I wish I had the resources to do it, it’s so obvious — a quickie, updated version of The Big Chill set in NYC during the current COVID19 Pandemic. The plot writes itself — a group of six 40th somethings (and one younger person) come together for a series of COVID19-related funerals and talk about the modern world.
Pretty much all you have to do is find a decent screenwriter and some high-end movie equipment and you have a movie. It could be super timely and it would give you the opportunity to explore — and maybe have some catharsis — about the current fucked up Trump Era.
I say someone is producing this movie because twice in the last few weeks someone has looked at a post I did two years ago suggesting such a movie. But now that funerals are starting up in NYC, well, it’s very easy to see an indie movie about what I’m proposing popping up.
You could do it really, really fast and maybe even get a well-known actor to be a producer and pay for the whole thing as well. You need six people. I tried to come up with a dream cast, only to realize if everyone (expect one person) is supposed to be in their 40s, you’d have to think about who would play which character and I’m not really into putting that much energy into this post.
Anyway, good luck people who are writing and producing the movie I thought up two years ago.
I have said more than once that when New Yorkers feel that same feeling they had on 9/11 that America’s knees will buckle and the country will fall to its collective knees. I’m not a New Yorker, but I am an American and empathetic.
What made 9/11 so bad on a national level was that the otherwise fearless New Yorkers were gobsmacked. Stunned. The one city in the world that can kick the ass of any other city in the world was cowering in fear. It bounced back in a few hours, but when America saw NYC wasn’t functioning, we became equally dazed.
So, here we are. It’s now probably inevitable that NYC is going to become a hot zone. All we don’t know is when and how severe. As we start to test more and more people, the numbers are going to rise rather dramatically. There is likely to be a rather dramatic “re-calibration” of New Yorkers’ world view, just like there was on 9/11. But they’ll bounce back soon enough and start to thrive in The New Normal.
The thing New Yorkers probably need to realize is the WuFlop is going to pop up in the city soon enough. When it happens, a lot of New Yorkers are likely going, indeed, feel that same gut punch feeling they felt on 9/11. The WuFlop is extremely disturbing. Eerie. Frighting. But don’t let how spooky it is get to you. You’re a New Yorker and hayseed rubes like me in the hinterland look up to you for how tough you are otherwise in the face of adversity.
Now, let me address something — I don’t see the above as Fear Porn. I’m not trying to scare you by pulling bullshit out of my butt. I’m simply using what is known and then extrapolating into the future using the facts. New York City — especially mid-town — has a shit ton of world tourists every day, every week, every month. So, COVID19 is going to pop up in NYC in a pretty brutal fashion soon enough.
But I believe in NYC. Maybe one day I’ll get to live there, just like I did in Seoul. Let’s rock.
Executive Summary:Since the demise of both The Village Voice and Gawker, a market and audience in New York City is currently being completely unserved.
I do not live in New York City.
Let me repeat — I do not live in New York City.
Having said that, I was recently in the city New Year’s Day and I found myself in a nice dive bar in the East Village, the name of which eludes me. While I was there, I was wasted and I had an “ah-ha” moment — right now, there’s no small gritty publication that covers New York City that is known outside of the city itself or individual neighborhoods that micro publications might cover.
As such, the following is not even a daydream. It’s more of an idle observation about the state of the publishing world in New York City. As of right now, there’s a young, hip audience in New York City (one that frequent sets trends nationally) that is not being served in a manner that is known outside the confines of the city itself.
I’m not saying I’m the person to fix that issue because, well, like I mentioned, I don’t live in the city. What’s more, I don’t have any money and don’t really know anyone in the city. I do, however, have a unique skill set that if I was to magically find myself in the city for, say, six months, I feel could probably endup in something pretty cool happening.
But absolutely no one, but no one, owes me anything, so the following is more about me letting off steam while I develop a novel that any belief that it will cause anyone to help me out. I have a proven track record in strategic thinking when it comes to a publication, in the guise of the late, great ROKon Magazine in Seoul about 10 years ago.
All this verbiage is me simply me realizing that an audience and its associate market is currently not being served in any demonstrable manner. Of course, there are two things that are causing this — one is the Web is mature. Blogs really don’t have the cultural cache that they used to have because of the other big issue — the diffuse nature of social media.
What young people used to find on a site like, say, Gawker, they now find on Twitter or whatever video platform of the moment they might be interested in. So, in a sense, this post is more about me lamenting my lost youth than anything else, I guess.
I would idly note that you might be able to game the system by doing essentially a zine at first that you handed out in front of major publications around the city and then once it got some attention then you could launch it as a Website.
Maybe.
But it’s just fun to think about.
No one owes me — or anyone else — anything. And besides not having any money, not living in the city and not having any contacts in the city, the entire idea of a blog is now kind of passe.
Anyway. Maybe this blog post will inspire someone else to do what I can’t.
Shelton Bumgarner is a writer and photographer living in Richmond, Va. He may be reached at migukin (at) gmail (dot) com.
It occurred to me over the weekend that if I lived in NYC and had the resources — which I do not — I could probably do something pretty cool in New York City’s media industry.
This is just an ode to New York City. It would be a pop-rock song. This would be an upbeat response to LCD Soundsystem’s New York I Love You, But You’re Bringing Me Down.
Lady New York lyrics by Shelton Bumgarner @bumgarls please give credit if you produce or perform
lady New York
I enter you on the ChinaTown bus
the wifi sucks and works not enough
see you in the distance calling my name
knowing if I could stay
you’d be my ticket to fame
I only get to be your lover for a weekend
don’t get to stay
know you wish it could be some other way
lady New York
love you when I can
lady New York
you’re waiting for me
lady New York
lady New York
lady New York
your streets and bars
are there to inspire me
it’s clear to see
if I could be with you forever
things would never be the same
but it’s never to be
it’s obvious to me
lady New York
our time together is a blast
but it doesn’t last
we always have to part
just as we’re about to start
maybe one day that will change
but I fear such thoughts are in vain
lady New York
love you when I can
lady New York
you’re waiting for me
lady New York
lady New York
lady New York
[bridge]
I know you’ll one day be mine
I know it will be so fine
we’ll grow old together
and I’ll get to raise a family with you
lady New York
lady New York
lady New York
but it’s all a dream
it all has to end
when we will me again
I just don’t know
lady New York I’ll be in you again soon
lady New York
lady New York
lady New York
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