Snaps from North Carolina

Hi Bob and Jack!
I just posted the pictures from the festival in North Carolina. Everyone there was exceptionally smart and thoughtful. But alas, I am back in L.A. now.
Hope that you'll check them out. You were asked about a lot in the Q@A!

Stu (Director)

Hey guys! Look at what happened afterwards

Check out the bump we made in hits to the website right after the radio show was aired:
Look at where they all came from:

Radio Interview with NPR's Frank Staccio

What a rare experience! Jack, myself and director Stu Maddux sat down for an in-depth interview with NPR's Frank Staccio before our screening in North Carolina this weekend. The staff at WUNC in Durham were so well researched and the host was so genuinely interested in our story that we're sure it's the best interview that we've given to date. The program is called The State of Things. I cried twice even though we were in Pasadena linked up all the way to North Carolina! Please do listen and let us know what you think. It is available as a podcast as well.

DVD Just Released!

It's hard for me to believe that it was a year ago that I was wondering if we would make it into any festivals and this morning I am holding a new DVD that just went on sale. Our life condensed onto a shiny disk for $19.99. Quite amazing to be adding yourself to your own movie collection (No, I didn't have to pay for it).
I'm supposed to talk about the DVD release today but let me just do a little cut and paste from the DVD page on the website and add some commentary:

DVD Features:
Film (41 minutes) (The best damn film you'll ever see)

EXTRAS:
Q@A session with Bob, Jack and director Stu Maddux (we were quite funny)
Archival Photo Gallery (we were quite cute)
Theatrical Trailer
2nd Extended Q&A session from film premiere (more in-depth answers)

BONUS: 1961 anti-gay educational film, "BOYS BEWARE": (you want to know what it was really like back then? Watch this clip and get the DVD for the complete film).

Thanks for checking it out my friends! We are so proud of it. -BC

I can't top that...

I'm forgoing my update today so that I can re-read the previous entry (below).

Friend request gets us a death threat

(From Stu Maddux, director)
We add friends on our networking sites: MySpace and Facebook to help spread the word about the film and its message. We pick people who identify as gay or bi in the cities where we are screening. Right now I'm helping Bob add friends from Memphis and Raleigh, NC.
This was the response from Sgt. Franklin Smith, USMC of North Carolina .
"I hate Faggs
im in the fucking Marines and I fucking kill
and you fucking fuck with me at all in any way
i will fucking kill you, slice your balls off , slice your throat,
and put your balls down your throat
got it fucker?"


Wait, wait a minute. What just happened here?
I must have accidentally invited a straight, gay-bashing killer to be our friend.
How could this have possibly happened?
I guess its "fuckin" easy to do when his profile says he is interested in meeting women and men...
Let's just zoom in here a bit....here we go:
Still This can't be happening. He must have thought we were making a pass at him, right?
That would be pretty ludicrous.
Our profile makes it clear that we are only looking for friends, that Bob is in a relationship and that he's 82 years old.
Whatever he thought. What ever he believes, no one on the web deserves a death threat. Certainly not the elderly couple shown above. I'd really love to hear peoples' thoughts on THIS one.

A letter to the editor

Hi guys, its Stu (director) here:

I was doing my weekly search for articles on the web and found this letter to the editor in response to a recent story on us from Arkansas. It really brings up an interesting point. Thank-you Billy Glover whoever you are! This helps us get the word out.

Bob and Jack

The article you did June 21 on Bob and Jack, who’ve lived together 52 years and counting and a documentary about them shown at the Arkansas LGBTQ Film Festival is very good. The two men met in the army in Word War II and stayed together, living in Raymond, Wash., running a radio station, and then moved to Los Angeles in 1980 and live there in retirement today.

If they could do this then, everyone should be able to do it today. I would like to have known what “resources” they had, what books they read, how they were “prepared” to find each other and stick together, when so many others didn’t, for whatever reasons. I wonder if young men and women in the military in Iraq and Afghanistan today will have a similar experience.

I think the people involved in making the documentary and the people in Little Rock that did the festival deserve thanks.

Billy Glover

Bossier City, La.

The gay debate is three blocks away

Hello my friends,
I hope you watched last night's debate held by HRC. It was held about 3 blocks from our new apartment.
It was simply astounding for the two of us to remember a world with not even 3 channels of TV in many places and a time when politicians used the word queer openly. Jack was working in New Orleans as an announcer in 1954. Can you imagine how hard it was to keep a lid on our relationship?
Now there's a gay channel hosting the presidential candidates talking about gay marriage!
I know that we have a long way to go but please take a moment to remember how far we have come. Any gay person under 40 is truly fortunate to be living in this age.
Unfortunately, we couldn't watch. The cable guy doesn't come to our new apartment until today!
I'll be searching for a replay though.
Here's the TV I watched Jack on. It was more reliable than Time Warner ever will be!

Great Review from New Zealand

I've just had a chance to finally watch on the website a very gracious review from a film critic at one of the big networks in New Zealand. We screened there earlier this summer. It just always startles me to here someone actually talking about US.
Boxes everywhere loves. Got to get back to it!

Stockholm Apparently Rocked!

Hi guys it Stu (director):
I've just been emailing back and forth with Marta in Stockholm. To fill everyone in, she saw our film in Seattle last Fall and liked it so much that she's worked these past months to get it screened in Sweden. The screening there was this morning at about 6:30 our time (1:30pm their time) Here she is at the podium graciously doing the honors for us. She sent us some news with the pictures that just made me want to hug her...

Stu, Bob, Jack:
Success! We almost filled the room, which means an estimated 150 people came to see your film! Two people came up to me afterwards, one missed the beginning and just wanted to know, and I quote 'Don´t take this the wrong way, but WHO are you?' and then he also wanted to know if it would re-run so he would be able to see the whole film, and the other one just wanted to say thank you for a wonderful film.
The whole bunch of them seemed to enjoy the show, they laughed often and applauded afterwards, and I think you might get one or two visitors from Sweden at bobandjack.org.

Afterwards, me and Anna celebrated by buying coffee and donuts from my store, pictures are included.

(I particularly like the one where I pretty much bend my jaws to their cracking point as I try to master eating one of those American style super size muffins.)

I had a great time championing your film, and I´d really love to fly transatlantic again just to be able to see you guys. We´ll see what the future holds as far as traveling goes.

Read in your blog, Bob that you just got yourselves settled and I´m so glad it all worked out for you.
Take care!

We made it to Gay &Lesbian Elder Housing!

...and we love it! Here we are in our new apartment before movers to arrive.














The place has a balcony and we can't wait to start growing some flowers. (hint, hint friends who might be considering housewarming gifts).
That's the CNN building over Jack's shoulder.
The library is across the street and there's a Border's a half block away. We think it's going to be perfect for us.






The movers did an outstanding job and were so friendly.
The cable company DID NOT. The installer said he couldn't pay the $8 for parking yesterday so they would have to reschedule the appointment for 7 DAYS from now. We have resorted to rabbit ears on top of the TV to get a fuzzy version of KABC 7 HD!

Here I am on the phone for the 4th time yesterday with Time Warner. Unbelievable but so predictable with them.




It hasn't dampened our spirits too much.
Jack has already met a few of our fellow gay seniors here. He says he's taking out the garbage but I'm beginning to wonder.


















Well be unpacking for a while longer. They had to put a coffee table in the bathroom temporarily until we figure out how to make everything fit. The bathroom is so big because its wheelchair accessible. Yes, that gold demi-lune is staying in the John.

Here's Jack plugging in his electric blanket in the middle of August. We are so happy to finally be here.