Otokichi

Here's a convoluted tale about how Philco Ford started to make small 331/3 speed mini records, which could be played on a Japanese mini record player that sported French (!) labelled controls, and may have had something to do with Americam PocketDiscs. Submitted for the budding Sherlock Holmes or "Alice Liddell," here's a 1960's saga that is stranger than fiction. Got your climbing gear and flashlights ready? It's "Indiana Jones" time, in a search for a lost record disk format.

"Facebook"? Oh that old thing. I just use it to link up with (a few) friends and family to pass on news. (It's better than having to read 'family letters" at Christmas time.) OK, what shall we talk about? I've been posting the odd "Techmoan" video from time to time for entertainment purposes. That way, there's music, drama, comedy, and news about "dead end tech." I'll put "Techmoan's" latest tale of a Japanese mini disc on a French-language-labeled, non-standard disk player that may have started as a vending-machine-single-record-enterprise in Washington state in the late 1960's to see where t

Submitted for your approval, a documentary that takes you into a Leper colony in early 1960's Iran. This lively tale is part of Turner Classic Movies' "Women Who Make Film" and the only (free) streamable movie. The subtitles are hard to read and flit by at the speed of speech, but this may change your ideas of what constitutes "beauty."

Salesman: "Step right up folks! Those ION electronics boffins have spared no expense to recreate a 'Retro Style' Boom Box for your next block party! Just $100 will buy you the greatest neighbor-annoyer money can buy!!" "Techmoan" imported a U.S. market "Street Rocker" Boom Box in hopes that he'd get a good buy for the money. Unroll the video and see how far his much-more-than-$100 actually bought. (Spolier alert: Nope!)

Submitted for your enjoyment/puzzlement, a quirky Czech film about two young women who "take old geezers for a ride." Another in Turner Classic Movies' "Women Who Make Film" series. This wildly hedonistic film sprinted by the usually staid/alert censors as it slips between color and black-and-white footage to an original soundtrack usually associated with the likes of Fellini or Vadim. Whee!;)

Submitted for a Sunday evening, a jaunty, uptempo instrumental from two island master players. Just the thing to ease you into Monday.

Submitted for your puzzlement, an absurdist movie that would amuse/confound Rod Serling. A French movie, dubbed into Russian, with English subtitles about a man and his 100% deerskin jacket. It has been described as a mix of comedy, horror, and farce. So, do clothes make the man or do clothes possess the man? As Jordan Peele might say: "Only in the Twilight Zone."

So you've been banned from every horse race track in the state and adjoining venues? The local church/volunteer fire department/community needs money to operate? Combine your need with theirs in a "Race Night!" Is this legal? That depends on local gambling ordinances, but rest assured, there are random endings to each race, just to "keep your bookie straight." Get your matches/pennies/game tokens together, there's gonna be some horse racing tonight!

I've seen YouTube streamers playing various editons of "Red Dead 2," but let's start at the beginning. There's money to be made as a bounty hunter in the "almost tamed" Wild West, so ignore the Sky Pilots and Missionaries. It's Buy/Sell/Trade in the wild frontier.

Submitted for your curiosity, "Antonia," a 1975 tale of life in a small, quirky Dutch village. Another interesting tale in Turner Classic Movies "Women Who Make Film" series. We start near the end and travel back to 1945, shortly after the end of World War II and the liberation of the Nethlands. Shake "Crooked Finger's" hand and howl at the moon with the woman upstairs, where a "newcomer" has lived in the village for 20 years!

Submitted for long-ago "Adult Swim" fans who couldn't get enough of "FLCL." The Pillows played a killer closing number, which went over my head, since I didn't sign up for Japanese (language) school when I was a kid. So, here's an idiomatic English version for those who's Japanese vocabulary is limited to "Hai" and "Sayonara.";) "Star Overhead"

Submitted for your amusement, six episodes of "Science Fiction Theater," a 1950's anthology series about, you guessed it, Science Fiction! Before stumbling on to this limited set of episodes, I searched around for "SFT" on DVD. I eventually found the 2 season DVD set, and was surprised that the first season was filmed in Color! (Our old Zenith was strictly black-anmd-white back then.) So return to the early Cold War years and 1950's Patriarchy, to see what passed for "Science Fiction" back then.;)

