issue in this race? What question would you like to ask the candidates?
Post your answers here. We'll link this to The Chronicle's website and try to get a discussion going.
Monday, April 16, 2007
Final Word On 'Chatham'
OK, last post about the movie "Chatham." Really.
A bit more digging today has turned up some more interesting stories about the antics of the film's major actors. Look for a report in this week's Chronicle of a more general nature, but here's some of the stuff that I won't be putting in the paper.
Carradine's little performance at Yellow Umbrella Books was apparently even more sensational than I'd realized. He did make folks buy his "Kill Bill" book before signing copies of "Cap'n Eri." He was (apparently) quite intoxicated. He left a sour taste in many people's mouths.
On Sunday, on his way out of town, Carradine reportedly stopped by The Squire, ordered a drink, and toasted the town. Perhaps that made up for some of his antics. Maybe not.
Carradine was certainly the most colorful cast member. A regular at The Squire, he was never kicked out of the restaurant despite rumors to the contrary. There was an incident early on where he lit up a smoke in the dining room while having dinner with director Dan Adams. When a freaked out waitress appealed to Otis for help, he went in the back and got a fire extinguisher. He went up to the table and told Carradine to put out the smoke (can't remember if it was a cigar or cigarette) or he'd use the extinguisher. "Do you want to die?" Carradine reported. "I figure I can get off one good blast before you can get out from behind that table," Otis replied. A standoff. Tension. Then Carradine caves, and snuffs out the smoke.
Despite all that, Carradine genuinely appears to have invested a lot in this film. He reportedly hired someone to video tape things behind the scene. Perhaps he believes this will be a big acting break for him, getting him out of genre roles and into more mainstream, leading man type roles. At 70, it may be a bit late. But I have to admit the guy has paid his dues (has anyone seen "Sonny Boy" or "Evil Toons" or "Waxworks II?") and does deserve some recognition among larger audiences.
That said, he will be remembered in Chatham. Bruce Dern and Rip Torn were more low-key. Torn was apparently enamored of shellfishing. One story has him totting his clam rake around the set, not because he needed it as a prop but because he didn't want to lose it. Dern was visible but I heard no real scuttlebutt about his off screen activities.
As I mentioned in previous posts, Jason Alan Smith charmed many people with his Southern manners and self-effacing personality. One local shop owner told me that he gave copies of his book of photos to the cast and crew, and only Jason stopped by the store. Smith also attended the memorial service for Wendy Costello, wife of the owner of The Squire, even though he'd only been in town a short time and had only barely met Richard. He's a young guy and has a big, possibly important career ahead of him, and to his credit didn't burn any bridges.
OK, enough about the movie. Read more if you like in this week's paper, where there will also be a story about how the film has boosted, at least locally, the reputation of Joseph C. Lincoln, the long-dead novelists whose book serves as the template for "Chatham."
Next time, I promise to get into some town politics, and will henceforth try to make regular postings and give Chronicle readers an opportunity to sound off about local issues.
OK, last post about the movie "Chatham." Really.
A bit more digging today has turned up some more interesting stories about the antics of the film's major actors. Look for a report in this week's Chronicle of a more general nature, but here's some of the stuff that I won't be putting in the paper.
Carradine's little performance at Yellow Umbrella Books was apparently even more sensational than I'd realized. He did make folks buy his "Kill Bill" book before signing copies of "Cap'n Eri." He was (apparently) quite intoxicated. He left a sour taste in many people's mouths.
On Sunday, on his way out of town, Carradine reportedly stopped by The Squire, ordered a drink, and toasted the town. Perhaps that made up for some of his antics. Maybe not.
Carradine was certainly the most colorful cast member. A regular at The Squire, he was never kicked out of the restaurant despite rumors to the contrary. There was an incident early on where he lit up a smoke in the dining room while having dinner with director Dan Adams. When a freaked out waitress appealed to Otis for help, he went in the back and got a fire extinguisher. He went up to the table and told Carradine to put out the smoke (can't remember if it was a cigar or cigarette) or he'd use the extinguisher. "Do you want to die?" Carradine reported. "I figure I can get off one good blast before you can get out from behind that table," Otis replied. A standoff. Tension. Then Carradine caves, and snuffs out the smoke.
Despite all that, Carradine genuinely appears to have invested a lot in this film. He reportedly hired someone to video tape things behind the scene. Perhaps he believes this will be a big acting break for him, getting him out of genre roles and into more mainstream, leading man type roles. At 70, it may be a bit late. But I have to admit the guy has paid his dues (has anyone seen "Sonny Boy" or "Evil Toons" or "Waxworks II?") and does deserve some recognition among larger audiences.
That said, he will be remembered in Chatham. Bruce Dern and Rip Torn were more low-key. Torn was apparently enamored of shellfishing. One story has him totting his clam rake around the set, not because he needed it as a prop but because he didn't want to lose it. Dern was visible but I heard no real scuttlebutt about his off screen activities.
As I mentioned in previous posts, Jason Alan Smith charmed many people with his Southern manners and self-effacing personality. One local shop owner told me that he gave copies of his book of photos to the cast and crew, and only Jason stopped by the store. Smith also attended the memorial service for Wendy Costello, wife of the owner of The Squire, even though he'd only been in town a short time and had only barely met Richard. He's a young guy and has a big, possibly important career ahead of him, and to his credit didn't burn any bridges.
