Stonehenge, & Other British Mysteries

Stonehenge: 

and Other British Mysteries

The video, "Stonehenge, etc" is a short intro to the ancient phenomena of stoneworks: standing stones, stone circles, stone rows and such that you may find all over Europe. In fact you may find such things all over the world — the pyramids of Egypt and Mexico, for instance, would fit my definition. Shapes, circles and debris that have some sort of cultural significance, yet now perhaps exist in a ruined form. I mention Stonehenge in particular because most can relate to it, have heard of it, even if they don't know what it is, exactly. Turns out nobody knows what it is exactly. The Cerne Abbas Giant is less secretive; it is quite obviously something to do with fertility. We present you with a remote circle of 19 boulders in Torhouse, Galloway, Scotland and some white horses on Wiltshire hillsides. The horses are related to the Cerne Giant in Dorset, a remnant that broadcasts its meaning far and wide. You needn't go far from the giant before you discover somebody whose life has been forever altered by association. 
Anyway, here's just a sampling, enough for us to have followed up the travel film, "It's Great! Britain" with one called "Etched in Stone: Scotland to Provence" which draws more attention to the stone artifacts strewn across centuries of civilization since the Stone Age. There's plenty more where this stuff came from, and we'll be getting to lots of it yet. I think it's the Celtic blood.

Ken Ewing

Ken Ewing.

We shot and prepared "La Manche/The English Channel" so that we were on the road with it in the winter of 2007-08, and in January of '08 we got this very nice note from Ken Ewing.

We met him briefly in front of the War Museum in Bayeux, north coast of Normandie. Ken had made the pilgrimage to Bayeux 12 times by the time we caught up with him and he was happy to reminisce about his time, landing on the beach, in a tank, on the 6th of June, 1944.

He was a great interview, Sturdy, honest, with an endearing sense of humour. He was seamlessly edited into the film, and always went over well with his audience; our audience.

He would have been over 90 years of age in the summer of 2006 when we filmed him for our little travel film; 10 years later, I expect he's passed away. Thank you, Ken. You still travel well. Brilliantly you shine.

Golden Gate Geographical Society

La Manche comes to the Bay Area, San Francisco....
Moulin Huet Bay, Guernsey, the Channel Islands (see picture). Auguste Renoir was here in the 1880's. He painted several canvases on the beach at Moulin Huet Bay, some with families frolicking in the foreground, most with these rocks in the background. Victor Hugo spent 15 years on Guernsey just before Renoir. He wrote "Les Miserables" at his home, Hauteville House. Hugo is famously quoted as saying that the Channel Islands were "fragments of France, dropped into the sea and picked up by England."

We've just checked in to our motel in South San Francisco. We have done the first two shows with Ken and Bettine and their Golden Gate Geographical Society. This is the last of their series. It seems a shame to end it because it still attracts an audience - albeit a predominately aged audience - but who else makes entertainment for this age group? Most of them will be disappointed to have no place to go for their travel films next season.
Ken and Bettine Armstrong have been presenting their series for 34 years and this will be the end of an era. Our show today was at Belmont; yesterday was up by Santa Rosa; tomorrow's will be at Mountain View. Thursday there will be two shows at Moraga, and the finale will take place at Oakland's amazingly ornate picture palace, The Paramount, next Saturday at 2:00 PM. These venues are among the best in the country, known for quality films, excellent sound, professionalism in production and attention to detail; the audiences are well educated and interested in geography and history. In other words, the audience one dreams of when one makes these films: they understand the references and the humor, and they exit saying things like they actually learned something from the presentation. They are open minded and willing to learn. One can only hope that the younger generations will learn enough to be so humble in 50 years time. Dream on; but hope. I think today's young folk may be literate in technology, but ignorant in everything else.
During each of the Golden Gate programs Marsha makes a presentation of appreciation and good wishes to Ken and Bettine on behalf of their peers at TRACS, the Travel Adventure Cinema Society.
Our show is "La Manche/the English Channel." It's literate, colorful, informational, geographical, historical, theatrical and just plain good stuff. We dedicate it to Veterans of WWII.
Check it out: go to You Tube and "lacahoots" ("Monet in Normandie" is from "La Manche") or go to  montyandmarsha.com our website for an overview of our work.

Fruits de Mer, St. Peter Port, Guernsey.