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   Christopher Durang - Twenty-Seven Short Plays Rona Barrett's Hollywood magazine Shaun Cassidy T-Shirt | ||||||
Recent additions to the Hardy canon
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The adventures of Frank and Joe as they would be now at around 90 years old.
The Mystery of the Mysterious Mystery
From: earthpete@earthlink.net
I've pretty near finalizied the character images for the Cabin Isle trailer. Here's an image so you can see how things are going. The colors still need some work, but I'm pretty pleased by the current state of things. I've found some really great orchestral music to use, and I'm currently trying to obtain the rights to use it in the production. Wish me luck (I'm gonna need it)!
Image: Self-Portrait in The Mystery of Cabin Island - Peter Cullum
I e-mailed Pete for more info on this and he replied:
Sure, although the project may not be exactly what you seem to think. I'm a recent graduate of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in Philadelphia. My interest in art has centered around the process entitled tromp loeil, or trick of the eye painting. An anecdote from ancient Greece told of a painter who could paint grapes and still life paintings so realistic that birds would fly down and peck at the painting's surface, tricked into believing that the fruit was real. Another great Grecian artist challenged him to a sort of paint-off to see who was the greatest. Both were to create a painting and present it. They would be displayed with a cloth over them and revealed to be judged. On the day of the judging both paintings were present, both with fine cloths hiding their creation. The first cloth was pulled away revealing a great still-life so life like that, again, birds swooped down to peck at its surface. The contest seemed to be clenched until the judges went to remove the second cloth. . . only to discover that it was a painting of a cloth! So while one had fooled an innocent eye, the other had fooled the learned eyes of man. This seems to be the first tale of this kind of trick painting. Artists at the turn of the century like John F. Peto created paintings of money and other flat objects meant to fool the eyes of observers into thinking of them as real objects tacked onto various materials. The artist Mark Tansey created a modern painting of a cow being shown an idealized painting of cows. The bovine was surrounded by scientists who are measuring her response to the bull in the painting. This painting is entitled "The Innocent Eye Test" and seems to speak to this tromp loeil aspect of realism.
Now, my interest is to take this into a more modern context. Not relying on simple visual trick with oils, I wish to create products anew that don't exist, but can be believed as real. My main focus on this front has been a series of violent action figures entitled War Joe. However, in order to better allow people to make the jump required to believe in the total fictional product, I also present a currently existing and believable product that I have altered slightly. This is where the Hardy Boys Mystery Stories come into play. Utilizing the phenomia known as a Mary Sue, I have put a third character, loosely based upon myself, into the beloved series. This third character, Peter Hardy, was first realized by adding a new character image onto the covers of the book illustrations. I painted this character directly onto the book covers using watercolor and gouache. Now, I have been working on a fictional movie based on the book The Mystery of Cabin Island. While there is actually no movie, I've been working to present this in as believable way as possible. I'll be using the internet for this purpose. I'm creating a web page for this movie. When completed it will be presented as a real movie. Supporting files available for download will include wallpaper, screen savers, the theatrical one sheet poster, and a movie trailer for the animated feature. While the animated movie doesn't exist, it's the presentation of a believable trailer that I've been working on.
That's what the image of the boys is that I sent over. It's a preliminary mock-up of a scene in the trailer, allowing me to finalize the designs of the animated characters. The trailer should run around one and a half minutes. There won't be any voices, the entire sequence is set to orchestral music. I have written a little to guide the scenes, I'll scan and send over a couple of the story boards for you to see. For example: while I think that the addition of the missing grandson in the 60's revision story is pretty thin, it would add a little menace to the character of Hanleigh if he was the one who kidnapped the boy. Anyway, I hope that this has helped to clear up some of your specific questions, and I'll be sending over some more images as this starts coming together. Thanks! - Peter Cullum
EDITOR: Thanks Pete, I'm sure the readers of the Bayport Times will enjoy both seeing and learning more about this interesting project - I know I will! Readers - As soon as Pete sends me enough material, it will be featured in an upcoming edition.
From: baldrib@nationwide.com
I love your Hardy Boys site, it is a great resource to say the least. Sorry to bother you with a collecting question, but would you know of any source I could go to to get copies of the Hardy's 70s TV episodes? (other than the eight episodes that are available commercially on video) Any information you could give me would be helpful. - Brad
EDITOR: It would be nice if fans that have copies of the shows that aren't commercially available could get together to swap copies. Interested fans can post a notice on THE BAYPORT CONNECTION message board.
