45 My Audio/video Experiences. Photo: My GP High School Reunion. Song: “Good Love”
Above is my Grosse Pointe MI high school class of 1969 reunion. I moved from my MI high school to a rural Ohio high school during the middle of my 11th grade, and lived in a trailer behind the Brandywine ski lodge while my dad finished building his ski area which is now owned by Vail Resorts. In MI, I was in theatre, sang solo, was in a duo, and a three piece group performing for all of the Grosse Pointe hootenannies at the War Memorial Auditorium, and was on network TV twice on the “Living Show”. I even got to do a solo performance at the Cobo Hall Arena for the Welcome Wagons Club of America, and was in a band called the “Chosen Few”, “The Wright Clefs”, and singing group “The Upperclassmen”. In Ohio, I was in the band “The Fyve” playing guitar. When “The Fyve” disbanded, I joined “Paper Sun” playing rhythm guitar, and then piano when they changed their name to “Freeport”. Then, while attending college, I performed all over the country toting my Yamaha electric baby grand piano with me in my Chevy van, and I worked doing all types of jobs supporting myself, while learning a little bit of everything, trying not to dwell on life’s obstacles. I received my undergraduate degree with a B.A. in Communication, then went to school in Ca. where I heard that Palomar Technical College was offering a technical course not offered anywhere else in the country. I took it two years in a row, so received two certifications in Technical Maintenance for Broadcast Studio Operations, and worked as Production Supervisor for Channel 24 Community Broadcasting of San Diego, and for Channel 17. I shot and edited 2 shows per week, and delivered them to the “head end” in Chula Vista where they aired each week on Cox Cable Public Access Television until President Reagan cut the funding for Public Access, so Channel 24 had to disband. I purchased as much of their video equipment as I could, and along with the equipment I already owned, rented my two Sony BVU-200 edit record decks, Convergence 103C Controller, character generator, two 3/4” portable record decks, 2 ENG camcorders, Panasonic AG-7400 portable SVHS recorder, three monitors, time code writers and readers, a Tektronix waveform monitor, and my Tektronix vectorscope to another TV station facility, which was how I got my wedding video business started regardless of the fact that my father refused any financial support for me since my Brandywine years.
Besides video, I did freelance photography for John Robert Powell while editing the weekly shows aired on Public Access channel 24. When Reagan cut the budget, and the Community Video Center of San Diego/Channel 24 disbanded, I worked with channel 17 in La Mesa, who rented my video equipment as a monthly package deal. Channel 17 received their broadcast license by winning it in a lottery, and they needed broadcast equipment in order to edit their shows to rebroadcast within NTSC specifications, (which is required)
While working with the channel 17 studio in Puerto Vallarta with executive director Glen Shoemaker, I always brought my guitar, and often played piano wherever we could find one. And, I learned, while I stopped into a little chapel, that my birthdate falls on Saint Cecelia’s feast day of music. Maybe that’s how I can play several instruments without having ever taken lessons. Whatever the reason, my heart remains with the friendly, religious, God-fearing Mexican people.” When I sometimes drove friend’s cars to Tijuana for body work, I’d play my guitar while watching them, and was when, and how, I first learned about body work. I even considered getting all of my music gear together which I perform with, and driving with it, a lot farther south, to visit where I hadn’t ever been before. I often thought about moving to Argentina, after I had met many families from Argentina while I was playing piano on the cruise line. I was well into the process of getting my ‘Mexico music work visa’, needed in order to not risk having all of my equipment (even my guitar) confiscated while working some place south of the border without that required permit. However, before that ever came to fruition, I was pulled over by a ‘Federally’ as they call their police. He informed me that I either had to pay him $50.00 for going through a stop sign which I had clearly stopped for, or was given the option to go to jail. Understandably, I cancelled my plans for a working musical career south of the boarder. (Don’t cry for me Argentina?).
I have seen or heard how people (especially in the music, photography, and/or entertainment industry) are tempted, and end up compromising their own ethical standards for a variety of reasons, like for personal pleasure, or just to get ahead. I have certainly not made all the right choices in my own life. However, I was never less than 100% professional in any/all of my relationships connected in any way, with any musical, video, or photography engagement(s) which I have ever had during my life. I have adhered to that for both a professional, and a personal life objective, no matter how difficult, or challenging it ever was, or ever will become.
Happily, I had a very successful business of playing music, and doing wedding videos until the “South Florida Bridal Association” came into existence who exponentially took over the Naples wedding video market, even demanding that all wedding businesses pay them to join, or be squeezed out of business which I thought was using underhanded tactics to get their own business started, and was far from professional. Almost overnight, I felt that I was among the many other small businesses pushed out.
