Nothing lasts and the Egg People are no exception. I just stepped on them (just kidding). For more on “The Egg People” go here. Facebook doesn’t seem to have an audio-only upload function so I made this dumb video to just allow for the sound to play. Originally this was posted only on Facebook.
This video shows a typical day at the Televents Cable TV warehouse in Martinez, California. I think this was probably from the late 1980s or early 1990s. Every morning at 8 AM, myself and co-workers, the installers and service technicians arrived here. We had until 9 AM to discuss the day’s work, and stock our trucks with parts and cable boxes. Occasionally we had meetings (sometimes with coffee and doughnuts) where safety and technical issues were reviewed.
I apologize for the dumb, primitive special effects. My VCR, a JVC had built-in effects and I just had to use them. I realize that was definitely a mistake! At the end of the video, the word “Dispatch” appears as a reminder to view the other video about my former employment.
Here’s a glimpse into the office in Martinez, California sometime in the late 1980s or early 1990s where I would receive service calls to repair cable TV. All of the installers and techs had vehicles equipped with radios, similar to the police. And yes I would get calls for problems with The Playboy Channel. Once I was assigned to the senior citizen’s community of Rossmoor Leisure World in Walnut Creek, California there weren’t so many service calls for the Playboy Channel for me. I’d get more calls for problems with FM radio on cable, American Movie Classics, and Turner Classic Movies. Rossmoor had their own TV channel where I would sometimes help out in the studio when they televised Bingo games. I have several videos of those Bingo sessions I may share with you. For years Richard wanted me to share those tapes as there are some funny, goofy moments during the Bingo games.
Maybe you recognized the music I used and no surprises its from Eraserhead and it is Fats Waller performing “Stompin’ The Bug” on pipe organ. Now I can never get enough of Fats Waller and his pipe organ solos from the 1920s. I remember going to the UC Theater in Berkeley repeatedly for the midnight showings of Eraserhead with my friends before Negativland existed.
I cannot remember making this video of “The Playboy Channel” with Mark Hosler coaching me. It was only discovered because I’m playing old videotapes on Facebook live and just stumbled onto it. It may only exist on VHS tape and I’m glad it has now been digitized. We likely made this in the 1980s and it may have been used in a live performance.
Finally after a lot of thought and preparing cheap microphones that could be taped to my skin I have successfully recorded my stomach noises in stereo. The microphones were placed on my abdominal area several inches apart. My TASCAM DR-05 digital audio recorder captured the audio. Go here and here to listen to other recordings of my stomach.
Direct mp3 download or play: Grandma and Zappa
My grandmother reading lyrics from “Cruising For Burgers” the 1969 Mothers of Invention double album “Uncle Meat.”
Direct mp3 download or play: The Booper That Never Leaves Seattle
Earlier today I did a Facebook live broadcast featuring one of the noise makers I’ve been experimenting with since I was a teenager. It’s one of several “Boopers” and this one I’ve kept away from Negativland. I’m too old and lazy to give this one up as I would be forced to build another one. I know that sounds ridiculous, but I’m a ridiculous old man, now. The sound is very poor on the Facebook live stream so I made this higher quality mp3. Note the sound is mono from the left side only until about 5:09, and no additional processing was done to the audio.
Direct mp4 download or play: Party For Another Room Magazine
This is home video I shot in 1987 for a fanzine called “Another Room.” I used my Sony CCD-V110 8 millimeter camcorder. I was actually afraid the guests wouldn’t appreciate being videotaped. It turns out this group didn’t mind my antics and being treated like my mother and grandmother.
I’m hoping to get Mark Hosler to help identify all of the attendees and comment on this event.
Here is a link to a blog post about Another Room Magazine.
http://punks-on-acid.blogspot.com/2016/09/another-room.html
Direct mp4 download or play: Richard Lyons and Mark Hosler in 1987
Here is home video of Richard Lyons and Mark Hosler (off camera) of Negativland goofing off. The frightened cat belongs to Don Joyce, another member of Negativland.
Direct mp4 download or play: Teasing Big butt and Buddy 1988
Here is some leftover footage from the 8 millimeter videotape labelled “Easter 1987, April 19, Santa Rosa.” This happened February 1988. The “teasing” was not successful as Buddy the cat just rolled her eyes and yawned repeatedly.
