Episode 75 begins by looking back at what could have been the worst author event ever. What follows is a series of unfortunate events. However it will be left up to the listener as to whether this was truly a bad event, or just a funny story being shared on this week's episode.
It might be the smallest town by sheer land size to be featured on the podcast but Nahant, Massachusetts is a worthy addition to the Road Trip series. Beaches galore, seemingly endless beautiful views, there's a lot packed into just over one-square-mile.
Children of the 1970's and 80's rejoice. We go way Back In the Day to the Lee J Ames collection of drawing books. Learning to draw is tough, the Draw 50 series that dotted elementary school library shelves made it easier. Reminisce about these forgotten classics, or learn about them for the first time.
This week's Top 5 is a rarity, it will actually go in order rather than random order as per usual. We look at the Highest Grossing Movies Ever at the box office when adjusted for inflation. Which ones made the list?
There is a new This Week In History and Time Capsule which details the introduction of the very first emergency telephone number 999.
Helpful Links from this Episode(available through Buzzsprout)
Listen to Episode 74 here.
Episode 75 begins by looking back at what could have been the worst author event ever. What follows is a series of unfortunate events. However it will be left up to the listener as to whether this was truly a bad event, or just a funny story being shared on this week's episode.
It might be the smallest town by sheer land size to be featured on the podcast but Nahant, Massachusetts is a worthy addition to the Road Trip series. Beaches galore, seemingly endless beautiful views, there's a lot packed into just over one-square-mile.
Children of the 1970's and 80's rejoice. We go way Back In the Day to the Lee J Ames collection of drawing books. Learning to draw is tough, the Draw 50 series that dotted elementary school library shelves made it easier. Reminisce about these forgotten classics, or learn about them for the first time.
This week's Top 5 is a rarity, it will actually go in order rather than random order as per usual. We look at the Highest Grossing Movies Ever at the box office when adjusted for inflation. Which ones made the list?
There is a new This Week In History and Time Capsule which details the introduction of the very first emergency telephone number 999.
Helpful Links from this Episode(available through Buzzsprout)
Listen to Episode 74 here.
Intro
Hello World, and welcome to the in my footsteps podcast. I am Christopher Setterlund. Coming to you from the vacation destination known as Cape Cod, Massachusetts, and this is episode 75. Summer's here Fourth of July is nearly here. So this episode we're gonna celebrate. And it starts off with me going back six years this week in history to what could be my worst author event book event ever, you can be the judge of that, we're going to take a road trip to probably the smallest town that I will talk about land wise, and that is the small town of Nahant, Massachusetts. We're going to go way, way back in the day and talk about the Lee J. Ames series of drawing books that I remember from elementary school, there's going to be a brand new top five that are the top five highest-grossing films ever when adjusted for inflation. And of course, there's a brand new this week in history and time capsule. All coming up right now on episode 75 of the in my footsteps podcast. So welcome to summer, Fourth of July weekend is coming up very soon from when this podcast goes live. Much of the country has the heat and humidity up here in New England, we don't have much of the humidity yet. But that's coming. It's been beautiful, perfect weather to be outside, just get outside of your walking in the woods. If you're riding on the bike trail, if you're taking a boat out on the river on the ocean, do it all now because before you know it, it's going to be cold and snowing again, so you got to take advantage of these days when you've got them. This is the 75th episode of the podcast. And according to my hosting site Buzzsprout, I get some kind of Achievement Award for reaching 75 episodes. So I wanted to thank everyone who's been tuning in, I've been doing this podcast for well over a year and a half, I hope you've enjoyed the topics that I've come up with. Some of them are self-deprecating humor telling stories of embarrassment that are good for the soul to share. They're cathartic. And we're going to have another one to kick off the podcast in a minute. So you'll have some laughs I appreciate those of you that share the podcast that leave positive reviews that spread it around word of mouth to get more people listening. That's how it grows. As much as I'd love to say go to buy me a coffee and just donate so I can buy ads for the podcast, it's more important to share and sharing it costs nothing. So that's what I really lean into. So coming up at the end of next month. So July starts tomorrow from when this podcast goes live. So coming up at the end of July, there's going to be a special, at least one showing of the lady of the dunes documentary. And it's very meaningful, it's going to be July 26, which was the day that the body of the victim was found in the dunes with the anniversary. And it's going to be shown in Provincetown, I believe it's at the water's edge cinema on commercial street. But I'll have to get more details from Frank, the producer, we're kind of figuring it out. Because there may be more than one showing, I think there's going to be more than one showing, but they're going to do one on the actual date that the body was found kind of symbolic. But I wanted to get that word out, put that bug in your ear, anyone who's on the cape off the cape, if you're within a couple of hours drive, come to the event, I'm going to be the one on July 26. Naturally, I'll have more information as it gets closer to the day. But I wanted to start off by saying that so that you can kind of make your plans set your calendar. And that's what I've done all through time with my book events, my author events, put the bug out there so people can go and show up and support me. And if you want to go and see these events, and I've had loads of successful events that I loved. But we're going to start off the podcast with one that could go down as my worst event ever. So let's go back to what could be my worst author event ever. So get ready for some laughs and maybe shake your head coming up right now on episode 75 of the in my footsteps podcast.
