Saturday, August 27, 2005

iTv on DvD! and I'll send you a "free" copy!


NOW, as a public service to all those people who cannot view the greatest show on Staten Island, I am going to send you a "free" DvD (or vhs tape for you retro-holdouts out there)..all you need to do is pay the postage and a small handling fee (4 bucks), and go to this page.
Be sure to request vhs when paying, or DvD will be sent automatically.



BTW, the 10th season of iTv will premiere Oct.1st...

for those of you that are unfamiliar with the program,
here's a windows media video preview of an opening sequence.

Here is the official bio (reprinted blurb) from the site:

industrial TELEVISION-A brief history...
industrial TELEVISION-created by the "2droogies"- edmund varuolo and brian powell.industrial TELEVISION is an underground film & video oriented cable access show produced here on staten island...
(9 years running!) Every Sat. night at midnight, "iTv" features an eclectic underground mix of cult, uncensored and subversive film & video from around the globe. It's been screened/filtered/re-edited by your hosts, the 2droogies.

We are (and have been for years) the most popular locally-produced cable television series on staten island.
industrial TELEVISION first aired during june '96 (the pilot episode) on staten island community television, our local cable access channel here. Due to a very favorable response, we decided to go for a series contract at sictv and commit to an ambitious schedule of one new episode every two weeks.

At that time, we estimated approx. 30 hours of possible programming culled from our vast collections. Right from the beginning, we featured many industrial training films (these are a staple of the show-hence the title "industrial TELEVISION"),b-movie trailers and edited-down features. Since then, we have added many new titles to our vast collections and now have way beyond the original 30 hrs. predicted.After episode eight, we started shooting additional footage ("inserts") to be cut into the body of each program.

You know .... reaction shots and such .... sort of a running visual commentary/everyman's view...somewhere between beavis and zacherle. We also then decided to re-dub the audio on certain clips with our own "funny" dialog. These changes allowed us to truly customize each episode and many fans tell us it's their favorite of the show.

UPDATE:after nine years & 167 episodes, we are still the #1 show* on staten island community television...despite never being aired earlier than midnite!...And, if judging from the low number of complaint calls to the station...we have somehow managed to anesthetize staten island!

*sources: website stats, internet searches, sictv mall survey 1999, ctv staff interviews 2002-5

Thursday, August 11, 2005

coney review/underground film nite

glad to see some new faces at the coney gig...it was great, despite the swealtering heat.
(there's no AC, & still 40 people showed up!)
The producer of the series was impressed with the turn-out for a hot Aug. night, and was amazed at the "crowd interaction"....
At the outset I told the Brooklyn crowd that "talking back to the screen is encouraged!" Well, that lit the fuse, and it turned into a piss-in-your-pants interactive experience for all. This audience really, really "GOT IT", laughed at all the right parts, improvised/added dialog, chanted in unison, applauded for the most outreageous parts, I tell 'ya, it was way cool and almost rocky horror-ish! It's sad we could not attract the SI crowds at martini, I know we woulda got the same reactions, if only we had the numbers.
Anyhows, we'll be back at Coney next year! Kudos to Rob from indiefilmpage.com for this cool series.
Until then check out their schedule, there's always cool shit happening....Hopefully, we'll be doing a show at CSI this fall......until then we are still seeking a suitable venue for our monthly "underground film nite" screenings.

If you know of a bar or club that might be suitable for our monthly film series, please let me know. All we really need is a liberal-minded owner (one who won't mind a little explicit content) and his room on 1 wed. a month. Preferrably on the south or west shores. Even if you don't know of any places, Spread the word, maybe someone youre friends with can help us!....hey, ya never know!

originality in Hollywood

scanning a recent issue of the hollywood reporter (know thy enemy...) I hadda notice a slew of either remakes, sequels, or adaptations. I am not sure some of these should be made, but I AM sure that originality and creativity today seems to have gone by the wayside for the most part. Dig this:
Sequels:
RoadHouse 3
I know what you did last summer 3
Hollow Man 2
Rush Hour 3
Basic Instinct 2
Big Momma's House 2
Pirates of the Carribean 2
Mission: Impossible 3
X-men 3
Fast & Furious 3
The Santa Clause 3
Spider-Man 3

Remakes:
The Transformers movie
King Kong
Logan's Run
Miami Vice
Superman Returns
The Hills have Eyes (sacrilege!)
Secret life of Walter Mitty

and my most questionable remake (like, why is being done?).....
"Mr. Blandings builds his dreamhouse"...... (starring Ice Cube. I swear, it's true.)

ummm....wasn't that Honeymooners remake a lesson?

