So Wrong They're Right

Our local "arthouse" cinema is screening Forster's film this Friday
night. I am presuming it will be via video and overhead rather than a film
print. As I recall it was shot on 16mm film? Or was it videotaped? Seems to
me they ran it years ago and it was projected on film but I may be mistaken.
Hopefully they did not get a hold of one of those videos like Bob bought
from Trip! Apparently that one did not show well.
Anyway, the other thing is if you bring along an 8 track tape you get a 2
for 1 admission. Sounds like a pretty sweet way to get rid of some One
Thousand Strings Do Montovani. I intend to bring along a portable unit and
annoy people in the lobby. Not yet decided what to play though. Probably
Guess Who, this being Winnipeg and all.
Saturday night they screen Alan Zweig's _Vinyl_, another great quirky
piece on obsession and collecting discarded formats. See it if you get a
chance.
WWW

On Wed, 24 Aug 2005 14:24:08 GMT, "William W Western"
wrote:

Our local "arthouse" cinema is screening Forster's film this Friday
night. I am presuming it will be via video and overhead rather than a film
print. As I recall it was shot on 16mm film? Or was it videotaped? snip

The original was shot in 16mm, the epilog was shot on VT. The
cinematography of "SWTR" is typical hand held Bolex work, but has that
"artsy fartsy" feel to it that the later VT'd section does not. The
epilog is more like a PBS show that didn't make it, while the film has
that "film school" cachet to it similar to what Michael Moore's stuff
had in the beginning before he went big-time.

Seems to
me they ran it years ago and it was projected on film but I may be mistaken.
Hopefully they did not get a hold of one of those videos like Bob bought
from Trip! snip

Let's hope not. What a fraud. I really don't know if Foster had 16mm
prints in distribution, especially since he didn't even have the thing
copyrighted until Noodles pulled his eBay shenanigans.

Anyway, the other thing is if you bring along an 8 track tape you get a 2
for 1 admission. Sounds like a pretty sweet way to get rid of some One
Thousand Strings Do Montovani. I intend to bring along a portable unit and
annoy people in the lobby. Not yet decided what to play though. Probably
Guess Who, this being Winnipeg and all. snip

Good choice for the home town crowd! Maybe you could ring up Burton
Cummings to come lip synch to the player.

Saturday night they screen Alan Zweig's _Vinyl_, another great quirky
piece on obsession and collecting discarded formats. See it if you get a
chance. snip

Equally quirky as "SWTR," "Vinyl" is an eye opener for the
uninitiated. I think in "Vinyl," Zweig sought out more "nuts" than
did Forster...because 8 track, I think, has more "nuts per capita"
than any other format, so Forster didn't have to hunt that hard for
them. My dealings with vinyl dealers and collectors show them a bit
more sane and mainstream than what I've been exposed to in 8 track,
although some of the more compulsive collectors can appear to be quite
daft and in need of medication. 45 single collectors seem to fit that
niche nicely, while classical LP collectors are just plain folks.
Rock LP collectors seem to be somewhere in the middle ground.
Classical/oddball collectors are fastidious about vinyl cleanliness
and handling, while rock collectors use their discs as Frisbees and
wonder why they sound like crap. Perceptions of grading aren't
universal, either. The Classicalists rate as "VG" records which
probably should rate an "E" or "NM", while rockers rate discs as "E"
that have more fingerprints on them that the FBI'S AFIS system.

Another new area of obsessive/compulsive collectomania is in the mp3
arena, especially the "Whitburn" collectors, who have to have every
record ever released on their iPods. So far, the only people who seem
interested in these folks are the RIAA's theft patrols.

dB

Bob, you are very well informed. Great posts when you get off
the Trippin' Soapbox.
The original was shot in 16mm, the epilog was shot on VT.
"artsy fartsy" feel to it that the later VT'd section does not.
that "film school" cachet
On an obsolete format film note. Kodak dropped the bomb
earlier this year that they are discontinuing Kodachrome 40 Super 8
filmstock. Oddly, it has actually sold better the last ten years than the
years immediately after the advent of home video. It is a gorgeous
filmstock, and though Kodak has introduced a new Ektachrome cartridge, may
spell the end of the flurry of super 8 film-making activity seen the past
little while. Cost of the new stock will probably mean small gauge
film-making will head to 16mm Country for good. Course, film is on shaky
ground no matter what gauge, so taking away what is sort of the Grade School
(8mm, Super 8) of film-making seems shortsighted. Who is actually running
Kodak these days?
Good choice for the home town crowd! Maybe you could ring up Burton
Cummings to come lip synch to the player.
He is probably down your way in L.A., though he is back here a
fair bit to visit his Mum, look into his interest in a local chain of
resteraunts, and generally **** people off. Still has the pipes though.
Equally quirky as "SWTR," "Vinyl" is an eye opener for the
although some of the more compulsive collectors can appear to be quite
daft and in need of medication.
A good point. Some of the people in Vinyl depress me.
WWW

On Wed, 24 Aug 2005 18:47:02 GMT, "William W Western"
wrote:

On an obsolete format film note. Kodak dropped the bomb
earlier this year that they are discontinuing Kodachrome 40 Super 8
filmstock. Oddly, it has actually sold better the last ten years than the
years immediately after the advent of home video. It is a gorgeous
filmstock, and though Kodak has introduced a new Ektachrome cartridge, may
spell the end of the flurry of super 8 film-making activity seen the past
little while. Cost of the new stock will probably mean small gauge
film-making will head to 16mm Country for good. snip

This has been a long time in coming. 16mm, being the base guage for
industrial film, will last awhile longer, but not much.

