Tapetree problem in Canada

[Peter Byrne Manchester <PMANCHESTER@ccmail.sunysb.edu>]

	As a number of Canadian love-hounds know all too well, our main dub 
site for Canada, David Zimmerly, is down.  I am imposing on the whole group to 
explain the situation for would-be tapetree leaves in Canada because it is so 
important that all of them understand what has happened, and what steps are 
underway to rectify the situation.

	Basically it is simple:  the BetaCAM dubmasters are lost in the mail.  
Chris Williams, who made them direct from the PAL sources and sent them 
directly to David more than two weeks ago, has been traveling with Vickie, but 
caught up with my email to him this evening:

>      Oh no! I mailed the masters via the US Postal Service's international
>air-mail the same day that I mailed either Graham's tapes or your tapes.
>I had the proper Customs sticker, and it was marked as a gift, which it was.
>It either was lost by the Chicago Post Office (the main one) or it is being
>held by Canadian Customs. They may be trying to find a Betacam player to
>determine whether or not they are porno. What a pain.
>
>      The best approach is for Tom to make another S-VHS master and send it
>overnight. I cannot make a new set of tapes as I'm in Orlando FL and won't
>be back in Chicago for maybe another week. Whatta drag. I assure you and
>everyone...they tapes *were* sent quite a while ago, long before the
>other two PAL copies.

	David Zimmerly was all ready to go into high gear Monday the 25th as 
advertized, but alerted me to the non-arrival of the tapes Sunday night.  Not 
being able to contact Chris, there was nothing I could tell him.  This of 
course meant that there was nothing concrete he could tell any of those who had 
made requests to get their tapes from him.  Those of you who have been 
disappointed and disgruntled because you hadn't heard from him, or didn't know 
what to do instead (some of you have written me, which I welcome, but I haven't 
had any information to give you either):  please cut David some slack.  It *is* 
hard to know how to deal with a situation in which you have volunteered to take 
on a responsibility, and then had your support apparently cut from under you.

	Anyway:  here's what is happening.  Tom Estes will make an SVHS 
dubmaster tomorrow, to be shipped fastest possible express to David in Canada, 
presumably arriving Monday, August 1.  Meantime Tippi Chai, working from a VHS 
hifi dubmaster, has some unused capacity at his site.  For Tippi, you have to 
mail him your blank tapes and SAS return mailer, which adds delay--unless you 
happen to reside in Toronto, in which case you could presumably make the 
exchanges manually.  Those of you who have made requests to David Zimmerly, you 
*WILL* get the set.  Just not from the BetaCAMs (unless fortune smiles).  And 
not for Katemas.   :(

	**I HATE THIS!!**  Those of us toward the top of this tree have been 
moving heaven and earth (and $$$s) to deliver on the tapetree premise:  
distribution by Katemas!  So I make the following proposal (listen carefully!):

	*IF* you contacted David Zimmerly early, explaining that you had 
special reason (e.g. a big Katemas party) to need your tape by Saturday; and 
*IF*, given the situation as I have explained it, you still need immediate 
delivery so that lots of people won't be disappointed, then *EMAIL ME* at the 
address below with

	a)  The reason you need Sudden Service.

	b)  Your surface mail address.

	c)  Whether you need VHS hifi, or regular VHS mono.

Tippi Chai and I spoke on the phone tonight, and he would be able--**IF NEED 
BE**--to make two, maybe three (if someone needs only mono) VHS hifi sets in
time to mail them overnight express tomorrow (Thursday 7/28).  There *is* an 
overnight postal rate for delivery within the Province (Ontario), and in 
larger cities in other Provinces.  To get this Special Emergency Sudden 
Service, you need to contact *ME*, not Tippi!!  This is because I will be 
wiring Tippi reimbursement for his out-of-pocket costs for blank tape and 
postage.  I can settle with you later (just for blank tape costs and *regular* 
postage--the Sudden Service premium is on me).  If you are seeing this post on 
Gaffa, get me a message ASAP so I can get Tippi started first thing tomorrow 
morning.  If you are seeing this on the lh digest, shortly after noon EDT 
(same in Toronto), it is even *more* urgent that you contact me ASAP--because 
it takes 4 hours to make a single copy!

	I lashed my dubbing setup back together this afternoon and am making 
new copies, and dearly wish I could step in personally to help Canadians with 
urgent need for their tapes.  But there are *no* overnight shipping services to 
Canada from the USA.  It's worse than that:  some shippers won't even accept 
2nd day shipment to Canada!  UPS will take your money for 2nd day, but can't 
guarantee it.  I paid for 2nd day to get Tippi Chai his dubmaster, and we got 
3rd day actually.

	A brief comment on what happened to the BetaCAMs for David Zimmerly.  
It is of course *possible* that they got lost in the Chicago main branch--but 
that seems to me the least likely.  *Every* exchange of tapes between me and 
Chris this year and last has been on time.  The PAL sets for the UK went from 
Chris to me to Adrian Neal and got there the middle of last week.  I presume 
Graham got his set in good time.  By far the more likely scenario is they got 
impounded in Canadian Customs for suspicion of pornography.  If you've never 
seen them, BetaCAM SP tapes are half again as large as a VHS tape, and at one 
hour per tape The Lovehounds Collection required four of them.  The problem 
comes with the fact that it takes pro studio gear to play them--so they are 
probably sitting in some impound warehouse while Customs figures out how to 
view them.

	I would like to think that once they get access to playback gear, they 
will clear the tapes right away.  But then I got to thinking...  Picture some 
Customs agent assigned to sniff out porn cuing up Tape A and watching "December 
Will Be Magic Again."  Hmmm...; what is this stuff?  What does he make of 
"Violin"?  This is some pretty weird stuff!  Then comes "The Wedding List":  
ummmm:  sex and violence?  Then "The Man With the Child in His Eyes."  "Hey 
Harry, look at this!  This girl is dressing like naked, sits on a piano singing 
in a little girl voice about a man who visits her in her bedroom.  Look at 
that!  She's climbing into a garbage can!  This is some pretty sick stuff, 
Harry.  We'd better get Interpol into this, find out where this Chris Williams 
is coming from, bust this guy Zimmerly..."

	Someday we'll all laugh at this.  Just not tonight.  Sincerest regrets 
to all Canadians who are still waiting.

...............................................................................
							       Peter Manchester
      "Life is sad...and so is love"              pmanchester@ccmail.sunysb.edu
						       72020.366@CompuServe.com