A/V Geeks Lunch 10-4-2021

do do do hello everybody welcome i'm skip alzheimer and where's my stool oh there it is um welcome to the av geeks lunchtime streaming show oh crap there it is now we're open for business um i'm skip i collect old 16 millimeter films we just watched housing problems which was an early bray educational some people know brave because of their animation work both for entertainment and education and for industrial use in advertising somebody mentioned uh tommy can i'm not sure if that's how you pronounce his last name who was on um tcm over the weekend uh this was an old interview that got aired because it had uh what's his name the old guy who um i really always wanted to meet but has since passed so i'm gonna have to meet uh ben mcmankowitz at some point anyways uh so tommy collects he's very niche uh 16 collector he collects silent animated films and somebody asked if i know him and yes i do we've had email conversations um we've traded lists um and so and we're friends on facebook um if that means anything maybe facebook has gone away for good um which is maybe not so tragic i don't know um anyways uh i was very happy to see that his uh thing aired i haven't had a chance to see it because i don't have a tcm broadcast uh so i'm gonna see if it shows up on the hbo max which we do have um because you know we don't have cable anyways what do we got here we got a lot of stuff that we can watch um let's go ahead and watch uh something i have set up on the telecini which is behind me um where we watch a film that i just pulled off the shelf we watch it live excuse me uh i'm having allergies uh anyways here's uh happy lion enjoy [Music] [Applause] [Music] there was once a very happy life his arm was not the art of dangerous plains of africa where hunters lie in weight with their guns it was a lovely french town with brown tiled roofs and gray shutters the happy lion had a house in the tron zoo all for himself with a large rock garden surrounded by a moat [Music] the little boy in history was also francois early every morning francois the keeper's son stopped on his way to school to say bonjour happy lion everyone was his friend and came to say bonjour and offer meat and other tidbits [Music] monsieur dupont the school master stopped on his way home to say was your happy lion [Music] madame pinsong who knitted all day on the bench by the bandstand never left without saying or happy lion [Music] on summer sundays the town band piled into the bandstand to play waltzes and focus [Music] now the happy lion closed his eyes to listen [Music] hmm one morning the happy lion found that this keeper had forgotten to close the door of his house hmm he said i don't like that anyone may walk in oh well maybe i will walk out myself and see my friends in town calls you my friends you happy lion and said the busy spouse bonjour bonjour happy liar then the happy lion went into the cobblestone street they met with dupont just around the corner monsieur he said what a silly way to say bonjour the happy lion what's you made um [Music] kites are three ladies and run away as if an urger were after them i can't think said the happy lion what makes them do that bonjour madame oh la la now the lion began to hear the joyous sounds of a military march he turned around the next corner and there was the town band marching down the street between two lines of people [Music] [Music] hello sure happy lion let's walk back to the park together [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] from then on the happy lion got the best tidbits they found safe for him he was happier to sit in his rock garden while on the other side of the moat we see dupont madame person and all his friends came again like polite and sensible people to say bonjour happy lion [Music] but if you open this door he would never never leave his house again um thank you mitch for the coffee yeah an affected french accent um fascinating uh let's see um this film came from a [Music] collection of films that i got some time ago from the buffalo public schools and what i think is interesting when i get a batch of educational films from such a place there's a lot of overlap with what's available everywhere else but what's fascinating is when you find something that doesn't that's regional that somehow ended up in the collection and so this is an example of that um something that might not exist a lot of other places um maybe only in this particular region uh and what i've discovered is i mean i've discovered this firsthand is like if you have a giant collection of films then there it's almost like a lightning rod for other films or a magnet for other films to show up it's like oh you have a bunch of films so here here you have a bunch of films so here um so here's giant on the lake [Music] take a large vibrant city make it a major american industrial hub and a center for the arts and sciences set it on the shores of a magnificent lake [Music] surround that city with comfortable homes in relaxed suburban and rural settings [Music] then add the necessary ingredient people active energetic eager to experience life in all its dimensions put it all together and you've got erie county new york a giant astride the shores of lake erie buffalo queen city of the great lakes and the nucleus of a metropolitan area containing some one and a third million people although buffalo is an industrial metropolis it has a decidedly pastoral appearance thanks to the trees more than 400 000 in summer they shield the streets and sidewalks with a cool green map [Music] buffalo is also a town that's just plain crazy about sports accordingly the fans turn out in record numbers to cheer on such teams as the buffalo bills of national football league fame [Music] 80 000 