The Max Murdok Program

So I’m out in San Fran a couple years ago for JavaOne when I worked for Virtuas Open Source Solutions. ( lol – WTF? where did that site come from? ) I was Director of Creative and one of my rolls was to shoot video of the convention/conference and of our booth. Eventually the footage would make its way to the web site, and to DVD for potential clients. I’ve been doing video since 1983! The focus of the video is of course Virtuas, and it’s most excellent people as well as documenting JavaOne, but as a creative person you have to by instinct get artsy. That typically means you shoot B-roll. The meat of the video is Virtuas and JavaOne but the B-roll shots establish that we were in San Francisco at the time. So you get shots of the Moscone Center outside, the city and the cable cars/trollies, of Alcatraz and so on…

While out and about I happened along Market Street in downtown, shooting the Transamerica Building I get this tap on my shoulder, I turned and there he was. Frank Chu. All my life I have been a bug light for societies mosquitoes, but Frank took me off guard. First that sign of his, second – I just let him go. I’m sorry to say that at some point in the video I think he started to run out of things to say. I just let him go.

What ever he wanted to say, I wanted to document.

Frank has a lot going on in there as the video shows. I found out later that locally in San Fran he is very well known. So I can’t help but feel honored that he approached me and shared with me his inane babble. As kooky as it sounds, he was the high point of my trip. If I had half an ounce of sense or had known who he was, I would of brought him back to the Moscone Center, and our booth at JavaOne and let Frank be Frank. I think our booth would of been the most popular.

Live and learn. Anyway, that’s the scoop and that’s Frank Chu ladies and gentlemen.