SF Classiques - SFPPN

 

Wrapping It Up

Well, I'm sure I have more SF ephemera to go over, but frankly, I'm running out of decent audio clips to play. So, this will be the last entry for this blog.

So, what's next? As I noted before, I want to "get the band back together" for a regular podcast, if I can ever figure out how to get Skype to play well with Garageband. Also, I have an idea for another podcast series based on recordings made during my college days, but I need to track down some people and get their permission first. Stay tuned.

Meanwhile, you can check out the "How I Got My Wife to Read Comics" and "Vast Wasteland" podcasts, both available on iTunes.

For our last clip, here's a series of commercial parodies. This was always a "go to" plan if the main show topic was flagging, since we could riff on commercials 'til the cows came home.

For now, in the immortal words of SF, "we are done".

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SF Ephemera - Part 2

Let's go over some of the groups our team gravitated to in high school.

When we last met electronically, I mentioned the word "Semanon". While it sounds like a cult of some kind, it was just the backstage crew for the high school theater. The school made the mistake of buying very high end equipment for the new auditorium, and it quickly became clear that you needed trained people to run it. That meant that a normal method of a sign-up sheet for backstage crew just didn't work.

So, a regular student crew was trained to run all the stage productions, and the name "Semanon" (no names backwards) was adopted for them. Saylor, Bill, Mike, Steve, and myself were in Semanon at various times. Since we were essentially indispensable (a last minute walkout once threatened to cancel the school musical), we got away with a lot more than we should have.

Also, there were the "Hi-Lo's", also known as show choir. If it sounds geeky--don't worry, it is. I was the lone male SF member who got into the group, but most of the female contingent (Lynda, Beth, Sharon) were in it as well. Saylor and Brenda were in the less geeky A'capella Choir.

There was also a large contingent in the high school band. If I remember correctly: Mike, Brenda, Sharon, and Lynda were in the marching band, and Lynda was the drum major, if that's the correct term.

Finally, to maximize our geek quotient: Eric was the valedictorian of our graduating class, Mike was the salutatorian, Bill was the president of the Science Club, and I was the president of the Science Fiction club.

As I've said before, I'm sure I'm remembering some of this incorrectly. Blame it on my ancient neurons misfiring.

Meanwhile--let's listen to some more bits from Outstanding in Our Field....

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SF Ephemera - Part 1

On previous blogs, I promised I would return to extraneous points, so here we are...

In Episode 5, I mentioned that SF wasn't the only production company in town. Must have been something in the water. I'm sure I'll get some of this material wrong, as I was a bystander. If the parties involved read this, let me know what I screwed up.

Mike Harrison was a partner on B.R.O. Productions, which specialized in films. Note that I didn't say "videos"--this was the era of 8mm film cameras. Film reels were only 3-5 minutes long, and rather expensive to get developed. Editing involved actual physical cuts to the film with a knife. If you wanted sound, you had to record it on cassette and try to manually synch it up with your always finicky projector. This is why SF shied away from film--it was just too much work. Do I sound crotchety enough yet--hey, you kids get off my lawn!

Anyway, B.R.O. made several productions, one of which was something like "Invasion of the Tupperware People" (I'm sure I got that wrong). It was a multi-reel extravaganza with sound and special effects. There were a few social gatherings over the years between B.R.O. and SF, and members ended up in each other's productions from time to time. What does B.R.O. stand for? I just do not remember.

There was also the Circle Hill Cinema Corporation, with Dave Gross as one of the partners--he was one of the people I "auditioned" prior to meeting up with Eric. CHCC also worked primarily in film. I wasn't introduced to CHCC until late in high school, by which time they were essentially done doing films. Their group was also very active in the local theater I mentioned in Episode 13.

I wouldn't be surprised to learn of other production companies in town--if anyone reads this and knows of any, please let me know.

Next time--what is Semanon? Meanwhile, from our "On the Road" series, let's listen as Mike, Saylor, and I take in some exciting indoor soccer action with the Canton Invaaaaderrrrrrs...

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A Brief (?) History of SF Productions - Part 17

OK, let's wrap things up.

