Growing Up #2

Growing up #1

As soon as I'm finished this November novel writing thing and my work on my other book I'm going to start working on a new novel (made up of 3 smaller mini-novels or maybe more). I've got most of the material already written although I'm leaning toward reworking all of this stuff. These works are from a work called Growing Up. Its a series of stories about adolescence and childhood.

Disturbing Petals

Flowers and Reckless Behaviour

I've now decided to start breaking up what I thought was a finished novel into three short novels. I find the idea intriguing that you have overlapping plot lines and characters in different novels. The novels by necessity will be shorter. I think. In the meantime here is some more of my visual work.

Quandry...querrie...

I'm not sure about the blog so far. Sandman Project has left me with a problem. As it is I don't like it. But do I spend the time to 1. rework it or 2. give up on it altogether or 3. keep the main ideas and write something new. I keep swinging back and forth. For the time being I think I may make this sight a visual sight for my pics. Here are a few. These are from a children's story called The Death of Peanut Butter

Nowhere Man

THE SANDMAN PROJECT – Episode Nine

Nowhere Man

INTRODUCTION

[CAMERA… While the credits are rolling, the camera pans across a desk. The desk is messy. On it as permanent features are: a half empty cup of black coffee, an ashtray with cigarette butts spilling over onto the desk, a baseball, a paper mache vase made by a child with plastic flowers in it, several framed pictures containing members of a family, a computer, a monitor running a screen saver, a Save the Seals button, a couple of pens, a laundry receipt, and a clear plastic candy wrapper. Photographs of the main characters of our drama are paper-clipped to folders scattered across the desk. One folder is open. The main character David Faster smiles at the camera. The page opposite is marked up in red ink.

[MUSIC… a harmonica piece in the vein of the Rockford Files plays in the background. Overheard is a taped audio message from the School Board describing Mr. Faster’s supply teaching assignment for that day.

“Mr. Faster. Today you will report to the Anderson Academy for the Severely Acutely Adjusted. This is a very prestigious institution with a long tradition of academic and emotional adjustment. One of the parking attendants has come down with chronic sleep syndrome If it is a sunny day please remove the batteries from your flashlight..”
[CAMERA… After the credits have appeared the screen cuts to white and then slowly copy begins to roll up the screen:
“Government has too long been left
the sole responsibility for the education
of the young people of our province.
The private sector has a role to play
in the future of our nation.
Where better to mould the minds, skills and souls
of our children than in the market place.
The future is too precious to do any less.”
Assistant to the Deputy
Minister of Education
Province of Ontario, 1995



SCENE ONE


[CAMERA… Shot of opening title:

OUR STORY BEGINS

FADE to white. FADE in to the green of a college campus. Ivy covered buildings circle a cobblestone courtyard. There are many young people walking back and forth across the green lawns. From a distance everything seems quite pleasant.

CLOSE UP of students walking about almost in a trance. No one is talking. Each student appears to be highly sedated and walking in a designated path.

CUT to a close up of a sign The Anderson Academy for the Severely Acutely Adjusted.

CUT to a group of people in uniform marching in military discipline down a hallway.

CUT to camera is one of the group marching down the hallway. At the end of the hallway is a doorway. Two guards stand in front of door. The guards are checking identification. The door opens.

CUT to another hallway. At the end of this hallway is another door and another set of guards. The doors open.

CUT to a room. Group enters the room and sits down in chairs that surround a glass booth. Inside the glass booth is a man sitting on a chair.

CUT to man in glass booth. It is Lewis.

LEWIS: “It was ugly. Those thick worm lips. Eyes all round and pickled in innocence. That flickering smile. A voice that squeaked out in pleading cries like a lamb at a slaughter. It made you want to choke his words off at the source.”
[CAMERA… Lewis’s face falls into his hands. He begins to sob. And then suddenly he stands up and smashes his chair against the bullet proof glass of his cage.

CUT to Lewis back in a new chair to which his legs have been shackled.

LEWIS: “Eugene Clement Lewis. My friends call me Louie. You can call me Lewis. Born in Victoria, British Columbia, the flower pot of Canada. I joined the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Five years as a go-for. I paid my dues. I was planted as a mole at the University of Toronto.”
[CAMERA… CUT to shot of several young men sitting around in a lounge, smoking pipes, wearing tweed jackets, attempting to grow goatees, talking and waving copies of Immanuel Kant’s Critique of Pure Reason at each other.

LEWIS: “As a cover I operated as a philosophy student. Frightfully depressing except for this Hegel chap, the first philosopher to reduce reality to on and off switches. It was while I was at college that I met Andrei Kolmogorov.”
[CAMERA… CUT to Lewis and Kolmogorov in a two man rowing boat. They are third in a three boat race. Kolmogorov, looking very much like a young Ron Howl except for his long stringy hair and large crazed eyes that give him a look of a Rasputin.

CUT to Kolmogorov and Lewis in a pub. Kolmogorov is shouting and pounding the table with his fist.

CUT to Kolmogorov and Lewis in a urinal. Kolmogorov is shouting and pounding the wall with his fist.

CUT to Komogorov and Lewis in a confessional booth. Kolmogorov is in the position of the priest. Lewis is the penitent. Kolmogorov is shouting and pounding the wall of the confessional.

CUT to Kolmogorov and Lewis on a double date parked in a car. Lewis is in the back seat humping his date. Kolmogorov is in the front seat with his date, shouting and pounding the steering wheel with his fist. The top of his date’s head can be seen bobbing up and down in his lap.

