Goodbye, Old Home Page! Hello, New Web Site!

I learned earlier this year that GoDaddy.com, which had provided my Web hosting and Web builder, would no longer support my Web site as I created it, and that I would have to redo the whole Web site in their new system. I decided I would not be extorted (they had said they would convert it for a price, but I didn't ask what that price was, but I got a quote from another company of $700 to convert to Word Press). So I asked my friends what they suggested, and the suggestions included SquareSpace, Word Press and Wix. I checked out those ideas, and after looking at templates and designs, I went with SquareSpace (my thanks to Andrew Fox for the recommendation).

I have now spent hours and hours redoing the site, and I hope the new design will be easy to navigate. This is a screen shot of my old home page.

I have copied the old PM Saga logo for my new home page. But I have now condensed my new home page to links that take you to my main subjects: my acting, writing, photography and — most important of all — the PM Sagas. For the Sagas are what motivated this site, and what I continue to hope to share with as many people as possible. Also on the home page you can find an archive of the old Web site, plus new musings I'll be posting later. I'm trying to figure out how to put this archive on the Chronicler's Tales page, but for now — on the new home page!

I now will recreate the final home page of the old site, for history's sake! It's not in the same type, but contains the same information.

The logo captured from my old site.

The logo captured from my old site.

The quotes from the Sagas that opened the old Web site. They are now viewable on the PM Sagas page.

The quotes from the Sagas that opened the old Web site. They are now viewable on the PM Sagas page.

While this Web site was created to showcase the incredibly wonderful happenings of Purple Monster, as portrayed in the PM Sagas, it also is devoted to the musings and art of the Chronicler, and to the career of Chronicler's alter ego, Susan Kirby, an actress and singer. The links above can guide you. For more information on the acting and singing career, click the Susan Kirby link here or above. Check out the reels and other appearances, below.

THE REELS

There are two reels and some actor's excerpt clips. This is my short, 75 second reel:

It features scenes from SKA, Onion Sports Dome, The Card, Vanilla Ice-Cream, Michelle, Picture This, Prophecy, And See All the People, and Ripe Vegetables. The directors are listed below the longer reel (Christina Raia directed SKA, the new addition to this shorter reel).

My thanks to Paul Bright for editing the shorter version.

The four-minute reel:

The first clip is from The Onion Sports Dome, Episode 107, which appeared on Comedy Central. The episode was directed by Will Graham. I play Naismith Interpreter (Gary Payton can be glimpsed briefly).

Other credits:

Margaret Sanderhof in And See All the People, directed by Jon Russell Cring.
Mary in Picture This, directed by Lydia Galeno.
Mrs. Smith in Michelle, directed by Laura Providence.
Florence in Jolly Bankers, directed by Eric Goldberg.
Pamela Deanly in The Card, directed by Drew Santorello.
Dorothy in The News, directed by Matthew Kenchington.
Kimberly in Solomon Grundy, directed by Mattson Tomlin.
Aunt Mary in Puzzle, directed by Antonia Lema.
Aunt Lynda in Prophecy, directed by Jay Palmieri.
Customer in Under the Counter, directed by Thomas O'Leary.
Lady in Vanilla Ice-Cream, directed by Melissa Diyab.
Woman in Ripe Vegetables, directed by Gregorio Sassoli (this last is raw footage; the scene will be part of a montage).

I recently posted an excerpts reel from Dinner at Desmond's, directed by Jordan Schursky:

More extended clips of my work in many of these films can be found on the Susan Kirby link. And more pictures can be found here.

BOARDWALK EMPIRE, SEASON 5, EPISODE 7!

I can be seen in four episodes of the new season of Boardwalk Empire, which began Sept. 7, on HBO. In Episode 7, I was a day player, with a credit. You can see all of me in Episode 2, and parts of me in Episodes 5 and 8.

WHEN?

The amazing Adrien Roux has posted When?, a film I did with him. It was a pleasure to work with Harold Tarr again (see Frank and Louisa, below), and with all the Esra students involved in this project. It was an intense, emotional experience. I hope you enjoy it. It has been accepted to several European festivals, and recently won best short film in a ceremony held at the Moulin Rouge in Paris! If only I could have been there ...

THE EXPLORATION OF COLE ... AND FRANK AND LOUISA

Two other films I was privileged to appear in were screened at Cannes, in short films   categories. The Exploration of Cole as Led by the Prepubescent Sandy is a very funny   film written and directed by Jim Mauro. The trailer shows me as the shrink. The film was selected for the Cannes Short Film Corner.

The film was screened on Sunday, Sept. 7, 2014, as part of The Iron Mule Comedy Series at the Leonard Nimoy Theater at Symphony Space. It won the audience favorite award at that festival. The film was also shown at the Garden State Film Festival in Atlantic City. On April 27th it was screened at the Jersey Shore Short Film Fest in Asbury Park.
 

 


 

Frank and Louisa is a lovely film written and directed by Tanya Lukyanova. I play Louisa, and the incredible Harold Tarr plays Frank, my husband of many years. I drive him up a tree. I understand this short film was also screened at Cannes.

IN THE CHRONICLER'S TALES AND PHOTOGRAPHY

The Chronicler's Tales now features some of the most recent additions to the Another Silly Video by Susan Kirby collection. I encourage you to click on this link to see what the Chronicler has been up to. A new page has now been added, Photography, to showcase the photographs and videos I've taken, sorted by category. To see what you'll have in store, I include two videos here, Woody! Woody! Woody!, starring Woody the Wood Duck, Prince of the Pond, set to the third movement of Beethoven's violin concerto, and Bird Bath, set to music by Georg Philipp Telemann (lots of recorders and flutes to give a sense of birds). The footage was taken over a two-year period, with your Chronicler a voyeur as the birds shook their tail feathers in the water.

Flowers, Art and Other Video Musings

Cloisters 1500 4-12-2016 Unicorn2.jpg

I have recently been creating additions to the Another Silly Video by Susan Kirby series on YouTube. My previous posting includes a video ode to spring flowers and the New York Botanical Garden. Here are another two recent videos.

A Rainy Day Visit to the Cloisters is a brief tour of the iconic Metropolitan Museum of Art building in Fort Tryon Park in Manhattan. After living 45 years in New York City, I finally made my way up there on April 12. I set it to Medieval dance tunes performed by Paul Arden-Taylor. The museum doesn't want video taken inside, so I made this a video photo album.

The hawk pair at Grant's Tomb had a very successful breeding and nesting period. This video was shot April 12 and 15, as the Mama hawk appeared to be successfully feeding young hatchlings. However, as of the second week in May, there has been no signs of activity in the nest, and we fear the youngsters may have died or been killed.

Celebrating Spring! Two New Videos

Originally published April 2016

Contemplate This! Spring Into Bloom is a video designed to relieve your stress. It features the beautiful flowers of Central Park, the Cloisters and Riverside Park in Manhattan, and more flowers in Fort Greene Park in Brooklyn and the New York Botanical Garden in the Bronx.

And speaking of the New York Botanical Garden in the Bronx (and we were just speaking of it!), check out An Afternoon in the Gardens, which has flowers (of course), but also lots of birds and chipmunks.

There is now a page dedicated to the New York Botanical Garden, with lots of photos from that magical place.