seat rich stadium is the new home of the bills sellout crowds are the rule when the buffalo sabres take to the home ice it took the sabres only three seasons in the national hockey league to reach the stanley cup playoffs and the national basketball association braves also draw enthusiastic crowds into memorial auditorium buffalo's dedication to sports is reflected in this magnificent steuben glass trophy the dunlap pro-am award presented to golfer jack nicklaus by the area firm in addition to being avid spectator sportsman buffalonians are big on participant sports too [Music] fortunately mother nature has provided erie county with a wealth of natural resources making possible a wide variety of activities one great natural resource that's right on the doorstep is lake erie ideal for boating in all its forms [Music] summer or winter you'll find plenty of fishermen on the lake too [Music] this majestic body of water has also helped erie county become one of america's major industrial centers the fortunate combination of water abundant electrical power and a rich supply of skilled workers has built the county into a national leader in the manufacture and processing of such basics as steel grain automobiles chemicals and petroleum products [Music] an ultra modern airport enhances buffalo's position as a major northeastern transportation hub it is also one of the largest centers in america for rail and motor carriers the saint lawrence seaway has made it a port of call for ships from all over the world thus many of the giants of american industry have made substantial investment here there's also a tremendous diversity of other industries too turning out everything from toys to tires research is an industry unto itself with more than 100 laboratories in operation calspan formerly cornell aeronautical laboratory is a leader in auto and plane safety research the peaceful uses of nuclear energy are studied with this reactor located on the campus of the state university of new york at buffalo this great educational facility one of eight institutions of higher learning in erie county has undergone an expansion unprecedented in the history of american education arising from what was once farmland the university's billion-dollar north campus will be the largest in the western hemisphere enlightenment isn't only limited to the academic world in buffalo in erie county a never-ending festival of the arts goes on throughout the year the world-renowned albright knox art gallery has a permanent collection of paintings and sculpture dating from 3000 bc but it is particularly noted for its fine display of contemporary art masterpieces [Music] albright knox is also a museum where young people can get personally involved in art through instruction and painting sculpture printmaking and other creative work a wealth of afro-american art can be seen and appreciated at the african cultural arts center in buffalo and if you like your art alfresco there's any number of outdoor shows during the balmy summer months this is the allentown art festival held each june drama has its shrines too the studio arena theater in downtown buffalo has a school of dramatic arts to complement the work of a fine resident acting company and historic tanawanda which began life as a bustling lumber port on the erie canal boasts a theater in the round offering many fine productions during the summer flying hands music hall noted for its acoustical excellence is the home of the acclaimed buffalo philharmonic one of america's leading symphony orchestras the buffalo museum of science and humble park has an observatory that is open to the public along with informative displays a research library and educational programs for all ages a fascinating overview of western new york state history can be gotten at the buffalo and erie county historical museum buffalo with its central location and wide range of facilities has long been the ideal home base for visitors to this region and of course a major attraction is niagara falls thundering wildly into the gorge below the falls are new york state's most famous showpiece whatever the season they never lose their enchantment and people from all over the world come to view their splendor [Music] 20 minutes from downtown buffalo they are a must-see for all afterwards there are plenty of other attractions for erie county visitors to enjoy exotic trees shrubs and plants from all over the world are found in lackawanna's botanical gardens [Music] there are many beautiful state and county parks including beaver island [Music] and chestnut ridge [Music] there's history-laden old fort niagara built in 1679 by the french and captured by the british twice in two later wars [Music] train buffs will enjoy the arcade and attica railroad which offers a 15-mile excursion under steam power for racing fans there's the buffalo raceway [Music] and the fort erie flat trap [Music] offer a little more horsepower try the auto races at the lancaster or holland speedways [Music] the erie county agricultural society sponsors the erie county fair and exposition each year the society is the oldest organization in erie county and their fare is the largest such in the united states the rainforest exhibit at the delaware park zoo right in the heart of buffalo holds fascination for all ages the wilcox mansion on delaware avenue is the stately home where in 1901 theodore roosevelt took the oath of office to become the 26th president of the united states today the mansion is a national historic site another historic house mark twain's honeymoon cottage stood on the site of this fashionable restaurant done up in the gay 90s style it's only one of many great eating places in the area [Music] gourmet restaurants are an indicator of the quality of