Don't Be a Sucker (1947)

Hat-tip to Wil Weaton for finding this one. Wikipedia sez:

"Don't Be a Sucker!" is a short film produced by the US War Department in 1943 and re-released in 1947. It has anti-racist and anti-fascist themes. The film was made to make the case for the desegregation of the United States armed forces.

The sound skips a bit at the start, but this little flick is probably older than your parents, so it's excused. Still relevant.

How Motor Cars Can Find Happiness (1970)

Dallas fans! I always promise you something good and so here's 25 minutes of Mel Blanc and some old Dallas footage. It's scary how much the city has changed in 40 years.

This was first posted by the Texas Archive and please go show them your support. They are great people doing good work.

Dental Flossophy

Oh, the stuff I'm finding on these drives is nuts. There's a DVD rip of this fun little 'toon. I figure, we just finished a big eating holiday here in the States, and there's a Peanuts movie coming out, so let's get this one up.

Oh, and here's that sweet jazz:

It Felt Like a Kiss (2009)

It felt like a kiss by Adam Curtis on Vimeo. Be aware there is some graphic imagery.

Every day thousands of things happened
to thousands of people
Some seemed to be significant and others did not

One of the things that Danno and I used to talk about was the purpose of media. What are you trying to do with all of this?

He saw it as a level of Vaudeville. Part of why we have Hell Nurse Katie (and why I came on as Doctor Mila) was the early exploitation films of the 40s and 50s. Oh, it was educational, you see, and that's why there's a nurse on hand. Or horror films that were SO FRIGHTENING they had to keep a nurse close at hand, in case someone had an "episode".

I saw it as a chance to educate, at some level, even if it was only different styles of animation. Part of why we never showed JUST anime or Japanese clips was because there was just so much great stuff out there. Why limit yourself?

But both of us loved Adam Curtis.

In going those all these external drives and trying to get the clip library back together, I found a folder of "Adam Curtis Ultimate", which is basically all of his documentaries. I find myself going back to these around this time of year. Maybe it's the historical aspect of it all.

And if you want to know the future, you have to study the past. We actually had a history teacher who, as a weekly project, would have us find a newspaper article, find a similar story in history, and (looking at the variables) make a prediction. We got pretty good.

So, in light of all that, here's a great collection of clips, arranged in such a way as to make some over-arcing point. I'm sure that it was more impactful as a live show, but we take what we can get. It's great editing, if you want to learn how to do that, and even has that slightly Alex Jones kookery that's so much fun to mock. Heck, you might even learn something.

The imaginary seemed so real
And the world outside became like a dream

Anime Fest Quinceañera

Soooooo, the show was actually at 10 PM in panel room 6. Oops.


I always wondered what he was singing.

Well, here we are, after 15 years with Anime Fest and we had A FANTASTIC SHOW.

We did have a little confusion on the announcement, however:

Comment I just left: "Cincoanera? Did you by chance mean quinceañera? The latter is a party for a girl who’s turning fifteen...

— Emma Álvarez Gibson (@ealvarezgibson) September 3, 2015

"...the former is not an actual thing, but references someone having five anuses. Might want to fix that. Ugh."

As long as it picks up after itself, it's welcome to the show.

We had tiaras this year, and all our Camy walkers got one. A couple of our Hard Gay posers got tiaras as well and they earned them.

Danno gave a lovely speech about how the show started and the history of Anime Hell at A-Fest. Katie gave a...speech bout underage drinking. I didn't give a speech about anything as I was too busy dicking with my hair.

Katie had made a Hard Gay pinata and that was given away as a prize near the end of the night. The lucky fellow who won it (a fellow doctor, I might add) let us know this was his first Anime Hell. I'm sure he'll be back.

One surprise from the night was Danno's copy of When I See an Elephant Fly (I didn't know he had a copy!). Kris took a little time to clear up the controversy about the segment, so we're still an edutainment panel. We're always out to push a button and see what lights up.

All in all, a great show and a great audience, as always. You are always why we do this. Hopefully, we'll be able to post stuff on the blog more regularly once everyone's work schedules settle.

The World's Your Stage (1974)

How they made those pointless commercials at your local station...

Kitchen Magic with Fanny Craddock (1963)

BFI Database: The Bon Viveur team, Johnnie and Fanny Craddock, demonstrate their skill to a young wife who learns that cooking can be fun and how to present dishes attractively.

Cooking fish fingers have never been so dramatic!

VIDEOTAPE: Images With Impact (1976)

More A/V Club material!

Is A Career In Radio Or Television For You? (1972)

Well do you, DO YOU!!!

Disney 101: More Re-Education

School's almost over, but I feel we need a tad more brain fuel before class can finally dismiss!

More...

OK OK, SCHOOL'S OUT!!!

Flu Flashbacks

Staying home sick always meant educational shows. My parents had decided that if I wasn't at school, I was going to at least be learning something. I have no idea what I was supposed to learn, but seeing these now, I have to admit I'm getting a little dizzy and nauseous.

WHY DO YOU THINK THEY CALL IT PROGRAMMING?

More...

Just the first ten seconds of this hint at something sinister. The puppets don't help.



Performing "experiments" in the house got me in trouble.



No. This is not what you want to see when you've spent the morning puking.



And there is a theme song I cannot escape.

"Hi, there, nice people." He's so affable. I'm pretty sure he's got bodies in the basement, stacked like cordwood.



His arm came off. That's not the worst part.



"The Secret City" was one of the more out there shows. I suppose it eventually led me to better appreciate the covers of sci-fi paperbacks, but I don't remember learning how to draw from it.



And it all comes back to Kevin Bacon. You're welcome.

The Edu-taining Films of David Wechter & Michael Nankin

Settle in for some timeless, learning fun!

GRAVITY (1976)


JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL (1978)


MIDNIGHT MADNESS (1980)
Featuring Michael J. Fox


LIKELY STORIES: SCHOOL, GIRLS AND YOU! (1983)
Featuring Paul Reubens in a un-Pee-Wee role!


BONUS: Paula Abdul in her first embarrassing film role!

Instructional Programming Crap!

For those sick days while withering away in your bedroom!

More...

Inside/Out

Having lived through that period when stuff like this still find mileage in the 80's, it's fun looking back on these weird pieces of edu-public-TV crap they played during school on PBS stations across the country (before PBS Kids took over). Kinda miss not having a 15 minute piece that ends in a unresolved cliffhanger (since that was reserved for classroom discussion if schools still bother). Thrill to the drama, the action and pathos brought to us by the National Instructional Television (now Agency for Instructional Technology) with additional support from the Exxon Corporation!