Onngh Yanngh
6.8.2004 – 8:10 am | by paul
[ Watch Movie ] - 5:08 / 15.5MB (see updated links below)
A friend of mine here in San Francisco, Dave Ross, was into stop-motion photography and film making when he was younger. This 8mm film was made in 1980 while he was at UC Berkeley (at Barrington Hall). It’s called ‘Onngh Yanngh’ (pronounced ong yang). I liked it so much that I decided to post it here, with Dave’s permission of course. Dave would like you to consider two things when watching / commenting on this movie…
1. “Those who know, don’t tell — those who tell, don’t know.”
2. “Time is a crutch; eat mandarin oranges. Time is a clutch; drive mandarin oranges.”
QuickTime is REQUIRED to view the movie
UPDATE: 11.23.06
Dave passed away on November 15th, 2006. He was a good friend, and will be missed. I originally posted the Onngh Yanngh movie back in 2004. I have several other movies of his that I’m now posting, as a memorial. They are available for viewing and download on Google Video by following the links below. I hope you enjoy them, and they bring back fond memories for all who knew dave.
- Onngh Yanngh
- Front Lawn Studios
- Bug Snack
- Slime
- Good Dip
- Kitty in the Hobart
- Mr. Bill
- School Daze
- Film at 11
- Last Animation
UPDATE (12.13.06):
These links, and more, have been moved to Dave’s blog, as a permanent archive.
June 8th, 2004 at 10:58 pm
Onngh Yanngh was normal, once.
July 12th, 2004 at 10:45 am
Since when do I work on a ranch?
January 17th, 2006 at 8:46 pm
Where IS that banana?
January 20th, 2006 at 9:45 pm
I would like to see two of Dave’s other fine features, “Kitty in the Hobart” and “Mmmmmmm, Tasty”.
And tell Dave Ross hi for me.
April 18th, 2006 at 10:59 am
awesome!!!
August 23rd, 2006 at 8:01 am
It’s great to see the Onngh Yanngh Movie again, 25 years later! The internet is wonderful! Great memories. Thanks for posting!
September 10th, 2006 at 12:11 am
would love to see Kitty in the Hobart!!!
Resident Jan 84-May86
September 27th, 2006 at 3:29 am
Woo hoo!
November 18th, 2006 at 8:41 pm
Thank you for posting this. I just heard on the radio (during the broadcast of the Cal-USC game) that Dave Ross died this past week of cancer. He was one of my first “suite-mates” at Barrington in 1989. It was a great comfort to see the old movie again.
Yanngh On
Frances
November 18th, 2006 at 8:49 pm
Wow! Sad news about Dave Ross. :-( I just watched the Cal - USC game on TV. I’m curious as to how Dave Ross was mentioned on radio — had he achieved some fame?
November 18th, 2006 at 9:12 pm
R.I.P. Dave Ross. You will be missed. Thanks for the definitive OY work.
November 19th, 2006 at 1:02 am
Robert just emailed me about Dave’s passing. Hard to believe. He introduced me to Brooooce Springstein and warm L.A. Christmas’s. Whoa..Dave Ross….. I’m really sad to hear of his death.
November 19th, 2006 at 8:04 am
Dave passed away Wednesday night (11/15/06), about 8:00pm. It was very peaceful, and he did not suffer or feel pain.
Thanks to everyone for posting your comments. I didn’t realize he was mentioned on the radio during the game. I think Dave would have liked that.
I posted this movie over two years ago. I do have others, including “Kitty in a Hobart”. I’ll be posting those movies soon, hopefully within the next few days.
November 19th, 2006 at 3:03 pm
Hey Dave,
Wherever you are, maybe now you know it all — but I know you won’t be telling. Thank you for your humor and zeal for life, which touched so many. Go Bears!
