For your consideration: an experimental film from 1984, shot in black-and-white Super-8, and hand developed. A rare document of a 1950s 'one-stop shopping center' in its senile years, the film features beautifully detached scenes of blank sentimentality, whatever that means... it also digresses into other stuff, ostensibly for context, seeming to serve some purpose. Either way, the tone of the piece is sharp. The voice: clear.
Unfortunately, there is a dearth of information about this peculiar lost landmark; not even a nod from the various websites devoted to the history of Arlingon, Virginia. The time has come, and so Parkington Shopping Center will be examined further in a future post. The public needs to know. For now, take a look at the
film. More to come, including the reassembled sequel.
Super-8 stills: © Michael Horsley, 1984.
The mandatory company field trip was a complete success; the pictures alone are proof enough. We set out to consume a piece of America, but the employees seemed to consume each other in the process. Yes, the usual intrigues were in full flower: in-fighting, back-biting, sexual tension and more. Plastic food wrappers were flying in all directions. Clean toilets were a scarcity. 
But this time we were determined to really blow it out. We spared no expense by staying at the Dollar Inn just outside Indianapolis. You could hear the sound as leaves of cash splurged from pockets and across countertops. 
Occasionally, the boring beauty of the fields of dreams would be interrupted by a jewel of hideousness such as the GAS AMERICA; a bonanza of possibilities. (Lucky Liquors, situated right next door, opened at 8 AM and closed at midnight, a subject of much jubilation.) More to come.