The SF team began to break up in the late 80's, and it became harder and harder to "get the band back together". It's natural for this to happen--people have lives after all. I had found a creative outlet in public access cable TV in Columbus, OH. I was involved in two comedy shows, one of which resulted in an arrest (more on that soon), then began ten years of the "Vast Wasteland" TV show, the ancestor of one of our current podcasts.

I had also gotten married--the last SF member to do so. I met my wife (and my partner on "How I Got My Wife to Read Comics") through Bill and Janet, and they were our best man and matron of honor respectively. SF members get together from time to time, but normally just to say hi and grab a bite to eat (a major SF activity).

Once the "information superhighway" was opened, I started thinking of ways to do some creative stuff again. By 2000, public access TV in Columbus basically dried up, and at one point, I considered just setting up a website to show videos. The problem was--who would ever find it? Then podcasting came along, and after much dragging of feet, I got the Vast Wasteland team together again and we were off and running and/or stumbling.

I still want to bring SF into the podcasting fold (Bill has guested on VW), as soon as I get off my ass and set it up--probably via Skype, as the membership is all over the country.

So that's the story--coming up next, I'll go over some SF ephemera. Meanwhile, here's some dated political references and bad impressions from "Outstanding in our Field".

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A Brief (?) History of SF Productions - Part 16

We now move into the late 80's, and a bit of a hiatus for SF as people went off into the world to get actual jobs, get married, get more degrees (I'm looking at you, Beth), etc.  In 1988, Mike and I created a 10th anniversary set (just a set of clips, kind of like what I'm doing here) and the "Is It Love" dance remix played in episode one.  This took quite a lot of work since Eric was unavailable, so we sampled his voice track line by line to match the new tempo.  Eric was quite surprised to later hear his voice on something he wasn't directly involved in.

We made another attempt in 1989 to do something quasi-professional.  We had gone to the well of Star Trek several times, and the Next Generation series was on the air.  I made the call that we needed an actual script, and got it into my mind to hold a "writing retreat" away from distractions such as television (and as it later turned out, hygiene).  My father had a cabin out in the boondocks which sounded good when he described it, but was quite a mess when I got to actually see it.  I made my best attempt to clean things up, but the team wasn't particularly impressed when they opened the door.  However, we made the best of it, and with a borrowed laptop, Steve, Mike, Bill, Janet, Brenda, Saylor and I cranked out our Next Gen script.

It took us another year to actually tape the thing in September of 1990.   It's probably the slickest thing we ever did.  We really concentrated on appropriate background music and special effects.  Keep in mind this was in the pre-digital days; each effect was sampled into a synthesizer and recorded in real time on a multi-track tape recorder.  It would be a cinch to do it today in Garageband.  However, I always felt it lacked spontaneity--that's the downside of a script, I suppose.

Next time, I'll wrap up this brief (?) history lesson.

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A Brief (?) History of SF Productions - Part 15

During college breaks, I would try to visit SF members at their schools.  Bill was attending University of Cincinnati, and I went to see him a few times.  He was hanging around with a girl named Janet, and they were becoming quite the couple.

One night, Bill and I were driving around, and he said "how do you feel about an SF wedding?".  After discussing logistics of such an event, I gave him my "blessing" as SF President.  Thus the SF weddings began.  Janet and Bill have been together since then, moving around the country for work, and have ended back up in Ohio, so we can see them often.

The introduction of the Walkman (yep, I'm really old) with recording capabilities let us do some "On the Road" shows.  Episode Two's offering is from our first foray into the real world, but we also went to an "international fair" at the mall, two local museums, and an indoor soccer game, ending up in Washington DC with Steve.  On that trip, I picked a good place in the Smithsonian where the SF tapes will eventually go, right next to Archie Bunker's chair.  I'll play some more of these shows soon.
  
Meanwhile, I was looking at the end of college, and wondering if we could actually do something with SF that would make money.  We began coming up with ideas for what would eventually became "Outstanding in Our Field".  We wrote ideas on Post-it notes and put them on the wall in Mike's basement, as that had become our HQ due to all the recording equipment and synthesizers.  Mike and Eric put together a few songs, and over the summer we came up with enough ideas and committed them to tape, with the final session over the Labor Day weekend.  We found a place that would make up tape duplicates for us, and we went around to radio stations and record stores to try to sell them.  We found a new places willing to take a few copies, but it didn't go far.  Boy, would this have been easier in the Internet era--just dump them in iTunes!  I still have a few copies of the tape in shrinkwrap.

