Thursday, June 25, 2015

Ephemera From the Dawn of the Golden Age

Sometimes, themes generate themselves. The lions share of clips uploaded over the last two days came from my very oldest "mainstream" folder and date from 2006-08.  I'd like to say my initial goal was to present a collection of forgotten scenes from the dawn of the golden age. But that would be a lie.  I'd grown tired of going through more recent clips and was looking for a fresh field to glean.
I believe that most of them are my captures that I pulled off my old DVR. I can't be 100% certain of their provenance. I didn't start segregating "my" clips from other people's until around 2010. But except as noted they're all from shows I followed, have my lazy attempt to keep an 8.3 file name restriction and have the grubby, hazy look that my shoddy captures had.  In one post I mistakenly blamed VHS, but as I recounted my personal chronology, I realized they probably came from my old Standard Def cable DVR. 

I admit I was very bad at it. Did I not understand the deinterlacing setting?  But as bad as the quality is, most of these clips are irreplaceable.  Superman II and Pretty Woman will always be upgraded to the newest format(hell, I've got Spirits of the Dead in HD somewhere around here). But it's unlikely that some forgotten afternoon chat show from 9 years ago will ever see the light of day again. As I was uploading and prepping this batch I realized that this might be the only chance for these sightings. Some other boot hobbyist could always download and edit obscure movies from the 60's. They're plentiful if you know where to look. But if you didn't follow, capture, edit and save an episode of "The Center" or "The Loop" back in '06 these are lost. Shows like this aren't a strong candidate for re-release.

I'd like to think some of these clips are almost important from an historical standpoint. I'd also like to think my Labrador Retriever is smarter than the kids next door. I'm certainly wrong on both counts.

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