OB Studio and MKV format - Talk Til You Are Tired

On Saturday, I spent 8 hours working on audio video recording the history of Ashland Oregon, my home town, from my mind, viewpoint, and experiences some 40-50 years ago. The dates thus far include the years from 1972 through 1984, some 19 audio video records, and 6-8 hours of footage. It was rather lengthy and for my own posterity and autobiography and when I am old and don't remember, these videos will help my grand children know what it was like for me, and maybe for them.

 

I had a saying I came up with back in 1997, it was an epiphany of synthesizing what I noticed in old people passing on and not having their stories recorded for their children, grand children and local community. I know in the past 20 years, I have seen and heard audio collections created to preserve our ancestors memories and experiences; for me, I called it, Talk Til You're Tired. A remembrance of listening to my parents talk and have fun with neighbors up late at night on weekends, and they would talk, talk, and talk until they were tired, and would go home. I was in Winnemucca, Nevada - just semi-retired from Microsoft in Redmond Washington and got nostalgic listening to some of the old timers there who were getting up in the years, and noticed that their stories would be lost if not recorded. 23 years later, I started my own recollection of my original idea and so here goes the rest of the story, as Paul Harvey might say.

 

Getting started, my tools that I already had were my PC, C920 logitech camera, my audio microphone, and OB Studio. I used Google Maps mostly in Satellite view to explore the entire realm of Ashland Oregon, starting from my home address and expanding out going through my schools, streets, creeks, mountains, jobs, restaurants, grocery stores, etc... it was good. The resolution and quality was good too.

 

I started with Ashland Oregon. I will expand to the other cities I lived and memorized. That is something crazy as a odd ball and savant of sorts in knowing the sites, smells, sounds from over 50+ years of travels. I always am reprocessing memories to recall, remember, maintain, and share, learn from them.

 

As a concern, I am not so sure I will let them go public because of today's privacy issues with everyone, and everyone can sue everyone for no reasons at all. Just an opinion can be liable, slander and litigious. So, like my father said, best not to keep those diaries and notes, yet then again, if its only for me, then why not. If it leaks out eventually, who cares, I will be dead already and they can tear down my statues, take away my degrees and awards, and successes, yet then again, history is not perfect. History is both science, art, experiences, and we are all human.

 

more to come...