Onngh Yanngh

33 thoughts on “Onngh Yanngh”

1. Onngh Yanngh was normal, once.

2. Since when do I work on a ranch?

3. Where IS that banana?

4. 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.

5. awesome!!!

6. It’s great to see the Onngh Yanngh Movie again, 25 years later! The internet is wonderful! Great memories. Thanks for posting!

7. would love to see Kitty in the Hobart!!!

   Resident Jan 84-May86

8. Woo hoo!

9. 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

10. 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?

11. R.I.P. Dave Ross. You will be missed. Thanks for the definitive OY work.

12. 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.

13. 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.

14. 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!

15. 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

16. 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

17. 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

18. 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

19. 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

20. 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.

21. 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

22. Ivan Batchkoff and David Tuck, Please contact me; I desperately want to know what happened to you. Also, other Barrington friends — please email me at dwwhitm@ilstu.edu

    I’m Doug Whitman, Barrington 1976-1981, Maintainance Manager, Host for Bug Snack, Co-founder Barrington Rangers (Banana division), Sauna builder (with Bill Dettmer), Producer of Country-Western Wine Dinner, Major supplier of gun powder for Rocket Launches-from-the-roof-junior-science-achievement-Program, and Member of the Governing Board for the International Society of Onnygh Yangh Enlightenment (I think I was Minister of Dispersion or Propaganda for the OY-Society — that entire decade is still a little hazy).

23. I just learned of Dave’s passing and am truly saddened. Dave and I went to high school together and he was no less a sports fan then — taking hockey sticks to basketball games and threatening refs to the point where our team was given a foul. We even created a fan club for a player from an opposing team – the Yamashiro Fan Club – which was shortened to YFC, which itself became the Young Filmmaker’s Club, of which both Dave and I were members. Good times.

    Dave also managed to wrangle me into Barrington Hall when I went to a nearby school (not Cal) and we continued our filmmaking collaborations there. For most of the scenes in his movies I was either there helping him or I could tell you where it was films. I assumed a lot of those films were lost, though I did run into a high school friend who attended Harvard Med School who once told me at a party someone dragged out a copy of the Onngh Yanngh movie and knew, from our high school endeavors, that it was Dave’s handiwork.

    His spirit and joy were infectious.

    from dlz to DFR: RIP good friend.

24. Still desperately seeking Barringtonians – especially circa 1983 – to the demise and death of Juan Mendoza – who visited me at or moments after his death. Wanna to create a fictionalized (to protect the “guilty”) docu-novel of the Era . . . Looking for those who KNOW and WILL TELL (but never to be revealed) for info and possible collaboration. I have a lotta photos, articles and a video of the Onngh-Yanngh-atron – gotten form the sister of Christen who jumped off of Barrows Hall. Oh! And I own a publishing house (Ronin Publishing – not “green”) – so I can by-pass censures and other gate-keepers. If you have leads, stories, photos, or . . . contact me at docpotter@docpotter.com . . with
    “Barrington Hall” in subject line so as to not get zapped as spam.

25. Woopse!!! Wrong email. If you want to contact me about Barrington . . . the CORRECT email is ronin@roninpub.com with “Barrington Hall” in subject line . . If you check out Ronin Publishing, you’ll probably be more than a little surprised. -bp

26. To those Barringtonians mourning the loss of their friend, Dave, I am very sorry for your loss, and I apologize in advance for helping Beverly Potter hijack this thread. I stumbled across this blog in a random Google search, and was amazed that she had posted. While I would normally ignore her pathetic attempt at relevance, her invoking the memory of Juan, a true friend and brother of the Barringtonians that came after you, can not go unanswered. I wish I had gotten to meet your friend Dave, as he sounds like a wonderful man.
    To Beverly Potter:
    I long ago forgave you of your actions regarding Barrington. In your pathetic attempt to gain relevance and purpose, you helped drive us out of the home we loved, and helped close a vibrant piece of Berkeley history. But I will not give you sole credit for that. As one of the final curators of that place, I did not fathom the danger we faced, and my irresponsibility (as a 20 year old college student) certainly played a part in the demise of the hallowed hall I loved so dearly. Even our attempts to save our home may have been more harmful than constructive. However, your venial attempt, some 20 years later, to once again join the “club” that you have always been denied, to somehow move beyond your philosophy of those days, “If you can’t join them, beat them”, should be ignored by one and all of us. But when you invoke the memory of our dear friend and brother, Juan, you cross a line. It is disrespectful to our dead loved one, and it is an affront to Juan’s family. Shame on you. To say this:
    “- to the demise and death of Juan Mendoza – who visited me at or moments after his death. ”
    I can only say…FUCK YOU. And I’m not the kind of person to issue that sort of invective to someone of a deranged and psychologically damaged frame as you obviously are, But when you go beyond the shallow and self-serving level of pimping your ridiculous biography by association on the memory of my friend…
    FUCK YOU!!!!
    Long story short, Beverly, please take your collection of Barrington “booty” that you’ve collected over the years, and shove them up your ass. Then, for your sake, if not for ours’, please seek professional psychological help. You are in desperate need.

