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- wSerie
- TV Shows
- Oddity Archive
- Season 0
- Episode 284
Ben Vs. The Cursed U-Matic Tape
Oddity Archive - S0 - E284
A quick experiment evolves (er, devolves) into a borderline documentary…on the subject of cleaning mold off an old ¾” “U-Matic” videotape. And they say OA isn’t mainstream…
Oddity Archive: Season 0 - 67 Episode s
0x234 - Ben's Junk: Ben's Blackhawk Films Collection (minus the videotapes)
September 22, 2022
…or, Ben gets nostalgic for other people’s nostalgia.
0x235 - Ben's Junk: Sony Trinitron PVM-1343MD (Professional Video Monitor)
October 6, 2022
A rather unprofessional look at a truly professional piece of gear. Such is the Archive… And, yes, “Junk” is used in the loosest way possible here.
0x236 - Archive Thrifting #21: We Already Have Halloween At Home
October 20, 2022
Mom, can we buy some Halloween? (see title for answer)
0x237 - Benny M.'s TV Party (Commentary)
October 24, 2022
I think I have some ‘splainin’ to do regarding this one. NOTE: I recorded this back in early June (2022) as a fail-safe in case the thrifting episode I was trying to make fell through. Some of the points discussed here are now outdated.
0x238 - Halloween Special 2022 Blooper Reel
November 3, 2022
…or, as some might call it, “Ben’s Final Descent Into Madness”.
0x239 - Ben's Junk: Telemeter Pay TV Box (Circa 1960)
November 17, 2022
It’s (apparently) a fine line between your TV and a taxi meter…
0x240 - Ben's Junk: Favorite (and/or Notable) Christmas Albums
December 1, 2022
Even old scrooge Benny-boy has those Christmas tunes that get his foot (arrhythmically) a-tappin’.
0x241 - Archive Thrifting #22: Christmas In Elbonia
December 15, 2022
The merriest* thrifting video of the year! *FACT CHECK: Mostly false.
0x242 - Archive Thrifting #23: Holiday Hangover
December 29, 2022
Old year, old junk. Poetic, ain’t it?
0x243 - Magna-Guard (or, Copy-Protection, Vol. 3)
January 5, 2023
And the quest for that form of copy protection that’ll make my VCR burst into flames continues…
0x244 - Ben's Junk: RCA BW003 (1978 Home Video Camera)
January 19, 2023
Please inspect Ben’s Junk for damage before use…and let it warm up for awhile…and don’t point it at anything bright for more than a second or two. You know what, forget it.
0x245 - Ben's Junk: Forbidden KLAK (via the Archer Multiple Video Distribution System)
February 2, 2023
You wanted more Oddity Archive…After Dark? Here ya go. Just don’t expect anything too hot.
0x246 - Ben's Junk: Realistic (Radio Shack) FM Wireless Lavalier Microphone System (Circa 1988)
February 23, 2023
For those looking to up their YouTube microphone game…had such a thing existed in 1988.
0x247 - Ben's Junk: (Some of) Ben's TV-on-DVD Collection
March 9, 2023
For how much TV I watched when I was younger, it’s a wonder my brains didn’t completely leak out of my ears. See the beginning of the de-evolution of Benny-boy here…
0x248 - Ben's Junk: Hitachi Visionbook Pro 7560 Laptop (or, My 1st, failed attempt at a Windows 98 Rig)
March 23, 2023
…because I MUST get my Diamond Rio loaded (ideally, with Diamond Rio songs)!
0x249 - Ben's Junk: Ben's Mad Magazine Stash
April 6, 2023
What—Me Ramble?
0x250 - Noelle's Mystery Tapes (& Channel Update - 4/2023)
April 20, 2023
Some like roses on a date, some like candy. Benny-boy likes uncatalogued analog magnetic media.
0x251 - Ben's Junk: 80's Music Videos (on Laserdisc)
May 4, 2023
Oddity Archive and MTV have a momentary cease-fire to appreciate some 80’s tuneage.
0x252 - Ben's Ugly A/V Rack
May 18, 2023
Hey! Nice rack, Benny-boy! (snicker)
0x253 - Betacam SP (1st Test...From A Newbie's Perspective)
May 22, 2023
A ferric-oxide (or metal, depending on the tape) baptism…by fire.
0x254 - Christmas Morning on a June Evening (or, Mail Day From Tyrone)
June 22, 2023
Hope you have your June tree up (ideally, something deciduous), 'cause we're about to celebrate Christmas in June.
