Virtual Channel Surfing #2
A fever dream of midnight programming and Saturday morning edutainment
It’s after midnight, and you’ve just awoken after falling asleep earlier than you would have liked. The TV is on, but what you were watching before has devolved into “Paid Programming” (infomercials). Being simultaneously groggy and wide awake, you start flipping through channels, but nothing catches your eye. You settle for garbage, once again.
This week is another variety post. While I love to pool together many different finds in order to created a themed media archive post, sometimes, there’s just no way to make everything fit together. Don’t let that lessen the value of the videos I have for you this week, however, as all of these are interesting watches!
Well… most of them anyway.
For this late night session of channel surfing, we’ll be flipping back and fourth between a few channels in order to avoid all commercials. Along the way we’ll catch an educational segment about stranger danger, a scientific look at the most deadly volcano in the U.S., we’ll learn to dance, and a bunch of other late night garbage.
At the moment, I have a HUGE backlog of tapes to digitize (we’re talking 30+). For one reason or another lately the thrift stores have had their media shelves full of interesting programming, and I plan to bring as much of it as I can to all my readers.
I know it was only a few months ago that I mentioned the Goodwill stores in Tennessee were discontinuing the sales of VHS tapes in their stores. Well, after speaking to a couple employees at two separate locations, it seems that it is now up to the stores themselves to choose whether or not to put tapes out, rather than any corporate entity.
Two locations not far from me have already started stocking them, as they are donated, but it’s my understanding that VHS tapes will no longer be on “the truck”. For the locations nearest me, this means that all the tapes that are in stock have come from local donations, and tapes will not arrive on the weekly truck that moves inventory from other stores as well as distribution / donation centers in the general area.
To me, this is great news. Goodwill locations were never a huge source of content for this blog, but knowing that tapes are no longer being destroyed or thrown away (not recycled) is a good thing. It baffled me that Goodwill continued to sell 8-tracks and cassettes, but would not sell VHS tapes. Thankfully for now, this has been changed.
Well, lets get right into channel surfing for the night!
Stranger Safety, John Walsh and Julie Clark
2005 | Runtime 35 Minutes
Hey kids (and parents)! Join Safe Side Superchick and her friends Buddy and Fang on a laugh-out-loud journey into the world of being smart, cool, safe. We know safety can be soooo boring or maybe a little scary. Well prepare yourself for something really different. You'll learn how to avoid potentially dangerous situations with people you don't know and kinda know in a fun and memorable way. Safe Side Superchick will share her seven Hot Tips for cool kids with you. It's never too early (or too late) to learn to be safer at home, at school, and while you're outside playing. A must for the whole family.
Cutest Cat Capers
1998 | Runtime 30 Minutes
Real entertainment for children of all ages, parents, grandmas and grandpas, too. If you love cats, you'll love this video. Cutest Cat Capers features cats of all shapes, sizes and breeds. It has a cool music soundtrack too! Our funny feline friends will make you laugh as they have fun in numerous situations while just being cats!
Donna Dewberry Teaches One-Stroke Painting
1996 | Runtime 25 Minutes
Mount St. Helens, The Turmoil of Creation Continues
1989 | Runtime 1.5 Hours
ABOVE MOUNT ST. HELENS
Rare and spectacular aerial photography explores the gaping crater and a lifeless moonscape. See this eerie and formidable place born of fire: charred broken tree skeletons mighty trunks of an evergreen forest snapped like toothpicks beneath a searing cloud of blackened ash - and experience an overwhelming sense of awe of a cataclysmic power unleashed in perilous minutes.
WILDLIFE RETURNS
Deer, elk and other wildlife once took shelter beneath towering giants of Douglas fir amid sparkling mountain lakes. Within days of the eruption, plants and animals began to reclaim their territory. Our cameras view the activities of the pocket gophers, survivors of the eruption, and many other fascinating scenes of a devastated land returning to life.
THE MOUNTAIN ERUPTS
Watch the awakening of the mountain as it rumbles and trembles, violently heralding its moment of Armageddon; witness the terrifying fury of an exploding volcano; see the catastrophic devastation and with noted scientists, observe the unfolding, drama of regeneration, learn Mount St. Helen's violent history and wonder when will the volcano erupt again?
Learn to Dance: Contemporary / Social
1993 | Runtime 25 Minutes
Learning to dance is something you can do for yourself, by yourself. Imagine what a difference Freestyle dancing will make in your life!
Welcome to Dance Basics Plus' Learn to Dance, a complete training video designed to teach you the four basic steps you need to get started on the dance floor. The fact is, four easy-to-learn steps are all you need to get started. Watch the video and listen for the four simple steps; the Walking Step, the Rock Step, the Triple Step and the Box Step.
Tony Lewis, your personal dance instructor, has found a way to teach anybody - even you - how to dance.
Dance Basics Plus' video series offers you the most comprehensive method of instruction available. It's guaranteed just right for you, whether you're learning to dance, or just learning some new moves. Learning to dance is something you can do for yourself. No partner is needed!
This video is one of a series of seven developed by Tony Lewis for Dance Basics Plus; the Ballroom series, the Contemporary/Social series, Country & Western, Hip Hop, the Latin dances and Line Dancing. Find the video that's right for you. Your life will change - guaranteed!
Well, that’s about it for this week. Thanks so much for reading and watching! I don’t ever plug the sub button, but if you’re reading this, it’s free to subscribe and paid subscriptions are also available with a few minor perks! I post my photography, archive lost or nearly lost media, and talk about my music here. If you’re interested in any of that, please consider subscribing with the button down below so you don’t miss my next post!
I keep Youtube Playlists of the all the wonderful media I find. You can check out the Video Archive here, and the Audio Archive here. As always, if you have any questions or comments you can get at me here or here or leave a comment below this post
See you soon.
—Forrest