A (Mostly-True, and Very-Rambling) History of The Archive
Well, it all started back in the late '80's with a cowardly, curious (and slightly stupid) little tyke named Ben. Ben was the sort of kid who thought the CBS "eye" could actually see him, the sort who would dive behind the couch at the first sight (or sound) of an Emergency Broadcast System test, then turn around and play with his parents' new $500 VCR to see if he could tape over anything he could get his hands on. He also had/has a bizarre love of Power Ballads of the period--there must be a connection.
Upon moving to suburban Denver (from Chicago) in the early '90's, our not-so-fair hero found himself immersed in a world a little behind the times. Ben would visit friends' homes and would notice that their parents owned 8-Track players and TV's that didn't go above channel 13. Oh sure, one friend had a C-band satellite dish in his backyard, but it was primarily used as a waterslide (which may explain a few things).
Instead of being frustrated, he was fascinated with these strange, new (to him, anyway) gadgets, but unfortunately, Ben's parents were far too sensible to allow him to have such things--the (then) new stuff was strictly forbidden as well. So, Ben simply worshiped media-centric technology from a distance, all-the-while soaking in Denver-area TV station's then-abundance of sitcom reruns and cheap, local commercials.
In 1995, Ben nagged his folks into buying him a cheap acoustic guitar, which nearly derailed Ben's TV-watching-habits as well as his (mental patient-like) drawing projects--well, that and his building of faux-arcade games out of cardboard boxes (foreshadowing?) and scented markers. Despite spending the rest of the decade immersed in TV and radio DX-ing, collecting (radio) EBS/EAS tests and vinyl records, Ben (sadly) ultimately succumbed to the allure of traveling around, making screeching noises with his guitar and moaning out some nonsense about "changes" (off-key, no less).
By 2011, Ben gave up on his dreams and attempted to be a good little worker bee. It lasted until April of 2012, when he was squeezed out of his supposedly normal job. Shortly thereafter, Ben got into a car wreck that left him without wheels and with a severely bruised rib cage. In his attempts to not think about his injuries, lack of a car, lack of money and lack of job, Ben retreated into his old little world of Civil Defense Broadcasting, TV Sign-Offs and (now) obsolete technology--that and a healthy dose of Nostalgia Critic episodes.
One day in June (still 2012), while feeling unusually creative, Ben decided to write an article on the Max Headroom Broadcast Hijacking Incident of 1987. Realizing his commentary didn't read too well, Ben decided to record it as a (probably) one-off podcast. Then, realizing that there was, you know, a video component to "the incident", Ben decided to try his hand at this "Internet reviewer" thing (does the Internet really need reviewing?) and thus, the Archive was born.
Now, Ben has a good excuse to indulge himself in his strange hobbies...
(Written by Ben in the third-person)
Upon moving to suburban Denver (from Chicago) in the early '90's, our not-so-fair hero found himself immersed in a world a little behind the times. Ben would visit friends' homes and would notice that their parents owned 8-Track players and TV's that didn't go above channel 13. Oh sure, one friend had a C-band satellite dish in his backyard, but it was primarily used as a waterslide (which may explain a few things).
Instead of being frustrated, he was fascinated with these strange, new (to him, anyway) gadgets, but unfortunately, Ben's parents were far too sensible to allow him to have such things--the (then) new stuff was strictly forbidden as well. So, Ben simply worshiped media-centric technology from a distance, all-the-while soaking in Denver-area TV station's then-abundance of sitcom reruns and cheap, local commercials.
In 1995, Ben nagged his folks into buying him a cheap acoustic guitar, which nearly derailed Ben's TV-watching-habits as well as his (mental patient-like) drawing projects--well, that and his building of faux-arcade games out of cardboard boxes (foreshadowing?) and scented markers. Despite spending the rest of the decade immersed in TV and radio DX-ing, collecting (radio) EBS/EAS tests and vinyl records, Ben (sadly) ultimately succumbed to the allure of traveling around, making screeching noises with his guitar and moaning out some nonsense about "changes" (off-key, no less).
By 2011, Ben gave up on his dreams and attempted to be a good little worker bee. It lasted until April of 2012, when he was squeezed out of his supposedly normal job. Shortly thereafter, Ben got into a car wreck that left him without wheels and with a severely bruised rib cage. In his attempts to not think about his injuries, lack of a car, lack of money and lack of job, Ben retreated into his old little world of Civil Defense Broadcasting, TV Sign-Offs and (now) obsolete technology--that and a healthy dose of Nostalgia Critic episodes.
One day in June (still 2012), while feeling unusually creative, Ben decided to write an article on the Max Headroom Broadcast Hijacking Incident of 1987. Realizing his commentary didn't read too well, Ben decided to record it as a (probably) one-off podcast. Then, realizing that there was, you know, a video component to "the incident", Ben decided to try his hand at this "Internet reviewer" thing (does the Internet really need reviewing?) and thus, the Archive was born.
Now, Ben has a good excuse to indulge himself in his strange hobbies...
(Written by Ben in the third-person)
