A Glimpse Inside The Muppet Mindset

Here's a rare glimpse inside the "muppet mindset" from behind-the-scenes of the new Muppet show, now airing on ABC.

What you lookin at? @MuppetMindset @TheFurchester @MuppetsStuff @muppetcast @MuppetCentral @MuppetWiki @Muppet_stuff pic.twitter.com/e9aRpAVXVq

— ANDREW JAMES SPOONER (@theonlyspoon) September 28, 2015

Baseball's Early Players: A Worthwhile Documentary Project

"Baseball is ballet without music.  Drama without words..." wrote sportscaster Ernie Harwell in his baseball essay, 'The Game For All America' (originally published in the 1955 edition of The Sporting News)

There's a history behind baseball.  A connection to the past.  A tradition to enjoy into the future. It's a sport I've always loved. I can watch 'Field Of Dreams' any day.  I've seen Ken Burns baseball documentary.  Sometimes, I'll listen to a ballgame on AM radio while sitting in traffic just so I can feel like I'm at the ballpark.  And so there's a sadness I feel when autumn rolls around and I hear the beginnings of football being uttered on the airwaves.  Because the next baseball season feels so far away...

Sure, we're well into football season but in Sunday's Los Angeles Times, baseball still reigned.  And I was delighted to see this.  The cover story of the travel section highlighted Cooperstown, New York. Someday, I want to visit Cooperstown, home to Baseball's Hall Of Fame.  As kids, my father talked about taking my brother there.  But never me.  Maybe because I'm a girl and he didn't think I'd be interested.  Although I may not be fanatical about rooting for certain teams, I enjoy baseball for the true sense of it-- for the pure 'love of the game.'

***

Neftalie Williams, a USC grad student, grew up riding skateboards, not eating hotdogs and watching ballplayers with awe at a local ballpark.  But for the next five years, his life will be all about baseball.  His mission is to document the momentous and rocky beginnings of Major League Baseball's racial integration from 1947 to 1971.  He wants to capitalize on living history by reaching out to each and every living African-American baseball player from that era.  His hope is to interview them on camera, record their thoughts, their stories, their emotions from that time.  By the end, if it all goes well, he'll not only have a comprehensive catalog of baseball's history, but our history as well.  I wish him the best of luck in his mission.  I think it's an absolutely worthwhile cause and a project I feel I'd enjoy researching myself.  Without The Los Angeles Times, I never would've heard of Neftalie Williams nor his baseball project or his passion.  To learn more, read the original article, Living Bridges To History by LA Times writer, Zach Helfand.

Follow this link to read the full content of Ernie Harwell's 1955 baseball essay, 'The Game For All America.'

Copyright © 2015 by KLiedle/@cococaffeine

2015 California On Location Awards Finalsts Announced

Check out your favorite Location Professionals! Finalists announced for 2015 COLA's. http://t.co/0jcVEhXL45 #CA #filming #locationmanager

— COLA Awards (@caonlocation) August 26, 2015

There is no Emmy or Oscar category available for Film and Television Location professionals.  However, once a year, we do get recognized by the California On Location Awards (COLA Awards.)  

Today, nominations for the 2015 COLA Awards were announced and I'm proud to say that our Location Team for "True Detective" is one of the finalists.  I worked on the show for seven months last year.  In that time, we shot all eight episodes of the season like back-to-back feature films.  It was a huge and ambitious undertaking.

Although this past season was widely panned by critics and audiences for varying reasons, that in no way detracts from the immense effort that all of us put forth in scouting far and wide for gritty and unique locations for the show.  Scouting took place all over Southern California and points North and once those locations were secured, coordination to make filming happen was an immense task all its own.  Congrats to everyone nominated for the COLAs. Because more often, we aren't noticed at all, but on-location filming is an important component to giving life to film and television productions.

©2015 by K.Liede/@cococaffeine

Nebraska Movie: Looking Back

Has it really been 3 years? Location Department office from the movie, #Nebraska. #ThrowbackThursday #NebraskaMovie pic.twitter.com/TYGHTdqSkM

— Kendra Liedle (@Cococaffeine) July 30, 2015

The Best Days Of Mabel Gordon (A Novella)

Sometimes your best days are ahead of you...

