AV Geeks Lunch 2-17

hello everybody welcome i'm skip alzheimer and this is the av geeks lunchtime streaming show we just watched some glorious stock footage uh shot for coronet films that they uh either used or didn't use in uh production and then they put on these reels uh so it's all the silent camera original material it's beautiful beautifully shot um but it's silent there's no soundtrack um i just wanted to say right off the bat uh thank you have a ham and thank you d dodge silver for coffee um it's uh right here i point at it i did the same thing so there's a link here i'm pointing at um which you can buy a coffee for 80 geeks and that's a great way to say that you like what we're doing or at least are interested in what we doing what we're doing uh d dodge silver uh supposedly watches this at night um and uh really enjoys it so thank you so much for that uh we've watched more than 1250 films uh since mid-march um and uh some of you have been along for the whole time and i gotta say thank you so much for that um it's been a lot of fun i really am digging it i'm digging uh discovering new stuff that we haven't seen before or unearthing stuff that i haven't shown in quite a while uh and i appreciate you guys being there for that i also my heart goes out to everybody who doesn't have power or is suffering through winter storms in an area that's not used to winter storms we certainly go through that here in in raleigh north carolina whenever there's snow we just got rain we didn't really get any uh winter weather we might get a little tonight but i don't know we'll see what happens uh but i'm reminded of the time at least 15 years ago where we had an ice storm and it took out like trees in every single neighborhood in the triangle and so there are places with no power for a week and my girlfriend and i we had iguanas so we had to sleep with our iguanas so they wouldn't freeze to death um which is not an experience i would totally recommend it was a very odd experience and eventually we ended up having to sleep at work at my work which had power um and this is like in downtown raleigh like close to the state capitol and everything and uh my business the place i worked at was actually right near the capitol and so they were on a power grid that was safe and it was up and running whereas all the neighborhoods were out and so i feel for you guys and i might show a film related to winter stuff uh later today um if it downloads in time uh okay anyways so um it's been a while since i've shown a sid davis film said davis of course is has been named by ken smith who wrote mental hygiene as the king of calamity and uh he i think he's basically made the same film over and over and over and over again um the film that the first film we made was dangerous stranger which is basically alerting kids to the dangers of strangers but he remade that film at least three times and then he basically had different variations on the same theme and this one's called strangers so it's the same the same film i mean it's differently done but the message is exactly the same and i think he just updated it so here's strangers [Music] [Applause] [Music] every day we meet new people people who are strangers sometimes we meet them with our parents or our teachers or with other adults but sometimes we meet them when we're alone most of these strangers are nice people but there are some who are not and therefore we have rules about how to meet strangers when we are alone this is terry and she's on her way home from school [Music] on the way home terry always stops at this store even if it's only to window shop parents have told her never to take money or candy from strangers terry remembers and politely says no thank you terry's friend the sales girl wonders who the stranger is that is talking to her when the stranger offers to take terry home in his car she remembers what her parents and teachers have told her never take rides with persons you don't know and always get the license number of the car of any stranger who asks you to go with him and try to remember his description then tell your parents or your teacher about it some children attempted to try to get home sooner by hitching rides but a wise boy knows never to take a ride from a person he doesn't know he may even have an accident if he's a bad driver if you ever see any of your friends doing this remind them of the danger if they still go take down the license number of the car remember to walk straight home from school always take the same safe route the one your parents know and have told you to take your parents know just how long it will take you and will worry if you're late avoid shortcuts through alleys and empty side streets [Music] freddy's dog got away from him and ran into a strange deserted place and of course he's worried and wants to go in after him yes he wants to go in after him but he remembers in time his parents have told him never to go into a strange isolated place alone so before going any further he returns home to ask his father to help him find his dog [Music] uh yes there he is freddie found his dog the right way with one of his parents along he remembered that he must never go to or play in a strange or deserted place alone [Music] [Music] even though you may know never to take anything from strangers or go with them there are some children who are too small to know the right thing to do [Music] if you see any of your friends about to make a mistake you can help it is important never to take anything from a stranger or to go with a stranger anywhere even if he seems to know you or tells you that your parents sent him to pick you up if you don't know the person don't go with him [Music] when you are in the park always play in the areas that are set aside as playgrounds not in bushes like this [Music] or in culverts caves old shacks or places like that [Music] and never hang around or play where the restrooms are everyone knows that the playgrounds are the most fun [Music] here is a girl