1986 ended with a dinner at Chi-Chi's (remember them?), giving Eric a chance to put in our name as the "Nahtzee" ("Nahtzee party of 10...Nahtzee party...".  This was the last time the entire group was together at one time--from then on, there were always one or two people unavailable or out of the country.

Next, a hiatus, then we try to be real writers.  Meanwhile, here's some Outstanding bits...

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A Brief (?) History of SF Productions - Part 14

We now move into 1984.  This was the year of the Los Angeles Summer Olympics, so I decided our major goal for the year was a video parody of the games.  Mike was involved in electronic music classes in college, so we used that as an excuse to create a new theme for the games.  We spent a concentrated period of a few days in the summer (remember, we still had to rent video equipment) and shot all over town.

We used a local monument that had a number of steps to stand in for the stairs leading up to the Olympic flame.  Of course, we couldn't have an actual flame involved, so for some reason, we stuck a roll of toilet paper on a stick.  Sharon ran up the steps, and I followed her with the camera, interviewing her as she ran--it's amazing that anything was kept in the frame.  A quick cut to Lynda's backyard and the grill stood in for the actual lighting of the flame.  We were still using the toilet paper, so small pieces of flaming paper started flying around--for a moment, there was a real possibility we were going to burn down her house!

We shot Saylor riding a bike on a grassy hill (anybody can ride on cement), we created a set of sport logos with Brenda in a black suit performing each sport, and we created animated network logo in Mike's basement with styrofoam, a model train set, a vacuum cleaner, and some black wire. We shot commercials for the Kmart Financial Network, and bits on souvenirs and the Olympic breakdancing competition in Mike's backyard with Mike's brother Dan.

Dan also was one of the stars of the centerpiece event--cross country golf.  The idea was that you had to hit a ball from one golf course through the town to another golf course.  Brenda, Dan, Saylor, and Sharon were the competitors, and Mike and I did color commentary.  Sharon's character was hit with a ball at the very start of the competition, and Brenda's character was apparently kidnapped, leaving Saylor and Dan.  We shot footage all over town, ending up at the other golf course in town.  Saylor did the "agony of defeat" bit, and Dan was victorious.

Finally, we shot some footage at the NBS Olympic headquarters (Lynda's basement), which should have been enough to let me to put together something coherent.  I haven't actually gotten around to finishing the edit--I suppose I should get to that, being 25 year later...

In 1985, we went back to audio, since Star Trek III came out that year.  We brought Eric's Spock back from the dead with help from Saylor, Sharon, Mike, Bill, Brenda, Steve, and Janet--wait a minute, who's Janet??  You'll find out next time, as the marriage bug infects SF, and we become Outstanding.  Meanwhile, I think there's a Vulcan to search for...   

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A Brief (?) History of SF Productions--Part 13

1983, the "Summer of SF", rolls on...

There was a local theater in town--I use the term loosely, as it was housed in a former pet store, with an audience of 40.  If you sat in the front row, you were in danger of getting trampled by actors downstage.  Anyway, I had been involved with the theater for a few years, and decided it was time for me to direct.  My musical review idea was shot down, so I found an obscure (cheap) one act play called "Sociability".  When I went to cast it, of course I asked SF members.  Sharon, Beth, Mike, and Steve didn't say no quickly enough, and we were off.  Another "director" did a second one-act play, and we added a musical number from Lynda (with kibitzing from Eric) to make the whole thing long enough to make a handful of people come to see it.

Meanwhile, another "blockbuster" hit the movie screen--Superman III.  If you've seen it, I feel for you.  I decided to make a parody of it anyway, and had the brilliant idea of doing it at a local campground--really a way to bribe the team to come do it.   Saylor got the title role this time, Mike continued his job as the black guy, and Eric and I kept the team from wandering off to swim.  This was the first (and last) production to be recorded in "3D Dolby Doppler Stereo", the result of a faulty tape recorder.  You'll hear it in the beginning of the following audio selection.

