New Posts and Prior Log

From this point, new posts and topics will begin on the subject of Don Albert, the homeless genius. There is a video and a DVD. From time to time, photos and excerpts from his films will be presented in this blog.

PRIOR LOGS FROM WEB PAGES.. QUITE A STORY...
Any reference to Grade-A is now BUZZ CREEK www.buzzcreek.com. See website for contact information.

DON ALBERT SIGHTINGS

THE BRAIN IN A BOX VIDEO STAR
a video for the health of your mind (maybe)
The following is a travelogue of our homeless genius as he wanders the globe.
Often, we have no idea where he is without the kind and generous interaciton of the people he meets and their use of the guestbook or e-mail from this site.

EaSTER SUNDAY... APRIL 12 1998
We have had NO word from or about Don since February when he was leaving Venice, Italy for Tel Aviv, Israel. We are becoming quite concerned. Normally, there has been contact by way of e-mail of someone who has seen his card (the post card he gives out with the web address on it) or, when he is really in a bind, he may even call us collect ... though admittedly ... this is a bit difficult to achieve from an overseas location. If you have ANY NEWS on Don, please let us know! We are getting quite concerned for him. If he can just hang in there a few more months, we think we will make the right contacts to get him on national TV and boos his income by sales of the video.

UPDATE FROM VENICE ITALY 2/23/98
Hallo Vic. Sorry for late reply but had some problems with my provider. Anyway this allows me to inform you of the following: Don has bought today an air ticket from venice to Tel Aviv leaving tomorrow via Bruxelles. He says he is going there also to meet his girl friend, I dont know if all this was in order to reach Irak (also joke!). He told me he's got a friend over there(Israel) who owns a travel office (sure...me too!). Unfortunately I didnt ask for contact, but if you know the guy you will be able to get in touch with him starting from tomorow. The air ticket was quite expensive for him, but he said remaining in Venice would have been even more expensive. Kind regards (igor)

UPDATE FROM VENICE ITALY 2/19/98
Name: Igor Korman From: Venezia-Italy

Time: 1998-02-19 13:17:00

Comments: 19 feb 98 01:00 pm Italian time Don is actually in Venice coming from Amsterdam. He looks all right! Really a nice guy. Great to meet him!

Thanks to Igor for this update! Igor signed the guestbook with this information

UPDATE FROM AMSTERDAM! 2/14/98
Don made contact by phone. Seems he landed in Amsterdam, where he immediately lost two of his travelling bags. One contained a dozen or so videos he had to sell. He says they were stolen. Likely it happened at the NYC Kennedy Airport, as robbery is more common there than in the Netherlands. He still has his postcards that make the video offer, and may have a few buyers. In Europe, they will have to send me $10 per video for shipping, vs $5 when bought from Don in the USA. We will ship PAL versions to Europe.

Seems Don was out of cash and wandering Amsterdam for about 4 days, hungry and cold before some kind soul named Raphael took him in at his apartment, and gave him a place in the attic to stay for a time. Don sounded like he expects to move along within a few days. Meanwhile, he is warm and dry at the apartment of Raphael and his girlfriend somewhere on Marnix Straat in Amsterdam.

We have a FAX number to send information to Don, via Raphael, but I expect this number will be good only for a week or so and Don will again be on his way.

I hope he spreads word via the newspapers by giving them copies of the press release or encouraging newspapers and radios to take the information from this web site. We believe if he gets enough attention, he and his videos will become a phenomenon.

Meanwhile, here in NJ, we are taking one minute clips of his video and placing them into our news program to help build his "mistique".

E-mail or phone us here at grade-a for the FAX number if you wish to have direct contact in the very near future. (Vic)

GOOD LORD, HE's HEADED FOR EUROPE !!
Feb 2, 1998 5 PM
Don Called by Phone from NYC today 2/5/97 and surprised us with news he is headed for Europe (probably Netherlands) first thing in the morning. He is taking off before we get a chance to see how he is doing in person.
He sounded in good spirits, but disgusted with wages in USA and expects to take short day jobs in his travels to make better returns than he has done here. He had to abandon his Pontiac in Edenton. There, he had a few weeks to find another car for $300. The new car went 100 yards and the transmission fell out. He got $200 back. Took his money and bought a train ticket to NYC and is Europe bound.

Don says he plans to stay out of USA for awhile. This is not good news for us, because we had hoped we could get him promoted enough to do a talk show and get famous and sell a lot of videos before he left again. It will be very hard to track him down in Europe. His next step is to go to Eastern Europe and then to Asia and probably on down to Africa.

This could take him a long time to get around so much and we are hopeful the web site and e-mail will help us to track him on his journey. This will be the only way we are likely to hear from him because the cost of telephone contact on any regular basis will be prohibitive.

