Huntington Tri-State Video Rental Stores - Be Kind! Rewind!
Join W.G. & Vanessa for a DVD/VHS journey! W.G. watching Kiss videos with Olympian Carl Lewis?!!!
Welcome to the Huntington Tri-State Time Machine, sponsored by Realty Exchange.
I'm your host WG Bunch. This is a podcast where my guests and I share our memories of the Huntington Tri-State Area. Huntington, West Virginia, Ashland, Kentucky, Chesapeake, Ohio. Nothing too serious, no political views, and no ulterior motives. We're just here to share our fun stories about this great area.
Whether you're a past resident or a current Tri-State resident, I think you're going to have fun with us.
So sit back and relax and welcome to The Huntington Tri-State Time Machine, sponsored by Realty Exchange.
If you have a memory you would want me to talk more about, just send me an email at TSTM@mail.com. Or post a comment on the Tri-State Machine FB Group page.
Realty Exchange is the top-performing real estate company in the Tristate area, which covers Huntington, West Virginia, Ashland, Kentucky, and Chesapeake and Proctorville, Ohio.
When you are selling, buying, or looking for investment properties, your first stop is Realty Exchange. And let us know what you think about the podcast!
Copyright 2024 Vanessa Hankins
Transcript
This is The Huntington Tri-State Time Machine brought to you by Realty Exchange, the top performing real estate company in the Huntington, West Virginia, Tri-State area. Each week, your host, W. G. Bunch, and his guests share memories and stories about the past, the present, and the future of the Huntington, Tri-State area. That's Huntington, West Virginia, Ashland, Kentucky, and the Chesapeake and Proctorville, Ohio areas. If you used to live here or you currently live here, you're going to catch yourself saying out loud, Wow, I remember that. Now here's WG.
[:Hey, hey. Hey, what's happening? Oh, my gosh, you are back again? We can't believe it. We love it. We love it. Here we are. There you are. It's The Huntington, tri-state-time machine. I am talking in rhythm. I don't know why. W. G. Bunch, your host, and I've got good news. Boy, I've got good news. Guess who else is here? Are you.
[:Waiting for me not to come back?
[:It's Vanessa Hankins in the house. I'm shot out of a cannon today. I don't know what's going on. It's been a beautiful day. Vanessa, how are you? I'm good. How are you? I'm doing great. All right, we are recording this the very, very, very end of August. Hard to tell when you guys are listening to this, but as you all know, Vanessa is the safety town queen.
[:And safety town- I need a shirt.
[:That says that. -safety town is up and.
[:Rolling, correct? We are. We are rolling. Today was a.
[:Wild day. How many kids have been run over so far in the first week?
[:We're four days in, and I think two kids have gotten hit.
[:That's all. That's good. Hold on.
[:Usually, it's two kids at class, so we're doing good.
[:Dude, oh my gosh. Yeah, back in my days, we had tricycles, where it was like, if you got hit by a tricycle, you were just exceptionally slow.
[:Well, the cars are not that slow, so it's easy to get hit. But yeah, kids, I'm going to chalk it up to COVID and kids being out, because this age group that's coming through right now are the original OGs that did not get preschool.
[:Oh, okay.
[:Got you. There is some disconnect on reality of that.
[:Will hurt. I can understand that. Okay, I understand.
[:This should be an interesting.
[:School year. Yeah, cool. All right, well, we've got the Safety Town Queen. Hey, you know what? Everybody says you need to say something about it. I'll say it. I don't care. Yeah, I'm in the real estate business, folks, 304-633-3950. Let me give a special shout out and thank you to all of my Huntington High School classmates from back in the '80s and people who would listen to the show, and they are contacting me and saying, Hey, I need to move mom out of the house we grew up in. I need to move dad into a smaller house. That's what I do. 304-633-3950 special shout out also to Realty Exchange. Tell us about Realty Exchange, Vanessa.
[:Realty Exchange, the top selling real estate company in the Huntington, tri-state area, licensed in West Virginia, Ohio, Kentucky, and Florida. Find us online at realty-ex.
[:Com. And Circle 270 Media, that's our podcast company. They make it happen. They put in all the razzle-dazzle special effects, they edit it. They're the ones that listen and go, Not a good one. Or they listen and go, That was good.
[:It's always shocking, one way or the other.