being asked directions by a stranger she knows what to do politely the girl gives the man the information and points the way but when the stranger asks her to go with him and show him the way she of course refuses if strangers ask directions be polite and tell them but never go with them to show them the way even if they ask you [Music] at times you may meet a lot of strangers at halloween for example if you go out for trick-or-treat but don't go out alone go with a friend or two it's more fun that way and stay in your own neighborhood [Music] you may be out selling girl scout cookies or collecting papers for a paper drive whatever the reason it is important to remember never to go into a stranger's home even if you are invited [Music] it is always a good idea if you are out calling on people to have a grown-up take you and wait for you when you go to the movies you will be among a lot of strangers it's a good idea when you go to the theater always to go with some friends if an adult cannot go with you [Music] if you have to go alone sit among other children [Music] now let us see what we have learned about how to act with strangers never take anything from a stranger never go anywhere with a stranger get the license number of the car of any stranger who asks you to go with him and remember his description never take a ride with a stranger after school go directly home always take the same safe route and no shortcuts through alleys or empty side streets [Music] never go alone or play in strange or deserted places [Music] in the park play in the areas set aside as playgrounds not in the bushes or near the restrooms if a stranger asks directions be polite and tell him if you know but it's important never to go anywhere with a stranger [Music] when you are out meeting a lot of strangers be with friends or have a grown-up accompany you never go into any stranger's home even if you are invited [Music] if you go to the movies without an adult always sit with your friends or among other children those who know and love you will be proud that you remember and follow these rules each and every day [Music] [Applause] [Music] yeah so that's pretty much par for the course for uh sid davis uh um and supposedly he got this is anecdotal but he got his start um after there was some publicized uh child kidnapping slash killing in his area and he asked his daughter um what she would do if she was confronted by a stranger and was shocked to discover that she didn't seem to have any any sense that strangers could be dangerous could uh so he felt like he had to do something and he approached um the person he was a stand-in for uh john wayne and approached him for some money to make a film and supposedly that's how dangerous stranger was made and um so that's how sid davis films kind of got started and um you know wildly successful very much introduced the concept of what didn't introduce the concept but helped perpetuate the concept of stranger danger and actually visually showed um some urban legends related to strangers stranger danger um and you know kind of freaked everybody out for a long time so here's the sid davis uh all right time to watch a film that's on the film transfer machine here uh it is uh a plea from the um us post office to say like hey we're not perfect but we're trying we're trying so hard so my heart goes out i actually have a very good relationship with my local post office although a lot of the people that i work with there have since retired but i still very much respect what they do um they're not the most efficient but you know what sometimes they're better than uh fedex or ups i mean i have a good relationship with all my delivery people and so but i have a great deal of respect for the post office so here is um more and louder this is about the u.s mail people always did care about it but back in early 1970 the united states mail became a matter of real concern it's kind of bad like i say to folks at home you know how come you never write me right like i'm up here i'm lonely will you write me and then they say well i do we wrote you a couple letters but like they don't come where is there just anyway oh right here mommy i don't think i know how to make a five no it's running a tremendous deficit every year the service is not getting any better yeah given their enormous load they're doing them astoundingly well but they're fantastically inefficient and they could do a heck of a lot better i expect them to the new system everybody felt the service was deteriorating do you think it's going to get to daddy today i doubt it of course the postal system had come a long way since ben franklin switched back and forth from kite flying and revolution to supervising the mail he grew up [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] so [Music] they've come a long way and they've still got some to go comes five o'clock and in some places the big change in close to two hundred years is simply more and louder and the load will not stop in 1900 the post office handled seven billion pieces of mail it'll be close to 120 billion before 1980 a critical situation what with politics rules regulations a hodgepodge of layers of law the managers didn't run the post office they just sort of administered it if they needed a new building they had to go to congress money for new equipment go to congress a new location a wage increase a change in rates [Music] congress had to approve and congress has a lot of other things on its mind some things certainly should be political some should not in 1970 the president of the united states signed into law an act designed to take the business of handling mail out of politics to establish a postal system independent within the government able to set postal rates and raise its own capital for change and growth simple words but a whole new ballgame what will the changes be on the inside it means professionals at every level the ability to plan and act on the plan in a long period of shaping up but to the public