My Worst Author Event Ever?
So I've done dozens and dozens of author events over the years. And the vast majority of them are super fun, positive, and almost mundane in a way that it's just formulaic. I go in, meet and greet usually have a PowerPoint presentation about whichever book or books I'm talking about. out, then we have questions, I signed some books. And you know, that's it. I've done events at almost every town on the cape and all these different bookstores and libraries, even places that aren't bookstores or libraries. And I've expanded to go up near Boston. That's kind of the furthest that I've gone. And like I said, most of these events are fun. I can't tell you a lot of details about each because they all kind of blend into each other, which is why the one that I'm going to talk about today, you'll notice in the description of the podcast, I put my worst event ever with a question mark, I'm gonna leave that up to you. Because I've had some unique events. I've done events at the vitamin shoppe, I've done events at the gift shop of the Chatham Bars Inn, at not your average Joe's restaurant in a church basement. But this particular one is the one that has a story that sounds like a tragedy written for a movie. I love getting to go to Martha's Vineyard, I don't get to do it that often, maybe once a year, if I'm lucky. And I've gone over there for grand illumination, I've gone over there and run races. So six years ago, this weekend history, July 7 2016, I had my first and thus far only chance to do an author event on Martha's Vineyard. So why could this be considered my worst event ever? Well, there's a whole lot of stuff. So let's just start at the beginning. At a typical event, I packed my car I drive to wherever it is, I unpacked my car. And there you go. Simple as that. For the vineyard, I had to drive to Woods Hole to the steamship authority ferry, which the Fourth of July week, it was very busy, I had to leave at least 45 minutes before I would have normally left to go there. So it's a long drive, and there's traffic, but it's going to be worth it. It's Martha's Vineyard, it's summer, it's going to be an awesome book event. There'll be a lot of tourists there. So I had a whole plan. I packed up my gym bag with my laptop with stacks of books, and then the notes that I need for the presentation. So I've got that in the backseat of my car. I've driven to the steamship authority there, you got to pay for parking. So there's strike one, then you got to buy a ticket to get on the ferry to go to the vineyard. So there's more cash out of my pocket. But I'm so excited. And I get on the boat with my bag, and I find like a booth and sit in the booth with my bag. So we're on our way to the vineyard. The ferries 45 minutes to get over to the island. So it's enough time to kind of sit and relax but you can't do too much. So all I brought was a couple of snacks and a bottle of flavored seltzer water. The seltzer water proceeded to explode everywhere, which I guess was better than it being soda because it was just water so it wasn't sticky, and I didn't have my laptop out so there was not that much damage done. But that should have been an omen for what was to come. So keep in mind this event is in Edgartown on Martha's Vineyard starting at 7pm. So when you start to roll back time for me to get to the steamship authority from home, it's 45 minutes, but it's extra time because it's Fourth of July, then it's waiting for the boat to leave, then it's 45 minutes to get over to Oak bluffs, which is where the boat would dock. So that's a lot of time when you rewind that I had to go out of the house. We get to Ocean Park. It's a beautiful afternoon, I started taking some pictures with my phone and had a little time to walk around Ocean Park, but you can't walk that far because I've got my gym bag full of books in my laptop. So it's like a workout with every step I take. But now I'm on the island. So I'm at the mercy of the bus. So I had to take that public transportation, I had to wait for the bus to show up by my bus ticket, which is not that expensive, but that's more money out of pocket before I even do my event. I get on the bus and we start heading from Oak bluffs down to Edgartown, all this beautiful scenery. And I start to get this nice calm feeling like Ah Here we go. We're heading to Edgar town this is going to be an amazing event. From oak bluffs down to Edgartown, depending on how many stops there are usually 20 minutes just over 20 minutes. It could be a few minutes longer with traffic. But still we get down to the area where the library is and I'm there in plenty of time. I like to be very early, just in case anything goes wrong. There's time to kind of fix it. So I probably got to the library by 630 at the latest giving me a half hour to set up everything and wait for people to file in. But it's when I get off the bus and Edgartown that I start to notice the problems. One there was a little bit of street construction street repair in the air area around the library. So it wasn't exactly a detour directing people away from the library, but it made it kind of harder to get into the parking lot, if that makes sense. Whereas if you were planning