[:I know. We never know. I know. Circle270 Media is the one that's like, As long as Vanessa stays on, you'll be okay. Take care of us. Now, here's what we're talking about today. This is something that is going to be a little unique because we're not really talking about one place. But back in the day, and I hope you don't get offended. I don't want to disclose anything. I am in my 50s. Vanessa is in her 30s. Our video experiences are different as far as when you want to watch a movie. And that's what we're talking about today. We're going to be talking about... I'm going to sound like grandpa with a pipe next to the fireplace. You really are. I'm sure. I know where I'm like... And then what you would do is you go down to the store and you'd say, Do you have back to the future? They'd say, Oh, it's already rented out. Before you knew it, you would leave the video store with Halloween 3. You'd say, I don't even want to watch this movie, but it's the only one they have left.
[:You can't leave empty ended.
[:No. You can't. Of course not. We're going to talk about the video stores of yesteryear and a little bit about streaming today. It's just been a.
[:Crazy… I was going to say mine is going to be a little while because with my age being 37, I've gone through several. I got to do the Blockbusters. We had a mom and pop where I lived, and then we moved into the mail-in service where you get a DVD in the mail, and then it goes...
[:So I've read a lot. Now, do you know the infamous story about Blockbuster and Netflix?
[:No. I think I've watched a documentary, so maybe.
[:I do. I don't know. Okay, yeah, Netflix was, when they started, it was, You got to go to the machine and you have to rent them.
[:And something like that. Yes, so that's the... Yeah.
[:And they approached Blockbuster and said, Would you like to buy us? And Blockbuster said, Nope. We are going to put you under. You are our competition.
[:Who's.
[:Laughing now? We have no interest in inquiring you. We're going to show you who's boss. One of the most catastrophic mistakes.
[:Big.
[:Mistake. In America, American business history. For sure. Yeah, and there are several documentaries out there. But yeah, Blockbuster had a chance, and they went, No, that's okay.
[:So what we're- Sometimes you think you know things, and sometimes you're wrong.
[:That's me every day when I wake up. Every day I wake up, I think I know what is going on. And then by the time I'm in the shower, I'm like, What is going on? Anyway. All right, so we're going to talk about videos. Hey, where did you get them? Your favorite movies? We are doing a giveaway. Let me talk to you real quick about this give away. We're doing a dozen Stewart's Hot Dogs shipped to wherever you are. So you don't have to be here in Huntington. You don't have to go pick them up or anything. We will ship them to you. But what you need to do is you need to get on our Facebook page for the Huntington, Tri-State Time machine and give us your number one, funniest movie. What brings you to tears because you laugh so much? There's no wrong answer. So you don't have to worry about like, Well, I don't know. What am I supposed to say? Whatever you say, we'll be doing a drawing from everybody that submits an answer. Let's see, what is today?
[:The 30th?
[:It is the 30th, yes. Let's go. I don't want to put it off too long. You guys have until what do you think, a week? What do you.
[:Think it's for? I was going to say let's do the 15th because this should probably be out and have some air time by then.
[:Okay.
[:We'll- That way if someone's missing the Facebook post and they hear this, they're like, Oh, they have a Facebook. Let's go check.
[:That out. September 15th. Yes, my sister's birthday. That is when you have to submit. And then when we record our next show, we will announce the winner, and we'll ship them to you wherever you are. And thanks to John, Matt, and everybody at Stewart for helping us out with that giveaway. But now let's dive into the videos. All right, let me ask you, do you remember the first home video you ever watched? Whether it was on a.
[:Cassette or- A VHS, whatever. Yeah. I think...
[:Oh, this is going to be.
[:A classic. Well, I'm-.
[:Tell me. You got us now.
[:Dirty dancing.
[:Dirty dancing, really? Dirty dancing on VHS, yeah. Wow, that's my answer. No, I'm just kidding.
[:But then we also had Beauty and the Beast on VHS. Those were the two that.
[:We had. Dirty dancing and Beauty and the Beast. Yeah. Why do I picture a house full of people dancing around on their toes?
[:Wow. You met me completely.
