Lost Memories - Volume 53

The boy with a drum.  I have to assume that while cute in the beginning, this must have become pretty annoying after a while.  While the amusement park fire engine ride is quint, I wonder how much the Nash Metropolitan would be worth now a days, with that trailer in tow.  The signage on the fire trailer states it is part of the Benson FD, but I can find no other reference regarding where this film was shot.  

I am firing up a long dormant project as I continue my trek toward retirement and moving on to other things. 

Over the years I have amassed a rather significant collection of 8mm home movies.  Some of these I have taken myself and some I have found in thrift stores and at garage sales.  This all dates back to my early days in media when I was interested in film editing and cinematography.  Since those days are long gone and it is doubtful that anyone will ever want to, or know how to view these films, I thought it best to digitize them and then send the film off to the dump.  

My goal here is to post about 5 of these films a week.  I have enough raw footage to make this project last about 6 months at that rate.  

The clips speak for themselves.  I do not know most of the people or locations in these movies and what I can glean from watching them is documented in the keywords for each segment that I have posted on YouTube.  Since YouTube limits free content to under 10 minutes, most of these films will be less than 5 minutes long.  The file name for each segment is the date that I transferred the film to digital format.

Most segments hearken back to a much simpler time.  A time before AIDS, Ebola, terrorism, the internet, social media, etc.  For that reason alone, they are worth watching.  All of the films along with my other YouTube content can be found on my YouTube Channel.  

Enjoy.

Lost Memories - Volume 52

Parents have always wanted their children to grow up faster than they actually do.  Case in point, this little tike, seen in the previous Christmas video, is still totally uninterested in all of the toys and attention that is lavished on him/her.  It all ends with the obligatory naked baby picture that I am sure he/she was tortured with when they became a teenager / young adult. 

I am firing up a long dormant project as I continue my trek toward retirement and moving on to other things.

Over the years I have amassed a rather significant collection of 8mm home movies.  Some of these I have taken myself and some I have found in thrift stores and at garage sales.  This all dates back to my early days in media when I was interested in film editing and cinematography.  Since those days are long gone and it is doubtful that anyone will ever want to, or know how to view these films, I thought it best to digitize them and then send the film off to the dump.

My goal here is to post about 5 of these films a week.  I have enough raw footage to make this project last about 6 months at that rate.

The clips speak for themselves.  I do not know most of the people or locations in these movies and what I can glean from watching them is documented in the keywords for each segment that I have posted on YouTube.  Since YouTube limits free content to under 10 minutes, most of these films will be less than 5 minutes long.  The file name for each segment is the date that I transferred the film to digital format.

Most segments hearken back to a much simpler time.  A time before AIDS, Ebola, terrorism, the internet, social media, etc.  For that reason alone, they are worth watching.  All of the films along with my other YouTube content can be found on my YouTube Channel.

Enjoy.

Lost Memories - Volume 51

In celebration of the pending Holiday Season, I give you the Christmas elf from the 1950s.  No idea who these people are, but they are obviously young parents experiencing the first Christmas with their newborn infant that they have dressed up like a jolly old red elf.  The toddler seems totally un-amused. 

I am firing up a long dormant project as I continue my trek toward retirement and moving on to other things. 

Over the years I have amassed a rather significant collection of 8mm home movies.  Some of these I have taken myself and some I have found in thrift stores and at garage sales.  This all dates back to my early days in media when I was interested in film editing and cinematography.  Since those days are long gone and it is doubtful that anyone will ever want to, or know how to view these films, I thought it best to digitize them and then send the film off to the dump.  

My goal here is to post about 5 of these films a week.  I have enough raw footage to make this project last about 6 months at that rate.  

The clips speak for themselves.  I do not know most of the people or locations in these movies and what I can glean from watching them is documented in the keywords for each segment that I have posted on YouTube.  Since YouTube limits free content to under 10 minutes, most of these films will be less than 5 minutes long.  The file name for each segment is the date that I transferred the film to digital format.

Most segments hearken back to a much simpler time.  A time before AIDS, Ebola, terrorism, the internet, social media, etc.  For that reason alone, they are worth watching.  All of the films along with my other YouTube content can be found on my YouTube Channel.  

Enjoy.