to go to the library, you could still go. But if you were on the fence, just driving around, and you saw a place that didn't have construction in front of it, compared to one that did, you'd probably choose the easier path. Then I noticed as I get up to the door to go into the library is locked, and the hours say closed at five, which that's I mean, it is what it is. But every other event that I've done at libraries, usually they're during open hours. So people could come into the library as well and see the event. This was going to be an event held two hours after closing. And there was a little promotional poster for it in the window. And I mean little like eight by 11, like a normal sheet of paper size. Finally, a librarian comes and unlocks the door. And I've kind of got red flags going on in my head with the construction. And with it being after library hours, the librarian said that the hours had recently been changed, I believe. So it was like a brand new schedule. But I keep going I go in with all my stuff, we go into the conference room, and it's dark, but we have to turn the light on so I can set everything up. And the hookup works for my laptop, the projector screen, I've got the presentation ready for my Martha's Vineyard travel guidebook to talk about it, I got all my books laid out for sale, oh, man, it's going to be a great event. I just have that feeling. And despite all of the red flags. So the librarian says, let her know if I need anything, but then she leaves. So it's me by myself in this kind of catacombs of the library waiting for people to show up. Normally at these events, people start showing up anywhere 15 to 20 minutes early. So I like to be there before them because I've had events where I've gotten there a little bit later than I wanted to. And there are people already waiting for me. So time is ticking. The clock is ticking super loud like It's echoing in the room to just emphasize it. It's 6:45, 6:50, 6:55. Nobody has come in the library and comes back in and I'm just like, oh, man, this is not good. And that's when she mentioned to me about the construction about the changing of the hours. And in my mind. I'm like, Oh, this has been sabotaged. Maybe not intentionally, but this event is going to fail. But I keep my faith and it gets to be seven. I'm like, Oh, nobody. So I wait 7:05, 7:10, 7:15 Nobody. In my mind, once it hits seven, and nobody showed up. I knew it was going to be a bust. Because I could only imagine driving around on Fourth of July weekend and Fourth of July week on the vineyard who's going to stop into a library when they especially if they don't know the new hours. So they look at it, it's closed. They don't know there's an event. So why are they going to go there. And there's construction that makes it a little hard to get in the parking lot. Anyway, so boo to all of that, a few minutes more in the library and feels terrible. And I'm just like, oh god. So now I have to plan on going back home, not selling any books, lugging that heavy bag with my laptop and the books in it. I'm pretty sure I had a nice rash on my shoulder from the strap rubbing against it. The librarian feels bad. So she bought two of the books to cover my ferry ticket back home. That's all I got nothing from the library. I got two books bought which paid for. I mean, I guess my ticket but not my parking back at the lot. And then the librarian drove me to the ferry station in Oak bluffs. So we're having to drive and I'm having to like make conversation when I'm just so disappointed, but trying to pretend to be happy just in case we do another event there someday. So I get a ride to the ferry with a stranger that I'm just disappointed in the whole day What a fail. I get on the ferry and I'm just take it back home. So by the time all was said and done and I was sitting back in my car, in the Woods Hole parking lot, I was probably out $60-70 So I got to pay all that money to go to the vineyard and carry books around and stand in a library for 45 minutes. Needless to say, I have not gone back to the vineyard to do an event. And that's not an indictment on the island. It's just when I think of the potential issues. I don't want to risk it, I did an event on Nantucket that was awesome at Mitchell's bookstore. And that was amazing. So it's like totally different for that island. But there you have it. When I say this was my worst event, it's just a series of unfortunate circumstances that all led together, where if there had been no construction, and if it had been held during library hours, it would have been a far different thing. But my name six years ago didn't carry any cache, so no one's going to go out of their way to see me. So what do you think was the worst event of my life, some of you that have gone to events you've seen the good ones. At the very least, it's good for some laughs I can look back and laugh at it. I even laughed when I got home that night, just like whatever you can chalk it up to just a learning experience. I'm sure at some point, I will share some of the better book experiences, but I wanted to share with you one of the most embarrassing so you can have some laughs and feel better if you're having a bad day.