[:Holy smoley. Yeah, I think the first one I ever watched was... Gosh, and this would have been 1980 or 79, or something like that. And one of our neighbors got a Betamax. Do you know what Betamax is? No. You know what a VHS is? Yes. Sony had their own machine called a Betamax. Yeah, just like Apple Watch and Android, they were the same. The Betamax tapes were a little bit smaller, but it was the same thing. Anyway, they got a Betamax player, and they had one of those huge... I mean, it was a big-screen TV, but it was like a tube television, so it was three feet deep. Yes. It was as big as a car.
[:We had one as a hand me down from Brandon's aunt in our first apartment.
[:And they're awesome. They're awesome.
[:We thought it was great. We were like, We have a big screen. We're so poor. It's four-foot long.
[:Yeah. And I don't know how big this gargantuan thing was, but it was huge. And yes. And the first movie I saw was Alien. And it was cool to watch it and stuff. And then I don't remember the first one we ever actually owned, because I think we rented mostly. Now, did you rent movies at your age? You were a Blockbuster.
[:Girl, right? Well, so we actually had this little video store in Chesapeake, and my brother work there called the Video Shack.
[:Where is that?
[:It was in Chesapeake. But where? Right downtown where Giovanni is. Giovanni is still there, I believe.
[:That's not the same as Kit Carson. What is that? Kitt Carson was in Proctorville. Maybe.
[:I don't know.
[:I lived in Proctorville for a while, and they had a video store called Kit Carson. And it was a video store. All of the movies are lined up on the shelves. But they also sold fireworks.
[:We did not have fireworks at.
[:Our little videos. Yeah, and yes, my wife at the time was never pleased because I would come home with a movie and a hundred dollars worth of Roman candles. She's like, What the hell are you doing? What the fuck is going on? I know. I'm like, Well, if we're going to watch Empire strikes back every time I was going to set off fireworks to make it more real. She's like, You're an idiot. Anyway, okay, so the place in Chesapeake was called what again?
[:It's called the.
[:Video Shack. The Video Shack.
[:Yeah, and it's like this little... I don't know if it's still there now. I need to drive to Chesapeake to find out. But it was funny because my brother, love my brother's heart, but he is flamboyantly gay. He is the best human in the entire world. At that point in time, obviously we knew, but I don't know how many people other than that knew. Okay. So he would come home just irate, pissed from work. I'm like, What is wrong with you? And he's like, These stupid movies, I'm so sick of wrapping them. I don't. I'm like.
[:What are you talking about? What do you mean, wrapping them in like-I'm.
[:Like, What are you talking about? I'll go help you. I want to hang out at the video store. That seems cool to have a job. Right. I go down, and one of his main things that he would do on his shift was you would take the VHS box. They had a styrofoam insert that was the shape of the VHS. Put the cell around them, and you would take a heat gun or a blow dryer to seal it up. Oh, really? The employees did that. Really? He did that, yes. Oh, wow. And he hated it because he'd always burn himself, and he'd be pissed. And throwing such a fit with his dramatic ass. Always, always throwing a fit about these stupid boxes.
[:See, I remember going to these videos. In the Huntington area, the ones I remember, we used to be able to go to like, Right Aid Pharmacy, and you could rent movies at the drugstore. And what they wouldWhat? And what they did is they had a picture, one of those old school scrap books, and it was just paid-You're.
[:Flipping they're like.
[:A cake. Yeah, and they had little dividers in them, comedy, drama, horror.
[:So just like a.
[:Cakebook, we were on a cake. And it was just the cover art of the thing. And of course, and you'd have some, I hope I don't offend anybody who worked there back then, but you'd have some pimply-faced 17-year-old, and you're like, Do you have this? And they're like, Let me go look at that. It's gone.
[:Uh-uh, it's... I was going to say, How many times would you go through the book and they would be gone? Because that system does not seem efficient.
[:Then eventually you leave with a movie that you're like, I don't even think we really want to watch this. I remember one time me and my buddy left, and we didn't even realize it. We were like, We have just rented a movie called Monster Dog. What? What was that? It was a.
[:Horror- I have to Google that.
[:It was a horror movie with Alice Cooper, the singer.
[:Monster Dog.
[:And it was awful. It sounds terrible. But it was something where it was just like every.
[:Movie that we- 1986 Spanish horror film.
[:What? Every movie that we landed on that-.
[:Everyone, stop what you're doing.
[:Please look this up.
[:It is awful.
[:Every movie that we landed on was like, It's already out. It's already out. It's already out. We're like, Well, we like Alice Cooper, I guess. We rented a movie called Monster Dog. Awful.