life here homes are another and home in erie county could mean a restored townhouse close to the central city a modern split level in the suburbs or a picturesque colonial in the country for shoppers no matter where they live erie county is a paradise of stores stocked with merchandise in every price range huge suburban malls offer the convenience of one-stop shopping for all a family's needs downtown buffalo has several giant department stores offering selections worthy of a great metropolitan center [Music] health facilities here are superb one institution roswell park memorial institute has achieved worldwide fame for its cancer research spiritual needs haven't been neglected either [Music] there are many things here that combine to make buffalo and erie county a great place to live or visit but it's the people really who make it all work [Music] their energy and vision is apparent everywhere you go [Music] they've built buffalo in erie county into a mighty american industrial hub without sacrificing grace or beauty in the process they've seen to it that erie county has something to offer everyone someday soon why not come and see for yourself [Music] uh shown this type of film before for other locations and this is basically the chamber of commerce's promotional film to lure mostly businesses um and industry to buffalo um this could also be shown to uh people who are thinking of moving to buffalo but i think it's it's mostly for the big businesses the idea that they're looking to locate somewhere and they want to locate somewhere that has you know it's modern has good uh hospital has good schools etc etc um i went to buffalo once and it was really cold it was in a and it was uh my girlfriend at the time and i drove to niagara falls i think it was like yeah i think it was early february and the falls were frozen it was awesome it was really cool but it was also exceedingly cold it was insane how cold it was all right uh this is a more modern film um this film was rescued from a dumpster by someone who then at some point realized they just didn't have room for it and they sent me boxes of these films this is a recruitment film for a very niche job and again i love films like this that are aimed towards a very specific audience and has very specific goals so this is uh dragon lady youtube enjoy [Music] [Music] [Music] how'd i get here i asked for it i volunteered i wanted to fly this airplane because almost every mission you fly is operational and because this is a pilot's airplane it's a real challenge every time 2026 seren sarmiento speaking might help you stand by one headquarter stack sir lieutenant colonel brown yes sir right away sir captain peterson right right your mission a high priority sortie to collect vital information it's all planned for you the day before you fly squadron operations two and a half hours before takeoff you and your backup ready to go to work hello tim hey morning how are you hi how are you doing okay a last minute intelligence briefing and that concludes the items you'll be prohibited from carrying can i answer any questions about these oh anything to you yeah okay a final check on the weather in the forecasted thunderstorms will end in the first third of utah 344 heading for a little over 13 minutes you're flying the mission you check all the flight plans made the day before in root charts the green cart and map boards two hours before takeoff you eat a standard high protein low residue meal needed for the demands of the long mission at high altitude the backup pilot pre-flights the plane tomorrow somebody will be doing the same for him 48 hours later you'll be the backup day after that you'll fly again that's the cycle okay uh what time do you go to bed ten o'clock okay what time do you get up about six okay it's serious business it's pretty good this morning you'll be up there alone at 70 000 feet today for an appreciable length of time you don't need any problems you've got enough on your hands all that time you'll be living in a spacesuit sucking your meals and sipping gatorade through a tube an hour and 15 minutes before takeoff suiting up for the flight [Music] nine hours at altitude you could get the bends that's why an hour before takeoff you go on oxygen everything okay then sir yeah thanks woody it's okay you're all set okay it's a close-knit group we have to be we depend on one another for our lives [Music] the dragon lady asks a lot heat is your enemy in that suit you lie there you go over the mission in your mind what track you'll go in on what sensor settings over the target what are the divert emergency bases how will the weather affect the mission it's time to get integrated with the airplane [Music] [Music] it's the same seat used in early shuttle missions the cockpit's small it's a snug fit you need help the backup pilot is there he's called the mobile at this stage he's on wheels and he'll stick with you right up to take off you are going to ride a bicycle now you're sitting on top of two narrowly spaced wheels and there's all that wing spread it's a real balancing act but there's plenty of help departure frequency 327.5 squawk 4232 a graceful looking machine but awkward on the ground a glider with the same engine that powered the f-106 loaded with fuel packed with electronics updated version of the original u2 that rolled out of kelly johnson's skunk works at lockheed back in the 1950s the sleek black bird hand flown seat of the pants but with state-of-the-art equipment you know what the limits are it's all your responsibility all yours to fly alone 25-0 changed part to an estimated contract [Music] so there you are no crew limited radio contact in each of us who flies these missions there's the conviction that this is not just a job deep down