Road Trip: Nahant, MA
As I said, at the top of the podcast, this week's road trip is going to be probably the smallest town, at least in terms of actual physical land that I've done for the podcast. But that doesn't make the town of Nahant, Massachusetts any less incredible and beautiful than any other that I've talked about on the 75 episodes of the podcast. It is a crown jewel among crown jewels that is the North Shore of Massachusetts, one of my absolute favorite places to visit that whole area of the North Shore from just north of Boston revere all the way up to the New Hampshire border. It's incredible. You can't go wrong with any of those towns. And you'll hear a lot more about a lot of them in the coming episodes of the podcast. But right now we're sticking with Nahant. It is about 15 miles north of Boston. So it's not as far as the crow flies as that phrase goes, but it can take longer to get there based on traffic. For me from Cape Cod, it's about 90 miles. So it takes usually a little over two hours, but it's always worth the drive. That's another thing with these road trips when I tell you that all these places are worth the drive. I mean, I'm not going to tell you about a place that I secretly hate and then have you go there and just kind of laugh at you know, hon, the town itself is only one square mile in size. And when you look at it on a map, it looks like a really skinny arm with a fist kind of sticking out into the water. But that's part of the charm of Nahant is it's kind of like going to an island. It's connected by a causeway and Nahant Beach, which kind of extends into Lynn beach to the north. And Nahant beach, it's several 100 yards. It's beautiful sand, it's kind of protected. So there are not giant waves. And I think that's where a lot of people go if they're going to a hot they go to the beach and kind of stay there. Because the rest of the town Yeah, there are restaurants and bed and breakfast. There are other beaches, but it's also a residential neighborhood. There are no bad views if you're driving around Nahant, which doesn't take you very long. But there are really no bad views. Even when you're in the middle of the neighborhood, the island that makes up Nahant, you can still really see the water. Probably the best view, at least in my opinion, is all the way on the southern coast of Nahant at Tudor beach and Dorothy Cove. The reason is that's where you get a beautiful view of the Boston skyline. And there are incredible ample photo opportunities of the Boston skyline. Sometimes you'll get boats fishing boats passing by and you can get these great perspective shots. You'll see when driving around the actual town of Nahant, it's pretty tightly packed, you'll be surprised how many people fit in there. As I said, it's one square mile of land, and some of it is not beach. Then there's little Nahant Island, which is a smaller offshoot right near the beach. The population of Nahant is 3334 people as of 2020. So think about that in one square mile of land, which includes Nahant Beach, there are over 3300 people so that's a pretty good population density for such a small area. So if you go to Nahant beach or you go to Tudor Beach and get pictures of the Boston skyline, you're gonna work up an appetite from being in the sun. One place that I found interesting when I got there and it's still there to this day, they have a Dunkin Donuts in Nahant, but it's not your typical Dunkin Donuts. When you picture it, you can see in your head a certain image of Dunkin Donuts, or Dunkin as they're just called now, but in the hunt, they have a Dunkin Donuts cafe. And it's kind of this see blue color. It looks nothing like any other Dunkin Donuts I've ever seen. The only other Dunkin that looks different than the typical prototype is the original in Quincy, because they kept that to look the same as the original. I'll talk about Dunkin in a future podcast, I'm sure because they're everywhere on Cape Cod in New England. If you don't want to go to the Dunkin Donuts cafe to get something to eat, checkout tides restaurant and pub at 2 Wilson road and also tides Nahant.com. They are the classic beachfront American-style restaurant, with indoor-outdoor seating, seafood prime rib, chicken, pizza, all that good stuff. They strongly recommend reservations. So that should tell you that they're pretty popular. I kind of debated even putting their address in as far as you finding it. Because if you get to Nahant, like I said, it's one square mile you're going to find this place eventually anyway. And there are other things to see besides beaches, naturally, there's the Historical Society at 41 Valley Road, the whole area I keep wanting to call it an island, but it's attached by a causeway. So it's not really an island, but it has that vibe, where it feels like this little escape within an escape. This is one type of area to talk about on the podcast that I would really recommend finding a place to park and just walk and soak in the vibe. There are loads of little parks and nooks and crannies, these little beaches. I mean, 40 Steps Beach is not that secret. But there are parks, there are little areas where you can find your own hidden gem. There's the Henry Cabot Lodge house at five Cliff Street, which is a historic place. It's the only known residence designated residents of the former United States Senator Henry Cabot Lodge, it's currently listed as temporarily closed, which must mean they're not doing indoor tours and such. But that may change. So if you like history, you can always go and check and see if they're open. But if not, you can always drive by and see from the outside. Being that Nahant is so small, like I said, there are not many restaurants and places to stay on it. But luckily, it's very centrally located