Friday Check In

What a week. The big collection we got was of the late pioneer OTR hobbyist Joe Hehn. His funeral was yesterday and you'll hear more about all the stuff that's in it. The 300+ discs were allocated to 7 folks in a disc group (one of whom is Cobaltian favorite completedayman) and the work will commence soon.

In the meantime, I'm still going through and transferring reels. I have done no processing yet, just making raw recordings. There were 3 missing The Big Story and I was able to find the underlying news stories for all of them!

Slowly I've been finding volunteers to transfer reels -- there must be 300+ reels that are kid's show (even excluding Lone Ranger!). I listened to some of the Lux from late in the series that are AFRS versions -- gosh the sound is so much better than what is in circulation for those.

Still disappointed in Suspense but that shows how good the collection has become over these years.

Running into squealing reels and I've been getting better at diagnosing whether to bake or moisten -- so far so good.

I was commenting to someone that OTR is a great example of non-financial crowdsourcing (and to be too geeky for Friday, a good example of what economists call "spontaneous order"). Just by expressing opportunity and need, resources can be assembled. This is another reason why digital OTRdom is so much better and rewarding than the OTRdom I grew up in. It is marvelous how we can mobilize resources to do these things. If we were a structured organization, what's being done with these reels and discs could not be done with the speed and efficiency that is in process.

Started What Remains on Britbox last night. We're getting good at this British TV. All through the show we're saying "she was in Luther" and "remember her from The Crown?" and "didn't we see him on Masterpiece Theater?"

Speaking of PBS, their American Masters bio of Walter Winchell that was released earlier in the week is very good. Watched it last night using the Roku.

Great update GB. The stash saga is a compelling story and I do enjoy hearing about the progress.

Another week of the same old here. Ireland has moved back into a modified full lockdown for the next 6 weeks so we are back to the don't travel more that 5km and try and stay away from people. Cases were on the uptick. 1200 a day. Not good at all. Lots of house parties and get togethers. And one idiot travels for holidays comes back refuses to isolate and infects 56 people by himself. Let that sink in people. One guy 56 new cases. Say 10 people do that or 100 you got 5600 new cases and they can then infect how many. People bunker down until we get a handle on this. The virus does not care you are bored and business will have to adapt of die. You just cannot be safe if you are in a room with people you don't know. It's a simple fact. Its sucks but dying sucks more.

Folks lots of Paul Desmond arrived to round out my smooth sax collection. Damn that man was a fine player and Jim Hall playing guitar on those albums. What a fine player smoothest playing I have heard in a long time.

Plenty of books arrived so my SOP is rolling in per usual mode. I am about 22 Halloween movies into my yearly 36 movie list of movies that have to be watched each year. Last night was Frighteners such a fab movie. MJ Fox and Peter Jackson at the helm. Classic.

Stay safe and sound my friends... hang on tight the next two weeks are going to be a bumpy ride. Cue Betty Davis slinking down the stairs....

Everything is running behind in my world right now. Today is disassemble the electronics day. Tomorrow is "Pack our whole lives into a truck" day. And Tuesday is the trek to the new digs.

I have a Windoze Surface tablet I call "The Road Warrior", so I'll check in if and when time permits.

Be well, be safe and be happy my friends.

Space it really annoys me that me and my team are not there to escort you. Picture four motorcycle outriders with Armoured pursuit vehicles front and rear of you and the missus. A chopper in the air. And all of us rolling down copperhead road. Anyone gets closer than 32 feet would be dealt with.

Thats how you do a proper road trip.

Just a quick check in. We've arrived at the new digs. All is well. Waiting for some civilized services to be connected. I should be back on a regular cycle in a few days. I suddenly feel the need to load a few episodes of The World Adventurers Club.

Be well and be happy my friends.

Space

Thanks for the update Space. Good to know you are safe and sound. Now please tell us the property is haunted and we will be getting updates that read like the script of a Spielberg movie.

Same old here we are in lockdown I am doing my usual routine a tad bummed that Halloween has been disrupted but what can you do.