inside you can see yourself as the hero a central figure in a group of 60 people who've prepared this mission readied you for flight people who briefed you fed you attended you dressed you got you out to the aircraft put you into the seat hooked you up and launched you we say launch not take off because so many people and procedures are involved in the launch and the recovery of just one pilot in a single aircraft you you volunteered but you were selected too and the selection process is a cautious one they want to be sure you're the right guy to live and work with under stress steady reliable friendly tdy okay sir just how many uh tdys are the crews pulling now the crews are pulling about 140 days a year tdy let's say a young but experienced captain a totally professional and dedicated air force officer who can handle problems on his own accept a challenge a man in good physical shape who can fly a plane that demands precision and is tough to land the selection process is a serious business your records are reviewed then you're interviewed at beal and you also fly the u2 trainer you too and tr1 pilots make up a small and elite group fewer than 300 of us since the program began back in the 1950s so you made it you're up there on a typical mission at seventy thousand feet collecting invaluable strategic and tactical intelligence data for national defense you work with the normal risks of flight in this aircraft but there are people where you fly who wish the worst for you your challenge is to accept all the risks and fly the mission successfully you've got to be good at your trade [Music] approaching the target area you know precisely what to do it's all been worked out for you what track to go in on what sensor settings to use but it's yours to do [Music] it's a great airplane a stable reconnaissance platform with a long loiter type and a lot of history an impressive record of performance you know only what you have to know about each mission but you know who has tasked your mission [Music] and they know you by name that goes with the territory [Music] a ranking allied military commander has said if all the u2 tr1 aircraft could be airborne three hours before a war we'd have all the information essential to the conduct of that war [Music] we fly other missions surveying the damage caused by natural disasters hurricanes floods earthquakes forest fires we sometimes fly search and rescue missions there are two units flying the u2 and tr1 both aircraft are virtually the same however they fly different missions tr1 pilots in the 95th recon squadron fly out of raf elkenberry england it's a three-year overseas tour their missions support the tactical commanders in europe collecting battlefield information for nato planning and defense tr1 pilots do not pull tdy the youtubes support the folks in washington by collecting strategic intelligence to do that u2 pilots go tdy about 130 days a year he was honest he told me about the tdy and it was hard to get used to but then when we had the chance to come here i just couldn't say no to him it was like i caught his excitement i think it would be all right but we have to leave by 10. okay come on fellas he was like a little kid at christmas and you have to realize he's not going to get over that the dragon lady is number one you have to learn to accept that and then to share him then it's okay the tdy is okay because he's happy and you're happy because he's happy and if he's not always there for you and the kids well you learn to live with that it's really not much different anywhere else all right hi debbie how are you okay hanging in there how are you doing we're okay is he coming back soon no not for another month her husbands have to depend on one another for their lives and it's almost the same with us we learn to lean on one another that closeness and that support is always there and that helps and then of course the missions the tdy they really don't last forever he does come home [Music] home can be anywhere in the world on tdy but coming back home that's back to where your heart is you come in tired and you're recovered the same way you were launched with a lot of help [Music] the airplane is designed to be stalled one or two feet above ground it's very critical that it be stalled no higher than that your backup the mobile controller gives you your altitude calls in feet and inches above the runway okay there's ten of the tee down to eight six five feet four three feet tail still up at three feet [Music] there's two one half one foot holding it one foot down to six inches nice pumps you're simply getting a couple of vehicles on the runway uh south to north southwest finally you're safely on the ground mission successfully completed your backup is there to meet you he takes the checklist and the green card your written log of everything you were supposed to do on this mission it all goes back to the people in nav planning hey welcome back all right yeah okay yeah tired hot and sweaty in your pressure suit but you feel pretty good there's a lot of job satisfaction in this line of work tomorrow you're off but there's one more post-mission procedure you don't want to miss it's in the heritage room of the squadron that each mission really comes to an end this is where you begin to unwind and listen and learn from older and wiser heads [Music] oh she's not that temperature thing again yet what did [Music] [Music] [Music] [Applause] and right now it's somebody else's turn to fly the dragon lady [Music] is [Music] um so i heard some tubular bells from the other room hopefully that has not gotten me in trouble um but uh watch this film as i was watching this film i was like wait a minute i think i have a film that's appropriate um so let me go ahead and bring this