Who is actually running Kodak these days? snip

Corporate goons, who else? Kodak's stock was slipping because they
weren't "digital enough" to please the Wall Street scammers, so their
new CEO has gone on a rampage to cede all film markets to overseas
competition and concentrate on retail point of sale digital stuff,
like those kiosks for the clueless to use to get prints off their
digital cameras.

He is probably down your way in L.A., though he is back here a
fair bit to visit his Mum, look into his interest in a local chain of
resteraunts, and generally **** people off. Still has the pipes though. snip

He left quite a reputation with studios down here back when they were
a big item, that's for sure.

A good point. Some of the people in Vinyl depress me. snip

Mental illness isn't pretty, and we've seen quite a lot of that in
here of late. I agree that "Vinyl" is a fairly depressing commentary
on the human condition.

dB

I would not waste my time going to see that movie in the cinema. It
starts out being about 8-tracks and decks, but then slowly degrades to
a platform on the gay lifestyle and left-wing liberalism. In the movie
you'll see interviews with lesbians and film footage of gay men dancing
together in a gay disco bar- with a gay dj playing 8-tracks. Seeing it
in public, others may very well think you are gay or weird also. If
you have to pay one 8-track to get in, you are actually overpaying.

FWIW, Russ Forster has a username on Ebay and all he sells is CD's- he
used and then sold out the 8-track community IMO. He's not a diehard
8-track collector, he basically rode the wave of 8-track resurgence in
the 1990's, and got his rocks off having people send him letters to put
in his 8 Track Mind pamphlet- and when it subsided, he jumped off and
went digital. He openly admits to not being into 8-tracks during their
heyday in the 1960's or 1970's- and didn't even try the format out
until the 1980's.

Ebay feedback link- you can make your own deductions.

http://feedback.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAP...=russelforster

If I was you, I would not be caught dead attending that movie in
public. The movie has a few shining moments, but overall it comes off
as weird.

Russ was also vehemently anti-copyright, which may be why the movie was
not registered with the U.S. Copyright office. That was one of his
redeeming qualities in my opinion- and what I thought was pretty cool
about him, at one time. Overall he seemed to think that 8-tracks
should be synonymous with personal weirdness, "geek nation" thoughts,
and extreme left-wing radical political stance, and anti-Americanism.
Obviously his is a faulty view of the hobby- so be forewarned.

So Wrong They're Right

Group: alt.collecting.8-track-tapes Date: Thu, Aug 25, 2005, 4:19am
(EDT-3) From: (66FOURDOOR)
I would not waste my time going to see that movie in snip

However, you WOULD waste your time dubbing copies of that film and
selling them on ebay.
Of course it's too much to ask you to shut the fuk up, as you simply
don't know how.
No matter. There are plenty of people to back up Russ. You, on the other
hand....

actually, I was communicating with someone last week, who said they
would not mind having a copy of the movie on VHS, but they
specifically asked if the gay parts can be cut out of the movie

Actually if you watch the film, there's only two guys towards the end
of the film that are openly gay, which leads to the nightclub scene,
and one guy that might be suspect. Three people out of two dozen or so
interviewed does not make a gay film IMHO.

The film is being released on dvd through Other Cinema on August 30th.
I would expect a small upswing in collectors after that.

I've heard about VINYL, but cannot find a copy of it. Is it out on
dvd?


marc

On 26 Aug 2005 05:13:12 -0700, wrote:

Actually if you watch the film, there's only two guys towards the end
of the film that are openly gay, which leads to the nightclub scene,
and one guy that might be suspect. Three people out of two dozen or so
interviewed does not make a gay film IMHO. snip

LMAO! Must've been another paranoid delusional line of poop from
Chuckie Noodles. "Gay film"...ROFL!

The film is being released on dvd through Other Cinema on August 30th.
I would expect a small upswing in collectors after that.

I've heard about VINYL, but cannot find a copy of it. Is it out on
dvd? snip

I do not believe so.

dB

what about the 10 gay couples dancing in the gay bar near the end ?

and the interview with the lesbian poet near the beginning ?

You need to watch the film again and you'll notice all these
undertones.

What is cool about the film is this:

The opening shot of an AC motored deck with case removed, playing a
tape. That deck is one of the diehard deck designs of all 8-trackdom,
and is a play-only design I've seen utilized in many high-end units
with AC motors and large capstans.

The film goes on to an interview with some techies and store owners,
with an Akai 81D sitting on the steps next to one guy. Another great
shot and an 8-track deck that is a heavy hitter.

Eventually the film leads to a fella from down South, holding a Telex
Viking deck, and talking about it in not-so technical fashion- but at
least we get to see a real live Telex Viking, which among true
8-trackers ranks among the top 3 best playback decks ever made- it not
the best sounding bar none. This same guy has a diagram describing
digital vs. analog sound- and while very basic he obviously has a good
ear and can tell that analog is better.

The tape fixing sequence is a bit chumpy- the fixer snaps off the cart
tabs rather than just opening them- ouch ! Then fixes the tape with
scotch tape, and doesn't even replace the sensing foil.

Overall the film leans towards liberal slacker mentality, rather than
towards 8-tracking hobby and sensibility. The 1990's slacker fad died
long ago, and with it this movie's desireability.

My advice is, don't buy the movie in DVD or VHS, and don't pay to see
it in the cinema- find someone with a copy and just dub yourself a
copy. That's about all it's worth.