Lost Memories - Volume 50

A short snippet of film shot while I was attending college at Oregon State University.  Image of my friends Arthur Dingle and Sharon Nettles in the backyard of a house circa 1980.  

I am firing up a long dormant project as I continue my trek toward retirement and moving on to other things. 

Over the years I have amassed a rather significant collection of 8mm home movies.  Some of these I have taken myself and some I have found in thrift stores and at garage sales.  This all dates back to my early days in media when I was interested in film editing and cinematography.  Since those days are long gone and it is doubtful that anyone will ever want to, or know how to view these films, I thought it best to digitize them and then send the film off to the dump.  

My goal here is to post about 5 of these films a week.  I have enough raw footage to make this project last about 6 months at that rate.  

The clips speak for themselves.  I do not know most of the people or locations in these movies and what I can glean from watching them is documented in the keywords for each segment that I have posted on YouTube.  Since YouTube limits free content to under 10 minutes, most of these films will be less than 5 minutes long.  The file name for each segment is the date that I transferred the film to digital format.

Most segments hearken back to a much simpler time.  A time before AIDS, Ebola, terrorism, the internet, social media, etc.  For that reason alone, they are worth watching.  All of the films along with my other YouTube content can be found on my YouTube Channel.  

Enjoy.

Lost Memories - Volume 49

More scenes of Yuma Arizona while I lived there circa 1985-86.  I was not sorry to leave this place. 

I am firing up a long dormant project as I continue my trek toward retirement and moving on to other things. 
Over the years I have amassed a rather significant collection of 8mm home movies.  Some of these I have taken myself and some I have found in thrift stores and at garage sales.  This all dates back to my early days in media when I was interested in film editing and cinematography.  Since those days are long gone and it is doubtful that anyone will ever want to, or know how to view these films, I thought it best to digitize them and then send the film off to the dump.  
My goal here is to post about 5 of these films a week.  I have enough raw footage to make this project last about 6 months at that rate.  
The clips speak for themselves.  I do not know most of the people or locations in these movies and what I can glean from watching them is documented in the keywords for each segment that I have posted on YouTube.  Since YouTube limits free content to under 10 minutes, most of these films will be less than 5 minutes long.  The file name for each segment is the date that I transferred the film to digital format.
Most segments hearken back to a much simpler time.  A time before AIDS, Ebola, terrorism, the internet, social media, etc.  For that reason alone, they are worth watching.  All of the films along with my other YouTube content can be found on my YouTube Channel.  
Enjoy.

Cinema Cycle - I Vitelloni

CINEMA CYCLE

(Cardio Workout And Reviewing Movies At The Same Time)

DATE: 11/25/2014

TITLE: I Vitelloni (The Young and the Passionate)

FORMAT: LaserDisc

TIME RIDDEN / FILM LENGTH: 1 Hour 45 minutes

DISTANCE RIDDEN WHILE VIEWING: 25.7 miles

TOTAL VIEWING TIME LOGGED: 59 hours 00 minutes

TOTAL CINEMA MILES LOGGED: 785.3 miles

SYNOPSIS: Five young Italian men in a sleepy little seaside town deal with family and relationships while they try and figure out what to do with their lives.

CONCEPT IN RELATION TO THE VIEWER: The difference between being a slacker and making something out of your life.  Boys will waste their lives hanging out in ‘packs’ until someone finally decides to go it alone and find their own way.

PROS AND CONS: Despite the English title to the film (The Young and the Passionate), the Italian title actually translates to “The Bulls”, which would be a more accurate description.

A couple of precursors here.  I am a huge Fellini fan, so I am biased about almost all of his work.  Second, I have seen this film before, but since it came up on my random media library generator I was more than happy to view it again.  

This is an early Fellini work, before he really hit his surreal stride.  It has a lot of the classic Fellini themes, direction-less characters looking for something, the circus, images of the catholic church, the deserted seashore, the wind in the trees and the isolated small town feeling.  

The film centers around five young men who are slackers and hustlers, none of which want to find a job or lead productive lives.  They want to carouse, chase women, smoke cigarettes and ‘dream’ of greatness while the world passes them by.  One eventually sees the hopelessness of his life and takes the big step of leaving the comforts of home and seeking his fortune.  He leaves the rest behind to continue their aimless existence.  

