Tuesday, 31 March 2009

Airwolf Startup sequence - retrofinds video

Sunday, 29 March 2009

Java Speak & spell online

http://www.speaknspell.co.uk/speaknspell.html

This will bring back memories. - An online Java version of Speak and Spell by Texas Instruments - Wheres E.T?

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Saturday, 28 March 2009

Columbo from Fade In To Murder talking about Jaws Amity Island - retrodfinds

Columbo from "Fade In To Murder" Talking about Jaws at the superb Universal Studios 1976. One year after Jaws was released.

Below are two pictures. See how the shark has changed in 30 years

Jaws Universal Hollywood 1976 (Notice the Amity Island sign in the background that was vandalised in the film)

Jaws Universal Hollywood 2006

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Click here to see Jaws in 3 minutes set to John Williams the Barrel Chase
also my Jaws 2 trailer

Columbo - Fade In To Murder Video Recorder $3000

This clip is from the Columbo episode "Fade in to Murder" with Peter Falk and William Shatner. This is from 1976 and shown is one of the first Video Recorders. Columbo asks how much one of those would cost. The reply is $3000!!!

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Chips opening credits - retrofinds retro TV

Friday, 27 March 2009

E.T The Video Game - Retrofinds looks back at a video gaming disaster.

Following the record-breaking success of E.T. at the box office in June 1982, Steve Ross, CEO of Atari's parent company Warner Communications, entered talks with Steven Spielberg and Universal Pictures to obtain rights to produce a video game based on the film. In July, Warner announced that it had acquired the exclusive worldwide rights to market E.T. It was widely reported that Atari had paid US$20–25 million for the rights!!!

When asked by Ross what he thought about making an E.T.-based video game, Atari CEO Ray Kassar replied, "I think it's a dumb idea. We've never really made an action game out of a movie." Ultimately though, the decision was not Kassar's to make, and the deal went through.

The task of designing and programming of the game was then offered to Howard Scott Warshaw, whom Spielberg requested due to his previous work on the video game adaptation of the film Raiders of the Lost Ark. Due to the considerable amount of time that had been spent in negotiations securing the rights to make the game, less than six weeks remained in order to meet the September 1 deadline necessary to ship in time for Christmas shopping season. By comparison, Warshaw's Yars' Revenge took four to five months to complete, and Raiders of the Lost Ark six to seven months. An arcade game based on the E.T. property had also been planned, but this was deemed to be impossible given the short deadline. Warshaw accepted the assignment, and was reportedly offered US$200,000 and an all-expenses-paid vacation to Hawaii in compensation. (Not bad!)

Ultimately, Warshaw designed a game based on what he believed could be reasonably programmed in the amount of time he had available to him. The basic design was worked out in two days, at the conclusion of which Warshaw presented the idea to Kassar before proceeding to spend the balance of the allotted five weeks writing, debugging, and documenting about 6.5KB of original code.

The gameplay of E.T. consists of maneuvering the eponymous alien character through various screens to obtain three pieces of a device that, when assembled, allows him to phone home. The pieces are obtained by finding them scattered randomly throughout various pits, which are called wells.

GAMEPLAY VIDEO

Atari had expected the game would perform well simply because, the previous October, it had demanded its retailers place orders in advance for the entire year. At that time, Atari had dominated the software and hardware market, and was routinely unable to fill orders. At first, retailers responded by placing orders for more supplies than they actually expected to sell, but gradually, as new competitors began to enter the market, Atari started receiving an increasing number of order cancellations, for which the company was not prepared.[9][8]

While the game did sell well (it ranks as the eighth-best selling Atari cartridge of all time), only 1.5 million of the 4 million cartridges produced were sold. Despite reasonable sales figures, the quantity of unsold merchandise coupled with the expensive movie license, and the large amount of returns, caused E.T. to be a massive financial failure for Atari.

In September 1983, the Alamogordo Daily News of New Mexico reported that between ten and twentytruckloads of Atari boxes, cartridges, and systems from an Atari storehouse in Texas were crushed and buried at the landfill within the city. It was Atari's first dealings with the landfill, which was chosen because no scavenging was allowed and its garbage was crushed and buried nightly. Atari officials and others gave differing reports of what was buried, but it is widely speculated that most of Atari's millions of unsold copies of E.T. ultimately ended up in this landfill, crushed and encased in cement.

(Landfill used)

Great original article on ET the Video Game http://www.atarimagazines.com/v2n4/etgame.html

ET TV Adverts

Funny Music video using the ET game and landfill as the subject

Funny cartoon from Mad Magazine and original advert for game

Retro Soundtracks - Back To The Future 2 - Alan Silvestri

Main Title - Alan Silvestri

Back to the Future 2 - Great film and great soundtrack by Alan Silvestri. Enjoy.