LEWIS: “It was Kolmogorov who opened my eyes to the true conspiracy that was raging in the world. It was not a proeletarian revolution, a class war, a fascist coup, the expansion of the military-industrial complex. It was so obvious that I could not imagine why it had not been obvious to me before. Civilization was the creation of the right-handed. The threat to our security, to life as we know it, was coming from the left. Kolmogorov suggested that I transfer to the University of Windsor.”
[CAMERA… CUT to a bar designed like Rick’s in the movie Casablanca. Lewis is sitting at a table with several other students. All are dressed in white Panama suits. Behind them a black man is playing a piano. One of the students has his mouth open and is pointing inside his mouth.

LEWIS: “I made some contacts with like minded students, all right handed. One was an Egyptian chap named Nassau who complained bitterly about the root canal surgery he had been forced to undergo. The dentist was left handed.”
[CAMERA…. CUT to scene outside the pub where Lewis is vomiting. Leaning against a lamp post, Lewis wipes his mouth with the jacket sleeve. He looks up at the camera.

LEWIS: “I became depressed. What could one man do? It was the low ebb of my career. I began to read Camus.”
[CAMERA…. CUT to a scene of Lewis sitting on a bench in a lush park. He is dressed in a bathrobe. In the distance a large grey building can be seen. Behind him patients are being escorted about the grounds. Lewis is talking to a woman in a long brown frock. She has a slight beard. Lewis turns to the camera.

LEWIS: “I was institutionalized with acute manic depression. It was there that I found God. She said she had been expecting me.”
[CAMERA…. The woman turns and addresses the camera.

GOD: “Didn’t expect a woman, eh? If I had been a man they wouldn’t have shoved me in this institution, I can tell you that. Lewis didn’t believe that I was God at first. Blessed are those that believe but do not see. Lewis needed proof.”
[CAMERA…. CUT to woman who stands up and pulls up her smock. Her back is to the camera. Lewis’s mouth drops.

LEWIS: “I almost barfed right there on the spot. She had organs from both sexes and then some.”
GOD: “Sometimes I feel like giving up. All I get is complaints. What a bunch of whiners you humans are. I’ve got a good mind to clap my hands and start over again.”
[CAMERA…. CUT back to scene with Lewis in his glass cage.

LEWIS: “Then She told me where the cradle of evil existed in this world. It was in the classroom. It was a revelation and so painfully obvious. All those young impressionable minds. Education was where one could make a difference in this world. I signed myself out of the Institution and applied to Teacher’s College. From there it was a short trip to becoming an agent of the Teacher’s Union. I was determined to force everyone to write right-handed. That was our salvation. I hadn’t counted on David Faster.”

END OF THE FIRST SCENE


SCENE TWO

[CAMERA… Shot of title:

THIS IS YOUR LIFE – DAVID FASTER

FADE to white. Much of this episode should be shot in fuzzy pastels of black and white and some colour. In the documentary David Faster is aware of the camera and quite often postures for the camera. The voice-over should imitate the light hearted banter that used to accompany the home movie documentaries of celebrities. Also there is a piano playing in the background mimicking the action on the screen.

CUT to scene of small town outside Toronto. People are playing golf, cars moving slowly down Main Street, an old gentleman in a suit waving from the door of a barbershop, housewives lifting groceries into their station wagons, children playing in a park, men posing for a group photo in front of an automobile plant.

NARRATOR: “Welcome to the friendly hamlet of Oakville, home of the automobile, home of David Faster.”
[CAMERA… CUT to shot of an eleven year old David Faster in short pants, knee socks and cap, delivering his newspapers. It is the adult David Faster dressed up as a ten year old.

NARRATOR: “There’s little David now, delivering the Oakville Beaver. Say hello, David!”
[CAMERA… David turns and waves at the camera.

NARRATOR: “Quite the little entrepreneur in this southern Ontario hamlet of entrepreneurs.”
[CAMERA… CUT to David Faster walking the same sidewalk, now fourteen years old. He is dressed in a three pieces suit. David is wearing a bowler hat which he removes for the camera showing slicked back hair parted in the middle.

NARRATOR: “By fourteen years of age David has developed into quite a little man about town.”
[CAMERA… CUT to David standing in front of the local library talking with the head librarian, a grey haired middle-aged woman.

NARRATOR: “Watch out for that little gentleman, lady!”

[CAMERA… CUT to shot of librarian turning to the camera and playfully admonishing the narrator.

CUT to David Faster getting out of his car, an Austin Martin. He is now 18. A university sweater is draped over his shoulders, the arms tied in front. Faster looks at the camera and smiles. He reaches into the back seat and grabs a football.

NARRATOR: “Upon graduation from high school where he led the Oakville Beavers to a perfect season while maintaining an A average, David was awarded an Austin Martin by his parents. Nice car, David, but doesn’t the old man work for the Ford Motor Company?”
[CAMERA… CUT to David shrugging his shoulders and smiling.

CUT to a university campus. The buildings are covered in ivy. Students walk about in twos and threes books in hand, smiling and waving at the camera.

NARRATOR: “David entered the University of Windsor and makes quite a name for himself on the stage of all places.”
[CAMERA… CUT to David on the stage in a student theatre. It is a rehearsal. David is dressed in a tweed suit. He has grown a neat little moustache. He is holding a skull and addressing the camera though his voice cannot be heard.

CUT to David standing in front of the university’s administration building. He is wrapped in a Union Jack.

