Saturday, January 21, 2006

Baron's FINALLY comes through!

Well, after planning this for about 2 years, Mark (the owner and master hatmaker of Baron Hats in Burbank) has finally coughed-up a small amount of cash to make a short infomercial to be put on DVD and CD-ROM for inclusion in his proposal packet for Baron's expansion. He wants to put stores in a few key locations worldwide, like Vegas, Rome, Tokyo, etc.
So, I finally get to make a video for him.
Since Baron's built the famous fedora used in INDIANA JONES AND THE TEMPLE OF DOOM, we are going with an Indy theme. Now, before you get going on copyright infringement, this will ONLY be seen as a free handout in the proposal packet for investors, and on a monitor in the shop in Burbank. It will not be sold, broadcast, netcast, etc.
Of course, I will be temporarily taking my cornrows down, donning the fedora, khakis, jacket, gas mask bag (no gun or holster, though) and, the best part... a Joe Strain Replica Indiana Jones bullwhip!
Joe is sending me a 6-footer, only because he had it in stock. He would've built me an 8-or-10-footer, but that would've taken too long. The 6-footer is a good idea anyway, in that the scene where I use the whip against a human skeleton come to life takes place in a cave, and the shorter whip will be easier to manuever in the close confines, as well as being faster.
"I' coul' go FASS! Real FASS, y'know I'm sayin?"

Today I went out to the thrift store, and bought the appropriate clothes for about $5 total. It was the belt and the bag that cost a bunch... $25 total!!!
The whip is only about... well, I won't say how much, but it's less than usual, because I'll be also giving Joe Strain an authentic Indy fedora made for him by Mark from the same pattern and blocks used in Temple Of Doom. Always great when you can barter a bit.
This will be my 5th whip from Joe. They are the best!

The story finds Indy in a cave with a snake, a skeleton, and The Maltese Falcon. The fedora is the prize he seeks (he's not wearing one at first). As he approaches the hat, which is on an altar, he accidentally steps on a booby-trap tile, and the roof collapses onto the altar, destroying the hat! He takes the tattered remains to Baron's, where they fix it like new, and he's able to return to his adventure, only now he looks the part! But, at this point, the skeleton comes to life and starts to menace him! He uses his trusty bullwhip to smash the skeleton to pieces, only to be attacked and chased out of the cave by an evil, posessed dog (my mutt Clancy). He emerges from the wrong exit to find himself on the edge of a chasm hundreds of feet deep with an alligator-filled river at the bottom.
And then the ledge he's on breaks away, and he falls to...

At that point the Baron Hats logo fades up.
The end.

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