2001 Exhibit News |
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Volume 1 |
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June 19, 2001 |
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Issue 30 |
UPDATE - June 19, 2001:
Greetings from Dennis Gonzales
33 years later.
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The "2001: A Space Odyssey Collectibles Exhibit" gift store
has expanded. Café Press has expanded and so have we with more
merchandise from T-shirts to coffee mugs. For every purchase you make,
the more 2001 information we add online and remain online. Go to http://www.2001exhibit.org/store.html
The last time I posted our news release about our efforts to seek sponsorship to bring the 2001 cast and crew to the San Jose, the Tech Museum has received positive feedback. So far, I have two guests from the film that I will not reveal until we have a commitment from our sponsors. I'll keep you posted if this really will happen in the next two newsletters. If you want to sponsor this event, please notify Kris Covarrubias, Public Relations Manger if you are interested. She can be reached at 408-795-6226 or email, kcova@thetech.org.
The furnishing pages have been updated. In this section, you will find exclusive pictures of my place called "2001: space age living." The pictures will be in a magazine sometime this year. In this new feature, you'll find some furnishings shown in the television show, "Space:1999" (for sale) and "2001: a space odyssey." Also included are sneak previews of the HAL 9000, Capt. Cardboard's ARIES 1B and Lunar Models ARIES model kits. This photo shoot was a team effort to create a fantasy world of space-age living. Go to http://www.2001Exhibit.org/2001_furnishings.html
If you have a "space-age" pad or furnishings that came from a sci-fi television show or movie, let us know. We only accept good quality pictures for consideration.
James Marinaccio from the Bronx Tourism Council in New York reviews for us their star-studded inductees "Walk of Fame" gala event and ceremonies including the late Stanley Kubrick. You can read the review below this email.
Jose Luis Ayusos' Twinch Squad pictures are now available for your viewing in the model section. Go to http://www.2001exhibit.org/ayuso.html
Starting with this email newsletter, I'll be highlighting "2001" web sites and "2001" collectors from all over the world. This week, from Australia, we interview Phil Vendy from UNDERMAN'S 2001.
If you have any "2001" newsworthy information, please send it to me at elusive94401@yahoo.com.
I'm still trying to fix my email form so I posted on the form page my email address and new address with phone number, sorry for the inconvenience. http://www.2001exhibit.org/Form_processor/Forms/feedback.cgi
Other "2001" news
COLLECTOR'S
CORNER: Phil Vendy and UNDERMAN'S 2001http://www.underview.com/2001.html
By Dennis Gonzales
There is no other web site in the world that is so dedicated to one single film. The UNDERMAN'S 2001 web site is one such site that has been around as long as the web has been around. There have been many sites about "2001" that come and go but UNDERMAN's 2001 keeps growing and staying true to its mission. UNDERMAN'S 2001 is a film archivist dream and I myself couldn't have started my exhibitions or this web site without first going to UNDERMAN'S 2001 site.
Last week, I spoke to "2001" collector Phil Vendy, creator of UNDERMAN'S 2001 web site for this interview. He is a very quiet, generous and intelligent individual. I had the opportunity to meet Phil over a year ago when he was in San Francisco on business at the same time I was invited to the Tech Museum for a personal tour. We drove down to San Jose (50 miles south) and seen the area that the exhibit would be built. He has been a great supporter, participant and friend for the whole exhibition idea. Without these qualities, there would have been no way we could have created "2001:DESTINATION SPACE."
Dennis: What's your background?
Phil: English, spent most of my career trying to get useful (and mostly very boring) things for companies out of computers. Maybe that's why I took Hal's side in 2001.
Dennis: Where did this fascination about "2001" start for you?
Phil: London, 1968. An art student looking to "turn on". The buzz never died away.
Dennis: How long has UNDERMAN's 2001 web site been on-line and what has it done for you?
Phil: February 1996 (as "2001: A Space Odyssey - 30 Years On"), I started work on it several months before that. It's replaced almost anything I ever used to do out of work - which is good, as those things often didn't mean half as much anyway. Spend time on the web site or wash the car? No contest. Football game on telly? Who cares, there'll be another one next week.
Dennis: Are you going to continue the web site once we leave the year 2001?
Phil: Yes, but there are other things I want to do as well. Don't ask me what, I won't know myself until they start coming out.
Dennis: What is your favorite response that you ever received about your web site?