NARRATOR: “David enters political life. He strikes an impressive pose as the president of the Young Conservative Club. A future prime minister?”
[CAMERA… CUT to David smiling and waving at the camera.

CUT to David, accompanied by a young woman, walking across the campus.

NARRATOR: “David is quite the ladies’s man.”
[CAMERA… CUT to David whispering something to the young woman. She turns and smiling, waves at the camera.

NARRATOR: “Isn’t that Mary O’Shay?”
[CAMERA… Faster turns and nods, smiling.
NARRATOR: “Love is a dangerous business for the young Mr. Faster. Miss O’Shay is a Roman Catholic. How will Faster’s Anglican parents react?”
[CAMERA… CUT to living room where sitting on a couch, a middle-aged man has his arm around a middle-aged woman.

CUT to Faster with Miss O’Shay in front of an ivy covered residence. Faster looks at the camera and gives the old thumbs up. They turn and enter the residence.

NARRATOR: “But like so many of his rebellious generation, David Faster fights against the social mores of the older generation.”
[CAMERA… CUT to tree lined streets of an old wealthy neighbourhood. Old men are raking leaves. Kids are playing ball hockey. Young women are playing tennis in private courts. Young men are washing their sports cars.

NARRATOR: “After college Faster takes up residence in Rosedale, an island of opulence in the city of Toronto.”
[CAMERA… CUT to David Faster stepping out of the front door of a Tudor house. He steps toward his Austin Martin parked in the driveway. Behind him a middle-aged woman in a bright yellow dress steps out of the house. Faster opens the door as the lady slides into the front seat.

NARRATOR: “Isn’t that the widow Humphreys? Still in mourning for the late Mr. Humphreys. Quite the cad, our man Faster.”
[CAMERA… David closes the door of the car, turns and nods at the camera.
NARRATOR: “Mrs. Humphreys’ friends call her Merle but David refers to his new squeeze as Mums.”
[CAMERA… CUT to David in front seat of car. He puts his arm around the widow Humphreys and turns to the camera and winks.

CUT to a shot from a car moving down Bay Street.

NARRATOR: “Can you smell the money?”
[CAMERA… CUT to Faster stepping out of one of the banks with several older men. All are dressed in brown suits. They see the camera and wave.

NARRATOR: “Faster is making quite an impression on the movers and shakers.”
[CAMERA… CUT to shot outside the Granite Club, a prestigious tennis club by the lake for the well-to-do. David Faster arrives in a limousine with the widow Humphries in front of the club house. They are both dressed formally.

NARRATOR: “A little tennis, David?”
[CAMERA… Faster spots the camera and laughs. The widow Humphries is not so pleased. She ushers David into the club.

NARRATOR: “Well somebody got out of the wrong side of the bed! But whose bed was it?”
[CAMERA… CUT to an unemployment office. Faster gets out of a cab and steps into the offices.

NARRATOR: “Into every life some rain must fall. David Faster finds himself gainfully unemployed. Oh, what will mother say!”
[CAMERA… CUT to living room where sitting on a couch, a middle-aged man has his arm around a middle-aged woman.

CUT to David Faster stepping out of unemployment offices.

NARRATOR: “How did it happen, David?”
[CAMERA… CUT to David shrugging his shoulders.

CUT to camera following David into one office after another seeking a job. After each refusal Faster’s confidence wains. His smile diminishes into a frown.

NARRATOR: “Somebody is going to have to adjust their life style!”
[CAMERA… CUT to a used car lot where David is trying to sell his Austin Martin.

CUT to a bar where Faster is sitting, staring into an empty glass.

NARRATOR: “How the mighty have fallen!”
[CAMERA… CUT to camera following Faster from bar to bar.

CUT to Faster passed out on a park bench.

CUT to Faster being thrown out of his Rosedale residence by the widow Humphries

CUT to camera following Faster from church to church.

CUT to Faster lining up to get into the Scott Mission

CUT to Faster in a large room eating at a table with other destitute men

CUT to Faster standing on the bridge over the Don River

NARRATOR: “Don’t jump, David!”
[CAMERA… CUT to Faster turning to the camera. He smiles and gives the thumbs up.

CUT to Faster outside the home of the widow Humphries.

NARRATOR: “But our David is no loser. He lands on his feet!”
[CAMERA… CUT to David Faster dressed up and entering the offices of Marvellous Educational Supplies and Services. He is escorted there by the widow Humphries.

NARRATOR: “And so our tale has a happy ending as all tales must.”
[CAMERA… CUT to Faster turning and waving at the camera. The widow Humphries grabs his arm sternly and pushes him into the building.

END OF THE SECOND SCENE


SCENE THREE

[CAMERA… Shot of title:

THE UNION FOREVER

FADE to white. CUT to

Moon Dance

THE SANDMAN PROJECT – Episode Eight

Moon Dance

INTRODUCTION

[CAMERA… While the credits are rolling, the camera pans across a desk. The desk is messy. On it as permanent features are: a half empty cup of black coffee, an ashtray with cigarette butts spilling over onto the desk, a baseball, a paper mache vase made by a child with plastic flowers in it, several framed pictures containing members of a family, a computer, a monitor running a screen saver, a Save the Seals button, a couple of pens, a laundry receipt, and a clear plastic candy wrapper. Photographs of the main characters of our drama are paper-clipped to folders scattered across the desk. One folder is open. The main character David Faster smiles at the camera. The page opposite is marked up in red ink.

