We have another educational film on 16mm for you today. Today’s film was released in 1984 by the USDA and US Forest Service,  and is about the massive eruption of Mount St. Helens in 1980. It’s a dramatic story. Enjoy that special Federal Government film flair. We hope to be back to regular episodes soon.

We apologize, but one of us is sick so it’s time for the substitute teacher to show the class an educational film on 16mm. Today’s film was released in 1978 by the US Government Defense Civil Preparedness Agency and US,  and is about the Super Outbreak of tornadoes on April 3, 1974 that spawned over 140 tornadoes in a 24 hour time period and took the lives of over 300 people. In a future episode we’ll talk more about this and add our own commentary tying these events into the larger picture of the Long Seventies.

1982’s Death Wish 2 lacks a lot of what made the first movie interesting and engaging and basically retells the same story, but it allows us a peek into the world of 1982 and to see some differences between that world and the early 70s that spawned the original Death Wish.

The P-Funk Collective…. Decades of musical genius influential in multiple genres of music. Dozens of musicians and singers. At least five different names and sub-groups. Afrofuturism. Riches. UFOs. Guitar players wearing diapers on stage. Financial ruin. LSD and cocaine. Drug addictions. The band that birthed a thousand sample based hip hop tracks. This is part one of their story.

The P-Funk Collective…. Decades of musical genius influential in multiple genres of music. Dozens of musicians and singers. At least five different names and sub-groups. Afrofuturism. Riches. UFOs. Guitar players wearing diapers on stage. Financial ruin. LSD and cocaine. Drug addictions. The band that birthed a thousand sample based hip hop tracks. This is part one of their story. Part two coming up next week.

In the early 70s the FCC mandated that all cable companies with a certain number of subscribers had to offer channels for public use and broadcast. This led to the generally wacky programming known as “Public Access Television.” Little did the FCC know, but in 1978 a small group of intellectuals in Austin, Tx would attempt to use Public Access TV to take down the establishment media by telling the stories they wouldn’t tell. This was Alternative News Magazine, a counterculture version of 60 Minutes, and it broadcast over 500 episodes over a period of 20 years.

In 1968 a Soviet submarine sunk in 16,500 of water 1500 miles NW of Hawaii with nuclear missiles and cryptographic material onboard. This is the amazing story of how the CIA recovered part of that sub and pulled off one of the most incredible engineering feats in history, without the Soviets or the American public knowing what was going on until journalist Seymour Hersch published the story a year later, in 1975.

In 1971 hundreds of hippies left Berkeley, California to establish a commune in rural Tennessee. This is the story of why they did it, how they learned to survive and grow their own food, the problems they faced, and why 12 years late the commune eventually chose to re-embrace the the American economy.

We talk about quirky cartoonist B. Kliban’s eclectic body of work, including but not limited to Playboy Magazine and millions of coffee mugs and office calendars.

We discuss a fascinating Los Angeles based new religious group called The Source Family, led by a charismatic WWII vet, hand to hand combat expert, mystic, guru, and possible bank robber. It’s sex, drugs and rock n roll, literally. The Source Family was a short lived group, but during its short life it found its way into the favor of the Hollywood elite, the vegetarian movement, and psychedelic rock history.