the questions are a little more personal but what new services can i expect will the rates go up will deliveries improve how will they handle parcels will they be closing places up do you think we'll get you by tomorrow in the last 10 years private industries productivity increased close to 40 percent the post office's increase was less than three percent lopsided but logical the communications industry in general backs up each worker with thirty five thousand dollars worth of hardware in the post office until 1970 it wasn't much over twelve hundred dollars this has got to change it means mechanization in the right place at the right time aim to take the burden off the human eye and arm and extend them keep it all moving right through the process [Music] it'll take years but this kind of mechanized magic is beginning now get rollers and electric eyes to extract non-conformist packages air mail hotel keys wallets and off-beat envelopes from the mainstream find the stamp and cancel it carry mail on its way with speed and accuracy as never before sophisticated coders can put an address code right on the envelope that will route any letter to its destination automatically by best route best transportation and at its destination let machines read the code and sort again not only by address but right down to a particular letter carrier route and someday in the exact sequence he needs for delivery not yet but coming machines and coding gadgets can handle parcels too but separate from letter mail it's not sensible to handle salamis and postcards on the same production line stations and new parcel networks will be out of the hurley burley of downtown and outlying locations with easy access to airplanes and highways even more is coming companies who send a lot of mail like bills can use standardized envelopes and address type electronic scanners can actually read these addresses at a rate of 84 000 an hour and code the envelopes for destination someday maybe people can enter codes in advance saving even that step this kind of mail handling is not a dream it can happen but one thing it takes is money what the public pays for postage goes to salaries maintenance indebtedness the general cost of running the operation but to raise investment capital for the first time the system is now able to issue bonds to borrow on the open market not go to congress had in hand what products and services does a future hold for customers there are no final answers but a lot of ideas are being tried out how about a special kind of mail where people can use pre-marked envelopes or containers for a small premium earmarked for fast service like one-day delivery when it really is important how about courier service combinations of radio teletype or tv and delivery so messages can be transmitted instantaneously across the country or overseas and hand delivered these are only examples the question now is what do we need what will we buy four thousand dollars well i guess i'll have to have two american flags [Music] whoever we are wherever we are the united states postal service already handling more mail than the rest of the world combined will reach out and find us it still belongs to all the people [Music] and the new united states postal service emblem a symbol of change will be appearing everywhere to show it of course few changes will come overnight some will hardly be noticed a letter for you well i don't know we'll just have to take a look in here and see go up here and take a good look what's your name craig craig who craig thickens i've got a letter here from master craig picking from a james h speaking who's this james h picking my father that's your daddy oh my goodness i think i gotta let it for my dad don't break it what's your name i don't live here of course some things are probably not going to change much at all there's still going to have to be that man or woman out there meeting the people and delivering the mail the fact is after all the words that's what they're selling wherever it takes [Music] [Music] quickly [Music] [Music] i love it i love it um films like that are great uh because there's a sense of apology and uh bear with us and also it's kind of hip and interesting uh from the 70s um and then the animation of the the us post office flying saucer delivering mail to another planet and the mail carrier being chased by an alien um i don't know just kind of warms my heart a little bit on this cold day bananas yes bananas [Music] heading southward to the tropical crossroads of the caribbean we arrived in the land of bananas a gift of the tropical americas to the world [Music] yes bananas millions of them are cultivated in central america upper south america and the west indies [Music] a suitable site in this jungle area is selected and the dense tropical forest is cut away to clear the land for the new banana plantation experts on tropical soils test and record the fertility of this area meanwhile the survey department at plantation headquarters charts the portions to be planted with this razor-sharp blade the machete the native workers attack the tropical undergrowth to clear the way for planting for banana plants cannot flourish if choked by the surrounding jungle [Music] lining and staking operations call for skilled laborers the distances between plantings are measured off accurately in each direction by a pole 14 feet long [Music] the digging of drainage ditches is necessary in this humid country where the annual rainfall is from 80 to 200 inches bananas thrive in water-enriched soil but too much moisture may ruin them [Music] the ever-faithful mule showed as a burden of root stocks for planting as the seeds of the banana are rarely developed planting is done with these root stocks of another healthy plant [Music] these eyes similar to the eyes of a potato develop into shoot two months after planting the strongest shoot will develop into a large banana plant the others are cut away [Music] before the young plants lift their leafy shoots to the azure