[MUSIC… a harmonica piece in the vein of the Rockford Files plays in the background. Overheard is a taped audio message from the School Board describing Mr. Faster’s supply teaching assignment for that day.

“Mr. Faster. You will meet your class at the Science Centre. Mr. Jazman and Mr. Kramer will be accompanying the students. Do not allow Mr. Jazman and Mr.Kramer to leave you with the students and wander off. Both are on suspension. You will recognize them by the flowers in their hair.”
[CAMERA… After the credits have appeared the screen cuts to white and then slowly copy begins to roll up the screen:
“Government has too long been left
the sole responsibility for the education
of the young people of our province.
The private sector has a role to play
in the future of our nation.
Where better to mould the minds, skills and souls
of our children than in the market place.
The future is too precious to do any less.”
Assistant to the Deputy
Minister of Education
Province of Ontario, 1995



SCENE ONE


[CAMERA… Shot of opening title:

OUR STORY BEGINS YEARS LATER

FADE to white. CUT to a scene from a science fiction movie about a future city. There are tall buildings that climb into the clouds. Cars and trucks drive on invisible highways in the sky, weaving in and out of the skyscrapers. There is a dome over the city. From a distance the city resembles a beehive.

CUT to a futuristic morgue located in the front window of a fashionable department store. Corpses are kept in clear glass trays that look like ice cube trays. A small crowd has gathered in front of one of the windows. Some people are carrying Christmas gifts. They are watching the mortician doing an autopsy. He is a heavy set man with white hair and beard and a rosy red nose.

CUT to shot of body on the slab. It is an old gray haired David Faster. His skin is a gray chalky colour. The mortician pulls back the sheet covering Faster’s chest. The mortician takes a pen and draws a line from just below Faster’s neck down to his groin. He then takes a scalpel and slices along the line. A warm white gas escapes from Faster’s chest. The mortician staggers for a moment than passes our over Faster’s legs. Faster’s eyes open. He turns his head and looks at the crowd watching at the window.

FASTER: “God, I could use a cigarette.”

[CAMERA… Faster sits up. Something falls out of his chest and onto the floor. It is mechanical and resembles a television channel converter. A woman standing at the window faints. Faster searches through the mortician’s pockets and finds a package of cigarettes. He lights one up. He pushed the mortician off the table onto the floor. Faster looks down and notices his chest hanging open. Being modest, Faster tugs at the sheet and wraps it around his chest then swings his legs around and sits facing the crowd.

FASTER: “The examined life is not worth living. Happy is the man or woman who can go through life unmolested by the past, untroubled by the future. Oh to be common, to live etherized upon a table. And yet… I have enjoyed thoroughly the gauntlet of my sins.”
[CAMERA… Faster sucks on the cigarette. The smoke comes out of his chest cavity through the sheets.

FASTER: “My departure from Hamilton was filled with relief. I know it is dreadfully cruel to say, but I was glad to get rid of Ellen. It’s an old story with me and the weaker sex. I’m not saying that they are entirely to blame. I am willing within reason to shoulder my fare share of the responsibility for failed relationships. But hell, they make it so damn difficult! In the fifth grade I remember a girl, Angela Chinoki.”
[CAMERA… CUT to scene of a classroom. A young girl, physically mature for her age with braids and braces on her teeth, smiles.

CUT to scene of Angela offering her lunch to an eleven year old David Faster. Faster looks exactly the same as he does in his twenties except that he is shorter. Angela takes out the contents of her lunch from her brown bag. David throws her sandwich and apple off to one side. He accepts her dessert, a brownie. Angela looks amorously upon Faster as he stuffs his face with the brownie.

CUT to a scene in the school yard behind a portable where Angela has cornered Faster. She forces a kiss upon him.

CUT to scene moments later where Faster is vomiting. He turns to the camera.

FASTER: “Something in the brownie didn’t agree with me.”
[CAMERA… Faster slips off the table in the morgue. He walks over to a table upon which the mortician’s instruments have been placed. He takes several large safety pins and begins to fasten his chest together.

FASTER: “Leaving Hamilton, I did miss the Lancherzs. In the short time that I knew them, they became cherished friends. Their home was my home. Their food was my dinner. Roberto lent me his confidence. Maria took me to her bosom. They were like a second family. Every year I send them a Christmas card though I must confess they do not reciprocate. Perhaps they are not Christians.”
[CAMERA… Faster steps over to the mortician still laying on the floor and begins to disrobe him. Faster puts on the mortician’s clothes.

FASTER: “My stay in Sudbury was in marked contrast to my visit to Hamilton. The Sandman’s organization had not extended itself this far north. I was forced to organize my own itinerary. Sudbury was not what I had expected. I had imagined that everyone lived in tar paper shacks on muddy streets where everyone drove 56 Cadillacs. Instead much of the city was modern. There as a charming mix of office buildings, gas stations, towering smoke stacks now turned into artists’ studios, and fast food chains. There were still monuments in the local parks to the NASA astronauts who had rehearsed their lunar landings there.”
[CAMERA… Fully dressed Faster picks up the body of the mortician and places him on the table. When the mortician begins to revive, Faster picks up one of the pans on a nearby table and hits him over the head. He then covers the mortician in his sheet.

FASTER: “On my first day at William A. Shatner High School, I met the most charming lady.”
[CAMERA… CUT to hallway of high school. David Faster rushes in and knocks down a cleaning lady. Faster apologizes and helps her back on her feet. She is a tall statuesque blond woman. Her white hair is piled neatly on top of her head, kept in place by a beautiful red kerchief.