Phil: There have been thousands! In all that time, maybe three negative responses, from "wise guys". I liked being compared to Jerome Agel. I'm constantly getting messages like "Thanks for a great site", which just arrived. It's a good feeling that people take a few minutes to sit down and send a note. A few years ago I got a great email that I can't find right now, lost in the mountain, somebody had really connected with what I was trying to do. I'm even happy when people disagree with me, at least we're all thinking about the same things.
Also, remember that 2001 isn't everything in my web site and I've had some great responses to the other things too, like one of the original members of the jazz band I wrote about, he was amazed that I'd written about them and been so accurate. My bit about Solaris has also generated good responses, I'm especially pleased to have given that some exposure.
Also, the email responses led to things like the "Blue Food" article and other collaborations, which I'm quite proud of. I always planned the site to be based much more on words than graphics, and that's the kind of thing I always had in mind. A lot of other talented people are doing the high-tech graphics stuff, that's good, the text and archive type of thing are my own niche. I like working things out and writing about them.
Dennis: What kind of people visit your site?
Phil: Everything from school students to scientists, professional people, all sorts - no limits at all. It's very male-dominated, which is understandable. Also, I like the international aspects of the internet, knowing that people are seeing it in almost any country you can name, and often write from places I'll never see (sometimes in languages I'll never speak!).
Dennis: You spoke to a lot of "2001" cast and crew over the years, who did you enjoy talking to the most?
Phil: It's a buzz to hear from anyone who was actually involved. Arthur C. Clarke's willingness to communicate was an absolute shiner for me. I was never a big SF fan, of his or anyone else's, and I'm not as impressed as some people with his ability to read the future, but I have nothing but admiration for him, a great man who has always kept in touch with what's really happening even when mixing in superstar circles. There are not many like him, we should appreciate him while he is still here.
David Charkham, one of the "ape people", was great (still have material to use from that), and I recently heard from Richard Wood who played the ape-man that Moonwatcher clubbed to death. Hearing from Dan Richter was a thrill, too, even though it was a brief communication. I didn't even know if he was still alive! Also John Alcott's son, who sent me the picture of the "Hal" lens, that was good.
Funny how the ape-people seem to be more communicative than any of the others! I prefer the lesser-known people, they are easier to relate to than the bigger names. Some of them seem to be too caught up with themselves. It was always my intention to move the focus more on to the things and people that were not well known, and give an opportunity to share in the whole thing to people that nobody ever heard of otherwise. I purposely didn't want to perpetuate the "star syndrome", the big names who are already well exposed.
Dennis: This year is the year the film was set. In retrospect what your thoughts so far about the film and where we are today in Kubrick and Clarke's vision.
Phil: What I really think is that 2001 was a movie, a piece of fiction, and bears no more and no less relation to real life (then or now) than any other piece of fiction. People try and read so much into the film and how it compares to real life! The world has turned pretty rotten in the last thirty years and 2001 had nothing to do with any of it.
Dennis: What are your thoughts about A.I.?
Phil: No interest.
Dennis: Is there anything you like to say to the "2001" fans reading this interview?
Phil: Thanks for being there, taking an interest, sharing at least some of what 2001 has meant over the years and giving me the encouragement to keep it going. I'm not much of a "mixer" but it's good to know I'm not the only one who "connected with Kubrick". We're "keeping the dream alive", I think that's important. "They" do a lot to screw the world up but we can keep them out of the dream.
Next week, we interview Chris Randall, owner of HAL 9000 and Computer Brain Room film props.
WEB SITE HIGHLIGHT OF THE WEEK
SPACE ODYSSEY INTERNET RESOURCES ARCHIVE
Creator, George DeMet, 2001@palantir.net
- http://www.palantir.net/2001/
If you're looking for a Yahoo.Com "2001" site, then visit George DeMet's web site which has been around as long as UNDERMAN's 2001. The Tech Museum and I have used 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY INTERNET RESOURCES ARCHIVE for our research. There are many links, fan essays and stories that George has accumulated into one super archive site. If you're a "2001" or Kubrick fanatic, this is the place to visit!
