Here’s some info on the new grabs that will be showing up in the coming week. On the ephemeral front, we’ve got two classic Bell Science films courtesy of the AV Geeks archive. Both films are hosted by Dr. Frank Baxter, who you may know better as the odd gesturing fellow from the start of Mole People (MST 803). The first one is The Alphabet Conspiracy which features Hans Conried as the Mad Hatter and animation by Friz Freleng. (The first half of this film already ran in the wee hours of this morning).

The second one is Gateways to the Mind, with animation by Chuck Jones. It also features 10 seconds of clown footage so disturbing that every time I tried to save it to send to YouTube, my editor crashed. [Update 1/4/8: I was finally able to upload it. Do not view with your eyes open.] Since these each weighed in at around 50 minutes to begin with and produced so many grabs they’d have run for at least twice that, I’ve actually split them up into two parts each, that will run separately. But I’ve also added both films to the catalog, so you can request showings in their entirety via the links above.

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Sid Davis, the man responsible for many of the great films in the social guidance genre, passed away last month. Giving his films a special showing here just so we can mock them seems sort of the wrong way to show our respects, but certainly his contributions here make his passing worth noting.

Some of Mr. Davis’ IS staples include:

• Alchohol is Dynamite
• Dangerous Stranger
• Keep off the Grass
• Skateboard Sense
• The Terrible Truth

Cappers and mstie fan movies, seems like a perfect combo, but with one or two exceptions, most of them haven’t gotten too far. Seems like the power of wiki and youtube might be a new route to make one. So, I’ve decided to try and start another one - check it out here. You can view the movie below then add your riffs.

To those of you who missed tonight’s AV Geeks show in NYC, which is most of you, you missed a good time. There are two more area shows (with different films) on Monday and Tuesday which probably won’t see capper gatherings either, but are probably worth going to if you can make it. If you don’t live in the area, keep your eyes peeled at their website for shows in your area.

If you do live in the area, don’t forget about the proposed capperfest on the 28th mentioned in my last post.

Most of the shorts in tonight’s show aren’t amongst the ones AV-Geeks guru Skip Elsheimer has made available at archive.org, so they haven’t shown up on IS (yet). That’s a pity, since most of these were right in the average capper’s wheelhouse. Despite a fairly interactive show - starting off with audience members taking turns reading frames in a slideshow and occasional sing-a-longs with the film (the theme of the show was musical shorts), I’m pretty sure if there were more than one capper there, we’d have been thrown out for talking back.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I must excorcise my soul of the horror that was the evening’s last film, Telezonia:

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We’ve got some events of interest in the New York City in the coming weeks that may see more than one capper in attendance.

Author of novels, comics, and other things Neil Gaiman will be will be interviewed live by author, Daily Show cast member and PC-portrayer John Hodgman, followed by a book signing of Gaiman book, Fragile Things on Thursday, September 28, 2006 at 7:00pm at The Fashion Institute of Technology’s Great Hall, 227 West 27th Street New York, New York.

It’s free, you’ve got two weeks notice and at least one capper should be in attendance. Contact UnReality (trust me, the form on that link will go to him) for more info.

For those of you with more flexible schedules, this Sunday through Monday brings us three area screenings from the AV Geeks archive, source of some of Inventing Situations’ primest material, hosted by the head geek Skip Elsheimer.

I for one will be attending Sunday the 17th’s 7 PM screening, “AV Geeks Greatest Hits” at Anthology Film Archives, 32 Second Avenue (at Second Street) which will include that classic claymation dental horrror morality tale, Munchers.

If there’s enough interest in one of the two other screenings, we might get a gathering going with or without me. We already have one vote for the screening in Huntington, NY at 7:30 on Tuesday the 19th and none yet for the showing on Monday night near the South Street Seaport at 10 PM.

If you’re interested in going to any of these screenings, contact me and maybe a gathering will occur.