Sunshine Superman

[dmcoco84 5]

Well, That's Definitely Appreciated...

It appears the old BASE Jumper BBCode is [now] working/usable. (But No Username)

Given that BASE is Back on the Dorkzone, & there is no longer The Hangout ... it appears this belongs here now:

Given that Jean Boenish says [url

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PY2I3zAUxfE&t=242s]here[/url], at 4min 2sec: "This film is not really [,] about BASE jumping."

...it appears this post belongs in The Hangout.

New Access: [url https://tubitv.com/movies/505972/sunshine_superman]Sunshine Superman; tubitv[/url]  

Hat Tip: Patrick McFarland - via FB.

Apparently also available with ads on [url https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F51CM8ploLI]WhuffoTube[/url]

www.basejumper.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=2999823#2999823

[dmcoco84 5]

...It "Kinda" Worked...

The Preview Looked Different.

Given that BASE is Back on the Dorkzone, & there is no longer The Hangout ... it appears this belongs here now:
 

Quote

Given that Jean Boenish says here, at 4min 2sec: "This film is not really [,] about BASE jumping."

...it appears this post belongs in The Hangout.

New Access: Sunshine Superman; tubitv

Hat Tip: Patrick McFarland - via FB.
 

Quote

Apparently also available with ads on WhuffoTube.

www.basejumper.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=2999823#2999823

 

[sfzombie13 324]

damn, i wish dz.com would go back to that style of website.  the new format looks like shit in comparison.

[kleggo 145]

Many fond memories of spending time with Jean and Carl at their home in Hawthorne (ping pong, lemonade, popcorn, Julia the sheepdog, camera gear, lottsa nylon and Carl's laugh)

Spending time in the adventure world was kinda memorable too.

BSBD.

[dudeman17 335]

8 hours ago, kleggo said:

Many fond memories of spending time with Jean and Carl at their home in Hawthorne (ping pong, lemonade, popcorn, Julia the sheepdog, camera gear, lottsa nylon and Carl's laugh)

Spending time in the adventure world was kinda memorable too.

BSBD.

 

Don't forget the ladder on the side of the garage!

[dudeman17 335]

As I'm sure you all know, basejumper.com is going away at the end of this month. For anyone who hasn't done so, I would suggest reading this missive before it's gone.

http://www.basejumper.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=2998815;sb=post_latest_reply;so=ASC;forum_view=forum_view_collapsed;guest=152719555

 

Especially you, Craig.

[dmcoco84 5]

https://web.archive.org/web/20211127005417/www.basejumper.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=2998815
 

29 minutes ago, dudeman17 said:

As I'm sure you all know, basejumper.com is going away at the end of this month. For anyone who hasn't done so, I would suggest reading this missive before it's gone.

www.basejumper.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=2998815

Especially you, Craig.

 

[kleggo 145]

Thanks Matt.

I copied into a word file and saved for later reading

[dmcoco84 5]

https://web.archive.org/web/20211201084247/http://www.basejumper.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=2962592%3B

[dmcoco84 5]

Some Interesting Timing ... Via "News" Story:

"Is Plex Legal?"

https://watch.plex.tv/movie/sunshine-superman

[dmcoco84 5]

On 11/23/2021 at 5:11 PM, dudeman17 said:

Don't forget the ladder on the side of the garage!

Dude... 

Ya Gonna Elaborate, Or What?

[dudeman17 335]

1 hour ago, dmcoco84 said:

Ya Gonna Elaborate, Or What?

Carl built this ladder against the side of his garage, in his back yard. It was wide enough for two people and extended a bit above the roof. He liked to go up there and look out across the rooftops, get a bit of, well, elevation if not quite altitude.

-------

By the way, thanks for the archive links.

 

 

Edited December 10, 2021 by dudeman17

[kleggo 145]

Matt, were you on the cinderblock wall with bK when Carl was filming "exits" and the wall collapsed?

[dudeman17 335]

No. Geez, it's been forever since I've seen that, but if my aging, sputtering memory banks are correct, I think that was Mark Sechler. I think Peter Hammond was in there helping sweep it up.

