
English: The food court of the Palisades Center Mall in West Nyack. Taken on September 6, 2007 by Nightscream. Category:Images of Rockland County (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
A few years ago, I was affiliated with a film production company that made commercials, infomercials, and corporate films. I was on their list of extras. They’d pay between $50 and $100 for a few hours of “work”. I never had any speaking roles, it was just extra work.
It was a pretty good gig, for a few years. I’d get 2 or 3 jobs a year. The funny thing was they seldom told us what the filming was for, and I never saw anything that I was part of, on television. They would usually just give you what industry it was for, but not the specific company. No one seemed to mind.
On one occasion they filmed us at the Palisades Center Mall, at the food court. Another time it was at a little strip mall by the water below Nyack, NY. I was a businessman in that one. Another time it was at some huge church hall. That was for an audience scene for some kind of infomercial. A lot of clapping, and smiling, and trying to look impressed with whatever they were hawking. Simple stuff.
But, the last one I was involved with was the killer. It was being shot on the streets of White Plains, NY. I believe it was for some kind of health care insurer. Anyway, they were filming a lot of scenes where they didn’t need me, so I manly spent time in the trailer, flirting with the makeup girl, and eating whatever they had at the canteen. There was always plenty to eat. But, this has nothing to do with the flirting, nor the food.
My scene was the final one of the day, and we were starting to lose the sun. They paired me with a lady about my age, and put us in these tee shirts with the health care company name on them, and all we were supposed to do was walk from a bout half a block away, right up to the camera. Sounded simple enough. Right? Well, here’s where it got hinky for me. The Assistant Director said that we were a *vibrant* couple taking a walk, blah, blah, blah. Well, you know me and words. I latched on to the word *vibrant* and I decided we were going to go at a brisk pace. The Director says to do it again, but slower. He just didn’t say how much slower, and I was still going by the Assistant Director’s *vibrant*. So, we did it again, but still too fast. I think my co-star realized what the Director wanted before me, but I was in the *vibrant* zone! We did it I think two more times, before I realized that the Assistant Director either didn’t know what the word *vibrant* meant, or he didn’t know what the Director wanted. Finally, we did it at a nice leisurely stroll – nothing *vibrant* about it – and the director was all smiles. But, for some strange reason, right as we ended that nice leisurely stroll, I looked . . . straight into the camera. That is a huge no-no, and I generally know better than to do that. I think I was just tired. Well, I think that the Director took that as some kind of an F U on my part, and that was it. I got paid . . . but they never called me back for another gig.
I think he went to his producers and said I was a wise guy, or I couldn’t take direction, or something, and not to call me again. So, yer good old uncle is on their blacklist! Just don’t expect to see me with James Spader anytime soon!
— YUR
Human Population . . . again!
Published April 10, 2022 Commentary , Current Events , Education , History , Life , Observations 7 CommentsTags: human population, Marilyn Vos Savant
On occasion, some of you haven’t exactly supported/subscribed to my assertion that the world is quickly being overpopulated by human beings, who are resulting in climate change, aka: global warming. Granted, I’m much more of a wiseacre . . . wise guy . . . wise ass – take yer pick – than an actual wise man, but I am certainly not alone in my contention.
A reader of Parade Magazine, a Mr. Don Vollmer, posed to “Ask Marilyn” if the growing human population was enough to cause climate change. The noted genius, Marilyn vos Savant, pointed out what I’ve said numerous times. It took around 100,000 years for us to get to a population of 2 billion by the year 1900 – or so – which was just as the Industrial Revolution was getting into full swing, but since then we’ve skyrocketed to nearly 8 BILLION souls! In a mere 122 years we’ve quadrupled what took us 99,878 years (998 CENTURIES) to *achieve*! A lot of the growth is because we’ve solved smallpox and many other major killer diseases, but also it’s because of how of our modern conveniences have increased our standard of living. Until a few hundred years ago human life expectancy averaged around 28.5 – 32 years. By the 1950s it had grown to an average of 45.7 – 48 years. Now, the world average is up to 72.6 – 73.2 years. And, it’s even higher in first-world countries, like the U.S. and Canada.
Marilyn pointed out that if we lived the simpler agrarian lives, of days gone by, the population increase would be sustainable, but because of how we now live – our increased standard of living – the continued growth cannot be sustained. She didn’t go into detail, but one can infer she meant we’ve all become such huge consumers, and a lot of that consumption comes in the form of burning fossil fuels, both in the generation of electricity, and in powering our automobiles. And, also the petroleum we use to create all the plastics, that so much is made of these days, and the rare earth metals that our electronics use. And, all of our single use paper products – like toilet paper, napkins and paper towels – are contributing to the global deforestation, just as the reliance on palm oil – in the foods that we eat – is causing deforestation in the rain forests of the world. We’re spoiling too much of our ground water, and we’re running out of places to put our trash. The genie is out of the bottle, folks!
Marilyn vos Savant has the highest recorded I.Q. in the Guinness Book of Records. She has served on numerous boards of directors, and was the Chief Financial Officer for Jarvik Heart, Inc., as well as authoring “Ask Marilyn”. No one is saying that she’s the smartest human on the planet, or anything, but she is a very respected thinker. Dismiss my diatribes if you will, but don’t mess with Marilyn! Be well and do good, friends. — YUR
Image courtesy of DeviantArt