Direct mp4 download or play: Bufferin Aspirin Ad – Guns
Here is the fourth and final in a series of Bufferin aspirin ads from Richard Lyons’s collection of 16 millimeter films. Go here and here and here to see the first three Bufferin commercials.
Direct Mp4 download or play: Easter 1987
Here is another happy, lazy afternoon at my grandmother’s home in Santa Rosa, California. It’s Easter Sunday, April 19th which ironically is also Richard Lyons’ birthday. I can’t quite remember, but I think he may have actually been married to a woman at this time. I could be wrong, can’t remember. As I mentioned in my post “Birthday 1988,” there would be more from “The Egg People” in another post and this is it! “The Egg People” were created by my mother, a day or so earlier and they represent my mother, my father, my grandmother, and myself. They show up at the beginning and then later on at about 20:28, as I knock each “egg person” off the back of a chair. It seems to me this could have been the order that each member of my family including myself ceases to exist. It didn’t work out that way, but all “egg persons” were knocked off the chair so my time must be near. I do understand, this is ridiculous, however.
I used my Sony CCD-V110 camcorder for the video. At two points in the video an external inexpensive electret condenser microphone (same as the ones I’ve experimented with more recently) was used and powered by plugin phantom power supplied by the camcorder.The sound quality is slightly different and the two places where this happens are at 22:15 to 25:31 and 38:42 to the end. The sound is monophonic for the entire video and recorded on a single AFM (Audio Frequency Modulation) track on 8-millimeter video tape. The video quality is similar to VHS with less than 300 lines of horizontal resolution.
Direct mp3 download or play: My Eviction – Text To Speech Play
This is something I made quickly, so it’s a bit sloppy. I do have an (unreasonable) fear this could actually happen to me since I live alone (do not go to doctors) and likely will do so for the rest of my life. Seattle has become the hottest housing market in the country and I have a feeling people have their eyes on this house. There are lot’s of wealthy bright young newcomers that can’t wait for the inevitable. It could be sooner rather than later, but I do seem to be inspired about my blog, at least for the moment. Twin Peaks is helping, too.
Some of this audio could end up on a Negativland release, but everyone I know is very, very quiet right now, maybe thinking about North Korea.
Direct mp3 download or play: VH20170907_021336-1
Here’s some noise I made really fast, for no special reason other than just to have fun with free VST plugins. I didn’t even bother to come up with a title other than the file name from VSTHost. Maybe I did this just because I watched Twin Peaks, episode number eight. Or not. I’m not sure. Oh well, I don’t know! Just dumb, I guess. By the way, what are those gauges?
On September 5th, 2017 smoke from fires burning in the Cascade mountains drifted west over Seattle and all of the Puget Sound area. It was so dense the temperature never reached the 90 plus degrees Fahrenheit as was predicted. It barely made it above 80 degrees. The smoke stayed up high, so at ground level the visibility was quite good. Here are a couple of pictures of the sun, one looking east in the morning from my deck and the other looking west in the evening from my living room window.
Here are my favorite workplace training films. They are all from 1958 and 1959 and produced by the same company, “The Calvin Company.” All are from Prelinger Archives and A/V Geeks on The Internet Archive. Be aware the audio is much louder on “Enforcing Rules And Procedures” and “The Bright Young Newcomer,” the last two on the list. By the way, “The Bright Young Newcomer” is my favorite because of the “sassy” interaction between the women. I noticed also at about :34 on “The Trouble With Women” there appears to be a Hewlett – Packard audio oscillator (possibly a 200B) sitting on the top shelf, just left of center. I own one of those units and hope to put up a post about it soon.
Sometime in the 1980s, Negativland used this educational film in a performance at a small planetarium in Oakland, California. I actually own a 16-millimeter copy of the film, but it is in such poor condition, I decided to present it courtesy of The A/V Geeks on The Internet Archive. I don’t remember much about the performance, but I’m quite sure my mother was in the audience. Maybe I can get Mark Hosler to comment on the film and performance. I definitely think some of my own obsessive compulsive behavior can be attributed to this film.
The Booper That Never Leaves Seattle
Morning between 8 AM and 9 AM
Evening between 6 PM and 7 PM