 

Edited December 11, 2021 by dudeman17

[dmcoco84 5]

On 12/9/2021 at 5:19 PM, dudeman17 said:

Carl built this ladder against the side of his garage, in his back yard. It was wide enough for two people and extended a bit above the roof. He liked to go up there and look out across the rooftops, get a bit of, well, elevation if not quite altitude.

Interesting.

I wonder if Jean left it up...

She still owns the property, & no hurricanes, so, it might be. 

On 12/9/2021 at 5:19 PM, dudeman17 said:

By the way, thanks for the archive links.

Welcome!

[dmcoco84 5]

So ... Matt, Craig,

Given that you both knew Carl:

What's your favorite aspect of the movie? 

Anything either of you disliked?

Thought about this at all?

I Certainly Have.

Quote

... ... Jean Boenish says here, at 4min 2sec: "This film is not really [,] about BASE jumping."

 

[kleggo 145]

I'll re-watch and let you know.

but 

knowing Jean and Carl, I suspect she was referring to "man's potentially indomitable spirit which allows us the press on despite adversity to do that which we love."

 

Carl used to say something like this, "happy are those that dream and are willing to pay the price to see them come true."

[dudeman17 335]

I agree with what kleggo has said.

It's been a while since I've seen it as well, I'd have to watch it again, but even then it might be hard to answer your question fully within the confines of a forum.  A couple things, though...

I always thought of and often described Carl as having a child-like innocence and optimism. I remember people in the movie (himself included) saying similar. I always liked that about him, I strived for that myself through much of my youth. These days I'm cynical as fuck. Can't quite remember exactly where in that transition I was at 43.

I was also somewhat skeptical of the way Bill Wendt came off. As I recall, in the movie he was saying that he somewhat admired Carl and the jumping that was going on. I remember those days, I myself went through their 'legal' process in '82, and I don't remember 'admiration' being any part of their attitude. When jumping was first getting started, the Park Service (understandably) was like 'whoah, wait a second...', and jumpers were (also understandably) like 'wait a second hell, C-YA!' and the Park Service's reaction was basically, 'you wanna butt heads with us?, we're the federal government, have at it!' And as chief ranger, Bill Wendt set the tone for that.  That 1980 'legal season' was a lie, they designed it to fail and never intended to let it continue. They violated many people's civil and legal rights. They let Jimmy Tyler die. Admiration my ass.

-------

I remember when the movie came out in the theaters, a few of us were going to go see it together. But we couldn't quite coordinate our schedules, and I ended up going to a matinee by myself. I was the only one in the theater. After it ended, it took me a while get up and leave. As I was walking out, some pimply-faced kid who worked there asked, "That good was it?"

It was to me.

[kleggo 145]

Thanks for the story Matt.

I agree with your assessment of ranger wendt. His on-camera time certainly did not sync with his "professional actions".

I bought 8 tickets to SS when it played in San Diego.

Even though Jean was there and gave a short Q&A after the movie I only saw 10 others there, four of whom were my guests. Well actually 6 since I gave away 2 tickets at the last minute to a couple in-line since two of my friends bailed on coming.

 

Be well.

[dmcoco84 5]

Please do let me know when you two have finished re-watching the movie...

...& have made the totality of comments you desired to make. 

Favorites / Dislikes / Anything Else / ...Jean...

[NickDG 23]

None of the below is gospel, just my take on how I remembered things . . .

It's been a while since I've seen the movie, which I liked a lot, however it wasn't exactly the film it started out to be. I first met Marah Strauch, who created and directed Sunshine Superman, many years earlier. She had come across a carton of old BASE VHS tapes her deceased Uncle had shot. His name was Mike Allen, and he was BASE 163. I'm not certain if she knew her Uncle in life as he was killed in a 1992 automobile accident. However, looking through the box of tapes and photographs she felt a connection to her Uncle, not through parachutes or jumping which she knew nothing about, but through photography which they both shared a love.

Trying to find out more about her Uncle she found me, and others, who knew and jumped with Mike. And when she phoned it was always, “Hi, Uncle Nick,” as we all became defacto Uncles to her and she a Niece to all of us. She began attending Bridge Days and other BASE events, always with her cameras, and she became a fixture in the BASE community.