CUT to a crowded school cafeteria where Faster and the cleaning woman are having a coffee.

CUT to Faster and the cleaning lady sitting on a park bench in front of the school, holding hands and staring dreamily into each other’s eyes. Faster turns and addresses the camera.

FASTER: “Her name was Coral Sing. We had the most pleasant conversation. To my surprise, I discovered that she was from the Czech Republic and had been living in Canada for several years. She had graduated at the top of her class from the University of Prague and had received her medical degree. She had practiced medicine for several years before she emigrated to Canada. Now she was awaiting permission from the provincial government to practice medicine in Canada. I did not have the nerve to admit that I was a mere supply teacher so I told her I was doing research for Marvellous Educational Supplies and Services. She was impressed.”

END OF THE FIRST SCENE








SCENE TWO

[CAMERA… Shot of title:

COURTSHIP AND EDUCATION:
THE FIRST NIGHT

FADE to white. CUT to a scene from a science fiction movie about a future city. There are tall buildings that climb into the clouds. Cars and trucks drive on invisible highways in the sky, weaving in and out of the skyscrapers. There is a dome over the city. From a distance the city resembles a beehive. Flying high over the city is a small airplane dragging a long white sign behind it that reads: Mild, isn’t it?

CUT to a typical suburban living room except that it is the display window of a department store. Other windows of the department store have been boarded up. Outside the window a crowd has gathered. A large screen television hangs on one wall.

CUT to scene in a small library. The camera scans across the room. Besides books on the shelves there are books open on desks and a number of busts, one is of Shakespeare, one is of a youthful Bob Dylan. The camera stops at a lounge chair where Faster sits, dressed in a sweater, his legs crossed, smoking a pipe. He smiles at the camera.

FASTER: “Good evening. This evening we have the first in a three part series on romantic love. Romance is not normally associated with the town of Sudbury or with the field of education. This evening we are in for a surprise.”

CUT to first scene in high school where Coral Sing and Faster met. They walk down the hallway of the school

CUT to a broom closet where Faster has thrown Coral Sing to the floor and standing over her, drops his trousers. He turns to the camera.

FASTER: “My initial interest in Coral Sing was predatory. I felt like a beast of the Steppes and she was my prey.”
[CAMERA… CUT to a restaurant. Candle lit dinner. Musicians around the table playing violins. Faster and Coral Sing are at the table staring dreamingly into each other’s eyes. Coral is still wearing her cleaning outfit. The smoke from the candles is irritating Coral’s eyes and she keeps bobbing and weaving trying to avoid their assault. Faster turns to the camera, which he can only address by moving one of the musicians to the side.

FASTER: “I had no intention of falling in love. But then man is a poor prophet of his own life. We went to dinner on a floating restaurant, called Victoria’s Leek. The clam chowder was excellent.”
[CAMERA… CUT to washroom and a series of stalls. In one Faster is on his knees, his head over the toilet, vomiting. In the next stall, Coral Sing is on her knees, her head over the toilet, vomiting.

CUT to a market place. Faster and Sing are examining the various objects for sale by venders.

FASTER: “Later we went to an open market. The ambiance of Victoria’s Leek had been somewhat stifling and we found that the fresh air revived our spirits.”
[CAMERA… Faster becomes quite taken with a small statue of Buddha. Playfully he tosses it to Coral. She drops it. The vender behind them screams in a rage.

CUT to Faster paying the vender for the statue.

CUT to Coral Sing holding a delicate silk scarf up to show Faster. They are too close together and the cigarette in Faster’s mouth burns a hole in the silk. The vender watching them screams in a rage.

CUT to Faster paying the vender for the silk scarf.

CUT to Coral Sing tripping and falling to the ground. Faster falls over her dragging a table of glass figurines down to the ground.

CUT to Faster paying the vender for the glass figurines. Faster turns to the camera.

FASTER: “While we browsed through the market, Coral told me about herself. She had studied in a convent in Prague for several years before she was accepted in medical school. Her specialty was post-modernism with specific reference to fall of the communist novel. I loved her accent. It was Asian. The convent she had been brought up in was run by nuns from Vietnam.”
[CAMERA… CUT to shot of Faster and Sing sitting on a park bench. They occupy one half of the bench. At the other end of the bench a wino sits huddled over to one side clutching his bottle close to his breast, afraid that the couple beside him might try and mug him. Faster addresses the camera. The wino takes an interest in what Faster has to say and is confused by who Faster is addressing.

FASTER: “Structure, Coral maintained, was all important. What we perceived as order in our thought was actually a misinterpretation of random order. Everything was a coincidence. Man was being harnessed by machines to develop even smarter machines. Homo sapiens were the mid-wives of the next stage of evolution. Sounded like gibberish to me. Still I hung on every word like a love sick teenager.”
WINO: “Who the hell are you talking to?”
[CAMERA… CUT to Faster and Sing walking hand-in-hand along the sidewalk in downtown Sudbury. The wino is falling close behind them.

CUT to the front of a hotel where Faster and Sing close their eyes to kiss goodnight. They bang their heads together. The wino stands off to one side. Holding her head, Sing departs, stepping into the hotel. The wino looks at Faster, smiles and decides to follow Sing into the hotel.