0x255 - Archive Thrifting #24: The Delicate Sound of Thrifting
July 6, 2023
Some things don’t come easy…like the first thrifting video of 2023 (more than halfway into the year, no less).
0x256 - Ben's Junk: X-10 Videosender (another VCR Rabbit-esque device)
July 13, 2023
Coming right at the end of the usefulness for something like this. Let’s see if it’s too little, too late…or right on time.
0x257 - Revenge of the Sony AV-3600 Videocorder (1st Test)
July 20, 2023
Some people’s sinuses come back from Arizona…my AV-3600 came back from Arizona—arguably the same headache.
0x258 - Archive Thrifting #25: 3M (Moderate Minnesota Madness)
August 10, 2023
Celebrating the 25th OA Thrifting video by doing one in Minnesohta, doan ‘cha know?
0x259 - Fix It or Forget It? (NEC S-VHS Deck)
August 10, 2023
It’s everybody’s favorite new (not quite) nerdy game show…Fix It or Forget It!!!
0x260 - Ben's Junk: 1966 (partial) Zenith Phonevision Pay TV Box
August 24, 2023
The Archive phones it in…phoneVISION, that is.
0x261 - Ben's Junk: SelecTV Pay TV Box
September 7, 2023
Oddity Archive®: Only for the most SelecTiVe viewers!
0x262 - Ben's Junk: ClonerAlliance ViewLite AV (Video Capture Device)
September 21, 2023
A little device with a lot of potential…but does it live up to it?
0x263 - Ben's Junk: Sears Du-All Eight (8mm Viewer/Editor)
October 5, 2023
Well, it does du all, I’ll give it that…
0x264 - Archive Thrifting #26: Indian Summer
October 12, 2023
Dragging out the Summer a little longer…whether you like it or not.
0x265 - Ben's Junk: Sharp VL-E47 "Viewcam" (Video8 Camcorder, circa 1995)
November 30, 2023
Oddity Archive®: Now in glorious Hi-Fi Mono!
0x266 - Archive Thrifting #28: Scandalous Santa
December 14, 2023
Just hear those cash tills jing-a-ling’—ring-ting-tinga-ling…
0x267 - Archive Thrifting #29 (Christmas Leftovers)
December 28, 2023
From that part of the Archive that’s a bit like that old take-out in the back of your fridge…that you forgot about.
0x268 - Ben's Junk: Ben's Rifftrax DVD & Blu-Ray Collection
January 4, 2024
Looking at the Rifftrax collection…with only minimal snark…which may very well go against the laws of riff comedy.
0x269 - Ben's Junk: Denon RCD-N10 CD Receiver
January 18, 2024
…because Benny-boy apparently goes through mini stereos like (insert absurdly famous pop star) goes through boyfriends.
0x270 - Ben's Junk: Magnavox H2160MW9 (or, Exploring Someone's Old Personal DVR)
January 25, 2024
The tech geek equivalent of rummaging through someone’s medicine cabinet…
0x271 - Ben's Junk: Wometco Home Theatre (WHT) Pay TV Decoder Box
February 15, 2024
Archiveco Home Theatre®: Now serving Lawn Guyland & New Joisey!
0x272 - Ben’s Junk: ClearClick Video2USB/ A Tour of Ben’s Livestream Setup
February 22, 2024
Some livestreamers run PC games…Benny-boy likes to run Betamax tapes.
0x273 - How To Unstretch Video (via HandBrake)
February 29, 2024
For us old fartknockers that haven’t yet warmed up to stretch-o-vision…
0x274 - Ben's Junk: Laser Video File Laserdisc Catalog (Mid-1992)
March 14, 2024
Thumbing through the catalog of the hottest new video format (by OA standards).
0x275 - Ben's Junk: Some More of Ben's Audiocassette Collection (Mystery Box!)
March 21, 2024
Come on down to Crazy Benny’s for…a bunch of audiocassettes that you probably don’t care about.
0x276 - Magnavox H2160MW9 Personal DVR/DVD Recorder UPDATE (A Failure)
March 28, 2024
Trying to bulk dump the contents of the DVR. Here’s how NOT* to do it… *No Hard Drives were harmed in the making of this episode. It was reinstalled and all material is still 100% intact.
0x277 - Ben's Junk: Videolok (VCR Anti-Theft Device)
April 11, 2024
Inconvenience and mildly annoy those evil VCR thieves with the Videolok!
0x278 - Ben's Junk: Rhoades Teledapter (TV Stereo Simulator)
April 18, 2024
Don’t wanna wait for Stereo TV’s to be invented? Here ya go!