OK, enough about the movie. Read more if you like in this week's paper, where there will also be a story about how the film has boosted, at least locally, the reputation of Joseph C. Lincoln, the long-dead novelists whose book serves as the template for "Chatham."
Next time, I promise to get into some town politics, and will henceforth try to make regular postings and give Chronicle readers an opportunity to sound off about local issues.
Sunday, April 15, 2007
Star Struck In Chatham
"Chatham" has wrapped filming. The final shots were done early Saturday morning, April 14, and involved the burning of the pool hall that forms one of the film's central plot elements. After the early week filming of numerous scenes in front of the block between the hardware store and Seaview Street, which was dressed to sort of resemble 1905 (see a slideshow of the shoot here), the sand was swept up and the modern signs and awnings were back in place.Ending filming didn't quite end the sort of minor league hysteria that's gripped the town for the past few weeks.
On Saturday afternoon, "Chatham" star David Carradine was slated to hold a book signing downtown. He was late for the 1 p.m. event; word on the street is that the book store owner had to cross the street to the Wayside Inn, wake the actor and escort him over to the store. By that time there was a line of people down the street waiting to get signed copies of Carradine's "Kill Bill Diaries" and the book upon which the "Chatham" movie is based, Joseph C. Lincoln's "Cap'n Eri." C
arradine duly signed books, sitting at a stool and smoking away. He reportedly became testy when folks brought in their own copies of the Lincoln book or didn't want his book. I showed up about 4:30 p.m., expecting him to be gone. I'd requested two signed copies of "Kill Bill" the previous day because I knew I couldn't get downtown by 3 p.m. He was still there, and seemed a bit, shall we say, unsteady. I greeted him and reminded him that we'd spoke earlier in the week on the set, but he just looked at me with rheumy eyes, asked my name again and added above his signature on the book in front of him. We'd actually met three times; once briefly at the shanties at Barn Hill, once at the graveyard shoot (see photo right) where he regaled me with stories, and earlier in the week. He was least garrulous on Tuesday, when I introduced myself as a reporter and asked some official, though softball, questions. Apparently I rated more conversation as a civilian. Maybe that's the Hollywood mentality.
What are people in Chatham going to talk about now that the cast and crew of the film have left town? The past month and a half have generated more than enough stories to keep people going until the summer arrives. Many of the stories involve the
exploits of Carradine, although Bruce Dern and Rip Torn pop up now and again. Mariel Hemingway didn't mix much with the locals, although she surfaced in a shop here or walking along the beach there. Jason Alan Smith impressed people with his Southern manners and genuine interest in local people and places. He seemed a bit more down to earth than many of the others. I had several chats with him (see photo right) and found him engaging. He seemed to feel he could relax here and not have to worry about most people giving him the gawking treatment. Most people. Not all. And he answered my questions in full, coherent sentences.
More to come...
"Chatham" has wrapped filming. The final shots were done early Saturday morning, April 14, and involved the burning of the pool hall that forms one of the film's central plot elements. After the early week filming of numerous scenes in front of the block between the hardware store and Seaview Street, which was dressed to sort of resemble 1905 (see a slideshow of the shoot here), the sand was swept up and the modern signs and awnings were back in place.Ending filming didn't quite end the sort of minor league hysteria that's gripped the town for the past few weeks.
On Saturday afternoon, "Chatham" star David Carradine was slated to hold a book signing downtown. He was late for the 1 p.m. event; word on the street is that the book store owner had to cross the street to the Wayside Inn, wake the actor and escort him over to the store. By that time there was a line of people down the street waiting to get signed copies of Carradine's "Kill Bill Diaries" and the book upon which the "Chatham" movie is based, Joseph C. Lincoln's "Cap'n Eri." C
arradine duly signed books, sitting at a stool and smoking away. He reportedly became testy when folks brought in their own copies of the Lincoln book or didn't want his book. I showed up about 4:30 p.m., expecting him to be gone. I'd requested two signed copies of "Kill Bill" the previous day because I knew I couldn't get downtown by 3 p.m. He was still there, and seemed a bit, shall we say, unsteady. I greeted him and reminded him that we'd spoke earlier in the week on the set, but he just looked at me with rheumy eyes, asked my name again and added above his signature on the book in front of him. We'd actually met three times; once briefly at the shanties at Barn Hill, once at the graveyard shoot (see photo right) where he regaled me with stories, and earlier in the week. He was least garrulous on Tuesday, when I introduced myself as a reporter and asked some official, though softball, questions. Apparently I rated more conversation as a civilian. Maybe that's the Hollywood mentality.What are people in Chatham going to talk about now that the cast and crew of the film have left town? The past month and a half have generated more than enough stories to keep people going until the summer arrives. Many of the stories involve the
exploits of Carradine, although Bruce Dern and Rip Torn pop up now and again. Mariel Hemingway didn't mix much with the locals, although she surfaced in a shop here or walking along the beach there. Jason Alan Smith impressed people with his Southern manners and genuine interest in local people and places. He seemed a bit more down to earth than many of the others. I had several chats with him (see photo right) and found him engaging. He seemed to feel he could relax here and not have to worry about most people giving him the gawking treatment. Most people. Not all. And he answered my questions in full, coherent sentences.More to come...
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