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Star Wars Give A Show Projector retrofinds look back. new photos

(BLOG LOOK BACK PLUS NEW PHOTOS ADDED!)
I picked this up the other week off ebay. Love this item. I always wanted one of these. Before the days of video recorders and DVD players this was as close as we could get to watching the Star Wars movies in our bedroom.

It comes with 112 slides (some pictured below) on 16 strips which you manually feed through the slot on the front. Some of the slides are quite laughable. I really like this item and is a nice addition to anyones collection.

Click on the pics for larger photos.

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Thursday, 26 March 2009

Retro Tv - The Unknown Stuntman, The Fall guy with karaoke singalong lyrics

The Fall Guy - The Unknown Stuntman song with on screen lyrics for a good singalong

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Wednesday, 25 March 2009

Ghostbusters music on the C64 - retrofinds

It was a Saturday and as usual I was wasting some time in the town centre. I popped into WH-Smiths to play on the computers that they had on display. BBC micros, spectrums, Acorns and a Commodore 64 were on show.
After doing the usual :
10 print "Rob is cool";
20 goto 10
run

I decided to play on the Commodore 64. Running was the brand new Ghostbusters game. To my amazement it had speech! In a game. Whats more I could actually press the space bar and the TV would shout "Ghostbusters!". I thought the bouncing ball was amazing the way it bounced over the words. I didn't care about the game. I just loved the introduction and wanted it for myself. I had £2 so couldn't afford it. Another budget title was what I went home with.
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Star Wars George Lucas In Love Video

George Lucas in Love is an independent short film that started attracting notice in June 1999 when it was passed around Hollywood offices as a filmmaker's "calling card". Many wrongly think it was a student film, but its makers had been out of film school for a few years when it was shot.
This is a fantastic video that captures the 1970's nicely. I particularly like the superb music that was orchestrated by Melanie Dimmick. Watch out for the Howard the Duck reference right at the end.

Enjoy

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Tuesday, 24 March 2009

Raleigh Strika

I used to have one of these bikes. The Raleigh Strika. I loved this bike! Not as big as a Raleigh Grifter and there were no gears. It had simulated suspension on the front. I do remember adding some card to the back wheel to get that rat-a-tat noise. Towards the end the chain kept slipping off usually while I was bombing down a hill in the local park. Great memories
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Monday, 23 March 2009

our first video recorder -Ferguson 8922 - retrofinds

I came across some pictures the other day on the web of our very first video recorder. The Ferguson 8922 VHS Video Recorder. I think it was 1980 when we got our first video recording machine

Anyway the Video shop had just opened up around the corner where you could actually rent videos for three nights. So I asked my Dad if I could have a film to watch to which he said yes. I remember the very first film that I hired and watched on video. It was Battle Beyond The Stars with George Peppard and Richard Thomas.

Although the film was poor I didn't care because it was fantastic to watch a film when I wanted to, I could pause the film and have a toilet break and there were no commercial breaks. I was also given my own blank tape. A E60 vhs cassette. This was amazing. I filled it with everything, at first cartoons etc then parts of movies. I wrote on the spine of the tape "Robs tape - do not touch". I broke the tab and would use sellotape to cover up the hole when I wanted to record something. Eventually I had a two hour tape and just managed to squeeze full length movies on and managed to get Star Wars on there. Imagine being able to watch Star Wars when you wanted - Incredible. The tapes got a lot of use but my Dad insisted on using Scotch videotapes as he said they would never fade or damage the VCR. Remember this advert?

We were really lucky to have a video recorder so early. One day I went over my friends house who also just got a video recorder. I was amazed to see that his had something called a remote controller. He could operate the video from his chair. I do recall though that the remote controller was attached to the video recorder via a long wire that would trail across the room. Still I thought it was amazing that you didnt have to get up. Also was amazed me is his video has "one touch record". He could just press one button to start recording. On our video we had the "piano keys" and had to press record and play down to start recording.

The tuning buttons. For some reason we had to retune the channels every so ofter as it would just slight go out of tune. Also again for some reason that task fell to me to do. I got to know the ins and outs of the video recorder so whenever there was a problem or someone needed a video tuning in they asked me.

Thanks to : http://www.rewindmuseum.com/home.htm for these wonderful photos. Check out the site. It its an amazing collection.
Please feel free to comment on this blog or leave your memories of your first video recorder.
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Thames TV retro opening titles - retrofinds

Thames TV retro TV opening titles. This brings back memories.

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Technorati Tags: Thames, TV, retro, retrofinds

Sunday, 22 March 2009

Justin Lee Collins to reunite The Goonies?

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Found this article from dengeek.com

Justin Lee Collins to reunite The Goonies?