for the North Shore. You're literally right near Lynn, Saugus, and Marblehead. Those places all have places to stay overnight. But in Nahant, you can easily make a day out of going to the beach, checking out the different parks, the different rocky cliff ledges that you can hang out on and get pictures of the Boston skyline. I always found it fun to just go for a walk. It's a neat feeling. I can't explain it. It's one of those just go there and see if you feel the vibe that I felt. I'm a huge fan of Nahant. It's a place that I love to visit even though it's really really small land-wise, check out greater Lynn chamber.com. That's the Chamber of Commerce for southern Essex County Nahant doesn't really have its own chamber. But if you go to that greater Lynn site, I'll put a link in the description in the podcast, that'll give you more things to see that I may have missed, and things in the surrounding area to make it where it's more than just a day trip where you spend a few days on the North Shore, which is never a bad thing. But like I always say with these road trips, just go to these places and find your own way. There are probably things that I missed in my time going there that maybe you can share with me. And as always, I'll be back in the next episode with a new road trip to hopefully give you things to put on your own travel checklist.
This Week In History
This week in history, we are going back 85 years ago this week, to June 30 1937 and the creation of the very first emergency phone number. Long before there was 911. In America, there was 999 in England. It's an interesting thing and a very sad story as to how 999 first became a thing. In 1935, there was a house fire in which five women were killed in London. And even though a neighbor tried to call the fire department, he got put on hold, and ended up not being able to get through which led to the women all dying. And this led to outrage and letters to the newspapers, which got the ball rolling for an emergency phone number line specifically for emergencies. The number 999 was chosen because it was easy to remember and easy to dial. And on June 30 1937, it was put into use. Strangely, it took 11 whole years for the entire United Kingdom to be covered by 999, which is weird that you would start this phone number up and then it wouldn't cover everyone for 11 years. But by 1950 999 was fielding 80,000 calls a year. In the present day, the phone number gets about 597,000 calls a week. But the UK also accepts emergency phone calls to 112. In addition to 999. In the US, we adopted 911 as our emergency phone number in the late 1960s. And if you are wondering, in the US, we average about 600,000 calls to 911 per day. So that's a lot. But the very first ever emergency phone number 999 was put into effect in the United Kingdom 85 years ago this week in history. And now it is time for a brand new time capsule. We are going back 53 years ago this week, July 1 1969. Why? Because it's the summer of 69 like Bryan Adams song, if you know about the song, you know the summer of 69 is not exactly about the year because Bryan Adams wasn't old enough to do all the things he talked about in the song. I had to mention it because when I finally learned about what the double entendre was from that song and changed it forever, not in a bad way, it's still a great song, but I wanted to mention the summer of 69 and go listen to it with different ears if you didn't know. The number one song was love theme from Romeo and Juliet by Henry Mancini and his orchestra. If the name Henry Mancini sounds familiar, it's because he also created the famous pink panther theme song, which you definitely know if you don't know it, look it up and you'll say, oh, yeah, I remember that. Mancini is considered to be one of the greatest composers in the history of film. In his career, he won four Academy Awards, a Golden Globe, and 20 Grammy Awards. The number one movie was the love bug, also known as Herbie, if you know Herbie the love bug, then you probably know this Walt Disney movie. It's a comedy starring Dean Jones, Michelle Lee, Buddy Hackett and of course Herbie the anthropomorphic white 1963 Volkswagen Beetle. The movie made over $51 million on a budget of 5 million. It's 78%, fresh on Rotten Tomatoes, and Herbie was in for theatrical sequels and a short live TV series. The number one TV show was Rowan and Martin's laugh in. So this one was tough finding the Nielsen ratings for this period of time. Rowan and Martin's laughing was the number-one show for the season. So I included it. It was a sketch comedy show starring Dan Rowan and Dick Martin. It started the career of Goldie Hawn. There were other legends of comedy in there like Ruth buzzi, Joanne Worley, Lily Tomlin, Flip Wilson, Henry Gibson, and it ran for a total of six seasons and 140 episodes. And if you were around back then July 1 1969, and you were looking for a new home, you are in luck. You could get yourself a beautiful three-bedroom home, a walk to the water in the beautiful town of situate in Massachusetts on the south shore, another one of my favorite places, a fieldstone fireplace with beamed ceilings in the living room, man, how much did that cost? $16,400 Or just over $130,000 when adjusted for inflation. And if you are wondering how much a house like that would cost now, realistically, within a walk to the water in Scituate, well, the cheapest one I found was $675,000, or nearly five times what inflation says it should cost. So there's your housing market. But that'll wrap up another this week in history, another time capsule. And we're going to jump into a brand new top five, that's going to be the top five highest-grossing movies ever when inflation is factored in. So this list will actually go in order, and it starts right now.