Were you a "Tween" just after" the turn of the century"? Do you remember this begging-to-be-collected/traded "edited down to a minute" Pop music on a chip? "Techmoan" takes a look at this pre-Teen musical collector's item, which I'd never heard of, then or now.;)

Submitted for your scrutiny, a long-time YouTube nuts-and-bolts tech, Fran takes apart a failed Ikea track lighting LED bulb and finds...a complex electronic package! How long has Fran Blanche been on YouTube? 1994 Frantone

Submited for your curiosity, a video essay from a former videographer and perceptive observer of Asian cinema. In a nutshell, look for "Shutter" (2004), "Pee Mak" (2013), and "The Promise" (2017). And now, take a look at a film reviewer who had something significant to say about Disney's "Mulan." "Mulan" (2020)

Submitted for people who find that September is hotter than August, a question comes up. Are portable air conditioners a good deal or are "window/external" air conditioners better? Also. how do air conditioners work?

Submitted for gamers with a sense of humor, two experienced gamers take on "Portal 2." Let the jokes and witty repartee begin...

Submitted for the fans of "Cowboy Bebop," a special performance of the song that ended each session. It's not Cole Porter, but the likes of it are absent from current Anime. See you, Space Cowboy...

Once upon a time, Fox TV broadcast an animated series about a Pizza delivery boy who slipped into a Cryogenics booth and awoke a thousand years later into a new world. The animated series has been cancelled numerous times, revived, and "delivered beyind the call of reason." Return with us now, to those days before "Jurassic Bark," "Luck of the Fryrish," "Leela's Homeworld," and "Game of Tones," when Anime was "just a laugh fest."

Submitted for the Silent Movie fan, a Yasujiro Ozu film without any kind of music track! This played on Turner Classic Movies "Silent Sunday" on September 20, 2020. I find it interesting that that this 1932 film is a Silent movie when other movie studios are making Sound movies, but this is a solid college student tale. A group of less-than-academically-gifted college students manage to "crib note" their way through exams, while having the time of their lives. One is plucked from college by fate, becomes the company President of a trading company, while the others "continue their studies." Gra

Another Turner Classic Movies entry in the "Women who make movies" series. A Mongolian family follows the cycle of the seasons, seeking forage for their sheep herd. A little girl finds a puppy and refuses to give it up, in spite of her parents' commands. (English subtitles on demand via Closed Captions.)

Submitted for your amazement, great prints from a pocket size printer! Yessir, for a sizeable investment in equipment and materials, you too can turn out magazine quality tiny prints that can be stuck on any convenient surface. Pay up and get ready to do things in sets of ten, as "Techmoan" shows you the ins and outs of the Dye Sublimation process. You want bigger prints? "Techmoan" has a (somewhat) less pricey alternative via Canon Dye-Sub. Get ready to see things "going back and forth" as "waterproof stickies get layered.";)

As CBS All Access is about to be dumped on the rubbish heap, here's a look at "Star Trek: Axanar" scenic space battle scenes that were halted when Paramount sued the production company. CBS is "selling old wine in new bottles" to keep "Star Trek: Discovery" going, while "Star Trek: Picard" drifts in limbo. Oh well, what can you expect out of "Star Wars" fans monkeying with "Star Trek"? Let us see what happens when the Federation crosses into Klingon space...

Submitted for the ROTFLMAO set, the best "public annoyance" possible.;) It's another piece of yesterday's tech unearthed by "Techmoan" that never left Japan. If you didn't have the money or time to display your (questionable) vocal gifts, here's a deluxe package of 1980's JPop for you to drive peopla and animals crazy. If you can read Japanese text, and sing obscure Japanese songs, this is your key to reverb+vocal immorality. "Techmoan" even sings a Standard near the end of the video! (You have been warned.;)

Submitted for your approval, another film in Turner Classic Movies "Women Make Film" series. In 1991 Luanda, Angola, war orphans are brought to the city, where N'dala escapes the group to seek his own path. For a country boy, the city is a hostile place, but he finds refuge with different kinds of adults. This series also has English language/domestic Indie films as well, but why explore "coal city America" instead of Africa?