The portrait of small town Italy is almost dream-like.  The film shows the first glimpse of the surreal world that is populated with the classic Fellini characters.  This, combined with the haunting music of Nino Rota, it is a grand entrance to Fellini’s world of cinema.  

To read an overview of this project, check out the initial post for this series.

This film is a part of my LaserDisc Collection.

Clicking on the title will take you to the Internet Movie Database (IMDB) entry for this film. 

This film was viewed while exercising on my recumbent cycle.  A summary of my time spent working out on my journey through movie-land can be found on Strava.com.

The summary of the project and a glimpse of what is coming up next can be found on my public LaserDisc spreadsheet.

Lost Memories - Volume 47

As this project continues on I find that it is evolving in interesting ways.  Besides becoming more adept at editing the raw footage down, much of the footage becomes more entertaining and more introspective.  This installment is from my time spent in Yuma, Arizona back around 1985.  I usually had an 8mm camera in my car and every day when I went to work there was an attractive crossing guard directing traffic for school children.  Hence the crossing guard video collage, not to mention other scenes from around town.  

I am firing up a long dormant project as I continue my trek toward retirement and moving on to other things. 

Over the years I have amassed a rather significant collection of 8mm home movies.  Some of these I have taken myself and some I have found in thrift stores and at garage sales.  This all dates back to my early days in media when I was interested in film editing and cinematography.  Since those days are long gone and it is doubtful that anyone will ever want to, or know how to view these films, I thought it best to digitize them and then send the film off to the dump.  

My goal here is to post about 5 of these films a week.  I have enough raw footage to make this project last about 6 months at that rate.  

The clips speak for themselves.  I do not know most of the people or locations in these movies and what I can glean from watching them is documented in the keywords for each segment that I have posted on YouTube.  Since YouTube limits free content to under 10 minutes, most of these films will be less than 5 minutes long.  The file name for each segment is the date that I transferred the film to digital format.

Most segments hearken back to a much simpler time.  A time before AIDS, Ebola, terrorism, the internet, social media, etc.  For that reason alone, they are worth watching.  All of the films along with my other YouTube content can be found on my YouTube Channel.  

Enjoy.

Cinema Cycle - The Human Sexes - Volume 2

CINEMA CYCLE

(Cardio Workout And Reviewing Movies At The Same Time)

DATE: 11/21/2014

TITLE: Desmond Morris’ The Human Sexes Volume 2 - Language of the Sexes

FORMAT: VHS

TIME RIDDEN / FILM LENGTH: 52 minutes 9 seconds

DISTANCE RIDDEN WHILE VIEWING: 14.3 miles

TOTAL CINEMA MILES LOGGED: 759.6 miles

SYNOPSIS: The second episode in a series about human sexuality and the similarities and differences in the human genders.

CONCEPT IN RELATION TO THE VIEWER: For this particular episode, the lengths that various cultures will go to attract a mate.  

PROS AND CONS: This is one of those crown jewels that I have in my media collection.  Since I am a documentary junkie, this is about as good as it gets.  This is an excellent series that I wish every adolescent boy and girl was required to watch as opposed to the tame sex education that they receive in public school or worse yet on the playground or behind the bleachers.  

This particular episode in the series is oddly appropriate given the current media fascination with celebrities and the the trend toward body morphism.  If the viewer thinks in terms of the size of Kim Kardashian’s buttocks or the new look of Rene Zellweger, you will have a better understanding of why the masses find it so interesting after watching this.  

This episode examines the various practices around the world and through time that humans have undertaken to make themselves more attractive to the opposite sex.  It has been going on since the beginning of sex and some of the ancient practices make the current popular ones seem almost tame in comparison.

To read an overview of this project, check out the initial post for this series.

Clicking on the title will take you to the Internet Movie Database (IMDB) entry for this film. 

This film was viewed while exercising on my recumbent cycle.  A summary of my time spent working out on my journey through movie-land can be found on Strava.com.

The summary of the project and a glimpse of what is coming up next can be found on my public google media spreadsheet.