Around this time she starting talking about a film on the history of BASE jumping. And, of course, I was all for that. And she came to my home a few times to interview me, and I passed on all I had learned about the history of the sport. And not just me, she did that with many others who jumped with Mike.

And like I'm want to do I emphasized the part Carl Boenish played in the development of BASE jumping, and how there had been plenty of parachute jumps from objects made prior to Carl's time that registered on the world only as inconsequential stunts. It took a combination of Carl's talent as a film maker and the majestic scenery El Capitan provided in 1978 to lite the fuse that detonated the bomb that became BASE jumping as we know it today. And Carl did that in something he called a simple film poem using little to no words.

Of course, you can't make a movie over night (although I haven't seen 'Hex' yet) and at least four years or so went by as Marah sought funding, gathered more materials and footage, and kept interviewing BASE jumpers. Then she met Jean Boenish, who up to that point had been very protective of her late husband's legacy. Maybe a bit overprotective. I interviewed her for my BASE magazine and prizing personal information out of her was difficult, even though I knew her fairly well. She'd even jumped on me (gently) for using one of Carl's photos in a story about him I wrote without her permission. And I told her once, all of Carl's films and other works should be in the public domain or people are going to forget him. And when Marah came along I think Jean saw a way to solve that problem.

Something between Marah and Jean must've clicked and Marah realized she now had access to all of Carl's films, and that was something no one else had. And I don't fault Marah in the least for it, but that's how the focus of the film morphed from “The History of BASE Jumping” to the “Carl & Jean Boenish Story.”

I'm actually very happy the movie turned out the way it did. Marah gave Carl Boenish a foothold in history with her movie in a way none of us who knew and revered him ever could. And I know Marah also did a lot of work preserving Carl's films for future generations. But, I will say this - the broader view of BASE jumping history – the nitty gritty nuts and bolts part of it, well, that film hasn't been made yet. And I really hope someone eventually does make that film.

 

[dorkitup 1]

Nick!  Glad to see you're still kickin' around.  Love your work!  Still have your 2005 history video in my archive!  classic gold!

[dmcoco84 5]

On 6/16/2022 at 8:05 AM, NickDG said:

But, I will say this - the broader view of BASE jumping history – the nitty gritty nuts and bolts part of it, well, that film hasn't been made yet. And I really hope someone eventually does make that film.

Well, Nick...

...perhaps...

...You, should make that movie; WITH Marah.

Ya Know, given that you're the best storyteller on the dorkzone.

Along with your rather unique qualifications & positioning / involvement within all of that History.

Why not make it easy for Marah, to make that movie? -- You've already got a full-length feature film showing you exactly what she can & would do with this sort of story / stories. -- Start drawing up a script, get all the stories organized, make storyboards, compile all the footage... hand her the movie that she Needs to make & let her once again work her Magic as she did with Jean & Carl.

Not to mention that Good Ol' Cliche...

...If You Want Something Done Right, You've Gotta Do It Yourself.

Then she can finish off the Trilogy with me (& Jean), after I've (metaphorically) implanted my Shoe GOO-ed Hanwag Boot in the NPS's Ass.

My only hope will be that Scott Gediman is still there once I'm able to begin this process & succeed. So that he's still a park employee when I look him square in the face after a wonderful jump & firmly inform him what an Utter Jackass he is; then maybe Pope can land on him. -- Just like the Other Jackass within Sunshine Superman who said, "You don't have to dislike someone to, take away their freedom."

... ... ... "The Park's Values" ... ... ...

No, Ya Old Fart Jackasses, That's MY Park.

https://basejumper dot net/thread/2995747#2995848

" PS: a big hello to all the [non-BASE friendly] rangers reading this post! "

[dudeman17 335]

When I went through Yosemite's legal wringer in '82, Scott Gediman asked me, "Why are they so mad at you guys?" I replied, "I was hoping you could tell me", although I already knew.

-------

On Jeopardy this week, there was a guy who looked a lot like Carl.

[kleggo 145]

On 12/17/2022 at 2:31 AM, dudeman17 said:

 

-------

On Jeopardy this week, there was a guy who looked a lot like Carl.

I saw him and said the same thing to Maya while watching / playing.