Top 5: Highest Grossing Movies Ever (with Inflation)
This is going to be a rarity when it comes to the top five lists. All the times that I do these I say the lists are in no particular order. Well, this time is different, because this is going to be the top five highest-grossing movies of all time when adjusted for inflation. Because as the years go on, it gets harder to tell what movies have been hits in the past because buying tickets was cheaper. So today, if a ticket to the theater is $12-13 The movie could be a bomb but it would make more money then Wizard of Oz than you know if tickets were 35 cents. So that's where the inflation comes in. It kind of levels the playing field. So the honorable mentions are going to be numbers 10 through six but I'm not going to do the box office and everything for they're just going to be the names. So highest grossing films ever. Numbers 10-6. #10 Star Wars Episode Seven The Force Awakens #9 Dr. Zhivago #8, the 10 commandments. #7, ET The Extra-Terrestrial and #6 sound of music. So those are 10-6, let's get into the actual top five highest-grossing films ever. Number five is Avengers end game with an adjusted $2.9 billion this movie is considered the final Avengers movie it's the most recent on the list from 2019. All of you Marvel fans know all about this movie and the fact that it's made so much money and so recently just shows you how big of a movie it was. Robert Downey Jr. Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, Mark Ruffalo, and so many more starred in this. Number four is Star Wars Episode Four A New Hope from 1977. This is the original Star Wars movie despite being episode four, it made $3 billion when adjusted for inflation. This is the Luke Skywalker Han Solo Princess Leia, Darth Vader, the beginning of the rebels against the Empire, the start of just this monster franchise that is still going to this day. I will tell you when it comes to Star Wars, I don't know if that number $3 billion he adjusted if it's for just the original release, or if it includes all of the releases because I went and saw it in 1997, I believe when they redid a lot of the special effects. So I can tell you, I don't know if it includes every time it's been in the theater. So that's just something to put in there as a disclaimer for this list. Number three is Titanic from 1997, the king of romantic movies historical romance, it made $3.2 billion when adjusted for inflation. This is the story of star-crossed lovers Jack and Rose on the Titanic the unsinkable ship that ends up sinking. It won 11 Academy Awards. So that should tell you how big of a film it was tied for the most ever. I wouldn't saw it in the theater three times and that movie's long. But if you can tell from the podcasts I'm a huge history buff so being able to be on the Titanic even if it was in movie form was something I couldn't pass up. It stars Leonardo DiCaprio Kate Winslet Billy Zane, Kathy Bates. It's 87% Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes. And if you haven't seen it, I'd be really surprised. Number two is avatar, which made $3.3 billion when adjusted for inflation. This movie came out in 2009. It's 82% Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes. It's a James Cameron movie science fiction movie about the Navi people that live on Pandora Are they're all blue, some amazing CGI effects and motion capture. I mean, it's got a great story, but the visual effects are really what make it stand out. It stars Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Sigourney Weaver, Michelle Rodriguez in more and I'm pretty sure most of you that are listening have seen this movie because it's pretty recent. And for those waiting, the sequel to Avatar is supposed to drop in theaters later this year in December. So get ready for that. And then there's supposed to be a bunch of sequels coming after that too. And finally, number one, the highest-grossing film ever when adjusted for inflation is gone with the wind at $3.7 billion. This movie is from 1939 and stars Vivian Lee Clark Gable, Olivia de Havilland, and Hattie McDaniel. It's a classic Civil War drama based around Scarlett O'Hara and the movie clocks in it three hours and 42 minutes. I mean, that's a long time to sit through. It's 90% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes, and is kind of a rite of passage movie for those that are into American cinema. It's right up there with movies like Citizen Kane, and a whole bunch of others from that time, but I don't want to get into a whole other list of like rites of passage movies, as far as being film fans goes, that'll be another top five. But there you go the top five highest grossing movies ever when adjusted for inflation. Have you seen any of these or all of these? Number five was Avengers end game number four was Star Wars Episode Four A New Hope. Number three was Titanic. Number two was avatar and number one was gone with the wind. And we'll be back next week with a brand new top five that will probably be in no particular order once again.
