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Friday, May 18, 2012

The Bedlam Rovers; Take One and Chile A Journey of Protest And Parade



Hi Folks, this week's post will be a couple of videos I made when I was an upcoming
film maker in the late 1980's. I was working my way through college and spent about four and half years as a on and off again bike messenger. I worked at Blue Print, Speedway, Special T, Kangaroo and Roadrunner where I finished my messenger days at. Messengering was great and also sucked... for instance,
I got doored and a dislocated shoulder while working at Special T, and the owner refused to let the dispatcher call an ambulance and left me on the street because their insurance rates might go up. Got maced by crazy taxi driver, ticketed by lousy cops and bounced a few times by stupid drivers. Needless to say it was a love hate job that had it's moments of greatness and freedoms... Jackson Street park for lunch, rendezvous with a girlfriend messenger in alleyways for smooching, racing down Montgomery Street with fellow messengers and making it to the top of Nob Hill without stopping were just a few of those special memories.

These first two films were made for and with the musical group The Bedlam Rovers. The singer Caroleen Betty and drum Andrew both worked for Quicksilver Messenger Service at the time. We shot in film at the defunct Marry the Dog Studios on Market with Second Street. Many different messengers appear in the videos, including my old bike racing buddy Joe 'Buff' McCarthy, Jean The Biking Machine who use to surf his bike through traffic and at the Farm during shows and of course Caroleen and Andrew hard at work. This should bring back some memories for those of you that new these good folks back in the glory days of the late 80's.





This video is a collage of images that I shot on my journeys to Chile. I have lived there on and off from 1999 to 2007 and have collected quite a few images that I think represent Chileans pretty good.