sky the forest trees ourselves this may be one man's work if the trees are small but these large tropical giants have resisted the axes of six men for many days constant cleaning up of the jungle growth around the new three-month-old plant is necessary to ensure proper growth after six months the plan towers high above the native worker because of improper cleaning up operations of these two six-month-old plants the one on the right is smaller [Music] we are cutting away a section of a nine-month-old plant and here we see the stem which actually bears the fruit going up through the center by removing the outer layers of overlapping leaves we expose the plants one bunch of fruit in embryo form for only one stem of bananas grows on each plant [Music] the banana plant because of its size is often called a tree this is not true as the plant contains no wood its makeup consists simply of tightly wrapped overlapping needs in 12 to 15 months the plant has developed mature fruit ready for cutting during this time the stem or bunch has increased in weight to nearly 65 pounds has bent over and the bananas now point upward and outward relying on modern radio stations plantation managers are able at all times to coordinate cutting orders with the arrival of the fruit ships with the latest radio order just received cutting crews each consisting of a cutter backer and mule man enter a plantation's interior experience cutters can tell by the size and color of bananas when they are ready for cutting using a special knife with a long handle the cutter carefully nicks the trunk of the plant [Music] the weight of the bunch of bananas pulls the upper part of the plant down to the backer who receives the fruit on his shoulder [Music] after the bunch has been severed from the plant and its blossom end cut off it is stacked waiting to be carried by mule back to a loading station of the tramway [Music] even for use in the tropics bananas are always cut green and ripened off the plant a plant-ripened banana is unpleasantly mealy and has little flavor [Music] emerging from the plantation area with a load of freshly cut fruit the mule man leads his sturdy mule to the tram car loading platform where the green bananas are unloaded at the nearby siding it is easy to see here why railroads are so important to banana plantations first by tiny gauge trams and then by medium gauge fruit train the bananas must be carried from the plantations to the dots [Music] loading of approve train is done with considerable care the interior of a car is padded with soft banana leaves for protection and careful inspection must take place before the bunch has entered the cars where the overripe fruit is rejected [Music] as fast as the fruit is harvested train loads containing thousands of bunches are hauled to the various loading ports where air-conditioned ships call almost every day in the air the arrival of a banana boat in the caribbean always causes considerable excitement the dwarves bustle with activity as 50 000 bunches must be dispatched in about 12 hours after careful inspection and counting of the bunches the ship is loaded both by means of this fantastic loading machine of soft canvas pockets and also by continuous belts and before the fruit reaches the depths of the ship it is given a final inspection with her cargo safely on board the specially designed refrigerated steamship weighs anchor constant care is given the fruit on route and day and night the temperature in the storage compartments is checked and recorded so that the fruit may not ripen too quickly the cargo of green food arrives at one of the many banana ports in the united states the unloading machinery is lowered into the ship and canvas shields are used to protect the fruit from cold winds or hot sun during the unloading operation [Music] taken from the pockets of the unloader are thousands of stems representing millions of individual bananas several hundred men in one day can unload and classify a shipload of fruit according to quality condition and the number of hands or clusters on each stand there are enough bananas in this ship to fill 100 freight cars [Music] to maintain the proper temperature in these insulated cars they are heated in winter and ice cooled in summer to prevent improper ripening in transit special inspectors bore the trains periodically to check the fruits conditions from the railroad cars the bananas are transferred to ripening rooms where they are ripened to a golden yellow color before being sold to millions of consumers serving as banana scallops fruit plate tea bread baked bananas cream pie coconut rolls and as mashed ripe bananas now recommended by leading physicians as one of the first solid foods for babies once regarded as a luxury today bananas find a place on everyone's table yes bananas a gift from tropical america to the world [Music] so great um i think i was reading an article um of course i don't have any of the details but uh at some point uh there was this change in the type of banana that was popular in the united states like there was this concerted effort to go towards the variety that we now are mostly eating in the u.s and how that variety has been threatened with a little bit due to climate change but also disease and monoculture um issues uh and that we might have to switch up what banana flavor uh variety we are going to have to eat um it's pretty interesting i'll google that article all right i hope that this next film is not triggering this is part of the series that was made by the department of civil defense uh your chance to live ceres and so they've done different ones for different types of disasters and this one's for winter storms uh and so i know some of you are in the midst of some winter storms and uh dealing with that and so i hope that this isn't going to be something that's going to trouble you um there is some jack london uh appropriation appropriation yeah i guess well so anyways there's there's definitely the mention of a jack london short story