Posts Tagged ‘Wavy Gravy’

A wonderful Wavy Gravy story

Thursday, December 2nd, 2010

From Jack Radey, who heard my interview with Wavy Gravy on the radio last night (posted here with his permission):

David,

I heard the name Denise Kaufman mentioned tonight, and just wanted you to know that Denise was one of those arrested at Sproul Hall in December, 1964, as part of the Free Speech Movement, was a member of the WEB DuBois Club in Berkeley, and was about the cutest person in the Free Speech Movement. When the cops arrested her, she went limp, like a lot of us, but the cops for some reason thought it would be fun to dislocate both of her elbows.

I have got to see this movie [Saint Misbehavin’: The Wavy Gravy Movie] (hasn’t come to Eugene yet I think).

I only had one encounter with Wavy, though no doubt we were in some of the same places at the same time. Mine was during the spring of 1985. I had been one of the three FSM veterans who had been central to putting on the 20th Anniversary gathering of the Free Speech Movement, a week long series of events. Mike Rossman and I had been thinking along the lines of stirring up the campus, in order to have troops to throw out into the streets when Reagan invaded Nicaragua, which looked likely in the near future. Well, dig up the ground, spread some bullshit around, sow some seeds, and… what sprang up in the spring but the Anti-Apartheid movement! We giggled a little, but were quite tickled at this development. It’s not like we were taking credit for it, but felt like proud grandparents.

Any rate, at some point, I forget the details, the cops decided to move in on the encampment on the steps of Sproul [Plaza] to haul the people away. I believe they hauled them first into Sproul, then out the back and put them in a bus. A bunch of us were standing in front of the bus, witnessing the treatment of the arrestees, and I noticed an older guy (I wasn’t the only greybeard present) with a clown nose and green coveralls on. Great, I thought, just what we need in a tense situation, a clown. The cops were freaked out. They were campus police, mostly pretty young, and they had learned their jobs during what must have seemed like The Big Sleep. Like in 1964, they were bumped-up traffic attendants, sheep dogs who were used to herding docile sheep, who one day woke up and discovered the sheep had turned into wolves. They were shitting their britches collectively, and a very nervous woman lieutenant was trying to figure out how to get the bus out from behind Sproul and away, and there were about 50 of us in the way showing some sign of not being willing to move.

Then the clown nose walked over to the bus, folded his arms and sat down in front of its right front tire. The lieutenant knew who he was, “Oh no, Wavy, don’t do this, please don’t do this, come on!” The students, whose education had not included watching non-violence in action in the Civil Rights Movement all during their formative years (these poor deprived kids missed ALL the good stuff), didn’t know what to do. The cops dragged Wavy out of the way, and then tried to drive us away. I had a ball, being an old hand at street dancing with the repressive arm of the bourgeois state, standing in front of the advancing police clubs saying loudly and calmly, “Officer, are you trying to tell us to disperse? Why don’t you talk to us instead of swinging that club, come on, didn’t your mother ever teach you it’s not nice to hit people? Why don’t you take a couple of deep breaths, no one here is threatening you, you can’t make good decisions while you are all panicky and excited like that…” All the while backing as slowly as I possibly could. The poor cops were getting more and more flustered. If I’d had 20-30 old timers we could have stopped the damn thing, but the kids were mostly screaming and getting out of the way, no one wanted to sit down.

Wavy was lovely, though. Reminded me of a few older Quaker ladies I know, who get all excited and happy at the possibility of getting arrested…

Jack

Please help “Saint Misbehavin'”

Wednesday, April 28th, 2010

Posting for Michelle Esrick, director of this wonderful film that needs to be seen!

Hello dear friends of Saint Misbehavin’: The Wavy Gravy Movie,

If you have made made a pledge on Kickstarter.com – WE THANK YOU! Please read this email for the exciting update.

As you may know we are gearing up for our theatrical release soon. As you may also know we cannot release the film in theaters until we pay off the remainder of our licensing fees for the incredible music and archival footage you have seen and heard in the movie. If you are receiving this email, it is because you have expressed your love and support of this film and would like it to reach a wide audience.

One of the ways we are raising a portion of the funds we need is through Kickstarter.com. We set a goal to raise 25,000 by May 7th. So far we have $14,483 pledged to our project from 106 backers!!!! Here is the cool thing about Kickstarter…. THIS PROJECT WILL ONLY BE FUNDED IF AT LEAST 25,000 IS PLEDGED BY MAY 7th, 11:59 AM EDT. WE HAVE 10 MORE DAYS TO REACH OUR GOAL! IT’S ALL OR NOTHING – LET IT BE ALL!

Here is our direct link to our kickstarter project:
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/176550745/saint-misbehavin-the-wavy-gravy-movie?pos=1

If you love this movie and want to see it reach a wide audience, please consider making a pledge. If you have made a pledge, we thank you and ask you to invite your friends, facebook friends, twitter friends and even the old fashioned way by calling them. As independent filmmakers who do not get the backing of a big Hollywood Studio – We count on you to help us get out the films you care about. We could not do this without you!

Thank you for helping us reach our goal – to spread the magical message of this Wavy Gravy – of love and hope and keeping our sense of humor – WE can make a better world and have fun doing it!

Please call if you have any questions or comments or just want to say hello.

Michelle Esrick
Director/Producer

David Becker
Producer

D A Pennebaker
Executive Producer

Wavy Gravy: the movie!

Wednesday, August 12th, 2009

Saint Misbehavin’: The Wavy Gravy Movie will be showing in New York and LA starting this Friday! We will be screening at the IFC Center and the ArcLight Hollywood Theater from August 14th to 20th as part of Docuweeks, a program that qualifies us for the Academy Award!

See the film that Indiewire called “Perfectly executed and hugely entertaining” and Michael Moore described as “Wonderful…a moving tribute to a man who today lives his life at the service of others. Everyone at my film festival loved this movie!”

Winner of the Grand Jury Prize and Audience Award – Woods Hole Film Festival
Winner of the Spirit in Cinema Audience Award – Maui Film Festival
Audience Award runner-up – Traverse City Film Festival
Official Selection of SXSW — Full Frame — Santa Cruz — High Falls — Mill Valley

Now is your chance to see the film on both coasts!

The filmmakers will be at all the New York evening screenings and director Michelle Esrick will be at the LA screenings on the evenings of 8/18 and 8/19. Surprise guests at some screenings! See attachment below for more information.

NEW YORK: IFC Center
323 Sixth Ave at West 3rd Street

Fri 8/14 12 noon, 5:10pm
Sat 8/15 1:30pm, 7:35pm
Sun 8/16 3:25pm, 9:45pm
Mon 8/17 12 noon, 5:10pm
Tue 8/18 1:30pm, 7:35pm
Wed 8/19 3:25pm, 9:45pm
Thu 8/20 3:25pm, 9:45pm

LOS ANGELES: Arclight Hollywood
6360 W. Sunset Blvd., Hollywood

Fri 8/14 2:00pm, 7:50pm
Sat 8/15 3:50pm, 9:45pm
Sun 8/16 12 noon, 5:50pm
Mon 8/17 2:00pm, 7:50pm
Tue 8/18 3:50pm, 9:45pm
Wed 8/19 12 noon, 5:50pm
Thu 8/20 12 noon, 5:50pm

See you there!

Michelle Esrick
Director / Producer

David Becker
Producer

D A Pennebaker
Executive Producer
_________________________________________________________
John Pritzker: Executive Producer
Karen K. H. Sim: Editor
Emma Morris: Consulting Editor
Daniel B. Gold: Cinematographer
Emory Joseph: Composer
Jill Meyers: Music Supervisor