0x279 - Windows 98 Laptop Update (4/2024)
April 25, 2024
The saga continues. On and on…and on…and on…
0x280 - CD Rot Rant
May 9, 2024
Benny-boy’s (non-accredited) Physical Media Studies class is now in session!
0x281 - Ben A.'s Mystery Tapes (A Not-So-Livestream)
May 16, 2024
An unintentional episode of Oddity Archive…After Dark…in the most literal sense.
0x282 - Windows 98 Laptop Update (5/2024) (She Lives!)
May 23, 2024
Ben christens his newly-functional laptop…by playing a little Slim Whitman.
0x283 - Ben's Junk: Whole House FM Transmitter 3.0
June 20, 2024
Ben’s 3(.0)rd attempt at FM, Part 15-legal microbroadcasting! Let’s see if it’s the charm…
0x284 - Ben Vs. The Cursed U-Matic Tape
June 27, 2024
A quick experiment evolves (er, devolves) into a borderline documentary…on the subject of cleaning mold off an old ¾” “U-Matic” videotape. And they say OA isn’t mainstream…
0x285 - Archive Thrifting #30: Wet Fireworks
July 4, 2024
Spend the 4th of July the American way…shopping for junk.
0x286 - Ben's Junk: A Tower of Vidicraft
July 11, 2024
(with apologies to Frank Sinatra) …’cause it’s Vidicraft, wicked Vidicraft. And, although I know it’s strictly taboo…
0x287 - Quasar Great Time Machine (Round 2?)
August 1, 2024
After making the Great Time Machine episodes in 2023, I was offered another unit in exchange for transferring some tapes. I may not have gotten the better part of that deal.
0x288 - Ben's Junk: My First DVD's
August 8, 2024
Something I never thought I’d have…warm, gooey nostalgia for the Y2K era.
0x289 - Ben's Junk: JamC@m Digital Camera
August 15, 2024
A trip back to the late-90’s. Of course, that means being unnecessarily EXTREEEEME!!!! (insert dorky camera zoom)
0x290 - Archive Thrifting #31: Summer's End
August 22, 2024
The little brats are finally back in school. Let’s go thrifting…
0x291 - More Fun With Moldy U-Matic Tapes
September 5, 2024
Mold®: Now available in yellow and brown!
0x292 - Ben's Junk: :CueCat Barcode Scanner
September 12, 2024
Truly from the audiovisual litterbox, an impractical solution to a problem that didn’t/doesn’t exist. Or, Benny-boy officially becomes a cat herder...and hoarder.
0x293 - Ben's Junk: Sencore "Little Huey" Test Pattern Generator
September 19, 2024
A color bar generator called “Little HUEy”. No, it’s not a Norm MacDonald joke…I think.
0x294 - Ben's Junk: Casio CMD-10 watch
October 10, 2024
Keep losing that remote control? Perhaps there’s just too many gosh-darn buttons? We’ve got a (borderline-toy) solution for you!
0x295 - Ben's Junk: Laserviews Laserdisc Magazines
October 17, 2024
I set out to discuss laserdiscs and wound up on a tear about various movies. Ain’t that always the way?
0x296 - Archive Thrifting #32: Halloween Hootenanny
October 24, 2024
Grab yer pardner, do-si-do…and go thrifting with ol’ Benny-boy!
0x297 - Halloween Special 2023 (Season of the Wince) (Commentary)
October 28, 2024
Discussing the great swindle that is my little parody of “Halloween III”…and mustaches.
0x298 - Ben's Junk: Realistic (Radio Shack) Astronaut 8 Radio
November 9, 2024
A radio that’ll send you into outer space…8 times!
0x299 - Ben's Junk: Down Beat Magazine (10/23/1975)
November 14, 2024
An Up Beat (by my standards) look at an issue of Down Beat magazine. Now, excuse me while I clap out-of-rhythm…
0x300 - Ben’s Junk: Thanksgiving Traditions (and not-so-traditions)
November 21, 2024
You can get anything you want at Benny-boy’s (non-existent) Restaurant…
Oddity Archive: All seasons
S0: Specials
300 Episode s
S1: Season 1
26 Episode s
S2: Season 2
26 Episode s
S3: Season 3
26 Episode s
S4: Season 4
24 Episode s
S5: Season 5
24 Episode s
S6: Season 6
25 Episode s
S7: Season 7
22 Episode s
S8: Season 8
24 Episode s
S9: Season 9
23 Episode s
S10: Season 10
22 Episode s
S11: Season 11
23 Episode s
S12: Season 12
16 Episode s
S13: Season 13
4 Episode s