FAQs

Vintage Stand-up Comedy

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

May 15 2016

Well actually, some of these questions have been asked and some answers I just wanna get out there.   Breeze through the ones that catch your eye - you may learn something interesting and/or useful!

What kind of comedy can I find here?

The main fare is vintage stand-up comedy from artists whose careers started before 1987. Since readers have contributed parody and novelty albums, which are quite popular, I post those types too.   Usually the daily posts are one stand-up album, and one of any other type.

How long will the blog be open?

Figure at least 5 years since that is typically the one-time limit to renewals. Or, since I have excellent backups, someone can take over the support and keep it going longer.

The domain names are automatically renewed yearly and are quite inexpensive ($10).  If I stop updating the blog I will renew accounts for as long as possible, and will look for a new site admin, since my goal is to document vintage comedy, not just provide funny downloads.

Is there a problem with sharing this stuff? What about copyrights?

Some of the tracks are copyrighted and some time ago Blogger shut us down when the blog was public, after  a re-seller complained. But since the blog went private, and given that the sharing community is extremely small (compared to sharing on a public blog), I haven't gotten any complaints. BUT if anyone complains about any post, then that post will be removed.

Do I need to pay to access the blog? Do I need to do anything at all?

No payments, never. And I would ask that you please don't offer any donations. There will never be advertising either. All you need to do to be a blog reader is, well, read the blog.

Where does this stuff come from?

In most cases the albums are available on the 'net. Crafty search parameters help narrow the search (see the Research Tools page). Some albums come from other blogs and forums, some from File Archive sites like FILESTUBE.COM and RAPIDOG.COM. A big share comes from our blog readers, who I thank as often as possible. And of course, I have my own collection of comedy vinyl.

What are the file formats?

The file you download is in RAR format in virtually all cases. RAR is a compression method which allows you to combine all files of your folder/directory into one file, which will be somewhat compressed, to make transfer easy. I say somewhat compressed because music files and images files are already in a compressed format and RAR-ing them is really to make one transferable file instead of one transfer file for track.

All sound files are in MP3 format. In some cases I may provide other formats, and may also include them in the RAR file. In some cases I have FLAC, M4A, OGG, APE formats. If you are a fan of those formats, drop me an email.  I use two terrific file format converters, SoundTaxi and  Fast Audio Converter to convert files to MP3.

All image files are in jpg format. In some cases, I include (very large) TIFF files which providea large image size with very good detail. Rarely, you will find GIF or PNG format image files.

What is the directory/folder and file naming conventions?

Since this information shows up on media players, I try to be consistent with the naming convention. Completeness and accuracy are the goals, too.

Folder/Directory
artist - album [single/10 inch] [year] [country] [8tr/cassette/vhs/dvd/laserdisc) [shared-by]

Files
artist - title [single/10 inch] [year] [back cover/label #/dustsleeve/insert] [country] [8tr/cassette/vhs/dvd/laserdisc]

What are ID3 tags, why do you have them, what are they for?

ID3 tags are information included in the track file that provide information about the track. Expect to see artist, album, track, year, genre and more. This information will show up on your media player, IPod, etc.  You can also embed the album cover image (or any image) but doing so will increase each file's size. I rarely embed images in the files since this can make the compound  RAR file quite large, and most File Storage Facilities have a size limit.  I do quite a bit of research to get ID3 information correct, since many of these files are copied to other blogs and, well, garbage in garbage out (as we old programmers used to say.) I like to get this information right so, when propagated, it can also be right on other blogs!

I use MusicLibrary to update tags, which is no longer supported but is great for editing tags.

What images are included?

Regardless of which images come along with the album files, I search for the best cover I can find for EVERY album. And I will update a post if I find a new/better/missing cover at a later time. In a perfect post I would include front and back covers, each label, dust sleeves, interior gatefold if available, and inserts if available.

I use Adobe Elements to ensure that each image is square with no camera tilt (at least). Yes, this is very time consuming but is a labor of love and important to the documentation of these old gems.

What's with the sound quality of the files?

Many of the files come from vinyl LPs, transferred to a computer and converted to MP3 format. Since most albums are old, sound quality can suffer. And to be honest, I don't listen to every track of every album, so if you find a bad track PLEASE LET ME KNOW!

I use Adobe Audition (once know as CoolEdit) to edit files, and I can usually repair gaps, volume too low or high, speed errors, minor skipping and more.

How can I send files to Vintage Stand-up Comedy?

If you have an account in your own File Storage facility (Rapidshare for example) just send me a link.   If you have duplicates I can always use them to, perhaps, post a better sound quality file. Or you can mail me a CD with files.

Sending me files is an option, not a rule or requirement.

How long will albums be available on Rapidshare, Sharebee, etc?

Sharing services come and go. At this point, I can no longer guarantee how long something will be available on any storage facility.

Why passwords?

Album links get "out there" on the 'net via crawling engines like FILESTUBE.COM and RAPIDOG.COM. Their visitors can download thousands of copies of these albums, which may draw unnecessary attention to our very small community.

Why do links stop working, or Rapidshare files simply vanish?

If Rapidshare gets a complaint about a file it deletes the file and  saves its digital "footprint". If you (or anyone) restores the file it is immediately deleted, thanks to the footprint, unless you changes the contents of the file (file name variation, for example.)

What’s with this JimG guy?                 

I am a 64 year old guy living near Valley Forge, PA . Yes, it still gets bitter cold here, something about the topography I guess. 
I am extremely easy going with a quick wit and broad sense of humor. I see “the funny” in every thing, every experience.   I have two sons living at home who laugh several times a day at something I say.   Or maybe they are laughing at me.   They both have my sense of humor, which comes from my father, grandfather and, for that matter, from both sides of my parents’ families.

Yes, that’s my real picture.   In it I am quite large, fat, big, huge, obese.   All my life I was a slim 150 pounds but in the last fifteen years I ballooned, exploded, stretched, garagantu-ized to 365 pounds.   If you ever lost weight, I found it.   

I was in the Information Technology business most of my life, working for the regional power pool.   After 9 years in accounting as a clerk,  evening college afforded me a programmer title, DBA title, and in the last 10 years project manager, my true calling.   I started working a few days after high school ended and stayed there for almost 37 years, then harshly got laid off in 2006.  I was then too old to get a similar job ANYWHERE.    All that time on my hands, along with a love for comedy and a detail oriented personality,  led to this gig on this blog.