We have to depend on people he meets to send us messages by email. So .... please do! He said he will have $15 in his pocket when he gets to Europe!

Don Sighting Wednesday, 14-Jan-98 22:53:40 Message: 207.49.122.243 writes:

Don was sighted in Edenton, North Carolina on the afternoon of January 14. He was having car trouble. We don't know if it got fixed! strausshaus@homemail.com

Follow up: He never got the car fixed. Bought another a couple weeks later for $300 but it fell apart before he drove it 100 yards. He got $200 back and got a train ticket to NYC and is headed for Europe. Don Said the folks in Edenton were a really nice bunch of people and were very helpful.

Don Albert Sighted Friday, 16-Jan-98 20:23:10 Message: 207.201.228.35 writes:

Don was in Williamston NC He was having a bad day with his car. Its seamed he had run over something and punch a hole in the pan of his trans. We removed the pan and patch it for him, The patch will more than likley last longer than the rest of his car.... That rod knoc in the engine won't last much longer....Don if you read this Good Luck from Action Auto Center...... speed_machine@hotmail.com

Jan 11, 1998 ... Beufort, NJ
The following entries might be seen as well in the guest-book. We lost touch by phone sometime before Christmas when, I think, he was still in Arizona. Our phones have changed here at Grade-A, so he has not been able to get through directly on a collect call. Meanwhile, he has been across the South and is somewhere in the Carolinas at this point ... See the notes below from the guest book entries.

CLAWSONs RESTAURANT latest word : Beufort, NC
Time: 1998-01-11 20:48:00

Comments: Don was in Beaufort North Carolina, at a Restaraunt called Clawson's. They played his tape on the TV in the coffee bar, and many people watched not knowing what to think. ... REPLY FROM VIC .... As you may know, from reading the web site, it takes about 3 beers to get into the same plane of thought as Don. Don does not drink though. I should think 12 cups of coffee will serve to put you on a higher plane of thought as well, though the cafiene shakes may dilute the message. Is he a case, or what? Vic

Name: John McCallum : Just Surfed On In! From: Morehead City, NC Time: 1998-01-09 22:28:00
Comments: Don drove into Taylor Boat Works here in Morehead City this afternoon and said he was looking for a small sailboat to purchase for sailing across the ocean. He said the Atlantic Ocean did not have enough islands so he would possibly travel to the Indian Ocean. Not having any sailboats for sale, I directed him to several local harbors where he might find what he was looking for. He was going to check out my references and then head north via New Bern, NC to Oriental, NC where he is more likely to find a small crusing sailboat. I wished him luck and he was on his way.

Name: James Fisher: Referred by: Word of Mouth From: MOBILE ALABAMA Time: 1998-01-04 15:47:00 Comments: Sighted In MOBILE, ALABAMA Wednesday, 31-Dec-97 19:14:23 Message taken by phone: James Fisher of Mobile Alabama called 12/31/97 and said he had just repaired Don's car. He also said he watched Don's tape and was quite impressed. He said he hoped we would do one with Don with more emphasis on the Bible! That perhaps should be a future production. Do not know where Don is headed. Maybe to South Florida. IT could be much warmer there this time of year. It is New Year's Eve vic@grade-a.com

If you see Don, tell him to call me directly at 973-729-4366 (home) The previous number has become our office number which is not available on most weekends (nobody there). Vic


HOW DID THE DON ALBERT VIDEO EXPERIENCE GET STARTED ANYWAY?
Bear in mind, I met Don sometime in 1994 or 5 . He was passing through our small town (Sparta, NJ). Had a cup of coffee with him at the local deli. This is a very small town. I am a very busy fellow, had little time to chat, really. I am busy trying to pay the bank for all the loans I have made to build a small video production company. So, I begged off and left him that day with a card and the instructions to call me the next time he came through.

A year and a half later, he called. In that year and a half, he had gone to Isreal to recover about $2000 from his personal bank account there. In the process, he spent about $1900. He made enough cash to fly or take a train down to Mexico, where he drifted into Costa Rica (I think .. I get confused about he details). From there he went to Accapulco, Mexico where his remaining cash was stolen and he was stuck for a few weeks there.

He called me collect to see If I could help convince his bank in NY State to send him his small savings via electronic means. I called his bank. They were about as helpful with my interference as they were with him. Eventually he got his money. He came back into the USA via Texas and bought a $200 beat up Subaru. He drove it all the way back to New York and then back down to NJ where he called me and made arrangements to do the video.