27. To Steven Gromowsky, I have no idea what kind of a person apologizes in advance for “hijacking” a nice thread about someone DYING to spew invective at someone else for something that happened 20 years ago. As Dear Abby would say, perhaps you should consider professional counseling.

    Dave Ross’ brother.

28. Dave Ross’ brother:

    Gromowsky is not a nutjob.

    No disrespect intended, but it was a tumultuous time at the end, due in no small part to those Potter people who caused us much grief with the spurious charges of interstate drug trafficking.

    He just cares enough about where we all lived to try and warn those that he has value for against those that have no value for us.

    Perhaps he is just very enthusiastic and in the spirit of Onnygh Yangh is trying to warn his family, so try not to pass judgement on him.

    Juan and I were friends, being Latinos in a largely haole place, and his death hit us hard, especially since it happened at Barrington, under very suspicious circumstances.

    I understand Steven’s anger at “Bev’s” usage of Juan to gain credence- it’s like a killer wearing the skin of your loved one to gain admittance into your house.

    As to time, whether 20 or 200 years, didn’t your own brother say, “Time is a crutch; eat mandarin oranges. Time is a clutch; drive mandarin oranges.”

    Just my two cents to help a fellow Barringtonian.

29. Oh, to the originator of this site:

    My apologies in advance for my commentary.

    You have a very nice site, good history, nice to see so many people still have memories and reverence for our communal past residence.

    Lastly, does anyone have any pictures of the Onngh-Yanngh-a-tron, then and or now¿

    In my time it was just all legend…

30. I only recently, and with great sadness, learned of Dave’s death. His spirit was so forceful that I have difficulty believing that it could ever have been subdued.

    I can think of no one who integrated, embraced and understood the character of Barrington Hall. He knew without being Told. He brought others into knowledge without Telling. He became a pivotal personality there before he finished his first paper at school.

    I remember him fondly.

    Sincerely,
    Peter Roscoe

31. I was planning on flying out to see Cal play Colorado this weekend, so I decided to look up Dave. I could not believe he had died. I didn’t know him well, but I did meet him at the 1997 NCAA Tourney Regionals in Winston-Salem, NC (that was that terrific team with Al Grigsby, Tony Gonzalez, Randy Duck, Yogi Stewart, and Ed Gray). Dave was such an amazing guy, he could really light up a room. He was so excited about getting a taste of genuine North Carolina barbecue that we nicknamed him “Barbecue Dave,” which was soon shortened to Barbecue. I ran into him again in 2001, in Memphis, where Cal was playing in another NCAA Tourney game. The day after a disappointing loss, Barbecue had us driving into a rather scary corner of Memphis to sample some genuine soul food. That was the last I heard of him, but he obviously made quite the impression since I remembered him (and his real name) 10 years later–and I looked forward to possibly seeing him again. I did not grow up in the Bay Area, and I left after I graduated from Cal, so I never knew that he was a bit of a celebrity in Cal circles. Believe me, I am not surprised! My father, who is 72, has often said that he wants the world to be a better place from his having been here. In that, Dave certainly succeeded.

32. I have video filmed by Christian Soto (who threw himself off of Burrows) of the Onngh-Yanngh-atron also a video of the riot on 3/3/90 with bonfire and police on Haste Street. Of course, Barringtonians are completely responsible for goings on in BH and for its closure. Tho Juan did say that he’d heard of “The Legend of Bev”. The Memoir involving Barrington is scheduled for publication Spring 15 – 25 years after the closure. In part it is about the dope book publishers living next to the dope den . . . . . BTW, our spy was drafted onto the security crew at the last Wine Dinner on Dec 2 89 – the night the clothes drier and paint were thrown on our roof. If you have an “insider’s” tale you’d like included, contact me. There is a $250 honorarium for each piece included. Particularly interested in reveals around punk bands. What is it about Barrington that you guys continue romancing it 24 years after it closed? BTW, at this very minute there is a large sign in Rasputan window about BH.

33. I have just received the autopsy of Juan Mendoza. Very curious – he had blood under his finger nails. ALso he did NOT fall while climbing up – as the report states he was seen climbing up one side – but his body was found on the other side. BTW how does one fall or jump from a roof and land 25 feet out? How does one get blood under nails in the process? The thing is – Juan’s death was NOT investigated. Why? HE was a worthless Barringtonian . . . I made a complaint to the Police Review Commission at the time . . then I tracked down Juan’s Mother in Taos . .she died in 2006 – WHy wasn’t Juan’s death investigated? Do you really think it was a suicide? AN accident? Or a murder?