NP: America's Weirdest Home Videos

[robinlandseadel at comcast.net]

Why I love these folks. . . . 

America's Weirdest Home Videos
by Valerie Walker
CNL Litha 90
Has this ever happened to you? The ritual is over and the circle 
has been opened.Those unfortunates who have to work the 
next day have left. The party is still going on, and people are 
having a good time. But then, inexorably, inevitably, the words 
you've been dreading all evening are uttered:

"Let's watch some videotapes!"

Nuke some popcorn and pull up a cushion! The Couch Potatoes 
Go Sofa-Surfing!

Is the art of conversation dying?...well, not completely. Aside 
from those few ultra-fanatics who don't allow the sound of live 
human speech to mar the perfect beauty of their TV experience, 
most of my friends are given to plenty of comments and interaction 
with the screen. Loud hoots of laughter, lots of rewinding to catch 
the good parts over again...not precisely passive. I guess this is 
the 1990's answer to the Salon.

I have some pretty strange stuff in my collection. One gem is 
a ten-minute rant called "Devil-Worshiping Whores", read at a 
coffeehouse by Chris, a Satanist poet decked out in cowboy 
hat, leather vest, and lots of silver jewelry. Plus a bunch of 
science-fiction and horror movies which I have aquired on 
tape over the years. And then, of course, there's my other 
resources:

My friend Annie, who goes by the sobriquet of Bridget O'Blivion, 
Queen of the Couch Tomatoes, doesn't just content herself 
with collecting strange movies from Late Night TV. She gets 
whole tapes together with the use of a tape editor, including 
some very bizarre computer animation. Then she redecorates 
her whole house and gives parties built around these tapes. 
The last TV ritual she put on was dedicated to the spirit of 
Barbarella. Annie is such an enthusiast that she's started 
her very own fanzine, called Spuds.

Bill specializes in cartoons. Mostly Warner Brothers, but lots 
of old Tex Avery stuff. He lives in a small apartment which is 
crammed full of movie memorabilia, some of it quite rare, 
and party favors. Bill tends to intersperse party games 
among the TV watching, so we all get to change position once 
in a while. (At his last party, I won some pretty good stuff 
playing Pin the Cawwot on the Wabbit.)

John, on the other hand, is dedicated to the dark, the weird, 
and the scary. It was he who gave me my copy of "Quatermass 2" 
and "Carnival of Souls," and he has been active in a letter-writing 
campaign to bring back "The Outer Limits" to local cable TV. 
He also has compiled what he calls a "collage"; a tape of the 
really good bits from dozens of grade-Z horror flicks. After about 
a half-hour of this, the brain of the viewer undergoes a biochemical 
transformation which is cheaper than cocaine, more spiritually 
enlightening than mescaline, and less harmful to the liver than 
alcohol.

We still miss Roland, the King of Film Noir, who moved to the East 
Bay and quit giving movie parties. Strictly speaking, he should not 
be included in this bunch of TV watchers, because his collection 
was on film. He had closets full of film canisters, and his projector 
was set up permanently. I saw "Vertigo" at Roland's long before it 
was generally available. I saw "I Walked With a Zombie" in the 
company of forty screaming fans all dressed as zombies. I saw so 
many great films--this guy was an inspiration to us all.

There is a distinct Tradition of Couch Potatohood in and around the 
Craft, which is never mentioned in any of the books, probably 
because it's not something you can do outdoors around a campfire. 
But the warm glow of the screen is as friendly as a campfire to those 
of us who are still there after the crowd has gone home. Bring out 
that last jug of homemade mead and that bag of chocolate chip 
cookies! The Late Night contingent sinks slowly into the living-room 
rug, to be swept up with the cookie crumbs the next day....

http://www.compostcoven.org/cnl/videos.html