Weekend Bee-ject’s #18

Though not typical, this week’s batch of rejects all happened to take place down the shore or on our way there. Here’s to the unofficial start of Summer!

Thank Jebus…

All images were captured by the bee between May 23rd – 29th with a Digital Harinezumi V.2:

Go to bee3six5 for more tiny camera majestification.

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To maintain the subtle, yet consistent this is MY blog now, bitch feline theme of the past few weeks, a bonus picture:

silent film star: Scott McKitten

Wildwood, NJ – Revisited

In honor of this last “official” weekend of Summer (and a long one at that, THANK GOD) I wanted to revisit this post I wrote a few weeks ago about a little known underground film showcasing one of my favorite places, Wildwood, NJ.

Are you from New Jersey? Have you ever been? Most people who have never had the pleasure associate it mainly with mobsters (you’ve done wonders for our reputation, Sopranos), weird accents, bad smells (depending on where you are this is pretty accurate), and basically being the toilet seat under the cheeks of our northern neighbor the Big Apple, among many other illustrious pejoratives. New Jersey is a glorious place, being the Garden State after all… We’ve got acre upon acre of farmland dedicated to everything from growing vegetation to boarding horses. Although the 4th smallest in the nation it’s the most densely populated state meaning there are a crap load of people milling about here PLUS it’s a full-blooded peninsula however deceptive it is about its presentation (so EAT IT Florida & Alaska! We can’t all be as obvious as you). We get ALL four seasons which means we’re scraping ice off our windshields for at least 3 months a year with or without snow and cursing our broken AC in the middle of a 95 degree (plus humidity = 110) heat wave for another 3. If you can find a piece of land that hasn’t been overtaken with a strip mall, housing development or parking lot, you will surely love the scenery.

Where the hell was I going with this? Right, WILDWOOD. So anyway, I finally had the chance to view the Wildwood, NJ movie in all its feature length glory. OWH.MYE.GAHD! The larger than life hair! The hideous clothes only a true fashion victim could love! It’s all there but that’s just what’s bobbing at the surface. The movie features mostly candid interviews with women discussing everything from sex & relationships to future aspirations and past indiscretions. Those interviewed are at times both unintentionally funny and overwhelmingly relatable. It’s touching to hear a young woman speak of her dreams to become a model and an actress while sunning herself on the roof of a local motel. Two women smoke cigarettes outside their room as they discuss their reasons for pursuing work as dancers to make ends meet. They speak as feminists in the sense of reclaiming their bodies as a means to make money while admitting their subjugation in the process. Another two women, one a young mother, reminisce poolside over the wild ways of their youth, cruising the boardwalk during their teens, falling in love habitually and returning home at week’s end, their romances already a fleeting memory. There is no specific mention of actual drug use yet clearly a lot of those filmed appear to be abusing something which is dually hilarious and heartbreaking.

My depiction of this film will never do it total justice. Regardless of your connection or lack thereof to the shore town, it’s a film about people, young people specifically, and it’s easier to identify with them than seek out dissimilarities whether you’d like to admit it or not. It’s utterly raw and real and those who view it will not regret the hour spent. That’s right, it’s just under 60 minutes, so remind me why you haven’t you seen this film yet? You probably won’t find it in the local Blockbuster and my feeling on the subject is this is a “buy” not “rent”. Click here to get your copy or just call me up and we’ll make some popcorn and wax nostalgic.

Hope you enjoy the last days of Summer ’09 and in parting I leave you with some photos of our recent mini-vacay to Wildwood…

one of MANY shops specializing in ironic t-shirts and other random amusements

a general view of the boards

wildwood's most famous pier. sneaky tram car blocked my shot!

purple shirt looks less than pleased to be in frame...

not so much a mall than a landmark

a birthday dinner of corndogs & tornado fries

a bold statement but nothing less could be expected...

and my personal fav:

our view of the sunrise on the bee's birthday

Wildwood, NJ

So a few weeks ago I was lucky enough to stumble upon one of the most amazing gems of pop culture I’ve been introduced to in quite some time. This gem, unlike most I usually find on the NET, had been residing quietly in an almost time capsule-like repose. Its unearthing came as a surprise to the films creator as well as a world, who 15 years after the film’s release, may have forgotten its existence altogether. Well, thank god for viral media and social networking or one of the funniest, most subversive, riotously enjoyable clips might never have been seen and we would all be poorer for it.

On a personal level this film hits home as Wildwood, NJ is a place that my family and I have vacationed ever since I was born. Multiple times during the summer months, we would make the trek “down the shore” (this is Jersey speak that most refer to as “going to the beach”) and stay at our favorite motel just one block from the boardwalk and the beach. These trips were usually long weekends filled with announcements besieging us to “Watch the tram car, wa-wa-wa-wa-watch the tram car please”, finding sand in cracks that sand just does not belong, striking up a conversation with someone on the beach, meeting up with them later on the boardwalk, finding out they’re kinda creepy and spending the rest of the night trying to lose them, because well you know, “it’s different every night” and we like to keep it that way.

For more information on this film and others like it, and to secure your own DVD copy, contact Ruth Leitman @ ruth@ruthlessfilms.com or check out ruthlessfilms.com.