Hidden Stories

The most 90's I've ever been. I think always looked like I was trying out for a spot in Soundgarden.

Typing this entry out, it was one I didn't anticipate making in regards to the idea of hidden stories.

Originally, I had hoped to just be able to convert old media that had been in storage for some years. I had a vague recollection as to what was possibly on some of these old VHS-C tapes. And quite frankly, the more I learned about what could happen to even the best kept media, I realized the higher the chance was that heavy degradation had more than likely already damaged whatever I had recorded.

Footage from when a group of my friends were working on a Star Wars fan film idea.

All of the images you see here on this post are unedited screenshots from various video clips. These were all filmed on a handheld Panasonic video camera. (I'm actually still searching for it as I believe there is one more cassette that has been sitting in it for years)

I had no idea how to set exposure or use an external light source evidently.

I'm certain any of you that have ever filmed old home movies can relate to the feeling of the closest thing to time travel we will probably ever know. A lot of what I had filmed was fairly random, and I had a family that was fairly adverse to being filmed and didn't understand why I had an obsession with cameras in general. My friends were a little more forgiving, so thankfully I managed to capture sights and sounds from some moments in the late 90s.

I didn't know how to turn off the date/time stamp, but now I'm glad I didn't. I know exactly the moment my brother got his mail away Obi-Wan Kenobi figure.

But as you'll notice on a lot of the images, things like resolution and light exposure are not remotely the best. But being able to see an accurate record of even a fleeting moment with the sights and sounds even at least partially intact, is a whole other world of comfort and familiarity that is welcome.

The images above and below are from when my younger brother Marco had just gotten his mail away hologram version of Obi-Wan Kenobi in the mail. I had completely forgotten I had recorded this. I am so very happy it survived and digitized so well.

This was so cool. I recently sent the clip to my brother and he was pretty happy to see it.

It's wonderful when we find moments to smile about.

But it can also be a point of a mixed bag of melancholy.

The last three images are from some of the only remaining footage of a band that I was a part of while I was in college. The original members of the band were myself, my friends Tim, and brothers Andy and David. David is the one wearing the Misfits T-shirt.

Filmed in David and Andy's garage, so many moments I miss from these days.

I once had multiple cassettes with practice sessions, songwriting efforts, and other random and ridiculous moments that happen when friends hangs out. I have yet to find any of those and fear that many of those may be lost. I know one in specific had the very first show the band played after I had left, but it was still involved as I filmed that performance. The last time I saw it, it was still in the VHS-C cassette adapter, at somebody's house right around 1999.

The lines at the bottom are either tracking issues or tape damage, and unfortunately something that isn't easy to fix, if at all possible to do so. 

Nonetheless I was happy to find the little bit of footage I now have. Even with its imperfections brought on by time and age, it does my heart good to see these old moments and movement again, and it seems to re invigorate and recolor my memories correctly.

I had completed the conversion about two weeks ago, and they were sitting here on my backup drive waiting to be edited so that I could share it with my friends. I was really excited to send it especially to my friend David, as out of all of us he was the one that was really the energy and backbone of the group. He started out a bassist, became our drummer, and even got behind the microphone more and more to try his hand at singing.

On March 15th 2025, I got a message from another old friend who let me know that David had passed away the night before.

David had been one of the first people I befriended when I came to live in Warrensburg, Missouri. We were both 16 at the time. We found common ground in our love of Star Wars and science fiction. I had asked him about a particular novel he was reading during lunch hour that was part of the Dragonlance series. The very first concert I went to was with David, and it was Megadeth and the newly reformed Misfits. All of that and so many more memories rolled over me as I accepted what I had just been told. To be honest even as I'm writing this out I'm still in some form of denial that he's gone.

1997 seems like yesterday, and yet so far away at the same time.

I have a fair amount of photos of my old friend, and thanks to social media there are images of him on his profile, and many that others have posted over the years.

But I think the few scant minutes of surviving footage that I have, are the last bits of what he looked like moving, singing, and if I'm lucky and find more, him talking and laughing.

As I was grabbing the screenshots for this entry, thing that came to the surface was that I was grateful for being able to have these little segments of video to remember him by.

The next step is to get the clips I have of him and send them out to his family and friends, in honor of his memory and passing. 

There are a lot of hidden stories out there, and if I can, I'll help others to be able to save, see, and share those moments again.

Thanks for reading.

- Mario, the Artisan Rogue