I’ve Got A House For You

The challenge of saving an architectural jewel and a piece of the city’s history is what in the world do you do with it.

The O’Rourke house on Pembroke Street–that Victorian you see sitting in the middle of that barren configuration we hope and pray becomes a thriving metropolis in what we’ve come to know as that frustrating contradiction in terms Steelpointe–is headed for a burial.

Named for James O’Rourke, a mighty fine baseball player and community leader a century ago, so good in fact that he’s in the Hall of Fame, the house has been the subject of preservationists and community activists hoping to save it from demolition.

The list of city architectural beauties that have been demolished (Wheeler Mansion) or remain stagnant (Poli and Majestic theaters) is mighty long.

Maybe Charles Brilvitch, an expert on the city’s architectural history, is out there and can weigh in.

If you save it where do you put it? If you put it there how do you fund it? Okay, turn it into a museum? They cost a fortune to operate, and most of them do not make money.

Incorporate it into the Canyon-Johnson project across the street from the ballpark at Harbor Yard? Yeah, right, if that project ever happens.

It’s been more than 10 years since the ballpark opened and I hope the new Bluefish management, owners of the popular Long Island Ducks, can attract the kind of fannies of the Fish’s first couple of seasons.

What about the new leadership of People’s United Bank stepping up to the plate and purchasing the naming rights to the ballpark and arena? People’s United Arena. People’s United Park. A nice ring to them and a nice statement. Fat chance. This new guy they brought in from the left coast doesn’t give a crap about the city proper. A couple of years ago the bank went out and raised a cool billion in a massive stock offer. Do you know what it set aside for Bridgeport community investment? Chicken shit. They have this monolithic mentality over there: make money, make money, make money and don’t reinvest in the city that got you there. (Come out, come out, wherever you are.) A Merry Christmas.

So, anyone want to buy that house on Steelpointe? You can also check out these additional resources if you’re in the market for houseboats.

Dancing In The Sun

Hey, this sounds like a City Council meeting. Congrats to the local filmmakers.

Connecticut Filmmaker Selected for 2009 Sundance Film Festival

DEAR BEAUTIFUL animated short film selected from 9,000 submissions

BRIDGEPORT, CONN. / PARK CITY, UTAH – December 21, 2008 – SoMuch Pictures announces its groundbreaking animated short film, “Dear Beautiful,” directed by Roland Becerra, has been named an Official Selection by the 2009 Sundance Film Festival. This year the Sundance Film Festival selected 200 films for exhibition from more than 9,000 submissions.

Winner of the Moving Pictures Magazine Animated Short Film competition and screened at Cannes, “Dear Beautiful” has captured audiences and critics alike with its combination of haunting, jarring visuals and foreboding audial immersion. Using flash animation and stop motion animation techniques, Bridgeport-based director Roland Becerra and wife/production/writing partner Kelly Bigelow Becerra have created a unique and gripping animated horror movie experience that extends beyond the run-of-the-mill grotesqueness of the genre and delves into the emotional impediments faced by all subjects in the film.

In addition to Cannes, “Dear Beautiful” also screened at the Toronto After Dark Film Festival, where it was awarded Bronze place in the audience choice competition. “Dear Beautiful” has garnered online acclaim and cult-status among both horror/science fiction genre fans and critics drawn in by Becerra’s artistic, technical and storytelling styles. Ain’t It Cool News calls “Dear Beautiful,” “An unforgettable and artful zombie experience,” while sci-fi Web site io9.com hails the infected characters in the short as “The World’s Most Beautiful Zombies.”

“Dear Beautiful” represents five and a half years of tireless work between this husband and wife collaboration. Roland and Kelly Becerra moved to Bridgeport, Connecticut as “artist pioneers” in the city’s first artist housing development, Read’s ArtSpace. There, they met and partnered with another Bridgeport husband and wife team, Keith Saunders and Meredith DiMenna, who supplied the project with the short’s distinctive music and assisted with the script.

Synopsis:

The sudden appearance of exotic flowers in New Haven spawns an unprecedented epidemic that threatens to destroy the city. Infected people cover themselves maniacally with lotions, creams, and rags, the result of a botched experiment by cosmetics giant, V-Zone.

Paul and Lauren, a married couple, are caught between the catastrophe and their own troubled relationship. Paul has grown defeated and depressed from job frustrations and their banal existence has taken its toll on Lauren as she becomes more and more isolated and he descends into alcoholism.

On her way out of the house to leave Paul, Lauren encounters one of the flowers and becomes infected. As her symptoms worsen, Paul’s denial of Lauren’s illness puts the couple in grave danger as the city is overrun with infected people, media frenzy, National Guard, protestors, and a panicked populace.