Re: Tape Tree: Humble Apologies...

[jorn@chinet.chinet.com (Jorn Barger)]

I'm trying to keep this in email as much as possible, but there's an urgent 
question that the members of the tapetree need to have a voice in, which 
is:

      Now that the tape tree is delayed anyway, 
      should Chris be trusted to do it in Kansas City 
      so that people get the best possible Rocketman?

Part of me is almost willing to say yes, because my primary motivation all 
along has been that I think Kate's b&w Rocketman is the most beautiful five
minutes of video I've ever seen, and it's looking unlikely that any other 
source will turn up soon, nor that any other agreement will satisfy Chris.

But I want people to know what's really going on here, because what's 
really going on is Chris is having a big tantrum and powertripping 
everybody in sight, and blaming me in the most immature manner imaginable, 
all because he feels he deserves the best copy of every video in the world-- 
and if we *reward* him to the extent of giving in to his demands, where 
does that leave the future of the rec.music.gaffa 'community'?

When, first of all, has anyone heard Chris offer free distribution of *any* 
video?  Chris and Vickie used to claim they have a standing offer that 
anyone could come stay with them and copy anything they want... but how 
many people have found that practical?  Doesn't this offer automatically 
exclude everyone that Chris has already alienated?  Why is it that, six 
months after getting Rocketman, Chris hasn't given a copy to *anybody* that 
I know of?

(He has a standard excuse-- he wants to keep the 'evil' Allan Balliot from 
reselling them for profit.  No one but Chris seems to think that Allan is 
particularly evil, though, or has any evidence of him reselling boot vids 
for profit.  So the result is that Chris only shares with people he 
approves of.)

Chris claims:
>    I have no idea how Mike could possibly gotten that impression. I
> repeatedly mentioned Kansas City, and trying to find a PAL to NTSC
> converter here in Chicago.

Here are Mike's messages to me:

(June 29, 3pm):
> What he would be willing to do is actually assemble the tape you're
> talking about (i.e. with RM and your PAL Aspel) 
> [...] if this sounds reasonable to you then I propose:
> 1) We meet and you give me your PAL ASPEL.
> 2) I go over to gaffacentral and they assemble NTSC tape
>    with ASPEL, RM, and whatever else fits.
> 3) I take that back to you with your PAL ASPEL.
> 4) You do the tape tree thing as you like.
> I will be gone July 4 weekend so this will not happen until
> after I get back.

And when I questioned this (since Chris had never claimed that capability 
before) (June 29, 5:30pm):
> No, cw has PAL--NTSC conversion equipment at gaffa central.
> Thus, it would not take much time at all.  In fact, if you wanted
> to do it *right away* you could drop it off at my place or I
> could pick it up (it = ASPEL) today/tomorrow and it could be
> done by... well, before I get back from DC (so you'd have to wait
> till Mon. night unless you went over and got it yourself).

[at this point Paul agreed to beat Mike's 1-week delay]

And still, later, on July 8:
          I almost immediately got an OK from Chris, who has
          *ALL* the necessary equipment

Realize, too, that this was all clearly in the context of a RUSH job... if 
Chris mentioned a three week delay, how could Mike have overlooked that?

Add to this that Paul told me last Tuesday that the dub was *done* and he 
just had to pick it up, and that it included Rocketman *and* the Dutch 
videos (prompting my optimistic message last week), and then Paul's later 
report that Chris said the dub turned out so poor that Paul shouldn't even 
bother to pick it up... how did Chris imagine that it would turn out any 
better, given that he has only a PAL player, not a PAL converter?  Chris 
has always told *me* he knew you can't make a dub with such a setup.

So Chris is asking us to sweep these deceptions under the rug, and blame 
the delay entirely on Jorn (since, of course, Jorn is to blame for every 
damn thing), and let him do it his way, since the three week delay is now, 
conveniently, a mere one-week delay.

> I am willing to do this in spite of the truly
> awful manner that Jorn has handled this. For my trouble? I would
> like the original PAL VHS tape. Jorn cannot play it, and it has
> no sentimental value. I can play it, and would like to be able
> to see this video in the best possible quality.

(In fact, it seems to me, Chris wants so badly to see it "in the best 
possible quality" that he was willing to *hijack* the tapetree to achieve 
this.)

Chris claims:
> All this happened because Jorn wanted to
> try to avoid me getting a copy. 

The tree was free to all, *obviously*.

> Jorn's main desire here is to try to get the best quality videos [...]

As I told Cindy, I'm not even planning to keep a personal *copy*.  I'm a 
fan, not a collector.  Contrary to what Chris tells people, I have lots of 
friends, and I'm quite content to know that one or two of *them* have 
copies. (Bill, for example, who I've promised one to.)  Remember, I 
*publicly* offered the original to whoever found the best deal on a pro 
dub.  (Actually, another friend is pro-dubbing the Aspel today, just as a 
free favor.)

> Jorn hassled poor Paul (who has a job) every single
> day. Paul and I are quite busy people at the moment. Paul became
> so sick of being bothered that he gave the tape to Bill.

Paul seems to be a nice guy, but I gave him the PAL on the understanding 
that he would beat Mike's offered 1-week schedule.  Paul didn't *ever* call 
me with an update, so I called him approximately *every two or three days* 
to try to keep things moving.  He gave up *when Chris said the promised 
'dub' was unwatchable*.

I'd very much like to respond to Chris's other slanders, but past 
experience shows that everything I say will be turned against me anyway, so 
anyone who's interested may write me.

The question to be debated is, if this is how Chris collects video, do we 
want to even deal with him?

apologies for my bitterness,
jorn