Hope everyone stays safe and sound and eats as much Halloween candy as I plan on doing.

Good health to all from Rexall. Good news, Space. Is your new home over an Indian burial ground with an unfinished pool in the backyard? If it is, don't plug in the TV.

Life goes on here. More work on the novel, daily film commentaries, and lots of reading:
*Bob Woodward's *Rage*--just finished it and I'm finished with the subject totally;
*Now Bob Woodward's *Wired*--the biography of John Belushi
*Two Barbara Stanwyck biographies--one weighing in at 900+ pages (and it's only Volume I), the other more compact but equally compelling.
*New limited edition pink vinyl of Linda Ronstadt's *Mad Love* and The Flower Kings' new vinyl album until next month with another.

Dark, dank day, dang it. But at least we're all healthy. Hope you are all the same.
Jeff

It's Friday again... seems this happened last week, too.

I updated my overview of free cloud storage
https://sites.google.com/view/freecloudstorageforotr/home
There are some surprises. The whole topic came into view with the space we need now that the Hehn disc dubs and tape transfers are going to start flying around and may break the "Inter-Net." Hope the tubes can take it. Posted some details on the Suspense thread the other day.

OTRR purchasing group has been great through all of this. And we found some new recruits to help with the transfers.

Still strange doing karate over Zoom but I set up a space in the attic with an outdoor floor covering and some tweaks to lighting and it works... at least until the evening cold sets in a few weeks from now... this could get disinteresting...

One of the things found in the Hehn stuff was the first episode of a 1933 sci-fi serial... everyone loves it!
https://archive.org/details/dr-decimal-seven-33mmdd-syndicated-pgm-1-fred-shields-is-star
It was Buck Rodgers time, telescopes were blurry enough to make it seem there were canals on Mars, and it was suspected that the Universe was the same as the Milky Way and that Pluto was a planet. Now we know that the people who built the canals filled them in and left when they heard we were coming to take pictures for the real estate sales book, and that one Milky Way was not enough, which is why you should eat them slowly, and that Pluto was not a planet, but was a dog from some animation studio in California. But more important is that keen-eared listeners have spotted Gale Gordon and Jeanette Nolan in the Dr Decimal Seven recording. Fortunately, they escaped with their young careers undeterred, and with this gig purposely lacking from their resumes.

Great update GB love hearing out the finds in the treasure chest that is the new haul. Very exciting stuff.

Another nice week here weather wise. Walks and exercises done and good food eaten. Lots of work done.

Fun stuff was watching the new Frost/Pegg show on Amazon called Truth Seekers. I just loved that show. Funny and Spooky and all the good things you need in entertainment.

More Bluenote Vinyl masters arrived and enjoying those. More books of course as I am trying to keep publishing alive in Ireland by myself.

Hope Space checks in so we can hear about his new hideaway. I also want a detailed update from Jeff to when I can get my mitts on the baseball novel?

Stay safe and sound friends...

Well, things are finally getting organized in the new digs. Today, after much frustration, profanity and an incredible final bill, we got modern services installed. So, I'll be able to check in regularly again. What did I miss?

We see anywhere between two and twenty deer in our front yard each morning. The temperature dropped to 36 a couple days ago. That was a helluva shock to the system of a subtropical constitution. But I'm adjusting already. The dark skies at night, when the moon is down, allows an incredible view of the night sky. And the quiet is just amazing. We have a car or truck pass about once per hour. The rest of the time it's just the breeze through the trees and the birds singing.

Yes, there's an indian burial ground on the property, which was also the site of a Union field hospital during the civil war. But I put a couple of shots of Jack Daniel's on the front porch each night and the ghosts are happy and quiet.

GB, thanks for the update. I'm gonna have to start trolling the threads for ear candy. I may need to resurrect the plan to dig up a restored cathedral radio to broadcast it to for listening.

Boss, you know I'm gonna need a detailed update on that vinyl. I am after all, living vicariously through your collection.