[:It looks terrible.
[:It was terrible.
[:I'm probably going to watch it, to be honest.
[:We have been doing this contest online where we have been asking people for their number one, the funniest movie, the one that brings them to tears, makes them pee in their pants.
[:The one that you watch every.
[:Time it's on. Yes, exactly. And again, we're going to keep running this for another couple of weeks. That's all we need. We just want... What's your favorite?
[:We need to see if you're likable. Do you have good humor? Why are you.
[:Listening to us? Yeah, exactly. Well, if you don't have good humor, no reason why you probably are listening to us because you're like, God, these guys are terrible. Anyway, all right, so number one so far, we've been running it for only a few days. What do you think the number one answer is? Just take... I mean, it's a movie from the '70s.
[:I literally have no idea. I know that you've been telling me people have been airplane.
[:Airplane is number one so far. Yes, airplane is number one.
[:Now, do you think it's really because I don't think that movie is that funny. Do you really think it's funny, or do you think it's because it's just one of.
[:Those movies? Get out. Get out of the studio.
[:I don't think it's that funny.
[:Get out of this studio. Are you kidding me?
[:I feel like people just go with other people. They're like, Yeah, everybody loves it, so I love it. It's like a cult following.
[:All right, again, I know I'm the old dude. When the movie came out, there was nothing like it before.
[:That makes sense.
[:The whole thing is you watch a comedy or any movie these days, and you can go, This is like that other movie.
[:Absolutely.
[:You're right. Airplane was so like, you just didn't know.
[:What-something like it.
[:-what was going on that you were like, What is happening? That's not my number one.
[:It's.
[:Not your number one. I will disclose my number one, but what is your number one?
[:I'm not a comedy girl, so nobody come at me like W. G. Is doing. I'm not a comedy girl. I'm a horror film lover. That's my go-to. What brings me calm is- Horror? -crime. I went... I want true crime. I want horror. I want Jason. I want Freddie.
[:I want all the things. Brandon, sleep with one eye open.
[:He knows. He's aware. But my favorite comedy, Major Pain, the go-to, makes me laugh. Major Pain?
[:Yes. Damon Wayne.
[:Fricking hilarious. It's never not funny.
[:I don't think I've ever even seen it. What? I don't think I've ever seen.
[:Major Pain. Yeah, it's hilarious. So funny. I wish that I could get by with the Shableys.
[:In the movie. I could have guessed 200 guesses, and that would not have been- That wouldn't have been it. Holy... Well, I guess I know what I'm going to be watching this weekend. Major Pain with Damon Wayne. Yeah. Okay. All right. Whoa. Totally threw me for a curveball there. Holy small. All right, my favorite, of course... Well, not of course, but have you seen The Jerk?
[:No. No. I've seen people talk about it, but I've never seen it. So I need to do that this weekend because.
[:They're on my list. The Jerk.
[:Is- Have Monday off.
[:I'll watch Monday. -that's the movie that I saw and went, I would love to be able, in my lifetime, to make people laugh. Right. Because it was a life-changing thing where it was like, Steve Martin-.
[:Which is a very funny dude still to this day.
[:Yeah, and the whole thing was just like, the power of making people laugh, I was like, That's pretty awesome.
[:It is awesome. That's a trait I'm jealous of in anyone that's funny.
[:There are probably 50 other second place runner-ups, but the jerk was the one that I watched and went, First of all, I can't believe he just said that. First of all, I can't believe they just did that. Third of all, I can't believe that... Is it okay for me to be laughing at this?
[:Oh, so it's one of the... See, I do need to watch that then.
[:Yeah, we've had a couple votes for Blazing Saddles and Mel Brooks movies and something like Spaceballs, Mel Brooks is a... But anyway, but those are the movies. Let's get back to the Huntington, Tri-Stay, Time Machine thing. Those are the movies that we would go try to rent, but they weren't there.
[:They weren't.
[:There, yeah. They would have one copy. And it was like, Well, so you don't have this? And I remember... What is the name of that place? Movie Max. I wrote it down. Thank you, Alligator Jackson, for reminding me because I texted Gator. And he was-He.
[:Knows all.
[:Huntington things. Yes, and he was called Movie Max. We would go to Movie Max, and for some reason, they would only have one copy of each movie, even a new movie. And so there would be like, Well, can I rent this movie?
