Lakeview Pirate TV Station

This building was the ugly duckling of the block. Perhaps the entire neighborhood.

The inside was pretty much in line with what I expected.

Grim and grimy.

Filled with an OCD-style collection of knick-knacks and paddywhacks.

All of it meaningful to the owner, I'm sure, but meaningless to just about everyone else.

Some of it was a little creepy.

Some of it a lot.

I was headed out the door when the people holding the sale said, "There's more in the basement."

You never know what you might find -- even when you think you do -- so I went down for a look.

The first words out of my mouth -- after I was able to close it -- were "Holy shit."

The basement was composed of three huge rooms.

All of them were filled with electronic equipment and tools.

It was definitely a bonanza for anyone looking to prop a low-budget science fiction movie.

Or start their own pirate TV station.

Or broadcast the Videodrome signal into the greater Chicagoland market.

Of all the equipment, this was my favorite. There's something kind of cool and retro-futuristic about it.

The more I looked...

... the more I found to look at.

The basement was a repository for an industrial film career -- perhaps an entire life's work. And it's too bad no one has the time to go through it and gather the best bits.

These two examples right here made me want to thread up a machine -- which one I wasn't sure -- and check it out.

There's very little online history about Big Tee Burger, aside from the Tastee Freez sandwich, which I don't think is the same thing. Big Tee seems to have been a small chain headquartered in Trenton, Ohio. It's no longer in operation -- or exists only as a shadow of its former self. If anyone has additional information, I'd love to hear it.

I'll just have a seat and wait right here.