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President Steve called the meeting to order and asked no one in particular, “is he on”? In the background, Teya replied, yes, he is on. So, Steve asked Mike Newman to introduce Bruno de Sa Moriera, a past Rotary Scholar (1993) and UCLA graduate of the film school.
A relieved Mike then told of Bruno’s stay at the Newman’s household during his days at UCLA. Mike mentioned that Bruno had borrowed the Newman’s old Cadillac for a trip to Las Vegas. Bruno returned, but the Cadillac did not, he quipped.
Bruno appeared, and it was obvious with his accent that he was truly French. With the airport in the background, Bruno explained he was at Dulles airport in Wash. DC for business reasons. First on his agenda was to clear up the Cadillac issue! He admitted a mistake was to let his sister drive the car in Las Vegas, however, it was an OLD car he insisted, and it just broke down in an intersection, and he did not gamble it away.
After the UCLA film school, he wanted to write, direct and produce films. His first endeavor was to combine images, effects and sound to publish E-Books on-line. Remember, this was in 1997 before I-Phones and Kindle. By this time, he was married, so he sold his company and took the money to write short films on reconstructing history.
This was where the talk was really interesting. Bruno showed people with computer tablets, using 3D visualization of historical places, referencing the past with current day perspectives. Bruno’s creation was called “Histovery”, which traveled back in time for museums and monuments. The prime example was the Notre Dame Cathedral. This beautiful Cathedral was originally built in 1246, but the clips on the tablet compared the past and present. Of course, the Cathedral was partially destroyed by fire several years ago, but Bruno’s film shows the future model in an interactive exhibition.
Bruno told of his current project set for 2024. This will be for the 75th anniversary of D-Day, called Freedom from Above. Although President Steve interrupted the meeting since 1:30 had arrived, Bruno continued for another 10 or so minutes to discuss future projects. One of which is set for the historical period 1769 to 1789 during the American Revolution.
The presentation concluded with a special thanks to a very talented former Rotary Scholar Bruno de Sa Moriera.
Using the shared screen feature of Zoom, the first slide read Create Hope in the World, the theme of the new RI President. Things went smoothly with Fell reciting the 4-Way Test and Bradford leading the pledge, then asking Scherer to give us the Thought of the Day, technology failures took over. Scherer’s computer gave nothing but an echo, then silence! Day said let’s come back for the Thought, but never did.
After announcements, introduction of guests and a thorough summary of last Saturday’s homeless clean-up with pictures and all, Steve asked PP Tom Barron to present a new feature, a review of the movie, Sound of Freedom. PP Tom started off by saying the issue of human trafficking was an important subject during PP x2 Chris Gaynor’s presidency the prior year, so he desired to see the movie. PP Tom gave a glowing report that it was a powerful film, well-acted, and based on a true story. With all the superficial films in the marketplace, this was a meaningful story of a homeland security agent encountering an abducted brother and sister forced into human slavery. This was a truly memorable film, far and away the best of the year, in his opinion. A must see!
Social hour stuff:
The usual suspects appeared on this week’s Zoom call, however one visitor attended and that was none other than Sean McMillan, the leader of West LA Homeless. So that immediately begged the question to him, “now Sean, what was the first thing you did after last Saturday’s clean-up on Cotner avenue?” Sean replied, “Jill did not let me in the house, so I hosed off in the backyard before taking a long shower.” Knowing Jill, so true!
President Steve Day appeared with giveaway T-shirts for those who participated in the clean-up. Blue or gold and what size, he asked. The shirts will be handed out at the DG visit on the August 10th meeting.
PP Tom Barron asked President-Elect Fisher “what’s with the bandage on your hand, Benjamin”? “I just had surgery, and why do you ask?” Tom held up his crooked finger and then requested the surgeon’s name.
O’Keefe came on camera while ‘chowing-down’ his lunch. The topic of eating while appearing as proper etiquette discussion ensued, but let’s not get into that. Not a good idea!
PP Newman appeared very nervous since he was responsible for today’s speaker, Bruno de Sa Moriera, when Day asked if the speaker had signed in as of yet. Mike mentioned that he was in-transit from France and said he would probably be zooming from some airport. And he did!!
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