Monthly Archives: May 2011
New Hampshire News — June 15, 1770
English Race Horse Available for Breeding
“Scrip,” a beautiful brown bay horse, imported from England and the winner of many matches, has been sent to improve the horse stock of New England, and is now available for a stud fee of six shillings. No mare under fourteen hands will be admitted. He is capable of covering sixty mares in a season.
Watch War
Nathaniel Sheaff Griffith took out an advertisment, claiming his watch repair is much cheaper and of better skill than J. Continue Reading »
Production Update
We’re winding down the home stretch to the premiere of our first episode “The Travail of Sarah Pine” on June 26th. The picture is
Bide with me here, for a Time
If you spend any time reading 18th century literature, you’ll stumble upon some odd units of measure:
“Sennight” A space of seven days and nights, a week. New Hampshire Gazette, April 27,1770: “..Advices from the Robbinhood (sic) Society. The last time I was at the club was on Tuesday sennight.”
“Ultimo” of or occurring in the month preceding the present. “I called upon Miss Fairfax, on the 17th, ultimo”
“Twelvemonth” — a year. “You will be waiting here a twelvemonth if you aren’t careful.”
“Fortnight” — a period of two weeks. Continue Reading »
Teachable moments: the lessons of Courage
I love to teach. I love that moment when the words you say to a student make their eyes suddenly light up with recognition and understanding. In those moments you can actually see their world suddenly becoming a little bit bigger. Yet sometimes these moments are few and far between. Sometimes the day to day business of teaching becomes just that — business. Sometimes it is hard to be inspired.
When I was asked to write the educational supplements for Courage I was, quite frankly, elated. Continue Reading »
Bringing Braxton Cage to Life: Gary Moore
When I was asked to join the cast of Courage, New Hampshire, I was simply thrilled for several reasons. My first reason was a chance to work with one of my idols in the acting world, the talented Basil Hoffman. My second reason was the chance to be a part of a decent family friendly drama of which there are few these days. My third reason was as an actor being asked to come to LA to shoot a pilot is an honor I will never forget. Continue Reading »
A New Mom’s Take on “The Travail of Sarah Pine”
Warning: semi-spoiler alert.
When Dad and I had our first debates (everything is a debate with us) about the script of Courage, I was a 2 or 3 months pregnant with my first child. She was born a week before shooting began, so I was unable to help in the actual filming, though I had been heavily involved in pre-production—I’m listed in the credits as “Consulting Producer” which I joke means “Resident Cynic.”
Dad has touched briefly on the difficulty of working closely with family on a project like this, what he didn’t mention was the added difficulty of trying to explain every production decision to an overly-opinionated pregnant woman. Continue Reading »
An ‘Encouraging’ Dose of Tar and Feather
‘Community’ may be many things to many people, but for most of the industrial era, at least, it hasn’t had much to do with seeking justice. The days of the sheriff calling out the posse and deputizing every honest man in the neighborhood have morphed into ‘community watch’ programs, where people just peer out their windows and call in strange behavior. If you conduct an actual citizens arrest, these days, the odds are you’ll either be arrested yourself or wind up under observation . Continue Reading »
“So Spirited A People as the Americans”
New Hampshire June 1770
Taking note of what the good citizens of New Hampshire were reading in the summer of 1770.
The Boston Massacre
On June 29, 1770, the New Hampshire Gazette reported that London papers had just arrived in Boston. The news of the Boston Massacre arrived in England on the 22nd of April, (48 days after the event). In response to the tragedy in Boston, the Secretary of State for the Colonies met with Governor Barnard (then present in London) for three hours. Subsequently, the London papers printed the account of Captain Thomas Preston, who was in command of the troops that fired on the town. Continue Reading »
Production Log May 22, 2011
We were short a little connective tissue for the first episode, (transition takes) so we shot some time interval footage of the sun rising on a stone wall, Silas bringing in a lantern, and Silas observing the distant horizon through the window, in anticipation of a storm. I have experienced a few midwestern winters, and we live in a little valley that enjoys four or five snows a year, but we had to make a credible shot at New Hampshire syle cold. Continue Reading »
Salesmen in Black French Berets
(Distribution is Art)
I have a humiliating confession to make. I actually allowed myself to watch the first twenty minutes of
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