Still dreaming of Oregon

[IED0DXM%UCLAMVS.BITNET@wiscvm.wisc.edu]

Hi, folks.

IED is in heaven. He just got the
new Japanese laser-disk of The Hair of the Hound. It's
unbelievable. Even though it's only 20 minutes long,
it's a twelve-inch disk! Usually short programs are
put on eight-inch disks and sold for a lower price.
But being Japanese, the manufacturers of this disk
decided to go for quality in every respect, and screw
the cost (exactly the opposite of the American policy).
The extra space was used to allow for digital sound (same sampling
rate and Hz. as a CD), as well as for CAV format commands (for
the video). The latter term means it has forward and
reverse motion at any speed, plus freeze-frame,
a display of which frame (of the 38,000+ frames) you're
on, etc. And laser slo-mo and freeze-frame are totally
noise-free and rock-steady. But best of all, the picture
is stunning! The resolution is so high that it's
like seeing the videos for the first time. All kinds of
details come out were not visible on cable or broadcast
television. For example, in Cloudbusting, at the point
where the Feds are ransacking Reich's lab and rifling
through his papers, and you see a one-second flash of
a newspaper headline about Reich's arrest (The Oregon
Times), it is now possible to read not only the headlines,
but part of the fine-print of the article about Reich
and his son -- all written out in authentic journalese.
Plus you can inspect all the weird specimens of fish
on the lab walls, and take the time to appreciate
Kate's unbelievable attention to detail: there's
a photo-portrait of the President on the wall, and
as it's 1955 (the year of Reich's arrest)  -- NOT
1952, the date of the newspaper, which is found
in Reich's file-cabinet because it has a story
about him and his son and was evidently preserved by Reich --
Eisenhower -- Big Brother literally looking down
on the doomed protagonists.
(Also interesting is that the photo on the
front page of the newspaper itself is a
snapshot of the REAL Wilhelm Reich.)

And in The Big Sky, it's now possible to identify
many familiar faces in the meteorological crowd,
including Dave Cross, Krystina Fitzgerald and
Peter Morris. And there are some amazing technical
touches in the video that only become clear in
ultra-slo-mo.

So why is IED telling you guys all this, if
he knows you don't have the disk yourselves?

Good question. Well, he guesses he'll just
have to invite the interested parties to
an evening of Kate Bush partying again.

That's right, folks -- IED announces another
West Coast Kate-a-thon, for Southern
California fans and curious people in
general, to be held in West Los Angeles
in about three weeks. Unlike the last
such event, this party will focus around
the official Kate Bush videos, all to
be shown in laser-vision with SurroundSound
stereo audio on a Sony XBR monitor. These are
videos which deserve to be seen under the
best possible conditions, and all Kate fans
should get the chance to see them that way
at least once.

So if you're interested, and/or you know
someone else who might be, please give
IED an indication, and in the meantime
he'll figure out the exact date and time
for the get-together.

Sorry, you non-Californians, the laser-disks
will not be going around the country like
the KompilaTion tape! Why don't you start
nagging at Doug or somebody over there to
invest in a Laser-Vision player?
It is DEFINITELY worth the money.

That's all for now.

-- Andrew Marvick
   enquiries to: (213) 474-5208