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Was Blake August 6 2010 at 3:31 PM		kb (Login pitch4k)

Walter Mitty's alter ego? I find myself daydreaming about his swing at work. I need a vacation. Thought I'd take a shot at animating the stills Tom posted a couple of years ago and include the forum links for them as well. Maybe some day a bit of good footage will surface, that would be a real treat. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WS0n-scwr60 At least I wasn't old enough to vote for Pat then, but I probably would now. kapokita-kapokita, kb Here's the forum links to the original stills. http://www.network54.com/Forum/346986/thread/1197582543/Another+Real+Mindy+Sequence http://community-2.webtv.net/Nooning/MindyBlake/ http://www.network54.com/Forum/346986/thread/1193912296/Stills+From+a+Mindy+Swing http://community-2.webtv.net/RoverII/MindyBlakeSwing/

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Tom
(Login Roveri)

Re: Was Blake

August 10 2010, 5:38 PM

Hi kb,

Thanks for animating the Blake photos. You did a great job putting the stills together. Jim has the original video from the Mike Douglas show.

Best wishes,
Tom

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kb
(Login pitch4k)

Re: Was Blake

August 11 2010, 5:53 AM

Hi Tom,

Thank you for posting those pictures, it was fun trying to set them in motion. I'm surprised this is the only video that seems to be out there. Thought I would find something on Mindy at the British Pathé website, but couldn't come up with anything credited to him. Can't help but think he's there somewhere, fun place to poke around. http://www.britishpathe.com/

Best,
kb

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Tom
(no login)

Re: Was Blake

August 12 2010, 4:08 PM

Mindy produced his books way back in the 1970's. Nobody had video cameras back then. A few photography buffs had 16mm film cameras and some had 8mm units for "home movies". A lot of the film from that era got thrown away.

I doubt that there is much Mindy motion film available. I do think that the Mike Douglas Show segment is as good as it will get because of the quality of the TV cameras. And I think that what was filmed reveals just about everything important about Mindy's actual technique.

Also, the Mike Douglas appearance captures the living, breathing, speaking Mindy Blake. I enjoyed watching him move around, and hearing him talk added a lot to my impression of the man. And he really was witty when he put the sarcastic commedian Soupy Sales in his place! I wish he could have taken a shot at obnoxious Pat Paulson!

Tom

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(Login Snakedoc)
Blake Moderator

8 mm Mindy

August 24 2010, 10:32 PM

kb,
There is a chap in England by name of Roger Judd, a retired Inland Revenue Service employee, who received instruction directly from Mindy Blake. He made some 8 mm film of Mindy swinging in Blake's back garden. Judd transferred the film to DVD format from which forum member Peter was able to extract some rather murky images. They left a lot to be desired, ie, had the appearance of "black rain" falling in Surrey the day of filming. Also, Richard Wax once reported that he had met a Frenchman, also a Blake pupil, who claimed to have film of Blake's swing. Unfortunately, the film never surfaced as far as I know. Mindy's widow, Molly, once wrote me that she thought there was some tape of Mindy's swing somewhere in their Virginia Water home. That was my last contact with her about ten years ago. Mindy and Molly had a daughter, Belinda, who learned the reflex swing from her father and was playing to a a nine or ten handicap at last report. I expect there is some film or tape of Mindy swinging somewhere in this small world. SD/Jim

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kb
(Login pitch4k)

Re: 8 mm Mindy

August 25 2010, 5:02 PM

I really hadn't thought about how advanced video has become in just the last couple of years, let alone 30 or more. The enigmatic nature of Mindy's lesson is fascinating to me. I hope to see something someday, but I won't hold my breath waiting. It's a lot of fun trying to unravel this on your own and the experience shared here is invaluable. Haven't had much time to play or practice of late, but still enjoy poking around and reading through these threads.

Something I've wondered and haven't found here, does anyone know if Mindy was familiar with Homer Kelley? That yellow book makes my head hurt, tried to get through it a couple of times and never made it. For what it's worth, I get a real sense of TGM from Mindy that's dumbed down to something I might be able to figure out.

Saw some video on another forum that I enjoy, and will put up a couple of links here. I wished Mindy was still around to discuss this with, but I think he would like what he saw here. Maybe we have all the video we need already.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MHkcdhykAE4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tzsEMhpHf0A

Best,
kb

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