Monday, June 26, 2006

My Firebird...covered in the London Free Press!


Sun, June 12, 2005

Rockford fan opens Bristow files

By James Reaney


I always knew there had to be at least one other Jim Rockford fan somewhere in London.
But I never would have expected that fan to be as coolly cultish about his Rockford fixation as Darin Bristow.
A man of many accomplishments, Bristow was first taken with the 1970s TV show starring the great James Garner as the laidback private detective when he was a kid growing up in Nelson Park. It led him to a Rockford life in which he has the same car, a 1979 Firebird, as the detective -- and the same licence plate. He has met Garner and provided the striking cover for a new book on the show and its star.
"Of all the things I've done, I have to say I'm proudest of the book. It a very personal thing," Bristow says of his depiction of Garner as Rockford and that Firebird with the 853 OKG plate on the cover of Thirty Years of The Rockford Files by Ed Robertson. The book includes details such as the revelation that David Chase, creator of The Sopranos, wrote scripts for The Rockford Files starting in 1976 -- often featuring mobsters as quirky and maniacal as the celebrated Sopranos.
"Rockford? Me . . . but more so Garner," Bristow free-associates just after he's identified his own father with Rocky, the private eye's fictional father played by Noah Beery on the TV series.
Bristow has a few other things going on in his life. Now of Burlington, he has worked for Toronto animation firm Nelvana for about 11 years. He has just worked on the Emmy-winning series Rolie Polie Olie for Disney. He is engaged to Tammie, a firefighter, a world champ in TSN's firefighting combat challenge and a Canadian female enduro dirt bike racing champ.
Bristow attended H. B. Beal secondary school for art and went to Oakville's Sheridan College twice. He studied classical (or hand-drawn) animation at Sheridan, graduating in 1995. He returned to Sheridan in 1998-1999 to study computer animation. Nelvana's 3-D department --
"a perfect mix of drawing and digital" -- beckoned. He's so busy that last week's scheduled visit to display his animation and drawings on his old turf, Lord Nelson public school, had to be postponed until the fall.
But all we could talk about was Rockford. Bristow has actually met Garner, the U.S. TV and film actor whose brilliantly relaxed style has only recently begun to win him long overdue honours. Like Garner, Rockford relied on subtlety and smarts to solve most of his cases.
Bristow's parents contributed to his first taste of Rockford. As a kid, he was told not to watch The Dukes of Hazzard because his folks were shocked at the shamelessly bad driving displayed on the show. So, the young Darin and his pals tuned into The Rockford Files -- where the reckless driving seemed to have escaped his parents' notice.
Much later on, Bristow found the theme music on The Rockford Files pulling him to a TV set. He was soon hooked on reruns. He also came to admire Garner for his skill, loyalty, humility -- and tenacity. "He's the only actor to sue two Hollywood studios and win," Bristow says. (Garner engaged in bitter courtroom battles when studios tried to short-change him on both the Maverick and Rockford TV series).
Fan met hero in 2001 when Bristow had just started a job in California. He was living around the corner from a hotel where the star was arriving to give an award to another icon, Clint Eastwood. The two have stayed in touch and Garner has signed a number of Bristow's book cover illustrations and sent him a Rockford Files crew jacket.
Only once did fandom lead to friction. After seeking a Firebird like the man's for years, Bristow spied one on a Hamilton Road lot. It was a steal at $900.
Not so fast, said his folks. They hated that money pit of a Firebird. Relations cooled for a time.
Bristow stayed true to his gas-guzzling beauty -- even if it was made for Rockford's California and not Canadian winters. He found a matching interior off an old Camaro at Corey auto wreckers. Still missing were the seats. His hunt continued.
Meanwhile, Bristow's dad started a job teaching auto mechanics at the Wheable adult education centre. He called his son over to Wheable one day to make the perfect peace offering. There, apparently hidden under a tarp for years, were two red '79 Firebird seats. "He goes, 'I guess you were supposed to get that car,' " Bristow smiles.
Rocky and Rockford couldn't have played it any better.

ROCKFORD FILES BOOK
What: Thirty Years of The Rockford Files: An Inside Look at America's Greatest Detective Series by U.S. TV expert Ed Robertson. Darin Bristow, a former Londoner and huge Rockford fan, provided the cover illustration and other drawings for the book.
Price: $32 US plus handling, shipping
Sales: Available through orders at bookstores or by calling 1-800-288-4677 or via www.edrobertson.com

You only go around once...

