In an effort to explore yet another genre of writing, I recently
attended a panel on television sitcom writing in West Hollywood.
The panel participants were staff writers from shows such as
”
The Office,
”
”
Notes From the Underbelly,
”
”
Ellen,
”
”
Entourage
”
and a new show scheduled this fall titled
”
Miss Guided.
”
Their best advice; do lunch and life is copy (copy being the
words written by a writer to entertain or inform).
In an effort to explore yet another genre of writing, I recently attended a panel on television sitcom writing in West Hollywood. The panel participants were staff writers from shows such as “The Office,” “Notes From the Underbelly,” “Ellen,” “Entourage” and a new show scheduled this fall titled “Miss Guided.” Their best advice; do lunch and life is copy (copy being the words written by a writer to entertain or inform).
It didn’t take long for a story to come along that makes “Gunsmoke” available for parody.
After the stupendous victory by the SaberCats this weekend a group of South County fans followed Coach Darren Arbet to the Tequila Bar in the middle of Santana Row for a celebration party. During the party hosted by Ramune Ambrozaitis, fantastic stories emerged – but the one told by Brent Bear, son of the late Harvey Bear of the Bear Ranch, has played out visually in my mind all week.
According to Brent, his dad employed a cowboy named Delbert Bressler, who was known to be a bit jumpy but had a steady steed. During the 1950s and ’60s, Coyote Lake had small cabins around the area that is now a county park. Around 1968, while Brent was still in high school, Bressler was riding on the Bear Ranch near the lake through a large grouping of oak trees. His normally steady steed began whinnying and snorting which set the already nervous Bressler on edge. As Bressler and his horse picked up the pace under the trees, all of a sudden Bressler was grabbed around the neck and eyes by something hairy and a piercing scream penetrated his ear. The horse did it’s best to rid itself of both Bressler and the unwelcome banshee by bolting through the trees not minding the low branches that whacked Bressler in the face. Bressler finally managed to peel the creature from his face and threw it by the scruff of the neck onto the ground. Bressler then headed to the main part of the ranch to try to convince the rest of the cowboys of his story.
Harvey Bear did his own investigation and found out a couple that owned a cabin on the lake was missing their pet spider monkey. Bear sent his son and a few more cowboys up to look for the ambushing, New World primate. Brent says the story ended happily after they found the hungry, scared monkey and returned him to his human family. Life can be better and more entertaining than most can imagine.
What ever happened to … David and Kate Murray of Gilroy? If any of you remember a dark-haired, pretty and talented lady who played French horn in the South Valley Symphony at least a decade ago you may also remember their beautiful estate out on Watsonville Road built after David designed and co-authored FrameMaker software. We caught up with the Murrays as they detoured from Santa Cruz to Super Taqueria in Morgan Hill on their way up to San Francisco. They now live in New Hampshire where Kate is putting the final touches on a new guide to visiting historic churches and David commutes from New Hampshire to San Jose as co-founder, president and COO of Propel Acceleration. In a follow-up e-mail Kate said, “I know you will say hello to everyone for me and give them my best.” Done.
Remember to look for the copy in life and get rid of those monkey’s on your back; they’re hungry and they bite. Ciao for now.