Jeff, I noticed your disdain for modern cg epics. I feel pretty much the same. But have you seen The Martian, from a couple years ago? From my perspective, that's an awesome movie. Heavily cg, but it actually enhanced the story, rather than overwhelming it.

I may post a few pics from the new home eventually. Maybe even a video of the clock that's controlled my life for a lot of years, meeting it's "timely" end. I plan to put a couple of 40 caliber hollow points through it.

Be well and be happy my friends.

Space

Thanks for the update Space we are all happy you are safe and sound and now not under the man. You are free bro... free... as free as your wife allows you to be....I ain't crazy...

Cause for much celebration today: Space has chased his ghosts away, Greybelt has hit the mother lode, Seamus is steeped in books and vinyl, and America finally has a President who can see beyond the end of his own ignorance.

The baseball novel is coming along beautifully--we are zeroing in on The Big Game which will cap the story, and we are having more fun writing this than human beings should be allowed.

Yes, I've seen *The Martian*, Space, and really liked it precisely for the reasons you cited--first and foremost there is a STORY with CHARACTER development. When effects are used in service to those two entities, there is a good chance the creators cared more about the whole picture rather than its profit margin.

Ordered the new Flower Kings vinyl to be released on the 20th, and just received Iain Reid's new book, so as soon as *Wired* with Belushi enters its final drug binge, that will be next on the list.

Sun is bright with seventy degrees today. Nature, in its pathetic fallacy, seems to be happy with the President Elect.
Stay blessed and safe, my friends.
Jeff

It's not Friday yet. But here's a midweek update. Things are coming together in the new home. There are tons of boxes yet to be unpacked. But we're in no hurry at this point. Here are a few pictures from the Funny Farm, as I've dubbed it.

First, the house from the middle of the front yard. Keep in mind that the house is actually built into the hillside, with the lowest floor not visible from the front.


And the view from the indian burial ground.


The sunrise view from the front porch swing. A personal favorite of mine.


One of my moocher neighbors, looking for a pile of corn in the front yard (Which he found waiting).


The view of the side yard. Another current favorite.


And finally, an old bell I found in the back pasture. My intention, is to restore it just a bit and build a yoke mount for it on the front porch. But the location could change before it actually gets mounted.


Maybe more later. It depends on my "Too busy bein' retired to bother" mood.

It's not heaven, it's not Iowa, but that's pretty danged close if you ask me, Space. Maybe you can build a nice parking lot or drive in movie theater on that property. . . . . Congratulations.
Jeff

Looks gorgeous Space. Nothing like your own piece of land. The bell is an excellent find.

My friend Pink wrote of bells

Far away
Across the field
Tolling on the iron bell
Calls the faithful to their knees
To hear the softly spoken magic spell

And yes, you wish we were here.....

Friday check in folks. We are still in full lockdown but virus cases have dropped 2/3rds so thats good. Funny how science works that way.

More jazz vinyl ended up here,Duke Pearson Tone Poet series, Norah Jones plus new Future Islands, Holy Magick, Mahalia - Love and Compromise, Paloma Faith, Paper Kites, Heartless Bastards, Licensed to Ska a box set of 7 inch singles with a brass ska band playing 007 music.

Still rolling the same old routine, Walks with doggo, Workouts, Work. Reading and some shows like The Mandalorian, Star Trek Discovery. I watched new Moonbase 8 show it was awful.

Whats new friends?

everyone stay healthy and happy.

Not a lot new this week--haircut, doctors' appointments, and a new vinyl of the Eels' new album.

I finished a raucous chapter of the novel and now I'm moving in on the new Jasper Fforde novel about rabbits and politics, Charlie Kaufman's novel and Iain Reid's new novel. Also prepping for Thanksgiving as Number Two Son and Daughter-In-Law will be bringing the turkey to celebrate. Many packages coming for the wife's birthday this weekend.