From: skaushik@att.net
In the original of The Mystery of Cabin Island it says that its impossible to get into Cabin Island with the Sleuth because of the rocks. But in The Great Airport Mystery, the boys go there in the Sleuth! Could you explain this, please? - Kaushik Shankar
From: Lttlbrk12@aol.com
My name is Steve and I'm from New York. I'm trying to locate Parker Stevenson's Agent. I constantly am stopped and told that "I am Parker Stevenson". My reason for attempting to contact the agent is that I look more like Parker than he does. I'm over forty but look under 30. If they ever wanted to make a "remake" or new Movie I might fit the roll and just want to send a note to the agent in case some needs a Look alike! Can you help? - Steven in New York
From: happypeople@120valleyway.fsnet.co.uk
What is a Hardy Boys digest? It doesn't sound good. Have all the Hardy Boys been rewritten? I think this is outrageous. How do I get hold of the proper copies? ps: I like the web site! - Jenny Ingram
Editor: The Digests are the paperback books printed by Simon & Schuster under their Wanderer and Minstrel imprints. They started with #59 Night of the Werewolf and continue to this day. Only books 1-38 were rewritten/revised.
From: elschoen@dpliv.com
I just wanna say that whoever wrote the review of The Haunted Fort was exactly right. What an awful book. The worst! Only "Tarzan and the Leopard Men" equals this "up-the-river, down-the-river" maze of inanity. Very good. Congrats to the reviewer. But lest I leave you thinking I am a snob or something let me just say that I realize full well that there is a world of difference between the method of writing for youngsters and the method of writing for other age groups. Nevertheless, The Haunted Fort fails the litmus test on all counts. I suspect there are many youngsters who read this tripe and have been in a coma ever since. It is absolutely mind-numbing. Readers beware! Like a pack of cigarettes, this book should have a warning label stating that there is an increased risk of comatosity from reading anything by David Grambs-cracker! 'nuff said. - Edwin L. Schoen
EDITOR: Unless otherwise stated, I write everything that appears in The Bayport Times and the Unofficial Hardy Boys Homepage.
From: btaylor@onlink.net
I am the author of a recent book on the life of Hardy Boy ghostwriter Leslie McFarlane, and also was responsible for a short write-up entitled "About the Hardy Boys" that was included in the brochure advertising a historic walking tour of the Town of Haileybury featuring Hardy Boys sites. It was recently pointed out to me that in an issue of your Bayport Times on-line newsletter, it was alleged that passages from your "FAQ" and "Original Series" web pages were reproduced in the Haileybury brochure. Since this is the first time I have ever been accused of plagiarism, I though I should respond to this accusation.
Firstly; I was disappointed to read the allegations in your newsletter. I had never viewed or even heard of your web sites at the time I wrote the introduction to the walking tour. The information in my article was original, and based on research I had done in writing the book on McFarlane. Secondly; although there are some similarities in the information included in my article and what you wrote in the "FAQ" and "Original Series" pages, this is perhaps not surprising considering the small pool of available information about McFarlane, Stratemeyer, the Hardy Boys series, and other historical data relating to the series. There are, however, enough significant differences in the passages, that they could certainly not be said to be identical.
The information I included was based my own research, including personal interviews with Leslie McFarlane's son, Brian McFarlane in Toronto in 1996, interviews with McFarlane's relatives living locally in the Haileybury area, and a review of autobiographical books written by Leslie McFarlane himself. It is unfortunate that the perception exists that your work was reproduced verbatim in our brochure, and it would be doubly unfortunate if this results in a rivalry or an impediment to what could be a relationship of mutual benefit. I don't expect a retraction, since I think that would be counterproductive, and as a member of the TAHA Hardy Boys Committee, I would prefer to be working with you on a cooperative and sharing basis on what is obviously a mutual interest.
The Temiskaming Abitibi Heritage Association (TAHA- a non-profit organization) through its Hardy Boys Committee continues to promote an interest in the author Leslie McFarlane and the Hardy Boys series of books, particularly their local connection, and has an number of interesting initiatives planned, including a Hardy Boys Literary Contest for local students, and the launch of a Hardy Boys web site. If you are interested, I would be pleased to keep you posted on these developments as they unfold. - Bruce W. Taylor 
EDITOR: I have the Hailybury promotional brochure in my possession. It reproduces WORD FOR WORD certain portions of my web site. Furthermore, other portions which are not identical are so slightly modified as to be clearly recognizable. This goes far beyond a mere duplication of commonly known fact. How you can write a letter such as this when I have irrefutable proof contradicting every one of your ludicrous assertions is beyond my comprehension. The mere mention of a retraction is a display of gall and effrontery the likes of which I've seldom seen! Your idea of "working with" me seems to be ME doing all the work and YOU taking all the credit.
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