Back In the Day: Lee J Ames Books
Much of my memories of elementary school, specifically the first few years of school have been lost to history in the haze of getting older. But there are some memories that remain. The very first field day we had which was in the gymnasium at South Yarmouth Elementary, playing the around the world math game that I spoke about in the podcast previously, having some jerk kid stab me in the finger with a graphite pencil to where I still have a little in my finger where the graphite is lodged, or having my world crushed when Apollo Creed was killed and rocky four, but then having my world revived when I realized that it was just an actor and a movie and they weren't real. One such memory that stuck with me kind of in an earworm slash hazy sort of way. Were these drawing books. For years, they would kind of be in my head. And it's based on a funny little song that I made up. And in our library in elementary school, there were a series of books by a man named Lee J. Ames, whose name I didn't remember until recently doing research for what would be this segment on the podcast. But I decided to go way back in the day to talk about him. Some of you might remember his books. He had a series the draw 50 series. So the original book that I remember was just called Draw, draw, draw. And it had kind of half-done sketches on the front cover. That original draw draw draw book was from 1962. So I was in school. I started in 1983. So that book was already old when it was in the library when I saw it. But the book would show you how to draw basic things, human faces, trees, anything like that. And me as a kid, I wanted to be able to draw to sketch I never really had that ability. My drawing skill is very minimal. But Lee J Ames, his books made it seem easy to do it because he would go step by step. But the draw 50 series was the one that really stuck out for me, that's what he's known for. So there's a book draw 50 animals, and there's a book draw 50, boats, ships, trucks, and trains. And so those three books were side by side by side on the shelves in the library at South Yarmouth Elementary, and it became almost like a song, draw, draw, draw, draw 50 Animals draw 50 boats, ships, trucks and trains granted, I was a seven-year-old kid. So this is not exactly super complex poetry. But the song of those three book titles, I kid you not has been an earworm in my head for the last almost 40 years. It's amazing what childhood memories get kind of imprinted on your brain where something like the title of three Lee J Ames drawing books is stuck with me. There are more than 20 of these draw 50 books by Lee J. Ames and they've sold more than 2 million copies. And I'm sure generations of young artists have gotten some use out of them. Because the draw 50 Animals books or the trains and trucks and such, it gives you kind of a template on how to draw things, so they look at least relatively real. Lee J. Ames got his start as an artist in residence for Doubleday publishing, a designer and advertising artist totally into graphics. While he was at Doubleday, his editor suggested that he write a book and Lee J. Ames said that he wasn't much of a writer, but he could basically draw a book and show you how to draw at least similar to how he does the first book draw draw draw, which I mentioned, that was a modest success, but it was 12 years until draw 50 animals came out in 1974. These books were typically without text, I guess, you'd have to look, I mean, I'm sure you could find words. But when it comes to doing something like drawing a tiger, a Tigers Head, you don't really need description, you just need step-by-step instructions, especially when you're children in elementary school, and some of you probably can't read, it's easier to just look at the pictures and imitate them. Now, I didn't become a great artist due to these draw 50 Series books. But that's not a slight on li J. Ames, this just drawing was never my thing. I wonder if any of you out there ever heard of these books, they're still for sale on Amazon. So you could go and find them and try to hone your craft. There's an interview with Li J. Ames on his website, which saw his website no longer exists, what you have to do is go to archive.org. And at the top of the page is the Wayback Machine, what you do is you can put in a web address, even one that doesn't exist any more. And if it was snapshotted, at any point in its existence, you can go back and click on the website. So I went to Lee J Ames, his website back in 2005. To see an interview with him, his site or at least the site that brings you to there is EP.com/draw 50/leejames. So that's a lot to do. If you want to see a 20-year-old website of books that you might not remember if you're my age or a little bit older, if you see the covers of these draw 50 series, they probably will bring you back to where it's something that you don't remember, but it'll be one of those flashbacks that'll get you. Like I said, I only remember the draw, draw draw book, and the first to draw 50 animals and the boats, ships, trucks and trains. But there are 26 total. They include athletes, aliens, dogs, and famous faces, these are all the books. And it is really simple. As far as how to do it. It's typically four or five layered sketches, where there's an ink like red ink, and it'll start with the darker red ink with what to do in that sketch. And then in the second one, the previous stuff you've done is now a lighter color. And it's got the darker color for what to add to it, you'd have to see it, I'm trying to describe it and it's not going to make sense. But