I wanted to take a moment today to express my appreciation to Gus Olafsson. Now, it might seem a bit eccentric I would write about Gus. You see, I have no idea who Gus Olafsson is.
I came across his name the other night watching the movie Prometheus online. I have this quirk. Most of the time when a movie has come to its end and the credits are running, I let them run. It’s easy to click on the next point of interest, but I let the credits run. After all, that’s a list of folks who made the movie possible. I confess, I don’t read the names. But they played their part; the least I can do is let their name run over the screen without my impatient interruption.
As I said, I was watching Prometheus. I was watching it because Noomi Rapace was the star. I may be an old, old man, but Noomi Rapace makes my heart go giddy-up. Movie over, the credits ran. I let them run as I began to straighten things up. At the point I looked back at the screen my eyes fell on the name Gus Olafsson. Gus has a title. His title is: Set Dec Buyer.
I have no idea what a Set Dec Buyer is. I have no idea who Gus Olafsson is. But Gus did his part to make the movie possible. I enjoyed the movie. So, thanks Gus. I appreciate your effort.
Thinking about Gus reminds me there are a lot of folks responsible for our enjoyment who never get recognition. My son is with the Pilobolus Dance Theater. He used to dance; now he’s an Artistic Director for the company. Being the dad of a dancer I’ve had the opportunity to watch the performances from back stage as well as in the control booth at the rear of the theater. The Pilobolus dancers are spectacular. But sometimes the spectacular is made possible because of the way the dancers move from light to shadow to light again. It would be a less commanding performance if the shadow wasn’t there.
After the performances people like to hang around and speak to the dancers. “Oh, you were wonderful,” they say. “My gracious, I was so captivated by that last piece.” I’ve watched those audience members express their appreciation to the dancers for the beauty of the performance more than a couple of times. Strangely, I’ve never heard anyone say, “Is there any way I could speak to Michael Faba, the lighting supervisor. “I just love the way he made that piece come alive.”
The same goes for Sarah Fujiwara, the Pilobolus stage manager. Got to tell you, folks, if it wasn’t for Sarah the Pilobolus dancers wouldn’t need to stretch out prior to the performance. Without Sarah, there would be no performance.
So, Michael and Sarah, please accept my apology for not expressing my admiration and appreciation. It was thoughtless on my part.
And that brings me to last Sunday’s worship. I don’t think anyone said to Larry, “Thanks so much for greeting me at the door with your smile.” I don’t think anyone said to Jackie and Jonnie, “I just want to thank you for passing these collection plates around so I could drop these big bucks into them.” I’m pretty sure no one told Karen what a great job she did cleaning the sanctuary so we could mess it up again.
So, Gus, I’m grateful no only for your efforts on the movie, but, also, for reminding me I should be more appreciative to those who get so little credit for some really good things.
And if you read this, Gus, would you do me a favor. Send me an email letting me know what the hell a Sec Dec Buyer actually does.
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