After I worked on the cruise line, since I already had a National Certification for Activity Director Professionals, and experience working in geriatrics, I took a job working in a Ft. Lauderdale skilled nursing facility. I was told that they badly needed me because both the Social Service Dir. AND the Activity Director quit, so I signed a lease, and stayed in Ft. Lauderdale working other jobs too (I did plumbing in the housing projects, yuck, and I hauled bio-hazardous waste, yuck). I sold some of my A/V gear I used editing shows with in CA, such as my 16 channel audio mixer, to a local Ft Lauderdale radio station, and my third edit deck. One of the restaurant/bars on the beach that I often walked past, was called The Button. I heard all this ruckus going on, and noticed they were having a “Wet T-Shirt Contest”, and saw that there were a few guys, all wearing the same matching black shirts, videotaping it. One of them told me that they were having problems making copies because the copies they made looked terrible. I wasn’t using my Panasonic NV-9400 3/4” professional editing deck anymore, which was “super tweaked” by a technician at Vid Video in Los Angeles, who told me that the record deck was “magic” and had come from the Disney Studio. Since it was just too big and cumbersome for me to keep hauling it around in my van, and was my third deck which I wasn’t using, I sold it to them. Now, they could edit the best of each of their camcorder tapes onto my record deck which uses 3/4” tape. They used that as a master to run off better resolution quality copies to sell, and believe me, everybody started buying them like “hotcakes”. After my 6 month lease was up, I went back to CA and videotaped weddings, then I moved to Naples, Fl, and got another job working in skilled nursing. I also chose to continue working for my parents, for another 13 years, until their deaths which were a year apart.
THESE PHOTOS ARE FROM
CANTERBURY HOUSE
SKILLED NURSING
IN NAPLES, FL, ACROSS
FROM THE VINEYARDS.
(NOW THE AVA MARIA LAW
SCHOOL). I WAS THEIR
ACTIVITIES DIRECTOR.
IN NAPLES, I WAS THE ACTIVITY DIRECTOR AT RETIREMENT FACILITY WHERE I OCCASIONALLY USED MY MUSICAL ABILITIES. LIKE I DID IN ALL OF MY TRAVELS, I OFTEN STOPPED TO PLAY PIANO AND/OR GUITAR AND HARMONICA STROLLING ROM TO ROOM IN ANY FACILITY I COULD. I CARRY WITH ME ALL OF THOSE CHERISHED MAGICAL SMILES SEEN ON THE FACES OF RESIDENTS WHO ENJOYED HEARING MY MUSIC. MY JOB WORKING IN GERIATRICS WAS LIKE A CALLING, AND IT WAS FORTUNATE FOR ME TO BE ABLE TO WORK FOR A CAUSE WITH A PURPOSE… HELPING MY ELDERS… PEOPLE FULL OF WISDOM. IT PROVIDED FOR ME, WHAT WAS NEEDED IN MY LIFE, TOO.
(continued from above)
I told the crew from The Button restaurant (when I sold them my video editing deck) about another Ft. Lauderdale gentleman I had just met, who was selling the same broadcast equipment I had which they would need, and he was selling everything as a package deal, in order so he could purchase the latest Sony Betacam SP camcorder, (which was the latest available camcorder which didn’t require a separate deck that holds the tape), and I believe that was how my acquaintance named John got the money he needed to purchase the newer Beta-Cam SP camcorder he wanted. So, the guys from the Button who were videoing their wet t-shirts contests got all of the video editing equipment they needed. And, they made so much money selling copies, that they ended up renting their own lear jet. And, perhaps, one of them was the one who got into so much trouble doing that kind of thing. I have done plenty of stupid things in my own life. However, I have never taken a distasteful photo of someone in my life, nor ever shot a porn video, or an unethical video. I had too much respect for the equipment I was trusted with, and treasured it. Ironically, while I was talking with the guy who also had video editing gear, I remember that we were tossing around ideas of interesting things to video for a show. My new acquaintance’s last name was Langley, and he picked up on one of those ideas, and quickly turned it into a TV show – the popular, and still running, “Cops”. I worked, at that time, playing piano on the cruise lines, then did wedding videos full time staring in 1985, then quit. The use of high resolution cellular phone videos quickly became available for everyone, and it changed the content for TV like never before. Now, anybody has the ability to start their own TV show which increased the number of channels available. Now, anybody who can sing, can carry a whole evening of performing whether they can play an instrument or not. A lot of musicians lost work because the field became so overwhelmed in these ways. And, a lot of wedding videographers lost their business to the availability of the high resolution megapixel – HD quality cell phone cameras.
Photo below: This was my SVHS studio equipment which I used editing wedding videos while also playing piano nightly at the Golden Swan Chinese Restaurant in Escondido CA.