Lost Memories - Volume 46

8mm, Film, Interstate 8, Interstate 10, Yuma, Arizona, Tucson, Gila Bend, trip, highway

I am firing up a long dormant project as I continue my trek toward retirement and moving on to other things. 
Over the years I have amassed a rather significant collection of 8mm home movies.  Some of these I have taken myself and some I have found in thrift stores and at garage sales.  This all dates back to my early days in media when I was interested in film editing and cinematography.  Since those days are long gone and it is doubtful that anyone will ever want to, or know how to view these films, I thought it best to digitize them and then send the film off to the dump.  
My goal here is to post about 5 of these films a week.  I have enough raw footage to make this project last about 6 months at that rate.  
The clips speak for themselves.  I do not know most of the people or locations in these movies and what I can glean from watching them is documented in the keywords for each segment that I have posted on YouTube.  Since YouTube limits free content to under 10 minutes, most of these films will be less than 5 minutes long.  The file name for each segment is the date that I transferred the film to digital format.
Most segments hearken back to a much simpler time.  A time before AIDS, Ebola, terrorism, the internet, social media, etc.  For that reason alone, they are worth watching.  All of the films along with my other YouTube content can be found on my YouTube Channel.  
Enjoy.

Cinema Cycle - Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story

CINEMA CYCLE

(Cardio Workout And Reviewing Movies At The Same Time)

DATE: 11/19/2014

TITLE: Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story

FORMAT: LaserDisc

TIME RIDDEN / FILM LENGTH: 2 hours 3 minutes

DISTANCE RIDDEN WHILE VIEWING: 31.3 miles

TOTAL CINEMA MILES LOGGED: 702.2 miles

SYNOPSIS: The story of Bruce Lee from his childhood in Hong Kong to his death at the age of 32.

CONCEPT IN RELATION TO THE VIEWER: Fighting (literally) against prejudice, fear and the ghosts of your culture.  Never giving up and finding the right woman will make everything right in the end.

PROS AND CONS: I was not overwhelmed by this film.  It was impressive to watch.  Shot in widescreen, with impressive location shooting and camerawork, you can’t fault the production values.  

The lead roles played by Jason Scott Lee (Bruce Lee) and Lauren Holly (Linda Lee) do a good job of acting, but the overall course of the story isn’t really all that engaging.  I am sure that Lee struggled with prejudice and other obstacles throughout his lifetime, but most viewers have seen this before in countless films and it comes off as being somewhat simplistic and formulaic.  

The fight scenes are interesting to watch but are a bit too voluminous.  Then again, this film would have been aimed squarely at the young video game / fight audience and not highbrow deep thinkers.  

Bruce Lee’s death is glossed over at the end of the film with a voice over by his on-screen wife which was a disappointment.  Finally, the ghost like image and dream sequence fights with a samurai warrior that is pursuing Lee’s family through the ages made little sense.  Especially since Lee eventually defeats him, yet he still dies in the end (as does his son in real life).

To read an overview of this project, check out the initial post for this series.

This film is a part of my LaserDisc Collection.

Clicking on the title will take you to the Internet Movie Database (IMDB) entry for this film. 

This film was viewed while exercising on my recumbent cycle.  A summary of my time spent working out on my journey through movie-land can be found on Strava.com.

The summary of the project and a glimpse of what is coming up next can be found on my public LaserDisc spreadsheet.

Lost Memories - Volume 37

Lost Memories - Volume 37 / Phoenix, 1952, house, street, child, family, wife, car, Cadillac, Eldorado

I am firing up a long dormant project as I continue my trek toward retirement and moving on to other things. 
Over the years I have amassed a rather significant collection of 8mm home movies.  Some of these I have taken myself and some I have found in thrift stores and at garage sales.  This all dates back to my early days in media when I was interested in film editing and cinematography.  Since those days are long gone and it is doubtful that anyone will ever want to, or know how to view these films, I thought it best to digitize them and then send the film off to the dump.  
My goal here is to post about 5 of these films a week.  I have enough raw footage to make this project last about 6 months at that rate.  
The clips speak for themselves.  I do not know most of the people or locations in these movies and what I can glean from watching them is documented in the keywords for each segment that I have posted on YouTube.  Since YouTube limits free content to under 10 minutes, most of these films will be less than 5 minutes long.  The file name for each segment is the date that I transferred the film to digital format.
Most segments hearken back to a much simpler time.  A time before AIDS, Ebola, terrorism, the internet, social media, etc.  For that reason alone, they are worth watching.  All of the films along with my other YouTube content can be found on my YouTube Channel.  
Enjoy.