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On Loan from Professor Peabody…

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Although it only stretches a back a couple decades, the venerable section of the internet known as Usenet* still holds a tender place in my heart. It was a source of debate & discussion, humor and hijinx and more than a little rampant naughtiness. The following are some gems plucked from the good folks at Google for your amusement.

First Usenet mention of MTV:

Message-ID:
Newsgroups: net.music
X-Path: utzoo!decvax!ucbvax!mhtsa!harpo!cbosg!teklabs!keithe
From: teklabs!keithe
Date: Mon Mar 22 09:07:07 1982
Subject: simon and garfunkle lip-synched?!!!
X-Google-Info: Converted from the original A-News header

Hey folks –
I watched the s&g concert on HBO 3 or 4 times and you ain’t
gonna’ convince me that it was “redone in the studio”. I mean, these guys are good (very good in fact – by the way, did you know paul is 39 years old now) but even THEY aren’t good enough to lip-synch THAT concert. And as for the instrumentals – where they are specifically shown, the video matches the audio track too well to have been dubbed.
You want to see re-dubs and lip-synchs check out MTV – if your ears can take it…

keith ericson at tektronix

First Usenet mention of “Star Wars Episode 6”:

Message-ID:
Newsgroups: net.movies
X-Path: utzoo!decvax!ucbvax!ARPAVAX:CAD:teklabs!tekmdp!azure!randals
From: azure!randals
Date: Wed Jun 9 01:53:30 1982
Subject: Re: Star Wars III ? — it should be Star Wars VI
X-Google-Info: Converted from the original B-News header
Posted: Tue Jun 8 09:39:07 1982
Received: Wed Jun 9 01:53:30 1982

“Revenge of the Jedi”… Episode 6 in the Star Wars saga, has
just finished filming, according to some friends I have down in
Arizona.

The release date for us humans that want to see it is still the summer of 1983. I guess it takes that long to score all the music, do all the film-editing, prepare all the promo material, and all that junk.

I wish Lucas & Co. would get the thing going a little faster.
I can’t really imagine waiting until 1997 to see all nine parts
of the Star Wars series.

Here’s a trivia question for other fellow addicts of Star Wars:

Most everyone knows that the original “Star Wars” was
episode 4 in the series, and “The Empire Strikes Back”
was episode 5.

Who out there knows the new correct TITLE of Episode 4?

Don’t get me wrong — the thing is still called Star Wars
by millions of people, but there is a specific title that
tells what episode 4 is about. That’s what I’m looking
for.

Send replies to:

…!decvax!teklabs!tekmdp!randals
-or-
…!ucbvax!teklabs!tekmdp!randals

I’ll publish the correct title in about a week.

Randal L. Schwartz (Ran-dahl Calrizzian)
Tektronix Microcomputer Development Products
Beaverton, Oregon (ORR-i-gun, not AWWW-ree-GONE!!)

P.S. How many people have seen SW more than 22 times in the theatre, or at triple speed on video tape (boy, that’s fun)?

First Usenet “Me too” post:

Message-ID:
Newsgroups: net.micro.pc
X-Path: utzoo!decvax!ucbvax!CAD:tektronix!zehntel!sytek!menlo70!hao!csu-cs!casterli
From: csu-cs!casterli
Date: Tue Feb 1 04:44:07 1983
Subject: Re: MORE Info-PC Digests
X-Google-Info: Converted from the original B-News header
Posted: Sat Jan 29 10:47:13 1983
Received: Tue Feb 1 04:44:07 1983

Me, too!!!

Leroy

Other gems:

Visit the 20 Usenet Year Timeline at Google if you’re really feeling nostalgic.

* A worldwide bulletin board system that can be accessed through the Internet or through many online services. The USENET contains more than 14,000 forums, called newsgroups, which cover every imaginable interest group.

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