for me remembering it as a kid, it does make sense. If you go to Amazon, or if you go to thrift books.com. You can find all these, they get reprinted. So the covers are going to be more modern. I don't know if you can find originals from 50 years ago, they probably will be way more expensive than you'd want to spend on a drawing book that you might use once or twice and then stick it on a shelf. Lee J. Ames was over 40 years old when that draw draw book came out and he was in his early 50s When he started the draw 50 series. So that's one of those things where it's never too late to be a success or to find Your Way, which is not a route I expected to take when talking about these books, but the fact that he was in his early 50s, and started a series of successful books that's kind of gives hope to everyone out there. He died in 2011, at the age of 90. So he lived a long successful life and his books. I know, they influenced generations of artists, because I haven't been in an elementary school library recently, but I'm pretty sure they probably have those books even in there still, maybe you can tell me if you are an elementary school librarian or a librarian in general, if you have the Lee J Ames series of drawing books. And if you're one of those that use the books or remember the books, did they help you become a better artist? For me, I enjoyed trying to draw but I was never good enough. So I would just get frustrated, and then I became a writer instead. But that's a look way way back in the day at the Lee J Ames series of drawing books that became an earworm in my head because of my little song about the first three titles, like I said, is amazing what sticks in your mind from when you were a child.
Closing
And that's going to wrap up episode 75 of the in my footsteps podcast. Thank you to everyone who has tuned in who has checked out these podcasts even if this is your first time thank you. I really enjoy making these so the fact that people are listening that makes it even better. If you can't get enough of me in my voice. You can find me all over social media, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, check out my Facebook fan page, go to my homepage Christopher setterlund.com. Check out the in my footsteps podcast blog. Find me for personal training, medical fitness, corrective exercise and more at Mind Body spine Chiropractic in Brewster. I want to give a shout-out to my extremely talented oldest niece Kaleigh, what we're going to start doing is promoting her Etsy store Kiwis Kustoms. She's got a lot of talent for crocheting hats, cat sweaters, dog sweaters. She's learning how to crochet little stuffed animals like unicorns. These are perfect gifts for people with pets, people with little children, and people that just enjoy talented homemade colorful crafts. She's also not one to speak about and promote herself. I was trying to get her to write me some kind of copy to do an advertisement for her shop on this week's podcast. I decided to just tell you what I enjoy about her work and her as an artist. And hopefully, you'll go and check it out and order some stuff. I'm going to put a link to her shop in the description of the podcast go to etsy.com Look up Kiwis Kustoms because Kiwi was the nickname that her mom gave her as a little girl. So that just adds to the off factor. But Kiwis Kustoms is with Ks. But go and check it out. I promise you, you'll enjoy it, send her a message if there's things that you want to see her make. But you'll be hearing a lot more about that in the episodes to come. This is just the start. For me for this podcast next week is episode 76. We're going to have the fourth in the series of dedication to the craft photography Story segments. This one is going to be all about my adventures with coyotes during photoshoots which you won't want to miss. We're going to take a road trip to the beautiful island of Jamestown in Rhode Island, a town in Ireland. It's both we're gonna go way way back in the day and look at the origins of social media. It's everywhere today. But how did it start? Well, we'll talk about it next week. And because it's going to be July, we'll have a brand new top five that are going to be the top five Cape Cod beaches to visit and cluster at in my opinion. And of course, there'll be a brand new this week in history and Time Capsule all coming up next week on episode 76 of the in my footsteps podcast. And as I said at the top, the weather is beautiful. It's the time of year to get outside soaking that vitamin D is good for your mental health. And if it's good for your mental health, you really should do it. I always say lean into the things that make you happy. If they're not causing harm to anyone else. It doesn't matter. Just do it because mental health is so important, especially in this day and age. For as bad as this world can be. Sometimes and in this time in the world, it's the worst it's ever been. But in ways, it is also the best it's ever been. Which is a weird dichotomy. But when the world is really crap, a nice walk in the woods, a nice walk on the beach, time with family time with friends can heal everything, even if it's just momentarily we need more of that. So enjoy what makes you happy. Make time for those who are important to you. And remember, in this life, don't walk in anyone else's footsteps, create your own path and enjoy every moment because you never know what tomorrow brings and that is the truth. Thank you so much to everybody again for tuning in to Episode 75. This has been the in my footsteps podcast. I have been Christopher Setterlund and I will talk to you all again soon.