[:And they're like-So it was like a Mom and Pop's Place, or was.
[:It a chain? I think it was Mom and Pop. I don't know if it was Mom and...
[:I don't think that- Because I'm imagining, because I've never given a thought before until literally doing this. But I bet it was expensive to get these copies, and then if someone ruins.
[:It- Here's the other great thing about those back then, is you would rent them for a $1.99. You.
[:Had to rewind them.
[:Yes. But also, you could ask, How much does it cost if I want to buy it?
[:And.
[:I'm not.
[:Exaggerating it. That was never an option.
[:At the store I went to. And what they would do is they would- Unless.
[:We were just that poor.
[:They knew better. You can rent them a dollar 99, or if you want, you want to buy? Yeah. How much does it cost to buy? I'm not kidding. 79.99. Shut up. They had some crazy price. I guess that's how much they had to pay because of licensing. I don't.
[:Know what- I was going to say with.
[:Licensing, maybe. But that was really the deal. Because I remember the clerk would look at you going, Are you sure you want to buy this? Right. Well, how much is it? They're like, $89.99. And you're like-.
[:Hell, no, I don't want.
[:To buy it. No, I'm not buying it. And it was like, No, wrong. That's wild. I guess they looked at it as, We'll rent it two dollars a day within a month. We've made our investment back. But if somebody wants to buy it, they need to pay whatever it's going to, because we'll have to order.
[:Another one. We have.
[:To buy another one. But yeah, because I remember, we were always just like, Why is this so damn expensive?
[:Yeah, that's crazy. I didn't even know that was an option.
[:We also used to rent our movies at Right Aid at 7/11. They had a convenience store. What? You could rent movies there, and they would bring out a scrapbook looking thing, and there's the same deal. It's like, okay, we'll take... And the person would get... Andyay, or like, This is not what I want to be doing with my life.
[:Oh, I'm sure. Could you imagine just sitting there while people were making.
[:Up their mind? Yeah, because it's not like they had a big shelf behind them. Right. I don't remember, but I don't think they had to physically leave and go look. But it was like they were under the counter.
[:Or something like that.
[:Yeah, that makes sense. But it was a total pain. And they were like, We don't have that one. We don't have that one. We don't have that one.
[:My to you is, did your little places, and I'm assuming not the little ride-aids and things like that, did you have the secret place in the back? Video shack had the little.
[:Curtains drawn. Yeah, called the beaded curtain.
[:Yeah, yeah.
[:Yes, some of those stores had the, quote-unquote, beaded curtain, and everybody knew it was like, You know it's back there. That's where the perverts go. That's where Crocadileon D is. That's where...
[:Yeah. That just almost spit my Red Bull.
[:All over W. D. That was... You know it's back there. , yeah, back to the Tusher. It's like, Wait, what? What is that movie? And you're like, Wait... I've already stepped in the hole. I might as well go ahead and keep it. I might as well just walk right in. Yeah, and it was something where when you're a teenage guy, you're like, Huh, what is this back here? Let me just see, because I don't quite understand. Oh, my, look at this.
[:Well, it was so funny because there.
[:Was- And they never carded you. Right. I had a friend who I don't think listens to this show. He lives on the West Coast. I don't think he listens. I haven't talked him forever.
[:His thing was.
[:He was a total jerk, first of all. I went to school with him, but he was- My.
[:Friend was.
[:An asshole. He was the jerk that all of us went. I don't even know why we're friends.
[:With him. That's my husband. He's that guy in.
[:The group. And what he would do is he would go to video stores and open an account under the name... It was Darren Stevens. Darren Stevens is the husband on bewitched. Yes. He was only 17. We were all 17. He would open an account at 17 years old, and there we go. Okay, we need your ID. They would not.
[:Double-check anything.
[:No, they don't care. He just filled out the card. And then what he would do is this jerk, he would rent five movies.
[:And not.
[:Bring them back. And never bring, because he put a fake address, and Darren Stevens. And before he knew it, he had this catalog of VHS tapes.
[:I was going to say he has his.
[:Own collections. Yeah, and we were like... And... It was-.
[:That's scary that at 17 here, he already had the mindset for that.
[:And you felt dirty. You were like, This is not right.
[:He's the OG pirate.
[:We were like, This is not right. But sure enough, you'd go over to his house, and he's like, What do you want to watch? And we're like.