in this um which is a little troubling but here we go here's a winter storms anybody home i'm down there okay i'm coming down sit late as usual sorry man i left my bucks at home and i had to go get them aren't you watching that show wilson assigned on tv seen one guy checking across laughing you've seen them all looks like another commercial [Music] when winter storms strike urban areas many things may happen schools close traffic snarls businesses are hurt and people are killed [Music] but the number of people killed or injured by winter storms would be considerably reduced if some simple rules were followed don't drive if you can help it if you must drive slowly defensively and be sure your car is winterized [Music] so walk carefully and don't take unnecessary chances footing can be treacherous and drivers can easily lose control of their cars don't over exert yourself and you can help it stay indoors during cold snaps and storms unless you're in top physical condition heart attacks are a common cause of death during winter storms winter storms come in many forms ice sleet heavy snow and extremely low temperatures so remember pay attention to official bulletins now back to part three of jack london's classic story to build a fire the man was a newcomer to the land a chichaku one of many dragged from every corner of the world by the news of the klondike strike this was his first winter the trouble with him was that he was without imagination he was quick and alert in the things of life but only in the things not in the significances the tremendous cold made no impression on the man 50 degrees below zero meant 80 odd degrees of frost such a fact impressed him as being cold and uncomfortable and that was all it did not lead him to meditate upon his frailty as a creature of temperature and upon man's frailty in general able only to live within certain narrow limits of heat and cold 50 degrees below zero stood for a bite of frost that hurt and it must be guarded against by the use of ear flaps mittens thick socks and warm moccasins 50 degrees below zero [Music] he remembered the advice of the old timer on sulphur creek the old timer had been very serious in laying down the law that no man must travel alone in the klondike after 50 below well here he was he'd had the accident he was alone and he had saved himself all a man has to do is to keep his head and he's all right any man who's a man could travel alone [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Applause] but he had not thought his fingers could go lifeless so short of time the wires were pretty well down between him and his finger ends [Music] another commercial be question [Music] winter in the country can be beautiful [Music] but a winter storm can produce double problems for people in rural areas they have to take care of themselves and in some cases their livestock but in both cases thoughtful preparation is essential maintain extra supplies of food medicine and heating fuel if a severe storm hits your area supply carriers may not be able to get through if you're trapped in a car don't panic stay in the vehicle where you can keep warm and are more likely to be found move livestock into shelter areas and if a storm lasts over 48 hours emergency feed methods will be needed in rural areas make sure you are prepared for winter storms now the conclusion of to build a fire [Applause] then the thought came to him that the frozen portions of his body must be extending he tried to keep this thought down to think of something else but the thought asserted itself and persisted until it produced a vision of his body totally frozen this was too much he made another wild run along the trail [Music] so um leave me alone [Music] leave me alone [Music] [Music] oh he'd been making a fool of himself running around like a chicken with its head cut off he was bound to freeze anyway and he might as well take it decently good idea thought to sleep off to death it was like taking an anesthetic [Music] he was right old timer he was right in the dog's experience had known a man to sit like that in the snow and make no fire but the man remained silent as the twilight drew on the dog's eager yearning for the fire mastered it it caught the scent of death and backed away [Music] [Music] the far northwest of canada the klondike here in 1896 george washington carmack struck gold as news reached the outside world a stampede followed a million made plans to join the rush for gold a hundred thousand set out only forty 000 made it some found a fortune others turned back empty-handed but without exception they were completely unprepared for the severity of the winter in the klondike [Music] [Music] sit wake up stop daydreaming get up wow i shouldn't have done it i should have listened the old man sulphur creek was right [Music] the trouble with him was that he was without imagination he was quick and alert in the things of life but only in the things not in the significances so hmm just just watching that film got me cold i'm down here in the basement and i was fine with the t-shirt but man when that uh hear that wind blowing and see all the footage and the guy freezing the death gotta be kinda cold um anyways uh thanks for joining me today uh all of you without power or that are dealing with the winter weather uh please strive to keep warm um i know it's hard with pandemic because normally what we would do is just kind of all group together um but um i'm thinking about you guys and hopefully you'll get your power back soon and uh everybody else thanks again for tuning in hit like or subscribe uh you can buy some nice warm coffee uh from this link and then also you can go to avgeeks.com and uh see other things that we've posted online and uh dvds that we have for sale uh we'll be back again tomorrow one o'clock everybody please take care of yourselves as always these mittens make it hard for me to use the mouse uh please rewind take care of yourself and love each other and we will see you again soon bye you