I did a naughty thing (grin).

[AlecWest]

Recently, I checked out a movie on VHS from my library. It was an older film (before closed captioning) and released by "Goodtimes Home Video" on a cheap tape in the LP-speed (4 hours) mode. Immediately, I saw that some jerk who'd previously checked it out had hit his "record" button by accident and recorded over parts of the film. One part of the film breaks away to a Walmart "Rollback Man" ad. In any case, I really wanted to see the film. And since it was the only copy my library had, I went to my local mom/pop video store and rented the DVD version.

Anyhoo, after enjoying the film, I was about to take the tape back to the library when my mind began churning (evil grin). I "had the tools" to fix the tape. So, I captured the first part of the tape that hadn't been recorded over ... the part with the Goodtimes Video intro and the FBI warning. Then, I captured the movie from the DVD (in 4:3). And finally, I captured the end of the videotape with the whirring tone noise that signals the end of the tape. Editing with Cuttermaran, I saved the entire thing to a single file (including 30 seconds of dead time near the beginning) and burned the whole enchilada to a DVD. Then, I put the tape into the VCR, the DVD into my player, and pushed the appropriate buttons at the appropriate times ... re-recording the tape (again, in the 4-hour mode) from the DVD.

Hehe, the next person who checks out that tape will say, "Wow, this may be an old tape but it looks like it was just recorded yesterday!" And, hehe, they'd be right.

[Guest]

man,you got too much time on your hands.

[AlecWest]

man,you got too much time on your hands.

... and idle hands are the Devil's playground, hehe. But, there are some people who have WAY too much time on their hands. Already, 300 people are lined up in New York to see the new Star Wars movie ... and it won't even open for 19 days:

http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=entertainmentNews&storyID=8352777

[stiltman]

Did you punch out the tab so it couldn't be recorded on again (without putting tape over the hole)?

[Mark Bruner]

What was so naughty about what you did? Seems to me you're the guy who found a damaged book in the library and replaced it with a new copy. What did you do that was so naughty?

[ViRaL1]

You're going straight to hell.

[Epicurus8a]

I'm sure you've heard the stories about the sickos who accidently record porn in the middle of a kids movie and then retun it to the rental shop.

[Mark Bruner]

I think Mr. West is a class act anyway. Why the sickos post got into this thread got by me.

[AlecWest]

Did you punch out the tab so it couldn't be recorded on again (without putting tape over the hole)?

Interesting you mentioned that. The tape didn't start up straight away ... which immediately told me that the tab was intact. And, it explained how it was accidentally recorded over by that creep. But, in the end, I decided to leave the tab intact. The tape had "Hong Kong" markings on it and the case seemed a bit flimsier than most. With my luck, I'd have popped the tab and ended up cracking the case. So, I left it as-is ... with the superior video behind (grin) ... and without those damn flutters and Walmart ads.

Frankly, if I thought I could have gotten away with it, I'd have lifted the stickers off, put them on a new 2-hour VHS tape (TDK or better), and recorded in 2-hour mode. But, someone would have surely noticed that ... and, with the tab still intact, my re-recording remains "discreet."

[AlecWest]

I think Mr. West is a class act anyway. Why the sickos post got into this thread got by me.

Virtual bows. And, if I was so inclined as to put a "sicko" selection into the videotape mix (which I wasn't), it would have probably been something benign like this (from Monty Python):

http://novelhost.net/gaymil.wmv

[lordsmurf]

What was so naughty about what you did? Seems to me you're the guy who found a damaged book in the library and replaced it with a new copy. What did you do that was so naughty?

Yeah, you deserve a medal.

[mattyboy]

I'm sure you've heard the stories about the sickos who accidently record porn in the middle of a kids movie and then retun it to the rental shop.

Are you serious?

[zzyzzx]

I would have put some porn at the end.

[jackal70058]

Goodtimes Home Video

For some reason, that company did not remove the little tab from the back of the videotape that prevents the overwriting of the tape. I had some of tapes made by that company and one of them almost got overwrite but fortunately it was all the way at the end and just after the credits there was a 4-second flash of the Weather Channel. After that I checked and realize this company forgot to remove the tabs.

[offline]

Wow! A prank that does not hurt anyone and actually
does some good. What planet did you say you were
from?