Category Archives: Life
1771 — A Day in the Life of a Country Lawyer
More Glorious Times Anon
In June of 1771, the travelling attorney, John Adams, then thirty-five years old, had this to record in his journal about a day on the circuit court:
Overtook Judge Cushing in his old curricle and two lean horses, and Dick, his negro, at his right hand, driving the curricle. This is the way of travelling in 1771;— a judge of the circuits, a judge of the superior court, a judge of the King’s bench, common pleas, and exchequer for the Province, travels with a pair of wretched old jades of horses in a wretched old dung-cart of a curricle, and a negro on the same seat with him driving. Continue Reading »
Surprise, Surprise
Good storytelling is something like telling a good joke. If it’s well told, you don’t mind hearing it again, now and then, but after about the fifth time, it starts to feel like an act of war. Human beings were never meant to be bored. If you’re being paid to entertain, you have an obligation to bring something new to the table.
By jove, even journalists know that.
Now, at the outset, we haven’t all heard the same jokes, so our taste is a subjective thing, and I’m quite willing to admit I may have missed something very, very profound in the new NBC show “Revolution,” but after trying very hard to watch an episode and a half, I’m thinking the only thing remotely novel about the project was the premise: a world without electricity. Continue Reading »
We’re Doing Our Part..
It’s time to do yours!
Disclaimer: If you are one of the faithful who have already contributed, ignore this message — unless you have a friend who needs to ante up!
It all starts with culture, with story.
If you don’t like what is going on around you, blame it on art. We are what we mythologize. We might even be what we leave running on the television.
Help us Create Something Better!
I just took a network at random. ABC. Continue Reading »
A Different Kind of People..
When we look back on the great accomplishments of the late 18th century — embattled farmers standing their ground at Lexington and Concord, the timeless language of the Declaration, the homage the centuries have paid to the Bill of Rights — we tend to see the victories and not the character of the people who achieved them.
We know they won, but we rarely study how or why.
If we found ourselves somewhere in New England on a Sabbath morning, in 1771, even the most devout among us might find the traditions strange. Continue Reading »
“Courage, New Hampshire:” A Family Affair
It is true that when you pay a few dollars to watch Courage, New Hampshire, you are investing in all of the families that work on Courage.
These families work tirelessly, sacrificially, and selflessly to produce this show. Their amount of love, dedication, faith, and Courage is something to be admired.
I am new to the Courage, New Hampshire family, but just in the one month that I have been working on the marketing side of this show, this is the one truth that struck me the most powerfully – the love and dedication of the families that make this show a reality! Continue Reading »
The Ambition Blogs — #2 by Kristie Kershaw
Editor’s Note: Kristie Kershaw, the wife of British born actor, Nathan Kershaw, (“Bob Wheedle” and “Sam Courage” ), has this to write about “Ambition,” (the title of Courage, New Hampshire chapter four.)
Ambition is neither vice nor virtue – nothing but human intention can make it one or the other.
On its face, ambition is merely the desire to better oneself or one’s circumstances. That, in and of itself, can be construed as neither good nor bad. The motivation, in point of fact, is everything. Continue Reading »
The Ambition Blogs
“Ambition,” the fourth chapter of Courage, New Hampshire inspired a question for our cast:
“Is ambition, in any age, a virtue?”
Allen Marsh, “Abraham Foxe” in Courage, New Hampshire, has this to say:
Well, the Greeks certainly thought so. The Hebrews not so much. And the Romans couldn’t decide.
Personal ambition, to the Greeks, was indeed regarded as a virtue of sorts. In The Iliad, Achilles wanted glory rather than a long life, and that just about sums up the definition of ambition to my mind — the desire for something beyond the average. Continue Reading »
The Story You Crave
What makes a story worth your time?
I’m a little embarrassed to admit it, but I can remember looking forward to “Happy Days” installments when the show first began running in 1974. That would have been around 8th grade for me, and it might have had something to do with thinking high school would hold moments of gorgeous mystery — a girl who looked like Linda Evans saying yes to the prom, the Beach Boys showing up for your birthday party, dad presenting you with a chrome-heavy convertible red Corvette. Continue Reading »
The Inevitable Surprise
We’re at the “plot points” stage of episode #4, where we debate what happens to whom, how we match it to the events of the era, and what we have the means to attempt. For example, in this next episode, we’re very confident that Reverend Laud, in a flash back scene, needs to give a pretty spirited Whig (read patriot) sermon. Else why would Silas ever hire him for the Courage pulpit? But, wait, why would Laud be giving a liberty sermon when he can’t wait to be ordained into the King’s established church? Continue Reading »
The Photoshop Syndrome
Three weeks. That’s a big break in the production blog, and it
has to do with, well, production. We’re working hard to bring in the next episode by the first week in May.
On that front, there are a few cuts and transitions we’re still debating, but it’s pretty much a matter of color and music now, and it all looks pretty nice in our book.
Over the years I’ve come to warn people about what I call the “Photoshop Syndrome,” but lately I have come to believe it’s a life truth more ancient than Adobe. Continue Reading »
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