up and set it up it's a news film um and it's negative so we need to adjust it so that it's not negative all right and i need to adjust the color because it's not color now everything is the opposite that it should be just this all right okay so um the story behind this is that this footage um is somebody had a box of these films in um georgia atlanta and knew that i collected films and so he sent them to me and these were a bunch of outtakes uh news film outtakes so somebody was working for ap or upi and so in it was a bunch of stuff that he did not uh submit to uh the news service that he shot and this is uh mrs francis gary powers um and um the i think the reason why this wasn't submitted is that the audio is blown out so you might be able to hear a little bit of it but maybe not so let's go ahead and give it a shot audio on this um i just it's i think yeah this is there's i just looked at the audio track and there's nothing there it's all blown out um but i feel like there's something as we get closer to the end um so so so so well a public uh relations officer from the state department yeah i see now what what uh do you understand about the time when you will lead and when you get there [Laughter] oh i really don't know as as quickly as possible after all of these months of anxiety you mean you want the dog after all these months of anxiety now i'm the happiest woman in the world really i am these are a lot of good people after all of these months of anxiety uh could you tell us what you've gone through and what you're planning for the reunion with you well truthfully i can say that i had received a letter about three weeks ago from my husband where he stated that uh he had no hopes of clemency whatsoever and i think most all of you carried that article so this thing came as a complete surprise to you oh my goodness oh i i was just i just cried for jelly and i still am you're crying for joy what are you planning to do when you uh uh leave your home here now your brother is coming over give us a little i'm going to pick up my brother who is a chaplain in the united states air force our minister and uh from there we're going to washington and then we will proceed on well my feelings were almost well i don't know how to express them actually uh i was very despondent too despondent but uh i don't think i will be anymore now that this ordeal is over uh would you again express your feeling of joy well the ordeal is not quite over i don't have him home yet but when i do get him home he gonna kick him aren't you i'm going to keep him home well that's entirely up to my husband i don't know i really do not know you expect him to continue flying oh yes he always said he would be a flyer you want him to continue flying i do i'm not saying that i want my husband to continue flying but he has always said that he wanted to be a flyer and would always be it fly miss powers what is the last recollection that you have of gary there in moscow can you recall those moments yes but they were very very personal and i wouldn't care to discuss them this is powerful excuse me it was a good would you like me down legs [Music] uh ah he's really excited don't you think this is nothing honey i really like it but you all excuse us so that was uh mrs gary powers um who was going to be on her way to dc to and her husband was coming from the soviet union uh he piloted a u2 reconnaissance plane that was featured in the film that we showed before called dragon lady u2 which is a promotional film a recruiting film for pilots to fly these uh planes and um and i'm sure that they were addressing the the issues that were brought up with this whole gary powers incident where um he was used as a political pawn uh and uh there was all these concerns about him being brainwashed and all these different things uh that were potentially going to happen to him and uh so this 80s film dragon lady u2 um was trying to say like yeah we got it we got it don't worry about it and even i guess i i missed it but i think i remember his wife the wife of the pilot in the the 80s film is talking about like that she's okay with it uh um and that's the deal is like a lot of these young pilots were uh newly married or had you know young families or new families and um you know that was a consideration on the fact that they would maybe have to go fly on a mission not tell anybody where they were and um potentially get shot down somewhere uh for taking pictures where they weren't supposed to be taking pictures um so this is why i collect films uh because we find stuff like this uh and stuff like this ends up in my collection or we get to watch stuff and it kind of creates this little little bits of history that come alive so thanks for tuning in today thank you mitch for the coffee you can reward av geeks by buying us coffee and caffeinating our nervous systems you can also go to avgeeks.com and buy us buy some dvds there of other things that we've done and also watch other things that we've digitized and put online uh you can hit like subscribe those are great ways to tell the world that you like us uh and it looks like uh facebook is still down so maybe maybe it's gone it's gone for good i don't know i have to say that i'm not really i was a little nervous at first but i was like well it's down for everybody so it's a big thing all right i got other ways to communicate with friends and people and show people stuff so i'm happy that you tuned in and uh we will be back again tomorrow at uh one o'clock everybody uh please rewind and love each other and we will see you again tomorrow all right take care oh oops that that's not there anymore i don't have that drive hooked up oops um everybody have a great uh rest of your day and we'll we'll see you tomorrow bye