CUT to Faster smiling with a lovesick expression on his face. As he turns to leave he runs into another older couple who are entering the hotel. Faster falls on top of the woman who lies on the ground, her legs spread open. The gentleman drags Faster off the woman. Faster climbs to his feet and attempts to help the woman to her feet. The gentleman grabs Faster again, which leads Faster to drop the woman once again. Faster yells at the gentleman and points to the woman on the ground. The gentleman pushes Faster aside and bends over to help the woman up. Faster reacts by pushing the gentleman who falls onto the woman. Faster turns and runs.


END OF THE SECOND SCENE

SCENE THREE

[CAMERA… Shot of title:

COURTSHIP AND EDUCATION:
THE SECOND DAY

FADE to white. CUT to a scene from a science fiction movie about a future city. There are tall buildings that climb into the clouds. Cars and trucks drive on invisible highways in the sky, weaving in and out of the skyscrapers. There is a dome over the city. From a distance the city resembles a beehive. Flying high over the city is a small airplane dragging a long white sign behind it that reads: Too mild for you?

CUT to a typical suburban living room except that it is the display window of a department store. Other windows of the department store have been boarded up. Outside the window a crowd has gathered. A large screen television hangs on one wall.

CUT to scene in a small library. The camera scans across the room. Besides books on the shelves there are books open on desks and a number of busts, one is of Shakespeare, one is of a middle-aged Bob Dylan. The camera stops at a lounge chair where Faster sits, dressed in a sweater, his legs crossed, smoking a pipe. He smiles at the camera.

FASTER: “Good evening. This evening we have the second in a three part series on romantic love. Romance is not normally associated with the town of Sudbury or with the field of education. This evening we are in for a surprise.”

FADE to white. CUT to Faster carrying a picnic basket and a blanket. Walking hand-in-hand with Faster is Coral Sing, they pass through a gravel pit spotted with picnic benches and cement barbecues. There is no grass. Occasionally there is a sign that reads NO BALL PLAYING or KEEP OFF THE GRASS. Some distance behind them a third person, a wino from the previous scene, follows. Finally they settle down on a small hill and begin to unpack the picnic basket which includes sandwiches and a bottle of wine, paper cups and sun tan lotion. In the distance two tall stacks spew out a black smoke that gives the day the look of being overcast. Faster smoothes out the blanket and addresses the camera.

FASTER: “Coral told me about her mother. She was in the theatre. The company she belonged to had been touring Czech villages with a version of the musical Oklahoma. Somehow they got mixed up with the Russian tanks pouring into Czechoslovakia. One of the Russian generals took a liking to Cora’s mother and she was impregnated.”
[CAMERA… Cut to Faster and Coral Sing passed out on their blanket. The wino has wandered up to their picnic sight and helped himself to the remainder of their sandwiches and wine. He then steps over to a nearby picnic and lies down to have a nap. Faster sits up and addresses the camera.

FASTER: “We must have fallen asleep because when we awoke it was quite dark and had cooled off. I offered Coral my jacket and we made our way out of the park. Later that evening we took a cab to a nightclub called The Palace.”
[CAMERA… CUT to a nightclub where Faster and Coral Sing are dancing. Behind them on the dance floor is the wino also dancing. He is alone.

FASTER: “There was a wonderful floor show. A 50’s singing group called The Ink Spots sang their greatest hits.”
[CAMERA… CUT to Faster ordering another bottle of win. Behind Faster and Coral, the wino sits with a magnum of champagne. There are two beautiful young women with him. They are laughing and drinking.

CUT to Faster and Miss Sing stepping out of a cab. Faster is noticeably drunk. He has his arm slung around Miss Sing’s shoulder.

CUT to Faster and Miss Sing staggering across the lobby.

CUT to Faster and Miss Sing in the elevator. Faster pushes all the buttons of the elevator. He and Miss Sing are laughing hysterically. Most of the other riders in the elevator are stone faced. At the back of the elevator is the wino, each arm around the young beauties from the nightclub, each young woman holding a bottle of champagne.

CUT to Faster and Miss Sing outside her hotel room. Miss Sing opens her door then turns and gives Faster a peck on the cheek. Before Faster can react, Miss Sing is inside and the door is closed. Faster stands still head bowed. Behind him the wino and the two beauties are shuffling into a neighbouring room.

CUT to Faster waiting for an elevator. He is moving from foot to foot. Impatient he heads for the exit door.

CUT to Faster staggering down the stairs.

CUT to Faster rushing out of the hotel. He looks around and races for a clump of bushes.

CUT to look of relieve as Faster stands urinating behind the bush

CUT to CLOSE UP of doorman looking at Faster in bush

CUT to CLOSE UP of Faster. He turns and looks at camera, shrugging his shoulders.

FASTER: “I had to go!”


END OF THE THIRD SCENE







SCENE FOUR

[CAMERA… Shot of title:

COURTSHIP AND EDUCATION:
THE THIRD DAY

FADE to white. CUT to a scene from a science fiction movie about a future city. There are tall buildings that climb into the clouds. Cars and trucks drive on invisible highways in the sky, weaving in and out of the skyscrapers. There is a dome over the city. From a distance the city resembles a beehive. Flying high over the city is a small airplane dragging a long white sign behind it that reads: Mild beyond belief.

CUT to a typical suburban living room except that it is the display window of a department store. Other windows of the department store have been boarded up. Outside the window a crowd has gathered. A large screen television hangs on one wall.

CUT to scene in a small library. The camera scans across the room. Besides books on the shelves there are books open on desks and a number of busts, one is of Shakespeare, one is of an elderly Bob Dylan. The camera stops at a lounge chair where Faster sits, dressed in a sweater, his legs crossed, smoking a pipe. He smiles at the camera.

