Video

Man! I came to UCI back in 96 and was always enamored with the IMW but by then there was likely no way to find a space in there and I had no idea that I could move, I was told that it was only grad housing. lol =) I miss the simplicity that was Irvine. I loved all things about this vid and the times. Good memories.

I did not have the fortune to be part of the IMW community. My girlfriend back then and now wife of 36 years lived at campus village right across from IMW. I commuted in my Type 2 VW bus from 85 to 89. 86 we had to take Fortran 77 and me been lazy to drive home to Huntington Beach would camp in my Van at Physical Science parking lot right next to IMW public shower/bathrooms. I cooked cup-a-noodle from my Van and sneak a shower from the IMW public shower. Eventually I was visited by campus police and told to cease and decease or they will arrest me. Even though I did not lived and be part of IMW, I always treasured that experience to be part of that community. Fast forward to 2022 when I visited my daughter at UCI’s Middle Earth tower, this inhumane piece of concrete structure that totally lacked any community experience. While driving past this empty parking lot that used to be IMW, I could not believe my eyes because the only structure left at old IMW was the public shower structure that I used to borrow a shower when I did my stealth camping on campus. I took many photos from every possible angle since that is the only memory from the days of IMW. RIP IMW.

If it weren't for alpha films I wouldn't have found this gem logically. Good find on some history and some video camera work i was confused about until it showed up somewhere in a museum :)

I have faulty memory of what my number was on the interior. I was a broke college student that couldn't afford apartment living and was there from '95 to '98. Based on a diagram I saw, I may have been spot 10 or 12. Definitely appreciated the fact that it helped me tremendously.

All for a parking lot that doesn't get used to day as it is too far away for most people to use. All for the rich ass holes.

I was in Campus Village 87-89, IMW was a eye sore, there was no excuse to perpetuate these scrubs..bunch of far left Lefties looking to live dysfunctionally without admitting it

Just serves as a reminder that progressivism is never more than authoritarianism with self-righteousness.

I lived there from 1983 to 1986-A8 or A6 I believe. I built an 8x16 addon with the floor made from discarded stages from one of the dorms. Last I saw before the park was destroyed, the building was still there, but now painted barn red. I would have stayed, but I graduated and the park manager kept saying it was time for me to leave.

never lived there, but hung out. i lived in verano place commune building 2200, 2100 "the commune" 1981-85 roughly.

sorely missed...

Lived there. Loved there. Lost there. Won there. Learned there. Yearned there. And it all came to an abrupt end. Love and miss it all. Ashes to ashes. Dust to dust, and these words, well these words may as well pass me by like the wind.

A8. Good Times.

I never knew about this! Finished my undergrad at UCI in 2010 and now in grad school - I am not surprised by the administration's attitudes at all. Interesting that the only one that supported IMW was the one that had been there from the beginning.

more freaking houses more and more landscaping gone to condos. i hate it

that blond kid looks like kurt

Space A2, from 1979 to 1982! (There was no one in A1) Some great times there with some really interesting characters! I was also a DJ on KUCI when it was only 10 watts.

" You're free America you're free ...you're free to do as we tell you." the late B. Hicks ~

Fantastic! Thank you for making this! I was B-27 from 1983-1987; it was the last spot on the inner circle near the showers. I was the original builder of the big patio deck with the lattice, and the one that planted the crazy bamboo that got wildly out of control. I used to have giant "feet" steeping stones in front, tiki torches nightly, a big BBQ and a hammock! Those were great days! I remember Lars, and Allan Affeldt, and the "Fear and Loathing" trailer. "B&C" (board and cylinder) was a favorite past-time. And who can forget..."Spring comes and the grass grows all by itself." Priceless. “It was something unpredictable, but in the end is right. I hope you had the time of your life.”