[:Well- Yeah, we want to.
[:Hang out with him. -might as well go ahead and watch something because you have all these movies.
[:Right. And we didn't have to pay two night in for them.
[:Yeah, Darren Stevens. Oh, my good gravy. All right, now let me get you- That's hilarious. We're getting ready to play a game, but let me... All right, let me tell you my... This doesn't really have any... Folks, you'll never forget this story.
[:I've been dying to hear.
[:This story. You'll never forget this story. This is my favorite video story. Okay, I'm a freshman at the University of Houston. I got to move in early at the dorms. It was two weeks before classes started. Ultra nice guy named Louis lived on my floor. Louis came down, introduced himself. Hey, I'm Louis. I live on the floor. Nice to meet you. Where are you from? He was from Denton, Texas. I'm from West Virginia. When I was in Houston, one of my things is I was like a novelty. I was like a little animal from a zoo because people were like, I've never met anybody from West Virginia.
[:You've never met anyone from West Virginia?
[:And I'm like, Yep. And then, sure enough, a lot of people just would call me West Virginia. That happens.
[:Like so much. I know it. Isn't that odd?
[:And they're like, What's up, West Virginia? And I'm like, Hey, how are you doing? But anyway, so this guy, Louis, he was like, Yeah. He goes, I'll tell you what, I'm having some friends over to my dorm room to watch a movie tonight. Welcome to come over. I didn't have any friends or anybody. I was like, Heck, yeah, awesome. And I had... I was lucky enough, I had a corner room in the dorms, and I could hang up all of my favorite posters and stuff. You had all of them. And I had kiss posters all the time. I would just say kiss everywhere. And of course, and Lewis, ultra cool black dude is like, Is this Kiss the Band? Because Kiss did not wear makeup in the '80s. And he was like, Why don't they have makeup on? And I was like, They don't wear makeup anymore. He was like, I didn't know that. And so he said, Well, come down and watch a movie with us.
[:Do you have- He was getting a feel for you. He was like, Why does he have all these boys on his wall?
[:Yeah, I had a Samantha Fox poster here and there and stuff. But anyway, that's a different story. But anyway, and hes like, Do you have a kiss video or anything? I was like, Oh, my eyes got big. I was like, Yes, I have a kiss video. I have a 90-minute kiss. It's like a spinal tap type. He was like, Yeah, bring it. I was like, Oh.
[:These are my people.
[:And so I go down to his dorm room and there's five people in there. And they're like... And Louis is like, This is West Virginia, W. G. And of course, they were like, W. G? West Virginia doesn't start with W. G? And I was like, Well, my name is W. G. And they were nice. They were all University of Houston athletes on the swim team and on the track team and stuff. One of- Why did they want to hang with you? Well, they're not hanging out with me. They're hanging out with Louis. Oh, okay. Louis was on the track team. And Lewis was like, This is so and so and so and so and so and so.
[:Louis is a stand up dude. He's letting you be.
[:Friends about this man. And he's like, And this is Carl. I looked and I went, Holy shit, that's Carl Lewis.
[:Like the Olympian.
[:The Olympian who went to the University of Houston. And I was like, I've been in Houston for less than a week. I was like, Is this how works? How many others are saying? Am I cool now? I'm shaking hands with Carl Lewis, and I was like, Hey. He's very quiet, very cool. I knew not to go, Aren't you? Are you Carl Lewis? Right. He was just like... And I was like-.
[:Because none of them were impressed by him.
[:That's just their friend. Yeah, exactly. My head is going crazy. I was like, I think I'm getting ready to watch a movie with Carl Lewis. Yeah. Now let me say this from here on out. I am not making any comments on anything. The movie that they said, and they were like, All right, West Virginia, are you sure you're ready? I was like- Oh, no. I'm nervous. I was nervous. I was like, What movie is this going to... It was the great female impersonator pageant of 1986. I am in this dorm room with these dudes, and with Carl Lewis. Oh, shit. I was like, What? What is happening? And of course, when it first starts and stuff, they're like, West Virginia? You all right? I was like, I'm fine.
[:Yeah, I'm good. I fit in here.