See...here's the deal: I've somehow been raised to expect more than most I guess. Ever since I can remember I've always expected more than what life puts in front of me. Family, friends, hobbies, relationships...a woman...everything. 'Is 10 the highest? Do the make ones that go to 11??'

I always have to leave my mark...the "Darin was here" type of idea. It has gotten me into trouble sometimes, but having somewhat high expectations has usually driven me beyond 'the norm' to experience some really neat things in my life.

So...when my interests turned towards an Emmy winning '70's detective show that left the airwaves 13 years before I even watched a full episode, I kept my eye out of for anything related to it.

You only go around once I figure, so why not push it?? When I get hooked on something, I commit to it because of my need to find out everything...so why should Rockford be any different??!

Some people read books...

Not me...after I read them I must become friends with the author!


Some people have a favourite band...

Not enough for me...I must meet ALL my fav bands, shake ALL their hands, and then somehow end up doing some personal artwork for them and in turn have them band thank ME!

Some people like movies...

Not good enough for me until I go to Hollywood, live in Beverly Hills, and work on a movie...

Some people have a favourite TV show...

Again, not good enough for me until I buy and read everything related, meet it's lead actors, collect their autographs, restore and drive the same 1979 car, have the car be showcased in the newspaper, own the same plate number, do the artwork and all covers for the official book of the series, get it autographed 4 times by the star, have him thank ME by sending me 4 bottles of his private wine, and then design and distribute DVD/CD artwork for hundreds of fellow fans.

Insane or Driven?.....dunno yet...but it sure was a hell of a lot of fun.

Sunday, June 25, 2006

Autographs enter the picture...


This is the autograph that started it all...




A few years pass...I bought magazines here and there with Garner on them and my eyes became trained to find the words "rockford" or garner" anywhere. Then, just after the success of the Maverick feature film and the Rockford TV movies that debuted in 1994, I began seeing more autographed pictures of him show up as his popularity grew again. This one pictured above, I couldn't pass up buying as it came with a dress tie that Mr. Garner had designed for a charity benefit. After the lady who was selling this picture saw how big of a fan I was, she reached behind the sales desk into a drawer and said : " here, since you're such a big fan of his, why don't you have this tie as well? " She then threw the tie in for free with the pic. I've never seen one like this since. It actually says Mr. Garner designed it on the reverse.

My first piece for the collection...


..was pretty much this: " Rockford phile" by David Martindale 1993

I was in Toronto looking around the Worlds's Biggest Bookstore when I stumbled upon this book. Very rare...I only saw it that one time and have never seen it since. Perhaps only once on Ebay. Very cool book and VERY hard to find.

Welcome to " The Blogford Files"...at the tone, leave your name and message...I'll get back to you...




Welcome to...."The Blogford Files".

Since 1993 I have been a fan of the classic TV series " The Rockford Files". Over the past 14 years, driven by my interest in the show, it's enduring impact on television history, and the enjoyment of following the career of legendary actor James Garner, I have amassed a fairly large and interesting collection of Rockford/Garner related memorbilia. This site will follow my journey from casual fan of the show, to being the artist who designed the cover and inner artwork of the the 2005 best-selling book: "30 Years of: the Rockford Files" by Ed Robertson. For this book, James Garner himself sent me personal notes of thanks, and 4 bottles of his private vineyard wine called "Chateau Jimbo". This site will also follow the growth of my Rockford collection, from 1 magazine, to owning 1979 Firebird with plate number 853 OKG. I will also include ancedotes of interest with each item posted, and stories of my connection to the Rockford crew members.

How this all started...'thank you A&E'...


One evening in the fall of 1992, as I tuned in to A&E to get my daily dose of David Letterman repeats, I was met instead by a familiar opening theme to TV show I'd heard many times during my youth. A theme that always seemed to be playing somewhere in the background of my early childhood growing up in the mid 1970's. I was too young to watch the show during it's 1974-1980 run, but it's tv theme always reminds me, even to this day, of my parents' parties or card nights. I remember it's opening theme playing on my parent's black and white tv set many times, and my dad laughing at this very humorous actor...James Garner. Now in my mid-30's, I look back and realize my affection to this show, is more or less a deep-rooted affection of childhood, and perhaps an even deeper rooted fear of growing up. Those seemingly endless summer days filled with laughter and fun, most easily return to my minds' eye with the opening bars of Mike Post's greatest TV theme...the Rockford Files. I guess as long as Mr.Garner keeps releasing movies, and Rockford episodes keep popping up on TV, those fondly remembered childhood days of mine aren't really that far away...

I hope you enjoy this site and my collection, and please feel free to post your thoughts or comments as well!

Best,

Darin