I wonder if anyone knows what happened to my Silver Streak when the park closed down. I bought it from a retiree couple that used to take it to Wyoming six months of the year, then sold it for $1000 less a few years later (seemed like reasonable depreciation) to someone who moved it from A52 to A5 or A6 or something. I miss that place. It was a lot of fun. Someday when I'm chancellor of UCI, I'll rip up that parking lot and put in a trailer park.

Allan, I remember when you'd be out on the road around Thanksgiving with your turkey trying to awaken the sensibilities of the turkey-eaters. I remember Lars, who appears in this documentary. I was the recycling chairperson for a year or two. Oh, all those sticky cans and bottles. I don't miss that part. I was in B4, across from the turtle lady. I believe the shots in the video of the woman playing the grand piano was filmed in my old living room. I recall rent was $150 and that included electricity. All we had to pay for was phone and propane, which was next to nothing. God, I miss those simpler times...not a care in the world. It's sad that such treasures have to give way to "progress." A parking lot isn't progress. They crushed a spirit when they tore down IMW, a mighty spirit.

'Twas me that owned the Turkey. Dad weighed 75 lbs and wandered the neighborhood gobbling. I left in 1997 after managing the park for a few years while working on a PhD in semantics. Even then it was a constant struggle to keep the 'administration' - particularly Fred Lipscomb in Campus Village - from tearing it down. Irvine Meadows was as wonderful in as many ways as it's loss was tragic and senseless. Thanks for the lovely movie and memories!

I lived there from 1990 to 1992 as well. I cried when I recently saw the parking lot. Such a total shame, they were some of the best years of my life spent there.

I'm going to be a freshmen at College for Creative Studies which is one of the Art Center rivals in transportation design, and all I can say is thank you for making these videos. Each episode showed me what to expect. Keep them coming please!!

I lived there from 1988 to 1992 as well. Very peaceful...and loved my trailer home, my cats, the bunnies, my neighbors! Somebody owned a turkey...as a pet, not food. Truly sad news that its a parking lot. Like Joni Mitchell once said "They paved paradise and put in a parking lot!"

how much, i want one.

Would you care to make a donation to the feature-length version of the film? The link is in the description above. :)

Alex Schaefer! HOW AWESOME IS THIS PROJECT! It's been several years, since we worked together at Art Center. But am so glad, to know there is a talented artist, actively calling attention to this travesty and fraud that is the Reserve!

help us get the show on the road at our indiegogo crowdfunding campaign! search for "fed100roadshow"!!

Drennen! So great to see you again! Did you have fun ruining Groupon?

Kitties + Bubbles = FTW

Thank you for commenting!

Wow... doing the final presentation with a baseball cap on?? and a Hoodie???!!!! ACCD has hit the rock BOTTOM!

Haha, I would love to, thanks! If you know someone who designs cars or builds hot rods, send 'em my info.

I lived in IMW from 1988 until 1992. It was an amazing experience. I cherish my memories of IMW, the goat, the rabbits, the litter box of a volleyball court, the spider webs in the showers, the turkey, the cats, the dogs, the bonfires, the creativity, the people. More than just affordable housing, IMW was an outpost of singularity in the midst of a homogenous city. Gone is the singular, in order to make way for a parking lot. Sad.

I wish I had your brain for drawing crazy mecha(and your ear for crazy electronica)!

its amazing that kids these day can talk about Eco-Friendly! :D

@Bapuji42 Who sent this comment, and how?

I love it!! It is refreshing to see somthig different.

@Dandesun I hope so, for your sake.

Will the robot overlords at least appreciate the fact that I was in a video touting their matrimonial superiority?

this is so cool

Robert I need the problem video I can pay you $100 dollars for the trouble if you can find it. I lost my job and need to make a reel, because I am going to do what I love and not settle. I can be found through my Email sk8filmmaker@cox.net I would have just called you but I dropped my phone in the Zamboni Pit when I was still working as a Zam Driver. Thank you for your time.

we still think it looks great!

Hey it's dave!

Great production!

Beautifully filmed.