Stay safe and warm and healthy, everyone. Space will be inviting all of us over to his place for Post-Thanksgiving merriment. We just have to find his place since he's not providing directions.
Jeff

A few days late
Space -- ah to be in the wide open spaces... where you can get up and see the sunrise and the colors... and realize you locked yourself out and everyone's still asleep... and you can see your breakfast getting cold on the kitchen table... and the dog wondering why you're still outside when it's still cold... smell that clear air... ahhhhh!!

Lots of stuff posted at https://archive.org/details/@joehehncollection
enjoy!!!  If there are show descriptions that you like, please grab them from the pages for the official show background. It's been fun writing those and keeping them short enough to hopefully capture interest of newbie collectors. If anyone sees corrections or has suggestions, let me know.

Finished The Paradise. It sure got tired midway through the second season and now we want to watch Mr. Selfridge all over again. It's clear that was much more interesting and a better production, and why The Paradise thankfully was not renewed for a third season. Watched the first two episodes of The Crown last night. The Internet tubes around here were clogged yesterday as response time was erratic -- I am sure there were homes around here binging all 10 episodes. It is such a marvelous series and the casting is spectacular.

Finished the latest The Crown season on Netflix last evening. It did not disappoint. Most every episode sends us to various sources to find out what actually happened and what was done to make it work in a dramatic sense on the screen. The next season won't be out until 2022.

Big news from archive.org: The Joe Hehn Collection is now officially recognized! https://archive.org/details/joe-hehn?tab=about
Lots of stuff to be uploaded in the weeks ahead.

We've been figuring out what a two-person Thanksgiving meal looks like. Even Mrs GB suggested Bob & Ray Mock Turkey. It's a big half-sphere of mashed potatoes with two hot dogs in the place of legs. It is getting serious consideration just to say we did it. This meal planning is confusing stuff...

Is it Friday again? This retirement thing has me constantly trying to figure out what day it is. I'm still trying to establish a pattern. Every day I do at least one outdoor project and one indoor project. The outdoor project for the day, is a continuation of yesterday's project, leaf blowing. Trying to clear a 3 1/2 acre lawn of leaves takes a lot of time. Today's indoor project, is removing the mirror cell assembly from a 4 1/2 inch reflecting telescope, cleaning it, replacing it and collimating said telescope. All without damaging the mirror. Wish me luck.

Be well, be safe and be happy my friends. And a very Happy Tryptophan Day to those who celebrate it.

Space

GB, Space great updates.

Same old here for me. I must admit as the year is coming to an end I can't say I remember much of it as it all seemed the same.

Stayed sane with walks and exercise. Work kept me busy so hopefully as we roll into 2021 and the vaccines become available we can get back to a more normal life.

Vinyl and books came. Nothing new there just building the collection. I am now slowing down as the vinyl count has passed 600 and though I love everything just going to allow a trickle of must haves come in now.

Stay safe and healthy and away from the maddening crowds...

Space -- at this age the best way to check what day it is by checking the 7-day pill container

greybelt wrote:Space -- at this age the best way to check what day it is by checking the 7-day pill container

GB, that's how the wife keeps track. Unfortunately (actually fortunately), I'm in disgustingly good health for my age and habits. I have no prescribed meds. And rarely do I need any over the counter pain meds.

Maybe I'll get Alexa to give me a daily reminder.

I had kind of an interesting caper the other day. I was out walking in the woods, and this new guy who just moved in started chasing me with a leaf blower, screaming for me to get off his "3 1/2 acre lawn." He came out here to get away from civilization and its nasty accoutrements like clocks and time, he was retired dagnubbit, and he wasn't going to let any city slickers steal his bell. (Whatever the heck that meant)

So outside of cleaning my house for an early Thanksforgiving Day on Monday with our son and daughter-in-law wearing hazmat suits and standing in the backyard so I can hose them down before they enter the house, I'll be steering clear of my new neighbors. (Don't hold me to this, but I think he's installing a telescope to snoop on us, too).
Enjoy.
Jeff

Jeff, watch out for those whack-job new retirees. And be thankful Ya don't live in Alabamy. There, as long as they have the requisite two No Trespassing signs posted, they can go full Yosimite Sam on Ya.