The next Bring Back… special for Channel Four has The Goonies firmly in its sights…

In the past, Justin Lee Collins has put together TV shows where he's reunited many of the cast of the likes of Star Wars, Fame and The A-Team in a series of special one-offs for Channel Four. And while we've found the end result has been a little up and down, you can't knock the bloke's enthusiasm for the task in hand. It's often, too, genuinely fascinating to catch up with the faces from said films and shows, especially when they occasionally touch on some of the stories from behind the scenes at the time.

However, our geek radar was alerted when it was revealed who the next target of one of Collins' programmes was going to be. And, it seems, he's off to reunite The Goonies.

This is a fine mission to undertake, and one we wish him all the best on. We, ourselves, have struggled to get a proper interview with one of the gang, even though it's one of our absolute favourite movies of all time.

Justin Lee Collins is also planning the one-off afterwards, too, where he plans to bring back the cast of Star Trek.

Expect both of these shows to air before the year is out.

Source : http://www.denofgeek.com/television/220808/justin_lee_collins_to_reunite_the_goonies.html

Columbo Murder by the book - retrofinds

"Murder by the Book" (1971)
This episode believe it or not was directed by Steven Spielberg!
Looking more like a unmade bed than one of the world's greatest homicide detectives, Lt. Columbo is still the best man to solve the mysterious death of a popular mystery writer.

Though he quickly finds the culprit, the killer (Jack Cassidy) has devised airtight alibis and Columbo must use all of his considerable faculties to trick him into a confession. Steven Spielberg's direction coupled with 's Peter Falk's flawless portrayal of the laid-back gumshoe, makes "Murder by the Book" one of the series' finest episodes.
I am a huge fan of Columbo and never grow tired of watching Columbo in action. Check out this original trailer for the episode Murder By The Book.

For a great book on Peter Falk read "Just One More Thing"
Its a very funny book and as Peter explains himself it is a book that can be read in small segments so you can read between breaks if required. I didn't. I loved the book so much I couldnt put it down.
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Saturday, 21 March 2009

Ewok Songs a comparison. Star Wars Return of the Jedi endings

Lets make no doubt that John Williams is a genius when it comes to musical scores. When George Lucas decided to change the ending of Return of the Jedi he asked John Williams to write a new ending to the film. Below are the two versions. Although they are both excellent I cannot help liking the original just that little bit more due to the memories it brings back. I am one of the few who loved the Ewoks and still do. Return of the Jedi will always hold a special place in my hearts

(Just in case you wanted to sing along the lyrics are below)

Yub nub, eee chop yub nub,
toe meet toe pee chee keene, g'noop dock fling oh ah.
Coat ee chah tu yub nub,
Coat ee chah tu yah wah,
Coat ee chah tu glo wah.
allay loo ta nuv
Glo wah, eee chop glo wah, ya glo wah pee chu nee foam,
ah toot dee awe goon daa.
Coat ee cha tu goo (Yub nub!)
coat ee cha tu doo (Yah wah!)
coat ee cha tu too (ya chaa!)
allay loo tu nuv (3 times)
Glo wah, eee chop glo wah.
Ya glow wah pee chu nee foam,
ah toot dee awe goon daa
allay loo tu nuv.

I do like the new ending but Hayden's looks constipated at the end.
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Check out Lucasarts new book - Rogue Leaders
Here's my review

Check out John Williams Indiana Jones soundtrack boxset
Here's my review

OFF TOPIC - If you get Error code 80071A90 when trying to perform Windows Updates in Vista

**OFF TOPIC - If you get Error code 80071A90 when trying to perform Windows Updates **
I apologize for this but I thought it was necessary as I was getting frustrated with this problem so I thought I would share my solution. Recently I had this error code when trying to update Windows Vista - 80071A90 and there doesn't appear to be any support from Microsoft on this error code. This is what I did to get my updates to work. I hope this helps you.

download the Windows Vista service pack 1 (SP1) standalone from this link if you don't already have it. Create a restore point before installing SP1.

windows Vista SP1 for 64 bit operating systems
or
windows vista SP1 for 32 bit operating systems

(This takes about an hour to install and will reboot several times) After this has finished then try updates and see if they work. If they don't also check the following...

Go into control panel and then into administrative tools
Double-click Services. If you are prompted for an administrator password or confirmation, type the password or provide confirmation
Right-click the Windows Update service, and then click Properties
On the General tab, next to Startup type, make sure that Automatic is selected
Next to Service status, check to see if the service is started. If it is not, click Start. If you are prompted for an administrator password or confirmation, type the password or provide confirmation.
Similarly, set the “Windows Modules Installer” service startup type as “manual”.

error code fix 80071A90 80071A90