Posted by Dennis Gonzales
The Bronx Tourism Council, New York is inducting Stanley Kubrick into the Bronx Walk of Fame
Bronx Walk of Fame
By James Marinaccio
Saturday was the gala ball at City Island. The weather was perfect. The pre-dinner area was on the bay. The dinner was in a very large tent. I sat at the table with Katharina Kubrick and some other people. The place was full of the inductees and their friends/families plus people who worked for the corporate sponsors, the TV stations and the county government. They mixed it up at each table. Some guy came and sat next to me and started introducing himself before I can turn around and see him. It was Ace Frehley, the lead guitarist of Kiss. And no he was not wearing Kiss makeup. Soon afterwards they shoved a chair between him and me so his bodyguard can sit there. The bodyguard was away from the table so much that I basically sat next to Ace. He was very funny and very tipsy. At one point he fell off his chair and kept talking like it was nothing. Coincidentally he's a big Kubrick fan and was telling Katharina that Kiss just-completed Australian tour that he played the theme to 2001 on guitar. The other inductees were:
- Jim Ryan host of Good Day NY on Fox
- Lyn Brown the news lady on Good day NY
- Ed Kranepool, 18 years with the Mets
- Johnny Pachecko, a Spanish flutist and band leader
- Kris Parker of the 80's rap group KRS One
- EL Doctorow the author of Ragtime, Billy Bathgate and other well known novels
- Burt Young, the actor who played Rocky's brother in-law
- Dianne Carroll- singer and actress, was on Dynasty
- Colin Powell US Secretary of State
- Ace Frehley
- Stanley Kubrick
At the ball they started the ceremonies with a short film showing past inductees. Then a film began introducing this year's inductees. The opening scene from 2001: A Space Odyssey began as the names and pictures of the inductees were superimposed and the film's theme was played. That was pretty darn cool.
Then each inductee was introduced and went up to the stage to get their award. Jim Ryan was a little hammy. EL Doctorow put everyone to sleep. Diane Caroll and Kris Parker didn't make it to the dinner but were there the next day. Colin Powell wasn't there but had his acceptance speech filmed for the event. Burt Young could hardly speak. Ace Frehley was cracking jokes at our table, "News 12? What the hell is News12, who watches that?" He was acting like a petulant child. They started saying how many other rock guitarists he has influenced. He was rolling his eyes and covering his face. But then he got up and shocked us by giving a very eloquent little speech.
Ace was there with his gorgeous fianceé half his age. People kept coming to the table for his autograph. Anyway, they left Kubrick for last. They gave more time to him than anyone else. They showed the first 3 minutes of the new documentary on him that hasn't been released yet. It had extremely rare footage of him as a kid, dancing silly and knocking his little sister to the ground. Katharina gave a short speech. When she came back to the table Ace Frehely leaned over to kiss her and they both almost fell onto the table.
There was a band and music, which was so loud that I didn't really get to speak to Katharina much because I couldn't hear her. The band played Spanish music exclusively, which didn't sit well with some people. Ace's bodyguard was saying, "I wish they'd play some *7%$ rock and roll for Christ's sake." There was one Spanish girl at our table who I didn't know who Katharina was dancing with her later and I thought how nice that she's befriending people. Turns out this Spanish lady came with her and it's Matthew Modine's wife. Matthew was supposed to come himself but couldn't make it.
The next day was the public ceremonies and the unveiling of the plaques. I was invited to a private breakfast in the borough president's offices with the celebrities. Turns out that the Bronx Tourism Council had basically held Katharina captive her first 5 days there. They went to her dad's high school and looked at the old records about him. Saturday night these people had taken her out, or Modine's wife did, I'm not sure which of the two it was. She got one-hour sleep and was a zombie Sunday morning. I did speak to her shortly but she was out of it. When the breakfast was done they told us all to go downstairs. So with10 people in an elevator- half of who were celebrities we went down. The doors opened and there were hundreds of people. Kiss's fan club came from as far away as England. They told the inductees to step to the side and had everyone else go into this hall filled with people. They introduced them one at a time as they ran or walked in, shaking people's hands. It was wild. Then they had each came up to the podium. They left Kubrick for last. The guy tells everyone to stand and they had a moment of silence. Someone made a noise in the rear and Frehley shouted out to be quiet, someone else shouted to have respect. It was pretty surreal. I was getting chills down my spine. Then Katharina came up and lost her composure and cried. We went outside after that. There was TV crew and they unveiled the plaques on the Grand Concourse. Then they had a parade.
Posted by:
Dennis Gonzales
2001: Exhibit