Pointless memories from bygone eras...
Dec 4, 2023 11:51:08 GMT -5
via mobile
Big DSR Energy and Jindrak Mark like this
Post by tirtefaa on Dec 4, 2023 11:51:08 GMT -5
Kind of got this idea from the information burned in your memory thread.
(Feel free to read this in a Grandpa Simpson "onion belt story" voice.)
As an example, when I was a kid...recording a movie off TV was a big deal.
As someone who didn't have a lot of money growing up, the chances of my parents buying the movie I wanted was very unlikely unless I asked for it for Christmas, which honestly I was smart enough to not do, since who would prefer a VHS to the newest toy. Besides, even with gift money I would receive, the VHS tapes were few and far between. Walmart and K-Mart were by far the cheapest, but they had a small collection, mostly an island of 30 movies which were things like Army of Darkness, The Good Son, and Drop Dead Fred. If I bought anything here, it was the cheap Goodtimes Three Stooges collections, that were a super cheap transfer, and always a disappointment. The only other option was Suncoast, which sold movies like Home Alone 2 for THIRTY DOLLARS when it came out, and most other movies in there were roughly $20. There was also Blockbuster Video that sold used movies for slightly under retail price, but these movies were always on their last legs given they'd been watched 100 times.
So what was a boy to do? Well, wait 2 years from when a movie came out until it showed up on TV...that's what! This used to be a big deal when a movie came to network television. Batman '89 was widely promoted for weeks, but my stupid family had prior engagements, so I didn't get to record it, and only got home to see the Joker's dead body laying in the pavement while laughter came from his body. I was six at the time.
But there was always other movies to record. And it became clear very early on if I wanted something done right, to do it yourself. This happened soon after my dad attempted to film Raiders of the Lost Ark for me, only to grab one of those cheap tapes people would sometimes send in the mail. My dad didn't realize that the tape only has 30 minutes or so on there, so for many years, it was the only version I owned. Oh and my dad started the movie late, so I got it right as Indy was entering the cave and ends in the middle of the basket chase....kind of like a true serial.
So I became the architect of video recording. And anyone who ever recorded off TV knows there's two ways to do it. With commercials and without commercials.
Hindsight being what it is, I think everyone would agree the commercials present document a moment in time in many ways. But as a kid, I hated having my entertainment interrupted. I had the Wizard of Oz with commercials and to this day I can't watch Dorothy leave Munchkinland without it being followed by commercials for Florida Orange Juice, Purina Dog Food, and Joe Versus The Volcano coming to home media.
Recording a movie without commercials was a tricky feat. You see, VCRs had this tendency to rewind ever so slightly when you hit STOP and there would be a delay when you would hit REC again, so you may miss 10 seconds from the last scene or the upcoming scene if you don't time it perfectly.
And not to brag, but I was the king of it. You had to even know each channel's system. I only had the Big 3 along with Fox and PBS growing up, so it wasn't too hard to remember. CBS would fade out and fade back in. NBC's logo would come up in the corner before coming back. And ABC has bumpers. I hated the bumpers through because they would alternate, so you had to remember what bumpers you would get. So it would look like this;
Movie-Bumper-Commericals-Bumper-Movie
Movie-Bumper-Commericals-Bumper-Commercials-Bumper-Movie
Repeat
So you may hit record at the wrong time, or forget in general. I hated ABC for that. I never recorded off Fox because the reception was always a little snowy and there would be feedback and static at times. PBS would get recorded from time to time, but that was stuff to watch a couple times then record over.
As I got older I had the resources to waste-I mean buy VHS movies for retail price, and many of the ones I recorded ended up getting recorded over or being thrown away.
Anyways, just thought I'd share something that was a pretty big part of my early childhood that likely otherwise wouldn't be much of a topic for discussion.
Feel free to add any stories or memories you have of times of events that are no longer something seen as special or unique.
(Feel free to read this in a Grandpa Simpson "onion belt story" voice.)
As an example, when I was a kid...recording a movie off TV was a big deal.
As someone who didn't have a lot of money growing up, the chances of my parents buying the movie I wanted was very unlikely unless I asked for it for Christmas, which honestly I was smart enough to not do, since who would prefer a VHS to the newest toy. Besides, even with gift money I would receive, the VHS tapes were few and far between. Walmart and K-Mart were by far the cheapest, but they had a small collection, mostly an island of 30 movies which were things like Army of Darkness, The Good Son, and Drop Dead Fred. If I bought anything here, it was the cheap Goodtimes Three Stooges collections, that were a super cheap transfer, and always a disappointment. The only other option was Suncoast, which sold movies like Home Alone 2 for THIRTY DOLLARS when it came out, and most other movies in there were roughly $20. There was also Blockbuster Video that sold used movies for slightly under retail price, but these movies were always on their last legs given they'd been watched 100 times.
So what was a boy to do? Well, wait 2 years from when a movie came out until it showed up on TV...that's what! This used to be a big deal when a movie came to network television. Batman '89 was widely promoted for weeks, but my stupid family had prior engagements, so I didn't get to record it, and only got home to see the Joker's dead body laying in the pavement while laughter came from his body. I was six at the time.
But there was always other movies to record. And it became clear very early on if I wanted something done right, to do it yourself. This happened soon after my dad attempted to film Raiders of the Lost Ark for me, only to grab one of those cheap tapes people would sometimes send in the mail. My dad didn't realize that the tape only has 30 minutes or so on there, so for many years, it was the only version I owned. Oh and my dad started the movie late, so I got it right as Indy was entering the cave and ends in the middle of the basket chase....kind of like a true serial.
So I became the architect of video recording. And anyone who ever recorded off TV knows there's two ways to do it. With commercials and without commercials.
Hindsight being what it is, I think everyone would agree the commercials present document a moment in time in many ways. But as a kid, I hated having my entertainment interrupted. I had the Wizard of Oz with commercials and to this day I can't watch Dorothy leave Munchkinland without it being followed by commercials for Florida Orange Juice, Purina Dog Food, and Joe Versus The Volcano coming to home media.
Recording a movie without commercials was a tricky feat. You see, VCRs had this tendency to rewind ever so slightly when you hit STOP and there would be a delay when you would hit REC again, so you may miss 10 seconds from the last scene or the upcoming scene if you don't time it perfectly.
And not to brag, but I was the king of it. You had to even know each channel's system. I only had the Big 3 along with Fox and PBS growing up, so it wasn't too hard to remember. CBS would fade out and fade back in. NBC's logo would come up in the corner before coming back. And ABC has bumpers. I hated the bumpers through because they would alternate, so you had to remember what bumpers you would get. So it would look like this;
Movie-Bumper-Commericals-Bumper-Movie
Movie-Bumper-Commericals-Bumper-Commercials-Bumper-Movie
Repeat
So you may hit record at the wrong time, or forget in general. I hated ABC for that. I never recorded off Fox because the reception was always a little snowy and there would be feedback and static at times. PBS would get recorded from time to time, but that was stuff to watch a couple times then record over.
As I got older I had the resources to waste-I mean buy VHS movies for retail price, and many of the ones I recorded ended up getting recorded over or being thrown away.
Anyways, just thought I'd share something that was a pretty big part of my early childhood that likely otherwise wouldn't be much of a topic for discussion.
Feel free to add any stories or memories you have of times of events that are no longer something seen as special or unique.