I arranged to have him stay at a local motel on Route 23 that is owned by an Indian (Eastern) Family. It is one of those typical motels that are purchased at the end of their economic cycle by recent Indian immigrants who use them for a home the next 20 years. They spend no money on the facility and take in occasional motel guests. By the end of 20 years, the motel is a total wreck, but the real estate has appreciated to the point the family is now worth 17 trillion rupees. It is one of the least appreciated means to become wealthy in America. By the second generation these families are solid Republicans.

Over two days, I took some time to go get Don, and take him to HEATER's POND in Ogdensburg, New Jersey. This is nearby to the motel. I sat him on a rock and let him lecture to his heart's content. He is really quite good at this. He makes a superb lecturer. Frankly, I was mesmerized by the subject matter. I have since watched the edited video with three beers
and it makes a lot more sense.

He goes from one subject to another in rapid order. And he explains the subject matter in layman's terms so all of us can benefit from the great effort he has given to think these things through.
.....
Then he took off for FLORIDA. He found Florida unfriendly (he calls occasionally with his latest whereabouts and situation). So, he took off for New Orleans. Didn't like that either. He finally wound up in Phoenix, AZ where he got a permanent PO Box where he gets his Social Security Checks.
Last WINTER, he ventured into the mountains somewhere around MAYER, ARIZONA , did some prospecting and found some gold. He says he found a bunch of gold laden rocks, maybe worth a thousand dollars or so. He got trapped up there in the SNOW. He is pretty resourceful, so he found some wild game and other foods and existed a few weeks until SPRING.

Then he came bouncing out of the mountains with his Subaru and messed it up some more. Lost some of the tapes I gave him and a tape recorder I gave him to record his thoughts. May have lost some of his art as well.

OH yes ! He is an artist too.

He paints peoples "persona" as a portrait. He had a few "portraits" among his art collection. He could be quite popular if he could ever go at the painting thing on a regular basis. At least, I think so. He tells me he has some paints now (watercolors), but he has not had money get any new brushes yet.

So, a family named PEREZ befriended him in the town of Mayer. One of the few ways to reach him at this point is to try to contact the Perez family. His car is total junk now. Vandals added to the damage and it will never roll again. Don told me that he had a little fear of physical harm too, because the vandals actually poured some gasoline around his car and were about to set fire to it before he stopped them. He does not have much, but what he has is all inside the Subaru and some of it is pretty valuable art.
Oh ... he also said somebody (the vandals likely) stole the rocks
with the gold in them.

If you could follow this guy around awhile, what a documentary it would be!

Meanwhile, I find it interesting that Don has NEVER asked me for money. He knows I am stretched as far as I can stretch with debt to run my young video business. However, I have assured him I will see he gets copies of the video to sell directly for cash and will share in the profits of any video success by way of a generous royalty (we split 50/50 after duplication costs).

PRESS RELEASE BELOW IS QUITE OLD... No VHS now: only DVD
NEWS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Vic Campbell 973-729-5369

HOMELESS PHILOSOPHER PRESENTS MIND EXPANDING VIDEOS
A homeless business man; an odd paradox if ever there was one. Don Albert is homeless. Some would call him a "bum". He lives out of his automobile. Despite his homeless condition, he is quite resourceful. He manages to travel not only around America, but internationally as well. And, with his new videos, "Brain in A Box Vol. I and Vol. II" he enters the ranks of America’s entrepreneurs; A homeless technology entrepreneur, no less!

Albert quite convincingly presents himself as a genius. He convinced a video producer in New Jersey to make two videos of his lectures ("Brain in A Box Volume I and Volume II"). Albert covers topics on the edge of the mental envelope. There is the "missing number" which exists before you put the number zero on paper. He calculates the required speed of angels to communicate in a timely manner with the outer bounds of the universe. He ponders the flavor of the human body as perceived by disease organisms like HIV, or Lyme Disease. He suggests we can "alter our flavor" to reduce disease stress. And there is much more.

Albert has a web site (compliments of the video production company). His travels and experiences are recorded there. His photograph and some of his more insightful quotes are highlighted . "Don Albert Sightings" can be posted on the web in his own "guest-book". Post cards with Albert’s web address and video information are given to people he meets. When the curious check in on his latest news on the web, they can follow a travelogue in progress. Interesting places or helpful people are noted in the dialogue. Links are added to enhance the viewers appreciation of Albert’s latest adventure in the world of the homeless.

The "Brain in a Box" videos are $20 each plus $5 shipping. Vol. I is 120 minutes and Vol. II is 60 minutes. They are suggested as a perfect gift for "brainless" executives; in effect, a brain implant. Students may enjoy them for their irreverent portrayal of bureaucratic thought. The editing style presents entertaining presenttions in alternating veins of humor and a serious examination of the human condition. Requests for the video should be made to Buzz Creek. Visit The Homeless Genius on the World Wide Web at http://www.homelessgenius.blogspot.com