[:No problem. I mean, the whole group, nice as they could be. Carl Lewis had very little... I think he also was very uncomfortable because he didn't know me. Kids, this is way before internet. No one had a cell phone, nothing. You can't take a photo or anything. I'm just in there watching the great female in person, they're a picture of Carl Lewis. And I was like, What is happening in my life right now? And we did. And we watched it. And at the end, they like, Okay, pause, pause. And everybody is... Okay, who do you think? And they're going around the room going, I think number four.
[:You guys are picking.
[:Your winner. And they're like, West Virginia, what do you think? And I was like, I'm guessing the goal is who looks at the most like a woman. Is that the thing? I guess. They're like, You just getting this?
[:West Virginia is 100 years.
[:Behind, folks. I was like, Number four, I guess. Okay, number four. And I have no idea who won. And there I was. And then at the end, I thought, There is no way they're going to want to watch Kiss, Exposed. Sure enough.
[:Oh.
[:They were into it. There was a ringleader. It was not Louis and it was not Carl Lewis. But this guy was like, All right, where's the Kiss video? I was like, Right a roll. Holy hell.
[:You did find your people. You found your people at that moment.
[:I was like, I'm going to be watching a Kiss video with five Houston athletes, including Carl Lewis. And sure enough, popped... And the TV was one of those little 12-inch screens.
[:Right. Like a dorm.
[:Room size. Yeah, small thing. And we watched the whole damn thing, and.
[:They're asking-.
[:90 minutes. -and they're asking me questions.
[:You were living.
[:Your best life. I was in heaven. Oh, I guarantee. They were like, Okay, wait, hold on. Pause, pause, pause, pause, pause, pause. So that gene said... They don't all stick their tongue out, only that guy sticks his tongue. I was like, I can't believe... I'm like, I can't believe I'm having this conversation. This is crazy. And Carl Lewis-.
[:All of your phantom came full circle in.
[:That moment. It was like... And again, I'd only been there for a few days, and I was like, My life is only going to get better.
[:This is going to be the best college experience ever.
[:And it was. For those of you who know Kiss, and I don't know if it's changed, but at that point, Carl Lewis's favorite Kiss song is a song called Tears Are Falling. Oh, no. Tears are falling. Because in the video, they play the music videos. I remember Carl Lewis going, I do like this song.
[:I do like.
[:This one. I was like, Carl Lewis likes Tears Are Falling. This is like a kiss too. The next day, I call one of my buddies back here in Hunting.
[:They.
[:Didn't believe you did that. No, I was like, Guess what happened? What? I watched Kiss, Exposed. I was with Carl Lewis last night, and they were like, Okay, what else? How's everything else? I was like, No, no, no. Back up. Yeah, they were like, Okay, what else? I was like... That's it. That's the story.
[:I was like.
[:Are you... You're not impressed? They're like, I guess. I'm like, Are you crazy? You don't get it. And that has nothing to do with a local video store. Oh, it's.
[:A video experience.
[:Because it was on that clunky VHS tape.
[:And that's the thing. Video stores created experiences. When Brandon and I first started dating, we rented movies at Blockbuster.
[:And the great thing about VHS tapes and Betamax tapes and stuff is that it's not like streaming where you just hit it with your finger, and it's like, Okay, now all of a sudden, we're an hour and a half.
[:The previews were the best.
[:Yeah, and the other thing is it's like, Okay, well, let's fast forward. Fast forward was...
[:Yes. Your sound effects are like, accurate.
[:And you couldn't really tell. Sometimes you had a little gage that was like, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding. Right. And then, and then...
[:It's scary how good your sound effects are.
[:They're about the VCR. And then God forbid that you would start wherever you were, and then it would be a movie where it would be like, Okay, now let's move. You're like, No, it's getting tough. It's stuck in the Blaire. Inject. And you hit inject, and all of a sudden, you've got a massive tape and you're going.
[:Holy crap. Yeah, you get the thumb and twist.
[:So there you go. All right. I know I took you down to that story. That's one of my favorite stories that.
[:I have. That's an awesome story.
[:Carl Lewis.
[:And- How many? Like nine gold medals or something like that?
[:It was a ton. Something crazy? This was in 1987. He went to '88 Olympics and won more. But 84 is when he dominated. Killed it. Yeah. And he was followed by a guy named Leroy Burrell, who also was a University of Houston track star. What is Houston.
[:Doing down there?