We packed a lot into one summer--there were concerts, dinners, gaming tournaments both electronic and analog, and political discussions with Beth and Steve on opposing sides.  As Eric succinctly put it, we spent the summer "eating, sleeping, and showering".  Anyway, let's take a listen to "Superlaughs III - in Trailerscope!"  

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A Brief (?) History of SF Productions--Part 12

SF finished 1982 with another political special (Confusion '82), and by this point we apparently decided that Reagan had won the 1980 race, since we spent some time either praising or bashing him.  There were some small pre-written bits, which became painfully obvious as the production went on.  We ended up spending half the tape doing commercial parodies--Eric, Bill, Steve, Lynda, Mike, Beth, and new member Brenda Bader (Badger) joined in the fun.  Brenda lived just two blocks away from me, so I had known her since elementary school.  She eventually became the SF Historian--in fact, for this blog, I have been referencing a book she put together for my wedding documenting SF's history.  She was involved with SF for several years, but I haven't heard from her for awhile (if you read this Brenda, please e-mail me through the site or find me via FaceBook!).

1983 was known as the "Summer of SF"--we got back together after a year in college, and spent every minute of that summer together.  There's enough for two entries here, so let's start with "Return of the Jedi Glasses".  Lucas & Co. had the promotional machine going full blast by the time "Episode VI" came out, so we spent much of this production talking about the various tie-ins than the actual storyline.  "Jedi Glasses", of course, referred to the Burger King promotional item.  Eric, Steve, Mike, Saylor, Sharon, and Brenda came together for our 30th tape. 

We also ventured into video for the first time, doing a parody of the sci-fi show "V" (which oddly enough just got a remake) called "Y". We taped it in my basement with zero production values (the ship looked cool, though, thanks Mike), using a rented camcorder, so we had to do it quickly.  Eric managed to cut himself on the head by jumping into a ceiling beam, but we persevered and got it done.  Unfortunately, this tape disappeared years ago (I do have a beta videotape labelled "Y", but I have no way to play it).  Perhaps I'll pull a Jackie Gleason years from now and release it as the "lost production".

This was also the year we got official pictures taken (the pic on this site's homepage came from 1983).  The blue golf shirts we're wearing had an SF logo which was laboriously added via a silkscreen device Mike had, and rapidly fell apart since they were really cheap.

Okay, there's more of 1983 to come, but for now, let's go to a galaxy far, far, away...

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A Brief (?) History of SF Productions--Part 11

1982 was a tumultuous year for SF--we graduated from high school, several members joined the team, and we all moved toward our college years.

The last point was a particular concern for me.  Sure, it would it be difficult to get the team together to do more tapes, but the main issue was Eric's move to Annapolis and the military.  I had no idea if and when I would see him again, and keep in mind I still had the crazy idea we could make a living doing this.  How to keep doing SF stuff without, well, F?

I toyed with the idea of making Lynda a full partner (somewhere I have logos for "SFB" Productions), but it didn't feel right.  Then it came to me on vacation in Maine, in a hotel pool.  Incorporate SF as a "Bored" of Directors, with each member getting a VP position and supposed "stock" in the "company".   I became President of SF, and Eric became Chairman of the Bored.  Assigning VP positions would give everyone a sense of ownership in the team, and facilitate members stepping in to Eric's role.  That was the idea, anyway--the reality ended up being far more messy.  More on this later.

(I know what you're thinking--neurotic much?)

Anyway, we moved into more familiar material with a Star Trek parody (Star Trip II--The Revenge of Mr. Rourke).  Trek had been a source of material previous to this, but now we had more people to take the roles, plus better recording equipment.  Eric, Sharon, Steve, Saylor, and Mike (who officially became our "token black" member on this tape) joined in, along with new member Beth Guonjian (Pettit).  Another refugee from show choir, Beth and I had known each other since elementary school, but I suspect she went along with it because of her friendship with Sharon.  Beth went onto to getting her Master of Divinity degree at Harvard and a medical degree in Chicago--making her officially "The Reverend Doctor...".  She also officiated at my wedding.

SF also tackled an general movie parody, masked as an ad for the "NBS Movie Cable" channel, and we took a few minutes to return to "Chuck and Diana - 1 Year Later".  This tape was mainly significant as the first production without Eric, as he had moved on to Annapolis by that time.

So, let's go where no one (except us) has gone before...

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