Already Seen Scenes

The ongoing delay in providing new material for this NRP blog will continue for at least one more episode as we present yet another collection of MOSTLY already seen scenes - which collectively is only a slightly altered version of the latest video currently thrilling the crowds on the popular FACEBOOK website.

The viewers at that address are likely to be unfamiliar with any of the films we've been uploading here on the long running NRP website (still dedicated to old fashioned super 8 film) so why not allow something new and exciting into their otherwise routine online experience with a few of our more favorite moments from the past.

As was the case with last weeks video, there might be a few short nibbles in this presentation that will be making their stage debut. It's hard to keep track, really. There's still tons of stuff I remember shooting back in the old days, but where the heck is it today? And why am I asking you? As if you'd know something I didn't know about my misplaced films? Give me a break.

A Gorge Fest Of Home Movies (Checklist)

No, not a 'George' Fest. This is a slightly altered version of the same long(ish) video that is sitting up there (at this very minute) on my fancy pants Facebook page. With the compilation of 70s scenes below, I've dun created a massive 'gorge fest' of super 8 film for the viewer, rather than the usual 2-minute quickie versions we've all grown so weary of.

One entire 400 foot reel of 'precious moments' from the golden days has been raided for this showing; choosing only the most promising bits - even if they've already been seen on this bloggerama stage at an earlier date. However, our usual system for scene selection; which has always been referred to around here as the "whatever fits" approach, will still be employed when any film clips are making their blog screen debut.

So while you might get the feeling that today's film seems to go on and on forever with nothing but previously seen images, it's simply not true I tells ya. What we have here is a 'checklist card'. Like the ones you'd often find inbetween the flattened wedge of gum and your favorite baseball cards of the 60s (or in my case, The Man From UNCLE). There's new stuff in this video, but you can't blink or you'll miss it.

This then is the boring card that adds nothing to your collection except to list the cards you might still need, or want, or already own. If you watch the presentation with that throwaway checklist mindset, you'll probably get a better deal out of sitting thru this (or most of this) a second time.

Tremendously Boring Softball Videos

After 6 or 7 years of hauling around my first portable VHS video recorder - which required the wearing of a postal issue shoulder satchel to contain all the larger working bits - I chose to make the sensible step over to the world of hand held camcorders. T'was a much easier monster to carry around town and was very similar to using a super 8 camera. Gotta like that.

Unfortunately, most of the footage I seemed to be gathering on video tape after the mid 80s was of the tremendously boring softball variety. I mean... who cares, right? The only thing of value with watching all these bleedin' softball tapes (and there's a ton of them) is the nostalgic kick that can be obtained after successfully remembering the first names of some of these once-upon-a-time team mates. People with whom we used to spend every Wednesday evening in the summer months 20 years ago, but haven't seen or heard from since.

Proper Vintage Value

The opening scenes of today's video give an indication of where I'd been planning to go with my home movies back in the mid 70s - if I'd been given both the time and the participants willing to indulge me in my projects.

However, any early attempts at visual story telling (as seen in this passage from 'I Love To Walk') were ultimately short lived and a promising career as a super 8 film director soon devolved into what might be expected when too much film meets too little preplanning. It often becomes an endless reel of casual moments in touristy spots with friends and family members waving hello.

Still, the value of capturing awkward casual moments can't be totally dismissed. Especially if they are of the proper vintage. I suppose it's debatable whether or not any of today's spinning reel moments are of vintage value (did we really need to see Bart in those shorts again?) but they certainly reek of the casual, the awkward and the touristy. They may have even crossed the line over to the dull, the boring and the stupid.

Priceless Gibbled Stuff

An odd assortment today of gibbled stuff. I say gibbled because most of these scenes have already been passed over for blog display in favour of better ones. There may also be a few clips of VHS recordings scattered amongst these ruins. And there's probably a few repeat clips from postings we've already watched. So move along folks; there's nothing to see here.

These are 'remainders' - bits and pieces that were rescued from what was left of recent 400' rolls of super 8 film transferred to DVD. These are segments that were discarded after the more interesting stuff had already been picked out and hoisted up into the rarified air of the NRP blog.

Even worse for our NRP viewers will be the NEXT blog entry; at which time we get to see all the remaining gibbled stuff that was deemed too gibbled to make it onto THIS collection of gibbled stuff.

Resuming The Upload Of Yesteryear Images

I have now returned safely from an out of province fact-finding mission; eager once again to resume uploading yesteryear images that no one really cares about or remotely understands.

These VHS moments (below) all hail from around the same early 80s time period. Most were created for a video that was then shuffled off to England - hence the frequent vocal greetings from people on here to the intended target, Jonny. What's kooky for me to watch now, is how this brief visual sample once displayed what I considered a rather typical week in my life. But in reviewing it today, it's so unfamiliar as to be the activities of complete strangers. Who ARE these people anyway?

The segment we see referred to as: 'The Breakfast With Billy Show' actually began its long run at this point. Surprisingly, it has continued on to the present day with only a slightly altered format - but still burdened with the same host. The McDonald's restaurant chain was long ago dumped as our faux studio and replaced with what is now a never ending succession of trendier local eateries; posing a challenge to both host and guest in seeking out new ones. Perhaps a blog entry on that topic is long overdue.

Cutting Costs

This short video segment below should have been incorporated into the blog entry of last week when we were discussing the famous Elco Road Trip of 1984. Exactly 25 years separate the footage captured here of the hotel we booked that summer - and the image of the same hotel as it appeared when I passed thru Duncan last August on my way east to the sprawling town of Youbou. (Youbou town center pictured here.)

It's seems clear in the photo above, that most of the Village Green hotel groundskeeping staff have been let go over the years in an attempt to cut costs. And as far as I could see, there was no sign of Iris sunning herself on any reclining chairs outside our old suite.