November 19th, 2006 at 4:50 pm
Re Dave’s particular fame, although he achieved some notoriety in many small ways, Joe Starkey’s tribute was to the “Referee Guy,” and he described Dave wearing the referee shirt and sitting in the front row (remember when the student section was right on the sidelines?) at Cal basketball games and harassing the referrees and opposing players. Joe mentioned the time that DF rode a player so hard (I think it was A.C. Green), that the guy spit in Dave’s face and was ejected from the game. I remember it well, as I was sitting with him…
So many memories.
- Frances
December 1st, 2006 at 12:22 pm
I cannot imagine a better tribute for DFR then a Joe Starkey obit, broadcast live during a Cal game!
Dave and I moved into Barrington as Freshmen in 1979. I think he had the suite below mine.
So many wonderful memories.
RIP DRF
December 2nd, 2006 at 1:46 pm
Hi Everyone-
It is great to see some old names from the past. I hope you are all well.
I am deeply saddened that Dave passed away.
I love Dave. He had such a great sense of humor and was such a happy guy. We had lots of great times with Dave.
Thanks to the person who created this site. The movies are great!
Carrie
December 4th, 2006 at 9:26 am
My old buddy and I recently spoke. He mentioned that Onngh Yanngh is still alive and lives through this video. What a blast.
I remember living at Barrington Hall, circa 1975. It was great. A couple of crazy friends and I were getting tired of all the political groups on campus, and thought it would be fun to turn it around and get this strudent group going. So, we went through the paperwork and had our organization santioned by the student affairs on campus. We had a blast. One of our guys built the “Onngh Yanngh atron” and ended up placing it in the student lounge center, where everyone was able to see it. With the help of a motor, strings, lights and artwork, it became a hit. Does anyone remember it? We also had a stand, where anyone could join up and become a “mimister.” We passed out cards with the UC logo in the corner. We also crafted a long hand out of clay, placed it in a box and had it available for viewing. One of our phrases was “Onngh Yanngh touched the hand of God, and his arms shrank.”
I personally thought the whole thing would disappear. What a pleasant surprise to see and hear that it lived on, and served many, with a multitude of followers. May the bright light of Onngh Yanngh lead all all of you to worldly bliss! And Dave, thank you for the movie!
Onngh Yanngh Lives!
And, by the way: Eric and Bill (the other founders of Onngh Yanngh): Where are you?
Ivan Batchkoff
Class of “76
December 4th, 2006 at 9:46 am
Ivan,
Guess what… I still have the facade from the Onngh-Yanngh-a-tron. The machinery long since fell into disarray. I moved in to the Hall in 1981 and thought the contraption was exactly the sort of thing I would have built myself if only I had any kind of artistic talent. The next year it was abondoned in the maintenance room and I took it apon myself to keep it running. We built a sultan’s chair for it to bring it onto campus for Onngh Yanngh days. The challenge was to be able to sneak access to an electrical outlet on Sproul. Eventually I had the idea to make some modifications - make the eyes glow and add a hand (on a shrunken arm) that waved back and forth. Then, I decided to refurbish the gearing mechanism by using gears and chain from abandoned bicycles. Alas, that was a mistake because the genius of the gearing was the slop in the system that dissipated so much of the power from the electric motor. I found that everything ran too fast without the inefficiency and had to add another gear to slow it further. While I was able to make it work, I left something that was harder to maintain. Longish story short, during the end-days in the late 80’s I cut the facade from the gearing mechanism, which had really come apart, and took it home. It now graces my attic.
Thanks, Ivan, for setting the whole thing in motion.
-Robert
December 20th, 2006 at 3:34 pm
Desperately seeking Barritonians circa Hell Summer of 1985 to 1992 ish. Please contact me. Others: If you have photos and/or stories of above period - please contact me by email or 510-420-3669.
January 14th, 2007 at 9:19 am
Warning, Beverly Potter of the last post is one of the people who tried to sue Barrington out of existence in the late 80’s. It was people like her who led to the eventual closure.
From a former Barrington maintenance manager