I mentioned to Anne a while back that I'd like to try to upload a few minutes of our family videos of Auburn. We have several hours, of course, but I thought I'd take some snippets of a few that everyone might enjoy. These were dubbed from our old VHS collection, but the video quality is still pretty good.
I figured the easiest way to do it is to upload them onto YouTube, then simply embed them here on this blog. So here below are five of them, with a brief description of each. I'll have more soon.
By the way, if you want to comment on them or just see them on YouTube, go to http://www.youtube.com/ and search "Ely68305". For some reason the user name "68305" was already taken. Interesting. You need to have a free account on YouTube if you want to comment, but not if you want to just view them. Also, if anyone wants to upload their own videos, or delete any spam comments that might appear in the comments section (this is, after all, the Internet), or change anything else, the user name is Ely68305, and the password is "elyfamily". While we can't prevent outsiders from viewing these, I figured the "Ely68305" search parameters would greatly diminish the chances of anyone just happening by.
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First, here is video from 1940 of Dad gunning his way around the living room at Christmas. Cameos of my great grandmother, my Uncle Vince, and a couple of neighborhood kids, along with Dad's folks. No audio on this one, of course:
Smash cut forward to 1964. I arrive home for the first time, and the Elys and Deans are there to greet me. Anne gets to hold me while her nervous mother stands by, and Joe gives his "strong man" greeting (or maybe it was a monkey impression...?) to the camera. Again, no audio:
From May 23, 1990, this is 90 seconds of a lunch we had on G street the day we left for home. It might have been longer, but Grandma, who wasn't overly enthusiastic about having our lunch videotaped, gave me the "cut" signal! Why is this such a treasure? It's one of maybe 10,000 meals that they had in that kitchen over the years, all of them final now. But the brief conversation in this video could be any one of those lunches or dinners, and it might remind you of one or all of them:
Maureen takes center stage here, from 1990, and shows us her mellifluous voice. She gets the giggles half way through, but her talent shines:
And finally, on the farm, rounding up the cattle, then checking for bugs in the field. Chris is here with Grandpa, in his element:
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8 comments:
Oh, John, these are WONDERFUL!!! Thank you so much for posting! What a wonderful treat to be able to see these any time we want!
Yes, Mother was NOT keen on being videotaped during lunch, thus the awkward silence and "cut off" signal - so funny!
Love the singing ones, too - let's cut Maureen some slack for copping a bit of an attitude, she was only eight and under great pressure to perform!! Fun to see.
LOVED the Baby John video as well - you were so darn cute and I'm glad I didn't resist kissing you on the head - multiple times!
Great stuff, John, thanks for sharing!!!
John, awesome!! Wow, is this a neat gift to have on-line!! Thanks so very, very much for taking the time to post these. Gretchen and I are sitting here, just in awe. Thank you.
So much I could say, but I'm nearly speechless. What a gift.
Thanks.
Glad you guys enjoyed them! I had fun watching them again. Hard to believe the most recent ones up there are 17 years old.
I have more, of course, which I will post in the next few days. The dubbing process from VHS takes a little time, but it's worth it!
Stay tuned.
John, I looked at all of these again last night and just loved them. Joe's right, this is an amazing gift you've shared with us.
I do remember holding you that first time. I'd never held a baby before. I don't exactly remember the kissing part (did you note on the video how Mother instructed me to go for your forehead instead of your actual little face?!). But what I do remember is your little hand curling around my finger and thinking, "He knows me! My baby nephew know me!" What fun!
Hadn't thought of that pink dog in years, either. It was a pajama bag.
I'm sure we'll keep going on and on about these. The scene of Daddy and Chris in the field has me speechless. Everything about it, even the sound of the wind, and those wonderful big hands searching out the insects...it's just so wonderful to see it.
I just got to these this morning, and I've loved seeing all of them. Hope everyone else enjoys them as much as we do. Thanks, John, for the time you took to get it up and viewable for everyone. Although I loved them all (Maureen's singing, Mother's piano playing, Mother's cut-off sign that's oh-so-recognizable, Anne and Joe with baby John, Mother's telling Anne exactly where to kiss his head, Joe's mugging for the camera, etc.), I think the greatest treasure is seeing Daddy on his horse rounding up cattle and hearing his voice that we all knew and loved. Anne, I too loved hearing the sound of the wind that is so typical of a summer day out on the farm. These are priceless, John. Thanks so much!
I've told several folks at work about this and they are wanting to see it too.
Yes...the wind, in that field up by the water tower. That was one of Dad's primo hay fields...it drained well and was well suited to good hay production. And the wind. Always the wind out there. The sound captured it, with Dad perfectly situated right there. Perusing the roots, and, wonderfully, involving his then new granddaughter-in-law in the process. Even down to spelling "aphia" for you!!
Awesome...John, thanks.
Joe, I loved the spelling, too, especially from a man not world-famous for his spelling skills!! Incidentally, is "aphia" a plural form of "aphid"? All you linguists out there, please let us know!!
Oh, what a treat! Yes, I cried. Well, just seeing Mother and Daddy and hearing their voices was wonderful. I started with the farm one and loved seeing the overalls as well as the very very familiar setting. Seeing Daddy ride was special too.
All the shots on G Street look very familiar aside from the fact that Mother wasn't sitting in her normal chair (due to the taping I'm sure).
And Baby John--- they all took good care of you. Anne, you were so cute.... and I loved your pony tail.
Maureen has such a sweet voice, and certainly it was the usual type of performance setting. Such fun to hear.
And I also enjoyed little Tommy Dean.... wasn't he cute!!
Thanks John for the effort to post these. They are wonderful!!
Karen
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