FASTER: “Good evening. This evening we have the final part in our series on romantic love. Romance is not normally associated with the town of Sudbury or with the field of education. This evening we are in for a surprise.”

[CAMERA… CUT to David Faster and Coral Sing walking hand-in-hand through empty parking lots, down streets with shops boarded up, over rolling hills of barren rock, down beaches cluttered with garbage and dead fish, passed smoke stacks spewing out their black smoke.

CUT to CLOSE UP of David Faster.

FASTER: “We spent all our days together. I missed several teaching assignments. I picked up my messages at the hotel desk and filed them away. I asked Coral about her father. She knew very little about him except that after the invasion of Czechoslovakia he was posted in the Gulag. There he wrote a best selling novel.”
[CAMERA… Cut to Faster and Miss Sing holding hands standing on a hill of dirt watching the sun set. Nearby several astronauts in space suits have gathered to play golf. Their caddy is the wino from a previous scene. Faster turns to the camera.

FASTER: “At some point during the day I managed to capture Coral’s little hand in mine. I could feel the tremor of her pulse. At times Coral’s hand flew off to point out some interesting sight but it always returned to the nest of my grasp. Too exhausted to go out to dinner, we returned to Coral’s apartment and ordered some Kentucky Fried Chicken.”
[CAMERA… scene in hotel room. Faster is in his underwear shirt, sitting in a chair, a bucket of chicken in his lap, a can of beer in his hand, watching television. Coral has her hair in curlers. She is wearing a housecoat and sitting on the bed painting her toes.

FASTER: “After dinner, Coral excused herself. She wanted to take a shower and retire early. So I retired to my room and watched an interesting documentary on the Apollo Space Missions.”
[CAMERA… Faster is walking down the hall from Coral’s room. Coral is standing in the doorway. The wino has slid up to Coral’s room. Coral and the wino kiss and retreat to her room.

CUT to Faster standing outside the hotel near a bush. The doorman is standing behind the bush urinating.

CLOSE UP of doorman. He shrugs his shoulders.

DOORMAN: “I had to go.”

END OF THE FOURTH SCENE

SCENE FIVE

[CAMERA… Shot of title:

TELEXES AND TELEGRAMS

CUT to sub-title:
ORIGINAL TEXT OF RON HOWL’S TELEX
Fade to white… CUT to the office of Ron Howl. It is a replica of the Oval Office. Ron Howl sits behind the desk, an American flag behind each shoulder, addressing the camera as if he were the president of the United States.

HOWL: “Faster, what the hell are you doing in Sudbury? You were not authorized to make such a journey. You do not, I repeat, you do not have an unlimited expense account. This was supposed to be an exploratory trip to… explore the possible educational markets for Marvellous Educational Supplies and Services. It was not first prize in a hospital lottery. If it wouldn’t be too much trouble, would you let us know what other extravaganzas you have planned. And apparently you have forgotten your major task. In fact you haven’t even bothered to check your mailbox at your hotels. If you had checked you would have discovered that there was a package to be delivered at each of your supply teacher assignments… I can’t describe how disappointed Bill Marvellous feels about your work. It was Mr. Marvellous who recommended you for the position you presently hold. The other day I saw the man weeping. Oh he tried to hide it but I could see that he was wracked with grief. How could his faith be so carelessly abused… Get your act together lover boy! Yours truly, Ron Howl.”
[CAMERA… CUT to title
FINAL TEXT OF RON HOWL’S TELEX
FADE to white
CUT… The scene is a used-car lot called Honest Ted. Ron Howl is dressed up in a cowboy suit. As he talks, he moves around the cars, kicking the wheels, pounding the hoods with his hand, selling his message with enthusiasm and urgency.

HOWL: “Get off your ass! Send a detailed account of your expenses and your activities. Your desk has been moved to the stock room. The next move is into the parking lot. You think that all of this is going to go away. If I don’t see a response and an explanation by Monday morning I’ll go up there and ring your neck myself. Howl.”
[CAMERA… CUT to title
FASTER’S RESPONSE TO HOWL’S TELEX
FADE to white
CUT to crowded church where the priest is giving a sermon Faster is sitting in a bench with Coral Sing. He turns to the camera.

FASTER: “It’s been a pleasant morning here in Sudbury. The sun shines and so does my heart. Father Versuvio is giving a stirring sermon on the prodigal son reminding all of us not to lose faith in those we love. I think you should try meditation, Mr. Howl. It’s wonderful for the digestion. Walking around Sudbury I have seen many opportunities for Marvellous Enterprises. The citizenry is open and warm and receptive to all kinds of suggestions on how to improve their lives. I could use a little more money to prime the pump as they say. Well now, I best get back to the sermon. The congregation has been very patient with me so far and I don’t want to abuse their trust. Yours sincerely and with fond memories, David Faster.”
END OF THE FIFTH SCENE

SCENE SIX

[CAMERA… Shot of title:

THE BEER HALL PUTSCH

CUT to… a crowd of people are mingling about the front of a large tavern called The Munich House. Many of the people walking about are bald headed young men in brown shirts. Several policemen are chatting off to one side. A Canadian Broadcasting Corporation truck is parked across the street. The reporter for the CBC is an enthusiastic young woman with shoulder length hair. She is going about the crowd interviewing people. The cameraman is also young, with a beard and thin black hair uncombed and falling carelessly over his shoulders.