[:They're thinking they're kids, man. They got Fast Dude. No kidding. They got Fast Dude. But anyway, yes, that's my favorite video story. And before we leave, I think hopefully everybody, maybe you all can relate to this. This is a generational gap thing. Before my mom passed, and my dad lives with me, it took forever to educate them on the fact that they still were in that mindset of what's on TV. Yes. And you're like, Everything is on TV. What do you want to watch? It's all out there. And they're like, Well, it's seven o'clock, and I got to watch this, or 85, or, Oh, and the family's not on anymore.
[:And you're like- And dinner time goes by the wheel. Like, dinner, yeah.
[:Exactly. And so it's like, Well, I remember my mom getting completely blown away. I'm like, Mom, what's your favorite show of all time? And she'd be like, Mash or something like that. And I'm like, And I would hook up my computer or do a Chromecast thing or something. And we're watching Mash. It was like, I was a magician. Mind-bland. Yeah. She was like, How are you doing this? And I was like, Just don't ask questions. Whatever you want to watch. Just enjoy it.
[:Magic, whatever it is.
[:Just enjoy it. Yes, all you little young whipper-snappers, you guys are.
[:So spoiled at. Well, and something that I found out this past year, and well, this didn't happen this past year, but I found out this past year looking into it. When my parents' house had burnt down, we lost all of our VHS recordings. Remember everybody running around with the camcorders? Christmas, holidays, all that. Oh no, that's awful. Well, so we had something that we saved. I started looking into like, can we get these put on an SD drive, whatever, the cloud, I don't care, whatever. It is so expensive to have those digitized. Is it really? Oh, yeah, because it's trendy. If it's trendy, it's expensive.
[:Hey, if you all have some insight on somebody who does that for a good price, let us know. Do you still.
[:Have the videos? Yeah, and now also, Meemaw Hankins is going through all of her old VHSs and handing them down to us and stuff. So we're definitely looking into that. Let us know.
[:Yeah, because that stuff disintegrates. Yes. I mean, it's a physical forum that all of a sudden it's like you put it in. I tried to listen to some audio casettes that I recorded years ago. I tried to do that a few months ago, and. And I was like, Damn it. Well, I had.
[:To buy a DVD player the other day for work. Dvd players don't even come with an actual plug in anymore. It's the HTML core, like phones come. You have to go buy yourself.
[:The plug. Yes.
[:What is that? What is this world we live in? It's wild.
[:Yes. All right. So if you have any questions, you can visit Vanessa or myself at the nursing home.
[:Yeah.
[:For sure. We'll be there. Yeah, that's where we're. Don't interrupt us during pudding time. It's my favorite. Because we like our tapioca and our snack pack, Jell-Os. All right, that's it. You all need to vote for your funniest movie. We Yeah, make some recommendations.
[:I want to see some of these that I've.
[:Never heard of. We have Major Pain and we have The Jerk, and you can look online and you can see everybody else's votes as well.
[:Watch Anchor Man, too, if you haven't done that. Anchor Man is the best.
[:Yes, I have an Anchorman poster in my man cave.
[:So you're a fan of Will Ferrell?
[:I.
[:Am. He is the best.
[:Everyone come look at me. Look how good I look. I do.
[:That every month. My favorite is I love lamp.
[:Rick, are you just saying that you love lamp? I love lamp. Yes. Anyway, all right. It's the best. We're not stepping anymore of Rabbit Holes. Thanks for listening. We got a bunch of other episodes. We got more coming up. Vote on your favorite comedy we want to hear from here. We're going to be giving away those Stewart's Hot Dogs. Absolutely. Share, tell all your friends. This podcast, I'm not sure why I listen to it, but for some reason, they just draw me in.
[:Yeah, like it, share it, give us some reviews.
[:Yes, that's what we do. All right, Vanessa, did you have a good time? Absolutely. All right, take us out.
[:We are out of here.
[:Thanks for listening to The Hunting tri-state Time Machine brought to you by Realty Exchange, the top performing real estate company in the Huntington, West Virginia, Tri-State area. If you have a memory you would want W. G. To talk more about, just send him an email at memories@htstimachine. Com or post a comment on the Time Machine Facebook group page. Did you like this episode? Be sure to share it with friends and family. You can find a link in the show notes that you can use to share it. And be sure to let Realty Exchange know that you like the podcast as well. Their contact information can be found in this episode's Show Notes.