The Best Days Of Mabel Gordon now available on Amazon #KendraLiedleWriting #TheBestDaysOfMabelGordon http://t.co/7OxzJF6NjU via @amazon

— Kendra Liedle (@Cococaffeine) July 17, 2015

This is what I've been working on for the better part of a year. Check it out!

Banging The Keys: Vintage Typewriters Of The Famous And Infamous

I've always loved the design and feel of a good old-fashioned typewriter.  When I was little, my mom had an electric typewriter and it was always a thrill for me to bang away on the keys and see the letters imprint onto the paper.  That electric typewriter would also sometimes shock my fingers as I typed.  That was always a surprising jolt. In the age of increasingly advancing technology where everyone's laptop looks the same and we're all staring at our phones, I find myself missing the uniqueness of the typewriter.

The other day, I made a long overdue visit to The Paley Center For Media here in Los Angeles.  With locations in New York and Los Angeles, The Paley Center is a nonprofit agency that showcases the importance of media in society.  They have unparalleled archives of television shows, advertising, and news clips that anyone from the public can access from their library.   They also host exhibits and special events throughout the year.

To my sheer delight, the Soboroff Typewriter Collection is the latest exhibit in Los Angeles.  Steve Soboroff has compiled a private collection of 28 original vintage typewriters once owned by the likes of Greta Garbo, Ernest Hemingway, Jack London, Truman Capote, George Burns, Joe Dimaggio and Marilyn Monroe.  As a writer and lover of classy vintage typewriters, I was in awe...

I'll share a few highlights here, but I urge anyone with an interest to go see these in person.  I was blown away by how much I enjoyed it! 

Copyright © 2015 by KLiedle/@cococaffeine
 

 

[Above] Hemingway's vintage typewriter, a 1929 Underwood Standard. He was known to write descriptive elements longhand, but he always typed out his dialogue, often standing at the typewriter.  

Truman Capote's personal typewriter near the end of his life -- A Smith Corona Electra 110. — at The Paley Center for Media.

Orson Welles Underwood Standard Portable 4B73700 which he used to type out "Citizen Kane."

 

The infamous Montgomery Ward Signature Portable F067033 used by Ted Kaczynski (aka The Unabomber.) This is one of two typewriters the FBI confiscated during the investigation.

 

Follow @PaleyCenter

www.paleycenter.org

Exhibit is FREE to the public

Available for viewing Wed-Sun from Noon-5PM

(Closed Mon and Tues) 

 

Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?

It's been awhile since I've written here but that's primarily because I've been living my life instead of documenting it.  After 7 solid months working on an episodic TV series, I've been taking a much needed break.  Stress, long hours, minimal sleep and nonexistent weekends.  You forget your friends, they forget you, and often you forget yourself because the show saps all your time and energy and you still gotta do your laundry.

Any TV show presents its challenges due to intense scheduling and frantic pacing.  To put this into
perspective: Six months is the amount of time usually allotted to complete shooting of a feature film.  The average finished film is about 2 hours (from a script of about 120 pages)  In TV, you don't get the luxury of that much time.  Every day, TV productions shoot more than double the amount of script pages as films.  Everyone's gotta be on their toes at all times and the finish line always feels so far away. We only shot an 8 episode season for the TV show I worked on but that equates to roughly eight hours of footage by the time the public sees it on screen.  And each script is 60-70 pages long.

My cat lounging on the sofa

So what have I been doing with my time? I've been reading (currently: Amy Poehler's 'Yes Please.') I'm co-writing another screenplay and working on my next short story collection, 'The Best Days Of Mabel Gordon.' Excerpts from the upcoming book can be found here.   I've been hanging out with my two cats (one of whom is pictured here), getting dressed up and going out for a change, taking long walks, exploring the world around me...  Essentially, enjoying everything I can during the time I have before the next job takes over.

And that last job?  I met some terrific people, many of whom I miss seeing on a daily basis. 
I'll also miss the purple blossoms on the tree outside my office window at the studio.  Whenever I was at my most stressed, I would take a deep breath, stretch out my arms and gaze at that tree for a few moments-- it reminded of the simplicity and beauty of life--- the exact things I'm able to enjoy up close now that I have the time for them.

The soothing purple blossoms outside my window.

Copyright © 2015 by KLiedle/ @cococaffeine