CUT to first interview. A distinguished older gentleman. He is tall, slender with a manicured moustache. His hair is neatly cut and combed straight back. He is wearing a gray two piece suit with several metals hanging from his lapel.

REPORTER: “Sir, could you comment on the recent violence during political demonstrations at the Munich House last evening?”
ELDERLY GENTLEMAN: “I was of course outraged. What had begun as a peaceful assemblage of citizenry was allowed to disintegrate into a complete free-for-all. I have no doubt that there was some subterfuge involved in this catastrophe.”
REPORTER: “Are you suggesting, sir, that her Majesty’s government was in any way involved in the events of last evening?”
ELDERLY GENTLEMAN: “That is exactly what I mean. Who benefits from the perception that we in the North cannot govern ourselves with civility? Queen’s Park of course.”
REPORTER: “How do you think this most recent event will affect the political climate of the North?”
ELDERLY GENTLEMAN: “How do you mean, affect?”
REPORTER: “Do you think it will inflame emotions leaving no middle ground for compromise?”
ELDERLY GENTLEMAN: “I believe it will lead to revolution. Is that blunt enough for you, young lady?”
[CAMERA… CUT to next person interviewed. She is a short rotund matronly woman in her forties. She is wearing a bright orange dress and a kerchief over her head covering hair rollers. On her feet she is wearing a pair of Nike running shoes.

MATRON: “I know what you media types will make of it. You’ll make us look like a band of ravaging savages, which we are not, I might add. It was a peaceful demonstration. People were marching to express their democratic rights. And then that man got up on stage and started to express his views on the north. Who asked him? And the language he used. I had my children there.”
[CAMERA… CUT to next person interviewed. She is a young lady dressed quite conservatively in a long gray skirt and a white blouse. She wears thick black glasses with her hair tied up on her head in a bun. She speaks with a low almost inaudible voice.

YOUNG WOMAN: “I’m very nervous. I’ve never actually been on television before.”
REPORTER: “You’ll do fine. Now, I understand that you were near the podium when the violence broke out.”
YOUNG WOMAN: “Yes, I was.”
REPORTER: “In your own words, could you tell us what you saw?”
YOUNG WOMAN: “This mother fucker…”
[CAMERA… CUT to next person to be interviewed. He is a young man with short black curly hair. Handsome and aware of it, he keeps smiling into the camera. He is wearing a university jacket.

REPORTER: “I understand that you were one of the first persons to rush the stage. Could you tell us what events precipitated your reaction?”
UNIVERSITY STUDENT: “As you know, Mandy, the demonstration left the Munich House and had wound its way through most of the downtown area, reaching its climax at City Hall.”
REPORTER: “How do you know my name?”
UNIVERSITY STUDENT: “The mayor got up to make a short speech. About half an hour into his talk this guy climbs up on the stage and takes the mike from the mayor and starts to berate the crowd, telling us that we are lucky to living in a country like Canada, and that we should all go home and pray that the Premier doesn’t cut back on our welfare checks. That got a lot of us pretty upset. But you know what really lit the fuse, Mandy…”
REPORTER: “Did someone tell you my name?”
UNIVERSITY STUDENT: “What really lit the fuse was when he said that none of us would be allowed in Toronto without a bath, a haircut, and a new tailor.”
[CAMERA… CUT to next person to be interviewed. He is the mayor of Sudbury, a small diminutive man in a brown two piece suit. Balding, he has a comb over which the slight breeze is blowing about. He is constantly catching his hair during the interview and pressing it down to his head.

MAYOR: “Thank you, Miss Wesly, for allowing us this opportunity to respond to this most unfortunate incident. The peoples of Northern Ontario are a peace loving… people. We do not condone nor do we… condone any form of violence. The violence was precipitated by this young man’s comments to the crowd. We have discovered from reliable sources that he is an agent from a government run corporation of the South. He may in fact be a paid agent of the Provincial Government.”
REPORTER: “That is a very serious allegation, Mr. Mayor.”
MAYOR: “Miss Wesly, we do not make wild allegations. The gentleman in question, we are led to believe, is an employee of Marvellous Educational Supplies and Services. His name is David Faster. We are led to believe that he is accompanied by a Coral Sing. Her affiliation has not yet been established. We have instructed the Chief of Police to apprehend said Faster if only for his own protection. The hour is dark. The hopes of the North have been flayed. It is a sensitive situation. Our investigation has not yet established a motivation for this young man’s actions but it is clear to us that he was sent by the government in Toronto to incite violence in the North and to stain our noble and just campaign for independence. We shall not be…”
[CAMERA… cut to CLOSE UP of CBC reporter

REPORTER: “Violence has taken its first baby steps in this northern enclave. Who knows how this child of rustic manners and hostile weather conditions will develop? We can only hope that recent gun registration will inhibit this rabid thirst for hostility. This is Mandy Wesly reporting from Sudbury.”
[CAMERA… CUT to scene in street where David Faster and Coral Sing are running from an angry mob.

CUT to… Faster and Sing continue to run. The crowd pursuing them has dwindled to half a dozen people.

CUT to… Faster and Sing continue to run through a park. Only three angry Northerners are still in pursuit

CUT to… scene of astronaut in space suit teeing up a golf ball.

CUT to … one angry Northerner is hit on the head by a golf ball and falls. Then a second Northerner is hit. Finally the third and last Northerner is cut down by a golf ball.

CUT to… Faster and Coral Sing are still running.

END OF SCENE SIX

END OF 8TH EPISODE