I was typing an email to somebody when I mentioned Calvary Cemetery. As I typed those words I looked up at the television and saw Ray Liotta standing in Calvary Cemetery. Is a strange coincidence on many levels. I found the trailer online, it was from a new show called shades of blue. The point where he is seen at Calvary only lasts one second, so the odds of me looking at the TV right at that second are pretty remote. And of course I was typing those words right at that moment. I should add I am only 90% certain it was Calvary, and that I am headed there right now, speaking these words into the phone for dictation transcription. In the past Calvary had pretty strict rules forbidding filming, but if those rules are being relaxed that raises the unpleasant specter of my favorite place for solitude becoming a go to filming location and tourist attraction.
The most famous Calvary scene in movies is The Godfather, but what a lot of people don’t realize is that that is not the only high-profile appearance in movies. Nobody seems to realize that a pivotal scene from Midnight Cowboy was filmed at Calvary. It is surprising how that slipped under the radar because the Kosciuszko bridge in the background of that scene is very distinctive. I bought the 25th anniversary DVD, which included a voice-over commentary by the film’s producer. Even he didn’t know it was at Calvary. He said in his comments that the scene was filmed at a cemetery on Long Island. I don’t know if the producer would necessarily be expected to remember these details 25 years later but it was still kind of surprising how that bit of Trivia has slipped through the cracks.
Okay well I am here at Calvary and it looks like I was right. Ray Liotta in that commercial for shades of blue is standing on a sidewalk near the Greenpoint Avenue entrance. I think I know the exact spot, not that it really matters. Thinking of this again how random it is that I spotted it. I do not watch a lot of TV and what I do watch is just live sports. But it’s strange that it appeared for just one second and that I happened to look up during that one second just as I typed the words Calvary Cemetery. I’m not going to make a big supernatural fuss about it but it’s a little odd.
As long as I am Here I am going to sit in the chapel for a little bit. When I was at Honeywell Street and Northern Boulevard a woman ask me which way was Steinway Street. I told her eight or nine blocks that away. She blanched, indicating that that was a pretty long walk for her. Then she said that her iPhone told her to get off the train at Queens plaza for Steinway street. I don’t know how many people I have encountered who are lost or who got lost based on iPhone or Android devices giving them completely bogus directions. But people still use that stuff, she will probably go back to asking her iPhone for directions again.
Ok heading back now. The chapel has a distinct smell about it. I am beginning to associate that smell with my lapsed Catholic status. My lack of devout religiosity.