Tuesday, August 09, 2005

SI Advance links to this blog!

http://www.silive.com/weblogs/, trusting fools,!.....sure, go ahead, ...send slumming conservative dullards to my page to hear my pedantic dictums & rants of ire! Muahahahahaha....
...well, this surely can't last, but I welcome all the "normal" eyes that this link may send this way, whilst it does.
And thanks for all the cool comments from youse people about this blog.
I still can't believe anyone reads this doo-doo drivel, besides me!

Thursday, August 04, 2005

just a reminder...


industrialTELEVISION comes to Coney Island this Sat.!

yep, they have a "sat. nite film series" there (at the coney island museum-1208 surf ave.-right down the block from Nathan's)

...and THIS Sat. (aug. 6th), they are letting industrialTELEVISION program the show! We'll be showing some samples of our openings from industrialTELEVISION, plus: condensed versions of:
"If footmen tire you, what will horses do?" ...The most unforgettable religious scare film ever conceived!
"The Turkish Star Wars".... incredulous Turkish rip off of Star Wars with no dubbing or subtitles...'ya don't need 'em!
and:film nite favorite-"Perversion for Profit"...a hilarious 1960's anti-pornography scare film funded by savings & loan scandalist Charles Keating!
plus bonus cartoon:
Banned animation short!- Donald Duck goes Nazi!Hope to see some if not all of you there!




the iTv DVD box set is coming!

Monday, August 01, 2005

SI is so boring...there's nothing to do here!

Sad, isn't it? the sorry state of cultural affairs on SI?...
Well, kiddies...it wasn't always like this....
Just to recap:
back in the 70's (when i was just a wee sprite...) they used to have national acts play at the Ritz Theater in Port Richmond. Alice Cooper, Mountain, Black Sabbath, Yes, Capt. Beefheart, MC5, King Crimson, The Kinks, Fleetwood Mac, Deep Purple, ...even Vanilla Fudge! I was too ingnorant of a lot of those bands and only got to see the 1st four on that list....but isn't it amazing? I also remember (vaguely) whenever there was a concert, the streets absolutely packed like Greenwich Village, stores open past midnight, everyone partying...incredible.
In the eighties, there were at least 4 clubs to play at and most of the acts played original music. I know, because I played at every one of 'em...Red Spot, Park Villa, Billy O's (AKA:Octobers/Rock Palace), Wave St., The Intimate Lounge, and Neri's come to mind immediately. There was not only a thriving scene, but plenty of places to play for local "basement/garage bands"!
I think what we REALLY need is a genuine rock club. You know with a real PA and real lights, and a real stage, etc. The last place like this closed 2 years ago (Backstage/Roadhouse Blues)...and there's been no replacement.
Possible hope? (this could go either way if true)---Rumor has it that the original owners of Lamour's in brooklyn are gonna start a big club on SI.....possibly at what used to be "club drink"....we'll see....stay tuned.

update: this question (& my answer) was originally posted on the Cinema Treasures site.

ed , i don't doubt that it became a concert venue, but weren't most of these bands/performers at the height of their popularity at that time? why would they book concerts on staten island?......
posted by garth on Aug 1, 2005 at 5:30pm

I thought so too at the time... but this was a period right before these bands played arenas like MSG & Nassau Coliseum. I remember the Yes LP "Fragile" had just been released, and Sabbath's 2nd LP, "Paranoid" was new at the time of their tour stop in SI. Most of these bands also played at the academy of music (AKA: the paladium on 14th st.)in manhattan. The Ritz concerts did not last to due "contract riders" put into place in the early seventies by NYC concert promoters. They insisted that the musicians performing at their place could not book additional shows within a 50 mile radius of the venue nor within a month surrrounding the show. This essentially killed the bookings for national recording acts at the Ritz Theater. During that time it was run by a pair called "The Ungano brothers", whom had previous success with a manhattan club bearing their name. Interestingly, I never seen a movie at the Ritz, only concerts!
posted by edroogie on Aug 4, 2005 at 3:14pm